Destinations: Quebec City, Charlevoix, and points between
A British magazine called Classic Rock that counted down the top vocalists of all time. Number one choice of fans, critics, and musicians alike? Freddie [Mercury], natch.
Blueberry honey from the Musée de l’abeille. Honey that fresh is so different from the stuff you get at the supermarket, it might as well be a different food altogether.
A crazy amount of Québecois cheese. Among them: la Sauvagine (from the source), cèdre de lune, le migneron, and le ciel de Charlevoix (from that source), and the 1608, made from a rare breed of Canadian cow dating from that time. (Hey, did you know you can freeze cheese?)
A Medieval-style red and black dress that seems slightly impractical but that I was talked into on assurances that it really suited me.
A used copy of Roger Daltrey’s Ride a Rock Horse LP. Not CD—LP. Really, I wanted the cover.
Chocolates ranging in flavors from ginger to chai to marshmallow. None of which I’ve actually tried yet, but they look and smell great.
A fat British movie magazine called Empire. Because in Britain, apparently, the Internet has not killed the movie magazine business, as it has in North America.
Items I won’t detail from La boutique Kama Sutra. Oh, and some batteries.
Free-range duck products in many forms—magret, foie gras, paté, confit. (Yes, we travelled with an electric cooler. Otherwise, the smell of cheese might have killed us.)
A copy of the Ryerson Review of Journalism. The one magazine I haven’t read yet.
An original art work by a young Québecois artist, done in pastels, about 16 by 20, featuring a woman bathing. Quite striking.
Sparkling cider products from the cidrerie at l’Ile aux Coudres.
An art book featuring the work of Laurent Lafleur, one of whose original paintings we already own, and whom we got to meet on this trip.
Two bottles of Rosé from a Prince Edward County winery, meant to distract us from the astounding Chardonnay we tasted but didn’t purchase at another Prince Edward County winery, because that one was $42. Didn’t work—we spent the next half week mooning over that Chardonnay, until our taste buds were cleared by an astounding Cotes du Rhone (with meal).
MoneySense magazine, which has advice on how to save money. Which I probably need now.
Been a fairly active few days; I’ll try to catch up with a variety of things here…
The new Ignatieff ads
If these work, I’ll be terribly disappointed in my fellow Canadians.
Verses continues to excel
The new summer menu is out! The new herbed gnochi with wild mushroom appetizer is wonderful, and Jean declared the foie gras possibly the best ever. Anywhere. Also pretty cool: “The cocoa nib braised Belgium endive” on the duck breast main course.
Hannah’s doesn’t survive the loss of its chef
Website is still up, but Hannah’s Bistro restaurant is history. There’s a sign on the door saying they’ve vacated the premises with rent due.
West Side Story‘s a winner
We saw a preview performance with my parents at Stratford; it was excellent, with a really strong cast of young dancers and singers. And even though I knew perfectly well what would happen to Tony, it still made me cry.
Drowning in Riesling
Well, not really, but do have a good stock visiting four Beamsville-area wineries with the folks. At Angel’s Gate, besides the Riesling, I took a chance on a blend not available for tasting. At East Dell we didn’t do any sampling, but I do recommend the restaurant. Malivoire‘s Gamay and the Gerwurtz won me over, and at Cave Spring I liked everything I tried, and took home the Estate Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir.
And we all gained appreciation for Jean’s GPS on the drive home.
Television finales
In the evenings, we caught up on some of these:
Grey’s Anatomy: Now there are rumours that Izzy isn’t really dead. That would just be cruel. (Still liking Owen and Christina, Bailey, and little Gray + McSteamy. Whom Mom agreed really does look like my cat.)
Bones: I enjoyed it, but it was an odd season finale. And amnesia? Seriously?
Desperate Housewives: Bad news: Looks like Jackson (Gale Harold) won’t be on the show anymore. Good news? That means I no longer have to watch Desperate Housewives!
American Idol: OK, I only read about (didn’t watch) the finale, just as I’ve only read about (never watched any of) the entire season, but I’m still surprised Adam didn’t win.
30 Rock. Funny.
How I Met Your Mother. The goat! The jumping! Barney and Robin! Yay! And also very funny.
Still a bit over-ambitious
Oh, not in my career. I mean in my cooking. Hosted sister, brother-in-law, and kids over with the parents, and saying I said just make a simpler dinner. One main course, not three. Dessert made ahead. Simple appetizer. Yet somehow I still ended up peeling lima beans for the guacamole (don’t ask) and spending three hours on lasagna.
