A copious and quiet evening into the New Year

Our New Year's Eve was a quiet and pleasant one. I'm not sure if it was what we wanted but it was certainly what we needed. When we returned from our "out of town" Holidays on the 28th, we were happy but fried. We decided to ignore our suitcases, ordered some grub, made a fire, watched a movie and played with our new toys and treasures. We pretty much cocooned ourselves in which was also great timing as a snowstorm was about to start. Our bare, snowless area went from greyish green to instant white that night. The denial (for me) was over, kids were ecstatic, winter officially arrived. I have to admit, for now, it's pretty.

My father was expected for a visit but we had to juggle the dates a bit to give the snow blizzard enough time to spew out it's white fury. We decided to wait and go by feel, depending on what the weather was serving. I'm happy to say that 2 days later my father made it for New Year's Eve. He joined us early on the 31st just in time to shovel our driveway (sorry p'pa) and to help me to the store for some last minute purchases. Once done, we cozied ourselves inside, got set up, made a fire, opened a bottle of Caribou and it was chin-chin right away! :)



I took out some Kalamata olives and some St-Albert cheese curds (the girls love both) while my father opened a perfectly ripe Roquefort and sliced a crusty baguette along with some good dry sausage which I think was a Rosette de Lyon (kids are addicted to it). I just added butter to the table and we just kept munching until we realized we had to stop to save room for dinner! That was round 1. Even the cat joined in.



      





















































Round 2 was a hearty dish called: Ragoût de boulettes et de pattes de cochon. I'm not sure why it sounds better in French but the translation in English is: Stew of meatballs and pork hocks. I hope I didn't lose you after this. Ha ha! You should know that the words don't work for me either. :) That said, it's a delicious and hearty Quebecer classic worth trying. Tender morsels of pork (pulled off the bone), happily swim with meatballs made of ground pork and spices in a rich gravy made from the cooking liquid and beef broth for more body. A vegetarian's nightmare. We followed this recipe from Ricardo.









My girls were being hams. Very appropriate.







It was delicious but I'm not convinced it's THE recipe I want to repeat next year. It was lacking a little something (maybe acidity) but for a first timer, I definitely recommend it. We even talked about non traditional additions like Maggi sauce (my German roots talking) and mushrooms. Maybe a few tablespoons of red wine vinegar, or wine... We like to break rules! I'm definitely looking for variations and will keep playing. It's traditionally served with potatoes and we added nice yellow ones but because of it's luscious and savoury gravy, we opted to serve it over egg noodles which believe me, was verrrry satisfying. Napkins a must!



After a couple of days, leftovers are amazing and I have to say that the potatoes were definitely the prized pieces I was looking for yesterday! Pickled beets, especially if homemade (and at room temperature), are also a big winner with this. This dish made me eat half a jar but back to our New Year's Eve feast! Red wine was poured and boy was I happy as a pig in shit. Terrible Pun intended! ;)

As we ate, we realized we had no room for dessert. Which was great because there was none. Ha ha! Well, I planned it simple. Vanilla ice cream (with raspberry swirls in it) and lots of fresh berries. Plump blackberries (a favourite with our 5 year old) and very sweet raspberries (a winner with our 8 year old).



All were happy. My father went for a nap, I went online, tasted a 10 year old tawny port I received from my father earlier (not bad with ice-cream and walnuts) and took it easy.



Marc and the girls played new video games. Low-key is the best way to describe it. As we got close to 11h00 pm, my little one begged me to take her to bed. She's usually a party animal and danced till 3h00 am last year but not this time. She was done. As she settled in with glee, my father woke up from his slumber just in time to take out the bubbly. Geneviève definitely wanted to stay up with us but she doesn't care for bubbly or fizzy drinks. She was happy to cheer with McIntosh apple juice! With the help of the laptop and a live connection to the big countdown in NY, we counted and cheered and that was that! HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Within seconds we settled down. :) Marc got on the phone with family while my father and I settled at the table. After 20 minutes, Geneviève announced that she was done and went off to bed.






