The Foodlab chefs present a series of “not so simple” recipes to reveal your culinary talents by cooking local products.
The Foodlab chefs present a series of “not so simple” recipes to reveal your culinary talents by cooking local products.
Robin’s Koginut Squash Soup
Meet our chef Timothée Vielajus! Discover his Robin’s Koginut squash soup, sheep yogurt and camelina seed tuile recipe highlighting local produce.
Follow the preparation steps here below to make the complete dish or to enhance your own recipes.
Peel and chop the squash into pieces whilst bringing salted water to a boil. Cook the squash for approximately 10 minutes. Strain and process the squash in a blender. Gradually add the cooking water until you reach the desired consistency.
Using a mandolin, thinly slice the squash. Combine the water, vinegar and syrup together and bring to a boil. Once boiling, pour the mixture over the squash slices, cover and let it cool down in the fridge.
Set your oven to 100C. In a pan bring the water (1) to a boil. Combine the cornstarch and water (2). Pour the cornstarch and water (2) mix in the boiling water (1). In a bol Mix the camelina seeds and the salt and pour in your combined water (1+2) and cornstarch. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet making sure your layer is pretty even. Bake for 1 hour at 100C until dry and crisp.
In the bottom of a bowl place a tablespoon of yogurt and a few leaves of yarrow. Top with a few slices of squash pick;e and cover with a camelia tile. Finish it up by pouring in the soup and enjoy!
Squash, Praline Paste & Maple Dacquoise
The squash, a delicious and nutritious Quebec seasonal vegetable staple. Discover the Kuri squash in this classic dessert revisited by our pastry chef Delphine Bordeleau.
Follow the preparation steps here below to make the complete dessert or to enhance your own recipes.
1 – Preheat the oven to 150C (300F).
2 – Spread the pumpkin seeds (1) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes stirring halfway through the process.
3 – Place the maple syrup (2) over medium heat and let it reduce by half. Pay close attention as you do not want it to smoke.
4 – As soon as the pumpkin seeds come out of the oven, pour 400g of them in the hot maple syrup off the heat. It is important that the seeds are still hot in order to avoid any kind of temperature shock. Set aside the 150 g of roasted seeds left over for the dacquoise (see following recipe).
5 – Using a wooden spoon, thoroughly coat the seeds in the maple syrup.
6 – Over low-medium heat, stir constantly until the syrup crystallizes around the pumpkin seeds. Set 75g of pumpkin seed praline on a baking sheet and immediately sprinkle on a pinch of fleur de sel.
7 – Continue cooking the seeds over low-medium heat until the sugar begins to melt and caramelize (uniformly amber color). Pour onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
8 – Once the seeds have cooled completely, pass them in a food processor until it liquifies. Add a pinch of salt and set aside.
1 – Preheat the oven to 175ºC (350ºF).
2 – In a food processor, crush the cooled roasted seeds. Set about a third of them aside to add texture to the cookie. Continue processing the rest in the robot until a fine powder is obtained. Add a pinch of salt.
3 – In the mixer bowl, whip the egg whites at medium speed to form soft peaks using the whisk. Stir in half the sugar then stiffen the egg whites at high speed incorporating the rest of the sugar to obtain soft peaks.
4 – As soon as step 3 is done transfer the meringue to a bowl. Sprinkle in the seed powder and gently fold with a balloon whisk or a rubber spatula. Repeat step with the crushed seeds (see step 2).
5 – Spread the mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and even it out using an angled spatula to obtain a uniform thickness of 1cm.
6 – Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
7 – As soon as they come out of the oven, separate the edges of the dacquoise from the baking sheet using a pastry horn or a knife with a thin blade. Flip it over on a piece of parchment paper and let it cool completely. Once tempered, cut out plain 8cm rounds using a cookie cutter and reserve.
NOTE(S) :
Here are some cooking indicators for the dacquoise: its texture should be soft and its surface should no longer be sticky to the touch. The cookie should evenly and lightly color in the oven.
It is possible to transform the dacquoise scraps into a crumble. Simply break them down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 175ºC (350ºF), or until lightly browned. It will dry whilst cooling.
1 – Cut the squash (1) in half and empty out the seeds. Roughly chop it into pieces.
2 – Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Pour the squash in and cook until a knife blade easily cuts through its flesh and strain.
3 – Reduce the cooked squash to a smooth puree in a blender.
4 – Reserve 385g of squash puree for the pastry cream (see following recipe).
5 – Season the remaining puree (2) and rectify the taste to your liking.
NOTE(S) :
Kuri squash is great for pastry as it is both sweet and fragrant. Once cooked, the skin becomes tender allowing the squash to be used in its whole. The puree obtained is smooth as its skin contains very little starch. If you use a different, more fibrous variety of squash it is recommended to peel it before cooking and pass the puree through a strainer (chinois) before serving.
We use apple cider vinegar infused with squash scraps. Not only does this bring flavor to the puree, it also helps reduce unused scraps of the squash. If desired, you can replace it with plain apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
1 – In a saucepan, heat the milk and half of the maple sugar over medium heat.
2 – In a bowl, mix the cornstarch and the rest of the maple sugar with a whisk.
3 – Add the eggs to the bowl and whisk until the mixture lightens.
4 – Once the milk comes to a steam, temper the mixture (3-) with one third of milk and combine using a whisk.
5 – Pour the hot mixture (4-) into the saucepan and mix well. Return to medium-high heat constantly stirring vigorously until the first sign of boil. The mixture should have thickened by then.
6 – Transfer to a container and incorporate the butter
7 – Cover with contact film and let it cool in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.
8 – Once the pastry cream is cooled smooth it out using a spatula and incorporate the squash puree
9 – Pour the pastry cream into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (no.7). Refrigerate until ready to use.
NOTE(S) :
It is important to dry mix the maple sugar with the cornstarch (step 2) in order to break up the starch granules which will prevent lumps from forming in the custard.
If lumps appear by the end of cooking (step 5-), pass the pasty custard through a strainer (chinois) before adding the butter.
1 – Place all the ingredients in the mixer bowl and whip at low-medium speed until the praline incorporates envely to the cream.
2 – Whip the chantilly at medium speed.
3 – Pour the chantilly into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (no.9). Refrigerate until ready to use.
1 – Using a small angled spatula spread a thin layer of maple syrup pumpkin seed praline paste on the dacquoise cookie.
2 – Pipe small peaks of chantilly and squash pastry cream.
3 – Using a spoon, garnish the empty spaces with squash puree.
4 – Sprinkle some pumpkin seed praline on top and enjoy!