Everything was good, though.
By the time we got to Woodstock
It had been over for 40 years. So we had to make do with a symphonic makeover. Which frankly, was really enjoyable, and much more comfortable than sitting on a blanket in the mud while tripping on acid. (Oh dear. I’m old.) Highlights:
Rik Emmett doing Hendrix (All Along the Watchtower) and Santana (Black Magic Woman) justice on the guitar.
The rock chicks—Rique Franks letting loose on Joplin’s “Piece of my Heart”, Katalin Kiss on “White Rabbit”.
Neil Donnell channelling Joe Cocker in the liveliest performance I’ve ever seen him give, totally capturing the gravely voice while still hitting every note perfectly (as he does). Fantastic orchestration on this one (“With a Little Help From My Friends”), too.
My one quibble, being me? Just talking about how great The Who were at Woodstock, but not performing any Who—”because we already did The Who this season.” Yes, like everyone in the audience would be so upset to hear symphonic “Pinball Wizard” again only nine months later! That’s way too soon!
Geek excitement—Tasks in Google calendar!
The one feature I like in Lotus Notes—the To Do lists—now finally available in the email program I otherwise prefer! A geeky thrill!
Dining in the cavernous Waterloo Inn with strangers was certainly different from, well, dining with strangers in the intimacy of Michael Stadtlander’s Eigensinn Farm. For one thing, the chef was in the room dining (and speaking between courses) rather than in the kitchen, cooking. But, it was his menu, and all sourced with ingredients available from within 100 miles. And if not quite the refined taste sensation that the meal on his farm was—it was still pretty darn good. And very creative.
We managed to get a rare copy of the menu. Here we go.
Amuse: Harriston farms Rabbit Confit with Wellesley apple butter jam. Served with icewine from the Icehouse. [The confit approach gave the rabbit quite intense flavor. It was odd but good starting a meal with ice wine.]
Soiled Reputation [this is a Stratford area farm] sun choked bisque with crispy sun choked chips. [Jerusalem artichoke soup with crunchy bits in it. Really good.]
Fresh port Stanley pickerel on beetroot risotto with chive oil drizzle. Served with a Riesling—maybe Inniskillin. [Fish nicely cooked, beets very delicious.]
Palette cleanser: Trius Carbernet Sauvignon and carrot ice shooter. [One of the most interesting items of the evening—a veggie sorbet flavoured with good wine.]
Braised Berkeshire pork belly, slow roasted Cumbae Farms beef tenderloin and short ribs with Reif Cabernet Merlot demi. Served with Jackson Triggs Meritage. [Red meat three ways. All amazing—and I’m usually not that bowled over by the red meat thing. No problem with overdone beef here. The ribs were all crispy delicious fat.]
Soiled Reputation baby leaves, Baco Noir wine vinaigrette, Flax seed crisp topped with Niagara Gold cheese and Mario Pingue prosciutto. [Now there’s a salad course.]
Wild flower honey and Harmony Dairy double cream brie cheesecake with maple poached apple chips and spiced plum compote from our courtyard. Served with a different ice wine—one with a less apple taste than the first. [Ok, this was some strong cheese in that cake. Not like anything I’ve tasted. You really needed the ice wine to manage it. Then it all balanced out well.]
Biggest problem with the evening? The service. Well, in particular, the weirdly long wait between when the course served and finally getting the wine that went with it. Not cool when wine matching is part of the whole experience. At one point we actually grabbed a bottle and started serving ourselves…
I didn’t mention here (though many know) that this was actually our second multi-course gourmet dinner featuring local foods, in a week. We already had the Earth Day tickets when Verses announced a wine-matching dinner on a local food and wine and theme. Verses hadn’t done one of those in quite a while—we had to go that too. And fine that was. The featured vineyard was a relatively new one called Rosewood, and the food was, as always, impeccably prepared, and very well matched with each course.
(Generous servings, too. The 16% alcohol honey wine at the end really did me in. No, we didn’t drive home. Yes, I did go to work the next day. Yay, aspirin.)
And now…
We’re going to another one.
But it’s Michael Stadtländer! Our first and possibly best gourmet chef person! It’s been so hard getting into his Eigensenn Farm in recent years, we were kind of thinking we’d never eat his food again. But lo if he isn’t coming to the area, courtesy of the local chamber of commerce, and preparing a 7-course meal, local foods, some wine matching.
