DIRECTIONS IN FOOD

Break-down, Build-up

2010-09-27T16:59:00.001-04:00

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

2009-12-01T16:06:00.008-05:00

PATTE BLANCHE

2009-08-17T21:07:00.008-04:00

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 !!

2009-04-26T13:30:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-04T22:19:00.008-05:00

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

2008-12-25T01:00:00.002-05:00

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

SURVIVORS

2008-12-10T00:20:00.006-05:00

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

2008-11-23T01:17:00.022-05:00

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

2008-11-23T01:13:00.007-05:00

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?

2008-10-17T00:16:00.005-04:00

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.

UNE DINDE DU MOIS D'AOUT

2008-08-18T11:06:00.005-04:00

Un des nouveaux plats aux Cons Servent depuis le retour des vacances est une dinde cuite sous-vide, risotto aux brocolis et cheddar, et écume de jus d'herbe.

On voulait faire allusion au classic quebecois de la dinde avec du riz et brocoli, mais disant un peu plus travaillé.

Donc la poitrine de dinde est sous-vidée pour garder toutes les saveurs , cuite pour 1h à 63 degrés, plongée dans un bain de glace, portionnée pour le service, et à la commande pannée d'un côté au panco pour donner du croustillant.

Le risotto est une des 1500000000 recettes qui existe de risotto, monter au beurre est cheddar à la fin.

Le jus d'herbe est fait à base d'une reduction de fond blanc de poulet, et créme, persil, cerfeuille, basilic. Puis on blanchi les mêmes herbes, on les passe au robot, puis au chinois.

voilà quelques photos :

La dinde qui est une viande assez sec et disant la verité ennuiante, séduit en ce moment, pusique la cuisson sous vider à permis d'avoir une poitrine juteuse et le panco un côté craquant , je parle de la poitrine de la DINDE.

Mc Collio

2008-08-06T02:00:00.005-04:00

Pour faire de la bonne cuisine, il faut avoir des bons produits, mais aussi une bonne personne qui vous montre comment bien les utilisés.

Des personnes vous pouvez en rencontrer pleins dans le domaine de la restauration, qui disent qui ont les meilleurs produits, qui travaillent avec des petits fournisseurs, bla bla bla et encore un autre bla juste pour dire.

Mais c’est pas ça mon point, mon point est : C’EST QUI LA BONNE PERSONNE POUR VOUS MONTRER COMMENT BIEN TRAVAILLER UN BON PRODUIT ! .

Je pense que cette personne la change de profil en même temps que vous, en ce moment, c’est mon chef et patron Stelio Peromblon. Voilà presque un an que j’ai commencer au cons servent, comme sous-chef ( je devais être garde-manger au debut, mais vu que je coûtais pas cher alors…), en un an il m’ a beaucoup influencé, sur les methodes de travail, comment monter une assiete, la demension de la subtilité d’une sauce, l’organisation de l’espace de travail, la musique ( pas vraiment). Ces changement, je m’en suis rendu compte en faisant des extras au cinquiéme peché et au sein de l’hotel Saint-sulpice, ce n’est pas que ces places n’ont pas ces methodes et ces caractéristiques, elles sont juste différentes.

Pour les bonne personnes qui ont encadrés Stelio : il y avait Nicholas Jeangleux, Normand Laprise, Bernard l’oiseaux. Il était chef du Lemeac, les caprices de Nicholas, les Chêvres et le choux, et puis en ce moment les Cons Servent.

Donc pour faire court : la bonne personne en ce moment, pour moi, c’est Stelio, ça pourrait changer le mois prochain, ou peut être pas !!!!

Il était une foi au 5e

2008-07-04T03:44:00.003-04:00

homard plancha, purée de celeri-rave, têtes de violons, asperges et jus corsé de veau. os a moelle et narines de julien: foam de choux-fleur et escargot et huile de chorizo. loup de mer en carpaccio et en tampura: staff du 5e

Benoit : chef du 5e Staff tout sale du 5e avec du vin du depanneur dessert : nougat.....j'étais trop ...oublié allez manger au 5e, c'est bon .

un staff aux cons servent

2008-07-04T03:33:00.003-04:00

Après un long silence de ma part et celle de Franck, voici un petit plat staff: Rib steak laqué au sirop d'érable, ragoût de lentille au confit d'agneau. bon appétit

Auto-Psy

2008-05-19T02:51:00.002-04:00

J'aimerais faire l'objet d'une expérience, qui est : Faire un service avec moi même. Je m'explique : je voudrais accomplir une journée de travail ( mise en place, service, fermeture de la cuisine, et la petite bière aussi ) avec moi même. Un ¨moi ¨ au garde-manger, un ¨moi ¨ au poste d'entremetts, un¨moi ¨ comme sous-chef, un ¨¨moi ¨ plongeur, et un dernier ¨moi ¨ comme serveur, j'ai oublié un ¨moi ¨ pâtissier. Le but de l'expérience, subventionnée par emploi Québec tout de même, est de me voir comme personne au milieu du travail, comment je supporte le stress, analyser mes gestes, sentir mon odeur, voir mes assiettes, mon regards. L'idée de cette expérience vient du faite que la plupart des gens avec qui j'ai travaillé me reprochent mon intensité, mon arrogance, et mon côté ¨ mody ¨. Je ne doute pas de leurs jugements, mais la cuisine est intense, doit être arrogante, et sûrement ¨ mody ¨, alors : Allez tous chie..... NB : désoler pour tous les ¨moi ¨, c'est le café, les cigarettes, et l'ego. NB2 : l'animal utilisé pour cette expérience, est un animal bio et consentant.

images des cons servent ACT II

2008-05-08T00:06:00.002-04:00

images des cons servent

2008-05-07T23:44:00.002-04:00

Recent finds

2008-05-01T00:21:00.002-04:00

Two books I found on a recent visit to value village , The first is a small booklet on raising rabbits, from cages, to food and breeding and is a very concise little book that's got a lot of interesting info, this could come in handy for future projects.

The other is the Second book by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers of London's River Café, I first heard about this restaurant because of it's connection to Jamie Oliver and I have seen the books in stores and always been impressed by the simplicity of recipes, the River Cafe is one of those places that rests on the strength of the produce it uses and lets them shine through. No mind boggling techniques just good, smartly cooked food and it was a steal at 5$ .

GENEROSITY

2008-04-30T23:28:00.005-04:00

When you work in food service you come to the somewhat perverse realisation that ultimately we derive pleasure by giving pleasure, you are happy making food that will make people happy. This why I love canning not only for it's tradition of gathering people , preserving for the lean months and the self sufficiency one derives from it. In the end we always make more than we can consume because I like to share, there's always someone you can uplift with a little bit of homemade love in a jar. I never really expect anything in return except the comments ( the good and the bad, because I like to get a different perspective so I can improve my craft) and the jars back when possible (the smart ones know that by giving the jars back they're likely to get more goodies in return). Every so often you get a surprise and find someone else who likes to pass the good Karma around and today was one of those days. I had recently finished a batch of marmalade and passed a jar to a co-worker not thinking too much of it and this morning when I showed up I found 2 jars of the most beautiful tomatoes at my desk this just brightened up my day. When I got home I immediately put a jar of these beauties to work, I scoured the garden for watercress and small dandelion greens, with the help of some cabbage, Borlotti beans and pasta made the most soul satisfying Ribollita I have had in a long time, thanks Angie .

je veux voir la trappe à graisse de LAURENT GRAS

2008-04-30T01:17:00.004-04:00

Tout le monde en parle ( non l'émission ), du nouveau resto de Laurent Gras : c'est le nouveau Alinea revisité en plus gras, pardon en plus gros :).

Sincérement, à chaque jour je consulte le blog de Mr. Laurent, et je me pose toujours la même question : comment pourrait être l'éxperience de manger dans cet endroit, puisque c'est pas juste la nourriture, le service, ... tous, et surtout qu'on connait avec quel genre de matériel il travail, il n'a pas le droit à aucune erreure, aucune.

Je pense aussi que cette façon de voir la gastronomie est un peu trop pour moi, à ce stade, c'est la proffession qui nous intéresse, c'est pas de cuisiner pour tout le monde, puisque tu cible une genre de clientéle bien precise, qui ont les moyens de ce payer cette éxperience ( peut-être que c'est par jalousie que je pense comme cela).

Mais, aprés bonne réflexion, je pense qu'un chef est un artisan, et qui doit rester prés de son produit et de client le plus banal.

NB : mais je suis ouvert à une invitation, pour aller manger : Patron Stelio, un petit voyage ça vous dis!!!!!

SPRING FORWARD

2008-04-27T19:25:00.005-04:00

The last of the snow and the return of spring is very much like rebirth around my house, it seems like the last few years winter's tail end is always accompanied by a bit of gloominess, we escaped that a bit this year with our NY trip but man we're we ever glad to see the last of the snow melt away. Spring weather and thaw also means the appearance of perennials, The mighty bronze fennel is back , I love the copper color of the leaves at this stage , it's too bad they lose it to a more greenish cast. Rhubarb is as faithful as ever, Lovage is also as true, Lemon thyme survived splendidly where the season prior it had not.

The best surprise of all is ramps!!, I ended up planting a few bulbs of what we had bought last year not hoping for much but low and behold among the garlic planted in the fall, the familiar leaves popped up, since there are only a couple I will let them propagate on their own and see if I can repeat the experience this year. I love this stage of the season, cleaning out the yard, pulling weeds, planting seeds, I feel like I just woke up from a deep slumber. I am anxious to get started on the garden this year, the last few years I have just been trying to grow a bunch of different things depending on my humour but this year we are really going to focus. Along with heirloom tomatoes and beans, there will be Poblano peppers, a type of Jalapeno that has little heat , Cavolo Nero, cucumbers for pickling, rainbow chard, New Zealand spinach and lettuces of all kinds. I hope to take our preserving to the next step as well in the hopes to become somewhat self-sufficient. Man it's good to be back!!

SUPERSIZE ME

2008-04-27T18:54:00.004-04:00

My mother returned from her annual trip back home to Dominica , she's always good for a couple of surprises and this year she did not disappoint. She brought back the usual, passion fruit concentrate, guava jam, a bottle of a rum and these, the ace up her sleeve. These are not Pomelo, or another type of citrus, it's the real deal, they are limes, just Ginormous (I borrowed that one from Chloe) . She says she knows of only two trees that have this fruit, they we're planted by an old lady many years ago. We couldn't wait to try one and couldn't think of a better way that have a couple of Mojito's , they cells of the fruits a big like a grapefruits you can practically separate each one and the juice and zest are very fragrant , very tart but not too acidic. Even if you don't have these monstrous limes you can still make an absolutely refreshing and hot the spot Mojito with regular old limes.

Véro's Mojito's

-1 part brown rhum

-3 parts soda or perrier

-1 lime

-10 or so mint leaves
-2 tbsp brown sugar

-A dash of Angostura bitter's

In a tall glass place the sugar, mint leaves and squeeze half the lime into the glass then muddle with a pestle or the back of a spoon. Add the angostura, rhum and then top with soda to your taste, stir add some ice and some lime wedges and enjoy!

WD-50

2008-04-09T23:06:00.013-04:00

After a nap and a shower we headed to WD-50, upon arrival I was struck by the room it's really nice, the different materials used work really well and while the design uses an Asian feel it's not kitschy. On the way there we had toyed with the idea of asking the kitchen to cook for us , but seeing has how the place was pretty full our confidence took a blow and we did not want to a pain in the ass. We got a banquette between 2 other couples, on the left coffee and mignardises on the table on the right , they we're in the midst of a tasting menu. After perusing the menu's we inquired about the best course of action, because we could not decided we wanted to do tasting but the dishes on the carte looked to good to pass up, our server Chris suggested that we order 1 app each, then have a main split between the 2 of us and finally 1 main each, that way we could taste as many plates as possible, before going off he gave us specifications on the menu along the lines of "pork belly is the same cut as bacon" and "sea trout is similar to salmon" , the downside of the recent review might be an influx of clients with little prior knowledge of the place or some the cuts they use, we reassured him and mentioned we are both cooks and it's all good. We had wines by the glass for each savoury course.

Amuse: Cured fish (cannot remember for the life of me what) with sauerkraut purée, scallions and currants and diced broccoli stems. The plating was nice, while the fish was fairly mild, the sauerkraut purée intense a good match with the currants and fish, a good start.

Apps followed, Véro went with popcorn soup. A buttery, nutty, rich popcorn soup almost a purée, with some sliced shrimp sausage (Activa at work here) and Jicama that's cooked in tamarind, popcorn powder, shiso oil and micro shiso. The individual parts are nice, the soup rich decadent, strange, the jicama sour and tasting almost of water chestnuts and the shrimp sausage brilliant but the sum of all these together has an immense impact, the sourness cutting through the richness of the soup. It sounds like something wacky but this is really a solid plate.

I received smoked eel with salsify purée , sliced cooked salsify, guava and puffed yuzu. This intriguing mix the guava in caviar like pearls, bright and fruity was a nice balance to the smoky eel and silky salsify purée . The dish was excellent but felt like it was missing something to really make it pop.

We then got surprised by a plate sent from the kitchen, Eggs Benedict done WD style. Creamy yolks cooked in a cylinder shape, crunchy bacon chips (Canadian bacon) just enough chive points and of course the fried hollandaise cubes (made with English muffin breadcrumbs). A true ode to egg lovers, Chloe would love this dish she always leaves the whites when I make hard boiled eggs and she can't get enough bacon.

Turbot was next, the presentation was beautiful, the fish was rolled and glued into a cylinder and cooked SV I assume. The play of textures was real strong on this dish, the turbot was perfectly cooked but retained a nice firmness, toothsome lentils, smooth purée and the crunchy cauliflower chips. You'd think that something like BBQ lentils would overpower the other elements of this dish. When eaten with the other elements it blended really well , the apricots we're another surprise the jamminess of them worked well with the cauliflower a real surprise. This dish was ace.

