Eat, Drink and be Merry!

The Christmas Holidays, being the most joyful holiday of all, call for excellent food and special treats! I love cooking for Christmas and hosting parties. I feel like it's the best occasion to showcase chic and entertaining recipes that will wow everyone. If you haven't noticed yet, when it comes of my cooking, I love the attention! I take a lot of pride in what I do and I'm very thankful when people notice!

For Christmas dinner, I like to go the traditional route. But sometimes tradition has to be adapted when, for example, one of your guests does not eat poultry. So this year, I will be making a Mustard Rosemary Prime Rib Roast with Garlic Brie Mashed Potatoes and some Christmassy salad with pomegranate. Although this is not the traditional turkey dinner, Prime Rib is known to be the best substitute to turkey for the holiday season.

But in order to keep a little bit of tradition, I'm still going to make my meat pie (or tourtière) and this is the recipe I will be sharing with you today. It is inspired by Anna Olsen's recipe.

You will need:

Crust

·         2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
·         1/2 teaspoon fine salt
·         1/2 cup unsalted butter
·         1/2 cup vegetable shortening
·         2 tablespoons lemon juice
·         6 to 10 tablespoons cold water (as needed)

Filling

·         1 1/2 pounds ground pork, veal, beef or combination
·         2 onions, diced
·         1 medium carrot, peeled and finely diced
·         2 celery stalks, finely diced
·         2 cloves of garlic, minced
·         3/4 teaspoon fine salt
·         1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
·         1 tablespoon crushed celery seed (or as much as you want...I love celery seeds!)
·       Allspice - as much as you want!
·       Ground cloves - same as Allspice, as much as you want
·       1 1/2 cup or more of apple cider or blond beer
·       1 egg mixed with 2 tablespoons of water for glazing

What to do:

Crust

1. Combine flour with salt. Cut in butter and shortening until mixture is a roughly even crumbly texture. Add lemon juice and water and blend until the dough comes together.
2. Shape into a disc, wrap and chill for 30 minutes. While pastry is chilling, prepare filling.

Filling

1.  In a large sauté pan or skillet, sauté beef, pork and/or veal over medium heat until no longer pink.  Drain off excess fat, add onions, carrots and seasonings and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Add cider/beer and bring to a simmer. Let mixture simmer for about 15 minutes, until most of liquid is absorbed. If it does not completely evaporate, just drain the excess.
3. Preheat oven to 375 °F.
4. On a lightly floured surface, cut dough in half, roll out to just less than ¼-inch (.5 cm) thickness and line an 8-inch (20 cm) springform pan. Fill with tourtière filling.
5. Roll out remaining dough, cut a hole in center (for steam to escape) and place on top of filling. Pinch edges of crust together and brush with egg wash. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until pastry is a rich golden brown.

So in my version, I don't add any binding agent for the meat, but if you would like, you can add potatoes to bind the meat. For this you will need 1 1/2 cups diced, peeled potatoes that you will cook and mash to add the meat mixture.

Some people love their tourtière with ketchup, but my husband and I prefer to have it with homemade cranberry sauce. Simply follow the recipe on a package of fresh cranberries and you will have a great sauce that is also good with turkey.

This is a classic that I make every year, it's very easy to double, triple or even quadruple. I get together with some friends and we have Tourtière Day. We make a bunch of them and freeze some (uncooked)  so we have reserves for the entire year. That way, when I don't know what to make for dinner, I take one out of the freezer and cook it. That simple!

On that note, I wish you all the best for this Holiday Season and we shall all meet again in 2013 and share more fabulous recipes.

 

 

Spaghetti Sauce - Everyone has one!

Every family has one.  It's the "go-to" for a quick fix.  Often frozen or in a Mason jar, spaghetti sauce is always ready for a meal, especially when you don't know what to do for dinner.  For years I tried to make a good spaghetti sauce, but it turned out not as thick as I would have liked and tasted different every time. Well, that all changed two years ago!

It was a few weeks before Christmas and I went to my friend Annie's for dinner and she served me her spaghetti sauce.  OMG it was like a revelation.  It was what the foodie in me had been waiting for years.  It was sweet, savory and spicy, it was rich and thick.  A lot of flavour, but nothing too complex.  I had to have this recipe and being the great friend that she is, she gave it to me.  Since then, I've made this sauce many times and I even gave some to friends. I was able to consistently get it to taste the same and everyone always seems to enjoy it.  Annie confessed that she was stuck like me, without a great spaghetti sauce and that she had found this one online.  So I can't quote the primary source for the recipe, but I will share it with you since it would be a crime not to.  This will yield about 10 cups of sauce.  You can freeze it or store it in Mason jars.

