Depanneur Charcuterie Lina, on Jolicoeur. NOT a depanneur :-) they are a family-owned charcuterie, and have a smokehouse in the back. They will make you a sandwich on the spot if you want. My husband and I usually order a kilo or 2 of their smoked meat, sliced, to take home. I have found it to be nice dry meat, well marbled with fat, and that's exactly the way I like it.

Similarly, and close by on Monk, is Charcuterie Monk. Their product is very good too.

good point, Thimes. One thing at a time... easy does it. Thanks!

Thimes, HillJ, I am sure you are both right. I'll try the bigger bowl, and just keep on beating unless my mixer starts smoking. haha..?

Also I noticed my cookbook said "overcooking makes marshmallows tough" and there's some question as to where "firm ball stage" actually starts and stops... like there's this gap of 4 degrees between the end of soft ball (234 - 240) and the start of firm ball (244 - 250). Maybe in this case I overcooked 'em. I'll try bigger bowl, longer beating, and only cook to maybe 242 degrees.

HI all,
my batch wound up not light and fluffy, but dense, heavy, and chewy.
I used 3 tbsp gelatin (Knorrs) 2 c sugar, .5 c water, .5 c corn syrup, and boiled until the firm ball stage 244 degrees. Then added the vanilla, and TRIED to beatfor 15 mins but had to quit after 8 as my handheld mixer started to get hot and the mixture to climb up the beaters.

Any idea why the tough, dense, chewy result? Too hot? I would love to try again with your tips.

ok then - my project will be to go there and test run! I'll try to report back...

Oh, just Sealtest and Nestle and stuff... nothing fancy. Soft-serve, sprinkles, slushies, frozen yogurt. But, it`s an old-school ice cream place, faded pictures of sundaes and Elvis and Humphrey Bogart on the walls, cash-only, family business, and I just get a great community feeling when I go there. Plus they have a "loyalty card" which they stamp with a happy-face stamp!
Occasionally they get some nice tubs of really tart sorbet, unknown brand.

Hi all - last post from me today :-)
just a little happy note to say my favorite ice cream parlour is open for the summer: it's Creme Boboule in Verdun (on Wellington, corner 2nd). Yay!! We went last night and the lineup was out the door and down the street for at least the 45 minutes we were there.

My favorites are ANNA ginger cookies: very thin, spicy and fragile. I can usually find them at IGA...

Hi all,
I am considering reserving for a party of 20-25 at Chez Gautier http://www.lapatisseriebelge.com/ for dinner on June 9th (yes,Grand Prix weekend - hey what are ya gonna do, the folks are all coming from outta town...

I've never been, but hear very good things. Anyone have any comments? Indoor vs outdoor garden party? Food quality? Service?
Thank you in advance!

Haha! your 1st line in your answer had me giggling :-) hey I used to live in the burbs and so I am one of these "burb defernders" :-)

Kitchen Galerie looks nice! Very nice indeed... http://kitchengalerie.com/

I did call chez gautier and they say no problem... I'll check if any chowhounders have reviewed it...

Well, sorry it took me so long to reply to your suggestions: today I had the morning off so I went to check out Frutta Si and it really is great! And so close to my house :-)

such a great selection of frozen seafood, every kind of calamari you could want,salt cod, octopus, etc etc etc... Cheeses going on for miles... great prices on fresh meats and nice cuts, too. Nice fresh bread... lots of lovely pickles... beautiful produce...
THANKS,everyone for suggesting it!

Thanks all.
l'll look into M sur Masson. Or yes, the burbs... but i sort of want to avoid bridges too...

The other suggestion I has was Chez Gautier, on Parc Ave near-ish Milton. I wonder...

Hello, we are planning a small wedding reception dinner at a restaurant for approximately 15-20 people, on June 9th 2012. Anyone know of a good place to go that might be on the island, but not in the thick of the throng on Grand Prix weekend? I don't even know how to begin to choose.
Basic criteria are: no spicy ethnic, basically French or ITalian are safe bets I guess, and no loud craziness like Weinstein and Gavinos or the like... and definitely not on Crescent or anywhere nearby. We can probably spend up to $100 per person, I guess.

any suggestions? Many thanks in advance!

