Last April, Trevor and I made the drive up to Montreal just to partake in the sugar shack dinner at Au Pied de Cochon, Martin Picard’s infamous and lively, pork-loving restaurant. We’d been waiting for over two years to go – reservations open December 1st at midnight, and over 2,000 people submitted requests in the first five minutes – and it 100% lived up to our (very high) expectations. I wanted to write about it right away, but by the time we were back and I’d processed what I wanted to say, we were well into May, and it just seemed like an inappropriate time to share maple-syrup laden pork and duck dishes. So I waited until now, when heavy winter dishes are once again on the menu (and now this post can serve as a more timely reminder to those of you who might want to snag a reservation!).

As I flip through the pictures from that trip, I’m wishing now that I took better notes for you. I’m left mostly with a memory of warm yellow light filling a crowded cabin-style room, anticipation and excitement building with every course. A loud and convivial atmosphere of friends and strangers enjoying food that is completely over-the-top in more ways than one. A giant block of cheddar cheese being wheeled around the room on a trolley cart, the servers tossing steaming hot blood-and-ink fettucine in the hollowed out center to coat the noodles with  melted cheese. A cognac-doused duck-stuffed-duck being placed in front of Trevor and me, flaming, the whole duck just for the two of us. Sitting at the bar, watching the waitresses pour mug after mug of maple beer. Walking through the still-cold, still-muddy woods at twilight, enjoying the contrast between the still woods and the jolly feast inside. It was a wonderful experience: lively and joyful and a bit otherwordly, like something out of a book or a play. I’d go back in a heartbeat.

I do have a good list of what we were served, course by course. First, the drinks: a hefty mug of maple beer for Trevor, and a series of just-sweet-enough maple daiquiris for me. The appetizer course had three meal-sized components: a huge piece of maple foie-gras served with duck fat toast; a “sushi cake,” made with layers of rice, salmon tartare, and wasabi avocado mash; and pork cracklings served with little pots of maple-soaked scrambled eggs and maple baked beans. Next up was sturgeon in mussel and bacon sauce, followed quickly by an omelet of sorts, baked into a skillet with potato, beef, tomato, and a parmesan bread crust. Then one of my favorites, a make-it-yourself sandwich with duck fat fried dough as the bread, mustard, and inch-thick slices of juicy ham unlike any ham I’d every had before. Perhaps the most impressive course was the afore-mentioned duck, fed on maple syrup then stuffed, drenched, doused with cognac, and flambeed. This was served with baked sweet potatoes topped with maple-meringue, a dish I’ve recreated for you here. The last savory course was the blood and ink fettucine with blood sausage and cheddar cheese, and then we moved on to the desserts. Served all together, the desserts were a banana cream pie with maple meringue, maple taffy on ice, a mocha maple cake, and a maple frozen yogurt with maple sugar and whiskey.

There was an absurd amount of food served, and all of it was incredibly rich and delicious – easily the most lavish meal I’ve ever been a part of. The standouts for me were the maple daiquiris, the ham sandwich, and the maple frozen yogurt, which had an incredible tang to it. We may try to recreate all of these dishes at home at some point, but the easiest, and the most appropriate for this month, were the simple but clever baked sweet potatoes with maple meringue topping. Although I know that realistically, anyone who is cooking Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow has had their menu set for weeks and is not looking for last minute additions to their very long to-do list, these baked sweet potatoes would theoretically be a great addition to a Thanksgiving menu. They are super easy – just bake the potatoes, whip the egg whites, and broil just before serving – and they capture the much-loved flavors of sweet potato casserole without as much added sugar or fat.

Whatever you’re serving tomorrow, I hope that all of you have a lovely, relaxing, and delicious Thanksgiving! Ours will be small and non-traditional this year – we’re having steak tips and stuffing and raspberry pie – but I’m looking forward to the long weekend, spending downtime with my family, and eating whatever turkey leftovers Trevor manages to salvage from his family’s dinner. Plus going to the movies at least twice. Have a great holiday!

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Baked Sweet Potatoes with Maple-Meringue Topping

Inspired by dinner at Au Pied de Cochon. Serves 4.

• 4 small sweet potatoes
• 2 egg whites
• pinch cream of tartar
• 1/2 c. maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Wash the potatoes and poke all over with a fork. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until tender, about 40 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size of the potato. Flip the potatoes halfway through, at about 25 minutes.
2. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool slightly. Cut a lengthwise slit into the tops of the potatoes, and scoop out a small amount of the potato flesh so that there is a shallow, circular hollow on top of each potato.
3. To prepare the meringue, beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar on high until soft peaks form. Set whites aside. Place the maple syrup in a small saucepan, and heat over medium heat until just simmering and the temperature is 235°F. While beating the egg whites on high, slowly drizzle the hot maple syrup into the whites, until the meringue is shiny and holds stiff peaks. Spoon or pipe the meringue on top of the sweet potatoes. Broil on high until meringue is golden brown, about 3-5 minutes, or use a pastry torch to cook the meringue only. Serve immediately.

