Alla en el rancho grande...

Happy middle of the road my dears. We are officially past the Holiday season and into the big wind up to New Years. I am sure that you have by this time come up a grande menu for tomorrow eve's adventures and are looking forward to ringing in the upcoming year in culinary style. 

As December has a large focus on food, family, fun times and a frenzy of beverages I want to share with you a few special meals created for those that I care deeply about. This year my mother decided that the only way to spend real time with her family was to take us out of the city for two days. Being in the cold season, this time together as a family turned quickly into an eating retreat and I happily turned to kitchen to relax. 

 

When stuck in the woods among mass amounts of food I think it is very important to pace yourself. Our afternoon snacking concentrated on some great meats, cheese, and wine. 

 

As the skies grew dark and evening came my flavours became richer and more rustic. I love being out in the middle of nowhere in a kitchen where I can just cook from the heart. I braised a local rabbit in a wonderful one pot stop kind of meal. The flavours of this dish are robust, rich, intense and earthy.

 This rabbit turned beautiful and tender, and it felt good to be cooking close to home as it was naturally raised, and from a wonderful local farm here in good ol' N.S.

 

The next day our eating retreat took a turn backwords as I cooked a second Christmas dinner for my family. I was so busy leading up to December 25 that I was not able to cook this meal so for my sister who craved my home cooked turkey we recreated the traditional menu as a family. Right down to the apple pie

I have to say that this eating retreat was the best possible vacation I could have asked for. As time spent with family brought together by great food and fun is a beautiful reminder of just how lucky I am. 

Happy New Years! Be safe, Eat well, Drink heartily, Dance soulfully, Sing joyfully and check back soon for some new recipes and culinary adventures in the New Year. Cheers to you.

Mardi gras in New Orleans....

Hello hello hello! My it feels like it has been forever since I have sat down to write a blog. I apologize for my lack of blog posting last week my friends. It is currently the season for catering and so no longer am I at my computer but running around a prep kitchen between functions. For chefs I do believe this may be the most love/hated time of the year. Love, because we truly do get to do what we enjoy most everyday and are constantly on the go. Hate, because it's the season where we do not have the time to enjoy any of the great food that is being eaten this time of year; we are just too darn busy. I have eaten more cereal in the past two weeks than I care to say and am not very proud of it.  So my friends what do chefs do with the small bit of time that we have free?

We COOK, we EAT, we DRINK, and we PLAY with flavours in the kitchen like there is no tomorrow!

Yesterday this is exactly what I did. The morning started off with sugar cookie Christmas baking with a great friend and her lovely little girl. 

 This was the most wonderful way to spend a morning. I could honestly bake with those two lovelies and decorate for hours. When baking cookies it is important to have a wee person around because you can become inspired by their amazing imagination. It also provides the best excuse too follow their lead, eat way too much icing, sprinkles and candy. 

 After the great cookie bake,  I met up with two very good chef friends of mine knowing full well that the rest of my day was to be dedicated to sausage making and eating. I like to think of us as The Three Musketeers (Chef Styles)  If there was ever an award for most cheese, meat, and beverages bought, and consumed by three people guaranteed we would take home the gold. We had to make up for our sad cereal diet over the last month. The three of us now seldom have the time to spend with eachother so when we do we adventure as we all LOVE food and cooking.  This time our adventure had us making homemade sausages, eating a loaf of foie gras and indulging in many different brews!! Fun, educational, tasty, and hilarious.

 We made two different kinds of sausages, and our grocery list consisted of: A loaf of Foie Gras,  7 types of cheese, a tasting of many different wines and beer to wet our whiskers, rabbit terrine, baguette, duck confit, duck proscuitto, grainy and traditional dijon mustard, and of course much meat for the grinding!

 This eve was a surefire way to wash away any cereal blues and invite much cheer for the holiday season and New Year to come. So friends no matter what you have indulged in over the last few days I dare you to grab some buddies, choose your favorite ingredients, get into the kitchen, kick up your heals, strap on a apron and have some fun!!

Eat drink and enjoy!!!!

Talking fish blues... Lobster and haddock

Oh the Joy of Monday and all the lovely adventures a new week can bring. Now for some people Mondays tend to bring on a bit of the blues however instead of dedicating time to pouting about the beginning of the week I like to celebrate all the good times had on the weekend, and the many more to come.

This weekend was special indeed. I had a beautiful friend from Spirit of Hospitality working with me and explaining the subtle notes and food pairings of each wine. As we get closer and closer to the Holidays Clearwater and Harvest wines begins to bustle out of control with many new and returning customers. You can feel magic in the air with every wine bottle purchased and new recipe tried. 