This Saturday I ate the unlikeliest, most delicious thing ever: it was at the european deli called ABSOLUT on Decarie, near Queen Mary. What it was, was a deep-fried cabbage bun. Sounds not super interesting, but it nearly killed me (with deliciousness, and with clogging my arteries).

The dough was at the same time as light and fluffy as air, but stretchy, and a little spongy. Not like a doughnut at all, except that the outside was brown, crispy, and delicious. The filling was a scrumptious sort of onion-y sauerkraut, and the whole thing was about the size of a hamburger in a bun. It was served hot.

I don't know if they have them all the time, or only sometimes. So, there you go! Go get 'em!

Mine makes a very clear broth, and a good meal, and is the easiest thing you can imagine...

1 whole fresh chicken, cut into pieces.
Boil these rapidly for a minute or so in water just to cover, then rinse in cold water, getting all the blood and grey bits out.
Replace these in a pot with lots of fresh clean water, bring to almost a boil, then turn the heat way down so it barely bubbles at all.
Simmer gently for about 45 mins, adding 5-6 peeled carrots cut into 2-inch chunks, 2 quartered onions, 3 bay leaves, 2 ribs celery cut into big chunks, salt to taste.

If you want, a pinch or two of "Vegeta" is a hit at my house.

Skim the soup at it simmers.

Serve, with snipped fresh dill, if you like. Bread and butter and done!

apple charlotte, and butter shortbreads, cut out with a heart-shaped cookie cutter.

it could be a stainless steel bowl thing, as you suggest below... I always use the same ceramic bowl to make bread, poolish or no poolish, and never have the slimy film problem. Try a glazed ceramic or glass bowl, perhaps...

Thanks, Hala!
these ones you name I am familiar with, so I'll leave a few comments.
Pomme Verte is very pretty, has small-quantity packages of nice quality dry goods, but I found prices there to be high. I always do my fruit/veggie shopping at Marche Frais Wellington, on the "asian store corner" of Wellington (the one with the green sign). Less pretty, generally better prices, I find.

IGA on Bannantyne is a bit better than IGA on Wellington but still, for produce prices, both are disappointing - pricey and limited. Meat at IGA Wellington is a sad affair, but in a pinch, you know, after work, you're late, hungry, ah whatever this'll do...

Although, recently at IGA Wellington they offered 5 lb bags of veg (onions, potatoes, carrots, beets, turnips) at $1 apiece. The best deal they've ever offered in living memory :-) so I stocked up. But that's unusual, I have found.

Viandal I only went into once... I found that I could do better on price and comparable quality at PA downtown so I stuck with that. But I have ready on Chowhound some good things about Viandal. What I was looking for was a sort of good quality all-in-one like Frutta Si seems to be...

The asians on Verdun Ave are ok... in a pinch. Sketchy meat, ok for emergency fruit/veggie stock up. I lived literally on that corner with Marche C&C for 3 years, and ran in there at least once a week. When I wasn't careful, I have occasionally come away with moldy bread so you need to check carefully before you buy. Sadly, these don't "tick all my boxes" for reliable good quality and value.

Except I am quite attached to Marche Frais Wellington... I'll probably keep going there, on the way home from work, for fresh herbs, 79 cent/lb apples, fresh cucumbers, stuff like that. I just like the place.

One more to name: Branche d'Olivier, the middle eastern dry-goods shop on Wellington, with lots of things in bulk. It's a very nice shop too! But again, it's more shop-hopping, and I was looking for that elusive, good-value-quality, all-in-one grocery paradise...

Thanks all for all your great replies! It's been super helpful. Can't wait to try them out.

Here is a very decent casual portuguese place in Verdun, on the main Wellington strip. I've been twice in a year and it's pretty good! I liked it enough to ask to go back on my birthday.

Ambience: deep narrow space, sports on TV, and kinda chilly near the door, definitely not fancy, a little smoky (from the kitchen, not from cigarettes!).

I had the grilled quarter chicken (breast) and fries, which comes with a salad. My husband had the chourizo and same sides. Other person had grilled sardines. The chicken was a little dry... but there was quite a lovely hot chili oil on the table which you can slather on with the paintbrush provided for the purpose (from dollar store next door, I'm sure!) , and it makes a really tasty simple meal.

