Posts by: Melissa
CUTTING EDGE COFFEE: A HANDS-ON SESSION TO DRINKING WITH MEANING
A lecture-workshop lead by: Sarah Musgrave and Maeve Haldane
Part of McGill University’s Personal and Cultural Enrichment (PACE) Program
In recent years, Montreal has seen an explosion of small, independently operated coffee shops that present a real alternative to big chains. Progressive coffee promotes a “crop to cup” message: the focus is on small-lot and single-origin beans sourced from Africa, South and Central America, tight relationships with micro-roasters and producers, and the use of state of the art technology to get the best expression of the beans. With talk of terroir and seasonal flavour profiles, this is coffee for connoisseurs. What does progressive coffee mean? How are these cafes different than big chains? How do these approaches translate in terms of taste? Meet the players of current progressive coffee scene, young entrepreneurs with a genuine dedication to the craft.
Chris Capell, owner of Le Couteau, will talk of the necessary equipment and skill set for a progressive coffee shop owner, while JF Leduc, of St Henri Torrefacteur and Cafe in Gamba will let us in on how roasting affects the bean. CoopSol’s Monika Firl will explain the ins and outs of trade practices, such as cooperative, fair, and sustainable, followed by a tasting to reveal different regions’ characteristics.
Date and Time: Tuesday February 26, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Le Couteau, 4627 Rue Saint Denis
Cost: General Public: $39.00 // Come with a Friend discount: $29.00
Register online today! http://www.mcgill.ca/conted/
THE NATURE OF WINE: A HANDS ON SESSION TO DRINKING WITH MEANING
A lecture-workshop lead by: Sarah Musgrave and Maeve Haldane
Part of McGill University’s Personal and Cultural Enrichment (PACE) Program
One for the ethical drinker! Terms like natural, organic and biodynamic are showing up on more and more restaurant wine lists. What do these terms really mean? How are these wines different? A session on the history of natural winemaking – with an explanation of biodynamic viticulture, founded by Rudolph Steiner – and its growing popularity in California, as well as France, Italy and elsewhere in the Old World.
Date and Time: Monday, March 18, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: To be confirmed
Cost: General Public: $39.00 // Come with a Friend discount: $29.00
Register online today! http://www.mcgill.ca/conted/
Cook your beans and meat together under pressure, blending flavours and sterilizing simultaneously. An easy meal on a cold day waiting in the pantry. See recipe at the end of the post!
Beans Beans the musical fruit…you know the rhyme, but it is true that the more beans you eat, the better you feel, maybe not for every meal….beans are best eaten in the morning when your body is building for the day and you have time to digest them.
I’m sorry, but this is the anti-food porn post. In fact, it’s just straight-up bean recipes with no photos, but these really are my favourite bean recipes of all-time.
Baked Lentils
2 c. of lentils of choice
3 bay leaves
3 g sprigs of thyme
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp of brown sugar
2 tbsp of molasses or maple syrup
1/4 c. of cider vinegar
1/4 tsp of cloves
1/4 tsp of ginger
1 tsp of dried mustard
Salt and Pepper
Mix everything together in a baking dish. Put in enough water to cover the lentils. Cover tightly with a lid or aluminum foil and bake at 325 °F for 2 hours. Serve.
Black Bean Dip
1 15 oz can of black beans
3 tbsp of fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 c. of finely chopped onions
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp hot peppers, chopped
A pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tbsp of lime juice
1/4 c. of cottage cheese (optional)
salt
1/4 c. of toasted pumpkin seeds
Combine all of the ingredients except the pumpkin seeds in a food processor. Garnish with the pumpkin seeds.
Korean Mung Bean Pancakes
¼ c. of mung beans, soaked for 2 hours, drained and puréed with 2 tbsp of water
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. of bean sprouts
½ c. of kimchi, finely chopped
1 tbsp, of onion, finely chopped
1 green onion in 1 inch pieces
1 tsp of fresh ginger, minced or grated
1 tsp of sesame oil
1 tsp of salt
Black or white pepper
1 tbsp of wheat flour
1 tbsp of rice flour
2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil
Dipping sauce :
3 tbsp of soya sauce
1-2 tbsp of rice vinegar, or vinegar of choice
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp of toasted sesame seeds
½ tsp of korean chili powder or a mix of cayenne and paprika
black pepper
½ tsp of sesame oil
Mix the sauce ingredients and set aside. Mix the pancake ingredients. Heat a frying pan over medium heat with the oil. Cook 2 inch diameter pancakes in the oil a couple minutes on each side or until golden. Serve with the sauce.
Lentil Soup
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp of olive oil
10 c. of water
1 c. of lentils
4 c. of greens of choice chopped (swiss chard, spinach, chickory, kale, etc)
salt to taste
pepper and 1 tsp of cinnamon
juice of 1 lemon
Heat the olive oil in a pot. Put in the onions and sweat until translucent. Add the water, lentils, salt and greens and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 45 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, cinnamon and add lemon juice just before serving.
Lamb and Salt Pork Cassoulet cooked in the mason jars
200g of dried pink or romano beans, soaked overnight
2 shallots, peeled
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 carrots, peeled and in quarters.
100g of salt pork or smoked lard or smoked ribs, cut into 4 pieces
4 lamb shanks
1 tbsp of tomato paste
2 cloves
1 pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 sprig of parsley, thyme and a bay leaf, or herbs of choice!