You will need:

- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil (or any oil you want)
- 2 large onions, diced
- 1 large green bell pepper (I prefer red)
- 4 carrots, cut in small pieces
- 4 celery stalks, cut in small pieces
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 can of 284 ml of sliced mushrooms (you can use fresh)
- 2 lbs of ground beef
- 1 small can (156 ml) of tomato paste
- 2 cans (796 ml) of diced tomatoes
- 1 can (284 ml) of tomato soup (like Aylmer or Campbell's)
- 1 can (540 ml) of tomato juice
- 1/2 tsp of each of the following: rosemary, marjoram, thyme, oregano, nutmeg, ground cinnamon, clove, salt and pepper.
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar (this is the secret ingredient!)

What to do:

Heat up the oil and all the chopped vegetables and cook for about 10 minutes.  Add the meat.

Once the meat is brown, add all the tomatoes (paste, tomatoes, sauce and juice), one at a time, stirring between each addition. Add the spices, stir and then add the sugar.

If you are cooking the sauce on the stove, bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for four hours, stirring occasionally.  Keep the sauce uncovered.

I prefer to cook it in the oven at 250-300 F (125-150 C) for four hours and I stir every 30 to 45 minutes.  The first two hours, I keep the lid on the sauce, then remove it for the remaining two.

You will most definitely love this spaghetti sauce.  For a little kick, I add pepper flakes when I sauté the vegetables. In my house, we like it spicy!

Any time I serve spaghetti, I love to have a side of garlic bread to go with it. Here is my recipe, inspired by my husband's cousin Katelyn:

Melt some butter, then add minced garlic (as mush as you want, but one clove is generally enough!). Add black pepper and some dry parsley (optional).  Take a brush and brush the bread with the garlic butter mixture.  Before putting it in the oven, sprinkle a mix of Italian herbs on top of the bread.  Cook for 10 to 15 min in a 350 F (175 C) oven or until toasted to your liking.  You can add cheese halfway through the cooking if you like.  Let it melt for the remaining time.

So there you have it! Every family has a spaghetti sauce that is shared from generation to generation and this is mine that I am sharing with all of you.  Enjoy!

Quick Fix with Cheese

I've always loved cheese!  Over the past two years I have discovered new cheeses that are so tasty that I wanted to share some quick cheese-tastic recipes.  In 2010, my husband and I went to Italy where I discovered Gorgonzola. This is a very creamy blue cheese. It is a perfect addition to pizza, stuffed chicken, salad dressings, sauces, steak and pasta. So I thought I would share my Gorgonzola Penne with Arugula with all of you.

You will need:
- 454g of penne or any short pasta
- 200g of Gorgonzola cheese
- 1 cup of cream
- 2 cups of Arugula or baby spinash
- 3/4 cups of tosted nuts (Pecans or Walnuts)

Cook the pasta according to the packaging, in the mean time, eat up the cream.  Once simmering, add the Gorgonzola in chunks and stir until melted.

When ready, drained the pasta, but keep about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.  Mix together the pasta and the cheese sauce, add a little bit of pasta water to thin it out and add the arugula and nuts. Add black pepper generously and serve immediatly.

Another cheese that I really love is Brie.  This is one of the most popular French cheese in the world.  Here are some quick recipes with Brie.


Baguette and Melted Brie
Cut a baguette lengthwise.  Cut thin slices of Brie to cover the bread. Add some chopped hazelnuts and drizzle a little bit of honey. Put in the oven until the cheese is melted, about 7 min at 350 degree oven. Cut in pieces and serve immediately.


Garlic Mash Potato with Brie
Use potatoes of your choise, I personnaly love yellow gold potatoes as they are more creamy. Boil the potatoes with 3 or 4 garlic cloves.  Mash the potatoes as you would normally and add some small pieces of Brie.  Taste your potatoes as you are adding the cheese, and add as much as you want. This will make your potatoes so creamy you will have to call them "Smashed potatoes"!

Fondant with Sweet Onions
This is one dish that I make very often. You will need a small wheel of Brie cheese, 1 onion and 1 table spoon of brown sugar. Preheat the oven to 350 degree.  Slice the onion thinly and sauté in butter in a skillet. Once the onions are translucide, add the sugar and stir until the onions are brown and the sugar makes a nice brown sauce in the bottom of the skillet.

