beyondumami

Photolog of Macarons & Recipe

2012-01-19T01:30:00.001-05:00

This is what I've been busy baking for the past two months. I've been so busy baking and taking photos of these beauties (and eating them) that I've nearly forgotten to blog about them. If you want "live" updates check out my twitter feed @beyondumami. So here's a post that will be predominantly photos!

Recipe for the macarons are at the end of the post. Enjoy!! Some of these were my first attempts at specific variations/recipes.

I found these bowls from Anthropologie on sale (< $3/bowl)!!
I thought they complemented my Pistacchio Vanilla Buttercream Macarons.

First attempt at a crunchy mocha macaron with vanilla buttercream topped with cocoa nibs.
Recipe from Desir et Moi from this macaron video.

Second attempt at Pistacchio Macarons - I might have over baked these a tad.

Strawberry Macaron - I had trouble with the colouring the macaron shells as I used a strawberry purée.
The shells cracked and wrinkled as my proportions were not correct.

A friend of mine gave me macarons from Thierry in Vancouver which had
pieces of fruit in the middle. I tried to recreate this experience in my Grand Macarons.

I really like the colour contrast of the blackberry and raspberry but these macarons had to be
eaten right away as they got soggy really quickly!

My favourite picture! My Christmas edition of Macarons: Salted Caramel, Gingerbread with Chocolate Ganache, 'Pistacchio-coloured' Macaron with hazelnut chocolate ganache. Sadly, this did not
make it to Seasons & Holidays mactweets in time.

My latest macaron obsession: Salted Caramel! For the filling:
I use a regular caramel recipe and sprinkle salt on top before closing.

Pyramid of Salted Caramel Macarons

This is a technique I use for piping fillings. It's very easy to use and keeps your piping bag clean!

Mocha Flavoured Macaron Shells (used 25g of Starbucks VIA Mocha Instant Coffee)
and removed 25g of icing sugar from basic recipe (See recipe below).

Macarons resting. In Edmonton, after many attempts, I've discovered it takes almost 40 minutes
for the macarons to rest properly due to humidity and dryness.

As you can see, I rnade a few batches of salted caramel macarons. Here is a picture
of caramel filling with salt sprinkled on top.

Macarons being filled one at a time.

The recipe I've been using/perfecting has been based on the same one as my lemon macarons.

Ingredients

5g of Dehydrated Egg White Powder
28g of Granulated Sugar
225g of Powdered Sugar (also known as icing sugar)
125g of Almond Meal
100g of Aged Egg Whites (2-3 days in airtight container at room temperature)

Steps

Measure all ingredients with a scale
Combine dehydrated egg white powder and granulated sugar and set aside
Start beating egg whites at low speed (2 on my Kitchen Aid)
Process almond meal and powdered sugar
When egg whites are foamy (mousse-like) add in egg white powder/granulated sugar combo
Start adding food colouring (I use gels) now in order to avoid overbeating egg whites
Increase speed on Kitchen Aid to 4. Beat egg whites until "stiff peaks" form (stop, and tilt head back, look to see if egg whites form a small bird's beak)
Sift Almond Meal/Powdered sugar through a fine mesh.
Slowly add to egg whites using Chef Nini's method (described in my lemon macaron post)
Once mixture feels and looks like magma (flows slowly) put into piping bag
Pipe out small circles
Firmly rap tray on floor or counter to get rid of any air bubbles inside the shells
Use a toothpick to pop air bubbles on shells
Let macarons sit for 30-40 minutes until a skin forms and is dry to touch
Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
Put one tray in the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 300F
I rotate the tray to get even baking on all shells (By now the feet should have formed!)
Bring temperature down to 295F and prop oven door open with wooden spatula and continue to bake for an extra 15 minutes
Take out of oven, allow macarons to cool.
Peel from mat, and fill with desired filling.

Notes

Oven temperature may range from anywhere 290 to 300 depending on your oven. Best practice is to pipe a few macarons and test at various temperatures and times in the oven.
I discovered that it's optimal to not have more than 20 large macaron shells (or 30 medium shells) on a single tray.
Use a thick and heavy-weight baking tray for optimal results.
Until recently, I was baking macarons at 295F for a total of 14 minutes, rotating at 7 minutes. But, I've discovered that this is not enough baking time for my macarons in my oven in my kitchen environment (your results may vary and thus it's important to experiment and take good notes! Charts help!)

Macarons with Mirabelle Macarons

2011-11-12T20:44:00.000-05:00

Macarons - my latest obsession! Except, the macarons that I'm featuring today or not mine but Connie's, the owner and creator of Mirabelle Macaron in Edmonton. In fact, in my quest for baking a successful batch of macarons, I've had the wonderful opportunity to bake with Connie. Recently, Connie had a mini 'macaron tweetup' and a few of us had the privilege of sampling some of her delicious wares. Check them out!

A box full of deliciousness and likely a macaron attack!

In my understanding, Connie's macarons have the same characteristics that all macarons should embody: that is, crispy-but-not-too-crispy shell with a soft chewy texture complimented by a flavoured buttercream or ganache filling. Prior to Mirabelle Macarons, to purchase macarons in Edmonton you had to visit my favourite place, Duchess Bake Shop. So, it's only natural to want to know what the difference is between Mirabelle Macaron's and Duchess' macarons. So far, I can tell you that Connie's macarons are on par with Duchess. It's exciting to see someone experiment with flavours that I have not had a chance to try in Edmonton (such as her Milk Chocolate Passionfruit).

Of the many macarons flavours that Connie brought for us to sample here are a few that I tried that day.

From left to right: Milk Chocolate Passionfruit, Matcha Green Tea, Passionfruit Cream

When you bite into the Milk Chocolate Passionfruit macaron you get the crunchy texture of the macaron shell, followed by two flavours; first of chocolate and then immediately passionfruit. This makes a very good tasting macaron!

The matcha green tea macaron has a matcha buttercream filling between its two coloured shells. Matcha is the main powder used to make Japanese Green tea and found commonly in green tea ice cream! It's a very light flavour in general, but Connie's macarons were able to convey the flavour very well!

Mirabelle Macaron's Passionfruit cream macaron is similar to the milk chocolate passionfruit cream macaron but without the chocolate ganache. The passionfruit flavour offsets the sweetness of the macaron shell thus making it a good combination.

The chai-flavoured macaron pictured below has a chai flavoured buttercream and is dusted with cinnamon. I took a picture of the half-bitten macaron to show that there are no air pockets in these macarons! From my own personal attempts at making macarons, I know that having no air pockets is extremely tricky to master as you do not want to overmix during the macaronage process.

Connie's Berry Cream Macaron has multiple berry flavours infused into the buttercream. I really think that Connie excels in incorporating strong fruit flavours into the ganache and buttercream.

If you want to try out Mirabelle Macarons you can order them by contacting Connie on her website www.mirabellemacarons.com. She'll also have a booth at the Edmonton City Market Downtown on December 3rd 2011. If you want to learn how to make macarons, Connie is also teaching a macaron making class in February 2012. You can register for the class through the Taste Tripping website.

Lemon Curd Macarons - Success!

2011-10-29T16:20:00.000-04:00

I'm so proud of my latest batch of macarons. They are absolutely, hands-down the best batch of macarons I've made thus far! Of course, they could be better, but I'm still super excited to show them off.

For this batch, the major differences from the Pinktober macarons was that I didn't add cream of tartar, had some pretty old egg whites (though ended up having 80g of old and needing to add in 20g of new egg white) and I hand mixed during the macaronage process.

I am pretty certain that you do need old egg whites for a regular batch of macarons, except I was out 20g of egg white for this batch so that is why I ended up adding a fresh egg white. I think the key is that the egg whites have to be room temperature before mixing.
For this batch I followed the same recipe from Not so Humble Pie and during the macaronage process I followed the mixing process as demonstrated by Chef Nini. The process that she describes is slowly adding your almond mixture into the egg whites in a clockwise direction. She also split her almond mixture into 6 parts; with each section taking about 11 turns. Here's what I did: 1st part= 16 turns, 2nd part = 11 turns, 3rd part = 14 turns, 4th part = 11 turns, 5th part = 11 turns, and 6th part = 23 turns. Take a look at the video for a more detailed visual.

The key is to go in a clockwise rotation without going through the middle of the mixture. My theory is that by doing so you don't "crush" the air bubbles in the egg whites. Again, you want to achieve the look of magma by the end of your mixing. For this attempt, the end result was a rather thick and heavy, but "magma" like mixture as you can see from the pictures. After piping into small disks, the macarons sat out for approximately 20 minutes before putting into the oven. They were baked at 295F and baked for a total of 14 minutes; turning the tray at 7 min.

