Pea and Pancetta Soup

Oddly enough, the term 'comfort food' is not something I ever grew up hearing in France. I think it's because so much of the food really is, inherently, comfort food that it would make for quite a redundant label. From creamy potato puree, to seared duck breast, pot au feu (beef stew), salade de chevre chaud (frisee lettuce topped with melted goat cheese on crusty bread) to even just a cheese platter with a good baguette and cornichons (small French pickles) - there are very little foods in France that don't make you feel good inside. Our conception of food in France is something I have rarely seen elsewhere, if I have to be perfectly honest. The knowledge of food of even those who don't like to cook always strikes me a little when I make my way back home.

Cold Pea Soup with Creamy Ricotta

This post's aim is to give peas a good name again! Peas are not usually considered a sexy ingredient, an ingredient that you get excited to play around with. But let me tell you, peas really are the perfect vegetables to cook with in the summertime. This pea soup could definitely be enjoyed warm but who really wants a bowl of bubbly hot soup when the weather is this warm?

I enjoyed this as the perfect light birthday lunch yesterday. My birthday dinner was equally fresh and delightful last night- O. and I enjoy a wonderful Italian feast of tuna crudo with fleur de sel and shaved organic carrots, fennel and grapefruit, followed by grilled octopus with capers, farro risotto and mussels. For dessert? A wonderfully crisp meringue triffle filled with rum cream, raisins and toasted almonds. It really was the perfect birthday!

Now back to the soup..! When this pea soup is cold and serve dwith a dollop of creamy ricotta it make for the perfect refreshing summer soup. And the best part? It cooks in a matter of minutes. It's also perfect for entertaining - you can make it in the morning and keep it cold in fridge until you serve it at night so you don't have to be running back and forth in the kitchen once your guest have arrived.

Cold Pea Soup with Creamy Ricotta
Serves 4

Olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 1/2 cup of frozen peas
2 cups of low sodium chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/4 cup of ricotta

In a stockpot on medium low heat, add a couple teaspoons of olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until the garlic soften and become just golden. Add the frozen peas, stock and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a gently simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, blend until the soup if smooth. If the soup is too thick add a couple tablespoons of water until the right consistency is obtained. Add the lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until perfectly chilled. Serve with a dollop of ricotta and some cracked black pepper. Enjoy!

Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

These types of soups always make me smile. The color of the squash is just amazing - making this soup the perfect way to celebrate Fall. My mom is in Montreal for a few days and wanted me to show her how to make an easy squash soup. This was the perfect time to do just that. Standing in the kitchen with a warm cup of green tea, I talked her through the recipe, she took a few notes, and I'm confident she will now try to make this at home!

We served the soup with crusty garlic-rubbed walnut bread, and it was delicious. The markets are full of multi-colored squashes at this time of year, and I can't help myself but buy one (or 2) every time I see some. This is my type of food: simple, rustic, flavorful and really quite beautiful. What are your favorite Fall treats this year?

Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
Serves 8

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 squash, seeded and cut in quarters
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 1/2inch slice of pancetta, cubed
1/2 white onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 teaspoon of finely chopped thyme
2 cups of chicken stock
10 sage leaves
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and add the chopped sweet potato and quartered squash. Generously drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with brown sugar. Using your hands, make sure each piece has a little oil, seasoning and sugar. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the squash and sweet potato are just soft. All pieces may not be done at exactly the same time. Once cool enough to handle, use a spoon and scoop out the flesh of the squash. Reserve the squash and sweet potato.

In a large stockpot on medium heat, add the diced pancetta. Cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add a little olive oil and add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the chopped thyme. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Add the squash and sweet potato pieces. Add the chicken stock. Add cold water until the squash and sweet potato pieces are just covered with liquid. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Using an immersion blender, carefully puree the soup. You might need to add a little water if the soup is too thick. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. In a small saucepan, and a good drizzle of olive oil to fry the sage leaves. Place the leaves in the oil, and cook until the leaves are just crispy. Remove from the heat, place on paper towels to soak up excess fat, and serve atop the soup, with a dollop of sour cream, yogurt or ricotta. Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

It hasn't been a very fun couple of days at the Jenn household. I went for a run on Sunday morning and could feel that something wasn't quite right. My legs were helping me through, but my body wasn't quite in sync. Sure enough, a couple hours later I was under my blanket, feeling.. well, not so well. When I was a kid, I used to describe bad sore throats by picturing little bite-size men playing around my throat with sharp little swords. That image popped back into my head this weekend as I was sipping tea and trying to make the pain go away.

