FFWD – Béatrix’s Red Kuri Soup & Chestnut-Pear Soup

November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 21 Comments

A few weeks ago, red kuri squash arrived at my local food co-op, so I snapped two up right away. At the same time, I picked up some pears and some vacuum-packed chestnuts so that I could catch up on another fall soup.

I served the red kuri soup and the chestnut-pear soup together, in small bowls, as we did Christine’s Simple Party Soups. The two soups complemented each other well. I put a dollop of sour cream in each of the bowls, but these soups are lovely without any garnish at all, as well.

Béatrix’s Red Kuri Soup

I used one of the squash in this soup, cooking it down with the rest of the ingredients, and roasted the other. It’s in the freezer, waiting for an opportunity to make this soup again. I’m interested to see how the roasted version compares to the traditional soup.

I split the soup with my parents, who enjoyed it as much as I did. Kevin’s not a big squash fan, but he didn’t mind this soup at all. I’ll be making it again, while there’s still red kuri squash in the store, but I also want to try red kuri in dessert recipes. I have it on good authority that it makes a terrific variation on pumpkin.

You can find the recipe for this soup on Dorie’s website.

Chestnut-Pear Soup

I didn’t give half this soup away and it’s a good thing, because Kevin absolutely loved it. Usually, he’ll eat soup without much comment, but he raved about this one and happily helped me eat through a full recipe’s worth. He was happy that I’d made it vegan, using vegetable stock and replacing the butter with olive oil. The ingredients for this soup are available throughout the fall and winter, so we’ll be revisiting it often.

You can find the recipe for this soup here.

Find links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts on this week’s recipe here: Béatrix’s Red Kuri Soup. Then, see how everyone fared with the Chestnut-Pear Soup.

FFWD – Jerusalem Artichokes, Two Ways

November 7, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 22 Comments

This week’s post tackles two French Fridays assignments, because when Jerusalem artichokes first showed up in the rotation last month, there were none to be found in Vancouver markets. I prefer the name sunchokes for these, as it’s a bit less confusing than Jerusalem artichokes, which are neither native to the Middle East nor related to artichokes. They’re actually native to the Americas – a root vegetable from a plant in the sunflower family, with a flavour that hints at artichokes. Sunchokes are sought after by chefs, but they’re not for everyone. Some folks experience a bit of gastric distress when they eat them (we found out this week that my Dad’s one of them), so they’ve earned a rather notorious nickname.

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Parsley Coulis

This week’s dish was a puréed soup, much like a potato soup, with salty leek and garlic notes against the delicate artichoke flavour of the sunchokes. I substituted vegetable stock for chicken stock, but otherwise followed the recipe, which you can find here. I packed up half the soup for my parents and the flavours were a hit for all of us.

The parsley coulis caused a bit of consternation in the group, because a number of us couldn’t get the parsley past a pesto texture. I didn’t mind that texture at all in this soup. The parsley also finishes the soup perfectly.

Since sunchokes stick around in the market until almost spring, we’ll be revisiting this soup all winter.

Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes with Garlic

I bought more sunchokes than I needed for the soup so that I could roast some, too. We ended up having them as a snack last night and enjoyed them, though I’d used too small a pan and they didn’t crisp up as much as I would have liked them to have done. The slivers of garlic were amazing with the sunchokes and on their own – they made this dish. However, I think that next time I roast sunchokes, I’ll do as Sanya did and mix them in with potatoes or other root vegetables. I think they’d be a nicer element in a mix than they were on their own.

Another unusual vegetable demystified, thanks to Around My French Table.

Find links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts on this week’s recipe here: Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Parsley Coulis. Then, see how everyone fared with the Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes with Garlic.

FFWD – Osso Buco à l’Arman & Double Banana and Chocolate Tart

October 31, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 18 Comments

I suppose that because it’s Hallowe’en, I should rename this week’s dish. Something like Blood and Bones, a meal to suit the most ghoulish of eaters. But, I’m not that keen on messing with a storied dish like Osso Buco, even for the sake of a seasonal tie-in.

Instead, I’ll tell you that while we fielded visits from tiny zombies, fairies, witches, and one amazingly kitted-out Captain America, this citrus-y take on a classic recipe slowly braised in the oven.

I don’t eat veal, so my halved portion of beef shank rang in at less then ten dollars. For once, my preferences benefitted my pocketbook. I don’t think the dish suffered, either.