Put the onion mixture on top of the Brie and cook in the oven for about 20 min. Keep an eye on it, as the cheese could expand and burst. Serve with bread and crackers. This will have your guests talking!

There are so many ways of enjoying cheese.  Sure it's always good on bread, but try new things and you won't regret it!

The Other Man in my Kitchen

As some of you noticed, I did not post last week.  Things have been crazy around my kitchen and I just didn’t have one minute to myself.  But to make it up to you, I want to introduce you to THE other man in my life.  This affair  has been going on for over 10 years and my husband knows all about him.  Being the confident husband that he is, he is not jealous, in fact he encourages me to seek advice and comfort from my other man.  And I’m not the only woman that has this other man in her life.  He is loved by thousands of women and men and his name is: Ricardo Larrivée… I call him Ricardo.  He is the inspiration to so many recipes. He makes me discover new foods and ways of doing things…in the kitchen.  I will guarantee that any recipe of his, will become an instant favourite.  His familiar smile and his easy recipes (even the most complex) will make you feel like the Chef of all Chefs.  Most of the time, when I try a new recipe, my husband, mother-in-law or even friends will say: “Is this from Ricardo?" and I will be so proud to answer “YES!”. Even my cooking is giving him away!  Yesterday when I told my husband this weeks's post was about my “other man”, he replied “Oh, you’re writing about Ricardo”. You see? This could happen to you too!

The thing that I absolutely adore from Ricardo is that all of his recipes are good, easy to prepare and they give you room to grow.  You know sometimes a chef can have good, not-so-easy and/or bad recipes, but Ricardo’s are just simple, tasty and appetizing.  Ricardo gave me the confidence to try new things. Things like fish. I know it sounds silly, but I didn't grow up eating fish. But now, it's part of my life thanks to him.  And don't get me started on avocados! I think I bought my first avocado only four years ago!  My mother has a family recipe for Banana Bread that’s been passed on from mother to daughter for generations. And it was the most A-M-A-Z-I-N-G Banana Bread... until I decided to try Ricardo's double chocolate banana bread. Oh my, what have I done? I broke the family legacy because I’ll be passing down his recipes to my children! Don’t tell my mom, I haven't told her yet!  But head on over to Ricardo's website for that recipe.

Thanks to Ricardo, I also discovered ratatouille.  No, not the cute Disney movie, the recipe!  This dish with a funny name is a mix of vegetables generally served as a side dish.  I had tried to make it many times before, but it was just so mushy. It came out looking like a clear soup with a few chunks in it and didn't really taste like anything.  But after reading Ricardo's recipe, I recognized my error.  In order to have a good ratatouille, the vegetables need to be prepared and cooked separately so each will taste truly of itself. Then you combine them.  Ricardo explained it to me (well on his website - I suppose it wasn't just for me!) and since then, his recipe is my favourite.  I use it to top a low-calorie pizza where I just add chicken and cheese.  I use it instead of pasta sauce and I add feta cheese and Kalamata Olives. And of course I use it as a side dish.  You have to try this recipe you’ll love it!



Picture from Ricardo's Website

The last thing I want to mention is his website.  It is full of interesting and educational information, how-to videos, etc.  You can create a menu for a specific meal or gathering and save it in your account.  You can even produce a list of your favourite recipes and create your grocery list from it.  His website is just very user-friendly and has earned the number one spot in my food-related bookmarks.  What can I say? He is my go-to guy!  Also, all of his recipes are available in French and English, which makes them even easier to share. And to top it all off, you can sign up for Ricardo's weekly newsletter, with over 10 recipes (generally along the same "theme") and other useful information.

So, there you have it! The (not-so) secret ingredient in most of my recipes and the inspiration for all of my cooking.  I’m sharing my man with you and I honestly hope that you’ll enjoy him!

Five-Step Recipe to Feed a Crowd

I love to entertain and one way of doing so (actually, the only way I know how) is by cooking for a crowd.  I'm not really sure where this passion for food came from.  As a child, I always loved watching my mom cook and I always wanted to help.  But I believe I found "the calling" in 2007.  Single in Hamilton (let's face it, not the most exciting place) and on my own for the first time, I discovered the Food Channel.  I remember spending a lot of time in front of the TV, learning about techniques, food, tools and much more.

But one night (a Thursday to be exact), after watching a show where the chef made fried chicken, I went to the grocery store and bought all the ingredients required for the recipe. I marinaded the chicken all day Friday and cooked it that night. It was sooo good that I surprised myself!  After that, I thought I could do anything. I started a binder with all the recipes from cooking shows that I had tried.  It didn't take me long to realize that I really should be sharing this with others, so that is when I started hosting dinner parties.

