La Gourmandesse

Best lunch of the trip was devoured here.

This week, Kevin and I took a trip to Quebec City. We stayed within the walls of the Old Town, and thoroughly enjoyed being transported a few hundred years back in time. Our days consisted mostly of walking and eating, with a small amount of shopping thrown in! Our hotel started every day for us with a lovely picnic basket of breakfast at our door. What could be more French than a breakfast of croissant et confiture?

My delicious meat pie.

A breakfast of pure carbs leaves you pretty hungry by 11am, so our first lunch at Aux Anciens Canadiens was highly anticipated. They open at noon and we were pretty much banging down the door. It is located in the old upper town in a sweet little heritage house, not far from the Chateau Frontenac. This gem of a restaurant only serves traditional Quebecoise fair, by young ladies in traditional garb, and what a treat it is. I went for the meat pie, which turned out to be a plate of heaven. The pastry was perfectly crusty and flaky, the meat wonderfully spiced (we could smell them baking from the street below) and the accompanying potato, red cabbage, relish and pickled beet were an expert match.

Sugar pie made with maple syrup.

Kevin had the daily special, which was fillet of sole au gratin, and was very pleased with the delicate and cheesy dish.  The best part of the meal by far, however, was dessert.  Maple syrup pie, a version of Quebec’s famous sugar pie, was perfection on a plate. Sort of like a butter tart without the nuts; it was buttery and sweet and accompanied by delicious real whipped cream.  My only regret is that we didn’t buy a pie to bring home!

Steak with a massive amount of frites.

Another noteworthy meal was dinner at Le Cochon Dingue, which a french speaking friend tells me means the “crazy pig.” This cozy little place is down in the old lower town, not far from the funicular, which comes in handy when you are too stuffed after dinner to climb the many, many stairs back to your hotel. Le Cochon is crazy in a fun and happy way, of course. This cheerful restaurant featured equally cute and cheerful female staff, with checkered tables and a bright, happy atmosphere. Several glasses of sangria made us feel even more cheerful, of course. We ate the “Dingue Formula.”

Strawberry cheese pie.

This is a version of the plat du jour, and for $30, we had soup, salad, steak frites, dessert and coffee. Let’s just say the funicular came in handy after that adventure. My favourite part was the dessert. I chose strawberry cheese pie, which was a pastry crust filled with a cream cheesy centre and topped with fresh strawberries and berry sauce. The sweet-tart creamy combo was heaven- and I hope to attempt a re-creation in my kitchen some day soon.

Frothy cappuccino.

On our last day in QC, our train left at 1pm. We saved our croissant for an afternoon snack, and went for breakfast at the place to be: Casse-Crepe Breton, just down the street from our hotel on Rue St-Jean. The Old Quebec theme repeated here- cozy, cheerful and staffed by cute young ladies. Kevin thinks that all the boys must be out driving delivery trucks for the summer, because they are certainly not working as waiters. Kevin and I both had savoury crepes to start, mine a ham-swiss-asparagus combo, and Kevin’s an egg-bacon-cheese creation. I think mine was better, but we’ll have to agree to disagree. I’m excited to try some savoury crepes of my own some day soon.

Fresh blueberry crepe.

We finished with sweet crepes, and I have to say my cherry one fell short of my expectations, it was cherry pie filling and cool whip. A total let down. Kevin’s had fresh blueberries and appeared to be significantly more tasty. I left half my cherry crepe behind, a bad sign as I am a compulsive plate cleaner! I think the key is to enjoy the savoury crepes and to skip the “whipped cream,” as it is really just a poor imitation.

Other notable eats included some really creamy brie and crusty baguette, greedily consumed as an afternoon picnic, as well as several pints of local brew- I really love their take on a blond beer.

Overall, our trip was filled with lovely sites punctuated by delicious food. I wouldn’t choose to go in summer again, the sidewalks were bursting with tourists by mid-week, but a fall trip several years from now is definitely on my list of places to go and things to eat.

Le Cochon Dingue, on a crowded street in the old lower town.

The finished product- a different flavour in every bite.

This is a salad my mom likes to make for summer BBQs, and often gets asked for the recipe. We had a small dinner get together this week with friends who love different grains and interesting foods, so I thought Quinoa Salad would be a great addition to BBQ’d steak and roasted root veggies.

