Author Archives: Martine
Homemade sweet and sour chili sauce / Catsup de tante Lucille maison
The smell of this sweet and sour “catsup” simmering on my stovetop always brings me back to my childhood.
The history of the recipe: My aunt Lucille, who was the resident cook for the family of 14 after my mom’s mother died when she was very young, always cooked batches of this “catsup” early September. The basic principle of this sauce was not to waste anything. You would never have caught her cut up a perfectly ripe peach for this recipe. Noooo, only bruised fruits and a little older vegetables went in this. Their father was a fruit and vegetable peddler at the marché Jean-Talon when they were young (that would have been in the mid-1930s and on) and often brought back the items that were not sold that day because they were damaged. Nothing was ever thrown away or wasted. This recipe is perfect for that. She was still preparing it in the 1970s on rue Sagard when I was a teenager.
I still find myself keeping bruised peached and pears from the fruit basket I purchase at the farmer’s market in early September for the purpose of making this.
“Ma tante Lucile, qui était le cuisinière chevronnée pour les 14 enfants Hurtubise, suite au décès de leur mère lorsque ma maman était très jeune (dans les années 1930), préparait à chaque automne, une ou deux recettes de ce catsup maison. Le principe de base étant que rien ne se perd! Elle n’aurait jamais utilisé une poire parfaitement bien mûr sans défaut dans cette recette! Seuls les fruits et légumes endommagés trouvaient place dans ce chaudron. Leur père, Alfred Hurtubise, était marchand de fruits et légumes au marché Jean-Talon dans les années 1930-1940. Il rapportait quotidiennement à la maison les produits endommagés qui ne se vendaient pas. Il n’était pas question de ne rien jeter à la poubelle! De là cette recette…..Elle la préparait encore sur la rue Sagard lorsque j’était adolescente dans les années 1970. Je me surprends encore moi-même à conserver les fruits et légumes un peu trop mûris des paniers que j’achète au marché de fermiers en début septembre, afin de reproduire ce catsup.”
Nothing like this catsup to accompany a good tourtière or a pâté chinois. These recipes will come in future blogs posts 🙂
Ingredients
This recipe should yield 5 mason jars of 500ml.
- 1 portion of fruits = 4 cups: 6 pears, 6 peaches and 4 apples (or anything you have as long as you have peaches);
- 1 portion of vegetables = 4 cups: 6 oignons, 3 green peppers and 1 cup of celery (or anything you have but onions are a must);
- 2 portions of tomatoes = 8 cups or 4 lbs of fresh tomatoes peeled and cut up;
- 2 to 3 cups of vinegar (depending on your taste);
- 2 tbsp of pickling spice mix wrapped in a cheesecloth bag to be able to remove them later;
- 2 tbsp of salt;
- 2 cups of sugar.
All fruits must be peeled and cut in small bite pieces. The vegetable should be diced as well as the tomatoes cut in chunks.
Place all the fruits and vegetables in a heavy dutch oven (again here Le Creuset pots are the best). Start the burner at medium to get a gentle boil going. Continue adding the vinegar, the spices and the salt.
DO NOT ADD the sugar at this point or the bottom of your pot will be lost!! Once you have achieved a gentle boil, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally. My husband has been well trained over the years and stirs the wooden spoon a few times every time he walks by 🙂
This mixture should simmer for roughly 4 hours or until it has reduced by half. You can then add the sugar and simmer at low for another 30 minutes.
I can the catsup in 500ml and 250ml mason jars and keep some for myself, some for my sister, some for my mother-in-law and for whoever else drops by 🙂
My tradition since living in our house in Mississauga, Ontario, has been to prepare this catsup before lunchtime on a Sunday in early September, with the help of my older sister Anne-Marie. The house then smells heavenly all afternoon while the boys watch football!
Parsley Pesto
This fall I had an abundance of parsley growing in my garden. I usually always make a basil pesto each year which my boys adore on their pasta but this year, I decided to try my hand at whipping up some a parsley version as well.
I love the resulting beautiful vibrant green colour!!