So... today I surrendered to my momentary illness, stayed in bed for most of the day until Oliver and I decided to use this as the perfect opportunity to make chicken noodle soup. It was pouring rain, gray and felt more like December than June anyway so this ended up turning an otherwise gloomy day into a fun-filled culinary adventure. I called this a chicken noodle soup, but I used a lot of the elements of an Italian wedding soup (egg, Parmesan and greens) and ended up with a wonderful medley of flavors. Oliver biked to the nearest butcher and was able to get homemade chicken stock (which we were out of) which made the broth that much more flavorful. All and all, this turned my pain-filled day into a day full of love and comfort food.

Chicken Noodle Soup (serves 4)
2 chicken breasts
2 bay leaves
2 shallots, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
2 scallions, finely sliced
2 cups of chicken stock
2 handfuls of egg noodles
1 small handful of fresh spinach
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan, and add the 2 bay leaves. Add the chicken.

In a separate saucepan on medium low heat, add a good drizzle of olive oil. Add the shallots, garlic and carrots. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until softened. Add the scallions and chicken stock. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the noodles. Cook according to package instructions.

Once the chicken is poached, remove from the water, and shred using a fork (discard the bay leaves). Season with salt and pepper and add to the chicken broth (about 2 minutes before the noodles are cooked). Add the spinach, the beaten egg and stir until the egg is cooked (about 1 minute). Add the Parmesan. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve with crusty bread, a drizzle of olive oil and a little extra Parmesan. Enjoy!

Udon, Porc and Shittake Mushroom Soup

I've been pretty busy lately.... and sadly just realized that I forgot to celebrate my 100 posts mark. I guess it's never to late to start the festivities, so happy 100th posts chocolate shavings!

"Chocolate Shavings...." my dad said on the phone the other day. "How did you come up with that name anyway? Is it a reference to the many, many baking experiences you had in our family kitchen growing up?" I paused. True, I started baking when I was pretty young. Making various baked goods was one of my great hobbies, and I learned early on that I didn't really like to follow recipes. I would come up with my own crazy concoctions and make the whole family eat it. Sometimes they were good... sometimes not so much. "You're right dad.. but I really enjoy cooking savory foods too. The name chocolate shavings is my way of mentioning all the little cooking tricks that turn a meal from a simple cooked dish to something special....like chocolate shavings added to a white chocolate mousse, or lemon zest sprinkled over a simple fennel salad...or a drizzle of truffle oil added to everyday mashed potatoes." My dad paused. "I see, well maybe you should come home more often. Teach me how to move away from the microwave and start using a real pan". My dad has a growing kitchen love affair with microwaves. It's the only kitchen utensil he uses to perfection, and the one that saves him when my mom's not there to save the day. "Well, whatever it is, your site always makes me hungry". That was the best compliment of my day, and comforts me in the fact that I couldn't have chosen a better carreer to dedicate my time to.

This soup is one of my latest concoctions. The meatballs are made with basic asian-inspired flavors (sesame oil, scallions, chinese chives, soy sauce)and are cooked in a simple chicken stock based broth flavored with shittake mushrooms. The mushrooms darken the broth and give it a lovely rich color. I served it with udon noodles, but the soup would be delicious without them as well.

Udon, Porc and Shittake Mushroom Soup (serves 4)
For the meatballs
1/2 lb of ground pork
2 leaves of napa cabbage, finely diced
4 shittake mushrooms, finely diced
1 green onion, finely diced
3 chinese chives, finely diced
2 teaspoons of finely diced ginger
1.5 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of corn starch

For the broth
2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup of water
a pinch of powdered dashi stock (optional)
a good handful of udon noodles, cooked
4 shittake mushrooms, sliced
1 green onion, sliced
a handful of chopped coriander, to serve

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients to make the meatballs. Make sure that all the ingredients are very finely diced. Form into bite size meatballs and reserve.

In a stockpot, add the chicken stock and water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer. Add the dashi. Carefully add the meatballs. Cook for 5 minutes and add the mushrooms and green onion. cook for another 4-5 minutes or until the meatballs are just cooked through. Add the warm cooked noodles to your serving bowls, and top with the meatballs and broth. Serve with chopped coriander. Enjoy!

