July 29, 2010
Oct 1, 2009
09:22 AM
restoronto

Susur Lee's blog: Savour the flavour for fall

By Susur Lee

Fall is the best time of year to cook, because the flavours are so intense. At Madeline’s, my new Fall Harvest menu is all about using local produce in recipes that are homey and sustaining. It’s comfort food! We have a Prix Fixe menu from October 5th through the end of the month, with three courses for $40.

One of my favourite appetizers on this menu is 
crusted Ontario pear
 filled with blue cheese and walnuts. 
I stuff the pears with cheese, encrust them in crushed walnuts, then bake them. The pear is served warm. Another appetizer is hot-smoked salmon, which I smoke myself on hickory
wood and serve with Chinese scallion pancake and
 crème fraiche.

When it gets colder outside, you want something to stick to your ribs, so one of my mains is slow-braised beef. It’s so tender you can eat it with a spoon. 
It comes with butter pappardelle and sautéed garlic Cremini mushrooms. Another main is roasted chicken roulade, which I prepare with de-boned chicken legs (the dark meat is more flavourful!), and present with pureed local squash and wild blueberry preserves. 
The third main is a French-Chinese duck breast 
in a lotus crepe -- we call it that because the crepe looks like a lotus petal -- served with mango-ginger chutney, chili honey and shallot.
 


Looking towards November at Madeline’s, I’m very excited about doing an all-Canadian shellfish menu -- PEI mussels, East-coast lobsters and oysters, and champagne by the glass. Maybe I'll call it "Madeline’s–By-the–Sea!"

Chef Susur Lee maintains two successful restaurants in downtown Toronto – LEE and MADELINE’S -- and now has a restaurant in New York (Shang) and Washington (Zentan).

Reader Comments:
Oct 5, 2009 07:43 am
 Posted by  The four of us

We love your dishes! What days will you be in the kitchen at Madeline's?

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