Baking: Cherry-Chocolate Pie

I’m finally back to baking!! Who’s missed it over here since a few years back when it was a normal segment that occurred? I know that I have but the last few years, my mindset hasn’t quite been there yet. However, we’ll skip the frilly things and get right down to it.

I’ve been craving a cherry pie forever and can’t seem to find one so my solution, pick up some tart shells and cherry pie filling (because cherries aren’t in season now) and then add a little something to give it a fun little twist.

Its nothing sophisticated or difficult to this one but I needed to get back to baking and this was something that I’ve wanted to do quickly so here we are as a quick solution. We’ll get fancier baked goods to come!

Cherry-Chocolate Pie

Inspired by this recipe: https://food52.com/recipes/33749-heartbreak-pie-aka-black-bottom-cherry-pie

Ingredients

• Pre-made Tart Shells (I used Tenderbake Pie Shells not deep dish)
• 1 can Cherry Pie Filling (I used E.D. Smith)
• Dark Chocolate Chips (Selection brand)

What I did:

1. Thaw the tart shells for however long the package says, in my case, it was 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven at 425C.
3. Layer one of the pie shells with the dark chocolate chips.
4. Carefully pour or scoop the cherry pie filling as a layer on top of the dark chocolate chips.
5. Put the second tart shell over the top of the first to cover it up. Use a fork to carefully seal up the sides. Cut some slits on top to release steam while in the oven.
6. Bake for 45 minutes.

The final product looked like that above and a slice looked like this:

I did a few modifications to the recipe above as well as some things I’d have done differently.

• The major one is that I didn’t make a ganache and just pour in the chocolate chips to melt on their own which I thought gave it a little more texture because a part of it melted and the other part had some bites of chocolate chips.
• You can make your own cherry pie filling or your own tart shells. I would have made the cherry pie filling if cherries were in season but they aren’t unfortunately.
• For this particular recipe, if I were to do it again, I’d do probably 400C at 45 minutes instead, mostly because this time, it was a little over-browned on the side. Not yet burnt but on its way, so lower temp would probably be better.
• You can use any type of chocolate chip that you desire. For lactose-free concerns, this was my choice.

Final thoughts:

Now my usual baking endeavours, for sure. I haven’t baked in a long time so we’re starting off with some easy and simple recipe to just get back into the mood. This pie is actually quite good for quick solutions as the chocolate balances the very tart cherry pie filling without haven’t to add in more sugar than what is already there from this brand at least.  It turned out actually rather good and layered as I had hope with the chocolate forming a layer at the bottom and a tart cherry pie filling on the top.

What types of pies do you like to make (or to eat)?

MTL a Table: Taboo Cuisine Rebelle

On to the final MTL a Table! Our last location was in Downtown Montreal at Taboo Cuisine Rebelle.

Taboo Cuisine Rebelle is a lounge style restaurant with a rather relaxing generally bite-size food offerings and intricate drinks. With that said, the service was slow. It felt like there wasn’t enough servers to occupy the tables especially in high traffic periods like the time we had dinner at around 6pm. At the same time, they also overbooked as it was mentioned when we arrived that we had another table reserved 2.5 hours after and we only ended up leaving very close to that time with the next party already waiting around the bar. However, a redeeming point between all the stress of leaving and the slow service and the rather lacking service as well as the fact that in the lounge setting the music was rather contained but was a comfortable background addition and the ambiance and lighting was rather decent.

Now to move on and look at the food…

Aeroplan Privilege Drink: Lacroix Cider

The Aeroplan privilege drink that was offered here was the Lacroix cider. We’ve never had this one before and it actually is on point with most of the Quebec ciders that we’ve had. Its not particularly overly sweet but it still is fairly good.

First service: Starters

Sweet potato and pear soup, blue cheese on a crouton from Boulangerie L’Epicurien, walnuts

Salmon gravlax marinated in lemongrass and ginger oil, Asian sauce, wasabi, pomegrenate, fried capers, shoots

There was a choice of two appetizers. The husband had the soup where he found it good except that its for blue cheese lovers. For him, the blue cheese was a hurdle to appreciate the dish more than he would have wanted. As for the salmon gravlax which was my choice, it was very delicious. For someone not too huge on raw fish, this one packed a lot of flavors and depth in general from the crunch pomegranate to the delicious sauce, there was a lovely balance to it all.

Second service: Main course

3 mini burgers: Antipasto (salmon, mango, bruschetta, arugula, garlic); Ying Yang (shrimp, bruschetta, arugula, crispy noodles, citrus mayo); Benji (crispy chicken, goat cheese, bell pepper, arugula, garlic)

Bison Tartare panache, Taboo Mix, olive oil, dijon, apples, hazelnuts, lime juice, croutons, house salad

4 oz. filet mignon, crispy onion, demi-glace with maple syrup and foie gras, portobellos, grilled pistachios

For the main course, the husband go the 3 mini burgers. The three burgers were each about 2 or 3 bites. His favorite was the Ying Yang which was a surprise as shrimp usually isn’t his favorite type of seafood. The next one is Antipasto which was pretty good as well however, he did not enjoy Benji because of the goat cheese which is a rather acquired taste ingredient.

