One of our 86 year old Mom’s favourite restaurants is Dessert Sinsations Cafe.  Her criteria for a great restaurant is surprisingly different from yours and mine. She likes that Rich, the owner is an old friend of mine and that he comes over to our table to be reacquainted. This makes her feel very special.  She enjoys that even though the restaurant is located right in the heart of downtown Winnipeg, there is plenty of free parking and easy access into the cafe with no steps or ramps.  Mom appreciates that the tables are nicely spaced out so that she can maneuver around with ease and that there is a spacious wheelchair accessible washroom that is not down a complicated route of hallways.

You may be wondering, does she enjoy the food?  Mom is a fabulous cook in her own right and religiously watches the Food Network with Jamie Oliver being her favourite Chef.  But her tastes have really simplified as she has grown older, eating small portions of a few of her favourite things for example she loves chips and gravy.  Years previously, when we use to rent a neighbour’s cabin at Grand Beach, Mom found a hamburger stand called Jo-Anne’s which prepared a rich mushroom gravy to have with fries.  Jo-Anne’s is long gone now but that summer, we found any old excuse to have her savoury gravy and fries as our dinner.

Her tastes have broadened to the extent that she does enjoy sweet potato fries and this is what she had her heart set on when we assembled for a girl’s supper out recently.  She was not shy about telling Rich’s daughter who was our server, that she really likes gravy and to make sure that the portion was a hefty one.  Our server smiled and indicated that she would do her very best.  Mom was sheepish when she couldn’t get anywhere near finishing her mound of fries or the gravy that she frequently dipped into.

The 3 Sisters had salads, as well as Daughter #1 who was invited to join in on this day.  The Quinoa with Chicken, Thai Steak and Taco Salads were all abundant, delicious and cleverly prepared.

Mom also appreciated that we could leave our cars in their parking lot, while we headed next door to view the 100 Masters exhibit at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.  By the time we returned to our cars, the place was humming even though it was pleasantly unbusy when we enjoyed our early supper.

Kath’s quote: “I come from a home where gravy is a beverage.”-Erma Bombeck

Love-that is all.

Is it hard for you to pull off something different and unique for a loved ones’ birthday?  In a family of culinary and wine fanatics, this sometimes is problematic for us.  I typically let the person celebrating decide whether they want me to cook for them, order in or dine-out.  Recently though for Daughter #1’s birthday, we had the perfect solution.

Nine of us assembled in the private dining room at the Winehouse at #110 – 1600 Columbia Drive (Kenaston Commons) where we were the first guests of Susan Kapilik

and Patty Black who are hosting private wine pairing dinners called Savoir Faire.  The goal of these special evenings is to take the intimidation out of cooking and wine pairing, using an interactive, relaxed and fun approach.

Both hosts are an expert source of culinary and wine knowledge offering practical instruction without using all those fancy terms that you then have to use your smart phone to look up.  J1 knows a great deal about wine and was the most enthusiastic participant at the table-hanging on Patty’s every word and jumping up to assist Sue in the kitchen and absorb her skills and knowledge.  I know less about both than the hosts, but I felt invited just to sit back, relax and have a fun time surrounded by my family.

Our beautifully selected menu included Chili-rubbed Shrimp on an Avocado Corn Salsa appetizer

and Peach, Prosciutto & Mozzarella Salad paired with Zeta Cava Brut Sparkling from Spain.  We detected grapefruit and apple notes in the aperitif which went beautifully with the seafood and salad.

J1 assisted in the preparation of the salsa and Daughter #2 with the plating and serving of the amazing dish.   The uncooked corn and creamy avocado were the perfect ways to offset the subtle fire from the shrimp.  The latter were huge, meaty and still crunched on the tooth.  The salad-oh the salad!… Imagine every taste you crave in one bowl and on each forkful- sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness, and umami!  I am officially addicted to this salad.

Daughter #1 helped piped the Duchess Potatoes that were served alongside the Chicken with Port and Mushroom Sauce.  Everything was perfectly cooked, right before our eyes.  The tastes were magnificent especially when enhanced by the Clayhouse Adobe Red and Cameron Hughes Chardonnay.

