Originating from Linz, Austria, the Linzer torte is one of the oldest tortes in the world, found in an Austrian abbey in the early 1700s.
It is made with a buttery pastry dough with a significant amount of ground nuts, typically hazelnuts, but often with almonds or walnuts. With a lattice design on the top, it is traditionally filled with red currant jam; but raspberry, apricot and plum are quite popular too.
Linzer cookies employ the same recipe as the Linzer torte but instead the dough is cut into cookies and two of them form a sandwich around the preserves. Moreover, the top cookie has a small cutout in its center (known as Linzer eyes), thus exposing the underlying jam and adding to the visual appeal.
When Linzer torte was brought to North America in the 19th century, it became very popular. Today the Linzer cookie is still very commonly used in celebrating Christmas and other holidays as well.
There are countless versions of Linzer tortes around showcasing different nuts, different preserves, and so on such as tahini and sesame Linzer, beets Linzer, a lemon curd Linzer and a chestnut apple Linzer just to name a few.
With my passion for ‘recipe development’, I wanted to come up with a ‘Linzer torte’ that showcased persimmons and cranberries for Christmas. This is what developed!
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Spiced Persimmon & Cranberry Linzer Torte
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Instructions
Crust
In a bowl, sift together flour & salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar & vanilla until light & fluffy. Beat in as much flour mixture as possible. Mix in the rest & gently knead till dough comes together. Form into a disk & wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Cranberries
In a saucepan, combine whole berry sauce, raspberries, sugar, orange zest & cinnamon. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the sauce thickens & is bubbly. Remove from heat & allow to cool. The sauce will thicken slightly as it cools.
Persimmons
Place the melted butter in a large bowl & stir in the honey & spices. Stir well, then add persimmon slices. Toss to coat each slice well.
Cheesecake Filling
Using a mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth then add sugar & blend well. Add eggs & vanilla, beat until smooth.
Baking
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Between 2 sheets of parchment paper, roll out 2/3 of pastry into a 10-inch circle. Place in an 8-inch springform pan. From the remaining 1/3 of the pastry cut a 5-inch circle. In the center of this circle cut a 3-inch circle (this should resemble a Linzer cookie). If you wish you can cut out a few 'stars' for decorations. Lay pastry ring & stars on parchment paper & place on a baking sheet. Blind bake pastry in the springform pan for 8 minutes or until barely set. Bake the ring & stars until golden.
Remove springform pan from oven & pour cream cheese mixture over warm crust. Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is lightly golden & cheesecake tests done. Set aside to cool.
Assembly
When cheesecake has cooled, place the slices of persimmon, overlapping each other to form 2 circles around the outer edge. Spoon spiced cranberries in the middle of the persimmons.
Sprinkle baked pastry ring & stars with powdered sugar & place on top of cranberries. Press down slightly. Your torte should resemble a large Linzer cookie when finished.
Recipe Notes
- You will have extra cranberry sauce which can be easily used over the holiday season I found. Brion & I liked them so much we added extra to our slices of torte.
Decorated trees, lights, candles, poinsettias, holly, special baked goods– there are some things that just define Christmas. When I was growing up, Christmas baking was such a major event my mother undertook. Although she put many hours of work into her baking, I think she really enjoyed it. Many of the ingredients for the special things she would bake at this time of the year were just too expensive to have on hand all the time. Somehow, she would work her magic and make that grocery money stretch to include these things. During my childhood fruit mincemeat was a pie or tart that we looked forward to having. Today, it seems – not so much.
As with many traditional recipes, especially the ones we make and enjoy around big holidays or life events, mincemeat pies are steeped with tradition and customs. Mincemeat would often be made on ‘stir-up’ Sunday along with the Christmas pudding, the last Sunday before Advent. Stirring the mincemeat was quite an event, and English tradition dictates that it should only be stirred clockwise. Stirring the mincemeat anti-clockwise would lead to bad luck and poor fortune in the coming 12 months. To spread the joy, it was tradition in England that each member of the family gave the mixture a stir, while making a wish. And if you wanted to be ensured good health and happiness in the upcoming year, you should eat one mince pie every day for the Twelve Days of Christmas, from Christmas Eve until the 5th of January.
Today’s modern mincemeat is a boozy, sweet, fruit filling for tarts and pies as well as a variety of other desserts. While mincemeat often plays a supporting role to the apple pie here in North America, the English mincemeat pie is only a two-bite size.
Both Brion & I still enjoy the taste of mincemeat. It just wouldn’t seem like Christmas if we didn’t have some version of it.
