Sunday, June 17, 2012

Lunch at Mariposa Farm - May 6, 2012

We had a beautiful day for our visit and lunch at Mariposa Farm.  Both the Wrights and Dextras-Barres travel the 45 km to the farm in Plantagenet every December 24th to buy the Christmas turkey.

Lunch was great with three choices, bison, lamb and duck.  We visited the farm, saw geese, duck, a sow and her piglets and the vegetable garden both outside and in the hot house.

The group just before going in to eat

Mariposa Farm offers foie gras


For more pictures, see Flickr album. 

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Commemorative Titanic Dinner

Saturday April 14, 2012
Ides Commemorative Titanic Dinner

Today is the 100th anniversary of the last dinner served on the Titanic.  It sank in the night from April 14th to 15th.  The Ides Club held a dinner using recipes from the last dinner served on the Titanic on April 14th 1912. This is the menu served April 14, 2012.  There were 14 of us.  


Don surprised us with fresh Malpeque and Beausoleil oysters to sample with the bubbly provided by Michèle and Jean-Claude.  Don had kindly shucked the oysters and provided some red wine vinegar, shallots and lemon with them. 

The Bales enjoyed them!

Don explained how to eat the oysters
















From the First Class
hg
First course
Potage Saint-Germain
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Second course
Tournados aux morilles
Choux de Savoie braisé
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Third course
Vegetable Marrow farci
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Fourth course
Asparagus Salad with Champagne-Saffron Vinaigrette
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Fifth course
Chocolate-painted Éclairs with
French Vanilla Cream 


From the Second Class
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Curried Chicken and rice


Paul and Dan enjoying the oysters

Our Captain Jean-Claude and Jolene served the first course prepared by Jolene, Potage Saint-Germain.  
We had a very enjoyable evening. 
Captain's Table

Everyone dressed up

Every course was wonderful, quite a treat including the "2nd class" Curried Chicken and Rice that had a very unique taste.  There was not much left on plates at the end of the evening.



Wednesday, March 28, 2012

March 24, 2012 Dinner with Chef Phil


Saturday evening ten of our IDESTERS gathered at Dan and Colette's to enjoy a meal prepared by Chef Phil Wood.  We really missed Michèle & Jean-Claude, Bertrand & Aline and Jon & Debbie.

Our Menu worked out by Don and Phil.

  1. Roasted Poblano Chowder with seared Shrimp & Scallop, Corn and Cilantro in a small glass bowl
  2. Risotto a la Bronzini (Blueberry, Gorgonzola and blue poppy seeds) and greens on a plate
  3. Farro grain Ragout with Duck Confit/Roasted Quail with Blackberry Coulis & blanched Rapini on a large plate.
  4. Port Poached Fig with Jerepico* crème fraiche in a Martini Glass with some exotic Asian tasting "Granola"tossed on top .. carefully.

The players.. 

Oversight,

Chef Phil preparing Risotto

Expectant Chatter ..

Some good wines were enjoyed.




Chef Phil prepares the meal..
adding blueberries and Cambazola cheese to the Risotto. He ensures the scallops are just right

Marinated Quail with Blueberries

First Course: Roasted Poblano Chowder 

  
 Second Course: Risotto a la Bronzini 

Two Quails each with Farro and Rapini

Adding the Granola

Much thanks to the Wrights for Hosting this fantastic evening and to Chef Phil for introducing us to some amazing new flavours. It was great.


We had some good wines.. I will leave it to the purveyors of the wine to comment on what they brought and when it was drunk.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Saturday September 26, 2011 - MEAT!!

Hello Everyone,

To keep Jon and Debbie in the loop, I will try to keep our blog updated every month.  I encourage all of you to add your comments whether you participated or not at a dinner.  Participation is key to keep everyone in the loop!  Also I am not taking notes at these dinners, so corrections and additions about our conversations or what we ate are welcome!

To the delight of several of our members, our theme this month was meat, meat and more meat!  We had quite a variety, all of it excellent.  Dan and Colette brought a musk ox stew that Dan made with meat he brought back from Yellowknife.  The meat was quite tender and the stew had a natural slight sweetness that came from blueberries.  Musk ox is a very lean meat.  Dan reported that he had a portion of it as a steak and enjoyed it very much with his son.

Jolene and Ted, who were our hosts prepared a chilli with cheese and sour cream toppers, excellent and of course since Jolene prepared it, there were lots of veggies in it along with, of course, meat!  Norm and Sharon brought a wonderful sesame chicken stew made with boneless chicken thighs.  Very nice flavours and no bones to deal with!  Jean-Claude and I brought a Thai-style beef salad.  Jolene provided Turtles for dessert!  Perfect ending to a great meal with good conversation.

Don and Janet who had opted to attend the NAC's opening concert with Sarah McLachlan, joined us later in the evening and were able to taste the wonderful meal.  They looked real spiffy in their formal attire!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Saturday March 26, 2011 - 1970's Retro Recipes




Wow gang what a great retro 1970 IDES last night. Groovy. Thanks to everyone for great food (no mackerel was served but mighty fine hors d'oeuvres like tasty white bread asparagus roll-ups and cheese dreams, mains like pineapple ham, upscale shepherds (shepards!!! pie) and jiggly jelly gazpacho and sangria salads and a mighty fine pineapple upside down cake for dessert).

Great wine (the mateus brought back some foggy memories) and great company and conversation (election talk was kept to a minimum).

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Saturday September 12, 2009 -Original creation or significant variation to an existing recipe



Ides was held at Sharon and Norm's home. Dinner was outside with beautiful Thai decorations. Ted's innovative Mac & Cheese was the hit of the evening!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Saturday May 23, 2009 - Food in Songs



Well the theme of our gathering this month was certainly one of the most unusual, Food in Songs!  There were 12 members present and our dinner was hosted by the Buckinghams. We began our evening with Pina Coladas and hors d'oeuvres and Pink Champagne.
If you like Pina Coladas, getting caught in the rain
If you're not into yoga, if you have half a brain
If you like making love at midnight in the dunes of the cape
I'm the love that you look for, write to me and escape...

On the table there was a potato casserole with ham, an interpretation of Old McDonald had a Farm , Full of Beans Chile and Cornbread, both Southern and Northern Cornbread, Southern Cornbread has no flour, only cornmeal. Beans and Cornbread . We were also treated to a wonderful chicken and sausage Jambalaya . 

 had a great quiche and a salad representing the theme from the sitcom Frasier! 

Our meal ended with a wonderful Strawberry Tiramisu, a representation of the Beatles, Strawberry Fields Forever .

A great time was had by all! Next meeting of the wonderful Ides Supper Club, June 20th at the Wrights, the theme is BBQ!