Canoe - Taste Fowl

@ChefHorne's 2013 fall tasting menu @Oliver_Bonacini's Canoe, full of big Fall flavours and beautiful birds.

Amuse Bouche: Rabbit & Foi Parfait with a Pork Rillet Tartlet.

Pairing: Domain Vincent Carême L'Ancestrale Vouvray, Loire Valley France, 2011.

Best decribed as a perfect bite.

Course 1: Potted Pigeon & Foi Gras and Liver Pâté with Pickled Beets, Qual Scotch Egg, & Okanogan Plum.

Pairing: Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Heimbourg Riesling, Alsace France, 2008.

The squab cooked Peking Duck style with a maple syrup glaze. Perfectly crispy skin with tender meat and warm beets, a very well balanced dish with lovely bright notes.

Course 2: Chantecler Chicken Soup with Dumplings, Heirloom Carrots, Savory Oil, Chicken Velouté.

Pairing: Domaine Tissot Empreinte Chardonnay, Arbois Jura France, 2011. 

One of my favourite dishes from the night, the depth of flavour from th broth come from it's 5 day process using carcasses from Chanteclair chicken, turkey, and other fowl. It was so good that I came back the next evening to have it again!

Course 3, a bonus course from Chef Horne: Beef Tenderloin with Confit Beef Heart, and Peppered Tongue.

This was the first time I had beef heart! Not surprisingly, I loved it. It might be my favorite cut of meat, second only to the flatiron. Full of earthy beefy flavours, it was  a fantastic treat from Chef Horne.

Intermezzo: Eggnog Bourbon Soup.

Course 4: Clover Roads "Duck, Duck, Goose" with Brussels Sprouts, Niagara pple, Dirty Rice, Mushroom Oat Haggis.

Pairing: Azienda Agricola COS Cerasuolo du Vittoria Classico, Sicily Italy, 2010.

Sadly I wasn't able to enjoy this dish. While the duck appeared to be cooked perfectly, it was salted very agressively. The rice on the otherhand was great, wouldn't mind having a bowl of that!

Course 5: Phesant Hill Farm "Turducken Style" - Guinea Hen, Pheasant & Partridge, Savory Cabbage, Bacon & Mulled Mountain Cranberries.

Pairing: Quails' Gate Stewart Family Reserve Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley British Columbia, 2009.

Turducken! My favorite dish of the evening, and the highlight of the menu. Just wow.

Course 6: Breakfast for Dessert - Cranola, Saffron Custard, Orange Maralade, French Toast Ice Cream.

Pairing: Creekside Shiraz Ice Wine, Niagara Peninsula Ontario, 2008.

Petit Fours: Brownies.