Quinoa has been getting a lot of good press lately. I tried it in the past in an attempt to go gluten-free (which only lasted about 2-3 weeks, I am weak) and didn’t enjoy the texture. But in this salad, you could almost mistake it for couscous, only way better for you, since it is touted as one of nature’s only complete plant proteins.

The salad starts with cooked and cooled quinoa, gets some feta, toasted pine nuts and dried cranberries added, followed by a drizzle of olive oil and lemon, a pinch of salt, and then a sprinkle of chopped fresh mint and flat leaf parsley.

Boil 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water, then cool completely.	Toast 1/3 cup of pine nuts over medium heat for 5 minutes.
1/2 cup feta, crumbled.	1/3 cup dried cranberries.
2 tbsp. each fresh parsley and mint.	The quinoa meets the bowl.
In go the cranberries.	The feta joins the mix.
1/3 cup olive oil for dressing.	Adding the juice of 1 lemon.

This salad is summer in a bowl- and a different combo of flavour in each bite. The lemon and olive oil are light and fresh, the feta adds a bit of salt, the cranberries some sweet, the pine nuts some buttery crunch, and the mint and parsley round out the bunch with a refreshing finish.

As usual, this salad did not disappoint, got passed around for seconds, and the recipe requested. Take it to your next summer BBQ and let your friends marvel at this healthy bowl of freshness!

The masterpiece.

We are dedicated pizza lovers, with a penchant for last minute trips to Woodenheads. Inevitably, the place is packed and we end up sitting at the bar- which is more fun than a table anyways. Their cheerful bar staff makes great mojitos, and the informality makes the pizza even tastier.

Kevin’s pizza of choice (I don’t think I’ve ever seen him deviate in 2 years) is the Sicilia. It is a classic- just tomato sauce, spicy salami, mozzarella and some fresh basil. I tend to mix it up, but always end up stealing a bite or two of this work of art.

This weekend, we wanted to put the basil in our herb garden to work, and make some pizza of our own. And so, with the help of Pasta Genova, we created our own masterpiece. That lovely little Italian deli sells their own fresh pizza dough for a steal, and also has everything else you need- the salami, mozzarella and sauce.  I love one stop shopping and jostling with the other Pasta G lovers for a space at their tiny counter.

Our pizza ended up a bit oval shaped, with a lack of a real rolling pin and the dough’s elastic nature, fighting to make it match our baking sheet’s shape seemed futile. I understand why pizzas are round! The dough from Pasta G was perfect, very elastic, not sticky and fairly easy to flatten out.

Shaping the dough.	Slathering of pizza sauce.
Deli perfection a la Pasta Genova.	Mozzarella coverage.
Into a 350F oven.	Basil chiffonade in progress.

We baked the pizza for 30 minutes at 350F, as suggested by the Pasta G staff. The result was wonderful- crispy crust, piping hot toppings and melty cheese.

Kevin & I agree that this gave Woodenheads’ Sicilia a run for its money. I think this is one my proudest creations. So simple, quick and easy, with a seriously intense pay off in deliciousness.  Perhaps pizza is about to become my go-to dinner.

And so, while it probably won’t replace the fun of a visit to Woodenheads for a true Sicilia, I’m proud of what we recreated. Paired with a bottle of $10 Italian red, my wallet thanks me for creating a date night on the cheap.

Finished deliciousness waiting to be inhaled.

Our 8 economical bottles, ordered from highest score to lowest.

I am very happy to report that last night, a good time was had by all.  We hosted our very first $10 wine tasting, which I hope is only the first of many variations on that theme.

The rules were: you must bring 2 bottles of your favourite $10 wine (red or white), one for tasting and one for the prize basket. The bottles for tasting were wrapped in brown paper bags and were sampled “blind,” ordered from white to red and randomly numbered.  The bottles were scored out of 20 (5 for nose, 5 for taste, 5 for finish and 5 for overall impression). We picked the basics: how does it smell, do you like the taste, how does it leave your mouth, and what do you think of it overall? Here is a copy of the $10 wine tasting score sheet for those who want to host a similar event. The score sheet is certainly not designed for wine snobs and sommeliers, but for ordinary folk who might not be thinking of uppity terms like balance, complexity and bouquet.

Last night we had 13 attendees and 8 bottles (5 white and 3 red). The winner was Beringer California Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, $9.95. Sadly it was not my entry, but a wine I’ve reviewed in the past and been very pleased with regarding quality at its price point. Good choice, Eve & Tomek. Congrats on winning 8 bottles of wine, and thanks for sharing a few with your hosts!

