Fresh Oysters and Irish Whisky

I love oysters on the half shell. I have had amazing oysters that looked like art at C restaurant in Vancouver B.C. I've had them big and small, from all over the world. I found my favorite combination at a small Ottawa, Ontario Canada restaurant called the Whalebone Oyster House, recommended by Norman Hardie Winery in Southern Ontario.

I was touring the local Prince Edward County Wine region and came upon Norman Hardie in his vineyard. He came out of the vineyard and led us down to his cellar tasting room that was carved out the rock. In the mineral smelling cave I tasted his amazing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Cuvee. He then suggest dining at his favorite Ottawa restaurant, The Whalebone.

Now I'm getting to the "top it off well" part of the day. The chef had filled an old-fashioned glass vinegar bottle with single-malt scotch. Two of my favorite indulgences in one mouth-watering muse bouche, Ahhhhhh.

So as a twist for St. Paddy's day, get some fresh oysters and a dram of Irish Whisky; for a smoky option try the peaty Connemara, or for a sweeter note try a 16 year old Bushmills.

(photo from Whalebone website)

Let's have some more Smørrebrød

I tasted my first Smørrebrød in Denmark a number of years ago. A Smørrebrød is an open-faced sandwich served on buttered dark rye bread. The toppings of cheese, herring, meats, eggs and more are laid artistically on top.

I ate at the famous Nyhaven restaurant, Ida Davidsen. They are a friendly, fifth generation family run place that has been making Smørrebrød for close to 100 years. I still remember the salmon, caviar, crayfish on a lick of lime and dill mayo and Rye, and the melt in your mouth liver pate with consomme aspic, onion rings and thinly sliced rare beef; all chased down with aquavit, or akvavit in Danish. Akvavit is a vodka-like shot flavored with caraway, dill, coriander and/ or fennel. Skål!

The Smørrebrød experience in the Netherlands is a bit different. The breakfast buffets contain all the Smørrebrød ingredients on separate plates and you pick and choose what you want on the hearty bread choices. Of course Dutch cheese is the main feature. Many of these buffets are included with the room rate.

But tonight I decided to focus on Danish ingredients for the most part. The Smørrebrøds consisted of Dutch rye bread topped with parsley pesto, Danish Monfars cheese and Danish smoked salmon. I served it with an avocado and tangelo salad in a dill cream dressing on a bed of arugula. I had a glass of Oakton Lane 2007 Chardonnay from San Luis Obispo, which was a good match for the smoked salmon. I got the salmon and the Monfar Brannvinsost, which is an aged Swedish cow's milk cheese, at Ikea. This is an fortrinlig elegant no-cook dinner.

Dill Cream Sauce

2 tbs sour cream
1/4 tsp dried dill
1 tbs White Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbs Walnut oil.

Blend well and dress avocado and oranges; then pile on top of shredded arugula.

Daoism of Tea, Design a Tea Update

Daoism is the chinese philosophy of getting to "know" something. 

 After discovering Design a Tea a month or so ago I have gotten to know what my favorite morning drink is becoming - tea.

I ordered one of my own blends, Morning Noon and Night, and Design a Tea's Chai.  As you can see in the photo, the tea comes with personalized labels and in decorative and stackable round boxes.  So if you wanted to name a tea after your pet or send birthday wishes to a tea loving friend, this is a better solution than a card.

Brian, the owner of Design a Tea, thoughtfully sent me some samples of the teas I dreamt up in my last post.  He also deducted the $2. I had paid for the original samples, even though I had forgotten to enter the code.  This is good service!

Today I am drinking my Maple Mango Rioobus , and I'm loving it.  It's like drinking memories of home (Canada) with a vacation.  As a person with a good nose, I am impressed with the sent of the teas as you bring them up to you face to drink.  Just like with wine, the smell is as important as the taste.

Hmm, that gives me another idea; I'll work on designing a collection of teas that are representative of the major wine flavours!

Have I Gone Crackers? Pairing Cab Franc with What?

I had an event to go to last night and I was looking to pair an appetizer with some Cabernet Franc wines.  What would go well with the peppery, medium bodied wine?  Cab Franc has a good deal of toothy grip for a medium bodied wine.  The pepper is up front on the palate and these wines, often peter out, on the finish unless there is quite a bit of alcohol to carry the pepper through.

