Lemon Bars / Squares
These did not appear in my house when I was growing up... We always had Lemon Meringue Pie. However, I had an Aunt and Uncle that lived out in the Rockies; I would visit them to do some skiing and these Lemon Squares were always in the lunches they packed.
Flash forward a few years, and I moved out west to work at one of those ski resorts... when I came home this recipe was in my bag. Now it probably isn’t that special on its own, what makes it special to me are all the memories that flood back when I make and eat them.
These memories are a huge part of what makes food special; the associations that we make over smell, taste, and the visual.
In the end these are still great lemon bars / squares, the cookie base along with the slightly sweet acidity of the lemon filling - maybe I should make some more on the weekend.
So take a look at the recipe video, and then check out the Zesty Lemon Bars Recipe page.
The Best Of Chef At Home
We’re back with another segment featuring Chef Michael Smith; last time he was here as Prince Edward Island’s ‘Culinary Ambassador’ with a smoked salmon pasta recipe that was as easy as it was tasty.
This time Julie is in the kitchen with Chef, and they are talking about his new cookbook ‘The Best Of Chef At Home’. There is a lot of freestylin’ and they really tear into a roasted chicken. The idea of freestyle cooking is one that I can really relate to; sure recipes are a great base - a place to start - but to really cook, you need to make them your own. This cookbook is perfect for that, offering suggestions on how to make changes, and how to make the flavours suit the tastes of you and your family.
So take a look at the video interview with Chef Michael Smith, and look here for the Roast Chicken with Apples and Rosemary recipe.
Clafoutis
This is our panic dessert, all of the ingredients are always in our pantry and it can be on the table in 25-30 minutes. Super fantastic for unexpected guests, or on those nights when you crave a little something after supper.
So you can watch the video right here, or go over to the recipe page where you can watch the video and get written downloadable recipe directions for Clafoutis.
Butter Tarts!
What constitutes the best butter tart is a matter of great debate however... should the filling be firm or runny? Do you add currents, raisins, nuts, or are those additions sacrilege.
Where the butter tart originates, is also up for debate; did they come from France (tarte à la frangipane) or Scotland (Ecclefechan) or did the recipe arrive from the deep American south (Pecan Pie). In each case the recipe would have been changed to suit ingredients readily available in early Canada.
This first recipe for Butter Tarts produces a fairly firm filling; and we split up the pan with some getting raisins and some getting none (the correct way... ahem). We use our video recipe for 3-2-1 pie pastry, and use a coffee can to cut out the rounds.
Take a look at the video recipe and follow along, then make changes to the recipe to suit your tastes... Make them the best butter tarts ever.
Eat your greens
Not to nag at you but... You really should have more greens in your diet. Most of us don’t eat enough green vegetables; which is a shame because they can taste great, they are easily prepped, and they make you healthy. I know that ‘healthy’ is enough to make most of you run screaming form the table, but we have a line up of recent recipe videos that show you how easy it is to get tasty veg on the table quickly.
Not sayin’ that you need to eat this everyday, but once you start adding healthy foods to your meal plans... you’ll feel better, and you’ll crave better food at each meal.
Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cheesecake
Looking for a new way to serve pumpkin this Thanksgiving and holiday season? Here’s a recipe that turns a cheesecake into an instant holiday favourite.
We worked this Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe out just in time for our American cousins holiday table. Pumpkin plays a big part of our Canadian celebration as well, so this will be on our table next fall. You can use canned Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, which has sugar, spice, etc already added), or cook your own from scratch. Around our house, if the recipe calls for pumpkin we end up using butternut squash - far more flavour.
The Gingersnap Crust Recipe is a perfect compliment for this cheesecake, so watch the two videos and give the recipes a try.
Chicken and Mushroom Strudel on Baby Spinach
Our latest recipe video with Foodland Ontario and Emily Richards is this Chicken and Mushroom Strudel on Baby Spinach. This is one of those dishes that will wow your dinner guests, and not tie you to the kitchen for hours preparing it. It’s even easy enough to make for a family supper on a weeknight.
So watch Emily as she lays it out in this easy to follow cooking video.
Why so quiet?
Why so quiet?
Yes it seems the blog part of Le Gourmet TV has been a bit quiet of late; but that’s because we have been working so hard to bring great video content to the rest of the site.
So we’ll give you a bit of a rundown of our latest videos and recipes:
Lemon Meringue Pie.
Making / cooking meringue can be an art unto itself, but don't get bogged down because it’s not pretty, or doesn't fluff up, take a look at our how to make meringue video for some tips.
Charcoal Grilled Rack of Lamb with Anise
These are just some of the new recipe videos we’ve put up in the last month or so... and in the coming weeks we’ll post more from Hong Kong and Iceland, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Butter Tarts and a series we’re shooting with the Chefs a Toronto’s George Brown College Chef School.
