How to pass your root vegetables in a tasty way

Metro asked chef Janice Tiefenbach (Elena, Gia Vin & Grill) for recipes on how to spend all those hoarded seasonal veggies. Meals in sight!

You needed an onion for a recipe and you have 14 to go? Metro asked chef Janice Tiefenbach (Elena, Gia Vin & Grill) for recipes on how to go through all those hoarding root vegetables. Meals in sight!

Fall in Quebec is also synonymous with large ten-pound bags of onions, carrots, beets, potatoes and squash at very very low prices.

That's good: chef Janice Tiefenbach, who always favors the use of seasonal vegetables in her recipes, knows how to enhance our autumn harvests.

Here are his tips to treat yourself at home:  

Squashes and their possibilities  

Credits: iStock

Choice squash according to the chef: delicata, Koginut and pumpkin. Why? Because they grow here and they're sweet, yet dense. 

Pie: Puree your squash and sweeten to taste for tasty fall desserts. &nbsp ;

Backing: mash your squash, add miso and butter to accompany your protein. 

Soup: reduce your squash, leeks and chestnuts (fruit of that looks like a nut) in soup for comfort in a bowl.

Pasta filling : Slowly cook your cut squash in milk, until tender. Switch to the robot for a few seconds. Add nutmeg, then toss with ricotta and hazelnut butter to use the mixture as a filling for your pasta.  

Tatin pie onions 

To amaze the gallery – or yourself – the chef recommends celebrating the onions by cooking them like a tarte tatin.  

Credits: iStock

Ingredients (to taste) 

Onions 

Thyme 

Butter 

Salt and pepper 

Sugar 

Raisins 

Apple cider vinegar

< p>Eau-de-vie or calvados 

Puff pastry or pastry 

Creme fraiche

Chives 

Salt and pepper 

Preparation:  

1. Choose firm small red or yellow onions or French shallots, halve through the root, snip off the edge of the root a bit and peel.  

2. Toss with freshly picked thyme and season with coarse salt and pepper.  

3. In a medium sized skillet in the oven or a cast iron skillet, place a few generous spoonfuls of butter, sprinkle with a little sugar and stir over low heat to melt.  

4. Add the onions cut side down. Cook slowly until they begin to colour. 

5. Meanwhile, soak some raisins in boiling water with a little apple cider vinegar and a splash of brandy or calvados.

6.  Let stand for 20 minutes while cooking the onions. Drain and set aside.

7. Add a little salt and pepper and scatter the raisins over the onions. 

8. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Roll out puff pastry or pie crust and close the mold to form a tarte tatin. 

9. Bake for 40 minutes at 350. Remove out of the oven and let rest for at least 30 minutes before turning the pan upside down. Serve hot with fresh cream and chives.

Seasoned carrots and local cheese 

Credits: iStock

Hot and seasoned Janice-style carrots: mix carrots with crushed garlic, thyme, honey and plenty of olive oil. Bake slowly and stir occasionally. When the carrots have a crust, remove them from the oven. Serve with your main dish.

Carrots with cheese from here: to make this accompaniment more special, you can mix this recipe for hot baked carrots with a Quebec cheese. As suggestions: the Fleur des Monts from the La Moutonnière cheese dairy, the Louis d’Or from the Presbytère cheese dairy or even a milder product such as the Péningouin from the Au Gré des Champs cheese dairy.

Marinated beets 

Marinating beets in the fall season is a classic for many . Here's Janice's method to get you started. 

Credits: iStock

Ingredients (to taste) 

Beets 

Garlic&nbsp ;

Salt and pepper 

Laurel 

Thyme 

Vinegar 

Olive oil

Preparation 

1. Put the beets in a saucepan with the skin still on, cover with water, add whole garlic, pepper, bay leaf and a little thyme with a few spoonfuls of salt, sugar and a cup or two of your choice of vinegar.

2. Simmer slowly for about an hour or until tender. Fill with water if it evaporates too much.  

3. Check for doneness with a small knife or skewer. When it enters without too much resistance, your beets are done.

4. Let them cool a little in the cooking liquid off the heat until they are cool enough to handle. The skins should peel off very easily. A kitchen towel is useful for removing the skin quickly. Cut off any roots or rough pieces with a knife.

5. Cut the beets into wedges and serve with olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.  

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It’s such a tasty accompaniment to roast meats or even as part of a simple lunch with buttered fresh bread.

Janice's dishes

You can go and taste the Italian-inspired dishes of Janice in the dining room:

Gia Vin & Grill: Tuesday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (for breakfast) and Tuesday to Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. (for dinner) 

Elena Pizzeria: Monday to Sunday, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.