what do we eat | Easy recipes to freeze

Just before the weekend, all readers who cook ask themselves the eternal question: what are we going to eat? To inspire you, the press suggests some mouth-watering seasonal recipe suggestions.

Indulgence: Sunny Ginger Miso Soup

A bright orange vegetable soup flavored with ginger, turmeric, miso and lemon juice that freezes well. I created this soup because I had a few carrots and half a squash on hand, but feel free to use just one of the two vegetables. You can leave the chunks intact or even put the soup in a blender. If you do not use the mixer, cut the vegetables finer; if not, chop them coarsely, which will save you some time. Don’t forget the chive garnish, which is also delicious on grilled fish, chicken or roasted vegetables.

6 servings

Ingredients

• 15 ml (1 tablespoon) coconut oil or clarified butter (ghee)
• 2 large onions, cut into pieces
• 4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
• 5cm (2in) fresh ginger, minced
• 5 ml (1 teaspoon) ground turmeric
• 4 large carrots, cut into 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) cubes.
• 1 medium pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 2 cm (3/4 inch) cubes
• 1.5 L (6 cups) homemade stock of your choice or water
• 30 ml (2 tablespoons) miso paste, or to taste
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Sea salt and black pepper

Ingredients for the chive filling

• 1 red pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 60 ml (4 tablespoons) chopped fresh chives
• 60 ml (4 tablespoons) sunflower seeds
• 60 ml (4 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pinch of sea salt

preparation

• 1. In a large, deep saucepan, melt the coconut oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, ginger and turmeric and continue cooking for 1 minute.
• 2. Add the carrots and squash, then pour in the stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and cook for 15 to 18 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
• 3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the chive filling. In another small bowl, mix the miso paste and lemon juice with a few tablespoons of stock in the pot until smooth.
• 4. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the miso mixture. In a blender, or with a hand blender, puree the soup (if you want, skip this step and leave the pieces intact). Adjust the seasoning by adding a little miso, salt and pepper, or lemon juice, if desired. Serve the soup sprinkled with a garnish of chives.

To save time

While the onions are cooking, start carving the squash.

Source: recipe from the book Eat Happy: Vitality Cooking in Less Than 30 Minutes.

Published in The Press+ on November 29, 2018.

Quick Made, Well Made: Carolina Sesame Sunflower Burger

It’s “the ultimate veggie burger,” says nutritionist Caroline Cloutier. Proven, these meaty potatoes taste good and are satisfying. However, care must be taken to cook them well and to crush the beans well. Warning: they contain products of animal origin (eggs and cheese).

Makes 6 large burgers or 8 medium burgers

Ingredients

• 1 cup of oatmeal
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 4 tablespoons sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons spoonful of dry parsley
• 1 C. ground pepper
• 1 C. red pepper
• 1 C. spoons Ms. Dash
• 1 can (540 ml) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 C. soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (for a veggie burger, some companies make it without the anchovies)
• 1 C. vegetable oil

preparation

• 1. In a large bowl, combine the oats, breadcrumbs, grated cheese, eggs, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, parsley and spices.
• 2. In another bowl, mash the black beans with a fork with the soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and add to the first mixture. Mix well until you get a homogeneous texture. Leave to rest for about 30 minutes in the fridge.
• 3. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C), place in center of oven.
• 4. Shape into 6 buns.
• 5. Heat 5 ml of vegetable oil in a large pan and fry the potatoes until golden.
• 6. Place the dumplings in the oven for 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

conservation

The panels can be kept cooked for a week in the fridge and can be frozen (preferably cooked).

Published in The Press+ April 24, 2020.

Tell me head! : ragout of meatballs and pig’s feet

A rather lengthy recipe that can be cooked in three stages. Pig’s feet, meatballs and stew sauce. Pros: Can be made ahead, can be cooked separately, freezes great.

For 8 people

To prepare at least 4 hours before, ideally 1 day before, the cooking broth will be used to make the sauce.