Mains: Vero had lamb loin with pretzel consommé, potato noodles, wilted mustard greens and mustard cake. Nice... Beautifully cooked lamb (again I believe SV) it had the most intense mineral like flavour, don't know if it's from the cooking method or the sourcing. The pretzel consommé was again another winner, the taste spot on with the potato "noodles"and mustard greens it was almost like some intense surreal pho' like experience. Vero did not like the mustard cake much but I thought it was awesome.
Wagyu Flatiron for moi, the cippolini onions was magnificently charred, a good pairing with the steak and toothsome coffee gnocchi . The coconut foam was like shaving cream in texture, light but powerful , very nice against the silky, beefy flavor of the wagyu flatiron.
By this time the place was moving and shaking but the kitchen did not look to be missing a beat. The couple doing the tasting on the right we're not enjoying themselves but to me it seems like they would not be a place we're they could be happy, the girl endlessly checking her Iphone for SMS while she refused to try things and when she did complained about the taste, the guy agreeing with her every word , would gobble down his plate?? oh well. The other table (on the left) we're the complete opposite, not their first time at WD-50 and having a blast and they weren't young either.

We opted for the 3-course dessert tasting

Amuse was a wintergreen parfait, chartreuse gel, avocado purée and candied walnuts . Like toothpaste this is not negative comment, the amuse served it's purpose exactly, the parfait was cool, fresh and still managed to be creamy and sweet but just so.

Then came this amazing passion fruit tart, w/liquid crust, passion fruits purée, argan oil, almond nougatine, black sesame paste and powder. Powerfull, fresh, nutty, sour and intense. The hit of the almond like character of the argan oil against the sour like hit of the creamy passion fruits filling. The sesame bringing in the bass note that reaches the argan oil, the nougatine powder adding crunch. Unapologetic in your face but really ...wow. The elements being what they are, not forcing you to find out why they work together, they just do. I love the little burnt meringue drops ...A1 my fave

Then Soft white chocolate, white beer ice cream, wheat beer gel, malt powder malt vinegar caramel painted on the plate. Not a big fan of white chocolate but this was really cool, the ice cream was intense and pure, it tasted like the foam on top of the beer. again all these different elements end up reaching together effortlessly. Veronique really dug this plate.

We got another kitchen treat with Cherry covered chocolate. a cherry gel covering a soft chocolate ganache, chopped dried sour cherry clumps, brownie bits, a cherry flavoured molasses painted on plate, molasses yogurt and some fresh lime zest to boost everything up. Vero's eye had caught this on the menu and it was like they read our mind when we got this . We had both wondered what it was like and out of nowhere we received this. I loved the metallic , sour sweet quality of the molasses when combined with the little cherry covered chocolate. the texture of the cherry gel was a bit brittle like you get with agar but it was not too unpleasant. The zest was a great addition, you'd almost think it would not work but it ties in well with the yogurt .
we got to swing by the kitchen after our meal and M. Dufresne was very kind, we we're both too full of good food and booze to be very interesting, everyone was extremely courteous, Chris (our Server) was the man, courteous, his wine pairings spot-on, not pushy at all. True professionals and we got treated like kings.

New York, New York part II

2008-04-03T23:51:00.009-04:00

Day two was probably the best one of the lot for many reasons, we slept in a bit and then headed out to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, since Véro had never been to NY before she wanted to soak in some touristic sites so we compromised the lady liberty view by taking the Staten island ferry rather than going out to liberty island which i remember being a pain in the butt and not being all that great. The Ferry terminal was fairly packed , lots of tourists from all over, it's a nice ride with a nice view of the Brooklyn bridge, the weather was beautiful, sun was out and it was not too chilly.

Once back we took the subway and made the first of our Holy trinity of cooks dream store Korin, I initially wanted to bring in a couple of my knives to be sharpened in house but found out before our trip that their knife master would not be in during the month of March so we settled for just shopping (as if we weren't totally stoked about that). The Korin showroom is a nice space fairly small but with the knives prominently on display, there we're some people in house already so we quietly checked things and and then ended up getting some really friendly help from William one of the sales reps, he not only made some great recommendations on knives but we also ended up chatting about where we we're going to dine during our stay and we showed him pictures of how much damn snow we got in our neck of the woods. A Misono Sujihiki for Véro and a Togiharu Petty for me, a bag of Bincho Tan, some smoke sticks (a great discovery of last year, excellent for cold smoking) and a bunch of other things, we left with wallets lighter but spirits quite high.

We walked down Canal st and into Chinatown, I love the open air fishmongers as well as the stalls selling veg and all manners of snacks. We browsed through some stores, bought a few things (ready-made Milo in a can for my brother) and decided we need a break for sustenance. Thanks to the kind folks at AEB we got a good tip about #1 dumpling on Eldridge St. WE stopped in and amid the crowd of kids snacking after school ordered 2 sesame pancakes with roast beef and a couple of orders of different dumplings, while waiting for our order I got to scope out their operations they have these wonderful custom burners that will boil or fry a bunch of dumplings at once. The sesame pancake is the perfect snack , the dough is a bit thick but a nice foil for the fresh veg and roasted beef, the dumplings we're tasty the fillings well seasoned (pork and scallions) , Véro was hooked, she tried finding ways we could bring back a bag of their frozen dumplings but that would be for another time.

Il Laboratorio Del Gelato was next , I had heard much about his place and was anxious to try it, I was a bit underwhelmed by their selection of flavours i was expecting some more way out stuff but , the selection was still very cool. I settled on a split of Olive oil Gelato and Red bean, the olive oil was really smooth, with a nice peppery olive oil kick at the end, I found it brought out the bitterness a bit too much but the sweetness was in check, Red bean was nice, again not too sweat, really creamy mouth feel. Véro had Amaretti crunch and Ginger, Ameretti crunch was the clear winner, with little amaretti bits scattered throughout a bitter almond base . The ginger was a surprise, really intense pungent gingery taste, not a candied ginger either, it tasted as if they had infused sliced fresh ginger into their gelato base, surprising but I came to like it. We headed back to our hotel for nap and refresh ourselves for our main event we had dinner booked at WD-50

New York, New York part 1

2008-04-02T23:31:00.003-04:00

My boss dropped the news that I had some vacation time available , I seized the occasion and took a week off at the end of March and Véronique and I finally got to take a real vacation together. Because we don't have an unlimited budget and with such last minute notice for booking we decided on New York, we had both been talking about going, Véro had never been and I had not been since my teens so the timing was perfect. We booked a hotel in Queens and figured we'd park the car and then use the subway since New York's subway system is top notch putting our own Métro to shame. We arrived on Monday evening tired from being in the car all afternoon and anxious to walk around. We took our first of many trips on the E train and figured we'd get off near the Time-Warner center and see if we could get a spot at Yakitori Totto since it is open late. We quickly ducked in to the Time-Warner center to see if we could get a peek at the Bouchon bakery display, I then remembered that this is the home of a huge Whole foods market , i have heard much of Whole Foods good and bad, but we we're both impressed by the variety and quality of the goods available, plus the amount of people 40 cashier stations and a line up going halfway through the store 8pm on a Monday night! We then toured Williams Sonoma, nice gear , nice store but some of the stuff they sell is horribly overpriced but they had some really nice unique items (of various levels of usefulness). A small knife used specifically to peel chestnuts, the smallest silicone spatulas we've ever seen (we ended up getting these on a later visit), A set of 3 vanilla extracts from different origins (Tahiti, Mexico, Madagascar). By the time we hit Bouchon they we're wrapping up, we vowed to return and then headed to Yakityori Totto

They we're full but we gave our names, took a walk, returned 20 mins later and ended up waiting 10 minutes or so to get our table. Some nice cold beers in hand we we're reay to order, unfortunately due to the lateness of the hour , all specials we're out but we soldiered on. We ordered several skewers , on the side we got, the mixed pickle plate which was nice it had, small onions, umeboshi, a kind of seaweed that tasted a bit of tobacco and licorice ,carrots and pickled eggplant (which surprised by their crunch and flavour). Also had the cucumber and whole bean miso (another discovery). Then came the procession of skewers, Heart: expertly grilled, the right bite, not chewy at all, i was blown away by those 3 tiny morsels on a stick. We then had chicken thighs and scallions, nice char and still slightly bloody with the crispy exterior and slight bite of the scallions. Berkshire pork with lemon and mustard, nicely grilled slices of Berkshire pork belly, on a plate with a wedge of lemon and a dab of intense mustard in the corner, the combination of both is the perfect balance to the fatty crispy pork belly, tangy and through the nose heat. Then the same pork belly slices but this time garnished with ponzu and scallions, was also quite nice. We then had Liver: ok but kind of flat, Skin: which is an eye rolling pleasure bomb,I don't think I need to explain why this was good. Enoki with bacon: amazing, crispy and then exploding inside with the toothsome enokis, Véro was not too sweet on this one but i loved it finally we had another round of heart. The place is really nice, tiny but the food is top notch, I am not an expert on the style but seeing how many Japanese customers we're in attendance I assume authentic, the staff friendly I just wished we had this kind of place in Montreal, I'm sure it would work quite well. We slid out of there , took a brisk walk on Broadway and called it a night.

whirlwind

2008-03-26T01:19:00.002-04:00

mmmm. pretty much speachless after a mind melting meal at WD-50...more to come.

TARTARE DE PHOTO 2

2008-02-19T21:44:00.002-05:00

what i've been up to

JOYEUSE ST-VALENTIN !!

2008-02-19T21:36:00.005-05:00

Ok je suis un tout petit peu en retard, mais faute de fièvre intense (tellement que j'ai ai eu des hallucinations) les 3 dernier jours je n'ai pas pu l'afficher plus tôt. J'ai fait pas mal d'heures supp. la semaine dernière et en blaguant j'ai mentionné a Véro que pour la saint-valentin j'aimerais avoir un gateau en forme de coeur, style forêt noire et surprise jeudi je suis arrivé un peu en retard mais il y avait ce beau spécimen qui m'attendait.

Tartare de Photos

2008-02-17T15:09:00.007-05:00

Oui Chef!!! act 2

2008-01-17T17:34:00.000-05:00

Bonne année ( oui je suis un peu en retard, décallage horaire). Frank avait déja parlé d'Alex du Rosalie, je suis assez d'accord avec ses propos, mais sur le côté humain ou de la gestion Alex était bien mais pas top :). J'ai du mal a oublier notre derniére soirée moi et Frank, ou bien engager un sous-chef comme John, ou bien crier sur Graham, et la minute d'aprés lui lancer des citron. Mais qui suis-je pour critiquer les gens, puisque je suis pas bien ni top sur le côté humain :). Disant que j'ai travaillé pour plusieurs chefs, tous ils m'ont appris, dirigé, fais confiance, même certais m'ont corrigé avec une spatule ( merci Franck baudry ). Mais je peux vous dire que le premier Chef qui m'a vraiment marquer, est un Tony, son vrai nom est Koumar, un gars qui vient du Bangladesh, c'etait pas un chef, c'était un montor. Il était le Chef d'un resto grecque, sur prince Arthure, la bouffe c'était vraiment grecque....... :)). Tony ( Koumar ), m'as marqué, par sa rapidité, son caractére, sa generosité, il pouvait servir, 500 personne, il faisait les viandes, les homards, les accompagnements, je le sais, c'était pas de la gastronmoie, ni de la bistronomie, c'etait de la bonne bouffe, qui goutait bon, les cuisson etait bonne, bien assaissonée. Tony ( Koumar ), pouvait gérer son grill de 3 métres, gérer le pass, caller les commandes écrites a la main, il faisait 120h semaine, et pouvait te lever et netoyer 10 saumaon entier en 18min, j'ai parié avec lui et j'ai perdu, je devais netoyer 5 sacs de 50lb de pomme-terre. Tony ( Koumar), était hindou, toute la cuisine était bangali hindou, sauf moi un marocain musulman et un indien, le pére de Koumar a était tué par des bangalis muslumans, alors vous imaginer les présentiments que ca peut engendrer, mais au contraire, ils nous protégés. Il m'a fais confiance, m'as appris a parler bangali, et m'as mis deuxiéme de cuisine, parce que j'étais passionné par la cuisine. Sur ce, comment on peut definir un Chef, pars ses techniques, sa rapidité, sa gestion sur tous les niveaux, sa passion. Pour moi un Chef, c'est un être humain qui aime la cuisine, un artisan, et qui défend sa brigade, qui partage son savoir, qui remts les gens a leurs places quand IL LE FAUT.

2008

2008-01-01T13:18:00.000-05:00

Happy New year to everyone, I think many had a bit of a bumpy ride in 2007 but I'm pretty sure we're headed somewhere interesting over the next one. Many thanks to all who helped push back the boundaries of mediocrity in the last year. Much love to Ali (thanks for being there, your self assurance is always a source of inspiration), Véro (thanks for putting up with me), Andrew ( good conversations, good salume), Stelio (good discussions about food, good food too), Aki and Alex (much inspiration, you never cease the get the little gears in my head turning), Shola (you are the man, if I can remain half as organised and dedicated I would be happy), Fabio (for showing me that good managers still exist), Lauren (thanks for the laughs)

2007 année merdique !!!!!!!