So yeah. We had to go to that, too.
We may end up poor, fat, and with mild liver damage, but hey. Isn’t it worth it to be surrounded by a healthy local food economy?
(Oh, and as to the rumours that Stadtländer is closing Eigensenn: True—but only to open a new, somewhat larger establishment…)
Last year, J and I went alone (together), the event was sold out, prizes were drawn (and we won one), we sat with local food producers or sellers, and the food was quite good.
This year, we were with friends; the event was well-attended, but not quite sold out; there were no prize draws—just an auction; we sat an architect couple and a couple consultants (who weren’t a couple); and the food was quite good.
It’s interesting sitting to dine with strangers, and the conversation did range quite a bit, from the artistic merits of local development projects to favourite sci-fi programs to the best gay bashes each of us had ever attended. (I had little to report there.) At least nobody was bored.
And the food? Well, I kept the menu, so I can give a pretty darn good run-down. All wines were from Pelee Island winery.
Water: Smoked arctic char on green bean and mesclun salad. Served with Gewurztraminer reserve. I loves me the local smoked arctic char, and the slightly sweet Gewurtz did nicely set off the acidity of the salad.
Earth: Goat cheese with marinated tomatoes, arugula, and beet essence. Served with Sauvignon Blanc. Really nice goat cheese, and the tomatoes had so much flavor! It reminded me of summer. And the wine took on a totally different—and better—character with this food.
Air: Ravioli stuffed with duck confit, duck prosciutto, and saffron cream. Served with Pinot Noir. My favourite course of the meal, rivalling the best duck raviolo we’ve ever had previously (which was in the Eastern Townships in Quebec). I think I have to try making this stuff myself sometime. And the Pinot did seem fruity enough to stand up to this.
Land: Lamb medallions, beef tenderloin, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Served with Carbernet Sauvignon/Petit Verdot. The meatatarian delight! Beef should have been cooked a little less, in my opinion, and overall, a bit of a downer after the duck. But we were pretty spoiled by this point. The wine was no Australian but stood up OK to the food.
Heaven: Gingered apple cake with apple coulis creme fraiche. Served with late harvest Vidal. Nice little dessert, nice little dessert wine.
Managed to finish all courses despite the number of them. And glasses of wine were on the small side, so no headache the next day.
Not to turn this into the coffee blog, but I was honestly surprised, after watching Food Detectives yesterday, to find out that coffee does not, in fact, stain your teeth.
So I don’t know why my dental hygienist keeps asking how much coffee I drink while commenting on teeth stains. Appears that beverage is not factor at all.
What is? Well, tea and coke both had pretty nasty effects. But the very worst? Red wine. Sigh. (Don’t want this to turn into the “coffee good / wine bad” blog either…)
Hey, it’s not me saying it. It’s Gary Arendash, University of South Florida in Tampa, in the highly respected Nutrition Action Healthletter.
Those who drank three to five cups of coffee a day in middle age had a lower risk of Alzheimer’s or other dementia 21 years later than those who drank less.
“Caffeine is anti-inflammatory, and Alzheimer’s is a disease of inflammation in the brain.”
People who drink regular coffee also have a lower risk of Parkinson’s, and regular or decaf may help prevent diabetes. [Also, I’ve read in certain other articles, seems to help reduce the incidence of certain cancers.]
“Caffeine is the most prevalent psychoactive drug taken in by humans. It’s safe and inexpensive. It’s as effective as anything that pharmaceutical companies have devised.”
“Unless you are pregnant, I would absolutely recommend caffeine.”
“For the vast majority, it’s entirely safe and it’s a no-brainer [interesting choice of adjective] to protect against diseases of aging like diabetes, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s.”
Dark chocolate, nuts, now coffee… all health foods.
Now if they could just stop pointing out the link between wine and breast cancer, nearly all my nutritional vices will have become virtues.
Thought I’d post this in advance of the big website extravaganza…
1. Provence has more and better Roman artifacts than Rome
This was a surprise. It shouldn’t have been, as our tour itinerary said we’d be seeing all these Roman artifacts, but we were still surprised. Huge, intact coliseums and theatres. Enormous aqueducts. Huge cenotaphs. Sculptures. Romanesque churches. Enormous Pope’s Palace (yes, the pope lived in Provence rather than Rome for a time). We almost got to be blasé about it; oh, another day, another coliseum!