The post Montreal Travelogue: Cabane A Sucre Au Pied de Cochon // Baked Sweet Potatoes with Maple-Meringue Topping appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I just got home from a whirlwind four days in Seattle, where I ate and drank my way through the city as part of the sixth IFBC. In addition to attending the conference sessions, I had plenty of time to explore the city, hang out with my little brother, and work off some of those calories in long runs on the waterfront. Although I’m by no means an expert on the city, I wanted to share some notes and tips about the food, wine, and activities that I most enjoyed during my four days there.

Eating and Drinking

RN74 – As part of the conference, UrbanSpoon arranged a series of small blogger dinners at some of the best restaurants in Seattle. My group was sent just a few blocks from the hotel to RN74, where we were served an amazing 10 course dinner. Highlights included the muhsroom tempura, dungeness crab spaghetti with lemon and poppy seed, 45-day dry-aged beef with duck fat fries, olive oil cake with lemon curd sherbet, and an Au Bon Climat chardonnay that was one of the best wines I’ve ever tasted.

Lecosho – Wanting to get out of the hotel for a little bit on such a beautiful weekend, I met new blog acquaintances Diana, Garrett, and Rachael (and Diana’s husband and adorable 8-month old baby) for lunch at Lecosho on Friday. It was the perfect lunch spot – right downtown, with delicious soups, salads, and sandwiches. I had a grilled ham and cheese with spicy mustard, and fresh cream of mushroom soup. Very reasonably priced, too.

Beecher’s – Initially curious about the long line of people waiting outside the small storefront, I did a little bit of research on Beecher’s, a handmade cheese store in Pike Place Market, and decided to give this landmark restaurant a try. The super creamy, perfectly cheesy mac’n’cheese is 100% worth the hype. Try it.

Blue C Sushi – I’m not sure it’s on their regular menu, but the baked potato sushi roll with caviar was my favorite small bite from the conference food expo on Friday night. Think nori, stuffed with baked potato, a crumble of bacon, sour cream, and a spoonful of caviar on top. So clever – and so good! Good enough that next time I think I’ll check out their full menu.

Luc – As we waddled out of the UrbanSpoon dinner at RN74, we were handed gift bags with even more goodies, including gift certificates to another charming restaurant, a french place called Luc. Since she was leaving the next day, my dinner buddy Karli was kind enough to give me her card, so Ryan and I headed there for a farewell dinner Sunday night. Since I was still a bit chilled from our damp hike earlier that afternoon, I ordered the hearty white bean cassoulet with duck confit. Um, yum. Ryan also devoured his moules marinieres, and we finished the meal off with the best chocolate pot de creme I’ve ever had – it was so silky and just chocolaty enough. A fabulous ending to my visit.

Cupcake Royale – Cupcake Royale was one of the hosts of the Fresh Bloggers party I went to on Thursday night. I didn’t eat much there since I was pretty full from the previous event, but I’m so glad I tried a granny smith and salted caramel cupcake before I left, because then I was able to immediately consume three more. These are really good cupcakes. And I’m pretty picky about cupcakes.

Chateau Ste Michelle – Touring the Chateau Ste Michelle winery in Woodinville was an optional excursion associated with IFBC, and I’m glad I opted in. It was a gorgeous, warm, sunny afternoon when our tour bus pulled up to the winery, which is about 30 minutes away from downtown Seattle, and we were immediately greeted with chilled glasses of a lovely sparkling rosé. A whilrwind tour of the bottling and fermenting facility followed (all the grapes are grown way out in Eastern Washington, so we didn’t see any of those), before we were ushered into a dining room where John Sarich led us through a quick wine tasting with several super tasty small bites to accompany it. I loved all the food (especially, surprisingly, the cured salmon), and the Eroica Riesling was a remarkable wine. I’d definitely head back out to Woodinville to taste more wines on my next trip.

Exploring

Pike Place Market – Although probably the most famous activity in Seattle (or at least tied with the Space Needle), wandering through Pike Place Market is a must. It’s full of vibrant colors, sounds and smells – fresh produce, beautiful flowers (and so cheap, if I lived in Seattle I’d have flowers all the time), buskers and barbershop quartets, and dozens of restaurants, selling everything from coffee to mac’n’cheese to Russian meat pies. And if you wander all the way down to the end, there’s a lovely little park with great views of the sound where you can sit and enjoy all your market goodies.

Running on the Elliott Bay Trail – One of my favorite ways to explore a new city is by going for a jog, and Seattle is a great place for this. If you’re staying downtown, head down to the waterfront and run North along the docks (Alaskan Way on the map) until you get to Myrtle Edwardrs Park, where the Elliott Bay Bike Trail winds through grassy lawns along the beach. It’s a great, mostly flat run – I managed to fit in 5 miles both Friday and Saturday (taking a lot of photo breaks as I ran).

