Enough of technology today, let’s talk food.
Last night we had a family dinner to celebrate Meaghan’s 22nd birthday and her graduation from the Italian Culinary Program at George Brown College.
This is the end of three and half years of school for her which saw her graduate from the basic two year Culinary Arts program last spring and then enrol in the post-grad Italian culinary program for three straight semester last May. As part of it she went to Italy to study at ALMA and then worked as an apprentice in a famous Italian eatery.
We went to vist her last November and spent a couple of weeks exploring Northern Italy which you can read about here.
Anyway, we love food. And we love cooking. Traditionally Megs demands to go for sushi for her birthday, a relationship with seafood which dates back to her fifth birthday when her grandfather brought back some live lobster from an east coast business trip and my mother refused to cook them because it would mean killing them.
We did not have any such issues. Since then she’s demanded lobster, escalating to sushi about the time she turned 14 or so.
This time she wanted to cook something special with me for the family, which on Sunday consisted of myself, her brother Jon, boyfriend Jaime and, of course, the lovely Tina, my partner in crime and life. Andrew, unfortunately, missed out because he was with his dad.
This being a grand occaision and Meaghan knowing no bounds of extravagance when it comes to food and my wallet, suggested we go to the St. Lawrence Market and get inspired.
And so we did, first stopping at Cumbrea’s an organic butcher in Toronto to pick up some Wagyu steak. This is the Alberta version of Kobe Beef and is very expensive.
Unfortunately, we grabbed two rib eyes, thinking it would be a main course and at $50 a pound it came to $140!!!
Down at the market we splashed out another $100 on some massive dry scallops (unlike “wet” scallops, these don’t sit in that milky preservative and get all, well, wet, which makes them cook differently, a slab of Alaskan black cod, duck breast and sundry veggies and fruits like fresh figs, heirloom tomatoes, proscutto, cheeses, pears and the like.
Sunday we cooked; Tina cleaned as we went along!
Here’s how it turned out. The pictures were just images taken on the fly so they’re not the usual food porn, but they’ll give you an idea. Like this hunk of rib eye to the right. It was enough for five or six people because it was so rich. But more on that 80 buck steak later.
Here’s the line up:
Below: Duck breast over spring greens with sugared, toasted walnuts with balsamic and shallots dressing
Below: Seared Scallops over chorizo sausage with sherry-cream red pepper sauce
Below: Black Miso Cod with grilled fennel and baby broccoli flavoured with garlic ginger and lime served with a sesame miso sauce.
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Below: Risotto with peas and mint mounted with aged Quebec goat cheese
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Below: Wagyu ribeye steak crusted with rock salt and peppercorns with purple potatoes and portebellos mushrooms with baby red uonion, roasted cherry tomatoes and morel sauce.
Finally for desert we had roasted figs with vanilla soy ice cream with toasted chestnut flakes. But we forget to take pictures we were so exhausted!!!!
Now, you have to remember, this is a learning experience for us. We basically take things and try them and see what works and what doesn’t and the presentations were better than the pictures I think.
And Megs is a cook. Very highly trained but still on the first steps of her career and a long way from being a chef so she will get better and better. Thats not a knock, it’s reality.
And if this is the start, then there are some great things ahead because this ain’t the family dinners I grew up with.
Five years from now I won’t be able to afford to eat at her restaurant, even if I bought the ingredients.
And the food? The Wagyu was interesting. It is very very fatty and we opted to cook it hard on both sides and leave it bloody in the middle lest we melt all the marbling - which is what you’re paying for.
It is very tasty but not something I would crave again. I think, for example, a tri-tip or a skirt steak is much better in terms of taste and value. In fact I had a piece of skirt steak - my favourite cut - from Cumbrae’s for lunch the other day and it brought me more pleasure. I also like flank(!) steak pounded out with just salt pepper lime and olive oil grilled until just the middle is pinkish red. What I’m saying I guess is that, we had to do it, but it really isn’t worth the hype at the end of the day - unless, of course, someonelse is picking up the tab. We have a smaller rib eye and we’ll cook that too…perhaps differently to see if our opinions change.
Tina’s position, however, won’t change. She likes steak done like burned toast, to our chagrin. So all this is lost on her. She doesn’t eat seafood much either, nor sushi, though she gamely tried a few bites and prounounced it all edible. What a trooper!
And more for us.
The scallops were wonderful and worth getting the dry version. They cooked up brilliantly. The duck got good reviews around the table and the msio cod is an absolute knock out. This is the second time I’ve made it and getting the balance of the sweetness is the key.
The risotto was really great with the fresh mint from the garden and the aged Quebec goat cheese from the St. Lawrence Market.
Finally, the soy ice cream was a little strange but worked with the figs. Jon and I are lactose intolerant so finding an ice cream we can eat without pills is always good.
And wines? Didn’t go as crazy. A simple South African Goats Do Roam red with a Kiwi Oyster Bay Chardonnay worked as the backbone with some California Barefoot Merlot and Aussie Yellowtail Chardonnay as the run up during the apps.
You’ll have to excuse me now. I’m cooking dinner tonight and I have to get the box of Mac and Cheese from the basement.
It’s all we can afford for the rest of the month.