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Mincemeat Tart
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Instructions
Pastry
In a medium bowl, cream butter with sugar, salt & vanilla; add the egg yolk. In a small bowl, whisk together flour & baking powder; add to creamed mixture. Blend well. Press into a 13 3/4" x 4 3/8" (35 x 11 cm) tart pan. Cover with plastic wrap set aside in freezer or refrigerator until needed.
Filling
In a large baking dish, combine all the ingredients except the alcohol, stirring well to make sure they're evenly distributed. Cover with a tea towel & leave overnight for the flavors to marinate together.
Preheat the oven to 230 F.
Remove towel & cover the pot with foil & place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Remove from oven & stir mincemeat mixture well. Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally. The stirring is essential to distribute the fruit as the mixture cools.
Once cooled, stir the mincemeat again, add the alcohol & stir one more time. Spoon into pastry shell & level out gently.
Crumble Topping
Beat butter, brown sugar & salt in a bowl with mixer on high speed until light & fluffy. Blend in flour & oatmeal just until crumbly. Crumble streusel mixture over filling.
Bake on bottom rack for 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown & filling begins to bubble. If topping is getting brown too fast, cover with foil. Cool completely on wire rack.
Recipe Notes
- SPICE COMBO
- 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- This amount will be enough for 2 recipes of mincemeat filling in case you want to make a dozen tarts as well!
The Bedfordshire Clanger is a very unique and little-known meat pie recipe from England, specifically (not surprisingly) from the county of Bedfordshire, a small, low-lying and predominantly agricultural county nestled in the east of England.
In centuries past many of the working husbands of the area used to toil in the fields there. Their wives, knowing their husbands would need lots of protein and carbohydrate sustenance, came up with the brilliant idea of a doubled, loaf-shaped pie. One end contained a savory filling that used the famed pork of the area while the other end was filled with stewed apples (made from the famed local apples) as dessert. So, the two fillings didn’t combine, there was a ‘pastry wall’ in between blocking any flavors from mixing. A ‘secret code’ denoted which end was meat and which was dessert: two knife slits on one end of the pastry top means meat, three small holes on the other shows the sweet. This was brilliant, an entire meal for the hard-working man – handheld, portable and delicious
I guess you could say, the Bedfordshire clanger is not only a tasty treat but also a piece of culinary history that has stood the test of time!
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Pork & Apple Bedfordshire Clanger w/ Cheddar-Sage Pastry
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Instructions
Pastry
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sage & salt. Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour mixture & use your fingers to work them in. Alternately you could use a pastry cutter to do this.
When the mixture resembles cornmeal with pea-sized bits of butter remaining, stir in cheese with a fork until evenly distributed. Sprinkle 6 Tbsp ice water over mixture & stir with a fork until dough begins to come together. If needed, add an additional Tbsp or two of ice water.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface & knead for about three times. Gather the dough into a disk & wrap in plastic wrap. refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Pork Filling
Bake potato in microwave, peel & cut into small cubes. Set aside.
Heat oil in a skillet & sauté celery, onion, garlic & bacon together on medium heat until veggies are soft & bacon is cooked. Add ground pork, breaking it up well. Stir in dried herbs & spices. Cover & simmer for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat & stir in cooked potato & cheese. Set aside to cool.
Apple Filling
In a small saucepan, combine butter, water, cinnamon & brown sugar. Bring to a simmer then add diced apples, raisins, lemon zest & juice. Gently simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat & allow to cool.
Assembly/Baking
Divide pastry into 5 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface (or dry wax paper) roll out each piece of pastry into 7 x 7 1/2-inches. The excess trimmed from the sides will be used for little pastry ‘walls’ dividing the sweet & savory fillings. Roll the excess into a 3-inch length.
From the top of each piece, LIGHTLY make a line across your pastry 4-inches from outside edge. This will help to place your fillings properly.
On the 3-inch wide section of the pastry, place savory filling to cover 2/3 of the area. Place one of the rolled strips after that then place sweet filling on the remaining 1/3 to complete the 'clanger'. The little rolled piece of pastry divides the savory & sweet filling.
On the sweet side make 3 holes for vents & on the savory side make 2 slashes. This is the 'code' to let the person eating the clanger which was savory or sweet.
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Brush the edges of each pastry with egg wash. Lift the pastry from the opposite side over the fillings & seal the edges with a fork.
Brush clangers with remaining egg wash & bake for about 30-35 minutes or until golden.
