Last night, my very good friend Joan took me off to Indulgence for a birthday pressie. Indulgence is a fundraiser put on by the Junior Leauge of Edmonton. It showcases local food producers and chefs as well as Canadian wines. It was fantastic - 2 hours of non stop wine tasting and small plates -and I bet I'll be going back next year. Some of the notable small plates included:
- a brilliant beef carpaccio on paper-thin flax seed crackers with a hemp oil aoili (from Ernest's Dining room at the Culinary school at NAIT);
- fantastic tender rosemary bbq chicken wings from my mate Ron at Sunworks Farm;
- duck egg fritatta and smoked duck from Culina and Green Eggs and Ham;
- fantastic homemade sausages and spy mustards from La Spiga;
- Zuchinni soup with sauteed leeks, duck confit and brouillade of duck eggs by Patrick Turcot (Executive Chef, Hotel Fairmont McDonald)
I can see myself trying to replicate some of these - especially the melt in your mouth carpaccio!
Luckily for me, Patrick Turcot has given me permission to test run and post about his recipe on Lex Culinaria so look for that coming up this weekend!
For those Edmontonians among you, make sure you grab a ticket next year. It is so worth it!
PS: Don't forget about the SUMMER BBQ/GRILLING CHALLENGE - It's up at the end of next week so get cooking and get your entries in! As an added incentive, there will be a random prize (BBQ themed) for the entry that my cat Fitzroy likes the best. I'm going to print out all the recipes, lay them on the floor in a circle and put Fitzy in the middle. The first recipe he sniffs or licks will win the prize. How's that for a contest!
Hello - just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your blog.
I've just moved to Edmonton and am struggling to find the best ethnic groceries and tasty restaurants. For a city with a million people I was expecting more I guess (not counting the Farmer's Market which is far superior to where we moved from). If you have a chance to list your favorite 'dim sum', 'chinese', 'sushi' & 'pizza joint' I'd appreciate it! I cook so much at home but these are the main things we like to enjoy outside of our kitchen.
Thanks to your recommendations we've had delicious lunches at both Dadeo's and Tropika.
Sincerely,
Shireen
Posted by: Shireen | May 04, 2006 at 03:15 PM