Noelle's - The Custom Cookie Company

Last Friday, I got basket of goodies from Noelle's Custom Cookie Company. Noelle's specializes in gingerbread and will create a custom cookie for any occasion. Holiday cookies, wedding-themed cookies, even corporate logos- Noelle can do it all!

These cookies are a delicate balance of sweetness with a touch of gingery spice. Reading the ingredient list, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Noelle uses only common household ingredients in her cookies: molasses, ginger and cloves, with nary a chemical in sight! But you know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words...

2009 NS Association of Chefs & Cooks Gala Awards Dinner

Last Thursday, the Delta Halifax hosted the 2009 NS Association of Chefs & Cooks Gala Awards Dinner, presented by Culinary Team Nova Scotia. Here, the team created a four-course meal to showcase their talents, as well as presented awards to the assiciation's recipients. The award-winners were:

Partner of the Year

Big Eric's Equipment Supplies Ltd.

Establishment of the Year

NSCC Akerley Campus

Culinarian of the Year

Chef Peter Dewar

Chef of the Year

Chef Luis Clavel

Congratulations to all of the award winners!
And the meal...

First Plate
Smoked Salmon Sphere, Roasted Apple, Yuzu yogurt, Pea Shoots
Vanilla & Sake infused Scallop, Coconut Drops, Blueberry Drape
Lobster Pad Thai, Peanut Sauce, Glass Noodles




Second Plate
Beet Consome, Pork Belly Dumpling, Sour Cream Spaghetti


Main Plate
Sous-Vide Beef Blocks, Paprika & Brown Butter Sauce,
Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Braised Beef on the Cobb, Greens


Final Plate
Carrot Cake, Dark Chocolate Mousse, Carrot Sticks,
Cardamom Ice Cream, Salted Caramel Sauce, Pinenut Crumbs

Oh MY Jelly!

When I was over at my aunt's house for Thanksgiving dinner, she made me sample two of her latest culinary triumphs. Now I say "made", but to be honest, I did so quite willingly! As it turns out, she opened up the wonderful world of jelly. My only experience w/ real jelly, as opposed to jam was one awful mint jelly incident, and the delightful grape jelly that you get at diners in Manhattan. Actually, that's a lie- my aunt's hot pepper jelly has made it into several sauces and chutneys at dinner parties in my apt.

Moooving on, she gave me a spoonful of her red wine jelly, and then one of her apple jelly. I've been creating dishes in which to use these precious accouterments my head ever since! These would be a great accompaniment to any kind of meat; a mild, soft cheese or a crumbly, pungent one; slathered on a slice of toasted brioche with butter; a pipping hot bagel with cream cheese,;with pound cake and ice cream; waffles and whipped cream- see what I mean??

Anyhow, now that you're all salivating, I'll share her recipe. This sounds to me like the perfect rainy (or snowy) day activity, and would fit right in with the Christmas baking.

Red Wine Jelly & Apple Jelly
both use the same method, though the ingredients differ slightly

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. wine -merlot, or shiraz are lovely here.

3 c. sugar

1 pouch or 1/2 btl liquid Certo

Method: Mix wine and sugar in the top pan of a double boiler. Place over boiling water. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved, about 5 mins. Remove from heat but leave jelly over the hot water. Stir in the Certo all at once.

For the Apple Jelly:

2 c apple juice

3 1/2 c. sugar

1 pouch liquid Certo

Method: Mix juice and sugar in the top pan of a double boiler. Place over boiling water. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved, about 5 mins. Remove from heat but leave jelly over the hot water. Stir in the Certo all at once.

Moxie's in Dartmouth Crossing

A couple of weeks ago, I went for lunch with some colleagues at Moxie's in Dartmouth Crossing. There's not much to say here- I was pretty underwhelmed with my food, as were my colleagues with theirs. I do have to give this resto props, though, as the service was quick and efficient.

Beef Dip

Shaved, lean beef, sautéed mushrooms

& Swiss cheese on a baguette,

served with au jus for dipping

Tandoori Salmon Salad
Warm tandoori marinated wild salmon on mixed greens,
w/ mango, onions, sunflower seeds and water chestnuts.
Served with mango & sweet chili dressing

Double Cheese Nachos
heaped with cheddar and mozzarella, green onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, sour cream

Spinach Salad
Spinach, red onions, hard boiled eggs, mushrooms and bacon,
served with warm bacon dressing and with asiago crisps

One very sexy chocolate bar...