Anyone growing a vegetable garden will now be reaping the benefits of all your hard work. Have you ever stopped and thought about how many summer vegetables are fantastic for hollowing out and stuffing? Any vegetable with a fairly sturdy shape can become an edible vessel for dinner. All we need to do is scoop out the middle and fill the inside with a stuffing of our choice. A little time in the oven until everything is heated through and dinner is ready!
When my siblings and I were growing up, my mother had many unique ways of teaching us how to take responsibility. On one side of her huge farm vegetable garden, she designated a ‘strip’ each for the three of us older siblings. The strips were each about 4 feet (1.22 m) wide and the length of her garden. The deal was that we could grow whatever we choose to, but it was ours to weed and care for all summer. At the end of the season, it was fun to see who had the most success. One of my sisters absolutely loved to grow pumpkins as they grew fast and large. I can’t really remember my mother stuffing a lot of vegetables but the idea of stuffing ‘things’ always appeals to me.
It’s hard to beat a summer tomato. They’re plump and juicy and filled with sweet and savory notes. You can certainly eat tomatoes in the wintertime, but this is one of those vegetables that showcases its best aromas and flavors in the summertime.
Aside from the visual presentation of a stuffed tomato, there’s the matter of flavor. I think the real beauty of a stuffed tomato is what you put inside it. And to be honest, the sky’s the limit. Any manner of meats, cheeses, carbs, and veggies can make for great choices. The blended flavors make for some pretty tasty meals.
Whether it’s stuffed cabbage, stuffed zucchini or these stuffed tomatoes, food just tastes better when it comes in an edible package!
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Stuffed Roasted Romas
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In a large saucepan, heat olive oil & add ground meat, breaking up the meat with a spatula. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until meat is browned. Drain off any excess grease then add the onion, Italian seasoning & salt to the pan. Cook 3-4 minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic & cook for 30 more seconds.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly butter an 8-inch baking dish.
Turn tomatoes blossom side down to give you a flat bottom. Trim a thin slice off the 'top'. Hollow out the insides of the tomatoes with a knife or grapefruit spoon. Chop pulp finely to be used in filling.
Stir the rice, most of the cheeses (save a bit to top tomatoes with) & tomato pulp into meat mixture. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
Mound the filling mixture evenly into tomato shells. Place remaining filling in the baking dish. Nestle the stuffed tomatoes into it so they will stay upright during baking time.
Bake tomatoes about 15-20 minutes then top with remaining grated cheese. Bake for another couple of minutes until cheese is melted.
Place a bed of arugula on serving plate & top with loose baked ground meat mixture. Place the roasted Romas on top & serve hot.
CELEBRATING GOOD FRIDAY!
Bread pudding always gives me reason to remember good things. Truly a comfort food for those of us that recall it from childhood days. It’s not that the dish was invented here — that honor likely goes to clever medieval or even ancient cooks in Europe and the Middle East who had a surplus of stale bread on their hands. The perfect embodiment of the virtues of frugality and indulgence: day old bread, too precious to waste, is bathed in a mixture of milk and eggs and made into either a sweet or savory bread pudding (with a few other additions) and baked into something sublime. What makes it special is the blend of spices mixed into it and the sauce.
The chai spice baking blend, which is sometimes overlooked, adds a distinct warm flavor and depth. It can include a number of different spices. Cardamom is the most common ingredient, followed by some mixture of cinnamon, ginger, star anise and cloves. Pepper, coriander, nutmeg and fennel are also used but they are slightly less common.
This bread pudding combines hot cross buns with spices inspired by the world’s love affair with Indian chai. The origins of hot cross buns may go back as far as the 12th century. According to the story, an Anglican monk baked the buns and marked them with a cross in honor of Good Friday. Over time they gained popularity, and eventually became a symbol of Easter weekend.
Bread pudding, when done right, should have the perfect balance of gooey goodness and chewy texture. That’s why stale bread/buns are important. The bread needs a degree of crunch otherwise you will have ‘mush pudding’. For additional flavor, the pudding is served with a vanilla sauce. Who says bread pudding has to be boring!
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Chai Spiced Hot Cross Bread Pudding w/ Vanilla Sauce
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Instructions
Bread Pudding
Place cubed hot cross buns in a greased 9 x 9-inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine the milk, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, spices & salt. Pour over buns, making sure that the bread is completely covered by the milk mixture.
Cover & refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
Set out the chilled bread pudding while you preheat the oven to 350 F.
Bake 40 - 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pudding comes out clean. Remove from oven & serve with vanilla sauce.
