Saturday, March 30, 2013

Pasta Day

Organic Pasta served with a roasted mini cherry tomatoes, yellow and orange roasted bell pepper, garlic and goat cheese maison Cote Sea to Sky Salt® ( blend of Ocean & Mountain salt)  Maison Cote Exotic pepper blend, fresh chives from the garden  
Yummy yummy

Organic mix pasta, roots vegetables Julienne, garlic, bacon jam, butter, goat cheese, fresh dill & preserve salt lemon Pepper
So easy so tasty  you could substitute bacon for make it vegetarian or add Smoked salmon for if you like fish...  


Organic cane and coconut Infuse sugars

We have infused Sugars for the last 21 years, part of our Maison Cote Edible made in Vancouver®  Collection, in the last year this collection really have take off with so much demand, I do not know if it is the new packaging or just the right time but they are moving fast Available to all my farmers market or at the Granville Island Public market where you will find the real Canadian food artisans, Thank-you
see our schedule for date of Markets   www.maisoncote.com/markets.htm 

It is now available under our sister brand (Sea to Sky Salt ®) for wholesale
 Organic cane sugar infused with natural botanical our new organic coconut sugar infused with Madagascar vanilla


We are proud to sale our wonderful products to Olives Community Market in Function Junction  Whistler the best grocery shop where local shop, on your way to Whistler

Monday, March 25, 2013

Monday chores & rewards

Chores, roasting bell peppers, tomatoes, pasta from scratch for lasagna and linguini, drying spinach & porcini to add to my pasta, chimichurri, cashew butter and cheese, infused water so my week could ready & tasty  
of course laundry, banking...
Rewards: eggs sandwich, spinach, kales, caramel onion, artichokes Sea to sky salt® Maison Cote rustic italian pepper, mini salad & berry vinaigrette 

Friday, March 22, 2013

I love my Friend they shower me with lovely gifts

Chocolate from the Peninsula Hotel  Hong kong


 Tea from Australia  


Eiffel Tower cards holder from Japan
  Did I mention I love my Friend
Thank-you Yu, you are the best friend in the whole world 

The hog shack

I was invited to go join Friends at the Hog Shack in Steveston 
I am not a big fan of BBQ  but I was very empress by the good taste of all not to sweet not to dry
Good place, good food, good service 





Thursday, March 21, 2013

Citrus Juices

Nice Spring day in Vancouver 

Nothing like fresh squeze Citrus juice

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Vegetarian spread

Avocado & fresh chili, roasted eggplant, squash & garlic, chimichurri and a bit of cheese  
Not Vegan, Just no meat  

Tea's or infused hot water

Green tea & mint 
Cantaloupe, basil & mint
The cantaloupe, basil & mint was so good

Quick vegetarien lunch

 Vegetarian burger one with avocado puree the other one with cashew chesse 
Mix salad with a cranberry dressing 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Chimichurri chow mein & trailer park vegan salad

I trow some chimichurri on my chow mein noodle 
So double ethincs, score!



This little vegan salad call trailer park, well we need our frank even if it vegan frank's
Mix green, cashew nut cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, artichokes, black olive. Now even trailer park could have a vegan meal or not !

I need extra protein with my meal and add some vegan frank's it look weird but it taste so good 
as it is a hard sale to find a name for it  well Trailer park was milder then NouveauWhite trash what I would have love to call it , I think it so funny!  but I know how people are so sensitive in the English world you can not say God, shit or hell ??? as a French Canadian Men this make no senses to me, but well let go with the flow so Trailer park vegan salad it is.

No real frank's, trailer or park where hurt in this process 

As I know we could not please every one so take it with a grain of salt, if not well to bad !

It's a Pie, Pie World

The Gourmandise School Logo
 The Gourmandise School  
of
 Sweets and Savories
    

pi day
Meyer Lemon Meringue Pie, Chocolate Caramel Pie and Ricotta Pie. 
It's a Pie, Pie World.
Sweet, flaky vessel.  Buttery, delicate and kind to our fillings.  Oh, Pie- how can we best honor your tireless work? With sweet offerings?  Savory flavors? Ahhh.... we will do our best, so long as you hold up your end of the deal.

