randyreynolds

I have to admit that I have been a bit tardy in posting past menus. Life is busy. My day job as a financial advisor takes up the majority of my time during the week while preparation and cooking at the rrestaurant fill out the rest of the week. On top of that we have purchased a converted handitransit van which we will be our mobile kitchen next year.

So rather than recite the menu from the summer I will simply paste in a review that one of our customers wrote on the Ùrban Spoon`website.

``Beaujena's is a quaint little place in St. B that is only open on week-ends. I had a feeling it would be a cool place when I saw the mural of a sidewalk cafe scene on the side of the building as I drove up. The menu (actually there is no menu) is changed once a week or once a month and it's always a surprise. They say French/Mediterranean but in August it seemed (and the chef admitted) more Spanish than French.
We had a tapas syle starter - skewers of pickles, cold meets and cheese served with an icy cold sweet vermouth. Delicious. That was followed by a gazpacho soup that I must say was one of the best cold soups I've ever had. The third course was shrimp and calamari baked in parchment paper with asparagus and fennel. This too, was exceptionally good. Then we had veal scalopini with a rich, creamy sauce that tasted like capuccino. It sounds a bit wierd but it was really good. That was followed by the strangest dish I've ever had, mildly spiced chorizo sausage baked inside an apple and served with chocolate sauce. The sweetness of the apple and the spice of the sausage worked well and the chocolate sort of brought it all together. Then we had a salad and a white chocolate cheesecake for dessert.
The owner is the server and I watched in amazement as she worked the room. It was busy the night we were there and she didn't break a sweat. Warm, friendly and engaging.
There doesn't really seem to be much variety in Winnipeg's fine dining scene. The majority of places have menus that are almost interchangable and I get tired of the basic choices - chicken, fish, beef, pork - all dressed slightly differantly but essentially the same.
Beaujena's takes the tedium out of dining out. I love food and I love variety and that's what I received at Beaujena's.``

Well, contrary to what some of you may have read in the paper, I am not a dictator. I’m just a guy who loves food and loves to cook. That I’m the only person in the kitchen and that Beaujena is the only person on the floor, and that we (and our customers) really believe in what we are doing, makes it necessary for us to do things a certain way. Sorry, we’re not going to tell you what’s on the menu so you can decide on five or seven courses. Frankly, we recommend that everyone simply have the seven-course dinner.

The month of February saw us give a nod to the Festival De Voyageur and include a couple of French Canadian classics – pea soup and tortiere. The latter was a bit of a gamble because as a French Canadian friend of mind told me, “if you’ve grown up on your mother’s tortiere, then no other can be as good.” None the less I received many favorable comments from diners.

If you didn’t make it in, here’s what you missed.

1. Grilled fois gras served on a quinoa and brie cheese risotto with a pomegranate and sherry reduction. The reviewer called it “splendid.”
2. French Canadian split pea soup. What can be said, it’s a classic and it’s perfect comfort on a cold winter night.
3. Smoked whitefish cake with creamy onion Dijon sauce served over glazed julienned carrots. Again the reviewer described it as elegant and sublime.
4. Tortiere with mushroom gravy. I understand that tortiere isn’t exactly fine dining but hey, It’s Festival time.
5. Duck confit with smashed baby potatoes and wild blueberry sauce. The reviewers words- savory and delicious .
6. Green salad with flame broiled asparagus and peppers with a sundried tomato vinaigrette and feta cheese.
7. Maple cream tarte described by the reviewer as delectable.

In March we will return to our typical modern French /Mediterranean cuisine. Hope to see you there. For reservations, email beaujena@shaw.ca or call 233-4841.

It has been so busy at the restaurant since summer that I have fallen behind in posting monthly menus. We’re already well into the November and I only now describing what we served in October. Well, here it is for those few who missed it:



1. Moroccan chicken and couscous sushi served with a beetroot and yogurt dip. This came to me after hearing a contestant on a Food Network reality show mention couscous sushi. I was intrigued by the idea and when Beaujena serendipitously prepared a beautiful Moroccan chicken for lunch at home that same day, voila, a unique and very tasty dish was born.

2. Carrot soup with caraway. Simple, seasonal and savoury.

3. Lemon pepper pasta with pan seared calamari and hot peppers.

4. Wild boar cannelloni with pine nuts and black truffle béchamel. I had hoped that people would rank this dish among the best they ever had and sure enough, many did.

5. Beef short ribs braised in Fort Garry Dark Ale with dried apricots and prunes. The beer brought a subtle malty taste to the dish while the dry
fruit added a mild sweetness to the sauce.

