Sparkling Summer Fare

With Sylvia Jansen, Gary Hewitt and WOW! Catering’s Chef Luc Jean

Photos by Ian McCausland

Summer has put us in the mood for one of life’s greatest pleasures: Champagne. We invited Chef Luc Jean, Executive Chef of Wow! Catering, to partner with our Sommeliers to create a perfect summer Champagne menu. Sylvia Jansen and Gary Hewitt stressed that the importance of pairing Champagne goes beyond simply flavours: you need to take into account the texture of the food and the fizziness of the wine. Champagne pairs wonderfully with rich, fatty foods, but can also take saltiness or a little citrus. Armed with their suggestions, Chef Luc sent us a beautiful three-course menu that would complement our versatile and luxurious bubbles: asparagus and leek vichyssoise, followed by veal chops with orange and green peppercorn sauce and ricotta basil gnudi, and finished off with French apple cake and candied bacon ice cream. We convened on one of the most beautiful and unique terraces in the city at 529 Wellington, where Sylvia sabered us some of the best sparklers at Banville & Jones.

CHILLED ASPARAGUS AND LEEK VICHYSSOISE Serves 6

500 g 1 tbsp 1

100 g 1½ cups ¾ cup 1 ¾ cup 1 tsp ¼ tsp

asparagus butter medium leek, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks chicken stock water large thyme sprig milk salt ground pepper

Garnish:

Frescolio Leek Agrumato or Herbes de Provence-infused EVOO Beet chips Crème fraîche

Remove the woody ends from the asparagus and discard. Trim the tips from the stalks. Blanch the tips for one minute, drain, and rinse with cold water. Slice lengthwise and set aside to be sprinkled on the soup at the end.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Sauté the leeks for 5 minutes, then add the uncooked asparagus stalks, potatoes, chicken stock, water, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer covered for 25 minutes to cook the potatoes.

Remove the thyme and purée the soup using a hand blender (or regular blender). Transfer the soup to a large bowl, add milk, salt, and pepper. Once cooled to room temperature, refrigerate for at least 4 hours (though overnight is even better).

Serve the soup in chilled bowls, garnished with a swirl of olive oil, crispy beet chips, crème fraîche, and asparagus tips.

CHOOSE YOUR CHAMPAGNE: Delong Marlene nv Brut Cuvée Privilege Champagne, France ($59.99) Ployez Jacquemart nv 1999 Brut d’Harbonville Champagne, France (278.99) Jeeper nv Brut Grand Rosé Champagne, France ($104.99) Roses de Jeanne 2017 Val Vilane Blanc de Noir Champagne, France ($119.99) Marcel Vézien nv L’Illustre Brut Champagne, France ($48.99)

VEAL CHOP WITH ORANGE AND GREEN PEPPERCORN BUTTER AND RICOTTA BASIL GNUDI Serves 4

Veal Chops

4 4 tbsp 4 tbsp 4 tbsp

Veal Chops (about ¾ inch thick) fresh thyme, chopped extra virgin olive oil butter Salt and pepper

Season the veal chop with salt, cracked pepper, and chopped thyme leaves. Heat a large cast iron skillet over mediumhigh heat and add olive oil. Once hot, add the butter and add chops to the skillet. Cook the chops until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove the chops from the pan and let them rest for 5–8 minutes before serving.

Orange and Green Peppercorn Sauce

¼ cup 2 tbsp ¼ cup 2 tbsp 12

white wine orange concentrate cold, cubed butter green peppercorns orange wedges

Put the orange concentrate and white wine into a small stainless steel pot. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook 5–10 minutes until it is thick. Bring the heat down to low and slowly whisk in the cold butter until it is blended. Add the green peppercorns and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the sauce with the veal chop and garnish with the fresh orange wedges.

Basil Ricotta Gnudi with Fava Beans

6 cups 1 cup ¾ cup 1 cup 2 ¼ tsp 2 tsp 2 tsp ½ 1½ cups 2 tbsp

fresh basil ricotta cheese all-purpose flour grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, separated egg yolks, beaten grated nutmeg ground pepper sea salt lemon, juiced fava beans extra virgin olive oil*

Boil a large pot of water, add basil, and blanch for one minute. Remove and quickly immerse in ice water. Once cold, squeeze out as much water as you can, and chop finely. Mix together ricotta cheese, ½ cup flour, ½ cup ParmigianoReggiano cheese, egg yolks, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Add basil, salt, and pepper and mix gently until well-combined. Do not overwork the dough. Dust your hands with flour and scoop out approximately 1 tbsp portions of dough. Form into small balls.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the juice from half a lemon to the water and gently drop in the gnudi. Boil in uncrowded batches for 3–4 minutes, until they float to the top. Remove gnudi with a slotted spoon and drain. If serving right away, toss with olive oil, prepared fava beans, and sprinkle with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano.

*If you want to experiment, we recommend tossing the gnudi and beans with Frescolio’s Lemon infused or Bacon infused EVOO.

FRENCH APPLE CAKE WITH CANDIED BACON ICE CREAM Serves 4

1 cup 1 tsp ¼ tsp ½ cup cup 2 1 tsp 3 tbsp 2

all-purpose flour baking powder salt unsalted butter, at room temperature granulated sugar, plus more to sprinkle over cake large eggs vanilla extract apple liqueur Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Garnish:

Confectioner’s sugar Fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch springform with butter or nonstick cooking spray. (If using a regular cake pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and grease again.)

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Using a handheld or a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the vanilla and apple liqueur. Don’t worry if the batter looks grainy at this point; that’s okay. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chopped apples.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and even the top. Sprinkle evenly with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool on a rack. Run a blunt knife around the edges of the cake. If using a springform pan, remove the sides. If using a regular cake pan, carefully invert the cake onto the rack, remove the parchment paper, then gently flip the cake over to place it right-side-up on a platter. Using a fine sieve, dust with Confectioner’s sugar (if using).

Candied Bacon Ice Cream

Chef Luc gave us an amazing recipe for homemade ice cream. For the full ice cream recipe, visit poisepublications. com/blog. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, we recommend making the candied bacon and mixing it into your favourite vanilla ice cream to serve with the cake.

Candied bacon:

5 strips bacon about 2 teaspoons light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or a silicone mat and lay bacon strips flat. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over each strip of bacon. Bake for 12–16 minutes. At about 7 minutes, flip the bacon strips over and drag them through the syrupy liquid that has collected on the baking sheet. When the bacon is a mahogany brown, remove from oven and cool the strips on a wire rack. Once crisp and cool, chop into little pieces and fold into your vanilla ice cream. (Bacon bits can be refrigerated for one day or frozen for a few weeks.)