O.K. So, not to make your ears bleed, but I really love beets! I can’t say that enough. I cook with them all the time and they are SO healthy! Instead of throwing away the leafy tops, I use them. They are very edible and also very healthy. I thought s good way to start cooking with the greens was in soup! Easy to make, healthy and who doesn’t love a good bowl of hot soup?

Beans are also quite healthy; full of protein, fibre and other good nutrients. I used navy beans and chicken chorizo sausage. I used chicken to cut the fat but, other sausage would work too. A different flavour can also be used if you don’t like spicy foods. Start the beens (dried, preferably) by simmering until soft for about an hour. Then, drain the water, rinse and cook in fresh water. For the soup, you will need:

- 3 chicken chorizo sausages

- 1/2 and onion

- 3 garlic cloves

- The ends from a bunch of beets

- 1 cup navy beans

- 6 cups chicken stock

- Salt and pepper

To prevent the Sausages from crumbling when I browned it, I blanched it in boiling water for a couple minutes. This helps them hold their form. Then, I sliced them in half lengthwise (you might want to do this twice so, they’re quartered). Then cut them into small, spoon- sized pieces. Place a swirl of olive oil in a pot (remember this is chicken so there won’t be much fat). Brown the meat then add about half an onion, chopped t 1/4 inch and about 3 cloves of garlic, minced. Add the stocks of the beets, chopped, with the leafy parts removed. Season. Cook to soft. 

At this point, start adding chicken stock. Add about 6 cups. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the beans and chopped leafy parts of the beet greens until just wilted. Adjust seasoning and serve. 

Caramel sauce is something that can be made really easily at home with some simple ingredients that you probably already have. I like to add rum to a simple caramel sauce. I find that a dark rum is the best. My favourite is Lemon Heart. Here’s what you need.

- 1 cup sugar

- 1/2 cup heavy cream

- 5 Tbsp soft butter

- 1/4 cup dark rum

To start, place the sugar in a small sauce pan and heat over low heat. The sugar will liquify as it heats up. You want to get some good colour without burning it. The deeper the colour, the better. Once you have a nice deep colour, add the cream. This will cause the sugar to sizzle so, be prepared. Next add the rum. When these are well whisked in, remove from heat and immediately add the soft butter, whisking throughly.

Enjoy over ice cream. This can store in the fridge for about a week.

Easy Dolche de Leche sauce only requires 1 ingredient: sweetened condensed milk.

Use a double boiler and stir the dolche de lenche until it reaches a caramel colour. Store it in the fridge for up to a week.

Caramel sauce is something that can be made really easily at home with some simple ingredients that you probably already have. I like to add rum to a simple caramel sauce. I find that a dark rum is the best. My favourite is Lemon Heart. Here’s what you need.

- 1 cup sugar

- 1/2 cup heavy cream

- 5 Tbsp soft butter

- 1/4 cup dark rum

To start, place the sugar in a small sauce pan and heat over low heat. The sugar will liquify as it heats up. You want to get some good colour without burning it. The deeper the colour, the better. Once you have a nice deep colour, add the cream. This will cause the sugar to sizzle so, be prepared. Next add the rum. When these are well whisked in, remove from heat and immediately add the soft butter, whisking throughly. 

Enjoy over ice cream. This can store in the fridge for about a week. 

Easy Dolche de Lenche sauce only requires 1 ingredient: sweetened condensed milk. 

Use a double boiler and stir the dolche de lenche until it reaches a caramel colour. Store it in the fridge for up to a week. 

 

This recipe is adapted (only slightly) from American Regional Cuisine. I used this recipe in the Banana Pudding Parfaits by grinding it up to a crumb mixture. The crumbs go well on sundaes too with some home made caramel or dolche de lenche sauce. The recipe is obviously traditionally made with peanuts hover, I noticed last minute that I didn’t have any peanuts. I used cashews instead which turned out quite nicely.

Here is what you’ll need:

- 2 cups white, granulated sugar

- 1/2 cup light corn syrup

- 1/2 cup water

- 1 1/2 cup raw peanuts or other nut

- Pinch salt

- 1 Tbsp soft butter (unsalted)

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

First, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup over heat and heat to soft ball stage (240 F). A candy thermometer will be handy for this and for a lot of recipes here. You can buy them for $10- $20 on Amazon.com or kitchen stores.

