A taste of fine dining...
This past weekend, we had the pleasure of having my aunt and uncle visit from Denver, Colorado. I usually only get to see my aunt briefly once a year and haven't seen my uncle for over 5 years now. It was definitely a good time for my family and them to reunite, get re-acquainted, enjoy each other's company.... and, of course, enjoy food food glorious food! heheh. My aunt is what I call my "education" to all the fun things I enjoy... movies, cars, fine dining, etc... heheh, and she started "educating" me at a young age!
On Saturday, I was able to take them to Oh So Good for dessert and coffee. After a brief walk, we decided to try one of the better French restaurents in the Ottawa/Hull region, the restaurent Le Panache (www.lepanache.com) in Hull. It was a wonderful evening of fine dining that I enjoyed very much... :) We all ordered a 4-course set menu that included coffee & dessert and here's a taste of what we had:
Our culinary journey began at the Oh So Good dessert place in the Byward Market, where we started our evening with some coffee and dessert. Mmm... had some amazing carrot cake there. My parents and I spent the evening with my aunt, Anita, and her husband, Nitin.
Foie Gras with a Chocolate and Cherry sauce... I've heard of the use of Foie Gras as a more upscale ingredient in many of the Food network cooking shows I've seen, but have yet to actually taste it. Let me tell you, it definitely lives up to the hype... Foie Gras (actually fattened liver from a duck or goose) is used moreso in French cuisine and our serving was crisp on the outside, and melt-in-your-mouth smooth and creamy on the inside. Absolutely exquisite and the pairing with the sauce was delicious.
Snails (escargots) in a garlic cream sauce and puff pastry. Very delicious and tasty spin on a traditional French dish.
A trio of tuna, scallop, and salmon tartare. Beautiful plating, I love the simplicity.
My main course, Rack of Pork with a Curry Banana sauce. The pork was a bit overcooked but the sauce was very original and savoury. Underneath was mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. This paired nicely with the house white wine I had.
My aunt's order, a lovely Banana Crepe.
My dessert, and one of my favourite kinds! White Chocolate Creme Brulee. I was actually a little disappointed with this one because the custard on the inside was a little too rich and heavy and the consistency was more like pudding than an actual light custard.
All in all, a lovely evening of fine dining! Not shown in pictures, for appetizer, I had a Strawberry Gazpacho (chilled soup) and a sweetbreads dish, many of the others at the table ordered the Rack of Lamb for the main course, and my dad also ordered a creme caramel with mini-fruit for dessert and my uncle ordered a chocolate hazel cake.
On Sunday, we went to Sushi Kan for lunch and you gotta love their all-you-can-order japanese food. Tried everything from sushi to teriyaki to tempura to miso soup to eel on rice. Quite good actually, but man were we stuffed afterwards. In the evening, we had dinner at home for some surf&turf! My dad cooked his famous lobster with ginger and green onion dish while I manned the bbq to cook some chicken drumsticks, steak, and shrimp skewers. I also made a very appetizing spring salad with shallots, mandarin orange slices, and strawberries in a sundried tomato dressing that everyone seemed to really enjoy. Ah yes...and... my proud experimental dish... I made a portabello mushrooms dish on the fly! I took the mushroom caps and spread on some butter, dried herbs, garlic, salt&pepper... grilled them on the bbq... and then added cheese on top to make 'em nice and gooey. It was a big hit! So yummy... gotta make 'em again sometime. :) This was all paired with a nice dry red wine merlot that my uncle bought. Later in the evening, we enjoyed some Blackforest Cake from Swiss Pastries to end the evening.
All in all, a great long weekend for me! One filled with waaaaaay too much food... but it was all quite enjoyable. :)
On Saturday, I was able to take them to Oh So Good for dessert and coffee. After a brief walk, we decided to try one of the better French restaurents in the Ottawa/Hull region, the restaurent Le Panache (www.lepanache.com) in Hull. It was a wonderful evening of fine dining that I enjoyed very much... :) We all ordered a 4-course set menu that included coffee & dessert and here's a taste of what we had:
Our culinary journey began at the Oh So Good dessert place in the Byward Market, where we started our evening with some coffee and dessert. Mmm... had some amazing carrot cake there. My parents and I spent the evening with my aunt, Anita, and her husband, Nitin.
Foie Gras with a Chocolate and Cherry sauce... I've heard of the use of Foie Gras as a more upscale ingredient in many of the Food network cooking shows I've seen, but have yet to actually taste it. Let me tell you, it definitely lives up to the hype... Foie Gras (actually fattened liver from a duck or goose) is used moreso in French cuisine and our serving was crisp on the outside, and melt-in-your-mouth smooth and creamy on the inside. Absolutely exquisite and the pairing with the sauce was delicious.
Snails (escargots) in a garlic cream sauce and puff pastry. Very delicious and tasty spin on a traditional French dish.
A trio of tuna, scallop, and salmon tartare. Beautiful plating, I love the simplicity.
My main course, Rack of Pork with a Curry Banana sauce. The pork was a bit overcooked but the sauce was very original and savoury. Underneath was mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. This paired nicely with the house white wine I had.
My aunt's order, a lovely Banana Crepe.
My dessert, and one of my favourite kinds! White Chocolate Creme Brulee. I was actually a little disappointed with this one because the custard on the inside was a little too rich and heavy and the consistency was more like pudding than an actual light custard.
All in all, a lovely evening of fine dining! Not shown in pictures, for appetizer, I had a Strawberry Gazpacho (chilled soup) and a sweetbreads dish, many of the others at the table ordered the Rack of Lamb for the main course, and my dad also ordered a creme caramel with mini-fruit for dessert and my uncle ordered a chocolate hazel cake.
On Sunday, we went to Sushi Kan for lunch and you gotta love their all-you-can-order japanese food. Tried everything from sushi to teriyaki to tempura to miso soup to eel on rice. Quite good actually, but man were we stuffed afterwards. In the evening, we had dinner at home for some surf&turf! My dad cooked his famous lobster with ginger and green onion dish while I manned the bbq to cook some chicken drumsticks, steak, and shrimp skewers. I also made a very appetizing spring salad with shallots, mandarin orange slices, and strawberries in a sundried tomato dressing that everyone seemed to really enjoy. Ah yes...and... my proud experimental dish... I made a portabello mushrooms dish on the fly! I took the mushroom caps and spread on some butter, dried herbs, garlic, salt&pepper... grilled them on the bbq... and then added cheese on top to make 'em nice and gooey. It was a big hit! So yummy... gotta make 'em again sometime. :) This was all paired with a nice dry red wine merlot that my uncle bought. Later in the evening, we enjoyed some Blackforest Cake from Swiss Pastries to end the evening.
All in all, a great long weekend for me! One filled with waaaaaay too much food... but it was all quite enjoyable. :)
2 Comments:
This is just a little of preview of your future dinnig habits. Looks good. Maybe your buddy from Denver will get an invite to live it up like this.
-Alonzo
Timmy, you haven't blogged in months, not to mention not answering Alonzo's email. Come on bro!
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