Happy New Year!

Whilst Australia is just waking up to the first light of 2011, those of us on the other side of the world are starting to gear up for our New Year's Eve celebrations! This is only my second New Year's in the snow and it seems that it is going to be quite a...drippy one! The temperature is just above zero, thanks to a storm system working its way across North America and the ice and snow are starting to melt, just a bit. It is quite nice for it to be so warm outside - you can easily go without gloves and I saw some people braving shorts and skirts (which is a little too optimistic I think, but good for them!)

Tonight we are keeping it simple - a party at A's house, to ring in the New Year with friends and good cheer. On the menu:

something sweet (triple chocolate brownies, always the most requested!)

 and something bubbly!

(Another difference between an Australian and Montreal NYE - in Australia we would probably be drinking Australian sparkling wine - here, I have a selection of Italian, French and Luxembourgian bubbly! And yes, I am skeptical about that last one too!)

So, as the old year comes to a close, I will take this opportunity to wish everyone who is reading this - whether you are a far flung friend, a recent blogging friend, or someone who has randomly stumbled upon this site - a very happy and safe 2011. See you on the other side!

Soup!

I love to make soup when the weather turns cold! I don't really enjoy them that much for dinner, as I usually need something a little more substantial, but I love taking them for lunches all week long. My regular soup last winter was a mix of carrot, onion and celery, with minced turkey for some protein, crushed tomatoes and a healthy dose of rosemary. I would never blend it But this year for some reason, blended, "cream of" soups are calling my name - here are some that I have made recently!

Honeyed carrot soup from the BBC Good Food website

 (thanks to H for getting me onto this website, it is fantastic!)

This soup is so delectable, easy and cheap, you should make it this weekend! The honey adds a lovely sweetness, that reminds me of the honeyed carrot side dish my Mum would often make. I made this fairly thick and actually had to thin it with a little water when I heated it at work, but this actually works well for transporting the soup - less sloshiness and risk of spilling!

Green pea soup with lime

(modified from this recipe)

Quite different from the recipe, but it was my inspiration. Using frozen peas makes this soup super quick and super cheap. I thought it needed a little something towards the end, so I added a couple of squeezes of lime. It brightened the flavour (though seemingly dulled the colour) and really made it different (as compared to perhaps the usual pea soup with mint, or the even more usual pea and ham flavour combination)

And un-photographed

Smitten Kitchen's Cream of Tomato soup

One word - wow. I could be wrong, but I don't think Australians really eat a lot of the tomato soup and grilled cheese combo which is quite popular with Americans and reminiscent of childhood rainy day lunches. I could be completely converted though - this tomato soup is amazing (even though I skipped a couple of steps and cut corners to make it faster).

I am thinking, thinking now about what else I can make as single vegetable soups - the idea of a cream of onion soup is intriguing, as is trying to make a fruit based, winter-appropriate warm soup (cream of apple?)

Any suggestions?

Roadtrip to Burlington, VT, USA

G and I took a little road trip to the USA a couple of weeks ago. We stayed in Burlington, which is 160km south of Montreal and lies on the eastern side of Lake Champlain.

Such beautiful blue skies! The weather on our first day was amazing - cold, but brilliant sunshine. We wandered around the downtown area, and along the foreshore, stopping to sit awhile in one of the swinging park benches that line the boardwalk. The great thing about going outside of peak season - everyone had a bench!

The top picture is looking out over Lake Champlain - you can see the Adirondack mountains on the other side of the lake. I will have to visit in the summer and see how busy this area is! The bottom picture is a random, municipal building in Burlington, which was so vivid against the sky and the burnished red of the autumn leaves.

A late lunch at American Flatbread in downtown Burlington. This place was recommended on a number of websites - a big draw being their looong list of house and locally brewed beers. I enjoyed a Cornucopia Spiced Butternut Squash Harvest Ale - it hit the spot after a morning of driving and border crossing negotiations! We shared their house salad, with goat's cheese, and two of their signature pizza-style flatbreads. They were good, although not as good as the raves would suggest - a little dry and the toppings were a bit sparse. Still, they tasted pretty great and the ingredients that were fresh and high quality.

