Recipes

Red Wine Poached Pear Tarte With Frangipane, Puff Pastry And Chantilly

Yields to 2.

Ingredients:

• 1 bosc pear, peeled and cored, cut in half
• 75mL Frangelico
• 250mL dry red wine
• 100mL sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• 3 star anise
• 2x3’’ round puff pastry
• 75mL soft butter
• 75mL sugar
• 2 eggs
• 50mL almond flour
• 10mL flour
• Icing sugar
• 2 small cubes of butter
• 100mL whipping cream
• 5mL vanilla extract
• 20mL icing sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F. Combine pears, frangelico, red wine, vanilla bean, sugar, star anise in a small pot and simmer until the pears are tender but still slightly firm.
2. In a standing mixer cream sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time, scrape the bowl. Add almond flour and regular flour, mix until combined.
3. When it's time to assemble, smear 15mL of frangipane on the puff. Cut the pear halves into 4 slices and fan on top of the pastry. Dust with icing sugar.
4. Put a small knob of butter and bake until golden in the oven approximately 10-12 minutes. While tarts are baking reduce the pear cooking liquid to a glaze on high heat. Whip the cream with vanilla extract and icing sugar to soft peaks.
5. Drizzle the warm tarte with pear reduction and dust with icing sugar. Serve with chantilly cream.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Just 8 days to go until Canadian Thanksgiving (October 12th), and we hope your menu planning is going well! Looking for a spectacular salad to wow your dinner guests? This excellent recipe was shared with Well Seasoned by the late Anthony Sedlak when we had the pleasure to host him at one of our cooking classes at our old location on the bypass. This delicious salad is a blend of flavours and will have your salad bowl empty before you've finished carving the bird!

This recipe serves 4-6 as a meal with a side sandwich. Serve it as a hearty side this Thanksgiving!

Roasted Yam, Cranberry and Feta Salad with Maple Syrup, Smoked Bacon and Herbs

Ingredients:

• 3 - 4 medium Yams, peeled and cut into a large dice
• 1 tbsp Well Seasoned Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp No. 1 grade Maple Syrup
• 1 tsp smoked Paprika
• 1 tsp Well Seasoned Olive Oil
• 1 lb Bacon, diced
• 1 spring of fresh Rosemary, stem removed
• 1 medium White Onion, diced
• 1 clove Garlic, mined
• 3/4 cup dried Cranberries
• 3/4 smoked or tamarind Almonds, chopped
• 3 spring Onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh Chives, finely chopped
• Additional No. 1 grade Maple Syrup, to taste
• The juice of a ripe lime
• Kosher salt
• Black Pepper, freshly cracked to taste
• 1 cup crumbled Feta Cheese

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the yam, 2 tbsp Olive Oil, maple syrup, and smoked paprika and season with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Divide evenly between two baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and place onto the centre rack of a preheated 420 degree oven set to conviction. Roast the yam until golden brown, and just folk tender (approx. 30-40 minutes). Remove the roasted yams and allow to cool.
2. Next, preheat 1 tsp olive oil in a medium sized sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. Remove the bacon and discard all but a quarter of the fat. Return the pan to the heat and add the onion, garlic and rosemary. Cook until the onion is golden brown and soft (approx. 5-6 minutes).
3. One cool, combine the yams, bacon mixture, cranberries, almonds, spring onion, and chives in a large mixing bowl. Dress with lime juice and maple syrup, and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Top with crumbled fat cheese and serve.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook time: 40 Minutes

Porcini Rubbed Turkey Leg au Vin with Chestnuts

Yields: 4 portions.

Ingredients:

• 2 turkey legs and thighs attached
• 100mL porcini powder
• 2 onions, fine diced
• 1 leek, sliced thin and washed
• 3 stalks of celery, fine diced
• 5 bay leaves
• 3 carrots fine diced
• 5 garlic, puréed
• 5 stalks of thyme
• 5 stalks of rosemary
• 1.5L dry red wine
• 1L dark turkey stock, or chicken
• 300g crimini mushrooms, wiped clean
• 400g chestnuts, peeled, or frozen

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F. Season the turkey legs and thighs with salt and let it rest 5 minutes. Generously sprinkle the porcini powder.
2. In a large pan, sear the turkey until golden brown. Spare to the side, add carrots, celery, onions, garlic, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves and leeks into the an and cook until translucent.
3. Deglaze with red wine and reduce by 1/3. Add the stock, bring up to a boil, add mushrooms.
4. In a large baking dish pour sauce in the bottom and with the turkey on top covered with liquid only 1/2 the way. Transfer and cook in the oven around 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size of the meat, or the internal temperature reads 160F.
5. When cooked rest the turkey and reduce and season the cooking liquid until slightly thickened and syrupy. Serve.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook time: 90 Minutes

Port Chunky Cranberry Sauce

Yields: 1L.

Ingredients:

• 1kg fresh or frozen cranberries
• 5 shallots, fine diced
• 30mL maple syrup
• 5 sprigs of thyme
• 500mL orange juice
• 5 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 cloves

Instructions:

1. Tie up all the spices and thyme in a cheese cloth.
2. Cook the shallots until translucent in a medium sized pot. Add the orange juice, maple syrup, spice bag, cranberries and simmer around 20 minutes until the berries are softened and the liquid reduced by 1/3.
3. Correct seasoning and mash with a potato masher, or a large fork until desired look of a chunky compote is achieved. Serve warm.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Best Thanksgiving Gravy

Yields: 2L.

Ingredients:

• 1 turkey carcass
• 1 white onion, medium dice
• 50mL tomato paste
• 2 stalks celery, medium diced
• 2 carrots, medium diced
• 10 garlic cloves, smashed
• 10 thyme sprigs
• 15 peppercorns
• 5 bay leaves
• 300mL port wine

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
2. Rinse your turkey bones and neck with cold water. Roast in the oven around 1 hour until nicely caramelized.
3. Put everything but the port, including the turkey fat from the pan in a large stock pot.
4. Cover with cold water and simmer for 4-5 hours, until very fragrant.
5. Deglaze the roasting tray with port and scrape the caramelized bits, add to the stock pot. Once aromatic and smells cooked strain the solids from the pot and reduce the liquid in a large pot until it becomes syrupy.
6. If the flavour is too condensed but the liquid is still thin, thicken with a corn starch slurry to a desired viscosity. Season and use.

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 330 Minutes

Roasted Turkey Breast with Ginger and Orange

Yields: 4 portions.

Ingredients:

• 2 turkey breast, skin on
• 2 oranges, zested juiced and flesh chopped
• 50mL brown sugar
• 50mL ginger, finely diced or grated
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• 3 star anise
• 20mL cardamom pods, optional
• 20mL chili flakes
• 15mL white pepper

Instructions:

1. Sprinkle turkey breasts with salt and let it rest for 5 minutes. In a large bowl combine all the spices, ginger, brown sugar and orange. Rub the mixture to the turkey breasts and let it marinade up to 16 hours.
2. Preheat your oven to 400F.
3. Heat up a large pan and sear the turkey breasts until golden brown on the skin side. Flip and sear further 3 minutes. Flip back on the skin side and transfer in the oven and roast around 20-27 minutes depending on the size of the meat. Ideally use a meat thermometer and cook your breasts until it reads 150F.
4. Rest at least 15 minutes before carving into slices.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes + Up to 16 hours for Marinade.

Cook time: 40 Minutes