Weekend comfort: chai, fattouche, and some light reading.

Prep time Total time Serves

After a week of nice spring temperatures, just like that winter is back with a vengeance.

We're not all that surprised, and some cocooning time (as my mother would say) is more than welcome. What's cocooning? For me it means asking myself the question, "If there's nothing to do: no chores, no going to work, no one else at home—what can I do to relax?" And there you go. Everyone has their own road to joy.

If you skate, sled, walk, ski, or ski-doo this weekend, the following plan might remind you of that special moment from childhood when your mom served hot chocolate when you came in from the cold.

A homemade chai. A whole pot of homemade chai.
 
In December we started offering a spice kit for mulled wine, specially made for Lufavores by Paulette, co-owner of La Fine Fleur de la Tapani. Paulette, who's been one of our partners for more than a year, is a true spice artist.

Orange peel, cinnamon, hibiscus, rose hips, hawthron berries and flowers, mace, cardamom, cloves, allspice, star anise, and bay leaf. All organic.


 
Have you tried the spice kit yet? We suggested using it for mulled wine and a few other winter drinks during the holidays. The holidays have passed, but winter is still far from over and we need hot drinks more than ever.

Here's what Paulette and I recommend for this weekend: make your own chai. (Fun fact: the word "chai" comes from the Persian chay, which in turn comes from the Mandarin chá.) In each burlap bag, there are enough spices for roughtly three 1-litre batches, depending on the infusion time and your personal taste.

Pauline's Homemade Chai

Ingredients (for 8 servings)

  • 5 or 6 bags of good black tea
  • 1/3 bag of mulling spices from Tapani
  • Honey, to taste
  • Milk, to taste
  • 2 litres of water

Directions

  • Put the water into a saucepan with the spices and bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Strain and discard the spices (or keep them for a pot pourri). Place the spiced water over high heat and bring it back to a boil.
  • Pour over the tea and let it steep for about 5 minutes.
  • Add honey (any honey from Miel d'Anicet is highly recommended) and milk (almond, soy, or regular).

"This drink, which has astringent and cleaning properties, with delight you with its rich and flagrant flavors. (A splash of rum will give it a little kick.) Seize the moment!"

- Paulette, la Fine Fleur de la Tapani


 
A fattouche salade from Signé M
 
In December, Louis-François Marcotte of Signé M fame invited us to his kitchen. Seven bloggers (along with the Signé M team, who so graciously hosted us) cooked together, exchanged ideas, and end the day by gathering around a table to share the feast we had just finished making.


 
On the menu: veal porchetta sandwiches, fattouche salad with pita chips, chocolat-cherry cookies...woah, it was crazy.

I brought some tomatoes (obviously!) and we used them to prepare the fattouche. My boyfriend had taught me how to make  fattouche about a week before at home. Simple, incredibly fresh (a lot of lemon juice) and satisfying (with fried pita).

You'll find the salad recipe—along with the other ones from the meal—on page 64 of February's Signé M magazine or on the site. (You'll also see some photos of me eating the ingredients!)

Photos: Signé M

Ingredients

For the salad

  • Iceberg lettuce, chopped (Boston or Oakleaf also work!)
  • Your favorite Lufa Farms tomatoes, quarterd (the equivalent of about two beefsteaks)
  • Fresh mint and parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 2 Lebanese cucumbers, sliced
  • Pomegranate seeds (optional)

For the vinaigrette

  • Juice from 2 lemons
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 teaspoons sumac (it says 1 in Signé M, but they actually added a lot more!)
  • Pomegranate molasses, to taste (optional)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

For the pita chips

  • Pita bread, cut into squares
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

  • Fry the pita in the olive oil, until browned.
  • Place on paper towels and set aside.
  • Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Add pita chips on top just before serving.

Photos: La Boufferie

Once you've prepared your chai and fattouche, you'll be ready to warm up in a blanket and flip through the pages of one of these wonderful local books about food, which are on the Lufa Farms marketplace starting this week.

Edible: Food As Material

A colorful and textural reflection on the kitchen and our eating habits.

Edible: Food As Material
Diane Leclair Bisson
Bilingual. 117 pp. $24.95.
Now available on the Marketplace.

Toqué! Creators of a New Quebec Gastronomy

With Toqué!, Normard Laprise revisits his philosophy and his desire to change the image of Quebecois cuisine. A culinary discovery and a wonderful intimate encounter with Normand Laprise, one of Canada’s most respected and famous chefs. Readers will be taken on a journey from the chef’s kitchen to rivers, forests and the open sea to discover the worlds of sea urchin fishermen, woodsmen, gardeners and cattle breeders.

Toqué! Les artisans d’une gastronomie québécoise
Normand Laprise, Dominique Malaterre
French and English editions available. 464 pp. $69.76.
Now available on the Marketplace.

So, how does a bit of cocooning this weekend sound?

Instructions