Course: Lunch

Coconut Rice Crepes with Seafood Filling

CELEBRATING MOTHER’S DAY!

Here in Canada, we set aside the second Sunday in May to honor our Mother’s with expressions of love and gratitude.

As I grow older, I realize how many ways I unconsciously emulate my mother. I loved everything about her and as a kid I could never imagine life without her. But in the natural sequence of events, that’s not how it works. I guess along with many other things, I’m grateful for the fact that she was there through my childhood. She passed away at the age of sixty and although she is no longer on this earth, her wonderful memory will live on in our hearts forever.

It is also with love, Brion and I celebrate his mother Dolores, for all of her kind and loving ways.

In honor of these two precious women who prepared so many wonderful meals for us years ago, I like to post something special on this day. My choice this year are these unique looking crepes.

The crepe has its roots in Malaysia and is called ‘Roti Jala’ which literally translates to ‘Net Bread or Crepe’. The intricate lacy pattern is created with a special mold or ladle that has five nozzles.

Roti Jala is eaten with a chicken curry, generally a spicy one, which is the perfect accompaniment to these coconuty pancakes. Usually homemade, this crepe is served at events such as weddings or festivals in Malaysia, Sinapore and Indonesia. It has also become a popular tea time snack and street food.

There are a few methods for preparing the batter, some use coconut milk, others with regular milk. The use of rice flour in the batter produces a very light and tender crepe.

Since neither Brion or I enjoy the taste of curry, I gave these crepes a seafood/veggie filling and served them over a Gouda sauce. I think they make such a special, lacy little crepe for brunch.

Print Recipe
 Coconut Rice Crepes with Seafood Filling
Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, Asia, Korean
Servings
Ingredients
Coconut-Rice Crepes
Gouda Sauce
Seafood Filling
Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, Asia, Korean
Servings
Ingredients
Coconut-Rice Crepes
Gouda Sauce
Seafood Filling
Instructions
Coconut-Rice Crepes
  1. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch & salt. In another bowl or pitcher, lightly beat eggs, add coconut milk & oil; stir to combine. Pour this over flour mixture & stir until a smooth batter is achieved. Allow to stand for at least 20 minutes or as long as two hours. ( If leaving more than 30 minutes, cover & refrigerate until 10 before using.)
  2. Place an 8-inch non-stick skillet over high heat. When it is hot, lower heat to medium & rub a paper towel oiled with coconut oil over the cooking surface. Transfer the batter to a large squeeze bottle or a traditional Roti Jala maker. Squeeze the batter onto the hot pan, starting from the side of the pan, in sort of an up & down motion, then move to the top of the pan making a left to right motion to create that net look.
  3. Cook for about 45 seconds or until lightly browned on the first side, then turn the crepe over & cook for another 30 seconds. Turn out onto a rack & repeat with the remaining batter, wiping the skillet with an oiled paper towel between each one.
Gouda Sauce
  1. In a small dish, combine spices. Grate cheese & set aside. In a skillet, melt butter, stir in flour & cook until bubbly but not browned. Whisk in milk, chicken broth & spices, stirring until smooth & bubbly. Stir in grated Gouda. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap & set aside.
Seafood Filling
  1. In a skillet, heat oil & saute shrimp & scallops for a few minutes. Add zucchini, green onions, garlic, mushrooms & peppers & saute for another minute or two. Add ginger, soy sauce & water; cover & cook over low heat for several minutes until cooked. Do not overcook. Divide mixture between warm crepes, carefully roll. Ladle some Gouda sauce onto each serving plate & top with filled, rolled crepes.

Tortilla Crepe Stacks

To some of us, Mexican food terms get a little confusing. I mean there is the taco, burrito, quesadilla, enchilada and taquito just to name a few. Before anything, one needs to know what a tortilla is. Simply put, it is wheat or corn plain bread that is used as a wrapping material around different types of filling ingredients to make the various Mexican dishes. 