6. Fresh wild greens with candied walnuts, beets and Roquefort cheese with an orange Dijon vinaigrette.

7. Pear tart with vanilla yogurt custard and caramel.


All in all it was a good menu and we received a lot of very positive comments.



This month our menu leans toward Spain and some Tapas style dishes along with classic Tuscan and Southern French preparations.



This is a busy time of year at Beaujena’s so be sure to book early to avoid disappointment. Call 233-4841 or email Beaujena@shaw.

Our June 2010 menu was as follows:

1. Two items - a bleu cheese gouger with sundried tomato pesto, fresh
basil leaf and a smoked oyster. A zucchini latke topped with
smoked Goldeye and sour cream horse radish dressing. Gougers are a small pastry commonly used for profiteroles. By adding a small quantity of
bleu cheese they became quite savoury and perfectly suited to the pesto. The smoked oyster and smoked Goldeye tied the two separate dishes together nicely.

2. Fresh parslied pasta with bacon, asparagus and baby peas in a white
cream sauce. Raves for the sauce which was rich and creamy combined with bacon. The asparagus was added at the last minute to preserve
its freshness.

3. Asiago tart with Moroccan style pickled carrots, zucchini and
parsnips. A rich blend of Asiago cheese, cream and eggs in a light pastry shell was beautifully balanced by the acidity of the pickled vegetables.

4. Frog legs in beurre blanc with French fries done in duck fat.
Heavenis French fries in duck fat.

5. Braised beef shank with steamed vegetables and sauce ravigot. As
with all French style braised meats, the long slow cooking process left the beef tender enough to cut with a fork. Sauce ravigot is a common green sauce from France, made principally of capers, shallots, thyme and
vegetable oil.

6. Spring green salad with Dijon vinaigrette.

7. Puff pastry vol au vent, yogurt cream and strawberries with fresh
mint. This was a very light dessert and the mint on the
strawberries really enhanced the flavour of the Muscat we served with it.

Mulling over Markets and Interest Rates



As we are all aware, equity mutual funds and particularly index funds, experience ups and downs that often parallel those of the market indexes with which they are associated.



Just look at the past year. Between April 15, 2009 and April 15 2010, Canadian equity index funds were up about 65 percent. The average U.S index fund was up about 80 percent. And then, from mid-April to mid-July they all dropped roughly 10 percent. Was anyone really surprised? Did anyone other than newspaper columnists and business TV personalities realistically expect indexes to continue to climb uninterrupted at that rate? I don’t think so.



Now, after a few months of negative returns, we have the opposite reaction. Media talking heads and other “experts” are ranting about the possibility of a “double dip,” another downward slide that could match the lows of March 2009. Do these people look out the window in the morning and speculate that if it’s raining now it will rain forever? I wonder sometimes.



Gerry Coleman, manager of the CI Harbour Fund, is someone I have a great deal of respect for because he is not known for knee-jerk reactions to short-term market movements. In fact, he rarely even comments on the markets in general as they don’t have that much relevance to the portfolio of stocks he manages within his mutual funds. He recently wrote the following, “In our view, a disconnect currently exists between stock markets and the real world economy. Simply put, we note that world economies have been expanding in recent quarters at a fairly decent pace with corporate profits growing at a healthy pace as well. For our part, we believe that further gains lie ahead for both the economy and corporate earnings and we feel that it is only a matter of time before the equity markets begin to pay heed.”



In other words, the current market volatility doesn’t make much sense in light of what has been generally positive recent economic news.



He goes on to say, “As we currently believe that the peak selling intensity is now behind us, we look forward to better times ahead as we head into the latter part of 2010. Times like the present, where pessimism is so thick you could cut it with a knife, have proven to be times of significant opportunity for investors with a long-term time horizon. We believe the current period is one of those times.”



In other words, when the masses are selling, the smart money is buying.



Something else people are talking about these days is interest rates. Will they continue to rise or will the Bank of Canada, after its most recent ¼ point hike, stand down. No one can say for sure but personally I don’t see how we can continue to raise rates in Canada if they aren’t doing the same in the U.S. If we do, our dollar will get so high and our exports so expensive that manufacturing industries in this country will suffer immeasurably. And with double-digit unemployment and a shaky economic recovery, the U.S. isn’t very likely to raise their rates.



My bank manager recently tried to convince me to lock in my mortgage for five years because he believed (or at least he wanted me to believe) that interest rates were on the rise. The banks like to use fear as a motivator emphasizing that if rates rise your payments will increase and you might not be able to afford them. I opted for the variable rate of prime minus a half a percent and set my payments at what the much higher five-year mortgage would have been. That way, rates will have to rise by about three percent before I’ll experience any increase in payments and if rates don’t rise I’m way ahead of the game.

