Hot Mama Burger

Holé Molé

I know. I need to get to know the fonts in Photoshop Elements… I did see the error before I posted but my evil twin forced me to keep it as it is… so ladies and  gentlemen, whet your appetites for… Mole burgers! I caught them and skinned them myself! Squirmy little buggers…

What is Molé anyway and why do you want me to eat it?

Well young grasshopper…it is a vital ingredient on your pathway to peace and enlightenment. This journey to tasty bud nirvana begins with one succulent, juicy, explosive bite of the best damn burger you ever dropped  your pearlies into!

More?

All right. Molé is the name for the sauces used in Mexican cuisine, differing greatly from each other but all usually containing chillies. It is a thick sauce made up of many ingredients such as roasted chillies and can be broken down into the following factors: chili, sour, sweet, spices and thickeners. These sauces date back to pre-Hispanic Mexico but the original sauces never contained chocolate, which was only used as a beverage at that time. Recipes began to circulate after Mexico's War of Independence in 1810 but before that we can only speculate how the original recipe came about. Chili sauces have over the years been re-invented with numerous ingredients added to them including nuts, seeds and chocolate.

While I have never had the privilege to have an authentic Molé sauce tickle my tongue, I have always loved the combination of chocolate and chillies (you should taste my triple chocolate cherry chili cheesecake - just don't try saying it without paramedics standing by).

This recipe is a marriage of Molé Oaxaca and San Pedro Atocpan, which was purely accidental and wasn't discovered until the writing of this article. I haven't come across a recipe like this anywhere before in cookbooks, restaurants or cooking shows but I am sure they're out there. I was operating on instinct, developing this recipe so it is unique and not authentic at all. It will however be reminiscent of those sauces and that is good enough for me - until I get the chance to taste the real thing!

What you need to know

This burger is made like any other so there is nothing special you need to pull off for this meal to be a success. I would like to remind you of two things -

1) if it ain't dark chocolate, it  
    ain't chocolate 
2) treat your meat gently.

The first point is rather self-explanatory but the second may need further words. The little imp in my head wants to be very naughty right now but I will refrain from indulging. It is very important to handle your meat gently by squeezing it lightly between your fingers and "massage" the meat into a patty. At no time do you want to handle your meat roughly or for longer than necessary.

See how restrained I was?

Putting it all together

 A word about spice blends:
Blends are easy to personalize to your taste as long as you stay with the same flavour profile. I personally don't like either cilantro or rosemary so I substitute with similar herbs such as parsley and thyme in recipes that call for those. They won't taste identical but there are enough similarities in flavour as well as cultural use, to carry off the substitution. As I have mentioned before, I make my own spice blends rather than use store bought. Feel free to use your own favourite blend if what I use here is not to your taste. As this recipe is Mexican based, stay with that flavour profile when you make your own substitutions.
I make the two amounts of blend separately to ensure equal measures of all the flavours. The amounts used will make more than the recipe calls for but I use it in many dishes and it won't be wasted. Don't add the chocolate if you are to store the leftover blend.

Blend
Each 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
         1/2 tsp dried garlic powder
         1 tsp dried chipotle powder
         1/2 tsp salt
         1 tsp dried thyme
         1 tsp dried oregano
         1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
         3 crushed dried d'arbo chillies
1 oz dark chocolate shaved divided unevenly between the burger and the sauce, with more going into the sauce. Precise measurements aren't necessary.

Burger
2 lbs medium ground beef - don't go lean here
1 egg
2 tbsp ground almonds
2 tbsp tomato sauce or ketchup
the one half of the spice blend, with chocolate
2 medium onions, caramelized
flatbread buns or whatever buns you prefer

Mix into the meat gently and let sit covered in the fridge for one hour. Gently shape into patties, remembering the meat will shrink upon cooking when you decide upon the size of your burger. Place onto a plate or waxed paper.


BBQ sauce
While the meat is resting in the fridge for the hour, make up your BBQ sauce in a small saucepan.

the other half of the spice blend
1/4 cup tomato sauce or ketchup
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup apple juice
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
rest of the chocolate

Heat gently all the ingredients except the chocolate. Add the chocolate at the end of the cooking time, as the burgers have begun cooking. Remove from heat but keep warm.

Before the hour is up, caramelize your onions, if you haven't already done so.

Grill or pan fry your burgers until done - done I say, none of this medium rare business. That's raw meat and raw eggs you're messing with. Cook it. Baste liberally with the sauce. Place cooked patty on your bun and top with onions and a bit of yellow mustard.

Take a bite and say good bye to your loved ones for a few minutes. This kind of loving is private.

Those of you who have to overload your burgers with condiments…just back away slowly… put down the burger and back away.


all text and photographs ©michelle levasseur The Groaning Board 2014

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Quick and Easy: Red Pepper Chipotle Soup

Free those radicals baby!

