Fall turkey loaf

Here is a recipe of an extremely easy, lean, healthy and bread-less meat loaf I often make on weekdays. It is very tasty and makes the vegetables appetizing. It features the classic Fall vegetables and makes a colorful meal my family enjoys.

Fall turkey loaf

Ingredients:

• 800 gr of lean ground turkey
• 2 tablespoon of fresh sage, cut in small slices
• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut in large slices
• 1/2 large butternut squash, peeled and cut in large cubes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 2 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Blender large enough to fit all the vegetables
• 1 cooking pan with lid

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Place the carrots, the butternut squash and the onion in the blender and cut until the vegetables are in very small pieces, but not in puree (see picture below - Before cooking).

Place the ground turkey, the eggs, the cut vegetables, the sage and the salt and pepper in the cooking pan. Mix with your hands until you have a uniform meat dough. Fashion into a loaf (see picture below - Before cooking).

Cover pan with the lid and place in the oven 1hr or until the juice bubbling out of the loaf is clear.

The resulting meat will be most and lightly sweet from the vegetables and the color will make you smile! Eat with mash potatoes, salad or any other sides you love!

Fall vegetable soup

This soup is a classic on our table from early October to the beginning of the Spring. Off course, it tastes better in early Fall, when the veggies you use comes straight from the farm market and are as fresh and crispy as if you grew them yourself!

Fall vegetable soup

We all love this soup, with the recipe coming from my grandmother and probably being in the folklore for French Canadian cuisine since the arrival of the first colons. In my mind, nothing is more comforting than garthering around the table for a hot bowl of this colorful orange tones soup after a walk in the woods when the Fall air is crisp and your children's cheek are pink from the cold!

It is as simple to prepare as it is economic, and there are infinite ways to improve it to fit your taste with your favorite veggies and add spices!

Ingredients (for about 12 bowls):

• 10 garlic gloves
• 1/2 large turnip
• 1/2 large butternut squash
• 3 large carrots
• 1 average size onion
• 1 table spoon olive oil
• 8 cups water
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 table spoon fresh basil cut in small slices (optional, can be replaced successfully by pesto)
• 1 table spoon Dijon mustard (optional)
• 1 cup of barley or grain mix of your choice (optional)

Cut the garlic in fine slices and the onion in small cubes. Let brown on high heat with the olive oil in a large pot.

In the meantime, peel and cut the turnip and the butternut squash in similar small cubes. Peel and cut the carrots in medium size slices.

Add the water and the cut vegetable and bring to a hot boil on high heat. Reduce the heat to low and let boil for 30 minutes.


Add the grain mix and continue boiling on low heat until the grains are tender. My personal favorite is a mix of spelt, barley, durum wheat, rice and whole grains oats, here pictured:

Add the salt and pepper, the basil, the Dijon mustard and serve immediately.

Can you smell the intoxicating aroma from my pot?

Stuffed peppers with turkey and spinach

Here is a recipe I use often, for weekdays diner. It is very economical, and makes both a earthy and healthy meal for the whole family. My son, who is now 3 years old, eat it with gusto and gets a fair dose of spinach from it without really knowing it, which makes me say it is also a kid-friendly meal! As a mother, I know a lot of you out there are looking for some simple ways to get the young ones to eat vegetables more regularly, so I hope your little fussy one will love those stuffed peppers as much as mine does.

Here are the ingredients (for 6 stuffed peppers):

• 6 large peppers
• 1 can of tomato sauce
• 800gr of lean ground turkey 
• 1 pack of spinach of 6 Oz
• 1 medium onion 
• 4 garlic gloves (adjust to taste)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of dried or fresh tarragon
• 2 tablespoon of grated pecorino romano
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 large pan with sides high enough to hold the peppers up straight
• 1 blender

Cut the onion in 4 parts and place it in the blender, add the spinach (yes, you will have to push on it to pack them in), the egg, the garlic, the tarragon and the salt and black pepper. Blend everything to a liquid puree (this is very important to make a uniform texture). Add the grounded turkey and blend again until you get a very uniform paste of vegetables and meat.

Blending the ingredients to a uniform paste is the key to the squishy texture that makes the success of this meal in my family. I actually have the one pictured below, and even if it is a bit expensive, I do not regret its efficiency and I use it whenever I need something powerful to blend ingredients to the perfection.

Prepare the peppers by removing the top and the seeds. Pour the meat paste into the peppers one by one with a tablespoon. Place them open side up in the cooking pan side by side. Pour the tomatoe sauce around the peppers. Sprinkle the pecorino romano on top of the stuffed peppers. 

Place in the oven and cook at 350F for about 1h30 or until clear liquid pour from the top of the peppers and the tomato sauce boil abundantly. 

Place each pepper in a plate and pour tomato sauce around them (or serve with some rice or pasta). 

Succulent Pecan and Chocolat pie

Today I made the most succulent - and easy - pecan pie I made to date! It was kind of inspired by my Vintage inspired Orange Pie.

Ingredients:
I pack of pecan of 4 oz, or 1 cup of pecan
2 tbps of Corn Starch
2 cups of brown sugar
2 cups of water
1 cup of chocolate chips
1 cup of heavy cream (optional, but I do recommend it!)
Cinnamon, to taste, I used about 1/4 tsp
One 9'' very deep pie crust

First, roast the pecans in a non stick pan, put aside for later.

Prepare the caramel base: on a medium heat, dissolve the brown sugar in the water. Add the chocolate chips and the heavy cream and stir constantly until the chocolate chips dissolve in the mixture.  Add the Corn starch (I dissolve it in a separate bowl in a bit of cold water), and stir constantly until the consistency just starts to thicken. Take out of the heat source. Add the roasted pecans and mix carefully.

Pour into the crust carefully and bake at 350F for about 35 minutes, or until the border of the crust is a nice gold. Let cool completely and eat!

Vintage inspired orange pie

This wonderful pie was created for Thanksgiving day in 2011, when I had a flock of young men to feed! Do I need to mention I made more than one?

 I took the inspiration for this orange pie in a recipe I found in one of my vintage knitting-crochet magazine collection. I had a warm feeling looking at this, wondering at the mysterious women who sent her recipe to the magazine all those years ago and served it to her loved ones over the years. I wanted to share this with you, as this was meant to be shared over half a century ago!

The original recipe in this magazine was for an orange pudding, but faith prevented my from finding my pan and I had to improvise quickly. In desperate measure, and as time was running fast, I decided to use the sauce recipe, modify it a bit and turn this into a pie.

Here is the sauce recipe:

Ingredients for the filling (good for one deep 9'' pie crust):
Grate rind of 3 oranges
Juice of 3 oranges
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoon cornstarch
3 eggs
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14oz)
1/2 cup of cane sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Nutmeg and cinnamon to desired taste (I used about 1/4 teaspoon of each, freshly grounded)

Mix all the ingredients in a small kettle, taking care to dissolve the cornstarch completely (I mix it with about 2 tablespoon of cold water in a separate little bowl). Turn on the heat to a medium height and stir constantly until the sauce begins to show consistency. Pour the hot mixture in the crust. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about 35 minutes, or until little bubbles form in the center of the tart. Let cool completely. Serve and enjoy!


Here is what this looks like, after cooking:

There is only so much pictures can say about the taste, but believe me, it was the first time I used this recipe and it wont be the last! It is not overwhelmingly sweet, the texture is light, and the fresh orange juice and grind gives it a lot of authenticity. It was also easy, fast and very economical, as is expected from a vintage ''Good Momma'' recipe! Mmmmmm....