Sunday, July 18

Amazing dinner. Thanks to all who participated. We were graced with the presence of Dan, Anna, Mia, Sean, Dave, Steph, Mel, Ben, Tristan & Katie. Everybody lent a hand, which enabled this meal realize its full potential.
Tristan baked while Katie prepped shallots & salad, Ben & Mel washed up between courses, Sean served and helped Anna peel prawns, Dave serenaded us and Steph brought beautiful Chilean Late Harvest SVB. Mia set the table and made the centerpiece, which were gorgeous as you can see... and provided the photographic record.

Mia's centerpiece

Long table of beautiful people

Organic Thomas Reid hen & homemade caesar of organic BC romaine

Seared Sablefish with honey-buttered Abbotsford haricots & chimichurri

Korean BBQ of Hopcott's Top Sirloin & kimchi

Dusk begins to fall, Pesquie is poured

Risotto with BC Spot Prawns & Hopcott's Own farmer's sausage

Banana muffins, whipped cream local organic blueberries

Night settles as the meal winds down. Soon, we will sing and be merry.

Chateau Inauguration

The Chateau's inaugural dinner was definitely one for the books. Mia McLarty took photos.

Seared Seafood Amuse
total cost $2.50 each, $4.25 with 2oz wine pairing

Huge,Fresh B.C. Spot Prawns ($7.50/lb from Albion, through Shallaw @ Fishworks)

With Shaved Fennel & Apple Salad, apple-cider and local wildflower honey reduction.
Beautiful sea asparagus from Chef Karen Barnaby... "The best in six years," she reckons.

With Blue Mountain Pinot Blanc.

Risotto Course
total cost $2.75, or $4.25 with 20z wine

Herb & Cheese risotto

Sauteed local criminis, shimijis, oysters and chantrelles with herb & shallot

Robin and I plating for Nancy, Andrew, Adam, Mia, and himself.

Finished with Pecorino Romano and white pepper, echoed by the Chateau Pesquie Cotes du Ventoux (Southern Rhone Grenache/Syrah). Did I mention the white truffle oil to finish?

Boeuf
total cost $5 each, or $6.25 with 2oz wine

Aged Alberta Skirt Steak, $15.99/kg

With oven roasted organic Delta tomato, grilled Washington asparagus, and grill roasted local leeks.
Finished with truffled herb butter and red wine jus. Paired with Sumac Ridge Black Sage Merlot ($20). Gorgeous.

Organic Creme Brulee
total cost $2 each, $3 with 2oz sherry

Made with local, organic whipping cream and organic cane sugar. Tahitian vanilla bean.

Served with homemade wild blueberry jam, sweetened with local wildflower honey.

Paired with Nutty Solera Oloroso Sherry. Deep, nutty, caramelized flavors, cut with blueberry acidity. Words are not sufficient.

Total cost of this meal: $13.50 per cover for food, $4.25 each for a flight of wines...

$17.75 each

Success. Time to plan the next dinner.

Epic Bosa Trip

It's been far too long since I've had a bottle of truffle oil in my pantry. As I left the kitchen at the Tea House, Chef Knowlson bestowed upon me a beautiful bottle of Elle Esse white truffle infused olive oil, and I used it frequently for the whole year it lasted me. Its last drops were, unfortunately, spent in the hot pan of a roommate, who had unwittingly wasted it to cook bacon for his Kraft Dinner. Never mind its relatively exorbitant cost, using the stuff like olive oil yields extremely displeasing results... I came home to a house filled with truffle smoke, and my roommate telling me, "Dude, that truffle oil is shit."

Hoping that my new roommates are more gastronomically aware, I once again strapped my panniers on the Time Machine and made my way out to Burnaby for an epic shopping trip.
From my "research" on GoogleMaps, I'd decided that taking the TransCanada Highway from the Second Narrows to Boundary would be the most direct route -- the information I'd failed to acquire was that bicycles are strictly forbidden from the freeway. I also failed to obey the clearly posted signs telling me so. When I've got somewhere to go, I get there. Potholes, deep gaps between sections of the road, and fully loaded 18-wheelers leaving me no room on the shoulder were the first sign that an alternate route might have been better... crossing lanes of 120km/hr traffic to avoid unwanted exits and access left turns reminded me that truly death-defying experiences are infinitely more entertaining than the simulated ones at Playland.
Finally, I found the importer's retail superstore on Kootenay Street just off 1st and Boundary, but I couldn't find anywhere to park my bike. How very un-European. I wish they'd imported some ideas along with all those olives.

