A Farmers' Market Inspired Menu

 

Menu

Leek and Mushroom Soup with a Goat Cheese Crostini
❧
Pippa Goat Crottin and Chive Omelet with Steamed Green Beans
❧
Red Fingerling and Smoked Trout with Asiago Cheese
❧
A Salad of Radishes and their greens with Baby Kumatoes

Caroline

Fall is upon us and so is the desire to get back to a slower pace, a comforting routine and menu. So with this in mind, I decided to resume the MasterClass with Alice Waters, founder and owner of California’s renowned Chez Panisse.

It is surprising that this woman has no formal culinary education yet, she has influenced the paths of so many young chefs, food writers and founders of notable food-related businesses. Her love of bringing people together around a table with the freshest of ingredients is the base of her philosophy. And her class is about a philosophy of food. She encourages her pupils to “cook with spontaneity, building your confidence so that you can leap away from a script.” Her teachings are those of our “grandmothers and our grandmothers’ grandmothers”. Fresh. Organic. Harmonious. Natural. Biodiverse. Sustainable. She balks at the fast food culture that has taken over our lives but, she is hopeful. 

“Don’t go to the market or store with a shopping list. Buy what looks alive and inspiring, and plan your menus when you get home.”
— Alice Waters, The Farmer’s Market / Learning from the Source

With this quote as our shopping guideline, we headed to the Uxbridge Farmers’ Market.

I blazed through the market and quickly filled my basket: butternut squash, local ginger root, fresh farm eggs, fingerling potatoes, leeks, pectin free sour cherry jam, black olive sourdough bread, two cheeses (Pippa goat cheese crottin and Shepherd’s Harvest aged sheep cheese), garlic and ears of fresh corn.

I had a couple of soup ideas in mind or maybe a simple herb and cheese omelet.

When we got back to the kitchen, we laid out our market purchases and began jotting down ideas: soups: butternut squash and ginger, leek and potato, broccoli and leek with blue goat cheese, leek and mushroom with a brie on black olive sourdough crostini, Pippa goat crottin and herb omelet, salads: radish and their greens with tomato,  beet on a bed of spicy greens with chèvre, mushroom on a bed of spicy greens with chèvre, fingerling potatoes and smoked trout with Asiago … so many inspired ideas!

Kaarina ❧ Leek and Mushroom Soup with Goat Cheese Crostini

I came home from the market with enough red and golden beets, radishes, white Sicilian eggplants, zucchini, broccoli and bitter greens to feed an army of vegetarians for a week. And I didn’t use any of them in my Alice Walters Market Lunch. The leeks and mushrooms, Shiitake and Cremini, were the clear winners. They found their way into the soup pot for our first course. A few tablespoons of crème fraîche stirred into the pot at the end and goat cheese crostini floated on top finished the dish. The recipe was a riff on this Leek Soup with Brie Toasts . I did not use any flour to thicken.

The bloomy cheese — Mason’s Delight from River’s Edge Goat Dairy  in Arthur, ON — delivered just a bit of zing while the dark vegetable ash veins running through it added all kinds of visual appeal. So artsy I wish I could take credit for planning it.

Caroline ❧ Pippa Goat Crottin Chive Omelet with Green Beans

 

A simple goat cheese omelet is so satisfying. The tangy filling is a perfect match for eggs. I questioned the market fromager about using a bloomy rind cheese. He responded that they “use it all the time in omelets”. Although the Pippa was delicious, I wished I had gone with a spreadable goat selection, say a caramelized onion and green peppercorn.

The omelets quickly came together and Diane steamed some green beans which when ready, were tossed into the empty omelet pan with a generous amount of butter, salt and a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes.

More about the Pippa Goat Crottin: “From Grey County, this is Wild Meadows Farm’s most exclusive cheese, inspired by the classic crottin style cheeses found in the south of France. This style of cheese is a rare find in Ontario. Pippa is creamy, with some firmness, and has woodsy and mushroom notes, complete with a gentle bite. It is made from WMF fresh chèvre. It is hand rolled and aged until a soft white mold rind grows on the outside.”