Aging. Aging has been on my mind lately or rather aging skin and appearance has dominated my thoughts especially as I have the best seat in the house to watch my own farcical attempts to retain youth. I have become a great fan of Oil of Olay, scarves and low light and they do their best to make me believe this old gal is aging gracefully. In my quest for extended youth I have turned my thoughts to how to achieve this through food. Everyone knows or should know that a balanced diet, plenty of sleep (unaided if possible) and consistent exercise will help you to feel better, look better and live healthier. What I am interested in is which foods will help you to achieve this perfect balance. The short answer? Anti-oxidants to destroy free radicals and essential fatty acids to feed your skin and hair the good stuff. But what does that mean?

Taking it to the limit

I have always had an intense and keen interest in food nutrition and an intense and keen dislike for diets. I don't care who is flogging the diet - doctor, fitness guru or celebrity - these quick-fix, short-term Bandaid* solutions doom you and your health to failure. In great confidence they attempt to sell you a 'cure-all' for whatever ails you from losing weight to managing an illness to avoiding a particular food group to narrowing down your food choices to a particular food group for personal morality reasons. Vegan, Gluten-free (non-medicinal), Vegetarian, Paleo, Raw, Juicing - all proponents claim that their way is the right way to feed your body and improve your health. How can they all be right? Well, they're not, not really. 

Eating right for weight loss purposes requires a balance of need and want. We want tasty, rich, satisfying meals but we need vitamins, minerals, proteins and carbohydrates in appropriate numbers or our child-like glee at meal times will mean tears at the doctors and wails at the bathroom scale. We want to have fun but exercise needs discipline. We want to live in the here and now but we need to think of our future selves' welfare more often and take our aged selves more seriously. We live like we hate the person we will become and are doing our best to get a jab in now.

Following an eating plan tailored to those who suffer from Celiac's disease, irritable bowl disease or irritable bowl syndrome, Crohn's disease when you don't actually suffer from them puts your body into an imbalance.  We fall for these miracle food cures because the human body is a remarkable machine that will carry on until it can't. What that means is we are like clockworks with tiny parts, large parts - all working together to keep us going. It will work with minimal maintenance but eventually the gears will grind, teeth will snap off, metal will squeal and finally the clockworks will come to an abrupt stop.

For optimal health of the machine, we require this balance. For functioning and staying at work for about eight hours a day, doing minimal physical activity you can get by with an imbalanced diet… for a while anyway. Think of all the times you have had to forgo meals or eat inferior take-out because of scheduling. What happened before you next ate or ate properly? Feel lightheaded? Tired? Grumpy? Did you kill a small antelope with your bare hands on the way to the restaurant, as an appetizer? Multiply that by months, even years of eating without all the necessary nutrients in the necessary numbers per day and you get the picture. A healthy body, whether by design or luck, needs food from all the necessary groups containing all the necessary nutrients. An ill body needs a diet that will ease suffering and provide relief from the symptoms and/or flare-ups. It is by no means a perfect solution but it is an important one for the sufferers.

Eliminating a food group from your menu plans for moral reasons is purely a personal decision that is based upon a misguided perception of the human condition and an overestimation on our place in the food chain. In an effort not to be dismissive of Vegans and Vegetarians I will say that no one can gainsay their emotions and sensitivity to the natural world. Their hearts are in the right place. That said, I believe they are in error with their judgement. The common argument for one half seems to be for a belief in the sanctity of all life (in this case it seems to be the cute and cuddly mammals) so they refuse to eat anything with a face or benefit from their natural processes such as cheese and milk even though the bovines are still chewing the cud while this goes on. We are animals with our place in the food chain and quite frankly we aren't better than the other animals. We are exactly like the other animals and to me, refusing to take your place in the food chain causes a disassociation with what we are and where we stand on this planet. We are animals that now raise food instead of hunt it. The other half seems to veer between saving the planet from the flatulence emanating from over-produced livestock and a belief that we were not supposed to eat meat in the first place. Apparently red meat has the distinction of being a serial killer from which there is no escape. Yes, a bit of facetiousness but hey, wouldn't be me if I didn't indulge now and then.

As for the Paleo, Juicers and Raw dieters… can we say crystals, shamans and running naked in the forest chanting to the stars? Harsh yes, it would be if I was 100% serious (only sitting at 85%)  but what they are doing is harsher still. They are informing a vulnerable public of half truths and misconceptions and, dare I say it, phoney science. 

Simple truth is we are not Paleo-man, we have evolved to adapt to our surroundings like every other animal that has survived thus far. 

We cannot extract all beneficial nutrients from raw vegetables and fruits. Sometimes like in the case of today's recipe, certain foods require heat to extract all valuable nutrients. 

Juicing is a fantastic way to boost your morning breakfast routine or to have as a go-to snack but it isn't the best way to eat all the time. Fibre from eating the skins of the fruits and vegetables in their unprocessed form is important for our digestive systems - the Raw fooders have that right at least. Yes, you can make smoothies using the whole fruit but again, the breaking down of the insoluble fibre has already begun before it even hits your digestive system. By all means juice, just don't juice alone. In fact, these diets can be an interesting way to break up your routine once in a while, just like going meatless a few days a week can be a good thing. 

