Tartignole aux pommes (apple pancake)

A dish from northern France, from among the "Ch'ti", it's like a Tarte Tatin but as a pancake. I don't know what to say. It's really good! My ancestors may have originated from this area, and over the generations made their way down to central France before making their way West to the coast, and finally over to l'île d'Orléans as early settlers. Knowing that my family are settlers in New France makes me wonder about my own indigeneity, and what wisdom my ancestors can transmit through traditional regional foods.

4 servings

150g flour

3/4 tsp baking powder (1/2 tsp = more custard, 1 tsp=more cake)

Optional, 1 Tbsp sugar

1 pinch salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup water

2 lrg apples, peeled, quartered and sliced thick (300 to 500 g)

40 g BROWN sugar

1 Tbsp calvados, brandy, or 1/2 tsp cinnamon or Poudre Douce)

40 g butter + 10 g

15g white sugar

To serve, plain or drizzle with maple syrup, or yogurt, chocolate, apple butter

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, water, and salt. Stir the batter very well. Let it rest while preparing the apples.
2. Put the prepared apples in a bowl and mix together with the sugar and flavoring (liquor or spice), to coat.
3. Melt the 40g of butter at medium-high heat. When the butter begins to froth, reduce the temperature to Medium, add the apple mixture, spread evenly across the pan and let it cook for 2 minutes. 
4. Flip the apples to cook the second side. As soon as you've flipped all the pieces, pour the batter over the apple and cook on Low for 5-6 minutes or until the top is almost set. Put a lid on top to make this happen faster.
5. As the first side is cooking and the top is just starting to set, sprinkle the 15g of sugar on top.
6. Meanwhile, grease a dinner plate with the 10g of butter for the next step, reserving any leftover butter to add to the pan for the flip (next step).
7. When the bottom of the pancake is brown, make sure it's loose from the pan, perhaps by running a spatula underneath it. Upturn the plate on top of the pancake, hold firm with your hand, grab the handle of the pan and flip the pancake onto the plate. Remove the pan. The pancake should just drop onto the plate
8. Set the pan back on the stove-top, add the remaining butter to melt in the pan and slide the pancake back in to finish. Cook the second side for about 3 to 4 minutes to get another nice brown crust. 

Chickpea and Bean Dahl

Just so you know what to look for in terms of a final result with this dish, the split peas should completely break down and join the cream to make a thick sauce in which are swimming the chickpeas and the beans. If the beans are breaking down a bit, that's not a bad thing. Served as a dal with an Indian meal accompanied by rice or naan and tarkari and saag, this is a lovely buttery, creamy dish.

1 cup yellow split peas (7 oz)

Salt, to taste

3 Tbsps. mild oil

2 Tbsps. fresh ginger, finely grated

2 large garlic cloves, grated (10-12g)

½ tsp red pepper flakes or 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 small tomato (3oz), chopped

1 Tbsp tomato paste

¾ cup cream (your choice, half and half, table cream or whipping cream)

2 Tbsps. (1oz/28gr) butter

½ cup water

4.5oz dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked or one 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

4.5oz dried beans, soaked and cooked or one 15-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Salt and pepper, to taste (start with 1tsp salt and 1é4 tsp pepper, to taste?)

1. Ideally, soak the split peas for at least an hour before boiling them.
2. If using dry beans, cook in a pot separate from the peas.
3. In a medium saucepan, bring plenty of water to a boil. Add the split peas and a generous pinch of salt and boil about 50 minutes. 
4. When the peas are well cooked and just starting to break down, drain well and set aside with the other cooked beans.
5. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat the oil. 
6. Add the ginger, garlic, jalapeño, cumin and cayenne and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 6 minutes. 
7. Add the tomato and tomato paste and cook until the tomato is slightly broken down, about 5 minutes. 
8. Add the cream, butter and water and bring to a boil. 
9. Stir in the cooked yellow split peas, chickpeas and beans and season with salt. 
10. Simmer, covered, over low heat until thickened, about 15 minutes. Cook longer if it seems too liquid or if the peas have not broken down into a sauce.

Boiling Potatoes

In case I doubt myself or forget.

Boil potatoes for 15-20 minutes in salted water.

This is the method to use for plain boiled potatoes or to make mashed potatoes.

It seems silly, but I don't often just boil potatoes. I forget or I'm not sure and I end up Googling it. Now I have my own reference!

Lentil Soup with Winter Vegetables

Soups and winter just go so well together. And cool weather crops make for great soup ingredients. Matched with the savory crunch of rendered crispy bacon, the flavor is nicely rounded and hearty.

1 cup lentils du Puy 

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh thyme 

6 oz bacon or just 1⁄4 cup (2oz/58gr) lard 

2 carrots (6oz/170gr), finely diced

1 small celeriac or parsnip (8oz/250gr) or both, finely diced

1 leek or onion (6oz/170gr), finely chopped 

4 cloves garlic, minced  

4 to 5 cups beef stock (30gr of paste concentrate)

1⁄4 tsp pepper

1 1⁄4 tsp salt 

A handful green leaves - spinach or chard or arugula or radish tops, chopped (about 2 to 3oz/75gr)

1. Boil lentils for 30 minutes with bay leaf and thyme in enough water to cover, plus an inch, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, cut the bacon into match-stick sized lardons and, in your soup pot, render the fat from it. Once the bacon is brown and crispy, remove it and set it aside to sprinkle the crispy savory morsels on top when serving. 
3. To the fat add the carrots, celeriac and onion. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables have softened.
4. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Dump the whole lentil pot into your soup pot, lentils and cooking liquid and all. Add the beef stock, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper and continue cooking until the lentils are tender, about 5 to 10 minutes more.
6. With an immersion blender or by transferring 1⁄3 of the soup to a blender, mash part of the soup to create a different texture in the broth. Add more stock if you find it too thick OR blend more of the lentils if you find it to be too thin.
7. Add greens, and keep warm long enough to let the leaves wilt before serving.

