Fancy Boy Dinner- Roasted Halibut from The Balthazar Cookbook

The Balthazar Cookbook, from the folks who founded the New York restaurant of the same name, is one of our favourites. The recipes are not overly demanding and they are very reliable. We love this roasted halibut dinner- delicious fresh fish; an earthy base (literally, a base) provided by the roasted potatoes, and a beautifully balanced topping of chopped fresh tomatoes punched up with "pickled" shallots, and a satisfying crunch of toasted sliced almonds.

One thing about this volume (which we've noticed before in other cookbooks from the kitchens of restaurants) is that they often rely on the use of several basic "house recipes", which they group together in a section at the end of the cookbook. This can create a hazard for the unsuspecting or unprepared cook- the shock of realizing after you've begun preparations at 9:00PM that the little confit on page 242 requires 45 minutes on the stove top! Well, we confess to having taken a few time-saving shortcuts last evening, and we don't think the results were diminished in any way. Firstly and foremost, we did not bake the potatoes in the oven. We gave them a short steam, then finished them of in a sautée pan. Being farm-fresh fingerlings, they were absolutely delicious. Secondly, we did not spend 45 minutes gently reducing our sweet and sour shallot mixture- more like 15 minutes in a larger diameter saucepan. And finally, we never remove the skins from our tomatoes. If someone wants to do that for us when we're paying for dinner, then go ahead, knock yourselves out! But chez nous, we always eat our tomato skins!

We paired our dinner with a Niagara white from Malivoire. The "Guilty Men" of the label refers to the fact that the winemakers once vowed to never produce a blended bottle, but are now guilty of recanting and doing just that. This is a nice blend of Reisling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay. The Riesling allowed this wine to pair well with the sweet and sour shallots, we thought.

So here it is- simplicity on a plate, really. Golden browned potatoes, crushed rather than mashed, the luscious roasted halibut, topped with fresh tomatoes from the "balcony farm" which have been "infused" with a confit of sweet and sour chopped shallots (simmered in sherry vinegar and white and brown sugars long enough for it to reduce to a syrup), all sprinkled with toasted sliced almonds and fresh Italian parsley.

Delicious!!

Saigon Subs: the steak sandwich redux

We've mentioned before that a fave cookbook of ours is Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by locals Alford & Duguid. And within that favourite book is a favourite recipe for the Vietnamese Submarine sandwich.

One thing that often happens when cultures clash and then meld is that exciting new foods are born. In the best instances the sum will be greater than the individual parts. In the case of the Saigon Sub, Vietnamese cooks took French components, specifically the baguette, pâté, and mayonnaise and married them with sweet, sour & salty carrot pickle and coriander. Other than those key elements, the list of ingredients is widely variable & up to you.

In our case, we prefer to add sliced medium-rare rib eye. Because there are a lot of ingredients stuffed between the crusty layers, we will generally share a small mini-baguette between us. (We use the Ace Bakery frozen baguette, which we find has both the correct density and crust texture)

The balance that the pickle and the pungent herb bring to the richness of the European ingredients is nothing short of divine. Actually, we prefer to think there's something redemptive about the raw carrots & cilantro that make up for the fact that you're scarfing down all that red meat, liver and eggs!

Our pal Mark B.

What is it about Mark Bittman? Every time we have seen one of his videos or read an article,we immediately have to try out what it is he has either cooked or eaten.A friend of ours swears by his caraway bread recipe baked in a pot in the oven! Check him out on YouTube.
Last year brought Food Matters,A Guide to Conscious Eating.Same thing we jumped on this baby and it's been a source reference to us ever since(notice the post-it's).Such well thought out ideas on how and why we consume(ie: government policy,big business marketing and global economics) and what the effects of that over consumption does not only to our bodies but to the planet.
We guess it's his relaxed approach that we love.There is no fire and brimstone here,you can take a bit of this and a bit of that and see how you can intergrate it into your lifestyle.
By simply cutting meat and processed foods out of two of his three meals a day Mr. Bittman saw huge improvements in his health and blood levels.Call it being a vegetarian from 9 to 5. We like this and highly recommend this book ,even just for the recipes alone which there are over 75 as well as a sample month of planned meals for us lazy types.Check it out.............. two big thumbs up.

Books

A Book Review

On my way home to Montreal, for the usual Christmas festivities with the parental unitz I came across Cirque du Soleil 25 ans de Costumes being advertised in the train magazine.

Having always loved Cirque du Soleil, I knew I would have to get my hands on this book since it was a celebration, of not only their 25 years of performing, but also the celebration of the costumes and the designers so instrumental in making “Cirque”what it is today.

The spectacle that is Cirque du Soleil is just that a spectacle.

The acrobats, the clowns, it’s all too magical. Here was my chance to see these incredible costumes, up close and in detail.

To paraphrase Ernest Hemmingway as the book does “The circus is the only place on earth where one can dream with their eyes wide open”.

What wonderful dreams these exquisitely designed costumes truly are and how wonderfully presented they are in this book

All is explained and chronicled, from the first sketches to the first of many prototypes..

Such details as the weight, how it will wear and how, the chosen fabric, can withstand the rigors of repeated cleaning, and of course, “Can we get enough yardage?” for the doubles and sometime triples needed for a show of this magnitude. The ability for unencumbered movement, involving many fittings, is the primary function.

This book is filled with photos of the workshops, sewing and dye rooms, even the making of all the wonderful, fantastical shoes that make the costumes of Cirque du Soleil what they are.

The book starts in 1984 and goes on to showcase most of its past and current productions, and credits all of its many designers through the past 25 years. Who knew Thierry Mugler worked his “special eye brow raising talents” with “Cirque” in 2003.

As you can pretty well establish now I highly recommend this book. If you cannot read French the visuals alone will blow your socks off. I must also mention that not only are the costumes out of this world but the artistry of the make-up department of Cirque du Soleil play a HUGE part in making the designers vision come even more to life.

CIRQUE du SOLEIL

25 ans de COSTUMES

is available through Les Editions LA PRESSE

librarie.cyberpresse.ca

$39.95

Dinners

OK, so this was pretty good. Taken from Jamie Kennedy's SEASONS cookbook.
Poached Black Haddock with Roasted Winter Vegetables and a Horseradish Cream Sauce.

Along with this fine bottle: 2008 Cabernet Franc VQA from Niagara Peninsula
a fine evening was had by all.