Oh how we love thee cheese!

Diane ❧ Red Fingerling and Smoked Trout with Asiago Cheese
and Salad of Radishes and their Greens with Baby Kumatoes

 
The Sunday market was filled with colourful produce and offerings from local artisans. My first stop was a garlic producer who had 6 different types on display, each with different colours, sizes, and smells.

In addition to fresh squash, beets, cherry tomatoes and herbs, my arms were laden heavily with meats, smoked fish, cheese, and some gin from a local distillery called The Durham. 

The only preparation really required for my first 'dish' was to boil the red fingerlings. I tried using Caroline's InstantPot, just to see if it would help retain the potato's flavour more than a regular boil. They were delicious! The smoked trout was served alongside, with a dollop of crème fraîche and fresh parsley. The Asiago was smooth, semi-soft, and slightly aged for a sweet and nutty flavour. All the tastes and textures worked quite well together, although next time I would add some crunch with crackers or pickles. 

When Alice raved about her Japanese Suribachi ("grinding-bowl") in her MasterClass I was inspired to buy one for myself. It's a beautifully crafted bowl, with ridges perfectly designed for grinding spices and pressing garlic; the bowl has a gentle lip to make it easy to pour the finished dressing over the salad. Here's a quick demo of Alice Waters using the suribachi to prepare a garlic vinaigrette with Martha Stewart.

It really is a  pleasure for all the senses to prepare a vinaigrette and simple salad. The sound of the knife chopping on the wooden cutting board and friendly chatter in the kitchen. A small taste of the bitter greens told me they wanted a touch of honey added to the dressing.  The tomatoes calling for pepper and the radish wanting some salt. All the veg were colourful and beautiful — the black radish dark as black pepper on the outside and porcelain white inside, and as soon as they were cut open a zesty scent burst from the skin. A few tiny watermelon radishes were stolen from Kaarina, because they added such a pretty element to the plate with their blushing centres. Music garlic enlivened the dressing, along with aged sherry vinegar. The fresh greens sat in the dressing for awhile to soften them up. Alice Waters mixes her salads with her hands, gently tossing and arranging, so in addition to sight, smell, and taste, there is the added pleasure of touch. ❧

Vegetarian

A salad worthy of an impressionist painting!

Diane

My turn to choose the theme! Since I’m always on the look out for healthy alternatives to meat-based meals, I picked Vegetarian.

We are packing more into our Epitourist get-togethers. Our lunch was preceded by a day of foodie excursions to Aloette and Eataly. Sunday’s courses felt relaxed and restorative in contrast to the previous day’s pace.

When Diet for a Small Planet was published in 1971 it was a radical book that chronicled the harmful environmental impacts of meat production and its compounding effects on food distribution across the globe. Today the trend toward plant-based diets is also supported by people with concerns for the ethical treatment of animals and those who want to improve their own personal health. Change often takes time. When Canada revamped the Food Guide in 2019, the government still faced a strong lobby from meat and dairy interests threatened by the move away from animal proteins.

Today there are so many cookbooks and advocates for plant-based meals it’s hard to choose a definitive source: Michael Pollan, Jamie Oliver, Dr. Michael Greger, Angela Liddon… the list continues to grow.

Our own Epitourist menu was a wonderful mix of colour, comfort, simplicity and elegance. Didn’t miss the meat whatsoever!

