2 large red onions
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon dried sage
2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt and pepper

1. Remove outer onion skin but do not cut the onion. Slice the onions vertically into 8 wedges, leaving the tops and bottoms in tact so the individual pieces stay together.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl. Pour this evenly over the onions in an oven-proof dish.
3. Bake onions in a 450 degree oven until caramelized and just tender (about 30 minutes.) Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

Makes 8 servings

1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 small eggplant, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 ounces Camembert or Brie, thinly sliced
4 sprigs thyme
coarse salt and pepper

1. Heat half the oil in a skillet over medium heat and lightly brown the sliced vegetables in batches. Season with salt and pepper while they are hot.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, make 4 layered stacks of eggplant and zucchini with a slice of cheese in between each.
3. Drizzle with remaining oil and bake until cheese melts.
4. Garnish with thyme before serving.

Makes 4 servings

2 chicken legs with thighs attached
3 tablespoons butter
2 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 ounces dry white wine
4 ounces heavy cream
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
salt and pepper

1. Melt a tablespoon of the butter in a skillet over medium heat and cook the chicken until done.
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and remove it from the pan, keeping it warm while preparing the sauce.
3. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and saute until soft.
4. Add the rest of the butter, wine, cream and tarragon to the pan, stirring until melted.
5. Return the chicken to the pan and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for several minutes until it thickens. Adjust seasoning if necessary and serve.

Makes 2 servings

Today is a Canadian election day. This last month has been nothing more than a vicious cat fight of slanderous campaigns. It seems as though all parties involved have completely abandoned actually trying to represent themselves and what they stand for and deciding to pump money into advertisements to make the other candidates look bad.

In the few televised debates and sound bites that I've caught over the last while that were actually relevant to Canada, I can't say that there's really anyone out there that's going to represent the whole of my values if elected. I guess a big part of our political system is selecting the lesser evil, but I don't remember it being quite this bad before. Maybe it's my fault for not having the attention span to decipher what is honest and plausible and what is just hot air.

I think that this is a great country, but there are certainly changes that need to be made. I do think politics are important and I hope that you visited the ballot box if you're a citizen. However it seems nearly impossible to have candidates that correctly portray not only what people really want, but what a country really needs. Sure, tax cuts sound wonderful and everybody seems to want them, but what our government actually uses the tax money for is far more important. I'd rather be paying 30% taxes and still have Medicare than pay 20% and live in perpetual worry of ever being hospitalized.

Anyhow, tonight's theme is based on the election. A friend of mine suggested I do dishes based on party names (such as
chicken catch-a-Tory) but I'd already decided on dishes that start with the letters to spell VOTE. In hindsight, his would have been far more interesting. This was definitely a pretty meal. Don't let the French undertones fool you; I'm not a separatist. I love Quebec as a part of Canada. I hope that never changes.

I don't think I'll ever make the Vegetable Napoleons again. It's simply not worth shelling out the money for Camembert and there really isn't a suitable substitute, other than Brie, which isn't any less expensive. The dish itself is tasty, if you like buttery eggplant and zucchini flavor, but didn't wow me enough to justify buying imported cheese.

The Oven Roasted Sweet Onion recipe misled me. I had everything planned out perfectly for dinner time and I ended up waiting another 20 minutes for the onions to finish when they were only supposed to take 12 to begin with. I accounted for this in the cooking time for my version of the recipe. They taste as though a sweet onion should; sweet and lightly spicy. To my surprise Shannon actually liked them. I was under the impression that she hated baked or roasted onions, but I guess I was wrong (or these were particularly good). I prefer how they look to how they actually taste, but I think that this is comparable to sweet onions I've been served in a restaurant, so I'll take that to me that the recipe is a good one.

I realize now that the Tarragon Chicken is very similar to the white wine chicken I made on the first of the month. I can't be out of original recipes already! This was just a fluke. Thankfully they are 2 very different dishes altogether. I can't imagine eating tarragon with anything other than a creamy sauce and if you look on any guidelines for what to pair herbs with, tarragon's first match will likely be chicken. The flavor of the sauce is very rich and compliments the meat quite nicely, while also working with the creamy Camembert in the vegetable Napoleons. The shallots in the sauce also help to bring in the caramelized onions, since they have a similar flavor. As far as palette and esthetics are concerned this was a very pleasant dish.