Breakfast at Penny Cluse Cafe, also in downtown Burlington. I decided to embrace the Americana and had the southern-style biscuits smothered in herb cream gravy, with eggs and a fruit plate. The fruit plate was actually the highlight - there was about 11 different fruits on it, including pomegranate, fresh fig and a melon which I couldn't even recognise!

The next day was the opposite of the last - rain that turned into icy pellets that turned into snow, yuck! Luckily we had decided to play tourist and visit the local (indoor) attractions! We went wine tasting at Shelburne Vineyard (see above, they grow special vines which have been cultivated to withstand the extremes in temperature), chocolate tasting at Lake Champlain Chocolates (try their Five Star bar if you get a chance!) and ice-cream tasting at the Ben and Jerry Factory (I know, ice-cream tasting when it is snowing outside? Let me tell you, totally worth it!)

  

On our way back, just before the border, we needed fuel for the rental car (it is cheaper in the USA) and fuel for the border crossing. A quick stop at a McDonalds and look, our visit happened to coincide with the limited edition run of McRib. I think we had these in Australia way back when, but I can't remember them tasting this good! Not sure if they will make it to Canada....

Anyway, it was a great little trip - I can't wait to visit again in the summer!

Balcony gardening - indoors!

The first snow meant one thing - it was time to bring the garden inside for the winter! Last year I was a little tardy and I ended up losing some plants but this year I was on the ball, and just in time! I've chopped the basil back (I am not sure if it will continue to grow now, or if it will be dormant for the winter) and tidied up the mint. The geraniums, whilst not my favourite flower, are going strong and are hardy enough to survive. I am a little concerned about the lavendar, in the white pot, as it is just starting out. Does anyone have any suggestions for helping them survive the winter inside?

However I am not just concerned about survival, but where am I going to put them all? They are living in the kitchen now, as it is the room with the most natural light (no curtains help) but I kind of miss my expanse of checkerboard floor! I wonder if a small shelving unit would be strong enough to support all that soil.....

Scenes from Verdun

Not everyone goes all out with fall and Halloween decorations, but there a couple of houses around me that always put in the effort

See, those big, orange plastic bags? They are multi-functional - they are full of leaves (if you have a tree on your property, you do a lot of raking in the fall) but they are sold with spooky Halloween images printed on the sides, so they can be decorative as they await pick up by the garbage man!

Adventures in pumpkin carving!

As we don't celebrate Halloween in Australia, this is just my third Halloween ever! Whilst I have dressed up in previous years (a zombie geisha in 2008, a crazed butcher in 2009) this year was decidedly low key. But, there was pumpkin carving......

Excavating the pumpkin insides! Special, very costly (26 cents at the Jean Coutu) pumpkin carving implements were used.

If I had been more prepared I would have washed, dried and roasted those pumpkin seeds, but as it was, we carved in the late afternoon, with fading light and rapidly decreasing temperatures. My "pumpkin scooping" hand was numb..... and orange.

Et voila, it is a...... well, it's obvious right? Ok, so this was a free form carve - no stencil, no pencil even! I was going for a cat, in honour of Pistache and all the other cats that congregate around M's house.

(so much for a geeky image, though we both did think of trying to carve Tyler from MR)

It's alive!

Or, at least, alight!

(And one minute after this photo was taken, the wind whipped through the mouth and extinguished the candle)

Ahh, the aftermath. M snapped this photo of the (ever growing, he is surely ready for winter by now) resident squirrel snacking on kitty pumpkin.

First snow!

It snowed last night! Just a couple of centimetres, and it wasn't cold enough for any to stick - this is what was left this morning and it was melting fast! No more snow is forecast for awhile and it should still be another month or so before our first big snowstorm (which hit December 7th last year, the day before I was due to fly out to Australia) Still, the snow is a big reminder that winter is on its way!


(It is Halloween today and you can see our little pumpkin sitting there, waiting to be carved this afternoon! I don't think we have decided on a design yet, but I am guessing it will be something appropriately geeky! More details and pictures to follow!)

This is not going to end well

for the mouse.

Yes, the little grey mouse that just ran across my kitchen floor. Actually it is running across my floor as I write......

Poor mouse.
It chose the wrong house.
It does not know what I do for a living.

No pictures because it is moving too quickly....

Look who made the newspaper!!

It's Perth!!

