Fresh take on an old classic.

As we all well know, I am a lover of cheese; it’s no secret. But, did you know I have a love-hate relationship with blue cheese dressing? This super overused dressing/condiment can be found at every pub, salad bar and mediocre restaurant. I would never, ever indulge in eating the stuff in public, let alone make some in the privacy of my own kitchen.

But, I am here to say that I actually decided to make a batch of the swarmy stuff last night. What possessed  me to do so? Some sexy bibb lettuce, bacon, celery hearts, apple and eggs. I had the makings of a fine salad but knew deep down in my lil’ black heart that it was going to take a superfantabulous dressing to accompany the bunch.

Out came the cheese – the blue veined cheese. It got mixed with some plain yogurt, lemon juice, walnut oil and a good amount of black pepper. That was it, and how wonderful it was. Not too cheesy, not too rich, but it had a nice bite from the blue and the perfect acidity from the yogurt and lemon.

I will now put this recipe alongside my fancy ones and not have an ounce of shame. Long live the blue cheese dressing!

My Blue Cheese Dressing

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

• 1 C plain yogurt (please, use full fat!)
• 1 lemon; juice
• 1/2 C crumbled blue cheese (Roquefort would be stellar in this)
• 1/4 C walnut oil
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
• Pepper

Mix all together and let sit for 5 minutes. This dressing should keep for up to one week in the fridge.

Fresh and Delicious

It seems that as my days get busier and the weather gets hotter, it is a huge challenge for me to whip up a meal. We all have things we have as “go-to’s”, and my go-to is always a simple cold noodle salad.

I know that many of us may not keep such ingredients in the pantry, but for me, rice noodles, fish sauce and sambal olek are always floating around. And in the fridge, you will always find cilantro, carrots, cucumbers and a piece of meat.

On this particular day, as the temperature rose and the humidity became almost unbearable, I made my go-to salad and enjoyed it immensely. The crunch of the carrots and cucumber with the salty peanuts, the spicy vinaigrette, and the tender slices of striploin, filled the void on this day.

I started by soaking the rice noodles in warm water while I julienned my vegetables and chopped my cilantro. A vinaigrette of lime juice, ginger, fish sauce, sambal olek and sesame oil awaited the noodles and vegetables. To finish the dish off, I topped the noodles with some thinly sliced striploin steak from the night before and a sprinkling of chopped peanuts.

In less than ten minutes I had a delicious and fresh dinner that would also be great as leftovers for lunch the next day. Quick, simple and fresh; it’s that easy.

Chilled Razor Clam Salad

It isn’t very often that chefs can get together to enjoy an evening of fun and frolic, but on Monday, June 20th, at Chives Canadian Bistro, it happened.

What kind of event could bring together the well known Canadian chef from Toronto, Michael Stadtlander, Craig Flinn of Chives, Michael Howell of Tempest Restaurant, Ray Bear of Mix Fresh Kitchen and myself, the “Feisty Chef”? Well, it was non other than a fundraising dinner for the upcoming Canadian Chefs’ Congress taking place in Nova Scotia in 2012.

Each chef had the chance to showcase their talents and personalities with the preparation of one course for the 85 excited diners. I was assigned the cold appetizer course, so I was extremely happy to be able to use gorgeous razor clams, courtesy of my friend Nick Budreski of CANSEP. Each clam had been hand harvested in Pictou County by his father, Paul, and brother, Matt.

In order to let the clams do the taking, I decided to keep this dish fresh and simple. I steamed the clams open, then placed them ever so gently on a bed of chervil from Riverview Herbs, shaved Jerusalem artichokes, Jona Gold apples, asparagus, lemon and a walnut and avocado oil vinaigrette. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was a great evening, a great event, and included some great company! A special thank you to all the staff of Chives, who helped us make the evening a success.

2012 Canadian Chefs’ Congress Dinner Menu

Cookstown White Asparagus Soup With Atlantic Lobster
Michael Stadtlander

Chilled Nova Scotia Razor Clam Salad With Jerusalem Artichokes, Apple, Chervil And Walnut-Avocado Oil Vinaigrette
Yours Truly – Me!

Nova Scotia Arctic Char, Spring Pea, Haraki Turnip & Eigensin Farm Bacon Fricassee, Chive Beurre Blanc, Roasted Beet And Dulse Coulis, Celeriac Hay
Michael Howell

Nova Scotia Prime Rib Stuffed With Salt Cured Egg Yolk Marrow Brioche Crust, Dark Bone Jus, Seared Rib Cap With Kohlrabi Puree, Red Wine Gastrique, Butter Poached Radish and Carrots
Ray Bear

Rhubarb Toffee Sticky Pudding, Stewed Valley Cherries, Maple Creme Brulee, Lavender Honey Whole Milk Ice Cream, Berry Liqueur Whipped Cream
Craig Flinn

One Gorgeous Salad

An ongoing issue at my house is the fact that I do not like salad. There, I said it, and believe me when I tell you that I have not made friends with salad. Unfortunately, my most manly and handsome husband thrives on eating salads, and makes an attempt every night to get me to eat one. It isn’t a hate for salads, or even the ingredients that go into one, but just the word…salad.

