Canada's celebrity chefs are coming to the NAC!

Canadian celebrity chefs Michael Howell (left) of Tempest and Norm Aitken of Juniper.

Tomorrow is going to be so exciting! I've been invited, along with several other Ottawa food bloggers, to shadow the chefs at the first-ever Canadian Celebrity Chefs Event at the National Arts Centre, and guest blog about the proceedings.

This event is a Canadian first and the brainchild of Michael Blackie, executive chef of Le Café at the NAC. The premise is really clever: A visiting chef from elsewhere in Canada is paired up with a local Ottawa chef to collaborate and produce a main that showcases the best of Canadian flavours.

Each blogger has been assigned to a chef pair and I'm happy to introduce my talented duo as Norm Aitken of Ottawa's Juniper restaurant and Michael Howell of Tempest in Wolfville, N.S.

They are making a crispy-seared transverse Nova Scotian sea bass with a cool fennel and citrus salad, warm gold-beet puree and hay brown butter, dulse and beetroot coulis, and an applewood smoked mussel bridge.

I'm a big fish fan and this sounds absolutely amazing! I can only hope I'll have the pleasure of tasting it on top of seeing how it's made :)

Here's the lineup of all the delicious demonstrations:

Transverse Nova Scotia sea bass crispy seared | citrus cured cool fennel and citrus salad | warm gold beet puree and hay brown butter | dulse and beetroot coulis | applewood smoked mussel bridge by Norm Aitken (Juniper) and Michael Howell (Tempest).

Oyster | honey flavour roasted foie gras terrine | marrow bones and Chardonnay vinaigrette | bacon foam by Marc Lepine (Atelier) and Mathieu Cloutier (Kitchen Galerie).

Shiitake poached pickerel | beurre noissette | dressed grains and greens | crispy crème fraiche oyster by Charlotte Langley (Whalesbone) and Brad Long (Café Belong).

Sweet grass cold smoked Charlevoix veal | crisp potato girdle | Clarmell on the Rideau feta + sage infused retention firecracker spotted prawn crisp | Cloud Horse mead-lychee sting by Michael Blackie (NAC's Le Café) and Michael Lyon (Hotel Eldorado).

Poached Atlantic lobster | Bridge sparkling wine beurre blanc | Le Coprin mushrooms | sweetbreads with candied fennel corn flan, water cress sprouts | black olive purée by Clifford Lyness (Perspectives) and Ray Bear (MIX).

Drunken squab and Newfie screech | tatin of sunchokes | foie gras crepinette by Michael Moffatt (Beckta) and Anthony Walsh (Canoe).

Beet risotto | crispy pig cheek | seared Qualicum beach scallop | Granny smith slaw by Cesare Santaguida (Vittoria Trattoria) and David Rocco (Dolce Vita).

North country bison hash | Quebec goat cheese and cauliflower ravioli | preserved lemon and rendered bacon hollandaise | ancho chili plum gastrique by Robyn Bowen (Empire Grill) and Paul Rogalski (ROUGE).

There will also be a food and wine tasting and reception in the evening. You can buy tickets for the demos and the reception through the NAC's webpage. You can also follow the day's events on Twitter at celebchefott and on Facebook.

Chez Edgar, a food blogger's restaurant in Gatineau

Marysol, author of food blog She Eats Bears, has recently opened her own restaurant called Edgar in Gatineau, Que. It's a sweet little place where you can sit down for a coffee, and buy sandwiches and innumerable baked goods, all made fresh daily. You can also get garden-fresh soups and dips and pasta dinners to go.

S and I took some friends there recently and we all tucked into some wonderful paninis: big, toasted sandwiches full of quality ingredients like spicy eggplant, apples, cheddar and homemade aioli. They're delicious and an incredible value at less than six dollars!



Edgar's treat counter is a feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds. A popular item is the brioche, which comes in unique flavour combinations, such as dates and bacon topped with an orange glaze. There's row upon row of apple and chocolate/walnut tarts, yummy muffins of the day, big sugar cookies and Edgar's signature bars.

Marysol has a lot of experience cooking and baking in various kitchens. Before she opened Edgar, she used to work at the The Urban Element where she would help local chefs test their recipes and make them user-friendly for cooking classes.