2007-12-12T05:05:00.000-05:00

Le monde de la restauration montréalaise a connu certains coups durs durant cette année. Un petit rappel chronologique : - janvier : fermeture des Chèvres, - janvier : fermeture de l'Aquatera, Carissima et le Cru, - février : Laloux se fait macsacrée par la critique, - mars : fermeture de Anis, - octobre: fermeture de Halte urbaine, - novembre : fermeture de la Brunoise, - Novembre : fermeture du Vasco de gama. Il faut souligner que toutes ses fermetures se sont passées de façon complètement absurde pour le personnel, qui ne s'attendait pas a perdre son travail du jour au lendemain. Cela m'amène a me poser des questions sur la qualité de service et de produits que Montréal offre dans le domaine de la gastronomie, le bistro, le fast food, la junk, tous ces Astis de mots qui ne veulent rien dire,surtout a Montréal. Je m'explique, parce que une table comme le cinquième péche qui est considéré par la clientèle comme bistro de quartier, et qui s'attendent a payer comme tel, ne remarquent pas les détails dans les assiettes, que c'est pas la bouffe bistro, c'est pas une putain de bavette frite qui se vend 28 $ sur saint-laurent ou bien au Holder. Alors les gens s'attendent a plus et ne veulent pas payer pour. Prenant Les Cons Servent, Stelio proclame que c'est bistro, simple, bien fait, mais BISTRO et en plus le prix vient avec. Mais les cons- somateurs soulignent que c'est pas comme les Chèvres: merci pour la critique, mais est-ce que vous avez remarquez que c'est pas les mêmes prix ni les produits. Je m'excuse pour cette petite montée de lait, il est 5h39 de matin, c'est l'insomnie qui me fait dire des choses pas biennnnnnnnn :). Je souligne aussi, que 2007 a eu de beaux moments comme : - demande de mariage de vero, lucky francky. - la résurrection du Laloux. - L'ouverture des Cons servent.

QUEL CON, MADAME VOTRE FILS!

2007-11-30T01:02:00.000-05:00

Ok so round 2 @ les cons servent a few nights back , here's how it went down .We started with le plateau des cons servent which that night consisted of Rosette de lyon pefectly sliced, pickled beets, a garlicky saucissons poached in red wine, a salad of mussels and diced celery, skate wing terrine and a soy stained quail egg. the whole thing was well balanced, w/out being bogged down by oversalting or too many acidic and pickled flavours fighting together. The highlights we're the red wine poached saucissons, a plain old garlic polish type cured sausage taken to new hights after a bath in red wine...really good. i'm not a fan of branch celery but here it made the mussels pop, it was really clean, fresh and adding a bit of crunch. Skate wing terrine was a nice surprise, meaty and with a nice zing from the lemon zest . This a nic eplate to share or if you want to just have a quick bite w/a glass of wine. I think it's just missing another condiment to help push it forward and after speaking with Stelio he said he ahd thought of adding maybe a kimchi of sorts. Mains we're bavette for me and cornish hen for véro . Bavette was a solid execution a little austere in the presentation, but well grilled bavette, a big ass quenelle of carrot and rutabaga puree and a couple of rapini w/a grainy mustard sauce. The chicken was the winner though, first let's just say that mofo' was juicy , already a good quality in any chicken dish , it came surrounded by gnocchi of the smallest stature and glzed carrots, smothered in the sauce. What a sauce too, zingy, buttery, the chicken infused with the flavours of the verjus, bright, controlled acidity, tender meat and just enough of a sear on it. To end it all Pumpkin cheesecake (light and tasty w/a spicy crumb) I had the valbert with duck ham and radishes. Again quite good but by then we we're both full and tired.

I see dead tomatoes! or ketchup

2007-11-29T23:31:00.000-05:00

A bit late in posting but still valid about 3 weeks ago I checked on the green tomatoes I picked off the vines before uprooting the garden for winter expecting to have to make jam or chutney with them and lo and behold most of them had ripened to a point where they we're tasty enough to cook with but not too exciting for eating raw. After a bit of thought I decided to turn them into ketchup I ended up making 2 batches with slight variations, the first one done in a crock pot was good but I think the quick cooking is best as it yields a fresher flavour. I figured I can included one of my non recipes as I played it all by ear and it's all still and experiment but here goes

For about a 12-15 nice ripe tomatoes

-2-3 red onions(any color is fine) chopped

-5-6 garlic cloves peeled and lightly smashed

-1 bottle passata (crushed tomatoes could work but passata is better)

-4-5 tbsp coriander seeds

-3-4 tbsp fennel seeds

-5-6 cloves

- a couple sprigs of thyme

- crushed pepper flakes or fresh chili (set to your tolerance)

- 1 cup red wine vinegar (depending on how acidic everything is already)

- 4-5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (more or less according to taste)

- 1 cup brown sugar

- salt/pepper

OK basic method, Chop your tomatoes roughly, grind coriander,fennel, pepper flakes and cloves in a mill. Sweat onions and garlic on medium heat, after a few minutes add spice mix and thyme leaves, keep sweating, then deglaze with vinegar and worster sauce and then add tomatoes, passata and brown sugar and season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer for about 20min or so and then blitz in the blender and push through a sieve, adjust seasonings and voila.

Following that here is a list of things I've thrown in or will next time around.
-Soy sauce , just a little really helps boost the flavours -Glucose this is the secret to the the commercial ketchup texture my second batch has a nicer consistency because of this. -A blend of different vinegars( apple cider, red wine and a dash of balsamic) -MSG I smacked my head after everything was canned and thought to myself that just a little bit would have taken the flavours over the top.

WEEKNIGHT SUPPER

2007-10-26T23:08:00.000-04:00

Since I have a bit more free time I've been trying to keep out of mischief and avoid watching too much TV. I swung by Slovenia after work this week to buy some beef cheeks to make stew for Chloe's lunches and also a smoked pork hock so that Véro and I can make Bouilli (that comforting Quebecois classic). After getting home I decided to get down to work on my braise right away I have to say these are the biggest mutha@#$%?ing cheeks I have ever seen, We used to get beef cheeks weekly at Rosalie's and I never came across mastodons like the these, I trimmed them down and seared them in the pan and then built my braise with sweated aromatics and used some Merlot and a combination of beef stock and coffee, I had to end up letting them cook most of the night since they we're so big but the result was excellent, I can never get over how succulent the meat becomes.

After getting the braise going i had built up quite and appetite and didn't feel like cooking much, after a quick look through the fridge I found some boudin noir (my latest obsession), leftover squash and some caramelised onions. I put together a quick little parmentier for one and when that sucker came out of the oven the smell was just crazy, It took all my will to finish my washing up before tucking into it. I have been dreaming about boudin dishes lately and I ate the boudin crèpe at Les Cons Servent(I will talk more about the meal later) and that was a really good start, this parmentier was really good I thought the squash would be too sweet but it turns out the potiron variety used is really nutty and not too sweet when cooked and the aged cheddar on top helped tie it all together. Next up I'm working on an idea for a boudin tarte fine, I might try that next week.

Forbidden fruit

2007-10-20T01:24:00.000-04:00

I'm late posting this but had a great time apple picking this season, we managed to get our asses in gear this year and we went early, the colder weather of late has made the cold storage room perfect temp for keeping our beauty's for a longer time. A couple of apple projects also on the horizon, want to try making apple butter, sorbet and there's a recipe for a yeasted apple cake in the Paul Bertolli book that I have been ogling for a while i think I will give that a try too. I 'd love to find a place that has some different varieties than the norm of Spartan, Cortland, Macintosh and co. does anyone have any leads out there?

AKA BLACK MAMBA

2007-09-27T13:56:00.000-04:00

un clin d'oeil pour toi Franck, pour te dire que j'appuis ta decision, qui est de quitter le domaine si saint et serein de la cuisine ( sarcasme ), pour une raison aussi noble que Cloé. au plaisir de cuisiner avec toi, de rucher avec toi, de chialer, de rire, et faire de gnocchi. merci pour ta passion, tes techniques, et d'être Franck. Ali.

Oui Chef!!!

2007-09-22T00:03:00.000-04:00

To some of us in the life a variant of the following discussion has surely occurred. Upon finding out that you cook for a living , people then refer to you as a "chef" , you then go on to explain that you aren't the chef (unless of course you are) at which point the person gets confused and you have to explain the kitchen hierarchy to them and explain what the "chef" does. There lies an interesting question what defines a chef. The easy answer is that the chef leads the cooks, but that' s just the basic principal, from there there,s so many things that defines or makes a chef. To some it's the pinnacle position one can achieve in the kitchen, to other's a chef's got to have a set of moves unmatched or maybe it's the person who tells them what to do but doesn't do any work in the kitchen himself. Yet for some their chef has to be the example have the skills, knowledge and organisation to make sure everything gets done& yet to some the chef could be a tormentor, the very bane of their existence.. while the title may be easily thrown around and oft coveted by many cooks, it's not possible for everyone to answer the call. No two are quite alike and more so than most other types of jobs, no two follows the same set of rules and it goes without saying that everyone is quite sure their techniques are the best. The Chef who has had a pretty deep influence on a me and other's I've worked with is Alex Rolland at that time the chef de cuisine at Rosalie. Alex has cooked pretty much around the world, cooked in some really good kitchens and while he didn't talk much about all that and was sometimes infuriating, one thing you could not deny where his skills. He's a technician, when he did work the line watching him prep was amazing, he was fast, all moves efficient, precise, purposeful a vast knowledge of food and preparations and always ready to tell what you did wrong but also able to take the time to show you how to fix it. He did have peculiar habits like wilfully putting his guys in the shits by doing strange things like telling the Garde-Manger to pass on his beautiful soup to the fish station so they could use it on a special, forcing said GM to scramble to make a new soup 30 minutes or so before beginning of service. He could be abusive at time , picking on certain cooks more than they might have deserved and still incredibly funny throwing lemons with deadly accuracy at the lazy pastry chef or always willing to share in an embarrassing moment. His influence on us became apparent only once we left his kitchen, we all use techniques that are a legacy from our time in that place. He was loathe to compliment most cooks but we all gotcha in the end Alex. It was my first "real" kitchen job and I learned a lot in my year there, more so than I would have gotten in any other place considering the lack of experience I had. I've posted enough for one go but I will revisit this post again because i think I'm still developing the idea of what i think a chef should be.

Bounty

2007-09-06T02:15:00.000-04:00

In between all the coming and going happening lately, have been trying to tame the bounty that is our garden, tomatoes are all over the place, the last 3 weeks I have been giving them away like mad, it' s just starting to taper off as of this week, trying to do as much as possible with everything coming out of the garden, so tomato soup, tomato foccacia, tomato-strawberry jam.

We also cut down the basil forest last week to make the annual batch of pesto, it went fairly smoothly. Other than that I've really been into herbal tea this season, nothing like some green tea with mint, lemon balm and thyme, really smooth I could drink this stuff all day or another fave is basil and mint, that one is from my mom, that is the stomach ache remedy but it's a good anytime thing too. Lots of ideas for dishes have been springing up as well but little time to work anything out.

Goodbyes

2007-09-02T04:38:00.000-04:00

Saying goodbye is always tough, more so when you've spent most of your waking moments with the people you are saying bye to. I lingered as much as I could, i gave it my all till the last moment and even when I was bent over head first in the fridge scrubbing my ass off, it's kind of sad, I learned a lot and not always direct lessons, you often learn more from the things you should not do than the ones you should. I cared till I could not care no more because it would break me, then when I stopped caring about everything else I started performing like mad, I juggled them out with maximum pride, and I just wished we had more time to work over the ideas, because it's amazing to see someone else understand the balancing act so well, to see the light bulb go off when you've just thrown someone the ball is great. The circumstances we're all wrong. i don't know what's next but I feel a little better equipped to face it , thanks, Ben, thank you Lauren, may you find what you are looking for.

Happy Birthday to me!

2007-08-30T01:32:00.001-04:00

Ok technically it's been over for an hour and a bit, but it's still my birthday until I fall asleep dammit! Haven't posted much have been working a lot and hanging out with Chloe as much as I can, pondering a lot on the future and trying not to be bleak. Still love cooking more than ever just hate the BS and can't get over how unorganised most places are and how much bad compromises get made daily. Not getting on my high horse just talking, trying to figure out where I'm going, where it's all going, every other place in the city turning into a Bistro it's seems so many people are trying to compromise their vision to please people or to try and stay in the game. There's nothing wrong with bistros small places, no nonsense food is good and some of them are pushing the boundaries of what they can do within the format and withing the budget. Why can't we take the elements of fine dining without the pretension and uncomfort associated with them. after working the open kitchen at "Les Deux Singes" and having dealt with customers upfront and often serving them when FOH staff we're busy, I sometimes think it would be cool to have a restaurant with a diner setup just one long bar no tables, 1 person up front to sereve wine and greet and have a larger kitchen staff(5-6) that serve the customers directly. We have to confusing pretensious and professional, no snobbish service or pompous attitude because of prestige you get from the establishment where you work, you have to be serious about your work but not take yourself too seriously. You've got to make people feel like a million bucks because they are eating in your establishment no make them feel like their spendng a million bucks, I love to see people having fun laughing when they are eating their food , making them feel relaxed not trying to shoot over their heads with the food. Il ne faut pas se payer la tête des gens, faut pas charrier! Faut pas embitionner sur le pain bénit(celle la vient de Véro). anyhow too tired for more. peace in, peace out.

Full circle

2007-08-03T00:39:00.000-04:00

The gigantic bronze fennel is in full bloom, I've started harvesting the flower heads in order to make fennel pollen. This year I decided to try and find more info concerning methods of harvesting it , I found this useful post on Bacon Press, which gives a better idea of when to harvest the pollen (turns out I was cutting the flower heads to soon) as well as his method for drying and sieving is interesting. Armed with this info I started harvesting the flowers heads that had opened up, there is so much pollen in them it flies all over the place when you manipulate them. The aroma is so much more intense than the batch I made last year, really intense licorice nose but with a big herbal kick as well . There is more to come just the one plant produces so much flowers and I planted a few others as well this year which should also produce a fair amount. Reading up on all of this brings me back to the fact that fennel pollen was the subject of my second post on this blog , it's practically been a year since I started this blog , so much has happened since and I have come far since that moment, with much further to go still. Looking back it seems that I haven't been doing much experimental stuff on here but have managed to use it as sort of a pressure valve for some of the things going on in my head (lord I am writing a diary???) I thank anyone who's taken the time to read the ranting and don't hesitate to speak up after all that's the idea behind this.

