Posted in In my Kitchen...

Grilled Octopus Skewers

Posted on by sybaritica

Octopus Skewers A

I did up this little appetizer using a couple of octopus tentacles I had left over from using the rest of the beast in a different recipe. I first thought of doing something sort of Asian with ginger and soy, but I decided, instead, to marinate my sections of tentacle with lemon juice and herbs before gilling them on skewers.

The tentacles had been blanched and frozen before use and so needed no further tenderizing. I cut each into sections and then marinated the pieces in a few tablespoons of olive oil, along with a tablespoon or so of lemon juice, a quarter teaspoon of pureed garlic, and about one eighth of a teaspoon of dried thyme with just a few needles of rosemary crushed into the mix with a pinch of salt. I let this sit for about a half hour so.

Finally, I threaded the pieces on skewers and grilled them over high heat for a couple of minutes on each side, basting with the marinade as I did so. I served them, as you can see, over thinly sliced lemon and the result was very pleasant indeed. I have not used thyme with octopus or squid before and I liked the combination. Next time, I think I may try a more complex Herbes de Provence blend…

Posted in Recipes

Shrimp Bites

Posted on by sybaritica

Shrimp Bites 1

Recently, our local supermarket has been carrying some very nice cocktail sized shrimp and, since they don’t appear that often, I have bought quite a few packages and have been using them in different ways. I opened one pack to make scrambled eggs with shrimp and, since I didn’t need the whole package, I put together the little fritters you see above. They are somewhere half-way between an Indian Pakora and Japanese Kakiage, and, for this recipe, I kept everything very simple and clean… the only seasoning in the fritters is a dash of salt and the batter is made very light with egg-white rather than whole egg… Continue reading “Shrimp Bites” →

Posted in Wine

Château Haut-Bages Monpelou Pauillac 2015

Posted on by sybaritica

Château Haut-Bages Monpelou Pauillac 2015

Today’s wine is another ‘left-bank’ Bordeaux and I am featuring it because it turned out to be very nice, and something I will likely purchase again if I can. It is a bit expensive, running for $56.75 at SAQ in Montreal, but I was very happy with it thought it well worth the price.

As you may recall from previous posts, red wines from the so-called ‘left-bank’ region of Bordeaux are mostly blends, which mostly have Cabernet Sauvignon as the primary varietal. This particular wine is from the Paulliac AOC, in the famous Medoc wine-making district, and it is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon with 27% Merlot, and the final 3% rounded out with Cabernet Franc. It is a dry wine, with just 2.1 grams per liter of residual sugar, and the alcohol level is about 13%.

The nose here is a bit muted with the fruit component being dark plum and blackcurrant. It has a very earthy quality, with a faint touch of the barnyard, and there are very strong mushroom notes interspersed with highlights of violet. On the palate, it is smooth and fully bodied with lively acidity and rich tannins, and the blackcurrant on the nose is supplanted with sour cherry against the plum. There are rich woody tones of both oak and cedar, with some spice in the finish, but what I really liked here were some interesting notes of ripe grains and light toast.

Overall, I found this a complex and very enjoyable sipping wine as is, but I am sure it has great prospects for becoming even better with a little more ageing. If I can lay my hands on a few more bottles on my next travels south, I will certainly ‘cellar’ at least one for a few years or so. The 2016 vintage is also supposed to have been a stunning one for Pauillac, so I will keep my eyes out for those as well…

Posted in General

Notable Nosh: Grilled Sturgeon

Posted on by sybaritica

PFW Grilled Sturgeon

One of my greatest pleasures is being able to try foods that I have never had before. Until a recent visit to Play, Food & Wine in Ottawa this spring, I have never encountered sturgeon in any shape or form before and even the ‘caviar’ I have had has been from some other sort of fish (and thus not proper ‘caviar’ in the eyes of many). Accordingly, I was quite excited to see the actual fish appearing as an item on the menu and I was unable to forego the opportunity to give it a try…

The fish itself was served atop a bed of lentil salad incorporating pickled yucca and teardrop peppers. It was topped with toasted, coarsely-chopped almonds and pea shoots, and olive tapenade was added to the plate in three little pools.

