Summertime brings a quest for cool. What better way than with some cool, creamy frozen bark as a little midday snack? This iced bark is studded with a combination of brain-healthy ingredients—golden flaxseed, walnuts, and turmeric to name a few. Here’s to putting a healthy chill into a warm day.
Per serving:
Line 9 x 12 in (23 x 30 cm) shallow-sided baking sheet with parchment paper. A large lasagna pan will also work. Set aside.
In bowl, combine yogurt, maple syrup, and turmeric. Whisk together to blend. Pour into lined tray and spread out into an even thickness. Evenly scatter with walnuts, flaxseeds, coconut, and barberries or cranberries.
In small bowl in microwave or in small saucepan on stovetop, melt chocolate and coconut oil together, stirring until smooth. Drizzle in strands overtop yogurt. Freeze tray until firm, preferably overnight. To serve, break bark into chunks. Return any remaining bark to freezer to prevent melting.
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.