I served this with the citrus and onion rice that Dorie suggests in her bonne idée and it was a perfect accompaniment. I’m expecting tomorrow’s leftovers to taste even better.

Double Chocolate and Banana Tart

This month has been a pretty special one for Doristas, as we saw with last week’s posts. It was also a very special month for us, too, as we celebrated our tenth anniversary. This tart, made with a gluten-free version of Dorie’s chocolate pâte sablée, was one of the treats we shared together.

My gluten-free conversion needs a little work. The tart shell was crumblier than it should have been, but it didn’t fall apart and it tasted delicious, so it’s a good start. The filling – caramelized bananas covered in chocolate ganache, topped with slices of raw banana painted with hot apricot jam – was every bit as good as you could imagine.

Needless to say, we didn’t share. It was an anniversary treat, after all.

Find links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts on this week’s recipe here: Osso Buco à l’Arman. Then, check out all the Double Chocolate and Banana Tart goodness.

Cottage Cooking Club – October 2014

October 28, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 15 Comments

There was no mistaking it this month. We’ve moved out of our summer repertoire of recipes and are solidly into winter vegetable territory.

If this month’s recipes are any indication, however, that’s not such a bad thing.

Carrot, Orange, and Cashews

On the rare occasion that I find myself supreming an orange, my mind always turns to this:

Am I the only one? Probably.

Sectioning the oranges aside, this was a very simple salad, flavoured with a little cumin and cider vinegar, but really playing on the flavour combination of orange, carrot, and cashew. It’s got a vibrancy that a typical carrot salad lacks and the juice of the orange manages to intensify the carrot’s flavour without itself disappearing.

I was out of cumin seeds, so I used ground cumin, but I don’t think the salad suffered. This dish provides a nice contrast to the usual heavy fare of winter and would brighten any casual gathering, both in colour and taste. Something to keep in mind as the rainclouds make Vancouver their winter home.

Vegeree

Eggplant and zucchini are my partner’s two favourite vegetables, but he likes them served very plain. And separate. So, I was mostly on my own for this one.

I like the idea of this dish more than the execution – roasting the vegetables together left them a little underwhelming, I thought. If I make this again, I’d roast the eggplant whole, while caramelizing the onion on the stovetop. Then, I’d add cubes of zucchini to the onion to soften a little. Finally, I’d toss them with chunks of the roasted eggplant and the rest of the ingredients. I think this would add some depth of flavour that I found a little lacking in this dish.

Broccoli Salad with Asian-Style Dressing

This is a perfect lunchbox salad. You could make it the night before and refrigerate it, then pull it out and let it come to room temperature before lunch. You’ll just need to remember to pack two little containers containing the toasted sesame seeds and the slivered green onions, so you can dramatically strew them over your salad before digging in. Lunchroom theatre.

This one’s definitely on my ‘make again’ list. I especially liked that the dressing was complex without being too assertive.

Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon and Paprika

This dish is another simple treatment for a brassica. Florets of cauliflower dusted with smoked paprika and roasted with lemon wedges. I could eat this every day.

Intrigued by this month’s recipes? Buy the book and join us.

Here are the links to the rest of the group’s posts for this month. I encourage you to check them out – you’ll meet some wonderful bloggers and get some great inspiration for vegetarian eating.

Cottage Cooking Club – September 2014

October 8, 2014October 9, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 7 Comments

When I was in elementary school, we went to Salt Spring Island for a week called Outdoor School, where we stayed in cabins, ate in a mess hall, and did experiments in streams, on beaches, and in the woods. By then, I was the shortest and shyest of all the kids in my class and with a little bad luck, I was assigned to the cabin farthest away from the big hall where we ate our meals. Inevitably, I was late for almost everything. It didn’t help that I’d brought a precariously high stack of books along with me for the week. At the end of camp, the teachers held a just-for-fun awards night and I came away with a key chain that said, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”

As you can see, this still suits me to a T – here I am, a week late with my Cottage Cooking Club post. And it’s not for lack of interest. This month’s selections were a huge success for us.

Pinto bean chili

One of the best indicators for me that I’m going to be going back to a recipe over and over again is how many notes I’ve written in the margins and white space on the page. It means that it’s versatile and customizable and that the base recipe is solid. This chili is exactly that. We’re given two variations, one for winter and one for summer, but you can get creative with what’s in season and what’s on hand. I chose the summer recipe, as the last of my zucchini was just ready and the markets were full of peppers of all varieties. I swapped out the bell pepper for pimento pepper (as you can see in the photo at the top of this post) and used one fresh cayenne pepper in place of the green chiles and cayenne powder. I served it vegan for Kevin, but grated a bit of Parmesan on mine. I needn’t have – it was flavourful enough on its own.

