Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons lard or bacon grease
• ½ onion, finely choppedg
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon allspice berries
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon mexican oregano
• 1 teaspoon epazote
• 3-4 large dried ancho chilies
• 8-10 dried pequin peppers
• ½ cup pitted prunes
• ¾ cup dried black currants
• 1/4 cup brazil nuts (6-8)
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts (40-60)
• 2 tablespoons almonds (~10)
• 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
• 1 bar Ibarra mexican chocolate (3.1 ounces)
• ¼ cup bread crumbs, unflavoured
• ¼ cup corn meal or grits
• 2 litres chicken or pork broth

Directions

Remove the stems, seeds and pith from the ancho chiles. Cover them and the pequin peppers in hot water and let steep for 15-20 minutes.

Sauté the onion and garlic in the lard/grease in a heavy skillet. Slowly add the spices, fruit and nuts, stirring and sautéing for 10 minutes, or until the nuts are well toasted. Puree in a food processor. Add the bread crumbs and corn meal, and about 500mL broth, and blend thoroughly in a blender or large-capacity food processor.

Place chocolate disk in the center of a sauce pan. Cover with the blended fruit/nut/vegetable paste. Slowly incorporate the rest of the broth. Heat until chocolate is melted and sauce is rich but not too thick. Consistency should be that of good gravy. Pour over enchiladas (chicken or pork), baked chicken, etc. Freezes well.

I am proud of this recipe – everything in it is local, organic, and truly “cooking with the seasons.” It is also truly a Canadian recipe, as the flavours are very reminiscent of the famous French Canadian Pea Soup.Any mid-west or “bread basket” town in North America, as well as parts of the UK and France should be able to find the main ingredients in season during the fall harvest.

Pictures to be posted after I repair my camera, which fell off the counter while making this dish :(

Ingredients

• 2 delicata squash, each about 500g
• 8 small potatoes – new, gold or red potatoes preferred, each no bigger than 100g, peeled and cut into eighths
• 2 local apples – peeled, cored, and diced
• 3 leeks, trimmed and chopped into 1cm wide discs
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 medium chunk ginger, peeled and shredded, fibrous material removed
• 1.5 litres chicken or vegetable stock
• 2-4 tbsp olive oil, cooking grade
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 2-4 tbsp, maple syrup
• sea salt to taste
• Cilantro for garnish
• Two or three strips bacon.

Directions

Halve squash and remove seeds. Place in baking dish; cover flesh in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Roast in an oven at 350°F for 45 minutes, until flesh is soft. Remove the squash and scrape the flesh from the skin. Reserve.

Meanwhile, boil potatoes until cooked.

At the same time, In a large heavy skillet, sautee the leeks and 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-low heat until aromas are released. As the leeks caramelize, add the garlic and ginger. When the garlic and ginger have combined into the leeks, add the apples and 1 Tbsp of the maple syrup. Sautee until well blended.

Drain the potatoes. Add the sauteed vegetables and the squash flesh to the potatoes, then season with cardamom, the remainder of the maple syrup, white pepper and salt. Bring to a low boil, then turn off the heat. Use an immersion blender to blend most of the ingredients, leaving some chunks of potato.

Fry a fresh strip or three of bacon and crumble. Garnish with cilantro and the crumbled bacon bits. Serve immediately.

Will freeze and keep in the refrigerator for days.

OK, it’s not exactly spring anymore, but organic Ontario vegetables are everywhere, and my fridge is full of them. Here’s my quick and dirty pasta primavera. The lemon rind/zest (not grated!) gives this dish some extra zip.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh broccoli florets, stems removed, separated into bite sized portions
• 1 handful (15-25) fresh green beans, washed and ends removed
• ½ sweet red pepper, cut into 12 sections about 3cm square each
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. flour
  
• 1 large or 2 medium fresh cloves garlic
• 2 shallots (not green onions…)
• 1 tsp dried wild oregano
• 1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
  
• 1 ½ cups chicken broth (if you must use canned, go reduced sodium please)
• ½ cup crème fraîche
• ½ cup finely grated hard Italian cheese (Romano, Gran Padano, Parmesan, etc.)
• ½ of the skin of one lemon
• Linguini, water to cook
  

Directions

Start water boiling for pasta, using half of the lemon skin. When ready, cook linguini.

Steam broccoli, green beans, sweet red pepper, and the other half of the lemon skin until vegetables are soft and broccoli is a deep green. Meanwhile, sautee the shallots and garlic in the olive oil. When done, add the vegetables (removing the lemon peel) and sautée for 5 minutes. Add the flour to thicken and form a sort-of roux. Add chicken broth and crème fraîche; reduce liquid volume by ½.

When pasta is done cooking, drain and remove lemon. Add vegetable mixture to pasta. Add grated cheese and mix rapidly until mixture thickens slightly. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 2 acorn squash
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• ½ c. pine nuts (or slivered almonds)
  
• 2 Tbsp. ground unsweetened cocoa
• 2 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 3 Tbsp. fresh grated ginger
  
• ¼ c. dried cherries (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• 1/2 c. grated cheese (I used a firm raw goat’s milk cheese)
• Balsamic vinegar

Directions

Halve acorn squash and remove seeds. Cut a small bit off the bottom so they sit up correctly. Place opening up in a microwave and cover with parchment paper or cling film. Heat on high for 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, heat pine nuts until aroma is released. Add ground beef and brown; do not drain. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add cinnamon, cocoa and cayenne pepper. Stir until beef is well coated. Add ginger, and optionally dried cherries. Stir until aroma is released. Salt and pepper to taste.

Fill squash with beef mixture and return to microwave for 5-6 minutes on high. Cover with grated cheese and melt in microwave for 30-45 seconds.

Serve, drizzling balsamic vinegar over each squash half. Goes well with quinoa and sweet potatoes.

If guests prefer a more “rich” meal, add brown sugar or butter to the toppings.

Modified from http://cookpad.com/mykitchen/recipe/544198/ .

Ingredients

• 4 baby eggplant (aubergines)
• 150g ground pork
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 thumb ginger, finely minced (about double the volume of your garlic)
• 1/2 tsp. doubanjiang, aka 辣豆瓣酱
• 1/2 tsp. this stuff (can anyone help with a real English name other than “maaraajyan”?
• 1 tsp. Chinese sweet black miso, aka 甜麺醤
• 1/2 tsp. chicken bone soup boullion dissolved in 150mL water (can substitute chicken boullion or 150mL real chicken bone stock)
• 1 Tbsp. Shaoxing rice wine (or other Chinese cooking rice wine)
• 2 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp. hot sesame oil (or more to taste)
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 Tbsp. potato starch (or wheat or corn starch, if you absolutely must), dissolved in 2 Tbsp. water
• 1/2 green onion, chopped or diced finely
• Some Szechuan peppercorns

Cut the eggplants in half, scoring on the skin at a 45 degree angle to the length of the eggplant. Soak the eggplant in salted water for 5 minutes, then drain. Stir-fry eggplant in hot wok and canola oil. Remove eggplant from pan. Drain oil. Brown ground pork in wok. Add all seasonings, save potato starch/water mixture, green onion and Szechuan peppercorns. Cook for 45-60 seconds to reduce liquid by half. Remove from heat, adding starch/water slurry to thicken sauge. Serve over medium-grain sticky white rice; season at table with freshly ground Szechuan peppercorns and green onion.

This recipe also makes excellent mapo tofu by substituting firm tofu for the eggplant.

Pictures coming soon.