Jardins Sauvages: Mushroom Event!

Last night Anthony and I along with my brother and sister-in-law finally experienced the highly anticipated mushroom event at Jardins Sauvages. Seven courses of absolute decadence, each including every kind of mushroom imaginable. If you don't like mushrooms, then this is your worst nightmare! For us, it was absolute heaven! Below is a description of the courses. All of the bold words indicate a kind of mushroom.

First course:

Black trumpet and celeryroot rémoulade, Smoked Hen of the Woods, Pickled Swollen Stalked Cat, Autumn Oyster Mushroom tempura, mushroom mustard aioli.

Black trumpets are my favourite mushrooms. They're incredibly flavourful and I bought a whole bag of them, dehydrated.

Second course:

Chicken Mushroom and Shaggymane broth, rabbit and Smooth Lepiota meatballs, sliced Matsutake, wild ginger and sea parsley.

The broth was incredible, very tasty. Anthony went nuts over the rabbit meatball. I tried not to think about my pet bunny as I was eating these.

Third course:

Seared scallop with Lobster mushroom and Delicious Lactarius curry, sea spinach, corn and Fairy Ring salsa, basil and sumac.

The curry was awesome, worthy of any good Indian restaurant.

Fourth course:

Layered Giant Puffball and King Bolete casserole with Jerusalem artichoke, Morel sauce, confit of tomato in boletus oil

This was my favourite course. Jerusalem artichokes taste of a cross between potatoes and artichokes. The combination with the mushrooms and the morel sauce was sumptuous.

Fifth course:

Pan-roasted venison, wild berrysauce with Blewits, fried Gypsy Mushroom mac n’cheese, sautéed Hedgehogs and Common Chanterelles, cattail spear

The mac n'cheese was divine. Even my cheese-o-phobic brother ate it. And the cattail spear was a treat, as always.

Sixth course:

Red mouthed Bolete white chocolate pudding, Glabrescent Bolete butter cookie, Meadow Mushroom dark chocolate pudding, Orange Capped Bolete chocolate chip cookie

You would think that mushrooms and sweets don't mix, but the chocolate puddings were literally the best I have ever had. You can taste the mushroom in the background, and somehow it just works.

Seventh course:

Maple scented Lactarius financier, Larch Bolete caramel sauce, Yellow-Brown Bolete and apple sorbet and jelly, candied Yellow-foot Chanterelles

The financier actually tasted like maple syrup. Apparently there was not maple syrup. The flavour came from the mushroom itself. Incredible!

Thank you Chef Nancy for an awesome experience. It was worth every penny. You'll see us again for the duck event. Looking forward to it!

Sushi night!

A few weeks back, my sister decided to have a roll-your-own-sushi night. A fun concept where you get to (you guessed it) create and roll your own sushi roll. 

You'd thing having people roll their own sushi would take a lot of the work out the preparation. Well, think again! My sister had to go through lots of chopping, skewering, cooking and saucing! The prep time is as long if not longer than any fancy meal. She made sure we had every thing imaginable available to stuff into our sushi rolls and boy did we take advantage of it.


Here's a list of all of what was was available to us: (I may have missed a few)

• sushi-grade raw tuna
• sushi-grade raw salmon
• smoked salmon
• cooked shrimp
• tempura fried shrimp
• scallops
• sweet potatoes
• shitake mushrooms
• daikon
• cucumber
• lettuce
• mango
• green onions
• red bell pepper
• spicy mayo
• sesame seeds (black and roasted)
• omelet
• simile crab (pollock)
• sesame dressing
• rice crispy (great tempura substitute if you're press for time)
• deep fried tofu
• cream cheese

And of course we had access to plenty of sticky rice and seaweed wrap with the usual soya sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.

Rolling sushi is surprising quite easy if you have sushi rolling mats. You place the seaweed sheet on the mat and flatten rice in a thin layer upon it, leaving around an inch of rice-free space along the top and bottom. Then you put any ingredient combination that takes your fancy (without overstuffing it). Using rice vinegar, you lightly wet the edges of the seaweed and roll it tightly with the help of the mat. Once that's done, the roll is sliced and you're left with surprisingly professional looking sushi.

Needless to say, with 7 people rolling sushi we had many different wonderful variations. It's a great way to get your guests to use their creativity and learn something new at the same time. You could actually see people's personalities pop up in their sushi, everything from the neat to the adventurous. Lucy, we all appreciate the effort, money and time that went into this and hopefully can do it again!