On a recent hectic and empty fridge evening, the dreaded “S” word came up in conversation. “Come on”, he said, “no”, I replied. “Please? For me?” How could I say no to the big, brown puppy dog eyes. With lightening speed, and a vengeance that was like no ones business, I tore apart our dismal fridge and came out with a carrot, a very sad looking bunch of cilantro, a handful of walnuts and sunflower seeds and the remnants of Zoe’s bowl of raisins.

Before Doug could pour me a very large glass of wine from the box, I had concocted a miracle. Behold, the grated carrot salad.

My red heirloom carrot, grated and mixed with chopped cilantro, roasted walnuts and sunflower seeds and those pesky raisins. Add a vinaigrette of honey, olive oil and white wine vinegar, S&P and you have yourself one gorgeous salad. Simple, fresh, delicious and dirt cheap!

Our pre-hurricane dinner.

I should start off by letting you know that this actually did not take place on a “Sunday’, but due to the long weekend, I figured no one would mind my ‘lil white lie! This easy peasy meal was brought on by the upcoming hurricane (Earl that devil!), and I figured was a good time to: A) Clean out the fridge/freezer and B) get the bbq cued up and ready to rumble.

This particular dinner consisted of all things cooked on my Weber; beef sirloin roast, corn on the cob & sweet potatoes. I marinated my beef roast with some special spices that my mother in law brought back from Turkey, and soaked my corn cobs in salted water while waiting for the charcoal to come up to temperature. First, the roast went on and got seared on both sides before being shifted to a cooler side of the grill.

Next, sweet potatoes and the soaked corn (I leave the husks on for this) hit the coals, and then I covered the grill and walked away for a few minutes. After 10 minutes, I flipped my potatoes and corn and checked the meat…all good! Another 10 minutes and it all came off.  The beef was wrapped in foil and left to rest.

I quickly made my salad of the grilled corn (now cut off the cob), sweet potato (also now peeled and diced), diced garden cucumber, red pepper, cilantro, scallions, teardrop tomatoes and some olive oil and champagne vinegar. A little honey and some ground chili flakes and coriander seed were added to round out the flavours of the salad. Once this was done, the beef had rested for 20 minutes and was ready to be thinly sliced.

Once plated, I found a rogue avocado (left over from Zoe’s dinner) and added it to the plate and what we found ourselves eating was a delicious and simple meal that cleaned out my fridge and gave us enough leftovers to get us through the storm!

Fig & Prosciutto Salad

So, I’ve been trying to think about something that I could write about on a regular basis. I had a few thoughts about Top Ten Lists. I like it the idea, but I only have so many top tens in my life. I could talk about my kids, but who wants to hear about Zoe’s antics and Philippe’s poopy diapers. How about my Sunday nights? My Sunday night are sacred. It’s the one night out of the week that I usually try and make an effort to make a nice meal for the man in my life. So, without further ado, here it is, my first of hopefully many Sunday Night Dinner posts!

This particular Sunday was no different from any other; the were kids acting like crack heads, Doug was wiped from being out late the night before, and me, well, I was just my usual crab nebula-ish self. The dinner on this particular evening was looming overhead. What should I make? What do we have to use? Doug had shown up with a flat of figs for me on Saturday, and I had some prosciutto in the fridge that was screaming to be used. Was a salad in order? Perhaps. We made a quick trip to Pete’s Frootique, and I scored on a big piece of Bleu d’Auvergne cheese that was on sale, as well as a bottle of white wine vinegar that I needed to replace my last one. There were the dregs of a container of walnuts and in the freezer and some pears and greens that I picked up at the market the day before.

The answer was clear. A salad of figs, grilled prosciutto, julienned pears, Bleu d’Auvergne, walnuts and market greens  was on the menu. A simple vinaigrette of honey, olive oil and the white wine vinegar rounded out the dish. I paired the salad with some grilled honey apricot bread and we had a winner of a dinner. Doug was as happy as a pig in shit, and I had manged to make something out of almost nothing.

(Starting with this post, I plan to have my weekly Sunday Night Dinners posted every Monday morning. If you have any suggestion as to what I should make, feel free to send me a note.)

This salad isn't only crunchy - it gluten and dairy free.