Menu

Starter | Laura

Muhammara roasted red pepper dip with focaccia and goat chevre 

paired with Prosecco

Salad Course | Kaarina

Five-Spice Peach and Raspberry Salad

paired with Riesling

Main | Diane

Russian Carrot Pie  

paired with Golden Milk

Main | Caro

Steamed celeriac and mushroom pudding with Madeira sauce

paired with Madeira

Dessert | Laura

Lemon Pudding Cake

Digestif | Diane

Pousse-Café / selection of  liqueurs

Muhammara roasted red pepper dip ❦ Laura

Syrian Muhammara Dip

I was last to announce what I would make for our vegetarian feast. As often happens at these long lunches, we get so enthusiastic about what we want to make that we end up with way too much food. The others had already proposed hearty courses, so I thought an appetizer dip would be fitting. But I didn’t want to make a run-of-the mill hummus or cream-cheese based dip. Ottolenghi never fails to offer interesting flavour combinations. I chose his Muhammara/roasted red pepper dip. Muhammara dip comes from Syrian cuisine. I loved the idea of combining red peppers with pomegranate molasses, walnuts, and aleppo pepper. Diane has gas burners, so charring the peppers was easy on her stovetop. The resulting dip was spectacular. We served it with some foccacia and flatbread crackers purchased during our Eataly outing. 

Five-Spice Peach and Raspberry Salad ❦ Kaarina

A true chef d'œuvre!

Thinking outside the pot, I looked for fresh raw colour and bite to add to our menu. I didn’t need to look far. If anyone knows how to pull together a great vegetarian spread, it’s Ottolenghi and I had been reading and cooking from both Jerusalem and Simple this winter. I settled on Five-Spice Peach and Raspberry Salad from Simple:

In a large bowl, whisk together

1-1/2 tbsp. cider vinegar

1 tsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder

1 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, thinly sliced (1/4 cup)

1/4 tsp salt

Just before serving, add

3-1/2 oz raspberries

3 firm peaches, not too ripe, cut into 1/4 inch wedges

2 cups watercress

2 cups radicchio, cut into 3/4 inch slices.

Toss and serve.

What made this salad visually extra spectacular was the rosy radicchio we found in the produce section at Eataly, which was on our Epitourist winter tour of downtown Toronto the day before. The rosy leaves were so beautiful I couldn’t bring myself to tear them, so I tucked them in whole amongst the watercres and peaches. This loose leaf radicchio is less bitter than the tightly packed leaves of a standard radicchio but the watercress along with the shallot had enough bite to balance the sweetness of the fruit.

Wine can be a challenge with salads. What to pair? The peach? The bitter greens? Or the sherry vinegar dressing? Cave Springs off dry Riesling did the job brilliantly.. 

Russian Carrot Pie ❦ Diane

A very creative pairing!

Oh how I loved Molly Katzen’s Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook! Hand written, with simple instructions and whimsical illustrations, it inspired me to make some of my first vegetarian meals. Published in 1974, it may be dated when compared with some of today’s titles, but it still brings a smile to my face. I thought the Epitourists would enjoy Russian Carrot Pie, and they did, although next time, I would cut back a bit on the dill.

Delightful!

For this course, instead of pairing with wine I chose a concoction of coconut milk, oat milk, turmeric, ginger and cinnamon. The decision to serve Golden Milk was made on colour alone, but happily the taste nicely complemented the flavours in the pie.

Steamed celeriac and mushroom pudding with Madeira sauce  

❦ Caroline

Savoury Pudding!

  
I turned to Dani Valent’s In the Mix — Great Thermomix Recipes for Diane’s vegetarian theme. Australian based cook, Valent sourced recipes from chefs and bloggers far and wide to put together this beautiful cookbook. Steamed Celeriac and Mushroom Puddings, is British chef Madalene Bonvini-Hamel’s creation. Completely vegetarian, it is elegant, comforting and deliciously savoury.
 
