Pouding Chomeur, also known as Maple Syrup Buttermilk Pudding

Looks innocuous right? Wrong. It induces comas.

One of the many wonderful things about spring in Canada is the fresh maple syrup that is readily available. I’m addicted to it. My grandmother, equally prone to addiction it seems, used to serve bowls of it for dessert accompanied by white bread and butter. This maple pudding is a slight variation on the straight-up-bowl-of-syrup theme. 

It’s also known as pouding chômeur, (literally unemployment pudding or poor man's pudding), which is somewhat ironic given that buying maple syrup these days is akin to purchasing liquid gold. Notwithstanding the cost of the ingredients, having received the recipe from my sister who found it in the Ottawa Citizen, I could hardly wait to get the pudding into the oven and then into my mouth. My husband told me it was the best dessert I’d ever made. He ate about two pounds of it prior to falling into a deep comatose-like sleep.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/3 cups of dark amber maple syrup

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons of unsalted, room temperature, butter

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons of baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• a pinch of mace (unbelievably, I had some available)

• 1 large egg plus another egg yolk

• 1/3 cup buttermilk (or use plain yogurt cut with water)

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 2/3 cup sugar

Methods: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter an 8 inch square glass or ceramic baking dish. In a medium saucepan, boil the maple syrup over a medium heat until it is reduced to 1 cup. This takes about 6 minutes. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of butter then place the butter-syrup mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, mace and baking powder. In a second small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: the whole egg and additional egg yolk, the buttermilk and vanilla. In a large bowl, mix the remaining stick of butter with the sugar until creamed. At a low speed mix in the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the liquid ingredients until the batter is smooth. Evenly dollop heaping tablespoons of the batter on top of the maple syrup. Bake the pudding for 35 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and an inserted toothpick comes out cleanly. Let it cool before eating or risk 3rd degree burns.

New York Times Polenta with Mushrooms

So I'm on a listserve for the New York Times Cooking column which means I routinely receive great photos for yummy looking food in my inbox. Like polenta with mushrooms. This recipe, although tasty enough, served to confirm the fact that polenta is not for me. It's corn mush in my books, basically because it's made of corn and it's mushy. Give me some sauteed mushrooms on toast any day.

Ingredients:

•          1 ¾ cups polenta or cornmeal
•          4 tablespoons unsalted butter, or to taste
•          1 tablespoon grated Parmesan, or to taste
•          ½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
•          5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pats, divided
•          1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
•          8 ounces fresh mushrooms, wild or cultivated, sliced thin
•          1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
•          1 tablespoon soy sauce
•          1 tablespoon heavy cream
•          1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
•          Freshly ground black pepper

·     Methods: 

       Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover them with about 1/2 cup boiling water. Allow to steep for 20 minutes. Remove the rehydrated mushrooms, pat dry, then chop roughly. Reserve the mushroom stock.

       Make the polenta as per the directions on the package of cornmeal you have purchased. The NYTimes instructions were overly complex in my view. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter and the parmesan. Taste for seasoning. 

       Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a sauté pan set over high heat until it has melted. Add the garlic and cook until it starts to sizzle without letting it brown. Add the fresh and reconstituted mushrooms and thyme to the pan, and sauté 3 to 4 minutes, turning until browned. Add about 1/4 cup of the mushroom stock to deglaze the surface, using a wooden spoon to scrape at the browned bits. Allow the stock to reduce by half, then turn the heat to medium-low and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, along with the soy sauce, cream and olive oil. Allow the  mixture to cook until it thickens a little. Taste for seasoning, adding black pepper, if desired. Put the polenta in a warmed bowl, then top with mushrooms and the sauce. Serve immediately

Chicken Marbella

Given it was mere days ago that I toured the picturesque Andalusian town of Marbella located on Spain's Costa del Sol, I thought it a perfect time to recycle this recipe. The version you see here is from the Silver Palate cookbook. This recipe generously feeds 10 to 12 but can easily be divided to make smaller amounts. Olé! 

