On Sunday, before this week’s Monday Night Dining experience, it was both the super moon and the blood moon. The super moon occurs when the moon is at its closest point to the earth or (perigee-syzygy ) and looks 7-8% larger. The blood moon occurs during a total lunar eclipse, when the light reflecting off the moon has already passed through the earth’s atmosphere, which filters out much of the blue light and makes the moon appear red. This night was the combination of both of these phenomenon. Some believe this is a sign of the apocalypse, or the next coming of Christ. Also werewolves…. Don’t forget werewolves…. Whether this marks the end, or a new beginning, or as I believe just a cool astronomical anomaly, we want to celebrate, and how better to do that than share beautiful food with dear friends???
This week we are serving things that have been on our list for a while. It just so happens that all the dishes have a French origin, so that worked out nicely. Joining our trio this week last minute is Trish. Trish’s wine club has just been on an excursion, in wine country, and we were gifted with three lovely bottles of wine, which we hope to pair with one of our menus. The menu was planned, when we realized the app has an ingredient that she is allergic to. Luckily Shawn thinks well on his feet. So after greetings, and bribing Enzo with treats, we sat down to sample Lobster guacamole salad with vodka spiked tomato sauce. For Trish’s plate the tomato puree was replaced with olive oil and balsamic reduction.
This dish looks like a flower, opening its petals. Steph commented that the sauce, with the vodka, tomato, and hot sauce, was like eating a bloody Caesar. The star of this dish was not the home-grown tomatoes, but the lobster. We knew we had a hit, when diners used their dessert spoons to scoop up the extra sauce. And Steph said “that’s a keeper”, so this dish will be making future appearances, on our table.
The main was giving us a bit of trepidation, as we had issues with the test run, when the “scales” kept coming off the fish. Shawn peaked for performance, and the fish was perfect. Our main this week was Potato crusted halibut, sautéed swiss chard, and vichyssoise sauce (based on one of Lynn Crawford’s signature dishes.)
The layered potatoes on the fish are supposed to represent the scales of the fish. We purchased the halibut from our favorite fish guy, Chris at Blue Marlin Seafood. If you are even on highway 11 heading toward Gravenhurst, you need to stop in. When I thought of the ingredients for this dish, I thought it just might not stand out, but I was so wrong. The perfectly cooked fish, in the crunchy potato coating, the freshness of the swiss chard and the silky smooth vichyssoise, made for an elegant and refined dish. Plus it was fun to prep.
The dessert this night was one we had looked at the longest, but first we had to source the dishes, to make it in, and wait for them to arrive. We finally got to serve Coeur a la crème with raspberry sauce.
This light as air dessert, is a bit reminiscent of a cheesecake, in flavour. Once the filling is made, it is spooned into the cheesecloth lined molds and covered, then pressed lightly into the molds. The holes allow any excess liquid to drain from the hearts. The spiked raspberry sauce adds a lovely colour and flavour to the dish, but I am now thinking of lots of other fruits that would work with this dessert. We can also imagine that the red sauce represents the blood moon, but with a happy heart eclipse….
The night seemed to have flown by, with talk of music, and schedules, and stories of wine tours, which we all enjoy. It seemed no time before was had to head out to Pax Christi Chorale rehearsal. It’s a good thing we enjoy rehearsals, or it would be too easy to just have another glass of wine and continue entertaining each other, with stories and songs. There may have been a super moon, but we were over the moon, to finally serve some of the items from our bucket list, and thankfully no werewolves….
The lobster salad is definitely a “Keeper.” Very special : )