Masa Harina is a traditional flour used to make corn tortillas and tamales as well as other Mexican meals. To make masa harina, field corn (or maize) is dried and then treated in a solution of lime and water called slaked lime (or wood-ash lye). This loosens the hulls from the kernels and softens the corn. In addition, the lime reacts with the corn so that the nutrient niacin can be assimilated by the digestive tract.

The soaked maize is then washed, and the wet corn is ground into a dough called masa. It is this fresh masa, when dried and powdered, that becomes masa harina. Water is added again to make dough for the corn tortillas or tamales.

Cornmeal and masa harina are very different preparations of corn. Do not try to substitute cornmeal or regular wheat flour in recipes calling for masa harina as they will not produce the same results.

Today, I want to make some tortilla crepe stacks. Crepes as we all know, have always been a hallmark of French cuisine. So the question is, ‘how did they come to be in Mexican cuisine’? In the 1860’s, French forces invaded Mexico. They came, they conquered, they cooked and then they got kicked out. Cinco de Mayo commemorates that victory for Mexico from 1862. However, it took another five years before the French left Mexico for good. During their stay, the French left their mark on the country’s cuisine.

One of the reasons I have always loved crepes, is that they are so easy to make and taste so good. You can either roll the filling inside or just stack them with their fillings and make a ‘cake’.

These tortilla crepes are made with half masa harina and half white flour. Next, I made a mushroom rice & barley pilaf and some guacamole. You can pick and choose when it comes to the extra filling add-ons. I guess it did get a bit more involved but worth it —.


Print Recipe


Tortilla Crepe Stacks

Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, Ecuador, Mexican, Spanish

Servings


Ingredients
Tortilla Crepes

Rice & Barley Pilaf

Guacamole

Crepe Stack Fillings (for 2 people)

Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, Ecuador, Mexican, Spanish

Servings


Ingredients
Tortilla Crepes

Rice & Barley Pilaf

Guacamole

Crepe Stack Fillings (for 2 people)


Instructions
Tortilla Crepes
  1. In a blender, beat eggs with milk & oil. Gradually add masa harina, white flour & salt, beat until smooth. Allow to stand for 1 hour or longer. Heat an electric griddle to 350 F. Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop batter onto griddle. With bottom of 1/4 cup, make circles in the batter, gradually enlarge to size of tortilla you wish to make. I made 3 for each crepe stack. Cook each crepe for a few minutes on each side then remove to a wire cooling rack.

Rice & Barley Pilaf
  1. In a saucepan, saute onion, garlic & mushrooms until tender crisp. Add chicken broth & bring to a boil. Add all remaining pilaf ingredients & reduce heat to simmer. Simmer until barley & rice are cooked & liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; place in a dish & set aside to cool.

Guacamole
  1. Mince onion & sun-dried tomatoes & mash avocados. In a small bowl, combine avocados, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, & remaining guacamole ingredients. Blend well, cover & refrigerate.

Crepe Stack Fillings
  1. Cook chicken & shred, Grate cheese & prepare all filling ingredients.

Assembly
  1. Spread 4 tortillas with guacamole, reserving a bit for 'decorating' the top of each stack. Over the guacamole, put a layer of rice/barley pilaf. Top each of them with chicken, green peppers, olives, corn, red onion, fresh tomatoes, zucchini, black beans & a sprinkling of cheese. On 2 serving plates, place one filled tortilla topped by a second one. Complete each stack with another corn tortilla. 'Decorate' each with remaining guacamole, salsa, sour cream & remaining cheese. Heat each crepe stack for a few minutes in the microwave before serving.

Mushroom Wellington

Mushroom Wellington is a vegetarian spin on the French classic ‘beef wellington’. The original is an elegant meal, using a beef tenderloin covered with liver pate’, wrapped in pastry and baked. The key to preparing items in this fashion, is that however long it takes to bake the pastry to a golden brown is how long it will be in the oven. In other words, the filling needs to require less time to cook.

