Quebec- Day 6

For Saturday, we didn't do any cooking... instead we hopped on the bus and took a scenic drive out to the Charlevoix region. About an hour east of Quebec City, the Charlevoix is a region of farms, rolling hills and charming towns- it is spectacular!

Our first stop was at the Laiterie Charlevoix Economusee du fromage- I found the place a little cheezy (haahaa)





The farm


Chef Eric tries his hand at farming.


Trying samples of the cheeses



The Milk truck.


One thing that is really cool about this place is its sustainability. 2 months ago, they began using a system that can produce gas from the cheese byproducts. They then use this to warm the milk, eliminating the need for oil- saving money, and the environment.



Our guide explaining the process






Type of cow that makes the 1608 cheese (not this one though, it is a boy.) There used to be thousands of this variety, but now there are only 500 of them left. The region is working on growing the population of this valuable cow; the fat content is higher, and therefore less waste is produced while cheesemaking.


Aging cheese








After that we went to an Centre de L'emeu de Charlevoix..an Emu Farm!



They are very odd looking creatures.


Here is one that is especially strange!
(i'm so emu..i liked them before they were cool)

Free Range Emu


It was hard to get a shot of these guys- every time I lifted my camera, they turned away!


Baby Emu






Emu Eggs, if you have a recipe that calls for 10 eggs, just use one of these instead!



Next stop, La Ferme Basque de Charlevoix

A duck farm!

Here are some babies







The ducks...ahem...after





The lovely owner, Isabelle, giving us samples of the products.



On the wall, in Basque "Ducks are lovely in the sky, but even lovelier on the plate."



We had a picnic there





Chef Eric demonstrating how to enjoy foie gras with icewine



Cat playing with the pigs- the cat ended up on our bus at one point



We then went to Baie-St paul





Samples the selection from the local micro-brewery



Far left was a blonde beer, very good. number 2 was infused with chamomile, I couldn't drink it. Number 3,delicious! Number 4, to dark for my tastes, but enjoyed by the others.

As you can see, we all ordered the same thing.


We stopped for drink and a snack at pub galway.




Irish poutine. It was interesting- but I won't be sad if I never eat it again



Wings



Day 7 is the day off, so I will post again tomorrow if we have anything fun!

Goat Cheese!

So Chris got me that goat cheese making set for Xmas and I had yet to use it...Probably because goats milk is hard to find here. Today and I was at safeway, there it was!


So I poured the milk into a pot and added a teaspoon of citric acid, dissolved in 1/4 cup of water, and of course a few pinches of salt. I mixed the whole mess up and heated it to 180 degrees. Now the directions said that I should take it off the heat when it started to see coagulation, but it wasn't really happening. After at about 5 minutes being at 185 or so, I removed it from the heat for 15 minutes. After a few minutes of sitting it finally started to separate...And, yes, I sat there and watched the magic the entire time.




So once it was separated I poured the mixture through a cheese cloth. I was supposed to wait 15 minutes and then transfer to the cheese molds. After 45 minutes, it still wasn't drained so I picked up the cheese cloth and squeezed... and that was good enough for me. I am impatient and I wanted to eat my damn cheese! So it is not as firm as goat cheese that you get in the store, but more the consistency of thick greek yogurt. Perfect for dunking.




It didn't turn out exactly how I envisioned, but luckily it was still delicious!

Kelly