Ingredients
- A large bunch of fresh parsley (enough to fill 2 cups once packed)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup of grated parmesan
- 4 tbsp of pine nuts
- roughly 1/2 cup of olive oil or as needed
Wash the parsley and remove the stems then roughly chop it. Cut the cloves in half and mesure the other ingredients.
Place the first 4 ingredients in a blender and then pour about half the oil, making space on the side of the blender so that it reaches the bottom. Blend at medium for about 20 seconds. Add a bit of olive oil and blend again. Repeat this process until you have the desired consistence. I like it to be a thick sauce (jam like consistence) but that is really personal. It becomes a glorious green spoonful of goodness!
To keep, I usually place a wax paper on a cookie sheet and drop tablespoon full about 2 cm apart. I then place it in the freezer.
Once it is frozen, I peel them off and put them in a ziploc and place it in the freezer. This way it is easy to get a portion from the freezer as needed!!
Canada Day Buttermilk Fried Chicken
This 2015 Canada Day we decided to prepare some buttermilk fried chicken with our good friends Heidi and Henri. I got some back legs with bone-in and skin-on and some chicken breasts with bone-in but skinless. I am told by Heidi and Chuck that if you are going to fry chicken, why worry about a bit of skin 🙂
I cut the back legs in 2 to separate the legs from the drumsticks with a kitchen shear (must-have in my kitchen).
I prepared a mixture to coat the chicken.
Since we do not have buttermilk on hand, I poured about half an inch of vinegar in a 2-cups measuring cup. I then filled it to the 2 cup line and let it sit.
In a large bowl, I whipped 2 eggs and added 1 tbsp paprika, some salt, 1tbsp celery salt, 1 tbsp of chilli powder and 1 tsp of Tabasco sauce. You can season it to your taste.
Then I mixed 2 tsp of baking powder and 1 1/2 of baking powder and added to the egg mixture. Then I poured in the buttermilk and mixed everything together.
Then I poured about 1 1/2 cup of flour in a separate dish wide enough to roll the chicken in.
Now roll one piece of chicken in the flour and then submerge it in the buttermilk mixture then back in the flour. Make sure it is covered in flour and set aside in a platter.
Repeat the process for each pieces. Once the are all covered, you are ready to fry.
While I was preparing the chicken mixture, Chuck was warming up about 1 inch of oil in a cast iron pan on the side burner of the BBQ.
Gotta use the BBQ on Canada Day at the cottage in Muskoka!
Once the oil is hot, put 3 pieces at a time making sure they do not touch so they cook thoroughly.
Leave the meat side down in the oil for a good 8-10 minutes. Then flip them and finish cooking for about 7 minutes. Lay them on paper towel to soak off the excess oil.
Chuck cooked some baked potatoes and green beans in foil while the chicken was frying so the whole meal was done on the BBQ with very little dishes to wash for Heidi!
We served on fancy paper plates for even less work and enjoyed our evening by the lake.
Hope you enjoy it too!!
Yummy salmon filet on The BBQ….or not, with asparagus and light creamed spinach.
Tonight’s special at the Rock on Sparrow Lake, Muskoka was salmon. I prepared dinner in under 20 minutes while hubby was reading his newspaper on the couch in the Muskoka room….Life At The Cottage!
No carbs tonight but a full filing meal. The secret to the light creamed spinach is light herb and garlic cream cheese 🙂
I marinated the salmon about 2 hours before cooking but 1 hour would have been sufficient.
Here is the 1st step:
Mix together:
- 2tbsp of olive oil
- 1tbsp of lemon juice,
- 1 1/2 tbsp of Dijon mustard,
- 1 1/2 tbsp of soya sauce (optional),
- 2 tsp of dried dill,
- 1 garlic clove,
- 1/2 tsp of black pepper.
Place the salmon fillet meat side up in a container or aluminum foil and spread the marinade on the salmon. Put in the refrigerator for 1-2 hour.
About 20 minutes before dinner, start the BBQ or the oven at 425F
.
While you wait for the BBQ to heat up, break off the end of a bunch of asparagus and place in aluminum foil.
Drizzle with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle salt and pepper. Close up the aluminum to make a bundle ready for the BBQ. If you are cooking the salmon in the oven, place the asparagus in a cookie sheet and drizzle the same way. They will go in the oven for 10 minutes.
