Pate Chinois

It was a cold and rainy weekend here in Toronto.  The kind of weather that makes you want to stay home with a big blanket and watch movies all day. It was the perfect day for comfort food.  

When I crave comforting food, I always choose classic recipes from home.  Paté chinois is a popular recipe from Quebec and is very similar to a Shepherd's Pie.  The origins of this dish are said to come from New England where the locals would prepare a dish called China Pie and would consist of meat, corn and potatoes.  The recipe was later imported to Quebec where French Canadian translated the name to Paté Chinois.

This dish is very easy to assemble, requires little time in the kitchen and a good way to use  leftover mashed potatoes.  

Guinness Braised Beef Short Ribs

Short ribs are tougher than the longer beef back ribs but once they are braised, they will fall off the bone and melt in your mouth.  

You want to choose the meatiest short ribs and make sure that the meat is beautifully marbled with fat for tenderness.  Boneless ribs are also available but they are usually more expensive and they lack the flavour that comes from the bone.

I like to prepare this dish using a dark ale such as Guinness but any dark beer or stout would work great as well.  

You can sear the ribs and chop the vegetables ahead of time and freeze all the ingredients below in a large resealable bag.  Simply thaw the bag before cooking in the slow cooker.

Cajun Almond Crusted Chicken Fingers

I remember coming back from elementary school for lunch and my mom serving us warm and delicious chicken fingers.  As I watched the Flinstones on TV, I would devour them;  they were my favourite lunch as a kid (along with peanut butter sandwiches and gooey grilled cheese).  Twenty years later, I still love them :)

My friend P gave me this recipe.  She's an excellent cook and a big follower of the Paleo diet.  In order to cut down on carbs, the chicken fillets are coated with a mix of almond meal and spices instead of the traditional bread crumbs or flour-base batter.

I prefer to coat the chicken using the good old “shake and bake” method in a plastic bag.  You can also place the almond meal in a shallow dish and dip the chicken in the dry mixture.  

These filets are very versatile.  I like to prepare large batches of this recipe and freeze the filets.  You can serve them as finger food at parties with various dipping sauces:  Garlic Aioli, Honey Mustard or BBQ sauce or as a sandwich with fresh lettuce, juicy tomato, crispy bacon on a warm ciabatta bun.

Clafouti aux Framboises

I found this recipe a few years ago on the Martha Stewart website.  I was alone at home for the weekend and I was craving something sweet.  The weather outside was horrible and didn’t feel like going outside to buy ingredients; whatever was in my refrigerator and pantry would have to do. What I love about this recipe is that it yields only 2 portions (or 1 wonderfully huge portion for me!) and most of the ingredients are staples that you will likely find in your cupboards. 

As for the raspberries, you can substitute them for pieces of peach, other berries, apples, plums or the traditional cherries. 

As a side note, this dessert should really be called a flaugnarde as only the cherry version of this sweet treat can bare the name of clafouti.  But let’s not get technical; clafouti sounds better anyway.

Wonton Soup - Made from Scratch!

This is a new recipe I tried recently and I LOVE it!  I wanted to make homemade wonton soup for a long time but never got around to it.  The dumplings are a bit time consuming to make but once they are prepared and frozen, you can assemble the soup in a few minutes!  This was originally a recipe of pork gyozas that I tweaked to recreate the delicious taste of the wonton soup. 

My version of this soup is made out of pork but you can also substitute the meat for shrimp.

As for the size of the dumplings, I prefer the small ones.  They require less time to heat up compared to the larger ones.  The small wonton dumplings should be about the size of a tortellini pasta.

Apple & Pear Crumble Pie

Some scents will make my mouth water instantly:  fresh warm bread, bacon or onions frying in a hot skillet and of course apple pie!

A warm apple pie is my favourite dessert to finish off a Thanksgiving dinner.  The crumble on top of the pie and the pears is a nice change from the traditional apple pie.

When baking a pie, I prefer to use Spartan, Northern Spy or MacIntosh apples.  As for the pears, you want to make sure that they are just right: not too soft and not too firm.  The best pear varietals to use are Bartlett and Bosc.

Make sure to bake your pie at least 6 hours before serving.  I prefer to bake mine the day prior and reheat it before serving.  

To reheat the pie, heat up the oven to 300°F.  Once the oven has reached that temperature, insert the pie and close the stove.  The pie should be at the perfect temperature for serving 10 to 15 minutes later!