Lemon Curd

3 egg yolks (strained)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup of lemon juice (or 1 lemon)
2 ounces cold butter (approx. 1/4 cup)
1/2 tbsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 cup of cornstarch (mixed with a small amount of water).

Directions:

Strain egg yolks through fine wire mesh.
Place a bowl (could be stainless steel or ceramic) over a pot of simmering water.
Whisk eggs and sugar together until well blended
Add lemon juice.
Continue whisking, in order to prevent curdling.
Continue mixing until the mixture becomes thick (consistency should be like sour cream). This can take approx. 10 minutes.
Add in 1/2 cup of cornstarch with small amount of water to help thicken the lemon curd. (note: this helped to thicken the curd, but overtime leaves a chalky texture in the macarons)
Once thickened, remove from heat. Add butter, one piece at a time in chunks. Continue to stir with a wooden spoon until it is smooth.
Add lemon zest and mix well
Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Cover the surface of the curd with saran wrap in order to prevent a skin from forming. Place bowl in fridge and allow it to become chilled. This can take about an hour. The curd should keep well in the fridge for up to a week.

Foray into Macaron Making - Pinktober Macarons

2011-10-23T19:34:00.000-04:00

We all go through cravings/fetishes at some point in time. Some times they are shoe related, or clothing related or food related! Unlike clothing related fetishes, baking fetishes often take time and energy to perfect. You can't quite buy the item and then be content. There often is a burning desire to become competent in baking that particular item. For a while I was obsessed with making waffles as my previous post highlights. Lately, it has been the pursuit of making the elusive macaron!

After reading and researching a number of macaron recipes, I knew I was ready to start. I decided the October Mac Tweets Challenge was a good incentive. So, I spent time over the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend for my first attempts. I also armed myself with some macaron making items in order to give my macarons their best possible chance (i.e. silpat mat, thicker baking sheet, albumen powder, aged egg whites). I also hoped to achieve the pied on my macarons. I'm not sure if you need a thicker baking sheet, but it definitely helps prevent the macarons from cooking too fast as they rise in the oven - which gives them the pied. The albumen powder (dehydrated egg white powder) gives more stability to the meringue structure so the shells will stand up better in the oven as heat is being pushed through it from the bottom.

After two attempts (of which I'll post later), I came up with my third attempt (pictured below). With this third attempt, I followed the recipe from Not So Humble Pie. This time, though, I was able to use albumen powder as my previous two attempts only used cream of tartar. I did make one small variation by adding a pinch of tartar; and adjusting the other ratios so they would still be the same. I also processed the powdered sugar and almond meal together and sifted before mixing into the meringue. Here is the recipe I ended up using:

5g dehydrated egg white powder (albumen)
27g granulated sugar
1g of cream of tartar
225g confectioners (powdered) sugar
125g almond meal
100g aged egg whites

Directions:

Measure and mix together albumen, granulated sugar and cream of tartar in a bowl and set aside.
Place aged egg whites into mixing bowl (ensure it is perfectly clean) and begin beating egg whites on low speed until foamy.
Once egg whites are foamy (they should look bubbly and white), slowly add in mixture from step 1 and beat on medium speed (speed 5/6 on KA).
Beat until a firm meringue forms. Do a check by stopping the mixer and tilting the head back to check the firmness of the peak. If a peak stays up, then you are done. Ensure that they are not stiff or foamy since that means you have gone too far!
Add in food colouring (gel colouring is best) with a toothpick. Stir until uniform in colour.
Add almond mixture into meringue mixture.
Stir with paddle attachment on Kitchen Aid for 10 seconds then stop.
Unhinge mixing bowl and stir rest with a spatula until magma-like consistency.
Put batter into piping bag with large piping tip (I used Wilton 1A tip).
Lay Silpat or Silicon baking sheet on baking pan.
Pipe circles a little larger than a quarter coin size onto Silpat (or Silicon Baking Sheet)
Smack the baking pan against the floor with both hands to force air bubbles to the top.
Poke air bubbles with toothpick.
Let it rest for 30 minutes (I discovered this varies with humidity, on a really dry day you only need 15 minutes) until skin forms on the macaron surface.
Preheat oven to 290F (this temperature depends on the size of your macarons and type of oven, I have a standard NON-convection oven).
Place the baking pan into the oven and set a timer for 7 minutes.
At 7 minutes, rotate the baking pan (this is to try and get even heating for all the macarons. Some instructions have said you should create a tent above the baking pan to prevent browning but did not seem necessary for my oven.
After another 7 minutes, I rotated the pan once more and baked for 1 more minute.
Let it cool on the baking sheet before removing from baking sheet.

Here are my Macs for the Mac Attack #24 Pinktober Macarons

Strawberry Jam Buttercream

For the buttercream recipe, I used a Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe. Since the buttercream recipe makes a massive amount, I cut it down to the following amounts using the same technique.

less than 1/2 cup of sugar
1 egg white
1/2 cup of butter
3 1/2 tbsp (50 grams) of strawberry jam

So there you have it, my first successful foray into the world of macarons - Strawberry Jam Pinktober Macarons!

Waffles, Waffles, Waffles!

2011-10-20T00:10:00.000-04:00

Over the past year, I have been extremely addicted to waffles! At every farmer's market I would hunt down the Eva Sweet Waffle truck, order waffles at Culina Highlands, and check out the other waffle trucks such as Wanda's Waffle. The sort of waffle I was craving for was the round Belgian style waffle that was crispy on the outside, air pockets on the inside and slightly sweet for taste. After numerous variations of different waffle recipes and using 2 different waffle irons I have now come up with a good working waffle recipe that creates exactly what I'm looking for! The added bonus is that this recipe is super easy to make. It is slightly on the runny side after mixing, but this is needed to create the crispy shell.

Classic Belgian Waffles (makes approx. 8 large waffles)
1 1/2 cups (395 ml) water
2 1/4 tsp (11ml) active dry yeast (or 1 packet)
3 cups flour (sifted)
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs, separated and 1 egg white
1/3 cup (75 ml) sugar
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) whole milk (I used 1% for this recipe)
8 tbsp unsalted butter (melted & cooled)
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Heat 3/4 cup of the water to lukewarm. Safe the rest of later.
2. Dissolve the yeast. Add a pinch of sugar (You can also use honey or maple syrup).
3. Let stand for 5-10 min until foamy in a draft free place (i.e. microwave/toaster oven)
4. In a large bowl sift flour and salt, stir & blend. Set aside for later.
5. When yeast mixture is foamy, add egg yolks, one of the egg whites and rest of sugar to the yeast mixture. Add the rest of the water, milk, melted butter, oil, vanilla.
6. Stir yeast mixture until smooth (I use the KA to complete step 5).
7. When yeast mixture is smooth, add flour to yeast mixture. Stir until smooth.
8. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into yeast mixture.
9. Let batter stand for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes. (You can cover with a cloth or saran wrap. The batter will start rising in the first 10 minutes).

Making the waffles:
1. I am using a Cusinart rotating waffle maker. I've found that placing it on setting 7 gives the waffle a nice warm golden colour.
2. Add approximately 1/2 cup to the waffle iron. Spread mixture. Close iron and turn. If the batter starts bubbling out the sides of the iron, try using less batter on your next waffle.
3. When the waffle iron beeps, flip waffle iron back over and remove waffle.
4. Place on cooling rack.

These waffles are easily frozen, and will stay good for over 2 weeks. Chances are you won't have them in your freezer that long! I usually make a batch and freeze 4 waffles in a large freezer bag. I usually eat my waffles in the morning by lightly toasting in the countertop oven (though we've also have them for supper at times!). My waffles usually enjoy a variation of toppings such as maple syrup, fruit, strawberry jam, chicken stir-fry or whatever your heart desires.

B-Tsai Dessert House

2011-09-26T01:44:00.000-04:00

Before leaving Edmonton back in June, I noticed that a new Bubble Tea House was set to open beside Orignal Joe's on 109 St. We managed to go in and talk to the owner, who was in the midst of completing renovations. He told us that this location was a branch of his very popular Bubble tea store in Calgary (of the same name - B-Tsai Dessert House). He was very excited and encouraged us to come back when it opened.

Some friends of ours in Calgary had taken us to B-Tsai Dessert House when we visited Calgary and I recalled enjoying the Blackberry juice Bubble Tea (made purely from blackberries with no other additives or extra sweeteners).

So upon returning to Edmonton in August, I was excited to try their bubble tea. We went on a Saturday afternoon around 2pm. The store is painted in modern colours and highlighted by red borders, silver accents, and completed with a granite counter for their serving area/bar. It seems like the bubble tea restaurant scene in Edmonton has vastly upped its game since I moved to Edmonton in 2006!

