Mill Street Brewpub's 3rd Brewmaster's Dinner - June 21, 2012

Round 3 - FIGHT!

Seriously though, this is the 3rd installment of Mill Street Brewpub's Brewmaster's Dinner, and after the first two, my expectations were pretty freakin' high. Said expectations were also fed by the fact that the Brewpub posts the menu ahead of time on their Web site to get the ol' mouth watering. Par for the course with the 1st and 2nd Brewmaster's Dinners, the second (appetizer) and fourth (main hunk o' meat course) courses were the ones that were most intriguing for me. The app was a Trout Cake with pickled veggies (a new passion of mine) and the main was Braised Beef Short Ribs (DROOL!).

Needless to say, I'm a pretty big supporter of the Brewpub and as long as they keep putting on these Brewmaster's Dinners, I'll be there! Another bonus was that this Dinner was in honour of Ontario Craft Brewing Week. So, as might be expected, Brewmaster Joel Manning had a lot to say about the recent growth of craft brewing in Canada. In a nutshell, Canada had its brewing industry decimated by the temperance movement and prohibition in the 1920s, leaving only a few stragglers who learned to make beer that is, as Mr. Manning put it, "extraordinarily OK". Luckily, restrictions have eased in the past ten or so years, allowing for far more interesting and tasty Canadian-made beers to hit the market. And that makes me a very, very happy little drunkard!

OK, time to move on to the food! Before we get started, here's what was on the menu:

Looks tasty, eh? So, let's get into it!

1st course - Meatball in pastry w. Blueberry-Shallot compote - with Blueberry Wheat Beer

Ah, the amuse-bouche. There's been a kind of humorous chaos in each of these dinners where the service and presentation of this course seems a bit slapdash, probably because there are always stragglers filing in while the servers are trying to get things underway.

But, how's the food? Well, in this case, I was quite pleased by two out of the three elements, a little ambivalent towards the third. The pastry shell in which the meatball was served was spot-on: buttery, crisp and flaky, but still light-tasting. The sauce was totally delicious: bright, sweet, tart with the undertone of umami that can only come from a shallot. As for the meatball, well, it was good, but not great. There was a nice bite of fennel, but no spice and the meat itself was a bit dry.


Oh, the blueberrific goodness...

As for the beer, it was an absolutely perfect pairing. The blueberry in the sauce brought out the blueberry in the beer without making it too sweet or cloying. This will certainly not be the last glass of Blueberry Wheat Beer I'll be consuming this Summer! Oh wait, as of this writing, I've had at least two bottles of it...

2nd course - Trout Cake topped with Pickled Vegetables w. WeissBier

Oh yeaaaaaaah, now it's getting interesting! As you may or may not know, I loooooooooove fish, I also loooooove crab cakes, and the resulting fusion was a beautiful rendition of an old classic that was moist and flavourful, and not nearly as rich than one would expect from a crab cake, probably because of the use of such a light-tasting fish. That was not a bad thing (keep in mind, 3 courses remain!) The addition of pickled vegetables also added a nice tangy element to the dish, giving a pleasant, almost refreshing, balance.

Almost too pretty to eat. Almost...

Then there was the beer... The WiessBier was a refreshing Summery white German-style beer with all kinds of freaky little flavour notes. The tasting notes on the menu made mention of a bit of clove flavour coming from the yeast they use, but on top of that there were hints of turmeric, fennel, and even banana chips!

When paired with the Trout Cake, the result was a kind of flavour explosion that blended into a beautifully creamy finish on the palate. All in all, it was a very well done pairing. Once again, the second course was one of the meal highlights. I'm beginning to wonder if there's some of tradition in the 5-course meal that courses 2 and 4 are meant to be the standouts, or is it just how Mill Street's Chef Shawn Jackson operates? Regardless, he and his staff three-for-three on epic appetizers/soups!

3rd course - Salad w. Apples, smoked cheddar and prosciutto w. Pilsner

Next up was the salad course (an absolute necessity on this hot Summer night). Now, last time, I was disappointed by how small the salad was. Clearly, my mental projection of dissatisfaction was heard by the powers-that-be in the kitchen. This was a very simple salad, only 3 elements other than the lettuce (not counting the dressing): apples, crispy prosciutto and smoked cheddar, but they came together to provide a whole range of flavour combinations: sweet, salty, smoky, creamy, tangy and bitter. The apple-honey dressing was a simple flavouring that highlighted the apples and made the whole thing come together very well.



Now THAT's a salad!

The Pilsner beer pairing was an added bonus in this dish. It really served to tie all the salad elements together and make a very well-rounded course. And now, a little something about Pilsner. As someone who lived in the land where Pilsner was invented (the Czech Republic), I can tell you that what we have here called Pilsner beer (e.g. Labatt Blue) is a poor imitation of what the real thing is supposed to taste like. So, when Mill Street starting putting out a Pilsner at the Brew Pub, I was intrigued to see if I'd enjoy it. Turns out I do! They very capture the Czech flavour profile very well.