But what olives there were! Walking through the front door and picking up a basket, I was struck dumb by a diffuse, ethereal, almost holy glow emanating from Bosa's shrine to olive oil. I've never seen such a variety in my short, provincial life. From bulk, cheap, cooking oil, to single-variety and regionally specific bottles. I'd noticed the phrase Denominazione di Origine Protetta

on some of the bottles, the first time I've ever encountered a non-wine product bearing appellation status. Holy shit.
Nonetheless, the only truffle oil I saw on this shelf was Italissima oil with white-truffle extract for $10/375mL. I picked it up, a little disappointed, but ready to move on to mushrooms, meat, and cheese.
Lots of dried, Italian mushrooms. I definitely should have picked up a bag of dried Porcini (good idea...) but, instead, turned up my nose in discontent at the absence of local varieties (elitist idea). In the cooler, however, there were a couple of packages of Ponderosa mushrooms. I used to deal with this company through the Tea House. It was a guy in a Van full of mushrooms - fully above board, but small, and I met the pickers sometimes. Awesome. These mushrooms were $6/100g though. That's $60/kg. But I don't need much, they'll make a big difference to my risotto, and I know that this item represents a short food chain - Bosa buys these fresh from Ponderosa, who recently picked them themselves. I'm on board.
Cheese was insane. Huge variety, mostly imported, but all in wedges or wheels... and gorgeous. One deceptive brand called "Okanagan Falls" is actually produced in the USA but it doesn't say exactly where. I can't tell you if this cheese is any good or not, but I can tell you from looking closely that it doesn't come from Okanagan Falls, BC. I don't want to buy this product, simply because they're pissing on my head and telling me it's Fresh, Local Rain. Whatever... in any case, my wedge of true Pecorino Romano was 1/3 the cost of any comporable cheese at Save-On. I would highly recommend Bosa for a massive cheese trip. They also have a full spectrum of Raincoast Crisps, and Terra Breads fruit & nut crisps. I chose Fig & Olive Raincoast Crisps... the Terra Breads was organic though. Whatever, choosing organic is less important for small amounts of dried fruit and flour, than it is for choosing beef or chicken. I saw the meat department on the port side.
There is some beautiful meat here. And if I recall correctly, an organic chicken that was even more expensive that Safeway (who is, I think, doing fairly well on the organic front). Beef enderloin was about $20/lb and sold $100 at a time, and the pork is all from Quebec or Ontario. I was happy that the guy at the counter was forthcoming with this information, though assuring me that the beef is Alberta (local enough, really, but not awesome) and the chicken is local. Pretty standard meat department, I think, though displaying some larger cuts and good quality meat. I bought a gorgeous whole flank at $7.50/lb, and some beautifully aged skirt stakes. They later proved immensely flavourful, and I'm still eating the medium-rare flank sliced thin in sandwiches.



That was about it, I thought. Some cool sausages and cured meats, but I wasn't interested in those and had to be at Fishworks soon, so to the checkout I went. And there it was, so close to the beginning of my journey, but so far, the truffle oil display right next to the checkout. I spent some time here. Mostly taking pictures -- this is like a sacred place for me. In my experience, truffle oils are the best expression of truffle flavor available in this city. And here they all were - I would assume Bosa is one of the city's largest importers and wholesalers of truffles and truffle oil, based on its size and Italian focus... and here they all were. Including, in fact, the round, $20 bottle of Elle Esse white truffle infused extra virgin olive oil, the very bottle that Chef Knowlson had kindly introduced me to many years ago. I knew then my destined mission was fulfilled successfully. This trip was meant to happen, and I found myself more than happy to pay $80 for my load of premium local and imported gastronomic reagents. So happy, in fact, that I went to Liberty wines on my way home and picked up a $25 bottle of Blue Mountain Pinot Blanc to celebrate... but not until dinner...

Oh yeah, I also bought some salt pork. I fried some up and put it on my Annie's before work. With, of course, truffle oil.

