Italian Sausage and duPuy French Lentils

This is a lovely, hearty comforting dish, perfect for cold, snowy and rainy days. The trick to its success is not letting the sausage cook too much once sliced because they'll become tough.

1 cup duPuy lentils
3 cups chicken stock
1 small onion, peeled and cut in half (use the part of the onion with the root basal plate and leave it intact to make it easier to take out the onion afterwards)
2 to 3 sprigs fresh oregano or a generous pinch dry marjoram
1 bay leaf
3 mild Italian sausages
½ cup white wine
2 Tbsps olive oil
1 shallot, minced (or small onion)
¼  to ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
½ tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper

1. Put the lentils in a saucepan with the stock, onion, and oregano (or marjoram) and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Continue to simmer the lentils, uncovered, until al dente, approximately another 20 minutes. Pluck out and discard the aromatics.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet and prick the skins of the sausages. Brown the sausage on all sides in the oil. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
3. Add the shallot to the skillet and cook until translucent, adding a splash of oil if the pan is too dry. Add the wine and bring it to a simmer scraping up any fond. Continue simmering until the wine has mostly evaporated. Add the sausages, the parsley and the lentils, simmering until the desired sauciness is achieved, the lentils are tender, and the sausage has cooked through (internal temp should be 160°F).
4. Remove the sausage and stir in the salt and pepper.
5. Cut the sausage into sixths and reintroduce to the lentils, stirring to distribute.
6. Serve. with crusty bread.

The beginning of a sauce obsession - Caraway and Cream Sauce

Cook's Illustrated has an awesome Web site with amazing recipes. It's turned me on to sauces in a big way. I figure it would be great for a bistro - cooking the chicken ahead of time, a quick fry in a pan to liven it up, plate it, and drizzle with sauce. The following is a sauce inspired by one of theirs. I have made it to use with the recipe for Chicken Cutlets, but it could just as easily be made for a whole chicken cut into pieces and grilled as below.

For the chicken

2 to 3 Tbsps vegetable oil

1 whole chicken cut into pieces (either 4 or 8)

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Pat chicken thighs dry.
3. Add chicken pieces to the skillet, smooth side down; cook for 5-7 minutes without moving, and then turn over when the chicken easily releases from the pan on its own. Cook until the juices run clear, an additional 7-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken piece.
4. Set the chicken aside and keep warm.
5. Remove all but 1 Tbsp of oil and immediately start to cook the shallot as per below.

For the sauce

1 Tbsp oil
2 medium shallots, minced

OPTIONAL: 1 Belgian endive or 5 large Romaine lettuce leaves, cut cross-wise, in thin strips

2 Tbsps apple cider vinegar

1 tsp caraway seeds

½ cup beef stock

½ cup heavy cream or crème fraîche

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Set the skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots (and leaves if using) and sauté until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the caraway seeds and continue cooking until the shallots are lightly browned, an extra 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add the cider vinegar and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon (remember, browned bits = flavor!).
3. Add the stock and cream; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and reduced to a generous ½ cup, about 5 minutes. Stir in the Dijon mustard; season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces, spoon over the sauce and cook together another 5 minutes or until internal temperature of the breasts reaches 165°F. .
4. OR: Spoon the sauce over chicken cutlets and serve immediately.

 Originally published Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Velouté aux chanterelles - Wild Mushroom Soup

Our friend Lorenzo honoured us this weekend by bringing us to the spots where he picks wild chanterelle mushrooms. He informed us that it's a bit early in the season, but with his help we managed to harvest a little over a kilogram of the delicate flavoured beauties. Since they are specialty foods, and expensive, I've never cooked with them before, but I think this soup is a good starting place. It is mildly creamy, a little sweet, and gently mushroomy.

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter
1 shallot, finely diced
2 tsps flour
2 cups chicken broth (veg broth for Vegetarian)
¾ cup white wine
2 Tbsps finely chopped fresh parsley
¼ tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
7 oz fresh chanterelles
½ cup milk
½ cup crème fraîche
¼ tsp salt
Pepper, to taste

1. In a soup pot melt the butter and add the shallot and flour. Cook until the butter bubbles and foams and the flour starts to go blond.
2. Add the chicken stock, white wine, parsley and thyme. Bring to a slow boil, then cover and gently simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, shred the chanterelle mushrooms. At the end of the 15 minutes, add the mushrooms to the broth, and cook another 5 minutes. Bring to a slow boil.
4. Low the heat to minimum. Add the milk, crème fraîche and salt. Gently simmer another 5 minutes.
5. OPTION - at this point, you can either run the mixture in a blender for a velouté, or serve immediately with it all chunky.
6. Before serving, grind some fresh black pepper on top.

