A Taste of Decadence

Last week I teased you with the my upcoming trip to Decadence - Chocolate, Wine, Cheese which opened the month long Savour Food & Wine Festival organized by RANS - the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia.

I arrived at the Decadence event last Thursday a bit early and got a glimpse of what it takes to put such a splendid evening together. Don't you just love the tower of glasses? First, I must admit that while I definitely like to drink wine, I'm a novice when it comes to pairing the best wine to really enhance the flavors of a dish. In fact, whenever I plan a dinner party, I head straight for my local wine shop for expert suggestions. Naturally, I was excited to get some tips from the expert sommeliers.

Before I share some photos and the menus, I do want to speak about my favorite element of the evening. The chefs are Culinary Arts & Pastry Arts students of Nova Scotia Community College -Akerley Campus under the guidance of their brilliant chef instructors Chef Sean Kettley and Chef Jean-Luc Doridam. In fact, after last year's Savour Food & Wine Show I was fortunate to have Chef Kettley give me a very informative tour of their facilities. The students went on to win the Atlantic Culinary Competition, and a chance to become part of Culinary Olympics 2012. I hope someone from NSCC wll fill me in on the details... But I digress... Back to Decadence...

The students were challenged to pair artisanal cheeses and succulent chocolate, both in their raw form and in finished dishes with wines, ports and dessert wines. The first hour features cheeses paired with wines while the second half of the evening is dedicated to chocolates and their wine, port and dessert wine pairings.

So let's take a little photo journey... and excuse the less than stellar photography... I was more into tasting than filming.

The Twelve Tasting Stations: I loved them all, but I'll start with the two Ports that were served. First I admit to not really being a Port drinker... don't get me wrong, pears poached in Port is an awesome thing to eat... but I have this antiquated notion of "Old Boys Clubs" and gentlemen with big fat cigars when it comes to actually drinking any. All that changed ...
...Taylor Fladgate 10 year old Tawny Port (Portugal) - I could have just stayed with this all night!
It was brilliantly paired with slices of Oka and a Pickled Asparagus & Oka wrapped in Prosciutto. The chocolate dessert Madagascar Manjari 64% Valrhona & a chocolate tartelette.

Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vintage Port (Portugal) was served with cambozola (a delightful mellow Italian blue cheese) and Cambozola, Smoked Salmon & Caramelized Onion Croque Monsieur dipped in roasted garlic custard before frying - definitely one of my stars of the night.
Chocolate: Nova Scotian 70% Dark Chocolate from Just Us! And these gorgeous brownies.
Pfeiffer Rutherglen Muscat (S Australia)was paired with one of the more elaborate and unique dishes using goat cheese - Orange Tarragon Cheese Cream with Prawn & Red Pepper Sabayon.
This one needs a second photo of the little logs of goat cheese sprayed with white chocolate. The whole dish was pure Heaven.
The dessert chocolate was Venezuaelan caoba 41% El Ray and a Hazelnut chocolate parfait.

Peter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz (S Australia) was paired with double cream Brie and a whimsically presented Torched Maple Brie with Spiced Candied Pecans (Unfortunately my photography skills were not up to snuff on this one).
Chocolate dessert Tanzania 75% cacao Bary (France) and these cute and tasty Pillow Cookies.

Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand) paired with Pepper Jack Cheese and these wonderful Salt Cod & Pepper Jack Fritters (best finger food ever).
The chocolate was Jivara 40% Valrhona (France) and Milk Chocolate Truffles with Cocoa Nibs.

Columbia Crest Riesling was was paired with Fox Hill Cumin Gouda (Nova Scotia) Cheese and a Roasted Baby Pear Salad with Cumin Gouda and Curried Apple Dressing. The Chocolate Irapa Rio Caribe 40.5% El Rey (Venezuela) and these stunning Chocolate and Strawberry Mirroir.
Jaffelin Macon Village Chardonnay (France) paired with Neufchatel cheese and Porcini Mushroom & Neufchatel Tart. Chocolate: Ivoire Select 25% Callebaut (Belgium) and white chocolate Bavarian with Lemon Curd. No photos, but delicious.

Bouchard Aine Pinnissimo Pinot Noir (France) paired with Port Salut - A country Pate with Port Salut & Onion Marmalade.
Chocolate: Equatoriale Noire 55% Valrhona (France) and Chocolate Creme Brulee.

Carmen Gran Feserva Merlot (Chile) paired with Chester Beer Cheese and an elegant and so delicious Hazelnut Crusted Lamb loin with Chester Beer Cheese & Merlot Reduction...
I'm still drooling over this one. Chocolate: Orropuce 65% cacao Barry (France) Chocolate Chiboust with Sour Cherries.

MAN Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon (South Africa) paired with Pecorino Romano and delicious, whimsical Caesar Salad Cones.
Chocolate: Gran Cru 85% Michel Cluizel (France) and cocoa chocolate truffles
(I think the photo is the appropriate truffle photo - by the time I was tasting all the chocolate I had forgotten to write down which was which).

