Green peas provide protein and minerals, and this recipe can be made with fresh or frozen peas. Their fabulous colour is both refreshing and inspiring when you’re tired of mushroom soup. If chopping vegetables is a problem, this recipe is perfect as it uses the power of the blender to do the hard work. Fresh mint is available year-round in the produce aisle of most major supermarkets. Enjoy this soup warm or chilled, depending on the weather.
2 Tbsp (30 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet yellow onion, chopped
2 cups (500 mL) vegetable broth
4 cups (1 L) frozen peas, thawed
3/4 cup (185 mL) mint leaves, loosely packed
2 tsp (10 mL) lemon juice
1 tsp (5 mL) sea salt
1 tsp (5 mL) natural sugar
n a medium saucepan over medium heat, add oil and onion and sauté until onion is soft and translucent, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add broth and simmer 5 minutes. In jar of blender, place peas, mint, lemon juice, salt, and sugar. Carefully add hot broth to blender jar. Cover with lid, place a tea towel over the jar of the blender, and blend until smooth. (Hot liquids can expand when blended, so the tea towel is a precaution for spillage.) Pour soup into bowls and serve or chill to serve later. Keeps 1 to 2 days in refrigerator. Serves 4.
source: "Suppers for Savvy Seniors", alive #276, October 2005
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.