Actually, the Rab’s not a particularly accomplished cook, but my maman is positively inspired. Last week inspiration came from the latest edition of the LCBO’s pornographically delicious “Food and Drink” magazine….

First, note that the Rabs missed out on this edition of Food and Drink because we were traveling when it was first released and all copies seem to have been snatched up. So, please forgive that I may not have recipe names correct and cannot provide page references to recipes. Maman test-kitchen-ed two recipes from the Holiday 2008 mag and offered a dessert buffet of her own imagination. 

We started with a pizza topped with mushrooms and brie (recipe in Holiday 2008 Food and Drink). Maman used the Rabbit-sister’s pizza crust recipe, a reliable and “easy” rendition and her crust did prove light and tasty. The F&D topping of mushrooms sautéed with a bit of garlic were delicious and paired well with big shards of brie. The dish was relatively simple to prepare and I stirred mushrooms while we drank champers (a perfectly delightful pairing with all starters, including this pizza). The rustic pie (which Maman produced in the same sort of oblongular presentation as in F&D) happily fed three of us with a couple of slices left over for Mr. Rab’s take-away left-overs packet. Sorry that the picture only shows these picked over bits!

Next, the bouillabaisse from F&D was a star! Maman started with the stock in the morning, using the shells from the shrimp that would later go into the mix. She noted that this recipe is not exactly hard, but it is time consuming insofar as it has several steps. Given that the broth had been prepared in the morning, we all shared in cooking the fish — shrimp and cod (substituted for halibut, cod worked nicely in this recipe), mussels and crab.

Given Rabbit’s bivalve allergy, the crab was specifically for my plate while the others ate mussels. It was delicious and shows how easy it is to adapt the recipe using one’s own favourite seafood. This recipe is stellar.

For dessert, maman went back to her standards (not from the LCBO). Rabbit has a vicious sweet tooth and maman spoiled me terribly with a delicious assortment of sweeties. First, we had tiny tartlets filled with dark chocolate pudding and topped with fresh whipped cream.

Maman’s pastry is fab and given such good foundations the tarts really couldn’t miss.

There were also lovely shortbread-y, cocoa biscuits (“cocoa” vs. chocolate because they had that really rich and dark flavour that I particularly love) as well as a baby rhubarb pie

and an apple crisp so loaded with fruit that it actually felt virtuous enough to pass later for breakfast food.

We’ve been eating leftovers all week — thanks mom!! 

Posted on December 5th, 2008 by rabbit
Filed under: Restaurant Reviews