Food Trucks Roll Into Liberty Village

After spending the morning in a dark classroom without windows, I was more than ready to get outside for some lunch. By the time I got to the food trucks in Liberty Village, just past 12:30pm, the sun was out and so were the crowds. Lines were already formed at the three trucks that came out to play: El Gastronomo Vagabundo, Caplansky’s and Blue Donkey Streatery.

I spotted Suresh, (he of Food Truck Eats and Spotlight Toronto who is leading the fight for food trucks in Toronto) and he told me to get in line fast if I wanted to get some food. I hurried over to El Gastronomo Vagabundo just in time to see them cross the Biltong Pork Belly Tacos off the chalkboard menu. Damnit, that was my first choice!

So I went with Plan B and set my sights on the Senor Ghandi Ceviche- smoked albacore tuna and scallop ceviche with salsa verde, madras curry paste, cherry tomatoes and corn chips. And then I waited.

As I stood in line, I struck up a conversation with the guy behind me. You never know who you’re going to meet at a Food Truck event but at least you know they’ve got good taste in food. Turns out, Martin’s an illustrator and has done designs for Threadless, one of my favourite companies! He also just happens to have completed a food truck t-shirt design, check it out, it’s awesome! 

Fresh Pasta

Reasons chickens are better than roosters:

1- Chickens lay eggs.

2- Chickens don’t crow at 3am.

We had a rooster once. Dad thought it would be a good idea to get a silkie chicken and rooster pair. The logic was that we thought we would end up with some eggs and the pair of them would look pretty neat. What he did not account for was the fact that our rooster would turn out to be deranged. He had no clue what time of day or night it was and would crow for hours on end in the middle of the night. I hated that rooster. One day Dad had finally had enough of him too and took the pair out to a friend’s farm where the rooster could crow as much as he wanted without robbing us of sleep and sanity. Now we have six chickens and although I’m not sure why Dad thought we needed SIX of them, I like them a whole lot better than that stupid rooster. Six chickens, however, equal up to six eggs a day. That means I have to continuously come up with ways to use them up.

Besides ice cream, one of my favourite ways to use eggs is by making homemade pasta. Michael Ruhlman, in his new book Ratio gives this easy to remember recipe for basic pasta dough:

Pasta Dough = 3 parts flour : 2 parts egg

I find measuring by weight a whole lot easier than by volume or piece, especially if some of the eggs your chickens are laying are double yolkers. But for those of you that don’t have a scale, (just go buy one, seriously) Ruhlman says that ratio works out to approximately 1 cup flour : 2 eggs. I use 00 flour when making pasta, (an Italian fine grind) and I find it works the best. Once you’ve got your pasta dough made there’s no end to the things you can do with it. I would be happy eating fresh pasta with lots of butter and a little cheese but since I was cooking for others I thought it would probably be better to make a meal of it. So I made a pesto sauce and also fried up some green onions, red peppers, bacon, shrimp and scallops. Tossed the whole thing together and there was dinner. Very good dinner.

Curtis Stone Can Cook Me Dinner Anytime

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently got my passport renewed. The last time that I had to do that was four years ago when I was headed to Australia as part of a University exchange program. I find it almost impossible to believe that it was so long ago that I was enjoying soaking up the Australian sun, playing beach volleyball at the University of Queensland in Brisbane and taking weekend trips to Byron Bay. I have some great memories of my time in Australia and ever since have had quite the soft spot for Aussies. Especially tall, adorable Australian chefs like Curtis Stone. And before any of you try to tell me I’m being suckered in by a pretty face and charming accent, the man can seriously cook and has the background to prove it. Long before I discovered him on his TLC show, Take Home Chef, Curtis was working as head chef in several Michelin-starred restaurants in London. So there.

