Asparagus Zucchini and Cherry Tomato Frittatta

(click on the picture for more)

I have been quite busy enjoying the sun and fresh air to spend time fiddling around in the kitchen lately. After 2 hours pulling off the weeds and cultivating the fast growing vegetable garden, the last thing on my mind is cooking up a three course meal or anything sophisticated.

Still! Just enough energy to chop some vegetables and beat half dozen eggs for a tasty frittata! Good anytime: breakfast, lunch or dinner with one or two pieces of toast.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

1 small onion

1 cup cremini mushrooms

6 anchovies

12 asparagus spears

1 cup cherry tomatoes

3 celery stalks with leaves

2 zucchini squash

6 eggs

¼ cup cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Italian parsley to garnish

1. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat in an oven-safe pan.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

3. Chop onions, mushrooms, celery, and zucchini.

4. Stir fry chopped onions, celery and mushrooms with the anchovies for 5 mns.

5. Add the tomatoes and zucchini.

6. Snap the asparagus and layer on the softened vegetables.

7. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs with salt and pepper using a fork.

8. Pour the egg mixture into the pan.

9. Top with cheese and bake for 15-20 mns.

Beef Oxtail Blanquette

(Click on the picture for more)

I just discovered that I wasn’t the only adept of the slow-cooker. Of course, one of them is my aunt Emma was the one who offered us ours, but to my surprise, my friend J. also uses her crock-pot daily. She starts it in the morning before leaving for work to have supper ready upon return. Perfect for the busy mum!

I was describing my slow-cooking recipes to J., when I realised that I was so focused on enhancing the flavours of the ingredients with exotic spices that I completely missed cream-based sauces. I made a mental note to myself. How could I forget creamy stews!? I know, they are high-cal but everyone deserve a treat once in a while! Especially after prepping the garden for planting or on Mother’s day.

Well! Here it is: oxtail blanquette. Blanquette is a traditional French stew that uses veal meat, but I thought that beef oxtail would be just as succulent. I slow cooked the oxtail with mirepoix - the holy trinity of French cooking - and white wine first. Once fork-tender, I transferred the meat into a casserole dish and reserved it in the oven while I removed the excess fat from the broth. Because I am a finicky cook, I whizzed and passed the both through a sieve before adding the cream, but you can leave the vegetables chunky and serve the blanquette with steamed rice and sautéed oyster mushrooms.

Ingredients for 4-6 servings:

2 pounds beef oxtail

2 onions

2 or 3 carrots

2 celery stalks

1 teaspoon cloves

1 bouquet garni: thyme, parsley, bay leaves

½ cup dry white wine

1. Chop the carrots and transfer in the slow cooker.

2. Peel and spike the onions with the cloves. Place on top of the carrots.

3. Heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

4. Season the beef oxtail with salt and pepper, brown in the hot oil and transfer to the slow cooker.

5. Add the celery to the pan and stir-fry for 1-2 mns over low to medium-high heat.

6. Deglaze with the wine and add the bouquet garni.

7. Let simmer for 2 mns and pour over the meat.

8. Slow cook on high for 6 hours, until the meat falls off the bones.

9. Transfer the meat into a casserole dish and reserve it in a 275 F- oven. (Note: Steps 9-13 are optional)

10. Remove the excess fat from the broth using a spoon.

11. Press the vegetables until smooth using an immersion blender (or transfer into a blender).

12. Pass the broth through a sieve into a saucepan.

13. Heat the broth to a gentle simmer and stir in the cream.

14. Serve hot over steamed rice .

Chipotle Sausage Macaroni Casserole

(click on the picture for more)

As I have come to realise, the simplest dishes are often the tastiest and casseroles are one of them. I understand that spring has definitely arrived, and barbecue season with it, but if you live in Alberta, expect the unexpected.

Just like last week in Calgary: warm and sunny Wednesday, blustery and snowy Thursday!