When it comes to the next best thing in the bookstores, keep in mind that common sense is the best editor/publisher of your own cookbook.  Do your research and get out the red editing pen! 

Seeing Red

This extremely simple and inexpensive soup is loaded with the good stuff. What you see above is essentially all the ingredients needed - add some broth and 10% cream and we're done.

So what's the good stuff Michelle? 

Well pipe down and I'll tell you.

The star of the show is the red peppers. While all the ingredients will do something lovely to your body, the red peppers are a powerhouse of nutrients that will blow your tasty buds and your mind. The rainbow of colours found in vegetables can give you a good idea of what good stuff resides within. Starting with green and ending in red, peppers at every stage offer a plethora of nutrients we need. Red peppers contain the highest amounts of Vitamin C as well as A,E and almost all of the B vitamin complex. Red vegetables also contain lycopene, the nutrient I referred to that multiplies when the foods such as tomatoes and red peppers are heated. This is due to the breaking down of the cell walls which allow more of the lycopene to be extracted. 

A can of crushed tomatoes will have more lycopene than a can of whole tomatoes which will have more than the equal amount of tomatoes just picked from the garden. 

This is directly attributed to the sterilization process of the industrial canning. After the cans are sealed, they are heated to a certain temperature. In the case of crushed tomatoes, they are heated twice - once in the crushing and again after the can is sealed.

Why is lycopene important? It is an anti-oxidant that has been linked with a decreased risk of many cancers including colon, stomach and cervical cancers and it can help lower the risk of heart disease.  For my immediate purposes, it also helps to prevent UV damage caused by the sun and is actually used in anti-aging creams.

The other but by no means lessor actors in the show are the allium family, the leeks and the garlic followed on stage by the benefits of orange oil and thyme. The allium family also offers a lot from the vitamin B complex as well as varying amounts of minerals, most notably manganese and a whopping amount of vitamin K in the leeks and an even greater whopping amount of vitamin B6 in the garlic. The thyme and the orange both contain vitamin C with a mega amount- 266% of our daily requirements - found in the thyme!

What you need to know

Knowing how to clean leeks efficiently is the only necessary technique you need to know. The best way is to cut of the dark green end about half an inch into the dark green. Then with the sharpest knife you feel comfortable with, insert the tip about 1/4 inch down from the root end all the way through to the other side and draw the knife through the leek as evenly as possible all the way down the length to the end. Under running water, gently separate the layers of the leek just enough to get the water in and wash well. Leeks grow in sand so they do tend to drag in some dirt as they grow and are trenched. Shake out well and then proceed to prep your leeks for your recipe.

Putting it all together

1 leek, washed, chopped                                                                                                       serves 4
2 garlic cloves, minced fine
1 jar 500ml (2 cups) roasted red peppers
4 chipotle in adobo, chopped
1.3L chicken broth (two tetra packs 3.75 cups each)
1 cup 10% cream
1 tsp orange zest
salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, sauté the leek and garlic. Cook until the leek softens; add peppers. Cook for 8 minutes. Add broth/stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Process using a hand blender. Add the cream, salt and pepper to the pot as you reheat and add the zest to the bowls just before serving.

You can add fresh pasta, or dried that has been cooked already, to the soup. The first time I made this I added poached chicken and farfalle (butterfly/bowtie) noodles. This last time I made one half plain, pictured above, and one with leftover fresh linguine noodles, cut into one inch pieces.

Stay tuned to the next recipe where I "visit" Mexico for a tasty burger and get a recipe for the simplest mushroom soup anyone can make…like say a man with no kitchen experience could make it for his loved one on Valentine's day…just a thought :) 

Be safe. Be happy. Be well.



all photos and text ©michelle levasseur The Groaning Board 2014

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Holiday Entertaining: Feeding Your Celebration Guests

We all celebrate our special occasions in different ways whether it is because we do or do not have children, we are the ones giving the party or we're going to an office cocktail party. The most important difference is going to be the level of work there is for us to do! 

All special occasions require good food made simply or if you are so inclined, morsels taking hours of preparation and styling; yummy drinks with or without alcohol; and some great company. I'll supply some food and drink ideas; you supply the company!

Sit down family dinner

Herb Chicken with Red Wine Gravy

Braise the following at 375 for one hour:

6 chicken quarters, skinless and de-fatted, especially the thigh area
bottle of beer, light lager or blonde ale
splash of water
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tbsp thyme
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika

Remove chicken once cooked and defat the broth; reserve one cup for the sauce.

3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pkg dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water 
1/4 c flour
1/4 c of 18% cream 
salt and pepper
1/2 c red wine
1 cup reserved broth
reserved porcini liquid
800g dried fettucine or hand cut tagliatelle (made from fresh lasagna sheets)

Sauté onions in an oven-proof pan for two minutes until translucent; add garlic and mushrooms that were removed from the liquid and chopped. Set mushroom liquid aside. Cook vegetables until mushrooms are browned then add flour. Cook for two minutes to be rid of the flour taste. 

Add the liquids and bring up to a boil. Cook for two minutes then put the chicken back into the pan. 

