Tonight’s fresh meal menu features our very popular Butternut, Mushroom & Goat Cheese Lasagna.

At our first Feast of Fields event we wanted to create a truly local, fall dish. We hand made ravioli, and stuffed it with mushrooms & goat cheese, then served it garnished with a butternut béchamel, drizzled with a pesto of tarragon and sunflower seeds. It was fantastic! However, as we had to make and serve about 800 of them, we figured there had to be a better way to enjoy these flavours without having to hand make each ravioli.

So we re-worked the dish and turned it into a lasagna. It’s become one of our most popular dishes and we create it each Thanksgiving and Christmas, and occasionally in between we enough customers ask us too. It’s a bit of work but well worth the effort.

If you are feeling adventurous, I have included the recipe.

Butternut, Goat Cheese & Mushroom Lasagna

Ingredients

1 / 4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 1 / 2 cups chopped onions
3 cups of local mushrooms, sliced (Note 1)

2 pounds organic, local butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 5 1/2 cups) (you can use other types of squash for this dish, or sweet potato works well to)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup good quality pesto (Note 2)

2 400 ml containers whole-milk ricotta cheese (unless you want to make that yourself too, which is quite simple, but that’s another recipe)
1 log of good quality soft goat cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
4 large eggs

4 cups whole milk
5 tablespoons flour
5 tablespoons milk
pinch of nutmeg

Olive oil
9 fresh lasagna noodles (Note 3)

Note 1: We use organic locally grown mushrooms from Christophe at Le Coprin in Farrelton, Quebec. The King Eryngii is a great choice for this dish, although almost any mushroom will work.

Note 2: The first year we made this we used sunflower tarragon pesto, which we made ourselves. Any combination of fresh herb pesto will work well, but tarragon gave it a really lovely flavour.

Note 3: We use fresh lasagna noodles sourced from a local pasta shop.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to high; add mushrooms and cook until tender, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer mushroom mixture to bowl; set aside.

Add squash, broth, 3 tablespoons thyme, and 3 tablespoons sage to same skillet.

Cover and simmer over medium heat until squash is just tender, about 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix ricotta, goat cheese & pesto in large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper; mix in eggs.

Make béchamel. Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in flour and mix until combined. Add cold milk and whisk, bringing to a simmer. Stir constantly until thickened and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Brush 13×9 inch glass or ceramic baking dish with oil. Spread one cup of the béchamel on the bottom of the pan. Arrange 3 noodles on top. Spread one half of the ricotta mixture over noodles. Arrange one half of the squash mixture over ricotta. Sprinkle with one half of the mushrooms. Spread remaining half of the béchamel. Top with 3 noodles, then remaining ricotta mixture, remaining squash and remaining mushrooms. Finish with a layer of noodles topped with béchamel and sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan on top. Cover with oiled foil.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Bake lasagna, covered, 45 minutes. Uncover; bake until golden brown on top, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

The Finished Product

This past weekend, we held our second annual Holiday Cookie Baking Party.  Last year’s efforts were focused on quantity, but this year we shifted our focus to quality, and invested in pretty packaging so that we could easily use our baked treats as hostess gifts, Christmas presents, or stocking stuffers.  We focused on 5 recipes: one loaf, one decorated cookie, truffles, one bar, and a freezer log.

Everyone arrived at the shop by noon.  Yael brought her good china teacups, in keeping with our ‘Sunday Tea’ theme, and we started to bake.  We tackled our recipes in pairs.

Chocolate ‘Freezer’ Cookies

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/2 cup crushed candy canes or shredded coconut

Whisk together flour, cocoa and salt.  In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar then add eggs and stir in.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Form dough into a log, roll in crushed candy cane or coconut and freeze until ready to use.  When ready to bake, thaw log slightly and cut into 1/4″ rounds. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 5-7 minutes, or until edges are set and centres are still a bit soft.