A plant based filling makes that even easier to achieve than its meat filled cousin. The use of different types of mushrooms cut into varying sizes gives the dish texture and heartiness along with an earthy flavor. The secret to a deliciously juicy yet flaky mushroom wellington is to drain everything dry and make sure it is completely cold before wrapping it in the puff pastry. Skip this step and your pastry is not only going to be soggy, it will tear when you try to wrap up your wellington. Believe me — ‘bin there, done that’!

Although this would probably be the center piece of a vegan meal, it works beautifully as an accompaniment to meat and roast veggies as well.

Print Recipe
 Mushroom Wellington
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, European, French
Servings
Ingredients
Mushroom Wellington
Vegetable Gravy
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, European, French
Servings
Ingredients
Mushroom Wellington
Vegetable Gravy
Instructions
Mushroom Wellington
  1. In a skillet, fry diced bacon until crispy. Remove bacon to paper towels & blot dry, leaving drippings in skillet. Chop mushrooms, onion & garlic. Saute veggies with spices in bacon drippings until moisture has evaporated. Remove from heat, add bacon & drain or blot off any excess moisture. Cool mixture completely then add cold, cooked Basmati rice, stirring to blend. While the mixture cools prepare vegetable gravy if you are using it.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line your choice of preferred baking pan mold with thawed puff pastry. You should have excess enough to fold over the 'top' of filling. This will form the bottom of your wellington when baked. In each wellington, place 1/4 of the filling, topping each with 50 gms of the cheese. Divide remaining filling between the two wellingtons & fold the excess pastry over it.
  3. If you choose to make a decoration for your baked wellingtons, cut it from some of the excess before closing them. Bake the decorations on a separate pan. Place molds on a baking sheet & bake for about 35 minutes or until pastry is cooked. Remove from oven. I like to flip them onto paper towel at this point just to blot off any excess butter from pastry. Do what you prefer in this case.
Vegetable Gravy
  1. In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add bouillon powder, garlic, carrot, celery & onion. Cover & simmer until veggies are very soft. Remove from heat & cool slightly. Puree in food processor or blender. Combine cornstarch & water in a small dish. Stir into puree; return to heat & stir until boiling & slightly thickened. Stir in sour cream IF USING. Serve over mushroom wellingtons.
Recipe Notes
  • If you prefer, omit bacon & use butter to saute your veggies in making it a more vegetarian friendly entree.

Overnight Shrimp Newburg Strata

Brunch has been sometimes been thought to be distinctly North American but probably started in 16th century Vienna. At that time, the custom was to have five official meals a day. Early breakfast was mostly liquid like hot chocolate or other beverages. The mid morning meal was called ‘gabelfruhstuck’, meaning  fork breakfast. The custom of having fork food in the middle of the morning supposedly spread throughout Europe among the wealthy classes before coming to North America.

Whatever its specific origin, ‘brunch’, as it has become known as, is always the combination of breakfast and lunch foods. It seems to increase and wane in popularity but never really goes out of style. It is always open to new interpretations as well as just staying with the classics.

One such iconic brunch meal is Shrimp Newburg Strata. Evolving from the original, Lobster Newburg that was served at New York’s famed Delmonico restaurant in the United States. It became a standby of the after-theater suppers that were in vogue at the time. 

The limitless choices that can be made for brunch have always made it one of my favorite meals to prepare. Overnight strata is the perfect choice to serve for an Easter brunch. This Shrimp Newburg pairs well with a Waldorf salad and hot cross buns.

