Roast scallops with ice cider butter and miniature roasted vegetables

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 640 g fresh scallops
• 250 ml ice cider
• 1 vanilla bean
• 240 g butter
• 300 g bunch of miniature turnips
• 300 g miniature multi coloured beets
• 1 bunch miniature asparagus
• 300 g miniature multi coloured carrots
• Salt
• White pepper

Directions

1. Clean the scallops and keep refrigerated until ready to use
2. During this time cook the beets with a pinch of salt. Once they're done, cool them off then peel them. Cut them into cubes and refrigerate.
3. Peel the carrots and the turnips and cook them in boiling salted water. Once they're done cool them off and refrigerate.
4. Cook the asparagus in boiling salted water, refresh and keep refrigerated.
5. For the sauce, reduce the ice cider in with the vanilla bean (split in half), and add the butter piece by piece. Season and adjust thickness with water if necessary.
6. To serve, pan fry the scallops in butter and season with salt and place them on the dish when ready. Sweat the vegetables in a bit of butter and water to glaze and place next to the scallops. Drizzle the sauce around the dish.

Ingredients (Serves 8)

• 250 g milk
• 250 g cream
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 100 g flour
• 150 g sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 500 g black cherries

Directions

1. Mix all of the ingredients together except the cherries.
2. Let the dough rest for a minimum of 4 hours before using.
3. Fill the molds with the pitted cherries.
4. Pour the clafoutis mixture on top and fill to 3/4 of the molds.
5. Bake at 200oC for 30 to 40 minutes depending upon the size of the molds.

Tips
Use 4 ounce ring molds.

Pan-fried foie gras, cippolini onion chutney with ice wine verjus and wild mushrooms

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 400 g foie gras of duck
• 400 ml duck jus
• 100 g butter
• 200 g cippolini onions
• 100 ml ice wine vinegar verjus
• 100 g dried cranberries
• 100 g French shallots
• 400 g chanterelle mushrooms
• ½ a bunch chives
• 2 g pink peppercorns
• 2 g green peppercorns

Directions

1. Buy the foie gras already sliced or cut a whole piece into thick slices.
2. Heat the duck jus (available at a gourmet food shop) and add a bit of butter to give a nice shine to the sauce.
3. Chutney: add the sliced cippolini onions in a pan with melted butter and cook for a few minutes and add the ice vinegar verjus along with the crushed peppercorns and the cranberries. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes and reserve.
4. Mushrooms: wash the mushrooms well and drain. Slice the French shallots and sauté in butter with the mushrooms. Season and finish with the chopped chives.

To serve

5. Pan-fry the foie gras in a hot pan on both sides until golden brown.
6. Once the mushrooms are cooked place them around them foie gras.
7. Place a spoonful of the onion and cranberry chutney on the dish.
8. Drizzle the sauce around the foie gras.

Tips

• Before pan-fry the foie gras, mark it with criss-cross square marks to make a nice presentation.
• Add a bit of Guérande sea salt to the dish as a garnish.
• A slightly sweet wine would marry quite well with this dish.

Green vegetable salad with pheasant sausage and apples

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 300 g chopped pheasant (breast and legs)
• 50 g chopped bacon
• 100 g diced apples
• 70 g finely chopped leeks
• 150 g green beans
• 150 g snow peas
• 150 g fiddleheads
• 150 g asparagus
• 150 ml good quality olive oil
• 50 ml sherry vinegar
• 2 French shallots, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Chop the pheasant meat with a knife in order to conserve the texture in the sausage. Chop the bacon as well.
2. Sweat the leeks without browning. Sauté the diced apples, caramelizing them slightly. Cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, mix all of the chilled ingredients by hand and season. Place a portion of the mixture in plastic wrap and shape in into a roll with a diameter of a two dollar coin. Do the same with the rest of the mixture. The quantity should yield three rolls. Cook the rolls in a pot of simmering water (70°C) for 12–15 minutes without boiling. Remove from the heat and let cool.
4. Blanch all of the vegetables individually in boiling salted water and cool off in ice water. The fiddle heads will take longer to cook then the other vegetables (7-8 minutes).
5. To serve, sauté the vegetables in olive oil and place on the dishes. Sweat the shallots in the same oil and deglaze with the sherry vinegar. Pour this vinaigrette around the vegetables and finish with the slices of warm sausages.

