Laksa! In Montreal!!

My favourite laksa in the world comes from Dickson Asian Noodle House in Canberra, in Australia. It is an absolute monster, stuffed full of delicious morsels of chicken, duck, seafood, pork and tofu, with rice and Hokkein noodles in that famous coconut curry broth. Yum.

Alas, when I moved to Montreal, I quickly discovered that laksa was pretty much non-existant in the city. Sure, Nonya, Montreal's only Indonesian restaurant, makes a small, starter soup version, but laksa is not meant to be eaten daintily, as something to whet your appetite. Laksa is the dish that you crave on a cold winter night, when you want warmth and comfort in your belly, and you want to roll out of the restaurant, oblivious to the chill.

And behold, laksa has arrived in Montreal! The new outdoor eating and seating area at the Atwater market is now home to the Satay Brothers, a Singaporean Hawker-style hut serving laksa lemak! Whilst it doesn't quite recreate the joys of DANH's jumbo laksa, this is a delicious version, with exceptionally high quality ingredients. It is evident, from the moment you order at the counter, that a lot of care and thought has gone into putting together the store, and creating the menu. The laksa can be ordered at varying levels of heat - we went with 2X (the hottest being 3X). You can see the homemade chilli paste resting in the spoon in the picture. It was fantastic and had my lips tingling within seconds. However, I did find that the spiciness masked the flavour of the broth, so I would recommend that if you are new to laksa, try a more mildy spiced version to begin with. Underneath the heat of the chilli, the curry coconut broth tasted just as I remembered it, lip-smackingly savoury and well-balacned. The laksa is served with rice noodles, bean sprouts, shrimp, quail egg, tofu puffs and fish cake ($8). There is an option to add chicken for $2, however, the chicken wasn't available when we visited.

The menu also includes satays, steamed buns, papaya salad and a variety of Singaporean/Malaysian style desserts. Real Singaporean satay..... mmm, I already have my second visit planned! I have a feeling Satay Brothers are going to be a big hit on the Montreal food scene this summer - and deservedly so! Montreal is ready for laksa!

www.sataybrothers.com
(Their website is still under construction but they have a Facebook page with information and pictures)
@ the new outdoor section at the North end of the Atwater Market
Opening times: Monday 10:30-18:00, Thursday-Friday 10:30-20:00, Saturday-Sunday 10:30-17:00

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!

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!

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!



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!

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)

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

Back to reality

What a lovely weekend! We hosted a party at the "cottage"  - we ate delicious homemade spinach dip with jalepeno chips (try it!), drank fabulous wine, watched a Burnese Mountain dog come face-to-face with his first frog, snubbed our nose at the drizzle and went swimming, cosied up on the lounge, tried out homemade cinnamon buns on the BBQ, watched big ships ease by on the river, and just generally relaxed and enjoyed each other's company.

(As I didn't snap many pictures at the party, here is one from last summer in Perth - a Cooper's Extra Strong Vintage Ale. As it is only released every two years, Dad put away a case so that we could enjoy it together on those hot summer afternoons! Unfortunately this week the sun didn't put in an appearance, but it still felt as idyllic.....)

Hamburger Porn

That is all.

(well, it's not quite all. If you happen to live in Canberra, try this hamburger from the greasy chicken place near Fenner Hall. I get one (or two!) every time I am in town. Mmmmm)

Eggplant dip

This is phase 1 of an eggplant dip. Two eggplants, roasted with a halved, unpeeled red onion and a couple of cloves of unpeeled garlic. Scoop out the flesh of the eggplant then puree all with yogurt (I used labne as I had it in the fridge), a little oil, salt and pepper and, very importantly, lemon juice! Serve with greek pita as you wait for your roast vegies to finish in the oven. Yum!

The original recipe is available here