Beef Brisket

For flavorful, fall-apart protein-rich goodness, this inexpensive cut brings much richness. And it makes for the best beef sandwiches with the leftovers... if there are any. It may be more than 1hr per lb, but this is a good starting place. The thing to look for really is how tender it is or how tender you want it to be.

Spice Mix

2 Tbsps. chili powder

2 Tbsps. salt

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 Tbsp. onion powder

1 Tbsp. ground black pepper

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsps. dry mustard

1 bay leaf, crushed

Roast

Beef brisket (4lbs. recommended, but any weight is fine)

1½ cups beef stock

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Make a dry rub by combining chili powder, salt, garlic and onion powders, black pepper, sugar, dry mustard, and bay leaf.
3. Generally season the raw brisket on both sides with the rub.
4. Place in a roasting pan and roast, uncovered, for 1 hour.
5. Add beef stock and enough water to yield about ½ inch of liquid in the roasting pan.
6. Lower oven to 300F, cover pan tightly and continue cooking for the equivalent of an additional 1 hour per lb, or until fork-tender, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. 
7. Allow to rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
8. Trim the fat and slice meat thinly across the grain. Top with juice from the pan.

Slow-cooked Leg of Pork with Beans

While this can be made with pretty much any bean, cannellini is the top contender. It is a bit sweet with the pork and the cannellini beans are wonderfully creamy, almost like a sauce. But the real trick for this is the bread and vinegar: the crunch of the buttered toast is a necessary companion, as is the strong, sharp taste of the vinegar. Be a little conservative when sprinkling the vinegar on top to assess how much you actually want. Note that the leftover beans make an excellent base for eggs and toast for lunch.

1lb 8 oz dried beans (cannellini, Red Mexican, pinto all worked)

5 cups chicken broth

2 bay leaves

2½ to 3 lbs. pork shoulder (Boston butt) roast or Leg roast

4 large leaves fresh sage, finely minced

1½ tsp salt

1 tsp whole fennel seeds, ground

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely minced

5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced or pressed

1 Tbsp olive oil

Black pepper

Fruit or white wine vinegar for serving

Crusty toasted and buttered bread for eating

1. Boil the beans for 10 minutes.
2. Place the beans, broth, and bay leaves in a large slow cooker (as the beans cook, they push the roast up and can lift the lid of a small slow cooker). Place the pork on top of the beans.
3. Mix together the prepared sage, rosemary, garlic, fennel, salt and olive oil to form a paste. Smear the paste all over the top of the pork.
4. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 6 to 8 hours, or until pork is tender and beans are cooked through. Gently shred the pork into chunks.
5. Serve topped with freshly cracked black pepper and butter-toasted crusty bread. Drizzle on a splash of white wine vinegar if desired. Or Optionally, BALSAMIC for a bigger taste.

Pizza Dough

This is an easy dough recipe and, the philistine that I am, I use any flour I have, primarily all purpose. The thin crusts are my favorite, I like them with crunch!

Makes : 1 thick crust or 2 thin crusts

4 cups (520g) white flour + more as needed

2½ tsps. dry active yeast

1½ tsp salt

2 Tbsps. + more for brushing olive oil

1¼ cups warm water (105 to 110°F)

1/4 cup tomato sauce

Cheese of choice (80-100g)

Toppings of choice 

1. Use some of the water (the ¼ cup is fine) to dissolve the yeast.
2. If using a mixer, combine all the ingredients. With a dough attachment, turn on the machine to medium-low speed (Kitchen Aid = 2) 
3. Let rest 2 min then mix another 30 secs.
4. Remove and hand knead on a floured surface for at least 4 mins. NOTE also cover with flour before starting to knead. The dough is sticky! It will absorb the flour on the board, so add more flour to the board as it becomes too sticky.
5. If mixing by hand, on a board or the counter, make a mound of flour, sprinkle on the salt, create a bowl in the center of the flour mound, and start adding the oil, water and dissolved yeast, combining with your fingers. 
6. As when making pasta, the dough is sticky! It will absorb the flour on the board, so add more flour to the board as it continues to stick to your hands. Otherwise, it will be quite sticky to start but should become whole feel like slightly tacky ball of dough.
7. Oil a bowl and put the dough in to rise. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise for 1½ hours and a warm draft-free place.
8. Put a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F for 30 mins (if no stone use a cast iron frying pan as preheat-sink and place dough on top of heated cast iron pan).
9. While the oven and pizza stone are heating up, spread out dough by hand. Use a fork to pierce the dough all over, then brush with olive oil. 
10. Put the toppings on.
11. Turn down the temperature to 425°F and cook for 20 mins OR until the edges start to brown (note that the dough will cook another 5 on the counter as it cools).
12. Let cool on rack or perforated pizza pan.