Pan-fried foie gras, gingerbread French toast and sautéed apples with ice cider reduction

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 slices (80-100 g) of foie gras
• 4 slices of 1½ cm of gingerbread (or raisinbread)
• 2 Granny Smith apples
• 15 ml of sugar
• 15 ml of butter
• 1 egg
• 200 ml of milk
• salt & pepper, as needed
• 250 ml of apple ice wine

Directions

1. The Apples

Cut the apples into quarters and melt the butter in a hot pan. Brown the apples and then add the sugar. Lower the heat and allow to cook 3-5 minutes. Keep warm.

2. The French toast

Mix together the milk and the egg. Cut each slice into a circle using either a glass or a ring mold. Dip the slices of gingerbread into the milk and egg mixture and brown in a hot pan with butter. Once cooked, place each slice on a hot plate and reserve.

3. The Foie gras

Season each slice of foie gras with salt and pepper and place in a hot Teflon pan. Cook for one minute on each side.

4. Preparing the main dish

Place a quarter of the cooked apples on each slice of the gingerbread. Once the foie gras is cooked, place it on top of the apples. After removing the foie gras from the pan deglaze it with the apple ice wine and drizzle this sauce over each dish.

Wine Tips

Our sommelier Claude Magazzinich, and his team offer their suggestions for the perfect wines to accompany these dishes.

Neige, La Face Cachée De La Pomme, Apple Ice Wine, 2003

Made from several varieties of apples that are harvested in late fall and pressed just before Christmas, the juice is placed in large vats left outdoors. The intense cold of winter allows the water to be separated from the juice, ensuring a high concentration of sugar. The concentrated syrup is slowly fermented for 6 or 7 months before being bottled.

This amber-coloured cider offers up scents of ripe apple and wood. On the palate, a perfect balance between lively and mellow accompanied by fruity and vanilla flavours.

Available at the SAQ
Price: around $27.90*

Scallops wrapped in prosciutto served over lamb's lettuce with Caesar dressing, parmesan tuile and acidulated sauce

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 12 giant scallops
• 6 slices of prosciutto
• 4 small bunches of lamb's lettuce or arugula
• 100 ml of Caesar vinaigrette (homemade or store bought)
• 100 g of freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 30 ml of chopped capers
• 30 ml of diced red onions
• 6 lemon segments
• 60 ml of olive oil
• 15 ml of truffle oil (optional)

Directions

1. Sauce

Peel a lemon and remove 6 segments removing all membrane. Cut the segments into a small dice.
Combine the lemon dice, the chopped capers and the red onions with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and reserve.

2. Parmesan tuile

Form the grated cheese into mounds approximately 5mm thick on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. You may shape them as you wish. Bake in the oven at 375°F for approximately 7 to 10 minutes or until they become golden. Allow to cool before removing from tray.

3. Scallops

Wrap each scallop with a half piece of prosciutto cut lengthwise. Season each portion with salt and pepper and fry in a hot pan with a bit of oil. Colour them well on both sides without overcooking them (30-40 seconds each).

4. Preparing the main dish

Place the salad on the top of the dish placing the parmesan tuile on top. Allow for three scallops per person and drizzle a bit of the sauce in front of the scallops. The flavour of the sauce will go excellently with the saltiness of the prosciutto.

Wine Tips

Our sommelier Claude Magazzinich, and his team offer their suggestions for the perfect wines to accompany these dishes.

Sauvignon Blanc, Crawford, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2005

This yellow-green coloured wine offers a rather powerful nose with dominant aromas of passion fruits and blackcurrant buds, rounded out with more subtle scents of grapefruit. Discover this dry white wine of sharp acidity and full texture with a persistent finish.

Available at the SAQ
Price: around $17.15*

Foie gras and duck ravioli, with butternut squash emulsion

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 400 g of fresh lasagne (available in specialty food shops)
• 2 preserved duck legs (available in specialty food shops)
• 150 g of fresh foie gras sliced
• 1 apple
• 500 ml of duck stock (available in specialty food shops)
• 1 shallot
• 1 medium onion
• 1 butternut squash
• milk, as needed
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. The vegetables

Chop the onion and sweat (cook without browning) in butter. Add the squash which has been chopped into a medium dice. Cook for two or three minutes, stirring from time to time. Cover with milk. Cook until the squash is cooked through and then blend in a food processor or blender. Season and reserve.