This weekend, I stopped in to Just Us! Coffee on Spring Garden. As I ordered my usual Sumatran java, I found myself pulled toward their chocolate selection. As I made up my mind that a little chocolate for breakfast wouldn't be such a bad thing, I decided to try their Fair Trade Organic Dark Chocolate Bar.

At 70% cocoa, this chocolate is pure sex- the description on the label even calls it "Intense and deeply satisfying." Hmmm...I'll take that.

For more sexy chocolate in Nova Scotia check out my post on The Sweet Spot Chocolate Shop!

Taste of Nova Scotia Prestige Awards

Last Thursday, November 5th, members of Taste of Nova Scotia gathered at the Prince George Hotel for the 2009 Taste of Nova Scotia Prestige Awards. This year, as opposed to a sit down dinner, small bites were presented at stations and then dessert was served to accompany the awards ceremony.

Guests were greeted by a special cocktail; the NovaScotito, Glen Breton Whisky, Cointreau, iced tea, lemon and blueberry. Not a bad start to the eventing! After taking in some of the Prince George Hotel's creations, we moved into the dining room and toasted the winners with a glass of Grand Pre's Blueberry Sparkling Wine. This year's award winners are:

Taste of Nova Scotia Member of the Year
Michael Howell, Tempest Restaurant, Wolfville

Innovative Product of the Year
Baltic Porter, Garrison Brewery, Halifax

Exporter of the Year
Glenora Inn & Distillery, Glenville

Quality Driven Member of the Year
Fox Hill Cheese House, Port Williams

Restaurant Server of the Year
Sandra Gardner, Five Fisherman, Halifax

Cuisine of the Year
Chives Canadian Bistro, Halifax

Restaurant of the Year
Restaurant Le Caveau, Grand Pre

And on to the food...Since there were a lot of hot lamps around, most of these images have a amber-ish glow to them...couldn't be helped!

Willy Krauch Smoked Salmon Napoleon w/ Herbed Cream Cheese

Crusted Blueberry Northumberland Lamb Chop

w/ Wild Blueberry Glaze

Cauliflower Fritters


Stuffed Mushroom w/ Indian Point Mussels and Smoked Bacon

Maple Wine Cured Smoked Salmon

Mini Venison Burger w/ Pepper Jelly

Kelp-Crusted Digby Scallop

Rabbit Wellington

'Just Us!' Coffee Panna Cotta w/ Caramelized Pears

& Brown Butter Ice Cream served w/Jost Vidal Ice Wine

As a parting gift, all guests received a bottle of Tideview Cider's Premium Draft. That's my kind of 'swag'!

Congrats to all the winners of the
2009 Taste of Nova Scotia Prestige Awards.
Keep up the good work providing
and promoting local products in our province!!

Halifax Chamber of Commerce's Annual Fall Dinner

Last Wednesday, along with three of my colleagues, I spent the day, from 8:30 am-3:30 pm putting chair covers onto 750-odd chairs for the Halifax Chamber of Commerce's Annual Fall Dinner. I love the Chamber's dinner events; the buzz in the office, the excitement of set-up and those last few minutes before the "Voice of God" calls everyone into the ballroom are worth the toil of the dreaded chair covers.

While our guest speaker Jeff Rubin - award-winning economist and author of Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller - shared his thoughts on oil and the economy, my interest as the office's resident "foodie" was the meal, which we chose in a meal test about a month earlier. We were pretty pleased as the meals came out, though with all the running around, I only managed to grab a few bites of my entree, while my dessert seemed to have disappeared - no one has fessed up about that one yet...Hmmm....

Anyhow, here's a little inside peek as t the set-up that's involved in one of the Chamber's dinners as well as some pics of what the Chamber staff, our guest speaker, and our 750 some guests enjoyed for dinner.

General set-up...AGH, chair covers!

Almost finished...

Mixed greens salad w/ crispy prosciutto, fig & feta crisp
served w/ a creamy fig dressing

Pistachio-crusted chicken breast w/ a lemon beurre blanc & apricot salsa, Grilled tomato w/ mushrooms & Parmesan cheese,
Roasted potato and veg

Sticky date pudding served warm w/ a creamy toffee sauce

For more photos of the Chamber's Annual Fall Dinner, check out the Halifax Chamber of Commerce Website.