It's a little funny - the author's husband was sent to Perth for work for two months and she went with him. So she has written an article about them hiring bikes for the day and exploring the foreshore and the river and everything, and it is all very complimentary and lovely. At the end of the article is a little blurb saying that Air Canada connects to Perth through other Australian cities as well as through Asia. There is no mention as to how much it actually costs to get all the way from the east coast of North America to the west coast of Australia, nor tell you that it will take nearly 24 hours of flying time and up to 15 hours of transit time to complete the journey! Which is a good thing really, since Montrealers kind of freak out about the 6 hour flight to LAX......

You can read the full article on the Gazette's website here. The Gazette is Montreal's daily English newspaper.

Burger binge!

Lately I have been craving - and indulging in - burgers!

First, a couple of weeks ago, it was at the newly opened Burger de Ville on Saint Laurent, for comfort food on a rainy Montreal night. I had the "black and blue" - the burger patty was encrusted with ground peppercorns and topped with blue cheese. Delicious! Then Thursday, it was a catch up at McKibbins, on Bishop. Their burgers are always good, however, we noticed a special burger menu out the front which piqued our interest. I took the Buffalo burger, which came basted in hot sauce and topped with blue cheese (There is pattern here obviously). I don't think I have even eaten a Buffalo chicken wing before, but that didn't deter me - the burger was amazing, with just the right amount of bite. G's "la Francais" burger, with brie and bacon, also looked pretty damn good.....

You would think after all of this I would be sick of burgers, but the Buffalo burger at McKibbins was *so* good, I wanted to try and recreate it at home. So behold.....

I have to say, this was super easy to make but very, very delicious. I kept the patty simple - just lean minced beef (oops, I almost wrote ground beef there - another North Americanism that is slipping into my vocabulary!) seasoned with salt and pepper, which I cooked in the pan. I preheated the pan on high, and seared on side of the patty first. Watch the meat change colour up the side of the patty so you know when to flip. Once flipped I liberally applied tabasco sauce to the crust, and then topped it with two, ahem, generous slices of blue cheese. As the patty finishes cooking, the cheese softens quite nicely. I topped the burger with some lettuce, sliced tomato and dill pickle, and a smear of BBQ sauce. It went down very nicely and with that, I can honestly say I have exhausted my burger craving!


(well, for awhile at least!)

Braised cabbage and maple syrup....?

So, say someone had a fridge full of Thanksgiving leftovers. And say, that person woke up one morning and wanted some pumpkin pie for breakfast. And then... say that person really wanted to "balance out" their pumpkin pie breakfast (which came complete with whipped cream and maple syrup), that person might just decide that braised cabbage and apple would be the perfect foil, and whack a scoop onto their not yet licked clean plate that held the pumpkin pie. And you know what that person would have found out? That the smears of maple syrup leftover from the pie went perfectly and deliciously with the braised cabbage! Yum yum yum yum yum!


(and then that person might just google this combination and find out she is not the first person in the world to figure this out. Oh well, if you didn't know about it, try it out - tonight! And if you don't have any maple syrup on hand? Let me know and I will send you some!)

(upon reflection, it should be pretty obvious. When is it not appropriate to add maple syrup to something? Obviously I have learnt nothing in Canada.......)

The end of the farmer's markets

Montreal has some wonderful, all-year farmer's markets (Marche Atwater and Marche Jean Talon are the biggest and best) but, during the summer, lots of little neighbourhood farmer's markets pop up as well. Last year a couple of organisations (Le Sud-Ouest Montreal, Nourrir Montreal and Agriculture, Pecheries et Alimentation Quebec) started an initiative to bring low cost, healthy, fresh food to some of the, well, poorer neighbourhoods. Lucky me, they started one in Verdun, at the Parc du Souvenir, right near the Verdun metro. Open on Fridays 3pm - 8pm, and Sundays 9am - 3pm, the market is a very welcome addition - the produce is local and super fresh and the prices are super cheap! (Think five jalapenos for $1!) I love it! And though it is small, I think that is part of its charm. I really don't enjoy the "challenge" of trying to find the best produce or the best price at the different stalls in the larger markets, so this "one stall" version, that you can see below, suits me just fine!

