MONTRÉAL VILLAGER

OFF TO OTTAWA - DECEMBER 17, 2009

2009-12-17T07:31:00.009-05:00

my Job brings me to ottawa...

quite often. Actually, all my colleagues are back in Ottawa and I am now, the only person who works from Montréal. Long story short is that my husband and I always wanted to move to Montréal as we were here every weekend to begin with and we were tired of having spent the past five years packing our things up every Friday to stay at my in-laws in the north shore and then to return to our home in Aylmer on Sunday nights. By the wonderful interventions of my friend Bill, he talked with an old acquaintance of mine who runs the shop I am currently in. I had the skills they were looking for but they have no office space left so working from Montréal seemed to appeal to everyone involved.

To this day I owe Pamela (my boss) and Bill a huge amount of thanks and appreciation because if it were not for them, I would not be living the life I've wanted for quite some time.

Why am I blathering about this? Well, it's because I will be in Ottawa twice a week for the forseable future so I may not be able to blog as much as I would like. Albeit, I think my husband is the only reader of this blog - and that may be an overestimation of readership itself.

So have I ever prepared something successfully? Well, while they're far from perfect I do believe that my second attempt at croissants was fairly successful. The ones I prepared are expected to be smaller and not the size of the mutant COSTCO ones. I also prepared some homemade maple whipped cream on the side. It was a rather nice breakfast. Yes, the photo above is what I prepared.

I also prepared oeuffs en cocotte which was absoltuely delicious.

So here are my examples of somewhat successful attempts at cooking. More will follow.

I will leave you with the following, which will be a focus of future posts I expect.

There is a restaurant in an auberge here in Montréal that I have been wanting to try out for sometime, called Filles du Roy. It is located in my absolutely favourite part of the city in vieux Montréal.

Here are some pictures. I will go into greater detail when I am not catching a train to Ottawa.

À Bientôt!

THE SECOND AND THIRD COOK BOOKS

2009-12-15T17:23:00.007-05:00

THE SECOND AND THIRD COOK BOOKS

I am quite sure I know what you're thinking. The man hasn't been able to prepare a single item from his first book properly, so what's he doing going out and buying TWO more French cook books?

Let me just say if you're thinking my mind and therefore this blog will flow in a linear order, you're going to be extremely disappointed. Today I feel like talking about the books I have bought and later this week I will most likely discuss the series of meals and recipes I have actually successfully produced.

Between this summer when I first purchased my Williams-Sonoma cook book and today, I have successfully prepared a number of recipes, in addition to many that I have learned from Laura Calder's show on the foodnetwork.

Then it happened. I saw Laura's Christmas special at the Chateau. It was here where I was introduced to Laura's mentor and therefore had to go and buy her book as well - Anne Willan.

I truly believe that Anne Willan lives the life that I want... nay, I deserve! Albeit, I deserve it without all the hard work I am sure she put into it.

Anne lives in this amazing old world Chateau in Burgundy, France. It is in settled in the beautiful French country side where she has her own potager (French for vegetable garden) to feed herself and her staff (I am still confused if the staff are simply students). It is simply put, what one envisions when they think of living in high society in the French country side. It is also what I envision to be heaven - if it were not for the fact I am an athiest.

Interestingly enough, she is selling her Burgundian Chateau should anyone be interested:

http://www.chateaudufey.com/

Where was I going with this? Sadly, I don't think anywhere...

In any event, I am now using this new book as the guide for the Christmas dinner that I am responsible for preparing - for our lovely friends Pierre-Jean and Jenny, as well as my in-laws (insert sarcastic comment here).

The second book I purchased oddly enough was from my cooking inspiration, Laura Calder. Why hadn't I purchased it well before now? To be honest, I am not sure why... I simply walked into the Indigo on Ste- Catherine's (my English literature escape in a very Francophone world) and literally walked right into the book by pure accident/coincidence. It appears to be mostly repeats of recipes she's done on her show, but with the added comments and insight that I have grown to respect and appreciate from Laura. I agree with so many things she states about how to live and eat well. It should always be elegant and enjoyable.

THE SECOND COOKING ATTEMPT

2009-12-15T08:04:00.003-05:00

THE SECOND COOKING ATTEMPT

As I am sure you’re catching on, this photo is NOT that of my first attempt at making croissants.

I enjoy nothing more than going to a café, especially those in Paris, and sitting down with a café (which is naturally assumed to be an espresso in France, and most of Europe) and a croissant. It’s light, full of flavour and very peaceful. Obviously, I would therefore want to replicate these feelings but from the comfort of my own home where I have a small but lovely balcony overlooking a major boulevard in downtown Montréal just outside the Gay Village.

I was very excited - how hard could it be? Well, even in my cookbook from Williams-Sonoma, the author starts off the recipe by stating something to the effect that to master the art of making croissants can take years and something to hold with great pride once you have succeeded.

Apparently I don’t follow recipes well and didn’t see that after forming the dough you must leave it out for several hours under a lightly dampened cloth in order for the dough to rise. It is enough to say that the croissants I brought over to my friends’ Alfredo and Eric’s for brunch were more like swizzle sticks perfect for dipping rather than impecible croissants inspired by the greats of French cuisine.