Filling

50 g butter
70 g mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste
20 g flour
1/2 onion, peeled and diced
1 clove of garlic
1/2 stalk of celery, cut into 1 cm dice
1 small carrot, peeled and coarsely grated
250 g celeriac cut into 1 cm dice
30 g Madeira
150 g vegetable stock
1 tbs chopped parsley
1 tbs chopped chives

Melt 25 g butter in a frying pan. Cook mushrooms with a little salt and pepper for 8 minutes at medium-high temperature. Set aside. Melt remaining butter, add onion, garlic, celery, carrot, celeriac and flour. Cook 10 minutes on medium-high until nicely caramelized. Add the Madeira. Cook for 4 minutes. Add the stock and cook on medium heat to reduce for 5 minutes. Return the mushrooms. Stir in parsley and chives. Adjust seasoning. Allow to cool on a cookie sheet.

Pastry

300 g flour
15 g baking powder
150 g frozen butter
salt and pepper to taste
100 g chilled water

Mix flour, baking powder, butter, salt and pepper. Add the chilled water. Gently knead. Lightly oil 6 ramekins. On a slightly floured surface, roll the pastry to about 4 mm thick. Line the ramekins with the pastry. Spoon the cooled celeriac filling into each ramekin, filling it to the top, dampen pastry rim with cold water and seal each pudding with a pastry lid. Make a team hole in the centre of the lid. Pour 1 litre of water into a pot. Set steaming basket in. Place the pudding ramekins on basket. Cook for 60 minutes on medium-high. Make sure that there’s sufficient water at all times. Keep a kettle of boiling water handy to top up.

Madeira Sauce

50 g dried mushrooms
30 g olive oil
1 sprig of thyme, leaves only
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic
1 shallot
100 g madeira
500 g vegetable stock
100 g 35% cream
50 g butter

Pulverize the dried mushroom in a food processor. Add the olive oil, thyme, garlic and onion and chop. Transfer the mixture to a frying pan. Add bay leaf and cook on medium-high for 5 minutes. Add the Madeira and cook for 3 minutes. Add vegetable stock and continue to cook until stock has reduced by half. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve. Discard solids. Pour sauce into saucepan along with cream. Heat for 3 minute until it just begins to boil. Taste and adjust seasoning. Before serving, add the butter and whisk.


Lemon Souffle Pudding ❦ Laura

Because I can never resist making something as a sweet end to the meal, I chose to make a simple lemon souffle pudding. This is an old family recipe from the mother of Jason, my neighbour on Wolfe Island. He always makes it for impromptu neighbourhood potluck get togethers.

Digestif ❦ Diane

Lovely colours of a pousse-café

I came across Pousse-café when I was searching for a digestif to finish our meal. Literally "coffee-pusher" in French, it is an alcoholic beverage consumed after the coffee course. Pousse-café has now evolved to mean a layered drink composed of different  liqueurs.

I thought this would be a fun twist and an appropriate reminder that although people sometimes equate vegetarian with healthy and virtuous, it’s not always the case.

Besides, I have a cupboard full of different liqueurs to experiment. The heaviest liqueur is poured first on the bottom, and so on. We had the most success with a trio of grenadine, chartreuse and then Cointreau. Use a bar spoon and steady hand to pour the liqueur. Choose liqueurs that are actually palatable if you intend to drink your creation.

Aloette

 

Cold Snap

A field trip. Of course we wanted to go to Aloette! Their website promises “a refined take on bistro fare paired with sophisticated and affable hospitality.”  Caroline, Kaarina, Laura and I had been looking forward to this lunch for quite some time. The experience delivered.

Aloette is currently rated number 35 on Canada’s 100 best restaurants, just down two flights of stairs from Alo, rated Number 1 at Canada’s 100 Best. Alo can take months for an available opening. Aloette is more accessible, and although reservations aren’t required, limited bookings are available for the convenience of guests. When we arrived, all the tables were filled, so it’s a good thing we made reservations.

Considering the calibre of the food and service, Aloette offers exceptional value.

