What are we eating ? | Press

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: Kalamata olive tapenade

Take a bite and close your eyes: can you feel the salty air of the Greek islands caress your face?

Yield: approximately 250 ml (1 cup)

Preparation: 10 minutes

Keeps for 1 week in the refrigerator and does not freeze

Ingredients

• 125 ml (1/2 cup) natural almonds
• 1 garlic clove, optional
• 1 cup (250 ml) pitted Kalamata olives
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) water
• 15 ml (1 tbsp.) Olive oil

Preperation

1. In a food processor, finely chop the almonds and garlic.

2. Add the olives, water and oil. Pulse to finely chop the olives.

3. Serve on croutons, in a sandwich or on grilled fish.

Our tapenade contains only four ingredients, which is much less than some store-bought tapenades. In addition, it is less salty and comes with a little protein bonus, thanks to the addition of almonds.

Posted on lapresse.ca on April 25, 2021.

Quickly done well: eggplant stuffed with spicy (but not spicy) lamb from Fisun Ercan

In Izmir, Turkey, where chef Fisun Ercan grew up, the vegetables were fresh from the kitchen garden. For 15 years, as a chef, she has never stopped looking for this taste that she has never been able to forget. While cooking her own eggplants, the first time she cried. Nothing, she says, can replace that flavor. Here is his recipe featuring eggplants.

Ingredients

• 4 small Italian eggplants
• Sea salt
• Canola oil (for frying)
• 1 C. tomato paste

Ingredients for the stuffing

• 500 g of ground lamb or beef
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3-4 ripe red tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 green pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 C. spice blend

Ingredients for the spice blend

• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp. turkish red chilli (dried chili) or crushed chili
• 1/4 of c. cilantro seeds
• 1/4 of c. tablespoons of pepper seeds

Preperation

1. Grind the spices in a coffee grinder. To book.

2. Peel 3 to 4 strips on each eggplant. Make an incision lengthwise so that you can stuff the eggplants after cooking. Soak them in cold salted water for 15 to 20 minutes, then wipe dry.

3. In a 2 ”(5 cm) deep skillet or deep fryer, heat the canola oil, then add the eggplants. Cook on all sides until softened and golden brown. Set aside on a sheet of absorbent paper to remove excess oil.

4. In a skillet, heat the olive oil, brown the lamb and sauté the onion, then the tomatoes. Season with salt and add the spice mixture. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes and add the pepper.

5. Heat the oven to 400 ° F.

6. Place the fried eggplants in a roasting pan, open the incisions and stuff them with the mixture of the simmered lamb. Dilute the tomato paste in 1/2 cup of water and pour into the roasting pan. Finish cooking the dish in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Posted on lapresse.ca on June 28, 2019.

Call me chef! : r’fissa Darna style (confit guinea fowl leg, fresh pasta, black lentils, guinea fowl base with fenugreek)

R’fissa is a traditional dish of relevailles, in Morocco, which is served to the woman who has just given birth. It is therefore one of the first dishes that a newborn will smell in his life! It is also, in this version “bred” by David Pellizzari, the longest of the three recipes. In the restaurant, it would be served with fresh homemade pasta with carrots, but we recommend that you buy fresh store-bought pasta, such as linguini or pappardelle.

Recipe by chef David Pellizzari

For 2 to 4 people, depending on appetite

For the guinea fowl

Guinea fowls are usually offered whole. The Darna buys them from the Black Prince, at the Jean-Talon market. Separate the thighs, back and breasts of a guinea fowl (or have it done at the butcher’s shop). Save the breasts for another meal.

Ingredients for the guinea fowl stock

• 1 guinea fowl back
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 100 ml chopped carrot
• 100 ml chopped celery
• 200 ml chopped onion
• 10g fresh thyme
• 1.5 liters of cold water

Preparation for the guinea fowl stock

1. Roast the guinea fowl backs, skin side down, in the oven at 400 ° F for 20 minutes.

2. Place all the ingredients in a pot and simmer for 4 hours. Pass through a sieve and cool.

3. Once the bottom is completely cool, skim off all the fat on the surface.

4. Add 10 ml of fenugreek and reduce the bottom by half.

5. Season with salt and set aside. It is very important to season only after reduction.

Ingredients for the guinea fowl confit

It is recommended to do this step the day before.

