What are we eating ? | Highlight the strawberry (again)

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

Indulgence: strawberries, vanilla whipped cream and white chocolate, rose

Of all the fruits, strawberries are one of those that pastry chef Patrice Demers prefers to work with. It can just as well make a pie as a delicious sorbet.

But in summer, he likes to prepare simple salads with the most beautiful fruits that he unearths near his home, at the Atwater market. To make his recipes easy to concoct into extraordinary desserts, he sprinkles the fruit with flavored syrup.

In the case of this strawberry salad, he opted for a rose syrup. To those who fear the presence of this perfume, the pastry chef assures that it does not take over the other flavors. “The secret with rose water is that you shouldn’t use too much. We want the strawberry to remain the main flavor of the salad,” he says.

Servings: 4

Preparation: 15 minutes

Refrigeration: 8 hours

Ingredients

• 24 strawberries, hulled
• Powder and wild roses (from Origina) and edible flowers (optional)
• Vanilla whipped cream and white chocolate
• 1 cup (250 ml) 35% cream
• 1/2 vanilla pod, split and scraped (equivalent: 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
• 80g white chocolate
• Honey and rose syrup
• 1/4 cup (60ml) honey
• 1 C. (15ml) water
• 1 C. 1/2 tsp (5 mL) lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) rose water

Preparation of whipped cream

• 1. In a saucepan, bring the cream and vanilla to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes.
• 2. Strain the cream through a fine sieve to remove the pod.
• 3. Return the cream to the heat.
• 4. Place the chocolate chips in a bowl and pour about half of the hot cream over them. Let stand 30 seconds.
• 5. Using a whisk, emulsify the ganache. Then, while whisking, gradually pour the rest of the cream into the mixture.
• 6. Cover with plastic wrap directly in contact with the cream and leave to rest in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

Syrup preparation

• 1. In a saucepan, bring the syrup ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool.

Assembly

• 1. Cut the strawberries in half and place them in a bowl.
• 2. Pour 2 good spoonfuls of rose syrup over the strawberries and stir gently to coat them.
• 3. Place the strawberries on four plates and pour a little syrup around them.
• 4. Whip whipped cream until soft peaks form. It’s important not to over-whip it, or it might get grainy.
• 5. Garnish the strawberries with a good spoonful or a quenelle of whipped cream.
• 6. Add a pinch of rose powder and some flowers.

Published on lapresse.ca on July 21, 2014.

Quickly Done Well Done: Cricket Smoothie

When Daniel Novak learned that crickets were “an incredible source of nutrients and ecological protein”, he was quick to order a bag of them on the Internet. With his crickets reduced to powder, the Montrealer prepared a smoothie that he photographed and posted on his Facebook page.

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

• 1 sliced ​​banana
• 250 ml (1 cup) frozen strawberries
• 250 ml (1 cup) strawberry yogurt
• 15 ml (1 tbsp.) cricket powder

Preparation

In a blender, puree all the ingredients until smooth. Note: it’s the strawberry seeds that crunch to the bite, not bits of insects! You can use a smooth fruit like frozen mango (instead of strawberries) to avoid confusion.

Posted in The Press + on March 8, 2018.

Call me boss! : scallop ceviche and berry salad

Between land and sea, the Côte-Nord navigates on its own surf’n’turf formulas, picking products from wooded areas with one hand, and fishing with the other some ingredient from the seabed: this is the spirit of so-called boreal cuisine.

This is how the chef of La Cache d’Amélie, a gourmet restaurant founded in Baie-Comeau in 1997, combines forest fruits and seafood, by offering us a ceviche of scallops and berry salad, a most refreshing starter. for the summer.

Simple and effective, it can be prepared in the blink of an eye, with fruit that can be found in the markets. If some are not offered (the cloudberry, typical of the North Shore, is not so easy to find elsewhere in Quebec), we can of course make variations and substitutions. This is what Glenn Forbes did by sending us the recipe, where some berries had disappeared in favor of other small fruits.

