French wine "Medicine Cabinet"

This was forwarded on to me... Not sure if this has any 'proof' behind it but if you note the quantities of the 'medicine' required to cure the ailment, you'll be flying high or passed out... I guess that that's ONE solution!  Salut!

Disease	Wine	Daily dose
Allergies	Médoc	1 glass
Anemia	Graves	4 glass
Bronchitis	Bourgogne or Bordeaux  > ( + sugar and cinnamon )	3 cups
Constipation	Anjou blanc electricity . Vouvray	4 glass
Coronary arteries	Dry Champagne	4 glass
Diarrhoea	Beaujolais Nouveau	4 glass
Fever	Champagne sec	1 bottle
Heart	Burgundy , Santenay Rouge	Two glass
Uric acid gout	Sancerre , Pouilly Fume	4 glass
Hypertension	Alsace , Sancerre	4 glass
Menopause	Saint Emilion	4 glass
Depression	Médoc	4 glass
Obesity	Burgundy	4 glass
Obesity	Rosé de Provence	1 bottle
Rheumatism	Champagne	4 glass
Excessive weight loss	Côte de Beaune	4 glass
General grumpiness	Merlot	1 box

Black but Not Bitter - from DailyXY.com

Article by Sean P. Young for DailyXY.com

Friend to all, loyal to none: Launched in fall 2010 by two college students, the YYC Coffee Disloyalty Program is challenging Calgarians to break free from the clutches of large coffee chains and support local, independent cafés. The concept follows the lead of similar disloyalty programs, such as the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy, and is rooted in simple-but-inspired logic: one of the few ways for independently owned shops to face the giants of the joe-industry is to form a united front. Initiatives like this are part of the reason Calgary seems to be enjoying a café-enlightenment: In the last four years, the number of independent, high-quality cafés has spiked from barely a handful to well over 20. Calgary “Coffee Disloyalty” cards are available at any of the 10 participating locations; here are four of the finest places to get a notch.

Caffé Rosso
Fearlessly devoted to the art of the latte, Caffé Rosso opened in late- no hyphen 2007 and had Ramsay residents hooked within months, presumably thanks to the fresh Illy blends. Soon, coffee snobs from all over Calgary were coming to the industrial area to see if the hype was indeed warranted, and a second spot opened recently on Stephen Ave. — a central location that will no doubt make this gem much less hidden. 803 24 Ave. S.E, 140 8 Ave. S.E., 403-971-1800.

Café Beano
This 17^th Ave. hotspot gets its beans from Fratello Coffee Roasters, a Calgary-based company that establishes direct fair-trade relationships with international farmers and roasts small batches of beans for ethics-minded clients. Add to this a devotion to independent art, theatre and music, and the place is packed with hip clientele from open till’no apostrophe close. Beano’s espresso roast includes five beans and carries a dark, Italian profile. The café’s mochas are probably the best in the city. 1613 9 St. S.W., 403-229-1232.

deVille
The approach to making Intelligentsia fresh roasted coffee & Black Cat espresso at deVille is wholly 21^st century. Custom-built Synesso Cyncras espresso machines — one in each of the cafés culturally rich locations, in Fashion and Art Central — offer the ability to precisely engineer each dispensed shot within a half-degree in temperature, as well as adjust pressure on the fly. The Cyncras is a true thing of beauty; simply watching it at work is the perfect complement to enjoying its product. #214 100 7 Ave. S.W., 807 1 St. S.W., 403-452-7777.

Phil & Sebastian
Currently a thriving independent business, Phil & Sebastian has the potential to become one of Canada’s next great franchises. Fuelled by love for coffee and career boredom, two successful engineers opened one café in 2007 and now own three. The duo’s Inglewood headquarters is also a busy roasterie, where fair-trade micro-lot and natural beans from across the globe are treated with obsessive care. 2043 33 Ave. S.W., Chinook Centre, Calgary Farmer’s Market, 403-686-1221.

Great dish - I'm a HUGE fan of braising meat on the bone... flavour, texture and overall 'foodie' slow-cooking experience.  Priceless! 

Check out this link to a 'how to' video from the Globe and Mail 'Life' section so you can replicate and have it for yourself one of these cold nights!

Dinner Tonight: Chorizo Breakfast Sandwich with Sage Pesto

Whenever I write about breakfast food for Dinner Tonight, ranks of Serious Eaters come out to proclaim their love.

