Thai Chicken with Tomato-Chili Jam

This is one of my favourite recipes. It's foolproof, easy to make and and always a hit! You can make this dish less spicy just by reducing the amount of chilies in the recipe. It's a great main course and works just as well for winter and summer since it can be served either hot or cold.

The recipe is from my trustee Diva Cooking book, which was mentioned in my earlier post featuring the Pyramid Salad. It's a two part recipe: marinading and cooking the chicken, and making the tomato-chili jam. It serves 8 people.

Marinade:

• 8 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts (Chicken thighs work great too. They are cheaper and, in my opinion, tastier than chicken breast. However, they don't look as pretty on a plate.)
• 4 tablespoons of sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons of Thai fish sauce (easy to find in the Asian section of any supermarket)
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 red chilies, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 large handful of cilantro, finely chopped

Slice the chicken into thick strips. Mix the marinade ingredients together, pour over the chicken, cover and chill for 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Cook the chicken either by barbecuing or pan frying, brushing with the marinade as it cooks.

Tomato-chili jam:

• 500gr of ripe tomatoes, chopped (canned tomatoes also works if you're lazy)
• 4 red chilies, deseeded and chopped
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1x2inch peice of fresh ginger root, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of Thai fish sauce
• 1 1/4 cups of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of red-wine vinegar
• 3 Thai leaves (Okay, these are hard to find. They are available in Asian market. If you don't have any you can substitute with a bit of lime zest and juice and a bay leaf.)
• 60 grams of raisins or red currants

Place half the tomatoes, the chili, garlic, ginger and fish sauce in a food processor and blend to purée. Transfer to a saucepan and add the sugar, vinegar, lime leaves and raisins. Bring to a boil slowly, stirring. Add the rest of the tomatoes and simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve the chicken, hot or cold, with the jam on the side, hot or cold. This dish is really good with a side of coconut flavoured rice. Just cook your rice as usual, but substitute half of the water for coconut milk. Guaranteed success! 

Lemon mousse verrines

There's a new trend out there and you've probably heard of it. It's been all the rage in Europe for a while now (they're always ahead of us those Europeans!). It's called verrines. A verrine is basically an appetizer or a dessert served in a small glass. You could technically turn anything into a verrine dish. Just dump your favourite hors d'oeuvres into a shooter, and bingo! you've made yourself trendy dish.

Well ok, it's not always that simple. Some things just shouldn't be served in a glass. Others, though, can greatly benefit from a see through receptacle. Take, for example, this dessert recipe that I'm about to describe. It's a pretty looking dessert and putting it onto a plate just wouldn't do it justice.

The original recipe is from Assiettes Gourmandes, a French food blog. I've simplified it a bit, since the cookie crumble was supposed to be made from scratch. However, I found the results less than satisfactory and using store bought cookies worked just as well.

For 6 glasses (tumbler size)

• 2 eggs
• 140 gr of mascarpone (I like Polenghi, but it's not always easy to find)
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 lemon

For the whipped cream

• 250ml of heavy cream (35% whipping)
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 20 fresh basil leaves

Crumble:

• ginger snap cookies, crumbled (or any similar cookie)
• fresh strawberries and raspberries

Separate the eggs whites from the yolk. Whisk the yolks and the sugar until pale. Zest half the lemon and add this to the mixture along with the juice from the lemon. Mix in the mascarpone. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Delicately fold the egg whites into the mascarpone mix. You should have a smooth mousse by now. Fill the bottom of each glass with the mousse and keep chilled in the refrigerator. 

For the whipped cream, tear the basil leaves and let them sit in the cream for around 2 hours. Strain and add the sugar. Whip the cream until thick. Set aside in the fridge.

Add the cut up raspberries and strawberries onto the lemon mousse. Sprinkle on the cookie crumbles. Add the basil-flavoured whipped cream on top. Garnish with lemon or lime zest and/or basil leaves.

See how pretty!