Cab Franc is the parent grape of Cabernet Sauvignon, and is more often used in a Bordeaux Blend to add colour and spiciness.  Single varietals, driven by new world practices, is the preferred way to market wine outside of France.  So Cab Franc has come into its own.  The Lang and Reed, from Napa, was one of the wines I tasted at Every Day Wine, in the Alberta neighbourhood of Portland, last night, also know as the NE art district.

When the wine is the star, as in a flight tasting, you want the food to take a more subtle role, to be the supporting cast rather than the main event.  

So to provide a balance between the earthiness, the pepper and the grip, I came up with a Port-Poached Fig Walnut Mascarpone Spread, served with pepper crackers.

It looks a bit like liver pate, unfortunately, but it really does match the wine!  As I have some left over I plan to use it as a butter on a port-soaked french toast,  I will stuff it under the skin on a roast chicken and sandwich it between ginger cookies.  I had it on toast this morning; really good!

I used the crusted Port that I wrote about in an earlier blog.

10 dried Mission figs

5 dried cherries

1/2 c toasted walnuts

1/4 c of Port

1 sprig of rosemary

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 small tub of mascarpone cheese

Poach the figs, 1/2 the sprig of rosemary and cherries in a small pot with the port for 5 minutes on medium heat, set aside.  Meanwhile, toast the walnuts at 325F for 6-8 minutes.

When cool chop the fruit, nuts and rosemary.  Add mascarpone cheese and remainder of poaching juice.  Keep refrigerated.

How to Make a Furoshiki Wine Carrier

I found this how-to video on Dr. Vino's site.  Much greener that paper wine bags, and a great way to give a scarf as a gift to those wine chicks in your life. Or as a bandana for your favourite wine dog! Most Furoshiki wine carriers are made with a 24 inch square of fabric.

HOWTO: make a furoshiki wine carrier

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Festive Ale a Winter's Tale

In the deep mid-winter snow lay all about

 Ale is sleeping deeply, waiting for a spout

Micro brews near Montreal 

add some seasonings of the seasons

cloves and spice are very pleasing.

A Festive Ale  throughout a gale

Is just what rev's the revelers, 

one and all.

I'm not much of a poet but good beer is something to be poetic about.  I like Belgian beer, so this Trader Joe's festive Vintage Ale 2008 hits all the right notes, for me.  Dark and sinewy hopps with floral shadings, and spicey notes to tickle the nose.  The head is a beautifully creamy mass of dense bubbles:  Certainly better than the sparkling wine I had on New Year's Eve.  

This Ale is made in Quebec, near Montreal, by Unibroue.  Unibroue makes a wide range of beers, but the focus is on Belgian-style beer such as Maudite (The Damned), Le Fin de Monde (End of the World) and Don Dieu (Gift of God).  Okay, that's hard to live up to if you are a brewer. You are either damned or blessed by god, and if you don't get it right, well, it is the end of the world.  Which brings me to another beer I like, Dead Guys, by Oregon's Rogue Brewery.  Creative names.

The Trader Joe's Vintage Ale is more in keeping with their happy-go-lucky outlook.  Most of Unibroue's beer is bottle, like some wine, on the lees, which means on the yeast sediment.  In beer this helps it age and also gives the beer a cloudy appearance, which enhances the flavours.

The Unibroue site is worth a visit, the way they recommend tasting beer rival the wine course methodology I'm used to. 

 "Pour the beer delicately and move the glass progressively away from the bottle while it fills up, in order to create a proper head of foam, the head must be 3 to 4 centimeters on average," Unibroue instructs.

Good advice!  I won't tell them my last glass of Vintage Ale, poured into a wine glass, spilled over and went up my nose, I had 3 to 4 inches of foam.

I do agree that good beer does deserve to be treated in the same manner as good wine, with attention to detail and respect.  What are you tasting, smelling and savouring?

I was at Trader Joe's this week and they still had a few bottles,  750 ml for $4.99.  Good price and winter isn't over yet.

Design Your Own Tea

My husband found this tea site through his high tech searching.  Design a Tea, caught his eye and it ended up in our share folder.  A few weeks ago I took a look at their site and was surprised to see that you can order samples to try, before you buy.

I love tea and have a box full of interesting flavours and hard core black teas.  I even use Lapsang Souchong as a barbeque smoke, and I flavour salmon dishes with a Lapsang marinade.  I use lavender tea 

to enhance hot apple cider, and I use black tea to make my own foaming Chai.  

I grew up with a British

 grandfather, whose detailed tea preparation rivaled Japanese tea ceremonies.  No bag in a cup with hot tap water for him...or me.