His newest book, Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone: Recipes to Put You in My Favourite Mood, contains approachable recipes gathered under chapters with titles like Brunch That Will Blow Their Minds, Something to Eat on the Sofa and Sweet Dreams. Given my recent brunch party, affinity for eating on the sofa and everything sweet, I definitely approve of his choices. The book is also full of gorgeous pictures of almost every recipe and quite a few of Curtis too. I think I could have made anything from this book and been pretty happy. The only thing that would have made it better were if I ran into Curtis at the supermarket while gathering ingredients and he came home to cook with me. That’s practically reason enough to move to L.A. and hang out excessively at Whole Foods. Or to move to Australia and find someone just like him, (ha, as if anyone could be as great as Curtis Stone…). I even tried to get Chef to hire an Aussie at work but so far my pleas have gone unanswered. Maybe my wonderful blog readers should start a letter writing campaign to Chef in support of my need to have Aussies in the kitchen…

A few notes on the recipes I made…

Brownie Cupcakes: Truly a cross between a brownie and cupcake and frosted with a chocolate cream cheese frosting, these went over very well. The frosting received extra compliments and I used the leftovers to top banana muffins and my fingers.

Steamed Mussels with Chorizo and White Wine: Mussels are a weekly affair at my house and this version got high praise. The sprinkling of fresh cilantro on top was a great addition.

Wild Mushroom, Spinach and Goat Cheese Tarts: I took these with me to my brunch potluck and was pleased with how they looked and tasted. Andrea went back for more of this tart over the caramel/pecan/chocolate tart, so it must have been alright.

Seafood Wonton Soup: Wonton soup, like mussels, is something I used to think couldn’t easily be made at home. Although slightly time consuming to fill wonton wrappers, (don’t overfill!) it’s not difficult by any means and the results are better than most places you can buy it at. Certainly worth making again.

Brownie Cupcakes (from Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone: Recipes to Put You in My Favourite Mood)

Cupcakes
6 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, (60-70% cacao). Chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Lyle’s Golden Syrup or light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup or light corn syrup
4 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, (60-70% cacao). Chopped

To make the cupcakes: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Line a standard cupcake tin with 8 paper cupcake liners. Stir the chocolate and butter in a small heavy saucepan over low heat until they melt and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the syrup and salt. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs in a large bowl for 2 minutes or until the mixture is thick and light. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Add the flour and baking powder, and stir just until blended; then stir in the walnuts. Divide the batter equally among the cupcake liners, filling them completely. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cupcakes puff and crack on top and a skewer inserted into the center of one comes out with fudgy crumbs attached. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

To frost the cupcakes: Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until it is light and smooth. Beat in the syrup. Place the chocolate in another bowl and set the bowl over a small pot of simmering water. Stir constantly until the chocolate melts. Add the melted chocolate to the cream cheese mixture and beat until bended and fluffy, stopping the machine and scraping the bottom of the bowl to ensure that the mixture is well blended. Spread the frosting generously over the cooled cupcakes.

Chef Challenge: Battle Cream Cheese

Zeppole

I’ve previously told you about how lucky I am to work in a restaurant where we get to do some pretty neat things in the kitchen when we’re not busy. Sometimes that comes in the form of challenging Chef to create something on the spot, but sometimes Chef will flip the tables and challenge us instead. Usually that involves Chef telling us to produce a fully plated dish, using whatever we want, in under 30 minutes. This doesn’t sound like it should be a difficult task, but if you’re an indecisive person like myself, it can be 30 minutes of torture.

Cook1's Lamb Dish

The other day I was bugging Chef to make me something wonderful and he decided that I should instead make something for him. I hate when he does that. To buy myself some time, I suggested that one of the other cooks should have to take on the challenge. When Cook1 came back into the kitchen from a trip to the walk in fridge, completely unaware of what was going on, he was told he had 30 minutes to plate two identical dishes and that he’d better hurry up and get started. He began scrambling around to gather ingredients and come up with something to make. As he was doing this, Cook2 who had been observing, was pulled into the game when Chef told him he also had 30 minutes and the same challenge. I escaped being a direct part of the challenge as I actually had some work to get done before service. As Cook1 and Cook2 approached the 30 minute mark, (with Chef counting down in Iron Chef fashion… 10 minutes have elapsed) I suggested they should get 45 minutes instead as it was becoming clear that 30 wouldn’t cut it. I’d fail on the real Iron Chef as I’m all for giving out extra time when needed. Coming up with a dish under pressure is hard enough as it is, I’ll take any bonuses I can get.