And on that note- here are our favorite tips to make sure your pie dough holds up, flakes out and satisfies your sweet or savory tooth!  

Just announced- the KCRW Pie Contest is taking place on Sept. 7 at LACMA!  Visit Good Food's blog here for more details.  

Secrets of a flaky pie crust
1. Chill out.  You and the butter.  The dough smells your fear, so be calm.  Patch holes.  Have fun.
2. Use cold butter.  Really cold butter.  Never shortening, either.  I'll find you if you do.
3. Flatten your dough out, either in a bag on between two sheets of parchment paper, before chilling.  It'll make life a lot easier once cold and ready to roll.
4. It's ok if it tears.  Patch instead of pulling.
5. Call the hotline if you need anything!  310.656.8800.

Hazelnut Brown Butter Pie. 
Click here and scroll to see our Pie Crust recipe.  Want to taste it?  Visit our sweet creations at The Curious Baker, a few steps away from Gourmandise in The Market.

Bake your pie crust with pie weights until the edges are just golden.  Remove parchment paper and pie weight.  Tarts also need to be par-baked but require only a light prick of the fork in place of pie weights.  

Filling
In a small saucepot, place:
2 ounces butter 

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together:
½ cup sugar 
1 egg     
1 tsp vanilla     

Set aside:
2 Tbsps unbleached flour 
4 large, sliced apples, unpeeled and sauteed if desired
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts

1) Brown the butter in a saucepan or small skillet and set aside. 
2) In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg, and vanilla until flully. Stir in the flour and hazelnuts until just combined.  Fold in the apples. 
3) Place the apple mixture into the pre-baked shell and top with crumble: 

Topping
In a small bowl, combine:
½ cup unbleached flour    
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar      
1 tsp cinnamon 
pinch of salt

Set aside:
½ stick (2 ounces) butter, cold   

1) Whisk together the flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt. 
2) Sand the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or knife until you get a crumbly texture. 
3) Sprinkle over apples and baked for 1 hour at 350.  If you notice that the crumble is browning too much, top it with parchment paper or foil to finish baking.

Wishing you a delicious day,
Clémence and Hadley 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Blackberry Sauce

Why buy Jam when you could make it in minutes & controle the sugar, additif...
Cook blackberry with Maison Cote Vanilla Sugar and the juice of 1 meyer lemon 
Easy to do great taste

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Balsamic vinegar & Watermelon

What a great idee

WATERMELON BALSAMIC 


 Fabulous. Well, that and it features the quintessential summer fruit: watermelon. The balsamic vinegar reduction complements the fruit perfectly, adding additional sweetness and tang that will make you wonder at the explosion of flavor in your mouth created by just three humble ingredients.

Watermelon Balsamic Appetizer
Ingredients
Seedless Watermelon cut into 1 inch cubes
3/4 cups balsamic vinegar. Use an affordable kind. The reduction and added sugar makes using expensive balsamic vinegar unnecessary.
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup (more or less) Balsamic Reduction Syrup
Mint leaves for garnish.
Directions
Balsamic Reduction Syrup:
  1. Combine ingredients in a small saucepan.
  2. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue cooking until reduced by half.
  3. Allow to cool, then keep refrigerated.
Putting it together:
  1. After trimming and cutting watermelon into 1×1 inch cubes, use a small melon baller to carve out the center of each cube. Make sure to leave the sides and bottoms in tact to hold the syrup inside.

  2. Watermelon cubes with wells on mint leaves served on Jars Vuelta Tray in Sky Gray
  3. Turn the cubes over on a paper towel to drain for at least 20 minutes. At this point you can also wrap lightly with plastic wrap and hold in the refrigerator until needed for several hours.
  4. When ready to serve, add a few drops of the Balsamic Reduction Syrup to the center and place each cube on top of a mint leaf.

