Frozen Food

The days lengthen, but here in North America, spring is still far away… except on our plates. A wide array of frozen vegetables and fruit readily available in supermarkets everywhere can bring the pleasures of renewal to our taste buds. They bring most of the vitamins and antioxidants of their fresh counterparts at a fraction of the cost of their long hauled South Continents cousins. When you buy, just check the consistency of the package: the content should be both loose and frozen. Store immediately in the freezer section of your refrigerator.
The following recipes use frozen peas, asparagus and raspberries for a light and rapidly prepared three courses meal for 4 people. Minimal cooking should ensure that the vegetables keep their nutritional value.

Pea soup
(Cheap, Preparation and cooking time: 10 minutes, Easy)

Ingredients:
1 slice white bread
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1 sprig of thyme
1 tablespoon canola oil
½ cup (113 g) finely chopped onion
¼ cup (60 g) finely chopped celery
1 lb (543 g) frozen peas
2 cups (500 ml) water
Drops of Maggi aromatics
1 sprig mint
¼ cup (60ml) crème fraîche
Salt and Pepper to taste

Material:
1 4-quart saucepan
1 blender
1 cookie sheet covered with parchment paper
1 bread knife and board

Preheat the oven at 325F (162 C). Cube the white bread and lay it on the cooking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil and thyme leaves. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, turning at mid point.
Pour the oil in the saucepan. Turn the gas stove top on high. Add the onion and celery and sauté them for 3 minutes at a lower temperature. Add the water. Bring to a boil and add the frozen peas and the sprig of mint. Simmer covered at a lower temperature for five minutes. Retrieve and discard the sprig of mint. Pour the vegetables and water in the blender and mix until you reach a smooth consistency.
Pour the soup back into the saucepan. Heat up over a very low flame. Add the crème fraîche and simmer for another two minutes. Serve immediately in 4 soup bowls with the croutons sprinkled on top.

Asparagus Soufflé
(Easy, Preparation time and cooking: 30 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
6 organic eggs
½ cup (113 ml) milk
1tablespoon (14 g) flour
1tablespoon (14 g) butter
4 oz (113 g) hard goat cheese with truffle or Gruyere
8 oz (226 g) frozen asparagus

Material:
2 salad bowls
1 eggbeater
1 silicone spatula
1 wooden spoon
1 small saucepan
1 soufflé dish buttered and floured

Preheat the oven at 360 F (182 C).
Separate the white and the yolks in two separate salad bowls.
Place the saucepan on the lowest setting of the gas stove and melt the butter. Add the flour while mixing. Pour the milk over the mixture and keep on stirring until the béchamel forms about 3 minutes. Remove from the stove.
Place the asparagus into the top part of a steamer, sprinkle a teaspoon of salt and cook for about 7 minutes. Cut into 1-inch pieces and reserve.
Grate the cheese and add to the béchamel. Add the yolks and stir. Beat the white until peaks form. Add the whites to the batter carefully lifting them with a silicone spatula until well mixed. Add the asparagus pieces and transfer the batter to the soufflé dish.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve immediately with a green salad.

Raspberries tart crème brûlée
(Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour, Cheap)

12 oz (340 g) frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon Rose syrup
½ recipe sweet pastry dough (recipe follows)
1 egg
¼ cup (50 g) crystallized sugar
¼ cup (50 ml) crème fraîche
¼ cup (50 ml) milk
Confectioner sugar to dust

Sweet pastry dough:
1 stick (113 g) butter cut in small pieces
1cup (226 g) pastry flour
1teaspoon salt
¼ cup (50 g) sugar
Ice water

Material:
8-inch (22 cm) pie mold buttered and floured
Parchment paper
Rice to weigh the pie
Salad bowl
Colander

Preheat the oven at 360 F (182 C).
Place the raspberries in the colander over a salad bowl to defrost. The raspberries juice can be added to plain red wine vinegar to make raspberry vinegar.
Place the butter, flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a pastry blade attachment. Mix until the mixture is coarse. Through the top opening, and while the food processor is running pour a thin stream of ice water. Pause and observe whether a ball of dough forms. If it does not, continue to sparsely feed water to the machine until it does. Once it does, stop the machine, scoop the ball and place it in a plastic bag or wrap in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough and garnish a pie mold with it. Place parchment paper on top. Weigh it down with rice. Lay the extra rolled out dough on a parchment paper, and bake both for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Store the rice back in a container for further pie cooking. Discard the parchment. Place the extra dough in the cleaned food processor fitted with the regular blade and reduce it in powder.
Crack the eggs in a salad bowl and beat them for 2 minutes. Add the sugar, and beat for another 2 minutes. Add the milk, cream and the rose syrup. Beat until well mixed.
Place the raspberries on top of the dough in one layer. Sprinkle with the powdered dough. Pour carefully the batter on top. If there is a surplus, start by baking the cake for 5 minutes before adding the remaining batter. Bake for another 35 minutes. Retrieve the pie from the oven and let it cool to room temperature.
Sprinkle confectioner sugar on top and bake just under the grill until the top is caramelized and golden.