When life gives you lemons...

For the sake of my waistline (which in happy consequence is also for the sake of my clothes... and of course the sake of my bank account), I had taken a short hiatus from baking. This hiatus was not planned but Mr. A has been in an uber let's-get-healthy mode (and I thank him for it!). Apparently healthy and baked goods don't go hand in hand. 

But really, Tania is not Tania if Tania does not bake! So I'm back in the kitchen with my apron and whisk. 

Among many other things, a friend/colleague and I were recently chit chatting about food and baked goods. This friend is French (real French from France! Not Quebec-french) so I listen in awe about all the different meals she grew up with. Between talking about ''Tartiflette'' and liqueur-filled "Chardons'' chocolates, we ended up talking about french lemon tart topped with fluffy meringue. I absolutely love lemony desserts so I have tried many lemon meringue tarts. Too many to admit. Whether it be my own or delicately crafted ones from those fancy-schmancy and slightly pretentious and overpriced french bakeries in Montreal, I find they all taste like eggs. I love eggs as much as I love lemony sweets but an omelette-esque dessert just doesn't tickle my taste buds.

So thanks to this friend, I got my hands on an authentic recipe for French Lemon Meringue Tart.

I looked at the recipe and thought to myself "Oh my! The food-J.C. would be proud if I made this!" And by food-J.C., I mean Julia Child, of course!

The first time I wanted to make this recipe, I had all the ingredients except for butter-- somehow the 4 pounds of butter I had purchased around Christmastime had disappeared been deliciously ingested by us steel-stomached Armenians!

Second time around, the overwhelming feeling of "do I want to eat a tart or do I want to feel comfortable in my clothes?" rushed through me. I opted for the latter and followed Mr. A's exemplary behavior.

Now, it's the third time around and this time, Mr. A's exemplary behavior was truly not contagious in any way. As he stepped out to go to the gym, I stepped up and made my way to the kitchen. I WILL bake this tart. 

The recipe was as easy and basic as I intended it to be. I think it is very refreshing to be able to create something that is so magically scrumptious with the most basic and humblest of ingredients: butter, sugar, flour, eggs and lemons. That's it! 

The final result pleasantly surprised my lemon-tart-skeptic taste buds. The tart did not taste anything like eggs; it had a delicate crust and a pungent, sour filling with soft and cloud-like, pillow-y topping. When life gives you lemons... 

Lemon Meringue Tart

Dough
- 150g flour
- 75g cold butter (cut into pea-size pieces)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cold water

Lemon Curd
- 2 eggs
- 200g granulated sugar
- 2 lemons
- 80g butter, softened
- a small pinch of salt

Meringue
- 2 egg whites
- 60g powdered sugar
- a small pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F. 

Dough
Mix together the flour, the zest of 1 lemon, salt and pea-size butter pieces by pressing the mixture between the palms of your hands. You are looking for a grainy mixture. Add 1/2 cup cold water and mix. Knead the dough for a few minutes. Form it into a ball and flatter it down at least 3 times. Shape it into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge while you make your filling.

Lemon Curd
In a bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar and pinch of salt for about 5 minutes. Add the zest of the remaining lemons (zest of  1 1/2 lemons), the juice of the 2 lemons and the softened butter.

Roll your dough out and line your pie dish. I used a rectangular 35.5 x 10 cm one but you can use a round one. Add the lemon curd and bake at 400F for 25-30 minutes. 

Meringue
Whisk together the egg whites and small pinch of salt  until you get very stiff peaks. Gradually add the powdered sugar a spoonful at a time until it is fully incorporated. 

Once your tart is out of the oven, lower the heat of the oven to 275F. Add (or pipe) onto your tart the meringue and bake for about 10-15 minutes until the tops are nice and golden. 

Bon appétit! ☺

Annie

Let's face it. There is a lot of good, a lot of bad and a whole lot of ugly in this world. We are constantly bombarded with negative news headlines. It is so easy to get sucked up in the negativity of the world; it is so easy to get sad and worried every time we flip through the newspaper or turn on the TV. To put myself in a happier and lighter state of mind, I make it a point to shift my focus away from the bad and the ugly when I blog.

Now, contradicting what I just said, I'm going to tell you about a very ugly incident I witnessed recently at Walmart. 

I was at the cash register of my local Walmart and a few registers away was an old man likely in his late 70s or early 80s. The man was speaking English and the young cashier was replying to him in French. The man apologized to her and asked for her to speak English because he did not speak French. Adamantly, the girl (her name was Annie) continued to answer him in French. One more time, the man told her that he did not understand. This is when Annie started to raise her voice loud enough to make many heads turn in a noisy Walmart. 

She raised her voice at the older man who could have easily been three times her age and started lecturing him on how he should learn to speak French because he is in Quebec. She was telling him to move anywhere else in Canada if he wanted to speak in English. I was shocked. After her unimpressive speech, she walked away from the cash without having finished the transaction with the old man. She stood a few meters away and faced the customer service section of the store. The man asked her twice where she was going; she replied in an impatient and annoyed tone "I have a problem with my cash." 

Luckily, the man was taking everything lightly. He was laughing at this strange situation (this strange situation that, unfortunately, is not considered so strange anymore).

Listen, Annie, (and to all you other "Annies" out there) before you start lecturing people on what language they "should" speak, maybe someone should have educated you and lectured you on how to be polite and how to treat people with respect. With what right do you raise your voice to a complete stranger, to a customer? 

This small incident at Walmart does not even compare with the many other ridiculous incidents we've all heard about (hospital staff telling patients to speak French, the infamous Pastagate, etc.)

The hate that has been instilled in you "Annies" is quite sad and shameful. I understand that you would like to preserve Quebec's language from the "evil anglophones" but every single time I hear someone say "You have to speak French in Quebec!", I feel pity. I pity you "Annies" for living in your narrow-minded worlds, and for going out to (language) war armed with an old-fashioned mindset and broken French (for some of you).

Every few weeks, a new story about these language wars emerges and, frankly, "Annies", it's getting pretty ridiculous. 

Click here to read about the gem of the week.

Five word sentence - two mistakes
Gem of the week @ Valentine Deux-Montagnes

Enough about language wars though. There is some good in Quebec: Poutine!
An indulgence of fries and cheese curds topped with heavenly gravy.
Here's my take on the best gravy for your poutine.

Poutine Gravy

Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 5 cups beef (or veal) stock, heated
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- Pepper

Directions
1. In a saucepan, on Medium-High heat, belt the butter. Add the flour and stir for about 3-4 minutes until the mixture turns golden brown. 
2. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 20-30 seconds.
3. Add the heated stock a little bit at a time while whisking (you don't want lumpy gravy!)
4. Once all the stock is added, add the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and apple cider vinegar.
5. Cook for about 5 minutes until the gravy has thickened and season with pepper.

Top your crispy fries and cheese curds with this luscious gravy and indulge!