The Eastern Townships is a culinary paradise!  

To showcase some of the best of our region, we collaborated with Annie Duhamel of @Blog de Bouffe to create a chalet winter weekend menu full of comfort food from some of the best gourmet artisans near the chalets. 

We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed working with Annie and all our local artisans.

Bon appétit!

Brunch: Smoked trout toast, French toast with eggnog and cane egg, pastries, cheese, fruit

Serves: 4 people

Cheese plate:

Pastries & fruit: 

French Toast: 

  • Ingredients:
  • Preparation: 
    • Cut bread into 2 inches slices. 
    • For each slice of bread, mix a Quebec white cane egg with ¼ cup of eggnog.  
    • Coat the bread with the mixture. 
    • In a skillet with butter, brown the bread on both sides. 
    • Serve with maple syrup, caramel, or jam.  

Smoked Trout Toast:

  • Ingredients:
  • Preparation: 
    • Cut the loaf of bread into slices and grill them.  
    • Add cream cheese, slices of Keet-Bard smoked trout, red onion, capers, and arugula.
    • Add lemon to taste.

Drinks:

Lunch: Onion soup with beer, bacon, and cheese crouton

Serves: 6-8 people 

Onion soup:

  • Ingredients
    • 2 cups of Bowen beer from Canton Brasse Microbrewery 
    • .4 lbs/190g bacon from Boucherie Ferme Mario Gadbois
    • Grocery store items: 8 good size onions, 1/4 cup of butter, 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 2 bay leaves, pepper, 4 teaspoons of tomato paste, 12 teaspoons of Bovril, 1 beef bouillon cube, 1 teaspoon of salt
  • Preparation: 
    • Chop the onions into large cubes. 
    • Cut the bacon into lardons and then brown. Remove the browned lardons but keep the fat in the saucepan. 
    • Sauté onions in bacon fat and add butter over medium heat for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. 
    • Add oregano, dry mustard, bay leaves, and pepper (to taste), and beer. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half. 
    • Add the tomato paste, 9 cups of water, Bovril, beef bouillon cube, and salt. 
    • Simmer 1:30 to 2:00 on low heat. 
    • At the very end, add the precooked bacon to the soup.

Crouton with cheese:

  • Ingredients
  • Preparation: 
    • Toast slices of bread.  
    • Spread Dijon mustard toasted bread. 
    • Add grated Fontina and smoked Fontina cheese. 

Plate assembly: 

  • Place the cheese crouton on the bowl of hot soup. 
  • Place in the oven on broil until the cheese is golden brown.

Dinner (choice 1): 2 cheese fondue with white wine

Serves: 2 people

Apéro: Les Paulines, Futaille 2021 Series from Canton Brasse Microbrewery

Dinner Wine Pairing: 2020 Vin Blanc from Vignoble Cep d'Argent

Fondue: 

  • Ingredients:
  • Preparation: 
    • Grate both kinds of cheese and set aside. 
    • Rub the inside of a pot with the halved garlic clove, then leave it in the pot. 
    • Add 1/4 cup of white wine. Let it simmer. 
    • Gradually add the cheese mixture and 1/4 cup of wine while stirring with a wooden spoon. 
    • Dissolve the 1 teaspoon cornstarch in the remaining quarter of a cup of white wine and add to the fondue. 
    • Add a lot of pepper. 
    • Stir until desired texture is achieved. 
    • Remove the garlic clove before serving.
    • Serve with bread, sausages, and ham.
  • Other Suggested accompaniments for fondue:
    • Grilled Brussels sprouts (or other vegetables of choice)
    • Grapes & Green apples (or other fruits of choice)
    • Cornichon pickles 
    • Pearl onions 
    • Green salad

Dessert: 

Fine chocolate selection from Chocolaterie Vanden Eynden

Dinner (choice 2): Gnocchi poutine with cheese curds, and braised beef in red wine

Serves 3-4 people

Dinner Wine Pairing: Red wine, 2020 Les Beaux Jus, Vignoble de la Bauge from Deux Tomates  

Gnocchi Poutine:

  • Ingredients:
  • Preparation: 
    • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. 
    • Chop the onion and garlic very finely. Cut the bacon into lardons. 
    • Cook the bacon in an oven-safe dish (like a dutch oven) Set aside and keep the bacon fat. 
    • Flour the beef, sear it in the bacon fat, and then set aside. 
    • Brown the onions in the butter then add the garlic. 
    • Add the red wine and scrape the bottom of the pan bringing in the flavors left at the bottom.  
    • Add the boneless rid roast to the dish, add broth to the height of the meat, and bay leaves. Salt and pepper to taste. 
    • Cover the dish and put it in the oven for 3 hrs 30 minutes. 
    • After 3 hours 30 minutes remove the dish with the braised beef from the oven. Collect a cup of cooking broth, strain, and reserve it. Remove excess fat and bay leaves. Shred the meat. Mix well with the remaining sauce. 
    • Boil the demi-glace, add the cup of the reserved cooking broth. (Add cornstarch as needed, if the sauce is too runny.)
    • Cook the gnocchi in boiling water. Then brown them in a pan with butter.
    • Reheat the diced bacon.
  • Plate Assembly: 
    • Place cheese curds in the bowl. 
    • Add a few pan-fried gnocchi. 
    • Add more cheese, then more gnocchi and the bacon. 
    • Generously pour in the sauce. 
    • Add the braised beef. 
    • Add a few grains of cheese and top with arugula.
  • Suggested Accompaniments: Green salad

Dessert: 

Patisseries from L'Atelier du Pain