When we first came across Maison Le Grand a few months back we were thinking this is kinda cool, pesto in a little pouch.
Then we tried a few of the varieties of the products offered by the Montreal based brand that makes fresh artisanal all natural vegetarian or vegan pestos, tapenades and aromatic sauces; we were wowed.
Our first go around we went simple, boiled some whole-wheat penne, untwisted the cap to the 4 cheese and nut pesto and voila dinner was ready in all of ten minutes. We had at least two bowls in our first sitting and came back for more.
Keep in mind prior too we wouldn’t exactly put pesto on our short list let alone a shopping list.
Next up their mild olive and sun-dried tomato tapenade, which we planned on serving at a party we were hosting. While prepping for the party we spread some on a few crackers and damn this stuff the real deal. The texture was spot on and it had just the right amount of zing. That's when we knew these guys were onto something.
Next thing we knew we were standing in a towel with the fridge open eating this tasty treat right out of the package. Lucky for us we had an extra pouch on hand that we had picked up at Whole Foods earlier that day to serve at the party, we tend to have too much of everything when we entertain.
For the party we drizzled some olive oil and sprinkled some sea salt over a baguette, threw it in the broiler for about a minute and then sliced in to small slices. We took out a plate, squeezed some tapenade into a small bowl smacked it down in the center and arranged the toast around it. Everyone, even those who claimed they didn't like tapenade were raving about it. One guest proclaimed, "So Long Salsa, Buh-Bye Bruchetta."
For easy entertaining or when we were feeling a little adventurous but need a jump start these all natural artisanal pestos, tapenades, and aromatic sauces which are sold in re-sealable 100 percent recyclable pouches are kind of perfect and at about 6 bucks a pop are more than worth it.
We plan on marinating some scallops in their lemon confit aromatic sauce one of these days but chances are being were so busy will stick to the simple stuff for now.
Maison Le Grand products are sold at Whole Foods, Zabars, The Fresh Market and other specialty stores nationwide.
No comments:
Post a Comment