I have mentioned before, when a guest is invited to dinner, during the rehearsal season it comes with the warning “Dinner is at 5:30 sharp.” That being said, we are not the MND police. When a truck falls off the ramp for the 404, and lands on the 401 below (for those not from Ontario, this is the busiest highway in Canada) we must make allowances.
Joining our trio this week, we have Virginia, and Brian. By 5:30 we were enjoying a glass of wine, when we received a text from Brian telling us not to wait…. It seems a transport truck fell onto the highway. After waiting as long as we dared, we set Brian’s food aside and started in on Monday Night Dining. Tonight everything is cylindrical. It wasn’t quite planned that way, but we did notice a trend.
Our first course would cure anyone of the winter blahs; Beet and Goat Cheese Salad, with Pistachios. Although it was root vegetables, often associated with winter, it was vibrant and fresh tasting. And formed into a cylinder.
We paused before the main, to get an ETA from our missing guest, but alas, he was still a ways away. We did want to wait, but we still needed to make rehearsal, so we moved on with our main, Duck Parmentier, with Butternut and Spaghetti Squash, Maple Sauce and Waffle Fries. With roasted butternut squash on the top and spaghetti squash on the bottom, and tender home-made duck confit in between, the textures and flavours came alive (and it was cylindrical). It also featured our new favorite liqueur (Sortilege) in the sauce. One of my favorite moments was Steph asking;
“How long have we been having Monday Night Dinners?”
Shawn: “Three years next week….”
Steph (waving a waffle fry accusingly): Then why have I never had this before???
I take that as high praise….
We then got another update from Brian. He is getting close. While I was making tea, Shawn starting getting Brian’s meal ready. This would cut it close, but we wanted to give him a chance at the first two courses. So while Brian tried to unwind with a glass of Pinot Noir and his appetizer, we settled into our dessert, a Chocolate, Espresso Dacquoise. This dessert originates from the southwestern French town of Dax (whose residents are the Dacquois). This is a light, nutty cake made with almond meringue layers, dark chocolate ganache and espresso buttercream. It is a bit time-consuming to make, but oh so worth it. The flavours are superb and the textures make the whole dessert something special. We served it in wedges, but the original cake was cylindrical too. It was quite a large dessert, and gluten-free, so we took the rest for treats for the choir, at break.
I am quite impressed with Brian. He managed to eat the app and the entrée, while keeping up his end of the conversation and we still made it out the door in time for rehearsal. Although we have known Virginia for a little while now, this was our first chance to sit down and spend some time together, which at its heart, is the essence of Monday Night Dining. So to friends old and new, we raise a fork to the MND experience, where even trucks falling from the sky can’t keep us from breaking bread together.
Thoughts of the duck parmentier kept me going as I crawled along the 401E dodging falling trucks…. And it was so worth it! Lovely conversation and a spectacular repast.
So good.
And speaking of cylindrical…the bottles of wine, the circle of friends, the circle of life, and the ever inclusive circle of music, love and blessings.
Great photos of amazing looking food. You guys out do yourselves. Beautiful.
Thank you for the kind comment.