Cassoulet

A cassoulet is a hearty French stew with an assortment of delicious meats...usually pork belly, duck confit and Toulouse sausages. I had it at our favourite French restaurant in Toronto and tried to make a simpler version while replicating the same flavours at home. It turned out really well and the flavours were very similar to the restaurant's version. Next time I feel ambitious, I will attempt to make my own duck confit! It would totally make this dish shine.

Ingredients

4-5 Toulouse sausages (or Oktoberfest, or Bratwurst...choose somewhat smokey sausages)

2 medium onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can tomatoes

1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)

1 sprig fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp dried)

pinch ground cloves

1 can white beans

2 slices french bread diced small

1 tbsp olive oil

1 extra clove garlic minced

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Directions

Fry sausage in a skillet until brown on all sides and cooked through. Remove from pan and add onions and garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and herbs and season with salt and pepper. Slice the sausages and add to the skillet along with the white beans. Simmer mixture for 15-20 minutes to allow flavour to develop. Meanwhile, toss diced bread in olive oil and garlic and bake on a cookie sheet at 400F for 10 minutes (watch to make sure they don't burn!). Serve cassoulet in French onion soup bowls or mini casserole dishes and top with the garlic toasted bread crumbs and fresh parsley.

Boeuf Bourgignon

I'm not a huge fan of stews, but this one is just sooooooo yummy. Who wouldn't enjoy tender meat slowly simmered in red wine? I decided to serve this with a baked potato only because I didn't want to wash another pot to make mashed potatoes. It turned out to be an excellent accompaniment. This is French comfort food at its finest.

Ingredients

4 slices bacon, chopped

1 lb cubed beef

2 Tbsp flour

1 large carrot diced

1 large onion diced

1 clove garlic minced

1 bottle red wine (minus a glass or 2!)... preferably Burgundy but any will do

1 bay leaf

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 container button mushrooms quartered and sautéd in butter

beurre manie (1 tbsp butter kneaded with 1 tbsp flour) - optional

Directions

In a large pot on medium heat, fry chopped bacon until crisp. Set cooked bacon aside on a plate with paper towel.

Meanwhile, toss beef cubes in flour in a bag until coated.

Fry beef in batches in the bacon fat until beef is brown on each side. Place fried beef on paper towel and season with salt and pepper.

If you need more oil at this point, add some olive oil to the pot and sauté onions, carrot and garlic until softened.

Deglaze pot with the wine making sure to scrape the brown bits in the bottom of the pot. Add the bay leaf, thyme, tomato paste and season with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour and a half or until the beef is fork tender.

Half an hour before serving, sauté mushrooms in butter in a separate skillet until golden brown then add to the pot. If sauce needs thickening (and if you want that 'certain je ne sais quoi...'), add the beurre manie and cook for 15 minutes more.

Serve with a baked potato (scrubbed, pierced and baked straight on the oven rack for 45 mins at 400F)

Prosciutto, Spinach & Artichoke Quiche

Quiche always reminds me of my Grandma. It was always the TOP dish I'd ask for when visiting her home in Montreal for the summer. She always made her quiche with ham, mushrooms and cheese, but I've since experimented with different ingredients.



Ingredients
9 inch pie shell (homemade or frozen)
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 small onion diced finely
2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
4 large artichoke hearts chopped (canned in water)
3-4 slices prosciutto chopped
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
1. While pie shell is defrosting, beat 3 eggs with milk, dijon mustard cornstarch and cayenne pepper.
2. Layer onion, spinach, artichokes, prosciutto in pie shell and top with cheese.
3. Pour egg mixture slowly into the pie over filling ensuring that everything becomes moistened with the eggs.
4. Bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes or until eggs are set and wait 5-10 minutes before slicing

Dinner & Dessert Crepes

Today Sarah and I got together before home church and made a batch of crepes. We made savoury crepes for ourselves for dinner and then served sweet crepes to our home church for dessert.

It was a lot of fun cooking together, and since Sarah is an experienced professional pastry chef, she was able to delicately flip the crepes easily with her fingertips! I almost burned myself twice, but she made me try it anyway! I love how she is so tactile with her food. There is something much more loving about using your hands instead of utensils as much as possible when cooking (and eating!)



Ingredients
1 cup flour
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter

Directions
Put all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides occasionally.
Strain the batter through a sieve to remove any lumps.
Let batter rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Heat a non-stick skillet on medium heat and pour a small amount of batter in the centre and swirl around to coat the skillet.
When the crepes start to get golden around the edges, carefully flip the crepe.
Stack crepes on a plate and cover with foil to warm in the oven until ready to serve.
Top with your favourite ingredients...either savoury or sweet.



Ham, Asparagus, Mushroom and Havarti Cheese Filling

Ingredients (for 3 crepes):
1/2 small onion diced
9 small button mushrooms sliced
9 asparagus spears cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp butter
1/4 tsp dried thyme
9 slices of Havarti cheese
3 slices of smoked ham

Directions
Saute diced onion, mushrooms and asparagus spears in butter until softened. Season with salt, pepper and thyme.
Put filling in centre of crepe, top with smoked ham and Havarti cheese, and roll.

For an extra French twist, you can top the crepes with a simple bechamel sauce, but we ate our crepes just as shown below (but rolled up) and they were still delicious!



We tried to make some smaller crepes for dessert, but it was difficult to swirl in such a large pan, so we ended up with 'abstract shaped artistic crepes.'


For the dessert crepes we topped them with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, dulce de leche, sliced strawberries and bananas.

As you can see...our home church really loved them!