Cook2's White Fish Dish

When Cook1 and Cook2 finished their dishes they had to explain what they were before we all gave them a taste and Chef gave his opinion on the outcome. That’s also my opportunity to ask questions like “What part of the dish did you think of first?” I find it interesting to hear how other people conceive of a dish and where their ideas come from. I like answers that tell a story and let me get a little glimpse into their twisted minds, (they work in a kitchen, their minds are inherently twisted… we’re an odd bunch). I dislike answers like “I don’t know.”

Cook1 chose to make a lamb dish with greens beans, rice, walnuts and a pear puree.

Cook2 made a white fish mousse with rice and veg medley.

I love these little challenges because two completely different dishes were made, using different techniques and different trains of thought to lead to a final product. It’s just neat to watch.

Chef's Appetizer

The following day Chef told me to make him something amazing. I decided to make donuts since it’s something that allowed me to use the deep fryer. I don’t have a deep fryer at home, especially not an industrial one, so I like any excuse to use it at work, (even though really hot oil kinda scares me). I was also looking for an excuse to try out a recipe I had seen in Giada DeLaurentiis’ most recent book, Giada’s Kitchen. She calls them Zeppole, but they’re basically deep fried pâte à choux. Also, you can call me a cheater if you want, but I used a recipe. It’s much harder to create something pastry related in 30 minutes without some sort of recipe to build on. It’s not nearly as forgiving as cooking. I did, however, create two dipping sauces to go with the zeppole that I made without measuring utensils. The first was an orange caramel and the second a maple blueberry compote. When Chef came to taste them, he asked if they would be super mind blowingly awesome and amazing. Somehow, between the time he asked me if I was making him something and tasting time, his request got a few more adjectives tacked onto it. And while I wouldn’t qualify the zeppole as super mind blowingly awesome and amazing, they were alright but definitely best almost right out of the fryer.

Chef's Main

Later that night Chef decided someone should still complete a proper challenge and since a new sous chef just started this week, he was the perfect candidate to choose. To make things more interesting, Chef decided to compete against him and allowed the cooks to choose a mystery ingredient for them to use. There’s nothing like starting a new job and immediately being thrown into competition with your boss… The New Sous handled it a million times better than I would have. And being the generous group that we are, we granted them a fifteen minute preparation period, followed by one hour of cooking to produce an appetizer and main dish in Battle Cream Cheese. I really should have been taking notes as this happened last week, but from what I can recall, this is what they made…

New Sous' Appetizer

Chef’s Appetizer: Bacon wrapped around a cream cheese filling, topped with lobster ceviche and julienned marinated peas, sprinkled with small diced red onion and a reduced lemon liqueur drizzle.

Chef’s Main: Venison chop topped with cream cheese, leek and mushroom, with green beans, candied cherry tomatoes and pine nuts.

New Sous’ Appetizer: Smoked salmon, potato and cream cheese croquette, sitting on top a cream cheese based sauce and topped with orange and onion relish and micro greens, surrounded by a reduced balsamic drizzle.

New Sous’ Main: Chorizo stuffed chicken breast with a mustard and cream cheese sauce, accompanied by grilled portabello mushrooms, orzo and veg.

New Sous' Main

After plating their dishes, both the kitchen team and servers got to taste everything and vote on whose they thought was better. Everyone chose their favourites except me. I gave my opinion on what I liked and disliked about each dish, but refused to say definitively which I liked better. Chef and New Sous are both waiting for this post because they think I’m going to reveal a winner. I keep telling them I love them both equally and refuse to cast a vote. Instead of leaving them completely in limbo however, I’ve decided to let you vote. In the comments section, simply say who you think should win Battle Cream Cheese, based on which dish you think you’d like better. At least this way they’ll be able to sleep at night. Although I don’t know how accurate that decision method is either since Chef has been known to comment on my blog anonymously, using up to four aliases to keep his identity a secret. I might have to start Chef at negative four votes just to give New Sous a fair chance.

