Saturday Chez Sheena

Gather round folks and get your caloric intake calculators warmed up. Saturday was Sheena's Welcome Back To GrownupLandVille dinner.

Shopping: Another hour well spent at the Cheese Boutique ... started with a Bouq Emissaire which is now on Sheena's official staples list along with the Ace Bakery Baguette (the most perfect bread under $3). Timed it right and got a fresh loaf still hot and steaming...

Cheese Boutique also has a Wine Shoppe in-house (retail arm of Andres/Peller selling the Peller, Hillebrand, Trius products). Picked up a Trius Brut for $24 - cold even. One of my fave Canadian sparklies and always reminds of the first time I toured their cellars and saw walls and walls and walls of the aging bottles, wondering how fast I'd die if an earthquake hit and the carbon dioxide all released at once.


Time to sample new stuff too: Bought a hunk of their house pate - chicken liver. Very nice and smooth, not overly liverish. Some peppercorn zing and crunch on top. Also picked up a small piece of caribou/pork/fig country style pate. Really yummy and the dried fruit added a nice sweetness that went well with the nutty crackers Sheena adores.

New cheese of the day: Quebec's Petit Sorcier. Just out of the Cheese Boutiques aging cellar. $9 for a half a wheel. Still undecided on this one. On the way home, I wondered if maybe some wet camping gear had been forgotten from that one weekend in August. Or if maybe my driving companion let one go. Nope. It's the cheese. Even this morning after opening the fridge, the first thought was "Jesus, that cat box needs a cleanup". But it was the Petit Sorcier. Cursing my kitchen.

Picked up a couple of strip loin steaks at the meat counter. First time buying from the meats section. Pricey, but they looked lovely.

Liquid Notes:
With Cheese and Pate Appetizers: Trius Brut - lovely as always.

While Cooking: Sir Perry - Pear Cider bought last week. Perfect companion to chopping and fussing activities. A little more subtle than apple ciders and funny name.

With Dinner - perhaps a lesser wine than the lovely steaks deserved, but was curious to open this bottle that had been sitting around for a while. The 20 Bees Cabernet-Merlot. This is Canada's answer to the cartoon-animal-label screwtop phenomenon. For $13 bucks, could do worse, and at least it is VQA meaning that your money is supporting local growers and bottlers. Wine maker Sue Ann Staff did some half decent stuff over at Pilliterri's over last few years. Worth a shot.

Other Wine Notes from Last Week:
Tried the Vogo Pinot Grigio. About $14. An OK white wine. But the bottle is the classiest fucking thing I've seen in ages. Feel like you're drinking expensive cologne or something.

Riper and Runnier

Spent some time on Saturday at the amazing Cheese Boutique. Stuck off the beaten path near the Kingsway, in an old sausage making plant, it's a bit hard to find the first time out. Good thing they have vans with big yellow signs at key turnoffs pointing the way.

I've not seen anything else quite like it in Canada. Not only do they import the best from around the world, but their own aging cellars for cheese and meats mean they only sell the products when they've hit their peaks. Olive oils, perfect produce, veal chops that could fell a tree... have to see it to believe it. A little bit of Harrod's food mall right here in our backyard.

Today's purchase: a hunk of Quebec's Bouq Emissaire (see picture above...); a package of fruit/nut crackers and a litre of guava juice (inspired by Julie's Lunch' wakalita see Sheenavision passim. The pairing of this cheese with the fruit crackers was a trick learned at the Fat Cat Wine Bar on Roncesvalles (who do a gorgeous cheese plate, mostly from the Cheese Boutique...).

Was going to open a red with it. Probably because I saw
Stratus Red on the menu at the Swan this weekend and have had it on the brain. Most gratefully, an online intervention occurred and the suggestion of a medium bodied Chardonnay was given. Bingo! Perfect moment to open last week's unoaked chard from Deborah Paskus's Closson Chase.

Can't think of a better snack to represent national unity. Though now Sheena has a new obsession, and finds herself getting restless. Is there such a thing as a Cheese-Route in Quebec? I do have a few vacation days left to burn...

Saturday Night Chez Sheena

Landing in Toronto right on time Friday night, Sheena jumped into her awaiting chariot and hightailed it down to the Crooked Star, to pick up her sweet little Saddam who had been sitting patiently all by himself since Wednesday night's Raymi Art Wrap Party.



Next stop was one of Sheena's sorely missed Happy Places in Toronto... the Cheese Boutique It had been wa-a-a-a-y too long. After wiping her bodily fluids off the glass window of the Quebec Cheese cupboard, she settled on the staples: Bouq Emissaire, Benedictine Bleu, the house paté... and a new one - the Normandy Mimolette The Mimolette was extra orange, extra hard, almost like an aged Parmeggiano... Cheese Boutique ages it for an extra 4 years on its own premises. (Yes, I always stick my head inside the aging cellar....)

