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Family Favourites

Budget Friendly Beef Bourguignon (Burgundy Beef)

By Denise Pare-Watson

Beef Bourguignon is a classic French dish and is essentially a beef and mushroom stew served on noodles. It is typically made with a tender cut of beef like beef tenderloin.   I have utilized more economical cuts of beef – such as stewing beef or chuck roast which I cut into strips for a more elegant appearance. The deliciously rich sauce with tender braised meat is served on top of tagliatelle or thick egg noodles. Beef Bourguignon is a very versatile dish that can be presented family style on a platter or plated individually with any number of garnishes.  I usually save some of each of the pearl onions, caramelized mushrooms and crispy bacon lardons to garnish the finished dish – add a sprinkle of parsley and you are ready to feast on a delicious meal.  Enjoy with a glass of Burgundy wine or any full-bodied red wine.

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Beef Bourguignon | urbnspice.com

Beef Bourguignon is presented family style

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Filed Under: Cooking Techniques, Main Dishes or Entree Options, Meat Dishes, My Recipes Tagged With: Beef Dishes, Budget Friendly, Family Favourites, Slow Cooking

Blenditarian Hamburger Soup

By Denise Pare-Watson

Blenditarian Challenge Series

Everyone has their own favourite soup recipe, whether brothy or thick and chunky. My favourite at this time of year is the thick, wholesome variety. This Blenditarian Hamburger Soup is all of that and more. My version is chock-a-block full of mushrooms, aromatic vegetables and also includes lentils and barley for a hearty bowlful of comfort food – a complete meal in a bowl.Blenditarian Logo | urbnspice.com

To backtrack a bit: Blenditarian.Com has initiated a monthly challenge for anyone to incorporate their Blenditarian approach into interesting and fun themed dishes.  Just to clarify for my readers, a Blenditarian is “one who believes the mighty, meaty mushroom makes meals more delicious, nutritious and sustainable.”  This approach stretches ground meat with finely chopped mushrooms to create a flavourful and more nutritious dish. The theme for the March Blenditarian Challenge is to cook up a “family favourite” dish and include ‘The Blend’. For this reason, I am sharing my recipe for Blenditarian Hamburger Soup, which is our family favourite.

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Skip to Savoury Meat, Mushroom and Vegetable Blend

Blenditarian Hamburger Soup | urbnspice.com…

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Original content here is published under these license terms: X 
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Filed Under: Beans and Legumes, Blenditarian Challenge, Blenditarian Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, My Recipes, Preservative Free, Soups and Chowders Tagged With: Blenditarian Recipes, Family Favourites, Gluten Free, Soups, Vegetables

My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtière

By Denise Pare-Watson

CHC CANADA 150 FOOD BLOG CHALLENGE SERIES

Prelude:  I am a proud Canadian. When the Culinary Historians of Canada invited food bloggers to participate in the “CHC Canada 150 Food Blog Challenge”, I knew that I wanted in! What a great way to celebrate and honour Canada’s 150th birthday by featuring a different Canadian dish or discussing a topic which reflects on what it means to be Canadian.  For the month of May, in honour of Mother’s Day (May 14), CHC invited food bloggers to share recipes relating to mothers, recipes and techniques passed on by our mothers or grandmothers, or from our mother’s culture. I am honoured and proud to share a historical and famous recipe for My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtière.

Food has been such a significant part of my French Canadian heritage and some of my clearest childhood recollections are about food.   It is not only the memories of the food that are so clear but the smells, the tastes and the surroundings that are so vivid.  Holidays would not be the same without Mom’s tourtiere.  In our family, the Christmas Eve menu always included a large tourtiere to enjoy before midnight mass.

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There are a number of food traditions that are very important to my family, but my Mom’s famous tourtière is the most requested.  I have had many versions of tourtière – from chefs colleagues, relatives and friends, but none can compare to my “Little Mom’s” French Canadian Tourtière. (More on “Little Mom”).

French Canadian Tourtiere | urbnspice.com

My Mom’s version of tourtière is more savoury than traditionally prepared tourtière due to the use of sage and poultry seasoning as opposed to the warm spices typically used (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice).  Mom always insisted on a mixture of ground meat: beef, veal and pork. This combination makes a huge difference in the overall taste and texture of the tourtière filling. The aromatic fragrance of the tourtière mixture simmering is magical.  Writing about it makes me nostalgic.  Although I have adapted the process somewhat, I follow her recipe method and always make enough to share with family and friends, which was her tradition.

Baked Tourtiere | urbnspice.com

My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtiere

My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtière became quite famous in a small village in Ontario.  Everyone loved it when she made her tourtière pies for church or village social events.  As a matter of fact, the ladies of the village church approached her many years ago for her tourtière recipe to make and sell the pies for the parish fundraising efforts.  She not only generously shared her tourtière recipe – she also taught them how to make it….

