Unwind With An Afternoon Tea at Le St-James

My daytime job has kept me incredibly busy the past couple of months. I work in the telecommunications industry, mobile/wireless sales mostly. It's a dynamic and exciting field where I don't have time to get bored. I'm a people person and love interacting with customers. When I make a customer happy, I'm happy. These days, business has been picking up quite rapidly which means that I've been struggling to maintain that same level of customer satisfaction. But my body is smart and always manages to let me know when to slow down, take a break and decompress. It won't hesitate to scream at me : "Woa, woa, 'minute là!' stop and breathe!".

We all need to live a healthy and well balanced life. To do so, we owe it to ourselves to listen to and be conscious of the little messages our body sends us. It's not hard like a lot of us would tend to believe. It's simple. Listen to your body. Let everything go. Learn how to do absolutely NOTHING just for one day, even for a minute. Treat yourself.

This brings me to sharing with you how I pampered myself last Friday after an insane week at work;

Spending an entire afternoon having tea at Le St-James, a luxurious hotel in the heart of Old Montreal.

It was an excellent way to "disconnect" myself from the craziness of the day without traveling distances to a getaway resort. It works for me because it involved drinking some of the finest teas in the world, a relaxing setting, great conversation with the wonderful company of my dear friend Anne and of course, great food.

It was my first "English" afternoon tea experience which I found truly soothing, pleasant and fun. Only 2-3km away from my workplace, this hotel had the perfect "getaway" ambiance which made me feel like I was at an out-of-town spa resort.

We were both spellbound by the beauty of the The Grand Salon formerly known as the 'Bankers Hall', with its two mezzanines fit for an opera. Smaller alcôves are clustered around the room for intimate tête-à-tête. We were treated like special guests by the attentive and friendly personnel. It was like traveling back in time and having tea on the legendary Titanic.

From the moment we walked in The Grand Salon, we both knew we were going to enjoy this experience. We were ushered to a small and private tea room, one side opened to The Grand Salon and the other to a window viewing rue St-Jacques of Old Montreal. It was exciting. We each had our own beautifully upholstered couches facing one another and separated by a beautifully carved mahogany tea table, already set, waiting for us. Our attendant even offered us more cushions to be more comfortable. How indulging. We could have taken a nap if we wanted to!

I believe most luxurious hotels in big cities would offer Afternoon Tea service. If you ever come across one, please do try it out. It's an unregrettable experience. And believe me, you'll be mesmerized by the whole experience that 'work' won't even cross your mind. Oh, and make reservations to have the best possible seat and table.

Tea menu.

To start, a sublime chilled white porto, Porto Blanc, Offley Cachucha

Amuse-bouche : Fois gras, shrimps and caviar canapés
Refined teas: Pleine Lune (very aromatic and spiced tea)

Pear and blue cheese delight on seven-grain bread with cream cheese, chopped roasted nuts
Smoked salmon, lemon, lettuce, soft "viennois" style bread
Feuillantine of white bread with crispy cucumber

Petits fours

Fresh Berries with Crème Chantilly

A glimpse of The Grand Salon at Hotel Le St-James

As for the cherry on top, we were there but missed this by probably a fraction of a minute! All this entire time we were enjoying our afternoon tea, he was probably in his room maybe just 2 floors above us, getting ready for his big gig at the Montreal Bell Centre that same night. If we had walked in a little earlier or left a little later, we could have been amongst the screaming crowd, or probably having a deep meaningful conversation with him at the main entrance. One can always dream.

Oh, well, they don't call it 6 degrees of separation for nothing.

Old Montreal right outside of Le St-James

"Go Bananas" Sorbet to its Simplicity

It really is simplicity at its best. Really. It's that easy. I swear, you'll go bananas when you see how simple it is to make this incredibly flavourful and refreshing sorbet.

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The exciting thing about this sorbet is that it really takes no time to whip up.
The best thing about this sorbet is that it's so creamy and tasty that you won't believe what's in it.
Ok, here goes....ready?

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Preparation time: 5 minutes, Freezing time: 4-5 hours

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This creation comes from a friend of mine who just enjoys coming up with new recipes by accident. And what a wonderful accident.

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Recipe "au pif":

ripe bananas....as much as you want...

and a hand blender...

THAT's IT.*

Tip: a kitchen counter blender will not work as you'll need to apply pressure to the bananas as you grind/blend them into a creamy mush with the hand blender.
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Cut the bananas in small 1 inch pieces, or break them with your hands. Freeze them in a bowl, covered with aluminium foil or plastic wrap for about 4-5 hours (preferably overnight)
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When you take them out of the freezer, let them thaw for about 10 minutes, until the bananas have softened a little. With your hand blender, apply pressure to the bananas as you grind them. You should see rich off-white cream oozing out of edges of the blender. Continue blending/grinding until the bananas have turned into a smooth and silky beige cream.
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You may want to freeze the creamy sorbet in a tupperware or other container, tightly sealed for about 15-20 minutes to harden the sorbet a little. It's optional.
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Recipe "au pif" for warm dark chocolate sauce:
100 g dark bitter chocolate (70% cacao), preferably swiss, chopped in coarse pieces
3 tbps water or more to reach desired texture
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp heavy cream (or 15% "champetre" country style cream)
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Using a double-boiler (bain marie) , slowly stir chocolate with a whisk until melted.
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Stir in vanilla, water and heavy cream. Stir with whisk until you reach desired consistency. Add water if you wish to have a thinner sauce.
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Serve warm. Drizzle over sorbet and garnish with shaved coconut.
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Mmmmmhhhh. No sugar added. The natural sweetness comes from the ripe bananas. A great low calorie treat, yet very creamy. It's amazing how the simplest foods can be so yummy.
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Enjoy during a hot summer day.