Unfortunately, the menu writers made a small mistake when printing the beer menu. They say the beer is in the "German style". Not even close! German-style beers are usually much more bitter and less tasty (in my opinion). I was glad Joel the Brewmaster cleared up the mistake and pointed out that this is in the "Bohemian style" (Bohemia is a region of the Czech Republic). So, as a good Czech beer fan, I couldn't let the typo stand:



Making a critical correction.

 
4th course - Braised Beef Short Rib w. Stilton jus, potatoes, grilled asparagus and crispy onions w. Brown Ale

Main event, I mean course, time!

Oh man, did they ever get this one right! This was a symphony of beefy goodness. Stilton jus? Crispy onions (think onion rings without batter)? Asparagus? Drooooooooool...

The beef was fork-tender, coming off the bone effortlessly (all I really had to do was look at it) and so rich and salty (but not too much so)and delicious! The jus added even more depth of flavour and richness. It was like the best elements of a pot roast done to the nth degree.

The asparagus was a perfect bright contrast, giving the plate a bit more lightness and making it easier to justify all that meat.

If I have one complaint, it's that I found the potatoes a little dry. Luckily, there was a lake of gravy deliciousness to soak 'em in!


Image slightly blurred due to meatgasms

Oh, what's that next to my beefy masterpiece? A Brown Ale you say? How did you know that's one of my favourite styles of beer? You peered into my dreams? OK, well thank you for invading my brain, Beer Faerie! You're kinda the best!

Yeah, the beer pairing took the Short Rib home run and turned it into a grand slam. The beer's deep caramel colour and flavour, with nutty, chocolate elements all served to bring a fantastic mouth-feel. One comparison I made to my table-mates was that the combined elements were like God's Bovril. Another bonus to the Brown Ale is that, while have a deep rich flavour, it's actually a pretty easy-drinking beer and not at all as filling as a dark beer can tend to be.

All in all, they totally nailed the main course.

5th course - "Banana Split" - Spice cake and banana ice cream w. praline and vanilla-beer sauce w. Ambre de la Chaudière

I have to admit it, the dessert courses from the first two Brewmaster's Dinners were good, but they didn't blow my mind. This one, however, came pretty damn close! The cake was moist and tasty but not overpowering with the spices (not even close to the painfully overflavourful fruitcake-type dessert one thinks of when they hear 'spice cake') and paired very well with the banana ice cream, which was also made with the Ambre de la Chaudière beer, but I didn't taste too much of the beer in it, more a sort of a nice complimentary richness. The vanilla-beer sauce (the dark spots on the side of the plate) evoked my beloved Vanilla Porter, so that was a win also. The only flub was in the pralines, which were delicious, but a little to hard to bite through. I kept thinking I was going to crack a molar!


Beer and ice cream? Why not? Beer in ice cream? Even better!

Moving on to the pairing, well, it was Ambre de la Chaudière, which had also been the dessert beer at the first Brewmaster's Dinner. I didn't much care for it then, except when tasting it alongside the dessert, and it was the same case here. The beer was really only good when tasting it with the cake and ice cream (and it was pretty darn good then).

I know the Mill Street folks are really jazzed about their Ambre de la Chaudière and if you're a fan of that style of beer, I'm sure it's the cat's PJs. I simply don't enjoy the "bière de garde" style on its own. It does pair very well with sweet food though!

And there you have it, another grand ol' time at the Mill Street Brewpub! If I was to rank all three dinners Olympic-style, I'd say the April one gets the bronze, this one gets the silver, and the first one in March narrowly gets the gold, mainly due to the Lobster Bisque (best. soup. EVER!).

On the "sad trombone" side of things, it appears that the next Brewmaster's Dinner won't be until October, in celebration of Oktoberfest. Let's hope it doesn't conflict with Beau's Oktoberfest!

Until then, I'm going to have try a beer and food pairing dinner of my own! If you do the same, please let me know how it turns out via comment.

Cheers!

Pickle now, crunch later...

Hi there!

I've talked about my love of pickled foods more than a few times, but I haven't really had a chance to go crazy with the pickle-making until a couple of weeks ago.

Pickling veggies for me is almost the culinary equivalent of making art from garbage. I was on a mad fridge cleaning mission and was getting a bit frustrated with all the dairy and other food going into the trash (note to self, cottage cheese is only a good idea if you KNOW you're going to eat it right away). When I got to the crisper drawer, I was faced with shrivelling cucumbers, wrinkling peppers, limpening carrots and (very slowly) imploding golden beets. It was too late for the liquified celery, but I was determined to salvage as much of this vegetable matter as possible. Best way to give new life to old veg? Pickle those suckers!

