Recipe Research: Cup of Summer

In French, my ‘cup of summer’ would be pot d’été (pough debt-tay). Though perhaps it’s really a cup of springtime, since rhubarb isn’t available for long. I buy extra rhubarb when I can find it, even here, and give it a quick rinse, whack it into 1/2 inch pieces, and stick it in the freezer in 1-cup bags so I can pull it out later when required.

This ‘pot of whatever’ dessert was trial #1 for my new French dessert. Here’s the original dessert at 2 Euros per serving (about $3.10 Canadian):

The crumble was dry and had nothing to do with the lemon. The meringue on top was cold, of course, and the whole thing was uninspiring.

 

Here’s my first attempt at improvement:

rhubarb, coconut cookies, whipping cream, butter, strawberries, and vanilla sugar

 cut up and cook some rhubarb

 

add some strawberries in the last minutes of cooking

 

crush cookies in the groovy cool new mini blender/chopper

 

mix with a bit of melted butter and put in small glasses

 

layer with the cooked rhubarb-strawberry compote, and top with whipped cream made with vanilla sugar

Shelley’s note #1: I would have used wine glasses, but alas we’re already broken two this month, and so there aren’t enough left to make up this dessert.

Shelley’s note #2: Katharyn, if you’re allergic to strawberries, you can make this with rhubarb alone, or you could combine other fruits like blueberries and raspberries.

Shelley’s honest opinion of this dessert: It was yummy, but not super-wowie-terrific. The cookies are nearly the best part so if I didn’t have access to great coconut cookies, then it would be crummy – no pun intended. Gingersnaps, a good logical substitute that would marry well with strawberries, are not easily found in Paris, and when found are called “English cookies” (as in from England).

Future Idea #1: Perhaps I’ll try again with a lemon curd filling and a regular shortbread cookie crust.

Future Idea #2: We did have a pot-au-chocolat for dessert that was lovely … good chocolate, whipped cream, egg whites, a tiny bit of instant coffee (or rum).

My search continues for Fabulous French recipes that I can include in my upcoming video cooking class. 

Your ideas? Let me know what you think.

~ All best, Shelley

Day #20 Gift > Shortbread Video

Today’s gift to you is a video.  I know you all LOVE the videos.  Well, this one ties in nicely with some previous posts.

Remember when I was at Day #2 of this 29 days of giving thing, that was the day I gave you my recipe for Easy Bar Shortbreads.  I make them every year, only at Christmas time, and they’re easy and very yummy.

Right away, Veggie Club member Suzi tried the recipe, and then she emailed me: “I made your short bread bars for my work Christmas party… and they were a BIG hit.”

On Day #13 I had a preview lesson for the Back-to-Basics class that’s coming up in January.  The little lesson was all about the RIGHT way to measure flour, and there are loads of comments on the blog about that one, thanks!

So today, to tie it all together, I’ve got a video of me making the shortbreads that includes demonstrating the flour measuring part.

I’d be happy if you were to forward this email to anyone you know who might benefit from it, and encourage them to sign up at www.OneRoastVegetable.com to also follow along with the Back-to-Basics lessons (and other great veggie ideas).

Ready to start cooking? Don’t forget to leave a comment below

All best,
Shelley

Day #18 Gift > Homemade cranberry sauce

It’s nearly time for Christmas dinner. People everywhere will be getting up at dawn to put a giant turkey in the oven. They’ll peel pounds of potatoes. They’ll cut Xs in the bottoms of Brussels sprouts. They’ll glaze carrots.

And then they’ll open a can of cranberry sauce.

Now, what’s wrong with this picture? Would you serve canned turkey on this big day? Or canned mushrooms? Probably not. But somewhere along the way we’ve decided that there’s nothing like cranberry sauce alongside a roast, and that canned is fine.

OK. I’m here to dispel that myth Don’t yell at me, I know, I know, canned is quite lovely too. I eat it all the time. But for Christmas dinner? No way! Got to have the real thing. And it’s really simple … you can even follow the recipe that comes on the side of the bag of cranberries, or you can jazz it up a bit with one of my recipes below.