Print Recipe
 Overnight Shrimp Newburg Strata
Course Brunch, Lunch
Cuisine American, European
Servings
Ingredients
Course Brunch, Lunch
Cuisine American, European
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a large skillet, heat oil & saute mushrooms & onion for 3 minutes or until tender. Set aside.
  2. In a buttered, shallow baking dish, arrange half of bread slices. Peel & devein raw shrimp & coarsely chop. Top bread with half of the mushroom mixture & half of the shrimp. Arrange remaining bread slices over shrimp; top with remaining mushroom mixture & shrimp. Sprinkle strata with grated Gruyere cheese.
  3. In a bowl, whisk together milk, eggs & spices; carefully pour over casserole. Cover & chill at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake, strata, uncovered for 55 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Mashed Potato-Meat Cups with Cheese ‘Gravy’

There is no one way to create ‘meatloaf’ and it is precisely this capacity for re-invention that has allowed meatloaf to maintain a continued place on our dinner tables. The limitations for the iconic dish are none. The criteria is ground meat primarily and whether it is beef, pork, chicken, turkey or a blend of, doesn’t matter. The meat must be cut with a filler or the loaf becomes to dense. Bread crumbs, oatmeal, crackers, Japanese panko crumbs, rice, minced vegetables are all good choices. Egg and/or dairy of some kind is essential to bind and moisten. Seasoning is definitely a personal choice. The loaf shape is classic but the top can be glazed, sauced, as is, or baked with strips of bacon over it.

At one time, trying to find a casual restaurant that didn’t serve meatloaf would have been like an Italian one that didn’t serve pasta. Some believe meatloaf was born during the Depression of the 1930’s. To stretch the small amounts of meat people had, it was ground and mixed with stale bread crumbs. At times, these loaves actually contained more ‘loaf’ than meat.

Whether you love meatloaf or hate it, the fact that it is still around after all these years is incredible. Today’s entree puts another spin on this old classic. This a recipe that was published in a  Better Homes & Gardens  magazine in the 70’s. Interesting!

Print Recipe
 Mashed Potato-Meat Cups with Cheese 'Gravy'
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, German
Servings
Ingredients
Meat Cups
Mashed Potatoes
Cheese Sauce
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, German
Servings
Ingredients
Meat Cups
Mashed Potatoes
Cheese Sauce
Instructions
Meat Cups
  1. In a skillet, heat oil & saute onions & garlic until translucent. Set aside to cool. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, Parmesan, parsley, cooled onions & garlic, egg, breadcrumbs & milk. Combine well.
  2. On 4 squares of waxed paper, shape into 4 patties with a 5-inch diameter. Shape each over an inverted custard cup; discard paper. Chill about an hour.
Mashed Potatoes
  1. Peel & cook potatoes. In a large bowl, combine cooked potatoes, butter, seasonings, Parmesan & a splash of milk. Mash & add more milk gradually until potatoes are desired texture.
Cheese Sauce
  1. In a saucepan, melt butter; whisk in flour, salt & pepper until smooth. Gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil; cook & stir while adding cheddar cheese. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Cook frozen peas.
Baking & Serving
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Place inverted meat cups on a shallow baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until meat is cooked. Lift baked meat cups from custard cups & turn upright; fill with mashed potatoes. Place on serving plates, spoon cheese sauce over filled meat cups & top with green peas.

Wild Red Salmon & Mushroom Quiche

Eggs are one refrigerator staple that most households are rarely out of. While they have many uses, one of my personal favorites is always quiche. Another staple in my pantry is canned wild red salmon.

The idea for this quiche today came from an old appetizer recipe. It was for salmon tartlets with a cream cheese pastry. This type of pastry is one that seems to go either way —tender or tough. What I’ve come to find through trial and error, is that a 1:1 ratio by weight, of butter to cream cheese, ensures a flaky, tender crust. Cream cheese pastry is nice because it is so versatile. It can be used for both sweet and savory applications.

Since I am in ‘gourmet mode’ today, I decided to kick it up a notch and use a little exotic medley of fresh mushrooms. My choice is enoki, crimini, oyster, portabellini and button. For cheese, I’m going with Gorgonzola dolce. If I were to describe the end result, it would be, a tender, cream cheese pastry filled with an earthy mushrooms, red salmon and tangy Gorgonzola cheese. Hard to beat that flavor combination, but of course, only if you like those ingredients.