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2017-2018 Urb'n'SpiceAll Rights Reserved
Original content here is published under these license terms: X 
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License Abstract:You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). You may make other uses of the content only with the written permission of the author on payment of a fee.

Filed Under: CHC Canada 150 Food Blog Challenge Series, Cooking Techniques, Meat Dishes, My Recipes, Pies and Tarts, Traditional Foods, Vintage Recipes Tagged With: Family Favourites, Family Recipes, Family Stories, Main Meal Pies, Tourtiere, Traditional Foods

Sausage & Potato Stuffing – Gluten Free

By Denise Pare-Watson

If your guest list this holiday season has you hesitant to face gluten-free or dairy-free restrictions, this gluten-free Sausage & Potato Stuffing is the perfect side dish for you. As it happens, my guest list this year includes gluten-free, dairy-free and grain free restrictions, so I can definitely relate.

Sausage & Potato Gluten Free Stuffing | urbnspice.com

Sausage and Potato Stuffing: Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Grain Free Stuffing

This is a no-fret recipe.   It has all of the traditional ingredients of a classic stuffing without the bread and includes aromatic vegetables, rich chicken stock, a splash or two of white wine, flavourful sausage and crispy bacon.  I can guarantee that after you taste this Potato “No Bread” Gluten Free Stuffing, you will want it to be part of your family holiday favourites.
Sausage & Potato Stuffing | urbnspice.com

Sausage & Potato Stuffing

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 6 – 8 servings

CHEF TALK: This gluten-free, make-ahead dish, is sure to become one of your go-to side dishes. It is delicious served with a ham or turkey dinner or for any occasion.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb mixed nugget potatoes
  • 1/2 lb (226 g) of pork or breakfast sausage (I used gluten-free Bratwurst), removed from casings
  • 2 slices of bacon, diced
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 medium carrot, diced finely
  • 1 stalk celery, diced finely
  • 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced finely
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried summer savoury
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper or to taste
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock

METHOD: 

Prepare the potatoes:
    1. Pierce the potatoes once or twice with a skewer and place them on a microwave-safe dish.
    2. Microwave for five minutes and remove from the microwave. Cool for a few minutes until they are easy to handle. (You can prepare these ahead).
    3. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, quarter them or dice them into small pieces as shown in the photographs. Set aside.
For the Stuffing:
  1. In a large fry pan over medium heat, fry the sausage meat, breaking it up into small crumbles, until it is caramelized.
    CHEF TIP: This process of caramelizing adds flavour to the stuffing. Remove the cooked sausage meat from the frying pan and set aside.
  2. Now add the diced bacon to the same fry pan and cook the bacon until it is brown and crispy.
  3. Add the diced onion and stir together until the onion is starting to turn colour.
  4. Add the diced carrot, celery and bell pepper and stir until the vegetables are softened.
  5. Add the minced garlic and stir to cook for a minute or two.
  6. Add the herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  7. Add the white wine and cook until the wine evaporates – about one minute.
  8. Return the sausage to the pan and stir in the cooked diced potatoes.
  9. Stir all of the ingredients together and then add the chicken stock.
  10. If you want to make this dish ahead, take the frying pan off of the heat and let it cool before you cover and refrigerate until you are ready to reheat at 325oF for 30 to 40 minutes.
  11. If you wish to serve this dish right away, simmer for a few minutes until the chicken stock is absorbed by the vegetables and potatoes. Check and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
  12. Keep the stuffing warm.
  13. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.  Enjoy!

Here is your visual step-by-step How to Make Sausage & Potato Gluten Free Stuffing:

Bacon and Onions | urbnspice.com

The process of caramelization of bacon and onions and sausage will have people coming into your kitchen to see what’s cooking!

Sausage & Potato 'no bread' stuffing | urbnspice.com

Add the aromatic vegetables to the sausage and potato stuffing mixture.

Cooking the Vegetables for the potato stuffing | urbnspice.com

Cooking the Vegetables for the potato stuffing

Sausage & Potato 'no bread' stuffing | urbnspice.com

Adding the sausage and quartered potatoes to the stuffing

Sausage & Potato Gluten Free Stuffing | urbnspice.com

Sausage and Potato Stuffing: Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Grain Free Stuffing – A great make-ahead dish for the holidays!

LEARNING TIPS:  

Please CLICK the link above to access my UrbnSpice LEARNING TIPS, which are listed alphabetically on the Learning Tips blog post under the following subheadings:

  • Tweaking

Bonus Learning Tip Post:

  • Gluten-Free Tips and Techniques
    __________

Happy Gluten-Free Cooking, everyone!