Recipe 1: Lobster Crostini with Roasted Red Pepper

1 Cup Lobster Cooked and Diced 

¼ Onion Diced

1 Stocks Celery Diced

1 Lemon Zested

½ Lemon Juice

1 tbsp Greek Plain Yogurt

Salt and Pepper to Taste

¼ Cup Diced Roasted Red Pepper

¼ Cup Sundried Tomatoes

1tsp Sugar

2 Tbsp Chopped Mint

1tbsp Olive Oil

In a bowl mix your lobster, onion, celery, lemon zest, lemon juice, Greek Plain Yogurt, salt and pepper. Let this sit and marinate in your fridge for at least an hour. In a separate bowl dice up your roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes and mix together with the sugar. Then add your finely chopped mint and 1 tbsp olive oil. Serve on crostini or fresh bread.

Paired With: Concilio Sauvignon Blanc, Italy

Recipe 2:  Beer Battered Haddock

 

2 lbs Haddock

1 Bottle Garrison Martello Stout

1Cup Flour – Sifted

1 Egg

2 tsp Salt

Zest 1 Lemon

Parsley

Capers

4 Pickled Asparagus

1tbsp Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Place a high edged frying pan on the stove and fill with vegetable oil ¼ way up the side to get ready for a shallow fry. Turn heat onto medium low and slowly eat the oil. Mix together in a bowl beer, sifted flour, 1 egg and salt. Then dredge each piece of fish into the batter. Place battered fish into the pan once oil has heated (Test the oil by dropping a caper into the oil, if the oil bubbles and the caper begins to fry than the oil is ready) Cook each piece of fish until the golden brown on both sides and finish crisping in the oven on a baking sheet for 5 minutes.

 

In a separate bowl mix together your chopped capers, parsley, asparagus, olive oil and lemon zest. Serve on the side of the fish.

 Pair with: Michel Torino Pinot Noir

A wonderful time full of cooking, new flavours and some good laughs. If you haven't yet, join us this Saturday and have much to smile about going into next Monday. 

Eat, drink and enjoy!!

Button up your overcoat... Gingerbread cake

Good Saturday morning!

Last night I had a strangely wonderful evening baking with a very special woman. My mother. Now to many of you this probably wont sound strange. I mean it is December, baked goods are usually made around this time, mothers 9 out of 10 times will bake at least 3 times a year, and really what could be so strangely wonderful about this. 

Well my dears my mother doesn't bake, except gingerbread cookies. However the cookies are made in secret before myself and sisters come home for the Holidays.  I haven't actually seen this happen in years. I can honestly say I have never baked a cake with my mother and surely not pranced around the kitchen sharing ingredients, reading recipes and listening to Christmas music. Until last night. And now my friends I am smiling, smelling scents of holidays to come, tasting lovely flavours: clementines, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, apples. Ah the Holiday season is officially here.

Was it the full moon last night? I am not sure but I had to share this recipe with you because I am now certain that it is truly special.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 egg
• 1 cup molasses
• 2.5 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• .5 tsp cloves
• 1 cup hot tap water

Method:

1. Cream butter, and then add sugar, egg and molasses. Beat well.
2. Sift together all dry ingredients.
3. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to butter mixture at a time, mixing well between each addition.
4. Add hot water and beat until thoroughly combined.
5. Pour batter into a greased greased bunt pan.
6. Bake at 350º for 35-40 minutes.

Glaze: 

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp Water

1/4 Cup Scotch (another 1/4 cup for you and whomever you are baking with)

1/4 Cup Cream

Put brown sugar and water up in a pan and heat on medium. The sugar will liquify and then begin to bubble. This will take at least 7 minutes on medium heat as you want to make sure the sugar begins to turn a darker colour. Then add scotch slowly to the pot. Be careful it will bubble up the sides. Take of the heat and add in your cream.

If you are in need of a bit of Holiday Spirit, and perhaps an evening filled with magic try this recipe out. Who knows what what surprise is in store for you. 

Eat, drink and enjoy!

A lovely way to spend an evening... Fraser Cafe (Ottawa)

I love food. Yes my culinary adventurers you have heard it many times throughout my blog posts how much my heart sores when kitchen aroma's are unleashed, my appreciation for simple yet flavourful food, the glee I feel when I see colourful plates presented and of course my love affair with the idea of eating, buying and supporting local.

This weekend I had a treat. A wonderful friend introduced me to Frasercafe in Ottawa. As we stepped through the front doors into the simplistic, warm, open-kitchened restaurant I felt at ease and very much at home. I knew right away that this restaurant was built with love.  Now laugh as you may because I know I use this word "love" quite a bit. Please understand that when I say built with love I mean: Attention to detail, Passion for Food, Understanding of their Clientel, Fantastic service, Wine/beverage/spirit appreciation, and overall the atmosphere screamed "We love what we do"

About Fraser Cafe"Our simple menu allows for flexibility as well as inspiration, while using an appropriate technique for the preparation of each ingredient. It is our aim to source our products locally and to use them in their respective season.We are hoping our open kitchen provides an opportunity for you to engage the chefs in your experience and to ask any questions on our products."

Ross and Simon Fraser (Yes! Opened by two brothers.. Now can you feel the love?)

