À la Dankertier

Every time we go to Montreal, we have bagels on the first morning, thanks to my lovely sister :) In fact, no trip in Canada would be complete without it! I found this recipe years ago, when me and my friend Jenny wanted to make bagels "just because" on a Sunday afternoon when we both lived in Sherbrooke. I found many other recipes after, but this one stuck because the bagels are so easy and fast to make, on top of the fact that they are really close to the "real deal". Authentic Montreal bagels are smaller, thinner, sweeter and denser than others as well as heavily covered with seeds. The original recipe is for 12 bagels, but if you want "normal size bagel", you can easily make 16, as the quantity of dough is really a lot.  Stir together 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast and 415mL of lukewarm water . Let stand for a couple of minutes. Whisk in 5 tablespoons (60g) of sugar , one beaten egg , 45mL of oil , 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of ...

This is a simple and fast version of the classic (yeast) German plum cake. We have made it already quite a few times. It has been great help to get through all the plums we harvested at a friend's house! The original is here . Butter a 26cm (10 in) round spring form and preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Cream 50g of soft butter with 50g of sugar . Add one egg and beat. In another bowl, mix 150g of flour and 5g (1+1/4 teaspoon) of baking powder . Mix with the wet ingredients, add 125ml of buttermilk *** and mix well until smooth. Spread into the cake form. Half and de-stone 500-600g of washed plums and spread over the dough in the form. They should be lightly tucking vertically so they are sticking out. Plums can be fresh or frozen/unfrozen (water removed). Use enough to cover the surface. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. During that time, prepare the crumble by mixing 50g of flour , 35g of grounded almonds , 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 35g of sugar . Add 50g of cold...

This recipe is very close to my heart: I cooked it the first time many years ago and was amazed how simple and fast it is done. Once made, you won't forget it due to its simplicity. It came always in handy, no matter if I wanted to join a quick pot-luck with friends in Canada or serve a nice dinner for Sophie having some easy transportable left-overs for next day's lunch. As many recipes, I also adopted this one from Jamie Oliver, but I cut all the crap ;) All you need is some squash ( 1 medium size butternut goes well and is not too big), which needs to cook cut-open in the oven or microwave until it is soft (microwave is fastest, maybe 20-30min ). While it cooks, you can prepare 1 risotto base , preferably a bit on the dry site (before al dente). When the squash is soft enough, remove the hard skin and mix the pulp with the risotto. Re-heat everything, add salt, pepper, chili and cinnamon to taste and wait that the rice absorbs the remaining liquid - then add more water...

Any good risotto, if it's spinach, pumpkin or mushroom, can be made from the same base. This can be made even in advance and kept in the fridge or freezer until you want to cook up the final risotto for eating. Once you read the base recipe, you will most likely not forget it and you are able to whip up a quick risotto anytime anywhere. Prepare 1l of bouillon (vegetable or chicken) - I usually just fire up the kettle and use the boiling water to desolve some instant bouillon. In the meanwhile, fry up 1 big onion and some celery (leek or spring onions are a great alternative too) in a bit of oil or butter . When the onion and celery starts to get color, add 600g of risotto rice and fry everything together for a minute . Then, add a cup of  white wine and stir until the wine is absorbed and the alcohol boiled off. Similarly, continue to add the bouillon a ladle at a time and let the rice absorb it completely, before adding the next one. The risotto will start to get a  nic...

I love, love, love asiatic inspired meals. They are easy to prepare, easy to modify, loaded with vegetables and flavour they are awesome! This recipe is adapted from one recipe I found on the "SOSCuisine" website . For 4 people, heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil and a splash of sesame oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Add 400g of chicken (or tofu) and fry 5-6 minutes or until golden. Add 2-3 cloves of garlic , finely chopped and chopped vegetables . Here, you do what you want! I like: brocoli cut in small pieces, sliced pepper, zucchini, carrot, sweet peas, bean sprouts... If using vegetables with widely different cooking time, adjust the moment you are adding them to prevent over cooking*. Keep the heat high-ish so the vegetables will be fried and not poached. When they are al dente (after 5-7 minutes), add 2-3 green onions, finely chopped. While the vegetables are frying, prepare 250g of Chinese egg-noodles (or rice) according to the instructions on the package: do...

I know that it seems to be a bit late in the season for burger, but I think that there is just no wrong time for burger. After all, are we burger lovers or what!? This one was adapted from a Québec magazine ("Coup de pouce") and is good for 4 patties. Mix: 500g of finely chopped salmon (without skin and bones)* 1 small onion, grated 50ml of mayonnaise 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs  1 tablespoon of chopped parsley a big pinch of salt and pepper a big splash of lemon juice a splash of Tabasco Split in 4 and form the patties. Cook over medium heat, 5-7 minutes on each side. Enjoy with your choice of garnish. Here we had salad, blue cheese and tomato and it was sublime! * You can use a food processor for this, of course

A month ago, André and I started to watch How I Met Your Mother again and couldn't help but laugh when one of our friend asked us if we wanted to have a "wine and cheese tasting": we are soooo grown up! ;) It was a wonderful evening and not exactly what I expected. In Quebec, when one says "wine and cheese tasting", it means: choosing the wine, making sure the cheese are going to fit with said wine and there is a special order to drink and eat. Bottom line: it is complicated and very well organized. What we had was a very nice, simple evening with wine and cheese: and we love those! Then I thought about another wonderful recipe that my step mom made from time to time as an appetizer and would go great on a cheese plate: it has perfect blend of sweet and salty, like I love. Blend 375mL of old cheddar cheese , 125g of cream cheese* and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup . Shape into 15cm long log using clinging wrap and put in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Finely c...