Now, traditional store-until-zombie-apocalypse pickling is basically the same process as "fridge pickling" with an extra step: You bathe the full Mason jars in boiling water to create a seal and disinfect the jars. Now, that doesn't work for me for two reasons: first, I don't have that many Mason jars, and second, I'm terrified that the boiling water will somehow cause the jars to shatter (I admit it, I have a bit of a neurosis about broken glass ever since I was a kid and had a tiny shard of glass stuck in my foot for months and finally had to dig it out with a pair of scissors. Eep). So, until I get over my glass neuroses,  it's a fridge-pickler's life for me, yo-ho!

It was also a grand opportunity to do some vinegar clean-up, using bits of nearly empty bottles of white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, plain ol' white vinegar, tarragon vinegar, cider vinegar, and even a little balsamic for good measure. Now, this was done mainly out of necessity since I was low on the white wine vinegar I'd normally use, not to mention the white vinegar I would use if out of white wine vinegar, and in the end I had to buy more anyway...

But for the sake of putting out a recipe that makes some sort of sense, I'll stick with only two kinds of vinegar in these recipes, but trust me, they'll still turn out great!

Also, since the most common form of pickled veg are cucumbers, I'm calling those 'pickles', because we all do.




These jars were much fuller two weeks ago...



Pickled Golden Beets and Carrots

Makes one small jar's worth.

Ingredients

- 2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2-3 golden beets (instructions for beets to follow) - you can use 'regular' beets, but everything will be tinted by the beets - I find the colour profile of golden beets with carrots very bright and cheering.
- 1 half onion, peeled and sliced
- 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/2 tsp pickling spice (the spice mix I had included allspice - probably too much of it, coriander seeds, cinnamon pieces, cloves, mustard seeds, and peppercorns) - you might want to pick through the spice to make sure you aren't using too much of one element over the other.
- 1 tbsp kosher salt (depending on how salty you like it - you can add more if you want it industrial-strength salty)
- pinch of red chili flakes (a little heat makes this even better)
- 1/2 tsp sugar (or more if you want it really sweet)
NOTE: As with most spice blends and trying new things out, sometimes it's best to try your own ideas out and see how they go. I'd love to do some pickling using various dried chilis like guajillo, pasilla and mulatto.

Directions

 - First, you want to roast your beets for about 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees farenheit. Once cooked, set the, aside to cool. Once cool enough, peel the skins off beets. You may get orange fingers as a result. Live with it.

- Next, slice your beets. A lot of recipes call for whole beets, but this is small batch pickling and slices are better for this recipe.

- Place carrots, beets, onion and thyme in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.
- In a saucepan, combine remaining ingredients to make pickling liquid and bring to a boil.

- Remove from heat and carefully pour pickling liquid over veggies in the jar. If there's too much liquid and not all the spices are coming out, spoon them out and add to the jar.

- Let cool without a lid until lukewarm. Close lid and refrigerate for an hour or so before serving.



Pickled Orange and Yellow Peppers

Ingredients

- 1 orange Bell pepper, cleaned and sliced into rings
- 1 yellow Bell pepper, cleaned and sliced into rings
- 1 half onion, peeled and sliced
- 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

The rest of the Ingredients and the Directions are exactly the same as with the Beets and Carrots.


Garlic Dill Pickles

I made a different pickling liquid for the cucumbers than the first two, mostly because dill pickles aren't supposed to be sweet!

Ingredients

- 3-4 Kirby cucumbers, cleaned and cut into spears (quartered length-wise, you may want to cut them in half, depending on their size)
- 3-4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh dill
- 1/4 tsp pickling spice
- 1 cup tarragon vinegar
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 2 cups water
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried tarragon
- pinch red chili flakes

Directions

It's the process is the same as the other pickles, but I have a couple of notes. First, you might noticed that garlic shows up twice as an ingredient. That's because you want the garlic slices in the jar with the cukes and dill before adding the pickling liquid, but you also want to flavour the liquid with more garlic, hence the crushed garlic clove. Because more garlic! Secondly, you might be wondering what's up with the tarragon (vinegar and herb). Well, all I can say is try it. I think it adds beautiful flavour to the pickles.

Otherwise, it the same process of: slice veg, put in jar, boil pickling liquid, pour into jar, let jar cool, refrigerate to give veggies crunch and that's that!

Clockwise from top left: Pickled Orange and Yellow Peppers, Pickled Golden Beets and Carrots, Garlic Dill Pickles


As an added bonus snack on ridiculously hot days, you should toast some rye bread, spread some plain yogurt on top, and put some of the Beet-Carrot Pickles and/or Pickled Peppers on top of that and enjoy!



Awesome Summer snacking

 And there you go! Get out there and turn your old veggies into deliciousness!

Cheers!

Mill Street Brew Pub's 2nd Brewmaster's Dinner - April 26, 2012

Hi there!

Alright, I'm not exactly a master of timely blogging sometimes, but I've been pretty damn busy cranking out posts for the past couple of months that I kind of overlooked blogging about the second Brewmaster's Dinner at the Mill Street Brewpub. So better late than never!