Zeppole (from Giada DeLaurentiis’, Giada’s Kitchen)

½ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup sugar

½ cup water

¼ tsp salt

1 cup all purpose flour

4 eggs

1 T grated orange zest

Vegetable oil for frying

Combine the butter, sugar, salt, and ½ cup water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the flour. Return the pan to low heat and cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture forms a ball, about 4 minutes. Transfer the flour mixture to a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Add the orange zest and beat until smooth. Set aside.

Pour enough oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep fry thermometer registers 350F.

Using a small ice cream scoop or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot oil. Make three more zeppole, being careful to not crowd the pan. Turn each zeppole once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and continue frying the remaining batter in batches of 4.

Sunny Shrimp Tacos

I’m one of those people that need sunlight in order to function properly. Rainy, snowy and dreary days make me grumpy. Call me a bad Canadian, but I can’t stand the cold, (though to be fair, my version of cold is a few degrees cooler than say, an Australian’s). It’s not that I hate winter, I just wish snow were warmer. And after way too many months of winter, all I want are sunny days so that I can get out and ride my bike and leave the house without having to put on nineteen layers of clothing. Eating habits change with the seasons too and just like I crave the sun after a long winter, I also crave fresh flavours and bright colours. We’ve had a couple sunny days here recently, (I’ve even ridden my bike twice!) and for some reason I’ve had it in my head that I wanted to make fish tacos. Once the idea was swimming around, mingling with my daily thoughts, I knew I had to make it before it drove me crazy. As frequently happens though, what I initially plan for and what I ended up with were slightly different and shrimp was used in place of fish.

Despite the fact that I like to use recipes when working at the restaurant, I don’t necessarily use them at home. There’s a reason for this; at the restaurant each dish needs to be consistent regardless of who makes it and I don’t want to mess that up. At home where I don’t have anyone judging me, (at least not too critically) it really doesn’t matter. So I made these shrimp tacos without a recipe and if you want to make some of your own, I suggest putting together a salsa made out of things like mango, avocado, tomatoes, lime, cumin, smoky paprika and fresh cilantro. The shrimp were quickly pan fried after marinating in flavours similar to that of the salsa, with the addition of white wine. I also caramelized some onions and fried red peppers to add to the tortilla shells. The shrimp tacos were not the easiest things to eat, (bibs are required) but I thought they were pretty good and definitely put me in a sunnier mood with all those bright colours and tastes.

What kind of foods do you think of for Spring time?

Chef Challenge: Make Halibut Amazing

In my ongoing Chef Challenge series, whereby I bring an ingredient into work and get Chef to create something with it, I recently discovered that I don’t even need to bring in an ingredient. All I need to say is “Make me something amazing,” and Chef will figure it out. Or at least that’s what happened one day when I didn’t have anything with me but still wanted to see what Chef would make up on the spot. There was some halibut in the fridge so I suggested he might want to make something with that. He responded by telling me that halibut was boring. I told him that was all the more reason for him to turn it into something amazing. It wasn’t long before he got an idea and put me to work gathering ingredients.

The resulting dish was a Spanish style fish, (that was first marinated using Asian inspired ingredients, including green tea and lemongrass) served with a citrus and chive salad, on a bed of roasted red and green peppers and garnished with deep fried rice. One of the primary things I took away from this dish was a new way to prepare fish. And just so Chef knows that I’m actually absorbing the information he’s throwing at me, I thought I’d do a remake of his halibut dish, using the same technique for the fish but changing up the sides.

While Chef was making his version he gave me a number of ideas about other sides, sauces and toppings the fish could be served with. He also mentioned that it could be done with any firm fleshed white fish, not just halibut. My version turned into an amalgamation of his suggestions and what I had in my kitchen, resulting in saffron rice and peppers with Spanish style cod, topped with sautéed spinach with chilis and garlic.

Most importantly though, the fish technique actually worked for me! If I were the type, I almost would have squealed. It’s not that making the fish was difficult, but the batter is messy and I’m still not overly confident in my ability to cook proteins. In spite of that, the cod turned out almost exactly as I thought it should. The crust was light and crispy and the interior remained moist. Nice one!