AND! Quince paste is available at the cheese counter. Yay! Not quite as tart and pungent as the one Sheena got engaged to at Harrod's last fall, but it made for lovely company paired with the Benedictin Bleu and those yummy little fruit/nut crackery biscotti only ever found at the C.B.

Also an excuse to think about my dear friend The Cheek as I cracked open her thoughtfully gifted Marcona Almonds and finally christened my Atlanta smuggled Crate and Barrel Slate Cheese boards....

Though sans chalk. FCS.

Belated Nuit Blanche Cheese Party Pics

Nuit Blanche qua Nuit Blanche was a bit meh, but the pre-party Sheena hosted for various flotsam and jetsam of the Toronto/Ottawa blogoforumsphere was a hit.

Deluxe Suite at the Grand Hotel on Jarvis... a little hot tub action before the guests show, pit stop at the Cheese Boutique and a lovely assortment of nuts.



Went for the previously blogged faves: The lovely Mimolette (very sharp shard-like aged gouda), the eternal love of my life Bouq' Emissaire, the mellow Separatiste Benedictine Bleu.

But Sheena has a rule that she will never leave the Cheese Boutique without trying at least one new thing. The fromage du jour on this visit was over the top whoa baby come here often. A rosemary-olive oil bathed goat cheese that has an amazing deep nutty slightly bitter taste. A keeper.

And I am only getting around to posting this finally as a FU to Raymi because I discovered the flaky faux communion crackers FIRST fcs. They were 2 for 1 that weekend.

Be jealous and hate me for my Crate and Barrel real slate cheese plate for which I spent 2 months sourcing chalk...

In Which Sheena Takes A Firm Stand on the Side Of Truth and Proper Temperature

For the last 3ish years Sheena has been on and on about her undying love for The Cheese Boutique and some annoying voices in the back of her head and also random foodie mommy bloggers keep going on and on about Pusateri's! Pusateri's! Pusateri's!

Oddly... Sheena had every intention of being at the Cheese Boutique at exactly the same minute as Raymi when her driver said, screw the west end, let's go north, visit a friend and you can check out Pusateri's.

It was my first time. And well, I had hoped for more. It was good enough. I mean, not like I'd never do it again. But Sheena longed for what was familiar and good and pure and properly climatized.

Don't get me wrong - the quality of everything at Pusateri's was top notch. But come on folks. The Cheese departments are not even in the same species. Everything at P's was pre cut, refrigerated, not clearly marked, a hovering clerk hanging around in case of a question. NO Bouq Emissaire! The Mimolette (which I bought) coulda been cheddar for all I could tell. NOT aged. Ciel de Charlevoix was cold like the hand of death but thankfully held its own and turned itself out perfectly after a 2 hour car ride on a hot day in a beater with no A/C. Everything seemed a touch more expensive, less cared for, overly Saran-wrapped, and just a bit unloved.

Homesick smells like hockey bag.

Bleu Christmas

Two more finds at the The Cheese Boutique tonight as Sheena tried to beat the weekend Christmas foodie rush. Never leaving the building anymore without claiming sovereignty-association over a big old hunk the now-staple Bouq Emissaire. "Can you give me an extra runny piece"? Sheena pleaded.


Two Quebec bleus of note ce soir: The "Ciel de Charlevoix" - creamy raw cow milk blue cheese. Very faint aftertaste of hockey bag sock, but nothing overwhelming. Would get it again. Nice texture, and was in a mood to show solidarity with poor Michael Schmidt.

Then a thick slice of new favourite the Bleu Benedictin. Cheese Boutique ages it a bit before they sell it. Extra creamy and tasty, without being too stinky or sharp. Also available at Max's Market in Bloor West Village. Though last time Sheena was at Max's they didn't have the rabbit liver pate she really really likes. Sucks.

Nibbled on a small quality assurance slice of each this evening while grilling the lamb saddle steaks. Vino du nuit was a 2002 Sandstone (13th Street) Gamay Noir. Rescued from a secret office storage closet last weekend in Ottawa. How Sheena could have forgotten about 5 cases of primo VQA is beyond me. Old age, I guess.

Never to Be Made Again

3 hours into the obligatory St. Patrick's Day pub crawl, Sheena lost her patience with the short people bumping into her pint glass and a thoughtful companion steered her to a known "happy place" in the form of The Fat Cat Wine Bar on Roncesvalles.