I must admit right off the bat that I was a teensy bit disappointed with this edition of the Brewmaster's Dinner compared to the March 15th masterpiece. While there were some elements of this dinner that were better than the first one, overall I was more impressed by the inaugural event. But that doesn't mean I won't be going back on June 21st for the third edition, nor that it was by any means a waste of time or money!

As I mentioned in my post reviewing the first Brewmaster's Dinner, there really isn't much better value for the dollar than this dining format: five plates (mostly small except the main which is quite hearty) and five beer pairings for 60 dollars (plus tax), with gratuity included!

So with that being said, let's explore the second Brewmaster's Dinner!

Here's the menu:

First Course - Shrimp Ceviche with Belgian Wit Beer

As with the last dinner, this was the "amuse-bouche" - just a little bite to start the evening. I liked the shrimp very much, but I'm an easy sell on ceviche. It's freakin' tomato, lime juice, cilantro, seafood and other bits of tastiness! How can you go wrong? I did have some objection to the phyllo pastry cup in which it was served. It somehow lacked the buttery texture I think of in connection with phyllo and was rather more like a pappadum - a bit too dry for my liking.

Having forgotten to photograph before eating, I was fortunate to be able to get an image of the Shrimp Ceviche from a neighbouring table.  

As for the Belgian Wit beer, I was more than skeptical, having a strong aversion to both Belgian-style and wheat beers. I've had Hoogarden before and my reaction was more or less "meh" with a little revulsion to the aftertaste. This had a similar flavour profile but was about a million times better. Clean, refreshing, beautifully complimented by a slice of orange, it was a very pleasant surprise to start the evening. Kudos to the brewers on this one!

Second Course - Corn and Chipotle Chowder with Portage Ale

These guys know how to do soup! While this course was not quite the life-changing soup that the Lobster Bisque from March's dinner was, it was another bowl of exceptionally good flavour. It was rich without being heavy, and laden with smoky, spicy sweetness. It even had little homemade hickory sticks on top for a bit more crunch and texture. If I have one complaint, it's that the little corn kernels in the soup were a bit tough and chewy.

2 for 2 on soup courses

The pairing was with Portage Ale, a fairly easy-drinking cream ale. I enjoy it normally as a quaffing beer as it has a light refreshing flavour typical of cream ales. I don't really know why they paired such a subtle tasting beer with such a flavourful soup other than as a foil to the heat from the soup, which it was.

Third Course - Salad with Maple Fig Vinaigrette, Pears, Figs and Goat's Cheese with Valley Irish Red

OK, I'll admit it, this one kind of disappointed me. Not because the salad wasn't good, nor because of the beer. In truth, I kind of feel I got ripped off on portion size. The salad was TINY! It was pretty damn tasty, though, especially the goat cheese, which really was best eaten on its own  because the strength of the tangy cheese flavour kind of decimated all the other elements. The figs, pears and lettuce were really good on their own, but I was finished in two bites. Sigh...

Hey salad, be bigger!

Now, the beer, the Valley Irish Red, is one of my favourite offerings from the Brewpub and it's only available here in Ottawa (so far as I know). The beer here was the winner, probably my favourite of the evening. What's interesting is that there was some kind of boo-boo with this batch: it was not quite as carbonated as it was supposed to be. But that really didn't matter that much to me, it was delicious and paired beautifully with all the elements in the salad. I've since come to call Valley Irish Red my #3 Mill Street brew, only surpassed by the reliable Tankhouse Ale and the ephemeral Vanilla Porter.

Fourth Course - Duck Breast with Bok Choy, Rice and Lime-Coconut Sauce with Doppel Pils

I must admit that I was super-backflip-excited about this course when I'd first seen the menu weeks ahead of time. When I was served, my excitement dissipated a little. This is one of those cases where the presentation DID matter to me (which is rare). Maybe it was the excess of white on the plate: white plate itself, white rice, and white sauce. I just found it not very appetizing to look at. Also, the duck was overcooked. Siiiiiiiiiiigh... I'm not a duck expert, but I'm pretty sure the centre is supposed to be a lot darker than pink and it's supposed to be a LOT more tender than this was. I suspect this was a case of "lowest common denominator" cooking and there may have been complaints if the duck was cooked as it should be; maybe not everyone knows that duck is supposed to be served rare. It was certainly tasty though and all the elements worked well together. I do think the sauce could have used more heat and colour - both issues solved with a decent application of red curry paste.

Tasty plate, off-putting prezzo - something about a thick milky-white sauce...? I'll let y'all figure out what I'm hinting at... 

As for the Doppel Pils, it was a very tasty Czech-style beer that I'd definitely like to try more often, but the pairing didn't quite work out for me. The hoppiness and bitterness weren't marrying well with the sweet creaminess of the coconut milk. All in all, this was maybe the big disappointment of the evening because, while it was a pretty good main dish, it wasn't the heavenly meat masterpiece that the Lamb Shank from March's dinner was.

