Île d'Orléans, Charlevoix, Tadoussac

The views here are spectacular!

Absolute highlight so far - watching the whales surface repeatedly in the Bay in Tadoussac!

This region is rich with beautiful landscapes and kind, smiling people. We have discovered some very good regional products here so far, with the most intriguing being the Emu. Described a cross between goose and beef in taste, these large birds were brought in from Australia and are raised in St-Urbain in the Charlevoix region. I have to admit I am a bit surprised but excited to try a few recipe ideas with this new ingredient - who knew - Emu from Québec! We bought the Emu terrine and were guaranteed that this appetizer would be a surprising, resounding success: cracker, cream cheese, Emu terrine, pepper jelly (or jelly of your choice), top with a local strawberry, raspberry or blueberry.

Other local terroir products to try when we get home: from Île d'Orléan - Paillasson Cheese for barbecuing drizzled with a little local honey, strawberry and apple soup served with yogurt and homemade granola. From Cherlevoix - Migneron cheese mousse with pear tart.

Smile and thought of the day:

Comments

Blanched Garlic

I t seems that the subject of blanching garlic has come up recently for me several times and I have been recommending what I learned in cooking school for this process, i.e. bringing the peeled cloves to boiling, in water, up to 3 times (cover cloves with water, bring to a boil, strain and repeat 2 more times). Each time the cloves are boiled, their flavour will mellow. I blanch garlic in order to remove the bitterness and potent bite of it when it is raw. This is especially useful in recipes like gaspacho, hummus, aioli, as I find the taste of raw garlic tends to overpower the more delicate flavours of the other ingredients. This is really a question of preference and if you like garlic, then by all means, go ahead and use it raw to your hearts content. For me, garlic is good but in small doses and I find myself now using blanched or pickled garlic scapes from Québec (fleur d'ail) more and more in many recipes that call for regular garlic....

Tourtière du Québec (French Canadian Meat Pie)

One of my fondest food memories is of my mother preparing 10 tourtières at one time in the evening after dinner as she got ready for the upcoming festivities. For French Canadians, this is the time of year when we prepare the Tourtière that will be eaten during the Holidays.

Nutella Stuffed Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie

Inspiration: Thanks to Little Spice Jar for this one! When a family member loves Nutella and it's their birthday and the universe puts a picture of this fabulous recipe on your Pinterest feed, you really have to go with it! Turns out this was a great hit and really easy to make. Check out this fabulous recipe for a giant Nutella Stuffed Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie at Little Spice Jar ! Great alternative to a birthday cake and so very good.

EpiCurious Generations

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