With days like that, skip the salad and welcome a bowl of chicken soup or a warm, comfort meal with a cheesy crust on top!

In this all-in-one comfort food, I just precooked the macaroni, added zesty capers to the vegetables I had in my crisper. The chipotle peppers add both heat and smokiness to the tomato sauce. Before baking, I snipped the Italian sausages allow the spicy tomato-vermouth broth to infuse the meat and speed up the cooking process. Everything to make the King of Casseroles happy!

Ingredients for 6-8 servings:

2 ½ cups macaroni

1 celery heart

1½ cup cremini mushrooms

1 yellow pepper

1 small red onion

1 small jar capers

4 to 6 chipotle peppers

4 Italian sausages (Note: Omit for the vegetarian option)

1 28-ounce can tomato

1 cup dry vermouth

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon Italian herbs

½ cup freshly grated pecorino

Salt and pepper

1. Precook the macaroni in salted boiling water for 2 mins then drain. (The pasta should be firm to the touch)
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
3. Chop celery, mushrooms, yellow pepper and red onion and add to a casserole dish.
4. Stir precooked pasta, capers and chipotle into the vegetables.
5. Snip the sausages into 2 inch morsels using scissors and add to the dish.
6. Coarsely chop the tomatoes and stir into the vegetables with herbs and seasoning.
7. Cover and bake for 40 mins until the sausages and the pasta are cooked, stirring in the vermouth after 20 mins.
8. Top with cheese and brown for 5-10 mins.

Oyster Mushroom and Zucchini Quiche with Strawberry Frisée Salad

(click on the picture for more...)

Bacon bits, melted cheese chunks, cream and onions in flaky puff-pastry, anyone? The quintessential French comfort food - mac n’cheese-style. Very tasty for sure! But with spring at our door, as I was browsing through Helen’s fresh-looking salads, I thought that a lighter, tart-like version would be more appropriate! Of course, I did not forget any bacon, cheese or onions, but the stars of this quiche are oyster mushrooms and zucchini. I would have gone for cremini mushrooms, I just could not resist their velvety and delicate texture when I saw them. The small zucchini were also too tempting to ignore.

The highlight of the vinaigrette is Angostura bitters, which are an essential, sweet and not bitter at all, ingredient in the perfect Manhattan. Their sweetness, combined with fresh, juicy strawberries and savoury celery, moderates the mild bitterness of the frisée, making a perfect counterpoint for the quiche.

Ingredients for a 9x13 inch quiche:

1 package frozen puff pastry (No time to mess around this time!)

2 cups oyster mushrooms

1 red pepper

3 small zucchini

1 small red onion

1 medium onion

4 slices pancetta

2 tablespoons capers

1 teaspoon nutmeg

4 eggs

1½ cup milk

¼ cup grated parmesan, preferably grana padano, or gruyere

Fresh Italian parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the salad:

A few leaves of frisée lettuce

1 cup strawberries

2 stalks celery

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1-2 drops Angostura bitters

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.

2. Roll the puff pastry and transfer into the paper.

3. Slice mushrooms, pepper, zucchini, red onion and scatter over the dough.

4. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

5. Brown then drain the pancetta on paper towel.

6. Slice, sauté the onion in the pancetta drippings, until caramelized.

7. Scatter pancetta and caramelized onion over the vegetables.

8. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

9. In a bowl, lightly beat eggs, milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper using a fork.

10. Pour the egg mixture onto the filling and spread on the cheese, out to the edges.

11. Bake for 30-45 mins, until the filling is set and begins to brown.

12. While baking the quiche, wash, tear off and let drain the frisée.

13. Wash and chop strawberries and celery.

14. In a salad bowl, whisk together vinegar, bitters, olive oil, salt and pepper.

15. Before serving, toss the frisée, strawberries and celery into the vinaigrette.

16. Bon appétit!

Slow Roasted Beef with Roasted Vegetables

(Click on the picture for more details)