Puy lentil and spinach soup

Vancouver is famous for its cold, wet weather, as Seattle is, too. We Cascadians keep recipes for warm, comforting soups close to hand and this soup fits the bill. French green lentils are a staple for us and this soup, thick and almost stew-like, showcases them perfectly. I suspect we’ll be eating this regularly all winter.

Oven-roasted roots frittata

I was on my own for this one, but that was fine with me. I love frittata and this root vegetable variation, baked in the oven, was easy and delicious. It’s just the sort of thing I want to have waiting for me when I’m working flat out on a project and need lunch to be easy. Easy, delicious, and nutritious, that is.

Runner beans with tarragon and lemon

I skipped the butter in this dish and used Earth Balance instead. I’m still not convinced that it’s anything more than a pricey margarine, but using it meant that this dish was vegan. Margarine or no, the beans were delicious, and included some of the last of this year’s bean crop from my garden, along with some of the tarragon I’m digging up and trying to overwinter indoors this year. The combination of flavours was lovely.

Now, save for a summery French Fridays catch up or two I’ve got to find time to post, we’re well into the flavours of autumn. I suspect I’m going to love our October Cottage Cooking selections as much as I did September’s – I promise you’ll see the results a little sooner next month.

Here are the links to the rest of the group’s posts for this month. I encourage you to check them out – you’ll meet some wonderful bloggers and get some great inspiration for vegetarian eating.

The Bounty of the Valley

October 7, 2014October 8, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 3 Comments

I attended the Fraser Valley Food Show as a guest on a media tour, but had no obligation to review or write about any aspect of the show. All opinions are my own.

I grew up in the Fraser Valley, in a typically suburban neighbourhood, with 1/4 acre lots, corner stores, and tiny drive-in shopping centres that housed things like the local library and bank branches, along with bakeries, hardware stores and a Greek-Italian steakhouse or two. If we hopped on our bikes, we could ride out to where the farmland began, but it was mostly hobby farms and horse barns. The working farms were farther away.

We weren’t completely divorced from those farms, though. We were lucky enough that there were what we called ‘farm markets’ at intervals along Fraser Highway, stocked with local fruit and vegetables. My parents preferred to shop there over the supermarket, while also keeping an eye out for seasonal goodies like Chilliwack corn, fruit stands, and ‘U Pick’ berries. So, long before farm-to-table became de rigueur, we knew how lucky we were to live in such a fertile place.

But the Fraser Valley has more to offer than just the building blocks of good meals. From charcuterie to chocolate, from bread to beer, there are more and more businesses offering the kind of food and drink that’s been celebrated in hotbeds like Brooklyn or Portland. And the Fraser Valley Food Show does a good job of showcasing the range of what this region has to offer.

I went on Saturday, just in time to beat the line for the Oktoberfest Sausage Tasting. I found it hard to choose amongst the nine or ten sausages I tried – they were all wonderful, some with a slow heat and others with a meaty savour. I certainly would have hated to be one of the three judges for the competition round. They had to sample 112 different sausages before coming to a decision about handing out multiple ribbons and trophies. You can see a list of the winners here. I suspect it might make a good basis for a self-guided tour of Metro Vancouver sausage makers.

The rest of my day was spent exploring the stalls, listening to speakers, and sampling, sampling, sampling. The Gluten Free Living show was particularly interesting to me, as my partner has celiac disease and we’re always looking for good gluten-free staples. There were lots of great prepared foods there, of course, but there were two things that really impressed me. First, all the exhibitors at the Food Show were knowledgeable about whether or not there was gluten (or allergens) in their products, whether they were in the gluten-free area or not. Secondly, there were some interesting ingredients on offer, like Nextjen gluten-free flour mix. It’s great to be able to buy a box of gluten-free cookies or pasta, but for someone who likes scratch cooking and baking, base ingredients that are safe and easy to use are an exciting development. And buying local makes it even better.

As for all that sampling I did, well, I’m going to give you a short list of some of the things that stood out for me this year. It won’t be comprehensive, because there was a lot of good stuff to eat, drink, and buy.