It was also at this market that I discovered Sweet Lee's Rustic Bakery, a brother-sister baking team that sells a pretty huge array of muffins and cheesecakes and cookies and crumbles and..... you get the idea! They are looking to open a bricks and mortar stall in St Henri soon, but manned a stall at the market to sell their wares and drum up business! Yum! I would often buy a vegie muffin to nibble on whilst I decided on my fruit and veg....

But, as I alluded to in the title - this weekend marked the final weekend for the market. The cooling weather, the end of the harvest and the fast approaching first snow fall mean that a little outdoor market can't survive the winter. It is part of the cycle of life here in Montreal, and is something that takes a little getting used to for an Australian! But the markets will be back next year and so in February, when it is -25C outside and the little park is covered in snow and I am hurrying past to get into the warmth of the metro, I know one of the things I will be looking forward to!

Balcony! Critters! Basil!

The nights are getting colder and it is almost time to bring in the plants on my balcony. I am not sure where I am going to put them all - in my rush of planting this Spring I forgot about the fact that they can't stay outside all year. I have too many pots this year to just keep them on the kitchen floor as I did last winter!

One thing I do know - there are some little critters who are going to be very sad to see them go! I only hope they haven't hidden too many of their goodies in my plants......

I can't take any credit for it, though I do take pride - when I planted these basil plants they were nestled *under* the geranium! I was worried they weren't going to do well! I have eaten caprese salad all summer and still have not made a dent in it! I should have borrowed a food processor and made a kilo of pesto!

Seemingly abandoned in the middle of rue Bernard

I like how they matched their balloons to the pumpkins!

Scenes from an alley on the Plateau

 Fall in Montreal is a beautiful time of year and this past long weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving) was gorgeous!

 Even the slowly shrivelling summer flowers were looking good 

This is the back of a triplex (a three storey apartment building with one apartment per floor). The red ivy was just shining in the morning sun! These "back" balconies are quite common and very popular - most people have a little BBQ set up for summer time grilling and some planter boxes for herbs and flowers.

Not all of the foliage has turned yet. There are many cats on the Plateau and this guy's favourite place is hiding in the leaves on this low stone wall. Whilst other cats around M's house are super friendly (Pistache, the white cat, the subject of a later post) this one is shy and doesn't like to be petted. I am not sure where he will hide once all the leaves fall!

Canadian Thanksgiving! (l'Action de grâce)

It was Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday the 11th October and we hosted a dinner for friends on the Saturday night prior.

On the menu:

Roast boneless legs of Quebec lamb

marinated in a mixture of garlic, rosemary and lemon

(This was partly a nod to Australia and partly because many of our guests were going to be eating turkey on Sunday or Monday)





Roasted cauliflower

Roasted brussel sprouts with fennel pancetta and hazelnuts

Potatoes cooked in bay-infused milk (thanks for the tip H!)

The potatoes were a highlight for me, mainly because I was a little skeptical of the style of cooking - you saute the potatoes in butter first, then simmer then in milk. It seems counter-intuitive and you think 'why would you simmer something that you have made golden and slightly crisp?', but it really works and they are delicious! I am thinking about other vegetables I could try with this method and what other liquids I could simmer them in (Parsnips in milk, yes! Carrots in orange juice? Maybe....!) 

Braised red cabbage with onions and apples (again, H's tip!)

Fresh herb sauce with mustard, rosemary and mint

(no photos of all the sides unfortunately, everything was go, go, go once the lamb was ready)

and...... the whole reason for hosting the dinner

Pumpkin Pie!

(a silky smooth version from Smitten Kitchen)

Served with maple syrup and whipped cream, oh so delicious!! I made this last year and won a few fans, it is definitely the best version I have tasted. The secret to this pie is that you pass the filling through a sieve, which takes out any coarseness or stringiness left over from the pumpkin. It also means that it actually works better with canned pure pumpkin puree (not the pre-seasoned pumpkin pie filling, not freshly made pumpkin puree), which makes preparation even easier. And though I forgot to take a picture, please know that I baked four of these babies, just because "leftovers are mandatory!"

It was a fantastic night! Though Thanksgiving is not a holiday that I feel a strong connection with (although I guess I am thankful for the harvest, since you can probably tell, I am in it for the food!) it was a lovely reminder of how thankful I am that my life in Montreal is as wonderful as it is!