To be honest, I didn’t think the tapenade added anything, and I didn’t like the lentil salad bed either in taste or texture. I don’t care for lentils all that much to begin with, and there was nothing about this salad or its other ingredients that really changed my mind. That being said though, neither of the ‘enhancements’ here spoiled my enjoyment of the sturgeon at all, thankfully…

The flesh of the fish was very nicely grilled and succulent. The texture was quite firm, yet still ‘flake-able’, much like cod, and the flavor was slightly sweet, and even somewhat chicken-like. It did not have the pronounced ‘fishy’ taste that some people find a bit overpowering in seafood and, in all, I was reminded very much of Monkfish in taste, if not in texture. Anyway, I doubt I shall be eating sturgeon very frequently in the future, as it is a bit pricey, but I very much enjoyed my introductory experience…

Wine Pairing: 2017 Pearce & Predhomme Chenin Blanc [South Africa]

Posted in Recipes

Dashi Simmered Vegetables and Beef

Posted on by sybaritica

Dashi SImmered Beef and Vegetable 1

Today’s dish does not represent a specific Japanese recipe but the technique is very much in the spirit of Japanese ‘Nimono’, or simmering things together, and is one I have featured before in such posts as Braised Pork with Daikon, and Potato Mizuna Nimono. Here, I have simmered potato in dashi until tender, and then added Rapini and beef for the final cooking… Continue reading “Dashi Simmered Vegetables and Beef” →

Posted in Notable Nosh

Chorizo Scotch Eggs at The Clarendon Tavern

Posted on by sybaritica

Chorizo Scotch Eggs

When I was a kid growing up in Britain, Scotch Eggs would often put in an appearance at picnics or on cold buffets, but, on this side of the pond, they seem less well known and are only infrequently encountered. Basically, the idea is that a boiled egg is wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and then deep-fried or baked. In my house, when I was young, my mother deep-fried them, as best as I recall, and she always hard-boiled the eggs first.

A while back, I had an opportunity to visit ‘The Clarendon Tavern’ in Ottawa’s Byward Market for the first time. I was able to sample a number of beers I had not had before, and also tried their version of Scotch eggs, which has been given a spicy twist with chorizo and other seasonings in the sausage wrap.

The specialty was served with some very nice bread and butter pickles, grainy mustard, and a salad of greens in a lovely dressing containing just a little lemon zest. There were also some finely shredded pickles in the greens and, while I could not identify them, I thought them a very nice addition. As for the egg itself, the coarse breadcrumb produced a very nice crust that was still nicely crisp and the chorizo sausage made a great change from the usual. There was also a slight ‘curry’ taste to the meat coating, and I could definitely detect cumin and coriander in the blend. Whatever it was, the result was a nice play on an old favorite and I would really like to experiment with the idea myself … maybe Quail eggs instead?

Posted in Notable Nosh

A Meal at Kochin Kitchen

Posted on by sybaritica

Kochin Kitchen 1

Kochin Kitchen opened up on Dalhousie Street in Ottawa’s Byward Market a few years back, and, while I did try to pop-in for lunch on a past visit to the city it was packed full already and I didn’t get a table. Recently, I made another attempt and, though the place was very busy once again, the service was very friendly and efficient and I enjoyed my meal. The place specializes in the food of southern India and they have a nice range of dishes, especially appetizers. I plan to go again on an upcoming visit to the capital a few weeks hence actually, but I am posting to day to share the very nice dishes I enjoyed on my introductory excursion to the place… Continue reading “A Meal at Kochin Kitchen” →

Posted in Notable Nosh

Meal Excursion: Lunch at C’est Japon a Suisha

Posted on by sybaritica

C'est Japon a Suisha 1

I had been meaning to visit this place on Ottawa’s Slater street for some time now and, though I finally made it with a mind to write a proper review of the place, I unfortunately did not arrive at the best time to do so. The restaurant opens for lunch but then closes quite early in the afternoon before opening again in the evening and I did not get there unto just a short time before the kitchen shut down. Still, I managed to sample a few of their fish selections, both as sashimi and sushi, and I will share them here now with a promise to return sometime for a more thorough report… Continue reading “Meal Excursion: Lunch at C’est Japon a Suisha” →