Spring is finally here and this simple and delicious roast, with its ratatouille, is the best way to celebrate the return of long and warm days! What I like about this roast, just like for the rack of pork roast, is that both meat and side vegetables are cooked at the same time, in the same pan. The meat is seared in the pan to create a crust then roasted at low temperature, so that the vegetables do not get carbonized but simmer gently into a roasted ratatouille. Also, the meat is placed on the rack to preserve its integrity, while allowing the juices to drip into the vegetables underneath. As for the leftovers, you can carve enough meat for roastbeef on baguette enhanced with a cold ratatouille salad.

Ingredients:

3 pound (1½ kilogram) eye of round roast beef

1 cup fresh parsley

½ cup walnut halves

2 or 3 garlic cloves

4 cup zucchini squash

1 cup cremini mushrooms

1 small red onion

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

4 ripe tomatoes

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 275 F.

2. Roughly chop the vegetables into 2 inch cubes and slice the onion.

3. Place vegetables and onion in the bottom of the roasting pan.

4. Chop together parsley, walnut halves and garlic.

5. Mix ¾ of the parsley mixture with the vegetables.

6. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

7. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan over high heat.

8. Season and pan-sear the roast until all the sides are brown.

9. After letting the roast rest for 5 mns, cover the roast with the rest of the parsley mixture.

10. Place the roast on the rack.

11. Cook the roast for 1 ½ to 2 hrs, until the internal temperature reaches 140 F.

12. Remove from the oven and tent with foil for 5-10 mins.

13. Carve the meat and serve with the roasted vegetables (Tip: For a kick fix, drizzle some balsamic vinegar into the vegetables before serving).

Slow-Braised Daikon and Shiitake Beef Shanks

(Click on the picture for more details)

Another trip to the Chinese superstore! Another cartful of great, fresh produce and all you need for a succulent, slow-braised dish! This time we got daikon and shiitake mushrooms to cook with the whole, fresh beef shanks from the butcher’s counter. This recipe requires a few ingredients only and, as you will find out, two beef shanks and one giant Asian radish will fill your slow-cooker! The tomatoes and the peppers act as thickeners for the mild-tasting juices given off by the daikon root, at the same time they bring sweetness and depth to the dish.

Ingredients for 6 servings:

2 beef shanks (about 2 pounds)

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 daikon root

3 sticks celery

1½ cup shiitake mushrooms

Whole hot chillies to taste

½ to 1 cup dry white wine

Garlic stems

2 bay leaves

16 ounces can tomato

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop the daikon, celery and mushrooms and transfer to the slow cooker.

2. Cut the stems off the peppers and add to the vegetables with the bay leaves. (NB: If you are sensitive to hot chillies, you can half them and remove the seeds or you can keep them whole and poke them with a fork to slowly let the heat diffuse into the dish)

3. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

4. Mix the flour with salt and pepper on a plate and coat the beef shanks with the flour mixture. Drain the flour and brown the meat in the hot oil.

5. Transfer the beef shanks to the slow cooker.

6. Chop the garlic stems and add to the hot pan. Stir-fry for 1-2 mns over low to medium-high heat.

7. Deglaze with the wine and stir in the leftover flour.

8. Let simmer for 2 mns. Pour the gravy over the meat.

9. Slow cook on high for 1 hour.

10. Add the tomatoes and cook for at least another 6 hrs, until the meat is fork tender.

11. Serve hot over steamed rice, asparagus or green beans.

Honey-Glazed Red Peppercorn Rack of Pork with Nectarine and Cremini Mushrooms

(Click on the picture for more details...)

A rack of pork is a delicious and affordable alternative to the rack of lamb. I t is also a great way to dress your ordinary chops for Sunday dinner! As for any roast, it only is a breeze to prepare! The bones will keep the flesh from drying off, and once ready, everyone gets to enjoy their juicy pork chop! Let your oven do the work this time and keep your cook top grease-free!