For 4 people

Ingredients

• 300g scallops
• Strawberries
• blueberries
• Raspberries
• Haskaps
• Chicoutais (swamp berries)
• ground cherries
• Radish microgreens
• The juice of two limes
• 100ml olive oil
• 10 ml Monna & Filles crème de cassis
• Salt and pepper
• Pink pepper flakes
• Poppy seeds
• Tangy sour cream

Preparation

• 1. Remove the muscles from the scallops, then cut them into thin strips. Marinate in 75 ml of olive oil and the juice of a lime, salt and pepper.
• 2. Cut the fruit in half, toss with 25 ml of olive oil and the juice of a lime, a drizzle of crème de cassis. Season.
• 3. Pipe the berry salsa into a cookie cutter, then top with the scallops. If desired, garnish with radish microgreens and sprinkle with poppy seeds, pink pepper flakes and a bead of sour cream.

Published on lapresse.ca on June 20, 2020.

Guilty pleasure: creamy strawberry and maple syrup sorbet from Caroline Dostie

Even though their mother was working, last summer was fantastic for Caroline Dostie’s two daughters, then aged 3 and 5. Photographer, she prepared Ah, strawberries and raspberries!a book on these small fruits published by Parfum d’encre, on the occasion of the 20^e anniversary of the Association of Strawberry and Raspberry Growers of Quebec.

Caroline Dostie offers readers of The Press a recipe for delicious sorbet, which combines the rich flavors of strawberries and maple syrup. “It’s not complicated: there are only two ingredients, both of which are from Quebec. »

“It’s perfect for Saint-Jean,” she says. This sorbet is silkier when made in an ice cream maker, but it can be made in a blender. Make sure you have a very smooth puree and freeze it before blending, but not too long. »

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 454 g (1 lb) strawberries, washed and hulled
• 180 ml (3/4 cup) maple syrup

Preparation

• 1. Put the container of the ice cream maker in the freezer at least eight hours before starting the recipe, so that it is very cold.
• 2. Cut the strawberries in half.
• 3. Blend the strawberries and maple syrup in a food processor or blender until smooth.
• 4. Put this mixture in the container of the ice cream maker. Activate the turbine for 20 minutes.
• 5. Serve immediately or place in a container in the freezer until ready to serve.

Source : Ah, strawberries and raspberries! by Caroline Dostie, Editions Parfum d’encre.

Posted in The Press + June 21, 2018.

Health ! : strawberry granita and Grand Marnier

A granita at your table will get your guests talking! Usually, it is served between the second starter and the main course to allow you to “digest” better. This version may be a little sweet, but will be perfect for dessert or in the afternoon. I invite you to create your own versions, because by applying this technique, anything is possible: grapefruit and thyme infusion, lime and vodka, Pineau des Charentes, etc.

For 4 people

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Rest time: 24 hours

Ingredients

• 500 ml (2 cups) strawberries, washed and hulled
• 125 ml (½ cup) Grand Marnier
• 250 ml (1 cup) of water
• 125 ml (½ cup) sugar
• 4 mint leaves

Preparation

• 1. Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring everything to a boil. Add the strawberries and boil for 10 seconds. Add the mint leaves. Let cool. Add Grand Marnier.
• 2. Process this preparation in a food processor. Filter everything through a sieve or strainer to remove the seeds from the strawberries.
• 3. Place the juice in an ice cream maker and leave to set in the cold. If you do not have an ice cream maker, place the preparation in a stainless steel bowl and put in the freezer.
• 4. From time to time, stir with a whisk or a spatula so that the preparation does not turn into a compact block of ice, but rather into a slush. The operation should take about 24 hours.
• 5. One hour before serving, place glasses in the freezer then serve the preparation in iced glasses. Serve immediately.

Published on lapresse.ca on July 3, 2010.