Friday, November 26, 2010

Truffles Burger Bar

If you are ever in Cornwall ON try out this gourmet burger restaurant. This is my review.

Truffles Burger Bar

Cornwall ON

Truffles Burger Bar is a new gourmet burger bar in Cornwall, Ontario. A gourmet burger bar is somewhat of a novel idea for a city like Cornwall, but judging from my first visit, a novel idea that will no doubt catch on in the city.

Truffles is a rather small restaurant with a warm, intimate, inviting atmosphere. The service at Truffles is excellent. We were seated quickly and our drink order was taken by Melanie who made sure to let us know she was a hamburger expert should we have any questions about the menu.

The menu has a great selection of hamburgers and sides with the option of garden or Caesar salad. Since this was our first visit I chose the 800 Burger. A burger stuffed with goat cheese and red peppers. My better half had the Cajun burger. For our sides I chose the onion rings and Sue had the sweet potato fries.

The presentation of the hamburgers was excellent. And the taste was even better. I am a lover of stuffed burgers and the 800 burger (although not quite as good as my own homemade burgers stuffed with cream cheese, jalapeno peppers and mushrooms) was juicy and prepared to perfection. The Cajun burger, with a good Cajun bite, was also excellent.

The sweet potato fries were some of the best I have had. I was however disappointed with the onion rings. I was hoping for something a little more gourmet. They were similar to onion rings that I have had at many a fast food restaurant.

Also on the downside was the quality of the olives in my vodka martini. Hey guys get some really good olives!

I would rate the overall experience 4.5 out of 5.

This is a really good restaurant in the heart of downtown Cornwall. Hopefully this is a beginning of a movement to make downtown Cornwall the destination of choice.

I know this is hoping for too much but it would be great if in addition to the gourmet burgers we could someday in the future include gourmet pizza – another one of my food weaknesses. I am looking forward to my next visit to Truffles.

Rating 4.5 / 5
Cost: 2 burgers, two sides, two pints of Stella one Martini 15% gratuity around $60.00.
Steve Perry
The Arrogant Chef
info@thearrogantchef.com

Pinot Noir Sauce

This is a great sauce for any kind of steak. I will be making this sauce on New Year's Eve to be served with Beef Croustades (recipe to follow).

Pinot Noir Sauce


1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 ¼ cup Pinot Noir wine
1 can of beef broth
1 can of chicken broth
2 tablespoons of butter softened
1 tablespoon of flour
¼ teaspoon of pepper

Directions:

In a frying pan, sauté onions, carrots and celery in 1 tablespoon of butter until tender. Stir in tomato paste and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Add Pinot Noir and boil until reduced by about half. Add beef broth and chicken broth and boil until mixture is reduced to 1 ½ cups. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve. Discard solids (Actually I kept the solids and used them in a wild rice mixture) Return strained liquid to frying pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Combine softened butter with flour and whisk into simmering liquid. Cook, stirring frequently until thickened. Serve with tenderloin.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Comfort Food

It is Friday. It is cold. It is raining. Our high school football team has just won the S.D.&G championships. I have spent two hours standing in the rain watching our team fight its way to victory. Now it is time for some comfort food. Wings and pizza. Not just any wings and pizza but the Arrogant Chef's wings and pizza. The recipes for both can be found on this site.