Try savoury pancakes for breakfast or as an interesting side dish.
1/2 cup (125 mL) coarse yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup (125 mL) whole wheat flour
1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp (15 to 22 mL) fresh thyme, chopped
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) dried basil leaves
1/4 tsp (1 mL) sea salt
2 free-range eggs
3/4 cup (180 mL) milk
1 Tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup (250 mL) corn kernels
16 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Whisk cornmeal with flour, thyme, baking powder, basil, and salt. In another bowl, whisk eggs with milk and oil. Turn wet mixture over dry. Add corn and gently stir just until combined. Don’t overbeat—lumps are encouraged!
(Tip: for fluffier cakes let batter stand for 15 to 20 minutes before cooking.)
Lightly oil frying pan (use cast iron for best results), and set over medium high heat. Using 1/4 cup (60 mL) measure, pour batter into pan to form 4 cakes. Press 3 tomato halves into each cake.
Cook until edges are browned and bubbles form in the middle of each cake, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip over and continue to cook until golden, 2 to 3 minutes more.
Makes 8 pancakes.
Each serving contains: 181 calories; 6 g protein; 4 g total fat (1 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 30 g carbohydrates; 3 g fibre; 56 mg sodium
source: "Grow, Cook, Heal", alive #346, August 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.