Another cozy tapas style place with focus on interesting wines, including some rare treasures from the Niagara region. Meal was lovely: breads with 3 dips (no, not my dining companions), mixed Charcuterie plate, seared duck breast... mixed it up with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to start, then switched to reds (Hillebrand Trius Red 2003 and an Argentinian Malbec).

The highlight of any visit to the Fat Cat has always been its dessert cheese plate. An ever-changing selection of mostly Quebec artisanal cheeses, provided by the whiz kids over at The Cheese Boutique. Last nights choice was the 5-cheese sampler. Lovely nibbles of unripened this, ash-aged that, on the yummiest fruit and nut crackers.

And then there was the 10 year old Cheddar from Quebec.

The menu described it as something rare and special. "Never to be made again!" Now, Sheena loves to have things that nobody else can have. Exclusive in its truest sense. A way to separate those in the know from those who are not.

It sat there on the plate not quite fitting in with the rest of the selections. A hard pale lump in the sea of white and blue fluffy cheese pillows.

It looked a little sweaty. Defensive even. Like a big bully who was mean just because nobody loved him. I took a bite. I felt like Ralph on the Simpsons. "It tastes like burning", I told my companion.

It actually hurt. Stung, prickled, numbed my tongue. Cheese is not supposed to be painful.

"Never to be made again". And now we know why.

Eating Your Mistakes and Really Enjoying It

Hadn't been back to the Cheese Boutique in a few weeks and since we were in the area as part of phase 2 in a 3-step couch shopping regimen, dropped in for some weekend treats.

Picked up some fancy jam and the now-staple Bouq Emissaire. Tried two or three other Quebec cheeses until we settled on the Riopelle de l'Isle. Fabulous, rich and buttery. Most perfect with the Ace baguette also in the hand basket. I think we've worked our way through about 2/3 of the Quebec cabinet and I am close to planning a cheese-tour vacation this summer maybe as part of some car-racing nonsense.

Couldn't find my favourite little fruit & nut crackers but didn't ask. If they are not there next time I shall freak out. Knew I still had one more package of the Ryvita Pumpkin Seed & Oat crackers I bought last time I was in Winnipeg. Haven't seen them in Toronto yet. Very tasty in a nutty kind of way. If anyone has seen them please let me know where.

Thought we were done, then realized, what the hell are we going to have for dinner. So went back to the meat counter. Some gorgeous but pricey cuts. Saw some small NY strip loins pre-marinated in teriyaki garlic. Knew they'd be more expensive than grocery store steaks, but they looked smaller than the plain strip loins in the other counter. The clerk packaged them up (because they were wet, she had to put them in this heat sealed container and I felt bad because it took her 3 tries to get the seal to stick).

And then I looked at the price for the 2 steaks. $32. Yep. $32.

A wave of WTF went over me. I didn't really pay attention to the small print. The price was not in the unit of weight I expected, obviously. I ran over to El Chaperone and whispered what I just saw. WTF? He asked if I wanted to return them. I said, no.. no big deal. My fault for not reading the price correctly, and the girl put a lot of work into sealing them up properly. And well come on. I'd never blink twice about spending that for a couple of steaks in a restaurant, so we'd just deal with it.

And then I looked over at him and said: You better not fuck these up when you cook them.

So put them under the broiler - about 7 minutes each side (they were thicker than I realized), checked them, and then another minute or two. Perfectly medium. And they were so good I almost cried. Perfectly tender, melt in the mouth, lovely flavour from the marinade. A little side salad and the baguette with cheese and we could relax and smile.

In fact, I would consider getting them again. For a special occasion, perhaps, but sometimes you do get what you pay for.

Good Enough

Sheena is somewhat disturbed by just how many times a day she catches herself saying this lately. Whether it is a shitty half-way up the driveway only shovelling for her weekend rental car, or skipping the second proofread of a blog post or email, or ordering a glass of the Chilean Sauvignon Blanc when you really want the Kim Crawford but it's only sold by the bottle... "The mantra of the modern woman", someone said to me today. Ugh. Like a smack in the face.

I thought this for the 1/2 hour last night that was spent in Vincenzo's. The Cheese and Deli that my neighbours and colleagues rave about here in K-Dub. Did my second visit there last night and no. It's no Cheese Boutique. But...

A few Quebec cheeses, maybe a 1/10th of what C.B. has. But found my heart's delight little biscotti crackers that heretofore had ONLY been sourced on Ripley Avenue. A check mark in the plus column. Scrounged up a bit of Wensleydale Cranberry, an aged Beemster and some Le Douanier. Grabbed a jar of Spanish Caperberries, a handful of olives from the extensive array of open vats and hit the road, all of 5 minute drive to my house. Which makes it walking distance once the snow melts.

Which I suppose is good enough. For now.