Whether it's a perfect fried egg sandwich or the art of home fries with a poached egg, lovers of breakfast-for-dinner (brinner? B4D?) identify themselves proudly. Kicking around the blog Design Sponge, I landed on this post from a series called "In the kitchen with" where various designers and other creative people share their favorite recipes. The absolutely gorgeous food styling helped, but I was pretty convinced by the slices of cured chorizo seared in the pan, an egg fried in the luscious red-hued pork fat, and a pile of peppery arugula.

What I loved the most, though, was the sage pesto—a twist on the classic formula with woodsy sage instead of basil and walnuts in place of pine nuts. Sage is a far more pungent herb with less water than basil, so the result is exceedingly flavorful and fragrant, and just a drizzle of the stuff adds a ton of flavor (the recipe makes far more than necessary for the sandwich, so the rest can be stirred into a soup or frozen for later). It also goes a long way in cutting through the richness of the egg yolk.

Though I'll always be fond of the simplicity of a fried egg sandwich dressed with nothing but butter, this is a pretty sweet fancy-ed up rendition.

For the pesto:1 cup loosely packed sage leaves (about 2 ounces)1/4 cup walnute, toasted in a dry skillet (about 2 ounces)1 medium clove garlic2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, dividedKosher salt to tasteFor the Sandwich:1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil5 slices dry-cured Spanish chorizo1 egg1 ciabatta roll, sliced in half and toasted, if desired1/2 cup baby arugula leaves

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The Opener: How El Barrio Is Doing Now

It's been six months since David Adjey (aka The Opener) helped first-time restaurateurs, Stephen and David, transform a fruit-stand into a Morrocan-Spanish restaurant in Toronto's Kensington Market called El Barrio.

When I caught up with owner Stephen recently, I was sad to hear things weren't going as well as they should.

The biggest obstacle has been getting their liquor licence. Newbie owners Stephen and David had no idea the hoops they'd need to jump through to get a permit to serve alcohol. Because it was previously a fruit-stand, there was nothing in place to help facilitate its makeover into a fine dining establishment.

(chicken tagine)

You can imagine how detrimental that would be -- being a restaurant without alcohol is like popcorn without butter, burger without french fries, cereal without milk... well you get my point. To make matters worse, they are currently in litigation with the landowner. 

And upon a bit of digging, Stephen confessed he's done away with the tagines (and the head chef, who left a week after opening) and put his beloved fast-food items on the menu. (Remember how he and the two Davids butted heads over that?)

(meat tagine)

He defended his actions saying business was slowing down and with the onset of winter, and no liquor licence in sight, he needed to change the menu to bring customers into his place. I'm sure I speak for The Opener crew and David Adjey in wishing El Barrio the best of luck! 

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FNC: How instrumental was Dave to the success of your restaurant?
Stephen: The tagine idea was great and he taught me how to run the dishwasher.

(salmon tagine)

FNC: What lessons did you learn from Dave about running your restaurant?
Stephen: To be honest nothing beats first-hand experience. I learnt a lot just running and being at the restaurant. I'm there seven days a week 12 hours a day.  We are struggling now but I have hope. 

FNC: How was the overall experience working with David Adjey?
Stephen: He is a very creative guy. I loved the tagine idea but I don't think it was right for the area. David and I butted heads but I feel OK about all that. It was a very stressful time. The crew was very nice. 

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If you missed the episode on El Barrio, you can find it in the video centre.

Related:

Posted Wed, Oct 20 2010 1:12 PM by Catherine Jheon Filed under: Restaurants, The Opener, David Adjey

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Dress up dinner party plates with artistic flair

Published Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010 12:00AM EDTLast updated Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010 5:18PM EDT0 comments

Your friends have called you an artist in the kitchen, so why not return the sentiment by encouraging them to get a little creative themselves during your next dinner party? Empty paint tubes from your local art-supply store are a fun and novel way to serve individual servings of chocolate mousse or cheesecake. Simply spoon the fillings into the open-bottomed tubes, roll them closed and serve alongside mini “canvases” such as sweet buttery wafers or chocolate biscuits. Add berries, kiwi slices, fresh apricots and other fruits for a splash of colour. If savoury is more your style, start the party by spooning soft flavoured goat cheeses into the tubes and using crackers or flatbreads as backdrops.

Chef Michael Tong is the owner of Toronto’s Sublime Catering.

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