Summer is upon us and with the month of June comes a new menu at Beaujena’s French table. We have received comments from some recipients of our monthly email suggesting that they would appreciate knowing what’s coming up rather than what has been missed. Well that would spoil the surprise wouldn’t it? I won’t tell what exactly is on the June menu but here are a couple of hints.

The first course will contain a fish that Winnipeg is famous for but which I will present in a very European style. The fourth course will be “cuisses de grenouille and pomme frits dans gras de canard.” There will also be a very unique and delicious cut of beef. Hopefully, your curiosity has been piqued.

Here is what you missed in May:

1. Duck Rillet This dish was made with duck leg confit, cut finely and preserved in gelatin and served with toast. A very nice way to have duck, spread on lightly toasted French baguette. As it was delicately seasoned the subtle taste of fresh thyme was able shine through.

2. Wild Rice and black truffle soup. This had real depth of flavor due in large part, to the earthiness of the black truffles. I served it with a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese and parsley.

3. Pickerel in a Parchment Packet with Fennel and kohlrabi. I was surprised at how many people had never had kollrabi. It is a very interesting vegetable that I would describe as a cross between a radish and a parsnip. When it's raw, it's crisp and goes well in salads but when cooked the flavor is much milder and the texture is like potato. I also used fresh sliced fennel and a healthy quantity of buerre blanc which was just lemony and buttery enough to make the fish melt in your mouth.

4. Pasta with rabbit Ragu. First I roasted the rabbit. The I made a sauce using carrots, celery and onion and the drippings from the roasting pan and added copped pieces of rabbit to it. The broad egg noodles were made with tarragon which added a completely different flavor profile to the dish.

5. Pork and lamb Parmentier. This started out as a classic French dish similar to shepherd’s pie but because I added sun-dried tomatoes, olives, anchovies and feta cheese to the mix, it ultimately tasted more Greek than French.

6. Cheese plate. Brie, Gruyere, Gouda and Borgonzola served with Ruby Port.

7. Chocolate Ameretti tart with Grand Marnier cream. That’s right, chocolate, ameretto and Grand Marnier all in the same dessert.

WHO IS STEERING YOUR BOAT

Sometimes it’s really difficult to stick to your convictions. Everyday when I go into my office, I turn on my computer and check my email. Typically there are twenty or thirty messages, and of those about a dozen are stock market related. Much of it is junk mail sent to persuade me to advise my clients to buy the latest products dreamt up by the marketing departments of financial institutions. The most recent theme has been ETFs (electronically traded funds).

ETFs are passive investments most often composed of a basket of equities (stocks) representing a broad market index or a specific sector. I call them passive because the composition of the fund never changes – if it has 50 different equities when you bought it, it will have those same 50 equities when you sell it, whenever that might be. The value of the fund will fluctuate from day to day depending on market values of the equities it holds. Just like a mutual fund, right?

Wrong. Unlike ETFs which don’t have a manager, mutual funds do. And the manager will change the composition of a fund depending upon his or her view of current and approaching market conditions. If a particular market sector or a specific holding starts to look a bit shaky, for example, a good mutual fund manager will drop it and either buy something else or hold cash until conditions improve. No such strategy exists within an ETF.

I have used this analogy before but it is worthy of repeating. Imagine a sail boat with a big sail, a hull and a keel (that’s the lead filled, under water part that you don’t see) An investment portfolio is like that sail boat. The sail, big or small represents riskier assets that can potentially propel your valuations higher. When the wind is right. The hull is the core of your portfolio made up of more conservative investments that you want to grow gradually over time. And the keel is the fixed income portion which is more stable and likely to keep your whole program from tipping over and sinking when stormy economic conditions prevail.

Now here is the essential difference between ETFs and mutual funds. Using ETFs, you can make up a portfolio that looks just like a sail boat. But who is steering it? Who is putting up and dropping the sails or deciding which sail is the most appropriate for the conditions? Who is watching out for storms on the horizon or dangerous shoals? Without an experienced captain at the helm your investments clearly run an increased risk of laying dead in the water, being swept off coarse or being scuttled on the rocks.

In comparing the performance of the S&PTSX over the last few years to the average Canadian equity fund, one might not see a huge difference in terms of absolute returns over a three or five-year period. But the amount of volatility experienced by the index (and ETFs by extension) versus that of an actively managed fund is huge.