As for myself, I chose the filet mignon was a decent choice and one that usually isn’t on the menu as the filet mignon is usually 2 oz and in other mini burger varieties. The only issue here is that the filet mignon is so small compared to the three crispy onions that took up 80% of the plate itself. The sauce was pretty good as well.

Third Service: Desserts

Fried crepe stuffed with cheesecake and chocolate marbled with fondant caramel, whipped cream, caramel served with apple chutney

Vegan Brownie

Finally, for the desserts, the husband had the very unique fried crepe with cheesecake which was the best part of the entire meal for him. As for myself, I had the incredibly moist and decadent vegan brownie which was heavenly and rich in chocolate goodness. It was also a big highlight for my meal here.

Overall, Taboo is a restaurant with a decent ambiance and a nice selection of finger food/bite-size mini burgers and such. Its normal prices are overpriced for sure for what it offers (ex. there is a $16 mini burger, which is unfathomable for myself). While the service left a lot to desire whether it was in its efficiency for its urgency to have us out before the next party arrived and the server’s unattentiveness and rather leaning on rude service, the food here was pretty delicious. Its not someplace that I’d go back to per se as the overall experience wasn’t quite on par to some of the other restaurants we’ve discovered through MTL a Table this year and in previous years.

MTL a Table: La Classe (College Lasalle)

Another MTL a Table adventure is here as we head to the second restaurant on my list (out of three). This time we head to a much more familiar spot to the College Lasalle restaurant which employs the students of College Lasalle to hone their various skills related to the restaurant business. La Classe was previously called Fuschia and serves French cuisine at a very reasonable price to the public.

Aeroplan Privilege: Gin Cirka, pear puree, rosemary syrup and Labrador tea

The Aeroplan privilege drink was this La Classe cocktail that was very unique. I haven’t tried Gin Cirka before and I rarely drink gin in general and this one was very strong in flavor however it was pretty good.

Amuse-Bouche

The amuse-bouche is a tuna of sorts with sesame seeds and whatnot. I don’t have the actual dish name but while I’m not a huge fan of raw fish, but this had quite a lot of depth with the one bite. It was really delicious.

First service: Starters

Mushroom veloute, chestnuts, hazelnut oil

Seared scallop, squash ravioli

Arctic char gravlax from Baie des Chaleurs, beet-crusted soft boiled egg

Crusted poultry

I had the crusted poultry. I’m not quite sure what poultry it was but it had this foie gras sort of texture to it. Paired with the crust and the dijon in the middle and the little jelly and other adornments in the centre, it all gave it a nice balance in flavor to compliment it. However, foie gras texture, even though it is poultry is denser so felt a bit much in the last bite or two but it still tasted really good.

Second service: Main course

Halibut filet, mussels, cauliflower

Pork served in three ways

Smoked duck magret

Citrus lobster tail

For the main course, I went with the citrus lobster tail which was absolutely delicious. The puree seemed like some squash puree or pumpkin puree or something and the sweetness it brought meshed with the citrus flavors and the perfectly cooked lobster tail gave it a really lovely balance in flavors. Plus, they had these crunchy sides which I’m not quite sure what it was as it didn’t have quite a lot of taste to it but it did add a depth to the texture itself.

Third service: Dessert

La Pomme

Passion-Coco

As for desserts, they all look so wonderful. The dessert list actually had two more options from the original MTL a Table list on the website so I don’t have the info for it. Luckily, they did add in one that I could have which was the Passion-Coco. Its a lovely little citrus taste which was a nice blend of aromas and flavors of passion fruit and coconut that actually wasn’t overpowering and worked well together to be a good blend without being too acidic.

Overall…La Classe Restaurant is a great location. Its MTL a Table menu is in the $23 range which is incredibly affordable and a good bang for the buck  especially for French cuisine. While it is primarily student run, they have very patient servers and the kitchen makes very delicious food. Its a very thorough experience and always enjoyable atmosphere. Its a restaurant well worth visiting even outside of this event.

Restaurant: Ichigo Ichie Izakaya (Montreal, Quebec)

Its been a while since I’ve shared any restaurant visits. I actually had quite a few to share but haven’t gotten around to it. We will do those if the time presents itself, however, this past weekend, I went out for a Bachelorette Party dinner at Ichigo Ichie Izakaya, which is the restaurant portion linked to Yokato Yokabai where I had previously talked about in a Weekly Adventures HERE.

Ichigo Ichie Izakaya

Located in Plateau Mont Royal, the best way probably is to take the Metro to Mont-Royal station and take  few minutes walk over. Ichigo Ichie Izakaya is a Japanese pub so we had reservations for the 10 people and gave us a big table on the side. I can’t say that there’s a lot of good stuff to say about the group seating there as the cushioned seats were too low (maybe I’m too short) and then the ventilation wasn’t quite good so it was very hot as its also quite near the kitchen. They need to add some kind of vents around that spot probably.

