Whats Cookin' Miramichi Blog

After the Christmas rush and festival of feasting, we're just enjoying the leftovers and having some quiet suppers with friends. We're hosting a private dinner party on Dec 29th and on New Year's Eve, and then we'll start on the upcoming wedding preparations for Jan 6 - 9th.  I have had a chance to update the Cooking Class schedule through to March 31st and also the monthly menus so with a small break in January, we'll be back in the swing of things again real soon! We're launching some Teen Classes this year to meet the requests from parents in addition to some adult entertaining menus and ideas to make it as stress-free as possible.  Always a joy to get back into the kitchen and pick up some tips and  tricks and learn new ways to enhance your daily menus.

And I do want to send a special thanks to the staff who make every event special at The King George - Sandy, Jamie, Caroline and new this year, Julia,  We couldn't do it without you! Wishing you all healthy, happy New Year!

 

 

Just finished hosting an Enterprise Miramichi & W.O.M.E.N  business group for 30+ ladies this week serving a soup/salad buffet and a 'mini' murder mystery performed by the staff. Many thanks to the staff for making the evening appear to flow effortlessly (and only we know otherwise!). It was a busy week with a post-wedding luncheon for out of town guests on Monday, and a 75th birthday celebration for a family of 16 on Wednesday. 

 Now on to the pre-Christmas get togethers starting in November, a couple of anniversary celebrations, 8 Murder Mystery dinners in December and some wedding activities (rehearsal dinner, bridal party spa night, brunch buffet, gift opening reception ) slated for late December- early January. And believe it or not, we also have guests booked during the Christmas season.  So things will be busy at The King George! No vacation until 2012, I'm afraid!

For now, the sun continues to shine (although it is a very frosty 5C temperature wise) and I understand there is the S-word in the forecast for Sunday. Hopefully we'll get a chance to put away the mower and get out the blower before it's too late!

Fall has arrived and brought with it some spectacular weather here in Miramichi – gorgeous sunny days in the low 20’s and cool nights.  Just crisp enough to change the colour palette of the hardwoods into an amazing quilt of scarlet, tangerine and gold.  My apple trees are burdened with fruit and it’s a feat to avoid being ‘bonked’ on the head when walking underneath.  We managed to gather the windfalls from a couple of abandoned orchards and spent last week making freezer-ready apple pie filling – enough to see us through until April! And one of our weekend classes is All About Apples – from appetizers to desserts.  We have some great local sausage makers who have some wonderful combinations utilizing fresh herbs, apples and pork. Wonderful for breakfast!  And next week, we’re offering a special Thanksgiving Al Fresco class – Entertaining with Style which features unique outdoor dining ideas for this traditional holiday meal. And of course, we’ll be brining our turkey to ensure maximum flavor and moistness.

We’ve managed to source some local suppliers for harvest preserves, chutneys, relishes, and a fantastic Jalapeno-Raspberry jelly that has quite a kick! Great with a round of Brie or Camembert.

Bloggers Delight - Miramichi Leader, Friday June 24, 2011 by Alexandra MacLean

 

Relishing berries and foraging for fiddleheads were among the adventures 3 British food bloggers enjoyed when they visited the Miramichi this spring. Three internationally recognized food bloggers visited Miramichi to try the local cuisine and they fell in love.  NB Tourism & Parks and the Canadian Tourism Commission invited the 3 popular UK food critic bloggers to northern New Brunswick to show off not only the local cuisine but culinary activities from the Canada's Signature Experience collection.

The bloggers, Cara Waters from the London based blog - www.gourmetchick.com, Niamh Shields - www.eatlikeagirl.com, and Oliver Thring - www.oliverthring.com landed in NB on May 19th and did a whirlwind tour of the northern part of the province experiencing more than just the food. Waters says she didn't know what to expect never having been to Canada before.  A world traveller with almost 25 different countries listed on her food blog, she says New Brunswick is a place unique from any other.

'It was my first trip to New Brunswick and to Canada. Everyone we met was so friendly and hospitable, I had a great time," expressed Waters. The bloggers spent their first night at O'Donnells Cottages foraging for fiddleheads. They packed up and drove to Blissfield where they made jam with Darlene at the Homestead Inn

and then on to Darlene's Tea House, following the roadside teapot signs, where they had lunch.

