Family, Friends and Food

Ok, as promised, I have posted our secret family recipe for ragout de pattes! Ragout is the French name for stew. This is a meatball stew with a rich base made with pork hocks. This is a yummy, and hearty dish, perfect for cold winter nights, especially after an afternoon spent shovelling snow, or a day on the slopes. This is one of those rare times when I allow myself to eat potatoes… Click here for the complete recipe.

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It’s been a while since I posted a recipe, not that I’ve stopped baking and cooking. I’ve been busy trying to get the plastering and painting finished in the basement in time for the New Year. Having spent the morning inhaling plaster dust…. despite wearing a mask… I felt I needed something cleansing, so I made what for years I have considered to be one of the most simple, pleasant tasting and healthy drinks: the green drink. I know, in the photo it doesn’t look all that green but let me explain how it’s made.

Pour a cup of pineapple juice into the blender; add a large handful of fresh raw greens: romain lettuce, mixed greens, parsley… whatever you have on hand. Sometimes I add a teaspoon of green tea powder for additional anti-oxidants. Adding alfalfa sprouts will make this drink even more healthy! Today I made it with mixed baby greens with the red leaves, so it turned out a funny colour, but same great taste. Really. Try it.

Actually, I stirred the juice, but by the time I focused my camera and took the shot, the drink had separated… so there it is. It’s a great way to get your greens if you don’t have the time to make a salad.

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While looking for a recipe for our Family dinner, German theme, I came across this really cool recipe: Beer Soup. No kidding! It was really good, everyone loved it, and it is soooooo easy to make! You must give it a try. I made it with a strong ale, but next time, will try a regular ale. The strong ale was a bit too bitter for my liking. Check out the recipe on our website.

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This recipe is for Lisa. As you know, my kitchen is my lab, a place where I enjoy experimenting. This recipe was modified from the Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook, a tiny booklet I picked up many years ago that is now very worn out, marked up and food stained.

Note that as usual, I cut down the sugar considerably. The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups brown sugar! Way too sweet! Also, I use organic whole grains, much more flavourful.

3/4 cup butter
1/3 cup fructose or cane sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour (I use whole spelt, or a combination of spelt and wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups uncooked whole oats (works well with a combination of spelt, rye, rice, barley or other whole grain flakes. Note that some of these flakes, such as rice flakes, will add extra crunch.)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat together butter and fructose until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Mix in combined flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350, 15-20 minutes, depending on size.

Better pic to come with next batch!

Tags: Desserts and Sweets, Recipes // 2 Comments »

I took the standard jam bars recipe and gave it a shot of healthy tofu, basically reducing the butter by half! Of course, I reduce the sugar to next to nothing.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup tofu
1/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
2 cups flour
1 cup jam
Chopped walnuts or almonds or a mixture of your favourite nuts.

Cream butter, tofu and sugar. Beat in eggs yolks, then stir in flour, half a cup at a time. Press half the dough into a 9″ square baking pan. Spread with jam and top with remaining dough. Dough will be thick; it can be dropped by half spoonfuls to cover jam. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Bake at 375 deg F for 35 minutes. Cool. Cut into bars (or squares).

Tags: Healthy Alternatives, Let's Talk Tofu // Add Comment »

Ok, I know, you’re probably thinking She can’t be serious, right? How could anyone possibly love that bland tasting gross looking white stuff? Ok, so by itself, it is kind of dull, but I have to admit that you kind of get used to its mildly nutty flavour, or maybe that’s just my strange taste-buds. At any rate, there is no denying the positive health benefits of this food, so let’s face it, a little tofu in your diet can’t be harmful, and might in fact be beneficial.

I’ve been cooking with tofu (and eating it too!) for over 30 years. (No doubt the secret to my youthful looks! In fact, when the kids were small, I used to make my own, from scratch. I had found this really cool book (Book of Tofu) and could spend hours experimenting with various recipes and techniques for working with soybeans from scratch! I guess I had spare time on my hands back then!

At any rate, I have since learned that many recipes can be modified and given a healthy update with the addition of this most versatile of foods. One of my favourite winter appetizers is the ubiquitous potage, a cream soup with infinite possibilities. This is one of the easiest places where you can sneak tofu into the recipe. I’ve posted my favourite Carrot Ginger Tofu Soup. Check it out. Watch out for the ginger. If you aren’t used to it, it can bite back! And the beauty of it is, you won’t even know you’re eating tofu!