Putting all that stuff aside, we’re there for food and drinks and of course, spending time to celebrate our friend’s upcoming marriage so let’s talk food.

Cocktails

Cocktail: Nashi

I can’t remember exactly what was in this drink called Nashi but it tasted a lot like those Lychee jelly that used to come in those little plastic cups which was pretty delicious. There were quite a few very interesting cocktail blends here that I’d definitely want to go back and check out if given the chance.

Main Meals
(shared among 3 people)

Garlic Fried Raisu – Soy and garlic fried rice, shiso, sesame seeds

Garlic Fried Rice was my choice. Its always more substance to have some kind of rice or noodles so its why I chose this one, plus, it fit with what I could potentially eat, which was good because the other carbs choice was one that I couldn’t eat. This one was pretty decent. Simple, for sure but the rice and the garlic and how it was fried had really good texture. There was a lot of garlic and yet wasn’t too overpowering either.

Ebi Mayo (I think) – Jumbo shrimp tempura, crushed almonds & sweet chili mayonnaise

Tempura is the sure fire at any Japanese restaurant. If you can’t get this right, then you can forget about it. This one had 2 jumbo shrimp tempura which was cut into pieces on the bed of crunchy noodles or something. I don’t remember why you call it. Everything worked really well even the spicy mayo that actually gave it a nice kick.

Butabara – Grilled Pork Belly skewer, Japanese curry seasoning

Pork belly is something that I like getting when I go out and seeing as Yokato Yokabai has the option to choose pork belly in their ramen, I figured it would also be a good choice for this section. We spent a little time cutting up the pieces so everyone could share. The Japanese curry seasoning was quite powerful and rather spicy however, it was pretty delicious also.

Carbonara Udon – Stir fried udon noodles, bacon, onsen egg, mushroom, spring onions, creamy sauce

Finally, Carbonara Udon was my friend’s choice which I completely forgot had creamy sauce so I had to skip it. My friends however did enjoy this one. They said that the sauce wasn’t too heavy and it was pretty delicious as well.

Dessert

Matcha Tiramisu

Suffice to say that, I had to skip out on dessert as well, even though there was an option for Yuzu sorbet (but I was pretty full at that point) so my friends got the Matcha Tiramisu to share. It felt like it wasn’t exactly what they were expecting and from what they said the matcha layers were fairly bland but then the matcha layer on the top was too thick.

OVERALL…

I’ve never been to a Japanese pub as Ichigo Ichie is categorized at. The cocktails are really cool and they have a nice selection of drinks. Everyone at our table, who took other drinks also seemed to enjoy it. The service was also pretty good. Our waitress was very helpful and friendly and answered a lot of our questions whenever and happily went to seek out answers when she didn’t know the answer to it. The food itself was pretty decent as well. Its a tad overpriced in my opinion but its meant to be tapas style so meant to share and it all came out to an alright bill at the end. With that said, paying for food is always more enjoyable when you enjoyed the meal and I was pretty happy with the food presented. There’s a lot of interesting dishes on the menu which could merit a second visit.

Restaurant: L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Montreal

If you want to see last year’s L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon recap HERE.

Located in the Casino de Montreal, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon is tucked in a little downstairs corner accessible by elevators at one end of the casino. Different from last year is how it was bustling and full of action this time with tons of customers there. After last year’s experience, I was a little more knowledgeable about how to approach this year’s dinner so was a little less ambitious. If you had seen last year’s dinner, it took well over 3 hours, this wasn’t really that much more different.

In terms of decor, there wasn’t much change. I’m back at the same time after all so I do wonder if the decor changes especially in the display case with the seasons. Maybe one day, I’ll go not in autumn.

Green Tea

Due to the rainy weather outside and a rather under the weather feeling like a cold was creeping in, I ended up vouching to get a green tea. This is a Japanese green tea recommended by the waitress for us. It tasted great. I don’t usually drink Japanese green tea but this one definitely was a treat.

Bread

The breads here are also quite good. This time, we had the baguette one the left and the bacon and mustard braid on the right. Not shown here but my friend got two other ones which had dairy products in it. One was a flaky cheese one I believe and I can’t remember the other one right now.

Amuse Bouche

A refreshing starter amuse-bouche to kick things off. Tonight’s starter, the dairy free option, I assume since my friend got something different but he also had the 7 or 9 course seasonal discovery tasting menu. This amuse-bouche is a eggplant topped on one side with a red pepper and the other one is topped with a zucchini (or maybe eggplant) chip? I can’t remember anymore. But I can tell you that it tasted really good. I’m not much of an eggplant fan. I really just eat it for its health benefits on a daily basis but this was really lovely.