2. The ravioli stuffing

Reduce the duck stock by half and reserve. Cook the foie gras in a hot pan without adding any fat. Allow to cool before cutting into a small dice and reserve. Dice the apple and chop the shallot. Cook in a mixture of butter and oil allowing to brown slightly. Mix together all of the above ingredients and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Drop the stuffing by tablespoon allowing at least three centimetres on all sides. Wet the remaining pasta around the mounds of stuffing with water using a pastry brush. Place another layer of the pasta on top to seal the stuffing in firmly. Cut with a ravioli puncher.

3. Preparing the main dish

To serve, pour the soup into a container. Add a dab of butter and blend until frothy. Cook three raviolis per person. Place in a deep-dish pasta bowl and top with the butternut squash soup. Decorate with slices of oven dried duck.

Wine Tips

Our sommelier Claude Magazzinich, and his team offer their suggestions for the perfect wines to accompany these dishes.

Tokay Pinot Gris, Les Princes Abbés, Schlumberger Alsace, 2000

A pretty yellow colour, endowed with acidity and balanced with sugar. Complex, fruity aromas with an exotic side as well as a slightly smoky side. With its dense unctuous quality, the flavours will marry harmoniously with those of the dish.

Available at the SAQ
Price: around $28.20*

Chilled soup trilogy and goat cheese and honey croutons

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2 yellow peppers
• 4 cloves roasted garlic
• 4 ripe Italian tomatoes
• 1 bundle asparagus
• 30 ml mascarpone cheese
• 200 g goat cheese
• 2 litres chicken stock
• 100 ml olive oil
• 8 toasted baguette slices (croutons)
• 1 tbsp honey

Directions

1. The peppers

Remove the skin from the peppers by roasting or grilling them. Grill the skinless peppers on all sides. Transfer to a saucepan and add the roasted garlic. Simmer in just enough chicken stock to cover the vegetables, for around 15 minutes. Drain the ingredients and liquefy in a blender, correcting the consistency using the remaining stock. Season and chill.

2. The tomatoes

Blanch the tomatoes to remove the skin. Cut in two horizontally and remove the seeds. In a blender, combine the tomato flesh with the olive oil and purée until it reaches a smooth coulis. Season and chill.

3. The asparagus

Cook the asparagus in salted boiling water. Drain and cool in ice water. In a blender, combine and purée the asparagus and mascarpone cheese. Season and chill.

4. Preparing the main dish

Pour each soup into a chilled shot glass. Decorate with the garnish of your choice. We suggest using dried razor-thin onion slices for the pepper soup, a fried basil leaf on the tomato soup and milk foam for the asparagus. Accompany the soup with 2 croutons blanketed liberally with goat cheese, topped with honey, sprinkled with fresh ground pepper, browned under the broiler and served hot.

Rabbit lasagna with cream and vegetables

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 rabbit legs
• 250 g mushrooms
• 1 onion
• 150 ml white wine
• 1 liter 35% cream
• 250 ml demi-glace
• 12 lasagne pasta sheets (5 cm x 12 cm)
• 2 dehydrated prunes
• Various vegetables
• 30 ml vegetable oil
• 30 ml butter
• Chives, salt and pepper

Directions

1. Rabbit cooking

Cut the rabbit legs in two then brown them in a frying pan over high heat in a bit of oil. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the rabbit legs from the pan once they are well browned and then degrease the pan. Melt the butter in the pan and add the onions and mushrooms. Season and continue cooking until golden. Add the rabbit legs and deglaze with white wine. Let it reduce almost completely. Add the cream and cover. Place in the oven at 400°F for an hour.

2. Rabbit and cream mixture

Once cooked remove from the oven and allow the dish to cool down slightly. Cook the pasta sheets in boiling salted water and reserve to dress the dish. Once cooled down, debone the rabbit and cut into little pieces and place in the pan. Blend the cooking liquid with a hand mixer to smooth. Put enough cream to cover the rabbit and keep hot over low heat. In another pot, heat the demi-glace with the chopped prunes and then blend in a mixer once it has boiled.