Vanilla Sauce
In a small saucepan, melt butter & add flour. Stir until mixture has a nutty aroma.
Add salt, cream & sugar; stir until mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat & stir in vanilla.
Spoon over servings of warm bread pudding.
Recipe Notes
- You will notice I have only used 2 Tbsp sugar in the vanilla sauce to offset the sweetness of the pudding.
Oblong and common in Mediterranean cooking, orzo has a look of rice and the texture of pasta. While orzo’s origins lie in Italy, it is now a staple in cooking across Europe, especially Greece, and the Middle East. Its use in North America can be traced to the mid-20th century or even earlier. It seems there are recipes that date back to the early 1950s like orzo pasta salad, orzo stuffed tomatoes and Betty Crocker’s Chicken Orzo Soup.
The pasta itself is made from durum semolina wheat… a particularly hard variety of wheat. It holds up perfectly during the cooking process and has a very pleasant clear flavor and chewy ‘mouthfeel’. The name is somewhat misleading though as orzo actually means barley in Italian, but there is no barley in it. Instead, the pasta derives its name from its shape, which closely resembles the grain.
Orzo has been around a long time… and stands on its own as a versatile and tasty pasta in a supporting role as a side dish, or as the star in a main dish. Because of its size, and ability to absorb flavors very well, orzo can be combined with other ingredients and become a perfect filler for things like stuffed peppers and squash.
Orzo pasta also comes colored, and flavored with vegetables. Spinach is common, but it can also be mixed with beets, carrots and other vegetables. Rainbow orzo pasta combines several different vegetables to create a highly colorful take on this wonderful, and versatile pasta.
Today, I’m pairing it with bay scallops and broccoli in a nice cheesy parmesan sauce. Yum!
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Creamy Orzo w/ Bay Scallops, Broccoli & Parmesan
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Instructions
Rinse scallops & pat dry. Set aside.
Melt 1 Tbsp of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion & sauté until soft, about 4 - 5 minutes. Remove the onions to a plate. Set aside.
Add 2 Tbsp of the butter to the skillet & melt over medium heat. Add the prepared scallops & sauté for 4 - 5 minutes. Place scallops on a heated platter & cover with foil.
Fill a large sauce pan of water with 4-6 quarts of water & bring to a boil. Add the orzo & stir.
After the orzo has been boiling for 5 minutes, add the broccoli florets to the same pot and continue to cook for 5 additional minutes. Once the orzo & broccoli are cooked and tender, drain well and pour into a large mixing bowl.
Quickly add the parmesan cheese & the final 2 Tbsp of butter to the orzo & broccoli mixture. Stir thoroughly, allowing both the cheese & butter to melt. Slowly add the cream, while stirring. Next, add the sautéed onions, scallops. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley if you wish. Serve immediately
Beef Stroganoff is a perfect dinner party dish – inexpensive and easy to prepare yet rich and luxurious. History reveals a simple but elegant dish of steak meat sautéed with onion and cooked in a sauce of sour cream, seasonings and usually, mushrooms.
This dish was invented sometime in the early 1800s and had its North American heyday in the 1950s and 1960s.
The best cuts of beef for stroganoff are tender, juicy cuts such as:
- boneless rib eye
- boneless sirloin.
- sirloin steak tips.
- beef tenderloin.
In researching beef stroganoff, I’ve seen recommendations for all sorts of things to serve it with, including kasha, egg noodles, French fried potatoes, rice, mashed potatoes with chives, wild rice, and the leftovers on buttered toast points.
Since Brion & I always enjoy risotto, it seems like a good choice to pair with our stroganoff. I’ve made risotto from rice, couscous, orzo and they were all good so today I’m using barley.
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Beef Stroganoff w/ Barley Risotto
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Instructions
Beef - Marinade
In a large zip-lock bag or glass dish, whisk together oil, soy sauce & Montreal Steak Spice. Add cubed steak & marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours.
Mustard Sauce
In a small saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually whisk in chicken stock and mustard. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir until thickened, 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut tomato into thick strips. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, cook tomato until softened, 3-5 minutes. Stir into mustard sauce; add salt, liquid smoke & sour cream.
In same skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Drain beef using a strainer, discarding marinade. Add sliced onion & mushrooms to pan; cook and stir until onion is softened. Add beef & cook until meat is no longer pink, 6-8 minutes. Add mustard sauce; reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened. Keep warm until serving.
Barley Risotto
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat to maintain simmer. In another large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add chopped onion & salt. Cook and stir until liquid evaporates. Add barley; toast in pan.
