Return Too

Last night I made a spectacular four-course meal that was definitely outside of my comfort zone. Vegetarian Cuisine. I mean I like meat so much it might as well be my middle name. But, as it was, I was supposed to have one friend over to do a duck experiment, she had to cancel so I asked my old business partner if she felt like being a guinea pig. It took her all of about five seconds to say; “I’m in!”

I’m using the most valuable resource I have when experimenting. My friends. For two reasons. One they will tell me what they actually think and two they are such a mixed bag that it is sometimes a stretch for me. Vegetarian was a bit of a stretch but I found a way. And I bet that she will return too! Won’t you Beena?

I actually went so far as to create a menu in various fonts to see what she thought. The one that I have posted here we agreed was good for online. But the one that was my favorite seemed to be the big winner and I will experiment with it over time.

The menu consisted of a four-course vegetarian tasting. Soup, Salad, Lasagna and Berry Granite with a Pomegranate reduction. The whole meal took me about four hours to make as I was constantly testing, tweaking, tasting, re tweaking as I wanted it to be the best that I could produce. As I remarked the only thing that would have made it better was if C was here to share it with me. But her turn will be coming soon and often (and more often than not will include MEAT!)



To make the soup I first roasted the tomatoes in the oven with a bit of whiskey, water, and garlic. The Cipollini onions I also roasted until nice and tender. I had already started reducing some vegetable stock so as to maximize the flavours. Once the tomatoes and onions were roasted to my desired point I removed them from the oven and let them sit for a while. When ready I incorporated them into the soup. I then allowed the liquid to further reduce until it was at my desired level. I then removed from the heat and allowed it to cool down. Once cool I proceeded to blend the soup in a high-speed mixer until I had the desired consistency. C was the inspiration for my soup. In fact soup in general was C’s inspiration. I never liked making soups before but since being with her I have become excellent at it. While blending the soup I also incorporated some chili flake, coriander seeds and cilantro. I don’t like to use ground coriander as I feel that it is missing a lot of the sweet aroma and lemony flavour if you use the preground stuff. The flavour profile of the soup was pretty darn good. I also included a textural element and topped it with fried red onion and russet potato shoestrings. I feel that this element can be punched up as the battling textures of the soup and the garnish played nicely off each other but left me wanting a little bit more. I made sure that it had a nice kick to it and a lasting heat on the palate, as the next dish was a perfect palate cleanser. As such I wanted the heat of the soup to linger for a while before the next course came out.

The next course was an ABC salad. Asparagus, Beet, Corn and Savoy Cabbage Salad. I used various shapes to bring out the various flavours. I first started by steaming the beets. I find that this allows the beets to open up their natural sugars without making the flavours offensive. At work we roast beets and for this dish I didn’t feel that either the flavour or the texture would have worked in this salad. I used peaches and cream corn that I roasted and then incorporated. The asparagus I braised in a butter braise with a little basil, oregano and cilantro. Fresh! I say fresh because that is exactly what I was after in the dish. I wanted it to wipe off the palate and refresh the mouth getting it ready for the next course.

One draw back with the dish was that I reduced a 15 year old balsamic with some pomegranate juice and red wine. I did not account for the natural sugars well enough and ended up caramelizing it much more than I had intended. It was flavourful but was not exactly what I was after. The caramelization stuck too much to the teeth and palate and while the flavour was great it became a chore and food should not be a chore. Just something to start working on and thinking about. But it did give me an idea for something else. So happy accident produces possibly great dish for desert nonetheless. I’ll let you know when I test it out. The salad did taste great but definitely needs to be tweaked. The ingredients though were lively and stood well both individually and collectively.

The main course was eggplant and parsnip lasagna. It was cooked as close to perfect as I will get and I don’t really cook with either eggplant or parsnip very often. I found that the two played off of each other very well. I had to cook the parsnip off first, roasting it in some olive oil, and seasoning and of course love. I felt that the texture if roasted properly would play off the eggplant as a workable juxtaposition. I used red onion to bring out the natural sugar in both the parsnip and the eggplant and the play was pretty good. Mouth feel was ideal for this dish except for the granulated Parmesan that I sued on top. Next time I would use grated Parmesan with a more pungent nose. I used butter, cream, goat cheese and 12-year-old cheddar for the sauce. It played out nicely but will only get better as time goes on.

Finally I made fresh berry granite. It was much easier than I had supposed and the result was to die for. It was a little tart and sweet at the same time and had I had more time I would have been able to lower the tartness and adjusted the sweetness. I served it with toasted coconut, a frozen (but softened) coconut cream round, a coconut stick, a clarified orange juice stick and some fabulous organic cookies.

Again, the dish was pretty good. But as a starting point it made me smile quite a bit as it was my first attempt and it wasn’t half bad. The wine we had was fabulous and the laughs dear. It was a true experience and made me feel wonderful. It is very liberating to be where I am in life right now. The pain in my hands, back and feet though painful as but reminders that the course I am on is the one I’ve chosen and that I will excel at.








So there it is. My first four-course vegetarian tasting complete with pictures. Love to know what you all think.

To end this post I felt the following was appropriate by Les Brown; “If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness.”

Be inspired today! Step outside your comfort zone. Live, love and laugh. What’s your dream? Start living it today!

I miss you C and am so proud of you. Thanks for showing me what it means to be alive, to be loved, to dream. I can never repay the world that you have revealed to me. But I will try every day, one morsel, one kiss and one passionate sensation at a time. I love you evermore and it had to be you.

A la prochaine

SDM