What turned out to be the biggest surprize for me, was that my favourite new wine of the evening would be the dessert wine.  I enjoy Concha Y  Toro Chilean Merlots frequently, but never thought to expand my horizons with their Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc.  I drank more than my own tasting glass and loved the honey tones with the Apple Galette and Salted Caramel Sauce that concluded our dinner.  Dessert was such a hit that three family members had seconds (I rarely serve dessert-perhaps this too, was motivation).

I can’t say enough about the pairings, that we all agreed, were thoughtfully selected.  The dinner itself was perfection and so very satisfying.  Not only did we gain an abundance of culinary tips and knowledge but in helping with the various courses, we knew the satisfaction that a well-prepared food offering can bring.  Best of all, we enjoyed an “as comfortable as home” dining experience without having to partake in the dishes and clean up (worth very single penny, in my mind).

Patty from the Winehouse is a joy and so knowledgeable about her product.  Best of all, she shares her insights about wine in such an accessible manner-not with the arrogance that you might sometimes detect from a sommelier.  Patty teams up so well with Susan who is a professional cook that received her training at Red River College.   Her years in hospitality certainly shine through her skills in the kitchen and her easy, engaging manner.  But I knew this would be so, because Susan is Sister #3-my very own baby sista!

Suze (to me) specializes in Group and Individual Cooking classes in a variety of themes and techniques.  When teamed up with Patty wine pairing dinners are also offered.  The next time you are planning a corporate or charitable event and want to offer up something unique or want to assemble your family for a special celebration, contact Susan at 204-452-2212 suekapilik@mts.net.  Our dinner that evening cost $75. per person and private appetizer parties start at $65. per person.

Kath’s quote:  “Cooking is an art and patience a virtue… Careful shopping, fresh ingredients and an unhurried approach are nearly all you need. There is one more thing – love. Love for food and love for those you invite to your table. With a combination of these things you can be an artist – not perhaps in the representational style of a Dutch master, but rather more like Gauguin, the naïve, or Van Gogh, the impressionist. Plates or pictures of sunshine taste of happiness and love.”-Keith Floyd

Love-that is all.

 

The historic corner or Tache and Provencher delivers a gorgeous view winter or summer.  When we dined at Promenade Cafe and Wine for D’s birthday in January we requested a table by the window.  It was approximately -30 that evening.  True to the premise that the Canadian prairies produce the most extreme weather in Canada, this past week when I visited the temperature was topping the other end of the scale at +30 degrees.  We still decided to sit outside under an umbrella to enjoy the unobstructed vista.  Yes, it would have been cooler inside, but summer is short in Winnipeg and I intentionally spend every moment that I possibly can, outside.

The occasion was a business lunch, but because I know my associate so well, we were comfortable to share both our choices.  Duck confit is a traditional French recipe made with the leg of the bird. To prepare a confit, the meat is rubbed with salt, garlic, and sometimes herbs, then covered and refrigerated for up to 36 hours. Salt-curing the meat acted as a preservative before modern refrigeration was common plaec.  Prior to cooking, the spices are typically rinsed from the meat and then patted dry. The meat is placed in a cooking dish deep enough to contain the meat and the rendered fat, and deposited in an oven at a low temperature where the meat is slowly poached at least until cooked, or until meltingly tender, generally four to ten hours.  It was not actually the duck that caught my eye as I perused the menu, but the truffle kissed chickpeas.  I am drawn to the musky taste of “truffled” anything, and the garbonzo beans were a satisfying choice.  The duck and the chick peas were tossed with micro greens, grilled pear slices and a crumbling of blue cheese which assembled a number of tastes on one dish.  The duck unfortunately was not “fall off the bone” the way I prefer it, which would lead me to believe that it was not cooked for long enough or that it was dry-roasted instead of poached.  This is not a complaint, just an observation that the duck was not prepared as I have enjoyed it in the past.

In the mean time, my lunch date opted for a Crogues Monsieur for us to share. The sandwich originated in French cafés as early as 1910 as a quick snack. The name is based on the verb croquer (“to crunch”).  In essence, the dish is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and the crunch comes into play when the bread is toasted on the grill to crispness.  Promenade’s version also adds a little dollop of what I thought was a lemony hollandaise sauce adding a citrus taste to offset the salty and savoury ones.  The ham that was rolled up and put back onto the grill for a couple of moments to add a crunch to it as well, was of the highest quality.  I imagined a whole old fashioned ham, slow roasting for an afternoon and then being thinly slaved for the sandwich.  If that is not how the owner Sean and his chef prepare it, they sure had me fooled, because the ham itself was perfection.