• 2 guinea fowl legs
• Duck fat (about 1 liter)

Preparation for the guinea fowl confit

1. Disgorger the guinea fowl thighs with 50 g of coarse salt for 30 minutes. Rinse and dry.

2. Heat the oven to 225 ° F.

3. Over medium heat, melt enough duck fat in a medium saucepan so that the guinea fowl is completely covered with the fat during cooking.

4. Gently place the guinea fowl in the fat and put a piece of parchment paper on top, in direct contact with the fat. DO NOT put the cover on!

5. Bake for 4 hours.

6. Take the guinea fowl thighs out of the oven, remove them from the fat and let them dry.

Ingredients for Beluga lentils (black)

Preparation for Beluga lentils (black)

1. Boil 100g lentils in salted water for about 25 minutes or until tender.

2. Rinse with cold water and set aside for serving.

Assembling the plate

1. Heat the oven to 400 ° F.

2. Boil well salted water for 200 g of fresh pasta.

3. Heat the guinea fowl demi-glace and add the lentils to the sauce.

4. In a pan heated over medium heat with 10 ml of oil, place the guinea fowl skin side down. Wait until the skin is golden. Transfer to the oven for about 8 minutes.

5. When the water comes to a boil, cook the fresh pasta according to the manufacturer’s directions. Remove the pasta from the water, transfer it to a bowl and add 10 g of butter. Mix well.

Dressing the plate

1. In a nice bowl, make a nest of pasta.

2. Place the guinea fowl on top.

3. Spread the lentil sauce over the guinea fowl.

4. Give a small empty bowl on the side for the guinea fowl bones.

5. Finally, there you go, the job is done. We taste!

Posted on lapresse.ca on August 8, 2020.

Guilty Pleasure: Aunt Antonine’s Carrot Cake

In August, Louis Domingue, reserve goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks, had plenty of free time during the playoffs, when he had to stay in the bubble city of Edmonton. To get out of boredom, he was busy in the kitchen. His chocolate chip cookies, then his banana bread brought luck to his teammates. Then, in a video, the NHL showed off his hidden talents.

Where will this adventure take him? His priority remains unquestionably his career in the National Hockey League. But as he never does anything by half, he caresses a few projects, “for the fun », He specifies. He is in talks with a publishing house for a cookbook. Louis would then team up with his grandmother, who kept the old recipes of his father, who once had a bakery in Beauharnois. One of the recipes they would like to share is Aunt Antonine’s famous carrot cake, which has become Pierrette Gariépy’s signature.

This is one of Louis’ favorite desserts. For her birthday, her partner called her grandmother to ask her for her recipe. To make him happy, she took the trouble to make him this cake. That says it all.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 1/2 cup oil
• 2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tbsp. baking soda
• 4 cups of grated carrots

Preperation

1. First mix the 4 eggs, the 2 cups of sugar and then the 1 1/2 cups of oil.

2. Then mix the dry ingredients: 2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 cups flour and 2 tsp. of baking soda.

3. Add to the preparation 4 cups of grated carrots and mix without ceremony.

4. Butter (or use PAM) to flour the 9 X 13 pan or chimney pan.

5. Bake at 325 ° F

Ingredients for cream cheese frosting

• 1 packet of Philadelphia cheese
• Chopped nuts
• 2 tbsp. vanilla teaspoon (or less)
• Icing sugar

Preparation for cream cheese frosting

1. Mix all the ingredients

2. For the amount of icing sugar, add it to the desired consistency (if necessary, add 1 or 2 tbsp of milk)

3. Cover the cake with the preparation

Posted on lapresse.ca on September 19, 2020.

Health ! : Fair Harvard

This creation by Robert Simonson combines pisco, a grape-based spirit, and white vermouth. The addition of orange bitter gives the drink a lot of depth.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces of pisco
• 1 ounce of white vermouth
• 3 dashes of bitter orange

Preperation

1. Place ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir for about 30 seconds or until the drink has cooled.

2. Pour into a cup without the ice cubes. Add a lemon or orange zest to garnish.

Source: recipe from the book 3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon, by Robert Simonson.

Posted on lapresse.ca on December 5, 2019.