Today, she oversees all the cooking and baking at Edgar. In fact, she does most of it herself with the help of a few volunteers, an incredible feat given how hard it is to run a kitchen. For paying customers, her attention to detail is worth it. You can taste the love and tenderness that has gone into her food in every bite.



When Edgar was only a few weeks old, Rachelle gathered a few of us Ottawa-area food bloggers together to visit Marysol after-hours. We helped her prep for the next day and brought her some much-needed food. Rachelle put together a sumptuous cheese and cracker spread, and Lynne, who volunteers at Edgar and is also an accomplished baker, made a delectable sugar pie. (You can see Marysol making the first cut in the photo at the top of this post.) I brought some shrimp with a chili-lime drizzle, a tried and true party recipe. I had such a great time getting to know everyone and helping out! Thanks for a wonderful evening ladies!

Edgar
60, rue Bégin
Gatineau, Que.
819·205·1110

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Salmon potato patties

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! These little salmon potato patties are a nice way to turn boring leftovers into something new and exciting. I combine mashed potatoes (and/or stuffing) and canned salmon in roughly equal parts, and then add an egg, a tablespoon of breadcrumbs, some herbs, and salt and pepper, and then fry the patties until they are golden on both sides. I hope you like them!

Oktoberfest at the Beau's Brewery

Jelly, S and I went to the Beau's Oktoberfest again this fall to eat and drink wonderful things in a farmer's field. This is an annual event hosted by the Beau's Brewery just outside of Ottawa, Ont. It always brings together several great Ottawa-area restaurants that sell rib-hugging fall foods, the perfect accompaniments to the brewery's fantastic beers.

This year the food was really good. Although I was disappointed that some of last year's dishes weren't making a second appearance (like the Urban Pear's mind-blowing cassoulet — take note for next year guys!), I did make some other great finds like this sandwich shown above.

It's some sort of amazing rueben with house-smoked beef, sauerkraut and two kinds of mustard, one of which was made with Beau’s beer. It was being sold by the Branch restaurant in the nearby town of Kemptville, Ont. This restaurant was also at the Wine and Food Show this year selling something similarly delicious.



Our next stop was to get some freshly shucked oysters by Whalesbone restaurant staff. I can't get enough of these. Somehow they taste even better when eaten in the open air over an impromptu table fashioned from a bale of hay!



Ah, the Whalesbone oyster shucker. One of my favourite people. S and I just discovered that you can buy fresh oysters for a buck each at the Pelican Grill. Now we're in the delicious habit of getting a dozen for a mini-splurge on a Saturday night when we're shopping in the area :)



We also visited the Beau's brewery where the woman above was giving out free samples. Beau's brewed a couple of special beers for the occasion and I really liked one of them, the Happy Pils pilsener.



By the entrance, there was a huge mural clearly inspired by Where's Waldo and that depicted hundreds of Beau's revelers. We looked for our missing friends who couldn't make it with us that day. Peanut Butter was there in spirit!



And so were Squeaky and Calimocho :)

White bean soup

This white bean soup is easy to make, delicious to eat and very pretty to look at! It's my new favourite thing for lunch on the weekend. White beans are tasting so good right now. They have a mild, earthy flavour that's a great comfort on a cool fall day.

I adapted this recipe from Laura Calder's chickpea soup on her show French Food at Home. She uses presoaked chickpeas, but I've made this with all kinds of canned white beans, including navy, white kidney and cannelini beans. And instead of just thyme sprigs, I've also been adding fresh oregano and sage because we grew these herbs on our balcony this year.

White bean soup
serves two

1 can of white beans: navy, white kidney or cannelini
one onion, diced
bay leaf
a handful of fresh herbs (sage, oregano or thyme)
chicken stock to cover
pinch of cumin
sprinkle of paprika
drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper

Rinse the beans well in a colander and put them in a small soup pot with the diced onion, bay leaf and fresh herbs. Pour over enough chicken stock to cover the ingredients. Turn up the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes, or until the herbs have turned olive green.

