Les Fougères

Before we can tell you about our getaway last weekend to celebrate Giz's (Sept. 30) birthday and my (Oct. 3) birthdays, I should really finish telling you about R's birthday celebrations. In our family, most birthday are in September/October. Not terribly surprising considering how cold it is in January and February in Canada.

In addition to the Thousand Islands and Peanut Butter Cake, we tried a restaurant that had been on my "to try" list for quite a while now.

About a year ago or so, I received this cookbook:

I haven't tried any of the recipes from Les Fougères' cookbook, most of them are pretty intense - something I would save for a more elaborate evening or a special event (but I do have my eye on a Pink Grapefruit Souffle).

However, I finally had the opportunity to try out the actual restaurant. We went to celebrate R's birthday. It was such a good experience, I wanted to tell you all about it.


From the moment that we arrived at the restaurant, I had a good feeling about the place. It's in a quiet area near the border of Quebec and Ontario. Right beside the parking lot is a fairly large garden, where the owner grow their own vegetables and herbs.


Definitely a good sign when the food you'll be served is grown by the restaurant. Plus, if you look in the cookbook, you can see where they get all of their supplies and they're all local producers. Fresh, seasonal food, from local producers. Does it get any better than that?

For starters, I ordered a squash soup with curry flavouring (I forget the actual name). It was so good, I wanted another bowl. R ordered the Salad Fougères. After seeing lardon in the salad, he was sold.


Luckily, the recipe for the salad is also available in their cookbook. According to the cookbook, they've had this salad on their menu since they opened in 1993. They say that they often make this into a main course salad by topping it with a softly boiled egg and adding slices of avocado, red onion and caramelized garlic.

8 cups mixed salad greens
6 ounces of smoked bacon side
6 ounces fresh goat's cheese

Vinaigrette
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Whisk together mustard and vinegar. Slowly add oil, whisking gently all the while. Season to taste.

To prepare salad:
Slice bacon into lardons (cubes) and saute until golden and crispy. Toss salad with enough vinaigrette to coat leaves lightly. Divide salad between 6 bowls. Garnish with goat cheese, sauteed lardon bacon and a spoonful of the hot fat rendered from the lardons.

The salad included a fair number of bitter greens, which I thought balanced the goat cheese quite well.

For the main, both R and I got the filet mignon. I can't resist a well-made steak. It came with a pesto-like mixture and some pan-fried fresh vegetables. So good!


After dinner we checked out their onsite store. Not only can you eat in the restaurant, but they do make meals for you to eat at home. Gives a whole new meaning to take out.



Overall, a great dining experience. This restaurant will definitely be on my top 5 list.

I am also proud to announce that, after 5 years, I've completed R's scarf.


Since then, I've been on a knitting kick and took a class on how to make a simple tuque. Here's me wearing my first tuque.


I'm excited about picking a third, new project and making more tuques.

Also, since we're on the topic of new things, let me show you my envirosax. I won them in a competition on Kristen from Dine and Dish's site. Kristen has a lot of contests and I was beyond thrilled to win this one.


Five reusable bags fit into a holding sac. It makes for such an easy way to avoid using plastic bags. We already use cloth bags for grocery shopping. But, these bags are great because they are so compact.

Now, I keep one in my bag or purse all of the time. The cloth bags I have would be way too bulky. But the envirosaxs are so small. Very convenient.


Despite appearances, they open up to a fairly large-sized bag. I love the designs.

Also included in the prize was a 4 minute timer that you put in your shower to try to minimize your water consumption. Between R and I, one of us has been more successful than the other in showering within the 4 minute time limit.

Pesto Stuffed Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

First impressions can be both misleading and dangerous. When I first saw Jamie Oliver, I had a hard time taking him seriously. I mean, he's not much older than Psychgrad. Then I made a good choice (one of the few). I said to myself - "self I said", if you take Psychgrad seriously, why then wouldn't you give Jamie Oliver the same acknowledgement. I mean, age is not an indicator of intelligence or talent. Then started the zombie like "must have Jamie Oliver cookbooks" mantra - need I go on.