Print Recipe
 Wild Red Salmon & Mushroom Quiche
Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, European, French
Servings
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Pastry
Quiche Filling
Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, European, French
Servings
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Pastry
Quiche Filling
Instructions
Pastry
  1. In a bowl, beat butter & cream cheese; blend in flour to form pastry consistency. Press into a deep dish 8-inch quiche pan. Set aside in refrigerator until filling is prepared.
Quiche Filling
  1. In a skillet, saute sliced green onions, mushrooms & garlic in margarine until moisture has evaporated. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 400 F.
  2. Grate cheese. In a container, whisk together eggs, milk & seasonings. Sprinkle about 1/2 of the Gorgonzola cheese in the bottom of the quiche shell. Top with mushroom mixture & salmon chunks then with remaining cheese.
  3. Bake at 400 F. for 10 minutes, adjust heat to 350 F. & continue baking for another 30 minutes. When filling is set, remove from oven & cool at least 10 minutes before cutting. It tastes great just out of the oven, but even better the next day.

Roasted Veggie Bread Bowls with Smoked Oyster Stew

Edible bread bowls were a huge hit in the 80’s and 90’s, but the idea fizzled at the start of the 21st century. Bread has always been a main stay of any meal, from toast at breakfast to sandwiches at lunch and rolls for supper. Many restaurants used the bread bowl idea as a way to justify charging more for soup. They are an extremely versatile way to hold thick, creamy soups, spicy chili or stews as well as dips and warm melted cheese.

While its not that difficult to make a bread bowl, the kind of bread you make determines your success. Some examples would be a hearty bread like pumpernickel or a chewy, crusty sourdough. Rye, crusty white or wholewheat will work fine as well.

It’s always a good idea to match the flavor of your bread bowl to the filling used if possible. These roasted vegetable bread bowls were just perfect with the oyster stew.

Bread bowls will always hold a special memory for Brion and I. Over the course of probably the last sixteen years we have made many trips to the California coast. We always stayed in the Carmel/Monterey area and walked the coastline with our destination being Fisherman’s Wharf. It was a special treat having clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at a wharf restaurant.

I used roasted potatoes and parsnips in my dough today, which added an amazing flavor to these bread bowls. The stew is made with smoked oysters which adds a unique smoky flavor. The whole meal came together beautifully and was super good!

Print Recipe
 Roasted Veggie Bread Bowls with Oyster Stew
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings
Ingredients
Roasted Veggies
Bread Bowl Dough
Smoked Oyster Stew
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings
Ingredients
Roasted Veggies
Bread Bowl Dough
Smoked Oyster Stew
Instructions
Roasted Veggies
  1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a small baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Peel potato & parsnip & cut in uniform pieces. Place veggies in a bowl; add olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper & toss to combine. Spread veggies evenly on baking sheet; bake for 45 minutes, until roasted & soft enough to mash. Remove from oven, mash & cool.
Bread Bowl Dough
  1. In a small bowl, combine yeast with warm water; whisk until yeast is dissolved. Let stand about 3 minutes until foamy. Add butter, salt, sour cream & cooled, mashed veggies; mix well. Add bacon & chives; mix until just combined.
  2. Stir in flour, one cup at a time. When dough is completely blended, turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough about 10 minutes, until smooth & elastic. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap & allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Punch down dough & divide into 2-3 pieces. Form each piece into a ball as if you were making a large bun. Place 'buns' on baking sheet allowing enough space in between each for rising. Cover with plastic; allow to rise for about 15 minutes while preheating oven to 350 F. Brush bread bowls with egg wash; bake 25-30 minutes until golden. Remove from oven to a wire rack.
Smoked Oyster Stew
  1. In a saucepan, fry bacon until crisp; remove to paper towel, blot off grease & crumble. Set aside. To bacon drippings, add carrot, onion, celery & potatoes. Saute, seasoning lightly with salt & pepper; add garlic, seafood seasoning & flour. Saute 1 minute more, making sure to coat everything with flour.
  2. Add clam nectar & chicken stock, stir well to dissolve the flour & bring to a boil. Cook until veggies are cooked through. Turn heat to low & add the chopped smoked oysters, bacon & 1/2 & 1/2 cream. Stir until heated through; remove from heat.
Assembly
  1. Using a serrated knife, carve a deep wedge out of the top of bread bowls. After the initial cut, use your fingers to pull the soft bread out to make a big enough soup bowl. Fill with oyster stew, serving the top piece on the side.

