Manitoba Food Bloggers Meet

This time at Segovia!

This Tuesday I was lucky enough to join the Manitoba Food Bloggers meet at Segovia Tapas Bar & Restaurant .  Hosted this time by Susie while Shel was off hunting Elk (or Moose - I can't remember).

I met Adrian at the University of Winnipeg after class and headed down to Osborne.  We arrived a little early and noticed Segovia wasn't even open until six. Natasha was waiting outside as well.

We figured we would kill 30 minutes at the Toad in the Hole and have a pint before they opened.

Cheese!

Tuna tartar

Anchovy

The one scallop I saw... (and didn't fight Adrian for)

So much delicious wine...

The octopus was my favourite dish of the night

Braise short ribs with potato

With our beer finished we made our way back up the street to Segovia.  I have eaten there a couple times and have always been blown away.  Today was no different.  We met lots of new people, all who love food, and met friends I haven't seen in a while, we also did wine tasting.

And olive oil tasting - thanks to Jennifer at Cannensi .

After Segovia Deborah , Adrian, and I made our way to the Toad for one last pint.

Then to Little Pizza Heaven for more food.  Because we clearly needed it.

Tomato and feta goodness

Instead of being responsible and going home.  We decided that we need to eat kangaroo and alligator too.  So we made our way across the street to Billabong Bistro .

Crocodile Pale Ale

So we ordered one last pint.  For real this time.  And some delicious food.

Blackened alligator spring rolls

Mini kangaroo taco salad

Flat bread with 3 amazing dips (lemon hummus, pureed beet and chèvre cream cheese)

Eventually I had to head home.  I had homework.  But it was a good night - even if I stayed up until three in the morning working on homework.  And watching Sons of Anarchy .

PHOTOS BY DEBORAH SON

Éphémère Black Cassis

My go to fruit beer

Beer : Éphémère Black Cassis

Brewery : Unibroue

Brewed In : Quebec, Canada

Style : Fruit Beer

ABV : 5.5%

Price : $6 for a 710ml

Notes : Rotating availability

Story : Unibroue is one of the breweries that helped me get into craft beer.  It was their Trois Pistoles and La Fin Du Monde that really opened my eyes to craft beer, so it is kind of fitting that a Unibroue beer was one of the beers that really got me to enjoy fruit beers.

Appearance : The Éphémère Black Cassis pours a surprising orange, a murky orange but an orange nonetheless, with a tinge of red.  It was the noticeable carbonation in the head and body that Unibroue beers tend to have.

Smell : I’ve been drinking a lot of apricot beers lately and I noticed a bit of apricot in the smell this time, although I never have before, so maybe I am going crazy.  At first you get a whiff of peaches with a hint of apple but as it fades an evident grape and berry aroma really rounds out the flavours.

Taste : Not much yeast in this Unibroue beer, which is one of their signature flavours.  It is slightly tart and almost lambic like, but the main flavour is currants with a bit of peach, wheat, and spice.

Mouthfeel :  Medium bodied with a slight bite on the tongue from the carbonation.

Drinkability : I thoroughly enjoy this beer, and buy it on a regular basis.  The Éphémère Pomme I normally skip, but that is because I am not the biggest fan of apples.

Innis & Gunn Winter Treacle Porter

A nice winter beer

Beer : Winter Treacle

Brewery : Innis & Gunn

Brewed In : United Kingdom (Scotland)

Style : Porter

ABV : 7.4%

Price : unknown

Notes : First time brewed.  Released in October.

Story : The Winter Treacle is the first porter that Innis & Gunn has brewed.  Kind of excited to try this beer.

Appearance : Winter Treacle Porter pours a ruby brown with just a bit of white head.

Smell : Dark fruits and a hint of chocolate hit the nose.  You also get some candied sugar and molasses too.

Taste : Very complex, with a front of oak, dark fruits (plum and cherry) and molasses, before a bitter bite in the middle, and finishes watery chocolate.  As the beer warmed I noticed vanilla.

Mouthfeel : Medium bodied, definitely feels more full up front than the finish.

Drinkability : This is a good beer to sip around the fireplace during the winter.  Honestly, all Innis & Gunn beers are perfect for that.  So maybe you should pick up one of each and host a tasting by your fireplace.

The Great Burger Hunt - Fox & Fiddle

A new addition to downtown Winnipeg

The Fox & Fiddle is the newest edition to Winnipeg’s restaurant and pub scene downtown.  Open as of this Friday, today, on 456 Main St, a minute walk from the corner of Portage and Main.  The place looks real stylish with the old marble from the bank that once was located in the place.