Once the mixture has reached soft ball stage, add the peanuts and salt. Stir constantly.

The mixture should reach hard crack stage (300 F) and you will be looking for a dark, golden, caramel colour.

You should have a greased and lined sheet tray ready and when you pour this, pour it quickly and deliberately or the peanuts will separate form a lot of the candy and you will end up with pieces of just candy and pieces of mostly nuts. Let the candy harden and cool on the counter. This only take a couple hours.

Once it had hardened and cooled, break it into pieces. At this point you can enjoy it as is, or grind it up in a food processor to use on ice cream or in different recipes.

Note: I save a few pieces of brittle to use as garnish on my parfaits and sundaes.

This recipe’s so tasty and versatile. I hope you enjoy it!

For dessert, I adapted a simple pudding recipe from American Regional Cuisine, flambeed bananas in rum and used peanut brittle crumbs (Use a food processor to break brittle to a fine crumb) instead of a cake or cookie layer. To start, combine 1 cup milk and half a cup heavy cream. Split a vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the milk and steep the vanilla bean pod. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and cover for 15 mins.

Whisk together 6 egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp flour and a pinch of salt. Temper egg mixture, by slowly adding hot milk mixture to the egg mixture while whisking constantly. Once the egg mixture is thin and about half the milk has been added to the eggs, mix the egg mixture back into the milk and heat again on low, stirring constantly until thick. Strain. And mix in another 1/2 cup cream.

Let cool slightly and meanwhile, beat another half cup of whipped cream to stiff peaks. Seed another half a vanilla bean and fold it into the whipped cream. Set aside.

Heat about 3 Tbsp butter in a pan over medium low heat. Add about 3 Tbsp brown sugar and mix. Slice 2 bananas into rounds in the pan and coat slices. Add 1/4 cup dark rum and use a lighter to set fire to the rum. Let it cook off. Remove the bananas with half the sugar mixture. Fold the other half into the whipped cream.

In a parfait glass, layer a small amount of whipped cream, then top with a layer of peanut brittle crumbs. Shingle the banana slices then add a large amount of pudding on top. Continue this process as desired until the glass is almost full then top with whipped cream, crumbs and garnish with a piece of peanut brittle and/or a banana slice.

I used a different glass which worked and looked cute but, it is easier to layer in a parfait glass and the layers turn out better. I would also recommend using piping bags for the layering as it makes it much easier.

Shallow poaching is pretty simple but, sounds daunting to those who have never done it. To start, place fish stock, a splash of white wine and a squeeze of lemon. The liquid should come about half way up the fish. 

Next, you will need a parchment paper cover with a vent in the middle. To do this, fold the paper in half, then half again and continue to do so until you have a sliver of paper and use the pan to measure the radius. Cut the top off then cut a small bit from the centre. You should have a circle of approximately the size of the pan and a small circle in the middle. Note, the paper I used was waxed. It was one of those things I made due with but I would really encourage you to invest in some parchment paper and use it here. There is a big difference.

When the salmon is done, remove and let sit under tented tin foil to keep heat and prepare to make the beurre blanc. First,  add lemon zest and bruised garlic cloves and reduce the remaining liquid in the pan and add a splash more of wine. Reduce again to au sec, meaning you should only have a few drops in the pan. Next, add cubed butter slowly, whisking it in as you go until you’ve combined about a pound. This will seem like a lot of butter and it will cover more than 2 plates. This is French cooking and they tend to use a lot of butter. However, the sauce will taste light and delicate as the fat and acid balance each other out. Once all the butter is added, remove the garlic, add salt and white pepper and taste to see how it tastes. Add a squeeze of lemon if needed to balance out the butter and add more salt if needed. Pour this over the salmon.

You can sprinkle with parsley at this point to dress it up. To make it even fancier, you can also drizzle dots of basil oil (just throw some basil in a food processor and add oil to desired consistency) or some carrot puree around the edges of the plate. A squeeze bottle is a good and cheap investment to dress up plates.  

