A big thank you…

This little bear, eating grapes, became a bit of a friend to us, while in Andlau, which was our home base for our recent trip to France. The lovely apartment that we stayed in was loaned to us, by a friend’s family, so we thought that this week, we should invite the family patriarch for Monday night dinner, to thank him for the amazing hospitality.

This week’s Monday Night Dining gathering actually took place on a Monday, which has not been the case often this summer. Our trio gathered with Cate and Bill, for a little french inspired dining, with a small twist. We started with a lovely Cremant D’Alsace, from Pierre Sparr, to welcome our guests, and some bruschetta featuring tomatoes, from the garden.

Once we were settled in, we moved to the lower level, in the garden and enjoyed a garden tomato soup with parmesan tuille.

I love how the tuille is reflected on the surface of the soup in these pictures. The tuille was crisp and lovely on its own, but when immersed into the soup, it melted into lovely, gooey, cheesy goodness. Our tomatoes this year have been especially good, which was reflected in the flavour of this simple soup.

For the main course, we headed to our favorite fish monger. They had just gotten in some fresh halibut, which we cedar planked and served with a champagne beurre blanc, Potato Pavé and ricotta stuffed zucchini flowers. We paired this with a Grand Cru Riesling that we brought back from France with us. I have been a fan of a good Riesling for a number of years, but the subtlety of the Alsace wines has opened my eyes to what can be done with the same grape, in different soils, hills and climates.

I have to say that halibut is one of my favorite types of fish, light and flaky. The beurre blanc was delicate enough not to overpower the fish. The potato Pavé is made with thin layers of potato, that are pressed, cut and then lightly sauteed, to give it a little crunch and colour. The zucchini blossoms, are delicate and delicious. I had not had these until recently and now know what I have been missing. An interesting fact that I just learned from a friend, is that you only harvest the male blossoms, as they do not produce the best fruit. The female blossoms are left to grow the zucchinis.

While we dined, we were able to recount some of our stories of our trip, and compare with our host’s more experienced view of the area. It turns out that although we did see many of the gems the area has to offer, there is much much more to discover. One such treasure will have to wait until next week’s blog. This area might need further investigation….

I was so excited to post this, that I almost forgot to tell you about the dessert. To end the evening, we served Coeur a la Creme, with a strawberry reduction.

A nice light, fruity end to a nice meal, with friends and a nice light ending to this blog. Until next time. Spoiler alert… it will also link with this week and last week’s blog.