Stir hot water into barley 1 cup at a time, waiting until liquid has almost absorbed before adding more. Cook until barley is softened but still slightly chewy, 15-20 minutes; stir in parsley. Serve immediately with beef.
Casseroles are my go-to dish when I have a busy day ahead of me! They’re simple to make and Brion & I just love them. You can prep them ahead of time and then just pop them in the oven for a nice hot meal that is ready when you are or cook them and reheat in the microwave.
This perogy casserole makes life simpler by relying on frozen perogies. This recipe starts with ingredients you may already have in your kitchen, such as frozen perogies (either store bought or homemade), onions, bacon, Alfredo sauce and cheese. The onions, bacon and perogies are browned in a skillet along with some garlic, then layered into a casserole dish with the Alfredo sauce. The final step is a generous amount of cheddar cheese. Bake your casserole until golden brown, then dinner is served.
There are a lot of flavors of frozen perogies in grocery stores these days that you can try this casserole with such as cheese, onion, potato, garlic, bacon, etc. All of which will help switch up the flavor to keep it a little new and different each time you make it.
Perogies are truly one of the world’s best comfort foods and as an added bonus, casseroles are an inexpensive way to stretch those food dollars and still taste delicious.
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Sausage, Bacon & Perogy Casserole
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Instructions
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In a saucepan over medium high heat, cook bacon for 4-5 minutes or until slightly crisp. Remove from pan & drain on paper towel.
In a pot of boiling, salted water cook perogies for about 3 minutes. Drain. With a spatula gently stir perogies with a TINY bit of butter just to keep them from sticking to each other.
In the saucepan with bacon drippings, place onion & sauté until translucent. Add garlic & sausage; sauté for a couple of minutes. Remove from pan to a dish. Add half of the perogies to the pan & cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until browned. Repeat the process with remaining perogies. Place bacon, onions & garlic in the pan & stir to combine.
Spread 1/3 cup of the alfredo sauce over the bottom of a 9 x 9-inch baking dish. Place 1/2 of the perogy mixture on top of the sauce.
Add another 1/3 cup of the sauce, then use the remaining perogy mixture to create another layer. Spread the remaining alfredo sauce over the top of the perogy mixture, then top the casserole with shredded cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted & started to brown.
Top with green onions & serve.
Pastetli were invented in the early 1800s in Antonin Carême’s pastry store in Paris, France where they’re called vol-au-vent, French for ‘windblown’ to describe its lightness. While they’re served as an appetizer in France, they’re eaten as a main meal not only in Switzerland but also in Belgium and the Netherlands. It is also from the Netherlands where the Swiss name Pastetli origins from. The Dutch call them pasteitje (little pastry). From there it came to the German Pastete. Just to add a little complication though, a Pastete in Switzerland is rectangle cake shaped puff pastry pie filled with sausage meat, mushrooms in a creamy sauce.
A vol-au-vent is a light puff pastry shell that resembles a bowl with a lid. The shell is generally filled with a creamy sauce (most often a velouté sauce) containing vegetables, chicken, meat or fish. The lid is placed on the filled shell and the pastry is then served as an appetizer, also known as bouchée à la Reine, or as the main course of a meal. When prepared, the pastry dough is flattened and cut into two circles. A smaller circle is cut out of the center of one of the circles, which then will be used as the lid. The circle without the center cut and the circle with the center cut are then joined together around the edges so as the pastry bakes, it rises into a shell with a hole in the top. The lid, which is baked separately, is added later. The pastry shell may be made the size of an individual serving, or it can be made in several different sizes to become a main serving for one or a larger size to be served for more than one.
Vol-au-vents rose to prominence in Paris in the 19th century. In post-war Britain, they were a mainstay of any self-respecting buffet, served to suitably impressed guests alongside welcome drinks at dinner parties. By the 1990s, they had become unfashionable and remained so for decades. Updated vol-au-vents started reappearing in chic restaurants a year or two before the covid pandemic (2020) erupted and have become the retro appetizer or main course to have.
You can even adapt them to make some elegant desserts. Fill with cream and fresh fruit or melt a chocolate orange with a dash of Grand Marnier and orange zest then spoon this quick-fix mousse into the cases and top with sweetened Chantilly cream and chocolate shavings.
For our main course vol-au-vents, I am making an interesting filling which includes, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms and tiny meatballs. Sounds a little odd but is packed with flavor.
