Late-summer recipes to dine for:
Canmore’s local eateries serve up the best and the freshest
by Amanda Follett
The Quarry Bistro is a cozy place to spend a chilly September evening in downtown Canmore. Sipping a glass of red wine at the candlelit bar, suddenly I am presented with chef and co-owner David Wyse’s latest creation — one of those dishes that makes you sit back in your chair, eyes wide and mouth agape. This trout fillet, garnished with balsamic vinegar reduction and resting on a bed of salad, looks almost too nice to eat.
Almost.
Digging into the succulent trout, it offers a rich flavour without the ‘fishiness’. At this time of year, Wyse says he starts to shift from summer dishes, like halibut and salmon, to seasonal favourites like root vegetables, butternut and acorn squash and this trout, organically farmed near Victoria, British Columbia.
Nestled under the trout is a bed of butternut squash and walnut bread salad, a colourful mix of crisp green beans, tasty grape tomatoes and white chanterelle mushrooms from Alberta. But while the restaurant has begun to shift its seasonal focus, Wyse says he’s cautions not to give up that summer feeling too soon.
“Summer — in theory — is not supposed to be over yet,” says the optimistic chef.
Summer may, in some form, still be hanging on, but in Alberta’s restaurant industry chefs are starting to look ahead to provide the freshest, tastiest seasonal ingredients, often produced locally. At Sage Bistro, owner Todd Kunst puts an emphasis on locally-produced ingredients year round, with items like Sage’s popular Alberta venison meatloaf.
Forest fires that took place last summer in B.C. have produced a bumper crop of morel mushrooms, which have since been popping up on Canmore menus.
This month, the restaurant takes part in Dine Alberta: Savour Regional Flavour, an additional menu that changes every week for the month of September and features 70 per cent Alberta products. Items like the heirloom tomato salad — “long ones, purple ones, yellow and green ones,” says Kunst, explaining the colourful tomato variety — that come from Hotchkiss Farms, near Calgary, join Lacombe lamb chops, Taber corn and morel mushrooms from Crowsnest Pass. You can’t dine much closer to home than that.
A common item on any fine dining menu this time of year is wild mushrooms: morel, matsutake, chanterelle, black trumpet and lobster mushrooms — you name it, it’s found in western Canada and it’s currently in abundance.
“It just depends what kind of mushroom you’re looking for. Some thrive from rain, some thrive from forest fires,” says Randy Luft, executive chef at Murrieta’s Westcoast Grill. Within the past year, the western provinces have seen a fair bit of both. “That’s probably the only good thing that came out of the forest fires last year,” he says.
Luft has had young pickers with backpacks full of fungi walk straight out of the southern Alberta bush and into his restaurant, ready to sell their wares. While Luft says he rarely buys mushrooms from strangers, a number of exotic species will make appearances in restaurant specials over the next couple months.
At a four-course food and wine pairing to follow Murrieta’s Fall Golf Classic later this month, patrons will get to sample B.C. sablefish, also known as black cod and similar to sea bass, along with chanterelle mushrooms from Revelstoke that have sprung up in the wake of recent wet weather. Luft says he also plans to find a place for morel mushrooms from Crowsnest Pass on the menu, which have dropped to $3 or $4 a pound from around $15, and the rare matsutake, or pine, mushroom which is currently a “good price” at $22 a pound, he says.
Visit any of these Canmore restaurants to sample their locally-found treats or, if you’re feeling adventurous, prepare your own late-summer delight from the recipes below. You might find some of the ingredients you’re looking for right in your own backyard!
Pan Seared Rainbow Trout
With butternut squash and walnut bread salad
Courtesy of the Quarry Bistro and Winebar
718 Main Street, Canmore
403.678.6088
Serves four
Four fresh rainbow trout, boned and butterflied
One small butternut squash
1/2 loaf French baguette, torn into chunks
8 large chanterelle mushrooms, quartered
200 grams green beans, blanched and halved
200 grams grape tomatoes
50 grams walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup parsley leaves
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 tsp lemon zest
3 sprigs rosemary
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar reduction
Preheat oven to 400 F
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David Wyse, chef and co-owner of the Quarry Bistro in Canmore, displays a new fall dish, pan-seared rainbow trout.
Peal and chop squash into 1/2 inch cubes, toss in olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and one sprig of rosemary leaves. Roast on a baking sheet for 15 minutes, until soft and just beginning to brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, toss together bread chunks with parsley and basil leaves and set aside.
Pour 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Quickly fry rosemary sprigs to flavour oil (5-6 seconds) and discard. Carefully place seasoned trout into pan, skin-side down, and continue to fry at high heat for one minute. Add quartered mushrooms and then transfer to hot oven for 4-5 minutes or until fish is cooked to desired temperature.
While fish is in oven, heat another pan over high heat and add 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add blanched green beans, walnuts, grape tomatoes and squash, season with salt, pepper, thyme and lemon zest. Toss over flame until warm and then add to herb and bread chunk mixture. Mix until well combined.
In the centre of four plates, place a nice-sized handful of bread salad. Carefully remove fish from frying pan and place on top of salad. Quickly toss mushrooms with the remaining oil in pan and place on top of trout. Finish plate with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar reduction and a pinch of fleur de sel.
Sage Bistro’s Alberta Venison Meatloaf
Courtesy Sage Bistro
1712 Bow Valley Trail, Canmore
403.678.4878
www.sagebistro.ca
The term ‘venison’ is often used to describe any type of game meat. This recipe uses ground deer meat as it has a distinct smoky component to its character. Serve over sweet potato mash spiced with a little allspice and cloves, topped with wild mushroom gravy to finish.
1lb. diced onions
8 oz. diced celery
2 oz. oil
12 oz. bread crumbs
10 oz. ground tomato
7 lbs. ground venison
8 eggs
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. pepper
3 tbsp. garlic, minced
¼ cup grainy mustard
2 tbsp. onion powder
2 tbsp. caraway seed
1 cup tomato paste
Sauté onion and celery in oil until soft and translucent. Combine with other ingredients and mix thoroughly with hands in a large bowl. Divide into three loaf pans and tap pans to set firm. Bake at 350 F for one hour or until internal temperature is 160 F. Cool 20 minutes in pan before removing. Yields three loaves.
Seared B.C. Sablefish
Courtesy of Murrieta’s Westcoast Grill
#200, 737 Main Street, Canmore
403.609.9500
Served with Slocan Valley chanterelle mushrooms and Vancouver Island cedar jelly. Makes four servings.
4 pieces fresh sablefish, skin on, approx. 3-4 oz
10 oz fresh chanterelles
4 oz good quality veal stock
1 oz maple syrup
2 oz white wine
2 oz finely chopped shallots
2 tsp cedar jelly
2 tbsp olive oil
Sauté shallots in sauce pan until translucent but not brown.
Add chopped chanterelles and sauté for about 2 minutes, then deglaze with white wine.
Add veal stock and maple syrup and let reduce by 1/4 and keep warm for service.
In a hot frying pan sear the seasoned fish skin side down and finish in 400 F oven for about 5 minutes. (The fish should be cooked to medium-rare to keep the flavors and textures.)
Pour the prepared sauce on the desired serving dish and place fish on top of the sauce.
Garnish with 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cedar jelly and serve. (Use cedar jelly sparingly as it is very strong in flavour.)
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