Design a Tea lets you choose a tea base, add flavourings, and create your own unique tea.  Who doesn't love choice.  You can choose your base from black, green, Rooibos and Oolong.  The flavours are too numerous to list but here is what I designed:Rooibos with Margarita and ginger; and black tea with tangerine and cranberry.

I tried the Rooibos this morning, and the aroma that wafted out of the sample was amazing.  Lime, orange, salty, spicy, earthy- WOW.  The delicate sweetness of the Rooibos isn't overshadowed by the flavourings; the taste is refreshing and the ginger lingers on the palate. Rooibos is caffeine-free, so it can be enjoyed all day or even before bed.

I favour using loose tea rather than bagged, but I know I find the grungy tea ball a hassle at times.  About a year ago I found fill-your-own tea bags, made by Cha Cult, which are large enough to let the tea expand.  Brian Pfeiffer, the owner of Design a Tea, calls this expansion "letting the tea dance".  It's cheaper to order loose tea from them, but I ordered my samples with tea bags.  The teaspoon of tea was enough for a whole pot.

Another great suggestion I found on Design a Tea's site was to use the brewed tea leaves in your garden.  I have been adding the tea to my indoor plants, and they seem to love it.  

As I have been writing, the Rooibos Margarita Ginger has cooled, and you know, it still tastes good.  Hmmm, iced tea for summer.  Design a Tea's logo is "where tea leaves dream".  When you can design your own blend, and get two samples for one dollar, let's start dreaming.  Green tea with honey and chestnut, Oolong with Anise, Rooibos with mango and maple, black tea with caramel.......

Sushi Pizza?

When we recently moved to Wilsonville, a rural suburb of Portland, OR, I was surprised we were able to find local restaurants that matched our "I'm too tired to cook" or "I'm not into dishes tonight" moods, that came anywhere close to our local favorites in Vancouver, BC.  

 Vancouver, is a sushi lovers mecca.  A strong asian population and close proximity to the sea makes it hard not to each sushi every night; from an $8 all-you-can-eat to Tojo's magic for $300., and everything in-between.

Portland is dining and drinking hip, but its' "downtown scene" is too far on a rainy night to slump out to, after blogging in my relax duds.  The Willamette Valley and wineries are closer, but sometimes the little town/city atmosphere is just what the tummy orders.

Sushi Ave. is in a little strip mall on our side of the freeway.  It is cozy and family-oriented.  Small children, in high chairs, are ordering the favorites.  One that seems to get the kids' attention is the Sushi Pizza.  To be honest, as we work our way through their interesting offerings, the Sushi Pizza was going to be our last choice because, well, it sounds gross.

Tonight, with the comfort of knowing I was having our two favorites , I bravely suggested the Sushi Pizza.  Silence.  Then a cautious, Allllrrrright.     

And, it was good!  Odd, but good.  The crust is a piece of seaweed with sushi rice as the body, mixed with different seafood and broiled until hot with a sweet sauce and sesame seeds on top.  Smooth, rich, warm and comforting.  

Something a little different from a neighborhood restaurant that is already becoming a favorite.

Maple bacon Salmon with Arugula Salad and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Make a Smilebox recipe

Crusted Port an Inventive Non-Vintage, Vintage

Dow's Crusted Port is a non-vintage, vintage. Hmmm. A blend of a number of different years, the wine is produced like a vintage port and is laid down like a vintage wine. It spends two to three years in cask and is bottled without filtration. The wine is then aged for a further three years in bottle. It is called crusted port because of the heavy sediment that forms in the bottle.

It has deep cherry red colour. On the nose, it is like sniffing a bag of dried Rainier cherries with hints of caramel, and plenty of spices. On the palate it is has firm, toothy tannins, a silky acidity and a dry finish. The port shows depth, and would age well. It is priced at the level of a traditional british-style port but has a richness and depth that is more like Vintage or Late Bottled Vintage port.

According to Dow, the grapes are from a number of vineyards including Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira. Following a manual harvest, fermentation took place in autovinification tanks and granite lagares (with foot-treading) for 48 hours before the addition of grape brandy. Matured for two to three years in old oak casks, the wine was bottled and cellared in Vila Nova de Gaia for a further 3 years prior to release.

Foot treading is an old Portuguese village tradition, where the whole town comes out to press grapes with manual foot labour.  Who can argue with tradition when a port has this kind of outcome.

Quebecois Tourtiere for New Year's Day Feasting: Start your diet tomorrow!

How We Say Comfort Food in French!

