Food Musings

A Winnipeg blog about the joy of preparing food for loved ones and the shared joy that travel & dining brings to life.

Monticchio

December31

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Whenever I walk by Monticchio Ristorante Italiano (684 Osborne St.), I do a double take, retrace my steps and gaze inside.  I have never been sure of what goes on inside because the banners of the other businesses are displayed more prominently and the restaurant name across the building awnings has faded in the sun.  On this day, with a light snow fall that the wind had not yet dispersed, the letters were completely camouflaged.  But, now that I have been inside and know the delights within, I will never forget their locale.

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I was hosting a dinner party that evening and had decided to pull out some of my Italian vegetarian recipes, so I let my lunch companion make the decisions as to what we would share.  Had I tried to avoid duplicating tastes, who knows what we would have ended up eating?

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We started with their house salad which was dotted with shavings of cheese and Italian ham.  The tomatoes were meaty and the dressing a perfect complement to all ingredients-with a pungent acidic taste of vinegar, a fine olive oil and what I always assumed was my secret ingredient: a pinch of sugar.   

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Our “main” was selected with the help of our server who is a part of the Di Fonte family, who have owned the restaurant for the past eight years.  She recommended that we share a pizza that is not listed on the lunch menu.  As my lunch mate picked up a slice, I grabbed my knife and fork.  When she commented, I had to admit that I was afraid that if I ate the amazing smelling pizza without utensils, my share would be completely gone before she finished her next sentence.  It was so tasty, I had to muster a great deal of restraint.  The crust was wafer thin and yet flaky and buttery.  Our sever described it simply as ”Pesto” on our bill and this is how it appears on their dinner menu.  In addition to the sauce of basil, pine nuts and parmesan, the pie was topped with sun-dried tomato, feta and chicken.  I often select a version similar to this and even make it often at home, but this rendition was truly stellar and expertly prepared. 

There was another ingredient that I just could not name but discovered what it was later in our conversation with our server.  She told us that her brother-in-law was recruited to be the chef.  They had tried to teach other staff to fulfil this role but they could not find a person who understood what it meant to “cook with love.”

Monticchio Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Kath’s quote: “When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.”-John Ruskin

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Love-that is all.

“La Cucina- A Novel of Rapture” by Lily Prior

December30

The excerpt below is from this steamy book entitled La Cucina by Lily Prior , that kept me warm and cozy over the frigid Christmas season here in Winnipeg.   The story of a lonely librarian (I have yet to discover why the world assumes that librarians lead uneventful lives) is set in Palermo and Castiglione, Sicily.  The latter lies about 160 km east of Palermo and when we visited Sicily we were about the same distance from Palermo but in the opposite direction in Castellammare del Golfo. When I shared with my Facebook friend Erica Bauermeister writer of The School of Essential Ingredients that I was reading this book, this is what she commented “if I remember La Cucina accurately, you might need that blood pressure monitor!”  So if you are in the mood for a good (and lusty read), I would recommend the story. Here is an excerpt (Page 220 Kindle Version):

Once I arrive back at the farm, my legs walked me into la cucina, and instinctively I rolled up my sleeves and tied on my apron.  It was time for me to make myself at home once more in the kitchen.  The glossy eggplants nestling in a basket invited me to make a caponata, a sweet-and-sour vegetable stew.

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I sliced and salted the eggplants and left them to disgorge their bitter juices.  While waiting, I chopped an onion and some tomatoes and celery on the old table.  The blade of the knife became a blur in my fast-moving fingers.  I chopped for Bastolomeo, a beautiful young life so needlessly cut down.  I chopped for l’Inglese, who I knew in my heart was also dead: no one ever survived a disappearance.  And I chopped for myself, for the happiness that was snatched away from me.  The vegetables soon became very small dice.  When I wiped the eggplants I fried them in some of Mama’s best olive oil, then set them to drain while I fried the onion, and added the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt.  When the sauce had thickened I put in a handful of capers, the celery, and two handfuls of green olives, and left the dish to simmer for a while.  This caused a delicious perfume to emerge from the open door of la cucina, and led old Rosario, loitering in the yard, to say, “Ahh, Rosa’s home.”  Rosario had been loitering in the yard my whole life.  When the time came we would have to bury him there.

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Then I added the fried eggplants, a little sugar, and a little wine vinegar, and cooked it just long enough for the vinegar to evaporate.

