Our love affair with Boursin started about a year ago. Being cheese lovers I’m not sure why it took us so long to try it, but we are definitely under its spell now. Years ago, it was an imported delicacy from France, so creamy and so garlicky. Now made in Canada, and even though manufactured on an industrial scale, the garlic and herb Boursin is very similar to the French version.
It’s easy to understand why Boursin may well be the most popular flavored soft cheese in the world. More than 50 years later, the original recipe remains unchanged and food lovers in more than 35 countries have spread their passion for Boursin all around the world.
Boursin was developed by French cheesemaker Francois Boursin in 1957 in Normandy. He was inspired by a traditional fromage frais dish in which dinner guests use bowls of fine herbs to season their own cheese.
A major newspaper in France reported incorrectly that Boursin’s cheese was flavored with garlic. It was actually a competing cheesemaker who had introduced the garlic cheese. The newspaper article generated such interest and demand for garlic Boursin that the cheesemaker spent two years developing a garlic-flavored cheese—which was introduced in 1963 to quickly become a household name across France.
Not only was Boursin an excellent cheesemaker, but he also had marketing smarts. In 1968, Boursin made history as the first cheese featured in a TV ad campaign. It featured famous French comedian Jacques Duby cast in the role of the first ‘Boursinophile,’ a cheese lover unable to resist the alluring taste of Boursin whatever time of day or night. Waking in the middle of the night, he rushes to the fridge in his pajamas yelling for Boursin over and over again. You may recall seeing Boursin commercials on Canadian TV.
Today’s tart consists of a puff pastry shell encasing a layer of sweet caramelized red onion, topped with roughly broken up chunks of potato and chicken dotted with luscious Boursin. The tart is then baked in a creamy egg filling and sprinkled with a little thyme. Yum!
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Chicken, Potato, Boursin & Thyme Tart w/ Caramelized Onions
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Heat olive oil in a heavy based pot. Add onions, salt & pepper; cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally.
Add balsamic vinegar & sugar, remove the lid; cook a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.
Put potatoes in a medium pot, cover with water, season with salt & bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cook potatoes 15-20 minutes until just able to be pierced with a knife. Drain & set aside to cool.
Roll out pastry to fit a 10-inch round removable base tart tin. Pop in the freezer to chill.
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Layer the onion, potato and chicken into the pastry shell. Dot with Boursin cheese and thyme. If you happen to be using left-over roast chicken & have a bit of stuffing spare, pop that in too! Whisk eggs and cream and pour over filling.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until the filling is set & pastry is golden.
Most experts believe that dumplings were invented by a Chinese medicine practitioner. As legend tells it, it was a difficult winter, and many were experiencing ill effects from the cold. To help people warm up, he used mutton, herbs, and chilis and wrapped them in dough, then steamed them to bind everything together and keep them warm. These steaming, pillow-like treats helped people overcome the cold weather, while the herbs worked to improve blood circulation and prevent frostbite.
‘Dumpling’ is broad term that spans across cuisines and can vary greatly depending on where you’re eating. Typically, in Asian cuisines, a dumpling is a thin wheat-based dough filled with meats, or other proteins, and vegetables before being folded up and either steamed, boiled, or fried. Today we have an incredible variety of shapes, sizes, tastes and styles. The main difference from country to country is the preferred fillings and how the dough is folded.
Homemade dumplings are a labor of love! And there is nothing else quite like them. Even though making dumpling wrappers from scratch is not as difficult as it is often made to seem, commercially sold wrappers are a super convenient option when time is of the essence.
By purchasing generic dumpling wrappers, also sometimes referred to as ‘dumpling skins’, you’ll have a world of flavors to play with. Typically made with wheat flour and round in shape, store-bought dumpling wrappers can be steamed, boiled in soups, or fried.
These dumpling wrapper shrimp ‘ravioli’ are easy to make and the lemon garlic butter adds such a great flavor boost.
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Dumpling Wrapper Shrimp Ravioli w/ Lemon Garlic Butter
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Ravioli
In a saucepan, sauté shrimp meat in butter for a few minutes until just cooked.
In a bowl, combine all but 1 Tbsp of the beaten egg (reserve the Tbsp for later). Strip thyme & discard the stalks, add leaves to the bowl with parmesan, breadcrumbs, salt & 1 tsp of lemon juice. Chop shrimp meat fine & add to bowl; mix well.
On a work surface, lay out 18 dumpling wrappers. Carefully divide shrimp filling between them. Moisten the edges with remaining egg, lay a second wrapper on top & seal around the edges by pressing firmly, making a crimped border with a fork.
If making ahead of time, you can refrigerate the ravioli at this stage. Just lay them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper & cover with plastic wrap.
Cooking
In a large saucepan, bring 2 liters of water to a boil. Cook ravioli in small batches for about a minute or two, drain.
Melt butter & minced garlic on a griddle, add 1 Tbsp lemon juice & a little lemon zest. Add cooked ravioli & sauté just until lightly browned. Serve.
