I was recently asked to cook a 40th birthday party dinner for the oldest son of a family that I have had the good fortune to cook for several times over the years it would be for 75 people at their country house in Prince Edward County Ontario. I had never been to this part of Ontario and once I was there I was immediately struck by the small farming community charm of Picton and the surrounding area. Its a beautiful area surrounded almost completely by the waters of Lake Ontario, connected only by a tiny sliver of land, it feels like an island.
I thought right away that I should bring an ingredient from the west coast, a taste of something from the west coast I decided on two loins of oceanwise Albacore tuna, that I packed frozen in my suitcase.
I’d been asked to cook a family style farm dinner with an emphasis on regional ingredients, local meats, and cheeses. Right up my alley!
I arrived in Toronto on Wednesday night, and set out on Thursday to shop for meats and ingredients that I would need for the dinner that coming Saturday I went to Rowe Farms meat shop http://www.rowefarms.ca/, a well known purveyor of free range, organic, and otherwise cruelty free meats.
I decided on beef short ribs and oxtail for a ragu, with a rich soft polenta. Chicken that I would confit the legs of and roast the breast and serve with a barley ‘risotto’
and 2 legs of Ontario lamb that I would roast and baste with anchovies garlic and vinegar, served with warm french lentils dressed with olive oil and parsley.
The tuna, I decided I would poach lightly in olive oil infused with herbs, chilis, and garlic and serve with a salad of shaved fennel, onion and chick peas.
I arrived at the farm late Thursday night, it would not be until the morning that I would see the expanse and wealth of this place. it would turn out to be absolutely astonishing!
My helpers are Alayna Munce a published novelist and Leio, the nanny of one of the family’s children.
Produce abounded from the local farms, there were golden beets that I cooked simply and dressed with vinegar and dotted with a creamy goat chevre from the fantastic local fromagerie, fifth town cheese www.fifthtown.ca Cabbage from Kate’s garden and apples in a salad dressed with a maple syrup, apple cider and sage emulsion. sweet turnips that ended up in the barley. Carrots, Parsnips, squash, and yams that will be simply roasted
Thursday morning after I’ve had my first glimps of the 700 acre property, the massive rebuilt barn, the 1 acre pond being blasted out of solid limestone. I’m in the house alone and there’s a knock at the door, a man standing there with a plastic bag package asks “is Kate home”? I tell him she’s not at the moment and he shoves the bag toward me and says “well here’s a Canada goose for her, tell her Jamie brought it over” What, a Canada goose! Turns out he’s a hunter that hunts on the property and repays the privilege with meat from his hunts and firewood for the house.
Needless to say I’m dying to cook it!
My best guess is that the goose will cook and taste like a really tough duck, so I butcher it and put the legs and wings to cure overnight in a basic salt cure. salted and slightly pressed to remove some of the moisture. the breast I’ll pan roast with a crisp skin to a perfect medium.
The day of the party, I’m feeling ready, my main goal is that nothing is prepared too early so that the food is fresh, and properly cooked, there’s nothing I hate more than the “catered” flavour of food that has been held hot for convenience sake, I’d rather accept the added challenge of doing the final steps a la minute. I mean these people flew me across the country, I’m not going to cut corners.
The guests are slowly arriving, and Kate and I are making the final call as to what time dinner should be served and agree on 6:30, but it’s only 4:40 and I’m getting anxious that I’m too close to being ready.
I try to relax and just wait for things to start to happen meanwhile giving my huge pot of Polenta plenty of time to develop flavour, I have a big chunk of Gorgonzola and a pile of parmigiano waiting to go in and add a ton of flavour. I’ve been cooking the barley in chicken stock that I made from the bones of the Rowe Farms Chicken a bottle of local white wine and butter.
The tuna that took a 20 minute bath in 3 litres of good olive oil is rare and delicately cooked on the outside.
The chicken and Goose tough cuts have both been cooked slowly in duck fat and are ready to be served with the barley, the lamb has been cooking slowly on the grill in the outdoor kitchen.
It’s go-time. all the platters and bowls are laid out on the kitchen table, the chicken and goose go into the oven to finish, the tuna, carefully sliced, gets laid out on its salad. the short rib Ragu which has been simmering all day gets put into a lovely antique serving bowl to be served with the rich Polenta and Gremolata (parsley, garlic, and lemon zest chopped together)
the Lamb will be carved on an bed of warm earthy lentils and a bowl of green sauce (herbs, garlic, anchovy, capers, and tons of good olive oil) to dress it with.
I finish the barley with a ton of grated parmigiano, more butter and some chopped parsley.
Finally we’re on, I feel like a musician waiting to go on stage, the Patriarch of the family a politician in the Ontario Liberal party, and real elder statesman type announces that I have been flown out from the west coast to cook for them and that we will be dining on Canada Goose among other things. The spotlight is on me!
I have servers on each corner of the table, serving the different dishes, I’m trying to control portions as I’ve tried to plan amounts accurately using such high quality and therefor expensive ingredients as well as make sure people get the right accompaniments with each protein.
I take the goose, which I serve a thin slice of the medium rare breast with a pinch of the confit and a little jus made from the carcass. its a hit with those that try it, even some of the kids come back for another slice! these are sophisticated palates we have here.
To my utter surprise the chicken and turnip risotto is the star dish of the night, not so long ago these ingredients might be thought of as strictly animal fodder, but with a determination to elevate simple ingredients, some good technique and great stock I’ve turned it into something sublime. Come to think of it that is my ultimate goal as cook “to elevate the humble to the sublime”
