JANUARY 2018 | CHICKPEA AND QUINOA BALLS

THE BOFFINS PUBLIC HOUSE NEWSLETTERamuse—bouche

a m u s e - b o u c h e \ ä - m ü z - ’ b ü s h \ n o u n [ F r . , l i t . , ( i t ) e n t e r t a i n s ( t h e ) m o u t h ]

The Latest Evening Menu Familiar with a Twistdishes you know with a touch of BoffinsThe new evening menu rolled out in early November, but we haven't been able to profile it due to the busy holiday season where our

evening team was serving up delicious feasts for a variety of events. The team’s latest menu has you covered; whether you want to pop in

after work for a drink and some appetizers with friends or if you want to come in for some fine dining. The menu is also very approachable

with familiar dishes spun to a new level thanks to the creativity of the cooking team.

TODD CLARK

VEGAN MEATLOAF (v, n) Garden fresh vegetables, flax seeds, almond milk and

chickpeas baked until golden and finished with a maple glaze and your choice of side

For those who don't know, Todd is premier chef trained in

French cuisine. He spent over six years in France – studying

at Le Cordon Bleu and working at Michelin star restaurants.

Now, the thing about French cuisine is that it isn't commonly

associated with vegetarian cooking, let alone vegan cooking.

So, with the vegan meatloaf, Todd challenged himself to create

something he had never done before. He set out to learn

something new “culinarily” – to understand an unfamiliar

(vegan) type of flavour and texture building. At the end of

his creative process he was happy, but the true test is as to

what a true vegan would say. So far, the feedback has been

great with a few citing the meatloaf as being the best-ever

meatloaf they've had because it is the closest they've ever had

to meat – it may sound funny but it's a compliment, right?

Part of this menu's theme is about being familiar, but

with a spin or a twist. So here, meatloaf is familiar. And

meatloaf with a ketchup-maple syrup glaze is pretty classic

and familiar. But overall, vegan meatloaf is a twist. The

"meat" of this loaf is made with green peas, carrots, celery,

onion and locally sourced flax seeds and chickpeas.

[CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT] MIGHTY PHARAOH, ADRIATIC CARBONARA, HOT WINGS, GRILLED SHRIMP, HAWAIIAN MAHI MAHI, YAM NAAN

a m u s e - b o u c h e : a s m a l l , c o m p l i m e n t a r y d i s h s e r v e d b e f o r e t h e m e a l b e g i n s

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP LOAF (n) Warmed in the oven and topped with vanilla ice cream, candied walnuts and caramel sauce

BANANAS FOSTER ÉCLAIR (n) Bananas, flambéed in Captain Morgan rum, nestled in an éclair pastry with vanilla ice cream, toasted almonds and chocolate sauce

SEASONAL CRÈME BRÛLÉE (gf) Ask your server for the day's flavour

The dessert menu has been refreshed; and the

theme continues – familiar but with a twist.

First up, let's dive into the pumpkin chocolate chip loaf –

comparable to, say, banana bread or zucchini cake style

cooking experience. Distilled down to its essence, this loaf

is a pumpkin cake loaded with chocolate chips. The result is

a warm, moist, seasonal cake paired with candied walnuts,

vanilla ice cream and a house made caramel sauce.

The second dessert takes a classic, bananas foster, and

gives it a vessel – the éclair. Todd lovingly jokes that

this dish was like bananas foster in a French boat. The

éclair is made from pâte à choux, which is a light pastry

dough containing only butter, water, flour and eggs.

The first step in creating this dish is baking the éclair dough.

Once completed, you cut the éclair open like a sandwich to

await its filling. Meanwhile, a caramel is made in a pan to which

the bananas are added and then flambéed with rum. Typically,

an éclair would be filled with cream, but in this case the filling

is the flambéed bananas. So basically, you've got an éclair

sandwich (or boat) with a bananas foster filling alongside vanilla

ice cream, chocolate sauce and toasted almonds for the win.

Now when it comes to the crème brûlée . . . that you

need to come into Boffins to experience as the flavour

profile changes often – keeping it familiar with a twist.

JOSH KALLSTROM

TANDOORI CHICKEN Marinated and slow-roasted chicken on curry fried rice finished with fresh pineapple, yogurt and cilantro

As you may recall, when Josh was first featured in amuse-bouche

in October 2017, he spoke of his three-week summertime trip

through India. While there, he took in as much tasting as he could

handle and as much cooking as his time would allow. It was an

education and it certainly played a role in inspiring this dish.

On his travels, Josh was exposed to a variety of different curry

spice mixtures – varying from region to region and cook to

cook – each with their own heat and flavour qualities. As

such, one of Josh's favourite things about the evening team’s

take on this classic Indian dish is the custom, house made (or

house blended) curry spice mixture. For him, it hits all the

right notes. The blend is now a Boffins house secret too.

The curry spice blend is incorporated into this dish at a

variety of touchpoints. For example, it is rubbed onto a

whole bone-in chicken leg, which is then given time to

chill and relax in a curry-yogurt marinade. And once the

flavour has dutifully seeped into the chicken leg, it is grilled,

which adds a smoky compliment. The curry spice blend is

also incorporated into the chunky-vegetable fried rice.

The final pièce de résistance with this dish is the pineapple.

It brings such a bright pop of flavour and visual appeal to

the dish – another touch of Indian inspiration where Josh

delighted in access to fresh fruit aplenty off the tree or plant.

CHECK OUT JAVIERA'S FAVOURITES ON THE BACK . . .

BOFFINSYXE

MAKE YOUR EVENING DINING RESERVATION AT BOFFINS.CA/RESERVATIONS.PHPAND/OR POP IN FOR SOME APPETIZERS AND DRINKS AFTER WORK

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JAVIERA CASTELLANOS

ALSATIAN FLATBREAD Cherry smoked bacon, onion, crème fraîche, and smoked Gouda cheese

One of Javiera's favourites on the new menu is the Alsatian Flatbread,

which can be found alongside other appetizers such as boneless wings,

vegan meatballs, calamari, fries and, the ever-popular, Boffins nachos.

FYI – Alsace is a region in the northeastern part of France,

which is where this dish takes its inspiration from.

The Alsatian flatbread is like a pizza, but instead of tomato

sauce it is spread with house made crème fraiche, a sort of

thickened sour cream. And instead of a thick, doughy pizza

crust, you get a light and thin house made flatbread.

The house made crème fraiche and house made flatbread would

probably taste good on their own, but the flavour profile here is

enhanced through the addition of smoked bacon, smoked Gouda and

red onions – which seems to be a classic Alsatian combination.

This flatbread option is a nice addition to the appetizers menu –

something you can sit down with alongside a drink and a friend or three

to share with . . . or eat it all yourself, it is really good either way.

KALE SPINACH DIP (v, n) Fresh kale and spinach dip with toasted pine nuts and garlic served with root vegetable chips

And here we have another familiar dish, but with a twist. When

you think spinach dip you may be expecting cheese and cream.

But here the cheesy nature of the dip is transformed into more

of a kale and spinach pesto of sorts. This dip is built with kale,

spinach, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, pine nuts and a little garlic.

The resultant dip is much lighter than a typical spinach dip.

To transport the dip from its bowl to your mouth, house

made and house cut root vegetable chips are provided.