Break-down, Build-up

Sometimes it's just best to start over again.... www.eightysixed.typepad.com

il était une fois une dinde russe : foie gras dans un faisan, dans une pentade, dans un poulet, dans un canard, et enfin dans une dinde

PATTE BLANCHE

Over the last year we have had to chance to visit some great producers and artisans within a modest radius from our home. It's not the hundred mile diet but it's close enough and I'm not following any strict guideline at the moment. On each of these trips there"s always plenty of discoveries to be made and nice folks to meet, this past weekend Véro had a rare Saturday off and we wanted to take a drive in the country. I suggested we go toward Hawkesbury and it's bordering Quebec towns, I wanted to check out some properties and figured we would find some other things to do at the same time. Some quick research before yielded a couple of interesting destinations plus a mandatory trip to the LCBO. We woke up too late to do lots of exploring but still intent on exploring a bit we headed out in the beginning of the afternoon. One site that caught my interest and the only farm we ended up visiting that day was la Ferme Albé. I found them while searching out info on Canadian Katahdin sheep farms. I had heard a lot of positive things about this breed of sheep before and lo and behold there is a farm just a little over and hours drive from Montreal. We made a point to stop in and see if we could purchase some lamb and maybe see a couple of cute sheep, the farms is a little off the beaten path but getting there is very straightforward. Micheline greeted us warmly and I think we took her off guard by our eagerness, when we couldn't quite make up our minds about which cuts to buy she showed us in and rummaged through her freezer to show us what she had and gave us a couple of choices, we settled on a pack of the cutest chops and a boned out shoulder roast. We then got a little tour of the place, we saw the weaned sheep in the barn, because of the unseasonable weather most of sheep we're in the barn ( we did see some out in the fields from afar with their Llama guardian). There we're some beautiful gals keeping cool and having a rest, We also got to see their laying hens, broilers and also turkeys that are going to be fattened up for thanksgiving. Luc and Micheline greeted us warmly and took the time to chat with us about a little of everything, really passionate folks who are doing something they truly love and with ideals that they are not willing to compromise for a quick buck, if only more folks could be like this. We ended having the chops that night for supper with a red rice and bulghur wheat salad, think tabbouleh but with red rice and chickpeas. Yesterday I pot roasted the shoulder with some tomatoes, anchovies, lots of fresh thyme, rosemary and a nice chicken/pork/beer broth I froze after braising ribs a few weeks back. Today I finished some Flageolet beans in the broth and called it supper. From our quick trials the meat has a nice flavour, not too intense or gamey but it's from fairly young animals, I found the fat to have a nice succulent quality (tasty even when cold) we really need to get a roasting joint next time to get the full range of flavours. Good folks making great food.

dis moi ce que tu écoutes, je te dirais qui tu es !!

Voilà un lustre que j'ai pas écris sur ce blog, on dirait que je me détache un peu plus de la cuisine in, les livres, les blogs, les putains d'émissions de Télé-métec, Radio-canne, Foul-tv et les livres que les chefs chient comme des tables d'hôtes. la musique est vitale dans une cuisine ( comme dans la vie), on en parle beaucoup, et oui on ne parle pas que de filles avec une belle poitrine, de voiture et de hockey. Une mise-en place bien faite commence par une bonne sélection de musique, des amitiés commence par elle, des partages de souvenirs d'enfance, des mélanges de goûts, tu découvres tes collègues via ce qu'ils écoutent, pour conclure: la musique t'aide à bâtir une équipe. La cuisine, est une belle démocratie ( sarcasme), alors c'est la musique du plus fort qui prédomine, c'est à dire le chef, le sous-chef, l'entre-métier, le garde-manger, et puis tu as aussi des pâtissiers et pâtissières qui font les malins et malines avec leurs musique underground mi-sucrés, mi-salés, avec le croquant, l'acidité et une tuile de jazzy. Et enfin les derniers, les plongeurs ( les plus importants ) bienvenue à bollywood. Pour ma part, les deux personnes qui m'ont le plus rejoint sur le plan de la musique, est bien sure Frank haie avec le soul, le jazz ( Miles Davis, Nina Simone et autres qui te prennent pas la tête avec leur bruits à la Stelio ), le hard ( Systeme down ), Kos, la Rue Ketanou...... Et puis Mathieu Bardeli-jean, avec l'électro, le punck, Madona, Trentmoller, Les Colocs, Led Zep, Jimi Hyndrixe. Et pour moi je ne peux pas faire de la cuisine sans de la reggae, de la ragga, de la gnawa, du soul, du hip-hop: Nomadic-massive Peter Toshe W-jean Roots Manuva Radiohead Ninjatune Anis Ayo Caracol IAM Leloup Fujiya et Miyagi Cocorosie Raspagous Marley ........... merci à vous