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I waited impatiently for the caponata to cool a little, and then ate it up with some chunks of fresh bread.  It felt good to be home.

Kath’s quote: “The meat touched her tongue and the taste ran through her, full and rich and complicated, dense as a long, deep kiss…feeling the river wind its way to her fingers, her toes, her belly, the base of her spine, melting all the pieces of her into something warm and golden.“-Erica Bauermeister (pge 56 School of Essential Ingredients).  Erica, obviously has blood pressure rising writing skills of her own.

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Love-that is all.

Contented Christmas

December27

At Christmas time I try to be helpful and take the stress off my family by offereing up suggestions of things that they could give me at our gift exchange (still to come).  But the truth is, I was once given the most incredible gift of all and now I am very difficult to buy for.  I do not know if this gift was inheriterd from my Mom and Dad, or given to me as a reward for going through some really tough times in my life or for some supernatural reason that I will never understand.  The gift that I was given, is the gift of contentment.  I am so satisfied with my life, that I cannot think of another thing that could/would improve it. The only thing that occurred to me was that I would love a mechanical pencil with a good eraser to do my sudukoes in the morning.  I kid you not, I really had a hard time coming up with more than this.  Here are the reasons why:

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Cousin time

  • Our youngest has just announced that she has accepted the proposal of her long-time beau (referred to as the Frenchman in this space) so we have a wedding celebration to plan and look forward to.
  • We are absolutely thrilled to be first time grandparents.  We could not imagine loving anyone more than how much we love the “wee one”.  Every time she smiles, perches an eyebrow, or cries out with her husky voice, we are captivated all over again.
  • Our son has finished his formal post-secondary education and our daughters are still enrolled: one in honours and the other, her masters.  We are not only thrilled that our children value their education but are grateful that we have the where-with-all to support them financially in their pursuits.
  • There are some health issues in my extended family but my Mom who is in her late 80’s feels blessed to receive such good care in a sparkling clean, spacious and safe environment.  She was well enough to join us on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

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Four generations

After we open our gifts in the morning, we will sit down to a family brunch.  I will serve “Domestic Partner Saver” (the politically correct version of wife-saver), grilled sausages including venison garlic sausage that my brother-in-law provided, smoked gouda direct from Holland gifted by another brother-in-law, Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns, banana loaf that was given to us, a fresh fruit tray and a double crusted oatmeal apple crisp.

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First Canadian Christmas for the Aussie-he says he always wears shorts on Christmas!

I am glad that we have a couple of days between the feasting that we’ve done with both sides of the family, to have some time with our very own.  Last weekend we celebrated our first Christmas with D’s family and amidst the turkey and ham, I discovered a fabulous new salad that was contributed by one of my talented sister-in-laws.  It was so good, that I produced my own spin on it and served it on Christmas Eve with my extended family.

Beet & Feta Salad with Basamic Fig Vinegarette
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Fusion
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 24
 
Includes sweet and salty tones which I love but also crunch from figs and nuts, all balanced by the pleasant acidity of the balsamic vinegar.
Ingredients
  • Cello box of mixed greens
  • ½ cello box of fresh spinach
  • 1 quart of homemade pickled beets (my mother-in-law's are pickled with lots of whole cloves), drained
  • 200 grams feta cheese (I used a "light" variety)
  • Sugared or smoked nuts (quantity to taste), such as toffee covered cashews
  • 1 bottle of PC Memories of Tuscany: Balsamic Vinegar & Fig Marinade & Sauce
  • ⅓ bottle balsamic dressing
Instructions
  1. Toss cleaned greens and spinach in a very large mixing bowl
  2. Add drained pickled beets (chop or slice into smaller pieces if desired)
  3. Run feta cheese through a food chopper or processor so that it is a fine crumb consistency, and add to bowl.
  4. Mix together the fig sauce with the balsamic dressing.
  5. Pour onto salad and toss.
  6. Garnish with candied or smoked nuts.

Kath’s quote:“Hallo! Whoop! How are you! Merry Christmas!” Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’

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Love-that is all.