Put into a preheated oven at 350F and bake for 25 minutes. 

If you are using dried pasta, cook according to package directions. For hand cut tagliatelle, use a pizza cutter or small knife and food ruler (one made from plastic or steel) and cut thick strips. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta. It will only take a few minutes for fresh pasta to cook so don't wander off.

Remove the chicken from the pan to make a sauce. Add any extra seasonings and the cream. Reduce sauce by 1/4 to 1/3.

Spoon sauce over the chicken and noodles on a platter to serve family style or place a mound of noodles on a plate, arrange a quarter chicken on top, nicely and spoon a thick strip of sauce over noodle and chicken.

Serve with salad out of a bag for ease or toss one up from scratch if you have the time. Butter tossed carrots, cut on the diagonal and sprinkled with dill weed is a nice and traditional side dish. As well, buttered roasted brussel sprouts, almond and butter tossed french green beans are fantastic accompaniment. What ever veggie you choose, just make sure the colour is bright to offset the 'browns' of this dish.

Nibbles for the Cocktail Hour

Veggie and Cheese Tart

1 pkg frozen puff pastry (2 squares) 
    (or 2/3 pkg phyllo dough)
250g spreadable cream cheese    
    (or in this case, goat's milk  
     cheese)
150g sharp old cheese, grated 
    (I used a water buffalo milk  
     cheese) 
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 large sweet onion, diced small
2 medium zucchinis, diced small
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 handful of fresh basil, chopped fine
salt and pepper

Remove pastry from wrapper. Place on a large parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Slightly over lap pastry sheets and press to join. Press lightly to even out the dough. If using phyllo dough, brush each layer with melted butter and overlap the edges of each layer. Do not use the first method mentioned below when using this dough.

Now, there are two schools of thought here…one is to poke holes in the puff pastry dough with a fork, leaving the edges unpoked, and bake it before adding the toppings. The other is to do it as I did here, which results in a softer tart.

Spoon mustard onto dough and spread. Add the cream cheese and spread out leaving a border along the edges clear.

Distribute the vegetables over the dough evenly and top with grated cheese. Sprinkle salt, pepper and fresh basil over the tart.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400F for about 20 minutes or until cheese is browned and it's bubbling.

Cut with a pizza cutter into small squares for finger food or larger ones if a fork and knife are to be used.

Variation:

Tomato and Mushroom Tart

2/3 package of frozen phyllo dough
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 1/2 c thinly sliced mushrooms
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/4 c cream cheese
2/3 block of feta cheese (about 200g), rinsed 
1 handful fresh basil, chopped fine
1 tbsp melted butter for the phyllo layers

Layer the phyllo sheets on a rimmed baking sheet buttering each one as you go. Roll the edges a bit to form a crust edge; brush with butter. Spread dijon in thin layer. 

Pinch small chunks of cream cheese and droop over tart. Scatter mushrooms and onions over tart; add tomatoes. 

Sprinkle salt, pepper and fresh basil over top. Crumble feta and sprinkle evenly.

Bake at 400F for 25 minutes until top begins to brown. Sprinkle a bit more basil on top before serving.

Cherry Tomato Halves with Caper Mayonnaise
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes in half, lengthwise
1 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip, whatever you like
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dillweed
1 tsp minced capers
1 tbsp sour cream, preferably 10% fat but as high as you can find it

Mix together all the mayonnaise ingredients. Scoop out the tomato seeds and save for another use. Put mayonnaise in a pastry bag equipped with a small tip. Alternatively you can fill a zippered bag and cut the end off at the size you need. Fill the tomato halves with about a tea spoon of the mayonnaise in each one. Sprinkle with a bit of paprika for garnish if you like.

A few other ideas

Of course there are the old standbys like a cheese and cracker tray with artisanal and regional cheeses, homemade crackers and pates and the indomitable veggie/dip tray.

Shrimp, skewers of grilled whitefish and veggies, and mini crab cakes topped with creme fraiche and smoked salmon are a yummy idea for the seafood lovers.

Cocktails

'Champagne' Cocktails

Each serving:
1 sugar cube
6 drops of Angostura bitters
1/2 oz Cognac or Brandy
5 oz sparkling wine
1 red cherry

Drop a sugar cube in a champagne flute and soak with the bitters for 20 seconds; add brandy. Fill flute with sparkling wine and garnish with a cherry.

Non-alcoholic Punch

2 c apple juice
4 c cranberry juice
1 1/2 c lime juice
2 tbsp instant sugar
2 cans of ginger ale

Combine ingredients with two cups of water in a large bowl or jug. I like sitting the bowl in a larger bowl that has a layer of ice in it. It keeps the punch cool without diluting it. Alternatively you can freeze some of the juice to make the ice cubes.

Make sure to add the pop at the last minute, right before serving.


Dinner for Two

The tarts for the above section will also make a nice quiche-like pie with the addition of 3 eggs, 1/4 cup of cream and a two pastry shells. Serve that with a green salad and the soup below.