I  recently had a request for a gluten and dairy free recipe. As most of you know by now, bread and cheese are two of my favourite things, but felt that I should expand my horizons and come up with a dish that would accommodate people that have allergies or aversions to these. So, with a few cookbooks in hand, I did some research and I came up with this fresh and simple dish that I haphazardly named “crunchy salad”.  Once you make it and try it out, you’ll understand why I’ve called it this. As always, this recipe is intended to be a guide for those of you at home. So take it and run with it! Who knows, yours may end up being a whole lot better than mine!

Crunchy Salad

• 1 english cucumber; diced
• 1 red pepper; julienned
• 4 carrots; julienne
• 1 pkg tofu; diced and fried
• ½ bunch cilantro; roughly chopped
• ½ C. basil; roughly chopped
• 1 C. cashews or peanuts; roughly chopped (optional)
• 4 scallions; julienne
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• ½ pineapple; large dice
• 12 x 16/20 shrimp, sauteed (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together with vinaigrette.

Vinaigrette

• ½ C. canola or grape seed oil
• ¼ C. sesame oil
• ½ C. tamari or soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp white sugar
• ½ inch ginger; peeled and minced
• 2 cloves garlic; minced
• ¼ C. chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp mirin
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp sambal olek (optional)

Whisk together all the ingredients and pour over the salad.

Soba Noodle Salad

This past Sunday I woke up with what I refer to as a “food hangover”. Copious amounts of Serrano ham, “pan con tomate“, Manchego cheese and many other culinary delights, still swirled in my enormous 8½ month pregnant belly. The last thing that I even wanted to think about was food, but a persistent  1½ year old and a famished husband, kept nipping at my heals and begged for good ‘ol Momma to make them some food. The thought of anything rich brought me to tears, so I scrounged in the cupboards to uncover a package of Soba noodles. Aha, I thought, maybe a cold soba noodle salad would quench the hunger of these two demanding peeps and maybe a somewhat satisfying snack for myself. Deep into the fridge, I found some tofu, some pea shoots from the market, snow peas, avocado, peppers and to top it all off, buttery shiitake mushrooms. I banished the child and husband to the park for a half hour so that I could create.  Here is a recipe for a quick, simple and utterly scrumptious soba noodle salad that would satisfy any savage!

Cold Soba Noodle Salad

• 1 package Soba noodles; cooked off and rinsed in cold water
• 1 yellow pepper; julienned
• 3 scallions; julienned
• 1 avocado; roughly diced
• 1 C. sliced shiitake mushrooms; sauteed
• 1 good handful cilantro; chopped
• 1/2 pkg firm tofu; cubed and sauteed in sesame oil
• 1 C. snow peas; julienned
• 6 oz pea shoots

Dressing

• 1 2″ piece of ginger; minced
• 1 C. Mirin
• 1 C. Tamari
• 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• Salt & pepper

Directions

1. Mix the cold soba noodles with all the chopped vegetables (except the avocado) and tofu. Add the cilantro and dressing. Mix and season to taste. Finish by mixing in the avocado and pea shoots.

Salade Fougères

Back in the good ‘ol days, I used to work at a restaurant in Chelsea, Quebec, called Les Fougères. At Les Fougères, I got the chance to work alongside Charlie & Jennifer Part; the chef-owners of the restaurant. During the few years that I worked there, I learned many, many things, and have consequently thanked them for shaping my cooking style. One of the items that has never left the menu at Les Fougères, is a salad called “Salade Fougères”. This is a simple yet satisfying salad, and the flavours are out of this world! Yes, I know that I’m talking about a salad, but it has everything a girl like me needs; bacon, cheese and some tangy vinaigrette!

Recently, I was dead tired and exhausted when I came home from work (as per usual these days), and was not in any mood to toil over my stove. What would Doug & I have for dinner? He, of course, always suggests salad, and I, of course, always squawk at the very idea! “No! No greens for me!” But on this fateful evening, I had no energy to fight, so I dug deep into our fridge and found some ingredients that would hopefully satisfy my hunger. Okay, no double-smoked bacon for lardons, but I found some pancetta (still a fatty pork product), some curly endive (not mesclun mix, but heartier and more zippy), and a log of goat cheese. Next for the dressing; dijon, red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt & pepper. Ahhh, all necessary ingredients, for my version of this wonderful salad.

I started by crisping the pancetta in the oven (making sure to keep the excess fat to drizzle on top of my finished salad). I then washed and dried the endive and crumbled the goat’s cheese. Finally, I gave the vinaigrette a quick whisk and tossed all of the components together. These simple steps produced a very sexy salad reminiscent of the “Salade Fougères” I so often crave.

If you ever get a chance to make it to beautiful Chelsea, Quebec, I strongly suggest making a stop at Les Fougères for some exquisite cooking, a mind-blowing wine list, and a Salade Fougères!

Click to enlarge.