Tasting Portion Dishes

Like I said in the beginning, last year’s tasting menu traumatized me to my core. Not that the food wasn’t good but the duration and the sheer amount was just way over what I could handle. So this year, I went a different route. I asked the suggestion of the waitress to tell me what would be a good approach and she gave me a very accurate one of taking 3 tasting portion which should be enough and went along with her knowledge and suggested the ones that she knew could be modified to be dairy-free or already was dairy-free. With that I chose three (with her help):

Le Homard

Le Homard – Lobster over mashed avocado tart  and pomegranate arils

My first choice when I first saw my choices was this one. Avocado tart and pomegranate and lobster all sounds so fresh and delicious. From the presentation to the delicious balance of flavors to just the crispy different texture of the pomegranate seeds and little bits and the crunchy fresh vegetables and the lobster was such a delight. Not to mention of course the creamy avocado tart base.

La Morue Noire

La Morue Noire – Stewed Black Cod with “Malabar” peppercorn, baby spinach

The star of the show, my friends. I picked this one because the waitress highly recommended it. Normally, this one would have a frothy creamy coconut foam. Mine is just coconut sans the cream for the obvious lactose intolerance issue. With that said, this dish is absolutely heavenly. I kid you not, the cod is done so perfectly.

L’Agneau

L’Agneau – Quebec lamb ribs with eggplant and lemon pulp confit caviar

Talking about the final dish in my selection is the lamb. I’m starting to realize that I have a tendency to get lamb whenever I go out, mostly because I wouldn’t eat it at home. This was done the perfect doneness. The eggplant caviar as they call it is really delicious along with the eggplant chips which are both very good. Paired up with the lemon pulp, it worked so well together. The only thing I wasn’t a big fan of based on personal preference is the date puree thing. I’m personally not a fan of dates so it didn’t quite appeal to me. Overall, the whole dish worked together really well.

Dessert

La Bulle – Blown sugar ball with coconut cream, fresh coriander sorbet

The original La Bulle is made with yuzu lemon in the menu. However, this version is dairy-free version so its made with coconut cream. I have to say that the coriander sorbet is somewhat of an acquired taste that took a moment to get used to but it cuts through the sweetness from the coconut so it works out well.

Overall, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Montreal is a great dining experience. It offers fantastic cuisine, comfortable ambiance, flexible with their dishes to accommodate allergens as well as great service. Its honestly one of the restaurants that I love going to. It is quite pricey but worth every penny.

MTL a Table 2018: Nom Nom Cantine

As usual, our November Battle of Ingredients is put aside as we head out for MTL a Table. This year’s MTL a Table included a good many more selections as more restaurants joined into the fun. A lot of new restaurants also participated which makes it all the more exciting. This time, we return to a familiar location where we went to previously when it was owned by another restaurant called E.A.T (Etre Avec Toi), the restaurant is closed so meaningless to check the post now (although you can if you want HERE).

The current restaurant in this location is Nom Nom Cantine which serves Asian fusion food. Just one look at the menu and it shows off those qualities right away.

Nom Nom Cantine

Decor

Nice and soothing to say the least. We had a pretty early reservation so we were the first group to arrive which gives me the chance to take these pictures with no one else in there. However, rest assured that the restaurant did fill up as the evening went along. However, one nice thing is that it stayed fairly casual and relaxing.

Cocktails

This time, our group went for the interesting selection of cocktails that it offered. Trust me when I say its unique when one of the cocktails (I think the Bloody Caesar had fish sauce as one of the ingredients). However, these are two popular choices among us. On the left is The Noble One (the guys took this one) and on the left is the one I chose called Deadly Sin which had a bunch of stuff I liked including the so underused Apricot Brandy. Both tasted fantastic (well, to us). Deadly Sin has a lot of citrus flavors including yuzu so it was more sour and floral. The Noble One is a stronger one but still very smooth.

Bread & Amuse-Bouche

Ten out of ten for presentation alone here. I didn’t taste the bread but our little bread expert (aka Phoebe’s toddler) approved it and ate a bunch. Props to the restaurant for making this happen although normally the MTL a Table menu doesn’t come with it.

They also offered up an amuse-bouche. This is a slightly modified one for my husband and I, the lactose-intolerant option. The original was peppercorn salmon with sour cream and coriander (I think) and ours is replaced with a mango and something sauce. I should seriously write these things down. Regardless, it still tasted really good.

First Course

There are two options for first course.

Dumpllings Basket (4)

Dumplings basket was one of these choices and the one that I chose (along with a few others from our group). Four different dumplings here: chicken, pork and shrimp, beef, vegetables. I could swear that mine came with two beef ones but I didn’t quite mind because it tasted like the beef that we have at dim sum and its a flavor that I’ve missed eating. Regardless, my husband did have all four and he liked it. I thought the dumplings are also really good. Actually, I’d love to go back just to have dumplings.

Second option was the white fish tartare, matcha, citrus, coriander, coconut cream. These were really clever as instead of having bread or something as the accompaniment, they went with shrimp chips to eat with the tartare. Its a very  nice twist that matched with the restaurant concept.

Second Course

Another two choices for second choice below.

