Coming up this Friday I'm hosting a dinner party through the travel website, Bookalokal. It'll be my third collaboration with the website that brings together visitors and locals with culinary experiences in a city. My first two events were cooking and canning classes, but this … [Read more...] about Pop-Up Dinner Party on Friday, Sept. 12, 2014: Quebecois Specialties
My Article on Société-Orignal on Fine Dining Lovers: Ice Plant, Marshmallow root, and Local Caviar That’s Good Enough for Boulud
I'm on FineDiningLovers this week with my article on Montreal's Société-Orignal. Learn about what Montreal's Laloux restaurant does with ice plant, Europea does with cloudberries, and Toronto's Buca does with immature elderberries. And what doesn't go with sustainable, local … [Read more...] about My Article on Société-Orignal on Fine Dining Lovers: Ice Plant, Marshmallow root, and Local Caviar That’s Good Enough for Boulud
Toque! Take Two
The big news from earlier this year at Toque! is that the chef de cuisine, Charles-Antoine Crete, left to open his own place. Since then, I've been wondering what's happening in the Toque! kitchen, and how the food coming out of its hallowed walls compares to what came … [Read more...] about Toque! Take Two
Simple Fish Soup with Quebec Turbot
This is so simple. You can either make a fish broth by boiling the head of a fish with a bay leaf and some peppercorns (celery and carrots if you've got time to burn), or boil Nordic shrimp and save the cooking water. OR buy a carton or bottle of fish broth. Chicken broth or … [Read more...] about Simple Fish Soup with Quebec Turbot
Hannah Brook Farms, Purple Rubber Boots and Gumption
It’s 8 a.m. and I’m crouching in a field of watercress on an organic farm in Southeast Vancouver. I’m wearing purple rubber boots and sitting on my haunches to snip the green, rounded leaves. Sally is in front me, also picking the curly-stemmed plant. I’m going to marry her son, … [Read more...] about Hannah Brook Farms, Purple Rubber Boots and Gumption
Made With Love: Maqluba from Yotam Ottoleghi and Sami Tamimi’s “Jerusalem”
It comes in threes, love. And in so many forms. First, in the romantic idea of a recipe. If that sounds like hyperbole, go to a bookstore and look, just look at a copy of Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's cookbook, Jerusalem. It's art. You want to make everything. It doesn't … [Read more...] about Made With Love: Maqluba from Yotam Ottoleghi and Sami Tamimi’s “Jerusalem”
Pickling This: Poblano Chili Peppers with Green Tomatoes and Peruvian Oregano
That's just a fancy way of saying I had a bunch of green, mild-ish chili peppers and needed a recipe to preserve them. It's a simple brine. I wanted to make the kind of green chili peppers you find in cans and need for all sorts of Mexican dishes. But it seems that chilies made … [Read more...] about Pickling This: Poblano Chili Peppers with Green Tomatoes and Peruvian Oregano
How to Cook Whole Fish
When I buy a fish and the fishmonger fillets it for me and tries to throw out the head and bones, I almost cry. What a waste! You're paying $20 for two slivers of flesh. But if you keep that head and vertebrae, you have two more meals worth of quality protein. No, you're not … [Read more...] about How to Cook Whole Fish
Seared Mackerel with Peaches (or Figs) and Ratatouille
I saw chef Becky Selengut make this at the Queen Anne Farmers Market in Seattle with peaches instead of figs last year. You can make it with either. Right now the Greek and California figs are in Montreal groceries. but so are Ontario peaches. The California peaches taste better, … [Read more...] about Seared Mackerel with Peaches (or Figs) and Ratatouille
Sarah B: An Absinthe Bar in Old Montreal
The Intercontinental Hotel in Montreal is a little intimidating. It connects directly into Square Victoria, bastion of downtown finance, so I never know where one ends and the other begins. And there are multiple levels in the hotel, with bars and restaurants divided amongst them … [Read more...] about Sarah B: An Absinthe Bar in Old Montreal