Uncategorized
Tania was in town for a rare time, and she wanted someone to host a dinner in her honour. And I was voluntold I had to do it, which I did happily.
For the starter, I made a cream of broccoli and cheddar soup.
Broccoli, of course, onions, potatoes, herbs. 2 year old cheddar. A bit of cream. Very smooth, not too rich. It is easier to get a nice green colour if you make sure your vegetable has plenty of leaves.
The next course would involve a vodka sauce:
Very simple – two cans of crushed tomatoes, 2 cups of 35% cream, herbs, onions, garlic, and 1 cup of vodka. I intended to have only 1 cup of cream, but ended up adding more in the end. Quite rich, quite smooth, quite tasty.
I used the sauce to create some Penne alla vodka with boar sausages:
The penne were al dente, the sauce was very good, and everything worked well with the boar sausages.
These boar sausages are from the Par Toutatis farm, in Farrellton, QC. This farm, owned by Jean-Luc L’Écuyer, raises grain-fed and free range boar, and also rabbits. You can inquire about their products here, but they do specialize in sausages. The meat is not cheap (between 10$ and 12$ for 625g) but it is totally worth it. Great quality, low fat. It is however not 100% boar, some pork meat is involved.
For dessert, Mel made creamy pecan and walnut brownies topped with raspberries. (Yes that’s right, she bakes, I cook.)
They were baked in individual servings and (she tells me) are really a cross between a brownie and a soufflé (something to do with egg whites). The fresh raspberries on top gave an extra tang to the dish, finishing it off perfectly.
.