Driving in Mastigouche National Reserve

Civilised scenes from the weekend: the forest floor

Rhubarb, apple and strawberry crumble

Autumn/fall is definitely here - the nights are much cooler now and it is no hardship to have the oven on in the evening! At last Sunday's little farmer's market in Verdun I picked up a huge bunch of rhubarb.Not my favourite vegetable but an awesome addition to fruity desserts, especially pies and crumbles! It is only since living in Quebec that I have discovered the deliciousness of adding of strawberries to pies and crumbles (why don't we do this in Australia? My guess, berries are waaay to expensive to "waste" in a crumble!) and so I thought this was a perfect opportunity to test out a rhubarb, apple, strawberry concoction.

You could follow any normal crumble recipe, using your favourite fruits, but here are my hints -

- partially cook the apple and rhubarb in a saucepan, with a bit of water and lemon

- use a shallow dish for optimal crumble to fruit ratio!

- get creative with seasonings for the crumble topping - I love a little bit of ground ginger and even some black pepper, and I always add rolled oats to the flour/sugar/butter mixture

Mmm, and of course, serve with your favourite dairy deliciousness!

Peanut butter and chocolate chip biscuits

A super easy recipe, easily tweaked to your tastes!

Base recipe -

1 cup of peanut butter (any consistency)

1 egg

1 cup of sugar (I used about 3/4 cup of brown)

I added -

a few drops of vanilla

a little bit of flour (all purpose/plain)

roughly chopped 70% chocolate (the amount is up to you - my personal philosophy is something along the lines of more = better)

a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger

Preheat your oven to 180C. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon, roll into balls, place on a lined baking tray, use the tines of your fork to squish them down a little and bake until golden (15-20 min). Cool on trays for a few minute, then cool completely on wire racks. Pour yourself a big glass of milk and try not to eat them all for dinner!

From Atwater to the Old Port, along the Lachine Canal, on a lazy Sunday afternoon

Construction in the foreground, downtown Montreal in the background 

(and what a perfect blue sky...... it was a glorious day!)

The iconic Farine Five Roses sign

It might be a bit hard to see, but there are hundreds of people amassed by the railings (two floors worth!) on the left hand side of the photo, trying to get a glimpse of the boats!

The Most Appetizing Salads (photographed in a relatively unappetizing manner)

Well, my food photography skills are certainly lacking (though in my defense I needed to take this photo very quickly, given the hungry hoardes waiting out of frame). This is part of the feast we assembled a couple of weekends back, at our party at the cottage. You can see my influence - pickled beetroot ready to grace the burgers (people seemed to enjoy it!) and Australian ETA BBQ sauce (a constant in the care packages from home). There's also Smitten Kitchen's Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad (middle left) and Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad (top right) and R's amazing take on Fattouche (liberal application of sumac is essential!). My Caramelised Onions, labourious but oh so worth it, are lost in the middle somewhere! Everything is recommended!

(Notes on the Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad - my carrots took much, much longer to roast than expected  but it was ok, I had set aside a bunch of time for the onions and the carrots don't really require much attention. The salad traveled very well sans avocado, which I added a bit before serving, along with fresh lemon. I think it would be delicious served with a roast chicken, as an alternative to the usual roast vegies)

Seasons

Summer in Montreal is short. However, it is hot and humid and full of sunshine so it feels like a real summer and you can get away with wearing just shorts and t-shirts for a couple of months (This balance was one of my "conditions" in moving to a city that is blanketed in snow for four-six months of the year) But, summer in the Northern Hemisphere is coming to an end (the blogs say that it is so....) and whilst there are lots of things to love about the fall - the beautiful leaves, the huge collection of scarves I've managed to amass, the pumpkin jam at Cafe Souvenir - I really despise the first day when I forced to choose a pair of jeans over a pair of shorts. Today is that day. Just yesterday we were golfing (!!) in brilliant sunshine, today, well it is pretty miserable outside and the jeans (and socks!) are welcome....

Recent purchases

Two recent purchases, both bargains!

First, pale gold flats from Old Navy (30% off, $17.15CAD)

and a vase from Winners ($12.99CAD)

(the flowers were more expensive than the vase!)

Steak for breakfast!