Sheet Pan Pancakes

Today, March 5th, is officially known as Shrove Tuesday. This date varies from year to year and falls somewhere between Feb. 3rd and March 9th. This traditional ‘feast’ day marks the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday and is always 47 days before Easter Sunday. The expression Shrove Tuesday, derives from the word shrive, meaning absolve. This day was observed by many Christians who wanted to make a point of self-examination to consider what wrongs they needed to repent.

Shrove Tuesday was the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and making pancakes was the perfect way of doing that. The ingredients for pancakes can be seen to symbolize four points of significance at this time of year.

EGGS –creation, FLOUR–the staff of life, SALT–wholesomeness, MILK–purity

I’ve noticed this idea of the Sheet Pan Pancakes on the internet. It seems like our basic sheet pan has graduated from just baking cookies to whole meals and now pancakes. Sure looks like a good idea to me. Make up one big batter, put it on a baking sheet, top it with 3 or 4 add-ons, bake, cut into squares and serve. Seriously! Does it get any easier than that — no flipping required.

Print Recipe
 Sheet Pan Pancakes
Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, European
Servings
Ingredients
Pancake Batter
Topping Suggestions
Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, European
Servings
Ingredients
Pancake Batter
Topping Suggestions
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk, sour cream, melted butter & vanilla.
  2. Add flour mixture to liquid mixture & whisk together until no lumps remain. Refrigerate batter for 15 minutes before baking. You can even refrigerate overnight & bake the next morning if you prefer. During the 15 minute 'resting' time, prepare your choice of toppings for pancakes.
  3. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a 16 X 12-inch sheet pan with parchment paper. Pour batter onto prepared pan, using a spatula to smooth out the top. Imagine the batter in the pan divided into however many types of toppings your going to use. Top each section with your choices.
  4. Place sheet pan in the oven. Bake, rotating it halfway through baking until golden brown, about 13-15 minutes. Test with a toothpick in center for doneness. Remove from oven, lift pancakes out of sheet pan with edges of parchment paper. Cut into 12 pieces & serve.
Recipe Notes
  • For Raspberries & Cream Cheese Swirl - Whisk 75 gm softened cream cheese with 2-3 Tbsp milk & 3 Tbsp powdered sugar until completely smooth. Dot cream cheese mixture evenly over pancake batter, then use a knife or skewer to make a swirl pattern. Dot with 1 1/2 cups (150 gm) fresh raspberries.

Fish Stewp

Soup + Stew = Stewp! No explanation needed here. Simply put, an easy one-pot meal that can feature fish, poultry or meat and vegetables. It can either be a tomato based broth or a creamy one. You can serve stewp with crackers, crusty bread or a baguette and a basic salad completes the meal. Some people would tell you that stewp should be like a thickened soup because anything thicker is technically stew. Others think that its more like a thin, watered down stew.

Preparing stewp is so flexible, its hard to fail at it. Some recipes call for plenty of starchy vegetables, which will make the liquid thicken, others call for big chunks of meat or poultry and chunky vegetables to bulk out the soup stock.

I had never really heard the ‘stewp’ word used until the year we went to France. My sister, Loretta had accompanied Brion and I on this trip. The three of us have many wonderful memories, some of which I have spoken of in my blogs over the last few years. One morning while we were in Southern France, Loretta mentioned she wanted to pick up a few gifts for her son and daughters before it was time to return home. Not wanting to make a boring time for Brion, we had him drop us off at some small boutique shops. Of course, as shopping goes, it took quite a bit longer than we expected. In the mean time, Brion, having heard about something called stewp, decided to have an authentic bowl of it for lunch while waiting. When he explained it to us later, it sounded fabulous.