Grand Pre Sparkling Wine (Nova Scotia) paired with Mascarpone for this fanciful Mascarpone and cantaloupe Caviar Shooter.
Chocolate: Elianza Ivoire 33.5% Michel Cluizel (France) and Raspberry & White Chocolate Frangipane.
Grand Pre Pomme D'Or Apple Cider Wine (Nova Scotia) paired with Old Dubliner Aged Chedder to balance the sweetness of the wine. Aged Cheddar & Sweet Potato Tarts.
Chocolate: Ivoire 35% Valrhona (France) and White Chocolate Cheesecake with Sour Apple Compote.

All in all.. a fabulous evening and a perfect beginning to a month long festival. If you happen to be in Nova Scotia this month, you can Dine Around at participating restaurants spotlighting great prix fixe menus; and in Halifax especially, you can attend the Rare & Fine Wine Tasting on Feb 18th and culminate the festivities with the Seventh Annual Savour Food & Wine Show on March 2nd.
Cheers and Bon Appetit!

Easy Pasta Lunch for a Crazy Busy Day

We've all had one of those days when we're a little like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, you know the line..."I'm late, I'm late for a very important date". And btw, I am counting down until Tim Burton's 3D version comes to town - March 5th.

Today has been like that... I put up some split pea soup (I had to add some lentils too - too thin and no more split peas in the house, oh well). This because I bought even more short ribs (this time flanken style) - after that amazing braised short rib recipe, I've got flanken on my brain. Again I digress, please bear with my scattered brain - in fact, it really demonstrates how frenetic my day is.

Off to a doctor's appointment (nothing to worry about, just a check up), short respite at a lovely coffee house here in town - The Wired Monk, after which I raced home to write about it for Yelp.Ca and realized that I have to get everything else done before 5pm to attend the Savour Food & Wine Show (lucky me and if you're in Halifax, I think you could possibly beg and get a ticket). I'll get to taste delicious dishes whipped up by top chefs from Nova Scotian restaurants and sip martinis, wines and beers from Nova Scotian producers (it is a celebration of all that Nova Scotia has to offer) - don't worry, my Honey will be dropping me off and picking me up after it's done.

Which brings me back to some of the things left to do before getting ready (I probably should do some exercise...nahhhh, probably not going to happen.) I have to eat, I want to make supper so my Honey doesn't starve and ...well tomorrow is Presto Pasta Night Roundup, so I don't have much time to get my entry in.

Solution - whip up some pasta and make enough so Honey has supper. Which led me to pick up some Olivieri Whole wheat Five Cheese Tortelloni and because, I often think "cheese" when needing comfort, my "sauce" had even more cheese - the last of the herb & garlic Boursin, last of the Chevrita goat cheese (somewhere between Brie & Camembert) about 1 cup of ricotta, some lemon zest and juice plus a grinding or two of black pepper and tossed with some chiffonade fresh basil leaves. Add a little pasta cooking water and - voila! a delicious, easy, stress reducing lunch. No measurements, only one pot to clean, since after draining the tortelloni, I just used the same pot and added everything else in, tossed, tasted until I was happy and ...DONE! One less thing to worry about.

So what are you sharing with Presto Pasta Nights? Please send your entries to Michelle, Italian Mama Chef , this week's host before midnight tonight. Just send your links to micie66 (at) yahoo (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

Next week Presto Pasta Night will turn THREE! I hope you join us and I hope you tell all your friends to join us too. I'll be hosting, so send your tasty treats to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.

Finally - A Visit to Ran-Cher Acres

As you know, I always get some "must haves" at the Halifax Saturday Farmers Market and top of the list is some fantastic goat cheese from Ran-Cher Acres. I don't know how many times I've promised to come by the farm and see the goats, but I finally made it yesterday.

The sun was shining and the day was perfect for a drive through the valley, passing wheat and corn fields, plus lots more. They don't call Route 1 "The Harvest Route" for nothing! The flowers for zucchini, squash and cucumbers, and first hint of apples on the perfectly lined orchards could all be seen from the road. But I digress. I was on a mission to see goats and learn about cheese making.

The goats are all so cute and so curious. One of these days, I must visit with my grandsons...of course, they'll want to take one home, I'm sure. My favorite buck (or as we used to call them in the olden days...billy goat) - top of post - has that very distinctive punk "just got out of bed" look. And did you know that each goat has his/her own special look?

This milking goat was so calm and regal, I just had to capture her. In all there are at least 150 goats on the farm - 72 milking, 10 bucks for breeding, and 70 kids. That's Randy, below, giving the kids an extra treat of hay. Most of them were too busy eating to check us out.

I arrived way too late to actually capture the milking process...that happens at around 7am. But I did get to see some of the cheese and yoghurt making. The process usually takes two days from start to finish...