(1) you can turn whole berries into quite a lovely homemade sauce

(2) The cranberries will begin to pop and the outside skin will split open

(3) bring to a boil

(4) as it cooks, it will become quite jammy and most of the berries will explode open

(5) once cooled, it will be thick and lovely

Orange Whole Berry Sauce

One bag of cranberries (or about 3 cups of whole berries)

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange peel (zest)

Rinse cranberries, pick out and discard any that look very shrivelled or brown. Put all ingredients together into a medium-sized pot. Heat over medium heat. The skins will begin to open a bit and they might spit a bit.

Once it comes to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer about 10 minutes. Most of the berries will pop open and the sauce will be quite jammy. Let cool at room temperature, taste to see that it’s yummy, then put it in the fridge. Can be stored for a week or so. Makes just over 2 cups.

Spicy Whole Berry Sauce

Same recipe as Orange Whole Berry Sauce, but add:

4 tablespoons dried raisins
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

Talk again soon,
Shelley

Day #16 Gift > Back to Basics: Boiling the perfect egg

In January, I’m launching a Back-to-Basics class that covers all those things we (maybe) learned in Home Economics in high school school, but have since forgotten…

I hardly remember any of the calculus I studied, so is it any wonder that we can’t remember other things? (OK, hard boiling an egg is perhaps slightly more useful than rotating an imaginary object in space around the ‘z’ axis, but you get the picture).

Brandi sent me this email:  “If I had to pick something I struggle with, it would be consistently making the perfect hard-cooked egg. The photo of your eggs in the nicoise salad (photo a, below) are the hard cooked eggs of my dreams. Every time I need to make eggs like that, I need to look it up. So the ability to have a quick, printable reference would be fantastic.”

OK, so today’s preview lesson is how to hard boil the perfect egg. Yes, you can do it. Really, you can. You won’t look like an idiot. You won’t have to throw the eggs out. It’ll work. Here’s what I do, and it works every single time for me.

1. Start with a pot and some eggs and some cold water.  Place the eggs in the pot and ALMOST cover with them with cold water. A tiny bit if egg can be showing through the top of the water (photo b, above).

2. Now put your pot on the stove, and turn the heat to high.  When the water comes to a very hard, full boil, remove the pot from element completely, turn off the heat, and let the eggs sit in the water for 15 minutes. (I usually say 13-15, but you can go for 15 just to ensure they’re completely cooked and next time when you have more confidence pull them out at 13-14).  Go for 15 minutes if you want hard boiled eggs for sandwiches, and stop at 13 minutes if you want the yolk to be a tiny bit soft for a salad.

3. At 13 (or 15 minutes), pour off all the hot water, add in a bunch of very cold water to stop the cooking process.  Let sit until cool enough to handle.  Then you can peel and serve.

So to recap, start with cold water, do NOT cover with water completely, once they start to boil hard then you remove them from the heat all together, wait 13-15 minutes (don’t touch the pan). Then change the water to cold water (just until they’re cool enough to peel). Then you can peel and serve   OK, now you’re making me hungry!

All best,
Shelley

PS Lessons in the full “Back-to-Basics” class will include my tricks for making the best hard boiled egg sandwich, as well as foolproof soft-boiled and fried eggs… and oh yeah, I’ve got a really great (and dead simple) recipe for quiche that I can’t wait to share with you. Yippee, this is going to be so much fun!

Last video > Even if you can’t boil water…

Hi there, it’s late (well it’s after 9:30 and I’ve been up for a while).

I’ve just finished uploading the last video for our upcoming cooking class on November 22nd. Even if you can’t boil water, this is the class for you. Did your mother teach you how to cook, hand down all those family traditions?

Mine didn’t.

By the time my mom was 25 years old she had 4 kids (and one of them was me, remember), so she was all about efficiency and not much about teaching or patience.

So I had to learn to cook at school, and by much trial and error.

If you’d like to have someone standing beside you, who can say “do it like this, yeah, that’s great, you’re a genius”, then now’s the time to register.

The class will remain open for registration until Wednesday noon at the latest, but of course since there’s only 3 spots, I expect the class to be fully sold out later midnight tonight.

I don’t much like teaching the same class twice, so if you were hoping to learn how to make some healthy, (very) low cost meals for your family … then you need to register for the class now.

Oh yeah, the video is here:

REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS NOW CLOSED.

All best & happy Monday,
me : )

PS/ Did somebody say ‘wine’?

