3/4 cup (180 mL) tapioca flour
3/4 cup (180 mL) buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp (2 mL) guar gum
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1/4 tsp (1 mL) fine sea salt
1 egg
3/4 cup (180 mL) raw cane sugar 1/2 cup (125 mL) natural creamy peanut butter*
1/4 cup (60 mL) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1 cup (250 mL) brown rice crisp cereal
1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted peanuts, chopped, toasted
*Can substitute cashew butter, if you wish.
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flours, guar gum, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Stir to blend.
Place egg and sugar in mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter, unsalted butter, and vanilla; beat just until blended. Add flour mixture and stir with wooden spoon until combined. Fold in cereal and nuts.
Scoop out tablespoons of dough and place 1 in (2.5 cm) apart on prepared baking sheets. Gently press down with a fork dipped in water. Bake in centre of preheated oven until cookies are golden and crisp, about 15 to 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Makes 3 dozen.
Store in tightly covered container at room temperature for up to a week.
Each serving contains: 81 calories; 2 g protein; 4 g total fat (1 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 10 g carbohydrates; 1 g fibre; 31 mg sodium
TIPS: Tapicoa starch is flavourless and offers a lighter texture. It’s best used for only 50 percent of the total flour content, so we paired it with buckwheat. Contrary to its name, buckwheat is a member of the rhubarb family; it’s chock full of protein, fibre, and minerals.
Guar gum is a binding agent, but use it sparingly. You can also use xanthan gum in place of the guar gum. For crispiness we added an organic brown rice cereal.
Source: "Gluten-Free Holiday Goodies", alive #338, December 2010
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.