Quaintrelle Weekender

Four ways to a better weekend

Welcome to Quaintrelle Weekender.

This is a short list of things I am currently loving to make eating, drinking, and hosting easier and a lot more interesting.

If you’ve been following on Notes (the Substack version of Threads or Tweets) you will know I was beyond impressed by a Lebanese lunch I had earlier this week. I’ve recommended and linked it below.

Because my job is so social, I don’t go out much for my social encounters. I’d rather have people over, and relax in the braless comfort of my own home. But I’m making a point to get out at least once a month, as much for the camaraderie as for the R&D to new ideas and recipes.

At Amal, I had the popular Lebanese dip, muhammara. I had always resisted it, because the English description – roasted red pepper and walnut dip – did zero to stimulate my appetite.

I’m not so proud that I can’t admit I was wrong. It was intensely flavourful, brimming with tangy, sweet, earthy flavours all merging together.

Perhaps this is what visiting other cultures and countries through food does. Open your eyes and mind to other possibilities you never considered before.

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To Read:

The Stolen Child by Ann Hood

I’ve been a longtime fan of

Ann Hood

since having been introduced to her with the captivating 2004 novel, The Obituary Writer, which remains one of my all-time favourite reads to this day.

Early last summer The Stolen Child came out. Knowing Ann had suffered the loss of her daughter, which she had eloquently written about in the past, I initially thought this book would be about her child, and I wasn’t quite in an emotional place to tackle that subject matter, so I resisted for a few weeks. However, it turns out this is a fictious tale of a French child given to an American solider during World War I, and the search to find him 60 years later.

I read it in four days.

With richly developed characters, who occasionally got on my nerves for their annoyingly stupid decisions, and vivid descriptions of 1980’s Europe, it’s an irresistible story of love and family, heartbreak and hearts broken open. I highly recommend it.

To Eat

Amal

I went to lunch a few days ago at this upscale Lebanese restaurant and it was magnificent.

I’m a sharezies person, so we ordered a bunch of mezze: squeaky halloumi topped with fragrant basil oil, crisp kisses of fried beef kibbeh and cooling yogurt sauce, garlicky labneh toum with bright mint… but probably the standout for me was the outrageous muhammara, the classic roasted red pepper and walnut dip of the Middle East.

I loved it so much I came home and immediately made pomegranate molasses with the intention of making my own muhammara (which I did. The full report is coming soon.)

Amal is in Yorkville, so lots of see-and-be-seen action, but prices are still shockingly reasonable for Toronto’s most star-studded neighbourhood.

Fall Cleaning

Rubbermaid Electric Dual-Head Cleaning Toothbrush

Because I lead a life of unbridled excitement, the Thanksgiving long weekend is always my cue to begin my deep fall cleaning. Years ago, I purchased this rechargeable, electric scrubber. My baseboards, vents, and weird little corners (of my house, people) have never been the same. It comes with both a pointy-head attachment to get into those tiny crevices, and a flat head for surface areas. I LOVE this thing.

Secret Ingredient

Confit Garlic

I’m somebody who does not do well with raw garlic. Well, let me rephrase. I am somebody who does very well with raw garlic, but those around me suffer. For days. It seems I have a genetic flaw that even a Goodfellas sized sliver, will leach its potency from my pours without repent or humility. And in the process utterly humiliating me.

For any recipe that calls for raw garlic I generally work around by adding confit garlic – garlic that has been slowly cooked in olive oil until extremely soft and richly fragrant. I add the smooshable cloves to bread and pasta and risotto; I use the flavoured oil for everything: salad dressing, pasta sauce, bases of dips, dipping for bread.

This isn’t really a recipe, just a set of instructions. You could technically just confit one or two cloves, but I like to do a whole bulb (at least) at a time.

Into a small sauce pot set over low heat add the peeled, whole garlic cloves and pour in enough oil to cover by about an inch. Allow this to gently simmer for about an hour, until the garlic is tantalizingly soft, and just the palest shade of gold. Allow the oil and garlic to cool, place in a jar with a lid and keep on the counter, out of direct sunlight.

–Ahem– prevailing wisdom says to store in the fridge for up to two weeks, but I’m not gonna lie: I leave it on my kitchen shelf out of direct sunlight and it has never gone bad. I am not saying you should do this, I am saying this is what I do.

Thank you for reading Quaintrelle.

This newsletter is written by me, Erin Henderson, journalist-turned-sommelier-turned-entrepreneur. I literally drink and throw parties for a living, and every Saturday, I share some of my favourite finds for better weekends.

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