Wednesday night at Onyx

Last week, I went to Onyx for dinner. A friend and I met at the Port of Wines, picked up a delicious Carmenere, and off we went to the resto for an evening of great food. Now, I've written about Onyx before proclaiming that I think it's one of the best "bang for your buck" in Halifax. This was when they started offering1/2 price bar bites on Wednesdays. However, this sexy restaurant has sweetened the pot by adding BYOW with NO corkage fee! There's also great live music to add to the already decadent atmosphere.

Now, I had been informed that there were some new items on Onyx's bar bites menu and I definitely wanted to give those a try. Since I'm fairly 'snap happy' when it comes to food, you can image my grief when my camera's battery died after just one photo. It's fuzzy, but it gives you a good idea of Onyx's new smoked duck spring rolls w/ Ponzu sauce.

My friend and I are both duck-lovers so in order to prevent food envy, we both ordered the same first course. Next, I ordered the grilled Halloumi cheese w/mango fennel slaw and naan crisps. What a pairing; chewy cheese, soft, sweet bread and a lovely combo of luscious mango and crisp fennel. My friend, in the meantime, ordered the Cajun escargot fritters served with a roasted garlic aioli.

In the end, though the Bar Bites menu offers many fantastic selections, we strayed to the sweet sidein favor of something that seemed, as my friend put it, "tailor made" for us. From the dessert menu, we ordered une meule; traditional duoro valley style Stilton wheel, macerated table side with port and served with roasted nuts, hand dipped chocolate truffles, fresh berries, dried figs and toasted brioche. Sigh....

It was another winner for Onyx- one that makes me want to go back again to take photos to drool over later. But really, ya'll should just go check it out for yourselves. With the Wednesday night deal, it's spectacular, inexpensive food in a decadent atmosphere- what more could you ask for?

Adsum's Successful Canadian Woman's Dinner

Last Thursday, I was invited to attend Adsum's House's Successful Canadian Women's Dinner at Pier 21. Having known someone who has struggled with domestic issues, I was thankful for the chance to attend and lend my support to such a wonderful event.

Adsum for Women & Children provides safe shelter, housing, services and supports to female youth from age 16, women and children who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

This year's Successful Canadian Woman recipient was Alexa McDonough, Canada's first woman elected to lead a major party in a provincial legislature. As she gave her speech, and I read through her bio, I was amazed at everything this woman has accomplished, and the goals that she has yet to. Her incredible political career notwithstanding, Mrs. McDonough has been awarded for her peace advocacy work, her role in the fight against global poverty and disease, and has taken on the role of interim president, of my Alma Matter, Mount Saint Vincent University.

It certainly was a great event, and the silent auction alone helped to raise $30,000.00 for Adsum. The event was held at Pier 21 and RCR Catering prepared the dinner.For me, the main attraction at these events is normally the food, but at this particular one, the message and cause outshone the rest.

Vegetarian spring rolls w/ sweet chili sauce, served w/
Thai Asian papaya and mango salad


Baked Atlantic salmon w/ fennel & red pepper chutney
served w/ chef's potato & vegetable medley

Flourless Chocolate Cake a/ Bailey's creme anglais

Slow Motion Film Festival

Looking for something cool to do this wknd? Why not check out slow Food Nova Scotia's Slow Motion Film Festival going on all wknd long. Showing at the Al Whittle Theatre in Wolfville, Nova Scotia from Friday, November 6, to Sunday, November 8th, Slow Motion is a three-day festival dedicated to films about food.

Eleven screenings include classics such as Babette’s Feast and new favorites like Ratatouille, and 2008's Bottleshock, a film about the famous Paris wine tasting of 1974. The multi-award-winning documentary FOOD, Inc. will also have its local premiere screening this wnkd. Also of note are the Nova Scotia documentary Animals and Slow Food Nova Scotia’s own The Edible Schoolyard.

Complementary events include California and Nova Scotia wine tasting, a gala opening party, the Wolfville Farmers’ Market Amazing Food Race, a harvest barn dinner with chefs Michael Howell, Craig Flinn and Peter Jackson, and a panel discussion on the economics and ethics of eating seafood in the modern world.