Category Archives: Recipes

Brand-New Bridge Is On It’s Way!


It’s hard to believe but it’s been two years since Bravo! was published and thanks to all of you, it now has 100,000 copies in print.  Sally Vaughan-Johnston and Best of Bridge – the winning team that brought you Bravo! will be back in the early Fall with a collection of brand-new recipes.  Fan Fare!  will have loads of tips to help you deal with the midweek madness of meal preparation and, as always, the dishes are made with ingredients that are easily found at the local supermarket.  Influenced by the recipes that first captured our hearts, but inspired by global cuisine and in tune with today’s lifestyle, this fantastic collection features something for everyone! Fan Fare! will be coming to a store near you in early Fall.  Please stay tuned for more details.

Roasted Winter Vegetable and Orange Soup

Roasted Winter Vegetable and Orange Soup

Roasted Winter Vegetable and Orange Soup
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Ingredients
  1. When the cold winds blow, warm up with this soulful soup.
  2. 1 large onion, coarsely chopped 1
  3. 2 small parsnips, peeled and coarsely 2 chopped
  4. 2 cups coarsely chopped peeled sweet 500 mL
  5. potato (about 1 medium)
  6. 2 cups coarsely chopped peeled 500 mL
  7. butternut squash (about 1 small)
  8. 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided 45 mL
  9. 1 tbsp chopped gingerroot 15 mL
  10. 1 tsp ground coriander 5 mL
  11. 4 cups chicken broth 1 L
  12. 1 tsp liquid honey 5 mL
  13. Juice of 1 orange
  14. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  15. Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
  16. Sliced almonds, toasted
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). In a large bowl, toss onion, parsnips, sweet potato and squash with 2 tbsp (25 mL) of the oil. Spread in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet and roast, turning once, for 45 to 50 minutes or until softened and browned. In a large saucepan, heat the remaining oil over medium heat. Sauté ginger and coriander until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add roasted vegetables, chicken broth and honey; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Using an immersion blender, or in a food processor or blender in batches, purée soup until smooth. Return to pan, if necessary. Stir in orange juice and reheat over medium heat, stirring often and adding a little water if soup is too thick, until steaming. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with cilantro and almonds. Serves 6.
  2. Make ahead: Let soup cool, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 day or freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw and reheat to serve.
  3. Tip: Roasting the vegetables takes awhile, but it caramelizes their natural sugars, making them sweet and delicious.
  4. Variation: Use carrots, turnips, pumpkin or regular potatoes in place or one or two of the vegetables in this recipe. Just be sure to include one orange vegetable for an appealing and colorful soup.
Notes
  1. From: Bravo! Best of Bridge Cookbook
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Southwestern Beef Chili

Bacon and puréed chipotle pepper add a sweet, smoky flavor to this rib-stickin’ beef chili.

Southwestern Beef Chili
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Ingredients
  1. Bacon and puréed chipotle pepper add a sweet, smoky flavor to this rib-stickin’ beef chili.
  2. Serve with fresh crusty multigrain bread and pass sour cream and shredded Cheddar cheese at the table.
Ingredients
  1. 2 slices bacon, chopped 2
  2. 1 lb lean ground beef 500 g
  3. 1 large onion, finely chopped 1
  4. 1 large carrot, finely chopped 1
  5. 1 stalk celery, finely chopped 1
  6. 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1
  7. 2 cloves garlic, minced 2
  8. 2 tsp chili powder 10 mL
  9. 1 tsp puréed canned chipotle pepper 5 mL
  10. (see tip, page 153)
  11. 1 tsp ground cumin 5 mL
  12. 1 tsp dried oregano 5 mL
  13. 1 can (28 oz/796 mL) whole tomatoes 1
  14. with juice (see tip, page 173), chopped
  15. 1 can (14 to 19 oz/398 to 540 mL) 1
  16. black beans, drained and rinsed
  17. 1 cup frozen corn kernels 250 mL
  18. 2 tbsp tomato paste 25 mL
  19. 2 tbsp packed brown sugar 25 mL
  20. 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 50 mL
  21. Salt and freshly ground
  22. black pepper
Instructions
  1. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, over medium-high heat, sauté bacon until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Drain off all but 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the fat. Add beef, onion, carrot, celery and red pepper to skillet and sauté, breaking up beef with a spoon, for 7 to 8 minutes or until beef is no longer pink. Drain fat. Return bacon to pan and add garlic, chili powder, chipotle pepper, cumin and oregano; sauté for 15 seconds or until fragrant. Add tomatoes, beans, corn, tomato paste and brown sugar; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  2. Serves 6.
  3. Make Ahead: Let cool, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 day or freeze for up to 1 month.
  4. Tip: Don’t be shy with the salt. It makes all the difference to the flavor of this excellent chili!
Notes
  1. Tip: Don’t be shy with the salt. It makes all the difference to the flavor of this excellent chili!
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Butter Tarts

These are exceptional! For these use frozen shells or your own pastry recipe.