Take the pot off the heat and discard the herbs and bay leaf. Carefully blend the soup with an immersion blender. (I usually do this in the sink in case it splatters.) Add a pinch of cumin to the soup and warm it up on the stovetop again.

Ladle the soup into bowls and season with salt and pepper. Add a sprinkling of paprika on top and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with baguette.

Beef stew

Visit beFOODled on Flickr.

Tis the season for comfort food! I've been making a lot of this beef stew lately. It's enriched with red wine and beef broth, and lots of aromatics give it depth of flavour.

My beef stew obsession, although always lurking in the background, was recently reawakened following a trip to Calgary where S's dad made us a to-die-for oxtail stew that just rocked my world. (His guest post on it is coming soon.) When we returned home, I was inspired to make a signature stew of my own. I've tried it a few times now, and I think I've finally found my stewing groove in this recipe that follows.

Beef stew
Serves four to six

1.5 kg stewing beef, cut into large cubes
1/2 cup flour for dredging
2 carrots, finely diced
2 carrots, cut into large cubes (~3 cm wide)
2 celery ribs, finely diced
2 small onions, finely diced
2 sweet potatoes, cut into large cubes (~3 cm wide)
4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
4 bay leaves
1 Tbsp herbes de Provence
a pinch of hot pepper flakes
1 cup red wine
2 Tbsp tomato paste
3 cups beef stock
1 parmesan rind
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
chopped parsley for garnish
salt and pepper

Dredge the meat cubes in the flour and dust off. Heat some olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan on medium to high heat. Add the meat cubes and brown on each side, seasoning with salt and pepper and turning the heat down as necessary. You want to caramelize the surface, not cook them through. Take the meat out of the pan and set aside. You will now have a deliciously dirty pan with lots of black bits on the bottom (and black bits = flavour!)

Add more oil to that pan, and toss in the finely diced carrots, onions, celery and garlic. Soften while stirring for about five minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the red wine and lift those brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a spatula. Add the tomato paste, bay leaves, hot pepper flakes and herbes de Provence.

Return the meat back to the pan and add just enough beef stock to almost cover. Add in the parmesan rind, which will dissolve to impart a salty hit and deepen the flavour. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low and simmer for about an hour.

After an hour, add the large cubes of potatoes and carrots and more beef stock or water if necessary. Cover and cook for another half hour to an hour on low heat until tender.

Just before you are about to serve, take out the remains of the parmesan rind and stir in the balsamic vinegar. It lifts off any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan again and brightens the flavour of the stewing juices. Plate the stew into bowls, garnish with chopped parsley and serve with baguette.

À La Maison Campbell in Quebec's Eastern Townships

S and I visited Quebec's Eastern Townships this summer and stayed at À La Maison Campbell, a charming bed-and-breakfast that was highly recommended by two of our friends who love good food.

As you can see from the photos, the breakfasts at Maison Campbell are delicate works of art — ideal subjects for a food blogger's camera — and mouthwateringly delicious.

The B&B is run by Jean and Danielle Goyer, who are both incredibly warm and welcoming. Danielle is an artist and a self-taught cook. She prepares the breakfasts every morning and Jean serves them in their sunny dining room.

I don't know how they serve so many people in style every morning, but I'm glad they do because all four courses are wonderful!

The breakfast starts with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice that contains a secret ingredient to make it creamy and fizzy. This is followed by a yogurt cup that is always different from day to day — sometimes with meringue, other times with berry crisp — and showered with lots of pretty petals and leaves from the edible flowers in their garden.

Then you are offered croissants with butter and jam, and a final pièce de résistance, le plat principal du jour. While we were here, this varied from a goat cheese omelette (my favourite), crepes or scrambled eggs, eggs florentine or benedict, and French toast with hazelnut chocolate spread and almond paste.

It was a perfect way to start the day. I really recommend this B and B if you are ever in the Eastern Townships because you will be treated so well and never be hungry! Danielle and Jean even offer their guests a complimentary glass of Port each night, and access to their long, rambling garden, which has a little vineyard and lots and lots of reading nooks. We had a wonderful time and hope to return someday soon :)

















À La Maison Campbell
68, rue Bellevue
Magog, QC
1-888-843-7707


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