Lamb Stew with Lemon and Thyme

This is a quicker than usual stew recipe, taking under an hour of actual cooking time, therefore very little actual stewing time. The original recipe was published in the New York Times, and this is a slightly altered version of it. To be truthful, our friend Susan was over and I'd invited her for dinner and made her wait longer than I should have since I usually buy my stewing meat as whole roasts which I cut up and de-fat (to my liking), and hadn't prepared the meat beforehand, compounded by the fact that it was my first time making this recipe. I only really changed the amount of wine from 1 cup to 3/4 cups because, er, I only had that much left in the bottle. But I think it was a happy accident because the end product was such that Susan asked me to post in in my blog right away, and to forego the usual testing I put my recipes through. This, therefore, is for Diyan, to make for Susan; or so I've been informed. Enjoy!

1½ lbs boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1 ½-inch chunks, fat removed
2 Tbsps flour (I use rice flour)
2 Tbsps grapeseed oil
2 shallots, minced
3 leeks ends trimmed, green parts discarded, thinly sliced (total (18oz/510gr)
1 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp thyme, minced
1 cup chicken stock
¾ cup dry white wine
2 tsps lemon juice
2 strips lemon peel
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley

1. Heat the oil over medium heat until it's shimmering.
2. Meanwhile, toss the lamb cubes with the flour; you can do this in a bowl or shallow plate, but I find it's easier and I get more even coverage if I put it in a bag and shake it around... and it's more fun. Immediately dump the floured lamb cubes in the hot oil (otherwise the flour draws out moisture from the lamb and they start to stick together. If this happens though, it's no big deal, you just have to work harder at separating them).
3. Cook the lamb until it's browned on each side, about eight minutes total. Remove the cubes and set aside.
4. Add shallots, leeks, garlic, and thyme to dutch oven, adding a little oil if the pot is too dry. Cook, stirring often, until the leeks are lightly browned, about four minutes. The temperature should allow for the moisture from the alliums to start unsticking the browned bits at the bottom of the pot so that, in the next step, very little of the fond is left stuck to the bottom.
5. Pour in the stock, white wine, lemon juice, and lemon peels. Scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the Dutch oven with a wooden spoon. Season with pinch of salt and pepper, put the lamb back in.
6. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a slow simmer, and partially cover (the lid to my pot doesn't fit perfectly, and this is enough for me). Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lamb is very tender, 45 minutes to an hour.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with the chopped parsley.

Locally-grown burgers

I made some bison burgers, and they were good. I've really cottoned to using a thermometre to determine when my meats are cooked. In this case, the burger is at it's best when it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F.

1 lb ground bison (or beef)

1 shallot or 1⁄2 an onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic minced

Optional - 1 Tbsp salsa (preferably with chipotle)

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten

fresh ground pepper to taste

salt to taste (I put in about 3⁄4 tsp), just enough to bring out flavours

1 handful bread crumbs

1⁄4 tsp beef bouillon concentrate

1. In a little oil, fry alliums, add garlic for the last minute of cooking.
2. Thoroughly mix together all the ingredients. Shape into 4 patties. In a little oil, pan-fry the patties, flipping only once if possible, until cooked, about 5 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
3. Serve with buns and choice of toppings.

Edible Breakfast Dishes - Ham and Eggs Cups

This is really delicious and simple and cool looking. I still have to figure out the right time for baking because my first couple of attempts were overcooked, so that the yolk, while not rock hard, was definitely solid. It's a great breakfast item that easily serves for dinner. This is one version of many possibilities. Try it with crème fraîche instead of cheese, ratatouille instead of mushrooms, etc.

½ lb mushrooms, chopped into cubes

1 finely chopped shallot

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter

Pinch of fresh or dried thyme

Splash white wine

6 Cherry tomatoes

12 slices cured ham

6 large eggs

Parmigiano, grated

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cook mushrooms and shallot in butter over moderately high heat until mushrooms are tender and liquid they give off is evaporated. Add white wine and allow to evaporate.
3. Assemble and bake:
4. Fit 2 slices of ham into each oiled ramekins. Divide mushrooms among cups, portion out thyme into each cup and crack 1 egg into each. Pop in a cherry tomato in each ramekin, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake in middle of oven until whites are cooked but yolks are still runny, less than 15 minutes (I turn on the broiler for the last minute. Season eggs with salt and pepper and remove (with ham) from muffin cups carefully, using 2 spoons.
5. Eat with baguette or crusty bread.

