Charcuterie Black Box

Today we had our black box for charcuterie class.  My items were rack of lamb, a chicken leg and chicken livers.  I choose to debone the chicken leg and stuff it with a tomato almond mixture.  The livers I cooked with mushrooms, shallots and garlic.  The lamb was kept simple with just S & P. 

I made a sauce with the chicken bone and two of the lamb bones.  I added this sauce to the chicken liver pan and simmered it a bit.  My potatoes are seasoned with sage brown butter and cream.

All in all I was pretty happy with my plate.  Except for my chicken leg.  I should have put two pieces on the plate and placed it better.  But oh well!  My lamb was cooked perfectly and I loved my sauce! 

Homemade Hotdogs

So in charcuterie class we had the chance to make any items we wanted.  I choose to make hotdogs!  It has been years since I have eaten one.  I loved that I knew exactly what was going into these.  Beef, pork and spices!  Thats it.  Nothing gross or weird.  These were pretty tasty.  It was a group thing someone made fennel ketcup, my roommate made the buns.  Someone even melted all the leftover cheese in the fridge and made this ooey gooey cheesey sauce!

This will be something I make again!

Charcuterie class

In our charcuterie class we do platters for buffets.  Below is a look at a fruit and cheese platter.

A charcuterie platter showcasing a lot of our recent work.  Homemade chutneys, gravlax, foie gras parfait, sausages and pates.

Chicken liver crostinis with a fig chutney.

A Pâté en Croûte with a boiled egg inlay.

A terrine studded with pistachios.

It was a great class and we learned a lot.  Probably the best class of the year.

Chicken Galantine

Supper was left over galantines from class.  No one wanted to take theirs home so I confiscated all of them and threw them in the freezer!  hehehe  Cheap protein! 

To make a galantine you remove the skin of your chicken all in one piece then grind your leg meat with herbs and a binder like eggs and roll this in the skin. You can add an inlay to the middle like we did with a piece of seared chicken breast.  This log is then rolled in saran wrap and aluminum foil and poached.  You can either serve this cold or sear the outside and serve it warm.  I choose to slice the galantine and sear the flat sides as someone had already seared the outside. 

This was a quick tasty meal after a long day!

Tomato Soup with Ricotta

My roommate made tomato soup the other day and I spyed it while I was looking for something to make for lunch.  I made some sage fried in brown butter.  I took the leaves out and added a spoonful of ricotta to the butter and quickly heated it up.  Very quickly as it started to melt!  lol  I added this to the soup and garnished with the crispy sage leaves.  I am really in love with these sage leaves and brown butter!  What an incredible taste.

Easter Dinner

I did not go home for Easter Dinner this year so we decided to have a friend over for dinner and go to a movie.  It was a great day.  Not as great as seeing my family but still pretty good! 

Our meal started off with roasted eggplant and red pepper dip with homemade baby pitas!  Yum!  I had to take a bite to show you how fluffy these were.

Our second course was mini chicken pot pies with a cute little chick on top!  And dressed greens on the side.

Dessert was a dish called "Eaton Mess".  It is a dish of crumble macaron cookies (I seemed to have a huge surplus of these)  mixed with whipped cream and berries.  Simple but oh so delicious!  Not too mention colorful!  lol

I hope your Easter Dinner was just as yummy! 

Pear Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter

Pear Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter

1 large Bosc pear, small diced

5 tablespoon of butter

1 small clove of garlic, chopped fine

1 small onion, chopped fine

1 bunch of fresh sage

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice

1 ½ cups of arugula, coarsely chopped

½ cup ricotta cheese

¼ cup parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

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1 recipe of pasta dough

1 egg, lightly beaten

Over medium high heat add 1 tablespoon of butter to a large sauté pan. Add onions, garlic and pear and stir to coat with butter. Sauté until onions are translucent. Finely chop 2 sage leaves and add to pan with arugula, season with salt, pepper and cayenne.

Remove from heat and cool. Once cool add in ricotta, parmesan, lemon juice and lemon zest. Set filling aside as you roll out the pasta dough.

Roll pasta dough out to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 24 3” circles. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of filling in the centre of 12 of the circles. Moisten edges with egg and place a second circle of pasta on top and seal edges, making sure to form a tight mound of filling in the centre.

Add the pasta to pot of boiling well salted water. Cook about 2 to 3 minutes or until the ravioli floats and is pale in color. Remove the ravioli from the water and drain well.

In a large sauté pan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Add the sage to the butter and continue to cook until the butter starts to brown and smells nutty. Remove from heat.

Place three of the ravioli in the center of each plate. Divide the crisp sage leaves evenly among the plates and spoon the brown butter over the ravioli and serve.

Pasta Dough

1 cup flour

1 large egg

2 tablespoon virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of water

1/2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl mix flour and salt, make a well in the centre of the flour and add in egg , oil and water. Stir to make a soft dough, Turn dough out on to a work surface and knead until smooth and not sticky, adding more flour is necessary. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes before rolling.