We sale raw cashew bulk, here some recipe

If you are Vegan or Vegetarian 
we sale large bag of raw cashew
11.34 Kilo for $125.00 
Think at all the butter, cheese, sauce, burger you could make with this 


Here couple recipes for raw cashew
Cashew Milk recipe
Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • water
  • sweetener (raw maple syrup or honey), optional
  • dash sea salt, to taste

Preparation:

Cover raw cashews with water and allow to soak for at least one hour. Drain and rinse.
Place soaked cashews and 2 cups water into a blender or food procesor and process until smooth, at least one full minute. Add a dash of sweetener, to taste.
You can use more or less water to vary the thickness of your raw cashew milk, depending on your personal preference, but in general, you want a 1:4 ratio of cashews to water.
You may also choose to strain your raw cashew milk, depending on personal preference.
______________________________________________________
Raw Cashew Cheesse 
Ingredients (1.5 cups)
  • 1 and 1/2 cups raw cashew nuts (not roasted or salted), soaked overnight in filtered water with sea salt, then rinsed and drained before use
  • 1/4 cup filtered water
  • 2 tablespoons dry white wine (optional; substitute water or vinegar if preferred)
  • 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons organic nutritional yeast
  • 2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt or other unrefined mineral salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
Instructions 
(1) Soak the raw cashews. Rinse the cashews and soak in warm filtered water (just enough to cover them) overnight with a dash of sea salt. Discard the retained water and rinse the cashews.
(2) Add the cashews and other ingredients to a blender. Add vinegar, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, white wine (optional), salt, and pepper.
(3) Blend. As usual, I used my bullet blender, which worked well … but you can use something more powerful if you’d like.
(4) Cover and refrigerate overnight. Add to a glass container, cover, and keep in the fridge overnight for all the flavors to mingle. It should stay good for 5-6 days after that if refrigerated.
______________________________________________________

Raw cashew dip recipe (hummus style)

Ingredients:

1 cup soaked raw cashews*Vegan hummus made with soaked raw cashews
1 tablespoon tahini (sesame paste)
Juice from 1 fresh lemon, or to taste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch of sea salt, to taste

Instructions:

Combine the soaked cashews, raw tahini, lemon juice,  extra virgin olive oil, onion, powder, garlic powder, and sea salt in a good blender or food processorblend until smooth and creamy.

Taste. to rectified the taste, needs more body, add more extra virgin olive oil. Adjust the seasonings to your liking.

Store in the fridge, covered in a storage container. The flavors get better as it chills. Chilling the hummus will thickens it.
Tip add different flavour by including a pesto or puree kales, roasted red bell peppers or fresh chilli for more kick...
Use as a dip for cut veggies also great as a spread for bread

Serves four to six.

Smoked lentil soup

Vegetarian smoked Lentil soup 
Water
1 pack of orange lentil wash 
1 bunch of Asparagus
2 leaks
1 can of organic crush tomatoes
Maison Cote Sea to Sky salt®, Kitsilano pepper, rustic italian herbs, smoked paprika
Bring to boil then let simm 30min 


Fresh dill, Meyer leomn fresh zest + couple drop of the meyer lemon juice, chop and blend with organic butter

