Gorgonzola, Fontina and Truffle Macaroni & Cheese

Whilst wandering through St. Lawrence market, Sarah K and I came across one of our favourite cheese shops and after tasting some of the most beautiful Italian cheeses that either of us had found outside of Italy, it was decided that we would make a "grown-up" version of mac & cheese.

Gourmet comfort food has been a food trend that has been on the rise for quite a while now. I am all for it! I love the combination of soul satisfying familiar foods, heightened to food-for-the-gods by using the world's most beautiful ingredients.

Gorgonzola, Fontina and Truffle Macaroni & Cheese

1 lb fresh pasta (your choice, we used Gemelli)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 bunch fresh thyme, chopped roughly

2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 T Dijon mustard

1 t fresh nutmeg

3 T truffle paste (we used black truffle paste)

350 g Fontina Val d'Aosta cheese, shredded

300 g gorgonzola cheese

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs, toasted in olive oil

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter in saucepan over medium high head. Add flour and stir until combined. Continue to stir over heat until roux is slightly browned.

Whisk in wine to combine. Whisk in thyme, milk and cream and continue whisking until mixture is very smooth. Cook over medium heat until mixture almost comes to a boil. Sauce should thicken as it cooks.

Remove from heat and whisk in nutmeg, Dijon, truffle paste and fontina cheese. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Meanwhile, cook pasta for 2 minutes in salted boiling water. It should still have a bite to it. Drain well.

Combine pasta with sauce.

Crumble gorgonzola cheese into the mixture and stir to combine.

Pour mixture into well buttered baking dish and top with bread crumbs. Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until top is browned and pasta is bubbly.

Serve with a well-chilled Chablis!

Rhubarb Souffle

As promised, here is the recipe for Rhubarb Souffle, from my Toronto weekend with Sarah K. I had bright pink spring rhubarb growing in my garden so I brought some with me to the city. We had a brainstorm session to determine what wonderful concoctions we could make for desert. I give Sarah full credit for the souffle idea. It turned out beautifully!

Rhubarb Souffle

~ serves 4 ~

3 egg whites

3 yolks

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar divided

2/3 cup rhubarb compote (recipe follows)

3 T butter, melted

3 T heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375.

Butter ramekins and sprinkle sides and bottom with sugar. Place 1 T of rhubarb compote in bottom of each ramekin.

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks, adding 3 T of sugar towards end

Combine yolks, vanilla, flour, 1/4 cup sugar, remaining rhubarb, butter and cream.

Fold egg yolk mixture carefully into egg white mixture.

Pour evenly into ramekins.

Bake in a water bath for 15 minutes.

Rhubarb Compote:

8 cups rhubarb

zest and juice of one orange

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients over medium heat in large saucepan.

Stir until rhubarb is very soft.
Puree in blender or food processor until smooth.

St. Lawrence Market - Toronto

On a recent weekend visit with my friend Sarah we let loose in one of my favourite places, the St. Lawrence Market. We had no plans, just visions of beautiful fresh spring produce. As Sarah was one of my partner's in crime when I lived in Italy for the summer semester in 2006, I had a feeling the meal that night would be have an Italian slant. We wandered around the market for a couple of hours, tasting cheese, adoring fresh meat, seafood and produce. We found marrow bones and decided to roast them as a fatty start to our dinner. We made a grown-up mac & cheese for our main and a rhubarb souffle for desert. I will include the recipes for all of these in later posts.

Although I realize St. Lawrence market is likely not as popular of an attraction for the average Toronto visitor as say, the Sky Dome (I know, to me it will always be the Sky Dome!), the CN Tower, the Distillery District or the Theatre, however, when I return to the city there is no place I would rather wander on a Saturday morning. St. Lawrence is over 120 years old, the oldest market in Canada. If you can't find it at the market, it is likely you won't be able to find it anywhere.

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder with Rosemary and Garlic

This recipe is so easy but it always turns out beautifully, with such complexity of flavours, due to the fact that it slowly simmers away for hours while all of the flavours meld. I had a Berkshire pork shoulder from Cumbrae Farms, which is perfect for this recipe as Berkshire pork has a much higher fat content than supermarket pork. If you can find it, it is always worth the extra dough!

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder with Rosemary and Garlic

4 lb Pork Shoulder
2 heads garlic
large bunch rosemary
kosher salt
1.5 cups white whine, separated
freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, cut into 1/4 inch rings
3/4 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 lbs baby or new potatoes
2 T flour
olive oil

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Pour about 1 T olive oil into bottom of dutch oven. Break up heads of garlic and place on bottom of dutch oven, with 1/2 of rosemary. Season pork shoulder well with salt and pepper. Place pork in dutch oven and cover with remaining garlic and rosemary. Pour 3/4 cup of wine over pork.


Cover pork with aluminum foil and then place lid of dutch oven over the foil. Roast for 5 hours. Remove pork from oven. Place vegetables and potatoes in dutch oven with pork. Season vegetables. Replace foil and lid. Roast for 1 1/2 hours longer, stirring vegetables a couple of times during this time.

