The South Arm Cooking Club for seniors had a guest on their last cooking session.  The guest is Margaret Hewlett, the executive director from the Richmond Food Bank Society.  Can you guess why is she invited?

The reason is the food concession at the South Arm Community Center Christmas craft fair was a great success.  The seniors made the Best Cocoa Brownies, a few types of sandwiches and hot chocolates for the food concession.  The response was so good that they ran out of food and have to go out to buy more ingredients to make more sandwiches.

People are very generous and they pay generously for the food at the concession.  Stella presented the proceeds of $681 to Margaret.  This is the time of the year where the food bank needed donations the most during the holiday season.  Margaret shared with the seniors some information on the Richmond Food Bank Society and offered the seniors a tour of the Richmond Food Bank Society in the near future.

Alright, back to food, the theme for this cooking session is appetizers as the Christmas holiday is approaching fast.  The first appetizer is called Bouchons au Thon.  Bouchon in french means cap or cork or stopper while au thon is tuna.  Therefore Bouchons au Thon is literally translated to Tuna Cap or Tuna Cork.  This is more so if it is baked in a regular muffin tin. This recipe is adapted from Orangette and it makes 8.

These Bouchons are like miniature, crustless tuna quiches.  They are delicious warm or at room temperature, and can be baked in any configuration: miniature muffins, regular muffins, or tart-size.  They also freeze well, and should be gently reheated before serving.

Ingredients

• 180 grams canned tuna in water (preferably chunk light), drained
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 5 tablespoons creme fraiche, plain yogurt, or sour cream
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup finely grated gruyere cheese
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease 8 cups of a muffin tin. In a medium bowl, break up the tuna with a fork, smashing it to a rough paste.

Add the tomato paste,creme fraiche, eggs, Italian parsley, onion, gruyere, a good pinch of salt and pepper and mix well.  The batter should be relatively smooth.

Spoon the batter evenly into 8 wells of the muffin tin, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until set and golden around the edges. June and Christina, thank you for making the Bouchons au Thon.