3. To serve

To serve, add chopped chives to the rabbit and cream mixture. Place a piece of lasagna on the bottom of the dish and then add a part of the rabbit mixture. Repeat a second time finishing with the pasta. Add the vegetables which have been sautéed in butter and seasoned to the dish. Pour both sauces on the dish and decorate with a Parmesan tuile if desired.

Wine Tips

To accompany the rabbit lasagna, our Maître d'hôtel, Claude Magazzinich along with our team of wine stewards, suggest the following two wines:

Atrium, Merlot, Torres, Penedès, Espagne, 2003

Atrium, Merlot, Torres, 2003 from the region of Penedès in Spain. Miguel Torres, the innovator grand cru wines in Spain, introduces us to this wine which is Merlot Atrium in all its simplicity. Ruby red wine with garnet highlights offering notes of eucalyptus, red fruit and tobacco. Balanced and pleasant palate with round, supple tannins and aroma will dominate the flavours of this dish completely.

Available at the SAQ
Price: around $15.95*

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 breasts of guinea fowl
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 1 medium-sized carrot
• 1 branch of celery
• 5 black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 litres of water
• 12 asparagus tips
• 8 patty fan squash (miniature zucchini)
• 12 miniature carrots
• 4 small potatoes
• 4 fresh foie gras (50 grams)
• Truffle oil (optional)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. Vegetables

In a saucepan bring the water to a boil with the carrot, the onion, the celery, peppercorns and the bay leaf and cook for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and poach the guinea fowl breasts for 10 to 12 minutes. Set aside until ready to serve.

2. Sauce

Reduce the strained bouillon until you are left with a litre and a half of liquid. Cook the vegetables in this liquid. In a hot frying pan, cook the foie gras a minute on each side and season.

3. To serve

In four serving bowls, place your vegetables, add your guinea fowl breasts (which have been previously sliced) and finish with a slice of foie gras. Pour a ladle of vegetable bouillon in each bowl and finish by drizzling some truffle oil over the top if you desire.

Wine Tips

To accompany, our sommelier, José Paulo Lima suggests the following wine:

Bourgogne, Domaine Des Perdrix, 2002

This is an excellent wine derived from the Pinot noir grape variety. This wine emits aromas of undergrowth, raspberries, mulberries and spices. The mouth is characterized by fruit and spice flavours. The still-drying tannic structure will soften over the next three to four years.

Available at the SAQ
Price: around $30.50*

Roasted breast of duck with seasonal fruit sauce, seasonal vegetables and wild mushrooms

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2 breasts of duck
• 200 g butter
• 50 ml olive oil
• 500 ml duck stock
• 500 ml chicken stock
• 100 g French shallots
• 250 ml red wine
• 100 g small frozen fruit (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries)
• 200 g yellow carrots
• 200 g red carrots
• 200 g yellow radishes
• 100 g spears of asparagus
• 100 g miniature yellow zucchini
• 100 g wild mushrooms
• Guérande sea salt
• Fresh thyme

Directions

1. Sauce

Reduce the duck stock by half in a pot and reserve. Sweat the shallots in a frying pan using 50g of butter and 15ml of olive oil (to ensure that the butter won't burn). Once cooked through, deglaze with red wine. Reduce the wine until it is almost dry and incorporate the reduced duck stock as well as the frozen fruit. Cook for approximately 10 minutes over medium heat. Strain the sauce in order to remove fruit and shallots. Keep warm.

2. Vegetables

Start the carrots and radishes off in cold salted water in a pot. When they have reached their desired doneness, remove them from the heat and refresh them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Cook the asparagus and miniature zucchini in boiling salted water. Proceed the same way to stop the cooking.

3. Duck

Score the duck fat in order to reduce the cooking time of the meat. Season with salt and pepper before searing the meat side, with 15ml of olive oil. Colour the duck well and flip over to the meat side. Allow to cook for approximately 10-12 minutes removing the excess fat from time to time. Once desired doneness has been achieved, keep warm until you assemble the dish.

4. To serve

Reheat the vegetables in the chicken stock for 30 seconds. In a frying pan, pour a bit of chicken stock as well as a pat of butter that you will bring to a boil. Add the vegetables to the bouillon to give them a lustrous shine. Place them on the bottom of your dish. Place half of a sliced duck breast over the mushrooms. Pour a bit of sauce over the duck. You may top the duck with a bit of Guérande sea salt.