Ah, tourtiere!  A French Canadian Christmas Eve meat pie dating back as early as 1611. The original recipe used local Tourtes Pigeons, which are now extinct.  Tourte also refers to a deep dish pie plate, and I find it is the best dish to use as it gives lots of room for the filling. 

Today's tourtiere is almost always made with ground pork as the largest part of the mix.  Other meats that are often added are veal and beef.  Some Quebecois restaurants use duck breast and duck liver.  My American husband suggests I give you the pronunciation, toor-tyair, as it is a bit of a mouthful!

I have made tourtiere my New Year's Day dish, and I serve it often as a festive winter meal fit for company.  I had my first tourtiere at my grade 5 French Immersion graduation dinner/dance.  It was very different than the ketchup-imbued, all beef british-style meat pie I was used to.  Rich melt in your mouth pork softness, and brimming

 with gentle herbs.  I try to re-create that  taste memory every year.

This year I couldn't find ground veal, so I opted for Buffalo meat.  It added a richness and depth of meatiness that was surprising.  I also used a reduction of crusted port, chicken stock and shallots, which I poured in through one of the vents of the pie crust, half way through baking.  I based this on a suggestion  by Montreal chef,  Frederic Morin of Restaurant Joe Beef.

Typical seasonings include onions, cloves, cinnamon, sage and savory.  I also add Panko bread crumbs soaked in milk to the raw meat mixture.  The pastry has always been a rich one with 13 tbs of butter and 7 tbs of vegetable oil to 2 1/2 c of flour, it almost turns out like shortbread.

I roasted and glazed the carrots in balsamic vinegar, and added maple syrup, chili and finely diced ham to a can of Northern White Beans.  Everything cooked at 425 F for 40 minutes.

Oddly this meal went well with leftover Sparkling wine from New Year's Eve.  The bubbles cut through the richness and the chardonnay was a rich oaky backdrop.  Revel on!

New members of the Wine Dog Family

My sister's new Shih-poos, Buttercup and Pumpkin, will soon be able to add their comments to The Wine Dog Review. As you can tell by their names they are already Foodies!

Absinthe segment from Modern Marvels

Absinthe is making a comeback, and Canada is tempting the Green Fairy. Taboo is being produced by Okanagan Spirits. See my article on Absinthe at The Wine Dog Review

Spicey Shepherd's Pie

Coming from a British/Canadian background I grew up with some English food favourites. Shepherd's Pie is a comfort food, no doubt about it. But I like mine dressed up a bit from the average meat and potatoes.


Ingredients

1/2 c panko bread crumbs soaked in 1/4 c milk
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garam marsala
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 lbs ground beef
2 tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbs Soy Sauce
1 can whole tomatoes
1/2 cup of red wine like Merlot or a Zinfandel
1/2 c dry bread crumbs

6 medium Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 c pepper Havarti cheese
5 cloves of roasted garlic. (roast a head of garlic sprinkled with oil in a 400 f oven for 20 minutes.)
1/4 c milk
1 tbs butter
1/4 Parmesan cheese, finely grated.


Fry onions, garlic and spices in olive oil, over medium heat until softened, add beef and brown. Add soaked bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce, stirring to coat. Add tomatoes and the juice, and wine. Simmer for 1 hour, if too runny add dry breadcrumbs at the end and stir in. Taste as you go along, add more cumin for earthiness, more pepper flakes for heat and more Worcestershire Sauce for salt and bite.

Meanwhile boil potatoes in medium salted water in a large pot ( water should taste like sea water). When cooked through, mash and add garlic, Havarti cheese, butter and milk. Mash until smooth.

To assemble: Spread meat in the bottom of a large casserole, spread mashed potatoes evenly over top, sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top of potatoes. Bake in 375 F oven for 40 minutes. Can be frozen before baking or refrigerated before baking.

I serve it with a relish made from 1/3 c raspberry/pomegranate jam, 5 chopped pickled cocktail onions and 1 tbs of Worcestershire Sauce. I warm it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

The meat and toppings can be changed up and made lighter by using ground chicken and a topping of mashed parsnips, ground lamb with a roasted cauliflower puree, or ground pork with a mashed squash topping.

High Tea in Ottawa

Chateau Laurier and Parliament Hill
-32 c but a beautiful sunset shot from the Rideau Canal

2008-03-12 01:19:56 GMT

High Tea At Zoe's, At the Chateau Laurier Hotel

I was in Ottawa in February, it's my home town, and although the regional grape vines were under 5 feet of snow I was able to try Ice Wine Tea at an afternoon tea at Zoe's. They have over 40 types of tea to choose from. The Ice Wine Tea tasted of honeyed grapes with a bit of spice and lychee.The tea paired very well with the scones and Devonshire cream, which are a heavenly tradition. I've listed the different menus for you to drool over!

