The blustery months are here and so are we for those creature comforts you need to enjoy by the fire, catching up with friends or enjoying a moody drama on the tellie. We now have “Fresh Sheet” to tell you about new culinary delights and services to complement our repertoire of fine Canadian artesian cheeses. We also have “Cheesy Bits” to touch on the things our wonderful team is up to. And finally, more specials. In this economy everybody deserves a break – doncha think?
Special Offers
Mention this newsletter and we’ll throw in a can of San Marzano (DOP) tomatoes for a minimum cheese purchase of $15.00 or more*.
San Marzano tomatoes are the very best in the world, grown at the base of Mt. Vesuvius (Italy) in volcanic ash and are used by the best chefs in the world. Tired of tomato sauces tasting bitter – step up to this Italian marvel. San Marzano has less seeds in their plums thus reducing the level of bitterness in your sauce and also negates the tiresome effort of reducing sauces or adding evil sugar.
* Ok, the fine print. Yeah, we know. But some restrictions apply. One can per customer. Offer applies to a minimum purchase of cheese product. Offer good until December 15, 2009. Room Booking
Our store is now available for your private functions this festive season.
Whether it is for your own private tasting, a wine & cheese or a full on dinner, we have the spot for you.
Our intimate table layout and soft lighting is a nice alternative and the room is very flexible for a variety of events.
You can cater the event yourself or have MPC design and cater an event to your desires.
Email Peter for more details.
Fresh Sheet
New Cheese:
- Stilton
- Wensleydale
- Sage Derby
- Pecorino – 5 new ones
- Dubliner
New Meats:
- Sausages – Hungarian Farmer Mild and Hot (is back!), Swiss Farmer, Wine Chorizo, Spanish Salami
- Terrines (coming soon) – Duck and Pistachio, Pheasant and Pistachio, Truffled Rabbit Liver Mousse, Chicken Liver Mousse with Gran Marnier, Pate de Campagne with 5 Peppers
New Fish:
- Smoked Fish – all wild, all BC, Ocean Wise, nitrate free – Tuna, Salmon, Cod
- Smoked Candied Salmon
New Crackers:
- Quince Baguette Crostini’s with olive oil and sea salt
- Bruno’s Best Party Toasties – Fresh Parsley, Garlic and Olive Oil Crostinis
New Treats:
- Denman Island Chocolates – Zesty orange, Simply Dark, Toasted Hazelnut, Cocoa Loco
Cheesy Bits
Single-Malt & Cheese
MPC recently supplied cheese to two of Liberty Wines’ infamous single-malt tastings led by the incredibly knowledgeable Glaswegian Bob Kyle from Rare Drams. Although it wasn’t a pairing per se, MPC was curious as to what went well with Scotland’s famous tipple. The first event we brought Canadian artesian cheeses Le Fin Renard, Bleu Benedicton and Le Fleumier from Quebec and Smoked Gouda from Salmon Arm.
We wanted to see how the Canadian cheeses stacked up against our second visit with cheeses from across the pond: Wensleydale, Dubliner, Brie de Meaux and Stilton. Bob himself picked out these cheeses to match specifically with (in this order) Glen Grant, Aberlour, Bunnahabhain, Longmorn, Caol Ila and a double barrel Macallan/Laphroaig.
Well, despite the crowd in both events demolishing all of the cheese, it’s safe to say that single-malt is still a meal in itself. However, one guest who came to the previous event commented, “I really miss the Bleu Benedicton – especially with the peatier malts.” We couldn’t agree more! We’re proud to say Canadian cheeses stand tall next to anything from Europe!
If we learned anything from this event, the stronger cheeses served to cleanse the palette between tastings of peatier malts!
New Store Display
We have some new visitors in the store. We are very pleased to show off our new front window display courtesy of local crafts artist Shima Itabashi.
Shima’s work under the label him (pronounced heem) works with 100% natural wool and hand sews each of her creations. To kick off Shima’s exciting new line of wonderful creatures she calls “Chuji”, she created a large wheel of cheese with the name MOUNT PLEASANT CHEESE beautifully embossed on the side. You will note the detail of mouse-like characters coming out of the “eyes” in the block.
Come by the store and check out Santa’s sleigh pulled by the most adorable reindeer you will ever see flying through surrounded by snow drop creatures.
Simply breathtaking and we’re pleased to display Shima’s great work! Save 15% On Selected Cheeses
- Zurigo
- Mamirolle
- Aged Provolone
- Fontina
- Purple onion or shallots
- Clove or two of garlic
- Fresh Thyme, 1/4 cup
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- San Marzano (DOP) canned tomatoes
- Pasta
- Sea Salt
Recipe of the Month
Marinara Sauce & Pasta Dish
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 13 minutes
Ingredients
Directions
There are many ways to make a tomato sauce. At MPC our favourite is the base marinara sauce.
Now, you can go with preparing one large onion for your sauce but if you are not a fan of caramelizing making your sauce sweet, you can go with a more savoury option and just go with two shallots.
Cut the onions or shallots in down in a vertical cutting motion to create individual columns. Then cut horizontally two to three rows depending on the size. Turn the shallot around and begin to create small cubes ready for the pan. Do something similar with the garlic. You want tiny cubes. You can also remove the veins in the garlic as they are the bitter part of the clove. Don’t use a garlic press!
Now, take your thyme and with three fingers, thumb, index and whatever digit is close to the other two and strip away the leaves on the stems. Don’t worry if you have a few stems thrown into the mix.
Open you can of San Marzano tomatoes and pull each of the plums out of the can and put it into a mixing bowl. Squeeze each plum in to your desired lumpiness. Peter prefers to pulverize the tomatoes and recommends using a press so they turn to liquid. It also has something to do with the preventing the seeds from getting into the sauce reducing acidity.
Next, get your pasta going. Toss in a few pinches of sea salt into the water. The sea salt brings out the flavours in the pasta. Don’t add oil. Adding oil messes with the starch. Peter even saves the starch water and uses it in other dishes (e.g. pasta alla carbonara).
Next, heat your pan to a point when droplets of water evaporate in the pan. Pour in generous amounts of extra virgin olive oil. Don’t be shy. The oil is key to a good marinara sauce. When the pan is ready, toss in your onions and sauté them until they are shinning and or are starting to brown on the edges. With the shallots, it won’t take much to get them sautéd well. A few minutes should do it. Then toss in your thyme and fry rapidly for less than a minute. Throw in the crushed tomatoes and the liquid left from the can. Cook your sauce for as long as it takes for the pasta to reach al dente (as in the teeth will determine the desired firmness – firm being the operative word, here).
With the base marinara you can later add chilli peppers, canned anchovies (our favourite!), extra herbs (although we’re sold on just thyme), olives, capers or sausage.
As for cheese, you can go with the standard Parmigiano-Reggiano but we also recommend as an alternative, Piave, Aged Pecorino or the oh-la-la, Asiago.
Mount Pleasant Cheese
3432 Cambie Street (Right Next to the Park Theater)
Vancouver, V5Z 2W8
604-875-6363
Consult our website for the latest store hours