Vietnamese Crêpes (Bành Xéo) for a Crowd

Another wonderful evening just filled with fun and good food with my Swiss relatives. A sure winner that never fails to please a crowd when I'm having guests over for dinner is the famous Vietnamese crêpe (Bành Xéo). It's fun to make, but I must warn you, it's not the type of main course that can be easily prepared in batches way in advance. Vietnamese crêpes are best served and eaten freshly made straight out of the pan. I have yet to discover an efficient way to prepare these southern Vietnamese delicacies to a big crowd so that they remain warm and crisp as I serve them. If anyone out there knows a way, please do let me know!

For now, the technique that I use to serve these fresh is to incite my guests to prepare their own crêpes. I know it sounds a bit odd to some of you, but

a) it breaks the ice

b) it animates the evening

c) it creates a fun cooking experience for everyone

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My aunt who hardly ever cooks when she's home back in Geneva, had so much fun making these crêpes that she insisted on making the entire batch for the whole crowd. She wanted to master the technique of crêpe-making so that she can import the experience to her "unused" kitchen. She even blurted out "I think I'll get myself one of those", holding a spatula. How funny is that? The crêpe-making event became such a competition that everyone was striving to make the best looking crêpe of the evening. Now that's what I call a real kitchen party.

Edges are thin and crispy...
For dessert, homemade banana sorbet with a warm dark chocolate sauce and shaved coconut (my next post!)

There's really no secret to making great tasting Vietnamese crêpes. Just like any other crêpe recipes, it takes practice and a great batter. This being my 5th attempt to making this dish (really, one of my favourites) I can attest that this is the best batch I've made. It all comes with experience. I have followed many different recipes but that last one, which I pulled out of a $3 vietnamese cookbook from vietnam, is truly authentic. It calls for raw rice instead of rice flour. This makes the crêpes crispy and slightly chewy, just like in Vietnam. If you follow this recipe carefully and you've had a decent dose of crêpe-making practice, you might surprise yourself...

I'm the type who likes to keep things simple and easy, so I prepare the crêpe batter and marinate the crêpe filling the night before.

Preparation: 30 minutes (not including soaking the raw rice), Cooking time: 5 minutes per crêpe
Makes about twelve 9" (23 cm in diameter) crêpes.

Recipe "au pif":
Batter:
1 1/2 cup raw jasmine rice (or long grain rice)
3 tbsps cooked rice
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp ground curcuma or tumeric (adds yellowy lemony colour to the batter)
1 3/4 cup water
2 stalks scallions/green onions sliced in rings

Soak raw rice in water for 3-4 hours. Then discard water.
Blend all incredients (except the scallions/green onions) in kitchen counter blender. Pulse
several times until the batter reaches a yellowy lemony colour.

Pour the batter in a fine strainer and discard the solid residues (rice).

Stir in the scallions/green onions and let it sit and refrigerate overnight in a well sealed tupperware.

Crêpe filling:
3/4 lb (about 25) medium-sized shrimps or prawns (shells removed and de-veined) - I used frozen shrimps and mixed in ginger juice to remove fishy smell
1/2 lb lean boneless pork chops, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp finely minched garlic
1/2 tsp fish sauce
small pinch salt
pepper to taste

Season shrimps with salt and pepper.

Season pork with garlic, fish sauce and pepper. Let sit overnight.

Day of making crêpes:
Heat oil in wok, on high heat until wok starts to smoke a little. Stir in the pork for about 2 minutes, then stir in the shrimps for about 1 minute, until shrimps are plump and juicy (not overcooked). Put aside to fill the the crêpes.

Garnish:
Fresh coriander
Fresh mint
1 cup fresh bean sprouts

Crêpe preparation:
9 inch flat cast iron pan
vegetable oil for cooking

Give the batter a good stir with a ladle.

Heat about 1 tbsp oil in pan on high heat for about 2 minutes, until the oil is hot enough (but pan is not smoking) to sizzle an onion on contact.

Pour in about one ladle-ful batter into the pan and swirl the pan around to cover the bottom. The batter should sizzle on contact as you swish it around. Let the crêpe cook for about 2 minutes until the edges turn golden brown. This is a good sign that the crêpe is getting crispy.

Throw in about 1/2 tbsp of bean sprouts and 1 tbsp of shrimp/pork filling. Let cook uncovered for another minutes. With spatula, fold one half over the other. Carefully lift the crêpe with the spatula and let is slide onto a serving plate.

Garnish with coriander, mint and drizzle with a bit of dipping fish sauce.

Repeat the above steps until you run out of batter.

Serves 4-6 people.

My relatives have said that these crêpes tasted just like the ones in Vietnam. This deserved a nice pat on my shoulder.