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

This is one great recipe because it's incredibly easy and, if you have the right size pan, comes out nice and ooey-gooey. I stumbled upon this when I was trying to find a peanut butter and chocolate brownie recipe I had to bake for work due to losing a bet. It's from the folks at Canadian Living. Well this is going to sound incredibly cheesy, but I sure felt like I was the winner when I baked these beauties! It's a bit non-traditional simply because you bake them in a round-shaped pan and cut them into wedges instead of the usual square shape.


To make 12 servings you'll need:

• 3/4 cup (175 mL) granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) butter
• 2 cups (500 mL) semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) baking soda
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
• 1 cup (250 mL) peanut butter chips

Grease side of 9-inch (2.5 L) springform pan; line bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

In saucepan over medium-high heat, bring sugar, butter and 2 tbsp (25 mL) water to boil, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon. Remove from heat; add 1 cup (250 mL) of the chocolate chips, stirring until melted. Let cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla.

In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt stir into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in peanut butter chips. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in centre of 325°F (160°C) oven for 30 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out with a few crumbs clinging to it. Sprinkle top with remaining chocolate chips; let stand for 5 minutes.

Using tip of knife, carefully swirl melted chips, spreading to edges. Let cool completely in pan on rack. Remove side of pan. Lift brownie with paper off bottom of pan; transfer to cake board or foil-covered round cardboard (or cut into wedges if desired).

Seared duck breast with soba noodle salad

I love duck! Although I feel really awful when I see them swimming peacefully on a lake because they're so darn cute. I really try not to think about that when I'm cooking a beautiful duck breast. Sometimes I think I should become a vegetarian because I love animals so much, but then I get a whiff of barbecue and I know that I'm doomed. I guess that makes me a bit of a hypocrite, but hey, what can I say, I'm weak-willed when it comes to food.


As you can see to your left, I recently prepared some gorgeous duck breast courtesy of Le Maître Boucher on Monkland. They are a lot more expensive than the ones you can buy at Loblaws but they're also bigger. One breast can easily feed two people.


 In this case, I marinated the duck with a bit of honey and soy sauce, but the duck fat found under the skin is so flavourful that all you really need is a bit of salt and pepper. 
Searing duck can be tricky, but I've got a few tips that can help you out.

1. Score the skin of the duck in a criss-cross pattern without cutting down to the flesh. This will help the fat render and the skin to crisp up.
2. Preheat oven 350°C
3. Season your duck with salt and pepper and a bit of oil (sesame oil is great with this).
4. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the duck skin side down. It's very important to cook the duck over low heat or else the skin will just burn before the fat underneath has rendered. 
5. Cook the duck skin side down for roughly ten minutes, lowering the heat if you see that the skin is browning too fast. As you're cooking it, tip out some of the rendered fat to prevent it from frying your duck breast.
6. Flip the duck over and sear just enough to brown the breast.
7. Place the duck in the oven for 5 minutes to finish cooking it.

It's not that hard, but you do have to keep an eye on it because the skin can burn so easily.
I like to serve it with a cold soba noodle salad, one of Tyler Florence's recipes. This is a refreshing side for the juicy and fatty duck. For 4-6 portions you'll need:

• 1/2 pound dried buckwheat (soba) noodles (found in Asian section of grocery stores)
• 9 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and crushed with the side of a knife
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed with the side of a knife
• 1 red chile, minced
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons water, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon chili sauce (any kind will do)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, for garnish
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1 lime, cut into wedges, for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the noodles and stir to keep them from sticking together. Cook until barely tender and still firm, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain immediately and rinse under cold running water to cool. Drain the noodles really well, transfer to a wide serving bowl, and toss immediately with 3 tablespoons of the sesame oil so they don't stick together.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a saucepan, heat 1/4 cup sesame oil over medium-low heat. Add the ginger, garlic, and chile. Cook, stirring for a minute, until the vegetables are soft and fragrant. Place into a blender along with the brown sugar, peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, hot water, chili sauce, and the remaining 2 tablespoons sesame oil. Puree and refrigerate until cold.

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium-low heat until golden brown. (Shake the pan constantly to keep the seeds from burning). Put the noodles in a serving bowl and toss with the sesame sauce. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and green onions, and serve with the lime wedges.