Justine thought these cookies would make the perfect base for an ice cream sandwich using Pascale’s Egg Nog ice cream!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Base
10 regular size chocolate chip cookies (Robin made hers from scratch)
1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling
3 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (according to Robin, it must be Kraft)

Topping
4 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup (you could substitute honey or maple syrup)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (we used cocoa camino chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 325.  Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper.  In a food processor turn the chocolate chip cookies into crumbs then add melted butter and pulse until the crumbs are wet.  Pat into the bottom of the pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Beat together the butter, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth.  Beat in all the sugar.  The mixture will be stiff.  Pat this mixture on top of the base and place in the fridge.

Combine the chocolate, butter and syrup in a metal bowl over simmering water and stir until melted.  Pour over the top of your pan and smooth. Refrigerate until firm and slice into bars.

Sugar Cookies

2/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
½ tsp orange zest
½ tsp vanilla
1 egg
4 tsp milk
2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar orange zest and vanilla until pale yellow. Add egg and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the milk.  In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter and sugar mixture and mix until well combined.

Divide the dough in two. Flatten each half into a disk, wrap in cling-film and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Grease a cookie sheet. Remove one disk from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to approx 1/8 inch thick. Cut out desired shapes (I used trees that were around 4-inches.) Place cutouts on prepared cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges. Allow to cool, then decorate with Royal Icing (recipe below.)

Yield: 3 dozen 4-inch cookies

Royal Icing

1 egg white
2 cups icing sugar
juice of one lemon
1-2 tsp water
food colouring (optional)

In a small pot, bring an inch or so of water to a simmer. Place a small bowl over the pot and add egg white. Beat egg white until stiff but not dry.  Remove from heat and add icing sugar and lemon juice, beating until well combined. The icing should be slightly runny so that when you drop a spoonful back into the bowl it melds with the rest easily with only a slight resistance. If your icing is too thick, add one teaspoon of water at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

Add food colouring if desired, mixing well. Fill a pastry bag with icing and pipe on cookies to decorate, starting by outlining the cookie and then filling it in. The icing should run together to fill in the gaps. Use different coloured icings to make patterns.

Allow to dry for 2 hours before storing cookies.

Gingerbread Cake

Bring ¼ lb butter and 1 cup molasses to boil in a small saucepan.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Whisk 1 cup sour cream and 2 teaspoons orange zest together in a small bowl.

Sift the following dry ingredients into a large bowl.

2 ½ cups flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons dry ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon salt

Whisk together the cooled molasses mixture with the sour cream mixture.  Add this to the sifted dry ingredients along with 1/3 cups diced crystallized ginger and ½ cup diced dried figs.  Stir only until all dry ingredients are moistened – do not overmix.

Pour into greased loaf pans and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Truffles

450 grams of good quality dark chocolate, chopped (we used cocoa Camino)
300 ml of whipping cream
100 grams of butter
100 grams of chopped candied ginger
100 grams of grated fresh ginger

Coating

200 grams of the same chocolate, melted in a double boiler

Place chocolate ingredients in a metal bowl.  Melt cream and butter and bring to a simmer and add fresh ginger.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes to infuse.  Re-heat and add to chopped chocolate.  Stir with a spatula, being careful not to mix in any air.  When the mixture is smooth, fold in the candied ginger.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set in the refrigerator for 2 hours.  Remove from fridge and roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter using your hands.  Lay on baking sheet covered in parchment.  Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.  Dip truffles in melted chocolate to coat using a fork and place on clean parchment.  Decorate with a piece of candied ginger.

We made three kinds of truffles – Ginger, Orange and Tia Maria.  It’s pretty simple to change the flavour by replacing the ginger with grated orange peel and reduced orange juice, or some Kahlua.

October & November offer us our last opportunity to enjoy the local harvest.  Late season wintergreens, squashes, cabbage, brussel sprouts, apples and root vegetables are all in abundance.  October and November are great months to make stews, soups, and casseroles, and we wanted to share some of our favourite recipes – some of them specifically for the slow cooker.

Our retail store is overflowing with produce delivered daily by our farmers.  Today’s haul includes Kobacha Squash from Songberry Farm (pictured above) and mountains of Kale from Juniper Farm.

Squash & Fennel Soup

Note:  The basic recipe is very versatile, and you can easily adapt this recipe to accommodate different vegetables.  Some examples are Potato & Leek, Carrot & Ginger, Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Jerusalem Artichoke etc..  If you want to add some depth of flavour, the root vegetables can be roasted beforehand.