Ingredients:

• 4 chickens, 2 ½ pounds each, quartered (or just a bunch of thighs)

• 4 to 6 cloves of garlic (to taste), peeled and finely pureed

• 1/8 cup of dried oregano

• ½ cup red wine vinegar

• ½ cup olive oil

• ½ cup pitted Spanish green olives

• ½ cup capers with a bit of juice

• 6 bay leaves

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 cup white wine

• ¼ cup Italian parsley or cilantro, finely chopped

• 1 cup pitted prunes or dried apricots or ½ cup of both (dried mangoes are also an option)

• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Methods:
In a large bowl combine the chicken, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, vinegar, olive oil, olives, dried fruit, capers and bay leaves. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350º F. and arrange the chicken in a large shallow roasting pan in a single layer. Sprinkle chicken evenly with brown sugar and pour the white wine into the pan. Baste frequently during the baking process, which will take 50 – 60 minutes. The chicken is done when the juices run clear from the thigh of the chicken when pierced with the end of a sharp knife. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter, using a slotted spoon to capture the olives, capers and fruit to place on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro or parsley. The remaining juices can be placed in a sauce boat or pitcher. I served this dish with rice but couscous would be equally appropriate. Also good served at room temperature.

This recipe uses breasts and thighs. However, my sister-in-law uses smaller bite-sized pieces of chicken to make this meal easier to eat at a party where people may be dining while standing.

Roasted Baby Root Vegetables

This 'salad' is a slight variation of a recipe in Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen cookbook. Basically, I left out the quinoa that she put in. By the way, it was the first time I had tried roasting radishes....and hey, they're not just for raw veggie trays anymore.



I served this dish at room temperature but suspect it is equally good if served warm or cold.



Ingredients:

• 3 small shallots
• olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 pounds of mixed root vegetables ( I use baby turnips, radishes, potatoes and carrots)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar plus more for finishing
• 2 big pinches of coarse salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• pepper

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the shallots and separate the cloves. Place the shallots in a square of aluminum foil, coat with olive oil, then wrap the foil around the cloves to create a packet and place it in the oven.

Arrange the rest of the vegetables in one layer on a baking sheet and coat them with olive oil. Squeeze lemon juice over the vegetables and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place the vegetables into the oven with the packet of shallots and roast until tender and slightly caramelized. (Perhaps 30 minutes). 

Remove the vegetables from the oven and set aside. Toss the cooked shallots into a blender along with the sherry and balsamic vinegars, and salt and pepper. Drizzle in the olive oil and blend thoroughly. Adjust the seasonings to taste, then spoon the vinaigrette over the vegetables. I finished the dish before serving with some drops of reduced balsamic vinegar. 

Sausage, spinach and parsley risotto

Sam Sifton of the New York Times  proposed this risotto as a good workday meal in the Cooking section of his esteemed paper. He suggested kale for the greenstuff, which I have revised to spinach. So, this was tasty. Not as tasty as my lemon risotto, but tasty nonetheless.

 Ingredients:

•         1 ½ pounds sweet or hot Italian sausage

•         2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

•          ½ teaspoon kosher salt

•          Freshly ground black pepper to taste

•         5 to 6 cups chicken stock, ideally homemade

•          1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

•         1 large onion, peeled and diced

•          1 ½ cups Arborio rice

•          ½ cup dry white wine

•          ½ cup packed and roughly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

•         ½ of 1 lemon

•          2 cups baby spinach or kale leaves

•          ½ cup finely chopped Italian parsley leaves

Methods:

After removing the skin of the sausages, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and saute it for about 10 minutes in a large heavy skillet in the olive oil. Remove the sausage from the pan, leaving the rendered fat in the pan. 

Pour the stock into a medium saucepan or pot, and bring it to a low simmer. While the stock heats, return the skillet to medium-low heat and add 1 tablespoon butter. When the butter foams, add the diced onion, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it is soft and translucent. Add the rice, and stir until it's well coated. Stir until translucent, an additional 5 to 7 minutes.