Keep an eye out.
Hand Made Pasta
In our cupboard there are usually two or three kinds of dry pasta at any given time. Always at the ready, but so are the base ingredients to make pasta from scratch.
I have seen TV chefs make it, but I always thought that they were leaving out a key step - that trick that makes the recipe work. They also all had those shiny pasta roller machines clamped to their countertop, and the whole process just seemed so inconvenient.
Then last fall we were shooting in Hong Kong, and during an interview with Chef Gianni at the Isola restaurant he made pasta while we talked. The process just seemed so natural, I was inspired to finally try it myself...
Now my question is: why did I wait so long?
The recipe in it’s most basic form just needs a countertop, flour, eggs, oil, a rolling pin, and a knife. No special gadgets, mixers, or rollers are needed. Your results will be ‘rustic’ and everyone at the table will be able to see that you made the pasta, they will also know from the flavour that this is not your ordinary dry spaghetti.
It’s a bit like making bread, and don’t worry about getting your hands and counter messy. Just mix the egg into the flour with your hands until you get a ball of dough. From that point you just knead it until smooth and velvety.
In order to get the shape you want, after you roll it out roll the sheet back up and cut it with a knife. Unroll the pieces and you have a wide flat noodle (could be called Tagliatelle).
I have to admit, for a quick after work dinner I still will be using the stuff from our cupboard - but for a weekend meal or time with friends and family, this will always win out.
We may break down and buy a pasta machine (roller) just so I can make sheets for lasagne, but for now I’m happy with the hand rolled, knife cut noodles. They work extremely well with big meaty sauces, like this Braised Beef Pasta Sauce.
Visit here for this pasta recipe with video directions and download-able pdf recipe card.
Summer Bean Salad
Summer bean salad, or Italian bean salad is a staple around our house in the summertime. Easy to make, full of fabulous flavours, and travels well to family pic-niks, gatherings, and BBQ’s.
Our recipe for summer bean salad is pretty basic, something I do love is the chicken stock in the dressing. It adds a depth and dimension that is missing if you only use oil and vinegar. The rest of the ingredients follow that theme of basic, and are items that are always in our pantry. We use Red and White kidney beans, but there are no bean recipe police out there so use whatever canned beans you like! Chickpeas would work really well, just mix and match with whatever is in your cupboard.
And like so many things we make in the kitchen, this recipe is best made a day ahead to let all the flavours meld together.
So take a look at our video recipe, and give it a try for your next weekend BBQ.
Shiraz Grilled Flank Steak
Flank steak is one of those often overlooked cuts of meat in the suburban supermarket. It was a cut I always avoided when thinking about grilling, until I found out how to grill it properly. If you treat this piece of meat with a long marinade, a really short grilling, and slice it really thin; you’ll have a winner every-time.
In our Shiraz soaked grilled flank steak recipe video, I give you one way to prep and cook flank steak.
First up - what wine to choose? Well a shiraz is an obvious choice, and will give you great results, in the video we used a shiraz from Wild Horse Canyon a great wine for both marinading the steak and drinking with the finished meal.
Next up - all the other ingredients for the marinade, you need a salt and an acid and while there are lots to choose from; we went with some that have a really earthy feel - soy sauce and Balsamic vinegar. Put your flank steak into a sealable container, pour on the marinade and place in the fridge. Now once in the fridge, don’t forget about it... make sure to flip the steak over a couple of times and make sure that the marinade reaches every part. Two hours will give so-so results, overnight is best.
When it’s grill time, be sure to dry off the steak before it hits the coals! This way you get those nice grill marks, and the meat grills rather than steams.
Now I like my flank steak rare to medium-rare, the texture is just right and the flavour is great. Number one mistake people make when grilling with this cut is over-cooking; it ends up dry, and very tough. You also need to slice it very thin and against the grain.
Enjoy this with a glass of the wine you soaked it in, and place over a salad, with a plate of vegies, or even on a sandwich.
Here is our video recipe for marinated flank steak in Shiraz.
Check out our other Grill and BBQ recipes.
BBQ and Grill Spice Rubs
Summertime is for grilling, and while I most often just sprinkle salt and pepper on my meat before grilling - I do like a spice rub for certain cuts. The problem I have with commercial preparations (you know the ones at the supermarket) is that I find them too salty, and maybe a little lacking in some of the other flavours. Not to mention that the price is a little high for what you get...
So at the beginning of the season we mix up our own rubs, and spice mixtures. Really easy to do, and it gives total flexibility in the flavour profile and saltiness. The mixtures just need to be kept in an airtight sealable container, I use plastic ziploc© tubs but you could use mason jars, or pickle jars, and you can keep them in the cupboard for about 3 months. They don’t go ‘bad’ after that time, but they do start to loose their flavour and effectiveness.