2. Provence may be the best place in the world in which to eat
Oh my, the food. Every meal was good, everything properly prepared. Duck, salmon, quail, osso bucco, shrimp, lamb—all creatures cooked just to the right point and nicely seasoned. Creative starters—stuffed ravioli, softened goat cheese with sesame, foie gras (and more foie gras, and it didn’t cost any more than anything else), pumpkin soup. Cheese courses with soft and semi-firm choices. And desserts—chocolate caramel mousse, molten chocolate cake, gelato ice cream, tarte tatin. And, for Europe, all at pretty reasonable prices. The consistently good quality was really amazing.
Some years ago, DH and I started cooking a gourmet dinner on New Year’s Eve—yes, just for the two of us. (Everyone seems to find that odd, but believe me, when your friends all start having babies… You start doing a lot of things just the two of you!)
Last year, that dinner didn’t quite land on New Year’s Eve itself, and this year it was even later. DH had call duty over New Year’s weekend, so we picked the weekend after for our dinner. That way, there could be wine.
First course: Mushroom and cappuccino velouté
Source: The ever-cheery sounding Cooking with Foods That Fight Cancer
Wine: Stoneleigh 2006 Pinot Noir (New Zealand)
Certainly the healthiest item of the meal, the soup was also very easy to make: Sauté mushrooms, garlic, and shallots in olive oil, add good-quality chicken stock and let simmer, add fresh basil and blend, season with sesame, then froth milk and put on top. We don’t have a proper “milk frother”, though, so that wasn’t as foamy as it might have been.
But since shitake mushrooms are delicious, the soup was delicious. The wine was also very nice, living up to its reputation as a really good Pinot Noir for less than $20 a bottle. Fruity but subtle, complementing the earthiness of the mushrooms nicely.
Second course: Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce
Source: LCBO—Squash ravioli, Sage butter sauce
Wine: Chateau des Charmes St. David’s Bench Chardonnay (Ontario)
I’d been wanting to try making ravioli for a while, and had these two LCBO recipes on hand. What we made was a bit of a combination of both.
I had my doubts when the roasted squash ended up a bit overcooked, with burnt edges; was the whole thing going to end up tasting charcoal-y? Plus, one squash didn’t seem to provide quite enough material, so we supplemented with can pumpkin.
Actually stuffing the things, which I had been dreading, was actually much easier than expected. And amazingly (to me), almost none came apart in cooking, and the won ton wrappers, which seemed so doughy when raw, turned very light after cooking.
The butter sauce was also cause for some concern enroute. (And can I say, that was a shocking amount of butter! Not how I usually cook!) It was supposed to get light brown; it kind of went beyond that, to a darker colour. Was it going to taste all charcoal-y?
But everything was delicious. No charcoal accents at all. And the detail of crisping the sage leaves in olive oil added a really cool texture to the whole thing.
The wine, recommended by LCBO, did match the food very nicely. It took on a completely different, fuller character, compared with drinking it alone.
Main course: Macademia-Crusted Lamb with Celery Root-Fennel Mash and Coconut Mango Chutney
Source: LCBO again, their Holiday 2004 issue.
Wine: Clos des Brusquières 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape (France)
This recipe was a last-minute substitution when we weren’t able to get our hands on sushi-grade tuna. The idea was accompanying honey-encrusted French-cut lamb chops with a fairly subtle-flavored mash and a very strongly flavored chutney.
None of this was hard to make, but it did take a while. DH handled the mash, which involved a couple of vegetables we don’t cook with very often: the ugly celery root and a fennel bulb (with some other flavorings, like garlic and sea salt). The result was very pleasant-tasting.
The chutney was all strong flavors: sugar, vinegar, chili, ginger, mango, cinnamon, coconut, mint, raisins, lime. It seemed like such a hodge-podge, and the color ended up so odd (brownish), that I was actually surprised how good it tasted!
The main event lamb, by comparison, was a master of simplicity. And it all worked together with the wine, which was very nice, as those tend to be. (And yes, we were feeling a little tipsy at this point, though by no means getting close to finishing any of the bottles!)
Dessert: Pumpkin-Wild Blueberry Pie
Source: Michael Stadtlander’s The Heaven on Earth Project
Wine: Cave Spring’s 2006 Late Harvest Riesling (Ontario)
Michael Stadtlander is considered one of the best chefs in the world. He runs a restaurant out of his own home. It’s extremely difficult to get reservations there now, but many years, we were able to. (We just had to book four months in advance. Seriously.) And it was, indeed, a sublime experience.
