Making luscious ganache with cashews instead of cream greatly cuts back on saturated fat in these gluten-free dessert or brunch crepes. In-season sliced plums or nectarines can be used in place of peaches.
Batter1 cup (250 mL) buckwheat flour 2 Tbsp (30 mL) cocoa powder 3 Tbsp (45 mL) sucanat or unprocessed sugar 1 cup (250 mL) low-fat milk or unflavoured milk alternative 1/2 cup (125 mL) water 2 large free-range eggs 1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
Filling 2 peaches, thinly sliced
Ganache1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted cashews 4 oz (115 g) dark chocolate, chopped 2 Tbsp (30 mL) maple syrup or agave syrup
Blend together batter ingredients with whisk or in blender until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Place cashews in bowl and soak for at least 1 hour. Drain cashews and place in blender along with just enough water to cover them. Blend until smooth.
Place cashew cream in small pot along with chocolate and maple syrup. Heat over medium heat until chocolate melts, stirring often.
If sauce is too thick, stir in additional syrup. Set aside.
Prepare crepes according to basic crepe instructions. Divide peaches among crepes and spread some of the ganache over the peaches. Use the pocket-fold or fold-over method to close, and drizzle additional ganache over each crepe.
Makes 8 crepes.
Each crepe contains: 258 calories; 8 g protein; 12 g total fat (5 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 33 g carbohydrates; 5 g fibre; 38 mg sodium
source: "Sweet & Savoury Crepes", alive #345, July 2011
Tourtière is, for me, the dish that best represents Québec. It can be traced back to the 1600s, and there’s no master recipe; every family has their own twist. Originally, it was made with game birds or game meat, like rabbit, pheasant, or moose; that’s one of the reasons why I prefer it with venison instead of beef or pork. Variation: If you prefer to make single servings, follow our lead at the restaurant, where we make individual tourtières in the form of a dome (pithivier) and fill them with 5 ounces (160 g) of the ground venison mixture. Variation: You can also use a food processor to make the dough. Place the flour, salt, and butter in the food processor and pulse about ten times, until the butter is incorporated—don’t overmix. It should look like wet sand, and a few little pieces of butter here and there is okay. With the motor running, through the feed tube, slowly add ice water until the dough forms a ball—again don’t overmix. Wrap, chill, and roll out as directed above.
My love of artichokes continues with this classic recipe, one of the best ways to eat this interesting, underrated, and strange vegetable. Frozen artichoke hearts are a time-saving substitute, though the flavour and texture of fresh artichokes are, by far, much superior and definitely preferred.
Cervelle de canut is basically the Boursin of France, an herbed fresh farmer’s cheese spread that’s a speciality of Lyon. The name is kind of weird, as it literally means “silk worker’s brain,” named after nineteenth-century Lyonnaise silk workers, who were called canuts. Sadly, the name reflects the low opinion of the people towards these workers. Happily for us, though, it’s delicious—creamy, fragrant, and fresh at the same time. Cervelle de canut is one of my family’s favourite dishes. It’s a great make-ahead appetizer that you can pop out of the fridge once your guests arrive. Use a full-fat cream cheese for the dish, or it will be too runny and less delicious.