Another great reason to make your own - the right to tell everyone about your signature spice rub. Once you modify these recipes, no-one else will have the same mixture it’ll be all yours. Nothing better than friends and family begging for the ‘secret recipe’!
So over the next few weeks we’ll roll out all the spice rub recipes. We’ll they are more ratios, and just suggested starting points really. The ones that we’re posting are small tasting versions, you can mix them up and try them out; then make the changes you need to make them your own. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
Rib and Chicken spice rub recipe
Cajun BBQ and Grill spice rub
Montreal steak spice recipe
Hot and Spicy BBQ and grill rub recipe
Steamed Mussels
Sometimes you end up with a couple bottles of wine that when you taste the first one, you know exactly what you should cook to go with the second. The pairing is so obvious, and so great that you can’t resist.
This happened recently when I came across two bottles of Maso Canali ’07 Pinot Grigio from Trentino. Immediately all I could think about was a simple dish of mussels steamed in the wine.
Unlike other times when I’ve steamed mussels in wine, I didn’t add a lot to the pan; half an onion wine and mussels. Simple and clean!
Once the mussels were cooked I pulled them out of the pan, added a knob of butter and gently reduced the sauce that I poured over the mussels for service.
Served the platter with bread for dunking and sopping up the sauce, plus glasses of the pinot...
We were not disappointed!
Our Steamed mussels in Pinot Grigio recipe with video directions.
Authentic Food
Authenticity in food; what does that mean?
I often get blasted by viewers on this website, and other sites that we distribute to, for not being authentic or not doing a recipe the way it’s supposed to be done.
I live in Toronto, and my family has been in Canada since the late 1700’s; my wife’s family arrived here in the mid 1800’s. Both families arrived from the British Isles, both families have lived and evolved in rural Ontario sharing a common heritage. While they made essentially the same preserves every summer, and the same stews every winter - the recipes are substantially different, and now we make an amalgam at our house. So who is to say that my grandmothers stew is more authentic than Julie’s, or less than yours?
Cooking to me is all about the evolution of a recipe, and borrowing from the cultures around me. Toronto is a very diverse city, great to explore and learn about ingredients that are new to me; and then to work into my existing repertoire. This has happened ever since the first explorers set off by foot or boat to see what they could find.
Irish stew without potatoes? Well potato wasn’t introduced to Europe until the late 1500’s, Ireland didn’t really grab ahold until the late 1700’s. So I guess ‘Authentic Irish stew’ doesn’t contain Potatoes?
Tomato is another example, Italian food to most people is tomato based; but it wasn’t fully accepted until the 1600’s.
So here on our site you will find ‘authentic un-authentic’ recipes that have been inspired and shaped by what I see around me and trips that I’ve taken around the world. I don’t believe in the dogma of recipes, or fret if I’m missing an ingredient, cooking should be about an exploration of flavour.
Does it taste good? Yes.
Here are links to some of our other ‘un-authentic’ recipes with videos:
French Onion Soup Recipe
Korean Inspired Chicken Wing Recipe
French Canadian Pea Soup Recipe
Flemish Stew Recipe
Hope you enjoy these.
Wrapped In Bacon
MMMM Bacon.
It really is one of my vices, any time I can add bacon to a recipe; there is a smile on my face. That smokey salty flavour just seems to enhance the other flavours in a dish. Lately we’ve seen a fair number of recipes where we are wrapping bacon around other meats before cooking, sort of a poor man’s ‘Caul fat’.
Take a look at our Bacon and Bacon Wrapped Recipes:
How to make home made bacon
Bacon explosion
Bacon wrapped blue cheese meatloaf
Chicken pork bombs
Honey lager legs
Home Made Ice Cream!
Ice Cream!
The half pint has reappeared in our freezer along with a couple of other larger models; one from KitchenAid, and another from Donvier. We’ve given up completely on store bought, now preferring to only make our own.
Our choice in ice cream makers is decidedly low tech. All three require that you freeze a cylinder for 18-24 hours; the cylinder is filled with some sort of fluid that requires extremely cold temps to freeze it. We end up keeping our freezer at the lowest temp possible. After that two require you to hand crank once in a while over a 15-20 minute period, this is oddly relaxing, and the larger model sits out on the dinner table for guests to crank in that period between dinner and when tea is ready for dessert. The KitchenAid cranks continuously for 20-30 minutes, and is usually used at family gatherings.
The first is a cooked custard French vanilla ice cream recipe; excellent mouth feel, and just incredible flavour.
Next in line is a bare bones no-cook vanilla - simple, fast, better taste and mouth feel than 99% of commercial ice cream. You can easily manipulate the flavour on this one, add fruit, or chocolate chips, even coffee flavour.