Ingredients for step 1: cook the pig’s feet

• 4 kg of pork feet with the skin
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 4 sliced ​​yellow onions
• 4 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5-8 grains of black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1 star anise
• 3 keys
• 3-4 allspice seeds or 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2-3 tablespoons. cider vinegar
• Water in sufficient quantity to cover everything

Preparation Step 1: Cook the pig’s feet

• 1. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, caramelize the onions with the canola oil, add the rest of the ingredients, then the pork feet, cover with water, no more.
• 2. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 2 and a half hours.
• 3. Remove the pork feet from the broth, pass through a strainer, refrigerate the broth.
• 4. Allow the pork legs to cool, bone and recover the pieces of meat, reserve in another container, refrigerate.

Ingredients for step 2: meatballs

• 500 g of minced lean pork
• 1 French shallot or 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 C. minced garlic
• 1 C. parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 C. salt
• 1 egg
• 60 ml of milk
• 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Makes 24 meatballs

Preparation of step 2: the dough balls

• 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
• 2. Put the milk and egg in a bowl, beat lightly with a fork, mix in the breadcrumbs and all the other ingredients except the pork. Let stand 5 minutes, then stir in ground pork.
• 3. Form 24 balls with oiled hands, place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
• 4. Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, reserve, cool the meatballs.

Ingredients for step 3: the stew sauce

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Pig’s foot broth, defatted

Preparation of step 3: the ragout sauce

• 1. Heat the flour over a low heat in a heavy-bottomed pan (cast iron). Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, until you get a light caramel color. To book. The darker the flour, the more its thickening power disappears, some of the starch turns into dextrins.
• 2. Bring the skimmed pork stock to a boil, add the toasted flour with a mixer or mini mixer, simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
• 3. At this stage, you can add the meatballs and pieces of pig’s foot and let it simmer for another 15 minutes so that the flavors are well mixed.

accompaniments

• Potatoes “on rice”
• Yellow and red beets

Source: recipe by chef Anne Desjardins.

Published on lapresse.ca on December 11, 2017.

Guilty Pleasure: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Undoubtedly one of Quebec’s best pastry chefs, Chef Patrice Demers shares this recipe from his latest book, sweet course.

“Finding the perfect cookie, that was the challenge I set for myself. For me, it had to be covered generously with large chunks of dark chocolate. I’ve seen it very thick, a little crunchy on the outside, but mostly very soft in the middle.”

“To achieve this result, I only use brown sugar in my cookies. Because it contains more moisture and molasses, you get a smoother cookie than with white sugar. On the other hand, because of the brown sugar, the cookies tend to spread a bit more during baking. To remedy the situation, I bake my cookies in cake rings. »

“Letting the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least twelve hours before baking also helps to give them a nicer texture and favor better caramelization of the dough. Otherwise, do like I did at the store and freeze your pre-rolled cookies. This allows us to cook several times a day and get what my partner Marie-Josée considers to be the best cookie in the world! »

Servings: 20

Preparation: 15 minutes

Rest time: 12 hours

Cooking: 12 minutes

Ingredients

• 500 g (2 ¼ cups) dark brown sugar
• 275 g (1 ¼ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 vanilla pods, split and scraped
• 100 g (2 units) of eggs
• 40 g (2 units) of egg yolks
• 520 g (3 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 C. baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 450g (1lb) dark chocolate, chopped into large pieces (I use Guanaja 70% from Valrhona)

preparation

• 1. In a mixer, with the flat beater, mix well the brown sugar, butter and vanilla for 2 minutes at medium speed.
• 2. Add the eggs and yolks. Mix just enough to incorporate well. It is important at this stage not to incorporate too much air into the dough, otherwise the cookies may swell and then fall.
• 3. Sift the flour, salt, yeast and baking soda. Pour this mixture into the blender at the same time as the chocolate pieces. Mix at low speed until a homogeneous paste is obtained.
• 4. Break the cookies into 85g balls (about ¼ cup) and place in an airtight container. Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours before baking.
• 5. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes. For cookies that won’t spread during baking, I use 8 cm (3 inch) diameter tartlet circles.

It’s good to know

Letting the cookie dough rest for at least 12 hours before baking allows the dry ingredients to better absorb the moisture from the eggs. As a result, you get cookies with a more beautiful color and a more complex flavor. If you don’t have time to prepare the dough at least 12 hours in advance, I still advise you to put the cookies in the refrigerator 1 hour before baking them. Cold butter helps keep the cookies from spreading when baking when you’re not using cake rings.

Source: recipe from the book sweet course by Patrice Demer.

Published in The Press+ on November 18, 2019.