Over the years, I have been perfecting my "craft" and here are my not-so-secret tips on making sure you can feed a crowd and have a good time doing it, too!

First, make sure you have a trial run before making a recipe for guests. Of course, there is a risk that your meal wouldn't turn out the way you would like. But beyond that, there is nothing worse then being glued to your recipe book when you should be enjoying the company of your guests.  Also, find out if your guests have any allergies.

Second, make sure you do as much of the prep work before your guests arrive (cooking, setting the table, etc.).  And this may sound obvious, but double-check your ingredient list so you don't have to run out to the store in the middle of your soirée.  Doing this will alleviate some of the pressure of cooking and entertaining at the same time.

Third, make sure you have room for everyone, especially if it's a sit-down dinner.  Also, find out whether your guests plan to bring their kids (or a date).  It would be unfortunate to have some guests sitting at a separate table in a corner or having to shuffle everything around so a child can sit near his or her parents.

Fourth, make sure you have enough place settings for everyone.  Paper plates and plastic forks may work for picnics, but they won't impress the in-laws. Ideally, you would want to have enough of everything to get you through the entire evening without having to wash anything between services.  In practice, that may not be possible, but try to minimize this.  Any time you spend in the kitchen is time you're not spending with your guests.

Fifth and most important, enjoy yourself!  Don't fret over details and if you forget something, don't tell anyone. Chances are they won't even notice because they're busy having a great time.

So there you have it. My five-step recipe for a guaranteed successful dinner party!  Now go, enjoy some great food (yours) with the people you love.

Quick fix for week nigths

As I mentioned in my first post, I love Italian food.  However, some dishes need to cook for hours before the flavours develop fully.  There's nothing like a good pasta dish, but I don't always have the time to let it simmer for an hour or more!  Well, I came up with a twist on an classic pasta sauce with sausage for your week nights. It will only take you 20 minutes to make and it tastes great.

You will need:
1 box (454g) of penne or any other short pasta
4 Italian sausages (hot or not depending on your taste), sliced on an angle
Dried chili peppers (depending on how hot you want it!)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped in large pieces
1 Red pepper, cut in large pieces
1 Orange peppers cut in large pieces
1 small can of tomato paste
1 can of chicken stock (I prefer the low sodium kind)
1 big handful of arugula
Parmigiano cheese to taste
Salt & Pepper to taste

You can add all the veggies you want!

First, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box, but drain the pasta just shy of being al dente and keep about 1/2 cup of the pasta water for later.

Second, in a big pan, cook the sausages.  When almost cooked, add all the vegetables and sauté for about 5 minutes.  The list of vegetables above is just a suggestion, you can add anything else you think might be interesting (or whatever is in your refrigerator).  I sometimes add asparagus, mushrooms, broccoli and even cauliflower. Add the tomato paste, chicken stock, salt and pepper and stir well.  Let simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the arugula and Parmagiano cheese and stir one last time before serving in pasta bowls.

And there you have it! Simple and tasty.  It's a recipe with a big punch of flavour and I'm sure it will become one of your favourites too!

Enjoy and buon appetito!

Tunisian Feast!

Over the weekend I decided to host a Tunisian Dinner with some of our closest friends. It has been a while since I cooked this type of meal and it was a real success (if I do say so myself). As some of you know, my dad is Tunisian and Tunisian food and culture have always played a big role in my life.  One of the cultural traits is that when you have people over,  you make sure you have more food than you need! So following our gathering Saturday night, here are some of my favorite Tunisian dishes that I want to share with you. Don’t be intimidated by some of the spices. Finding some of them may require a trip to your nearest Middle Eastern supermarket/store, but the trip there will be worth your while.

First, I made Michouia Salad, homemade Humus, Brick à l’oeuf, coucous and I bought some baklava for dessert. We had 11 adults and one three-year-old. Really the trick to feeding this size group is to have (mostly) everything ready ahead of time. I started preparing my vegetables and made sure that my appetizers were ready to serve. Doing this will save you some time because let’s face it, the bulk of the labour when cooking, is the prep-work. Once that is taken care of, everything goes smoothly!

Michouia Salad
I started with the Michouia Salad. For this you need:

4 Cubanel peppers
4 Hongarian peppers (very hot)
5 Roma tomatoes
One large clove of garlic, finely cut

1 tsp of tabel
1 tsp of karwiya (caraway)
You can add more or less of the spices, it's not an exact science!