We bought his book a few months ago and—guess what?—a lot of the recipes are really hard to make. But this pie was approachable, and this seemed a good time to try it.
I didn’t compromise on it too much. I used can pumpkin instead of cooking my own, and the blueberry glaze seemed to require the sacrifice of too many delicious wild blueberries for too little input on the pie. But I did follow pastry recipe, and was pleased how easy it was to mix. Rolling got a bit sticky (the crust had sugar and vanilla in it), but adding flour made that work. No amounts were given for the various spices in the pumpkin pie, so I just threw in what seemed like a reasonable amount of each.
So if not entire Statlander-esque in the end, it still turned out very good. Pumpkin and wild blueberry (frozen after we bought them up North this summer) is a good combination. And the Riesling had about the right amount of sweetness to match.
Pie was even better the next day when it had had a chance to chill longer.
With dispersed families, Christmas celebrations get dispersed over various events, not all of which occur on December 25.
DH and I traditionally hold “our” Christmas on the weekend before we go north. We exchange whatever gifts we’ve bought for each other, and have a Christmas dinner.
This year was no exception. For the dinner, I decided to follow an entire menu provided in the Nutrition Action Newsletter. The biggest challenge, apart from it just being a lot of dishes (turkey breast, stuffing, wild rice salad, green beans, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin dip, cranberry apple pear crisp), was that a lot of the recipes were for 8-10 people—way too much for two. So not only was I making a lot of different dishes, but I was having to do arithmetic (divide in two) on all the ingredients as well.
But everything turned out. Although all “healthy”, nothing was lacking in flavor. The cranberry sauce was nicely punched up with ginger, the sweet potato topped with walnuts and coconut. And I liked that the stuffing was much less greasy and salty than stuffing usually is.
For gifts, we went small, since we’re looking at yet another trip soon. With the help of very specific hinting, I got very cute pyjamas on a musical theme (“Here comes treble!”), but was also surprised with some new kitchen gizmos. The gift I was most excited for DH to open was a bottle of Stratus White that I’d spotted at an LCBO, despite its being completely sold out at the winery itself. Tasting notes:
The 05 Stratus White invites the awesome comment. Cliché but true. Feels like Chardonnay Musqué on steroids—delightfully excessive. A wine to propose with, or serve with foie gras, perhaps to mark an anniversary celebration.
The next event was up north, on the eve of the 24th, which is when French Canadians celebrate Christmas with a Réveillon. Food features prominently here, with little appetizer thingies like bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, sweet and sour meatballs, devilled eggs, smoked salmon canapes, shrimp, sucre à crème, and so on.
The gift exchange is more on the jokey side. Everyone gets a $10 gift on a theme, this year’s being “Cowboy”. Then we sit and play a “left / right” passing game until you end up with whatever gift in the end. I threw a Cowboy Junkies CD into the pot.
On the third day of Christmas, it was finally December 25. But Christmas morning was pretty quiet, just DH, me, and my parents, as one sister was staying in Toronto, another not due up until Boxing Day, and the brother’s family only stopping by later that day. So we did a leisurely breakfast, then each of us opened our stocking things, and DH and Dad exchanged gifts, since they had each other’s names.
DH and I split up for Christmas dinner, each joining our respective parents’ for the traditional turkey feast. I did get to see my brother’s family at this point, which is always fun, along with some aunts and uncles.
So Boxing Day was another event, as finally all the kids (my brother’s and my sister’s) could get together. The reunion occurred later than originally expected, due to a stomach bug that struck my brother and his wife (though not the kids). It was crazy-ness when they were finally all together, tearing through their remaining presents.
I also opened my gifts from my brother-in-law, who had my name. Got a very nice-looking exercise top (that I probably won’t limit to workout wear—it’s pretty cute), the Who’s Amazing Story DVD that I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the past couple days, a nice pair of earrings and necklace from the One of a Kind show (and thinking my sister may have helped with the shopping here), and a Paul Anka Rock Swings CD.
Yes, Rock Swings—Paul Anka doing songs like Jump, Smells Like Teen Spirit, and Black Hole Sun in his style. This was purchased in all seriousness, since I’ve been known to enjoy oddities such as dance-mix and orchestral versions of Queen songs. But this CD is something else. We played it one night and, well, you almost have to hear it to believe it. It was quite the conversation piece for us.
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