What a wonderful experience it is to let perfectly crafted food melt in your mouth. The sensual experience leaves your taste buds ecstatic with pleasure! That is exactly what Cravings members experienced at Sherwood Park's French Fusion restaurant: Café de Ville.
Fusion cuisine is cuisine that combines elements of different culinary traditions. It is a combination of traditional French cuisine and a variety of other cuisines such as Japanese, Italian and North American. Some of the most well known fusion cuisine combines European and Asian foods.
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| El Petit Bonhomme |
Our evening began wonderfully with a glass of El Petit Bonhomme. Anita Jarmolicz from International Cellars shared her knowledge of this bold blended Spanish red by Montreal's Nathalie Bonhomme from Bodegas Juan Gil. This blend is made up of half Monastrell, some Garnacha, and a little Syrah. Spicy with a hint of licorice and plum, it was a lovely start to our meal.
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| Chef Paul Campbell |
Chef Paul Campbell, co-proprietor and Chef de Cuisine at Café de Ville, knows his French Fusion. He creates new recipes or takes recipes, changes them, adds his unique "Je ne sais quoi" and creates bites of food that explode with flavour in your mouth!
What a wonderful menu Chef Paul created just for Cravings.
The evening began with two tempting Amuse-Bouche morcels. An Amuse-Bouche, or Amuse-Gueule, is very similar to an hors d'oeuvre but not quite the same. It is an extra little freebie to tempt you before your meal is presented to you. They are not ordered by you, instead, they are prepared by the chef as a little treat to show off his talents and prepare you to the meal to come. Translated from the French, it means mouth amuser. Something to make your taste buds happy!
One of the two amuse-bouche Chef Paul chose to serve us this evening were a flavorful Confit of Lamb, Wild Mushroom and Walnut Tartelette. The lamb was cooked using the sous-vide method, then confit with duck fat and served in a small tartelette shell. The confit literally melted in our mouths (to find out more about the "sous-vide" method see Cravings' "Fusion Cuisine" blog). Chef Paul uses locally grown and locally raised ingredients as much as possible in his recipes. The lamb used in the Confit was raised by Barr Estates in Strathcona County.
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| Pan Seared Diver Scallop with a White Chocolate Beurre Blanc (bottom left) Confit of Lamb, Wild Mushroom and Walnut Tartelette (top right) |
The second amuse-bouche was a Pan Seared Diver Scallop served with a White Chocolate Beurre Blanc. This was the tenderest and most succulent scallop I have ever tasted. The fact that it was infused with white chocolate and Sambuca had absolutely nothing to do with it. Alright, perhaps it did. The scallop was perfectly seared and the white chocolate beurre complemented it perfectly. Diver Scallops are different from the scallops you find in the seafood section of your corner grocery store. They are sea scallop that are hand-picked off rocks by scuba divers. Diver scallops are not as gritty as boat-harvested scallops, which are dragged by nets at the ocean bed. Chef Paul shared a little chef's secret, the more colour you want your scallop to have, the drier the scallop needs to be.
Cravings is very lucky as Chef Paul has generously agreed to share his Scallop recipe with us!(see below) I will have to try making it but am pretty sure that it would never be as fabulous as his...
Following the consommé was the entrée, an exquisite Beef Bourguignon served in a light and flaky puff pastry bouche. Once again the sous-vide method was used to prepare the meat. If I was not sold on the use of this cooking method before, I have become a great fan after tasting this dish. The cut Chef Paul used in this recipe was a flank steak. I could have sworn that he used tenderer cut. The small cubes of beef melted like butter in my mouth. I was not the only one ooing and aahing after each bite! The beef was served in a bacon flavoured, velvety Bourguignon gravy with tender morsels of Field Mix mushrooms ( Crimini, Portobello, Button ) and onions. This lovely puff pastry nest was presented on a bed of Buttered Potatoes and accompanied by Roasted Vegetable Provence ( carrots, parsnips, broccolini )
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| Chicken Consommé with Braised Leek |
The next dish was a rich and flavourful Chicken Consommé with Braised Leek. Consommé is not a broth, it is a very strong, concentrated and clear stock that is simmered for a long time, filtered, and contains very little fat.