Fifth Course - Blueberry Cheesecake with Blueberry Wheat Beer


I think the Mill Street Chef (Shawn Jackson) and Master Brewer (Joel Manning) and I might share the same love of the blueberry. It's such a versatile little fruit, good in both savoury and sweet cooking. Here it was certainly the star. The cheesecake was cheesecake, it was tasty and rich as cheesecake should be, although the base was a butter pastry dough instead of a graham cracker crust, something I personally enjoyed because it kept the dessert from being too sweet.

But it was the blueberry sauce that was the highlight of the plate. It was bright and tart and blueberry-y, without being super-sweet, which is such an easy mistake to make with blueberries. Not much more to be said than that!

A lovely little ending to the meal.

As for the beer? Well, let's just say that my long-standing grudge against fruit beers has finally been ended after a glass of the Blueberry Wheat. It was refreshing, delicious and not over the top with the fruit. And again, not too sweet, which is the main problem I've historically had with fruit beers. Turns out this would not be the last time this beer would be appearing at a Brewmaster's Dinner...

So, there you have it. A very good meal with some great beers, but not the "OMG! SOOOOO GOOOOOOD" experience that was had in March. Because damn, that was good Lobster Bisque (I know, I'm obsessed, I admit it).

This is by no means a bad review of the second Brewmaster's Dinner, more like "when the last time was an 11 out of 10, an 8 is a little disappointing". Still one of the best ways to spend 60 bucks and 3 hours on a Thursday evening that I know of!

Coming soon, Brewmaster's Dinner Episode III - Revenge of the Short Rib!

Until then, cheers!

BBQ MacGyver & Pulled Pork revised

Howdy!

It's probably something of a cliché to say that a good BBQer is part cook, part mad scientist/engineer. I'm sure you've all seen guys on TV or the Web with their home-made smoker, crazy-ass Burning Man-style flamethrower and God knows what else. And Lord knows, if I had the space and time, I'd be making my own Uber-Smoker of Doom, but unfortunately I live on a second-story downtown apartment and all I have is my simple offset smoker and my own ingenuity. So, there'll none of these in my near-future:

Baddest-ass Smoker ever!

Luckily, I usually have a fun little toy or two to help me along the way. Or I invent things that help. So, today I'm exploring couple of 'toys' that make my BBQ experience easier and might help yours!

Now, this post is inspired by a recent foray into Pulled Pork (which I've blogged about before). I will say this: the rub I used in last year's post has been updated and is very similar to the rub I used when I made Wild Boar Ribs last month, with one exception in that instead of white pepper I used mustard powder and added a tiny pinch of ground cardamom. Now, Pulled Pork is a long process, taking anywhere from 6 to 10 hours of cooking, depending on the size of your hunk of meat. As a result, it can be hard to keep the fire going at the right temperature without a little bit of help.

Here's where a simple camping accessory becomes the "low and slow" BBQers best friend.

1) Air Mattress Pump

Um, what? We inflating a bed while we wait for the pork to cook? Nope, not even close. If you're like me, you might not be Grizzly Adams and able to start a fire with a flint and tinder. For me it's pretty easy to start a nice fire using lump charcoal with my electric fire starter (as mentioned in my first post about smoking), but keeping it going after 8 hours gets tricky, especially if you've had to step out of the house for a while and the fire dies down on you.

Enter the air mattress pump. In the past I'd used a piece of boxboard to help fan flames when re-igniting a dormant fire, but I've since learned that this simple tool makes your life SO much easier!

20 bucks at any hardware store

You simply pump air with your foot on the bellows-looking part, then put the hose in as close to the fire as possible without risking melting the plastic of the nozzle.

A little air and your fire is back in action!

Now, this does kick up a lot of ash, but a little ash never killed anyone, right?

So, yeah, a little "MacGyvering" is always a sign of a good BBQer!

2) Meat Claws

Now, another pain in the (pork) butt when working with huge hunks of meat like pork shoulder is that it's really hard to move them around in the smoker when you have to rotate cuts or move them around to get less/more smoke, or when removing them from the smoker altogether once they're done. BBQ tongs aren't big or strong enough and even one's bare hands and be a little unwieldy.




Not exactly easy to manipulate! Tasty-lookin' though...


Along comes my sweetheart with Meat Claws. Meat Claws are little devices designed to help you manipulate large chunks of meat easily and shred pork or chicken once cooked.

Shiny!

And they make you look like Wolverine:




Hugh Jackman I'm not...



Turns out they were quite useful in the manipulating part, but when it comes to actually "pulling" the pork, your hands are always best.

And there we are, just a few more inventions to help you make your smoking/BBQ experience a little less annoying.

Enjoy!

Festibière de la Gatineau

Hi there!