Jamie Oliver's Lasagna

Lasagna is the ultimate comfort food. Nothing can make you feel as warm and fuzzy inside, with the exception maybe of a shot of grappa. You can make all sorts of different lasagna and they can be very different from one another. My dad makes a great traditional one with the ground beef and ricotta. My mother in law makes a wonderful spinach lasagna with bechamel sauce, slightly on the sweet side. I enjoy each equally and could not choose between the two if my life depended on it.


Jamie Oliver's lasagna is from his Jamie's Food Revolution cook book. It has a Bolognese sauce base. There's nothing too different or fancy about it. Just a good old fashion recipe that you're sure to enjoy. It's a long process, perfect for a lazy, rainy Sunday.


For 6 servings:

• 2 slices of bacon, sliced
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of dried oregano (fresh is good, but you'll need slightly more)
• 1 pound of ground beef or pork (or a mix of both)
• 1 can (28 ounces) of diced tomatoes
• salt and pepper
• 1 and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese 
• a small bunch of fresh basil, stalks separated from the leaves
• 1/2 pound of dried egg lasagna sheets (I used spinach lasagna)
• 2 cups of ricotta (his recipe calls for crème fraiche or sour cream instead, so you could try that too)
• 1 large ripe tomato, sliced

Heat a casserole on medium-high heat. Add the olive oil with the bacon and oregano and cook, stirring until the bacon is slightly golden. Add the veges and stir every 30 seconds until softened and lightly coloured. Stir in the ground meat and canned tomatoes. Fill the tomato can halfway with water and add to casserole. Season with salt and pepper. Chopped the basil stalks and stir into the pan. Bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer covered for 45 minutes (don't forget to stir once in a while).

Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove sauce from heat and add 1/2 cup of parmesan. Tear and stir larger basil leaves, keeping the smaller ones aside for later. 

Bring salted water to a boil for your lasagna sheets. Add a drizzle of olive oil to the water and cook the lasagna sheets for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the sheets and carefully pat them dry. Spoon 1/3 of sauce into the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Add a layer of lasagna sheets. Add 1/3 of ricotta and smooth it out to cover the lasagna sheets. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and 1/3 cup of remaining parmesan cheese. Add another layer of lasagna and repeat the layers twice more (sauce, lasagna sheets, ricotta, salt, pepper, parmesan) finishing with the last layer of parmesan. Top with slices of tomato and scatter over the small basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil. 

Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for a further 35 minutes until bubbling and golden. All done!

Restaurant experience: Jardins Sauvages

I never thought I could have a favourite restaurant. It's like choosing a favourite food, you can't just pick one. There are too many delicious options and it depends what kind of mood you're in. But I have been to this little gem 3 times now, and I can say without a doubt that this is my favourite restaurant.

It's called À la table des Jardins Sauvages. Located in Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan in the Lanaudière region, it takes roughly 45 minutes from Montreal to get there. The restaurant is in a beautiful site next to the St-Esprit river. It's very charming, with an outdoor fire pit and a suspension bridge covered in lights that crosses the river. The inside of the restaurant is very cosy and a tab bit rustic, which goes well with the cuisine.

Specializing in local game, wild plants and mushrooms, it makes you discover food that you either didn't know existed or you didn't know you could eat. It's a five course set meal (you can consult the web site to know the weekend's menu) that costs 75$ taxes included. It may seem expensive, but it's totally worth it! It's also bring your own wine, beer, porto, so that gives us a break financially speaking. If there's something that you don't like in their menu, just call them up and they'll change it. If it's a major change they may charge you, but that wasn't the case when they replaced the parmesan squares in the salad of my very cheeso-phobic brother.

Cattail show in the middle.

As I mention before, they use ingredients that are local but that you would never think of eating. François Brouillard runs the place and refers to himself as a coureur de bois. He picks wild mushrooms, plants and herbs and adds them to the menu. One of these ''I never would have thought of that'' discoveries for me was cattail. In the Spring, you can cut the tips and eat them. I tried this and it was very good. The waitress described it quite accurately as having a coucous texture and tasting similar to asparagus. There's also salicorne, which is an herb with a briny like taste, carcajou which resembles dijon, and the very aromatic foin d'odeur.