Their laminated menus are extremely visual, depicting the various beverages and options you can order. This chart helps you determine the price for all the fruit combinations you might want to try. For instance, if you want to order a pineapple and coconut drink you select the first fruit horizontally then find the second fruit in the vertical column and where the column and row intersect is the price (e.g. $6.50).

Unfortunately, they ran out of blackberries that day so I ordered the small mango juice ($5) with tapioca ($0.50) while my friends ordered a small blueberry-raspberry juice ($7.00) with bubbles and avocado milk ($6.50) with bubbles ($0.50).

In terms of taste, all the drinks were fresh with no frozen chunks or weird after tastes. The blueberry-raspberry juice had a heavier blueberry component to it rather than a 50/50 ratio while the avocado milk was the perfect blend of avocado and milk. My mango juice was refreshing as well. Not too sweet or icy.

I would definitely recommend trying out their bubble tea mainly for their fresh fruit combinations. The price point is a bit expensive when compared to other bubble tea shops in Edmonton (e.g. Dream Tea House just off Whyte Ave sells fresh fruit bubble teas for around $5.75). However, the big difference Dessert House (aka B-Tsai in Cantonese) has is their chinese desserts and snack selection. They offer up desserts such as mango tapioca with fruit, sweetened black sesame pudding and other items reminiscent of those found in Hong Kong or in Toronto or Vancouver's bubble tea/dessert houses. The Dessert House also has grilled items but on my last visit the grill was not functioning. I have yet to try their desserts and snacks as I was focused on their bubble tea this visit. I look forward to going to Dessert House when my next craving of bubble tea or snacks arise! Hopefully, their grill will be working soon!

The Dessert House

8412-109 St.

Edmonton, AB.

(780) 439-7789

Sushi Wasabi - My Vote for best Salmon Sashimi

2011-02-16T23:42:00.022-05:00

Sushi Wasabi. How can I impart upon you the greatness of this place? I think the only real way to understand why this place is incredibly tasty is for you to go and eat there. However, if you're unable to do that, let me begin with my favourite dish at Sushi Wasabi - their Salmon Sashimi. Salmon sashimi is slices of raw salmon and should not to be confused with salmon sushi which is a slice of raw salmon on a small pillow of rice seasoned with vinegar. It's believed that salmon sashimi is served the way it is (without rice) so that the person eating can taste the subtleties of the meat without being distracted by anything else.

I can't seem to explain it but their salmon sashimi tastes so fresh! By far, the freshest tasting salmon compared to any other Alberta based Japanese restaurant I've tried so far. Try it without any soya sauce and you'll see what I mean. The nice thick slice of salmon is firm and as you bite, a slight sweetness emerges; or is that the taste of freshness? One order of salmon sashimi may seem to be slightly pricier than other restaurants, but the feeling you'll have afterwards is simply irreplaceable. You really do gain an experience in the subtleties and sometimes not-so subtle differences in raw salmon taste and texture.

Salmon sashimi - 1 full order

There are also a number of starters that you can choose from at Sushi Wasabi. One of the ones that my friend recommended was the Spinach Gomae: typically made from steamed or boiled spinach, sesame paste & of course mixed with a bit of soya sauce.

Flash fried salmon with green onions, daikon in ponzu sauce
- the ponzu sauce itself is supposed to be a bit sour so don't be put off by the taste.

Maki with tempura smelt and avocado

Maki with salmon tuna, mushroom, avocado and roe on outside

2 pieces of yellowtail (left) and 2 pieces of chopchop (right)

Maki with tempura shrimp and avocado

There are probably a number of items on their menu, but these are the ones that I order again and again - especially the salmon sashimi. Sushi Wasabi serves up traditional Japanese food and they do it very very well! Their quality, taste and attentive service is what keeps everyone going back. Which is why it is imperative that you make reservations at this restaurant. It may seem that they have a nondescript location in a strip mall beside the Sunterra market (in Lendrum area), but this place is busy! Even if you only have two people in your party make a reservation to avoid disappointment.

Sushi Wasabi
5714 111 Street
(780) 433-0533
Tue-Thu 5pm-9pm; Fri-Sat 5pm-9:30pm; Sun 5pm-8:30pm
closed Mondays

Emperor's Palace Edmonton - no go for dim sum or dinner!

2011-02-16T20:02:00.001-05:00

Seeing that it was Chinese New Year's recently (where celebrations continue for the entire month of February) I'm thinking that some people in Edmonton will want to check out some dim sum places. There is a new restaurant that opened recently in Edmonton's Chinatown called Emperor's Palace. Formerly occupied by Shun Fat grocery store before a fire in the butcher shop closed the entire space, the renovated area is an expansive place. With its impressive decorations, a huge and colourful photo album menu, and rumours of dim sum chefs imported from Vancouver, Emperor's Palace, for all accounts and purposes, looks like a great place to have dinner or dim sum. Sadly, this is not the case.

We visited Emperor's Palace twice now, our first time was for dinner and the second visit was for New Year's Day Dim sum. I think the biggest sign that this was not a place to dine at was when we first walked in for dinner. There were a number of large tables of 10+ that were seated that evening, but no one was eating anything. I'm certain, it wasn't because everyone had just sat down. Plus, the restaurant was eerily quiet-which is extremely unusual for any good Chinese restaurant. Patrons were talking to one another, but since there was nothing to eat, no conversations revolved around the food. Instead, all you could hear was sighing, patrons asking waiters when their food was ready, and silence as patrons sat...waiting. One large table had sat down, waited twenty to thirty minutes before any waiting staff attended them and then left because the staff took so long to give them their drinks and tea. The food we had that night was decent, but for the mere fact that the first dish (a simple cold cut dish) took such a long time to arrive we weren't certain we would try it again.

standard dish for start of meal - this took over 1 hour to arrive!

Enoki mushrooms and veggie: not exceptionally amazing.
A bit on the salty side.

fried rice with XO sauce - there was none to be found!

However, we did eat there again on New Year's Day as Urban China was packed! We headed to Emperor's Palace where there was a fair number of seats available. Again, this was probably the sign we should have heeded. Once again service was slow, there were only a few dim sum carts with few of the signature dim sum dishes, and portions were incredibly small. The other rather annoying fact was that waiters constantly tried to sell you the same dishes within a very short period of time!

One of the dishes they tried to sell us again and again: bbq pork

Siu mai: a bit on the small side & slightly salty

Ha gaw - This had a particularly thick skin
and shrimp inside had an interesting taste

Their one redeeming point: They didn't have a variety of
dim sum dishes (it was only 12pm), so they agreed
to make this steamed bean curd wrap for us.

All in all, if you're hoping to eat some good solid dim sum in Edmonton I would highly suggest another restaurant other than Emperor's Palace. You may be impressed with its size and grandeur, but you'll be rather disappointed with their quality of food service. You'll definitely be better off waiting and eating at Urban China or do a short drive south to The Unforgettable Chinese Restaurant.

Emperor's Palace
10638 100 St
Edmonton, AB
(780) 757-2288

Big City Cupcakes - Adding another one to the mix

2011-01-31T01:21:00.000-05:00

I finally had a chance to try out Big City Cupcakes in Edmonton City Centre (East) Mall as I had a conference this weekend. During a break, we passed by the shop and decided to take a look at the cupcakes. I can't say my intention was to purchase one as I was simply perusing at first. Pictured below are a variety of their cupcakes.

As you can see, they have some pretty hefty toppings and yes, those cupcakes although priced the same as other cupcake shops ($2.95) are much bigger (sorry the picture doesn't do them much justice)! While browsing, I asked, "What made their cupcakes different" from the other stores. Turns out I had the perfect people to ask, as the owners of this particular store, Sonia & Garry were in that day! Sonia & Garry were quick to give me a nice overview of their cupcakes. While they sell "regular" cupcakes their premium cupcakes are bigger in size, and some have cupcakes that are filled. All the ingredients in these cupcakes are from large brand-name baking supplies - such as Philadelphia cream cheese and are made with real whipping cream (i.e. for the ganache). I also asked Sonia & Garry, what they thought of the 'moistness factor' in these cupcakes. They were optimistic that we would not be disappointed. Clearly, Dan & I were eager to try it out as you can see Dan making a purchase in the picture below!

Sonia & Garry were also eager to show us some of the ice cream flavours that were now available in their store. Now you may wonder, how come they serve ice cream in a cupcake store? Well, each of the ice cream flavours correspond with most of their cupcakes. We tried a sample of the strawberry cheesecake (as this was one of the cupcakes we had purchased), a sample of peanut butter cup, another peanut-flavoured one and coconut. By far, the coconut ice cream was the winner as its smooth flavour tasted like real coconuts (I'm sure there was some measure of real coconut shavings in as well!).

