Back in the olden days, when our kids were young, money was tight, but we still loved fine food and wine-we had a “gourmet club”.  Many friends came and went as they moved away or became uncoupled.  Two members of our group were Doug Stephen and Jim Armstrong both of WOW! Hospitality.  We saw Doug recently and vowed to get together soon.  I haven’t seen Jim in eons but happily that changed recently when I arrived for lunch at 529.

Jim was created to steer the 529 Wellington ship from the lobby of the beautiful restored mansion.  His food knowledge and expertise has been apparent to me ever since I met him in Brandon, not far from his home town of Dauphin.

This was a special lunch with a good friend and business associate who is trying very hard to retire.  The more valuable an employee you are, the harder it must be to leave that employment.  Turned out,  the official day has not yet been announced and we have postponed  my treat until it has been made so.

It was a gorgeous, summer Friday and as we were sat on the terrace over-looking the river, I saw many of Winnipeg’s who’s/who enjoying the day.  The service was helpful and prompt and lunch delicious. My lunch date had a chicken Caesar salad which he quite enjoyed and we shared the fries that are cut from Kennebec potatoes.  Being the “Polak Princess” (as my husband affectionately refers to me) and loving my carbs, I am especially fond of these potatoes.  They have a wonderful balance of sweetness, starchiness and earthiness and a slightly nutty flovour. 

Reuben sandwiches are another in my “favourite” repetoire and 529’s version is an interesting variation on the theme.  The distinctive taste is because their version contains house-made corned beef which is stronger in taste, fattier and tougher than deli corned beef.  I suspect that as well as being house made, it is dry-cured which would account for the firmer, denser quality.  None of these attributes are bad, just different.  The strength of the “corned” taste meant that I could not identify the subtleties of the sauerkraut and Swiss cheese but the combination was delicious.

Looking forward to going back to enjoy the lingering days of summer.

Kath’s quote:  “The corned beef is exquisitely done, and as tender as a young lady’s heart, all owing to my skilful cookery; for I consulted Mrs. Hale (Sarah Hale’s cookbook) at every step, and precisely followed her directions. To say the truth, I look upon it as such a masterpiece in its way, that it seems irreverential to eat it. Things on which so much thought and labor are bestowed should surely be immortal…..”-Nathaniel Hawthorne

We have adult children and I am happy to say that when the kids were younger they rarely got into trouble (or mischief that was reported to us, at any rate).  One of the reasons for our good fortune may have been that they were always involved in a sport or artistic endeavour.  Swimming lessons were mandatory and they could pick one other activity each, that we would pay and drive them to.  Now I know that this is because we live a privileged life in a safe community and that is not a luxury for all my fellow Winnipeggers.

The Boys and Girls Club of Winnipeg tries their darndest to equalize the playing field.  Their programs allow boys and girls the opportunity to relate to caring and positive role models who are interested in helping increase their skill levels to make good decisions for themselves.  This is a wonderful organization who deserves our support.

A delicious way to do so is by purchasing a ticket to their upcoming 100 Mile Dinner which takes place on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at the gussied up Crescentwood Community Club at 1170 Corydon Ave.

Volunteer Chefs will be Luc Jean, Scott Bagshaw, Adam Donnelly, Makoto Ono, Norman Pastorin, Ariel Shor, Alexander Svenne, Ben Kramer and Chef Rob.  They will be serving up pickerel, bison, elk, cheese made by Trappist monks and John Russell honey. 

Tickets are $125.  Call 982-4941 or email kozak@wbc.mb.ca for tickets and/or more info. 

I’ve got my ticket and I’ll see you there.

Kath’s quote:  “Often, admiring a chef and getting to know him is like loving goose liver and then meeting the goose.”-George Lang 

I try to keep an open mind when I go to a foreign country, especially when it comes to their food.  I remember traveling through Turkey many years ago with a woman who would complain “you just can’t get a good hamburger here” and I remember thinking, there are lots of delicious things to eat in Turkey that you can’t get in Winnipeg.  I never wanted to be a picky Canadian when it came to travel.  I believe in doing my best to love the food I’m with, as it were. 

So imagine my dismay when I discovered that Mandarin food and I just didn’t hit it off.  Turns out I am a big fan of Cantonese and Schezuan food, found all across China, but not so much a fan of Mandarin food, the specialty of the Beijing area.  Don’t worry, I will be sure to share the Cantonese delights I discovered in a later blog entry, but for now, let’s talk Mandarin.  

My hosts were obsessed with me trying what they consider comfort food.  They know that I am passionate about food so they spent a lot of time deciding what restaurants to take me to so that I would have the freshest, most authentic taste of the food they love.   

So let me tell you about some of the classic fare I experienced.  Rice was the one thing I thought would save me on this trip.  I love rice and could eat it everyday but I only got it twice on this trip and both times I made a special request for it.  At almost every meal we had congee – a goopy, tasteless rice porridge.

Meat is something I usually enjoy however the cuts consisted mostly of organ meats and there was a lot of intestine being eaten.  Not so much what I had in mind. 