TO WARD OFF THE CHILL

In the spirit trying hard to shake off the winter doldrums, we ventured out to Rougemont for the 2nd Mondial des cidres de glaces, we had attended last year and ended up tasting a diverse selection of ice ciders and found some exceptional gems among them. Last year we had gone on the closing Sunday and by mid afternoon the scene was dying down so we got a chance to interact with each producer and find out what each one was doing to make their ciders unique. This year kept with our Sunday strategy but the scene was definitely more raucous, first it was an absolutely stunning day, fairly warm too. The tent was difficult to navigate pleasurably and as usual in these instances a lot of people cutting ahead and barging in as if the prohibition was coming back in effect. Rudeness and irritability aside it was nice to see a lot of folks turn out for locals products although next year I think they should work out a larger tent to fit all the revellers comfortably. Quite a few new products out this year. Veronique and I made a point to try as many as we could so we shared single pours .Contrary to what a lot of people think Ice cider is not a one trick pony, when you taste more than a dozen different interpretations you really see all the nuances. I tend to favour a cider that has that deep flavour of slow cooked apples and spices tamed by a nice acidity, I think Vero prefers a more fruitier version (litchi, apricots and the like) . Apart from a few duds (one tasting so vile I swear it was like mouldy apples and dill pickle juice, another have a strong chemical aftertaste) it was difficult to declare a clear winner, as usual we spent far too much money and came home with a bunch of bottles. The standouts this year...Val Caudalies' "Réserve d'Éole" this one was quite complex and not too sweet. Cryo Cidrerie's "prestige" and regular yearly bottling "Cryo de glace" we're also fabulous, really intense, apple flavours not too sweet and cloying. Vignoble De Lavoie's "Ace" was a coup de coeur for it's really fresh and crisp bite. A lot of good stuff worth checking out. Incidentally most of these products if not available through your local liquor monopoly can be purchased from Marché des Saveurs or take a trip out to the producers directly, many are open on Saturdays and Rougemont is a short leisurely drive from the Island . We did that a few weeks back and didn't regret it one bit.

JOYEUX NOËL

Just a quick shout out to say Feliz navidad be safe, be well, be good and take the time to appreciate it all.

SURVIVORS

First real snow of the season today, I actually didn't mind shovelling the stairs and driveway this evening, that is until the plough driver reminded me otherwise. I was just finishing the last shovelfuls when the plough came by and filled my entrance back up again and not with the fresh just fallen from the sky kind, no...The "I have been dragged from 3 streets away" compacted brown lumpy shit that hurts your back just looking at it. I took it in stride, I got the job done and had a nice steaming bowl of ginger, carrot and cabbage soup to take the chip off my shoulder. Plus I snagged these beautiful shots, we we're real lucky this year, the parsley, thyme and chives survived until this past week, shielded by the side of the house. Well it's back to store bought herbs until the spring.

CAFE MYRIADE

I have been going here on my lunch hour almost every day for the last two weeks, I got tipped off from the Montreal Chowhound board. It's very soberly decorated, the counter setup is real sweet, the coffee damn good. I had some really deep flavoured espresso which was pulled with a nice crema with finish that lingers in your mouth. (coffee is from Vancouver's 49th parallel) The really interesting thing that separates Myriade is other than the standard espresso orders you can pick your single origin coffee and have it brewed, in a french press, EVA solo carafe or a siphon coffee pot, I don't think there is anyone else in the city doing siphon coffee let alone going through the trouble of offering the coffee done in so many ways and really pushing to highlight all the complex flavours and subtleties between all of them. I got a chance to chat with Anthony who is one of the partners in this venture and he seems like a real stand up guy, real passionate about what he is doing and quite articulate too. I missed the tasting they did last week where they selected one of their coffees and brewed it 6 ways (drip, EVA, french press, siphon, single and allongé espresso). He mentioned that the next tasting he wanted to "deconstruct" their house blend it's a blend of three different beans and he would have you taste an espresso made from each one separately to see what each one contributes to the blend. I really like this approach it reminds me a lot of the boundary breaking that occurs in cooking, when a lot of attention is put on the way the ingredients react to different treatment. They have a nice variety of teas available and also do tea tastings and I believe they are supplied by Camelia Sinensis which is the definitive place for teas in the city, another place with a dedicated staff and a real passion for their trade. Definitely a place to try but I'm not responsible for your resulting addiction.

