21 May 2013 Family, Friends and Food in Quebec

Family, Friends and Food in Quebec

May 21, 2013 By
Beet Salad

Beet Salad

Last weekend, I flew up to Quebec to surprise my dad for his birthday. As always, the weekend was filled with an abundance of food and adult libations.

Lobster Dinner

Lobster Dinner

Friday, the weather was nice and we opted to grill pork tenderloin kebabs that my brother-in-law, Etienne, had marinated in his special concoction a good part of the afternoon. Since it was also my mom’s birthday a couple days prior to my arrival, my nieces and me made my Chocolate Éclair Squares, an easy-to-fix, tasty and light dessert (perfect for Memorial Day celebrations).

Wines for Lobster Dinner

Wines for Lobster Dinner

Saturday, my sister Josée, her daughters and me decorated her home for dad’s party and began cooking for the memorable dinner party. On the menu was a springtime salad of roasted beets, heirloom tomatoes, red onions, Mozzarella and basil. My brother-in-law boiled some lobsters and made his now-famous Lemon Butter Cream for dipping – fantastic. Dessert was a plate of vanilla bean cupcakes and my Zesty Key Lime Tart (minus the meringue and topped with whipped cream instead). The wine lineup wasn’t half bad either.

Poutine

Poutine

Sunday morning, mom fixed us a big breakfast of eggs benedict with homefries and after spending the morning at our horse ranch, I headed back to the airport to catch my flight back to New Jersey. As I’ve grown accustomed to doing when I fly out of Quebec, I had a poutine to mark the end of my wonderful weekend.

Hope your weekend adventures were as delicious as mine were.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: American, Canadian, Chocolate, Cuisine Type, Culinary Travel Tales, Desserts, Entrees, Seafood, Sides, Vegetables Tagged With: , , , ,
13 May 2013 Cremini and Spinach Crustless Mini Quiches

Cremini and Spinach Crustless Mini Quiches

May 13, 2013 By

Crustless QuichesI’ve been doing the South Beach Diet for a few weeks and found that making breakfast from scratch each morning wasn’t very convenient so I started making crustless quiches for the whole week on Sunday afternoons and it’s been great.

While you can vary what vegetables and cheeses you add to the egg cups, this is one of the versions I enjoy the most. Feel free to serve with a little salsa – it’s delicious.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp. butter, divided
  • 1 8-ounce package Cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 10-ounce bag fresh baby spinach
  • 12 large eggs (sounds like a lot, but it’s really one egg per quiche)
  • ¼ cup water
  • ½ tsp. each salt and pepper
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Coat a 12 muffin pan with cooking spray, be generous.
  3. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes, until lightly golden, stirring frequently. Set aside.
  4. In the same skillet, melt the remaining butter and cook the spinach for 3 minutes, or until fully wilted. Set aside.
  5. In a large mixing bowl (I use an 8-cup measuring cup for easy pouring), whisk the eggs with the water, salt and pepper until fully blended, about 1 minute.
  6. Divide the mushrooms among the 12 muffin cups. Divide the spinach between the 12 muffin cups. Pour an equal amount of the egg mixture into the muffin cups over the vegetables. Sprinkle the cheese equally over the egg mixture.
  7. Place the muffin pan on a sheet tray to catch any drips and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the egg is no longer runny.
  8. Allow the quiches to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then unmold and let cool completely.
  9. Store in an airtight container. To reheat, place two quiches on a plate, cover with a paper towel and microwave for 60-90 seconds.

Makes 6 servings (2 quiches each).

Filed Under: American, Breakfast, Cheese, Eggs, Vegetables Tagged With: , , , , ,
17 April 2013 Hasselback Potatoes

Hasselback Potatoes

April 17, 2013 By

Hasselback PotatoesHasselback potatoes seem to be everywhere on Pinterest lately (are you following my boards on Pinterest?) and I loved the concept so I decided to use leftover cheeses from a recent cheese course to create my own version.

The accordion-fanned potatoes get their name from the Stockholm, Sweden restaurant that first served them – Restaurant Hasselbacken. While I use Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar and some aged Swiss cheese in this version, any kind of flavorful, melty cheese would work.

Ingredients:

  • 4 baking potatoes (I used Russets)
  • 1 stick of butter, very cold and cut into 16 slices
  • 1 8-ounce bar of cheese, cut into 16 slices
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 4 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 4 Tbsp. sour cream (optional)

Hasselback Potatoes 2Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Scrub the potatoes and pat them dry with paper towels.
  3. Using a sharp paring knife, carefully slice the potatoes very thinly, without cutting all the way through.
  4. Tuck butter and cheese slices into each of the slits in the potatoes. Sprinkle each potato with salt and drizzle with olive oil.
  5. Place the potatoes in a baking pan, cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 60 minutes or until tender. Remove the foil, baste potatoes with any butter that sits at the bottom of the pan and bake for an additional 15 minutes to crisp up the potato skins.
  6. Remove the potatoes from the oven and serve with sour cream (optional).