Pork Roulade, Quebec Butternut Squash Puree, Roasted Mushrooms, Chestnut

While the portions were fairly little, there was quite a lot to like about this dish. For one, the Pork Roulade is pretty good. The barbecue sauce is made in the restaurant so it has a nice spicy kick to it. I really liked particularly the butternut squash puree along with the roasted mushrooms and the chestnut. Although they weren’t plentiful, they felt like it was done perfectly. I’m not a big fan of arugula but it wasn’t a huge amount so it was okay. That is really just a personal preference. The dish here is done very good and has a nice balance of textures and flavors.

Fish Tempura, Papaya Salad, Coconut and Chili Sauce

My husband took this meal. I tried a little piece and the fish tempura was done really tender. I didn’t try the sauce since I’m not really into spicy sauces much however the little taste I had was pretty decent.

Dessert

For dessert, there are two choices as well however due to the lactose intolerance issue for us, we got our own little thing.

Rocher Brulé, 70% Chocolate Mousse, Milk Chocolate and Puffed Rice Crisp, Coffee-Caramel Fondant, Vanilla Creme Brulée, Quebec Honey And Coffee Ice Cream

Judging from my friends, this one was a sweetness explosion. For those with a sweet tooth though, they enjoyed it quite a bit. The chocolate mousse looked delicious to be honest however, I have no first hand experience to talk about.

Cocolada (Pineapple Carpaccio, Rum-Coconut Sorbet, Tapioca, Poppy Seed Meringue, Lime Gel)

If this one didn’t have the tapioca, we could had it but unfortunately it also had that one.

Fruit Bowl with Poppy Seed Meringue

As for our fruit bowls…lets say that my one comment is that if restaurants could do substitutes for lactose intolerant people and not give fruit bowls, that would be really thoughtful. The bowl itself and the fruits were pretty good, except the extremely sour blackberries. They did add in the poppy seed meringue which tasted really good.

Overall, Nom Nom Cantine was a pretty nice experience. The food tasted really good. There were some delicious and creative cocktails. The service especially is what I’d like to compliment on. Our waitress was fantastic in both being attentive to all our allergies and dislikes as well as accommodating the best that she could. The food presentation was nice as well and all the little details were matching to the concept. At the same time, the decor was also really nice and lots of ambiance.

That’s it for the recap of Nom Nom!

Sherbrooke Met La Table: Restaurant Persepolis

Another Sherbrooke Met La Table is upon us. As I’m writing this up, it is in the last few days of this restaurant week set in the Eastern Townships in Sherbrooke. This year’s menus were quite cool and we had a few choices that we had to decide upon, but we’re in an experimental mode and we always like to be adventurous when we head to this restaurant festival. Our final choice ended up being dinner at Restaurant Persepolis, which is Iranian cuisine. We’ve never had Iranian cuisine but only have heard about it here and there when watching food shows and such.

Restaurant Persepolis

Persepolis is a beautiful restaurant. It keeps its decoration on theme with what its serving to give you something of a feeling of where you are as you dine. The decoration is lovely, the ambiance is fantastic. Its a comfortable feeling to sit in there and eat.

For the menu, there were two options. A $25 and $35 options which changes in the main menu choices. The menu here has a lot of choices in general which is nice. The appetizers had 4 choices, the main menu had multiple choices, not only for the two different valued options but also in the fact that their menu changed from week 1 and 2. Something to note is that this is a bring your own wine restaurant. We didn’t know about that plus it is an almost 2 hour drive home so we decided to have some tea. Its a Persian tea which is perfumed and spiced with cardamom. I’ve never had this before but it is really good. I would gather that its a black tea variety which I don’t drink often as it keeps me super alive and a little too caffeinated. However, this one had this floral taste and it just tasted fantastic. I’m going to be looking for some of this somewhere.

Appetizers

Between a choice of the Ash Reshteh soup, Reshteh soup, broccoli salad and Shirazi Salad, we both vouched for the Reshteh soup. Its a chicken noodle soup with carrots, potatoes, onions, chopped parsley and green peas. It tasted a lot like minestrone soup but with some different spices in Iranian cuisine (I would assume). The pita bread that was served with the dish was delicious also.

Main Course

Baghali Polo with Lamb ($35 menu)

I had the lamb mostly because I don’t get to eat lamb much. I don’t remember where I watched it on which show but I had read about Iran and lamb in their food. Maybe I’m confused. Either way, I ended up choosing this dish and it was so good. The spices in particular and mixing the sauce and lamb with the rice tasted so delicious.

Chicken Barg ($25 menu)

My husband took the chicken kebabs. I had a taste of it and it also was very good. He liked it a lot as well. It was flavorful and very tender.

Dessert

For dessert, we got Baghlava. The other was an Iranian vanilla ice cream, which being both lactose intolerant was out of the question. This one was an Iranian honey baklava with rose water garnished with pistachios. I’ve only had baklava once before and this one actually tastes a lot better. I think its the portion and also the fact that it had this smooth honey taste. The rose water was enough and didn’t feel like it was overpowering which is usually an issue with anything infused with rose water. I like this one a lot. Actually thinking about it now, I want to eat another one.