Waters says she ordered the Miramichi salmon sandwiches which were a vibrant pink and tasted wonderfully fresh.  After some fiddlead soup, Waters says came the best part - traditional scones with jam and cream. "The scones were a dream," she writes, "a cloud of light, puffy dough with a tart homemade jam". With suitcases weighed down with 3 bottles of jam apiece and their stomachs full from lunch, the bloggers made their way to Miramichi for a night at The King George B&B.  Sara MacInnis, owner of the B&B was preparing for a nerve-wracking 10 days.  "We've never had a food critic come and and stay with us," she laughed. "We had three at one time and the executive chef from Maison Tate House in Shediac, Chef Chris, staying with us during the TIANB conference the following week". MacInnis says she got a call from the CTC asking her if she would be interested in having the British food bloggers stay with her and participate in the Mystery Food Adventure.  A new event that has been added to the Canadian Experiences for this year, the Mystery Food Tour invites guests to choose what they would like for supper, and discover the local ingredients themselves by following a GPS programmed with the locations of MacInnis' local suppliers and growers. "If you wake up and decide you feel like beef that night for your supper, I give you a GPS and send you off to Sevogle to meet Earl Sutherland and choose the cut yourself," she explained.

The 3 bloggers were delighted with the chance to explore the Miramichi region. Choosing seafood for their supper, the guests spent Saturday, May 21 like modern day hunter-gatherers to find local seafood supplier, O'Neil's Fishmarket in Baie-Sainte Anne. MacInnis explains that they did get lost and the fishmarket closed. She then had to contact a friend in Hardwicke to intercept them and he also managed to get the store to re-open, and get them back on track.

"We proudly arrived back at the King George bearing our bag of scallops and mussels," said Waiters. "We then got to enjoy our finds over dinner at the B&B that night. Sara is an excellent cook, so I would highly recommend a meal there for locals - don't let the B&B guests have Sara all to themselves!"

That evening, the guests were served mussels, moosemeat bolognese, and scallops.  They rounded off their evening with Miramichi Potholes from the Napan Baykery.

"It wouldn't be a trip to Canada without trying some moosemeat so Sara had made a rich bolognese sauce using local moosemeat. 'The bolognese sauce was sensationally flavorsome with almost a gamey taste to the meat," Waters described in her blog post about the trip.  Waters rated The King George B&B as a 9 out of 10 on her blog - the highest of all the places she visited in New Brunswick.

The bloggers ended their tip with a visit to La Pays de la Sagouine for an Acadian lunch of poutine rapee and visited Lobster Tales in Shediac for a lobster cruise and feast before heading back across the Atlantic.

Waters says she would love to come back to Miramichi and discover other sensational treats unique to the region.

"New Brunswick has some amazing and unique products that you can't find anywhere else in the world," she writes. "It was great to meet so many local people who are so passionate about local food. You would not believe the amount of people in London who have asked me where they can get fiddleheads. I've told them the'yll have to go to New Brunswick!"

WOW! What more can I say . . . .!

Somehow I thought that arriving back in Miramichi after the beginning of April, it would be Spring and the last of our winter snow would be long gone. So what a surprise to have 15cm of the white stuff shower down on us mid-April! My guests from Norway were also somewhat shocked since they have spring flowers blooming already and certainly didn’t anticipate snow in Canada in April. But they did enjoy shopping for winter woollies!

Easter weekend proved to be exciting and hectic, with guests arriving Friday and staying through Sunday. We also entertained some friends on Saturday evening with our own version of ‘Easter Dinner’ – Thai chicken thighs in a hot & spicy sauce over nutty basmati rice, tender-crisp green & yellow beans with sliced almonds, and one of our signature King George desserts – lemon custard cups dusted with icing sugar.  We saved the slow-roasted shoulder of lamb with vegetable mash for ourselves to enjoy at a later date!  And as a special treat to ourselves, on Sunday afternoon we drove to the Maison Tate House in Shediac for their Easter Brunch. Another stately century home now converted into a 9-room inn and restaurant.  Absolutely fabulous! Their general manager and (possibly) executive chef are booked with us while attending the provincial tourism conference in late May, so no pressure there! Brunch was wonderful – everything including eggs & bacon, mussels, smoked salmon, ham, beef stroganoff with accompanying hot and cold vegetables,salads, and assorted cakes and cheese plate for dessert. For John, the seafood crepe offered as a starter was the highlight of his day!

Monday was a perfect day for working in the garden, raking the grass and clearing out the winter debris. With the aroma of roasting meat wafting from the slow cooker, knowing supper is just a few minutes away – absolute bliss! John actually basked shirtless in the afternoon sun once he moved the deck furniture out of storage, while enjoying a refreshing beverage.  Who would have thought – snow and cold just a week ago!