Lemon and Chive Pan Sauce

The sauce is from Cook's Illustrated, but for the chicken, I follow the instructions to make Sauteed Chicken Breasts.

1 shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)

1 tsp all-purpose flour

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 Tbsp juice from 1 lemon

1 Tbsp minced fresh chives (I've also used green onion tails)

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter

Salt and ground black pepper

1. If required, add a little oil and sautée shallot in a skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. 
2. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds. 
3. Add the broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a simmer, scraping the pan bottom to loosen browned bits. 
4. Simmer rapidly until the liquid is reduced to ¾ cup, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in any accumulated chicken juices; return to a simmer and cook 30 seconds. Off heat, whisk in the lemon juice, chives, and butter; season with salt and pepper. Spoon over chicken and serve immediately.

Sweet and Sour Sauce with Cherry Tomatoes and Cilantro

A lot of what I have been practicing in the kitchen for our daily meals has been wintery types of foods - creamy sauces etc. Today I tried a Cook's Illustrated sauce for chicken breasts that is light and summery with a bit of kick.

4 sautéed chicken breast strips (or see recipe to cook whole chicken breasts)

2 medium shallots, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tsps. ground cumin

1 tsp. granulated sugar

2 Tbsps. apple cider vinegar

6 Tbsps. orange juice

1 Tbsp. lime juice

1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Prepare your sauce ingredients before cooking the chicken so that the cooking time is reduced and the chicken won't have the chance to get cold, or you can cover the chicken with foil and keep warm in a 250F oven.
2. Cook chicken breasts first and set aside.
3. To make the sauce is a quick affair. Set the skillet with the remaining oil and chicken bits over medium heat. Add shallots, chilli, and cumin; sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add sugar and cook until shallots begin to caramelize, 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Stir in vinegar and orange and lime juices; increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits from bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Boil the sauce, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about 1/4 cup, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
6. Immediately stir in tomatoes and cilantro so they slightly cook in the residual heat of the pan; season to taste with salt and pepper (not really necessary).
7. Spoon sauce over chicken; serve immediately.

Tarragon Chicken

Ok, so I've made another Laura Calder recipe. So what? And no, I'm not defensive about it... much. I might as well admit it, I think she's great and I will likely be making a lot of her recipes. It's actually really unusual for me to glom onto one food writer, but, well, there you go! I have!

I tried, for the first time, her Tarragon Chicken recipe, but I altered it without considering the alterations. I used skinned and boned chicken breasts I'd cut into chunks because I wanted more of a stir-fry kind of dish. Well, I overcooked the chicken, although the sauce turned out very nicely. I can still use skinless and boneless chicken breasts, I just have to make sure I use the right cooking techniques for it before applying the sauce.

NOTE: If using CHICKEN BREASTS, follow the instructions for sautéeing chicken breasts and make the sauce as directed. Do not cook in the liquid for 30 minutes - cook breasts using the sauté method and make the sauce to pour on top.

1 Tbsp (1⁄2 oz/14gr) butter

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 chicken (about 3 pounds/1.4 kg), cut into 8 pieces

Salt and pepper

1⁄2 cup chicken stock

3⁄4 cup dry white wine

1 shallot, minced

1 cup crème fraîche

1⁄2 cup chopped fresh tarragon

Lemon juice to taste

1. Melt the butter with the oil in a large skillet over quite high heat. Season the chicken pieces and fry in batches until well browned, about 5 minutes per side.
2. Put all the chicken back in the pan, add the chicken stock and reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook until tender, about 30 minutes - the internal temperature of the breast should read 165F. Remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm.
3. Keep cooking the leftover juices and reduce until sticky - the correct moment of reduction can be heard, it's like making ghee, just listen to the sauce and when the sound changes, wait a few seconds longer and it's ready.
4. Add the shallot and wine and reduce to a thickish sauce, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and half the tarragon. Boil down again until it thickens into a sauce, about 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Put the chicken pieces back in, turning to coat, then transfer to a platter. Pour the sauce over the chicken, joyfully scatter over the remaining tarragon, and serve.