Housed in a heritage building, the restaurant design makes the most of its narrow space, with vaulted ceilings and windows looking onto busy Spadina Avenue. Rich textures and muted colours make for a relaxed ambiance, in contrast to the frantic pace on the other side of the glass. Laura noted that it was noticeably easy to hear each other at our table. The baffled ceiling is a prominent feature in the restaurant that really cuts down on the noise, which is such an unwelcome part of most Toronto dining rooms these days. 

The server was well versed in the menu, made informed recommendations, and was able to answer our questions. We sipped cocktails while waiting for the small plates to arrive. The Cold Snap was prettily presented in a small coupe glass, a refreshing mix of Seedlip garden, verjus, sherry vinegar and thai basil.

We agreed to share small plates. This is the opportunity to sample more dishes, but with everything tasting so over-the-top delicious, it was especially hard to exercise restraint. 

Everything was so visually stunning with flavours and textures perfectly balanced.

Toast with whipped roasted yeast butter was served to awake our tastebuds. Caroline wondered "Who ever dreamed that up? And where can I find that recipe?" 

Perfect roasted yeast butter

  

Our first course was roasted squid with side stripe shrimp, 'nduja, potato, and cerignola olive, which brought murmurs of pleasure.

First course!

Next, beef short rib with chimichurri, spinach, and onion ring; served with thai salad of peanut, mango, zucchini, kohlrabi. Kaarina remarked the fresh crunch of the Thai salad was a match made in food heaven when paired with the richness of the beef short rib. We all agreed with Caroline's assessment that the beef short rib was melt in your mouth, fall apart delicious! 

One more course... potato gnocchi of sweet potato with bacon, sage, chestnut; served with crispy squash and brown butter hollandaise, sage, and parmesan, with pumpkin seed. Some were skeptical when the server suggested the pairing, however Kaarina observed the combination was the smoothest, tastiest comfort food of this 2020 winter. Caroline felt the gnocchi was light as air and wondered about chemists in the kitchen.

Gnocchi and squash...hhmm!

We wanted to sample the rest of the menu! Hamachi crudo, glazed pork belly, iceburg wedge, burger and fries, fried chicken...

 It was evident there were strict codes of service when the request to leave the water pitcher on the table was denied. Instead, servers returned frequently to top up the glasses. The four of us were split on opinion on this, with 2 annoyed by frequent interruptions and 2 happy for the extra real estate on the table.

Laura added the chef, Patrick Kriss, grew up in Scarborough and attended George Brown college. He spent time working in Michelin-starred restaurants in France and Daniel Boulud’s eponymous restaurant in New York City. His Toronto restaurants are widely acclaimed, with good reason.

Aloette was definitely a teaser for what dinner at Alo would be like. One day the Epitourists will have to check that out!

Vietnamese

 Menu

Fresh Spring Rolls

Bánh Xèo Vietnamese Crepes

Cà tím nướng mỡ hành Grilled Eggplant

Ka Cho Tofu Braised in Caramel Sauce

Cá Chiên Sea Bass with Green Papaya Salad and Ginger Lime Dressing

Pho Vietnamese Hotpot 

Báhn Flan Crème Caramel

Wine Pairings: Clean Slate Riesling Mosel, Pierre Sparr Gerwurztraminer Reserve 2017, Thirty Bench Riesling, Domaine Wachau Riesling

Laura

The Epitourists have occasionally experimented with Middle Eastern flavours, but we mostly stay within the comfort zone of Western cuisine. This month we decided to expand to the Far East with a Vietnamese theme. The fresh flavours and bright colours seemed a fitting antidote to a rather grey January in Ontario. 

For some inspiration, Diane, Kaarina and Caroline visited a Vietnamese restaurant in Toronto. They intended to go to top-rated Pho Hung but it was the week after Christmas, and they were closed. So they ended up at Saigon Lotus, a vegan Vietnamese restaurant.