Gardening III

2007-07-31T02:35:00.000-04:00

So hampered only slightly by a summer cold (too much working not enough sleeping), I decided to try and make the most of my day off, helped my neighbor with their yard work, fussed over the garden , the sunsugar cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen, we sampled a few half ripe specimens, really tart but already showing the deep flavour they will have at their peak. The cucumbers are growing at a rapid rate, last week their wasn't much to speak of and this week I have a couple of each to show off. I planted lemon cucumbers this year, just one plant but it bears these small lemon sized cucumbers(they are also yellow) we tried one, nice crunchy cucumber taste, the seeds are somewhat large but they we're not dry so they got eaten along with the rest.

All the herbs are blooming, basil is almost ready for a pesto run. I sort of planted a bit unevenly, almost everything is going to come out at ounce, the only early crop I had was arugula , rhubarb and radishes but I am not complaining. Finally I also harvested the garlic it seemed ready, it was kinda fun we bought a head of elephant garlic at the supermarket last fall and planted it along with some sprouted garlic as a laugh and lo and behold we have garlic, it was quite nice it made for a good supper cooked with green beans and sea spinach, the perfect thing to put next to some steak.

In a jam

2007-07-17T03:43:00.000-04:00

The plan for the Strawberries purchased on Sunday was to make some jam, this would also allow me to use up the rest of the garden rhubarb before it starts to die off.I love making jam , there are so many possibilities and once you start making your own it's hard to settle for a lot of store bought products afterwards. There are many philosophies and approaches to jam making, I started making jams about 3 years ago following some recipes in a Donna hay magazine (yes I know) , the article contained such easy steps to get to a beautiful product without cluttering you with unwanted details and it worked a charm and I have been hooked since. I make jams without commercial pectin I find it yields a better taste , less sugary and I prefer, the natural texture of the cooked fruit, and that each fruit gives a different texture. Anyhow, my strawberry/rhubarb jam came out great and I'll include a basic recipe, but work with the fruits you have, if they are really ripe you can cut back on the sugar and don't freak out too much about texture, some jams don't set as tight because of a low pectin content in the fruit or a higher proportion of ripe fruit.

Basic Jam proportion

1.5kg (3lb) fruit

1kg sugar (white granulated)

3/4 cups lemon or lime juice

For the strawberry rhubarb jam I made I used the following proportion

1kg strawberries

500g rhubarb

700 g sugar

1/2 cup lime juice (OK I cheated I did not have lime so I put in some lemon juice)

half a vanilla bean unsplit

Wash strawberries well, hull them and then depending on the type you have if you have many small one you can leave some(or all) whole and cut some in half or if you have really huge strawberries, cut them in half. put fruit and all the ingredients in a large pot (preferably one that is fairly wide as well as deep) bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Turn down to a simmer and decide if you want to skim( makes a clearer product) if so skim regularly until you have little left to skim. keep stirring regularly to prevent scorching. At the beginning of the jam process, put a couple of saucers in the freezer, you will use these to test the jam. after about 30-40 minutes your jam should be nicely reduced, and have the right texture, to test place a small dollop of jam on the saucer and run your finger though it , if the jam does not flow back into place or flows very slowly back, you are ready. you can also use a thermometer to check for a temp of 105°C (220°F). carefully pour your sterilized still hot jars and screw caps on tight but not too tight and let them sit together a day, then check for unsealed jars and put these in the fridge or give them for immediate consumption. If you are paranoid you can then boil the jars, I occasionally do this but not often.

The vanilla bean is not a must be I like strawberry jam with it. I did not split the bean because I did not want the vanilla flavour to dominate that way a minimum of seeds spill out (very little actually) and the favour is subtle when I have strawberries out of season I split the bean and use a whole one.

FLEURS D'AIL

2007-07-17T02:52:00.000-04:00

Garlic scapes, garlic whistles, fleurs d'ail, however you call them, they are good eating. Many use them fresh in stir fries, salads and such. I first encountered this product while i was in cooking school, we visited a trade show and there was a lady selling a bottled puree or pesto like paste of garlic scapes. I thought the product was quite interesting, a real garlicky flavour without the intense off aroma's that might otherwise turn off some people, turns out that she touted other virtues as well like it's easier to digest than the bulb and doesn't give you bad breath. After this introduction, we used it a few times in school, for canapés, pasta sauces but after that I encountered it seldom in places I've worked, if they had it it was usually a jar forgotten in the walk in. Lately my mind has been drifting back to the garlic scapes, I have been thinking of pickling the buds along with chive buds, making garlicky caper like buds to then use in salads or as garnishes. This then also brought me back to the thought of bottled puree, I spoke with Ben about this idea and he mentioned that he gets some garlic scapes every year in season and makes a puree with olive oil and freezes it, says it keeps well. Armed with all this info I did a quick stop at Jean-Talon on Friday afternoon before the frenzy and found a kiosk that had fresh green garlic along with garlic scapes, the price was fair and I bought 2 bunches. I finally got time to deal with them today, I sorted them, trimmed the really woody hard bits (saved for stocks and soup), and then rough chopped the rest (saved some tips for pickling) , blended them down with grapeseed and olive oil. The result is nice day glow green paste with a pungent smell, but the taste is great not overpowering at all, I had some tossed with warm pasta it went down a treat. Incidentally I checked out Sean Brock's blog and it seems he's been juicing the garlic whistles down, that would probably work well with a champion juicer, the result must be even better, you don't have to use any oil and therefore the puree becomes versatile for sauces and such.

MARKET FRENZY

2007-07-17T01:22:00.000-04:00

Between now and September is the magical period for visiting Jean-Talon market, all the stands are out and the array of local produce is amazing it's not quite the bounty that mid august will bring but it's gearing up to be a great season. There are beautiful fresh onions in all colors and sizes, asparagus, green garlic, zucchini and their blossoms and of course strawberries. Veronique and I finally got a day off together and decided to spend a lazy afternoon browsing the market and blowing our little budget. Jean-Talon has so much life when it is in full swing, I usually prefer midweek afternoons when their is less hustle and bustle but it was fun to see people out enjoying the weather and ogling the produce. We ended up picking up really nice red scallions and super crunchy pickle sized cucumbers a box of really nice mangoes for 4$, half a flat of super sweet strawberries as well as Rainier and Bing cherries and some Veal Onglet for supper. We then stopped at Havre aux glaces for a treat, their product is of the highest quality, not only do they provide interesting flavours, the flavours themselves are really intense and the sweetness is well balanced, never too cloying. I had mango malai and their chai sorbet, Vero had ginger ice cream and pear and cider sorbet. The pear and cider was my favourite, really nice pear flavour almost like biting into the fruit but with an undertone for cider as well to balance it. We then hit Milano for a few staples, Veronique is a pasta freak so we have to keep the supply steady, we also picked up a huge jar of salted capers only 12$, these are superior to the brined ones in every way, the flavour is better and the texture isn't mushy.

Gardening II

2007-07-17T01:00:00.000-04:00

Well the weather's been all over the place but the garden is going strong, you can practically see things growing day by day. The heirloom tomatoes are starting to fruit like mad, so it won't be too long before the first ripe specimens make an appearance. The bronze fennel is flowering (and is about 7 feet tall), I will start harvesting the flowers soon for pollen like last year(see 2nd post from this blog). Herbs are providing enough for salads and soothing tisanes, the onions are in top shape. I'm a happy camper

partage

2007-07-10T16:31:00.000-04:00

mbonjour, pour mon premier commentaire sur la cuisine, je voudrais parler sur le fait de partager un repas. la chose qui m' attire le plus de la cuisine, c'est le partage. Le partage du pain, du sel, du poivre, de la boisson, des rires, des larmes aussi. Dimanche, j 'ai servis pour ma famille, qui habitent au Maroc, et qui sont a Montreal en ce moment, un 4 services genre Frannnnnnnnnnnnncais : varaiation de thon en tartare et tataki, yougourt au wasabi legumes du quebec en four, reduction de melasse et balsamique, huile d argane fenouil braisee, fletan roti, vierage de crevette de matan et comme desert, mascarpone en fruit, sorbet de manque, coulis d' amandes du Maroc. Mon pere a detester le thon, vu que dans notre cuisine, il n' y a pas la notion du manger de la viande, du poisson crus. le plats, les legumes et le dessert, il a beaucoup aime. je reviens au sujet principal, qui est de partager, mon pere dit a la fin du repas :"Que dieu benisse les mains qui salent et poivrent la nouriture, pour que les amis et ennemis partagent un moment de repis". Donc, voila merci a la cuisine.

Latest Obsessions

2007-07-03T02:58:00.000-04:00

Thinking a lot about spices of late. from Aki and Alex's grains of Paradise/bee pollen mix (they have to find a name for it), I mixed up a batch and it's very potent yet at the same time the pollen has all this herbal round flavours and the you get this burst of heat and intense spicy and sharp finish from the grains of paradise(also known as Maniguette). At the same time I thought back to working at Les deux singes, we used alot of spice mixes, Romuald was a fan of Old Bay and since he had trouble finding some up here, he came up with a version of it which was quite similar but with a bit more punch. i also used Ras el Hanout in a mango purée, it realy boosted the floral notes in the mango. Lately I have seen posts about Vadouvan which is gaining popularity with chef's stateside, to simplify it it's the French's take on curry, I have also come upon Colombo wich is the west Indian take on curry , I'm curious about both of these and their uses, so i'm on the hunt to acquire some.

Lambacon

2007-07-03T02:11:00.000-04:00

An idea I have been tinkering with for a while is Lambacon, curing and then smoking a lamb belly like you would for pork, now why would anyone do this other than the fact that the idea sounds like fun. Well working with Ali I became conscious of the use of pork products in our mise en place, not that I could not put them in but that if I made him taste something I had to make sure there was no pork in it. This made me think of all the pork products I would not be able to use we're I of the same faith, no fatty pork sausages, no prosciutto or most cured meat products and most importantly no bacon, that's really the one major one, from breakfast to adding a hit of smokiness and crunch to dishes, nothing does it like bacon. Even reformed vegetarians say what did them in was the bacon, they just could not give it up. So it became a bit of a joke that I would make some sort of bacon for him to eat. The thought of Lamb bacon was always logical, I finally decided to execute the idea, I went to the Veau de Charlevoix store at Jean-Talon market and asked to obtain a full lamb belly, a week later I got the call for pickup. It's small , I knew it would be, but I was still somewhat shocked by the size. When I got to curing it I used the same cure mix as I do for my bacon but decided to add some maple flakes (another new favourite) and cracked smoked peppercorns. I had to trim it since lamb skin isn't desirable like pork and since the belly is pretty thin I folded it in half and glued it with Activa RM to get a thicker end product. Cured for 2 days(went for less to avoid over salting) and smoked with cherry and hickory. I haven't sliced it yet, I'm waiting to get to work so I can use a proper slicer. but so far I'm impressed with it, it smells and looks like bacon, I think this would actually work better as Lambcetta, the end product would look really nice, rolled and cured.

What i'm into right now

2007-06-14T00:23:00.000-04:00

I'm just blabbing but I always feel like I don't post here enough so why not. What I'm into lately let's see...Shola (of studiokitchen fame) now has his own blog, all done in his own inimitable style, beautiful food shots always interesting products and I love the way this man cooks, the layers, the thought process , the little touches if you check out the studiokitchen thread on Egullet you get a lot of insight. Just the soups are off the chart themselves, squash cooked in carrot juice , you can just see already the color and flavour layering there, corn soup with oyster beignets, kohlrabi soup with grapefruit and scallion garnish anyway, it's very inspiring and very well written.

What I am reading... Ali lent me his copy of Helene Darroze's book, it's huge and the format is funny it's written from the point of view of a woman and her emotions the moments in her life, the chapters are sorted this way for example ..."premiere nuit", "patience", "jalousies", "la chemise". It also includes a little booklet with all the recipes so you don't have to stain and damage your book. I really liked this book, the recipes have a really nice feel to them , some of the food is really rustic lot's of pork and lots of fish, but even really sturdy dishes have nice little touches or luxury ingredients layered in with the thriftier elements. There's always little ingredients or twist that separates it from a lot of the classic french cooks.

Obsession of the moment is trying to find someone who can get pig or piglet sweetbreads I know the exist and I would love to get my hands on some, but no one seems to be able to get them, I have ideas of what to do with these...same goes for cockscomb and lamb cheeks.

Finally music...I have the song "the city" by the Dismemberment Plan on regular rotation as well as Modest mouse Good news for people who love bad news.

Photo credits: The photo of Shola plating goes to Docsconz, Helene Darozze from unknown source.