Then we have a double chocolate ice cream recipe, again uncooked - so prep time is minimal - with an explosion of chocolate flavour.
Yes, yes, yes; calm yourself, two of these recipes contain un-cooked eggs, if that’s a problem for you, make the cooked custard recipe. Personally, doesn’t bother me.
Here are the recipes with video:
Cooked custard French vanilla ice cream
Double chocolate home made ice cream recipe
No-cook Vanilla ice cream recipe
Lemon Tart Recipe
On those occasions I like a nice simple lemon tart; not too sweet with a palate cleansing acidity.
This recipe for Lemon Tart is quick and easy, and produces a filling that I really like - somewhat loose like a ripe brie. Now you can cook it at a higher temp, or for longer, and it will give you a sturdier centre, but I like it a bit drippy like a butter tart.
As for crust we use a sweet tart dough which is essentially a short crust, that has been blind baked.
Now as for tart pans... I don’t have one that is the right size. Don’t know why, other than perhaps I don’t have room for more dishes - or I just can’t be bothered to get one. In the end use what you have available, a regular pie plate, or even a square cake pan. It’s going to taste the same! I’ve even found myself without pie plates, and ended up making individual pies in tea cups.
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Home Made Strawberry Jam
So here on the site our video recipe for strawberry jam is the boiled with added pectin type.
So summer just arrived here in Ontario, and the remaining berry farms are loaded with fruit - time to go out and make some jam.
Our Recipe for Home Made Strawberry Jam.
Pie and Tart Dough
Of all the recipes that we can make, it seems that pie dough strikes the most fear in our hearts. I have to tell you I don’t know why... Most dough or pastry recipes contain only 3 or 4 ingredients: Fat, Flour, Water. In an easy to remember formula (by weight): 3 parts fat, 2 parts flour, 1 part water. Couldn’t be easier, right?
Well, yes and no.
First off what fat to use? in our kitchen Lard is number one; I know that over the years it’s got-ten a lot of bad press but that was mostly just hype by the shortening marketers. On the box of lard in my fridge there is only one ingredient - Non-Hydrogenated Lard, the ingredient list on shortening is significantly longer... Our second choice is butter, and this is usually used when we add sugar for a sweeter crust.
Some recipes will call for an egg, sugar, and sometimes vinegar; these are all personal preferences with everyone claiming that their Grandma did it this way or that so it must be best. So who are we to argue?
By hand vs food processor? I now fall squarely in the food processor camp, you just need to make sure you don’t over process.
Once you’ve made the dough, you need to roll it out. I’ve been baking pies for 26 years or so, and usually I can roll it out OK but sometimes there is still a disaster. So don’t worry if it doesn’t look pretty, I prefer to think of it as ‘rustic’ or ‘hand-made’, in the end it will taste better than anything you can buy at the store.
Here are some great recipes to get started with:
3-2-1 Pie pastry recipe using butter
3-2-1 Pie pastry recipe using lard
Sweet Tart dough recipe
Rolling pie dough
How-to blind bake a pie shell
Pumpkin Pie Recipe
Date Custard Pie Recipe
Common pie crust problems, and solutions.
Crust is tough & rubbery: Too much water and / or overhandling
Too tender & falls apart: Undermixed, too little water, too much fat.
Dry & mealy: Fat mixed in too finely, too little water
Desserts for two
Most nights around our house, somewhere between doing dishes and making a cup of tea, discussion turns to making a sweet dessert. We don’t buy cookies or cakes at the store - nothing wrong with them, it’s just a matter of preference and self control.
You see a bag of cookies just screams out to be eaten, we comply and then wish we hadn’t. So our pact is: if you want sweets for dessert you need to bake them after supper. Not a problem, actually. Cookies, cakes and other treats can end up on the dessert plate quite quickly when you are motivated. Jules can have any number of cookies ready from scratch in 20 - 25 minutes. On the nights without motivation, we are saved from eating something we probably don’t need.
My vote is always for brownies, my current fave is this recipe for Black and Tan Brownies.
Problem is leftovers. I work from a home office, and try as I might the leftover brownies usually don’t make it to supper on the second day.
Enter this Molten Chocolate Cake Recipe for Two.
In the video Julie whips it together in no time, and it uses very few ingredients.
So when is a molten chocolate cake not a brownie? I’m sure that the lack of a leavening agent might have something to do with it, but it’s probably just in the cooking time. Follow the directions and you get an oooey goooey mess that tastes great - if you don’t burn your tongue because you couldn’t wait for it to cool.
If you cook it a bit longer the centre firms up and you have something that’s just like a brownie, dense and chocolately.
The video goes live on Friday June 12, we hope you enjoy it.