Kevin and I entered our latest favourite white, Sogrape Gazela Vinho Verde 2009, $8.95. Unfortunately it was not a fan favourite, and we came in 6th. I think our crowd enjoyed off-dry whites the most, and weren’t into its crisp dry spritzy quality.  But I still love it!

Here is a list of the 8 wines and where they fell in the ranks:

1. 2008 Beringer California Collection Cabernet Sauvignon, $9.95. LCBO# 113001. (California)

-Soft vanilla and oak flavours, very smooth finish and medium-full body.

2. 2009 Deinhard Green Label Riesling, $11.95. LCBO# 8094. (Germany)

-Off-dry, fruity and fresh.

3. 2009 Ruffino Orvieto Classico, $11.75. LCBO# 31062. (Italy)

-Slightly off-dry, clean and crisp with flavours of apple and pear.

4. 2009 Copper Moon Moonlight Harvest Pinot Grigio, $9.45. LCBO# 158303. (Ontario, Canada)

-Off-dry with flavours of citrus and melon.

5. 2009 Argento Chardonnay, $9.95. LCBO# 591701. (Argentina)

-Fruity with a sweet, almost maple syrup finish.

6. 2009 Sogrape Gazela Vinho Verde, $8.95. LCBO# 141432. (Portugal)

-Dry, light and effervescent. Flavours of citrus and tomato leaf.

7. 2008 Finca Flichman Misterio Malbec, $7.95. LCBO# 28803.  (Argentina)

-Oaky nose and blackberry flavours. Medium-bodied, fruity and toasty.

8. 2009 Funky Llama Shiraz, $9.90. LCBO# 614685. (Argentina)

-Black currant flavours with a hint of oak, medium-bodied.

All the bottles were enjoyed and represented great quality for price. My personal top 3 were the Beringer Cab-Sav (17.5/20), Gazela Vinho Verde (16/20) and Ruffino Orvieto Classico (16/20). Funnily enough they are all wines I have reviewed before and really enjoyed.  Even with a “blind” tasting, I still like what I like!

Spaghetti and meatballs perfection.

In light of some recent rather nasty dental work, soft foods have been on the menu. I’m not sure that the dentist meant that I should eat spaghetti and meatballs, but since “ground meat” was on my list of ok foods, why not make the leap?

I love pasta. I don’t actually eat it all that frequently, but I seem to like to write it love letters. Also, after discovering Catelli Smart, I don’t feel nearly as guilty when I eat it. This dish combines two of my great food loves: ground beef and spaghetti. I don’t know if my Alberta childhood contributed to my beef fetish, but I just love the smell of ground beef frying with onions.  Add some salt and I could probably eat the whole pan.

I have recently figured out the perfect meatball. Finely mince half an onion, add a minced garlic clove, mix all that up with some ground sirloin and an egg, some salt and pepper and a few shakes of italian breadcrumbs and you will have a tasty product.  I make the meatballs large enough to just fill my cupped hand when I squeeze it shut. Drop them into a hot pan of oil and mix them around as they fry so that all the sides get nice and brown.

For this dish, I tried a new version of spaghetti sauce. Although I find Giada De Laurentiis to be horribly annoying on tv (she even tops Rachael Ray for me), she does make fabulous Italian food. I used her Marinara Sauce, with the addition of some fresh rosemary and oregano, and the substitution of diced tomatoes (including the juice) instead of crushed. It made the sauce a little chunkier and richer.

To finish, I threw the meatballs in the sauce and tossed the cooked spaghetti in with it all. Could this get more comforting?

To go along with my recent Spring-friendly wine posts, I concocted an asparagus and roasted tomato pasta dish this weekend.  I love when asparagus starts to appear in the grocery store, it makes me feel like skirts and sandals are just around the corner.

I started by roasting 6 or 7 roma tomatoes. You just cut them in half, scoop out the seeds, toss them with olive oil and chopped garlic, and put them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake them at 350F for 30 minutes, then up the temp to 375F for about 15 minutes so they get roasty.

While those were finishing up in the oven and my penne was cooking on the stove, I fried a small amount of bacon with some chicken breast pieces (I cheated a bit by buying a rotisserie chicken and just tearing up the white meat for this dish). I think pancetta would have been tastier than bacon but I forgot to pick some up.  In another pan I sauteed chopped asparagus, diced onion and minced garlic in olive oil.