To this, the side of perfectly prepared French fries (ironically, better that any I had tasted in France) put my enjoyment right at the highest point of the pleasure scale.  What put me over the top was the gorgeous Fetzer Gewurztraminer that was suggested as the pairing with the Croques.  This grape is sometimes considered too sweet and fruity for some palates, but was the perfect choice to offset the myriad of tastes between our salad and sandwich.  The truth is, gazing out over the forks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers with a clear view of what my family calls the “feather” bridge and the recently completed Canadian Human Rights Museum, I could have easily ordered another glass and whiled away the Friday afternoon with my friend.  We took so long discussing mutual business opportunities that we had to pack our personal news into the moments as we were settling the bill.

All this means, is that another visit to the Promenade before the summer is over, is in order.  Oh the lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer…..

Kath’s quote:  “The French approach to food is characteristic; they bring to their consideration of the table the same appreciation, respect, intelligence and lively interest that they have for the other arts, for painting, for literature, and for the theatre. We foreigners living in France respect and appreciate this point of view but deplore their too strict observance of a tradition which will not admit the slightest deviation in a seasoning or the suppression of a single ingredient. Restrictions aroused our American ingenuity, we found combinations and replacements which pointed in new directions and created a fresh and absorbing interest in everything pertaining to the kitchen.” –Alice B. Toklas

Love-that is all.

Happy Sunday morning readers.  We were in the city this summer weekend which as you know is very unusual for us.  Yesterday was a perfect summer day-a time for baking and writing and visiting into the wee hours with family and good friends that I don’t see often enough over the summer.  The weekend in town, afforded me the opportunity to write most of this special blog post.  I am honoured to be a part of the Canadian Food Experience Project  which began June 7 2013.  As we (participants) share our collective stories through our regional food experiences, we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity. There were 58 participants in the first round up!  This month’s challenge was to write about a regional Canadian food and I choose wild blueberries for a number of reasons: their exemplary nutritional value, their low cost and their distinct connection to the places they grow here in Manitoba and on the Canadian prairies. 

The beach areas on the east and west side of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba were populated by various ethnic groups that are like the patchwork swatches that make up the provincial quilt.  The French holidayed at Paige Albert, Jewish persons at Winnipeg Beach, the Anglo-Saxons at Victoria Beach, Icelanders at Gimli and the Germans at Lester Beach.  Our family are not German but we have been welcomed into and have been part of the lake crowd at Lester Beach since the mid-seventies when my brother Tom and his wife bought a little two bedroom cottage.  Fast forward almost forty years and there are now approximately 38 of us who take turns staying at various wooden beach houses within a one block radius.  There are some streets where you can hear German spoken amongst the seniors who still enjoy the forest and the sandy beach.  As you walk along the lanes the cottage families are identified by signs such as the one at the end of our road “The Regiers and the birds live here”.

Friends of ours who have a cabin close by but who we also know from the city, renewed their wedding vows one summer on the beach and then hosted a huge party in the yard.  At supper time an old metal drum that had been split and made into a barbeque was fired up and there were hamburger patties and various sausages grilled up.  A number of salad and accompaniments were contributed by various guests, as well as a bevy of desserts.  There was one dessert that came in various fruit variations: peach, apple, rhubarb and blueberry.  It was called “platz” and it was the most divine dessert that I had ever tasted.

I am not a sweet lover but prefer desserts like this one that are doughy, and buttery with natural sweetness from the fruit and just a hint of sugar to crunch up the crumb topping.  “Platz” is German for coffee cake and many Mennonite homes have one available in case family, friends or neighbours drop in for coffee and a visit.  From my first taste, I was hooked and now make platz on a regular basis.  I love to bake one up in the summer when fresh fruit is at its peak.  The simple ingredients are always at hand and frozen fruit produces an equally fine result.  I originally found the recipe in a book entitled “Mennonite Girls Can Cook” but have modified it over the years to use half brown sugar and even sugar substitutes.

Wild blueberries are plentiful throughout Manitoba and especially in the lake district.  I love to blueberry picking.  Actually, I have to be honest…I love the results of blueberry picking but not the act of picking itself.  Wood ticks are an issue as well as bears, not to mention poison ivy, the risk of getting lost in the bush and coping with the backache, heat, thirst and mosquitoes.  What I am trying to say is, picking is no fun at all but the results make the difficult task more than worth it.