With regards to the two peanut-flavoured ice creams: One was really interesting since Dan said it tasted exactly like peanuts (though he really liked the coconut ice cream Note: Dan isn't a normal fan of coconut-flavoured food). The peanut butter cup was a tad sweet, but I enjoyed the creamy texture of the strawberry cream cheese ice cream. This one also matched nicely with its cupcake contemporary. Another interesting fact is that all of the ice creams they get are hand mixed so real peanuts are mixed into the ice cream, strawberries, coconut etc..

Now, if you've been to Big City Cupcakes downtown, you'll notice that they don't have room for a kitchen. That's because they have a bakery in town where all the cupcakes are made (for both locations - Kingsway & Downtown). In fact, Big City Cupcakes is originally from Vancouver. The bakery they have in Edmonton makes as many cupcakes that each location believes they need for the day and they arrive at their respective locations super fresh and moist in the early hours of the morning. Sonia & Garry also try to keep the moistness of their cupcakes to a maximum by using a closed display case - which is not often seen in most cupcake stores. Big City Cupcakes also makes cupcakes for those with Gluten Sensitive or Egg & Dairy Sensitive Diets - though I believe those are only available on certain days of the week.

Oh and I must not forget about the cupcakes we had that day! Below, in the foreground is the Red Velvet Cheesecake with a baked in cheesecake filling topped with cream cheese icing. In the background, is the Strawberry Cheesecake with a cheese cake filling topped with strawberry cream cheese icing. In terms of moistness and density these cupcakes had it! I did find the strawberry cream cheese icing a tad sweet, though Dan enjoyed it. I liked the velvet cupcake topped with its cream cheese icing and didn't find that one too sweet. There is no crust on these cupcakes, but I don't think that was the driving point behind them. The unique aspect to these cupcakes is that they had cheesecake baked into the cupcake. Not only was this unique, but it gave the cupcakes more texture and body.

I know that most people are saying that cupcakes are out and pies are in. However, the next time it's someone's birthday, I'm thinking it'll be more likely that I purchase some cupcakes or a cake for a friend instead of a pie. Not sure how aesthetically pleasing candles in a pie would look? Either way, I didn't get to try a cupcake with their butter cream topping, so I'm definitely slated to go to Big City Cupcakes for one of their chocolate cupcakes with some sort of butter cream topping!

Big City Cupcakes - Edmonton City Centre (East food court)

(780) 421-4263

Suite 21, 10205 101 NW St.

Edmonton, AB

www.bigcitycupcakes.com

Food Vacationing in Calgary - Day 2 CHARCUT Roast House

2011-01-19T23:09:00.002-05:00

For our second day of food vacationing in Calgary, we were eager to find a restaurant that would cap off our trip. After looking at a number of Calgary foodie blogs, Open Table for ideas, and checking out various restaurant's websites - only to find that most were closed on Monday nights, we settled on CHARCUT. As I didn't have access to internet for the rest of the day, I had no idea what to expect for dinner. The restaurant was relatively easy to find, with their location right across the street from the Calgary tower and beside Hotel Le Germain. The only difficulty my friend experienced was finding parking near the restaurant due to the number of one-way streets in downtown Calgary.

Dan & I had made reservations through Open Table earlier that day, so upon walking in (and having our coats checked) we were immediately seated at our table - which was in a great location! Not only could we see the street view and the door, but it lent us the opportunity to look out on the restaurant's activities and to peer behind us at the open kitchen - where all the food passed the final prep stage.

While we were waiting, Chef Connie came by and introduced herself to us. She also left a small sample plate behind for us to try. Pictured below are slices of their house-made sausage topped with Parmesan and shaved lamb with Gruyere cheese. These samples were excellent and it was a great way to start the night!

After some thinking over the menu we settled on two smaller plates and a charcuterie board to share. This seemed like the best choice as we wanted to get a good sample of the different types of charcuterie meats. Here they are!

Brioche with Marrow Butter and Maldon Salt ($4)

The brioche was beautiful, fresh and toasted just right.

Plus, the maldon salt was not overly bearing.

Duck Fat Poutine with Cheese Curds and Truffle Gravy (yes, Duck Fat!!) - ($8)

I can't tell you how amazing this poutine is. This is probably one of the best

poutines I've ever had. It was incredibly flavourful, likely from the duck fat and

the addition of the truffle gravy! It was a melt in your mouth lingering taste of truffle gravy

and fat (not just as a heat source) but you could taste the fat.

The Charcut Board containing the signature Pig's Head Mortadella, lamb with gruyere, salumi with parmesan, slow-cooked shaved ham, pork croquettes and house-made brassica mustard and aioli sauce! ($36)

After a very satisfying dinner, Chef Connie came by again to see how the dinner went. Needless to say, all we had were praises and exclamations of how enjoyable each dish was, including the Pig head Mortadella. Did you know that it takes almost an entire a weekend for them to prep the pig heads? From our conversation with Chef Connie, all the pig heads come in from local farmers on a Friday for instance. Then, they take all the meat out of the pig heads to season them etc...After the seasoning they stuff the meat back into the pig heads, sew the heads up and cook them (can't recall how long though). Then, when it its finished they let the meat sit for the weekend. Finally, the meat is done and that's the amazing taste you have when you try their pig head mortadello! Of course depending on what the seasons are for that week, each time you go it will likely be different.

Oh and of course, we had to have dessert while we were at Charcut. Pictured below is the chocolate torte with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Torte ($8)

Compliments of the chef - their no bake cheesecake in a mason jar created by layers of cream cheese

and graham crackers topped with house-made cranberry preserves and caramel pieces.

Although, I'm partial to chocolate, this one was the winner!

All in all, a great meal to complete our two day eating trip in Calgary. Service at Charcut was consistently attentive throughout the evening, our water was always filled, servers reminded us what the dishes were when they arrived and the dessert was stellar. With house-made cranberry preserves and layers of cheese and graham crackers you cannot go wrong! I will definitely return to Charcut on my next visit to Calgary!

Charcut Roast House
101 899 Centre Street SW
Calgary, AB T2G 1B8
(403) 984-2180
www.charcut.com

Calgary Trip Day 1!

2011-01-12T19:30:00.002-05:00

Ever since moving to Edmonton, I've visited Calgary several times. However, every time I've gone I've always visited and eaten at the same places! Since I wasn't able to go away for Christmas, I decided that I would head down to Calgary and treat it as a vacation. So, that was my intention, to "eat" my way around Calgary as if I was tourist! Everything we did had to be unique! Of course, most of the places we went to focused heavily on food! Most of the research we did was done the day of as we didn't have much time to research before going. So, here are some quick highlights of where we went.
First stop upon arriving in Calgary shortly after 2pm was FARM on 17 Ave. I had just read about it earlier that day, so I was happy to have a chance to try it out. Everything at FARM is sourced from local farmers. They even have a beautiful map in their washroom depicting where all the different farmers are around FARM and what they purchase from the farmers.

Definitely a great way to start our food adventures in Calgary. The chabichou du Poitou was a great recommendation from our waitress. It was a firm goat cheese which worked nicely with the accompanying shaved radish & toasted baguette. The soup of the day was equally satisfying with crunchy croutons and a bit of spice. Most of all, I loved my brioche french toast topped with apples & fresh cream. One selection of cheese was $5.50, the soup was around $8 and the french toast around $13.
While we were sitting there, I remember commenting to Dan that we should get some coffee later. The next thing I know, the guy next to our table recommends a great coffee shop around the corner. So, that is where we headed next (after some walking of course!). The place we were directed to was Cafe Beano which really is right around the corner from FARM.

Super huge mocha to stay @ Cafe Beano (aprox $3.75).
Look at the size of it! I think there were several shots of espresso in this!

After reading a bit, we looked up some restaurants on twitter, food blogs & the Avenue Calgary's best restaurant guide. We finally settled on Globefish Sushi & Izakaya at their Kensington location.

Salmon lover's roll with salmon, salmon skin & lettuce with with smoked salmon ($9.95)

Vancouver roll with fresh tuna, mango, salmon & avocado ($8.25)

Tuna Katsu: albacore tuna which is lightly deep fried with
avocado & tobiko and ponzu sauce ($10.95)

mm..Can't remember name of this one.
It was cucumber, salmon & tuna sashimi wrapped in what felt like
the wrapping in those clear Vietnamese springrolls and peanut
tasting sauce. A bit of an odd combination truthfully.

Regardless, a great day for food adventures in Calgary. The Calgary Avenue was a great help to figuring out where to eat in Calgary for our first day of food touristing in Calgary.