And let's not forget the mushrooms!!! I love wild mushrooms, bolet, trompette de la mort, morel, you name it they have it. When you start off the meal, they serve you bread with an absolutely divine bolet butter and monarde butter. You have to force yourself not to fill up. But don't worry, you can purchase these butters on site along with a bunch of other wonderful products made by Les Jardins Sauvages.

As mentioned, the main course consists often of game meat including deer, duck and bison. All in all the portions are not that big, but by the time you reach dessert you are very much full (and if by some miracle you aren't, you can order a cheese course for an extra 7.50$). Luckily the dessert is light and refreshing, a nice way of finishing off the evening before a long ride home.

Desset, yum!

Once and a while they have a special themed 7 course menu. This is the case for the last 3 weekends of October. The theme is wild mushrooms where every course includes, you guessed it, mushrooms. It's more expensive (100$ per person), but I intend to try it this year, I just haven't told my husband yet! ;-)

Pyramid salad

Here's another favorite of mine and I know a favorite of my guests. I often use it as a first course before a fancy meal. It has marinated figs, roasted shallots and prosciutto and parmesan chips. It's always a success and visually stunning (not to mention it makes me look good as a cook!).

This recipe is from Diva Cooking, written by Victoria Blashford-Snell and Jennifer Joyce. When it comes to entertaining, there is no better cook book in my library. I love that the recipes are portioned for 8 people, it makes things easier because sometimes multiplying a recipe is not as simple as doubling the ingredients. I have tried almost all the recipes and they always come out great. It's meant for party food and elegant dinner parties. The recipes are, however, anything but traditional with a heavy emphasis on fusion of different ethnic favorites with North American cuisine.

For 8 portions you will need:

• 8 fresh figs, quartered (don't substitute for dried)
• 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• 16 small French shallots (shallots people, not scallions!)
• 1 tablespoon if sugar (raw sugar, if you have some)
• 90 gr of freshly grated parmesan cheese (don't use the powder stuff)
• 8 thin slices of prosciutto
• 180 gr of arugula

For the vinaigrette:

• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper

Marinate the figs with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 1/2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar for 4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the shallots in a roasting pan and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, spinkle with sugar and salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes, regularly shaking the pan. Remove and set aside.

Increase the oven temperature to 375°F. To make the parmesan chips, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle the parmesan evenly into 2 x 8 inch circles. Bake for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 1 minute (this step is important). Slice each circle into 4 triangles and make sure they stay separated from each other. Return to the oven for another 3 minutes, until golden. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.

Lay prosciutto directly on the baking sheet and roast at the same temperature for 5 minutes, until crisp. Cool on paper towels.

Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients. Season to taste.

To serve, pile the arugula leaves on individual plates and divide the figs and shallots among them. Spoon on the vinaigrette. Arrange one parmesan chip and one slice of prosciutto on top to form a pyramid shape.

The parmesan chips may be tricky the first time, but if you follow the quantity and method exactly it should be so bad. You're guests will go oooh and aaahhh when they see this.

Poutine night!

Last spring I did a dinner and a movie night at our place. I figured it should be a casual dinner since the movie was anything but sophisticated. We watched Black Dynamite which I highly recommend to anyone with a decent sense of humour. It had some of the best and most absurd dialog I've ever heard.

"Your knowledge of scientific biological transmogrification is only outmatched by your zest for kung-fu treachery!"

To compliment this campy feature, I wanted to do something casual that I know most people would enjoy. So I decided to have a poutine night. I couldn't resist having a touch of sophistication though, so I threw in a shrimp bisque for starters.

The shrimp bisque recipe is from Tyler Florence, better know Food Network host of Tyler's Ultimate. The original recipe calls for 4 cups of heavy cream, but the soup is already rich enough as is. I substituted 3 of the cups for chicken broth. He has a great recipe book by the way.