 

 

 

 This is not my breakfast! It was a highlight (I am paraphrasing here) of M's work trip to Texas! Steak is not really a staple on breakfast and brunch menus in Montreal so he jumped at the opportunity......

Dumplings!

My favourite Chinese dumpling filling is pork, chive and prawn (shrimp) and my favourite place in Montreal to chow down on them is Maison du Nord (2130 St Mathieu, right near Guy-Concordia.) After a couple of nights away from home though, I was looking forward to a night in..... but what about my dumpling craving? I had extensive dumpling experience from my days back in Brisbane, when my Chinese and Taiwanese friends would get us together for a dumpling party. We would make hundreds of dumplings, gorge ourselves silly and then freeze the rest (perfect for a late night snack come thesis writing!) However, despite the best intentions, I have never recreated them at home. Tonight was the night! I decided to take the easy route and use pre-formed dumpling wrappers. They turned out amazingly well (though some were a little droopy, see the bottom photo!) and made for a quick and delicious dinner!

 

I made these with:

Store bought, refrigerated dumpling wrappers
Pork mince
Raw prawns
Garlic chives
Ginger
Rice Wine (a splash or two)
Sesame Oil (very little, it's strong!)
Salt and Pepper
Black vinegar and chilli oil to serve (a must in my humble opinion)

Finely chop all ingredients that need it and mix everything but the wrappers in a large bowl. (Here, some people would suggest tasting the mixture raw, or frying up a little in a pan, to check for seasonings) Then, with dry hands, place a teaspoon of mixture in the centre of a wrapped and use a finger dipped in water to moisten around the edges. Fold over and press the edges together, pleating the fold in whatever manner you see fit! Either cook them in a pot of boiling water (they are ready when they rise to the top) or set them on a tray covered in greaseproof paper and pop them in the freezer (Make sure they are not touching!) When frozen, bundle together and congratulate yourself on stocking your freezer with something other than bagels and Haagen Daaz.....

Let me know if you make your own dumplings and what your favourite fillings are - I feel a dumpling bonanza coming on....

Review: Hecho en Mexico

(blurry from the iphone, but you get the idea!)

Authentic Mexican is hard to find in Montreal (and Australia for that matter!) Not having been to Mexico though, maybe I am not really qualified to say what is authentic, but I know the best Mexican I've eaten was as I was road tripping around California. A new Mexican place, Hecho en Mexico (Made in Mexico) opened up recently down the road from me, and I couldn't wait to try it!

I have been there twice now - the first visit was amazing and I couldn't believe how good it was. We had the place to ourselves, had a lovely chat with the owners and chef (though in broken French, since they didn't really speak English) and the food was outstanding and exceptional value. We had quesadillas (with black beans and feta, see the first photo), a salad (mango and what I think was jicama, dressed with lemon, so refreshing), the lamb (cooked in leaves for hours, meltingly soft, though a small portion), the steak "burritos" and then flan (the second photo, it blends into the plate!). Oh, and horchata! That was as part of a table d'hote, of which there was a 13/15/18 dollar option

The second visit the menu had changed so that there were starters and mains. The prices had increased and the restaurant was full. We waited a long time for our food, though the chips and salsa kept us going. The food was delicious still, but there seemed to be an issue with portion size and perhaps advising people on ordering. We had the quesadillas again, and the beef tartare. The tartare portion, for a starter, was *huge* (at least 200g of meat) and it would have been better if the waiter has advised us to share it. Again, our mains were delicious - steak tacos, and then an enchilada dish with mole sauce and (supposedly) chicken. It came with bacon instead, which really made the dish too rich. It was also a big portion and whilst I loved the mole sauce, the flavours became a little bit to same-y after awhile (so much so that I couldn't finish it, something I rarely do!) The quality of the food was still good, but we realised we needed to change our ordering strategy on the next visit.

I should note too, both times we have been served tortilla chips and salsa when we were seated (and we received extra salsa and chips on request)!

It is a family run small business and there are definitely some issues with the service (on our second visit we were given the wrong bill twice - both times it was a cheaper bill. If we had been less honest they would have lost money and I am sure they can't afford to do that early on) The food definitely makes up for it though!
I would definitely encourage people to visit, just go with a bit of a gentle attitude!


Hecho en Mexico
4816 Rue Wellington
Verdun QC