More musings

2007-06-13T01:27:00.000-04:00

I've got my head flying all sides with much thoughts, it seems I have a hard time getting a hang of where I am going. I know deep within myself what I want to do , the type of food I want to cook , the kind of produce I want to obtain if not grow myself or find the right people to help me with. I know I have much yet to learn , I don't claim to be anything else other than what I am, I am a decent cook, I try and give it my all and try and learn from failures and successes alike and take all of it and make it better the next time around. I learn all I can about food and enjoy it immensely, it's pretty much become my life but I just don't know how to get to where I feel I would like to be. I find I have a hard time communicating my enthusiasm for food to others, to some it comes off as being a know-it-all, to others I seem overzealous. I certainly don't have the funds to open my own place and while I would love to I'm not so sure I want to just yet, other than having lots to learn about running things outside the kitchen, I would like things to be too perfect and would hate to compromise on the things that are important. I don't know to me there are so many opportunities out there that aren't being seized, so many little purveyors ready to bring you the most amazing produce, a couple of small restaurants collaborating to make a coop like arrangement to get organic produce or fish from a small local source. I mean the kind of ego less cooking and love for the craft that is so seldom seen? I would love to work for some of these chefs that I hear and read about and will probably never taste their food, I'd love to give everything up to cook in one of those kitchens no matter how lowly the position, but I feel I would get swallowed up in a place like that. I saw photos on chez pim of the Manresa dinner with Alain Passard, holy shit! the quality and level of food they are cooking is amazing it excites me at the possibilities but at the same time it scares the shit out of me... I don't know where I am going with all this , I'm just blabbing and it's late.

big tuna photo credits from wikipedia chris 73 I believe.

Action shots

2007-06-12T01:42:00.000-04:00

Ali chillin in the backyard

Lauren foaming hibiscus

Escargot and bone marrow ragout

ben's got back

The "Charlie Trotter foodporn shot"

Je sapote!

2007-06-09T02:48:00.001-04:00

I was first introduced to Sapote when I worked at Cocagne, the chef used it to infuse some milk for a custard, before this I had never heard of it, the aroma is very particular the best description I can come up with is like a cross between almonds, nutmeg and tonka bean. I tried in vain to find some and left it at that, I found reference to it in Patrice Demer's book also in a creme prise recipe. After much research on the net lots of references to the fruits of the Sapote tree (I believe Mamey Sapote to be the variety wich yields the right seed) there is nothing about the use of the seed. I inquired a few times at Olives et Épices and they kept telling me that the crops would come in too moist (seeds rotten on the inside) so I gave up. But low and behold Ben has acquired a stash of it from said store, it seems they finally managed to get a small amount for sale. Currently at work it is being shaved over a Dessert plate. It's a Sable Breton, served with a tomato jam, topped with goat cheese ice cream and basil granité and with a quick shave of Sapote over the top, it's a really nice dessert. So having acquired a sapote seed I decided to make a batch of goat cheese ice cream and infuse the sapote in it. I used goat's milk for the custard and in the end marbled the finished ice cream with a goat's milk Dulce de leche.

LES RÉPONSES

2007-05-27T22:03:00.001-04:00

J'ai promi d'essayer de répondre a tes questions alors voila, j'avoue qu'elle sont de tres bonne questions qui porte a pas mal de réflection.

qu'est ce que ca vous fait de cuisiner ?

Cuisiner pour moi c'est plusieurs choses, En premier c'est un lien avec les gens qui nous entoure, on cuisine pour sa famille, on cuisine pour se nourrire, pour se faire plaisir, par gourmandise. Quand je cuisine je me sens bien, c'est le premier travail pour moi ou je me sens a ma place. Quand on travaille je vois directement le résultat de mon travail, je n'ai pas besoin de l'approbation d'un superviseur ou de quelqu'un d'autre pour me dire si mon travail a de la valeur. Ça me permet aussi d'être créatif et je peux travailler seul sur quelque chose et laisser aller mon imagination, mais je peux aussi collaborer avec des gens, la cuisine est un travail d'équipe. J'adore travailler en équipe pour ça, de trouver des nouvelles idées ou de pouvoir discuter pour améliorer un plat ou carrément obtenir un different point de vue, souvent on trouve des choses auquel on n'aurrait pas penser soi-même. Quand tu reçois un produit d'un fermier ou d'un artisan et que tu le travaille c'est aussi une autre forme de collaboration, tu veux tout faire pour mettre en valeur ce produit, pour montrer ton appréciation du travail des autres.

pourquoi ont ce concidérent comme cuisinier ?

La je ne suis pas certain de la question, pourquoi on se considere cuisinier et non chef?? Si c'est ça je crois qu'on est tout les deux d'un avis similaire la-dessus, il faut ce prendre au sérieux mais pas trop. Souvent le titre monte a la tête des gens. Le succes d'un brigade ne peut dépendre
d'une personne, trop souvent les gen utilise ce terme pour se survaloriser, c'est le syndrome d'une insécurité ou d'un trop gros égo. Moi je veux juste faire de la bonne bouffe et arriver a rendre les gens et moi-même heureux en même temps et continuer a évoluer de jour en jour.

la cuisine est-ce un art, ou un métier ?

Cette question est un peu difficile a répondre. Je crois que c'est un peu les deux en même temps. Il y a des éléments artistique dans la cuisine, le montage des assietes et le choix et la juxtaposition des saveurs et textures. Mais beaucoup de ce que l'on fait demeure du secteur d'ouvrier, on pose des geste répétitifs, on doit souvent faire les même choses de la même manières soir après soir. Il y a quelqu'un qui a dit qu'il se considerait comme un Artisan de la cuisine, je crois que c'est une description qui se rapproche plus de ma réalité. On essai d'être créatif, de faire les choses de façon différente, d'exprimer sa personalitée dans sa cuisine, mais on a aussi le sens de la rigueur, que les choses soit bien faites, qu'elle soit pareil a chaque fois, on a des méthodes spécifiques auquel on adhère et souvent sont très précises.

l'expérience de manger dans un restaurant, veut dire quoi pour vous ?

Ça veut dire plusieurs choses, parfois il s'agit simplement de combler sa faim le plus facilement et directement possible (Le fameux). D'autre fois on cherche la même chose que l'on essai d'offrir nous-même, on veut qu'on s'occupe de nous, de se faire servir, d'avoir du plaisir. Pour les gens en restauration je crois que d'aller au restaurant c'est aussi une occasion de voir ce que les autres gens dans notre métier font, de découvrir de nouveau produits, on cherche parfois a se faire épater, ce qui peut-être difficile parce que souvent on est si critique. C'est aussi par moment un "wake up call" pour nous ouvrir les yeux sur ce que l'on pourrait changer ou pour nous rappeler de la raison pourquoi on bosse dans cet environnement.

Merci Ali j'ai beaucoup apprécier les questions, c'est a ton tour de répondre et s'il y a quelqu'un D'autre aimerais répondre aussi j'aimerais bien savoir votre point de vue.

Gardening , not just for old folks!

2007-05-27T20:11:00.000-04:00

June is almost here and the garden is pretty much all set up, a little late this year but the weather was a bit weird. I suppose it's not so weird for me to be into gardening because I'm a cook but it's not quite an occupation that people under 30 are really into. It's sometimes a pain in the ass to deal with but overall the rewards far outstrip any inconveniences, there is nothing like extremely fresh produce, to be able to capture that essence of a freshly picked vegetable is nothing short of incredible. Salad greens that are not all watery tasting, but crisp and carry a nuance of flavours. Herbs that so pungent they are unlike anything you can ever get from any provider. The herbs that you can grow in your garden are so intense it forces you to rethink the way you handle them, every year I make a huge batch of pesto and the flavour is still intense even when frozen and used months later. This year I decided to diversify a little less and stick with things I can handle. I bought a lot of heirloom tomato plants from la coop Maison verte in NDG these are provided by Stephen Homer at Ferme du Zéphyr, they have many interesting varieties, I planted 6-7 different varieties to get a good diversity. I also planted some peppers, shallots, celery, Swiss chard and beans (various heirlooms from johnny seeds). The mild winters have allowed a lot of other types to return on their own this year. the Rhubarb and Lovage are already the biggest things in the garden, fennel is in full swing and the herb patch had very few casualties. I am anxious to be able to harvest the flowers and herbs for use in dishes, the restaurant where I work also has a partnership with an organic farm and this season with be receiving lots of interesting products come in. I wish everyone gardening a good year and would love to hear from anyone who would like to trade up some produce.

Do you have any idea how fucking busy I am, Hans Brix?!

2007-05-21T10:53:00.000-04:00

Crazy busy the last couple of weeks, but good things have come from it all. So what's been happening I am working again, with a chef for whom I have a lot of respect, it's stressful and requires a lot of readjustments and rethinking of how I am cooking, but it's not without it's rewards. The people I work with are extremely nice, generous and really care about the food and the customer's experience, plus their a pretty cool bunch. Also I have managed to meet some really kind people the last few weeks, I met up with Andrew whom had responded to my marmalade offer, I was happy to meet someone through this blog who had a lot of interesting views on food and life in general, we had some really good discussions and I ended up blabbing a whole lot which is usually uncommon for me. It also turns out Andrew is something of a Charcutier en herbe, he gave me a sample of some dry cured sausage and pancetta that he made and it was really excellent, I think he's got a good touch and from our conversations he seems really meticulous and already knew of ways to improve his products. Last week I finally found a close source for ramps, in Ontario (thanks Ryan) who could send me some (since in Québec the sale is prohibited and harvesting is controlled). I had never eaten ramps before and was happy to finally be able to try this wild and rare delicacy. It's got a really interesting taste garlicky-oniony but sill somewhat mild, At work we made chips out of the leaves by cooking them between 2 layers of plastic wrap in the microwave , they ended up translucent and crisp and we're served as a garnish for a lobster dish. Speaking of lobster, I had the chance to taste this year's Québec lobsters (Île de la madelaine and Gaspésie) and they are amazing really sweet and succulent, so I suggest if you have a bit of funds to try some while the season is in, I have seen them announced at grocery stores for between 7-9 $ a pound which isn't too shabby.

questions

2007-05-15T16:28:00.000-04:00

bonjour, je voudrais vous poser quelques questions : qu'est ce que ca vous fait de cuisiner ? pourquoi ont ce concidérent comme cuisinier ? la cuisine est-ce un art, ou un métier ? l'expérience de manger dans un restaurent, veut dire quoi pour vous ?

spring has sprung

2007-05-03T01:09:00.000-04:00

Well spring is indeed upon us, things are picking up and change is in the air. As mentioned in my opening rant I was keen of the idea of Directions in food becoming a collaborative and here's the first step. Who knew 2 years ago when I was working the line at Rosalie trying to teach this weirdo new guy the ins and outs of the Entremetier station, that things would progress so far. Since then Ali has become a good friend, moral supporter of the highest order and the guy who somehow manages to find me a cooking gig when I am in need (choukran!) he has even suggested I start giving him a percentage!! So starting now he will be dropping in and contributing to the madness here at Directionsinfood, So you constant reader will be able to get a different point of vue on the madness of kitchen work. I will try and equip him with a camera so he can posts some pics. Also in the plans are possibly videos as well if we can ever get that plan off the ground. The garden is alive and already rhubarb, lovage, chives, fennel, thyme and marjoram are putting in an appearance. I have also bought a shitload of books over the last week(thanks abebooks for making my pockets lighter) will keep you posted on those too.

Évolution

2007-05-01T16:58:00.000-04:00

bonjour Frank,

merci de ton invitation, pour que je puisse ecrire sur ton blog.

je me presente, je me nome Ali El garani, d'origine marocaine, 26 ans, et grande guelle :).

Houta veut dire en marocain Poisonnet, le petit poisson.

a la prochaine

Discoveries and treats

2007-04-13T03:31:00.000-04:00

On Thursday I headed into town to drop off some CV's and to Chinatown to buy some pork belly(yes for bacon), I love Chinatown, I don't know why more chefs don't come down here , Every time I talk to Ben at 5ieme pêché I always extole upon the virtues of Chinatown and he laughs at me. I have been scouring the area for more than 7 years now and still every time I go, I still find some surprises. I am by no means and expert in any way, I am still mysticized by the hundreds of brands of soy sauce, the odd unmarked spices and the everything meat case and well...tendons, but I am quite familiar with a lot of what is available. Lately there was a fire that forced the fire dep to tear down one end of a set of buildings on St-Laurent taking one and closing the adjacent store which was the one with the largest selection. The closing has forced people to go to the other smaller store to pick up their stuff. I walked by this week and the renovations are going well they should probably be open soon. In the meantime I took the opportunity to peruse some of the smaller stores which I neglect and boy was I glad I did I came back with a few surprises. First Marché Heng Heng, this place is very small and probably one I would normally overlook because of this, but I decided to look around and there in the small fresh produce case I came across Kaffir limes, I have never seen them in town, only the leaves, they we're not in the best shape but I could not resist I bought 8 of them, they are so fragrant, really pungent citronelle scent. I also came across fresh green peppercorns at a very cheap price 2.50$ for a fistfull whereas I see them going for 3 times that price elsewhere. I bought them and figured i could use them fresh at first and then brine the rest like the canned Madagascar stuff only better. They also had what I believe might have been Balut or something similar next to the regular eggs but I am not quite ready for that so I passed. Some store are also selling brown and white Shimeji mushrooms, I like them they are quite nice in texture. Another store had packages of tiny frozen eels(the size of a small sardine) and frozen sea snails that got my ideas racing but I decided to pass until next time. I got home and was eager to show Vero the limes, I decided to cure them like you do with lemons in salt and if I managed to get some more I think I will make some Sorbet or maybe confit them whole...