For 4 to 6 portions you'll need:

• 1 1/2 lbs of shrimps, shelled and deveined
• Your shrimps' shells (do not throw them out)
• 1/2 cup of butter + 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 1eeks, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and rinsed well
• 3 stalks celery, cut into big chunks
• 2 carrots, cut into big chunks
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme (do not substitute for dry thyme, the flavours are completely different and sometimes it's actually dried savory instead)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 strips orange zest (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1/4 cup brandy 
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• 1 cup of heavy cream 
• 3 cups of chicken broth (home-made or boxed, never use the powder stuff, trust me I know what goes in there!)
• Salt and pepper
• Finely chopped fresh chives, for garnish

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and melt the butter into it. Then add the shrimp shells, the leeks, celery, carrots, 3 sprigs thyme, the bay leaf, orange zest, and tomato paste. Cook, stirring every now and then, until the shells are red and the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.



Take the pot off the heat and carefully pour in the brandy. Ignite the brandy with a long kitchen match and let burn until the flame subsides. (Ok, so everytime I've done this nothing ignited, but the soup still turned out good so don't worry about it if it happens to you).

Return the pot to the heat, sprinkle in the flour, give it a stir, and cook for another 2 minutes. Now add water to cover and deglaze, scraping up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the cream and broth and bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to low and gently simmer until the soup is reduced and thickened, 30 to 45 minutes. Strain into a clean pot and season with salt and pepper.


Return the bisque to a simmer, add the shrimp and cook 2 to 3 minutes just to cook the shrimp through. Give the bisque a final taste for seasoning, pour it into warmed soup bowls (never did this, soup still tasted fine) and serve garnished with the chives.

So that was the soup, onwards with the poutine. Basically the concept was to prepare all the individual ingredients and have people create their own poutine. So I had:

• Cooked sausage meat
• Sautéed green bell pepper
• Sautéed portabello mushrooms
• Cooked chicken
• Sautéed onions
• Quebec cheese curds (absolutely essential, do not, I repeat, do not even think of substituting this!)
• Cavendish crispy spicy fries
• Poutine sauce (I like Cordon Bleu)
• Home-made curry sauce (recipe follows)

For those who were a bit more adventurous, I offered them a curry sauce for their poutine instead of the usual gravy. It's easy to make a curry sauce, you need:

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons of red curry paste (Indian curry paste, not Thai)
• Salt and pepper

You start by melting the butter at medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the flour and whisk for a 2-3 minutes. Add the broth and curry paste and continuously whisk until the liquid comes to a boil and thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Black Dynamite knows this recipe is so rightchous!

Restaurant experience: Au Pied de Cochon

For my birthday this year, I decided to try something new and potentially hazardous to my health. I'm talking about the (in)famous Montreal restaurant Au Pied de Cochon. This restaurant belongs to Martin Picard, an unconventional chef who was also involved in the opening of Montreal's famous Toqué restaurant.
He hosts the Food Network show called the Wild Chef which explores Quebecois cuisine.

Au Pied de Cochon specializes in foie gras and pig's meat. It's an extremely rich cuisine and people with health problems should be wary. It was also visited by the American chef and author Anthony Bourdain who had this to say about the restaurant:

“It’s like driving down Hollywood Boulevard naked, wearing a cowboy hat and holding a white castle hamburger in one hand, having sex with two hookers while listening to ZZ Top. Total trash. [And I love it.]”

You'll find stuff on the menu that you won't find anywhere is, like foie gras poutine, bison tongue and, for the truly adventurous, pig's head!

Here was my experience. First of all, I didn't heed the warnings about not eating for the whole day. I have a very good appetite and figured I would be ok. This was my first mistake.

My husband ordered the little bouchée called cromesquis de foie gras. It's basically a small square of deep fried foie gras. The foie gras is completely melted inside, so you have to shove it in your mouth in one shot. It was apparently delicious. For the first course, Anthony also had the duck carpaccio. It was fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone who likes raw meat.

For my first course, I was feeling adventurous so I ordered something that I had never eaten before but always wanted to try, tripe. This was my second mistake. Now please understand that anybody who likes tripe would have loved this dish. The flavours themselves were wonderful and the taste of tripe was good, I just couldn't get past the texture. And with a fried egg on top, the dish itself was very filling.

Save Me!