Wine Tips

To accompany, our Maître d'hôtel, Claude Magazzinich along with our team of wine stewards, suggest the following wine:

Atrium, Merlot, Torres, Penedès, Espagne, 2003

Our team suggests Atrium, Merlot, Torres, 2003 from the region of Penedès in Spain. Miguel Torres, the innovator grand cru wines in Spain, introduces us to this wine which is Merlot Atrium in all its simplicity. Ruby red wine with garnet highlights offering notes of eucalyptus, red fruit and tobacco. Balanced and pleasant palate with round, supple tannins and aroma will dominate the flavours of this dish completely.

Available at the SAQ
Price: around $15.95*

Multicoloured tomato tart, grilled scallops with duck jus

Ingredients (Serves 8)
Preparation time: approximately 1 hour

• 24 medium sized fresh scallops (3 per person)
• 2 vine-ripe tomatoes
• 2 yellow vine-ripe tomatoes
• 2 orange vine-ripe tomatoes
• 2 green zebra tomatoes
• olive oil
• package of brick pastry (feuilles de brick)
• 80 g butter
• 8 small bunches of mesclun lettuce
• 400 ml duck jus
• 100 ml balsamic vinaigrette
• 100 ml tomato oil
• 100 ml herb oil
• Aromatics (thyme, rosemary, etc.)

Directions

1. Scallops

Prepare the scallops by removing the nerve if it hasn't already been removed or ask your fish monger to do so. Keep chilled.

2. Tomatoes

Wash your tomatoes, removing the core and cut into slices 6-8 mm thick. Season the tomatoes with olive oil and thyme and rosemary and bake in the oven at 250°F until they appear slightly dried out (approximately 3 hours).

3. "Feuilles de brick", lettuce and duck jus

Cut the "feuilles de brick" into 5cm by 10cm rectangles and coat with melted butter. Bake 5-6 minutes in the oven at 400°F until golden. Wash lettuce and keep chilled. Heat the duck jus and reduce it by a third. Finish with a pat of butter and season with salt and pepper. Reserve until you are ready to serve.

4. To serve

Pan-fry the scallops in a frying pan browning them on both sides (approximately a minute per side). Place the tomatoes one on top of the other over the rectangles and reheat before serving. Season the salad with the vinaigrette. In your serving dish place the tomatoes on one side of the dish and the scallops on the other. Add the salad. You may use flavoured oils (tomato and herb) to enhance your dish.

Note: You may also add a spoonful of basil granité.

Wine Tips

Our maître d'hôtel, Claude Magazzinich, together with our team of sommeliers at Nuances restaurant, are pleased to present a wine selection to accompany the dishes.

Sauvignon Medalla Real Santa-Rita Casablanca, Chili, 2001

Made from 100% sauvignon blanc grapes, this wine offers a generous bouquet of ripe fruit, citrus and orange blossom, and a light herbaceous finish. Well-structured and intensely flavourful on the palate. The flavours will marry harmoniously with those of the scallop dish.

Available at the SAQ
Price: around $18.50*

Kitchen tips

• Duck jus, herb and tomato oils are available at "gourmet" grocery stores
• Filo pastry may be used instead of brick pastry
• Red tomatoes may be used instead of coloured ones

Milk-fed veal tenderloin "au jus", organic beets glazed with butter, shallot confit Tatin with thyme and bay leaves

Ingredients (Serves 4)
Preparation time: 45 minutes

• 700 g milk-fed veal tenderloin (2 tenderloins)
• 400 g yellow beets
• 400 g Chiogga beets
• 0,5 l white chicken stock
• 454 g butter
• 0,5 l veal jus
• 10 g whole white pepper
• 800 g French shallots
• 0,5 l grape seed oil a few sprigs thyme
• 2 or 3 bay leaves
• Guérande sea salt (to taste)
• 200 g puff pastry (four 8 cm circles)

Directions

1. Shallots

Place the shallots, the grape seed oil, the thyme, bay leaf and a teaspoon of salt in a shallow pan. Allow to cook until soft, approximately 30 minutes (prick with a knife to check doneness). Once the shallots are cooked, remove them from the oil, peel them and keep refrigerated.