Sardines weren't that great though... I had them at Jano and to compare, those at Casa Manolo seemed more fishy-tasting. But maybe I'm wrong? I realise these are fish, after all.

Also, there are nice sort of pickled beans (kind of flageolet-type) on the table to go with a good crusty bun, before the meal. I was competing with my dining companions for them! They were that tasty.

The service is the kind I really appreciate. They were a quite young waiter and waitress, very sweet and helpful, not over-friendly.

here is the review from the gazette: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/C...

also was searching chowhound montreal posts and someone mentioned Iasenza for meat http://www.iasenza.com/Centre_des_Via...

this may be a good bet (to answer my own question...)

thanks!! I will definitely check these out this weekend.

I have an update. In fact i realized later my pot wasn't really a Bialetti, but a "bialetti-type" pot so it wasn't the same size standard. Never found the right gasket for it so gave up and bought the largest true Bialetti pot I could find, which has solved the gasket problem.

Thanks for your suggestion, kpzoo!

I haven't had much luck with good grocery stores since moving to Verdun 3 years ago. I used to do most of my emergency fruits/veggies on Wellington, at the Asian stores near Gordon Ave, but now I'm a little further away and looking for better value.

What I'd love to find is a sort of "PA equivalent" or "Fruiterie 440 + butcher + boulangerie" type place, that isn't too far from Verdun/Lasalle. My hopes/dreams include a good meat counter, good fresh produce, and good value. Is that too much to ask :-)

I've tried the SuperC near champlain and Bishop Power (never again), the Loblaws on Newman near Carrefour Angrignon (too expensive!!), and have just been going to the IGA and Metro near de l'eglise metro which are just OK.

So, any ideas about where to shop in le sud-ouest? Good ethnic markets, good value, good meat and produce? I would really appreciate some guidance. Thanks!

I'm sorry this isn't really about food...

Hi,
I have a wonderful 18-cup Bialetti coffee pot that I got as a gift, but now I need to replace the rubber gasket, and cannot find one larger than the 12-cup size, in any of the coffee-and-supplies shops I've been in. I went to the ones on St. Laurent near Jean Talon (about 5 of them) and struck out.
From outside edge to outside edge, the gasket I need measures 95 mm, but all I can come up with are 90mm ones.
Even someone I ordered from online who promised they'd fit the 18-cup pot wound up sending me 90 mm gaskets. So sad...
Anyone have any suggestions? Friends with spare gaskets lying around?
Thanks in advance!

In-N-Out Burger, to me, is waaaaay too descriptive.

Hi QueenB - LittleBee here :-)

just to say I like your name! ....and I agree.

My former MIL makes this smoked mussel spread, from canned smoked mussels, cream cheese, and mayonnaise. The smell is wretch-worthy and the taste... "MMMM, thanks, I've had one, thanks, really, I'm fine, yep, saving room for dinner. No really, I couldn't possibly." And always served with the generic-brand saltine crackers.

Her dear older sister made "white fish in shrimp sauce" for us once... 15 minutes after eating it, I was doubled over in the bathroom but I felt MUCH better afterwards...

Her dear husband made CHICKEN BACKS one evening. In curry spices. BACKS. with the skin! Ark accchh bleccchhh!!!!

He also used to do, every single hoilday family gathering, his "famous curried sardines." which consisted of giant portuguese sardines from a can, with all their skin and gross little bones, smothered in an oily, oily oily curry sauce.

Let me be clear: these are dear, kind, good people. Ok? Great. But steer clear of the sardines, is all I'm sayin'.

I went to a u-pick farm and picked 9 lbs of blueberries with my fiancee on a day off last week. So far have made 7 jars of jam, just very plain: blueberries, sugar, lemon juice. One batch came out a little more firm than I like, but it will still be tasty.
2 more batches to go... the rest to eat fresh :-)

Usually we make strawberry jam but this year I missed the u-pick season for our best Quebec strawberries, so if I want to do jam I'll have to buy boxes and pay that little extra...

I'm hoping to do some pickles too: my grandma's Bread and Butter pickle recipe is amazing, as is her Branston pickle recipe. And I might put up some corn relish to have with tourtiere.

after much reflection, I'm with you too.

same reason.