2 Courses on a Monday Night

Coquilles St. Jacques
Scallops
White wine
onions
breadcrumbs
butter

I've recently found a rekindled passion for uber-classical French cuisine, and the way it interfaces with local produce. After taking a book called "Cuisine du Terroir" from the library, I was immediately struck by a recipe I'd heard of, but never actually eaten or cooked. Or seen. But from the looks of the recipe, this must be a shining example of what French cuisine is all about: simplicity and technique.
I knew I had to celebrate this discovery with a perfect wine pairing, and though the book recommended Muscadet-sur-lie as a regional complement, I had a craving for Cremant d'Alsace (bright acidity and toasty autolytic character is a no-brainer with this beautiful, light seafood dish) and found a beautiful bottle by Sumac Ridge -- the Steller's Jay Brut. Not only has this bottle been aged en tirage (in contact with the spent yeast from bottle fermentation) for three whole years, this primarily Pinot Blanc brut is actually riddled and disgorged by hand - a painstaking process that is usually done by computer-controlled gyropalettes nowadays. At $26, I doubt you can get a bottle made with this much love in too many other places.
I will have to make this dish a few more times to get my ideas straight. I've looked into a few different versions since, and there seems to be many takes on it -- some with cream, some with bechamel, some with mushrooms and parmesan... Chambar even has one with pork cheek, pickled green beans, and horseradish. I'm not sure if that captures the simple spirit of the dish. Creative and delicious, I'm sure, but it seems to me that les coquilles st. jacques must be about scallops and only scallops. In our search for new, exciting, and marketable dishes, we have lost the spirit of la belle cuisine. I aim to reclaim.

Course 2: The Risotto
Now, les coquilles is not a dish to fill up the belly, though perhaps the soul. So I made a fat batch of risotto. I have a bag in my freezer I think of as my "stock bag" which includes broccoli and onion scraps, chicken bones, etc, so I just made a quick stock out of that with which to hydrate the risotto. Here are a couple of pictures of the risotto process to give you an idea of my risotto philosophy -- dry during cooking, wet only during finishing. You will not achieve risotto by covering the rice with water (until the final stage) -- you must let it steam until it is finished. I added sundried tomatoes and artichokes to this one. Enjoyed with a bottle of 2007 Menguante Carinena DO old vines garnacha ($10.50 @ BCL). Raisinated fruit flavors, white pepper, medium body and tannin, beautiful pair with the sundried tomatoes and white pepper I chose in the risotto to echo the character of the garnacha. Make risotto and try this... please.

Left: my risotto looks like this for at least an hour in the pan - dry.

Right:
my risotto looks like this in the last 2-3 minutes of finishing: soupy wet, emulsifying with butter

Granache with Panache!!! ;)

2007 Chateau Pesquie "Terrasses", Ventoux AOC (Southern Rhone) Grenache Syrah

Bright medium ruby in color, with a mediumplus nose of red plum and raspberry - preceding nutmeg, and somehow, olive grove? Something vegetal and earthy.
Dry, mediumplus acid with medium tannin and medium weight. The red and black fruit take a backseat to licorice and white pepper. Olives remain in play -- black and savory. Yet, red cherries take the lead for the home stretch of its medium-plus length. Not jolly rancher cherry -- homemade cherry pie filling. Mmm.
The high acid keeps the Terrasses lively amidst its pungent complexity. It ripe fruit and spice don't obscure the unique woodsy character -- there is a harmonious community of flavors asserting itself in this glass. Al dente tannins grip without staying attached... again, acid moistens and balances this firm structure. Conclusion: Fuckin 'Eh.

ps. I drank this bottle (actually, the last of Robin's bottle -- I definitely owe him a replacement) with fusilli in olive oil & greek olives, sundried tomato & basil, onions, garlic and thyme -- and Robin's aged Parmesan wedge, grated. God damn. This is what life is about.

Blueberry Tart

I saw frozen wild Canadian blueberries on sale at Safeway the other day, so I figured they'd be good to have around at $5/600g. Good idea.
Last time I made pastry dough, I made extra and saved it in the freezer. Good idea.
Seeing them next to each other in my freezer last night, and having a craving for desert... led to a good idea.

ACTION! Pulled pastry dough out of the freezer and drank a bottle of wine while I thought about how I'd tackle this problem. By the time I had my gameplan, the dough was ready to be rolled.
With an oven preset to 350, I rolled the dough out (folding it several times, to build flaky layers) and onto a pie pan. Docked and blind-baked.




