Boules de Noël - Chocolate wrapped peanut butter balls

Holidays are filled with family recipes. I have many favorites, but few that I actually make. This is one that I love to make. The peanut butter center has a lovely consistency, and the soft walnuts and chewy dates complement each other very well. No fancy chocolate - it melts in your fingers so you're forced to lick it off

Centre

1/2 cup icing sugar (75g)

1 cup peanut butter (250g)

1 cup finely chopped cooking dates (140g)

1 cup finely chopped walnuts (110g)

1 Tbsp butter (15g)

1 tsp vanilla

1. Mix ingredients together until uniform. 
2. Roll into small balls and put on wax or parchment paper and let set in the refrigerator. Makes about 30.

Chocolate covering

250 grams semi-sweet chocolate

1. Melt together in bain marie, allow to cool slightly, then dip balls to cover. Set on wax or parchment paper and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate to avoid sticking.

Pouding chaude au chocolat ou Fudge a Marie-Thérèse

I feel so much pride in being able to share family recipes. This is from the collection of my maternal Grandmother, Marie-Thérèse Noël-de-Tilly/Lambert. It is in a similar vein as the Québecois dessert Pouding Chômeur (to come to this cooking page, soon) and is singularly bizarre in my mind. With the help of family, I think I've mostly worked out the chemistry behind it. It's best served lukewarm instead of hot, so that the sauce has a chance to thicken, so let it rest at least a half hour before serving. It's equally good cold the next day.

1 cup flour (135g)
½ tsp baking soda (2g)
Pinch of salt (2g)
¾ cup sugar (152g)
2 Tbsps cocoa (11g)
Milk (see instruction #3)
2 Tbsps white vinegar 
2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) melted butter
1 cup chopped nuts

THE SAUCE
1 cup brown sugar
4 Tbsps cocoa (22g)
OPTIONAL ½ tsp cinnamon
1¾ cups boiling water

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and cocoa. Make a well in the center.
3. In a half-cup measure, put in 2 Tbsps of white vinegar and fill to the ½ cup mark with milk. Add to the well.
4. Add the melted butter, along with the nuts. 
5. Mix well and place in a greased, square baking dish. Set aside.
6. In a separate bowl combine the brown sugar and second measure of cocoa (optional cinnamon at this point as well). Whisk in the boiling water until perfectly uniform.
7. Pour the sauce over the batter and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes.
8. Serve lukewarm. (my grandmother indicates to serve it hot with the sauce ladled on top. Ultimately, it's your choice.)

Galettes de Memère (Ginger Molasses Cookies)

Every day after school I would cross the single road that ran through my home village from the school yard to my grandmother's house - an apartment built on the top floor of an old house owned by a second cousin. She would always have a snack (une collation) for me, usually a glass of milk and some cookies. Most often, these were the cookies she made. As is common with so many grandmothers of my generation, her recipe was "a smidgeon of this" and "mix in the usual way" kind of instructions. It took me a while to figure out how to make them, and now I make them regularly, usually for special occasions.

1 cup (260g) Blackstrap molasses or Black Treacle

1 cup (200g) brown sugar
1 cup (8oz/225gr) lard or butter

3¾ cup flour (450g)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp salt
½ cup boiling water

1. In a mixer bowl, whip together the molasses, brown sugar and butter until it turns pale.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda, the dry ginger, salt and flour.
3. When the butter mixture starts to go pale, slow the speed to the slowest! It suddenly and unexpectedly splashes everywhere as soon as you add the the boiling water if the beaters are going too fast. 
4. Mix thoroughly, then slowly add the dry mixture until combined.
5. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. Roll into balls (1 oz each), set on cookie sheets and flatten slightly.
7. Cook in 350°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

Pommes Maria

Last Christmas I made dinner for my parents and my husband. One of the dishes I made was Pommes Anna, a potato dish I thought was schmancy French cuisine. When I served it I was shocked, and so was my dad, that it was one of the dishes my grandmother used to make on a regular basis. This is why I call them Pommes Maria, in honour of her, and my father.

NOTES: The first time I made them they were creamy, but the top had not browned properly. This time (the second) they were delicious but not as good - the inside potatoes were more dry. I did make some mistakes while preparing them, and the oven ran a bit hot, but it may also be that I left them in the oven with the cover off for too long.

Pommes Anna

3 lbs russet potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, or white potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick

1/3 cup (5oz/76gr) butter, melted

1/4 cup grapeseed oil or peanut oil, plus additional for greasing cookie sheet

Salt and pepper

1. Toss potato slices with melted butter in large bowl until potatoes are evenly coated. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Pour oil into 10-inch heavy-bottomed ovenproof non-stick skillet; swirl to coat pan bottom and set skillet over medium-low heat. Begin timing, and arrange potato slices in skillet, starting in centre to form first layer. Sprinkle evenly with scant 1/4 teaspoon salt and ground black pepper to taste. Arrange second layer of potatoes, working in opposite direction of first layer; sprinkle evenly with scant 1/4 teaspoon salt and ground black pepper. Repeat, layering potatoes in opposite directions and sprinkling with salt and pepper, until no slices remain (broken or uneven slices can be pieced together to form a single slice; potatoes will mound in centre of skillet); continue to cook over medium-low heat until 30 minutes elapse from the time you began arranging potatoes in skillet.
3. Using bottom of 9-inch cake pan, press potatoes down firmly to compact. Cover skillet and place in oven. Bake until potatoes begin to soften, about 15 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until potatoes are tender when paring knife is inserted in centre and edge of potatoes near skillet is browned, about 10 minutes longer. Meanwhile, line rimless cookie sheet or back of baking sheet with foil and coat very lightly with oil. Drain off excess fat from potatoes by pressing potatoes into skillet with bottom of cake pan while tilting skillet to pour off fat.
4. Set foil-lined cookie sheet on top of skillet. With hands protected by oven mitts or pot-holders, hold cookie sheet in place with one hand and carefully invert skillet and cookie sheet together. Remove skillet. Carefully slide potatoes onto platter; cut into wedges and serve immediately.

PLACE HOLDERS A-G

Sections such as types of meals are in caps. This is a placeholder for them.

I will list them all, here.


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