Easter shenanigans

2007-04-13T03:04:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted anything in a while because , well things are a little slow and ... I procrastinate. Last week I felt a deep need to bake , It's like I was possessed by Betty Crocker all of a sudden, being thrifty I scoured my fridge for any ingredients bought but forgotten and low and behold 3 packets of cream cheese just hanging out on the the top shelf...I checked the dates...still good, the sniff and prod check...fine so I settled on cheesecake. Still in being a late bloomer in the kitchen there are things I have made a million times and in many variations and things I have never made but wanted to...like cheesecake. I have seen the procedure many times at one point my mom was a veritable cheesecake factory...she made every variation in the Philadelphia book. baked with poached peaches or apricots on top being my fave, unbaked in any form being my least fave. So with being invited to my sister in laws for Easter it was the perfect time to experiment with a cheesecake to bring them and a perfect way for me to avoid consuming the whole damn thing myself. I searched for a good recipe and settled for this one on Epicurious, it follows the basic tradition of the baked (in a waterbath) cheesecake and the recipe is similar to many others with a few twists , ginger snaps rather than graham for the crust and a nice coating of caramel for the top. Seeing as I cannot leave well enough alone, I decided to hijack that mofo' too I will not reprint the recipe but here's what I changed, I added some more powdered ginger to the crust because well the store bought ginger snaps are never ginger-y enough, I added butter(lots) to the caramel topping because folks complained claiming it nary impossible to cut, therefore making it more of a butterscotch in texture , I added the seeds from a vanilla pod instead of extract to the cheese mix and finally I put on some candied roasted pecans instead of chopped up chocolate bars. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best, on Sunday we headed over to Isabelle's house and had an enjoyable day, kids went on an Easter egg hunt and played lots of games, dinner was alright but nothing to write home about and then we had desserts, there lots of quiet moments and some had seconds, some we're overwhelmed, it was definitely intense, but the cake turned out perfect, the crust was a little overcooked but not too bad and the butterscotch-pecan-ginger combo worked nice. I also made a pear and chocolate Charlotte which was alternating layers of chocolate mousse (Pierre Hermé recipe), and sauteed pears with brandy and honey. It was rather underwhelming especially after that cheesecake.

Apple Sorbet

2007-03-22T01:33:00.000-04:00

r My nephew's daycare is just next door to my house so lately on Friday's when my brother and his girlfriend pick him up they stop by and have supper with us. It's cool because usually I don't get to see my family much, so the last few times I've made a conscious effort to have a decent supper ready. On top of it last week was my bros. birthday so my mother made this apple cake for him and I figured the perfect touch on top of that would be to make apple sorbet to go with it. I followed a technique I learnt some time ago and then perfected on to make it. It makes for a pretty colored and intriguing tasting sorbet, you pick up a lot of the aroma of the apple by doing this. The trick is to steam the apples till cooked through, you then blend them into a purée and then strain to remove bits of peel that weren't processed, you add your simple syrup , chill and then process in an ice cream maker. Here's a recipe but like many of mine it's more of an anti recipe but those are the best kind.

Pink apple sorbet
6-7 apples ( Macintosh, Paula red, pink lady or any that has a red skin and good flavour)
150-250ml simple syrup (equal parts sugar/water boiled and cooled)
1 1/2 tbsp glucose (optional)

Core apples and then cut apples into quarter or eights. You need to then steam the apples for about 15-20minutes (maybe less depends on the apples you use) You can do this in a steamer, a double boiler type pan used to steam veggies or couscous or you can put a little bit of water in a pan put the apples in a strainer that will fit in the pan without touching water at bottom and cover with tinfoil (I have used this method many times). When the apples have cooked sufficiently, put them in a blender(a food processor will work too but not as well) and process till you get a smooth purée (you can add a touch of water if needed to get blender working), you might want to process a bit longer to make sure peels get grinded as much as possible. Then push the purée through a strainer into a bowl or container large enough to mix in. Once you have your pink purée in a bowl, put the simple syrup in a pan to heat and mix in glucose till dissolved, then slowly add simple syrup to apple purée while mixing with a spatula till, you have a semi-liquid consistency, how much you add depends on how thick your purée is to begin with, I add just enough to loosen the purée, again it's personal preference. Chill the mixture and once it's cool enough process in an ice cream machine, if you don't have one you can make a nice granita by pouring the contents in a shallow pan and putting it in a freezer and scraping it with a fork every 30-40 minutes.

Variants: this recipe takes well to several variants. Any apple alcohol blends well into this, whether apple cider, cidre de glace or calvados. I like to add the cores to the water used to steam the apples and then use that water as the base for my simple syrup it adds another dimension of flavour. You can also substitute part or all of the syrup for fresh apple juice(ex. like that Huck brand stuff) you will lose of the subtleties and some of the color but the taste is intensified. Here is the result on top of a berry crumble a few days later... I forgot to take pictures on Friday with the cake.

marmalade sandwiches

2007-03-18T22:11:00.000-04:00

Little happening on the front lately, trying to keep busy and reading a lot. Made a pretty decent batch of chili the other day, I tried adding a lot of flavour without an insane amount of heat since Veronique doesn't tolerate that crazy Chile heat. I put in a mix of smoked paprika , dried chipotles that I left whole to stew and removed before serving and chili powder, all and all a pretty decent try. I'm also trying to make the most of all the citrus fruit we have at the moment. Blood oranges , tangelo's, Seville oranges and such. I made two batches of marmalade, since I had never done this before I spent a couple of days doing a lot of research, I found that most recipes boil down to a couple of main methods with some variants. I don't like using commercial pectin when I make jams and so that ruled out some recipes, the two main methods I found interesting we're as follows. Methods 1 and it's variants consists of boiling(or pressure cooking) the whole fruits till soft and then scooping out their innards and adding sugar to make the liquor and then chopping up the rinds for texture, I found a Delia smith recipe that uses this method here. The other I found when looking on the web to see if I could get any June Taylor (jam artisan extraordinaire) recipes, consists of juicing all the citrus fruit, scooping out as much as the pith as possible and then chopping the rinds, adding them to the juice with some water and boiling till tender, you also keep all the pips and membranes and put them in a muslin jam bag to boil with the rinds and juice to make pectin, you then add sugar to all this and boil down until you reach the proper consistency. I made a batch of 4 citrus marmalade following the instructions on Elise's simply recipes blog , Seville,Tangelo, lemon and Grapefruit . I had no problems reaching the proper setting stage, The instructions she gives are quite concise and what I like is that it's not so much a recipe but a set of instructions which you can apply according to the fruit you have and then experiment. The result was really nice but I think next time I will cut my rinds into smaller strips and add a little less of them but that is personal preference only. I am tempted to make another batch but honestly we already have a hard time eating and giving away all the jam we make in a year, here's an idea if anyone locally is interested in some jam or marmalade give me shout.

Brontosaurus steak

2007-03-04T04:21:00.000-05:00

Last week, I actually had time to plan out a grocery run, Veronique and I had been craving steak, not just any steak would do either we wanted it huge and meaty and only something of Flintstones-like magnitude would do. Turns out Super C had a special on rib steaks, I know I know, meat from a large grocery chain. I do my best to purchase Organic if possible and if possible to have an idea of where my meat comes from but minimum budget and other people to feed doesn't permit always permit that, I have no problem with this in the least bit. Anyhow I have learned that the biggest problem with supermarket meat other than the variations in quality is the way it is cut. You often see funny things like boneless pork loin for 2.99$ a pound and then chops for 4.99$ a pound, OK they cut it for you so the labour drives up the cost... but 2$ more a pound is crazy especially when you can buy a whole boneless loin for the price of a few chops and cut the chops yourself in seconds to your desired size. Another problem is the thickness of the cuts, you see things like beautiful T-bone or Porterhouse steaks, with decent marbling but cut almost as thin as a sheet of paper. No wonder people are constantly complaining about being unable to have decent steak at home, I can just see that 5mm thick T-bone hitting a sizzling hot pan and before you can even get a good sear on it it's overcooked beyond belief. The thing is if you ask the supermarket butcher for something outside the case he will definitely have something for you he will cut you some other cut of meat to order the size you want it and charge you a fortune. Here's how you take the power back, wait till there is a special on a good cut like rib, porterhouse, loin or filet and ask the butcher for a whole or half cut, get home and with minimal skill cut yourself some large-ass steaks to your likeness, then you can freeze some for a rainy day. You can then refine your technique by making nice with the butcher and asking him to select a piece with the heaviest marbling and asking him to cut the steaks for you if your unsure of doing this yourself. If you follow this simple rules you will definitely see an improvement in the meat you acquire from the supermarket.

This hunk of beef ended up being the chop of choice i took off the cap to cook it separately(more on that later). I then seared it it in a hot pan then added, some herbs, a crushed garlic clove, some shallots, a few mushroom stems and lots of butter to baste it, the result was delicious, served with a Cesar salad and some steamed bok choy.

Petite Culotte

2007-03-04T02:49:00.000-05:00

So getting back to last week's steak adventure, the rib roast was a good find because I was then able to try cooking the "culotte" or rib cap separately. I have heard a lot about this cut, first it goes by many names, the french call it "culotte" or "calotte" (cap in french), in America "rib cap" or Deckle (not to be confused with a old cut from the brisket that was known by the same name). It's gaining a lot of popularity, the French Laundry was one of the first places to glamorize this cut apparently it was used for staff meal but was deemed too good for that and found itself on their tasting menu. I also imagine the fact that it's not a very large cut enables them to make portions that fit the tasting menu format. I have always wondered what this cut tastes like and for the last year and a half have been trying to find a butcher that knows the cut and will then sell it separately. You see because it is on the outside of the rib and divided from the rib eye by a thick sliver of fat and sinew, it often overcooked or considered quite tough.

Once removed from the outside of the rib the Rib is similar to Bavette or Skirt, a heavily marbled piece with a long grain. I portioned it in 2 pieces, one I seared in a pan, the other I rolled and glued with the help of Transglutaminase (meat glue) vacuum packed.

I cooked it in the water bath at 54.4 C. for about 1 1/2 hours and then quickly seared the outside in a hot pan, this was also the first time I attempted cooking steak this way.I can see why this cut is popular among chefs, it's got a strong beefy, almost mineral taste, I'd say quite similar to hanger steak but the texture is a lot more tender than Bavette or skirt. The marbling is plentiful and this was a lower grade beef I can only imagine in AAA or Wagyu that the extra fat adds a lot of that silky succulent texture and flavour. When cooked sous-vide it was melt in the mouth and when you sprinkled on a little Fleur de sel the flavour was off the chart. You can see sous-vide cooking kept the "cuisson" uniform throughout the cut.

Saturday supper

2007-02-25T03:12:00.000-05:00

I cleaned out the freezer a couple of weeks ago and realised that over the last few months we had accumulated a plethora of cuts from many different beasts and as I have been cooking a lot more at home lately so it's time to put those to good use. Pulled out a capretto(baby goat) shoulder and today I decided to roast it, since it is very similar in tasted to lamb I figured it would be a good opportunity to use the Ras el Hanout that Ali brought back from Morocco. This stuff is so potent, it puts the commercial stuff to shame, the mix he brought back is his mothers recipe she selects the exact spices and the souk grinds them. It very heady yet when you use it it's still somewhat delicate, you can smell the floral notes in it. I rubbed the shoulder with salt, pepper, olive oil and a good amount of ras el hanout and then sprinkled some fresh thyme and garlic over it. I also decided to cook up some beans(another freezer find) these we're the fresh shell beans picked from the garden and frozen. Sweated some onions and guanciale and covered with chicken stock and a little brown sugar and we we're good to go. Once it was all said and done and with the aid of a little rice the results we're pretty decent and most surprising of all was that my daughter ate everything and asked for more. I lost her on he rice pudding though, no amount of vanilla (her favourite flavour) could coax her into eating it. well you win some and lose some.

Guanciale...well sort of

2007-02-20T01:34:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I finished my proto Guanciale, it was smoked for about 4hours over apple wood(at the same time I smoked some maple syrup, but more on that later) and I finished them in the oven. Normally Guanciale is cured but I am not quite ready to take the jump into dry curing yet so I gave it the bacon treatment. The result is quite good, smoky, sticky lip-smacking goodness and again the whole process is so easy the hard part is mostly waiting. even if you don't have access to a smoker you can use liquid smoke in the cure and roast it in oven. here is the recipe I followed adapted from Charcuterie.

Guanciale
recipe makes enough cure for 5pounds to 2.25k of pork cheeks(belly works too)

12g pink salt
50g kosher salt
26g dark brown sugar
30g black pepper coarsely ground
5g juniper berries, crushed coarse
4 bay leaves, crumbled
1tsp grated nutmeg
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
3-4 cloves garlic, smashed
1-2 fresh sage leaves

The first 3 ingredients are the important ones for the dry cure that you can't mess with, everything else is fair game so use whatever yanks your crank, but be aware that after a week, flavourings like garlic can get quite pungent so dose well!

1.Combine all ingredients for cure in a bowl, mix fully to make sure everything is evenly mixed especially pink salt. Then rub the mix all over the pork cheeks ensuring it gets a full coat of cure.

2.place the cheeks in a Ziploc bag large enough to hold them or vacuum seal and refrigerate for 6-7 days during this time periodically turn the bags over to ensure you redistribute the cure .

3.After 6-7 days check your jowls to see how firm they are if they feel limp, continue curing for another day or 2.

4.removed the cheeks from the bags and rinse thoroughly under cold water, then pat dry with paper towels, then wrap in cheesecloth and hang the Guanciale up either by threading through it or by tying string around it.
Hang in a cool and humid place for 2 weeks, you will choose how much you want to dry your guanciale for, since it is like pancetta and you don't eat it raw, you don't need to wait for it to dry cure a long time although this helps the flavour. Once your guanciale is ready wrap it and refrigerate for 2-3 weeks, it also freezes well.