Ingredients:

Olive oil or canola oil
1 medium white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 pounds of winter squash (preferably organic)
3 heads of fennel
1 cup white wine
4 cups or vegetable chicken stock
1 pinch thyme
1 cup whipping cream
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1:  Peel and chop squash into 1 inch pieces.

2:  Wash and slice fennel.  Sauté onion and garlic in oil until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add fennel and sauté until tender.  Deglaze with white wine and cook until wine is almost evaporated.  Add squash and stock.  Simmer on low for 10 minutes, until squash is tender.  Taste for seasoning.
3:  Add cream and remove from heat and cool. Blend in batches in a blender until smooth.  Add more water/stock if necessary to achieve the desired consistency.  Re-heat until warmed through and serve.

Serving Tip – for an elegant starter to any special meal, soup can be served in shooter glasses, and garnished with things like bacon bits, ground nuts, fresh herbs, etc.    This is how we served them recently at the Red Apron 5^th anniversary celebration at the Urban Element in September.

Beef & Barley Soup – Slow Cooker Recipe

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound stewing beef, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
3/4 cup pearl barley
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
6 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
pepper, to taste

To Prepare:

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion to hot oil; cook and stir until onion is tender, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic and thyme, salt & pepper.   Transfer to Slow Cooker.  Brown beef in skillet and transfer to Slow Cooker.  Add remaining ingredients to Slow Cooker and cook on LOW in Slow Cooker for 6 to 8 hours.

Curried Lentil Stew – Slow Cooker Recipe

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 cup of dried French lentils, soaked for 2 hours or overnight, and drained
1 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, with liquid
1 14 oz can of coconut milk
1 cups water, OR stock
2 large carrots, diced
1 large sweet potato, peeled & cubed
½ cup raisins
1 ½ tsp curry powder
½ tsp ground cumin
1  tsp ground ginger (or 1 tsp fresh grated ginger)
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 ½ tsp salt
2 cups chopped fresh spinach

To Prepare:

Sauté onions & garlic.  Place all ingredients (except spinach), in the Slow Cooker and cook on the LOW setting for 7-8 hours, or until the lentils & sweet potatoes are tender. Fold in chopped spinach.  You can garnish this dish with chopped fresh basil, cilantro or parsley, plain yogurt, diced avocados, chopped green onions or goat cheese.

Moroccan Chicken Stew

Serves 4

Ingredients:

½ cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained
4 carrots, peeled and diced
2 large onions, diced
8 pieces chicken thigh, bone in, skin on
½ cup raisins
1/2 cup dried apricot, coarsely chopped
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbs tomato paste
2 tsp flour
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 tbs fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste

To Prepare:

Sauté onions & garlic in skillet on medium heat.  Toss chicken pieces in flour, salt & pepper and add to skillet to brown on both sides.  Place all ingredients in the Slow Cooker and cook on the LOW setting for 7-8 hours, or until the chickpeas are tender.

Serve in bowls with couscous and garnish with chopped nuts, cilantro and/or yogurt.

It’s a mere 30 paces from our deck to the beachfront, which is really what these weekends are really all about.  Long lazy days are spent swimming, fishing and kayaking. Evenings are spent around a roaring fire, laughing, discussing and generally enjoying being together as a family .

What is most enjoyable to me about these weekends is that we choose to cook over an open firepit. Most Saturday mornings, after drinking a pot of campfire coffee, we drive to the Combermere Farmers Market and source out the ingredients for that nights dinner.

The market is not yet in full swing and the variety of vegetables is lean (growing season is slightly behind Ottawa’s). Nonetheless, we have been able to piece together some memorable meals.

Recently, our Saturday night ‘Farmer’s Market’ feast consisted of delicious ‘Schulist Family Farm’ grassfed beef T-Bone steaks.  We also purchased a pound of organic shiitake mushrooms from Henry at the ‘Aldergrove Mushroom Farm’ booth. After adding local organic asparagus to our basket and some of the world’s best butter-tarts, we were ready to head back.  A quick detour into Killaloe for a bottle of Bonneterra Organic Cabernet Sauvignon and we were set.