Posted in Wine

Wine: Château Bastor-Lamontagne Sauternes 2015

Posted on by sybaritica

Château Bastor-Lamontagne Sauternes 2015

My last two wine posts have each featured examples of the red wine blends for which the famous French wine-growing region of Bordeaux is especially well known. There are also excellent white wines produced in Bordeaux, but they make up only around ten percent of the total wine yield. Like the reds, though, they are chiefly produced as blends, rather than single varietal wines, with the permitted grapes being Sémillon, Sauvignon blanc, and Muscadelle.

Some Bordeaux white blends are quite crisp and acidic (those will often have Sauvignon Blanc as the dominant varietal), but the region is especially renowned for its sweet desert wines with Sémillon as the primary grape. This varietal is susceptible to a fungus known as Botrytis cinerea, which the French call the ‘noble rot’, and this interesting fungus causes the grapes to wither like raisins and this concentrates the natural sugars to produce a very sweet wine with a very long ageing potential.

One of the wine making districts especially known for its sweet white Bordeaux blends is the Sauternes AOC. Indeed, this district is home to the world-famous Chateau d’Yqem, which has been producing wine since at least 1711. In 2011, one these famed sweet whites dating back to 1811 was sold for a staggering $117,000.00, which is, I think, still the most expensive bottle yet sold. Now, the Sauternes I am featuring today is not quite in the same class as that 1811 Chateau d’Yquem pricewise, but I paid $57.25 for my bottle and was a bit surprised, when it arrived, to discover it was a 375ml bottle rather than the standard 750ml size, which I believe makes it the most expensive wine I have ever purchased outside of a restaurant…

Anyway, this delightful wine contains a startling 120 grams of sugar per liter and is, as you can guess, exceedingly sweet, with only a low moderate acidity as an offset, and a very heavy, almost syrupy mouthfeel. The nose is very aromatic with golden apple, slightly sour apricot and raisin, honey, almond shells, light toast and a faint hint of sweet varnish. There was also a very faint hint of something I couldn’t quite identify, but which I can only describe as being a bit like well-aged Balsamic Vinegar, for want of any better comparison.

On the palate, there is Apricot jam, honey and barley sugar, along with a touch of lemon and almond and, on the whole, the effect is very rich and complex. I am not a big imbiber of desert wines, or very sweet wines of any sort usually, but I did not begrudge the price I paid for sampling a special wine from this prestigious AOC and I very much enjoyed the experience.

Posted in Notable Nosh

Notable Nosh: Mushrooms Neptune at the Keg

Posted on by sybaritica

Mushrooms Neptune

My great pleasure in visiting Ottawa is trying out new restaurants but, in the few years, it has become something of a tradition for me to make my last meal in town a steak at The Keg in Byward Market.Usually, after having spent a week or ten days in the city, I have finished my culinary adventures and just want to have a decent steak in pleasant surroundings near to my hotel…

On my last visit, I risked overstuffing myself and tried one of the appetizers before tackling a pretty healthy sized rib-eye steak. The selection I chose was the Mushroom Neptune you see pictured above which was described on the menu as consisting of mushroom caps with crab and cream cheese. To be honest, I was a bit hesitant about trying this as it sounded as though it might be a bit rich and overdone but, as it happened, it was reasonably light and very nice.

Aside from the fact that the dish had been taken from the oven with s decidedly grubby oven-mitt, the presentation was very nice and, although it might not be apparent, the caps were served in the ‘wells’ of an escargot dish with the cheese placed over top and nicely browned in the oven.

I was rather expecting, as I say, something heavy and rich but, in fact, the topping was prepared in such a way that it was very light and almost fluffy, rather like the toasted topping of Bechamel sauce on a traditional lasagna. It was lightly flavored with a little scallion and just a hint of garlic and the overall effect was very nice. I had already ordered a Zinfandel to sip on before ordering and, while I found it to be a bit ‘big’ and unsubtle as a sipping wine, it actually was much better with this very pleasant appetizer.