This month the feast was held at my house on Wolfe Island. Fortunately there is a really good Asian grocery store in nearby Kingston, so I was able to find everything I needed for my dishes. I chose to make fresh spring rolls. There are so many recipes for these rolls, but the common element is assorted shredded fresh vegetables wrapped in soft rice paper wrappers. Sometimes shrimp is added, but I chose to keep them just a colourful assortment of veggies including green and red cabbage, red pepper. cucumber, green onion, carrot, Thai basil, cilantro, and mint. The dipping sauce Nuoc Cham, a very simple yet versatile staple of the cuisine.

Springrolls, Braised Tofu and Crème Caramel à la Kim Thuy

I also made Ka Cho, tofu braised in caramel sauce. It sounds strange, but the simple process of caramelizing sugar, adding water and soy sauce turns tofu into a savoury, nuanced dish. 

There aren’t a lot of Vietnamese desserts, but báhn flan, or crème caramel, is popular. It came as an import from France but has become a staple dessert all over Vietnam. There are so many recipes available for this dessert. I used the recipe in award-winning fiction writer Kim Thuy’s Secrets from My Vietnamese Kitchen. 

Caroline

Unfamiliar territory... What to make? My quest lead me to Jn Cooking Channel on YouTube. Informative, organized and clear this website proved to be a perfect springboard to Vietnamese food whats and hows.

The idea of making crêpes Vietnamese style or bánh xèo appealed to me because it is somewhat familiar, well the crêpe part is. The batter consists of rice and tapioca flour, coconut cream, turmeric, canola oil and beer. Traditional fillings are pork belly, shrimp and soya beans. A traditional
Nước Chấm or fish sauce based dipping sauce gives this dish great zing with its bird's eye chili.  The videos I came across never covered the "how to eat" this crispy delight. A quick search brought me to this short clip from Noodlies: 

The fun in Asian cuisine is the sampling of many dish. A recent visit to Saigon Lotus, a Toronto Vietnamese restaurant, had me tasting an eggplant dish that wowed me away. Served along side some jasmine rice, this grilled eggplant or Cà tím nướng mỡ hành is sure to delight!

Grilled Eggplant with Jasmine Rice

Kaarina

There was no red snapper to be had that Thursday morning just as I was heading to Wolfe Island for the Epitourist’s Vietnamese cook off. My plan was to deep fry a whole snapper and pile green papaya salad and ginger lime dressing on top for a dramatic presentation a.k.a. Cá Chiên.

The theatricals had to be scratched and  Plan B went into effect. Instead of snapper I scored superbly fresh Black Sea Bass at Diana’s Seafood on Lawrence St. E. A firm white fish with delicate flavour from the northeast Atlantic. No cause for complaint. As the fish is simply dipped in egg and potato starch and dunked in boiling canola oil for two minutes, any Vietnamese flavouring needed to come from the sauce and/or the accompaniments. Green papaya — which is simply a raw papaya, available along with green mangoes in Asian green grocers, isn’t exactly flavourful. Enter Nuoc Mam Cham — the workhorse of great Vietnamese flavours.
Nuoc Mam Cham flavours scores of Vietnamese dishes. We used it as a dipping sauce for the fresh roll, with the shrimp and pork filled Vietnamese crepes, as a dressing for the green papaya salad and a sauce for the deep fried Black Sea Bass.

Black Sea Bass with Green Papaya Salad

Nuoc Mam Cham
In a pot over medium heat, bring a quarter cup fish sauce, quarter cup rice vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar and half cup water to just short of boiling. Set aside to cool. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic, one minced bird's eye chili and 2 tbsp lime juice, and stir to combine. Make a day ahead (or not) and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Diane

Years ago, when I first arrived  in Toronto, there had been such a glowing review of a Vietnamese restaurant's hot pot, I just had to make a visit. Delicious broth kept so hot, diners could essentially cook their own meal at the table by spearing meat and veg and poaching in the golden liquid. Once cooked to satisfaction, wrapping the tasty bits as contents inside a lettuce leaf and dressing with a light sauce. After the wraps are enjoyed, a delicious soup to finish the meal.