Over my nearly twenty years in this business, I have seen first hand, a lot of investors wanting to buy and sell at exactly the wrong times. When markets are down and equities are on sale, they want out. When markets are peaking and prices are high, they want in. Eliminating volatility – those euphoric highs and stomach churning lows, helps to eliminate bad decisions. Simply put, investors with a less volatile portfolio of funds are far less likely to sell out when valuations are at their lowest.

So as tumultuous as equity markets can be, even with a well diversified portfolio investors are usually far better off with an experienced captain at the helm than leaving their retirement nest egg bobbing in the waves like a cork in the middle of the ocean.


WHAT’S NEW AT MONTH AT BEAUJENA’S FRENCH TABLE

The Last Crumb, a book written by Rheanne Marcoux and available at Aqua Books, features yours truly as one of fourteen Winnipeg Chef’s. It’s a beautiful book with lots of good food ideas that I would recommend to any food lover.

Style Manitoba, in their latest issue (available on-line) did a very nice review of the restaurant called “Exceptional French Quarter Dining.” After four years, it’s nice to be appreciated.

While April is not typically a very warm month or a particularly busy month for restaurants in Winnipeg, this year was an exception on both counts. We had the busiest April in all of the four years we have been open. Thank-you to all who dined with us. For those who missed it, here is the April menu:

1. Black truffle and foie gras on puff pastry pillows with mushroom and bleu cheese pate on walnut ginger crisps. The truffle and foie gras were sautéed lightly in olive oil and served simply, one atop the other. On the last week-end of the month I decided to make a pate de foie gras incorporating the black truffle. Both preparations were very well received. The ginger walnut crisps presented a nice compliment to the bleu cheese in the pate.

2. Asparagus Shrimp Soup with baby bella mushrooms. As asparagus was plentiful in April I felt compelled to use as much of it as I could so I made a soup broth by boiling pounds of it then liquefying with an immersion blender. The mushroom and shrimp cave it texture and rounded out the flavours.

3. Red bean meat balls with a spicy tomato sauce on linguine. Crumbled bacon, mashed red beans and bread crumbs combined to form one of the tastiest little meat balls ever. The sauce contained serrano chilies and tomatoes to form a fiery accompaniment.

4. Duck leg comfit, roasted turnips, shallots and sour cheery sauce. Duck confit is one of my favorite dishes. Roasting the meat in duck fat for several hours makes it tender and juicy. The sour cherry sauce beautifully balanced the fat.

5. Braised pork tenderloin with apples, pears and parmesan risotto balls. The rissoto balls turned out to be the star of this dish even though the pork was unusually tender and juicy.

6. Orzo salad with cucumber and orange. Cleansed the palate exactly as it was intended to.

7. Lemon cream cheesecake tart with raspberry sauce. I was torn between lemon tart and lemon cheese cake so I created a sort of hybrid.


In the month of May I am incorporating some Greek and Italian influences with olives, sundried tomatoes and feta cheese. There are also elements of local Manitoba cuisine along with the usual French inspired fare. We hope to see you soon.

Is Greece the beginning of a slippery slope?

I came across this very interesting quote attributed to Cicero in the year 55 BC, and in light of the evolving awareness of government overspending around the globe, particularly in Greece, I thought I should share it with my readers and clients.
“The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."
So it appears that the human race, or Greece at least, has learned very little over the last 2,065 years. But is it fair to single out Greece when many other governments, including our own, consistently spend more than they take in?
There are deep thinkers out there ( deeper than me anyway) who believe that Greece represents the mere tip of the iceberg, that a global debt crisis, or bubble is looming and it will result in a meltdown that will make 2008’s financial reckoning pale by comparison.

According to one analyst, the financial writing is on the proverbial wall for Greece. Some form of default is simply unavoidable. Under "normal" circumstances, when the IMF becomes involved with a country in a situation similar to Greece's, the standard procedure is to devalue the local currency which will effectively lower relative prices within the economy, increasing the competitiveness of the country's export sector and helping to reorient the economy toward external demand. Devaluation is also politically expedient because along with regaining competitiveness, employers are not required to slash employees' wages, consequently creating unrest among the populace.

But Greece does not have the option of devaluation because it is locked into a monetary union. The European Union’s monetary policy is controlled by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank and so Greece is essentially wearing a "euro straitjacket." Without the option of devaluation, the Greeks will have to implement and endure extreme austerity measures similar to what Argentina endured as part of its IMF bailout in 2000 wherein Argentina could not go the currency devaluation route because it did not control its monetary policy. Argentina's austerity measures were so severe that they caused considerable social unrest -including a brief period of outright anarchy in late 2001, which saw the country go through five heads of government in about two weeks -ultimately culminating in the country's partial debt default in 2002.