Once the celebrations for St. Patrick's Day have finished, we begin planning our Spring menus - have already enjoyed some delicious braised lambshanks with creamy 'squashed potatoes'.  Our newest white wine, an Italian Verdiccio, is currently being profiled with much enjoyment. A light, 'green' wine perfect with fish, chicken, and any vegetarian entree. This week we also baked a luscious Lemon Cake, with 3 thinly sliced lemons boiled until soft, then blitzed in the food processor to be part of the wet ingredients in a cake batter.  I have to admit, it is heavenly, and can't wait to try it with oranges. We also tried the "perfect asparagus' recipe profiled by the Cake Boss - tender asparagus stalks, trimmed and placed on a baking sheet, sprinkled with salt & pepper, a dusting of fresh parmesan, and then bread crumbs. Into the oven for 10-12 mins. and then under the broiler to brown the breadcrumbs.  Fantastic! We served it with salmon and a little hollandaise sauce, along with some roasted winter root vegetables, and everyone cleaned their plates. Amazing how a little sunshine can stir the creative juices!
I'm off to Fredericton today and hopefully will have an chance to check out Market Square to see what's available from local growers & farmers to add to our table.

February 2011 Update

What – more snow!! We must have 3-4ft of hard packed snow on the ground and more in the forecast!  I have become ‘one’ with my snowblower though, after 2 years of minimal use and much cursing I have mastered the ‘pushbutton start’ at last!  Who knew the darn thing had to be plugged in! I still refer to it as ‘The Beast’ and just don’t think I will ever really warm up to using it.  My trainee chef, Jamie just loves it and can’t wait for it to snow so he can get out and use the blower. Gotta be a guy thing!

Had a busy month with Weekend Couples Packages and a romantic Valentines Dinner here at the B&B.  Had a chance to preview some new menu items – Roasted Winter Root Vegetables with balsamic vinegar, Herbed Basil Shrimp marinated, grilled and served over pasta, and Braised Beef Shanks in red wine and beef broth . . .yum! We’re still experiencing a big demand for our Dark Chocolate Lava Cakes and introduced a Lemon Custard Cup along with a guilt-free Angel Food cake with berries to our dessert menu. And our ‘Murder on the Menu’ mystery dinners have proven to be so popular, we’ve had to extend them through the month of April.  Usually we stop in March, but now have bookings to April 30^th so we must be doing something right!

John and I had our own Valentines date on Feb 13^th at the White Gold Dinner concert and enjoyed listening to the fabulous musical talents of some local musicians and singers. It never fails to surprise me just how much talent we have so close at hand.  I think that was the first time John has been out socially for weeks and sure enough, picked up a doozy of a chest cold that he’s still suffering with. My but he does hate winter! But living in northern New Brunswick, you’ve just got to embrace it and get out and enjoy it! But having said that, we’ve had a guy here 2 weekends in a row removing the accumulated ice/snow pack on our roof edges. In some places it was easily 3ft thick and with the heat of the sun melting and then re-freezing it into layers, it was a potential hazard. Even so, we have had water damage on the western gable window in the attic leaking down onto the 2^nd floor. We had it sprayed with an anti-fungicide and have commercial fans blowing in the 3^rd floor and hopefully have restricted the damage just to the hardwood floor in our guest lounge, and not in any of our guest rooms. Oh the joys of a century home!

And now my CFO (otherwise known as John) is valiantly trying to input all of our data into Excel in order to send it to the accountant to do our 2010 taxes. He would prefer to use a pen and manually enter debits and credits into a ledger, so you can imagine his frustration level! But he’s completed May 2010 so far, and I’m sure with enough encouragement, will finish it before mid-April

Finally time for an update. We managed to get back home after our trip to Victoria, BC on Dec 20th to spend Christmas with our daughter and the 2 grandkids.  But on the return trip - Victoria, Edmonton, Toronto, Moncton on Dec 26th, we got stuck in Toronto for 3 days, courtesy of Mother Nature and the wicked winter storm moving up the eastern US and Canada . Fortunately, WestJet provided hotel and food vouchers so we didn't have to sleep at the airport, but after 3 days of waiting for the next flight, we were ready to try anything to get out of there! We did manage to get a couple of hours with our other 2 grandkids in Brampton on Tuesday afternoon before getting out on the first 'rescue flight' to the east coast.  Unfortunately, we missed the wedding reception scheduled for Dec 28th here at the B&B, so thankfully our event coordinator, Caroline and new trainee chef, Jamie, managed beautifully.  So nice to be able to make a phone call and know everything will be taken care of! Now we have a Murder Mystery dinner scheduled for Jan 15th and a private function later in the month to prepare for, and I surely do miss Caroline.  Sandy, Jamie and I will just have to manage on our own.
December was a whirlwind of pre-Xmas events and Murder Mystery dinners.  I think there might have been  5 evenings in the entire month that we didn't have a function.  So you can imagine how happy I was to get a weeklong break at Christmas. In the kitchen, we've prepared a new Winter Menu for some upcoming events, but retained the Dark Chocolate Lava Cakes as one of the favourite desserts and added our Lemon Custard Cups.  Jame has indeed mastered the art of creating these delectable treats. Some new items we're offering are Italian Wedding soup, baby spinach and fresh basil salad, and a creamy shrimp pasta dish for evening in addtion to our regular items. The beef strip loin, halibut fillet, and stuffed chicken breast are still favourites on the menu, and we update them seasonally to make best use of what's available locally. 
 
