St. Mary's Ball Silent Auction Winners

Monday, January 25th

Tonight we welcomed the winners from the St. Mary's Hospital Ball silent auction. They generously bid on a Private Cooking Class w/ Chef Joe Mercuri of Bronte.
After much planning, Joe and his two sous chefs put together an amazing five course meal that everyone loved.
There were too many courses for me to remember exactly what was in each dish. But I'll try.

Snacks

When Joe arrived to start prep, we discussed menu. Earlier in the day, on the phone, he wasn't so sure of what was going to be made. And even when he came in at 5:15 (People arriving at 6pm) he still wasn't 100%. He mention right off the bat, he wanted to "bombard them with snacks". That he did. Three plates at a time. Starting with Beef carpaccio with some Gruyere cheese.

Scallop Crudo with blood orange gelee and candied macadamia nut came next. Then cubes of marinated Ahi Tuna that was so fresh, i could have sworn it was flapping around a few hours ago.
All three were beautiful to look at and tasted as good as they appeared.
On the side, there was "bread". Skewers of toasted focaccia chunks that you could dip into bowls of porcini cream. That's a bread basket I could have again.

Once the plates of snacks were cleared and all the bubbly was drunk, Joe and his team continued with the first entree.
Tagliatelle, Braised Rabbit Ragu with Carrot Foam. I love Pasta, especially fresh pasta. I never order it when i go out to dinner because anyone can make a really great pasta dish at home. But I would definitaly order THIS dish in any restaurant if Joe was making it. I'm a fan of rabbit to begin with, so braising it in a rich sauce really appeals to me, as it did with everyone who was there. The pasta was perfectly cooked with a light snap when bit into. The rabbit was tender as any meat could be when braised for hours. There was a light hint of porcini in the sauce which brought an earthy aroma. Paired with the sweet carrot foam, this was a quintesential cold weather dish.
The next dish, on paper, I was a little scepticle about. What the Chef called Surf and Turf. Olive oil poached salmon with crispy sweetbreads, celery root puree, madjool dates and toasted almonds and apple.
the salmon was cooked in an immersion circulator in a bath of olive oil cooked at, if I remember, 43.5* exactly. The pieces of salmon appeared uncooked on the plate, but were moist and rich when bitten into. Accompanying the salmon were crispy pieces of sweetbreads that were crunchy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth on the inside. Paired with some dated and the celery root puree, it was a well balanced plate and totally not what i was expecting. Salmon and sweetbreads, go figure.

Next was the meat. Magret of Duck. Earlier in the day, I Joe mentioned we would have duck. "With what?" i asked. "I don't know" he said.
And he continued not knowing until the duck was already cooked. But magically, Joe and his sous chefs put together some baby kale, tepenade, and a rich demi-glace to go along with the thinly sliced breast. Sweet, sour, duck fatty.

I think at this point, people were into sensory overload. It wasn't over. One more course to go.
Desert!

Half way through the evening, Joe asked if i had a microwave. I didn't. He seemed unhappy with that answer. "Is there somewhere where we can borrow one?" he asked. It was 9pm. Everything in the area is closed except the Metro across the street. We ran over and asked if we could borrow their microwave. Here we are at the grocery store, Joe, the chef of one of Montreal's top restaurant, his sous chef, and me, asking to borrow their microwave. Haute Cuisine at it's finest.
What is the microwave for you ask? Well, I had the same question. Cake. Microwave cake. The batter is put in small plastic cups, into the microwave and cooked very quickly, and voila, the puffiest cake you could imagine. This cake, scented with truffle, came with chocolate ganache and an ingenious "cookie" crumble with pop rocks. One bite of this and you literally get a flavour explosion in your mouth. After everyone's plate was licked clean, they were still grabbing for the bowl of cookie pop rocks.

We love it when guest chefs come and cook in our kitchens. There is a freshness that goes along with it. Inspiration for not only me, but for all that attend.
I want to thank the family that bid generously on our donation to St. Mary's Hospital Ball. We also want to thank Joe Mercuri and his team at Bronte for donating there time, ingredients, and skill.