FARM
1006-17 Ave SW.
Calgary, AB
403-245-2276
www.farm-restaurant.com

Cafe Beano
1613 9 St. SW.
Calgary, AB
Mon - Wed 6am - 11pm
Thu - Fri 6am - midnight
Sat 7am - midnight
Sun 7am - 11pm
http://caffebeano.ca/

Globefish Sushi & Izakaya - Kensington
332- 14 St. NW.
Calgary, AB.
403-521-0222
Monday - Friday: Lunch 11:30am - 2:00pm, Dinner 5:00pm - 9:30pm
Saturday, Sunday & Holidays : Lunch 12:00pm - 2:30pm, Dinner 5:00pm - 9:30pm
http://www.globefish.ca/index.asp

Triple Date at the Pourhouse finishing with Twisted Yogurt

2010-12-22T23:45:00.061-05:00

the decor inside

Finally, my computer is working & the blog is loading again. I was experiencing some difficulties for a while! Anyways, quick update of this place we went to in November on Whyte Ave. Went to The Pourhouse Bier Bistro as some friends and I were curious about the food after looking at their menu online. Located where the former Flavours restaurant was on Whyte Ave, it seemed that the Pourhouse took over most of the previous owners tables & chairs. The restaurant does have itself set up as a sports bar with big screen t.vs and a rather extensive beer menu. We visited on a Saturday night, the night before the Grey Cup incidentally. There didn't seem to be many tables that night, perhaps 3 other tables aside from ours. However, this was perhaps a good thing, as our table was definitely the loudest one as one of my friend's has quite the laugh! :) Here's what we had that night.

Pulled pork burger with salad - it even had some nice chickpeas in it ($12)

"Pourhouse burger" with salad: happily endorsed by my friend here.

Chicken Sandwich with salad and chipotle on the side

Mac 'n cheese: My friend was craving comfort food so she chose this.
Sadly, there didn't seem to be enough cheese in this Mac'n cheese.

Tables & chairs along the length of the restaurant.
If you keep following it, it leads you towards the washroom.
Speaking of washrooms, I think those are important things to look at
when at a restaurant! They say the extent of a restaurant's washroom
may indicate how their kitchen is like. This one had a good one! :)

Overall, the food at the Pourhouse Bistro is decent. The one thing we did notice, is that there are no fries on the menu. Or at any rate, there were no fries offered as an option with our meals. This is probably for the better, as the salads were quite tasty. Their signature Pourhouse Burger was said to be also decent as well. After all, we were at a bar, so it was around the standards of a regular bar's burger. The dinner menu here at Pourhouse Bistro is not extensive in any way, which may be a good thing as it allows them to focus on a few items. It would be nice to actually have cocktails though, as it was listed on the menu (we went in November) so perhaps that has changed now. We would also have appreciated if they updated the menu on their website as it was advertising specials that unfortunately, were "last month's specials". For the time being, I believe all of our curiosities were met re: the new restaurant on Whyte Ave. Not sure when we'll be back next though as there were few 'unique' aspects pulling us in. Plus there is some hefty competition around Whyte Ave as Marianne & Charles from Loosen your Belt mentioned in their review back in October 2010.

After dinner, we all headed to Twisted Yogurt down on Calgary Trail. The place is really bright and open with the potential yogurts lined up along one wall. Plus, you can sample your way through all the yogurts before settling on your choice. Just remember, they measure everything by weight so don't put too many heavy fruits (i.e. pineapples) into your yogurt!

Dan's choice of Mango & Passionfruit mixed yogurt
with his choice of fruits & granola

mm..lots of fruits & berries!

Total price for both of ours came to around $7. Of course, it depends on what types of toppings you put on your yogurt. I would definitely recommend a visit to this place the next time you're in the south of Edmonton. Plus, there seems to be a really neat Sushi restaurant (?) that was going to open next to it! Currently, they have two locations in Edmonton - one in Sherwood Park and one in Edmonton South Park area. According to their website, there will be one opening on Whyte Ave in June 2010 so look out for that one! Definitely, going to bring a bit of competition to the area with Marble Slab also on the Ave.

Pourhouse Bier Bistro

(780) 757-7687

Edmonton, AB
10354 82 Ave NW
http://www.thepourhouse.ca/

Twisted Yogurt

#650-3803 Calgary Trail

Edmonton, AB

780-440-4955

http://www.twistedyogurt.com/index.html

home cooked meals

2010-12-02T23:22:00.002-05:00

Certainly, there are a number of food items I would eat for dinner in Edmonton. From sweet potato fries & Po-boys at Dadeo's, to salmon sashimi at Wasabi or any choice of delectable desserts from Duchess. True, desserts are not dinner items, but it would be a good way to end the meal! Regardless, of all the vast array of choices available, I am a firm believer that the best steak is the one you make at home. So, that is what I had for dinner today. A nice juicy steak (again from the handy Sobey's downstairs for only $2) topped with mushrooms ($1) and accompanied with the potato, carrot & onion soup from last night (approximately $2). So dinner for two at home comes up to $10.

Recipe for Delicious steak

2-3 cloves of chopped garlic

ground pepper

steak (we used sirloin tip this time)

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

1. Place steak in mixing bowl and add in chopped garlic

2. Ground pepper

3. Mix in olive oil

4. Start pan at high heat. Place some garlic in pan with olive oil.

5. Once garlic starts to sizzle, place steak in pan.

6. Sear for 1-2 minutes each side (depending on thickness of steak)

7. Place steak on plate, cover and let it rest while working on mushroom sauce.

Mushroom Sauce

200g mushrooms (or 12 whole mushrooms), sliced

1 clove garlic

1 tsp or 2 of cornstarch

1. Taking the same pan you used to cook the steak, add a bit of water to the pan.

2. Add garlic to pan and let it sizzle.

3. Add mushrooms.

4. Let mushrooms cook with the steak juice & mushrooms until desired softness.

5. In a separate bowl add cornstarch and a bit of water. Mix well.

6. Add cornstarch mixture to mushrooms and stir.

7. Continue stirring until desired consistency is reached.

8. Spoon mushroom sauce on steak and enjoy!

Time for more soup & some extra taste!

2010-12-01T20:17:00.001-05:00

Ah Winter. How it makes one so cold! In order to combat the coldness I decided to make some more soup. It also helped that the handy-dandy Sobey's downstairs was selling soup stock at 2 for $1! I also had a good smattering of baby carrots left over (also $1), some potatoes from Danprime's parents (yes, those are purple potatoes!), and one large onion. I just spent the past 20 minutes chopping everything up following the recipe that I used from my last post on soup and now waiting for it simmer away! Oh and I also added in a small piece of something for extra flavouring. Can you guess what it is?

The Unforgettable Chinese Restaurant

2010-11-14T18:42:00.004-05:00

Did the title catch your eye? Yup, you're reading it correctly! There IS a restaurant in Edmonton with this name. Located on your left as you travel south on Calgary Trail, The Unforgettable Chinese Restaurant may be easy to miss; however, there is a sign with that states "Dim Sum Daily". You may also think that it is a rather interesting name for a Chinese restaurant. In fact, the restaurant's actual name in Chinese is completely different ("hey seung hey"). However, once you visit the restaurant your doubts will disappear.

First off, their dimsum is not only good, but also very fresh! It's on a per order basis, so while there are no carts, once you order an item on their sheet they make it just for you. Secondly, their location, although not easily accessible, is rather busy on a Saturday morning and during the weekdays which is always a good sign when it comes to dim sum. Thirdly, their service is attentive and they are very happy to provide suggestions - especially for a weekday dinner and when you're unsure of what you're reading on the bilingual menu.

My first visit to this restaurant was during the May long weekend for dimsum. My parents were in town and a family friend highly recommended it. Here are a few of the items that we had for dimsum that Sunday.

Red Bean Filled Deep Fried Sesame Balls

Stuffed Eggplant

Siu Mai

Ha Gow

Lotus-Wrapped steamed Sticky Rice

Steamed Radish Cake

Near the end of October, I visited again with danprime and we had a few different items. Again, this restaurant does not disappoint, as all dim sum dishes are tasty and fresh!

Thousand-Year Old Egg with Congee

(danprime says it's one of the best tasting congee for $5.50 in Edmonton)

Rice Noodle Wrapped Chinese Doughnut (crispy and fresh)

Deep Fried Shrimp Wrapped in Tofu

Pan-Fried Radish Cake (Highly Recommended)

Now their traditional Chinese desserts are something you have to try. I think that this is the highlight of my visits. If you ever have a chance to try this restaurant, make sure you have room to eat one of their desserts - and yes it goes awesome with the dimsum!

Goji-Seed Glass Jelly

Broiled Tapioca Pudding With Shredded Coconut (Highly Recommended)

Mango Pudding with Condensed Milk (my personal go-to dessert and favourite)

As for directions, head south on Calgary trail from Whyte (82) Ave. You'll pass 72 Ave and the restaurant will be on your immediate left. Don't blink or you'll miss it (see picture above for what the front looks like). Parallel parking is available in front of the restaurant.