2. Beets

Cook the beets in a large pot; you may cook both varieties together. Start with cold water and add a teaspoon of salt and a bit of thyme and bay leaves. Cook for 30 minutes. Once the beets are done, stop the cooking by placing them in ice water. Peel them and keep refrigerated. Slice them to your liking (preferably not too big).

To serve, heat a bit of white chicken stock and reduce it by half. Remove from heat and add a few pieces of butter little by little. Add the sliced beets and mix together to glaze, keep warm.

3. Shallot Tatin

In a sauté pan, sauté the peeled shallots whole in butter. Add a touch of veal jus to glaze and remove from heat. Place the shallot confit inside the metal circle ring and cover it with a circle of puff pastry. Bake at 360 degrees for 10 minutes, reserve.

4. Veal tenderloin

Prepare the veal tenderloin by cleaning it properly or ask your butcher to do so. Brown it in a frying pan to give it a nice colour on each side. Finish in the oven for 10 minutes and then take it out and let it rest for 10 minutes. Reserve.

Veal jus: heat the veal jus, reducing it a bit then remove from the heat and add a few pieces of butter. This will give it a nice colour and will sweeten the sauce. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. To serve

Slice the veal tenderloin into two medallions per person.
Place the Tatin on the top of the plate.
Place the beets around the Tatin.
Drizzle the sauce over the veal tenderloin.

Note: adding a few specks of Guérande sea salt over the veal will help its flavour come out and will add a bit of a crunch.

Kitchen tips

• Milk-fed veal tenderloin is more tender, however you may substitute with regular veal tenderloin
• Organic beets are not as sweet as their counterparts and they don't stain as much either
• Grape seed oil is an oil with a neutral flavour. It has the highest burning point of any oil.
• Veal jus is available at the Jean-Talon market (Montréal)

Grilled red tuna pavé with ice wine vinegar, ratatouille with lemon juice

Ingredients (Serves 4)
Preparation time: 35 minutes

• 600 g red tuna
• 400 g eggplant
• 400 g green zucchini
• 200 g Italian tomatoes
• 200 g sweet white onions
• 80 g black Kalamata olives
• 80 g fresh garlic
• 3 lemons
• 500 ml olive oil
• 200 ml Minus 8 (ice wine vinegar) Balsamic vinegar may be used instead

Directions

1. Tuna

Remove the skin, or have the fish prepared by your fishmonger. Cut the fish into rectangles lengthwise.

2. Vegetables

Wash the eggplant, the zucchini and the tomatoes. Cut them into 1 cm pieces. Keep them separate until you are ready to cook them.
Peel the onions and cut them into small dice (commonly called brunoise in culinary terms). Remove the zests from a lemon and then finely chop them. Peel the garlic and chop with your chef's knife (wear latex gloves as to not absorb the smell of the garlic). Pit the olives and cut them into thin slices.

3. Garlic vinaigrette

In the stainless steel bowl, add half of the chopped garlic and season with the salt and pepper as well as the juice of 1 ½ lemons. Mix as you would for a vinaigrette, whisking in the olive oil until the mixture becomes homogeneous.

Mix the Minus 8 and the garlic vinaigrette in a container which can hold the tuna pavé pieces.

4. Ratatouille

Heat the sauté pan and add a table spoon of olive oil. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat before adding the eggplant. Cook together for 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook 5 minutes before adding the tomatoes. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, add the chopped garlic and the olive slices. Finish cooking over low heat for a few minutes.

Using a small pot, reduce the Minus 8 by half. We will use it to complete the dish.

5. The last ten minutes

On your counter you should have the lemon and garlic vinaigrette, the cooked ratatouille, the red tuna rectangles, and the container with the Minus 8.

Dip each rectangle of tuna in the Minus 8. Marinate for 30 seconds on each side. Grill on each side then transfer to a cooking sheet and bake 5 minutes in the oven.

6. Assembly

Place the ratatouille in the center of the dish, drizzling the reduced Minus 8 around it. Pour on a bit of the garlic vinaigrette as well as a dash of olive oil.
Take the tuna out of the oven and place on top of the ratatouille.

Wine Tips

Our maître d'hôtel, Claude Magazzinich, together with our team of sommeliers at Nuances restaurant, are pleased to present a wine selection to accompany the dishes.