This is a really simple dish! All you need to do, is drop trimmed green beans in boiling, salted water and blanch until tender and bright green. Immediately place them in an ice bath to shock them and hold their colour. Next, melt just enough butter to coat the beans and toss. Do not cook the beans in the butter or add too much butter. You want them to be just coated, not dripping with butter. You can also remove the beans and hold them after they’re been bleached for a bit which, is especially helpfully if you are making a big dinner. I chose to serve these under poached salmon and beurre blanc but, they go great with most dishes and look pretty on a plate.

I love this risotto dish! I make it when I really want to impress people or when I want to treat myself. Saffron is the most expensive ingredient in the world and you’ll see why. Try and look around for the best prices. The chicken stock in this recipe is really important. Always use homemade and reduce it to double strength. By simmering it to evaporate the water, the flavour intensifies. Evaporate about half the water. Risotto is a method of cooking a specific type of rice in a lot of stock or water. 

Ingredients:

- 2 Tbsp butter

- 1 Tbsp olive oil

- 1/2 onion, diced

- Pinch of Saffron

- Handful of arborio rice

- About 5 cups double strength chicken stock

- Salt and pepper

- 2 Tbsp butter

- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

- Parsley, chopped

To start, melt the first lump of butter in a pan with olive oil. Add Saffron and onion to sweat. Then add the rice. No need to measure, just grab a handful (or 2 if you have tiny hands!) Cook to blister the rice. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Add a ladle of stock and cook until the liquid is almost soaked up before adding more. Stir frequently.

In the end, the risotto should have the consistency of oatmeal and the rice should be about cooked. Add another half a ladle of stock, a handful of parmesan cheese (leave some to top the bowls with) and the last bit of butter. Remove from heat and cover for 10 minutes. 

Adjust seasoning and serve in bowls, topped with cheese and parsley. 

So, I may have mentioned this before, but I love beets! 90% of the salads I make, have beets in them and they go well with so many things. (dill, lemon, etc…) Not to mention that they are great for you! The one downside to beets is that they do take some time to cook and you will obviously need to cook them before you make your salad. Beets can be thrown in the oven and roasted in a pan or wrapped in tin foil. To cut the cooking time and to add flavour, I quartered the beets and placed them on a bed of salt. I then roasted them at 400 degrees F. They are done when they are fork tender. 

I used mache for the greens. Mache is a higher end green that can be hard to find. It is a smooth green with no bitterness. I toped the greens with the diced beets, crumbled goats cheese and toasted, sliced almonds. 

To toast the almonds, you can place them in a small sauce pot over medium low heat, stirring constantly until they are brown and fragrant or, you can line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place them in a 350 degree oven. 

For dressing, I like to change up which oils and vinegars I use, with other flavourings. You will find hundreds of combinations for your vinaigrettes and you can just add the amount that tastes right; no need to measure. But, this is the one I made: First, I put about 2 Tbsp of walnut oil in a mason jar. Mason jars are great for vinaigrettes as you can shake them before every used and seal them again before you put them in the fridge. I use a fork, to whisk in a splash of tarragon vinegar and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Then, while whisking vigorously, I drizzle in honey, about 1-2 Tbsp depending on your tastes. A little goes a long way so, just drizzle a little over your salad, and have fun making new vinaigrettes each time. 

This weekend, I went to my friend Ana’s house for a girls night and I made dinner. I made a couple simple but delicious dishes that always impress people. I found a few challenges; It’s always hard to cook at other people’s houses with their dishes and tools. As someone who works long hours and doesn’t cook much, Ana doesn’t have a lot of kitchen utensils or dishes. I ended up using salad forks to remove the green beans from the blanching water but, I think these challenges can be fun and evoke more creativity.

On the menu, I made a beet salad with home made vinaigrette to start, a saffron risotto appetizer and poached salmon with lemon garlic beurre blanc over green beans anglaise. For dessert, I made my own version of banana pudding. I made it in a parfait and used components of bananas foster and peanut brittle.

I have a lot of fun making up menus and recipes to cook for people. I think that food is meant to be shared and I see it as a form of nurturing and expressing friendship. I am going to post the recipes I made over the next few days. I hope you get to make these for your friends and enjoy them.