Raise the heat under the rice to medium, and add the wine to the skillet. Stir until wine is absorbed, then reduce the heat slightly. Begin adding ladles full of hot broth to the rice, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding the next. Cook the rice until it is tender but slightly chewy, approximately 20 to 30 minutes. If additional liquid is needed, you can use boiling water. 

Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the cheese, sausage and baby spinach. Squeeze the lemon over the rice, and then mound the risotto on a large, warmed bowl. Scatter the parsley over the top, and serve immediately, with more grated Parmesan on the side.

Cabin Fever Frittata

Every February for the past many decades an antique show by the name of Cabin Fever rolls into town. After the feverish first few hours of the show, my husband and several friends manage to tear themselves away to break for brunch.

Frittata is a useful item for a brunch menu given it doesn't have to be served as soon as it is cooked, and in my experience, people (like my husband) are often late for brunch. The basic recipe of onion, eggs and milk can be modified in any number of ways by adding pretty much anything that appeals to you. For example, various shredded cheeses, diced fresh or sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, cooked potatoes, cooked asparagus, cooked sausage, or fried bacon. The list of potential ingredients is endless.

Although the frittata is quick and easy to make, I was serving a number of items at brunch and so was getting a head start on food prep the night before the antique show. As such, I washed and sliced the leeks into small discs, covered the bowl, placed it in the fridge and went to bed. I left my husband's supper warming in the oven since he was eating late. When asked the next morning how he enjoyed his meal, he said it was lovely although he found the salad a bit odd and one dimensional. Since I had not made him a salad, I had no idea what he had consumed. His description of a bowlful of "green round things" did not clarify the matter. 

As it turns out my previous night's food prep had been for nought, since my husband had eaten the bowlful of raw leeks the night before. Apparently, with poppy seed dressing.

 Basic Frittata Ingredients:

• 8 large eggs

• 1/2 cup milk

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1/2 cup of diced onions 

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

My Frittata Customization:
I used 10 eggs and slightly more milk. Used sauteed leeks rather than onions. My flavour additions were 140 grams of smoked Coho salmon, 130 grams of chevre, and about a quarter cups of chopped fresh dill weed.

Methods: 
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 
In a 10-inch heatproof skillet (I used my trusty cast iron pan), saute the diced onion in the oil over a medium heat. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl (don't over whisk), then add the milk, salt and pepper. Stir the salmon, cheese and dill into the egg mixture, our into the ovenproof skillet, and cook on the stove for about 5 minutes until the edges of the frittata start to pull away from the pan. Place the frittata in the oven and cook for another 18 minutes, or until set. It can be eaten warm or at room temperature.

Gigot de Sept Heures... Yep, that's seven hour lamb

I've forgotten in which publication I found this recipe but I do know that its author is a fellow by the name of David McMillan. No one will ever accuse you of under cooking this lamb. A very tasty one-pot wonder.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups dry navy beans

• one 5 to 6 pound lamb leg

• 4 cloves garlic, 2 of which are sliced

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves

• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

• 1 Tbsp kosher salt

• pepper to taste

• 3 onions sliced

• 5 carrots cut into 2 inch pieces

• 2 ribs of celery cut into 2 inch pieces

• 2 bay leaves

• approximately 2 cups water

• 1 Tbsp tomato paste

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Place the dry beans in a bowl and cover them with cold water. Set aside.

Using a sharp knife cut slits in the lamb leg and insert the pieces of sliced garlic (2 cloves). Combine the olive oil, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl and rub the resultant paste all over the lamb leg.

Place the remaining 2 garlic cloves and the vegetables in a roasting pan that is just larger than the leg. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Add the bay leaves and about 1 cup of water to the pan. Place the leg of lamb on the vegetables and roast for 1 hour at 375 degrees F.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 280 degrees F. Drain the beans and add them to the bottom of the pan along with the tomato paste and return everything to the oven. Continue roasting for another 6 hours or so, checking to make sure the bottom of the pan does not dry out. Add water in half cup increments as necessary.  About halfway through the roasting, grasp the leg by its bone and flip it to ensure even browning. Continue roasting until the lamb is deeply browned on all sides and the beans are tender.