Anyone who has read my previous posts should not be surprised about the sweet-savory, fruit and pork combination in this main dish. Like for the mango apple with tenderloin or the orange tamarind with slow roasted belly, the nectarine and the pork juices intermingle beautifully in this recipe. For the skeptics, you’ve just got to try and you will be hooked!

Ingredients:

3 pound (1½ kilogram) rack of pork

¼ to ½ cup honey

1 cup red peppercorn

½ teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup cremini mushrooms

2 nectarines

¼ cup dry white wine (or dry Vermouth)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F.

2. Mix the red peppercorn with the salt using a mortar and pestle. Completely cover the roast with red peppercorn.

3. In a small bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing honey and wine using a whisk until homogenous. Drizzle the roast with the glaze.

4. Place the roast in a baking dish, with bones underneath.

5. Cook the roast for 15 min.

6. Reduce the heat to 350 F and cook the roast for another 60 mins. (Do not open the oven door at this point!).

7. Roast until the internal temperature reaches 155 F.

8. In the last 20 mins of roasting, brush and slice the mushrooms and nectarines.

9. Remove from the oven and tent with foil for 5-10 mins.

10. Carve one chop at a time, leaving the bone on.

11. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes or with celeriac purée.

Melt in Your Mouth Slow Roasted Pork Side with Tamarind Sauce

It is always fun to go to the Chinese superstore. Everything looks so fresh and exotic that your mind always races, thinking about all of the tasty meals, and you always end up with these unusual items in your cart: pork side, shiitake mushrooms, garlic stems and tamarind!

Pork side or belly, not to be mistaken with pork side ribs, is usually cured to give you bacon. In this recipe, it is slow-roasted with one bottle of white wine to give you one of the most delicious main dishes. The slow roasting process allows the flavours of the five spice rub to seep through the meat for the sweetest and the juiciest roasts. While keeping the meat moistened, a bed of shiitake mushrooms and Clementine oranges right underneath the pork side is also slow-roasted, diffusing their citrus and earthy aromas. Yum!

Tamarind is a fruit that I used to snack on when growing up in Madagascar. A pinch of salt, hot chilli powder and you were set! It is actually one of the main ingredients in barbecue sauces, so it is most appropriate here! A very simple tamarind sauce to offset the richness of the pork.

Just perfect served with blanched green beans, fresh noodles –and glass of Symphony!


Ingredients for 4 servings:

2 pounds pork side

2 to 3 tablespoons 5-spice mix (Note: You can find it at any Chinese store or make it yourself by combining fennel seed, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper)

½ teaspoon Kosher salt

½ teaspoon red peppercorn

Garlic stems (another find from the Chinese store)

6 Clementine oranges

1 cup shiitake mushrooms

1/2 cup cremini mushrooms

1 red pepper

1 bottle dry white wine

2 cup fresh tamarind

1 cup water

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to its maximum temperature.
2. Finely crush the five spice mix, salt and red peppercorn in a mortar.
3. Score the skin of the pork using a sharp knife.
4. Rub the spice mixture into the cuts.
5. Chop the garlic stems, slice the red pepper, mushrooms and oranges.
6. Transfer fruit and vegetables into a baking dish and place the pork side on top.
7. Drizzle with olive oil and put in the hot oven.
8. After 10 mins, reduce the heat to 325 F and allow to roast for 1 hr.
9. After that first hour, remove any excess fat from the dish and add about two thirds of the white wine.
10. Roast for another 2 hrs, regularly basting the pork with the warm wine.
11. One hour before serving, peel and place the tamarind pods in a small saucepan.
12. Add water to the tamarind and let simmer for 30 mins over medium-high heat.
13. Once the tamarind is loosened, transfer onto a sieve and press the pulp through. (Note: Rinse with hot water to recover more tamarind pulp and juice)
14. Transfer the tamarind puree into the saucepan.
15. Stir in the rest of the white wine, let simmer over medium heat, until reduced and season to taste.