OK, chicken and fish, safe bet…right?  All the fish and shrimp of course were head on and I managed OK with that. However, I remember tucking into this big bowl of yummy bone in chicken, I saw the feet were in the bowl and managed to psychologically overcome that and then I saw the head and that was it.  Game over. I’ve sometimes heard vegetarians say that the  “don’t eat anything with a face”.  While I am far from being a vegetarian I must admit I prefer not to have the animals face looking back at me as I eat it.  

Many of the Chinese vegetables are really bitter. Most are served in a sauce that is tapioca starch based making them all pretty slimy.  Thankfully I love broccoli, carrots and asparagus so much that even that could not deter me.

Dessert, surely one can get enough calories from eating sweets at every meal.  Unfortunately dessert was also a challenge.  When we would stop at a road side stand for a cold ice cream I would be told I could “get that at home” and instead be handed a bowl of lukewarm runny custard topped with red beans or filled with slippery bits.  Even the candy in Beijing is made out of bean curd. 

Thankfully I started each day with toast and a hard boiled egg at the apartment. Beijing had the most delicious eggs I have ever tasted.  I was grateful to have packed a half dozen granola bars.  And Priscilla’s cravings for American food occasionally won her mom over to allowing us to go to Pizza Hut or Subway.  Not my favourite food but boy did it ever taste good compared to congee.

Kath’s quote: “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might better stay home.”-James Michener

The lunch business can be a tough one for Winnipeg restaurants.  Variety is desired for regular diners as well as keeping old favourites on the menu for special occasion lunchers (read: chicken fingers).  The Keg Steakhouse and Bar has locations across Canada and the US.  They understand that if “you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” and are testing new lunch offerings for the system at their Garry St. location.  This provides a unique opportunity for downtown Winnipeggers to be gastronomic guinea pigs. 

We started with a classic Cobb Salad: romaine and arugula topped with chicken, avocado, bacon, tomato, eggs and crumbled blue cheese.  My fellow diner tried to stop sampling because we had so many things to taste and he had a difficult time doing so-it was that good.  I am not typically a blue cheese lover but have recently fallen in love with it when paired with bacon.  This salad had it all.

Next up were a couple of flatbreads, one topped with Butter Chicken, peppers and diced pineapple.  The other with peppers again, onions, asparagus, provolone cheese and pesto aioli. These both came with sides and provided a really delicious solo supper for hubby D when I took home the left overs.

The Portabella Mushroom Burger was almost my favourite.  The combination of the peppery arugula, sweet roasted red peppers, creamy provolone cheese and that pesto aioli was divine.  And I haven’t even mentioned the mushroom-which was moist and meaty. 

I said “almost” my favourite, because the best was yet to come.  The Keg Dog was likely the best hot dog I’ve ever tasted!  It was made of beef (of course) and topped with cheddar, avocado, tomato and the pesto aioli.  But the killer topping was the bacon jam!  When tasted separately it was like a compote with a molasses base and totally satisfied my salty/sweet taste buds.  When added to the creamy avocado, crunchy/toasted bun, and pesto aioli (that I could eat with a spoon) it was the most amazing sweet/salty treat that I have had in a very long time. 

Oh, oh, I forgot to mention the Key Lime Pie.  Next time, I’m trying the Dungeness Crab Salad or maybe the Brie Chicken Sandwich, or maybe the Shrimp bowl….  I was negligent in finding out how long the test period is.  So don’t wait-get in there and be a pig (a guinea pig that is).

Kath’s quote: “Aïoli (garlic mayonnaise) epitomizes the heat, the power, and the joy of the Provençal sun, but it has another virtue – it drives away flies.”-
Frédéric Mistral

We are just at the conclusion of our two week stretch at the cottage. 

Preparing food for each other and guests has been a primary focus for D and I and I have loved every minute of it.  But I will also be glad to be home and reacquaint ourselves with the kids and our mandatory Sunday suppers.  Tonight the breeze is actually very cool and I also look forward to the time of making soups and stews with ingredients that I intend to fetch from St. Norbert Market-a pleasure that I also miss when at the cottage. 

I am also anticipating the opportunity to eat alone again.  This is a complicated feeling and one that I cannot express as eloquently as Ann Patchett in this excerpt from “Dinner for One, Please James”.  I read a wonderful collection of food essays earlier this summer in a collection entitled:  “Alone in the Kitchen an Eggplant” (edited by Jenni Ferrai-Adler).

“So while it is with deep and genuine pleasure to nuture those I love, it is an equal pleasure to be off the hook for the responsibility as well, to pass over food that is delicate and beautiful and complex in favour of the item that is likely to spoil.  Eating as a simple means of ending hunger is one of the greatest liberties of being alone, like going to the movies by yourself in the afternoon, or back in those golden days of youth, having a cigarette in the bathtub.  It is a pleasure to not have to take anyone else’s pleasures into account or explain why I like to drink my grapefruit juice out of the carton.  Eating, after all, is a matter of taste, and taste cannot always be good taste.  The very thought of maintaining high standards, meal after meal is exhausting.  It discounts all the peanut butter that is available in the world.” 

Kath’s quote: “Oh, the pleasure of eating my dinner alone!”-Charles Lamb