I served this dish at our New Year's dinner (Rosh Hashana) and it was an outstanding hit.

Ingredients:

An array of colourful vegetables - i.e. carrots, red pepper, green pepper, sweet potato, regular potato, red onion, cherry tomatoes
2 cloves garlic (smashed but not peeled)
Olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Cut up vegetables to the size you like
Add a glug of olive oil, s&p, and smashed garlic
Mix it all together to coat the vegetables and place in roasting pan.
Roast vegetables at 350 F until slightly tender (not mushy) approximately 35 - 40 min.

Stuffed Pesto Chicken

If you're like Psychgrad, you'll have alot of pesto in your freezer. If you're more like Psychgrad's mom, you'll probably be buying a jar at the grocery store or finishing up the last of your homemade pesto.

6 chicken breasts
6 heaping Tbsp pesto
Pepper

1. Create pockets on the thicker side of the chicken breast. Put in a heaping tablespoon of pesto evening it out in the pocket
2. Place in foil lined baking dish, sprinkle with pepper and cover with foil
3. Bake in 350 F oven for about 25 minutes - remove foil from the top and let the chicken brown slightly while roasting
4. Remove from oven and slice 3-4 slices per breast at an angle

To serve:

Place roasted vegetables on serving dish and top with sliced chicken

It's good, it's easy, it's nutritious and it's low fat.

Shrimp Dumplings - Recipes to Rival

Temperance of High on the Hog and Lori of Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness, have given us a remarkable challenge for this month's Recipes to Rival. I always thought that alot of Asian food would be beyond my capabilities and this recipe proved me so wrong. It was a pretty easy recipe and alot of fun to do.


Shrimp Dumplings


Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Makes 24 (I got more than 24)

Dumplings

4 large shiitake mushrooms
3 scallions
1/2 garlic clove
8 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 ounces ground turkey
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
3 dashes of hot red-pepper sauce
24 dumpling wrappers (see recipe below)

Dipping Sauce (optional, you can choose your own though this one is very tasty!)

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger or 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1. Coat a steamer basket with a non stick cooking spray and set aside. In a small saucepan, soak the mushrooms in boiling water to cover for 15 minutes, then drain. Remove and discard the stems; cut the caps into quarters.

2. In a food processor, combine the mushroom caps, scallions, and garlic and whirl until coarsely chopped. Add the shrimp and whirl until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the turkey, soy sauce, oil, and red-pepper sauce.

3. Place 1 tablespoon of the shrimp mixture in the center of each dumpling wrapper. Dampen the edges with water, the fold up the sides around the filling, pleating the edges. Place in the steamer basket, leaving 1/2 inch of space between the dumplings for the steam to circulate. Set over boiling water, cover, and steam for 15 minutes.



4. For the dipping sauce, in a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, oil, and ginger. Serve the dumplings hot with the dipping sauce.

Personalize it!
For a different flavor, use ground pork in place of the ground turkey. You can also drop a pinch of chopped scallions into the dipping sauce if you like

HOT WATER DOUGH:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups boiling water

In a stainless steel bowl mix flour and salt. Slowly add hot water to flour in 1/4 cup increments. Mix with chopsticks until a ball is formed and the dough is not too hot to handle. On a floured surface, knead dough until it becomes a smooth, elastic ball. Place back in bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rest for at least 1 hour. Working on a floured surface with floured hands, roll out dough to form a long 'noodle', 1-inch in diameter. Cut 1/2-inch pieces and turn them over so the cut sides are facing up. Flatten with your palm and roll out thin using a rolling pin. The dumpling wrapper should end up about 3 inches in diameter. (2)

Source: Extraordinary Meals from Ordinary Ingredients, ©2007 The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.



Tip: I found that my pasta maker makes the dough alot thinner than I ever could with a roller. It's probably more work but the finished product is so much more professional looking.