What you’re gonna cook (and a tip about lemons)

I’ve got video #2 ready for you

In this new video, I share with you the 4 healthy meals you’re going to learn to cook … and every one of them is $2/serving or less. And there’s pie. What would a cooking class be without pie?

And of course, so that you don’t go away empty-handed, I share with you a little hint about what I do with lemons when they’re on sale…

REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS NOW CLOSED.

All best,
Shelley

PS/ to see Video #3 (Even if you can’t boil water), go here > http://theveggieclub.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/cant-boil-water/

I have a confession to make…

I have a confession to make. And I’ve made a video to tell you about it.

I originally made this special video for my QUEBEC subscribers ONLY, because they’re the ones most likely to come to my private, in-person cooking class (the next one is November 22nd), taught right here in the fully-equipped One Roast Vegetable test kitchen in Montreal.

But now I’m thinking that it’s OK to share this video with everyone, even if you don’t live nearby. You might just love the cup-a-soup recipe I’ve tucked into this video …

REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS NOW CLOSED.

All best and happy veggies,
me

(aka Shelley)

Shelley MacDonald Beaulieu, BA, BEd, MFA
Owner & Head Tomato

Autumn Pumpkin Bread

First let me say Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Even if you’re not in Canada, it’s a good idea now and then to stop for a second and give thanks…

I’ve got many things to be thankful for: a happy life, good health, a husband who likes to clean the bathroom (which he did yesterday), over 6000 subscribers, and really good food. Last night for Thanksgiving dinner we had Grant’s Chicken (spicy roast chicken), and a vegetable casserole with sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, pear, and zucchini.  It was trial #1 of a French Provencial veggie side dish, and it turned out pretty well for a first try.  Just one of cool recipes I found while in Paris this past September…

And since yesterday was a holiday, and we were both at home, wondering what kind of trouble we could get up to… well, it seemed like a good day to pull out the video camera and make a little video of me making AUTUMN PUMPKIN BREAD.  It is nearly Hallowe’en, after all, and we’re sliding down into American Thanksgiving.  Pumpkins are healthy veggies, and usually pretty cheap and plentiful this time of year

Anyway, here’s a little video from the test kitchen of One Roast Vegetable…

To become a member of The Veggie Club, go here > http://www.OneRoastVegetable.com/02.html

If you’re already a member, and you’d like to log in, you can go here >> http://www.oneroastvegetable.com/members/login.php

All best, and many thanks to all of you for being one of my 6000 ‘vegetables’,

Shelley

Owner & Head Tomato
One Roast Vegetable / The Veggie Club
http://www.OneRoastVegetable.com/02.html

Salad Nicoise Video

Hi there, well back by popular demand, I’ve created another little video for you in the One Roast Vegetable test kitchen. This week I’m making Salad Nicoise, a great light dinner with fresh or canned tuna, eggs, green beans, small red potatoes and either capers or anchovies.

It comes together quickly, and it tastes very very good. No one will mind if you feed them veggies like this! I can testify to the yummy-ness of this meal, as we promptly ate all of the test salads after the filming was completed

Happy Monday!

All best,
Shelley (Head Tomato)
One Roast Vegetable / The Veggie Club
http://www.OneRoastVegetable.com

Veggie Soup Video

Hey there, happy Easter. Hope you’re having a great day. We spent the weekend in very cold snow country (neither of us are skiers, I’m not exactly sure why were there, but the restaurants are great). Then we got busy this afternoon making up a video for you. You’ll get an inside view of the One Roast Vegetable test kitchen, plus you’ll see parts of André — well, his arms, anyway. It was lots of fun doing this video for you as we announce the launch of The Veggie Club, coming up April 1st. The doors will open for new members — but only for three days. Anyway, if you watch this quick video, you’ll pretty much get the entire recipe for Homemade Vegetable Soup, and you’ll get to check out the art on the walls in our kitchen.

And yes, I do have some goofs in this video, like chopping the veggies where you can’t see them, and trying to keep my hair out of my face … thankfully I wasn’t cooking for the Queen, just making dinner for my giant family of two.  Rest assured that when I’m cooking in the kitchen at Robin des Bois, I’m wearing a full head covering — it’s just not very flattering to wear when making a Sunday afternoon video for my cherry tomato friends

(click on video to start)

 

And here’s a picture of the soup once it’s finished:

All best,

Shelley (Head Tomato)