Makes 4 servings.

Filed Under: American, Cheese, Potatoes, Sides Tagged With: , , , ,
14 April 2013 Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache

April 14, 2013 By

Chocolate Bundt Cake SliceA couple weeks ago, the nice people at Laura Secord, Canada’s largest Chocolatier, sent me a gift basket (read about it here). In the basket were premium-quality semi-sweet chocolate chips that I decided to use to bake a cake worthy of Laura Secord’s 100th anniversary.

Cake Ingredients:

  • 2 ½ sticks butter, softened, divided
  • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Ganache Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, softened
  • ½ cup whipping cream

Chocolate Bundt CakeCake Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Using ½ stick of butter, completely coat the inside of a 10-12 cup Bundt cake pan. Using ¼ cup of flour, completely cover the butter in flour.
  3. Add the 2 sticks of butter, cocoa powder, water and salt to a small saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, cook the mixture until melted and combined. Set aside.
  4. Whisk together the 2 cups of flour, the sugar and the baking soda in a large bowl. Add the butter/cocoa mixture to the flour mixture and whisk to incorporate. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each one, until fully incorporated. Add the sour cream and the vanilla and whisk until smooth.
  5. Pour the cake batter into the Bundt pan. Sprinkle the chips in the batter around the cake and push them down towards the center, not allowing them to touch the pan walls. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
  6. Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Gently remove the cake from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Ganache Directions:

  1. Add 6 ounces of chocolate chips and the butter to a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes. Add the cream to the chocolate and butter and whisk until fully melted and smooth. Allow to cool for 2 minutes until the mixture has thickened slightly.
  2.  Pour the ganache over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides of the cake.
  3. Sprinkle the remaining chips over the ganache.

Serves 10.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts Tagged With: , , ,
31 March 2013 Chocolate Éclair Squares

Chocolate Éclair Squares

March 31, 2013 By

Eclair Bars 2Gooey éclair yumminess that you can eat with a fork!? Brilliant. Don’t feel like making pudding and whipped cream from scratch, no issues, just take a look at the “notes” section for shortcuts.

Pudding Mixture Ingredients:

  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • 2 cups of heavy or whipping cream

Chocolate Topping Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup cocoa
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Assembly Ingredients:

  • 1 – 14.5 ounce package of Graham crackers

Eclair BarsPudding Mixture Directions:

  1. Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it begins to simmer, about 2 minutes.
  2. Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. Add the sugar mixture to the hot milk stirring well until fully incorporated. Cook the milk mixture, stirring often, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3-4 minutes. Don’t allow to boil.
  3. Remove the pudding from the stove and add the vanilla and butter.
  4. Pour the pudding into a bowl, place a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the pudding and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.
  5. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the cream until stiff, about 4 minutes.
  6. Gently fold the whipped cream with the pudding until fully homogenous.

Chocolate Topping Directions:

  1. In a medium heavy saucepan, bring the cocoa, sugar and milk to a boil. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the stove and cool for one minute.
  2. Add the butter and vanilla to the chocolate mixture and stir until the butter is completely melted.

Assembly Directions:

  1. Place Graham crackers in a single layer on the bottom of a 9” x 13″ pan. Break crackers as need to cover the surface.
  2. Spoon and spread half of the pudding mixture over the Graham crackers. Add another layer of Graham crackers over the pudding then top with another layer of pudding then Graham crackers.
  3. Pour chocolate mixture over the top layer of Graham crackers.
  4. Refrigerate at least 12 hours.

Notes: If you want to skip a few steps, simply use two (3.5 ounce) boxes vanilla instant pudding mixed with 3 cups of milk to create the pudding then add a 12-ounce container or thawed whipped topping instead of whipping cream.

Makes 6-8 portions.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts, French Tagged With: ,
26 March 2013 Extreme Peanut Butter Cookies

Extreme Peanut Butter Cookies

March 26, 2013 By

Extreme Peanut Butter CookiesMy friend Kim was once again willing to share one of her tasty cookie recipes with me so I can loop all you peanut butter aficionados in on this simple recipe.