Following the consommé was the entrée, an exquisite Beef Bourguignon served in a light and flaky puff pastry bouche. Once again the sous-vide method was used to prepare the meat. If I was not sold on the use of this cooking method before, I have become a great fan after tasting this dish. The cut Chef Paul used in this recipe was a flank steak. I could have sworn that he used tenderer cut. The small cubes of beef melted like butter in my mouth. I was not the only one ooing and aahing after each bite! The beef was served in a bacon flavoured, velvety Bourguignon gravy with tender morsels of Field Mix mushrooms ( Crimini, Portobello, Button ) and onions. This lovely puff pastry nest was presented on a bed of Buttered Potatoes and accompanied by Roasted Vegetable Provence ( carrots, parsnips, broccolini )
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| Beef Bourguignon |
This amazing meal was beautifully finished with a superb Poached Pear dessert. The pear was slowly and gently poached in Merlot wine mulled with cloves, cinnamon and orange juice. A sweet mascarpone cream dollop topped the pear. The silkiness of the cream was the perfect match to the grainy feel of the pear.
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| Merlot Poached Pear with Mascarpone Cream |
Chef Paul emphasized that the choice of wine doesn't really matter. It is the pear that will sweeten it. This great recipe was also shared with us below by Chef Paul.
Café de Ville and Chef Paul do not only create delicious dishes, they create visually pleasing dishes that start your mouth watering as soon as the plate is placed in front of you! If you are looking for a restaurant that is a guaranteed to please even the most the discerning palate, look no further than Café de Ville.
Cravings guests will definitely be returning to Café de Ville again and again!
Café de Ville is located at:
25 Sioux Road
Sherwood Park, Alberta
To make reservations, please call: 780-449-4765 / 1-877-504-4765
~ Monique
Join us on our next Cravings Culinary Adventure: An Arabian Nights Adventure. Enjoy Middle Eastern Food, Belly Dancing, Shisha and more! March 6, 2013 at 7 p.m.
For tickets, please click here: Arabian Nights Dinner Tickets
Pan Seared Scallops with white chocolate beurre blanc and chiffonnade of basil
6 x Large (10/20 size) Fresh Scallops – Cleaned
2 Tbsp Clarified Butter
Salt and Pepper
2 Fresh Basil Leaves – Chiffonnade
For the seared scallops: In a large cast-iron skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat until it has a nice sheen and you can feel the heat coming off of the skillet. Dry your scallops well using paper towel, sprinkle each side with salt and pepper and add them to the hot skillet. Once the bottom of the scallops start to brown around the edges, flip the scallops and cook until golden brown on each side and just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side.Salt and Pepper
2 Fresh Basil Leaves – Chiffonnade
Beurre Blanc
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
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1 large shallots, chopped
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1/8 cup Sambucca
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1/2 cup Whipping Cream
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1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
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2 ounces white chocolate, broken into pieces
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Heat the oil in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and sweat until just softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the Sambucca simmer until the liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the cream (this will help stabilize your sauce and keep it from breaking) and simmer until reduced by one-third, 5 to 7 minutes. Strain the sauce into another warm saucepan over low heat. The sauce should remain warm, but never hot, or the sauce will break. On low or no heat, whisk in a few pieces of the butter at a time. Wait until each addition is incorporated before adding more butter. Once all of the butter is incorporated, whisk in the white chocolate.
Top each scallop with some beurre blanc and garnish with a bit of the basil.
3¾ cups (one 750-ml bottle) Cabernet Sauvignon wine
1 grated orange zest
1½ cups fresh orange juice
1 cup sugar
½ Tablespoon grated lemon zest
½ vanilla bean
1 cinnamon stick
2 firm Bartlett pears, peeled, halved, and cored
In a saucepan, combine the wine, orange zest and juice, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla bean, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce heat to a simmer. Add the pears and poach for about 1 hour, until tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Lift the pears from the pan.
Strain the poaching liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Reserve ½ cup of the liquid and pour it over the pears. Cover and refrigerate.
1 grated orange zest
1½ cups fresh orange juice
1 cup sugar
½ Tablespoon grated lemon zest
½ vanilla bean
1 cinnamon stick
2 firm Bartlett pears, peeled, halved, and cored
In a saucepan, combine the wine, orange zest and juice, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla bean, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce heat to a simmer. Add the pears and poach for about 1 hour, until tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Lift the pears from the pan.
Strain the poaching liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Reserve ½ cup of the liquid and pour it over the pears. Cover and refrigerate.
Assembly
½ cup mascarpone cheese
1 Tablespoon sugar
In a small bowl, whisk together the mascarpone cheese and sugar. Spoon the sweetened cheese in a pastry bag fitted with a #3 plain tip.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mascarpone cheese and sugar. Spoon the sweetened cheese in a pastry bag fitted with a #3 plain tip.
Remove the pears from the refrigerator and place each pear half in a shallow soup plate. Pipe a little of the sweetened mascarpone into the cored space in the pears. Spoon a little of the reserved poaching liquid around the pears.