Before we leave, lets take a look at this lovely dessert display case. I almost brought home more dessert. Starting to have regrets to not have done that. It looks so beautiful and delicious.

Overall, I’d have to say that our first experience with Iranian cuisine is a success. I’d totally be glad to go for another round of this. Maybe I’ll see if Montreal has any and check it out.

If you want to check out Sherbrooke Met La Table and the last few days, you can check it out HERE. It runs until October 25th.
And for this restaurant in particular, check out the site HERE.

My Weekly Adventures #63 What’s Up Revival!

Nothing much happened in the last two weeks. Just some quick and easy stuff to go through!

Meals with Friends

Easter weekend was an eventful one. For one, it was my birthday. On Monday when I got back to work, lets just say it was really stressful in an eventful way also. My husband however had the week off and decided to hang out with some friends and we went out for dinner at Jack Saloon’s. Its been years since we’ve gone there and I went back to get a pulled pork sandwich. I can’t say it was as great as when I had it a few years back though. It was still pretty good but not quite like I remembered it. However, the company was spectacular and entertaining so that is what matters.

Then the weekend afterwards happened. If you missed it, Battle of Ingredients also happened. You can find the post HERE. I made a few veggie dishes and this easy marshmallow wand dessert.

As per tradition, one of my good friends took me out for breakfast. I need to spend some time to research a new breakfast place to go to but this place called Le Cartet in Old Montreal is just so delicious. This is called Le Canton or something like that and its absolutely delicious. I love it to actual bits. It also is quite filling so I really only have this for my birthday breakfast. Next year though, I’ll figure out somewhere else to try.

Kickstarter Rewards

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Just received the #waywardsisters #graphicnovel #comics from @torontocomicsanthology ! Can't wait to read it! #reading

A post shared by Kim (@tranquildreams) on Apr 6, 2018 at 4:18pm PDT

Its been a week of rewards coming back. The first came in the mail just as I was looking through Twitter and saw a lot of people already received it but I hadn’t yet just to get home and find it in the mailbox. tis the Wayward Sister Anthology. TO Comics is now one of my favorite comics. I backed this project just because I had read one of their books and loved it so much. I recently also backed another one of their projects. I’m hoping to get to this one after my mountain of books and commitments are done, which might take a month but I’ll get there. When I need a change in palette, I go for comics/graphic novels.

Second reward I got back was for The Black Gloves, which is a film from the director of Lord of Tears, which was the first project I backed of his on Kickstarter. The review is HERE if you don’t know about the movie. Wow, 2013 movie and five years later and I’m now about to back his 4th film project (as soon as I work out some finances). I still have to review the last two films but Laurie Brewster (the director mentioned) has such a great eye for horror. Its a little odd and awkward but I love the tone that he sets and the atmosphere and just how he puts it together. Anyways, I know that he wrote that The Black Gloves is now available on Amazon so here’s the link if you want to check it out.

Snapchat Fun

My husband’s family loves to play around with Snapchat. I never quite got into it until recently..and boy was that a can of worms I did not need to open. It is pretty adorable and cute..the filters, not me. I’m not too into my own selfies so posting that kind of took some confidence. These posts is about what I’ve been discovering in life. I tell you, this Snapchat thing is quite hilarious, especially when its not for myself like the one below.

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Look at this #cute #Chester Fetch #DontStarve #snapchat #filter! #gaming #videogames #characters

A post shared by Game Warp (@gamewarppodcast) on Apr 6, 2018 at 4:38am PDT

What’s Up Revival

It seems I have so many announcements in these things that I lose track of what is brewing up in my head! Anyways, this is the final one for a while. As I try to expand more content on my own Youtube channel since there’s no unboxing right now and its just sitting dormant, I decided that I’ll be reviving the What’s Up segment as a video format. That way, I can recap on films that I’ve seen and for those of you who subscribe, it’ll be an earlier capsule of things I’ve seen and usually an earlier short opinion of it. I’m about to film the first one soon (like tonight) so depending on the length since I usually go through movies and games and TV series, I might cut them into different segments to go up on different days of the week since I don’t want any part to be more than 10 minutes. I mean, who has more than 10 minutes to sit there and watch or listen to me ramble about these things, right?

I do want to eventually expand to some vlog stuff or opinion pieces and random thoughts but I never seem to have any recording stuff with me whenever I’m in those situations. I’m going to work it into my schedule slowly and we’ll get there. 🙂

Yet again, if there are any topics or whatnot that you have suggestions for what would be interesting content for the Youtube channel, suggest away in the comments and I’ll give it all a thought. I miss the days when I took recommendations for movies. It helped me credit others in this wonderful community.

Cute Kitty Pic

 

Battle of Ingredients #7: Easter/Spring Edition

Welcome to the next Battle of Ingredients. My co-host Starry Traveler Phoebe and I gathered this time with friends for a little Easter/Spring celebration.

