My Sunday

Had a fab day. Girlfriend picked me up and with her son, we went to Elora, and older town some 35 or so minutes away. We went to lunch at an excellent restaurant called Mill Street Bakery and Bistro. If you follow the link there are all kinds of pictures. It’s a stone building and very attractive. They are right on the Grand River which we could see from the windows (in summer you can sit on their outside patio). Elora is renowned for its Gorge which is very attractive and attracts lots of tubers and kayakers in the summer. Actually we saw kayakers today and it was damned cold out there. I started with a mushroom pâté, a blend of cremini mushrooms, onions, garlic, white wine, pecans, feta cheese which two of us shared and then I had a lamb burger without the bun together with a small soup which they called Stone Soup but was basically made with all kinds of veg, lamb and beef. It was very good. In fact all the food was very good. No camera of course, my friend took some pix on her phone, but I will have to wait for them. On their menu they listed three kinds of Poutine which seems to have become a Canadian national dish. I have never touched it. In the first place I do not like gravy on my fries. My friends both had the soup, a larger bowl, and one had a macaroni cheese which didn’t look bad, and her son had bison chilli on nachos. Didn’t look bad.

After this we headed to the Grand Theatre in Fergus for a production of M*A*S*H. Sunday matinée being their last performance. A small but delightful theatre. A mutual friend was stage managing the production and did an excellent job. I hadn’t realised, but the production was to raise money for the local hospital and they even had three local doctors who did walk-ons for the play. One even came in wearing a dress with a big hat à la Corporal Klinger. Great sport I thought. I loved the dress a bright red. I recall Corporal Klinger was always very well dressed. We got back home about 5 and my friends had to carry on home as they had a fair distance to go yet. It was a good day.

Today is Remembrance day and we all know what that means. Hilary Melton-Butcher did a good blog about it over the weekend. I have been trying to wear a poppy but no matter what, it keeps falling off my coat. I will try yet again when we go bowling today.

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae

Here is a recipe for Mushroom Pâté – obviously not the one I ate today, but nevertheless it sounds delicious.

Mushroom pâté

Making a homemade mushroom pâté can be easy and rewarding, with a more subtle flavour than shop-bought varieties.

8 servings.

Ingredients

For the pâté

• 100g/3½oz butter, plus extra melted butter to seal the pâté

• 600g/1lb 5½oz mushrooms (mixture of shitake, chestnut and button)

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 2 lemons, juice only

• pinch cayenne pepper

• 1 tsp grated nutmeg

• 150g/5½oz ricotta

• 100g/3½oz mascarpone

For the chutney

• 1 tbsp oil

• 3 red onions, sliced

• 1 red chilli, chopped

• 100g/3½oz caster sugar (our regular sugar is fine enough.

• 100ml/3½fl oz red wine vinegar

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 6 gherkins, chopped

• rye bread, to serve

Preparation method

1. Heat the butter in a large saucepan and fry the mushrooms, onion and garlic for 10-12 minutes, or until soft. Add the lemon juice and place the mixture into a colander to drain away excess moisture.

2. Blend half the mushroom mixture, the cayenne and nutmeg in a food processor until smooth. Fold in the ricotta and mascarpone, along with the rest of the mushrooms.

3. Pack the mixture into eight dariole moulds or ramekins, or alternatively put it into one large air-tight jar. Cover with a layer of melted butter. Set aside to cool completely.

4. For the chutney, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onions and chili until soft.

5. Add the sugar and vinegar, and boil for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Fold the gherkins into the mixture.

6. Serve the pâté alongside the chutney and rye bread.

Have a great day.