Once the bundle of asparagus is ready, the BBQ should be hot. Place the salmon filet on the grill. 
Meanwhile, prepare the creamed spinach.
Put about half the container of light Philadelphia herb and garlic cream cheese with about 2 tbsp of lemon juice in a saucepan.
Heat at medium on the stove until cheese is melted and add a whole package of spinach. Heat for about 2 minutes, turn the burner off and leave the cover on to finish cooking.
Now back to the BBQ. Add the asparagus bundle to the grill and close the cover. Leave everything in there for about 8 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon. Time for an apero and a book 🙂
8-10 minutes later, check the doneness of the salmon using a fork to see if it will flake up.
Once ready, dish out the spinach first.
Place the salmon in the plate, leaning it on the spinach with the asparagus besides. Add a wedge of lemon and a tbsp of caper sprinkled on the salmon. Remember that how it looks is almost as important as how it taste!
Pour wine and go down to the lake to watch the sunset. Why would we travel anywhere in the summer!
Baked cod with lemon and capers
This is an easy and light dinner, my husband I shared for dinner at the cottage tonight. Potatoes and cod are cooked together and we simply add some tomatoes and cucumbers with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to complete the meal.
Ingredients
- I used 5 Yukon gold mini potatoes cut in half but you can use larger ones and cut them into wedges.
- 2 tbsp of fresh parsley from our herb pot outside 🙂
- 1-2 tbsp of capers (i love those so I add more)
- Some olive oil (about 2 tbsp)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- Zest and juice of one lemon
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 large filet of cod skinless (or buy it in pieces)
Preheat the oven at 425F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray.
Cut potatoes in half and place them in a saucepan with 2 inches of water. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and put them back in the saucepan to coat them (my husband appreciate it when I re-use, less dishes :).
Add 1 tbsp of chopped parsley, the capers, 1-2 tsp oil, paprika and half the salt. Toss gently to coat them.
Meanwhile, mix the lemon zest, garlic, 1tbsp parsley, 1 tsp oil, remaining salt and mix together. My good friend Iona gave me this awesome zester! It is a must, love it.
Rub the cod with the mixture and place in the baking dish with the potatoes around it. Sprinkle cod and potatoes with the lemon juice.
Bake until the fish is opaque in the centre and flakes well. This should take about 15-18 minutes depending on your oven.
Serve and enjoy with a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio as we did 🙂
Variation: I sometimes sprinkle the fish with lemon and roll in Panko mixed with Parmesan cheese. It is a great variation!
Home made spaghetti sauce
Spaghetti sauce is one of the first thing my mom taught us how to make when I was a teenager. I have added some must-have ingredients to her recipe, mainly from cooking with friend’s over the years, but the base is still the same.
From time to time, when my boys were younger, I have added ingredients such as grated carrots and zucchini to “hide”more vegetables in the mix, but now I just dice them up and add them in plain sight 🙂
Ingredients
I make my own tomato sauce from Italian tomatoes that i buy at the farmer market every fall. I can it in 1l mason jar but you can substitute with store bought. Just check how much salt has been added!
- 2l tomato sauce
- 2 cans of tomato paste (5.5ml)
- 1 can of diced tomato or 3 large tomatoes peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 bottle of chili sauce
- 2 pounds of ground beef
- 1 large sweet Vidalia onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 large green pepper chopped
- 3 celery branches chopped
- 1 zucchini chopped
- dozen mushrooms quartered
- Half a bag of spinach chopped
- 2 cups of sliced mushrooms
- 2 tsp each garlic salt, celery salt, onion powder
- 1tbsp each of fresh basil, oregano, parsley and thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
- 1 tsp of crushed chili pepper or to taste
- half a jar of green or black olive cut in half (optional)
- 1 tbsp of crushed chili pepper (optional)
The first step is to decide whether you will make meatballs or not. I usually take half the meat and form it into meatballs that I bake in a cookie sheet at 375C for about 15minutes. I drain the fat from it before adding them to the sauce. The other option is to brown them in the pot before cooking anything else but this requires more supervision 🙂
Sprinkle about a 2 tsp olive oil in a thick Dutch oven (I use my large Creuset pot for this recipe). Caramelize the onion a few minutes or until golden. Add the garlic and all the other vegetables. Sautéed until soft and remove from the pot.