Due Vittorie Balsamic Vinegar Vancouver


                    Maison Cote L epicerie    


Six-year Balsamic Vinegar by, Decorative Bottle

$23.00 per bottle
Six-year Balsamic Vinegar by Maletti, Decorative Bottle
Six-year Balsamic Vinegar
$23.00 Per bottle
In the rich, alluvial soil of Lambrusco di Sorbara in Soliera Italy, just outside of Modena in the Emilia Romagna region, the Maletti family has been producing quality traditional balsamic vinegar (aceto balsamico tradizionale) for generations. The Maletti’s produce their balsamic vinegar from the wine and grape must (unfermented, pressed grape juice and pulp before it’s turned into wine) of selected Lambrusco (red) and Trebbiano (white) grape varietals. Their vinegar is aged in an accelerated yet regulated evaporation process in former wine barrels of French Allier oak. The six year vinegar has an extraordinary density, aroma and depth of flavor with a clean delicate finish. Maletti balsamic vinegar is superb on a wide range of dishes, from fresh strawberries to salad greens topped with Parmigiano Reggiano shavings to most any meat dish.
This vinegar from Modena is aged in an innovative manner, making it a delicious, cost-friendly accent available to chefs of any ability.

Roasted Root Vegetables


Roasted Root Vegetables
This simple vegetable dish can be made with just about any Fall root vegetables, like carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips, and yellow onions. Peel and cube the vegetables to about the same size, cutting the onion into wedges and the carrots into slices. Place in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with some minced garlic. Season with Italian seasoning, some fresh thyme (if you have it), sea salt and pepper. Bake at 400°F for about 35-40mins, until vegetables are tender and golden brown.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Cachew Cheese


Cashew Ricotta Cheese


Super easy cheese to put together and tastes fantastic!  It's a simple recipe with lots of possibilities. Add your own flair to this basic cheese by adding herbs and spices if you like. Or add in some sun-dried tomatoes for a sweet tomato cheese. Use in lasagne, stuffed pasta shells, as a topper for crackers or as a spread for sandwiches. The ingredients are very common making this a great basic recipe for anyone starting out experimenting with nut cheeses. Make yourself some fresh cashew cheese...taste and feel the difference compared to processed cheese products. You will not be disappointed!

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked
  • 1/2 cup water
  • juice of 1 large lemon or 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast*
  • 1 garlic clove
  • dash of onion powder
  • Sea to sky salt or Bolivian mountain salt & cracked pepper, to taste


Soak the cashews for at least two hours in a bowl of water, covering the cashews about an inch of water as they will puff up a bit.

Drain cashews and place all remaining ingredients into a blender or food processor, blend until creamy scraping down sides as needed. Taste for flavors adding any additional ingredients. Some like a salty ricotta so feel free to add as much salt as you want.

Store in refrigerator in an air tight container for an hour or two, this will stiffen the mixture a bit. You can also just prepare your dish with it straight away without refrigeration if needed.

Makes appx. 2 cups. Stores in refrigerator for up to a week.

*You could do just as well without the nutritional yeast if you don't have it. I only added a small amount, probably pretty unnoticeable. I will be trying more next time to play around with it a bit. If you do add it, it will add a bit more cheesy flavor and some good nutritional value.

Note: If you have trouble with the mixture blending on it's own try this, or add extra water...

I find that the mixture will go to the sides and not incorporate itself, maybe my blender is not that powerful. A trick I use while blending is to use a rubber spatula, with the lid off, I will scrap down ever so gently and tightly against the wall of the blender to help push the cashew mixture into itself so it keeps moving. It can be tricky, you don't want to put the spatula too far in or the blades will hit it...only scrap down enough to help keep the flow going, you don't have to go all the way down. I will do this around the wall of the whole blender until it moves either moves on it's own or it's to my desired consistency. Be patient when doing this so you don't lose your spatula in the blender.



Very good...

Enjoy!

Adapted from The Ssmple veganista

Chimichurri


Chimichurri Recipe

  • INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup firmly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, trimmed of thick stems
  • 3-4 garlic cloves
  • 2 Tbsps fresh oregano leaves (can sub 2 teaspoons dried oregano)
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp red, white wine or champagne vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

METHOD

1 Finely chop the parsley, fresh oregano, and garlic (or process in a food processor several pulses). Place in a small bowl.
2 Stir in the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Adjust seasonings.
Serve immediately or refrigerate. If chilled, return to room temperature before serving. Can keep for a day or two.
Yield: Serves 4.