If using salt pork, sweat until it renders its fat. Add the lamb shanks and brown over medium heat. Add the carrots and shallots Cook 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste, salt pepper and clove and nutmeg. Wet with 750ml of water. Bring to a boil and simmer 25 minutes. During this time, change the beans’ water and boil 10 minutes. In sterilised jars, put a piece of lamb and pork, some vegetables, a sprig of each herb and enough juice to cover. Close th jars, wrap them each in a cloth
Holly Chute, making the new and healthier Southern-style chicken
Holly Chute, personal Chef to the State of Georgia’s Governor, Nathan Deal and his wife Sandra, found herself cooking for some 400 Montrealers in the celebration of America’s Independence. On the fourth of July, she was catering in the hopes of sharing Georgian cuisine, bringing new ideas from one food place to another. You may find it odd to hear Georgia referred to as a food place, but incidentally, Atlanta has become one. A Taste of Atlanta, an event akin to Montréal Highlights is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Food is an integral part of the Georgian experience and always has been. Barbecue may be king, but agriculture is queen, accounting for one in six jobs and offering fresh fruit and vegetables not only to Georgians, but to surrounding states as well. Health and refinement have become new players in Georgian cuisine: the prince and princess of this cultural staple.
Fresh Georgia- Don't forget the peach in your salsa!
For the Governor of Georgia and his wife, health is a requirement of service to their state, so the cholesterol has to be low. For the gluten intolerant First Lady Sandra Deal, the biscuit and fried chicken have had to be modified. Sandra Deal confessed that she always felt better when she wasn’t eating bread, but she says, in that sugar-cane southern drawl of hers, that “[she,] like the other ladies, I knew that was the way to keep the pounds off.” Her father’s unbearable abdominal pain in winter when they ate flour biscuits, she now realizes may also have been due to celiac or gluten-intolerance. Cornmeal breaded fish or chicken and corn bread are succeeding wheat flour in the First House. Pan-searing and baking have replaced frying, and fresh salsa is putting pressure on the sweet preserves. All of Georgia’s treasures such as greens, okra, corn and peaches are finding their place in the spotlight under Chef Holly’s watchful eyes. Chute is also one of four Chefs chosen to promote and represent Georgian agriculture through a program called Georgia Grown and is looking for ways to help children eat more vegetables through the understanding of their cultivation.
Symbiosis of the Chef and the Farmer= Harmony in the State's plate
Who is Chef Holly really? Her promotion of terroir and her health sensibilities scream “imposter from the north”, but this Vermont/New York State woman is starting a revolution in the South and marrying two worlds in perfect harmony. Despite her Northern roots, Jeff Foxworthy said “You might be a redneck if you bring a doggy bag from the Governor’s mansion,” and proclaimed that Chef Holly’s fried chicken was the best he’d ever had.
Chef Holly checking-out Birri's wares at the Jean-Talon Market
Nathan Deal is the sixth Governor that Holly has cooked for since she began at the First House in 1981. She has more than earned her place. She has witnessed the need for meat and starch be replaced with a need for health, longevity and freshness. She has replaced the mammy cook (after first getting the biscuit recipe of course). She has also seen rigidity, formality and her place behind the scenes replaced by familiarity, casualness and an elevation in the status of “Chef.” She is among the increasing number of women that have stepped into the ranks of the cooking elite.
So fresh and so clean: Quebec produce meets New Georgian cuisine
I had the privilege of guiding Chef Holly through the open-air Jean-Talon Market so that she could become acquainted with some of Montreal’s local products. We happened upon Arik De Vienne at Olives et Épices and he showed us sapote – a fruit with a flavour of wild sweet almond. Sandra Deal reminisced about the days when sweet almonds were used to perfume drawers in the south and the almond kernel oil that made the best body creams. Smells have a way of awakening memories.
The crème de la crème of spices with Arik De Vienne
Marché des Saveurs spoiled us with La Rhubarbelle, a non-alcoholic rhubarb rosée, Neige ice cider and Pied de Vent apple washed cheese of the Madeleine Islands. Sublime! This time Holly reminisced about Vermont’s Terroir.
Québec cheeses: reminiscent of Holly's Vermont terroir roots
Conrad at Racine let us sample the three strawberry varieties of the moment and the ensuing discussion went as follows:
Holly: “They’re good”
Conrad: “I know”
“Modèste.” Holly replied with the sweetest French accent.
Quebec's berry treasures
We made our way to the beautiful Appetite for Books in Westmount where Holly cooked lunch in their gorgeous kitchen. She made flattened chicken breasts, lightly seasoned and pan-seared with a fresh peach salsa and a salad of greens from Birri with olive oil and lemon. The meal was finished with Quebec strawberries and wild blueberries, crème fraîche, mint and maple syrup. The food was light, refreshing, delicious, healthy and married well with the heat of the day and what was available locally. Isn’t that the way it should be? Holly Chute makes it happen from Montreal to Atlanta.
Aprons and Chef coats ready for duty at Appetite for Books
Two First Ladies: Sandra Deal and Suzanne Drouin of Le Marché des Saveurs du Quebec
Chef Holly Chute’s Watermelon Lemonade
8 cups of watermelon chunks
½ cup of sugar
1 cup of water
½ cup of fresh lemon juice
Dissolve the sugar in water over low heat. Set aside to cool.
In a blender, combine watermelon and lemon juice. Purée until smooth. Add cooled sugar mixture and pulse to combine.
Serve chilled with a sprig of rosemary or mint.
Recipes and Foodie Books Galore at Appetite for Books on Victoria in Westmount
