What are we eating ? | Getting ready for Christmas

Just before the weekend, all the readers who cook ask themselves this endless question: what are we going to eat? In order to inspire you, Press suggests some suggestions for seasonal recipes that will make your mouth water.

Small hollow: chocolate truffles from Cassandra Loignon

“It’s my mother’s recipe,” said Cassandra Loignon, who published Simply chic to the Pratico-practical editions. Every time we did parties, she used it at the end of the evening. The instagramer advises to use a good chocolate and real vanilla. “It’s a nice gift from a host,” she says. Be careful to keep these truffles cool, up to 15 minutes before tasting them.

Preparation: 25 minutes

Cooking: 5 minutes

Refrigeration: 1 hour

Quantity: from 20 to 25 truffles

Ingredients

• 300 g (2/3 lb) very good quality milk chocolate
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) 35% cooking cream
• 1.25 ml (1/4 teaspoon) salt
• 15 ml (1 tbsp.) Vanilla extract

Ingredients for coating

• 1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) grated sweetened coconut
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) icing sugar

Preperation

• 1. Chop the chocolate into very small pieces, then set aside in a bowl.
• 2. In a saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat. The cream should simmer, not boil. Stir in the salt and vanilla.
• 3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let melt for 3 minutes, without stirring, then whisk until a smooth texture is obtained. Pour the mixture into a glass bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour, until the mixture hardens.
• 4. In a large skillet, toast the pecans, 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat, until golden brown. Transfer to a bowl.
• 5. In the same pan, toast the coconut for 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat. Transfer to another bowl.
• 6. Place cocoa and icing sugar in two more bowls.
• 7. Using a parisian spoon, shape the chocolate mixture into small balls. Roll the balls in the coating of your choice. Keep the balls cool and remove them from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.

Source: Simply chic by Cassandra Loignon, published by Editions Pratico-Pratique.

Posted on lapresse.ca on December 11, 2019.

Quickly done well: wild turkey and mushroom rillettes

Here are the recipes of chef Jérémie Pilon. You can halve the recipe using just one turkey leg, but if you like rillettes a lot, we suggest you make the entire recipe and freeze in small portions (slices or jars) that you don’t want. do not think about eating right away.

About twenty portions

Ingredients for the turkey

• 2 wild turkey legs (farmed, unless you have a family member who hunts)
• 1 liter (4 cups) duck fat
• 250 ml (1 cup) white wine

Turkey preparation

• 1. Heat the fat and wine in a casserole dish or other oven-safe container. Plunge the turkey thighs into it.
• 2. Bake at 300 ° F for two hours.
• 3. Bone, shred and weigh the meat.

Ingredients for the rillettes

• 1 kg of shredded turkey meat
• 50 g of dried porcini
• 150 g chopped onion
• 250 g of chopped white mushrooms
• 25 g of garlic (about 4 large cloves)
• 250 ml porcini rehydration juice
• 550 ml of cooking fat
• 3 g chopped fresh thyme (about 1 1/2 tsp)
• 20 g of salt (1 tbsp)
• 2 g pepper (1/4 teaspoon)

Preparation of the rillettes

• 1. Rehydrate the porcini in lukewarm water for 20 minutes. Drain and reserve porcini and juice separately.
• 2. Sweat the onions in a little vegetable oil. Add the white mushrooms and garlic. Cook gently.
• 3. Add the porcini rehydration juice. Reduce to dryness. Add the garlic and chopped fresh thyme.
• 4. Roughly chop the porcini and add to the rest.
• 5. Combine the pulled turkey, duxelles and fat. Season.
• 6. Mold into bread and cool for 12 hours. Slice and serve with mustard and croutons.

Posted on lapresse.ca on December 21, 2019.

Call me chef! : forest dumplings by Mariève Savaria

Mariève Savaria lives a love affair with vegetables. She published The vegetable season – Take advantage of the harvests from June to November and eat local all year round, a book as pretty as it is useful.

She suggests cooking forest dumplings, which can also be made in the form of rolls. “It’s a simple recipe,” she says. It allows you to discover mushrooms. It can be served as an aperitif as well as a meal, for children and adults. “

For from 4 portions (meal) to 8 portions (aperitif)

Ingredients

• 400 g of a mixture of fresh mushrooms (or dried and rehydrated)
• 1 block of firm tofu
• Dumpling or rice paper dough

Ingredients to taste

• Chopped green onion or chives
• Bok choy
• Grated carrots
• Coriander or Thai basil
• Shiso leaves
• Soy or tamari sauce

Preperation

• 1. Cook a mixture of mushrooms in a pan (100 g per person; you can add button mushrooms).
• 2. Place mushrooms in the bowl of a food processor with 1 block of firm, crushed tofu. Activate the food processor until the mushrooms are shredded and the tofu is crumbled. Empty this mixture into a bowl. Add chopped green onion or chives, chopped shiso leaves, bok choy, grated carrots or herbs (cilantro or Thai basil). Adding soy or tamari sauce can add extra flavor. This mixture is used as a stuffing to garnish the dumplings or rolls.
• 3. Wet a sheet of rice (or dumpling dough) and place 1/3 cup of the mushroom mixture on it. To make rolls: fold over two sides of the rice paper, then roll up tight and close. To make dumplings: fold the dough into a triangle and press the outline with your fingers. Repeat until all of the mixture is used.
• 4. Place rolls or dumplings on a baking sheet lined with oiled parchment paper, and brush with sesame oil.
• 5. Bake at 400 ° F for 10 minutes per side or until dumplings are toasted and crispy.
• 6. Savor with a soy sauce seasoned with hot pepper, ginger and lemon.