Traditional Afternoon Tea

Seasonal Fresh Fruit Cup
Afternoon Tea Cake
Fruit Tartelette
Cranberry Scones
Devonshire Cream and Strawberry Jam
Dainty Finger Sandwiches
English Cucumber and Onion Sprouts
Turkey Salad, Mayonnaise and Green Onions
Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese
Choice of Fairmont Tea

Canadian High Tea

Port Marinated Peaches, Whipped Cream
Maple Mousse, Maple Tuile and Nanaimo Bar
Cranberry Scones
Devonshire Cream and Strawberry Jam
Open Faced Sandwiches
Nova Scotia Lox and Bagel
Ontario Goat Cheese Mousseline and Fig Chutney
Smoked Quebec Duck Breast with Clementine MarmaladeCanadian Cheese Board
Sir Laurier d’Arthabasca, Aged Balderson Cheddar, Ontario Borgonzola
Choice of Fairmont Tea

Champagne Tea

Moët & Chandon Blue Label Nectar Impérial
Fresh Strawberries with Warm Dark Chocolate Fondue
French Pastries, Cranberry Scones
Devonshire Cream and Strawberry Jam
Afternoon Hors-d’oeuvre
Crème fraîche Yukon Gold Blini and Québec Sturgeon Caviar
Foie Gras and Truffle Mousse,
Pickled Red Onions on a Toasted Croûton
Crab and Blue Cheese on Fresh Baked Baguette
Choice of Fairmont Tea

Mango Pannekoeken

Mango Pannekoeken just out of the oven


Orange Pepper Bacon

Brunch is served, drizzled with lime dressing

Ginger, Orange Rind and Mango Pannekoeken

This is a favorite brunch, I serve it with bacon that has been brushed with orange syrup and cracked pepper over one side. The pannekoeken has the consistency between a pancake and a Yorkshire pudding.

1 c. flour
1 c. milk
4 eggs
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of salt
8 pieces of candied ginger, chopped.
2 mangos, flesh chopped into bite size pieces
3 slices of candied orange slices, chopped

Heat 3 tablespoons butter in 9-inch round metal cake pan in preheating oven at 400 degrees, until bubbling. 1-2 minutes.
Mix flour, milk, eggs, nutmeg, and salt. Beat lightly, leaving lumps. Fold in ginger, oranges and mango. Pour into hot pie pan. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Bake 20 minutes until puffy and brown. Serves 4.
I serve it with 1 tps orange syrup, ½ lime juice, 1 tbs brown sugar, warmed in the microwave for 20 seconds.

This is a card I made for a coffee connoisseur friend's birthday...I sent him some Alux coffee.

Great Cuppas

I'm on a bit of a coffee kick since I have been starting my day with Cafe Creme thanks to my Ikea Foamer. I have been looking for freshly roasted coffee and I have found a local gem. Alux Organic Gourmet Coffee and Chocolate is a Coquitlam, family-run business that roasts your coffee and delivers it to your home ( in the Coquitlam area) the same day. Many of their coffees are organic and they have a detailed rating for their coffees.

In Mayan mythology, an alux [Mayan: ä lōōsh’] is a tiny spirit that travel through the land. Aluxob are small, only about knee-high, and resemble miniature Mayans in traditional clothing. Aluxob are generally invisible, but can assume physical form for purposes of communicating with and frightening humans as well congregating together. They are generally associated with natural features such as forests, caves, stones, and fields, but can be enticed to move somewhere through offerings. They could be considered a Mayan version of leprechaun, as the tricks they play are similar.

It's wonderful fate to have a coffee spirit traveling through Coquitlam, providing excellent coffee and Mexican chocolate. I offered a good coffee grind, a french press and micro foam, and it was enticed.

Last week I was in Kits to pick up a yoga video at Banyan Books and I discovered Aphrodite Cafe and Pie Shop.

I had a tasty Wild Mushroom Quiche and salad for a spontaneous lunch. As this post is about coffee, I was very impressed with their house coffee, a blend specially developed for the cafe by Origins Organic Coffee on Granville Island. I will definitely return to have more coffee and a piece of organic pie. It's too bad I can't bring a pound of those beans home with me.