I like beer, you like beer, every good Canadian likes their beer! Surprisingly, the Internet just told me that per capita, we're barely in the top 20 beer-drinking countries (#19). The Czechs are number 1, which is no surprise whatsoever, since they kind of invented the beer-brewing process as we know it and make really freaking good beer!

But I digress...

I think it's fair to say that Canadian beer is pretty delicious. Some of my favourites include Mill Street's Tankhouse Ale and Vanilla Porter, Creemore Springs Lager, and Amsterdam Nut Brown Ale, all brewed in Ontario.

But on the weekend of May 25-27, it was our Quebecois friends across the Ottawa River's turn to show their stuff. The Festibière de la Gatineau was held in Parc Lac-Leamy, just down from the Casino Lac-Leamy, currently the premiere gambling establishment in the area (although it would seem that we're getting one in Downtown Ottawa).

It was a fantastic time, beautiful weather, hilariously trashy crowds and AMAZING beer (and tasty food to boot!). So, instead of going into some great comparative beer tasting, I'll simply take you on a photographic tour of the Festibière.

Day1 - The beer drinking masses amass

The event was remarkably kid-friendly. To the left (unseen) is a bouncy castle for Mommy to take spawn while Daddy gets boozed up. Also, ice cream and face painting. As an aside, what a view!

Random beer facts

Steampunk Stilters - why not?

Hot redhead beer expert. I love Quebec!

Micro de Bromont's "Chanvre Rouge" (Red Hemp Beer) - best beer of the weekend - Deep rich hoppy flavour with only the subtlest of "weedy" undertones.

Flash car!

Flash bike!

Down and out...

...But not for long! (I love Quebec!)

Sun setting on the 'fest

Day 2 - Sunday brunch courtesy of Pain voyageur

Unibroue tent

Ranch panoramique - They had very tasty food (Bison meatballs!)

Another hot beer expert!

Barbacoa BBQ truck - very tasty ribs

La Micro de Bromont - They do amazing things with hemp and hops!

A little musical entertainment

Festival Organizer Mario D'Eer talking about the plight of the whopping crane. Or maybe, possibly, beer.

The menu at Brasseur de Montreal - The Ghosttown Absinthe Stout was definitely one of the more unique beers I've ever had! Yet still tasty.

The menu at Brasserie Grimoire out of Granby - Their "Desérables" maple beer was by far Kari's favourite of the weekend.

Au revoir Festibiere! See you next year!

So, those are just a few of the sights and sounds of the 2nd annual Festibière de Gatineau. It was a really fun time even if it was basically walking around drinking and eating and people-watching. I tried many a delicious and interesting new beer, got to see some of the processes involved in running a microbrewery, and got to spend two days drinking outside! And to top it off, Kari insisted we hit the slots at the casino (we all have our weaknesses) and I won about 40 bucks! 

Ironically, we went to Montreal a couple of weeks later and popped into Le Mondial de la Bière. Instead of being held outside, this event was at Place Bonaventure. It was kind of like they moved the Festibière from a beautiful sunny park into a Cold War bomb shelter. Point: Gatineau!

And that's about it for this post! I hope you get the chance to try some of the microbrewed beers offered by our Quebecois neighbours. It'll be worth your while!

Enjoy! Happy Drinking!

Travels in Taste - Ice House - Montreal

So it would seem that my destination of choice is Montreal, eh?

In this case, however, this was kind of a last minute decision. I was supposed to head to Montreal to visit a friend for the day, but those plans fell through at the last minute, after I'd bought my non-refundable bus ticket. So, with a spirit of last-minute adventure, Kari was able to book the day off at the last minute, we booked a cheap hotel, and off we went to Montreal!

Now, one of the main bases of any trip Kari and I take to Montreal is to try out a new resto. And then eat Schwartz's at some point.

This time, with the trip being kind of last minute, we hadn't really had the chance to save a lot of money and we were looking for something tasty on the cheap. Fortunately, both of us had heard good things about Ice House on Roy (right near Saint-Laurent - ironically-ish, just around the corner from Schwartz's!) so we decided we'd give it a go! I'd normally post a link to their Web site, but such a beastie doth not currently exist!

So, we arrived and were sat on the terrasse next to a couple of nice ladies and immediately got our forcefields up (oh well, sometimes shared seating leads to new friends, sometimes it leads to strangers ignoring each other; we got the latter).

Now, first thing to keep in mind is that this place is anti-fancy. It's low-key, you share tables with strangers, you use industrial paper towel as napkins, there are NO actual dishes (i.e. plates, bowls, etc.) and the kitchen is about the size of a walk-in closet... a very small walk-in closet... But, I've seen tiny kitchens, including my own, produce some amazing food and these guys wouldn't have a rep if there wasn't something to their food. Or their drink. There were repeated suggestions that partaking of the Bourbon Lemonade was a must... Naturally we ordered a round! More accurately, I ordered Bourbon Lemonade, Kari ordered Bourbon Iced Tea.