Source: The vegetable season – Take advantage of the harvests from June to November and eat local all year round, by Mariève Savaria, illustrations by Paige Kramer Rochefort.

Posted on lapresse.ca on December 5, 2020.

Guilty pleasure: chestnut cream tart by Gaël Vidricaire

As far back as she can remember, Gaël Vidricaire eats chestnut cream at Christmas. His aunt France served him this pie for the first time and today the Vidricaire family cannot do without it … sometimes even in summer. “It’s the best,” launches the pastry chef based in the Montcalm district in Quebec. It’s the perfect combination of an ultra easy to make, but ultra decadent recipe! “

The childhood dessert of the chef recognized for her sweet creations with daring flavors is disarmingly simple. To make it even better, Gaël Vidricaire recommends preparing it two days in advance. “Lady’s fingers are fairly dry cookies,” she explains. By preparing the dessert in advance, they have time to take the moisture from the cream and they become soft. “

Chestnut cream was not a very common ingredient in Quebec when the pastry chef was young. His father, who had done part of his studies in France, was crazy about it. Fortunately, this ingredient is easily found in grocery stores these days.

Ingredients for cat tongues (yields 50-60 pieces)

• 150 g of flour
• 125 g butter
• 115 g sugar
• 80g egg whites
• Zest of 1/2 orange
• 1 pinch of salt

Ingredients for the chestnut cream

• 500 g chestnut cream (Lelarge type)
• 10 g of cognac

Ingredients for the whipped cream

• 250 g of 35% whipping cream
• 25g sugar
• 2 g of vanilla extract
• 2 g of cognac

Preparing for chat languages

• 1. Using a mixer fitted with a whisk, make a soft butter.
• 2. Change the attachment of the beater for the foil and successively add the sugar, egg whites, sifted flour, salt and orange zest.
• 3. Reserve in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• 4. Using a pocket and a smooth round nozzle, arrange the cat tongues into 6 cm sticks on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
• 5. Bake for 8 to 11 minutes at 300 ° F.

Preparation of the chestnut cream

• 6. Using a spatula, combine the chestnut cream and cognac.
• 7. Reserve in the refrigerator.

Preparation of whipped cream

• 8. Using a mixer fitted with a whisk, whip the cream with the sugar, cognac and vanilla.
• 9. Readjust the desired quantity of vanilla and cognac to taste.
• 10. Reserve in the refrigerator.

Dressage

• 11. In a square Pyrex dish measuring 30 cm by 30 cm, cover the bottom with lady’s fingers.
• 12. Spread the chestnut cream over it evenly.
• 13. Spread the whipped cream on top.
• 14. Cover with cling film and reserve in the refrigerator 24 to 48 hours before serving.
• 15. Cut into slices of the cake and decorate with the remaining cat tongues.

Posted on lapresse.ca on December 30, 2020.

Health ! : mulled white wine

Molly Superfine-Rivera, the co-owner of Marconi restaurant in Little Italy, created this mulled white wine recipe. “This mulled wine is less sweet or spicy than the others,” she explains. Its taste is reminiscent of aromatic herbs and it is very comforting. »At Molly’s suggestion, we made it with the Ciu Ciu d’Oris, an organic Falerio sold for less than $ 15 at the SAQ.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. whole black peppercorns
• 2 tbsp. whole pink peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 6 cloves (plus a few for serving)
• 2 star anise
• 2 cinnamon sticks (plus a few for serving)
• 1 C. 1 tbsp fresh ginger, cut into approximately 1 cm cubes
• 2 grapefruit slices
• 4 orange slices (plus a few for serving)
• 1 1/2 tsp. maple syrup
• 1 oz of white Lillet
• 1 bottle of dry and slightly aromatic white wine, preferably organic

Preperation

• 1. In a small saucepan, heat the black and pink pepper and the 2 cinnamon sticks over medium heat until they release their aromas, about 5 minutes. They should not be burnt. Be careful to use whole grains, because if they are even a little crushed, the wine may be too spicy.
• 2. Pour the spices into a cauldron that can hold 2 liters over low heat. Squeeze the grapefruit and orange slices over the pot. Add the orange slices (but not the grapefruit slices, which would give a bitter taste to the preparation) in the liquid. Add the other ingredients and heat over low heat for at least 20 minutes. The preparation should NOT boil (the alcohol will evaporate and the taste will become bitter).
• 3. Filter the wine through a fine sieve and serve each glass with an orange slice pierced with cloves and a cinnamon stick.
• 4. This mulled wine can be prepared up to three days in advance. It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Posted in The Press + December 19, 2020.