Ingredients:

  •  1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar or ½ cup honey
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 8-ounce bag of bite-sized Reese’s mini peanut butter cups

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 30 seconds.
  3. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and baking powder and 1 cup of the flour. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in remaining flour. Stir in mini peanut butter cups.
  4. Shape dough into 1½ inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Makes about 36 cookies.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts Tagged With: , , ,
5 March 2013 Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

March 5, 2013 By

Cookie BrowniesI’ve been seeing a few cookie brownies recipes popping up on Pinterest and decided to use my Ghirardelli Dark Fudgy Brownies and my Crispy Chewy Triple Chip Cookies to make my own creation.

Ingredients:

Cookie Brownies 2Directions:

  1. Make the brownie batter according to the recipe then pour the batter into a greased 8×8 pan.
  2. Make the cookie dough according to the recipe and instead of scooping onto baking sheets, drop cookie dough by the tablespoons onto the brownie batter. Cookie dough should cover most of the surface of the brownies. Using a knife, gently push the cookie dough into the brownie batter. Cookies should not be covered in batter.
  3. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cool completely and cut into squares.

Makes 16 cookie brownies.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts Tagged With: , , ,
2 March 2013 Easy Flourless Chocolate Cake

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cake

March 2, 2013 By

Flourless Chocolate CakeI love a richly-chocolaty cake. This cake doesn’t have fancy frosting or 3 cake layers, it’s simply dense, moist chocolate decadence. Yeah, I know I’m calling it “flourless” when it has a tablespoon of flour in it – what can I say?

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp. butter, softened
  • 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • 1 tsp. granulated sugar
  • 4 Tbsp. butter, cut in a few pieces
  • 3 ½ ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • ½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. powdered sugar
  • ½ cup almond flour*
  • 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

Flourless Chocolate Cake SliceDirections:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
  2. Butter an 8-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and dust with cocoa powder.
  3. In the clean bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the teaspoon of sugar until medium-stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.
  4. In a medium bowl, microwave the butter and the chocolate for 60 seconds, stirring after 30 seconds. If the chocolate isn’t fully melted after 60 seconds, heat for up to an additional 30 seconds, stirring after 15 seconds.
  5. Using a hand whisk, add the egg yolks, one at a time, to the chocolate mixture. Add the ½ cup powdered sugar, the almond flour and the all-purpose flour to the chocolate mixture and whisk to fully combine.
  6. Gently whisk 2 tablespoons of the egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten it. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the remaining egg whites into the chocolate – do not over mix as the batter will deflate.
  7. Pour the batter into the tart pan and bake for 16 – 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes then loosen it out of the tart pan. Dust with powdered sugar.

Serves 8.

Notes: Almond flour should be relatively easy to find at your local grocery store, but if not, don’t fret! Here’s an easy way to get ½ cup of almond flour for this recipe: Add 1 cup of whole, unsalted almonds to a small food processor and pulse until the almonds are very finely ground. Push the ground almonds through a fine sieve.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts, French Tagged With: , ,
26 February 2013 Madeleine Cookies

Madeleine Cookies

February 26, 2013 By

MadeleineAt work, it’s sort of customary for me to bring treats for the guys in the warehouse during the last few days of the month as they work exhaustively to get all the last minute orders out.

This past month, Kayla, who works on my team, made scrumptious Madeleines as she’s recently gotten a Madeleine pan and wanted to try it out. Below is the AllRecipes.com version she used.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp. lemon zest
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ cup butter, melted and cooled

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour twenty-four 3-inch Madeleine molds.
  2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, vanilla and lemon zest with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Beat for 5 to 7 minutes or until thick and satiny.
  3. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Sift one-fourth of the flour mixture over the egg mixture, gently fold in. Fold in the remaining flour by fourths. Then fold in the melted and cooled butter. Spoon batter into the prepared molds, filling 3/4 full.
  4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden and the top s spring back. Cool in molds on a rack for 1 minute. Loosen cookies with a knife. Invert cookies onto a rack and cool. Sift confectioners’ sugar over the tops or melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and dip the tips in the chocolate. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 24 cookies.

Filed Under: American, Desserts, French Tagged With: , ,
17 February 2013 Candy Bar Cookies

Candy Bar Cookies

February 17, 2013 By

Candy Bar Cookies - 2I’m a big fan of Milky Way candy bars, so my friend Kim posted a recipe for Candy Bar Cookies using Milky Ways, I was intrigued. Using Nestle Chocolate Chip Cookie dough (less the chocolate chips) as the base for the cookies, she incorporates chopped Milky Way and Snickers in the dough in place of the usual chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

  • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 4 Milky Way candy bars, chopped
  • 2 Snickers candy bars, chopped

Candy Bar Cookies - 021713Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
  2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in the chopped candy bars pieces. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
  3. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 5-10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts Tagged With: , ,
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