Here's the "recipe" for making my favorite soft goat cheese, just in case you want to make your own....
Have your own goats handy so that the milk to cheese process starts with very fresh milk (I'm talking about hours here) 1 batch: 200 liters/quarts of goat's milk makes 171 containers (170g/6oz). I didn't even ask about how much culture and rennet...sorry!
Pasteurize in giant stainless steel vats at 185 degrees F for about 1.5 hours;
Let it cool to 110 degrees F
Add culture and rennet and let it drain in special bags overnight and set
Two options...fill the circular molds or cut into squares, easier for mashing in ...oops, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Cut the tubular mold into circles and leave plain, (that's as much of Cheryl - Randy's better half, as I got)
or press them into a mixture of coarsely crushed peppercorns and garlic (this one is a favorite of many of the better restaurants in NS. In fact, one Halifax chef (who shall remain nameless) who spends some time in Newfoundland every year, brings a suitcase full whenever he heads up there.
Third option....mash up those squares of drained cheese and add some dried herbs and spices.
Here are some of my favorite uses for the creamy goat cheese....cayenne & garlic which is fantastic with pasta, like Spicy Sacchettini with Arugula & Pancetta or added to eggs as they're being scrambled.
Herbes de Provence and Italian Herbs served with a baguette, flipping through foodie magazines is a perfect Saturday afternoon. (Their gouda is pretty awesome too).
How about some crumbled feta on a simple green salad? I also thinly slice some of the spiced gouda for my Salade Nicoise.
And the yoghurt...obviously fantastic with fresh fruit (lots of U-pik opportunities in the valley), but what about Sharron's favorite...MUSH?

Not up for making your own cheese or yoghurt...you're not alone. But if you do happen to be around Nova Scotia, you can find some of Randy & Cheryl's awesome Ran-Cher Acres cheeses at several farmers' markets - in Halifax, Hubbards, Berwick, Middleton; lots of wonderful restaurants around the province and there's always Pete's Frootique in downtown Halifax and in Bedford. And if you don't happen to be lucky enough to live or visit in Nova Scotia, please support your local farmers and cheese makers.

This is this week's spotlight on fantastic local Nova Scotian food producers. To find out what's going on in your neck of the woods and how to do your part, visit the EatRealEatLocal website.

Hellmann's will donate 25 cents for every time you talk about real food on blogs, in emails, twitter or facebook. Just add #realfood . Hopefully they'll be donating $25,ooo to the Evergreen Foundation by the end of September.

It's Wednesday and Hooray for NY TImes & Mark Bitten

It's Wednesday, it's sunny and life is grand! What have I been smoking or drinking you ask? Coffee from Starbucks, which also adds to my good mood, but that's not really the reason. It's the day that the NY Times has its Dining Section and my favorite food writer...Mark Bitten and his blog. I'm sure I could read his blog any other day, but I usually start my Wednesday morning ritual with him.

This week he wrote a great article about TV chefs. It brought back two memories ( I always love it when that happens):

• the professional painter my mother hired years ago to paint our kitchen (my father had a great many skills, but handyman was not one of them). The painter made the job of papering the kitchen look so effortless that I decided to paper one straight wall in my bedroom. It probably would have taken him 10 minutes to do what took me the entire day with much sweat, cursing and lots of bubbles and pleats in the finished job. TV celebrity chefs do the same thing often. How come my kitchen doesn't look nearly as organized during cooking?

• and my first TV appearance on CTV's national morning show Canada AM. It was to promote the annual Hadassah-WIZO fundraising bazaar. Our chapter, among other things, made cheese blintzes (typically sold out within an hour of the doors opening), and I was to make some on Canada AM while talking about the bazaar. I didn't know how much time I'd have so I went prepared with ingredients - in case I was to start from scratch; filling and batter; ready made crepes; and finished blintzes. I didn't realize that the set is not like my own kitchen where appliances are fixed to the wall and floor...funny thing how they move around. Even funnier was the fact that, although I brought everything (at least I thought I did) I forgot to bring water to add to the flour and eggs for the batter. I was prepared to "pretend" that I was adding the water - it was live, after all and I only had 10 minutes in the end - but magically, a stagehand placed a jug of water on the counter without being seen! Ahhhhh, the magic of television.

So what stands out...i.e. frustrates you when watching the "experts" cook?

A Request I Couldn't Refuse - Cassata alla Siciliana

A while ago, a cassata fan - Patrick, emailed me for the REAL recipe I talked about when I created a South Beach Diet friendly version of this awesome Italian dessert...pound cake, ricotta filling with candied fruit, chocolate and orange liqueur, covered with a deadly frosting of chocolate, coffee and butter

So without further ado...I could have just emailed the recipe, but, you know me...I had to make it so that I could take a photo and share it with the rest of you.

Cassata alla Siciliana

Perhaps if we close our eyes, and eat it standing up, we'll forgo the gazillion calories.

A Little Greek to Brighten the Day

Nothing invokes sunshine to me, like thinking of the Greek Islands. I don't know why, really since I have never been. It is high on my "Places to See" list though, I assure you. I adore their food and love every Greek I've ever met. They're so charming, warm and full of life.

I just got the latest Donna Hay Magazine and naturally everything looks awesome, but I was particularly drawn to a number of great Mediterranean looking dishes that I'll be trying out over the next week or so.

And I thought I'd start with this one, made with vine leaves from my local fantastic Mid Eastern Food Emporium ...

Haloumi Baked in Vine Leaves

What more can I say, besides...dig in! And because oregano is definitely a herb and vine leaves are definitely plants...I'm sharing with Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging Event, this week hosted by Maninas from Food Matters.