Chipotle Red Pepper Soup

1 large carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 whole jar of roasted red peppers, local or 2 peppers, under the broiler and skinned and chopped
4 chipotle peppers in adobo*, chopped
1.3L of chicken or vegetable broth
2 tsp sugar
1c half and half cream
1 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp salt and pepper

Sauté the onion carrot until partially softened. Add the garlic and cook some more. Add in the red peppers and chipotle. Cook until carrots are cooked through. Add stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Process smooth with a hand blender. Add cream and salt and pepper. Spoon into bowls and sprinkle zest on top.

For added flavour and a heartier soup you can add some shredded chicken and farfalle noodles after the soup has been pureed.

French Christmas Bread Pudding

3-4 large croissants, cut into 1 inch slices
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground nutmeg
125g dried dates, pitted and chopped
1 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 pear, peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 c orange juice
1/3 c brandy
1 cinnamon stick

Place fruit, juice, brandy and cinnamon stick into a saucepan over a low heat. Cook, stirring, for 15-20 minutes until fruit is soft and the sauce is thick. Remove cinnamon stick.

Butter a loaf pan and put one third of the croissant slices into the tin. Top with half of the filling. Top with another third of the slices and then the other half of the filling. Finish with the top layer of croissant slices. 

Whisk eggs, milk, vanilla and nutmeg. Pour mixture over the bread and fruit and let stand for 5 minutes. 

Put the tin in a larger baking dish and add water to the dish until it is half way up the sides of the loaf tin. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Let pudding stand in the tin for 10 minutes. Turn out when ready to eat and cut into slices. Serve warm.



Enjoy your New Years feasting with your favourite people and I hope you have a wonderful New Year.

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Quick and Easy: French Onion Soup

This lovely bit of gooey, chewy tactile bliss could also be a part of the upcoming Leftover Wednesday posts as it makes use of what is left in your cheese drawer, your bread box and any boxed stock/broth you may have on hand in the pantry or homemade stock from the freezer. With only three main ingredients it is a quick and easy soup, in terms of difficulty although caramelizing the onions will take a small investment of time. However, it isn't 'hover over the pot' kind of time so other aspects of the meal making can take place while the onions are transforming into their golden goodness. This also isn't an overly expensive meal to incorporate into your weekly budget, especially if you are using leftovers rather than cheese purchased just for this dish. All I purchased was the bread and the onions while the rest I had on hand, including the wine I used to deglaze.

Why name this recipe "Peasant-style"? 

In the history of many people of European descent, where a large percentage of Canadians originate from, farmers and such had to make do with what was in season and available to eat. Many times before landlords in the feudal system realized how treating their tenants well resulted in higher gains for them, peasants scrounged for whatever they could after giving the landlords their due. Hunting or rather poaching whatever meat they could was a hit or miss proposition so they improvised with filling, yet cheap to produce/procure foods like bread and cheese. Once landlords were made to see that a farmers full belly usually resulted in more children, which meant more farm labour, they ensured that farmers could drink all the milk they wished and allowed them to make unlimited amounts of cheese for themselves and families. Grain was available at either low costs or as a allowed portion of the whole that was due to the landlord. Meat animals were kept by the farmers, for their own use as well. In the in-between times of feast and famine, a soup such as this one would have been welcomed as a filling and fun meal. A good beef stock either store bought or homemade gives the soup just enough of a meaty flavour that you don't miss the absence of any meat in the soup. 

The bread you use is of equal importance as it should be dense, hearty or chewy and filling. I haven't tried it with a dark rye or pumpernickel as I would be concerned about adding an unwanted flavour but give it a go, if you like. A multi-grain bread would add a crunch dimension that I personally would not mind but I could probably do without. Again, experiment to see which you like best. In this version I used a hearty french bread that was a few days old and I put quite a bit into the individual pots. The bread and the onions were placed in the pots first, then the broth was ladled over to the appropriate level for the cheese topping. The bread will soak up a lot of the broth and begin to break down. Add a few cubes to the top just before sprinkling on the grated cheese and placing the pots under the broiler to brown.


An onion by any other name… would make breath stink just the same

The best onions for French Onion Soup, in my opinion, are Vidalias from Georgia. A good second choice is a local sweet onion - I know, I know what happened to 'shop local'? Let me 'splain :) As a cook, I believe that the most important element of cooking is ingredients and Vidalias are simply the best sweet onion there is and it is available for only a limited time. As it does come from our neighbour to the south shipping costs, while high, are not as high as imported fruits nor are the retail prices higher than the off season summer vegetables from the greenhouses in our own country. Stocking up in late summer and early fall on local sweet onions and storing them in your cold room is ideal to cut costs but the most budget friendly version of this soup made at any time of the year utilizes inexpensive cooking onions. They can be strong flavoured but the addition of demarrara sugar when caramelizing cuts the pungency of these onions down to a more palatable level. The version below uses local sweet onions and my previous posted recipe here uses Vidalias, yellow and pearl onions.

Hey, was that you?