Add the ground meat (not the meatballs) to the pot and cook until browned. Return the vegetables and add the tomato sauce, the paste, the chili sauce and the tomatoes. Stir until well mixed. Add the spices and bring to boil. Reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for 40 minutes. Add the meatballs, the herbs and the optional ingredients if using and cook for another 20 minutes. Adjust the seasoning to taste and voila!!! This recipe will make a large batch, enough for several family supper or a couple of meals and some sauce to make a lasagna 🙂 Serve with spaghettini noodles. parmesan and crusty bread…..yummy!!!
La Normandie et dernière journée
A little of snow this morning and we actually have to scrape the car!! We head off from Saint-Malo after a visit to the Surf School on the awesome beach of Saint-Malo. A quick meeting to confirm this summer’s activities for the group. LANDRY sailing on the beautiful beach of Saint-Malo.
Then we are off to Normandie to check out the inn by way of Mont-St-Michel. On our way, we encounter a bit more snow and then a thick fog envelops the car. As we arrive to Mont St-Michel, we are still hopeful as we wait for the shuttle to take us at the foot of the Mont. This place has changed significantly since my last visit in 2007. No longer can we park close to the Mont and walk on the Passerelle. To protect the erosion, we now park quite a distance away and have to shuttle over through hotels and restaurants. The whole thing has taken a commercial air that I am not sure I enjoy. At the foot of the Landmark, we have no luck. We can barely see the first row of houses. We take a picture anyways and hop back on the shuttle to go back to the car.
We hurry over and drive the hour and a bit to make our appointment in Lion-sur-mer just past Courseulle. A great spot for our youth group this summer and very pretty beach.
The whole town seems to be closed though and we can not find anywhere to eat. We drive over to Juno Centre in Courseulle and confirm our visit, walk on the beach and take pictures of the bunkers. What a great private museum and a worthwhile reminder of all the Canadian soldiers that have given their lives for us and the history of D-Day.
We find the only restaurant open and have a nice lunch of soup, quiche and some salads. We now get settled for the longer drive back to Paris for our last night with our cousins. Again we encounter toilet without seats and even one where the women toilets is actually just a hole in the floor. We just can’t do it!!
As we drove all day today we seem to always be going in the direction of Rennes, but finally now, we part ways as we approach Paris. We text our cousin who informs us that his lovely partner has prepared us a Tartiflette (a potato dish with cream, bacon and roblechon cheese melted on top, excellent!!). Now we can’t wait. We get into Paris and find the parking lot quite easily and after a short walk over, we are greeted by a happy Victoria and her beautiful smile 🙂
They were nice enough to find us some great pâte de foie gras to take back home for my husband!!!
A lovely meal accompanied by great wine and great conversation and we are off to bed to get ready for our return flight home tomorrow.
The next day, we find our way to the airport and return the car without any problems and embark on our long journey home. A very satisfying and successful scouting trip for the youth trip this summer and at the same time, a nice visit with our cousins and fun time with my sister. All and all a wonderful trip!
En route pour Saint-Malo
Today we started the day a bit late and so we lost our cab. Apparently, here they just can’t wait 10 minutes for their customers!!
Off to pick up our rental car, visit the inns for this summer’s trip, which was much nicer than expected!! Very impressed by the rooms and the lounge. Great!!
We then leave for Carantec to get a view to the Chateau du Taureau and the beautiful Bay of Morlaix. It is low tide and we are shocked with how far it retreats!! The Chateau is very striking as expected.
We then drive back to Morlaix to cross the Morlaix river and go on the east side on our way to the Cairn Barnenez. Surprise surprise we arrive at 12:05 and the visit ends at 12:30. Guess what?? They won’t let us in because it takes 30 minutes to visit!! Those darn bureaucrats!! We drive around on a dirt road to take a picture still! This is a mausoleum dating back to 5000 years BC!! Blows your mind! Was discovered by accident about 60 years ago.
