On Saturday between 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., celebrate Vietnamese culture at Ottawa City Hall. You can expect music, dance, martial arts, calligraphy, cooking demos, games, crafts and more. Visit Ottawa Asian Heritage Month for more detail, as well as the scoop on other events happening this weekend.
Scary Bear Soundtrack is an all-girl band from Ottawa. They released their new video this week as their personal tribute to Asian Heritage month. They'll be playing this catchy tune on Saturday night at Falldown Gallery (288 Bank St). The band opens for Wool and Howl. Tickets are $5. Doors open at 9 p.m.
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(Photo credit: Richard Termine/New York Times)
In case you're counting, it's Day 4 of Angela Hewitt Week here in Ottawa, but your first chance to catch the fleet fingers of the celebrated pianist is Friday, May 18th at Christ Church Cathedral. Despite a gruelling international touring schedule, Angela Hewitt still calls Ottawa home. And for this trip, she's come with props: some video footage, and a wardrobe full of gowns. Angela dropped by the studio to tell Alan more.
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It turns out, the Love Your Lentils contest has turned into a showdown between two local chefs. As of airtime, Chef Norman Aitken from Juniper Kitchen and Wine Bar in Westboro was holding down the #1 spot. And Chef Charles Part from Les Fougéres in Chelsea, sat in the #2 position.
We invited the competing chefs to our studio to try each other's creations.
Chef Aitken's - The Great Canadian Lentil Wild Mushroom Ravioli
The Lentils
Ingredients
2 cups of du puy lentils - rinse and look out for small rocks
6 cups light chicken or vegetable stock
1 large onion
3 large carrots
3 stalks of celery
3 bay leaves
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
Pinch of salt
Instructions
Cook lentils till just tender. Drain, reserving 4 cups of the stock, and lay lentils out to cool on a sheet tray. Save 3 tbsp of lentils for the pasta. Refrigerate until needed.
The Broth
Ingredients
2 large shallots, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
½ cup small diced carrots
½ cup small diced parsnip
½ cup small diced celeriac root
½ cup of whole dried mushrooms crushed
1 bay leaf
Spring of thyme
4 cups reserved stock
Zest of a half lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Sweat the shallots and garlic in large saucepan over low heat.
Add the rest of the diced carrots, parsnip, celeriac and dried mushrooms; cook gently for 5 minutes.
Add the reserved stock and cook on low till the vegetables are just tender.
Season with lemon zest, salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate overnight.
Pasta Dough
Ingredients
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
6 yolks
1 tbsp milk
1.5 tsp olive oil
3 tbsp reserved lentils pulsed until finely ground
Instructions
Combine all ingredients and work till smooth, and have developed a little elasticity. Let rest for 2 to 3 hours.
The Filling
Ingredients
1 cup of each roasted mushrooms (we use trumpets, chanterelles, morel, oyster)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 minced shallot
8 oz butter
4 large shallots
5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp dried green peppercorns crushed
3 bay leaves
4 tbsp thyme picked
Zest and juice of one (1) lemon
½ cup of each ricotta, parmesan reggiano, goat cheese
Instructions
Sauté the mushrooms in a tbsp of butter with the minced shallot until soft but not browned. Reserve.
In a skillet over medium heat, melt the remaining butter and sweat the shallots and garlic.
Combine everything in a food processer and pulse to combine. Check and correct seasoning.
Make and fill the ravioli.
Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil and cook the ravioli for 2 ½ to 3 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile:
Add cooked lentils to the broth and reheat till piping hot.
Place ravioli (about 5 per serving) in warmed soup bowls and ladle on the broth.
Garnish with sautéed mushrooms or some fresh herbs.
Chef Part's - The Great Canadian Beluga Lentil Burger - A Whale of a Burger
Ingredients
2 cups cooked black Beluga lentils
½ cup cooked split red lentils
½ cup cooked split yellow lentils
1 onion chopped
2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 tbsp fresh garlic, minced
2 tbsp green chillies, finely chopped
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp each of freshly roasted and ground cumin seed, fennel seed, and coriander seed
¼ cup black lentil flour (can be made by grinding dry black Beluga lentils in a coffee grinder)
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
¾ tbsp lime zest
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
To cook the lentils - rinse the lentils in water, keeping the black lentils separate from the red and yellow. Place the red and yellow lentils in a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer until tender - about 10 minutes. Do the same with the black lentils - they will take a little longer to cook to tender - about 15 minutes. Drain well. Mash or process the red and yellow lentils to a paste. Leave the black lentils whole. Reserve.
To make the burgers begin by roasting the spices. In a dry skillet, over medium heat, roast the spices until fragrant. Immediately remove from heat and grind finely. Gently sauté the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and green chilies in the oil until soft, add spices and sauté a further 5 minutes.
Stir in the black lentil flour. Stir in red and yellow lentil paste and the whole cooked beluga lentils.
Remove from heat. When cool stir in the pecans, apricots, fresh coriander, basil, lime zest, and the salt and pepper to taste.
Shape into patties and cook on a hot oiled grill pan, five minutes per side or until golden.
Place in a multigrain flatbread bun with sliced cucumber, avacado, tomato, red onion and a few spinach leaves tossed in plain yogourt. A spoonful of spicy red pepper jelly or sweet lime pickle would also be delicious spooned on top of the burger. Chomp into burger heaven - mmmmm!
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In fact, Canadian whisky has failed to make as big of a splash as scotch or bourbon have.
Which is why Davin de Kergommeaux has attempted to trace the roots of what he believes to be a national treasure.
Davin is the Ottawa-based author of Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert, and he joined us to sing the praises of the underappreciated drink.
Davin will be giving a talk at Britton's in the Glebe this Sunday, from 1-4.
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Today, we have response from Minister of State for Science & Technology, Gary Goodyear.
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