If you choose to smoke the jowls then once you finish rinsing and patting dry, refrigerate them for 3hours or more to form a pellicule and then hot smoke or roast in the oven(200degrees F.) till the internal temperature reaches 65degrees C. once cool enough to handle remove the skin, but don't throw it out it is good for soups and beans

Smells like Bacon

2007-02-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I have posted something, lots of changes and a bit of procrastination. The new year has brought on some changes, Les chèvres closed it's doors leaving many without a job including my girlfriend, which in turn filled the void we had at the restaurant for another night cook. Then a few weeks later we all ended up leaving Les Deux Singes, I would rather not air out the dirty laundry here but we all just got fed up of the lies and bullshit it wasn't worth all the effort we we're putting in. So out of work at present but not down about it, I started working out again, it's difficult to get back in the swing of things but I'm not as sore as I thought I would be. I am also taking advantage of this moment to experiment at home. so far the last 2 weeks I have cured Bacon following the recipe in charcuterie(sorry no pics of the process) and the result was so good and the effort so minimal that we've decided to forgo the store bought stuff. The recipe is very easy, few steps, little special requirements except pink salt and the bacon is so good firm, not watery and so savoury we opted for a little maple syrup and a couple of cloves of garlic as flavourings and it balanced very well. So with such positive results I going to take a stab at Guanciale, I bought 2 nice pig jowls from Porcmeilleur and put them in a basic dry cure and added bay leaves, garlic, crushed juniper. So far it looks good I think i will smoke these going against the traditional method of hanging to dry because I don't really have a proper place to hang them in the house for now. I will post some pics of the process.

happy new year

2007-01-01T00:02:00.001-05:00

Happy new year to all out there , take care of yourselves and be good

2006-12-14T02:16:00.000-05:00

Seems like time is flying by of late, still pulling a lot of hours, I had my first day off in 3 or some odd weeks. It's been hard(not so much the work) but of all the favours I've had to call in to help with Chloe and trying desperately to make sure nothing falls apart. On the cooking front, with the madness of Christmas coming up, I have had little time to try new things , mushroom gnocchi made and appearance again last week this time with escargot and a brunoise of root vegetables and a roasted garlic broth. This week I braised veal breast in Trois-Pistoles beer, served with buckwheat spaetzle. Ali has been just coming up with specials like its a fire sale and damn good ones too, lotsa fish, I have rarely seen a cook so enthusiastic about fish. Interesting plates of late have been Mahi Mahi served with an amazing pomegranate and mint salsa, seared black cod served with haricots coco with chorizo(cooked in bisque), Bison osso-bucco in a mole type sauce. Speaking of bison , I called up a purveyor I had previously worked with, Jacques Lepage of ferme Takwanaw he is one of the nicest men I have ever dealt with, always reliable, he listens to what you need, is always ready to suggest or let you try something and will get you all the odds and ends provided he isn't saving them for someone else. His product is of great quality and affordable, it's a small operation so sometimes he doesn't always have a large quantity but in return you get a really great service, I cannot recommend this man more highly. when I was on the lookout for some small operations to deal with he was the only one who took the time to answer all my questions and my million and one email queries. We have been using bison bones for stock rather than veal because the bones we get are of higher quality than the veal we can get from suppliers and cheaper to boot. Anyhow I'll sign off with the mushroom gnocchi recipe Mushroom Gnocchi a la Parisienne Basically this recipe is like making choux pastry 1 1/2 cups water 12 tablespoons (6 ounces) unsalted butter 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 5-6 tablespoons mushroom powder sifted(grind porcini or other dried mushrooms in coffee grinder) 5 to 6 large eggs set a stand mixer with the paddle attachment(if you don't have one have a large bowl and sturdy wooden spoon handy for later) Combine the water, butter, and the 1 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat , mix the flour and mushroom powder and add it all at once, and stir rapidly with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan and the bottom of the pan is clean, with no dough sticking to it. The dough should be glossy and smooth but still moist. You're looking to evaporate most of the moisture from the dough so it can absorb the moisture from the eggs without being too wet. Continue stirring for 5-6 minutes(yes your arm will hurt) adjust heat so the dough does not color , once enough moisture has evaporated(their will be a residue in the bottom and sides of pan and you will smell the cooked flour and your arm will feel like it's going to fall off). Transfer the mixture to the mixer(or your reserved bowl), add the Dijon and mix slightly with a spoon, let it cool a bit and with the speed on low add in 3 eggs one at a time, waiting for each egg to be incorporated before adding another, increase the speed slightly and add 2 eggs. check your mixture if it really stiff add another egg of two accordingly if not stop there. Place the dough in a piping bag fitted with a plain tip(the size you want for your gnocchi) and let rest room temp for 30minutes. bring a large pot of water to a simmer and line a baking sheet with paper towels, pipe the gnocchi into the water using a small knife to cut the gnocchi to length desired, pipe only about a dozen or so at a time unless you have a really large pot. once the float to the surface let them sit there for another minute or so. lift out with a slotted spoon onto the paper. once they have sat on paper for a bit transfer to a sheet pan with lined with parchement and repeat until done. cover the gnocchi with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30minutes for longer storage you can freeze them and then thaw them the night before in the fridge. From there you can sautée them, or warm them in broth for service.

Big fish

2006-11-29T03:46:00.000-05:00

Lots a moving and a shaking going down of late, Our chef is no longer working at the resto for reasons I would rather not drag on about here. So Ali and I have been pulling 7day weeks till we can find someone to do tournant, it's funny how good things and rise out of bad ones, everyone at works seems filled with a new energy, most everyone is getting along well. I mean stations are being cleaned down properly, the stockroom is no longer ever messy, everyone is polite and there are less eggshells to walk on daily. I'm definitely not going to complain with all the extra hours I have to pull the last thing I need is to have to duke it out with anybody. Last week was tremendously busy so much I barely had time to keep up, this week was a bit slower and I was able to catch up on my prep and rework a few things. I ordered some inside round of beef to make bresaola, it's brining in a mix of spices(juniper, cloves, bay, cinnamon, fennel, star anise, peppercorns) salt and red wine. I made pork rillettes along with some marinated beets as a garnish for our charcuterie plate. The Foie Gras app. is apple two ways, a nice pink apple/calvados compote on the parfait and caramelized apple, pain perdu and smoked maple syrup for the seared side. We also got some veal cheeks, wich I braised in stock and banyuls, they are being served along with mushroom gnocchi parisienne and roasted cippolini onions. Other than that my first attempt at making confit olives and incorporating them into a dessert worked, we made olive financiers that have a really nice can't put your finger on it flavour almost like a cross between sultana,cranberry,cherry flavour. We also got a chance to go to Jean-Talon market with our owner and the day chef to scope out what was available, we ogled produce and poked around the veau de Charlevoix boutique. I also heard les cochons tout ronds will probably have a kiosk opening in December. and lastly I leave you with this picture of this huge mofo' Mahi which showed up today and was impeccably fresh. more to come.

Sweet

2006-11-17T01:18:00.000-05:00

I have been quieter lately lots to keep busy and when I procrastinate I tend to do it with lots of passion so here is a post to break the monotony. Things are going strong at work, we overhauled the dessert menu again, to make a long story short our boss decided to hire a pastry chef to do the desserts to free us up to concentrate on apps, which was fine by us but it ended up creating two problems. First this meant having another body in the kitchen during prep(and man could this guys spread out) and having to rely on someone else to make sure all items for dessert we're prepped. Second...well frankly his desserts we're terrible, I mean this in the most objective and respectful manner, but his molten chocolate cake with green olives in the center was terrible tasting as well as the cake would just cook up in the weirdest manner and always end up falling apart on the plate and that's when we could get it on the plate he failed to grease the molds properly. The fromage blanc tarte was so thin and soggy the whole thing was nary impossible to plate and was really tasteless and the crust burned half the time. I felt ashamed serving customers these desserts after they seem so happy with their meals and the response to them was lackluster at best and sales of desserts declined terribly selling maybe 2-3 a night if lucky. Ali and I decide to take matters in our hands and walked in last Wednesday with a new dessert menu and had it up and executed in less than 2 days, nothing mind boggling but 3 solid desserts to round out the menu. We're back to our old molten chocolate cake with a rotating garnish(saffron poached pears and milk chocolate ganache this week), Vanilla pannacotta with a basil syrup and parmesan langue de chat and lastly Iced nougat parfait with a white chocolate chai tea.

Chopped liver

2006-11-02T05:05:00.000-05:00

Here as promised to the cosmos at large the awesome "mousse de foie" recipe. The reason this recipe succeeds over others is that unlike other liver paté our mousse recipes, the livers aren't pan fried and then puréed and packed into a terrine. Everything is blended together and cooked in a bain marie, which gives it this awesome silky texture. So here goes Liver mousse or Paté 860g of livers cleaned and trimmed 11 egg yolks ( I know, I know) 200g heavy cream 300g clarified butter 110g brandy that has been flambéed( you must have 110g after the flambée) salt, pepper to taste Ok so the most important thing about this recipe is that all ingredients remain as cold as possible prior to blending(it prevents splitting and precooking). Keeping this in mind any type of liver(each bringing it's own taste) can be used and even a blend of them, rabbit, chix, duck, pork, lamb also you can use port or sherry rather than brandy or cognac. Trim livers of fat, nerves and any kind of connective tissue put in a non reactive bowl or container in the fridge until ready to use. Prep you clarified butter and weigh out the amount necessary for recipe and set aside in fridge, any leftovers can be used to cover the mousse or for another recipe. Flambée brandy till most alcohol has burned off and then put it aside to cool, separate your egg yolks and set aside. Once you have all ingredients and they have cooled sufficiently, put everything in the blender and and blend till combined, season to taste, keeping in mind things served cold need to be seasoned a bit more than normal. Sieve the ingredients through a chinois or fine meshed strainer and pour into the cooking vessel of choice. cover with saran wrap and foil and cook in a bain marie in the oven at 300f till a knife inserted in center is warm. leave to cool on counter and as soon as cool enough, cover with clarified butter or aspic wrap and refrigerate, always better a day or 2 after made. Notes: you can cook this in a terrine mold, small or large ramekins, keep in mind for a larger terrine cooking time will be longer and you might want to use a lower temp, for small ramekins, I find doing them at 325 or 350 is fine makes sure you cover the bain marie to keep the tops from drying out. If cooking in ramekins cover unused ramekins with clarified butter flavored gelatin to keep them longer. To taste the batter you can do the taste and spit method or you could cook a small amount(a quenelle) in simmering water as well to check.

halloweeny

2006-11-02T04:41:00.000-05:00

I managed to catch the tail end of last nights Halloween bash at the 5e peché, let me tell you the place was really shaking, they set up a tapas style quick menu for the night with items like, frog leg brochette and roasted garlic mousse, braised veal cheek and crispy lamb brains, venison tartare, roasted mushroom tart and even some desserts done with liquid nitrogen. It was a good opportunity for those who had not sampled their cuisine yet to get to taste a bunch of plates and fun to see everyone all dressed up and chowing down. The team at this place is awsome, if you haven't eaten there yet you should, unlike the pics their won't be ghouls and fairies but a knowledgeable waitstaff, a dedicated kitchen team and the food is top notch, certainly not what you expect from the modest decor of the restaurant. This is my second time eating there and the food was just as good even during the madness of the night.

Musings

2006-10-30T03:27:00.000-05:00

It's been hard to find things to write about lately, lack of time, low energy/morale, being pretty broke as well this month has led to a kind of blah state. On a better note, so far the new entrées hold up pretty well, the rabbit terrine w/Armagnac soaked prunes turned out better than I thought it would(needs more salt though) and at the last minute our duck prosciutto was not ready yet so I subbed in "mousse de foie de volailles" I have this recipe that comes from one of Montreal's known chefs (if you ask how I got the recipe, I'll have to tell you about a painful experience working for one of Laprise's disciples) I have tweakedd it a bit and I think I have it down pat, the mousse comes in these little ramekins I covered them in an aspic made from boreale blanche ,I'lll post the recipe soon. The foie gras plate is a lot nicer with a small parfait in a mini mason jar topped with fig jam replacing the foie creme brulée we had previously. A fish soup with seared scallops, shrimp and chorizo in a fish broth with tomatoes and orzo. We are still selling loads of crab cakes and raviolis but that's life I guess. On another note there is a little interview with Shola Olunloyo of studiokitchen fame on ideasinfood that is quite interesting, I followed the studiokitchen thread on Egullet with attention and was always amazed by the food he was putting out but also fell in love with the concept of studiokitchen (which is no more alas)The set degustation menu is something I always return to when I daydream about having my own place. It's a tough concept to try and defend but in the end it makes sense, not for every kitchen mind you but I think there needs to be more of these kind of places. As a cook it really enables to push your skills and concentrate on each dish you create, you set the menu according to the fresh products you receive, you can actually use products and fish that people would not order on their own, for example mackerel is a damn good fish but no one would order it off the menu especially not if you put salmon next to it. But on a tasting menu you can make people try this fish but not only that you can concentrate on putting together the best accompaniments to go with it to truly make it shine I'm too tired right now to extrapolate on this concept but look for more insane rants about it in the future. I will end with my latest listening fixations, "Miles Smiles" is one heck of an album to get your brain going and the creative juices flowing and Sinead O'conner's "throw your arms down" gives your soul that extra little lift.

LOW AS LYING ON THE GROUND OF AN AIRPLANE GOING DOWN

2006-10-25T02:07:00.000-04:00

I have been quiet of late, first because of a lack of inspiration, then an intensely busy period getting ready for the new menu, prepping just enough of the old stuff but not too much and then trying to plan all things needed for the new menu and trying to prep things in advance so we would not get swamped. In the end the last 4 days have been really depressing, Ali and I have been running around like mad making sure we got everything covered and it's in these moments that you realize who's pulling their weight or not. I hate that feeling when you are really trying to give it your all and you realize your going to have to compromise because others don't have their shit together. I like my chef , he is a good guy, funny, knowledgeable but it seems to me that he isn't really into it anymore and he just doesn't seem to take his responsibilities seriously, which leads to us having to take up the extra slack and also to dueling matches with him and our owner concerning the menu, he complains that our boss wants to impose certain ideas but it took him 3 weeks to produce 4 new dishes. Anyhow I won't use this space to vent, but let's say all this and the lousy weather have contributed to my low morale. On the up side last week I felt like doing a dessert special I baked a variant on the tarte Grenobloise in the pierre hermé chocolate book it turned out great I sold out both nights, didn't get a chance to take a picture. Also it seems Lesley C. of the gazette ate at the resto last week so we might have a review this weekend in the paper, I am curious to see what it will be like, of local critics I find she is of the few that doesn't always try to make her reviews too nice.