The friendly owners and very clean restaurant make for a pleasant and memorable visit. They serve traditional Chinese dishes and their menu is completely bilingual in both Chinese and English. I'm positive that they are more than happy to explain or translate anything for you. The portion sizes and prices for congee and the noodle dishes are very reasonable. We definitely plan to visit the "Unforgettable Chinese Restaurant" more often.

Unforgettable Chinese Restaurant
7219 104 St
(780) 431-0220

Fall Chills calls for Soup

2010-10-23T19:29:00.002-04:00

September definitely flew by. Since it was rather brisk 'fall-like' in September I decided on trying two new things in increasing my cooking knowledge and skills. First, I would use the recipes from the Stop's Good Food for All recipe book as inspiration to make some good easy comfort food and and secondly, to learn how to make soup. Yes, I've never made soup before. Not sure why I've never ventured into this territory, but since I was feeling rather cold most of September I figured that it would be a good time to try. For my first soup, I decided to make some hearty potato and carrot soup. Prepping for this soup was actually really easy! It also helps that I have an immersion blender (my birthday present to myself last year) to blend the soup to a smooth and tasty consistency. Here's what I put into my soup:
1 onion (chopped & diced)
2 pieces of garlic chopped
3 cups of chicken stock
3 large potatoes - diced (for this one I used a couple of small potatoes from the garden)
2 carrots (peeled & diced)
1 cup of milk
Shaved asiago cheese

1. Chop onion into pieces and cook for about 10 minutes or until you're finished peeling and dicing other ingredients (I also threw in 2 pieces of chopped garlic for taste).
2. Once onions are mushy, pour in chicken stock.
3. Turn heat up.
4. Add in chopped potatoes and carrots.

5. Let soup boil for about 20-25 minutes; until potatoes are soft.
6. Take off heat. Place the immersion blender in and blend until your desired consistency.

7. Pour in 1 cup of milk and stir until well mixed.

8. Pepper & salt to taste.

9. Add a dash of asiago cheese before serving.

More must-eats in Montreal

2010-10-18T19:50:00.001-04:00

Before I blog about the many delicious soups I've been cooking up, let me show you two more food items you 'must-eat' while in Montreal. First up is Schwartz's. We actually went to Schwartz's shortly after hot sandwiches were available (around 10am) for an early Sunday morning smoked meat sandwich. This was important, as there is virtually no line at this time.

A variety of lean, regular, and extra fat sandwiches ready to be eaten (each $5.90).
Oh and do you see that sign up in the corner? The one about 13.95/pound of smoked meat that is hot or cold? My friend bought about 6.6 pounds of that (almost a small baby!) to bring back to Toronto. I'm guessing her family is still enjoying small chunks of smoked meat from Montreal!

Pickles always make sandwiches taste so much better!

Another food item you must eat while in Montreal is poutine! This poutine was from a restaurant in Old Montreal. Cheese curds make a big difference in poutine. They must have that squeaky feeling to it as you bite in. Drizzled with just the right amount of gravy and accompanied with little nibblets of fries.

Schwartz's Montreal
3895 Saint-Laurent Blvd.
Montreal, QB
(514) 842-4813
http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/

Upscale dining in Montreal - at Le Pois Penche

2010-10-15T18:38:00.001-04:00

To complete our grand food tour of our full day in Montreal, it felt quite appropriate to eat at a french restaurant. We chose Le Pois Penche mainly because a co-worker had recommended it. Looking at their menu you may be slightly taken aback by their rather expensive prices. They are after all a traditional brasserie with all the usuals complete with a list of overpriced wines. They also advertise themselves as an upscale dining experience that is unpretentiousness with good service. While some reviews by patrons (e.g. chowhound, travelocity, expedia etc..) agree with them, most that I found while researching a bit about the restaurant found them to have rather pretentious and arrogant waiters, bad service, but solid food. My friends and I decided that we would try out the restaurant for ourselves and see how it went. First, to start our visit to the restaurant on a positive note, we made a reservation for 8:30pm on a Saturday night one day before our visit. The woman on the phone seemed rather friendly and was quickly able to confirm that their prix frixe menu ($23) was still available for a Saturday night dining experience (this was the main reason we wanted to try this restaurant).
Upon arriving at Le Pois Penche, the atmosphere seemed hurried and laid back at the same time. Making a reservation ahead of time was a good idea as we were quickly shown to our table while other guests waited a tad longer. The restaurant was fairly full for 8:30pm, there were patrons at the bar, enjoying their meals with friends and at the oyster bar. We sat down and were quickly given some crunchy baguettes to chew on. The waiter introduced himself, gave a few suggestions about wines (although wasn't very certain about recommending a particular type of white wine), and drink orders appeared fairly promptly afterwards.

There were 5 prix fixe available all paired with our choice of soup or salad. There was the pan seared salmon, the 'Curtis chicken', steak frites, fillet of sole, and the pappardelle pasta roasted duck with spring truffles. For $23 this seemed like a fair price. Here is what we ended up ordering.

Lobster Bisque: Another try at lobster bisque,
hoping that it wouldn't be as salty as the one at L'academie.
This one included some sour cream which was a nice complement.
It also helped that the soup was hot, creamy, and not too salty!

The Salad option

Pan seared Salmon with fresh seafood broth & garden vegetables

Fillet of sole: with tomatoes & feta cheese, black olive tempenade
and "fresh tomato salad" (in this case, I think it became 2 pieces of bok choy!?).
Really odd combination with the large pieces of boy choy. Somewhat out of place right?

By the end of our prix fixe meal all appeared happy with their selection. Service may have been inconsistent at times (e.g. waiting for refill for water), but still fairly decent as they were attentive to requests. Their only drawback was that it took a tad longer to complete the request. We didn't find anything close to the negative remarks made by other previous patrons and we enjoyed our time at Le Pois Penche. I would recommend, though, that if you were to go to order off the prix fixe menu. This really seemed to be the best choice for quality, quantity and cost. Other entrees around the restaurant looked equally appetizing, but I'm certain it was for a much higher price! We ended our meal with some delicious profiteroles as one of my friends had never tried them before. They were light, fluffy, stuffed with vanilla ice cream (which I think is much better than cream) and perfectly delicious. Drizzled with just the right amount of chocolate sauce they were a great end to our meal.

Le Pois Penche
1230 de Maisonneuve Ouest
Montreal, QC
(514) 667-5050
closest station - Peel
www.lepoispenche.com

More montreal eats!

2010-10-14T20:47:00.001-04:00

I apologize for the time between my last post to this one since my computer has been rather inconsistent as of late - starting up and working, then starting up and freezing! It has been quite a battle! Luckily I backed up all my pictures, was finally able to find a computer to use, and can now share with you more Montreal Eats, Toronto eats & some new ones you may not have tried around Edmonton!
So, going back to Montreal. After the market we hit up my latest favorite french dessert/snack - macarons at La Maison du Macaron. The shop is quite small and tucked away off a main street on Rue de la Roche. However, once inside you're greeted with a macaron tree, huge macarons (see below!), and rows upon rows of various flavoured macarons! I was in macaron heaven!!

huge macarons!

Of course samples make it even better!

Look at those pied!

Since I was after all in a macaron house, I had to pick up a box for my family. I picked up Noisette (hazelnut), Pistache (pistachio), Citron (lemon), Fruit de la Passion (passion fruit), Chocolat au lait (Milk Chocolate), and Framboise (raspberry). One box of 6 macarons was $8. Next stop after sweets is something salty! On the way to our next food destination, we stopped by St. Viateur Bagel and picked up a dozen fresh hot bagels to bring home. Despite the bagels' freshness beckoning to us, we were stuffed - mainly from lunch at the market and eating a good plate of samples at the macaron house!

One of the many famous St. Viateur Bagel cafes

Bagels all ready to be bought & eaten hot!

With warm bagels in hand we quickly hopped on the subway to one of the Juliette et Chocolate shops. The rain was coming down fairly hard by then, but that didn't dampen our spirits as we were anticipating some yummy crepes & chocolate. We were definitely not disappointed! Below is our milk chocolate, banana & strawberry crepe, my dark chocolate and raspberry smoothie (which just about ruined my appetite for dinner as I spent had to take the rest with me in a to-go cup and spent almost 2 hours trying to finish it off!), and my friend's White chocolate with Bailey's smoothie.