Muga, 2000

As a second choice, we recommend a white wine from the region of Rioja, Spain: the Muga 2000, Torres. A pellicular maceration from the Viura and Malmsey cepages, lemon confit and clover flower scents with a subtle hint of minerals. It is also tempered by a honey-flavoured aftertaste which will pleasantly balance out the dish.

Available at the SAQ
Price: around $16*

* In Canadian dollars

Roast lobster with scallops and lemon thyme, Port wine shallot confit

Ingredients (Serves 4)
Preparation time: 40 minutes

• 2 live lobsters 1.5-2lbs each
• 160 g of fresh scallops
• 100 ml olive oil
• 200 g green daikon
• 1 branch of celery
• 1 bunch of miniature white turnips
• 120 g baby spinach
• 200 g butter
• White chicken stock
• 20 g lemon thyme

Sauce:

• 200 g French shallots
• 120 g butter
• 250 ml Port wine
• 250 ml red wine
• 250 ml white chicken stock
• 250 ml of roast chicken jus
• 80 g butter      
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Lobster and scallops

Remove the muscle (which becomes tough once cooked and contains no flavour), which is found on the side of the scallops.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the live lobsters for 10 minutes. Cool them down once they are ready in a bowl of ice water to prevent them from overcooking. Shell the lobster by hand keeping all of the pieces intact.
Keep the prepared scallops and lobster refrigerated.

2. Sauce

Finely chop the peeled shallots in a food processor or by hand. Melt the butter over medium heat, being careful not to brown, and add the shallots. Cook over low heat for approximately 5 minutes, add the red wine as well as the Port wine. Reduce by half then add the chicken stock and reduce by half again. Add the roast chicken jus and continue to cook over low heat for approximately 15 minutes.

3. Vegetables

Meanwhile, peel the vegetables. Allow 10 minutes preparation time and cooking.
Wash the raw spinach and strain.
Peel the miniature turnips and remove the stem. Peel the green daikon and cut them into thin slices (5 mm thick) with a mandoline.
Peel the celery and cut it the same as the daikon using the mandoline. Cook the turnips and daikon in boiling water being careful not to overcook, for 3-5 minutes, until "al dente". Strain and cool in ice water, then strain again.
After 30 minutes of preparation, add the final touch before tasting your succulent dish. Dinner time is approaching!

4. The last ten minutes

Add the butter to the sauce (which has been cooking over low heat for 15 minutes), little by little whisking slightly. Check the seasoning and the sauce is ready. Keep the sauce on the edge of the element keeping it warm and ensuring it won't get cold or overheat and separate.
In the meantime, in two separate pans, heat the oil in one and the chicken stock in the other. When the oil becomes hot, add the scallops and lobster to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and brown both sides. Then lower the heat to finish cooking (5 minutes). When the chicken stock begins to simmer, start by adding the celery, next the turnips and finish with the daikon. Add a few cubes of butter as well as a stem of lemon thyme and cook 3 minutes further. Season at the end.
Sauté the spinach separately in a bit of butter, being careful not to overcook (1 minute is enough).

5. To serve

Place the celery, the spinach and the daikon in a dish to form a mille-feuille (layered one on top of the other), and add the scallops. Place the turnips around the dish and place the lobster as you wish.
Drizzle the sauce over the lobster and do not hesitate to be generous!

Wine Tips

Our maître d'hôtel, Claude Magazzinich, together with our team of sommeliers at Nuances restaurant, are pleased to present a wine selection to accompany the dishes.

Shiraz Bankside, Australia, 1998

Syrah, called Shiraz, the renowned cépage from the Vallée du Rhône region of France produces good wines in Australia. Dry and generous, the fruity aromas will enhance the Port sauce; soft tannins add the final touch. Silky and pleasant, this wine will marry perfectly the dish.

Available at the SAQ
Price: around $18 *

Chef's tips

Always salt the water that you cook your vegetables in. This will prevent colouration while enhancing the vegetables' colour and flavour.
The lemon it contains and the thyme that you added to the vegetables will lend a certain freshness. Reduce the liquid that the vegetables were cooked in and drizzle it around your dish.