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Chicken, Veal & Shrimp Pastetli (Vol-Au-Vent)
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Chicken/Broth
Add the rosemary, garlic, bay leaves, cloves, chopped celery, carrot and onion to a stock pot. Season generously with pepper and salt. Cut the chicken up: legs, wings and breasts. Also chop up the remaining carcass. Add it all to the pot. Then fill it with water (about 7 cups) until the chicken is fully submerged.
Place the pot over high heat until boiling, then leave it there for 10 minutes. Turn the heat lower and gently cook the chicken for about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the heat and let it cool down for another 45 minutes.
Mushrooms/ Shrimp/ Cheese
Chop the mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Peel & devein shrimp. Grate parmesan cheese.
Puff Pastry Shells
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Cut (4) 5-inch circles from puff pastry. Beat the egg & prick holes in the large circles with a fork & brush with egg. Cut 12 more RINGS from pastry about an inch wide. Lay a ring on each of the 4 circles & brush with egg wash. Repeat this until there are 3 rings on each large circle. Bake the puff pastry shells for 25 minutes.
Finish the Broth
Remove the cooked chicken from the hot stock. Reserve stock for later. Remove any chicken skin, bones, veins, cartilage, or sinew (discard all this) & pick the cooked meat from the bones. Shred the larger bits up roughly. Then transfer the chicken meat to a large saucepan.
Strain the chicken stock in a fine sieve or colander over a large pan. You should end up with about 6 cups (1,4 l) of chicken stock. Discard the cooked vegetables.
Meatballs
In a bowl, combine ground veal (pork), salt & pepper, egg & breadcrumbs. Mix well and make tiny balls of ½ oz (15 g) each. You should end up with about 20 of them. Cover the meatballs with cling film and store them in the fridge until later.
Bring the stock to a gentle boil again. Once warm, add the meatballs, shrimp & mushrooms.
Poach them for about 5 minutes. Then remove the meatballs, shrimp & mushrooms using a slotted spoon. Add them to the shredded chicken in the large saucepan.
Béchamel Sauce
Take the chicken stock off the heat now. In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk well until you get a wet crumble. Gently cook this over medium-low heat for about a minute. Then gradually add splashes of the warm chicken stock until you get a sticky flour paste. Keep stirring. Don't add too much at once or the sauce will become lumpy.
Whisk well. Gradually add more chicken stock (about 3 to 4 cups) until you get a pretty runny sauce. Bring the sauce to a low simmer & cook for 3-4 minutes or until thickened. whisk in Montreal Steak Spice, onion salt, garlic powder, mustard & grated parmesan.
Add the béchamel sauce to the chicken, meatballs, shrimp & mushrooms. Stir carefully. Cover the pan for another 5 minutes and let the vol au vent filling warm through or place it back over very low heat.
Put the vol au vent puff pastry casings onto 4 serving plates. Top with the chicken, meatball, shrimp & mushroom filling. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley if desired. Serve the vol au vents hot.
Nothing says spring more than the zesty, fresh flavor of lemons. I think this lemon dessert is the perfect way to celebrate spring.
Crumbles are a true British dessert, which can be made any time of the year. They are believed to have originated around the time of World War II which brought the world to a standstill; shops were closed, people were left unemployed. As the war progressed, food scarcity became a major scare and due to inflation and rationing, the accessibility to basic food ingredients became a problem. In these hostile times, British housewives came up with many recipes; some of these recipes were lost in time, but some stayed and even gained cult status with time. One such British recipe is that of ‘apple crumble’.
Typically, crumbles use soft fruit like apples, pears, rhubarb or plums, but berries or even a lemon filling can be used. The crumb topping can be made with flour, nuts, breadcrumbs, cookie or graham cracker crumbs, or even breakfast cereal.
This dessert is very different from the usual crumble. You start with a crumble crust/ topping but the filling is uncooked. It is so nice with fresh lemon juice and zest in it. As it bakes, it becomes almost gel-like and the top crumbles soak slightly into the filling. The flavor of lemon always seems to give such a refreshing taste to everything its used in.
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Lemon Gel 'Crumble' Wedges
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Crust/Crumble Topping
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In a large bowl, combine all topping ingredients. Mix well with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup of topping; set aside. Place remaining topping in a 14 x 4-inch baking pan pressing it up the sides as well as on the bottom. Set aside.
Filling
Mix all filling ingredients well, then pour into crust.
Place baking pan in oven & bake for 30- 35 minutes or until filling is set & crust is golden.
Remove from oven & cool completely. This dessert is best refrigerated overnight or at least 6 hours. Cut into wedges or bars & serve with WHIPPED TOPPING.