Eat

ChocolaTas’ Chocolate Ganaches

JD Farms’ turkey sausages

Fire Belly’s pepper sauces

Drink

Shuswap Infusions’ teas

Parallel 49’s Schadenfreude Pumpkin Oktoberfest beer

Glutenberg’s Chestnut Brown Ale

Campbell’s Gold mead and melomel

Learn

I don’t know about you, but whenever I go to an event like this, I find myself a little intimidated by the line in front of the All You Need is Cheese demonstration area. I don’t know if it’s because we got to the Food Show a little early, but there was only a short line on Saturday. So, I ducked in with Mary from Vancouver Bits and Bites and Cathy Browne. (It was so nice to meet you, ladies.) In a short time, we had a tasting of seven different cheeses across several categories. Many of them were BC cheeses, too. I learned a thing or two and my taste buds were primed for heading over to the Wine, Beer, and Spirits Tasting.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Ned Bell’s presentation. He spoke about his cross-Canada cycle trip in support of sustainable seafood and then he showed us how to break down a salmon, while giving us tips and information on how to work sustainable seafood into our diets. I wasn’t aware that land-based fish farming is one source of sustainable seafood and I certainly hadn’t thought about the cost savings involved in buying a whole salmon, breaking it down, and freezing it in portions. You can find out more about Bell’s ride at Chefs for Oceans and here’s a link to my go to resource for information about sustainable seafood, Ocean Wise.

My only quibble with the show is that I’d like to see them showcase more local restaurants in their Bite of the Valley category. I’d love the opportunity to sample small plates from any of the great restaurants that put the food produced in the Fraser Valley to such good use. It would make the show a complete journey from farm to plate.

FFWD – Vanilla Vegetable Salad

September 26, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 15 Comments

After a summer of salads comprised of whatever the garden’s got on offer, it seems like time to examine the shelves and stalls at the market a little more closely. There are still some remnants of the summer’s harvest on the shelves, but now there are also apples upon apples, winter squashes, root and cruciferous vegetables – things that speak of roasting or stewing, not the quick-dressed freshness of hot-weather meals.

Still, there’s one last summer salad for French Fridays and luckily the markets easily yielded the ingredients. Well, more or less. I haven’t seen a yellow zucchini for a few weeks now, so I opted for a small green one. And since the colour scheme was already in flux, I picked up some heirloom purple carrots in place of orange. For the greens, I chose an herby mix that I thought would counterbalance any dissonance I might experience from the vanilla in the dressing.

Yes, vanilla. There’s a lot of olive oil and lemon in this dressing, with only a touch of vanilla extract, but the flavour is transformed by it. I made the dressing by eye, since I was halving the recipe, so I may have been a bit conservative with the amount of vanilla I used, but the flavour was definitely there. My first taste was surprising – I didn’t even register whether I liked it or not. It was just something new to me. Then, I simply enjoyed it. Kevin told me that he liked it, but didn’t love it. (He’d eat it again, so I consider it a win for him.)

I’d love to try this dressing in a salad that’s already a mix of sweet and savoury, one with strawberries or figs, perhaps. There’s still a little time before cold-weather eating fully sets in.

Find links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts here: Vanilla Vegetable Salad

Tuna and Mango Ceviche – A French Fridays Catch Up

September 23, 2014September 23, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 12 Comments

There are certain advantages to being an omnivore who lives with a vegan. I will happily eat the meals I cook for Kevin, but there is now an undercurrent of “more for me” when I’m making French Fridays dishes. Though there are lots of dishes – more than you might guess – that work for vegans in Around My French Table, there are many glorious meals that are decidedly not vegan-friendly.

This ceviche is one of them. I’m getting lots of practice in minification à la Mardi, because even a dedicated omnivore can’t be expected to finish meals meant for four, especially when they’re as perishable as ceviche. For this recipe, I decided to make enough for a generous appetizer for one. I headed down to the local sustainable seafood store for 100 grams of Ahi tuna and made about one-quarter of the recipe.

Dorie’s ceviche is sweet with mango, creamy with avocado, tart with lime, and rich with tuna. There is crunch from the onions and heat from the hot sauce. There’s just as much going on visually, too. Though I didn’t really want to share, I wished I did have someone there to admire it. (Not Kevin, because giving up sushi was quite a sacrifice for him and I didn’t want to torture him.) No matter, I’m filing this away for a dinner party idea someday. This dish would look gorgeous in a pretty bowl, set inside another pretty bowl filled with ice. Whatever followed would have to be absolutely smashing, though, to compete.