Hog Heaven

2006-10-07T02:32:00.000-04:00

On friday's I pick-up Chloe after school, so today as I had some time to kill before this and the weather was nice, I decided to swing by Jean-Talon market to check things out and was well rewarded. The veau de Charlevoix had some nice veal cheeks and short ribs so I picked some up to run them as specials on Sunday, there is a salesperson there that is funny and loves chatting about obscure cuts. When I inquired about getting the short ribs whole she immediatly wrote down my info and was ready to help out. Librairie Gourmande was my next stop, i was looking for books on Charcuterie, didn't end up finding much but the salesperson was nice and remembered me from a previous visit(was buying the Grand livre(the small version) de Patisserie d'Alain Ducasse) we chatted about magazines and new books that would be coming out. Right before leaving I spotted it, in a stand that normally stands empty early in the week, Les Cochons Tout Rond, I did a double take at their display (more a like a shrine really) of cured pork products. Everything on the stand looks marvelous, the rillettes have a nice creamy layer of fat on the top, the salumi look good and plump and they have a nice variety, the cretons look appetizing unlike the grey supermarket kind. I immediatly inquired about obtaining their products for the restaurant and was instantly assembled an assortment of saussissons to take back to work, the price was more than reasonable as well.Like many things this good news, comes with a bad one, the stand closes oct 23rd and they are unsure about shipping of products for the winter as they will be renovating their facilities this winter and might not be able to accomodate orders. So if you got to get your fix, get it soon, their products is a great example of what happens when passionate people but in a lot of hard work and try to stay true to and ideal. I found out this company was started or facilitated by Vincent Lalonde from fromagerie Pied-De-Vent, the info I have found is quite interesting, it seems the pigs are fed the Lactoserum from cheese production as well as the leftover mash from another local beer production and he also speaks about moving towards using breeds like berkshire and older varieties that provide a better, tastier meat. I tasted the all products at home and was in heaven, the sausage has that nice salty taste well in balance with the gamey, porky flavours that cured products develop. the textures are nice, the fat dice is not to big, the lonzo is a bit dry but the flavour is better than anything in my local charcutier's case. I sampled the Sanglier salumi, their Chorizo and a saussissons made from pig liver(incredibly intense flavour) . I will return before they close to stock up.

Monkey see...

2006-10-05T23:47:00.000-04:00

I figured I would talk about the restaurant since I can't get to sleeping. I work at Les Deux Singes de Montarvie, it's a small restaurant on St-viateur O. It opened in Feb. 2006 and I have worked there since July, it's a small space with room for about 30 seated and another 8-9 at the bar. The space is really nice it's got a lot of natural wood and brick surfaces, the lighting is all handmade by Lampi Lampa and the kitchen is open with all seats at the bar facing it. It's the first fully open kitchen I work in and it was a bit stressful at first but I am mostly used to it now(it's only still stressful when the bar is full and everyone is staring at you and you screw something up). It's a small kitchen team, 2 daytime and 3 cooks nighttime(Rom, Ali and I). The chef Romuald is from France and has been working in kitchen since he was 16 and has worked a few years in New York. Ali(my partner in crime) has been working kitchens since he came here from Morocco a few years back(althought he has a bachelor in accounting) and he is the tournant he works half the week on GM and the other half doing mains, and myself who does GM and Pastry. The kitchen is fairly well organized and just big enough so we aren't stepping on each others toes. It's a nice Bistro and we try and take the food a bit further than the average bistro fare, the accompaniments are sometimes unexpected and we try and make the presentations as nice and original as possible, sometimes it also about just really hardy food in a cool setting. What's nice is the wines are all available by the glass, so it's great to be able to try a different glass with each course or if you are just in the mood for one glass to be able to choose from any wine. I'll try to add more photos and hopefully some of the food later on.

Maple syrup

2006-10-04T01:23:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking a lot about maple syrup of late, which is strange because the season is in late winter early spring, yet I find Fall is a season that calls for that rich, deep flavor of maple syrup. Lately their was a posting on ...An endless banquet about BLiS bourbon barrel matured maple syrup. The chef from Les Chèvres, Stelio had eaten at Charlie Trotter's and had brought a bottle back and some had gotten into the hands of Michelle and Aj and they posted about it. I had heard of this syrup from the folks over at ideasinfood (they even had a giveaway last year) and had always wondered about it, we placed an order with Aj and the syrup should be here soon, In the meantime I got around to firing the smoker this weekend and put some maple syrup(along with some black peppercorns, fleur de sel and tomatoes), I smoked it for about 4 hours total. It came out intense and smoky but still had that rich maple taste, it was a little too aggressive so I cut it with some unsmoked syrup and managed to find that right balance between smoky and sweet. I had it at breakfast(on French toast) and Veronique can't stop dipping in it which is a good sign she is usually my barometer and will tell if I have gone too far with an idea. I used the syrup tonight on the foie gras plates to accompany the seared portion of our current entrée, and will try and work it into the new menu. Update , I got my bottle of BliS maple syrup and it's just great, the taste is hard to describe, but it's worth the price, we sat around at work sipping taste from port glasses, look forward to incorporate this into some dishes.

Walkin'

2006-10-04T01:04:00.000-04:00

I have been meaning to post a bit more often but either lack time or things to write about althought when I am not anywhere near a computer that's when I have tons of ideas. Lately things are slightly stagnant at work, we finally had a meeting of kitchen staff to talk about the strained relations between day/night shifts and also about the new menu. We talked about the ideas Ali( my co-garde manger, I'll post about the kitchen staff another time) have come up with, at first we mentioned cutting down the number of dishes and a less heavy prep. After the meeting it seems that we still have many dishes but I'm excited about the the layout so far. Among then entrées will be a revolving charcuterie platter, most of which will be homemade, a foie gras appetizer with a parfait in a small classic mason jar and a seared foie gras on the other side of plate. The risotto will change weekly or according to our whims which is cool because we can then vary the type(bomba,black rice,barley) of rice and garnishes. Seared tuna on a mung bean salad. Red endive and asian pear salad w/ a stilton vinaigrette. And we get to re-work the duck ravioli's an item that has been on since opening. So things on our side are ready to get moving , Chef has to get his items worked out and then we have to set a date and start the pre-work (curing the meats, order dry goods). I have started looking through my books for charcuterie recipes, mostly things that don't require extended curing or fermentation. I have a recipe for Breseola that looks cool and that I can apply to things other than beef like Bison or Venison. Can't wait to get going, I will try and snap photo's of the food and prep in progress.

workin...

2006-09-16T22:54:00.000-04:00

It's been a pretty hectic 2 weeks at the restaurant, since we received a glowing critique from la presse, we have been going full on everyday as opposed to 4-5 times a week, we usually had 1-2 slower days to be able to finish off prep and to work on specials but it's been rather hard of late. Not that I'm complaining, being busy is better than fearing for your job. The Administration side of things leaves to be desired, there is a distinct lack of communication between everybody concerning the new menu(when, how, what, who) anyhow. I have been mucking about a bit at home when I have time. Right now since I did not have a hand in the making of the summer menu, I have the most flexibility with the dessert menu, I get to add on specials and play around with the garnishes, especially considering no one else wants to do it. We have 3 desserts on the menu 1-a molten chocolate cake(yes, I know) 2-an apple tarte tatin 3- a vanilla petit pots de creme. I have been making various ice creams at home to pair with the chocolate cake and the tatin. So far with the molten chocolate cake I have served, tomato/red wine sorbet, tomato/vanilla sorbet, caramelized banana ice cream, maple ice cream, chai ice cream. The tatin has had , cinnamon/clove ice cream, orange/amaretto, pineau de charente/prune(my fave), caramel, tarragon/absinthe. I've also managed to pull off a couple of specials, my fave and the reviewers as well was a tonka bean pannacotta with strawberry, smoked peppercorn and chocolate madeleines. Today I tried making a black rice ice cream, it has a funky purple color but I'm not in love with the flavor, I tried fixing it with white chocolate but that just made it worse. I also want to start working on some new menu items for the fall/winter menu. I have this idea for an starter, braised beef cheek, on a tomato/tongue ragu. I also want to start making some charcuterie like duck prosciutto, breseola(with bison) and pancetta. Who knows where this is all heading, getting much inspiration from the books I got for my birthday, Vero bought me a copy of Chocolat Fusion by Frederic Bau, this book is crazy I can't look at it for more than 10minutes at a time the pairings are just insane. I also got a copy of Alain Ducasse's grand livre de patisserie, the pocket version, quite nice as well, some interesting desserts, lots of technique and some old school stuff that hurts your eyes as well.

LA SOUS-VIDA LOCA

2006-08-31T23:48:00.000-04:00

I visited Jean-Talon market today and quickly browsed the stands, I was on foot so had to resist the temptation to buy flats of plump figs of all types, aubergines in all shapes and sizes and some beautiful onions. Instead I picked up some parmigianno, a block of callebault white chocolate(I have a couple of ideas that require this), creme de cassis from l'ile-d'orleans and some cheeks. I went to the veau de charlevoix store and bought some veal cheeks and then at porcmeilleur I settled on 2 beautiful pig cheeks. When I got home I cleaned the veal cheeks of silverskin and then seasoned and sealed them with a bit of veal stock and thyme. The pork was seasoned and then I added a bit of honey and some sage,thyme and fennel flowers. They will go in the bath at 67 °C , the veal will come out after 24hrs and I will try and keep the pork in for 36hrs or more(might try to up the temp to 70 °C to finish pork). The possibilities with sous-vide cooking are exciting, I have been following this technique for about 2 years now, we tried it at school(to cook foie gras) but after that I did not work in a restaurant that had a vacuum sealer but kept abreast of the technology, mostly from posts on egullet and whatever info I could find on the web. Last year I bought a circulating water bath and this April a foodsaver pro III, since then I have experimented with mixed results, some things we're stunning this way. Bison short ribs, pork belly(so succulent and good), scallops we're pre-cooked and then finished in a pan, it offers textures and tastes that cannot be achieved through traditional methods, it also has interesting possibilities for service since some advance cooking can be done without harm to texture as well as focus can be on finishing rather than constantly checking for doneness. The book sous-vide cooking by Joan Roca is an interesting resource that and the sous-vide thread on Egullet is quite amazing. The rest is combining all the knowledge available as well as experimenting with different cuts and temperature/time ratios myself to build a reliable database to work with.

Fennel pollen my style

2006-08-25T03:18:00.000-04:00

I have been reading about fennel pollen for a couple of years now, people talk about it's aroma and flavor being incomparable to anything else, a quote mentioned the spice that angels would produce from their wings. Well with all this hype I was definitely intrigued, problem is this stuff isn't only rare it's rather expensive, I was unable to find anyone stocking it in Montreal and few mail order sources have it. Also few resources exits concerning it's uses, Italians use it frequently in charcuterie, like they would fennel seeds and I have read of some chefs using it but that's about all heck I didn't even know what this stuff looked like. Anyhow last year I started growing fennel in the garden and liked the aroma of the flowers and immature seed pods so much I would bring em in to work to garnish plates and this is when I started thinking about fennel pollen again, after much research I found some photos, it seems it isn't so much the pollen itself but the tiny flowers from the plant. I figured next season I could maybe try the theory out, well summer is here and pretty much gone and my fennel is gigantic and flowering like mad I picked a bunch of the flowers and carefully trimmed the flowers leaving the least amount of stems as possible, dried them on paper towels for a day or two and the result is quite intriguing, it has this scent you can't quite define, it has lost a lot of it's aniseed kick. Without a sample of the stuff sold commercially I cannot compare it but I am quite happy with the results considering how little effort it requires fennel blooms like mad if you let it.

p.s. well, I finally found a local source of fennel pollen and the stuff they had had this crazy intense aroma, not quite like what I created but I believe both have merit.

2006-08-19T01:14:00.000-04:00

Finally taken the decision to start this blog in order to keep track of my food musings and also hope to be able to find like-minded individuals with whom to share and collaborate. I chose directions in food, because of those late 60's early 70's era Miles Davis records that bore the tag "Directions in music by Miles Davis". This was used because the music was going in new directions, compositions and recordings where assembled from sketches, he would bring ideas and certain musical lines and they would be fleshed out in the studio, using these then and still now uncommon techniques. He also wanted to make sure that people understood that he was running the show(but that is something else and not really the definition that attracted me). To speak briefly of myself, my name is Franck I am 27yrs old and live in Montreal. In feb 2004 I decided to give up my job of 5yrs in telecommunications to go to cooking school, I had at this time been interested in cooking and had been reading any book on the subject I could get and trying hard to practice at home. I completed my program and have been working in kitchens ever since. I am obsessed by food and cooking in all it's aspects, I have bounced around a few kitchens trying to find the ideal place where I will continue to learn as well as be able to develop my skills and style. I have learned much and still have a long way to go but I have also been coming to a point where I have a pretty strong idea of the type of food I want to be doing. I also have become disenchanted with some aspects of cooking, mostly when it come to people who view the craft as this macho, competition posturing thing or the other end of the spectrum where many are content with the minimum effort. This is by no means a classification of everyone, I just realized the the people who are really passionate about cooking are a rarer breed than I thought. Anyhow I think I have blabbed enough for now.