Lazy Person Perogies

December20

There are so many reasons why I love working from home.  This morning as Daughter #2 flew out the door, she said: “Mom, could you please throw my laundry in the washing machine for me”?  amd I had the time to cheerfully oblige. I took an extra long walk with our old dog as he has a very thick coat and loves the cold winter far more than the balmy summer.  I met a good friend for a long lunch and picked up a few groceries on the way home.  I will be here when the wee one gets dropped off later this afternoon so that Glamma and Poppa can babysit this evening.

But this is also the time of year when I miss the camaraderie of a busy office with silent santas and pot-luck lunches.  Last week when I was at the Global studios they were getting ready for a special group lunch and there were crock pots plugged in and various people arriving with their casseroles full of savoury treats.  I got to peak under the lid of one such covered dish and it looked so good that I made it last evening for home.

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Lazy Person Perogies
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Canadian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
An enormous step is removed by using large shelled pasta as the perogy casing.
Ingredients
  • 340 g package of large pasta shells
  • 3 c mashed potatoes
  • 2 c grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 c cottage cheese (I used the reduced fat variety)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 small or 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 pound, sodium reduced bacon (might as well cook it all but only use as much as desired and refrigerate the rest for future use)
  • sour cream, as desired
Instructions
  1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
  2. Drain and set aside.
  3. In a food processor, using a coarse grating blade, shred the cheddar cheese.
  4. Remove and set aside and remove the grating blade.
  5. Mash potatoes with a couple of pulses.
  6. Remove to bowl and mix in egg, cheddar and cottage cheese.
  7. Dice the onion in the processor.
  8. Chop the bacon.
  9. Cook together until crisp, drain & place on paper towel.
  10. While bacon and onions are cooking, stuff the shells by the heaping teaspoonful.
  11. Place open side up into 2 casserole dishes.
  12. Sprinkle onion and bacon mixture over shells.
  13. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

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Kath”s quote: “In any world menu, Canada must be considered the vichyssoise of nations — it’s cold, half-French, and difficult to stir.”-James Stuart Keate

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Love-that is all.

 

posted under Entrees | No Comments »

Mano a Mano

December18

I loved Civita on Corydon Street in Winnipeg, although I didn’t get a chance to dine there very often and now that it is closed, I have regrets.  In its place is another Italian Bistro Called Mano a Mano.  Interestingly, the restaurant name comes from the Spanish and Portugese phrase meanning “hand to hand” and was used originally for bullfights where two matadors alternate competing for the admiration of the audience.  I cannot guess the signficance of this in relation to the special lunch that we celebrated there.  Without looking the phrase’s original up, I assumed that the restaurant would be a hand-made tappas place.  Once I got small plates in my head, I steered the selections to that area of the menu.

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We started with Blistered Snap Peas-perfectly stir-fried with mint (a little bit too light on the chili flakes) but delectable when set aside a drizzle of plain yoghurt and a heavenly mound of fresh ricotta cheese.

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Next up was Gnocco Frito with a Fontina Fondue. Enormous pillows of dough had been fried and then sprinkled with a glistening of salt.  They were fun on their own and extra savoury when dunked into the gooey cheese fondue.

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Somewhere along the way a shrimp cocktail arrived.  I was paying less attention as the conversation flowed and our glasses were continually filled with the lovely Malbec that we had chosen.

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The birthday girl requested Beef Carpaccio and was well pleased.  I appreciated the twists of crispy capers and white anchovies, adding a heady, salty layer.  The thin slices of beef tenderloin were perfect on the thick wedges of homemade bread that tasted as if they had been toasted over an open-flame.

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Last but not least were pan seared scallops which were plentiful even if they were not quite the larger size that I prefer.  The crumbles of ham and tart apple pieces added both sweet and salty tones that I crave.

All of these selections were from their dinner menu as they do not offer a separate lunch menu.  This was explained as a result of them only being open for Thursday and Friday lunches.  Service was prompt which was not terribly surprising as were the only ones in the dining room until two business acquaintances came in to share a pizza.  It might be best to call ahead to ensure that their lunch hours do not change.

The refurbished décor is clean, stylish and warm, but then again, I loved Civita’s décor too.  Theo’s is the name of the bar/lounge area and I understand that they will have their lovely enclosed balcony open again next summer.

Mano A Mano on Urbanspoon

Kath’s quote: “Nobody really likes capers, no matter what you do with them. Some people
pretend to like capers, but the truth is that any dish that tastes good with capers in it tastes even better with capers not in it.”-
Nora Ephron

Love-that is all.

 

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