In my previous articles on cheese I make a big deal over delicious local cheeses of which we have plenty. This time I purchased these cheeses knowing I would be making this soup between Christmas and New Years, in addition to being a part of a cheese plate, and a strong cheese is wonderful with French Onion soup. I wanted a mixture of melting styles and a range of sharpness and pungency so I went with the mainly imported cheeses you see above. They were first used on a cheese plate that was served with wine and the leftovers were used in the soup making it an affordable option for special occasions. However, if you are a cheese lover like I am, excuses and special occasions are not necessary!

The Lancashire Crumbly and the Camembert offer a smooth and creamy flavour to the mix while the others add sharpness and pronounced taste, especially the 26 month old Beemster. This hard grating cheese is similar to Parmesano Reggiano or Asiago but with a sweeter note and a less grainy texture. It has a melt-in-the-mouth consistency and a pungency that woos your nose and sweet-talks your taste buds into falling in love. 

One of my favourite cheeses is the BellaVitano Gold so I was eager to try the Merlot type. It is still the same lovely cheese but with a very subtle wine note that hits the nose more than the palate. The Extra-old Cheddar is the only 'commercial' cheese I used - it is one I use on a daily basis so I wanted to include it to lower costs as well as to have a good melting cheese.

What you need to know

Like in the Cornish Hen recipe I recently posted, you will need to caramelize the onions, this time in two to three batches as there are a lot of onions. The only other skill that I find important is how to make a good stock. This recipe is best if made from stock from your freezer but of course that is not always possible. If you are making this as a Quick and Easy dish, boxed stock/broth will do. My choice is the No Salt Added Beef Broth from Campbell's but you can use whichever you like, just watch the sodium levels. I am not a fan of bouillon cubes, canned broths or the bottom of the barrel - powdered stock from the bulk food stores. 

When a great stock can be so easy and inexpensive to make, it seems rather foolish to me not to do it and to instead ingest chemicals and imitation food.

I used my Cuisinart to process the onions as I had my son helping me and well, boys and power equipment - what can I say? There is a tricky bit to the operation and that is to not over process. Stop when the onion pieces are still a good size and only place one layer in the chopper at a time to ensure consistent size in the pieces. If you over process you will get onion puree which contains too much moisture to be able to brown.

A note on the pots to use:

You'll notice that I used saucepans for the individual servings and there is a reason for it. I don't own French Onion soup bowls. I should but I haven't gotten around to it as I don't make this often. I used corning ware style bowls before but they proved to be too small for a decent man-sized serving. This time I decided to hit the second hand stores to see if I could lay my hands on some of the Onion pots. I didn't have any luck but I noticed these small saucepans all about the same size and thought they would work. I was a bit concerned about the handles so I wrapped them in tinfoil to protect them, even though they would not have been in the oven long. They worked wonderfully. Although I plan to invest in some good earthenware soup bowls (which will also help with getting a better photo of this messy goodness), I am glad to have another option until that time. A little bit of ingenuity and flexibility go a long way so don't be afraid to improvise in the kitchen!

Putting it all together

4 very large sweet onions, chopped bite-sized
3 garlic cloves, minced or 
        1/2 tsp granulated garlic
butter
olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme, twice
1 tsp dried Herbes de Provence, twice
fresh ground pepper to taste
2 tsps demerrara sugar - I insist on this type as the molasses adds great depth of flavour :)
a couple of splashes of red wine, about 2 tbsps 
  
           *No wine? use some balsamic vinegar, just a splash or some of the beef stock/broth

3 boxes of beef stock/broth, 900mL each or
        11 cups homemade stock
large loaf of bread, large cubes
grated cheese, about two large handfuls + a bit per serving

Heat oil and butter; add one layer of onions to pan with a sprinkling of sugar. Once the onions soften and shrink, push them to one side of the pan. Add more butter if necessary, place raw onions onto the cleared side. Doing it this way ensures a constant rotation, making things go faster. Once the onions have been caramelized, add to soup pot. With the last batch of onions, add the garlic and herbs. Once they are done, add red wine to pan and scrape the bottom of all lovely stuck bits. Empty into soup pot. Add stock ; bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer and add second dose of herbs & pepper; cook for 20-30 minutes.

Prepare your pots by placing them on a baking tray (with sides). If you plan to really load the cheese on top of your soup, line the tray with tinfoil to catch the spills, otherwise don't bother. 
Drop a good handful of bread cubes into each pot and separate a ladle or two of onions from the broth and place in pot. Top with the broth. You will need quite a bit so don't be alarmed at the bowl of bread you seem to have. Just keep adding the soup to just below the rim of the bowl/pot. Add a few more bread cubes and sprinkle on the cheese. Place under broiler until bubbling and browned. Serve immediately. 

This will make anywhere from 5 man-sized servings to 7-8 more modest-sized servings, depending on the size of your bowl/pot. With the ones I used I ended up with leftovers for three of the modest-sized servings.




all photographs and text©michelle levasseur The Groaning Board 2014

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Say Cheese...one more time!

The festivities are over, the guests are gone and you are left with the task of wrapping up the cheese from your cheese board. What to do with it all?