Butter Tarts
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Ingredients
  1. 1 cup white sugar 250 mL
  2. 1 cup seedless raisins 250 mL
  3. 2 eggs 2
  4. 1 tsp vanilla 5 mL
  5. 1⁄3 cup butter 75 mL
  6. 4 tbsp cream or half-and-half 60 mL
  7. 1⁄2 cup broken walnuts 125 mL
Instructions
  1. Beat eggs. Combine with remaining ingredients except nuts, and boil at medium heat for 3 minutes. Add nuts. Fill unbaked tart shells and bake for
  2. 15 minutes at 375°F (190°C). Makes filling for 24 tarts.
  3. From the The Complete Best of Bridge, Volume 1 page 331.
Instructions
  1. Beat eggs. Combine with remaining ingredients except nuts, and boil at medium heat for 3 minutes. Add nuts. Fill unbaked tart shells and bake for
  2. 15 minutes at 375°F (190°C). Makes filling for 24 tarts.
Notes
  1. From the The Complete Best of Bridge, Volume 1 page 331.
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Bomb Shelter Croustades

These tasty mushroom filled ‘tarts’ come from the wife of the architect who designed Pierre Trudeau’s bombshelter!

Bomb Shelter Croustades
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Ingredients
Croustades
  1. 24 very thin slices of white bread
  2. 2 Tbsp. butter 30 mL
Mushroom Filling
  1. 3 Tbsp. onion, finely chopped 45 mL
  2. 1/2 lb. mushrooms, finely chopped 250 g
  3. 4 Tbsp. butter 60 mL
  4. 2 Tbsp. flour 30 mL
  5. 1 cup whipping cream 250 mL
  6. 3 Tbsp. dry white wine 45 mL
  7. 1/2 tsp. salt 2 mL
  8. pinch cayenne pepper
  9. 1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley 15 mL
  10. 1 1/2 Tbsp. finely chopped green
  11. onion 22 mL
  12. 3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese 45 mL
Instructions
  1. Croustades: Generously butter small muffin tins. Flatten bread with rolling pin and cut a 3″ round from each slice. Carefully fit these into the muffin tins. Bake at 400 deg.F for 10 minutes, or until rims are lightly browned. Remove from tins and cool (may be frozen at this point).
  2. Filling: In frying pan, melt butter, add onion and mushrooms. Stir and cook until all moisture is evaporated. Sprinkle with flour. Stir thoroughly. Add cream, stir constantly until it boils. Add wine, reduce heat and simmer a few minutes longer. Remove from heat, stir in salt, cayenne, parsley and green onion. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until needed.
  3. To Serve: Preheat oven to 350 deg.F (180 deg.C). Spoon mushroom filling into croustades; lightly sprinkle with parmesan and place on cookie sheet. Heat in oven 10 minutes, then briefly under the broiler. Serves 8 delighted guests.
Notes
  1. These tasty mushroom filled 'tarts' come from the wife of the architect who designed Pierre Trudeau's bombshelter!
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 Book Reference – Grand Slam (Page: 48)

Thanks for all the feedback!

We hope everyone has been enjoying the beautiful Fall weather as well as the enjoyment that comes from  making and tasting lots of Bridge recipes, both new and old…  This brings us to a topic that has been much commented-upon on our blog in the last few days – old recipes. Many of our loyal readers have commented that they really value the recipe search function on the old website as well as the ability to  print the recipes. Our new site doesn’t offer this service, but it’s clear to us that it’s very important to you.  To help us find the best way to put recipes on this site, please leave a comment below to let us know how you’ve used our Recipes of the Month in the past – this will really help us to learn from your experiences. It’s fantastic that our readers are passionate enough to let us know their thoughts and feedback, and a big thanks goes out to everyone who got in touch. We want our site to be an experience you’ll come back to again and again, so please continue to share your thoughts with us… and watch this space : )  The Best of Bridge team.

Beef Extraordinaire with Sauce Diane

When the boss comes to dinner…

Beef Extraordinaire with Sauce Diane
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Ingredients
  1. Serves 8.
Ingredients
  1. 4 lbs. beef tenderloin 2 kg
  2. 1/2 cup butter – melted 125 mL
  3. 3/4 lb. mushrooms – sliced 340 g
  4. 1 1/2 cups green onions – sliced 375 mL
  5. 2 tsp. dry mustard 10 mL
  6. 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 15 mL
  7. 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 15 mL
  8. 1 tsp. salt 5 mL
  9. Book Reference – the Best of the Best – Vol. 1(Page: 228), Grand Slam (Page: 118)
Instructions
  1. Leave tenderloin in whole piece. Place in pan on rack in 500 degree oven for 30 minutes. Use meat thermometer – 30 minutes will cook beef to medium stage. While meat is cooking, saute the mushrooms and green onion in the melted butter with mustard for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook an additional 5 minutes. Keep warm on back of stove. Cut meat into thick slices. Serve with sauce and oven baked wild rice.
  2. Book Reference – the Best of the Best – Vol. 1(Page: 228), Grand Slam (Page: 118)
Notes
  1. Book Reference – the Best of the Best – Vol. 1(Page: 228), Grand Slam (Page: 118)
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