Smoked salmon, potato galette with herb mascarpone and shallot quenelle

Ingredients (Serves 4)
Preparation time: 40 minutes

• 400 g Yukon gold potatoes
• 40 g smoked bacon (optional)
• 80 g butter
• 320 g smoked salmon
• 120 g mascarpone
• Chopped Italian parsley
• Chopped cilantro
• 200g French shallots (optional)
• 300 g duck fat (optional)
• 20 g cardamine (baby cress)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• Sturgeon caviar (optional)

Directions

1. Cut the smoked bacon into fine strips and blanch* them.
2. Shave two to three shallots. Confit* the rest in the duck fat, adding a bit of thyme and bay leaves to season. Chop when cool.
Tip : When inserting the tip of a knife, you should not feel any resistance. It should take around 40 minutes for the shallots to become candied.
3. Incorporate the chopped herbs into the mascarpone.
Tip : Mascarpone lends a creamy touch to the dish without adding the acidity of certain other cheeses. Combined with herbs, it makes the ideal vehicle for a touch of freshness
4. Using a mandoline*, cut the peeled potatoes into fine juliennes*. Add salt and pepper, along with the minced shallots and lardoons.
5. In a non-stick pan, melt the butter and add a quarter of the potato mixture. Smooth out the edges and cook each side on low heat until lightly browned. Repeat for each of the four pancakes.
6. Spread the mascarpone over the galettes, add some shallot confit quenelle and finish with a rosette of smoked salmon. Top with the cardamine and fried potato, and a spoonful of sturgeon caviar on the side (optional).

Wine Tips

Our assistant maître d'hôtel, Mohammed El Fantoury, together with our team of sommeliers at Nuances restaurant, are pleased to present you with a wine selection to accompany the dishes

Martin Coday Albarino, 2001

Rias Baixas d.o, Martin Codax Albarino 2001, Bodegas de Vilarino, a white wine from the northern Spanish province of Galicia, is an excellent variety by Albarino. This wine, dry and abundant, offers a citrus aroma with a hint of herbs, which accentuates the essence of the dish. The balanced acidity of the smoked salmon, together with the herbed mascarpone, will round out this dish in perfect harmony. The shallot confit will add the final touch to the perfect marriage of these ingredients.

Available at the SAQ
Price: around $19*

Glossary

Blanch:Cook rapidly in boiling water. This is usually a preliminary cooking step.
Confit:Traditionally, this consists in cooking a food in (duck) fat. Today, the term has acquired a number of possible meanings.
Cut into juliennes:To cut into filaments 2 to 3 mm thick and 2 to 3 cm long.
Mandoline:Utensil used to cut vegetables into fine slices or shapes

Sauté de foie gras with braised celeriac, physalis compote with prosciutto

Ingredients (Serves 8)
Preparation time: 1h

• 800 g foie gras of duck
• 120 g diced celeriac
• 120 g Cortland apples (or Granny Smith) cut into cubes
• 1 kg physalis (cape gooseberries)
• 20 g chopped shallots
• 20 g prosciutto, thinly sliced
• Butter, salt, pepper and Guérande sea salt (to taste)

Directions

1. Celeriac and apples

Sauté the celeriac in the butter and cook over medium-low heat, for about ten minutes. Add the apples half way through. Season to taste.

2. La compote

Peel and clean the physalis then cut them in half. Sauté the shallots in butter without browning them then add the physilis. Cook for approximately 20 minutes. Add the prosciutto at the end. Season. Be careful not to oversalt as the prosciutto is rather salty.
Reduce the balsamic vinegar in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it reaches a syrupy consistency.

3. Foie gras

Slice the foie gras and lightly make incisions on one side. Season. Brown the scored side in an anti-adhesive pan without using any fats. Turn over once browned. At the end, the foie gras may be put in the oven (350º) for a few minutes if you feel the centre is still firm, which normally shouldn't be the case.

4. Montage

Place a ring mold in the centre of the dish and fill it with stewed celeriac. Place the foie gras and the compote next to the celeriac. Pour a bit of the reduced balsamic vinaigrette around the dish.

The Chef's final touch:

"Optionally, place a bit of Guérande sea salt on top of the foie gras at the last minute. When one creates a dish, it implies the creation of a certain harmony. With the Guérande sea salt, which is the ultimate salt in terms of quality, every bite becomes a pleasure in itself: it creates a slight spurt in the mouth that stimulates the taste buds, while the roundness and richness of the foie gras numbs them."