Brayden Lacroix and I walked in tonight at 5; even though the sign said Fox & Fiddle opened at 6 the staff was ready for the rush of people on the first day.  Getting seated in the bar I took a look at the menu.  It is vast.  Very vast.

One of the bigger pub menus I have seen for sure.  Fox & Fiddle probably has every starter you can imagine that would be served in a pub.  It is kind of ridiculous.  Wings, with tons of flavours, salads, burgers (8 different types), sandwiches, wraps, fish & chips, shepherd’s pie, curry, liver and onions, stir-fry, chicken parmesan, fajitas, and yes, even more food I am not even going to list because it will take an hour.  Some of the food is a bit on the pricier side but there are lots of menu items that are in the $10-$12 range.

But I was at Fox & Fiddle for a burger.  So was Brayden.  He settled on the Cracked Peppercorn Burger ($11.29), while I ordered a Fox Banquet Burger ($11.49).  The wait for the food wasn’t very long, but while we waited I sipped on a Granville Island Fasle Creek Raspberry Ale.  Think this is the first time I have seen this beer in a Winnipeg restaurant so I slightly was impressed.

Our burgers arrived.  They looked pretty tasty.  Mine was covered in a generous portion of bacon and marble cheese, with lettuce, tomato, a giant pickle, and a ton of white onion.  The burger was juicy, had a nice spice to it, and was on a fresh Kaiser bun that really complimented it.  The only nitpick I have is the onions were very overpowering.  I picked half them off.

The fries were thick and seasoned.  I really enjoyed the thick cut, and they were cooked very nicely, but the seasoning was a bit too much.  Dipping the fries in ancho chipotle sauce was really tasty, definitely a recommendation for when you go to Fox & Fiddle.  I think a burger with that sauce could also be very delicious.

The other burger was essentially the same but with sautéed onions and peppercorns.  According to Brayden his burger was a “nice balance of toppings, condiments, and, of course, the meat.  Didn’t wow me though.  Perfectly enjoyable.”

I pretty much agree with Brayden here.  The vast menu, and decent beer selection, will have me return to test out a few items but I probably won’t rush back, although the beef vindaloo does sound pretty damn good.

What I got : Fox Banquet Burger - $11.49 (before tax)

Burger Taste : 4/5

Fries Taste : 3/5

Menu Selection : 5/5

Price Value : 3/5

Overall : 3.75/5

Fox & Fiddle

1-456 Main St

Winnipeg, MB, R3B 1B6

204-505-1511

Paddock Wood Maibock

Was not what I expected

Beer : Maibock

Brewery : Paddock Wood Brewing Co

Brewed In : Saskatchewan, Canada

Style : Maibock

ABV : 7%

Price : not sure it was a gift from Stephen aka @ PaddockWoodGuy

Notes : Brewed for spring

Story : Surprisingly with the brewery relatively close to Winnipeg I had never had a Paddock Wood beer until Stephen was nice enough to drop me off an assorted 6-pack, coasters, keychain, a hat, glass, and bottle opener.  Sadly I wasn’t in Winnipeg to take him out for drinks, but that will be rectified in the future I am sure.

Appearance : Paddock Wood’s Maibock is brown, with some copper tones near the base of the beer.  There really wasn’t any head to speak of, just a small white ring around the edge of the glass.

Smell : Not a strong nose, mostly caramel malts.

Taste : Whoa is that very boozey.  After the initial blast of heat from the alcohol I could pick out some caramel, plum, bready and molasses notes.  The finish is all malt, with no notice of hops anywhere.

Mouthfeel : Light to medium bodied with minimal carbonation.

Drinkability : This is a really good beer, but it is not for me.  I may drink it again but it is not what I am looking for.  This would pair well with some spaghetti slathered in parmesan cheese though.  That I could get behind.

The Summer is Over

But the memories will remain

This summer I was lucky enough to go on a few road trips. It was a busy July - Kenosee Lake, Edmonton, and Minneapolis. All fun and all different trips.

Kenosee Lake, Saskatchewan was the first stop, on Canada Day weekend. It was also the first weekend after I ended the dreaded Dry Days and the Ell family reunion. So there was a lot of drinking done. The beer of choice for the weekend was Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion and Netherworld Dark Cascadian Ale, plus my usual Half Pints tasters pack. Sadly craft beer did not exist in Kenosee Lake, even though they had a brew pub. The brew pubs “beer machine” as the waitress called it was broke. Yeah I know. Beer machine. Probably a good thing it was broken.

Driving to America

Luckily for me my next two trips revolved around beer.