Of course I can never be entirely satisfied with a dish that I make, so my problem with this one was that it lacked a sauce. As soon as I plated it I realized I should have made a spicy tomato based sauce, (which was one of Chef’s suggestions when he was telling me other ways to serve the fish) to add colour, flavour and balance to the dish. It tasted fine without it, but would have been improved with it.

Here’s a basic method for making this fish at home:

Prepare the batter by whipping egg whites and a pinch of salt to stiff peaks, (I used approximately one egg white per serving of fish). Add some herbs if you’d like and a little flour to give the egg whites some stability, (they should still be fluffy and getting it onto the fish will be a messy affair). When your batter is ready, heat some oil in a frying pan and take any firm fleshed white fish and dredge it in flour. Then, carefully coat the fish with the batter and lay it into the frying pan. When one side has browned and the outside is crispy, flip it over to achieve the same effect on the other side. I found that my fish was done as soon as both sides were browned, but if you have an especially thick cut you could transfer the fish from the frying pan to the oven to finish it off.

The French Laundry

As is evident by this blog of mine, I like food and I like to write. So you would think that if I ate dinner at The French Laundry (!!!) on the 21^st of January, I would have had a post up about it immediately. But The French Laundry left me speechless. So what follows is my meager attempt at describing my greatest dining experience.

To begin, I was fortunate enough to get reservations by putting my name on the waiting list. I was planning my trip to Napa specifically to go to The French Laundry and wasn’t going if I didn’t get a table. The problem was, I had to coincide my dinner there with having time off from work. When I called for reservations I put my name on the list for a weeks worth of dinners and hoped for the best. On New Year’s Eve I got a call to confirm that I had a 9pm reservation for two on January 21^st. That meant I had three weeks to plan my trip and figure out who I was taking with me. Although quite a few people expressed interest in coming, most of them couldn’t take the time off work, didn’t have the money, excuses, excuses. Then I realized the best person to take with me was my Dad. He’d appreciate it, (unlike some others who just wanted a trip to sunny California) and his birthday was a couple days afterwards so a celebratory dinner at The French Laundry would certainly be one to remember. As I mentioned last year on his birthday, Dad’s also pretty awesome and I couldn’t ask for a better traveling companion.

Fast forward to January 21^st, the time is 8:50. As we walked through the front door I was nervous. I almost didn’t want to eat there. I’ve read so much about The French Laundry and Thomas Keller and heard so many amazing stories that it seemed as though it was destined to disappoint. But I had traveled over 3000km to get there and I would not be going home on an empty stomach. I gave the hostess my name and we sat down to wait for our table to be ready. As with almost every other location in the Napa Valley, there were copies of Thomas Keller’s books on the coffee table. I wanted to dig into Under Pressure as I’ve only skimmed it at the bookstore, but I was too excited to be able to focus. Our table was taking a couple extra minutes to prepare so two glasses of complementary champagne were brought out to us while we waited. It was only the beginning of over four more hours of impeccable service.

It wasn’t long before we were seated and our server, Shannon, (one of about nine people who waited on us throughout our meal) greeted us warmly, handed us menus and encouraged us to ask her questions if there was anything we were unsure of. There are only two menu options at The French Laundry, both are nine course Chef’s tasting menus but one is vegetarian. I’m sure the vegetarian option was amazing, (I read it over just because I was curious) but there was no way this carnivore was choosing it. Within the regular Chef’s tasting menu there are four courses that require you to choose between two options. For the most part Dad and I made sure to coordinate our selections so that we got to taste everything. However on the course that offered either a cauliflower salad or foie gras, Dad and I both chose the foie. As for wine, we put ourselves in the very capable hands of the sommelier, Anani. It was the right thing to do as he chose an excellent white and then red to carry us through the meal. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer sommelier. I liked him so much I wanted to take him back to Canada with me and to the restaurant I work at. I even offered him free golf… Somehow I don’t think there’s a sweet enough deal in the world that could lure him, (or anyone) away from The French Laundry.

