by on September 17, 2006   •   2 Comments Uncategorized

Find of the Month: The Gryphon Tea Room


Yesterday we surprised Kevin’s fiancée, Melanie, with a bridal shower at a little tea room on Monkland avenue. What surprised me was how delightful this tea room was! It was a charming and intimate setting, the tea was always piping hot, and the food all homemade right down to the raspberry jam. I’ll definitely be going back for ‘high tea’ and bringing some ladies with me. It the perfect place to go if you want to wear that new sundress and fancy hat you bought! Salon de the Gryphon 5968 Monkland Avenue, Montreal, Qc(514) 485-7377

Here’s a picture of Princess-for-the-day-Melanie (in blue) with her two MIL’s and SIL, Caroline. Some more wonderful sandwiches, too. Yum!

by on September 13, 2006   •   3 Comments Uncategorized

What’s for Dinner? Summer Risotto and Fruit Crumble

Risotto is a staple in this house. Now that good risotto rice is much easier to find and very affordable, we enjoy it often whether it is full of seasonal vegetables, chunks of seafood or just a simple Milanese. Tonight’s version was with basil, roasted chicken and fresh veg from my garden. Anyone can make a great risotto with the help of a good pot, good rice, good stock and good cheese! I never make the same risotto twice as I am always making variations with what I have on hand. If you don’t have a basic recipe, let me know, I’ll post one.Oh, and for the record, no risotto in Noah’s diaper. He hates it. Something about the creamy texture but then those darn al dente rice kernels that you have to chew.
It’s apple season!! The markets are laden with baskets of them and they are crisp, cheap and sweet. If you are wondering what to throw together for that potluck you have coming up or your mother-in-law’s weekly Sunday lunch, make a crumble. Do it. Everyone has their own recipe and version of what a crisp should taste like. Most of them are so full of sugar, you can’t taste the fruit. I made this one with honey, raspberries and wheat germ for something a little different and healthier. Here’s a recipe from Jamie Oliver that as little out of the ordinary, but delightful nevertheless.
Summer Crumble 3 apples, quartered, cored and finely chopped
2 pints blackberries or other berries
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Small handful basil, chopped
5 heaping tablespoons sugar
4 heaping tablespoons flour
1/4 pound butter Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F Put the fruit into the bowl with the balsamic vinegar, basil, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Add a little more sugar if your blackberries are a bit sour. Mix and put aside to marinate. Using your fingers, rub together the flour, butter, and the rest of the sugar. I prefer to do this by hand as I like to end up with a nice rustic-looking crumble with some bits bigger than others. Put the fruit into an ovenproof serving dish or into individual dishes. Sprinkle the crumble mix over the fruit, making sure to pile more into the middle of the dish. Bake it in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the middle of the crumble is evenly golden.

by on September 10, 2006   •   2 Comments Uncategorized

Foodie Facebook: Melanie


Name: Melanie
Location: Montreal
Occupation: Designer, Event Planner

1. What is your earliest childhood food memory? I was three years old, my brother was just born and my parents took me out for a ‘big girl’ meal. My mother ordered me escargot, which I loved, and it became a tradition: I ordered them every time I ate out, up to about age ten.2. What did you eat today? An omelet and a strawberry smoothie for breakfast; grilled ham and cheese for lunch; and for dinner, roast chicken with rosemary, mashed potatoes, asparagus and a green salad.3. What will your kids never be allowed to eat? KD! Hamburger Helper.4. What do you always have on hand in your fridge? Dijon, Clamato, wasabi, extra-old cheddar, olives, chicken broth5. What is your beverage of choice? Pineapple juice or if we’re talking alcoholic, a Black Russian6. If you could have dinner with anyone in the history of man, who would it be? Hmmm, I’d have to say Georgia O’Keeffe. Or Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s tough.7. Ok, it’s your last meal ever. What do you have? Lobster, definitely. Rice, asparagus with aioli, raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake, San Pellegrino and a bottle of Bordeaux,
Entre deux Mer.Ed note: Thanks Mel! Foodie Facebook will be a regular feature of Under the High Chair. Stay tuned, it could be you!

by on September 9, 2006   •   4 Comments Uncategorized

Mushroom mafia or ’37’


“Nature alone is antique and the oldest art a mushroom.”
Thomas Carlyle My parents just returned from the Haida Guaii, otherwise known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, where they were picking wild mushrooms for mad cash. The Charlottes are located 300 km of the northwest coast of British Columbia and are a day’s trip from my parents place in New Hazelton. Sometimes called the Galapagos of the North, I have fond memories of that wild, lush place: BC’s own little tropics, it seemed to me.My parent’s had originally planned a four-day bike trip around the islands to relax and see the sights, but ended up hooking up with some mushroom-picking cronies, signing their souls over to the mushroom mafia, and staying three weeks for the remainder the chanterelle season. (more on the mafia later, it’s not a joke. I have to get the full story from my dad). They loved their time roaming the deep rainforest and picking chanterelles. My mum’s only complaint was:
“Some guys from Quebec pitched their tent right in front of the outhouse that doesn’t have a door!”I know these little chanterelle beauties (called giroles in French) from my three years at Toque! where I probably cooked enough of them to crust the entire Island of Montreal in a nice duxelles. We received more than just the one mushroom variety from the QC’s, there were morels, black trumpets and the infamous pine, too. The Montreal mushroom scene is pretty weird. It is mostly controlled by one family of Eastern European decent (don’t know where for sure) who are all in competition with each other.The guy I dealt with at Toque was called Serge, an elderly, short, stocky fellow who shuffled in with a basket over his arm, usually while we were in the middle of service. He would lean on the counter and wait for a lull, meanwhile checking out the girls with a gleam in his eyes. He was self-reputed to have, ahem, ‘done it’ with his wife 37 times in one night, and this seemed to be an undisputable fact that simply everyone knew about on the cooking scene. While he waited, usually one of the guys on the line would holler out,“Trente-sept, eh Serge?”to which he would straighten up, shake a finger at the cook and say,“OUI, trente-sept”.With my parents having picked them, and I having served them, it seems like we have had a mushroom ‘full circle’ moment, as Oprah would say. Ok, maybe we should reserve that term for something a little more monumental, but I though it was pretty cool.

by on September 7, 2006   •   1 Comment Uncategorized

When life hands you lemons…

….make lemon curd. Lemons are 5 for $.99 at my local fruiterie and I’ve been using them to test some curd for Noah’s birthday gateau. This recipe is so fast to make and can keep for a few days. I played around and made the tartlet’s you see here, but you can use the curd between layers of cake, for a pie filling, or just eaten straight from the fridge with a spoon at 3am. Not that I know anything about that!! I have to credit the marvelous Martha for this recipe.

Lemon Curd
Makes 1 1/2 cups
6 large egg yolks
Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
12 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
1. Prepare an ice bath fitted with a medium bowl; set aside. Whisk together yolks, zest, juice, and sugar in a small saucepan. Set over medium heat, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Remove pan from heat. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, stirring until incorporated. Pass through a fine mesh sieve into prepared medium bowl. Stirring frequently, let stand until cool.
3. Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on surface of curd to prevent skin from forming; wrap tightly. Refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour. Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
PS. My apologies for the photo. They will improve with time!