I returned to Edmonton for the fourth time since I moved back to Winnipeg. Again I drove out there. It is a damn long drive but with Adrian and Kelvin to share the driving, and us watching The League from start to finish, it actually went quick. Adrian and I started our first of two days in Edmonton with beer for breakfast – Granville Island Raspberry Ale. Emil joined us, for beers and breakfast, and was our designated driver and tour guide for the rest of the day. We stopped on Whyte Ave to hit up a few pubs for beers. I don’t think there was any spectacular beer that afternoon but I did quite enjoy the Rosee d’Hibiscus from Dieu Du Ciel at The Pourhouse . After a few more quick stops for beer we stopped at Sherbrooke Liquor and picked up some beers for the evening. We started with a Toasted Coconut Whit before we made it an IPA night. Rogue Ales Brutal IPA, Alley Kat’s Black Dragon Double IPA, Fuller’s IPA, Marston’s Old Empire IPA, and Shmaltz’s He’Brew Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A. made sure my taste buds were destroyed by the end of the night. The next day we made our way to Brewsters to test every single one of their beers with Nisa , Ted , and Devin , and have breakfast. Like the night before we turned the afternoon into an IPA themed drinking day, testing out Lost Coast Brewery’s Indica and Phillips Brewing’s Amnesiac Double IPA and Hoperation. The Phillips beers really blew us away.

Downton Minneapolis

Returning to Winnipeg with a trunk full of beer I only had a few days of rest before Adrian and I were off to Minneapolis for another beer weekend. This one a bit longer. We met up with some friends from the internet, George , Rich , Daniel , and Chris to drink the weekend away. I don’t know if I have ever tried so many new beers in such a short span of time. We hadn’t even been in America for an hour and I already tried four excellent beers at JL Beers in Grand Forks. Sadly I was driving the rest of the way so Adrian was the one that got loaded off the Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout (9% ABV), Velvet Rooster (8.5% ABV), and Mojo Risin’ Double IPA (10% ABV), while I sipped on my Dark Side Vanilla Porter (5.7% ABV). Of course Adrian was nice enough to let me have a couple sips of his beers to try them out, you know, for the return stop.

Tasty Fulton Beer....

We made a quick pit stop to grab a local beer, Minonii from Leech Lake Brewing , so we could record the abomination of a podcast while we were driving. Listen to its atrociousness here. Or just listen to our other podcast that actually have good sound quality because they weren’t recorded while driving or stopped at the side of the highway.

Once in Minneapolis we stocked up on beer for the hotel room. George and Rich brought us some neat beers from Chicago too. It didn’t take us long to enjoy a couple Surly Furious’ either.

"Like a kid in a candy shop" - Jared Falk

But I was really blown away by Fulton Beer . A little brewery in downtown Minneapolis. Worthy Adversary, their imperial stout, clocked in at 9.2% was phenomenal, and their Sweet Child of Vine IPA was also really good.

A ton of beer was consumed that weekend but I don’t know if any stood out for me more than the Crème Brulee stout from Southern Tier . We raved about it on The Dark Knight Rises podcast. The Back in Black by 21 ^st Amendment Brewery also stood out, and I think I drank just as much of this as I did Furious.

Adrian and I had to return to Winnipeg though. Damn work responsibilities. We returned with a trunk full of beer though, all of which will get reviewed eventually, and I got to drink this time at JL Beers while he drove the rest of the way home.

Rich and I being silly in the arcade in the hotel

Pub Chat: Episode 17 - Péché Mortel

A dark and delicious beer

Adrian and I bring on a new guest, Mitch , to drink one of Dieu du Ciel's flagship beers - Péché Mortel.  We also planned ourselves a fictional pub, if we were to be inclined to create one, this is probably how they would turn out.  The success of the pub is another story entirely.

Download here . Or subscribe in iTunes here .

Noches de Los Alebrijes Stir Fry

Spur of the moment stir fry

Most days when I cook I never think out what I am doing.  This day.  Still the same.  I just tossed together a bunch of veggies and made a stir fry.  For the sauce I used Half Pints Brewing's Noches de Los Alebrijes.  Or the Noches as I have come to call it.

I started out by snapping a photo of all my ingredients.  You can ignore this step.

Next I diced and chopped all the veggies up.  I put them aside and started the most time consuming and easiest part of the meal.

Pouring the Noches into a saucepan I turned it on high heat to bring it to a boil.  Don't do what I did and look away just as it boiled over.  That sucked.  Also Brett walked in just after it happened so I looked like an idiot.  As the reduction continued I put the rice in the rice cooker.  Eventually the sauce began to thicken so I started the rest of the stir fry.

I tossed the cucumber and 3 types of onions into one pan, while tossing the rest in my wok, vegetable by vegetable.