You could constantly snack upon it until you and everyone else in the house are cheesed out. You could dig out and dust off the fondue set you inherited from your parents or if it was long enough ago, that you received at your wedding. You could have a blue cheese omelette for every meal for a week. You could try freezing some but soft and fresh cheeses suffer for it. Cheddar can be shredded and frozen but it is only suitable in cooked foods, like the fast and delicious soup recipe below. I'd go for the soup.

Quick and Easy: Cheese and Vegetable Soup


This soup is a great way to use up left over cheeses, like the ones I was left with after New Years Eve. While cheese soup isn't the most ideal food if you are needing to watch your fat intake, it is nutritious, easy-to-make, and kid friendly.

I used a Thornloe Blue, Monforte Tuscano hard sheep cheese, PC triple cream Brie, Camembert and some old Cheddar. Some cheeses melt better than others but, as is the case in the one I made, the ones that don't melt nicely can be scooped out with the spoon or a cracker; an extra bit of fun out of your food! So don't worry if it turns out funny--it's food not a fashion show, just eat it!

For the uber-fat conscious, (shouldn't be eating this anyway!) you can let it cool and remove the disc of fat off the top. Save the disc to use in cooking or to put a pat or two onto some vegetables. You can also skim the fat off while it's still hot if you are wanting to eat the soup straight away. Just be sure to save the hot fat in a mason jar for future use, when a cheese flavour would be compatible with what you are cooking.


4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into lardons
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 tbsp minced banana pepper
2 c thinly sliced cremini mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced  optional  (I didn't use any but of course it would go well. )
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
butter as needed
1 tbsp flour
1/4 c white wine
1 cup milk
6 - 8 c chicken stock, depending on your cheese amounts
800g - 1 kg cheese, shredded or diced
salt and pepper to taste
fresh herbs to finish

Heat up a large soup pot and drop the bacon into it. Cook until browned then add the onions. Lower the heat, cover and let cook for ten minutes. Add the pepper and the mushrooms and seasonings; cook 5 minutes longer.

Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes to remove the 'flour' taste. It may be necessary to add more fat to the pot before adding the flour.

Deglaze the pot with the white wine, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the stock and milk; bring up to heated. Add the cheese to the hot broth a little at a time, stirring to blend. Serve immediately upon all the cheese being melted. Top with some fresh basil or thyme or finely chopped flat leaf parsley.

Serve this rich and delicious soup with some whole grain bread or crackers and a fresh green salad (or one out of the bag, just try to avoid ones that have iceberg lettuce or add-ins. Iceberg lettuce is notorious for chemical use, poor handling conditions due to a low personnel: high product demand ratio and it is the most nutritiously defunct lettuce of them all. I stick with a blend of radicchio and romaine or even plain baby spinach and arugula mixed at home).

I reheated this the next day in the microwave and although it was separated, the oozy-gooey dollop of melted cheese at the bottom of the bowl was a simply wonderful treat after slurping up the very flavourful broth.

Quick and Easy: Artichoke Cream Cheese Pie

This is another recipe utilizing leftovers, my favourite kind of cooking--resourceful and creative! Here I used up the leftover artichoke hearts from the olive/pickle platter. Once you become experienced at leftover creations, you'll be able to purchase any ingredients you'll need for them beforehand. I knew there would be some food still so as I was shopping for those items I served at New Years, I had this idea in mind and picked up the phyllo dough, cream cheese and cream at the same time. Everything else I already had on hand which makes it not only an easy dish to make but inexpensive as well. This flan is very portable in spite of the fragility of phyllo dough and it is equally good cold as well as hot.

2/3 pkg of phyllo dough

10 thick cut slices of bacon, chopped

8 oz canned or deli-serve artichoke hearts, drained

8 oz block cream cheese

1/3 c Miracle Whip (or mayonnaise)

1/3 c 4% cottage cheese

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 onion, chopped small

1/4 c 18% cream

salt and pepper

1 tbsp dillweed

hot sauce (optional)

bacon drippings for phyllo sheets
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Sauté bacon until well browned. Drain and set aside.

In processor, pinch off chunks from the block of cream cheese. Whiz. Add artichokes, miracle whip, cottage cheese, parmesan, salt and pepper. Whiz. Turn out into a bowl. Add bacon and mix.

In a bowl, beat eggs and cream with the dill weed.

With a pastry brush and bacon drippings grease a springform pan. Lay a sheet of phyllo in the pan and brush with drippings. Keep layering and brushing, turning sheets 45 degrees each time until about 2/3 of the package is used. As you layer gently push dough into the pan to fit.

Add the egg mixture to the cream cheese mix and incorporate loosely. There should still be large chunks of cream cheese.

Pour out into the pan. Fold over the phyllo ends and brush with more drippings. Cover with foil and bake at 400 for about 35-45 minutes or until puffed and cooked through like a fritatta. 