Tags: Healthy Alternatives, Let's Talk Tofu // 1 Comment »

I tend to be hypoglycemic, so I need protein and slow burning carbs 3 times a day, especially at breakfast. I don’t know how people make it on a bagel and coffee for breakfast; in my book, that’s a recipe for a migraine!

Since I do my fair share of networking breakfast meetings, I get my eggs and … shall I admit it? Ok… saussages. Occasionally I will have a strip of bacon. So at home, I like to balance things out with a healthy breakfast choice, home made whole grain muffins, scrambled tofu (yes, tofu for breakfast! I will post my recipe soon.) or shakes.
Shakes are among my top choices not only because they are so quick and easy to make, but also because varieties of flavours are limited only by my early morning imagination!

I start with an unsweetened soya milk base, fortified with iron and a couple of vitamins, such as A and D. This varies between brands. Then I will add either frozen or fresh fruit and a scoop of sugar free, vanilla flavoured protein/or meal replacement powder. (Isagenix has a very complete shake, also very delicious: click here for info.)

My favourite blend though, is very simple: soya milk, coconut milk, a scoop of protein powder and a teaspoon of green tea powder. The delicate flavour of green tea powder is refreshing, never overpowering and I can’t seem to get enough of it. I wonder if I will turn green?

Tip: In order to have a cool drink, (blending tends to warm things up a bit!) I usually keep a mixture of soya milk and coconut milk in ice cube trays in the freezer. I pop a couple in with the other ingredients, and voila, instant chill!

Tags: Breakfast, Healthy Alternatives, Recipes // 1 Comment »

Ever wondered how to make your favourite recipe more healthful? My kitchen has been my sort of combination playground and laboratory for years! Actually, more than that, I think the kitchen is like my source of renewal and rebalancing. Whenever I need to get away from the computer and produce something tangible rather than intellectual, I wander out to the kitchen, go through my cookbooks and see what inspires me. Sometimes, I just go through cookbooks and don’t actually bake anything. The phone rings, a client emails for an appointment, or I might even get an idea for the book I am working on. But by that time, even if it’s just ten or fifteen minutes away from my usual work, my foray into the world of food seems to have worked its magic.

Not only do I love to experiment, but I have always looked for ways of making our favourite recipes as healthy as possible, which meant replacing a few basic, unhealthy ingredients with healthy substitutes. Finding myself with a few extra pounds and hypoglycemic, I got rid of all the “white foods,” namely white sugar, brown sugar (which is white sugar with molases and colouring), processed flour and all its derivative products (bread, commercial baked goods, pasta) and potatoes. I found that sugar and menopause don’t mix very well.
Actually, you’d be surprised as to how much you can cut back on sugar in most dessert recipes. In fact, started to cut back on all the “white stuff” several years ago

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I must be avoiding work, because I’ve been cooking up a storm this week!
Whole Atlantic salmon was on special last week, so I couldn’t resist making a poached salmon with dill, with a side of golden oats medley. You have to try this!

Then we had a meeting tonight, so I felt compelled to make a dessert. I chose a light green tea cake, which everyone enjoyed, of course, who wouldn’t! Check out the recipes for these gems on the website: Recipes

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There’s actually a funny story behind that face full of flour!

Nico, my thoughtful son-in-law, decided to bring his soon-to-be-mother-in-law (that’s me) some flowers, or was that flour? I think something got lost in the transation somewhere, so here’s the breakdown…

French: farine, fleur
Spanish: harina, flor
English: flour, flower

See the similarities?

So, when they asked me to pick them up at the metro station because they had some flowers to carry, I was expecting…well, something that goes in a vase, not in a mixer! To my surprise, he had gotten me a 50 pound bag of organic spelt flour! What a sweetie!

Spelt flour can be used instead of regular flour in most recipes, even for thickening sauces such as bechamels… It rises well, and is surprisingly light, not to mention all the health benefits of the whole grain, it is a great alternative to white flour! However, one thing it does not do well is go in a vase!

PS: the lillies are from my garden, one of my favourite flowers. I love their scent!

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