At this point I knew I was in trouble, because I was already feeling full. But I persevered none the less and decided to order my mistake number 3, pied de cochon stuffed with foie gras. This thing was big enough to feed 3 people (the waiter had warned me). The meat itself was smothered with a rich sauce and had plenty of vegetables. I barely made a dent in it, because I was feeling slightly nauseous at this point due to the tripe. If you order this dish, please, please, do not eat anything prior because it will not be as enjoyable. Being unable to eat much of what I had ordered, I chose then to swap with my husband's dish, which was much more my cup of tea.

He ordered the duck in a can. This concept is awesome. From what I understand the whole meal is stuffed in a can and cooked this way. The waiter brings you a plate with a piece of bread on it, opens up the can and dumps the food right in the middle of it. You end up with a juicy duck breast, some foie gras and cabbage among other things. This was great, I am salivating just writing about it. I was glad that Anthony was nice enough to swap with me.

Luckily enough, they placed the rest of the uneaten food in a vacuum seal bag, which was pretty neat. Now you would think that I wouldn't have space for dessert (and I didn't, technically) but as my husband says "dessert goes into a different stomach". This would be my only negative comment about our experience. Although we knew that we only had our table reserved for 2 hours, our waiter was somehow unaware of this. This combined with a pretty slow service (we were fairly fast ordering and eating) meant that by the time we got to dessert I was told I couldn't get the much anticipated pouding chomeur because it would take to long to prepare and that our table needed to be vacated for the next reservation. Disappointed, I ordered something else, but wished they had been better organized. It sucks to get kicked out when you're not ready to leave, especially when you're paying good money.

So, all in all, I will definitely go back (this time on an empty stomach) and maybe choose a night that has less restrictions on the reservation. There's so many other things on the menu that I would love to try. If anybody is game, I would love take my chances with the pig's head. Always willing to try something new!!!

Purple Soup

Just a quick post about the hazards of using purple maroon carrots.

These are purple maroon carrots.

They are very good, sweeter and crunchier than regular carrots. They have a beautiful red exterior and a deep orange inside. They pop up once and a while in grocery stores.

Now, if you eat them raw or simply sauté them, then that's fine. However, if you decide to use them in a soup or stew this is what happens.


You end up with this purple monstrosity! This was a coconut shrimp soup, and mind you it did taste good. The colour however was unappetizing. I had to dim the lights to be able to eat it.

I you don't mind purple soup, then by all means use these carrots because they are quite flavourful. Or else, just stick to the regular stuff.

Smoked Salmon Sandwich

I did this one for my birthday. Since it fell on a Tuesday and we had already celebrated on the week-end, I figured I'd make myself and Anthony something yummy but not time-consuming.

It's really quite easy. It's basically toasted honey walnut raisin bread (found at Loblaws) spread with a dill caper cream cheese. The cream cheese I made myself (just added fresh dill and chopped capers to regular cream cheese). Then I added smoked salmon, avocado slices, and arugula. That's it!

Don't be put off by the raisin bread. I know it sounds sweet (and it is), but it balances off really well with the salty, smoky smoked salmon and the bitter arugula.

Spicy Won Ton Soup

This one's always a success. It's one of the first fancy soups I've ever made. My husband usually helps with this one. He's became a very proficient won ton stuffer ;-)
I know it's one of my dad's preferred recipes, because it's spicy (hence the name) and colourful.

It's a tad time consuming, and the stuffing tends to come out of the won ton while cooking, but the flavours are fantastic. A mixture of fresh and spicy and exotic.

The recipe comes from a recipe book titled ''Soups'' (very straight to the point). Written by Frances Ros, it's from the Essentials Collection.

For the stuffing:

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro
• 2 egg whites
• 200gr of cooked chicken, chopped
• 16 won ton wrappers (found in most grocery stores in the frozen section)

To make the won tons, mix the garlic, scallions, soy sauce, wine, cilantro, 1 egg white and chicken together.
Spoon the mixture into the centers of 16 won ton wrappers, brush around the edges with the remaining egg white, then fold over into triangles and seal. Press the 2 farthest corners of the triangle together with the egg white. Tada, you've made a won ton! (You can also substitute shrimp instead of chicken).

