Fellow professional home economist, Barb Holland, gave me a jar of these for Christmas last year, and they were such a huge hit that I had to hide them from my family so I could at least have a couple.
They’re sweet with a bit of heat and, as Barb says, “can become addictive.” If you want more heat, add more cayenne. She used almonds in her original recipe but walnuts work well too.
1 egg white
2 cups (500 ml) whole natural almonds or walnuts
1/4 cup (60 mL) brown sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp (2 to 5 mL) cayenne
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
Preheat oven to 325 F (160 C). In a bowl, lightly beat egg white. Add nuts and stir until evenly moistened. Combine brown sugar, cumin, cayenne, and salt; sprinkle over nuts and toss well to coat evenly.
Spread nuts on natural parchment paper-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to separate nuts, until coating is crisp and nuts are fragrant.
Pack into small glass jars with tightly fitting lids.
Makes 2 cups (500 mL).
Each 1/4 cup (60 mL) serving contains: 213 calories; 5 g protein; 18 g total fat (0 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 4 g carbohydrates; 1.9 g fibre; 7 mg sodium.
source: "Edible Christmas Gifts", alive #314, December 2008
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.