Here is Marc with our first selfie of 2016!! We finished the bubbly which turned into fancy fizzy, fuzzy navels. We didn't last long. By 1h30 am Marc was heading upstairs but I had just enough energy to tidy up and chat a few more minutes with my father while making a little chair (a tradition) with the remains of the New Year's bottle. I have a drawer full somewhere... Future post. :)



I hope that this new year is an easier one. I could use it! Wishing everybody a good one. 

Happy New Year! 
smile emoticon

French potato salad (with tuna) when you wonder what's in the kitchen to eat

I wrote this post well over 2 weeks ago. Yet I couldn't get myself to click "publish". It was easier to procrastinate with other, simpler entries. Why? It was a mess. It was too long, too personal, then too short, then too long again. I think I must have written half a dozen versions. I'm blaming it on being new at blogging, being too honest, having too much to say and not being a writer among a few other things. Add to that pics that weren't quite selling it and it felt like too much trouble. It's a tasty salad though and I did waste braincells on it (the writing, not the food). So no more fretting, I'm putting it out there with one of the things I do best when I procrastinate: doodling on photos! :)

So here it is. KACHUNK!

I don't know if it's a family trait or a European thing but my French mother said she functions the same way. We might feel secure with a full larder and great provisions but we seem to thrive in the kitchen when there is little to eat. I'm not talking about chewing on a carrot while assembling a cheese sandwich (as tasty as that would be when hungry). I'm talking about creating a simple, tasty recipe with just a few ingredients to feed a whole family. We've all done it with soup, salad, pasta or stew that can be stretched if needed. 4-5 generations ago, it was a matter of survival and I respect the women who had to put up with that pressure everyday to feed their loved ones. Many cultures developed a great respect for food after long hardships in their countries with limited food supply. Sadly, many struggle with this reality right now. I had a taste for it myself a long time ago as a very young parent. A Christmas basket ended up at my door. It was hard to swallow but I was grateful and I wish to never experience this again.

In my pampered life now it's more of a welcoming challenge. I force myself to focus on the goods and try to make them shine. I'm not always successful with the results and eventually someone has to run off to the store. Many times though, I'm proud to say, the outcome is pretty tasty! 2 weeks ago, I had a few moments like that. We were already due for a grocery but bad weather and sickness all around made us stay inside and rely on what we already had. I did well with the goods but one simple meal really stood out for Marc and I. That day we were beyond fried from dealing with sick kids. The fridge was pretty slim, the girls barely ate and by the time they were settled for the night, we just wanted to crash on the couch. It was too late to go to the store and we didn't want to order. What to do? What to do? I told Marc, that I had been craving potato salad for a while. We had a few potatoes in the pantry and the goods to make good dressing. Hurray! He was all over that idea.

Now, I'm not talking about potato salad with mayo. I have no issues with that kind and I love mayonnaise but what I wanted was a French version. My mother's. The potatoes are boiled till tender, peeled while still hot, halved, sliced thick then tossed while still warm in a bowl where they'll soak up a well seasoned vinaigrette made of red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, pepper and oil and then party with the onions (or French shallots if you have them). Simple but tasty. It's a great side for fried fish by the way. I also had a can of tuna that I knew would work well with this. Potato salad with tuna it was! Before you get all squeamish with a "yuck" and close this page, wait! Please STAY! Stick around and give it a chance. Even Marc who wasn't convinced, kept shoving more in! He admitted it was tasty and only wished for more. Seriously. Taaasty! Now, the problem with late night food pics (for an amateur like me), is poor lighting. Freaking challenging!!! It gets brightened later in photoshop but sometimes too much! :) I was so hungry I almost didn't bother to photograph this in the first place but I wanted to document.

So lets just look at the picture of the actual salad below and get this out of the way shall we? Don't let the looks deceive you. Your taste buds will thank you later.

