With Passover fast approaching, we thought we should ask our friend Norene Gilletz of Gourmania.com for some traditional recipes. She suggested this apple Kugel and I’m glad to report that it’s simply delicious. 
Ingredients
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 c sugar
6 apples, peeled and grated
1/4 cup matzo meal
juice of 1 lemon
1 c dried apricots, cut up
2 tbsp sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs with sugar, mix well. Add apples, matzo meal and lemon juice. Mix until smooth. Soak apricots in hot water for 5 minutes, then drain.
Spray a 7×11 pyrex casserole dish (Virginie’s note: I used individual ramekins, baked them for 45 minutes) with non-stick spray. Spread half of the mixture on the pan. Add the apricots in a single layer over the batter. Top with remaining apple mixture. Spread evenly. Sprinkle cinnamon with sugar mixture. Bake for about an hour, until golden.
This recipe comes from Healthy Helpings by Norene Gilletz (formerly published as MealLeaniYumm!)
Note
. If you are not making this for passover, or are not jewish and can mix dairy with your meal, try it with a vanilla custard sauce. It’s divine!
March 4, 2014 | Posted in:
Coq-au-vin
This is one of those recipes that I often make, but never with an actual recipe! It’s a no-fail favorite with friends and family!
Ingredients
8 oz (1 package) sliced mushrooms- cremini works best!
50g pancetta- diced
10 pearl onions
1 tsp butter
1 tsp fresh thyme
2 tbsp butter
9 chicken thighs
1/4 cup flour
1 bottle red wine
Preparation Instructions
Melt 1 tsp butter in a heavy bottom pan. Brown mushrooms, pancetta and pearl onions. Remove from heat. Dredge chicken in flour. Brown in additional butter. Add fresh thyme. Return mushrooms, pancetta and onion to the pan. Add wine. Turn heat down and simmer 1 hour, or until chicken is cooked through and soft.
Although it’s not the traditional way to serve it, I love serving Coq-au-vin on cheesy egg noodles. I find Gruyere or Emmenthal cheese has the best flavor to accompany the sauce, but swiss cheese works just as well!
March 3, 2014 | Posted in:
Banana Caramel Napoleon
Here’s a quick and easy four ingredient recipe (five if you count the optional rum!) that you can throw together in a flash. It’s sure to impress guests!
Ingredients
1/4 package of frozen puff pastry
4 ripe bananas
1/2 cup Dulce de Leche
1 tsp rum (optional)
1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped
1/4 cup sugar
Preparation Instructions
Thaw puff pastry, roll out, and cut into 2″ squares. Bake according to package instructions. Let cool completely.
Cut bananas into slices or quarters. Place in a saucepan with Dulce de Leche and rum. Heat until boiling, and let boil 3 minutes.
Whip cream until almost stiff. Add sugar and continue whipping.
To assemble Napoleons, pull one puff pastry square in half. Layer warm bananas, whipped cream, and pastry top. Top with more whipped cream and drizzle caramel sauce over top.
Hint: Puff pastry makes a wonderful topping for a meat pie. I often use if when I’m making leftover chicken or turkey pot pie…
February 13, 2014 | Posted in:
Parmesan mushroom salad
Every time I go out for Italian food, I end up ordering some variation of this salad, so I thought it was time I developed my own recipe for it so I can enjoy it at home too! I’m happy to report this version does not disappoint!! I’ve listed the ingredients to serve 2, but this is the type of thing that’s easily cut down or increased to feed as many as you need.
Ingredients
4 oz mixed mushrooms (cremini, oyster, shitake are good)
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp truffle oil
1/4 cup grated good quality parmesan cheese
2 tblsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
2 cups mixed greens, like arugula, baby spinach or dandelion leaves
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to broil. Wash the mushrooms and slice them roughly. Toss mushrooms with 2 tsp olive and truffle oils. Coat with grated parmesan cheese. Transfer the mushrooms to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place under the broiler (not at the top rack or they will burn) and cook 4 minutes. Take out of the oven, stir, and return to broiler for an additional 4 minutes.
While the mushrooms are browning, mix olive oil, vinegars and salt and pepper in a bowl to make a dressing. When the mushrooms come out of the oven, toss the greens in the dressing. Plate onto two plates, and top with warm mushrooms. Note: This salad comes together at the last minute as you need to plate it right away once you’ve dressed it. The vinegar in the dressing bruises the baby greens quickly, and once you put the hot mushrooms on, they will start to wilt. Using strong greens like arugula and spinach makes for a nice warm salad.
February 12, 2014 | Posted in:
Garlic and chorizo shrimp
There’s definitely something decadent about shrimp – maybe it has to do with peeling the shells before popping them into one’s mouth and having to use your fingers as part of the eating experience. This recipe is so intensely flavored that it just seemed a natural choice for part 2 of our valentine’s day menu.
Ingredients
3 heads of garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 chorizo sausage, thinly sliced
1 lb large shrimp, frozen, uncooked, with or without peel, thawed
2 tblsp olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 chopped flat leaf parsley
dash of tabasco
salt and pepper
Preparation Instructions
Heat oil in large frying pan. Add garlic and cook about 1minute, being careful not to burn it. Add chorizo sausage. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add shrimp and cooked until almost cooked- about 4-5 minutes. Add white wine, and continue cooking until the shrimp are cooked through. Add tabasco, salt and pepper and parsley.