Heres what we did!

Wine

Tonight’s wine from our friends is the Barefoot Bubbly Pink Moscato. It was light and sweet. A more in depth talk will be in the wine recap next month.

Main Meals

Lamb Chops – Phoebe

Phoebe gets the big task of taking care of the meat dish this time around. We did research and realized that Easter usually revolves around ham or lamb and after some talk, she decided to take on making lamb chops. They were marinated and topped with salt and various herbs. It took about 2 hours to cook in the oven.

This one turned out pretty good. It wasn’t cooked through but I’ve had chops before and they usually aren’t plus it was marinated and seasoned just enough to have a lovely taste.

Ratatouille – Kim

Recipe via Pinterest: https://www.ricardocuisine.com/en/recipes/5312-ratatouille?epik=0DYovE_IWH0tx

Trying out a quick one pot ratatouille this time as our primary vegetable dish. I followed the recipe above fairly closely. Eggplants aren’t in season right now so they were hard to find good ones. So the portion for that was a little less. However, this ratatouille was both easy to make and tasted pretty good. I may have overcooked it a little and it would have benefited from having some pasta or something to serve with. In comparison to the original, I think I skimped out on diced tomatoes a little. Everything’s a learning curve and I certainly had fun making this one and would try it again particularly using a pot this time instead of a pan since there is a lot of vegetables to add in so it started getting a little crowded and that affected the cooking time.

The better version would be to slice everything thinly and then organize it and pop it into the oven to cook. Perhaps a future trial.

Dairy-free Scalloped Potatoes – Kim

Recipe: https://veganinthefreezer.com/dairy-free-herbed-scalloped-potatoes/

Next up is something of a side thing which was the scalloped potatoes. I recently made scalloped potatoes for a Goodfoods box and thought about it for this meal as a dairy-free style and found the recipe above on Pinterest. Scalloped Potatoes were done in the afternoon in advance as to free up the oven space and then reheated. We used a mandoline to quicken the process. We used some unsweetened almond milk (unfortunately, I only had the vanilla flavor) and we took a chance with it to see if it would affect the taste. It did still have a slight vanilla flavor which felt a little weird but overall, the texture is still there. I’d redo this one with the herbs (as the recipe above indicated but I didn’t have any this time around) and also with some unflavored and unsweetened almond milk. We only ended up with one portion left over so I’d say it had a decent result.

Dessert

Marshmallow Wands – Kim

Recipe: http://www.twosisterscrafting.com/springtime-marshmallow-wands/

The ideas I went through for the dessert was numerous but with the two dishes above, I wanted to go for something a little simpler so I went with these springtime marshmallow wands which is basically skewering three marshmallows and then coating them with dark chocolate and adding sprinkles then letting the chocolate harden. Its times like these that I wish I knew how to temper chocolate before coating it so that it would have that lovely crunch when you bit into it. Anyways, I am still learning and these did turn out really great. I know that the coating could have been better but I learned a lot from this recipe as simple as it may seem. Marshmallows and dark chocolate is just yummy! It is a little on the sweet side so I only made enough so everyone had one.

This wraps up this Easter/Spring edition of Battle of Ingredients!
Not quite sure what is next one but might be a spring Farmer’s Market edition for 2018.
Its still in discussion right now 😉

Do you celebrate Easter and what foods do you make?

Dinner: L’Atelier du Joel Robuchon (Casino du Montreal)

L’Atelier du Joel Robuchon is a fine dining restaurant located in Casino de Montreal specialized in intricate French cuisine. As I mentioned in the Weekly Adventures before, my friend treated me to a meal there. Finding the way to the Casino is going to be the easy part, however, remember to look for the indications on the floor to get to the restaurant. Its a little up of going up and then taking an elevator down to its own little corner in the Casino.

 Cocktail- Coco Hennessyto (I think that’s the name)

I think thats how you spell it. This beautiful cocktail had some avocado puree popsicle topped above it along with some coconut milk and other fun ingredients. It is a fabulous and delicious twist on the mojito.

Bread starter

As far as fancy restos go, this place gave you a platter of bread choices. My friend specifically had two cheese breads and they thoughtfully put it on a separate plate to not contaminate the other selections. In the big platter, there are mini baguettes, croissant-like buns, some ham stuffed bread and a spelt bread. I tried the mini baguette and the spelt bread.

Before we continue, I want to share what we took. I ambitously went for the “Experience” Tasting Menu. My friend took the “Seasonal” Tasting Menu which had two extra plates. I would later realize that eating bread was not recommended with the amount of food and the length of time it took to finish this meal. The length was 4 hours. Talk about an experience, right?

Do note that I will use the dishes listed in their menu and when I remember to list the changes they made for my lactose intolerance. Let me tell you, I gave the kitchen a run for their money judging from watching at the seat how they convened at the table. French restaurant and no dairy products except for butter is not exactly easy. As for my friend’s choice, I’ll see if I can share his instagram post for it.