Potato and tuna with scallion and celery salad.

This is all about improvising with what you have. Ideally 2 French shallots chopped fine and added to the dressing would have been great. Often I just settle for what I have. Red, white or yellow onions give more bite but all we had was a small bunch of skinny green onions to save the day. Turns out it was perfect and way easier to digest so late in the evening. We also had 4 celery stalks, happy to join in to add great crunch. Add to that the 1 can of tuna, the 6 potatoes and it felt like the perfect ratio for 2 hungry people. I used leftover dressing I had made a few nights before. It had a little bit of chopped onions left in there and I was going to milk any onion flavour I could get! This is a "go by feel" salad so in the end (after a good taste), I adjusted with a few more splashes of red wine vinegar that I drizzled on top. Same with the salt and pepper. The point is to taste, taste, taste and adjust. There were a few romaine heart leaves in the fridge too. They were still crunchy and it felt silly to leave them out so I washed and dried them well, ripped them into manageable bites and lined our plates with them before dishing the potatoes on top. Aside from the vinegar and oil, I never measure. I had to redo this just to get an idea of what one would need. This also explains the 2 brighter fun pics above. ;)

I later realized that we had asparagus and wished I added those too but they turned into a tasty speedy lunch the next day. Other great additions would be green beans cooked al dente and cut in 2 if too long, radishes sliced thin, cherry tomatoes halved, sliced hardboiled eggs, chopped parsley, capers, cornichons... So many options if you don't mind experimenting! I'm just glad we were limited to a simple version. If you're using a cooking onion I would only use half. If you have french shallots (the best), finely chop 2!

Potato Salad with Tuna

4 big potatoes or 6 medium ones
A bunch of small green onions (about 8)
4 celery stalks
1 can of tuna (in water, oil or broth, doesn't matter)
Romaine heart leaves (enough to generously line your bowl or plate)
French dressing

Dressing

Red wine vinegar 4 tablespoons plus extra at the end if you wish
Extra virgin olive oil 8 tablespoons
Dijon mustard 3 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon
Salt (a teaspoon)
Freshly cracked pepper

First make the dressing. You can do it in a bowl and whisk with a fork or you can shake it in a jar. I use both methods. The last one is handy when in a rush or with no clean utensils in site. ;) It's also handy if you made too much. Just leave the leftover in the jar and save the rest for later in the fridge. In bowl or jar pour the red wine vinegar in which you'll add a good spoonful of dijon mustard with salt and freshly cracked pepper. I go by taste so for the salt I'll say start with 1/2 a teaspoon... taste. I can garantee you that you'll want more in the end. Add to taste. Whisk a bit or shake. Add the oil, whisk or shake to get a nice emulsion. Taste and adjust if needed.

Wash the potatoes (don't peel them), plunk them in a pot of water, bring to a boil and cook till a knife slips out of them easily (or cheat and use the microwave if in a rush like us).

Wash, trim celery and slice. Same with green onions. Wash your romaine heart leaves, dry well and rip in reasonable bites.

Take your potatoes and peel them while still hot but manageable. The skin should come off easily with the help of a paring knife. Once peeled, cut in half and roughly slice over the bowl. You want the slices to be thick but not perfect (anywhere between 1/4 to 1/2 inch). Pour half the dressing over them and toss gently. Let them soak it up. It will disappear. 

Add onions and celery. Open the can of tuna, drain the liquid (pour that in a bowl for your kitty) and scatter the flesh over the salad. Add the rest of the dressing and toss gently. Taste. Taste again! Does it need vinegar? Does it need salt? Adjust till your happy. Chances are you will want to add one last tablespoon of vinegar on top. Maybe more oil. When I did this again recently, I remembered a little jar of capers and added 2 full tablespoons. Great idea! :)

Line your wide plate or pasta bowl with the leaves, generously spoon the salad on top, grab a fork and dig in! Leftovers will be great the next day and best at room temperature.