One of my favourite Asian markets is closing the end of January so I had to find another. Sunny Supermarket  is just a short drive away and had the lemongrass, oyster mushrooms, quail eggs and raw beef. For the broth itself I picked up the best quality beef bones I could find at St. Lawrence market.

I bookmarked an authentic pho recipe, packed up the ingredients, and travelled with Kaarina to Wolfe Island.

Bone broth is so full of goodness — all that collagen is being touted as better than botox, a cellulite reducer, great for arthritis and healing for the digestive tract. Three hours in the Instant Pot brought all the little pearls to the surface.

As the soup was the last course of the night, we were able to make use of all the other veg that was prepped and still left over: carrots, cabbage, red and yellow peppers, enoki mushrooms, bean sprouts, fresh coriander, mint, thai basil.

Hot Pho!

Andalusian Discoveries

Plaza Rib Rambla, medieval Granada'a main square

Kaarina 

Mike and I were sipping a glass of Rioja at an outdoor cafe across from our hotel in Granada’s ancient Plaza Bib Rambla when our waitress surprised us, placing a slate of mysterious golden fritters on our table. We hadn’t ordered food but tucked right in, happy that we had stumbled on a traditional taverna like El Laurel, which still serves a complimentary tapa with a drink, a custom that is quickly vanishing across much of Spain. That night was our introduction to Berenjenas con Miel Cana — an Andalusian specialty that has its roots in southern Spain’s 700-year Moorish history. Deep fried aubergine, crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside and drizzled with a dark brown cane honey. Eggplant has never tasted so good. From the first bite it was clear that this was going home with me to our next Epitourist lunch.

Deep fried eggplant drizzled with cane honey

Before I left on my October tour of Spain’s major Moorish sights, the Epitourists had agreed that we would cook an Andalusian feast on my return. So I was on a mission to find dishes I had never tried before but could take home and cook in my own kitchen.

Ronda - Puente Nuevo was built almost 300 years ago

I found the second dish for our menu in Ronda, the stunningly beautiful Andalusian White Hill Town that straddles a deep 390-foot gorge. Restaurante Las Maravillas’ tapas menu translated Carrillada as “braised pork cheeks.” Who knew the tenderest, tastiest cut from a pig fits into the palm of your hand? I pledged, on my return to find pork cheeks (aka jowls) in Toronto. (Order ahead from Sanagan’s Meat Locker / in Kensington Market.) I used a Nigel Slater’s Pigs Cheek recipe from the Guardian  with good success.

Pork cheeks and company!

Meanwhile, my Epitourist mates were researching Andalusian cooking online. Diane found a stew using spinach and chickpeas, ingredients that — like aubergines — were brought to Spain by the Moors. She mentioned the dish in an email, and that evening I spied Espinacas con Garbanzos on the menu at what had already become our favourite tapas bar in Sevilla: Las Teresas, a three-minute stroll from our hotel through narrow “kissing streets” of medieval Barrio Santa Cruz. 

Sevilla's Kissing Street and Las Teresas

Las Teresas’ Espinacas con Garbanzos was quite good, of course, but paled in comparison to the delightful dish Diane meticulously constructed in my kitchen in Toronto and served promptly as soon as the spinach was cooked.

Diane's Espinacas con Garbanzos

Diane

My research led me to the Hola Foodie site and a dish described as ‘bueno, bonito y barato’, which translates into ‘good, beautiful and cheap.’ Like many other peasant recipes from southern Spain, chickpeas and spinach are a fine example of how to make the most of simple and humble ingredients. Andalusian Chickpeas and Spinach somewhat surprised me as I don't quickly connect southern Spain with either of the main ingredients. Plain food, but so delicious when seasoned with the cumin, garlic, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper. The recipe noted frozen spinach was acceptable, but fresh was definitely more appealing.