Soon I added the cucumber and onions into the wok.  The sauce was almost finished at this point too.  Quickly I tossed some greens onto the stir fry and mixed it up before pouring the little amount of sauce I had on it.  I boiled off a bit too much of the water and lost a fair amount when it boiled over.  Lesson learned.  Hopefully I will remember next time.

Placing the stir fry on top of the rice I had my meal.

Overall it was okay.  The sauce tasted real good when I tried it right out of the pan but there wasn't enough to overpower all the vegetables for two dishes, except for the odd bite where you could pick out the nuttiness from the beer.

Ingredients:

yellow pepper
red pepper
orange pepper
white onion
carrots
hemp hearts
green onion
red onion
cucumber
mushrooms
a couple cloves of garlic
rosemary
greens
brown rice
Noches de Los Alebrijes

Let me know if you try it this out.  I'd like to know if your sauce turned out better than mine.  Because it probably did.

The Evolution of a Blog

Specifically, this one

I have had this blog since June 18th, 2010. It has gone through a bit of a change since then. Originally it was titled Stacks of Words. I started it after I moved back to Winnipeg. The blog itself was really just me rambling about personal stuff: what I did for the weekend, how I was doing in life, and what I was looking forward too, plus I started The Great Burger Hunt , my quest to find a great burger around Winnipeg. The Great Burger Hunt was just a way for me to make sure I was going to blog once a month. Even though I had a goal to blog four times a month, which I think I managed to do every month.

Soon the blog began to evolve. I started to post more food items, especially my cooking recipes , on top of the content I already talked about. Reviews of books, films, CDs, and restaurants started to show up as well.

Everything changed on February 7 ^th , 2011, when I posted The Manifesto . My manifesto was proclaiming I would review a different beer every two weeks . I really wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out. Yet I kept it up and slowly noticed more people interested in the beer reviews than any other item on my blog.

Always keeping my eye on the beer....

When I switched the title of my blog from Stacks of Words to Cenquist.com I cleaned up the design and made it a bit more user friendly, adding pages with easy links to find The Great Burger Hunt, Bi-Weekly Beer Reviews, and other reviews. With a new design and content that was seen as something I enjoy I finally had a slogan for my blog: Beer. Burgers. Life. It summed me, and my blog, up really well.

Of course this blog will never be done evolving. Soon my podcast about beer and other things, Pub Chat , with Adrian Trimble was added to the mix. Still sticking with the beer theme I uploaded my student films from last year in preparation for my soon to be YouTube sensation, or at least I hope, The Pint of Justice. This YouTube series stars a bunch of my friends and is the brainchild of Brennan Lumsdon and myself. Luckily for you guys I wasn’t behind the camera so it will look good, you can thank Brett Enquist for that.

On top of all the beer, food, and personal content I will be adding a new element, that may, or may not, fit into the blog scheme. Currently I am enrolled in the Creative Communications program at Red River College, where I must blog once a week. Some of my school posts can be beer related, so that is a bonus, but every once in a while I will have a post that seems off topic. Never fear as the posts will be worth reading.

If you are a new reader, or have been here from the beginning I thank you, and hope that you keep reading.

Choices

One of my better scripts

Last year when it came to our second semester projects for film class I seriously had no idea for a script.  Blank, complete blank.  I knew I was going to use the location of my Aunt and Uncle’s house because I was house sitting and would just make things that much easier.  I plotted my script based off location alone, and what came out of that location, well I was shocked.

Normally I dislike my scripts, but this one, I quite liked.  I sent it off to Daniel and Joe for some feedback, and like always, got great feedback.  After some minor changes I found my actors and began preproduction.  Building the Dexter-esque kill room was fun, scary, but fun.

The production on this film isn’t the greatest because I wanted to do it all myself.  Specifically I wanted to learn from my mistakes. Also the camera I used sucks in low light.  The finished product did not turn out as good as the script.  That being said, I am still very happy with the finished product.  I can thank my actors for that.

Writer : Colin Enquist

Actors : Brennan Lumsdon, Jl Gervais, Lucas Wichenko, Jessica Gomes, and Hannah Palamer

My Friday Night

Was so much fun

But I am too lazy, and busy, to blog about it.  So you should probably just head over to Alyson's blog and see what I did.  She summed it up real good.  I promise I didn't get into too much trouble.

Power up.

Pub Chat: Episode 16 - Hops and Robbers

It pairs well with our topic

We have Brett return to discuss his favourite show, Breaking Bad, and its new season.  We paired our discussion with Double Trouble Brewing's Hops and Robbers IPA.  You should probably be all caught up to Breaking Bad before you listen to this episode.

Download here .  Or subscribe in iTunes here .