Escaping for the weekend always rejuvenates and prepares me for the busy work week that follows. This is truly our little piece of paradise!

It’s so easy and oh so delicious! Make sure to carefully wash and dry the herbs!

1 3/4 c. organic basil (from Roots and Shoots)
1/4 c. parsley
1/3 c. hemp seeds (Stone Farm)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed (from Jambican)
3/4 c. Sheep’s Milk Nettle Pecorino cheese (Canreg Station)
1/2 tsp. Salty Don’s smoked maple salt
1/2 c. hemp seed oil (Stone Farm)

Pulse everything EXCEPT THE OIL together in your food processor until they are finely minced but not a paste.

Put in a bowl and mix in the oil.

You can freeze it in ice cube trays if you have leftovers, serve it with a pasta salad, grill it on chicken or fish, make potato salad, eat it from the spoon or use your imagination.

Last Thursday’s meal contained the most spectacular dessert – a Decadent Chocolate Cupcake.  We made these cupcakes using an old recipe that contains an unusual ingredient that became a popular baking ingredient about 30 years ago – mayonnaise.  I am sure that it was Kraft or Hellmans that first thought this one up, but it make sense when you think about it.  Real mayonnaise is essentially an emulsion of eggs, oil and a bit of vinegar. I am sure this recipe was born out of necessity, when some creative cook ran out of eggs for her chocolate cake.

Mayonnaise Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour
1 1/3 cup of sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (we only use organic fair trade Cocoa Camino chocolate)

Whisk the wet ingredients in a bowl.  In a separate bowl sift the dry ingredients.  Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well until combined.  Add chocolate chips.  Pour into 9″ round cake pan (well oiled) or in 24 lined muffin tins.  Bake cake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 25 minutes.  Test for doneness.

The dough recipe is quite simple – just flour & water.  After it has rested for some time, the dough was cut into small, uniform pieces and rolled into a ball, then flattened.  Two pieces of dough were placed one on top of each other with a generous layer of sesame oil in between.  These two pieces of dough were then rolled out in flour to form a ‘pancake’

The pancakes were fried on a dry griddle for about 1 minute each side until they puffed up in the middle.  When they were removed from the pan, it was possible to separate the one pancake into two because the oiled layer in the middle.  It was all quite fascinating!

Here is the recipe:

Makes 12

1 3/4 cups (8 ounces) unbleached flour
3/4 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, mix the flour and the boiling water. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board, gather it into a heap, and knead it until smooth, about 3 minutes. Cover with a towel and let it rest for about 1/2 hour.

With your hands, shape the dough into an even cylinder about 12 inches long. With a sharp knife, preferably serrated, cut the roll into 1-inch pieces.

Lightly flour your palms and use them to flatten the pieces into 2-inch rounds. Brush the top of each round generously with sesame oil. Lay one round on top of another, oiled sides together. Flatten the pair together with the heel of your hand. Continue until you have 6 pairs.

With a floured rolling pin, roll each pair into a thin pancake about 7 inches in diameter, flipping the pancake over now and again to roll evenly on both sides. Stack the pancakes as you finish rolling them.

In an ungreased cast-iron skillet or nonstick pan over medium-high heat, cook the pancakes one at a time. Heat one side until it becomes less opaque and starts to bubble slightly, and just a few brown spots appear, about 1 min. Flip it over and cook it until a few light brown spots appear on the other side, about 30 seconds.

While the pancake is still hot, pick it up, look for a seam to grab, and separate it into two very thin pancakes. Stack them on a plate as you go and wrap them in foil to keep them warm and prevent drying. If not using right away, refrigerate until ready to use.

Here is the recipe!

Jo-Ann’s ‘Best Ever’ Banana Cake

1 1/4  c     Butter
3 c             Sugar
6                Large Eggs
1 tbs         Vanilla Extract

4.5 c          Flour
2 tsp         Baking Powder
1 tsp         Salt

1.5 c         Sour Cream
4 c            Mashed Bananas
2 tsp        Baking Soda

Cream butter and sugar together in a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add eggs & vanilla and mix until incorporated.  Sift together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Combind sour cream, bananas and baking soda in a separate bowl.  Alternate adding banana mixture and dry ingredients to creamed butter, sugar & egg mixture until just combined.  Do not overmix.