Homemade Cremini Ricotta Cannelloni with Sweet Basil and Tomato Sauce

(click on the picture for details)

If you need a change from vegetarian lasagna, go for these whole wheat cannelloni. Instead of being layered with the pasta, cremini mushrooms and ricotta cheese make a substantial filling for these square pasta crepes. The sweet fragrance of purple basil infuses not only this pasta dish but also your kitchen, making it warm and inviting. Perfect comfort food after shoveling your snowy sidewalks!

Ingredients for 3 generous servings:

1/3 basic pasta dough using whole wheat flour

Cremini and ricotta filling for 6 cannelloni:

1 cup cremini mushrooms

1 small onion

1 tomato

1 cup fresh purple basil

½ cup ricotta cheese

½ cup dry white wine

Sweet basil tomato sauce:

6 anchovy filets

1 16-ounce tomato can

1 carrot

2 celery stalks

1 small onion

½ bunch fresh purple basil

1 cup romano cheese

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare the basic pasta dough.

2. While the dough is resting, prepare the filling.

3. Chop onion, mushrooms, tomato and basil.

4. Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

5. Stir fry the onion and the mushrooms until soft.

6. Add the tomato and the purple basil. Let wilt for 2 mins.

4. Add the wine and the cheese and let simmer for 5 mins until all liquid is evaporated. Season to taste.

8. Chop onion, carrot and celery for the tomato sauce.

9. In a saucepan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.

10. Stir in the onion until translucent then add anchovies, carrot and celery.

11. When the vegetables are soft, add the canned tomatoes.

12. Slightly mash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon to liberate the juice.

13. Add the purple basil to the pan and season to taste.

14. Cover, reduce the heat to medium and let simmer until serving.

15. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

16. Roll the pasta dough and cut into 4 inch squares.

17. Cook the pasta squares in boiling salted water for 3 mins.

18. Plunge the squares into cold water and drain on paper towel.

19. Spoon some filling on the first third of each square and roll.

20. Place the rolls in a baking pan, with seams underneath.

21. Cover the rolls with the tomato sauce and freshly grated cheese.

22. Bake for 20 mins and serve immediately.

Italian Herb Oven Roast Beef with Chanterelle Mushroom Leek Sauce

Another Sunday dinner favourite! I love this roast because it only takes a few minutes to prepare, never fails and gives enough leftover the following Monday and Tuesday. The Italian herbs not only flavour the meat, but also lock the juices in, keeping the roast moist and tender. Roast beef usually comes with gravy, but here I decided to stick with fall and made a very simple chanterelle mushroom sauce.

Just give it try!

Ingredients:

3 pound (1½ kilogram) outside round roast beef

¼ to ½ cup Dijon mustard

1 cup dried Italian herbs

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup chanterelle mushrooms

2 small leeks

¼ cup dry Vermouth (or dry white wine)

½ cup chicken broth

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Brush the roast with the mustard.

2. Mix the Italian herbs with the slat and pepper. Completely cover the roast with the herb mixture.

3. Preheat the oven to 450 F.

4. Fill the bottom of the roast pan with water.

5. Place the roast on the rack. (Tip: Use the broiling pan if your roast pan does not have a rack)

6. Cook the roast for 10 min.

7. Reduce the heat to 275 F and cook the roast for another 75 mins, until the internal temperature reaches 155 F. (Do not open the oven door at this point!)

8. Remove from the oven and tent with foil for 5-10 mins.

9. In the last 20 mins of roasting, brush and slice the mushrooms.

10. Chop the leeks.

11. Heat some olive oil to medium-high heat in a non-stick pan.

12. Stir in the leeks then the mushrooms. 13. Once the vegetables are soft, add the vermouth and the chicken broth.

14. Let simmer for 10-15 mins, until the roast is ready to serve.

15. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes and peas.