2009 Rosé, Cuvée d'Andrée, Estate Bottled

Local Fiddlehead and Wild Garlic Bisque with Smoked Trout and Crème Fraiche

Recipe courtesy of John Taylor, Executive Chef of Domus Café, Ottawa 

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 lbs fresh Bryson Farms fiddleheads soaked and washed well 
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 24 heads wild garlic with tops
• 1 large leek, diced (white part only)
• 2 Spanish onions, diced
• 3 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 to 4 L of vegetable or light chicken stock
• 250 ml of 35% cream (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• 300 g Ontario farm-raised smoked trout
• Fresh sweet butter (optional)
• Fresh chives, snipped
• Sour cream or crème fraiche 

Method

In a heavy bottomed soup pot add about 100 ml olive oil. Add leeks, celery, onions and wild garlic bottoms, reserving tops for later. Sweat until all vegetables become translucent, about 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat. Add potato and stock. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Add fiddleheads and garlic tops and cook a further 5 minutes until fiddleheads are tender.

Ladle soup into blender just to ¾ full. Place lid on to and with free hand use a cooking towel to hold lid firmly down, pulse to blend until smooth. This is very important because the heat from the soup causes expansion and can cause the hot soup to spray. Then pass the blended soup through a fine sieve and return to pot. Repeat until all the soup is blended and sieved. Place soup on the stove and add cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Assemble

Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with warm smoked trout, a dollop of sour cream or crème fraiche and sprinkle with fresh chives.

For me Rosé is the one wine that will pair with anything. If I’m having a tough time finding a match for a particular dish, I know I have our Rosé in my hip pocket. I have enjoyed it with beef satay, with a thick and juicy burger off the grill and even a summer field greens salad topped with a pan seared sea scallop. When in doubt, Rosé!