For Europe, a questionable economic recovery with less government spending translating directly to less growth and less growth equating to less tax income, and less tax income equating to budget deficits, Greece will essentially become a ward of the IMF, and will remain so unless it somehow drops out of the European Union.

Europe, and Germany in particular must decide whether and to what extent it should "bail out" the Greeks who face the reality that in the absence of substantial financial assistance, the country will inevitably default on its debts, generating write-downs for all those who hold Greek government debt (mostly European banks). And in the case of Greek banks, who will deposit money into a bank backed by a government on the verge of defaulting on its own debt?
Even at the peak of the U.S. subprime crisis Europe's banks were in even worse shape. As the Americans stabilized, so did their banks. But Europe never cleaned house, and now a Greek tsunami is poised to wash
over the whole mess.

And if Greece’s situation can create as much havoc as it has, what of Portugal and Italy? And what of the U.S. where government debt is measured by the trillions of dollars? As default is highly unlikely, the alternative is to devalue the currency and with that will likely come higher interest rates – much higher interest rates. But probably not yet. Not with unemployment hovering around 10% and moribund economic growth. And not with international money fleeing the Euro in favor of the U.S. greenback. Not yet. But eventually.

So this is probably not the time to load up on government debt via bond funds. And it’s probably not a good time to invest in currency sensitive funds like U.S. equities either. My advice is to stay home and stay conservative. Call me if you would like to discuss it further.

A couple of things have come up recently that I would like to let readers know about. This month's Style Manitoba Magazine has given Beaujena's French Table a very nice review - it was our January menu. You can see it for yourself at www.stylemanitba.com. Additionally Rheanne Marcoux has recently published a book on 14 Manitoba chef's called "The last Crumb." I happen to be one of the 14 chef's featured. You can pick it up at McNally's if you're interested.

here is a look at the latest menu - March. I've included the wine pairings this for anyone who might be interested. They are all available at Fentons at the Forks.

1. Veal Carpaccio with grapefruit salad. The veal was seared on the outside and then sliced very thinly and sprinkled with a mixture of cumin, celery seed and salt. Then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. The grapefruit salad which also contained celery and green onions complimented with a citrusy freshness. Wine - Longbend Savignon Blanc - New Zealand - a laid-back sauvignon with tropical fruits , citrus and gooseberries
flavors.
2. Brie cheese and spinach soup. This was a rich creamy soup which ironically contained very little cream.. It was served with a dollop of cranberry compote to provide a tart counter to the savoury richness of the brie cheese.
3. Sweet potato and green pea lasagne. Layers of sweet potato, béchamel, mozzarella and parmesan separated by sheets of freshly made pasta served with a drizzle of sage butter. This surprising, meatless lasagne was a big hit with diners, most of whom had never had anything quite like it. Wine - Isla Negra Chardonnay – Chile – a bold chardonnay with pineapple, pear and vanilla on the nose. Mouth filling and with well balanced fruit and oak. A touch of lime on the finish.
4. Mediterranean style baked fish with lemon and potatoes. A combination of tuna, cuttlefish, baby octopus, cod, salmon and shrimp tossed in sautéed onions, olive oil and spices, baked in the oven with lemon and potatoes. Fish-lovers loved it. Wine - Marrenon Rose – France - a fragrant mix of strawberries and gooseberry on the nose. Tart and refreshing with just enough strength.
5. Beer braised beef brisket. If you want your brisket to be tender (and this one was) you have to cook it in liquid for hours. This one was braised in Fort Garry Dark Ale, with sundried tomatoes, dried apricots and prunes, all of which made up a rich, thick sauce to be soaked up by the potato rutabaga puree it was served with. Wine - Francis Ford Coppola presents Rosso – California - a blend of Zinfandel, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Bold and spicy with a fruit forward profile and a good tannin structure.
6. Marinated mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Button mushrooms and crimini mushrooms and marinated in a simple French vinaigrette.
7. Maple Pannacotta with candied orange peel. This Italian cooked cream dessert, was flavoured with Manitoba Maple syrup and unlike French crème brule which is thickened with egg yolk, this dessert uses gelatine. Wine - Domaine de Joy Floc de Gascogne – France -Fortified wine made from grape juice and Armagnac. Nose with fruity
notes (pineapple, apricot), flowers and a hint of honey. Sweet with
freshness.