If you’re worried about making ceviche at home, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook will set your mind at ease, give you some tips and a recipe you can try, too. You can find Dorie’s version in Around My French Table. It’s yet another recipe that’s worth the price of the cookbook.

Find links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts here: Tuna and Mango Ceviche

FFWD – French Lentils

September 12, 2014September 12, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 16 Comments

I’m in a peripatetic state of mind, it seems. Right now I’m in the middle of several books, including Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters, Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth, and Rebecca Solnit’s latest book of essays, Men Explain Things to Me (if you’re not familiar with her, this might be a good place to start). I’m also re-reading Tamar Adler’s Everlasting Meal, as the easiness of summer garden eating is about to wane and I feel in need of a refresher on the simple, thrifty, respectful way she approaches food and eating.

One of the things I need to remember is that making more food than you’re going to eat for your next meal, in both quantity and variety, is one of the best ways to make sure you’re eating well at every meal.

This basic recipe for French lentils is exactly the sort of thing I want to have in the refrigerator when I’m wondering whether I really want to get into the kitchen and cook. The lentils are gently cooked in broth or water, infusing themselves with the flavours of the vegetables that are along for the ride. You can add cognac and shallots at the end, or not. You can chop up the vegetables and stir them back into the finished lentils, or not. You can serve them with another protein, sprinkle them with cheese, chill them and use them for a lentil salad later. Or, you can tuck into them just as they are.

I used vegetable broth in this batch, which makes them a nice vegan treat, though I sprinkled some with cheese, for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that I only had about a half cup of French green lentils left, so I substituted brown lentils. The brown worked well, but I prefer the green – they are both gorgeous and delicious. Time to go back to the food co-op and stock up, since this is one of the recipes from Around My French Table that I make often, especially in the colder months.

You can find this week’s recipe at Serious Eats.

Find links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts here: French Lentils

FFWD – Curried Chicken, Peppers and Peas en Papillote

September 6, 2014September 6, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 20 Comments

For some reason, a lot of my friends were kicked out of Brownies for rebellious behaviour. Not me, though. I went through the whole Girl Guide system and then jumped over to Scouts when I’d exhausted the camping possibilities that the oldest level, Rangers, had to offer. I knew a good thing when I saw it. Weekends away in the woods, longer in the summer, were a haven worth wearing a uniform for during the rest of the year. Besides, there were the badges – even one for reading. Yes, I know, I’ve never been the James Dean type.

One of the highlights of the year was often a trip to Camp Olave, a beautiful oceanside retreat on BC’s Sunshine Coast.

What does any of this have to do with this week’s recipe? Well, the en papilotte method of cooking evokes a very particular memory of a multi-district camp I attended at Camp Olave when I was almost ready to leave Guides for the next level up. We were amongst the oldest girls there, so we were seconded by the leaders for all sorts of minor supervisory jobs – which mostly translated into babysitting the Brownies. It also meant that we were considered ready for more adult behaviour.

So, we were told we’d be the last to be fed when a plan to cook foil dinners in solar ovens failed – the leaders hadn’t factored cloud cover into their planning, even though the “Sunshine Coast” is as rainy as MetroVancouver. The packets were dumped around hastily constructed fires and I didn’t eat until around midnight. I don’t remember what else was in the packet, but I do remember that the chunks of potato were only about half-cooked.

That turned me off cooking in foil completely until I was in my twenties. Cooking fish in foil – in an electric oven only – was one of the tricks I learned to make it look like I actually knew what I was doing in the kitchen.

The three en papillote recipes we’ve done so far in French Fridays have been fabulous, not to mention customizable. This fourth foray into foil (or more elegantly, parchment paper) was no exception. I cooked half the vegetables on their own, so that I could serve them with slices of tofu sautéed with Indian spices for Kevin. The rest I cooked with a half portion of chicken, for me.

I was worried that the ingredients were too simple – just curry powder, salt, and pepper against chicken, onions, peas, and red pepper. It comes out just right, though, steamed in its own juices. I served it with a recipe we tackled way back in 2011, Cardamom Rice Pilaf. It’s the side dish Dorie recommends for the curried chicken and it’s one I’m always looking for an excuse to make. The two make a great combination. One that chases out any memories I might have of half-cooked potatoes in the woods.

You can find this week’s recipe here.

Find links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts here: Curried Chicken, Peppers, and Peas en Papillote