The first bits of food to arrive were two tiny gougères, served on an equally small silver platter. We popped them in our mouths and so began our taste adventure. Warm from the oven and full of cheesy goodness, the gougères left us eager to see what would come next. It was the reknown Thomas Keller Salmon Cornet, the cutest, most delicious little savory cone you’ll ever eat. That was followed by our first official course:

“Oysters and Pearls”: “Sabayon” of Peal Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and White Sturgeon Caviar

After one bite from a mother of pearl spoon it became very clear to me that The French Laundry would not disappoint. I savoured that little dish of oysters and pearls like nothing I ever have before. The balance of flavours and textures was unlike anything else. Dad, who previously thought he didn’t care much for the texture of oysters was blown away by how much he liked these.

Moulard Duck “Foie Gras en Terrine”: Sunchokes, Apple Mustard Seed Relish, Toasted Brioche and Dijon Mustard

Attention to detail. This dish embodies it. Every element on the plate has a purpose and every flavour combination has been carefully considered. The foie is served with a trio of salts so that you can customize it to your liking, as well as with warm, toasted brioche to spread it on. Half way through this course a server appeared to whisk away our partially eaten brioche and to replace it with warm ones. Thomas Keller thinks the warm brioche enhances the dish and wants to ensure that your last bite is as enjoyable as your first. Attention to detail.

Columbia River Sturgeon “Confit à la Minute”: Globe Artichokes, Pearl Onions, Parsley Shoots and Hobbs’ Bacon

Cod Milt “En Aigre-Doux”: Fennel Bulb, San Marzano Tomato Compote, Niçoise Olives, Arugula and Smoked Eggplant Coulis

This was the first course in which Dad and I had something different, although after eating our way through half our plates, we switched so we could taste everything. I think I’m quickly becoming a fan of anything confited, the sturgeon was to die for. The Hobbs’ bacon that accompanied it was also spectacular, served paper thin but with such a robust bacon flavour that you could have sworn you were tucking into a full slab of it. As for the cod, at first glance it looked like little more than a cod fritter but one bite combined with the tomato compote and eggplant coulis told a very different story.

“Beets and Leeks”: Maine Lobster Tail “Pochée au Beurre Doux” with King Richard Leeks, “Pommes Maxim’s” and Red Beet Essence

Dad and I have eaten a lot of lobster in our lives. His family is from the East coast of Canada and they know how to have a lobster feast. But both of us immediately remarked that we’ve never before had lobster this good and vowed that next time we made it at home it would have to be poached in butter. Of course, we’ll have to try our hand at the gourmet ‘potato chip’ that accompanied it, as well as the beet and leek sauces. The lobster was truly a highlight.

“Aiguillette” of Liberty Farm Pekin Duck Breast: Roasted Savoy Cabbage, Hen-of-the-Woods Mushroom, Tokyo Turnips and Young Ginger Sauce

Corned Marcho Farms Veal Tongue: Tuscan Lentils, Black Trumpet Mushrooms and Brussels Sprouts

Being fans of wild mushrooms, we were happy to see that two different kinds appeared in these dishes. And I was happy to try something completely new to me, veal tongue. Veal tongue is one of those ingredients that when I mention it to my non-foodie friends, I usually get somewhat of a horrified or disgusted look as a response. I challenge anyone to eat veal tongue at The French Laundry and not like it. It was delicately nestled into a perfectly cooked bowl of Tuscan lentils and it was fantastic. Dad went on at length about how wonderful his duck breast was.

Snake River Farms “Calotte de Boeuf Grillée”: Sweet Garlic “Pain Perdu,” French Laundry Garden Carrots, Broccolini, Bone Marrow Pudding and “Sauce Bordelaise”

I now have dreams about Snake River Farms beef. And considering the price, that’s probably all I’ll be doing about it for quite some time. But it was, hands down, the best piece of beef that has ever passed my lips. I let it dissolve on my tongue and tried to make it last for as long as I could so that the memory would remain even after I swallowed. I wanted to lick the plate clean so as to garner every drop of beefy goodness. I miss that beef.

“Tomme de L’Ariège”: Belgian Endive, Green Grapes, Watercress and Black Truffles from Provence

The cheese course arrived and with it came truffles! Hurrah! Point of interest- the grapes were peeled. Every detail is accounted for.