Now off we go to Saint-Malo passing by Dinan to show Lorraine. We stop by their very unhelpful tourism office and drive down to the River Rance to take a few shots of the beautiful bridge.
It is now 3:30 and all the restaurants are closed for their break. Our lunch has to wait. Off for Saint-Malo. We find our nice hotel and a very helpful receptionist who shows us the rooms, lounge and dining area for this summer. Excellent! She then phones my appointment to reschedule a few and after doing some business we head off for Intra-Muro (la vieille ville). We stop at the tourism office and get fabulous help for my summer activities. Wouldn’t you know, we are here for the “Chandeleur”. The Festival de crèpes!! Yay!! We set out to walk the top of the wall.
Spectacular view!
Towards the end of our walk we come across a creperie on the wall overlooking the “Manche”!! Beautiful view and extensive crèpes and “galette de sarazin” menu!!
We both order excellent choices as well as a flamed rhum banana chocolate crèpe for dessert. yum!!
A great day again and nice discovery.
We are off to Normandie and then back to Paris tomorrow.
En route vers la Bretagne
We leave our cousins this morning for the Gare the Montparnasse by Uber. That service is so cool!! We take the opportunity to take in the panoramic view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower atop the tower.
A yummy lunch at a brasserie across the train station and once again a very friendly waiter!! What is going on in Paris!!
We climb aboard for a 4 hour train ride and then we have a bit of a scare as we were in the wrong part of a train that was splitting up in Rennes. Once again surprised to get help from a very friendly train controller!! No problem. Walk over to the right coach in Rennes.
Arrive in Morlaix and Oh Joy, get in a cab with the world men handball championship on The radio. France is winning and the cab driver is happy to tell me about the fantastic goal keeper. Am I dreaming? We quickly check in our very beautiful hotel, with lots of history and charm in the heart of Morlaix.
And get on our way to find a bar where the game is on. We make a wrong turn and stumble across the viaduc at night. What a sight!!
I am now running to get there before the end. Still 10 minutes left and the bar is packed with lots of fan. SOO COOL! And bonus France wins!!
Then off to dinner in a charming little restaurant. Yummy mussels to start for me. Not Lorraine of course!! Cool bowl !!
Back at the hotel for a planning session. Lots of places to check out for the camp and not a lot of time. I think we are all set! Big day ahead tomorrow!!!
Belles découvertes en France
I arrive in Paris with my sister Lorraine to a bright sunny day despite our cousin’s warning that the weather is horrible in Paris. We decipher the subway system and successful make it to the apartment of our amazing little cousin and his partner Dan and Virginie and their daughter Victoria.
Drop our luggage, a great coffee and off we go to Montmartre, Sacré-Coeur and d’Orsay.
We get to Abbesse subway and we laugh at the bunch of people waiting for the elevator and off we go up the stairs. One flight of stairs going round and round, 2 rounds of stairs going round and round, and more and more and more. What did we get ourselves to!!!! We finally emerge from the depth of the earth and start waking towards Montmartre. We find a cafe facing Sacre-Coeur. How majestic. Beautiful!!! And guess what, we got a friendly French waiter!! He asks if I want a large beer. I had no idea what I got into!!! Large is large!!
After a great onion soup and fries, we decide to forgo the funicular and walk up the stairs. Great view and definitely worth it!! We make our way back, now in the rain and cold on our way to D’Orsay. Not as much fun as waking in the sun :(.
We are all excited when they wave us in for free. Must be that we are so special!! We get to the 5th floor to view the beautiful impressionist collection. Some Monet I had never seen, and I re-discover Sisley. I love his paintbrush. Within half an hour we hear on the intercom, the museum closes in 15 minutes. Oh that is why it was free 😦 was worth it anyways.
Back to Daniel for an awesome cheese fondue, salami and wonderful champaign, red wine, and polish vodka. Lorraine beat her record of staying awake more than 34 hours ! An awesome first day!!
This is where u realize that it is not about what you visit or see, nothing is better than spending time with family and friends that you love. A wonderful day in Paris.
Martine's food and places 