Potato and Leek Soup with Crumbled Blue Cheese

The inspiration for this soup came from a classic Vichyssoise, a potato and leek soup generally enjoyed chilled. During the unbearably hot days at culinary school in New York, my teammates and I had made a cold Vichyssoise as an amuse-bouche for the school's restaurant. It turned out that a shot of cold yet creamy soup was the perfect way to start off a copious meal. Chilled soup would, however, be difficult to want to make at this time of year, so I tweaked the recipe to make it desirable for much cooler days. And what better way to serve it than in little espresso cups?

Montreal is a cold and bitter city come winter, but also a city where people - who are used to the wintery temperatures - still go out, eat out and enjoy life. Any Montrealer's wardrobe includes an extra pair of legwarmers under your jeans, socks up to your knees and fleece wherever you can fit it. The upside is that once you beat the first couple of steps out of the door, your body, although oddly at first - think frozen eyelids, and steamy cold breath - gets used to the cold and resets what normal warmth is. All to say that a bowl of steamy soup is really a great way to welcome the cold months to come.

On a less formal note, I am off to Venice in a couple weeks. Oliver and I were thinking about a small getaway and since were are spending the holidays in France with my family, Venice seemed like the perfect place to go to. I am sure you food lovers and travel lovers can relate to this: when I start booking a vacation, sure I look at the great sights, museums, architecture I want to be sure not to miss, but let's face it, I want to know what kind of food I'm going to be able to sample. Traveling through food is one of the greatest way to really experience the culture of the place you are in, the customs, the traditions and the aura of a place. I've done quite a bit of research and it seems quite unanimous that Venice is not the Italian city where the food is the best. I hear that finding more remote restaurants is the way to go to avoid touristy places with touristy prices. Any advice from you food lovers out there would be more than welcome! I promise to bring back a myriad of photos, and hopefully at least a couple recipes too.

Recipe (for 6)
2 ounces of pancetta, roughly chopped
1/2 white onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 leeks, chopped (use white and light green parts only)
2 bay leaves
2 cups of chicken stock
Water
1 pound of diced Yukon Gold potatoes (about 8 small potatoes)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup of crumbled blue cheese of your choice
Chives, to garnish

In a stockpot, add the pancetta on medium heat and cook until some of fat renders (about 3 minutes). Add the onion and stir to coat the fat. Add a drizzle of oil if needed. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the garlic.
Chop the leeks and add to the stockpot. Saute for 2 minutes. Add the diced potatoes and cook for another minute. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the chicken stock. The liquid should just cover the potatoes and leeks. Add water to cover if there isn't enough stock to do so. Add the bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaves and blend with an immersion blender until the soup is smooth. Add a touch of water if the soup is too thick for your taste. Strain the soup to remove any lumps and strands of leek. Serve warm with crumbled blue cheese and garnish with chives. Enjoy!

Shrimp, Sugar Snap Pea and Baby Bok Choy Soup

Have I been in a bit of a soup-obsessed mood lately?... maybe. Or maybe it's just that when it's getting bitterly cold, the only way to fight back is to get in the kitchen and make a great big batch of soup! I was in the mood for something light, easy and heart-warming. I think this pretty much did the trick: a couple ladlefuls of chicken broth, a myriad of greens and some shrimp all simmering in the cradle of a wok. 10 minutes later... voila. Lunch is served my friends!

Of course, in a more perfect world, I might have taken the time to enrich my stock with added chicken bones and aromatics. I might have added some chicken or sliced pork too. But as time was of the essence, I came up with this easy enough concoction and the result was quick and perfect.

Recipe (for 4)
4 baby bok choy
12 sugar snap peas
12 shrimp, peeled
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger
1 tablespoon of peanut (or canola) oil
A pinch of dried chillies
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 teaspoons of light soy sauce
2 spring onions, sliced
4 cups of chicken stock
Toasted sesame seeds
300 grams of dried udon noodles


Cook the noodles according to package instructions. Run them under cold water once cooked, and reserve.

In the meantime, add the bok choy (cut in half lengthwise) and the sugar snap peas to a pot of boiling water. Boil for 2 minutes. Shock the vegetables by placing them in ice cold water. This stops the cooking process and helps the vegetables maintain a nice green color. Once the vegetables are cold, drain and remove excess water with paper towels.

Heat your wok to medium low heat. Add the peanut oil, ginger, garlic and dried chili. Stirfry for 2 minutes. Add the peeled shrimp. Once the shrimp starts to turn pink, add the vegetables stirring constantly. Once the shrimp is entirely pink in color add the noodles. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once the broth has come to a boil, add the soy sauce, sesame oil and spring onions and cook for another minute. Serve topped with toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!