Cougar Mountain Regional Park – Fitting in a hike with my brother was a must-do on my list, rain or shine. Although it had been sunny all weekend so far, when my brother arrived to pick me up, there was a heavy, blowy rain falling. Still, I suited up in a poncho and we started our walk through the Cougar Mountain park, starting at a trailhead only a few miles from his house (in Bellevue). After about 30 minutes, the rain stopped and the sun started to break through the clouds, leading to gorgeous, sun-streaked mist filling the rainforest. The hike we chose was an easy 4 mile loop with little elevation gain – more of a walk in the woods than a true hike – but it was great to be outside and exploring new terrain.

Since I’m sure I’ll be back to Seattle somewhat frequently to visit my brother, I’ve already started keeping a list of other things I’d like to do there – like ride up in the Space Needle, go on a whale watch, do some more serious hiking, and take a ferry to Victoria. Plus, there’s a lot more great restaurants to try. With the promise of all that, I’m sure I’ll be back soon!

Note: In order to received the discounted active blogger rate at IFBC, all participating bloggers were required to write three posts about their experience at the conference.

The post IFBC 2013: Eating, Drinking, and Exploring Seattle appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

A few weeks ago, my 9 mile training run was rewarded with a special treat – a tasting brunch at M3 Davis with the Boston Brunchers.  It had been a while since I last got together with the Brunchers for an event – the last one I joined was for the Farm School, back in March.  When I saw that they were headed to the new Southern place in Davis, I signed up right away – I’d really been wanting to try this place, and it’s only a 10 minute walk from my house.  Which was about all I could manage after my run, anyway.

Somerville has had a spat of awesome new restaurants opening in the past 6 months or so: the new falafel bar, the tequila bar and Mexican restaurant Painted Burro, the speakeasy style Saloon, and the surprisingly classy i-Yo cafe and fro-yo shop, to name a few.  Actually, Davis in general feels much hipper, cleaner, and more bustling than it did even a year ago – it’s definitely a good place to be.  M3 joins the ranks of classy Davis eateries as a representative of the classic “Meat and Three” concept that grounds Southern dining.  Although it has a small interior, it’s bright and trendy, with most of the surfaces covered in chalkboard paint – bring your creative side with you as there’s plenty of chalk provided (I could only imagine this gets really fun when settling in for a night of drinking).  The atmosphere is super relaxed – fun, young, and casual.

The folks at M3 served us a little bit of what seemed like practically everything on their brunch menu.  Pickled watermelon and goat cheese salad, scotch quail eggs, pomegranate mimosas, chicken and biscuits, fried chicken and cherry-pecan waffles, blueberry-ricotta pancakes, bloody mary’s, texas french toast with chocolate-covered bacon… by the time we left M3, I could barely move.  In a good way, if that’s possible.  I didn’t love all of the dishes – the pancakes, for instance, were a little dry (but then again, my pancake standards are pretty high), and the scotch egg was nothing to write home about, but the bloody mary, french toast, and chicken and waffles were all delicious.  Not delicious in an innovative high-end way, but delicious like your mom just made you a bunch of your favorite breakfast foods, and it’s a cool fall Saturday, and you’ve got all day in front of you to play, and you just can’t help taking seconds of everything.  If that makes any sense at all.  I guess what I mean is it’s good homey food, with just a little bit of twist to make it interesting.  This time around we received brunch gratis, but the price point is about what I’m looking for, with most of the brunch items in the $8-12 range.  I’ll likely be heading back soon – I think it’s going to make a great neighborhood spot.

Since I know most of you aren’t from around here, and because restaurant reviews aren’t really my niche anyway, I decided to recreate one of our brunch treats to share with you.  This pickled watermelon salad wasn’t my favorite dish (although I did like it quite a bit), but it was the one I felt I could recreate most reliably (the perfect bloody mary mix was going to be a lot more challenging).  This is a light and refreshing summer starter, with a bit of tang and lots of juice.  My version isn’t quite as good as the one at M3 – but it’s a starting point!

Disclaimer: M3 provided us with a tasting brunch free of charge, but all opinions included here are my own.

Pickled Watermelon and Goat Cheese Salad

Pickled watermelon recipe adapted from Bon Appetit.  Serves 4.

• 1/4 of a large seedless watermelon, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 3 c. cubes)
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• juice from 2 medium limes
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 c. white wine vinegar
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
• 4 oz. fresh goat cheese

1. Make the dressing: vigorously whisk together honey, vinegar, olive oil, shallot, coriander, lime juice, and honey.  Taste, and season with salt and pepper as desired.  Pour over cubed watermelon in a large bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Lightly salt cucumber slices and place in a strainer over a large bowl.  Let sit for 20 minutes, then wipe dry.
3. To assemble salad, place watermelon cubes on each of 4 plates, then top with slightly curled slices of cucumber.  Dot each plate with 1 oz. goat cheese, then sprinkle with fresh black pepper.

The post M3 Davis Square and a Pickled Watermelon Salad appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.