Why can’t it be Saturday every day? Actually, why can’t it be Saturday every day, where we can all sleep in until we are fully rested, have enough time to make an amazing breakfast, and sit on the couch and watch guilty pleasure TV shows? Now that is a day I can get behind. (more…)
Honey Drizzled Blueberry Bannock…and my evening at with Manitoba Canola Growers
Last weekend, I attended a wonderful culinary event in Brandon, Manitoba hosted by Manitoba Canola Growers. Brandon is about a 2 hour drive west of Winnipeg. Although it isn’t very far from where I live, I hadn’t been to the city in over 15 years. I was very excited to get reacquainted with Brandon and learn more about a wonderful local agricultural association.
This particular event that I was invited to was located at the Grey Owl Restaurant, which is organized by Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts program. The Grey Owl Restaurant is actually only open for a four-week period where students from Assiniboine Community College’s Culinary Arts program create a delicious fine dining experience and menu to the public. After learning that reservations to the Grey Owl sell out in minutes, I felt extremely lucky and honoured to be a part of this event. I also felt a sense of nostalgia as well. When I went back to school about 10 years ago to take Hospitality and Tourism Management, I too experienced working in a fine dining restaurant with the Culinary Arts students at Red River College. It was such a fun experience, and seeing the students in Brandon hosting us brought back a lot of fabulous memories of my own.
I also must mention that the food was to die for! These students are extremely talented. Here are a few pictures that I captured from the awesome event:
The gorgeous building where the Grey Owl restaurant resides.
Before we headed into the dining room, we experienced the Manitoba Canola Growers Culinary Theatre. It is a cutting edge facility that combines media production and culinary classes to for college students. I would kill for this kitchen!
We then took a tour of the actual kitchen facility.
This student is working with sugar to create gorgeous accents for our dessert!
We were also able to nibble on some delicious homemade bread and infused oils before we made our way into the dining area.
This was my appetizer – Charcuterie and Cheese Board. There was a delicious assortment of cured meats, fine cheeses, preserves, chutney and pickled vegetables.
I also have to say that I was at the “fun table”. I dined with 5 fascinating and fun individuals. One of which ordered Pan Seared Scallops and Tiger Prawns, which of course they came to our table to flambé.
I ordered the Manitoba Beef Monter au Beurre, which was an 8 oz. flame broiled classic center cut tenderloin, topped with shiraz thyme butter and served with beets and asparagus.
It was absolutely delicious! I had to remind myself that students, clearly younger than me, were making all this amazing food! I was so impressed.
And of course I had to have dessert. This was the best cheesecake I have ever had. It was a Turtle Cheesecake with pecans, gooey caramel and sinful chocolate. I was so full that I was only able to eat half and took the rest home with me.
Also, remember the sugar that the student was working on in the earlier picture? That piece on top of my cheesecake is his finished product. Just gorgeous.
Blueberry Banana Bread
What a long weekend. I’m utterly exhausted. I think the Saskatchewan country air does that to you. It’s either that or Claudia waking me up at 6:00am to go fishing. She convinced me that it was the only time the fish bite. And, she was right. We ended up catching a bunch of fish – large and small. My fiancé even caught a master angler! We threw the master angler back along with the some of the really small fish, but ended up with a haul of about 5 Pickerel fish (or Walleye). Who knew Claudia was such a fish whisperer?
Along with being able to speak to the fish in Canada, Claudia also makes a mean Banana Bread. I love this recipe. She typically doesn’t add berries, but I had an abundance of blueberries so I figured I’d throw them in there. I’m glad I did. This bread is super moist and flavourful. Claudia even approved the blueberry addition I made and deemed it absolutely delicious. I think you will too!
Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Cookies
Blueberries are everywhere right now. As I mentioned in my post a few weeks ago, I know it’s summer when blueberries are in abundance in the stores and are cheap! I’ve been trying to keep up with the supply in my house before they spoil. That’s how these cookies came about. I wanted to bake something different from the typical blueberry muffins, coffee cake and bars. I was so happy when I found this recipe from the blog Hot Polka Dot. These cookies are moist, rich and soft. Not to mention, the juicy burst of blueberry make them absolutely delicious.
Blueberry Ice Cream
I frequent food blogs a lot. Some people zone out in front of the television after a long day at work. I zone out in front of my computer reading my favourite websites. Other people’s creations almost always inspire me to experiment in the kitchen. (more…)
Blueberry Buckle
I love pastry, especially dense ones like coffee cake. This time of year, I especially love berries. There is nothing better than baking with fresh berries that are in season. This recipe is not a Claudia classic, but one that I felt was worth blogging about. It is adapted from Cooks Illustrated. The dense, lemon flavored cake mixed with delicious plump blueberries is a great dessert to feature in the hot summer months. It’s also extremely simple to make.
Blueberry Lemon Loaf with White Chocolate Icing
For the next few weeks, I am cooking and baking alone. Claudia has decided to leave me and head out of town for a well-deserved vacation. As she left, she gave me simple, yet specific instructions for the blog – post her favourite recipes of mine that I make for her. Simple enough.
This first “on my own” recipe is a new addition to my baking repertoire. I’ve adapted this blueberry loaf recipe from Jen on her How to Simplify blog by adding lemon zest to the loaf batter and making my own white chocolate, lemon icing to go along with it. This recipe makes a dense, sweet loaf which is perfect for blueberry season. Onward!