Serve on top of creamy polenta for an especially decadent meal, or simply with baguette (and cold cutter) to soak the sauce.
February 6, 2014 | Posted in:
Decadent molten chocolate cake
I grew up knowing this cake as Flourless Chocolate Cake, so was amused as an adult to learn that it actually does have flour in it! It’s a rich, thick cake that’s almost like a brownie, delicious served with custard sauce, raspberries, whipped cream, or just plain.
A glass of bubbly is always nice on the side too!
Ingredients
6 oz good quality baking chocolate (dark, not milk)
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 320. Grease and flour an 8 or 9″ pan.
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Add butter and stir until melted. Beat egg yolks with sugar until soft ribbon forms. Add to chocolate mix and stir. Add flour and mix.
Beat egg whites until smooth. Gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture.
Bake 40 minutes, or until just set.
February 3, 2014 | Posted in:
Slow cooker chicken soup with garlic
There is a soup from the Provence, in the south of France, that is made by boiling garlic in chicken stock, and then serving the mashed garlic on a toast floating in the soup. It’s a traditional winter soup that I loved as a kid. I’ve adapted this to the North American chicken soup we all love, and thrown it all in the slow cooked for simplicity. I’m happy to report my kids love it too!
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, breasts removed (I save them for another dish- they just don’t add much in the slow cooker)
2 small turnips, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2″ cubes
1 large potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 small onion, peeled
1/2 head of garlic, cloves removed but not peeled
2 sprigs of fresh thyme, or 1 tsp ground
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp dill
2 whole cloves
(you can add 2 pieces of celery if you like- I actually don’t like the taste of celery!)
salt
8 slices of toasted baguette, or artisanal crackers
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Preparation Instructions
Place the chicken into a slow cooker. Add turnips, carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, herbs and spices and 6 cups of cold water. Cook 6 hours on high. Let cool.
Take out the peppercorns, coriander and cloves from the soup. Remove the chicken, and pull the meat off of the carcass, the return the meat to the soup. Mash the garlic cloves, (you can just slip them out of the their skins and squash them with a spoon) and return to soup. Season with salt.
To serve, heat soup, and ladle into bowls. with meat and vegetables. Top each bowl with one slice of baguette, toasted with 2 tsp of parmesan cheese over top, or crackers, and cheese sprinkled on top.
Note: I add a squeeze of Sriracha to the soup too! But I like strong flavors!
January 29, 2014 | Posted in:
Madeleines
These buttery treats are half way between a cake and a cookie. They were made famous by the french writer Proust, who is whisked away to his childhood by the their heavenly taste. In the “madeleine incident”, as it’s known to the literati, they are remembered as being dunked in linden tea, although I think coffee would work just as well! If you can’t get your hands on a madeleine pan, the bottom of a muffin tin makes tiny little cakes that are just as good!
Ingredients
2 eggs
10 tbsp melted butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup flour
grated zest from half a lemon
pinch of salt
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 375.
Whisk the egg in a bowl. Slowly add the melted butter and whisk until blended. Add the sugar and mix for about a minute.
Add the vanilla and lemon zest. Mix.
Add the flour and pinch of salt and mix until smooth.
Bake 12-15 minutes, depending on which pan you are using.
Thank you to my friend Nancy Wigston for sharing her recipe!
January 24, 2014 | Posted in:
Slow cooker Moroccan chicken stew
My french grandmother made the very best “couscous” in the world. She would work for days preparing everything, slowly steaming the semolina before rubbing it with butter between her fingers. I’m not sure she would approve of my slow cooker adaptation of her recipe! But why spent 10 hours doing something when you can get it done in 30 minutes with equally delicious results?!
Ingredients
1 chicken, cut up into pieces, or two breasts, two legs, bone in
2 lamb shoulder chops
2 tblsp olive oil
1 leek, whites only, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 carrot, peeled cut into large chunks
2 turnips, peeled and cut into quarters
2 zucchini, cut into large chunks
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1 small can of chick peas
1 tblsp and 2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cloves
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation Instructions
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet. Brown chicken and lamb and then place in slow cooker.
In the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the leeks, garlic, carrots and turnips. Fry for about five minutes. Add spices, continue to cook while stirring 5 minutes.
Add broth, stir, and pour contents into slow cooker.
Set slow cooker on high for 4 hours. After 2 hours, open slow cooker and add zucchini and chick peas.
Serve on a bed of cousous (I prepare it by placing it in a shallow bowl and pouring hot water over top, letting it sit then fluffing it with a fork. A dash of with “Harrissa” spice (if you can find it, otherwise chili powder would work) on top is delicious!
January 22, 2014 | Posted in:
Slow cooker beef shank pasta sauce
I added red wine and black olives to this stew-like pasta sauce to crank up the fullness of the flavor, but my kids loved it too!
Ingredients
2 large beef or veal shanks
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup red wine
2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 tsp dried
32 oz or 1 quart of canned crushed tomates (I used the home-made sauce I made this summer in this video!)
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation Instructions
Roughly chop the onion and garlic. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Brown the onion and garlic, about 3-5 minutes, until translucent. Add the shanks and brown on both sides (about 3 minutes a side). Add red wine and cook 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and seasoning. Transfer to slow cooker. Cook on high heat for 6 hours. Remove the shanks and shred the meat. Return to sauce.
(I ended up refrigerating the sauce for a couple of days, and it only got more delicious!).