A cup of bourbony goodness!

 Wow, that was one hell of a drink! Really sweet, but countered well by the sourness of both lemon and bourbon. The bourbon was Maker's Mark, which is apparently to Jack Daniel's what microbrew is to Budweiser... (aaaaaaaaand here come the shoes, or biker boots, to the head). Either way, Maker's Mark and lemonade > jack n' coke. I enjoyed this drink so much that I had a second and NO beer. That, my friends, is rare like platinum.
 
Next came the food. Keeping up the vein of "anti-fancy", there were no menus, but rather a chalk board that listed all the items of the day and their cost. An added touch I thought was pretty cute was that the chalkboard paint was on a bunch of surfaces, so you to poke your head under an overhang to see what was for dessert...



Quite the interactive menu...



 

We figured tacos were a good way to go, so we each ordered one. I had the Pulled Pork Taco (or in French, "porc effiloché") with Dr. Pepper sauce, watermelon pickle, chicharonnes (pork rinds), candied almonds (although the menu said pecans, but they were almonds) and cilantro. Kari had the Teriyaki Beef Short Rib Taco with Green Goddess dressing, daikon radish slaw and jalapeno. Both were 8 dollars for two tacos.  

 



That's a pretty tasty-looking taco!



To be honest, what made the Pulled Pork Taco good wasn't the pulled pork. It suffered the same fate as many a batch of "porc effiloché" in that the meat itself was not as tasty as it could have been, it had a sort of wateriness to it. The DP Sauce (their term, not mine), chicharonnes and candied almonds were really awesome, unique flavours that mixed well to save the dish, but the pork was average (not enough rub?) and the pickle had little assertion in its flavour.

 

Since we had two tacos each, Kari had my second taco and I hers. Funnily enough, we enjoyed what the other had ordered more. The Short Rib Taco was spicy, but the flavour of the beef was front and centre with richness and depth. It was Just a great bite of beef.

 

But I needed more, I needed some sort of 'side'. When I saw 'beignets de crabe', it was "FRAK YES!" time. And I was so right to have ordered them, even if they were a bit pricey (12 bucks for 2 crab 'beignets'). Verdict? TOTALLY worth it! They were rich, buttery and loaded with crab, also coated in, I believe, potato chips, which was brilliant. They came drizzled with a Ranch sauce, but its flavour was outstripped by the cake itself. It did add a nice depth of creaminess though... Definitely the best part of the menu, except, maybe the Lemonade...

Best. Crab. Cake. EVER! (despite it being called a 'beignet')



Now, being crazy people, we decided to get MORE food and another round of lemonade after this first course of pigging out. I had the "Red Fish" Taco while Kari ordered the Popcorn Shrimp.
 
The taco was tasty (not sure what fish the "Red Fish" actually was) with black beans and chipotle adding a lot of flavour. The fish was also well cooked, if maybe a tiny bit overdone. There was also pineapple in the taco, but I could barely taste it. I suspect canned pineapple is the culprit... Either way, it was quite tasty and light. Too bad I already had two tacos and a beignet in my belly by then... Kinda getting full...
 
It didn't help that Kari had maybe 4 pieces of the Popcorn Shrimp before announcing her incapacity to eat another bite. So, being a human goat who prides himself on never letting food go to waste, I tried my best to finish them off. Well, they WERE super-tasty - an odd combination of sticky and crunchy and sweet and tangy, with just a tiny bit of peppery heat to bring it all together. I almost got through it all, but even the mightiest must fall. I could not get through the last 4 shrimp...
 



The mound of crustaceans that did us both in...

 And that was that. Our bill came and for all that food and booze for two, it was still less than 100$ (before tip). 
 
The rest of the night was spent walking off the meal, drinking a few beers (with some difficulty) and shuffling back to the hotel in a food-zombie-like state where we would pass out by 11:30 pm... WE ARE PARTY ANIMALS!!!!!!!!! But really, who doesn't enjoy a good food coma now and then?
 
So, if you're in the area and looking for cheap and tasty Tex-Mex/Soul Food, definitely check out Ice House. I'll be going back, because apparently they also have Buckets of Ribs or Fried Chicken...
 
Enjoy!

Feeding the Fringe, Year 2 - An Evening with Scott Thompson

Getting ready to be hilarious

It's that time of year again - festival season is descending 'pon our fair city. And the one that usually kicks things off for me is the Ottawa Fringe Festival. Now, being friends with the 'second-in-command' (Festival Administrator and Assistant Producer), Bryony Etherington (@ladylovewell) comes with certain perks and responsibilities (or both in this case!). Last year, I helped her put together the food for Fringe opening party. So, being the nice guy that I am and having enjoyed the challenge of cooking for a crowd on a budget, I asked her if she needed my help again. Turns out that she needed some help putting together the spread for a June 1 benefit event featuring Scott Thompson of Kids in the Hall fame doing a stand-up routine. It also meant I got to see the show!