When pork is done, remove pork to serving plate, tent with foil and set aside to rest. Remove vegetables and potatoes from oven and place on a baking dish. Turn on broiler of oven and broil vegetables for 5-10 minutes to give them a golden/brown colour.

Meanwhile, prepare sauce for roast: separate pan liquids from fat using a gravy separator. Pour pan drippings back into dutch oven. Combine with flour until smooth. Heat over medium high heat until very thick. Add remaining wine, bring to boil and boil sauce until clear. Season with salt and pepper.

White Pizza with Arugula

I am a sucker for homemade pizza. It is so simple, and the flavours are so worth it. It is so much better than take-away or those cardboard frozen pre-made pizzas. If you don't want to go to the trouble of making your own crust, many grocery stores sell pizza dough in the refrigerator section. Alternatively, you might be able to order some dough from your local pizzeria. Jamie Oliver's recipe is fairly fail safe, especially if you kneed it for the recommend amount (10 minutes or more). This is my version of a white pizza. I have played around with the cheeses over the years, chevre, fontina, pecorino and fior di latte all work well.

White Pizza

~ Serves 6 ~

one recipe Jamie Oliver's pizza dough

1 cup basil pesto

3 cloves garlic, sliced thin

425 g ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded asiago cheese

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

4 cups baby arugula

1 oz parmesano-regiano cheese

good quality extra virgin olive oil

well aged balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Pre-heat a pizza stone at 500 degrees, for at least two hours prior to making the pizza.

Prepare dough according to recipe provided in link. Section dough into six equal balls. Roll out balls into roundish pizza form. Place 2 T of pesto on each pizza. Divide the ricotta among the pizzas, by the heaped spoonful. Divide the remaining cheese and tomatoes among the pizzas.

Bake pizzas for 7-8 minutes or until crust is bubbled and golden brown.

Toss arugula with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. Divide among pizzas.

Serve hot!

Bangers and Mash with Guinness Onion Gravy

I want nothing more than comfort food on a Monday. Bangers and Mash is traditional English comfort food at it's best! I had purchased four gorgeous goat and pork sausages during my goat dairy discovery on Friday of last week and I was thinking about a yummy prep for them when, on Sunday, I was brought 4 equally beautiful chicken sausages from Cumbrae's Toronto butcher shop, my souvenir from a family member's weekend jaunt to the city! I thought, why not combine the two and make bangers and mash? Bliss on a weeknight!

Bangers and Mash with Guinness Onion Gravy
~serves 4~

1 large onion or 2 regular sized onions, chopped into small rings
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
handful of thyme
1 Large can Guinness
1 cup beef/lamb stock
8 sausages
1/3 cup low fat sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Mash:
6-8 red skin potatoes, chopped roughly
2 T butter
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup whole milk
salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter and olive oil over medium low heat in a large, heavy bottomed frying pan. Add onions, season well with salt and pepper. Saute over low heat for 40 minutes or until onions have slowly caramelized and are golden brown. Add thyme and mix well. Poke small holes in the sausage and add to pan. Add beer and stock, stir to cover sausages. Cover pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, partially cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until sausages have cooked through and gravy has reduced to a thickened sauce.

Cover potatoes with cold water. Add about 2 T salt to water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until potatoes are soft (about 20 minutes). Drain potatoes. Heat milk, butter and bay leaf over medium high heat until almost at a boil. Remove bay leaf and pour over dry potatoes. Mash to preferred consistency. Season to preference with salt and pepper.

Enjoy with your favourite ice cold pint!

Smoked Salmon and Chevre Quiche

I originally made this recipe with "Indian Candy" which is a somewhat derogative term for maple smoked salmon. However, this morning I found myself without. I did, however, have some sustainable smoked wild caught keta salmon on hand. If you want some veggies added, sauted spinach with nutmeg is a great addition.

I have used the pastry recipe that my mother used for years, however a butter based pastry recipe would be equally as good.

Indian Candy and Chevre Quiche:

Pastry:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 t salt
1/2 cup shortnening
1/2 cup lard
1 egg
1 T white vinegar
2 T cold water

Sift flour and salt. Cut fats into flour mixture with pastry cutter. In a separate bowl, combine remaining liquids. Pour liquids over flour mixture and combine with fork until mixture just comes together. Pour out onto floured surface. Divide into two disks. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Makes two pie crusts or one double pie crust.

Filling:
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
2 T chopped chives
3 cups fresh baby spinach, wilted
1 shallot
1 T olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 t fresh nutmeg
250 grams smoked salmon
1 cup chevre
salt and pepper

Combine first three ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on high until well mixed. Saute shallots, garlic, salt and pepper in olive oil until soft. Roll out pie crust and fit to spring-form pan and chill for 20 min. Crumble the cheese, and salmon onto the chilled base of a pie crust.

Pour egg mixture over the crust. Cook in 400 degree oven for approximately 35- 45 minutes, or until centre is puffed and set.