Now that that's done, you need to cook these in a broth. (You can make the won tons in advance and keep them moist by covering them with a damp towel.)

For the broth:

• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil (the dark one, not the light one since this one is not from roasted sesames and lacks a rich flavour)
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 1 small red chili, chopped (seeded if you prefer less spicy)
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the scallions, chili and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Pour in the chicken broth, soy sauce, white wine and herbs. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Now you're ready to add the won tons. Just add them gently to your broth and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Voila! Enjoy! (I know I always do!)

Quiche in Prosciutto cups

This recipe is great because it looks like you put a lot of work into it, when in fact these little appetizers are  really easy to make. As long as you have mini-muffin molds, that is. I got the recipe from Epicurious, but made a few modifications. Since the prosciutto itself is so salty, you don't need to add any salt at all.
Here goes:

• 4 thin slices of prosciutto, cut in half
• 2 egg whites
• 1 whole egg
• 3 tablespoons (45mL) of thick yogurt (Liberty Mediterranean style)
• 1/2 teaspoon of fresh rosemary, chopped (plus extra for pretty garnish)
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Get your oven going at 400°F. Lightly oil your muffin pan. Press 1 piece prosciutto into each of the 8 mini cups. Whisk egg whites and whole egg until smooth. Whisk in yogurt, rosemary, and pepper. Divide mixture among cups. Bake, uncovered, until quiches are cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.
Garnish with rosemary.

Now don't worry too much about the look of the cups. I suck at presentation and they always turned out fine. And who cares anyhow, cause they're so delicious!!

Restaurant experience: Lobster on the Wharf

Prince Edward Island was a fantastic experience. The island is so small that it was easy for us to just point to an area on our map and say 'let's go there and see what we find'. From lighthouses to cliffs, the scenery is truly magnificient. It was right before the high season in early June, so we sometimes had huge expands of white sand beaches all to ourselves. The water is so clear, you'd think we were someplace tropical.



And, of course, when in PEI you have to go for lobster at least once. We went to what was potentially a tourist trap. The restaurant that you would always here about in adds, located on the wharf in Charlottown. It's called Lobster on the Wharf. Well, it may be a tourist trap, since it is quite pricey, however let me tell you I have never had better, fresher lobster in my life.

It's expensive, (as stated before). We paid roughly 200$ with tax and tip for The lobster feed for two. It consists of 3 pounds of Island Blue Mussels. 4 freshly cooked lobsters (1 lbs each) with sides and 1 liter of white or red wine. We also added dessert to that.


Everything was so fresh that you didn't need any sort of garnish like garlic butter or a tomatoe sauce for the mussels. The mussels themselves were wonderfull, big and juice. They're bigger and paler than the rust coloured ones we tend to find in Montreal. As you can seed from the pictures, I was quite satisfied and very full.

If you ever go to PEI, I should mention that they have a great blueberry wine available in their liquor store. It's from the Rossignol Winery in PEI. You can't get it anywhere else, so please buy me a case or two if you ever go there ;-)

And last but not least, you have to pay a visit to Cheeselady's gouda. As you can guess, they make their own gooda, from stronger aged to mild. They come in all kinds of flavours, my favorites being hot pepper and fenugreek. Get me some of those too, along with the wine!!!

Restaurant experience: 3030 Ocean

Located at Marriot's Harbor Beach resort and Spa in Fort Lauderdale. http://www.3030ocean.com/
Now we went there in 2005, so things may have change since then. But from what I can see through the website, they still have the most awesome (there's that word again) tuna tartar I've ever tasted.


This was the first time I had a tartar of any kind, and unfortunately (much to my embarrassment today) pronounced it the same way you would dental tartar. It's listed as Spicy Tuna Tartar, Pickled Radishes, Yuzu Aioli. 


I've tried to replicate this dish, but back then I didn't have as much skill to dissect a dish as I do now. I would have to go back and try it again. I don't see much reason to go to Florida, except to go back to 3030 Ocean. 


Well, if you happen to be in the neighborhood and love fresh fish and seafood, they are absolutely fantastic at what they do and I would recommend it to anyone.