Ruby Red Grapefruit Sorbet: Pistachio “Pain de Gênes” and Mascarpone

Prior to going to The French Laundry I had recently tried to make grapefruit sorbet. The flavour of mine was decent but the texture was woefully inadequate in comparison to the velvety smoothness of TFL. Their pairing of grapefruit with pistachio and creamy mascarpone is something that I can only hope to one day think of on my own. Sadly, this was one of my worst photos of the night. Taking pictures by candlelight is not easy.

“Mousse au Chocolat Amedei”: Gros Michel Banana Ice Cream, Candied Cashews and Curry “Arlette”

Braised Golden Pineapple: Spiced Sweet Rice Beignet, Dark Raisin Coulis and Long Pepper Sherbert

When we were seated at the beginning of the meal, our server had asked if we were celebrating anything in particular and I told her Dad’s birthday was in a couple days so when they brought out the desserts his was adorned with a ‘Happy Birthday’ sugar paste plaque. I managed to snag a tiny spoonful of Dad’s chocolate mousse and I could have happily eaten a whole bowl of it. The only slight hiccup in the whole FL meal came at dessert for me, (and I cringe at calling it a hiccup because it was barely anything). The long pepper sherbert that accompanied my dish just hit too hard at the back of my throat. The spice was overpowering for me. Although it didn’t linger long, I found the taste to be too sharp when I swallowed it. I debated whether or not I would even mention this little tidbit but decided I would, just to show that in a four hour meal, the only thing I could find to complain about was a tiny element of one single dish.

Mignardises

Chocolates

We were getting pretty full by the time the beautiful box of mignardises was brought to our table but neither of us could resist sampling one or two anyways. The rest were boxed up and given to us to take home, likewise with the selection of gorgeous chocolates. As much as I wanted to eat them at the time, I couldn’t manage another bite. I enjoyed them on the plane ride home instead. Besides the mignardises and chocolate, our take home package included shortbread cookies for each of us and extra chocolate bars for Dad for his birthday.

The service at The French Laundry is nothing if not accommodating. They ask specifically at the beginning of your meal if you have any food allergies that they should be aware of but seem equally good about personal preferences as well. At the table behind me, one of the women requested that there be nothing “cold” in her desserts. The course consisting primarily of Ruby Red Grapefruit Sorbet was therefore out, as were both of the final dessert options which contained ice cream. The kitchen improvised with completely different plates for her. I almost wanted to make up an allergy just to see what they’d make for me…

As we were finishing up, our wonderful server Shannon, knowing that I work in a kitchen, asked if we wanted to see The French Laundry kitchen after our meal. Absolutely! We were one of the last tables to finish at the end of the night and it was after 1am by the time we were lead back to the kitchen. There was a team of cooks working hard on tomorrow nights menu. They use a matrix to ensure that no ingredient is repeated twice throughout the meal. If I hadn’t of been in awe of the kitchen itself, there were a million questions I wanted to ask them.

As Dad and I made our way out the door I felt like I was walking on a cloud. Time had flown by and I couldn’t believe my French Laundry experience was over already. Despite the fact that it was after 4am my time, (it’s a three hour time difference between California and Ontario) I was wide awake and spent the next couple hours running over every aspect of the meal in my head. The flavours were so distinct on the plate and yet worked in perfect harmony with each other. I went over the meal course by course, trying to remember exactly how everything tasted. It was overwhelming in the best possible way.

My French Laundry experience was everything I hoped it would be and more. I can’t adequately express in words how wonderful/amazing/incredible it was, (the thesaurus can’t help me here either). A very special thanks to everyone at The French Laundry who made our meal there an unforgettable one.

NYC Dining: Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller

While many people flock to New York for the galleries, theatre and shopping it should come as no surprise that I was most interested in the food and restaurants. In my last post I hinted at some of the spots I had visited but they really deserve to be mentioned all on their own so without further ado, I give you Bouchon Bakery, Bar Boulud and Café Boulud.