Place the tomatoes and all the peppers on a baking sheet, add some olive oil, salt and pepper and put them in a 375F oven. Let the vegetables roast for about 30 minutes. Once the skin is brown/black, remove from the oven. Transfer the vegetables into a bowl with a lid and let rest for 15 min.

Remove the skin of the peppers and tomatoes, then cut everything very finely on a cutting board. It will look very mushy but this is what we want! Add the garlic and spices and let your seasoned veggies cool in the fridge. For presentation, add some cut up hard-boiled eggs.

Homemade Humus
Next came the tasty homemade humus:
1 can of chick peas (796ml), rinsed and drained
2 cloves of garlic
1½ tbsp of tahini
Juice of one lemon
¼ tsp of cayenne pepper
1/3 cup of good olive oil
½ cup of water
Salt & pepper to taste

First, boil the water and garlic together. This will soften the garlic and give some flavour to the water.
Put the chick peas, lemon juice, tahini and cayenne pepper in a blender. Add the softened garlic, ¼ cup of the boiled water and the oil. You can add more water depending on the consistency you want. Serve with pitas or vegetables.

Brik à l’oeuf
Brik is one of my favorite Tunisian dishes. Very simple, it is an egg cracked in the middle of a pastry. The original Tunisian recipe calls for tuna (canned) and capers as well, but I prefer it with just the egg! Fold the pastry in half over the egg and cook in olive oil until the pastry is golden and crispy. Once the bottom starts browning (about one minute), flip once. Oh so good!

Picture of the package

Tunisian Couscous
This is a traditional meal that reminds me of my Grandmother in Tunisia. The house gets filled with these wonderful aromas and it’s just delightful! It is traditionally made with lamb, but I used beef blade.

This is what you need:
1 box of Medium size couscous
1 kg beef blade
5 carrots, cut in quarters (length-wise)
5 potatoes, cut in quarters
Half of a green cabbage, cut in quarters
2 big cans of crushed tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
1 big Spanish onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
Spices: about 1½ tbsp each, tabel and karwiya (Caraway)
Water
Salt & pepper

Cut the meat in chunks and discard the bone. Sauté the onion and garlic with the beef for 5 to 7 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, spices, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add the carrots and cabbage. Thin the sauce with a little bit of water. Let it cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the carrots start to get soft. Add the potatoes and continue to cook until they are soft.

Ask any Tunisian and they will tell you that the only way to cook couscous is to steam it. Boiling it is sacrilege. When making a couscous, we use a couscoussier. Basically, the sauce cooks in the lower pot and the steam from the sauce cooks the couscous. But don't worry, there is no need to run out and buy a couscoussier. Any steamer will work!

Place the couscous in the steamer. Run water through the couscous until you can form a ball that breaks easily (to humidify it). Put the steamer on top of the water/sauce and let it steam for 10 min. Remove the steamer and repeat the first step. Let it cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. Once the couscous is ready, it will be softened but still firm. It will have doubled in size.

Once it’s done, add about 2 cups of the sauce to the couscous and stir. This will turn the couscous red. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Add all the vegetables and remaining sauce on top of the couscous, then serve.

I can guarantee that if you make any (or all) of these recipes, your friends will be very impressed with your cooking skills! So let’s get cooking! And try something new, something different!

Calling all foodies!

So everyone who knows me, knows how much I love food.  Not just eating it, but preparing it and experiencing new flavours.  For the past few years, I have really enjoyed discovering new ingredients, recipes and kitchen gadgets.  I'm not afraid to create a six-course dinner for 15 people, a "new meal" with left-overs, but I am just as happy cooking simple meal at home with my husband.  This blog is where I plan to share my tricks, my recipes, my friends' recipes and those of my favourite chefs, my monumental flops and my great culinary discoveries!

Some of you may wonder why I decided to call my blog Sandra's Fix... It started with a friend of mine.  Every time she and her husband would invite us over for a meal, she would welcome me at the door, holding a "work-in-progress" recipe, and say "Sandra, fix this".  It became a running gag between us and inspired Sandra's Fix.

This same friend is as much a foody as I am, if not more. She loves food soooooo much that she calls her husband "delicious one".  As sweet as this might sound, it has somewhat ruined the word "delicious" for me. Therefore, I won't be using it to describe food on this blog. I may use "delizioso"  (I love Italian food, by the way) or whatever other synonym inspires me in the moment.

I hope you'll enjoy this blog as much as I love food and I welcome your comments and suggestions any time!

Bon appétit!