The time for wild blueberry picking is not yet upon us, as it was a very late spring on the prairies.  But I have noticed an abundance of plants and flowers as I have meandered in the forest, so this summer’s crop is sure to be abundant.  In the mean time, because we so love the nutritious fruit, I always have a pint on hand.  But because I live in a busy house, my plans sometimes are foiled by a hungry family member looking for something to have with their morning granola.  In that case, I go to plan B because I always have frozen berries as well.  When all is said and done, the taste is very close.

Kath’s hint:  I made a double batch this morning and then split it between three smaller sized pans.  With one I varied the fruit to mango and banana and then added coconut to the crumb mix.  This will go with us to a tropical pool party this evening.  One of the berry cakes will accompany us to a back yard graduate lunch this afternoon.  The third is to just have on hand.  It stays fresh on the counter for a day, can go into the fridge for a couple of days or go immediately into the freezer for future entertaining.

Kath’s quote: “I remember his burlesque pretense that morning of an inextinguishable grief when I wonder that I had never eaten blueberry cake before, and how he kept returning to the pathos of the fact that there should be a region of the earth where blueberry cake was unknown.”-William Dean Howells (1894)

Love-that is all.

“Devour the District” is a restaurant walking tour offered by the Exchange District BIZ in partnership with Tourism Winnipeg’s Peg City Grub blog.   The tour commences from Old Market Square at 133 Albert St. The first stop on our “mini”-tour was the Underground Café.  We learned a bit about the history of the Silpit Building which is home to the Café (down a flight of basement stairs at 70 Albert St., hence its name).  I think that I first sampled the Café’s Spicy Tuna Melt about twenty years ago, which has become a family favourite.  Wendy, the chef and owner confirmed that is how long that they have been around.  This recent sampling was of their famous “Sun-Burger”, said to be so popular because it doesn’t “pretend to be meat”.  Only the shape is the same as a burger. The compilation of toasted sesame and sunflower seeds, two kinds of cheese, Jasmine rice, eggs and various spices is delicious even it wasn’t packed with nutritious ingredients.  Wendy describes her menu offerings as “comfort food with a twist”, comfortable indeed.

Next up was Deer + Almond where we were met by the vibrant owner and chef Mandel who embraces the “new twist” on traditional dishes, too.  His inventive West Coast Caesar Salad was made with marinated kale, tangy granny smith apple slices and big salty, shards of parmesan cheese.  He guessed correctly when he thought that we might be sampling charcuterie at our last stop and chose the refreshing and nutritious salad to complement our last course.

At the Peasant Cookery, we were greeted by two staff members and award winning chef Tristan. The Peasant takes “from-scratch” to a whole new level and is the only restaurant in Winnipeg where they do their own smoking, hanging, curing and drying of the meats on their charcuterie board.    We sampled Berkshire pork smoked salami, a Spanish-style chorizo sausage and a spicy pepperoni.  My favourite was the buttery pate, with meats still chucky rather than emulsified, so that individual flavours shone out individually if you selected a small nibble, or beautifully melded, if you take a larger chomp. 

 A daytime Devour the District tour, takes place on Tuesdays from 2-5 pm and the evening tour steps out from 5-8 pm on Thursdays.  The cost for each is $58 per person which is a very economical package.  The tours are a unique opportunity to learn some of the colourful history of the Exchange District AND sample tastes from the best bites that Exchange restaurants have to offer.  The results are a “progressive” dinner, like no other.  Recommend the tour to visitors, or take one yourself and enjoy all the historic and culinary adventures that our beautiful city has to offer. Call 204-942-6716 to arrange a tour. 

On the day that I wrote this for the Canstar community newspapers, I took along my camera without a memory card, hence my lack of photos. Thank you for the continual grace that you demonstrate towards me and this space. 

Kath’s quote: “I rose at 5 o’clock in the morning and read a chapter in Hebrew and 200 verses in Homer’s Odyssey. I ate milk for breakfast,
I said my prayers…I danced my dance. I read law in the morning and Italian in the afternoon. I ate tough chicken for dinner.”-Diary of William Byrd, 1709

Love-that is all.