Then I just tossed it all together, added a bit more olive oil, and some salt and pepper. And there you have it! Fresh, delicious penne, with a different bit of flavour in each bite. We paired it with a bottle of white that was kicking around in the fridge. A very excellent, home made, restaurant worthy date night dinner.

2007 J. Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon, $21.95. LCBO#656561.

For this week’s Wine Wednesday, I have a fabulous wine to report on. I highly recommend having a birthday party mixed with a house warming party, because apparently it makes people shower you with lovely bottles of wine. This bottle was given to me by my friend Jung, who has always had impeccable taste in all things gourmand.

This Cabernet Sauvignon definitely falls outside my usual $10 range, but is worth every penny. J. Lohr Wineries has several California vineyards, and this bottle was born at their Paso Robles location. Paso Robles is my favourite California region, and I’ve just added J. Lohr to my mental list for the wine tour I am always imagining. I’m happy to see that the LCBO considers this bottle a Vintages Essential as this is definitely my pick for my next wine splurge.

The wine is a very dense purple with an earthy, toasty nose.  The taste is a berry-plum mix, with lots of soft, buttery oak. It is wonderfully full bodied and would pair well with something hearty and beefy. We sipped it solo and then gorged on crackers and cheese while rather tipsy, and that worked well too.

I would fully endorse this bottle for your next special occasion, or Friday night splurge. Pair with pasta, BBQ, or just savour it on its own. You will not be disappointed!

Overall, I give this wine 10/10 for taste and 4/5 for value.

Cake layered with whipped cream and fruit.

On a very grey weekend, I decided to bake a cake instead of going for a run.  Isn’t that just the Gourmand thing to do?

I looked on Rachel Ray’s website for an easy dessert recipe, and the Fudgy Chocolate Cake caught my eye. It’s an interesting recipe, with very little flour and a low baking temperature.  I turned the 1 pan recipe into two thin round cakes to make a mini version of a layer cake. This cake is pretty perfect for layering, since it has very little flour and no baking powder, it stays pretty flat and is easy to transfer. I just made a 2 layer version, but plan to stack it 4-high the next time I need to make a birthday cake.

Whipped cream for icing, and some cherries and strawberries thrown into the mix, made for a very easy and highly delicious treat.  The cake is moist and extremely fudgy, just as the name implies, and whipped cream is the perfect partner since icing might be too sweet.

Tuesday night deliciousness.

In honour of our new home (and dream kitchen), we’ve been engaging in some true Gourmandise these last few nights. On the weekend, Kevin made me a fabulous steak dinner, which I hoovered in too quickly to take a picture of it and share. So this will be my official welcome home post. We decided to BBQ, and what could be more appropriate on a Tuesday night than some ribs and a glass of wine?  The fact that I don’t have any children makes weekday indulgence only too easy!

I think we’ve finally found the perfect rib technique…boil them for 45 minutes, then grill them with tons of sauce for about 15 minutes.  They are tender, but still crispy and saucy. We’re lazy and just use Diana’s chicken and rib sauce, which is always delicious. We also perfected the baked potato this weekend. The key is to use russets and rub them with olive oil before popping them in a 375F oven uncovered for about 45 minutes.  Crusty skins with a buttery inside every time!

Words can’t express how happy I am to have a real kitchen, one that comes complete with a gas stove and oven, a vintage butcher block island and room for my huge new wine glasses (which make wine drinking even more fun, if that is possible).  Next…time to fire up the oven and bake something sweet.

As far back as I can remember, food has been a love of mine. Several years ago, during some travels in Europe, my friend Morgan and I discussed the French term gourmand, for which there is no English equivalent. Having enjoyed much pizza, pasta, pastries, chocolate and wine in the countries of Switzerland, France and Italy, the term seemed fitting to us.

Literally translated, gourmand would become glutton. In fact, one of the French Catholic 7 Deadly Sins is known as La Gourmandise. However, the term really means someone who takes a lot of pleasure from food and drink.

And so, as time goes by,  I become more and more interested in drinking good wine and cooking food that makes me happy, and I have began to see myself as a gourmand.  The term, however, feels a little bulky and masculine. La Gourmandesse fits like a flirty apron and makes me feel like a food-loving vixen, rather than a portly old man.

This blog is mostly about the enjoyment of food and drink on a budget. As a mid-twenty-something who has not yet reached the time of life where a $25 bottle of wine is a Wednesday night occurence, I’ll be writing about pleasures that are accessible to the average Canadian.