Step 2: Melted milk chocolate, brushed onto the inner surface of the cooling tart shell.
Aside from the obvious benefits, this layer of chocolate, when cooled, acts as a moisture barrier, allowing a crispy, flaky dough to coexist with a moist, gooey filling.
Step 3: Blueberries with a touch of local wildflower honey and 1tbsp of red wine/cornstarch slurry (to thicken). Brought to a boil and cooled in a pie pan in the freezer to firm up. This filling should be started while the pie shell is cooking, and cooled by the time the chocolate is brushed on.

Give those nice little berries a home.

Step 4: Hallelujiah! There is a Jah! Whipping cream in the fridge. Trader Vic's in the liquor cabinet. Vanilla bean in the pantry. Not only did I scrape the bean, but I chopped it up TINY and threw the whole thing in. The pod has flavor, and vanilla is super expensive, so I don't see the need to be shy with it. Shot of Trader Vic's, and whisk whisk whisk. Pile high, high as she goes. I poured on the remainder of the melted chocolate, because... why not?

Fried Chicken

Just in case you want to try fried chicken that is made from real chicken, not the Colonel's patented doppel-poultry. I used Thomas Reid cornish hen.

There are many delicious variations on this idea: this recipe may not take the gold medal, but its definitely the simplest, which certainly puts it on the podium.

You'll need:

chicken (breasts, thighs, drumsticks; wings require a different procedure to be both crispy and juicy)

egg
milk
flour
salt and pepper

sunflower oil (I prefer it to corn or canola, since these crops are very often GMOs. Sunflower crops... a bit less often.)

do this:

Put 1L of the oil into an 8” pot, set to medium heat. This is enough oil for a shallow fry, which just means that you'll have to flip the chicken a couple of times. If you want to deep fry, use 2L. Not much difference. Set the stove to medium.

Beat the egg in a bowl and add some milk. I used 1 egg to about ½ cup milk. The more milk you use, the less flour will stick and the lighter the batter will be.

Add some salt and pepper to the flour, in a bowl, until it tastes a little salty and peppery. This is just to season the chicken, so this is where you'd want to add your own secret blend of herbs and spices. I think good quality chicken is its own secret blend of herbs and spices – the ones they ate in the pasture.

Dredge your rinsed and dried chicken breast into the flour bowl, then coat it in the egg-milk, then back into the flour. Here, you'll be well advised to press the flour into the chicken skin and make sure it is 100% coated. You want to create a starchy shell that entirely encapsulates the meat, to keep the juices inside (and out of the oil, where juices cause spits and pops). The shake-n-bake, toss-it-in-a-ziploc-bag, Rachel Ray method of easy fried chicken makes shitty fried chicken. Take your time on the little things.

(this is golden... breasts may be done now)

Once your chicken is coated, test the oil with a small piece (I use a tender, the muscle group that is loosely attached to the breast). You want to see the oil bubbling rapidly, but not violently. If it is bubbling violently, take the pot off the heat and add a few pieces to the pot, filling it but not crowding it. This will cool it down, and when they are frying happily, you can return it to the heat. You might have to turn down the stove. Conversely, if it bubbles too slowly, you might just have to wait for the stove to heat up, or your stove's thermostat might be running cold, so you'll have to kick your heat up one or two notches. The goal is to achieve the kind of happy bubbles I've captured photographically.

(this is amber... extra crispy legs and thighs!)

Every few minutes, if you're shallow-frying, turn the chicken over. How long this will take depends on how big the chicken is, but when the batter starts to turn a deep golden colour, pushing on amber, take a piece out and slice into it to see if it's done. No more blood = done (although, I do like my thighs and drumsticks a little on the overcooked side – extra crispy!). Keep in mind: drumsticks and thighs will take longer than breasts.

Once you've pulled your cooked chicken out of the oil, sprinkle just a little bit more salt on it. Maybe some pepper. Essentially, season it one last time: straight out of the fryer is the very best time to season anything, the oil just soaks up flavor as it stops bubbling outward and retreats into the pores of the crispy batter, bringing any seasoning with it.

Voila: Home-Fried Chicken!

p.s. - save the oil for your next frying: after its cooled, just let it drip through a coffee filter, and it comes out crystal clear.