EpiCurious Generations

Inspiration:   Helping out a friend for an upcoming St-Patrick's day celebration  🍀 and for my Irish husband (who really enjoyed this). The addition of some coffee and dark bittersweet chocolate helps to bring out the roasted flavours of the guinness beer in this recipe - otherwise its flavour is almost all lost in the cooking process.  The result is a rich, velvety and shiny gravy with so much flavour.  A little maple syrup is added at the very end for balance - we are Irish Canadian after all!  The veggies are cooked separately, glazed and added at the end in order to preserve their texture and flavour.  A few different cuts of beef were tried to test the texture of the meat and a boneless cross rib roast yielded a perfect, tender, flavourful bite.   You have never had stew this good!  Serve with some traditional soda bread or some Guinness bread .  I hope you enjoy!

Inspiration:  New twist on an old family meatball recipe Thai Green Curry Meatballs:   Makes 4 servings

The views here are spectacular! Absolute highlight so far - watching the whales surface repeatedly in the Bay in Tadoussac! This region is rich with beautiful landscapes and kind, smiling people.  We have discovered some very good regional products here so far, with the most intriguing being the  Emu .  Described a cross between goose and beef in taste, these large birds were brought in from Australia and are raised in St-Urbain in the Charlevoix region.  I have to admit I am a bit surprised but excited to try a few recipe ideas with this new ingredient - who knew - Emu from Québec!  We bought the Emu terrine and were guaranteed that this appetizer would be a surprising, resounding success:  cracker, cream cheese, Emu terrine, pepper jelly (or jelly of your choice), top with a local strawberry, raspberry or blueberry.  

Stack the disks of  sweet potato rosti, drizzle with the chipotle mayo and sprinkle with toasted pecans (torn basil and tarragon as garnish) Add some roasted mushrooms and vine tomatoes - fresh tarragon and basil- This was a really great dinner - and low carb! Brush with the same marinade as the meat before roasting When we were living in New York City (in the late 80's) we discovered a wonderful restaurant called Trixie's.  It was the first time we had sweet potato fries and we loved them.  The Trixie's fries were topped with mayonnaise and sprinkled with walnuts.  

Ladling the chili directly on the pain perdu made it a little soggy This was much better as the bread retained its crisp exterior - brush the edge with oil and sprinkle with chopped herbs The cooler weather is just around the corner here in Montreal and I have to admit that this is my favourite time of the year.  I'm not talking about the freezing, snowy -20°C temperatures we sometimes get in the middle of winter but  the wonderful - thick sweaters and sleeping with the windows open kind of weather.  It usually lasts all of September and October and it is when I really begin to want to start cooking comfort food.  For me, there is nothing as enjoyable as spending some time hiking in the woods to admire the vibrant colours of the leaves changing on a cool day and coming home to a warm house that smells wonderful.  Add to that a roaring fire, some great music, and I am at my happiest.

This is one of those quick and easy (really delicious) weekday meals that everyone gets excited about when they hear we are having it.  It is basically a flatbread layered with melted cheese, thinly sliced beef seasoned with Montreal steak spice , caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes and a spicy chipotle mayonnaise dressing (that I use for everything).   

 Angus beef patties with port and pepper sauce - easy weekday meal A simple, plain meal can turn into something quite elegant and delicious with the addition of a great sauce. Mike made this sauce that he served with a barbecued steak and got rave reviews - something along the lines of ''wow - you cook like a chef''.   It is pretty versatile and goes well with so many dishes (I leave out the pepper and use it with  tourtière  or replace the beef stock with veal stock and serve it with  veal Schnitzel ) - the technique remains the same.

Everyone has their own take on this classic.  This is an easy weekday meal to prepare and there are usually leftovers that can be brought to the office (or school) for lunch the next day. In France, this is called hachi parmentier and it is made with duck confit and buttery mashed potatoes (great as a weekend version when entertaining and really easy to make - I'll try to make it for the next post).

The cooler weather is just around the corner and I have to admit that the Fall is my favourite time of the year.   The best days are weekends spent at home relaxing while something slow cooks in the oven.  If there is a fire going, music playing and the house smells wonderful, I am truly happy. I found some short ribs at the market the other day and was inspired to cook an end-of-Summer, pre-Fall slow roasted meal.  I was going to freeze it for Kat to bring back to school but we ended up having it for dinner because everyone was home (this also makes me very happy).

Served with grilled vegetables, smoky grilled garlic bread and a glass of proseco.  Summer ♥ I recently came back from a quick trip to Montreal to help my daughter move out of her residence after her first year at University.   As her summer job, she has decided to go participate in a reforestation project in Northern Ontario,  A & M Reforestation , which will involve a lot of demanding and hard work.   She likes to challenge herself that way.  Go Kat!

Beef Stroganoff was always one of those easy prepare-ahead dishes that is easy and good for when you are having people over.  No need to spend all your time in the kitchen, you can heat it up slowly and enjoy spending time with your guests.  I always made it with a lesser cut of beef and let it cook in the sauce which in turn made it a little tough.  I have since learned how to make it so it is delicious and tender and still just as easy.