Tyler Wright | Special to the 51暗网
Skiing in the morning, snowshoeing in the midday, skating in the evening: Winter in Jasper does not mean sitting around inside waiting for summer to return. In fact, I have found the winter lifestyle in Jasper to be highly active when compared to life back in the city. There were activities but not the readily available plethora of choices we have out here.
Inspired by long days playing out in the snow, this week鈥檚 edition is all about turning those winter nights into an all-night culinary affair.
Starting with canapes and moving into cheese and broth fondue for the mains. Take a break with infused ice water as a palate cleanser and finish with a small batch chocolate Baileys fondue. This is how you do a winter's eve feast.
With fondue being somewhat of a prep-heavy dinner, start off with a canap茅. Canap茅s are small, decorative and bite-sized appetizers, the perfect snack while you prep the fondues. These are tasty without being too filling. For this dinner, it was sustainably raised, organic, Sturgeon Caviar from B.C.鈥檚 Fraser River. A spoonful of the delicacy was placed on Blini (Russian pancake) and served with goat cheese and a fresh sprig of dill. Blinis are literally a mini pancake, fluffy in texture and somewhat tasteless but a perfect vehicle for the melt in your mouth caviar. For purists, like myself, you can also enjoy the caviar straight up. Be sure to use a pearl spoon caviar set as metal spoons will taint the taste of the caviar. Serve the caviar chilled. This caviar canap茅 was paired with a bottle of Cordon Vert Demi Sec Champagne kept on ice.
While you can make a cheese fondue from scratch, the premade pouches come with everything you need and taste phenomenal. Remember, store bought does not always mean you have to sacrifice taste or quality. I would 10-out-10 recommend using a fondue cheese pouch as it was easy and exceptionally good taste and texture wise. For the broth fondue, use beef broth infused with whatever seasonings you prefer. Let it come to a boil in the pot for a few minutes to reduce.
For the cheese dippers, cherry tomatoes, bread, cayenne garlic roasted potatoes, marinated and seared tenderloin beef cubes and steamed broccolini were the go-to. For the broth, raw cubes of ribeye and mushroom quarters. As an extra side, garlic toast with baked Moliterno al Tarufo (truffle infused sheep鈥檚 milk cheese) was also served. The fondue was paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon from Bread-and-Butter wine co.
As we downshift gears into the finale, enjoy an ice water infused with cucumber, fresh lime juice, and mint leaves. Muddled in the glass and served ice cold in sparkling or still water. This is a nice way to cleanse the pallet and keep hydrated.
For the chocolate fondue, a small batch of semi-sweet bakers鈥� chocolate was melted down and folded with a 录 cup cream and a 录 cup baileys. Served with strawberries. The fondue was paired with Grand Marnier in a brandy snifter glass.
With the sun going down so early, multi course meals like this are a fun way to keep the day鈥檚 festivities going on late into the evening.
Visit fitzhugh.ca or @TasteofJasper on Instagram for more pics and recipe cards.