After we got back home, I tried to replicate the ‘taste of his memory’. Obviously that was not possible but I think this recipe is a good try.

Print Recipe
 Fish Stewp
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, French
Servings
Ingredients
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, French
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a stock pot or Dutch oven, heat oil. Saute onion & garlic until translucent but not brown. Add next ELEVEN ingredients; stir together. Cover & simmer for about 20 minutes.
  2. Add fish pieces, salt & pepper; stir gently, cover & cook for 5 minutes. Add scallops & clams, cover & cook for 5 minutes until scallops are opaque. Discard bay leaves. Serve.

Chard, Chicken & Gruyere Galette

Whether you call it quiche, tart, galette, pizza or pie, these uncomplicated dishes remain some of the most universally appealing. Depending on the setting and time of day, such open face preparations can serve as a first course or an ideal main luncheon dish. Versatility makes them picnic fare as well as late evening snacks.

Spinach is a green that Brion longer enjoys to eat so I have sometimes used Swiss chard in its place. This particular galette uses a nice flour/cornmeal pastry. The chard and Gruyere make an excellent pairing. I love the vast complexity of Gruyere with its fruity tones slowly going towards earthy and nutty flavors. Covered by a natural rind, the texture is dense then matures to flaky and somewhat granular as it ages. No silage ever enters the diet of the cows providing the milk for it. Instead, these Swiss alpine cows, are allowed to roam freely on pastures cushioned between freshwater streams and hillsides. This natural forage is key to imparting the signature flavors of Gruyere.

Today’s galette can be just a meatless version or you can add chicken, bacon, pine-nuts, corn, mushrooms or whatever you prefer. It all works!

Print Recipe
 Chard, Chicken & Gruyere Galette
Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, European, French
Servings
Ingredients
Cornmeal Galette Dough
Mustard Sauce
Filling
Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American, European, French
Servings
Ingredients
Cornmeal Galette Dough
Mustard Sauce
Filling
Instructions
Cornmeal Galette Dough
  1. In a small bowl, combine sour cream & ice water; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar & salt. Using a pastry blender or finger tips, cut in butter until mixture resembles Both coarse crumbs & small peas. Sprinkle the cold sour cream mixture over dough, 1 Tbsp at a time, tossing with a fork to evenly distribute it. After you have added all the sour cream mixture, dough should be moist enough to stick together when pressed; if not, add additional cold water, 1 tsp at a time. DO NOT overwork dough. Press dough into a disk shape & wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Mustard Sauce
  1. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour & continue to cook, whisking constantly for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Add chicken broth & mustard. Continue to simmer, whisking until thick & bubbly. Remove from heat; set aside to cool slightly.
Filling
  1. In a skillet, saute bacon until cooked; remove from pan; set aside. Remove stems from chard leaves; chop to equal 1 cup. Chop leaves to equal 4 cups. Heat bacon drippings in skillet over med-high heat. Reduce heat & add chard stems, mushrooms, garlic & onion to pan; saute 5 minutes. Add chard leaves to pan; saute until chard is wilted & no moisture remains, about 10 minutes. Stir in thyme, parsley, pepper, bacon & shredded chicken. Remove from heat & cool slightly.
Assembly
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Remove pastry from refrigerator. On a 12 X 16-inch sheet of parchment paper, press out pastry into two rectangles about 9 X 14-inches ( you can make one big one if you prefer). Carefully spread mustard sauce over surface of dough, leaving an inch border all the way around pastry. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese; make a layer of cooked, thinly sliced potato then evenly top with filling mixture. Sprinkle divided Gruyere between both galettes & fold edges of dough inward over filling. Brush egg wash over exposed crust.
  2. Bake until crust has browned & cheese has melted, about 25-30 minutes. Slide the galettes off the parchment onto a cooling rack or cutting board. Slice & serve.