[Wrapping up the East Coast By Taste series this week is the Feisty Chef! If you missed any of the posts, check the archived East Coast Guest Posts. Thanks once again to all the fabulous foodies and chefs who wrote so passionately about the theme for this month.]

By Renee Lavallee

When I embarked upon the crazy train that is my food career fifteen years ago, my philosophy of food was much different than it is now. It was foolish and silly, and I thought that my philosophy was the end all and be all of all things culinary. My, how things have changed! Fifteen years ago, I was influenced by “fluff”, as I now call it. It was bright, flashy and extravagant. I thought that incorporating as many ingredients as possible into a single dish was “cutting edge” and “fancy”. I thought that using the strangest ingredients possible was “nouveau”, and that my culinary savvy was something that only I, a twenty-something girl, possessed. How could I not be a great chef with all this? Did I not have many, many ring molds and squeeze bottles? Did I not think that Charlie Trotter, the great Chicago chef, was a god? I remember thinking that my first special was going to have people writing about me, and my culinary prowess (it was a ravioli of crab with banana and blue cheese). Needless to say, my chef at the time asked me if I had been smoking crack, as this cutting edge concoction was nothing more than a repulsive and repugnant dish. It has taken many years, many trips, much heartache and sweat to reach my current philosophy of food. It isn’t anything new; it isn’t cutting edge. I believe that it has taken me fifteen years to realize that all the fluff that we see on tv and read about in those glossy magazines, isn’t food. It is nothing more than a flash in the pan attitude that we, as consumers, believe in. What is my philosophy? Well, here it is: simplicity.

Simplicity to me is one or two keys ingredients that marry well together. They live together in harmony and bring out the best in each other. They are locally grow and cultivated, and cooked by local hands. They are paired with local wines, beers and spirits. Was fresh arugula not meant to live happily ever after with a sun kissed tomato? Did potatoes ever think they would spend the rest of their lives without bacon? Did a growler of Propeller Bitter not want to be with a slice of Old Growler? This is how I feel; a grown-up outlook on food.

This is a super simple soup that encompasses all my “simplicity” beliefs and uses local and seasonal products. Whip up a batch and enjoy the liquid goodness!

Photo credit: christing-O- from Flickr

Roasted Onion & Parsley Root Soup

• 5 lbs white onions; thinly sliced
• 1 lb grated parsley root (or parsnip if you cannot find any!)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 5 qts. veal stock (or chicken stock)
• 1 cup brandy
• 2 cups good dry white wine
• 8 tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 tbsp flour

1. Sweat onions and parsley root for 10 minutes over medium heat in butter & oil.
2. Add salt , sugar, bay leaves & thyme. Cook until “chestnut” brown.
3. Add flour & cook 3 minutes.
4. Add some hot stock, stir until incorporated & then remaining stock.
5. Finish with brandy & wine; cook 40 minutes.
6. Garnish with some Dragon’s Breath cheese!

My top 5 cookbooks…ever!

1. All “River Cafe” cookbooks…very simplistic, seasonal & unpretentious
2. A Year At Les Fougeres…I used to work with Charlie & Jennifer Part and they are the reason why I am who I am today
3. The Whole Beast: Nose To Tail Eating…Need I say more!
4. Moro..simple, flavourful Spanish cooking
5. L’Eau A La Bouche…the great restaurant in the Laurentiens where Anne Desjardins set the standards for local & seasonal cooking

Renee Lavallee is also known as the Feisty Chef. She’s a chef, mother, and crazy cheese lover.

By Renée Lavallée

My first memory of the East Coast was when I was six years’ old and my family packed us all into the car for the drive from small town Quebec. Our first stop was Prince Edward Island, and my only memory is of a cottage we stayed at and the sandy beaches. When we came to Halifax, I remembered that it rained a lot, and that there were gargoyles outside of our hotel window that scared the living daylights out of me. As a six year old, my East Coast experience was not one that impressed me much, and did not leave a desire to return to this area.

Photo credit: S_Kerr from Flickr

Many moons later, as a 29-year-old woman, I was offered a job at the prestigious Inn At Bay Fortune in Prince Edward Island. I still remember how excited and amazed I was when I crossed the bridge and arrived on this lush green island. This was not the Prince Edward Island of my childhood memories. I immediately fell in love with the island and its people. For two years, I was proud to call myself an “islander”, even though everyone knew that I was a recent transplant. It was during this “island time” that I met a young Haligonian, who eventually stole my heart and persuaded me to call Halifax my home.

I have been living in Halifax for the past five years, and it certainly feels like home. The Haligonians remind me of the folk of the Pontiac, where I grew up. Always friendly, always willing to help and laid back. At first, I wondered if I could live in a world of no 24 hour Vietnamese restaurants or Starbucks on every corner. Could I handle being in a small city where everyone knew your name? It was like being back in Shawville! Oh, how I missed the anonymity of living in Toronto, where no one cared or even gave you a second look. I soon learned to love the small town feel, and found that when I returned to Toronto to visit, I found it busy, loud and unfriendly. My family that comes to visit from Ottawa and Toronto always laughs when they ask me where a specific place is in Halifax and how far it is and my response is always “oh, just around the corner and a few minutes away”.

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be living on the East Coast, my response would have been “hardly now”, but now I am sure that it was the best move I ever made!

Renée Lavallée (a.k.a. Feisty Chef) is a chef, mother, crazy cheese lover.