Now I'm making myself hungry, so better sign off for now! 

 Well as you can see, we’ve been a little bit busy over the past few weeks, and unfortunately our blog has been neglected!  But the good news is we’ve added a couple of key staff members to our roster, with the recent acquisition of an event coordinator and a trainee chef. Both badly needed and to date demonstrating excellent skills to keep our business running smoothly. Caroline has transformed the entire house from Fall to Winter with a seasonal Christmas theme evident inside and out.  What a powerhouse of energy and ideas! And Jamie has produced some wonderful concoctions in the kitchen to add to our festive menu offerings, with the biggest hits being the Carrot & Ginger Soup, and Chocolate Lava Cakes.  Darcy stays on top of everything in his own inimitable and professional way, and always wow’s us with his plate presentation. Jamie is certainly learning from a master chef! The feedback from our Murder Mystery diners and Christmas events on the food has been extremely positive and encouraging for everyone.

So as we enter the Christmas season, we have meal bookings every Wednesday through Saturday, with some brunch dates as well as evening dinners, and Murder Mystery dates through to Dec 18th. We're in the midst of holiday cookie baking, made some fantastic (if I might say so myself) Christmas Puddings substituting the suet and mixed peel with shredded carrot and apple. Served with a Brown Sugar sauce and maybe just a hint of brandy - heaven on a plate!  
We’re hosting a Food Service Graduation luncheon for 13 guests on Dec 7^th to celebrate the successful completion of the inaugural class. And since 2 of the graduates are now installed at the King George, we could not be more proud to be associated with this program. Although just how we’re going to prep for this event, while attending the ceremony remains to be seen! Time to get all slowcookers operating for a special Beef Shanks in Red Wine entree, preceded by our signature Spinach Pear & Pecan salad. and followed by the luscious Chocolate Lava Cakes.  Then on Dec 10th, we're catering a Soup Buffet Supper at the Douglastown Community Centre for the Miramichi Yoga Club - 3 hearty soup choices, 2 salad selections, and an assortment of seasonal pastries for dessert. 
Now you can see why we're working full-tilt in the What's Cookin' kitchen, with little or no time for our custom cooking classes! But rest assured, they will resume again in the New Year!

October 2010
A surprise wedding night gift in early October began an unexpected but enjoyable group of newlyweds staying at the King George! We've hosted a number wedding guests and bridal parties since then, and can only surmise it must be our unique status - or possibly because no one assumes the bridal couple would be staying with us. Some were just given the keys to their room and had to locate their place of accommodation, and others wanted complete secrecy from their guests.  We have another one this Friday evening, and a family-only special Christmas wedding reception to arrange. In any event, it gave us an opportunity to refine our Wedding Package options which now includes: rose petals scattered in a heart-shape on the bed, a bottle of bubbly and 2 glasses (chilled and waiting) and our own hand made chocolate truffles in a gift box. We can also customize your breakfast menu and serve time to best suit you.

Needless to say our herb garden was amazing this summer and although we’ve had frost 1-2 nights recently, my parsley, sage, rosemary and tarragon plants are the size of small bushes.  And my good friend, Evelyn, donated 2 huge bags of sweet cherry tomatoes which we are just finishing up in the kitchen. Our own 2 plants produced huge beefsteak tomatoes with the final few ripening up nicely in the south-facing sunporch. What else tastes as good as a fresh tomato sauce over pasta?A summer with such fine weather, we’ll surely remember it for a long time.
 
Now we’re working on some new ‘comfort food’ recipes with an emphasis on using the slow-cooker for our upcoming What’s Cookin’ menus.  The Classic French class was received so well, we’ve been asked to run it again for those who missed it in September, so expect to see it repeated in November. Who can resist homemade French Onion soup, Pan-Roasted Sirloin Trip followed by Apple Tarte Tatin?  Or perhaps butterflied boneless chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and goat cheese, potatoes Anna, and crepes Suzette?  The list is endless!