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Beorc - Berkana

And so we begin again…

The Nordic Rune Beorc (also known as Berkana) represents the birch, a symbol of rebirth/renewal and is associated with spirituality

Welcome to the relaunch of my blog - yes, I did what I swore I wouldn't do, I became an absentee blogger for a year. Stopping went against the plan and indeed knowledge of my distraction from the blog lurked in the back of my mind like a guilty secret for most of the year. But I was riding the ADD rail and you don't usually get a choice of destination, you just hang on and hope to arrive intact. 

There has been a name change, a few template changes even though it does resemble the previous one, and there have been some removals of posts I didn't feel were a part of the original vision for the blog - just evidence of when I veered off course. However, the 'mission statement' and the heart and soul behind it remain unchanged. My statement is shop local, shop small, shop right with a sidebar of pragmatism I call 'just shut up and eat it'. Our attention is so taken up with the minutiae of food nutrition and health information that we lack focus on the truly pertinent details.

I am a firm advocate of small farms and markets, which you will see if you look at my earlier posts - markets that care about the quality of the foods they produce. The food that we obtain from the supermarkets typically contain 30-50% less nutrients than just a few generations ago and chemical usage is up to astronomical percentages. That was true when I first wrote about it and it remains true, sadly.

Most grains we ingest, knowingly and unknowingly, have been tampered with both genetically and in terms of what chemicals they have been exposed to as seed and seedling, all in the name of consistent profit for 'them' and health risks/ depleted genetic diversity for us and the plant kingdom.

Land that used to belong to small farms that could have remained in their and their descendants hands had the government chosen to support small businesses rather than persecute them, is now given over to Factory Food growers who push the land to its limits and beyond. The Powers that Be are handing over prime agro areas to foreign interests that in turn sell us what we could be doing for ourselves, all in the name of pandering to BigBusiness. (google Melanctin Ontario for a prime example of an attempt)

Diversification is slowly but steadily becoming a non-word, a non-issue as small producers of heritage breeds are being dogged and harassed out of business and this will continue until we have a perverse rendition of Noah's Ark occuring... We will have only one kind of chicken, one cow, one pig, one sheep and you will buy them from a BigBusiness grower. All heritage breeds will be lost to time and knowledge. This is not an issue for just farmers but for our own future. Heritage breed growers are the keepers of the past, not just for a euphemistic historical symbol but for the fact that they are not tampered with through scientific manipulation or through heavy chemical exposure. That surely is important enough to alarm everyone at the threat to their existence.

Unification is the goal. That is the plan, the ideal plan for a modern government. Diversification is expensive. Standardization, conformity and consistency is cheap - cheap to regulate, cheap to administer, cheap to enforce. 

If there are no choices, no 'wrong' choice can be made.

By making the choice to shop local and in season, by finding quality small markets for your shopping needs, you not only vote against Factory Food with your wallets, you gain a new perspective and appreciation for your food; gain a foothold to better health for you and your family; gain a greater involvement in your community and you keep the money circulating within your community. On a side note, by shopping local you help diminish the carbon footprint that our food shipping creates on a daily basis.

My goal remains the same - to share some pragmatism and hard won wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge is power. We should be and feel empowered, especially when it comes to our food sources.

 I wish to share my love of food, love of cooking and my love for learning. I admire those that live close to the land and live a life that is hard but rewarding in the sense of freedom that subsistent living can engender. In an ideal world, I would still be living a part of the life I had during my childhood. 

I would be growing my own food for my family, shopping at a neighbours for a side of beef and picking up what vegetables I didn't grow myself from a farmers market at the weekend. My bread would be hand made and filling the house with the yeasty smells of yesterday and made with unbleached locally milled flour. I would have a dairy room where I would make fresh and aged cheeses and a cold cellar where I would store my surplus foods for the winter. My canned and preserved goods would line the walls of the cellar, on their shelves, bright like jewels; standing like ceremonial and decorated soldiers. 

There are those that can live that life and I do so envy them for their determination, their drive, their ideals and their challenges. However, we all can't live that life, not unless necessity drives us there. Does that mean we can't live a better life than the one we are 'meant' to have in today's society? According to media we are supposed to shop Big, eat Big, drive Big and live Big or we are not patriotic, we don't support our countries. It is a load of codswallop but we are force-fed it nonetheless. The screaming fanatics from both sides of the issue would have you believe in an all or nothing campaign but I believe that we can live better in terms of our health and lifestyle choices that can blend with our budgets, time constraints and general level of interest. I don't believe in all or nothings, just win-wins. 

I want to show everyone that it is possible to be earth-friendly, wallet-friendly, and health-friendly while still living a modern lifestyle of your choice. I want to show you that food is our friend, our lifelong companion, our drug of choice, our survival kit, or arsenal if you will, for a long and enjoyable life.

Thank you for joining me :) You will notice changes occurring over the next few days/weeks as I find my footing again and begin walking in the direction that holds my destination. Thank you for coming along.

Be safe. Be happy. Be well.

Click below to read the recipes I just posted or move to the right to the Pages tab and click on the Home button to see all posts.
Meyer Lemon Chicken
The Hen Party
all photographs and text ©michelle levasseur The Groaning Board 2014

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