THE FIRST COOKING ATTEMPT

2009-12-15T08:02:00.000-05:00

THE FIRST COOKING ATTEMPT

If you think that the photo posted above is documentation of my first cooking attempt, you’re sadly mistaken and clearly not following the blog closely. There was not so subtle statements indicating that my first cooking attempt was a complete failure.

First mistake? My husband hates blue cheese. However, I love it so I felt that this made everything alright.

Actually, I am not to this day sure what went wrong other than that it simply didn’t rise. Ever since I was a child I always remember hearing things about how difficult it is to make a soufflé rise. I vaguely remember an episode of the Facts of Life where Mrs. Garrett was trying to make a soufflé and all the girls had to be completely quiet otherwise her soufflé would fall.

Given the nature of 1980’s sitcoms I am sure you’re more than able to figure out how the scene ended.

This however, did not stop my ambition to learn how to cook french food. So I thought I would move on to something a touch easier. Croissants.

Yes, I actually thought it would be easier.

THE FIRST COOK BOOK

2009-12-15T08:01:00.005-05:00

THE FIRST COOK BOOK

While I am sure any professional chef would rage with anger at my adoration of Williams-Sonoma, I have to admit - I LOVE the place. Perhaps it’s because we don’t have one in Québec due to nutritional content issues governed by Santé Québec and that the only way I can access this store is by driving an hour and a half to Burlington, Vermont. Regardless, I love all the kitchen gadgets and toys.

In any event, it was around six months ago when I was down in Burlington with my husband and a good friend of mine, Vanessa, and her lovely boyfriend Neil. While at Williams-Sonoma I saw the book posted aboe - the Essentials of French Cooking. This book imediately reminded me of that amazing meal I had in Paris with my friend Chris and I suddenly had a brief reflection on my eating habits since I had come back from Paris, which consisted of hitting every French restaurant I could find in Montréal.

I thought to myself - why go to the restaurants when I am sure I am more than capable of making these lovely dishes myself!

This thought was quickly and easily ridiculed by my friends and even slight taunting by my husband. Regardless, I set my mind to the idea of learning how to cook a few recipes, not knowing how much of a quasi-obsession this would eventually lead.

What was my first recipe attempt you ask? Probably not the smartest first attempt. A Blue Cheese & Walnut Soufflé.

To be fair, it sounded fairly easy in the book...

MY HEROS

2009-12-15T07:58:00.003-05:00

MY HEROS

There are two people that I hold in high regard when it comes to not only cooking but their approach to life. One I actually know, and the other I would love to meet. - at least so she can sign the copy of her book I recently purchased.

First on my small two person list is an old coworker of mine, Tamara. Tamara is one of those people that is brilliant across the board and whom anyone would be envious. Having met while working in the Evaluation Branch of the Correctional Services of Canada, I quickly learned that Tamara was one of, if not the brightest of my coworkers. Having finished her Masters degree in psychology, she was extremely proficient in statistics. Something that I am while good at, am nothing special. Tamara on the other hand, was amazing and clearly beyond my own skill level in a number of areas related to our work. Along with her amazing writing skills and lovely personality she quickly became a person that would forever standout as one of the most talented and brilliant people I ever had the opportunity to work with. Combined with a lovely personality you couldn't help but enjoy spending time with her.

Later I learned that she was also a skilled artist, something else that I found enviable. While I am a musician and fairly capable on a number of instruments and have a love of music composition, I am fairly mediocre in performance. Over the years my skills have decreased substantially.

Over time I got to know Tamara a little better, only to find that she was going to be leaving our office and in fact, government altogether, to pursue her goal to sell ‘Gourmet Tacos’ in the Niagara region of Ontario. It’s enough to say that a woman with such talent who has only been away for less than a year, is already more successful than selling gourmet tacos from her roaming taco stand bus.

Tamara left a stable secure job with a great salary to pursue her dream and goal of having her own business with her lovely Australian boyfriend.

She is already developing her success and I am sure that it will only continue. To leave such security for such instability I find remarkable. I am envious and also incredibly happy for her success.

My second culinary hero has a similar story - Laura Calder. In an episode of her amazing television show (which I will be making numerous references to over the course of this blog) she mentioned how she had finished University, had her job, her fiancé and then gave it all up and moved to France to learn how to cook. ANYONE who reads this must feel an enormous amount of envy. Tamara and Laura are doing exactly what so many of us have wanted to do. Who hasn't wanted to pick everything up and try an entirely new way of living? And I am not talking about picking up and moving to another country to do exactly what one does already. I am talking about trying everything new. Tamara went from being a specialist in crime to learning how to be a culinary sensation. Now that's adventure!

Don’t get me wrong. I like my job and my coworkers are wonderful people. However, it’s all so perfectly respectable. I am a public servant with a salary far higher than what I really think myself or many of us should be earning, and will retire in twenty years with an amazing pension (as most public servants refer to as ‘the golden handcuffs’, I have a university education, live in Canada’s most amazing city... yet I, like many of you, desire more... to pick myself up and throw caution to the wind.