Epi T.O.: A Two Day Epitour

It was time for a road trip to shake off the lingering cabin fever plaguing us after a long brutal winter. Last spring we sampled the delights of Montréal. This year we decided on a two-day "epitour" of Toronto, which is quickly catching up to the City of Saints when it comes to all things food. 

We met at St. Lawrence Market, treating ourselves to the antipasti bar at Scheffler’s Deli, an institution at the market since 1955, before heading to Liberty Village for the first of two bakeries on our list.

In the following posts, Laura reports on the bakeries, Diane savours the cocktail choices at Drake Hotel, Kaarina reviews dinner at Laissez Faire, a new King St. W. restaurant, and Caroline takes us on a romp through the Assembly Chef's Hall, a Richmond St. “food court” with a difference.

Laid Back On King Street

Kaarina

Our Epitourist foursome was looking forward to dinner at Laissez Faire, a new King St. West restaurant, as the highlight of our two-day foodie tour of Toronto. We thought laissez faire an appealing concept for a restaurant and were quite excited, looking forward to expertly prepared, French-inspired cuisine served in a casual atmosphere. What we found was that the two - laissez faire and fine dining - don’t necessarily mix all that well. The problem is that by its definition - “let it be,” “leave it alone” - laissez faire is an attitude that spreads all too easily, and in a small open space it’s a short trip to the kitchen.

Is stylishly hip good enough?

We were there on a Tuesday, so likely the kitchen A Team had the night off. There was no sign of Michelin-trained owner/chef Zachary Barnes - not surprising since the place is open every night for dinner. His credentials (Barne’s CV includes Toronto’s top-rated Alo, UK’s Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and New York’s Daniel) had built up grand expectations for us. Those expectations were amply met by a finely-wrought menu, if not its actual execution that night. Cool, laid-back bartenders are at the centre of the operation. One meets you, seats you, pours cocktails, wine and beer from a long and well-stocked bar that runs a good third of the length of the stylish narrow room with an open kitchen at the far end. Brisk and efficient, he takes your order and jockeys the food from the kitchen to the table, where you are perched on less than comfy high stools.

From the menu, we started with a winner: A smooth and creamy burrata, oozing with buttery satisfaction, served on a bed of bitter greens and poached fruit along with triangles of toast to smear it on.

Smooth and creamy burrata

Although the porcini truffle arancini trio should be easy enough to share four ways, the very, tiny risotto balls had us beg for a fourth so that we could each enjoy. The wait staff graciously obliged!

Arancini trio

The crispy pork belly with a sherry gastrique and pomegranate seed and parsley garnish was perfection and shared between four, a guilt-free indulgence.

Pork belly, a guilt-free indulgence

The roasted cauliflower visuals were fantastic: the romenesco sauce an artful swirl of carmine beside the cauliflower. That we could agree on. The taste, not so much. The unfamiliar herb flavours delighted some and alienated others, as did the char on top of the overcooked cauliflower.

The roasted cauliflower visuals were fantastic

The whole grilled sea bream, although slightly overcooked, had a lovely crisp skin and the grilling imparted a smoky flavour to the mild fish served with classic lemon and dill garnish.

Grilled sea bream

A shared brioche panna cotta with a pretty apricot compote made for a light sweet finish.

Nicely presented panna cotta

A creative menu, easily shared plates, good value, crisp service, hip decor all should add up to a return visit when chef Barnes is in house, perhaps even a splurge at the chef’s rail overlooking the open kitchen, where a tasting menu is offered Thursday to Sunday. But we will not be giving Laissez Faire a second chance. And that’s because the music is played at a mind-numbing, ear-splitting volume better suited to a night club than the dinner hour, making any effort at normal conversation impossible. When we asked for the volume to be turned down, the response was not surprisingly laissez faire - they left it alone. And so will we.

 Laissez Faire, 589 King St. West