To begin…

Velvety Jerusalem Artichoke Cream with Toasted Hazelnuts 
Replaced with…this (because I can’t remember what it is)

However, I do remember it being incredibly delicious! The flavors and the everything was so perfect. Now if someone from the L’Atelier du Joel Robuchon lands here and sees this, how about you tell me what this is? (Fat chance of that happening, but hey, its a shot, right?)

Le Crabes des Neiges
Snow crab with finely juliened sweet and sour turnip with clover and rosemary honey

Possibly one of my faves of the evening went to these little snow crab layers of goodness. It was a mystery how to keep it together to eat but I made my best effort and its just so awesome.

Le Foie Gras de Canard
Duck foie gras royale, tasty apple and raisin variation fine Le Carminee jelly

Of the most loveliest presentations for this mean, however, I have to confess that I’m not a huge fan of foie gras so I do partially blame the heaviness of this piece regardless of having the toasted slices or the currants to accompany. It was delicious if it was about half of this size. But foie gras is a very personal preference sort of food so if you like it, this probably is a decent amount.

La Chataigne
Fine chestnut veloute with smoked bacon over a delicate celeriac cream
replaced by this Artichoke dish cooked three ways with cayenne pepper

To be honest, I have never eaten any foamed stuff before tonight. We’re more the diner and bistro sort of people. We love a nice meal here and there but nothing like these fine dining haute cuisine sort of things. However, as an entry point, this artichoke was fantastic, given that I haven’t eaten artichoke either before. There was a fried variety that was great, and the puree bit on the bottom was nice and I believe the foam is also the third way to make it. Its garnished with cayenne pepper and some sriracha mayo or something like that. It had a definite spicy hot punch.

Le Blanc de Fletan
Halibut filet with anise-flavored shellfish broth

About this dish, I had to walk around a little before eating. The fish was delicious and it had this lovely fennel seafood bits around it including mussels and shrimps. It was made so very good. We rarely cook halibut but the broth and the whole thing was paired so well in terms of flavors. The seafood broth was absolutely on point.

Le Cochon Gaspor
Roasted pork rib, tenderloin glazed with jus over herb risotto

The replacement here is that risotto is usually made with cheese however, they made this risotto with olive oil. Unfortunately, I only took two bits of the tenderloin before I felt like I was going to get sick from overeating even after walking around and standing about. I’ll talk about the experience at the end which I think contributed a lot to why ordering for meals like this one is different from ordering a la carte.

Back to the meal, this dish was very good. The pork was done so awesome. It was tender and juicy and the sauce was fantastic. I would have wanted to finish this one if I wasn’t so full. My friend did help me finish it and he loved it a lot.

The Dessert

The original was a chocolate creameux with crumbled biscuits and cocoa sorbet which was replaced by something of a coconut delight. The sauce around it was really good. Then the whole feeling of cracking open the sugar coat around the coconut mousse or some sort of so satisfying. I usually find coconut has this tendency to be overpowering in its sweetness but in this case, it liked it a lot. This dessert felt like an experience in the whole eating journey.

Finally, as the bill was being paid, they brought us some little tidbits of sweetness. My plate had a fruit jelly and a nougat.

For my friend’s seasonal tasting menu, here’s his instagram post on it.

View this post on Instagram

After all the running, my target was to eat here to celebrate the 9 month running season #robuchonmontreal #montreal #weekend #friday #dinner #casinodemontreal

A post shared by Ron (@rlaw1978) on Nov 10, 2017 at 10:42pm PST

OVERALL…

L’Atelier du Joel Robuchon was a pretty great experience. The food was impeccable from both the presentation and the flavors. It was very unique. The service was fantastic. They tried their absolutely best to accommodate to what I wanted. The tasting menu was a hard task to put together and they did a fine job. Kudos to our waitress and the kitchen for that. The cocktail was also incredibly original and I actually wanted to figure out how to make one at home. The experience of it all was nothing short of pure awesomeness. The atmosphere and the decor were beautiful and yet still had somewhat of a casual vibe.

However, if I were to go again, I wouldn’t order from the tasting menu. While I do enjoy my food and like to take my time, having a meal that lasts from 7:30pm to 11:30pm is not my idea of absolute fun even if my friend and I are long time friends and we always have stuff to talk about. Its more the idea of sitting around eating or waiting for food. With that said, because I had so much time for my body to digest every course, I felt my fullness much faster, resulting in how I just couldn’t eat anymore by the time the last course came around. Looking back at the pictures, it was a truly gastronomical experience which also means the portions are small. If they came swifter, I would have been able to eat through the whole thing (I believe, since I’ve never tried). With that said, if I were to go again, which I hope to take my husband for a nice night out one time, I’d go for the a la carte menu so both the kitchen and myself will not have any headaches over the lactose intolerance.

L’Atelier du Joel Robuchon is a great experience and if you are a foodie into the fine gastronomical cuisine, this is somewhere you should try for sure if and when you are in Montreal provided you don’t have children under 18 as its in Casino de Montreal.