Would I ever do it? Could I ever do it? I don’t think so... but you never know. Just two years ago I was living in Aylmer, a suburb of Gatineau, Québec which is across the river from Ottawa. Ten years prior to that I was living in a small blue-collar town in southern Ontario. Who would had thought I would end up in Montréal? Maybe when I am forty, my husband and I will take off to Paris for a few years.

*fingers crossed*

It wouldn’t be fair for me to discuss these lovely people and not give them a shout out for their products:

Tamara’s successful company:

http://www.peapodcuisine.com/

Laura Calder’s website:

http://www.lauracalder.com/

ABOUT ME

2009-12-15T07:55:00.001-05:00

About me

So you’re asking...

why would someone with degrees in psychology and criminology who does research and evaluation for the Correctional Services of Canada start blogging about cooking?

Well first let me say that this blog will also incorporate aspects of my life, including my life living in the gay village of Montréal and my travels around the world, with an emphasis on my culinary experiences along the way.

How did it start?

I have to admit, I was NEVER a fan of cooking. My mother raised me with fairly consistent meals while growing up in an unpleasant southern Ontario town outside an even less pleasant southern Ontario city.

Every dinner was predictable. Take any combination of the following: peas or corn, chicken or pork, and potatoes - either mashed or whole.

COSTCO was considered the best place possible to obtain your ingredients and the rule of thumb was to maximize the size of the product with the lowest price. This to my mother meant quality.

I hate to admit it but this is a terrible habit of Canadians and Americans alike. Even Québecers, Québécois and Québécoise, while we may deny it at any cost, have grown more and more accustomed to the COSTCO way of living. One ray of light however, are Montréalers. With our wonderful markets and specialty stores in Old Montréal and the Marché Jean-Talon, Marché Atwater, along with an abundance of community gardners located right in the downtown core and across the Island of Montréal, many Montréalers from my perspective, have seen the importance of finding good ingredients to produce good food. Let's leave COSTCO for the suburbanites with their minivans and 2.2 children.

After I left my home town for ‘the big city’ of Gatineau/Ottawa, my eating habits certainly did not improve. Having come from the standard family meals of my youth and the chinese buffets that are plentiful in Windsor, Ontario, it should come as no surprise that as a young University student my gastronomy experiences were fairly limited to pizza and the occasional visit to COSTCO.

Even after meeting my husband who has somewhat of a flair for eating well, my eating habits remained the same. Coupled with a lazy life style it was easy to pack on the pounds.

Then it happened. I went to Paris, France, for the first time on my honeymoon. We spent three weeks in Paris and I was amazed at all the specialty stores dedicated to the best and finest of individual products. This was certainly a far cry from the bulk 25 kilogram grapes you could buy at COSTCO. Sadly, we were a young married couple just starting off our lives and had little money and therefore did not dine at many of the fine restaurants Paris has to offer. This being said, even on an affordable budget one can experience the loveliest of dining in Paris.

Is he ever going to get to the point?

Yes, I promise!

In any event, around a year later I had a traveling itch and wanted to go back to Paris. Having a much better paying job, even one year later, it was easy to simply take off for a weekend. My friend Chris and I decided to go together for a weekend. Flights to Paris are quite affordable from Montréal and we always stay at a lovely condo through a gay condo company that operates amazing condos in the heart of the Marais, which is also in the heart of Paris.

One night Chris and I decided to go to a nice restaurant but were not exactly sure where to go. Something nice - yet didn’t cost us the remaining Euros we were going to be using for boozing later that night.

We stumbled across a lovely restaurant, after around an hour of walking the same street trying to make sure we made the absolutely right decision on where to eat.

We chose well!

We both agreed that the meals we ordered were absolutely the most amazing we had ever eaten. Sadly, I don’t remember what I ordered nor do I remember the name of the restaurant. However, I am sure if I were to ask Chris he would remember every detail. If I could only have such a memory.

This meal sparked something in me - something about eating well, as opposed to my youth where I was taught eat lots for little. I have quickly learned the French way means to eat well, in proportions that are filling but not over the top, and to savour every taste.

I can only imagine what my mother would be thinking if she were to read this page.

BIENVENUE ! WELCOME!

2009-12-15T07:52:00.000-05:00

1.Yes, this blog is inspired by the movie Julie&Julia.
2.No, my love of French cuisine was not inspired by the movie Julie&Julia. In fact, my adoration of French cuisine came about during my second trip to Paris, France.
3.My reference point for French cuisine is not Julia Child, but a fellow Canadian, Laura Calder.
4.Why you ask would I start a blog about French cuisine? Well I hope that if you’re reading this the reasons will become clear and hopefully as interesting to you!

As you read this blog hopefully you will understand why I find joy in cooking - an incredibly recent obsession I will admit - and why I am so envious of those who individuals such as my personal hero, an old coworker Tamara who left our work to pursue her dream of being a chef and entrepreneur, and someone who followed a similar path, my cooking inspiration, Laura Calder.