Bouchon Bakery Café is located on the third floor of the Time Warner building and offers a wonderful view of Columbus Circle and Central Park. When I arrived around 1:30pm the place was packed but as a solo diner I managed to grab a seat at the bar. As I perused the menu another single diner was seated beside me. The bartender offered him a menu but he waived it away, saying he’d have the chicken soup and a glass of white. He clearly ate here often and knew what he wanted so I closed my menu and said I’d have the same. It was a good choice. This was not your ordinary, out of a can chicken soup, this was Thomas Keller Chicken Soup and what all chicken soups should strive to be.

The chicken is braised and tender and is nestled into a rich, flavourful broth that it shares with a mirepoix and ricotta dumplings. All meals are served with an epi baguette, (classic Parisian baguette, shaped to resemble a wheat stalk) which was perfect to sop up the broth from the bottom of my bowl of soup. To finish off my lunch it seemed appropriate to order the dessert that shares its name with the bakery so I had the Chocolate Bouchon which was served with a dusting of icing sugar and a scoop of heavenly cherry ice cream. Yes, heavenly. The bouchon were chocolaty and everything that they were supposed to be but it’s the ice cream that I’m left craving more of. All in all, a delightful way to kick off my Thomas Keller experience which will soon include The French Laundry…

Bar Boulud is Daniel Boulud’s more casual bistro. The space is long and narrow with vaulted ceilings and is cozy with an almost tunnel-like feel. In an attempt to save my wallet from too much damage, (it was only my second night in New York) I opted for wine and appetizers instead of a full meal although after seeing the dessert menu I decided I should at least sample it as well. I knew before entering Bar Boulud that I wanted to try their pâté, the issue then became deciding which one. I finally settled on the Pâté Grand-Père which was a coarse country pâté with foie gras, truffle juice and port. I also tried the Saucisson Sec and was happy with it as well, to the point that I want to make my own. For dessert I had the Marron et Cassis which consisted of a chestnut mousse, meringue, blackcurrant gelée, cassis and crème frâiche. I wish the picture could translate how good the dessert really was but it doesn’t do it justice.

Service at Bar Boulud was on point and accommodating to my every whim, even when I made silly requests like asking to keep my menu and to see the kitchen. Our server was surprised at my desire to see the kitchen, it wasn’t something she’d been asked before but said she would ask the Chef if it was ok. Shortly thereafter I was escorted downstairs by one of the cutest cooks I’ve ever seen, (That’s him crouched behind the counter in the Bar Boulud photo. Note to Chef- Please steal him away from Bar Boulud and hire him… Thanks.) who showed me around the kitchen and introduced me to the Chef who was busy expediting. As we made our way back up to the dining room the Cutie Cook asked how if I had enjoyed my meal and upon hearing that I had the pâté, proceeded to win me over completely, (not that he had to try very hard) by telling me I had to try their newest pâté, made of venison, as it was his favourite. I was tempted to return the following night but with so many other places to try in such a short time, it just wasn’t possible.

Café Boulud was my next stop, (I also have the cookbook of the same name) and I was in luck as there happened to be a prix fixe lunch special going on which made my meal there both elegant and affordable. The prix fixe was three courses which also featured an amuse bouche to start the meal and madeleines to finish, in addition to the appetizer, entrée and dessert. The amuse was a goat cheese ball, rolled in parsley and resting on a spoon with tart preserves. For my appetizer I chose the smoked salmon on puff pastry with caramelized onions, bacon lardons and frisée.

I overheard the couple beside me discussing their meal and one of them declared the salmon appetizer the best part because according to him, ‘caramelized onions are even better than caramelized… caramel.’ Next up I had the skate for my entrée, it was accompanied by fingerling potatoes, cauliflower, olives and capers. And for dessert, chocolate tart with mocha ice cream. The lemon scented madeleines, sugar dusted and still warm from the oven were brought out just before the bill and though I didn’t need to eat anything else I couldn’t resist popping one after another into my mouth. Once again, I had a fabulous meal that left me walking on a cloud as I drifted back out onto New York City streets.

If my pockets were deeper and I had the time I would have loved to try out Daniel Boulud’s other two New York establishments, Daniel and DB Bistro Moderne but I suppose that’s something to look forward to for next time, along with Thomas Keller’s Per Se… I might as well dream big if I’m dreaming at all.