Today, November 24th, our neighbors to the south in the USA, are celebrating their Thanksgiving Day. It encompasses both religious and secular aspects … being both a harvest festival and a festival of family.
Here in Canada, we have already enjoyed our Thanksgiving in October but I thought it would be nice to acknowledge their holiday with posting a special meal.
While a classic beef wellington makes for a elegant dinner, it is easy to re-create a Wellington into a gourmet, hearty meal but on a more reasonable every day budget & time frame. Rather than using an expensive steak cut, this beef wellington recipe uses inexpensive ground beef and puff pastry sheets. The ground meat can be changed to ground pork, chicken, turkey or sausage. The list of additions to the meat is endless ranging from mushrooms to cheese. Some bacon mixed with the beef gives the dish that nice bacon impact that is very tasty.
This classic beef wellington-revisited is not only delicious but decadent. It is so good with a mushroom gravy.
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Beef & Potato Wellington
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Thaw puff pastry overnight in refrigerator. Cook potatoes & mash with grated cheese, salt & garlic powder. On a piece of parchment paper, roll potato/cheese mixture into a log shape. Set aside, keeping warm.
In a large saucepan, cook bacon until browned but not real crisp; drain on paper towel then chop & set aside.
Sauté onions, mushrooms & garlic in bacon drippings; set aside. Add beef to saucepan & scramble fry until browned, stirring to break up & moisture has evaporated. Remove from heat.
Add vegetables back to saucepan along with flour, beef broth powder, beaten egg, bacon & seasonings. Combine well.
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On a sheet of parchment paper, roll out puff pastry thin but not so it will break when filled. On one end (which becomes the center underneath the roll) spoon a layer of meat mixture. Next, lay the mashed potato 'log' on top. Spoon the rest of the meat mixture on top & around the sides, lightly patting it into the potato log.
Taking hold of the pastry (that is already tucked underneath), wrap it over top & tuck the edge in underneath to join up with the other pastry edge. Pinch together the open ends, leaving a bit of a gap to allow steam to escape.
Make egg wash & brush liberally over pastry. Lift the 'wellington', using the parchment paper to a baking sheet.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until nicely browned. Remove from oven, cover lightly with a sheet of foil for about 10 minutes. Slice & serve with a mushroom gravy if you wish.
If you are not familiar with ‘Herbs de Provence‘, it is a mixture of dried herbs considered typical of the Provence region in Southeastern France. This region is known for endless vineyards, olive groves and its vibrant, purple lavender fields. Lavender is the herb that adds a distinctive scent as well as working beautifully with the rest of the herbs (thyme, marjoram, savory, oregano & rosemary) that make up this blend.
Prior to the commercialization of the product in the 1970’s, the person responsible for bringing the French phrase into the vocabulary of cooks around the world was non other than Julia Child (American-turned-French chef), who included it in a recipe in her classic cookbook ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking‘.
This iconic French spice blend can easily elevate any number of meals. Like most spice blends, there is no set formula for the ideal Herbs de Provence. While it uses ingredients that are found in the North American creation known as ‘Italian Spice‘ (with the exception of basil), it also includes lavender flowers and has a strong floral taste.
Although I am using the individual herbs in this recipe, you can easily substitute with bottled, dried Herbs de Provence with no problem. They are readily available in the larger grocery stores. This makes such a great tasting meal …. well worth your time.
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Herbs de Provence Shrimp
Votes: 3
Rating: 4.33
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Ingredients
- 100 gm bacon
- 250 gm mushroom, quartered or sliced
- 1/2 medium onion, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- 3/4 tsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp sea salt
- pepper to taste
- 340 gm Wild, raw jumbo shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh marjoram, oregano OR savory, chopped
- 3/4 tsp rosemary, chopped
- 1/4 tsp dried lavender
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup Israeli couscous (plain Or turmeric)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp fresh tarragon, chopped
Ingredients
- 100 gm bacon
- 250 gm mushroom, quartered or sliced
- 1/2 medium onion, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- 3/4 tsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp sea salt
- pepper to taste
- 340 gm Wild, raw jumbo shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh marjoram, oregano OR savory, chopped
- 3/4 tsp rosemary, chopped
- 1/4 tsp dried lavender
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup Israeli couscous (plain Or turmeric)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp fresh tarragon, chopped
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Votes: 3
Rating: 4.33
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Instructions
In a medium saucepan, fry chopped bacon until crisp, about 3 minutes; remove from pan & blot on a paper towel. Saute mushrooms, onion & garlic in bacon drippings until softened.
Add peas, basil, lemon zest & 1 Tbsp oil. Season with salt & pepper.
In a bowl, combine shrimp, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, lavender & remaining tablespoon of oil. Add shrimp mixture to saucepan; cook, turning once, until opaque throughout, about 2-3 minutes. Place in a dish & set aside to keep warm.
In the saucepan, bring vegetable broth to a boil & add couscous. Cover saucepan & remove from heat; set aside until liquid has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.
Add shrimp mixture along with cooked bacon, lemon juice & tarragon. Gently stir together with a fork. Serve immediately.