La Maison du Macaron
4479 de la Roche
Montreal, Quebec
closest station - Mont Royal
tel: (514) 759-9290
www.lamaisondumacaron.com

St. Viateur Bagel
3 locations throughout montreal. I went to the one at 1127 Mont Royal East
tel: (514) 528-6361
http://www.stviateurbagel.com/content/?id=63

Juliette et Chocolat
various locations across town.
1. 1615 St-Denis
2. 377 Laurier Ouest (corner of Parc)
3. 3600 St-Laurent (corner of Prince-Arthur)
http://www.julietteetchocolat.com

A Saturday morning in Montreal - Jean Talon Market & Première Moisson

2010-09-08T21:32:00.001-04:00

With only one full day in Montreal, my girlfriends and I intended to make the most out of it. In order to help with our food ventures and of course to see a bunch of places in Montreal within a short span of a day, we figured that buying the one day pass was the best bang for our buck. For $7 each, all of Montreal was accessible complete with the added bonus of the ticket being good for a full 24 hours from the time of purchase! With tickets in hand, we ventured far north on the metro line to our first stop the Jean Talon Market.

Lots of vendors with food to sample & buy!

Yes, you're seeing clearly!
That entire bucket (smaller ones) of roma tomatoes is $5!!

Rows upon rows of fresh vegetables & fruits.

hot hot peppers!!

After touring the market for a bit we started getting hungry. With the rain coming down faster, we quickly ducked into a place where a number of people were eating. Since, I hadn't paid attention to where we had gone, I quickly realized that we were in one of Montreal's well known bakeries - La Première Moisson. This is not just any bakery as they had fresh breads, pastries and cakes to buy, charcuterie, sandwiches and salads. They even had a tasting station!

Charcuterie, meat, pastries and desserts to purchase.

Their lunch special that day was your choice of half a sandwich,
a salad, and a soup or dessert with a hot drink for $11.51.
Pictured above is half a ham & swiss with a side salad.

I went with the dessert as I had heard so much about it.
Strawberry shortcake.

Another 'salad' option to accompany the sandwich.

Marche Jean-Talon

7070 Avenue Henri Julien
Montreal, Quebec H2S3A3
(514) 277-1588

http://www.marche-jean-talon.com/

Subway: Station Jean-Talon or Station de Castelnau (the market runs for several blocks along Rue Jean Talon)

La Première Moisson

http://www.premieremoisson.com/index/

various locations around Montreal. This one was located inside Jean-Talon Market.

Montreal - Restaurant L'Académie (Crescent St)

2010-08-25T01:32:00.002-04:00

Since Restaurant l'académie had been recommended by a few friends we decided to eat there on our first night in Montreal. This also worked out well as we had planned on walking down St.Catherines street to do some shopping before heading to dinner.

There are actually several Restaurant l'académie in Montreal. We ended up eating at their popular Crescent street location, just off of Rue Sainte Catherine. The big drawing point at l'académie is that they have a relatively good price point for their food and that you can BYOB. There also doesn't seem to be a corking fee attached, so needless to say there were

many patrons around us bringing not just one or two bottles of wine, but cases of them!

A quick glance at their dinner menu indicated that they had a mix of French and Italian style dishes. They also had some dinner specials where you could choose from a soup or salad, a main, and a coffee or tea ranging in price from $20.95 (Italian sausage penne) to $33.95 (grilled fillet of beef with port sauce). We all decided on the soup of the day (lobster bisque) as we were all feeling a bit cold.

Lobster Bisque ($2.95)
notes: We were super excited about this soup originally as we craved something warm.
Unfortunately, this particular lobster bisque was super salty, to the point that we could not taste the lobster
or any seafood flavour at all. Luckily their fresh baguettes came in handy to help sop up the soup - but by this time we used it mainly to have something hot in our system.

Fettucinie Nastabe: Smoked Salmon, green onions in a cream sauce ($15.95)

Spaghetti Bolognese: tomatoes & viande ($14.95)

Linguine Vongole: clams in a tomato and white wine sauce ($15.95)

Thankfully, the pastas tasted much better than our starters and were a decent portion size. I ended up eating most of my pasta as leftovers was not a viable option given that we were staying at a hotel with no fridge. Plus, we doubted that we would actually eat the leftovers when we got back to the hotel.

Restaurant L'Académie @ Crescent street is arguably a decently nice restaurant with beautiful furnishings and decor. They're also able to successfully seat and serve a large number of patrons in their 3 story restaurant. It was evidently busy as we were seated quite next to their kitchen and could see servers moving back and forth while we were there. Service was prompt in the beginning, but began to dwindle off as the night got later and more patrons arrived - there was a second wave around 9pm. Nevertheless, a good place to go if you're looking for decent priced food, large portion sizes, and the ability to BYOB - just stay away from their lobster bisque.

Restaurant L'Académie - Crescent Street location

2100 Crescent Street

Montreal, QB

(514)664-4455

http://www.lacademie.ca/ (check website for other locations)

Mon-Thu,Sun 11:30am-10pm

Fri-Sat 11:30am-10:30pm

also note: restaurants close early in Montreal!

Montreal - Le Westin, Olive & Gourmando

2010-08-22T19:53:00.004-04:00

This past weekend, I headed to Montreal for a girl's trip. We decided that the most economical, time saving, and relaxing way was to use Via Rail to travel there. This was definitely the best choice, since our Via rail itinerary had us leaving Toronto Union Station at 6:50am arriving in Montreal at 12:30pm. To make our trip extra relaxing, we ended up staying at the beautiful Le Westin Montreal ; partly because it was situated in the perfect place (with Old Montreal behind the hotel and new montreal in front), their heavenly beds & heavenly shower heads of course, and finally what made it much more affordable was their 'pay rates equal to your birth year' (i.e.paying regular price for the 1st night, and then the 'pay your age' for the 2nd night).
Right after settling into our hotel, we set out to explore the city and to get ourselves some lunch; albeit a late one as finding our hotel, checking in and settling into our room took a bit of time. Since Olive & Gourmando was only 0.68 km from our hotel in Old Montreal we decided to head there. Upon arriving, there were quite a few people in the restaurant. Our wait was not too long - about 10 minutes and we were soon shown our table. Ordering at Olive & Gourmando reminds one of being in a Marche where a table is reserved for you, you`re handed a piece of paper and when you order you pass your paper over so she can write down your order. Once you`re done ordering, you sit down and wait for your food. Thankfully, my ability to read French although limited was not horrible so I was able to make out the various sandwiches and soups available for the day.

One of the only hot sandwiches left: goat cheese melt with
carmelized onions and ketchup for dipping

pastries galore!

Tomatoes, cuban chicken, guacamole - this one had a
slight kick to it after a few bites

These very very delicious - a bit on the pricey side though for 3.25 each
Olive & Gourmando
http://www.oliveetgourmando.com
351 St. Paul West
Old Montreal, QB
Tuesday - Sat: 8am-6pm

Le Westin Montreal
270 St. Antoine West
514-380-3333
closest to station Square-Victoria or Place d`armes
http://www.westinmontreal.com/

Vancouver Eats - Kintaro Ramen

2010-08-19T19:25:00.000-04:00

Here is another delicious place to try out from my short trip to Vancouver. Since Dan needed to beef up on the carbs before his marathon the next day, Kintaro Ramen fit the bill perfectly. Their portions are positively huge! Typically, the wait for Kintaro is often long but we got there right before the rush around 6pm. The only thing about Kintaro is that they don't seat your party until everyone is present. Luckily all my dinnermates arrived promptly and we didn't lose out on the only big table available in the restaurant.

Open kitchen with bar seating around.

Miso Ramen - bean sprouts, onion, menma, corn & bbq pork ($7.95)
notes: Very filling! The entire bowl was filled to the brim with noodles and soup stock.

Ramen - blend of soybean paste, 12 spices from 4 different regions.
note: on the spicy side. Again, super filling and filled to the brim.

Shoyu Ramen a - bean sprouts, menma, nori and BBQ pork ($7.25)

Miso Ramen again - but with green onions

Gyoza - $3.75 for 5 pieces

Overall, the food at Kintaro Ramen was great. The noodles were fresh and had a nice firmness to it as you bit into the noodles (not soggy, or undercooked). Clearly, a great way to fill up on carbs. Just remember to go early before the rush, or you'll be stuck outside staring hungrily at the patrons downing their gigantic bowls of ramen.

Kintaro Ramen

788 Denman St.

Vancouver, BC

(604) 682-7568

Go Fish Ocean Emporium in Vancouver

2010-08-16T10:44:00.000-04:00

At my last trip out to Vancouver, my friends and I went to the much talked about Go Fish - located by the docks a short walk from Granville Island. The day was beautiful, sunny, and perfect for outside eating. Unfortunately, since it was such a beautiful day and a saturday, the wait for our order was rather lengthy. Go Fish is known for their fish tacones, scallop burgers, fish & chips and everything is very fresh. Here's what we got after a considerably long wait.

Much talked about scallop burgers. Super fresh & yummy.
Can't tell you much about the texture of the scallops since I
was so hungry from the waiting, that I didn't notice.
Coleslaw, had a sesame-asian flair to it.