So here's the deal. . I am going start at the ending because tonight I sat dreaming of their dessert for a good half hour before I started writing this blog. Frasercafe makes their own ice cream. Yup that is correct. Not just one or two flavours... they had at least five different choices of in house ice creams when I was there. I choose Rocky Road being a childhood favorite and almost wish I hadn't. As tonight I say tearfully looking at my own sub par RockyRoad. It just didn't compare. Now I will have to fly back for another scoop.

For both our main courses we went with the Chef's Creation or Choice. This I actually hadn't seen before on a menu. As explained by our lovely server this meant that we would be presented with a dish created off hand by the chef in the kitchen. If we both choose this option we would be given two completely different meals that would also completely vary from any of the options described on the menu. Now for any of you who are indecisive,  how perfect does this sound? Or for an adventurer, and simply in my case someone who loves to read menu's and recipes but in my dinning experiences would much rather be surprised.  

Perfection. That is all I can say about that as I feel if I tried to truly describe the intricate flavours on the plate that I would not get them right, and the last thing I want to do is wrongly describe the artistic creation and presentation of the food.

First Course: Daily soup with a lovely take on your traditional butternut squash. This soup was luxurious to eat. Smooth with the perfect balance of natural sweetness from the root vegetable. I stole the soup from my dinning partner and did not give it back.

 

 To start: Oysters - PEI Malpeque with horseradish, lemon and hot sauce. 

Fresh Bread and Butter

Simple, Delicious, Beautiful

Last but not least I have to say that one aspect of their table decorum really stuck out to me. On each table there is a petit pepper grinder and a lovely present of crushed sea salt. This truly impressed as I am a big believe of to each their own. Do I re-salt at restaurants? No, but some do and I feel as though this was a really nice unpretentious way of saying hey, our food is fantastic, beautifully seasoned,  but... if you feel the need to add a bit, do so. A thoughtful offering.

Next time you are in or even close to Ottawa treat yourself to a memorable meal and evening. Go directly to Frasercafe. Say hi to the owners, sit at the welcoming bar, talk with the cheerful attentive servers and fall in love with it all. I did.

Eat, drink and enjoy!

Baby, it's cold outside.... Chowder and Crispy Shrimp

Hello December! Here we are entering one of the loveliest months of the year. The air is crisp, snow is here, ice skates are ready and hopefully my dears you have some warm scents wafting from your kitchen. 

I do love this time of  year. I can't deny it. As I've said before most of the time I choose to cook warm. However there are certain days in the week where I like to let my mind drift off to a warm places filled with sunshine, fresh fruit, and tree's in full bloom. This week while writing recipes for my demo at Clearwater and wine pairings with Harvest Wines I believe my mind was torn between a love for both seasons and in turn churned out two very different recipes. Don't fret though both these recipes can be enjoyed in the winter months.

Recipe 1: Sweet Corn and Smoked Trout Chowder

1 Cup Corn (canned or fresh)

¼ Onion

2 Stocks Celery

2 White Potatoes

1 Cloves Garlic

1tbsp Butter

1tbsp Flour

1 Cup Clearwater Smoked Trout Chopped

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

2 Cups Cream

1.5 Cup Vegetable Stock

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Dice up your garlic, celery and onion. Then with butter add into a large pot and turn to medium heat.  Allow the butter to melt and cook these ingredients for 2 minutes. Then add in your sweet corn, potatoes and maple syrup. Let these ingredients cook out again for 2 minutes. Add in your flour then cream and vegetable stock. Stir while bringing the liquid to a boil and then let simmer on low covered for 10-15 minutes. The chowder should thicken and potatoes should fully cook. Season at the end and then serve.

 

Pair With: Mcmanis Syrah

I love this wine.. hence the picture strategically placed with flowers. Mcmanis is a Californian producer. They make beautiful wines and I suggest you get yourself a bottle and enjoy! 

Recipe 2:  Coconut and Lime Crusted Shrimp

10 Shrimp Defrosted

1 Shredded Coconut

Zest 1 Lime

Coconut Milk

Oil (as needed)

Clean shrimp and deshell. In a bowl mix shredded coconut with zest of 1 lime. In a separate bowl put your coconut milk. Hold shrimp by the tail and place dip into coconut milk. When the shrimp is fully coated dredge it in the shredded coconut and lime zest. Heat pan on medium and add 1 tbsp oil. You want to shallow fry your coconut breaded shrimp. The coconut should toast on the outside and become a golden brown as your shrimp cooks on the inside.

Pair with: Santa Rita Heroes Chardonnay- Also a lovely wine. Very crisp and palatable. With hints of floral, a very easy drinking Chardonnay.

 There you go culinary adventurers, whether you are dreaming of sun or heading to hang out by a fireplace, your mouth will be entertaining some yummy flavours.

On a side not and follow up to Pig Meat Blues... Here is a snap shot of one finished meal alla testa di porco (pigs head)

Here we have a lovely seared Testina di Porco with curry scented jasmine rice, fresh chickpea's, crisp red pepper and green onion. Mmmmmm dare you to try it!

Eat, drink and enjoy!!!