Café Myriade

1432, rue MacKay, Montréal, QC H3G 2H7 Telephone : 514-939-1717

J'y fait un arrêt quotidien depuis les 3 dernières semaines, j'ai appris son existence sur le groupe de de discussion Chowhound. Un décor très sobre, un comptoir bien équipé (leur Mirage est une belle bête) et par dessus tout un café incomparable. On m'a servi des espresso court avec une créma d'enfer, d'un superbe corps et des arômes complexes qui ont beaucoup de longueur en bouche. Autre que des Baristas compétents, bien équipé et un choix des cafés d'origine unique (du 49th parallel Vancouver) ce qui sépare Myriade des autres c'est le choix de services des cafés. On peut choisir son café parmi les origines distinctes et ensuite on choisit l'extraction en cafetière piston (le bodum) Carafe EVA solo ou cafetière siphon. Il n'y a pas d'autre endroit qui poussent vraiment la dégustation et l'exploration de toute les nuances possible qu'offre le café. J'ai eu la chance de discuter avec Anthony un des proprio de la place, un super gentil et très approchable (comme tout le staff d'ailleurs) et passionné par son métier. J'ai raté la dégustation de la semaine dernière ou il on sélectionné des grains d'une origine et on fait goûter ce même café a travers leur 6 méthodes d'extraction (filtre,piston,EVA, siphon, espresso, allongé) pour comparer l'effet sur le "corps" et la saveur. Il m'a parlé un peu de ses plans pour d'autre dégustation, je crois que ça promets . Ils ont une sélection impressionnante de thé qui sont acheté chez Camelia Sinensis, un autre endroit avec des gens qui on une passion pour leur métier et leur produits. Un arrêt chez Myriade est fortement recommandé, mais je ne suis pas responsable de votre future dépendance.

Café Myriade

1432, rue MacKay, Montréal, QC H3G 2H7 Telephone : 514-939-1717

last open market day revisited

I'm a bit late posting this, but I got some beautiful pictures that day, would be a shame not to post them. That Sunday the market was bustling in part because Saturday was so rainy and that this was also the last open market day, JTM would close up the walls for winter. Day like this you don't mind the pushing and shoving so much... well. We stopped by François des Bois' stand to get some 'shrooms, it's going to be hard letting go for the winter. I hope things went well enough with them to return next season. They've had some really interesting varieties of mushrooms available, really top quality farmed as well as wild. They also have things like aroche de mer (sea spinach), thé du labrador, wild ginger, sea parsley, all local products and decently priced to boot. We got a flat of eggs from the Capitaine Jr. resisting the temptation to get duck eggs while there, we we're on the hunt for fruits and veggies for storage. We hit Jackpot with the apple stand that is down the aisle from Birri et frères. They had big bins with honeycrips, goldens , gala's and some of the usual suspects (mac's, lobo's), really big attractive specimen's not too expensive considering the quality. We rounded our selection off with Empire's from another stand and spotted a big 15lbs bag opf small red beets a steal at 3.50$. We got smoked mack at Atkins, cider at saveurs du marché, smoked almonds and macadamia's for snacking at the nut stand. A piglet's head from Porcmeilleur, enough bags of pasta to last us part of the winter from Milano's and finally we hit Havres aux glaces to pick up some chestnut ice cream for home...of course we had some ice cream on the spot too. I had a mix of pumpkin and orange (their fall flavour) and also the burnt maple caramel , this one is the most intense, molasses like flavour, intense caramel notes, just this side of too much, for caramel fiends only. How can one not be inspired by all the brouhaha of the market, it always puts me in a good mood and sets my head a spinning with ideas.

QU'EST-CE QU'ON FAIT MAINTENANT?

Je sais une absence radio trop prolongée...mais ça ne veut pas dire que j'ai rien foutu, Un petit aperçu en attendant d'avoir le temps de faire un post plus détaillé.