It was one hell of a show - remorselessly crude, tongue-in-cheek humour from a Canadian comedy icon. And after the show, Scott made sure to do the rounds during the reception and talk to everyone. He was a real class act and I was glad to have helped in making the event unfold in a fun way, if only in a small way.












Now, I was given the task of creating one hors d'oeuvre and one dessert item for the event. Yup, dessert. Ugh...

But then, the ideas started to percolate... I kept thinking how you never see dessert on crostinis like you do for pretty much any other 'party food'. So, I thought of Dessert Crostinis. Now, what would you make that out of? Well, this being the year of "doughnut usurps cupcake as hip dessert food", I thought that plain doughnuts split in half and... Damn... then what? To the Internet! As it turns out, a friend of mind told me on Facebook that baking them at a low temperature for an hour or so would have the desired effect of making crunchy surfaces upon which to put sweet goodness.

The next step was figuring out what to put on top. For some reason, I'm partially obsessed with blueberries. Maybe it's because they work really well in both main dishes and desserts. They're also supposed to really good for you! So, I figured I'd make a sweet sauce to go over the doughnut bits. One more step down, but I wasn't done; there needed to be some creaminess to this concoction. For some reason my mind instantly jumped to goat cheese (or chèvre as I like to call it, call me snobby)- it's creamy but tangy at the same time and would be a good counterpoint to the sweetness of the blueberry sauce. And as a finishing touch, the whole thing needed a touch of mint. There were some creaks in putting it together, but in the end, I think it was a pretty tasty bite of sweet. I also tweaked the sauce to add blackberries, thus giving it the name "Black and Blue" Berry Sauce.

The funny thing is that I didn't actually put the appetizers together. I topped the crostini with the cheese at home, brought the whole spread in various tupperware and a giant IKEA bag and when I got there, a lovely volunteer took care of topping it with the sauce and serving the spread! Delegating, wow... I gotta do more of that!

So, today's recipe is my Blueberry-Chèvre Doughnut Crostini. At least that's what I'm calling it this week... It's split into 3 parts: the crostini themselves, the chèvre with mint and the sauce.


Blueberry-Chèvre Doughnut Crostini

Makes 64 pieces

Doughnut Crostinis

Ingredients

- 8 cake-style plain doughnuts
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter

Directions

- Heat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Slice each donut in half, then cut each half into 4 even pieces.
- Melt butter in microwave or on stovetop.
- Brush tops of doughnut pieces with melted butter.
- Bake in oven for about 40-60 minutes, until doughnut pieces are crunchy. I found these were REALLY crunchy, like maybe too much so, but once topped with the chèvre and sauce, the bite is softened a little bit. Still crispy, but not REALLY crunchy.


Minted Chèvre

Ingredients

- 1x140 g package of goat cheese
- 2 tsp fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp sugar

Directions

- Leave goat cheese out in room temperature for an hour to allow it to soften.
- Using a fork or spoon to fold mint and sugar into goat cheese.

"Black and Blue" Berry Sauce

Ingredients

- 1 cup frozen blueberries (I prefer to use organic and wild berries, they're tastier)
- 1/2 cup blackberries
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp brown or demerara sugar
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- pinch freshly ground cardamom
- pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- splash red wine
- a few drops vanilla extract (best quality)

Directions


- Place berries and water in a saucepan and cook on medium heat until bubbling, stirring often.
- Stir on sugar, nutmeg, cardamom, salt and pepper. Cook for another 15-20 minutes. Sauce should start to reduce.
- Stir in wine. Turn heat down to low (I usually go with 2) and let simmer for another 10 minutes, allowing the alcohol in the wine to evaporate.
- Stir in vanilla and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool. Puree sauce with a hand blender.

Putting it all together 


For the presentation, I thought it would be a good idea to serve the dessert in little paper baking cups, mostly to avoid a mess. Doughnut Crostinis tend to wobble...

About an hour before serving, spread enough Minted Chèvre on a Doughnut Crostini to make a thin layer covering the whole piece. Place in a paper baking cup and repeat for every piece. Doing this ahead of time allows the cheese to soften up the crostini a bit and makes it a much better bite.

When ready to serve, top each piece with the Black and Blue Sauce. Serve on a large tray and let the guests have at 'em!

Not everyone needed a baking cup, I guess...

As for the other hors d'oeuvres, I decided to go with Smoked Arctic Char on Sourdough Crostini (the bread was from Bread and Sons and delicious as always) with a Cucumber and Chive Yogurt Sauce (half an English cucumber, a cup of plain yogurt, 5-6 minced chives, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste).  I also noticed noticed we had some tomatoes lying around at home, so I whipped together a Bruschetta (with some red pepper added for good measure), if only to placate the vegans.

Leftovers

And there you go! More guerrilla catering from yours truly!

Enjoy!