Spoon into lined muffin tins, about 2/3 full.  Bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 10-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Alternately pour into a two 9 inch cake pans and bake for 30-45 minutes.  Test for doneness.

Ice with your favourite frosting!

Jacqueline Cooks Soup!

This past weekend Jacqueline from the Red Apron was the featured Chef at the Ottawa Eco Fair.  This event celebrates green living ideas, products and services.  While there Jacqueline prepared an Heirloom Tomato Soup using heirloom tomatoes that we purchased from Bryson Farms.  This simple soup is a taste of summer, and we will be preparing a similar soup next week at Bonappetit!

Many people asked Jacqueline for the recipe, so by popular demand!

Roasted Garlic and Heirloom Tomato Soup

1 large or two small head garlic
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
8 cups tomatoes, fresh or frozen, skins removed.  You can also use canned tomatoes, but the quality is very important!
1/2 cup red wine
salt
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream or cashew cream – See note (optional, but scrumptious)
fresh basil, parsley and chives, finely chopped

Roast garlic by wrapping it in foil and baking it a 350 oven for 35-40 minutes, until very soft.  Cut off the top and squeeze the garlic out into a bowl.  Heat the olive oil at med high, and when shimmery, add onions and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Saute onions, stirring every minute or so, until they are brown and very soft. Add minced garlic and cook another two minutes on medium, stirring constantly. Add wine and stir to scrape up the caramel from the onions.  Cook one more minute.

Add tomatoes,balsamic and sugar and a bit more salt, and heat through. Use the hand blender to blend until smooth or put it in the food processor. If it’s thick,  add a little stock or water.  Adjust seasoning. Add cream or cashew cream, and heat through to serving temperature.  Serve garnished with a generous portion of minced herbs.

Note:  To make cashew cream, blend raw cashews with the same quantity of  water in blender until it resembles cream.

Many childcare centres operate with little budget allotted – or consideration made – for the food the children are eating.  Joanne’s desire to provide the children with a rich understanding of the importance of quality, nourishing ingredients, and also to educate them on the relationships between their personal health and the health of the environment and their communities, made this a project we had to be part of.

Each day the children eat the same types of food we prepare for our regular clients.  They enjoy a variety of organic whole grains (pastas, rice, couscous and barley).  They devour a healthy vegetable soup once a week, the type of soup changing from one week to the next – they have tried everything from gazpacho (not their favourite) to sweet potato & curried coconut (a big hit!).  They celebrated Chinese New Year this year with a feast of Long Life Noodles with Lucky Chicken and Greens. Each Friday throughout the warmer months, they receive a picnic-type lunch, which they take to the park to enjoy.

Many of the parents from Acorn visit our store, searching out their child’s favourite soup or muffin, but since all of the food is custom-made for the Centre, we rarely have the exact same item in our retail store.  So, to satisfy the needs of those hungry kids, we are sharing the recipe for the muffins we provide each day.  The recipe was created so that we could provide a moist and tasty, dairy-free and egg-free (Vegan) muffin.

So, by popular demand, here is the recipe.  This recipe makes a large batch (40-50 muffins).

3 cups        organic whole wheat flour
¾ cup        organic cane sugar
1/3 cup       oat bran
¼ tsp          salt
½ tsp          cinnamon
½ Tbsp      baking soda
½ Tbsp      baking powder

Mix all the dry ingredients together

3 cups         water
1 cup           oil
4 cups         fruit (frozen berries, chopped apples, etc.)

Note:  we have made a wide variety of combinations using this base recipe.  For banana muffins, we mash in 4 ripe bananas, and still add the chopped fruit.  We have made them as well with date puree.  They were fantastic!  You can also mix up the dry ingredients and keep the mixture in an airtight container, so when you want a small batch of muffins, you can just scoop out 1/4 of the dry ingredients, quarter the wet ingredients, mix, scoop into greased muffin tins and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Test for doneness. Enjoy!

Today's Very Berry Muffins