As always, if you give this recipe for Sausage & Potato “No Bread” Stuffing – Gluten Free a try, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback. You can find me on social media – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I’m sure to see it. Enjoy!

Denise Pare-Watson - The Urb'n'Spice Chef | urbnspice.comDenise Paré-Watson

The Urbnspice Chef

Follow me on Social Media:

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Urbnspice is on Twitter

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I am also on Instagram

You Might Also Enjoy These UrbnSpice Posts:

Roasted Potato, Crispy Bacon & Chive Salad

Potato Crusted Quiche – A Gluten Free Crust made from Potato 

How to Caramelize Onions 

FURTHER READING:

Potato Nutritional Information:  Potatoes are healthy!

The Carbohydrate Myth  

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014-2017 Urb'n'SpiceAll Rights Reserved
Original content here is published under these license terms: X 
License Type:Commercial
License Abstract:You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). You may make other uses of the content only with the written permission of the author on payment of a fee.

Filed Under: Dietary Restrictions, Gluten Free Recipes, Inspiration of Urbnspice Series, My Recipes, Potatoes and Rice, Sides, Vegetables Tagged With: Family Favourites, Gluten Free, Make Ahead Dishes, Potatoes, Sides, Stuffing

My Dee’s Old Fashioned Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

By Denise Pare-Watson

There is a story behind these Old Fashioned Coconut Oatmeal Cookies.  My sister, Deanne (better known as Dee) and I share a unique birthday, (you can read all about it here).   We also have the innate ability to know when something is a little off kilter with each other, much like the phenomenon that twins experience.  I can often tell when she is scared or in pain or in need of a phone call.  I can remember sitting at the table together over a cup of tea and demolishing an entire cylinder of Digestive Cookies while discussing the latest, greatest and sources of consternation in our lives at the time.

What is really cool is our mutual love of baking.  When I married, she typed up all of our favourite baking recipes and gave them to me as a gift.  That is why these cookies, which will always be known as, “My Dee’s Old Fashioned Coconut Oatmeal Cookies” are very precious to me.

My Dee's Old Fashioned Coconut Oatmeal Cookies | urbnspice.com

My “Dee’s” Old Fashioned Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

CHEF TALK:  This is a lovely cookie recipe enjoyed over and over again in our family.  It is chock full of yummy ingredients.  I like to toast the coconut and the nuts before I add them to the cookie dough.  

Yield:  3 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1/4 cup wheat germ
  • 3/4 cup coconut (unsweetened)
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or raisins
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts, if desired

METHOD

  1. Cream the butter and both sugars together until fluffy.
  2. Add the egg and mix to incorporate thoroughly.
  3. Add the flour, oats, wheat germ, coconut, baking powder and soda.  Mix well.
  4. Stir in raisins, chocolate chips or nuts.
  5. Drop by teaspoons onto lightly greased baking sheets.
  6. Flatten slightly with a floured fork.
  7. Bake at 350o F. for 12—15 minutes.

NOTES:  These cookies freeze very well.

CHEF TIP:  I like to pre-scoop all of the cookie dough and place the unbaked cookie nuggets onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Place them in the freezer until firm.  Store the frozen cookie nuggets into a storage container or plastic zipper bag.  Bake them as needed, adding a minute or two to the baking time.

LEARNING TIPS:  

Please CLICK the link above to access my Urb’n’Spice LEARNING TIPS, which are listed alphabetically on the Learning Tips blog post under the following subheadings:

  • Creaming
  • Basic Tools – Scoops for Portioning
  • Toasting Your Nuts
  • Parchment Paper
  • Oven Temperature Accuracy
    __________

If you try my recipe for My Dee’s Old Fashioned Coconut Oatmeal Cookies, please leave me a comment below with your feedback.

You can find me on social media (see links below) – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy! 

Denise Pare-Watson - The Urb'n'Spice Chef | urbnspice.comDenise Paré-Watson

The Urb’n’Spice Chef

Follow me on Social Media

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Nut Butter and No-Nut Butter Cookies

Tiger Dough | urbnspice.com

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Urbnspice’s Cookie Cookbook:  Cookies, Brownies, and Squares

Chocolate Desserts Made Easy and Delicious - Cookies, Brownies and Squares | urbnspice.com

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Original content here is published under these license terms: X 
License Type:Commercial
License Abstract:You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). You may make other uses of the content only with the written permission of the author on payment of a fee.

Filed Under: Cookies Tagged With: Cookies, Family Favourites, Family Recipes

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Meet Denise – The Urbnspice Chef

Welcome to Urbnspice - A Taste of Heart and Home. Inspiration in my kitchen is often a trip to the market or an experimental coincidence! Come and join me on this culinary journey where I share my passion for the creative, technical and teaching components of the profession and unravel culinary quandaries for you with fun and easy to follow user-friendly recipes, tips & techniques.
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