Fish Tacones. Moist, juicy goodness. Lemons on the side for extra flavour.

Fish chowder.

So, I must say that though the food was incredibly tasty and the view while eating was amazing, the wait for the food was somewhat too long. However, if you're a tourist like I was that day I'm certain that you will want to check out Go Fish at least once! Just try to go at odd hours of the day, call in your order or go when the day isn't sunny and warm so the lineups will be less.

Go Fish
1501 1 Ave. West
Vancouver, BC
(604) 730-5040

Wholesome Goodness - Oatmeal Chocolate & Raisin Cookies

2010-08-11T14:17:00.000-04:00

After waking up from a rather long nap Sunday afternoon, I decided that I wanted a warm chocolate cookie. So, I set about to make this one chocolate cookie and ended up making a whole batch of them! And then I made whole new batch today as there was a request for plain oatmeal raisin ones. Here's half a batch of those cookies jam-packed (as you can see) with oatmeal and raisins.

Except, I couldn't resist and ended up making a small batch of oatmeal-raisin and chocolate ones too. We didn't have any chocolate-chips, but a couple bars of Ikea dark chocolate. I chopped half a bar up and sprinkled them into the batter- which seemed to do the trick!

Oatmeal - chocolate raisin

Plate of oatmeal raisin cookies waiting to be devoured

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 to 1 cup butter (the recipe asks for 1 cup, but you can do with much less!)

1/2 cup of white sugar

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 Large eggs

2 tbsp. milk

2 tbsp. vanilla extract (try to use the real one)

2 cups. Flour (I used whole wheat in this one)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups oats

1 cup raisins

1-2 cups chocolate chip (depends on your preference)

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Mix softened butter and sugars

3. Mix in eggs, milk, vanilla extract

4. In separate bowl stir together flour, baking soda & salt

5. Beat flour into wet mixture, slowly

6. Stir in Oats, raisins & chocolate chips/chunks

Bake: 10-15 minutes or until golden brown (check underneath cookie for brown tinges)

baker's suggestion: enjoy with a cup of cold milk or hot coffee!

Sen5es @ the Soho Met - Summerlicious 2010

2010-08-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

Coming back home to Toronto in July also means checking out the amazing Summerlicious Fix Prix menus from some of Toronto's hottest restaurants for lunch or dinner. Restaurants that you've always wanted to try are now mildly affordable with a 3 course meal for the entire month of July. Of course this depends on which restaurant you dine at. So, when the opportunity arose to check out the well known Sen5es located in the equally grande Soho Metropolitan Hotel, I had to go. That, and head chef Patrick Lin, our family friend was on hand to personally oversee dinner.
When we were shown our private dining room at Senses, my dinner companions had a glimpse towards what life as a VIP would feel. The room had a beautiful elegance to it as you can see below.

Before dinner began, Chef Patrick Lin offered us each a canape consisting of a scallop, capers, tomatoes, and microherbs.

Look at the smoothness in that scallop!

Now for the starters. Choices for starters included the following three options:

Tian of red tuna, salmon, and hamachi tartare with layers of avocado, tomato,
cucumber and aged balsamic vinegar & spicy mayo
Note: This is the one I had. The flavours in this dish worked perfectly together. As you ate through the layers of fish the avocado and cucumber gave the flavours some depth. So good!

chilled tomato gazpacho with lobster medallions

thinly sliced roasted veal tenderloin with a tea smoked egg on a bed of
tuna fish sauce and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette

grilled romaine lettuce heart, tofu, green & white asparagus,
portebello dressed with a yuzu truffle soy vinaigrette Dinner options:

prime beef tenderloin in natural jus with tempura prawn, accompanied with
wasabi mashed potatoes, and beans wrapped in bacon.
Note: This is what I ordered. The prime beef was done perfectly at medium rare. The star of the show was the wasabi mashed potatoes. There was a hit of wasabi at first bite, but then quickly went away to normal mash potatoes. The tempura prawn stayed surprisingly crispy until the end of the meal.

Roasted Grand Marnier liquer duck breast in orange duck jus
with a duck leg confit lasagna sprinkled with bread crumbs
Note: Duck Confit Lasanga was great. Break crumbs offset the typical 'saltiness' of the duck confit. Certain that duck confit lovers will enjoy this dish!

From L to R: Fried Oyster Fritter, dungeness crabmeat risotto, and
Mediterranean poached halibut fillet topped with sundried tomato and olive salsa
Notes: Risotta had chunks of Dungeness crab inside and was evidently made the correct way. Halibut seemed to lack a bit on the flavour side, as the other two players seemed to overpower the halibut.
Dessert!

warm peach tart (with an entire half a peach!) with lemon sorbetto

lemon-lavender-blueberry dome with chocolate arts and lemongrass vanilla sauce
Notes: admittedly a bit different for the palate, but worked well together in this case. The lavender flavour came more at the end of the bite.

L to R: Cherry Jubilee, lemon sorbetto, and crepe suzette
notes: Cherry Jubilee was dark and rich, but a bit sour. The menu had indicated 'vanilla icecream', but the icecream we got was certainly lemon sorbetto, so the mix didn't seem to go so well with the already tart cherries and crepe suzette.

Sen5ses - Soho Metropolitan
328 Wellington Street West.
Toronto, ON. M5V 3T2
(416) 935-0400
Dining room: Tuesday-Saturday 6-10pm
Lounge daily from 5pm-1am
http://www.senses.ca/senses_restaurant.html

Most pictures courtesy of Philip Yan

Foodprint Toronto notes - July 31

2010-08-06T10:45:00.000-04:00

        Attending Foodprint Toronto on July 31st was invigorating to say the least. Hopefully people who attended or caught any of their live stream will find a renewed interest in what food sustainability is, urban agriculture, and how we can play our part in the future of our food & the city- wherever we live. The first ever Foodprint Toronto was held at the Artscape Wychwood Barns. Some small tidbits about this space that Foodprint used. It was once used by the TTC to repair their streetcars, and today it is a multi-use complex housing several sustainable projects, community partnerships, the art community, and has gardens and greenhouses managed by The Stop Community Food Centre.
   During the session, I managed to take a few notes and twittered a few tidbits about what was happening. To catch-up on the twitter updates search up #foodprintTO on twitter. Meanwhile, here's a rundown of what happened.
   First up were panelists Jessica Duffin Wolfe (Arts & Book Editor), Barbara Emmanuel (senior policy advisor at Toronto Board of Health & author of the city's new food strategy), Pat Pessotto (VP or Longos - Toronto based grocery store) and Lola Sheppard (partner of an architecture firm). The topic Zoning Diet was admittedly a tad slow for the crowd to jumpstart the discussion. However, it was saved by the discussion between Lola and Pat. At one point, Pat indicated securing land from farmers is something that should be initiated. Lola wondered if that is something that the farmers even wanted. Panelists also discussed how to bring more new players to the food diet and to use the current information. They discussed how they could have a more sustainable food system while navigating the current zoning rules. One panelist wondered how the Ontario Food Terminal (the largest food & distribution terminal located inside T.O which allows farmers to wholesale their food to retailers to be distributed to the farmer markets and to other places) could be used in a 'think outside of the box way'. There was talk about the potential of the OFT, perhaps to even use the OFT for food justice, a way to navigate the system, and perhaps a way to get hold of the compost that comes from the OFT.
   Next up was the topic on Culinary Cartography - What can we learn when we map Toronto using food as the metric with panelists Mike Fram (with an article from the Edible City), Chis Hardwicke (involved in city building projects e.g. Lawrence Heights Development Plan, Taiwan Waterfront), Laurel Atkinson (from Not Far from the Tree), and Darren O'Donnell (novelists, writer, director and more). This talk about Culinary Cartography started off much more upbeat as panelists were asked by moderator Sarah Rich to give a visual of how to map Toronto within their various areas of expertise and experiences. Laurel Atkinson, in order to explain to everyone how their program worked, asked everyone to 'put their fruit goggles' to view the city. Essentially, there are lots of people that volunteer their time to pick fruit on homeowner's land, in public and private places that would often go to waste. That, and last year they saved about nine thousand pounds of fruit! Mike Fram asked everyone to imagine a city growing not as 'peanut butter, but as chunky peanut butter'. Chris indicated that we need to look at how all the systems overlap and Darren talked about how he connected the city between and within different generations by organizing dinners. This, he explained helped to break down the barriers between groups using food. Chris also mentioned that most of the discussions are at a grassroot discussion and has not even reach the policy level. When asked by the moderator how they could change people minds want change now all four indicated that you had to 'occupy the space', to go with it, to not wait for policy to catch up but instead to just start a garden under the hydro lines, to provide people with the means (e.g. providing free childcare, handing out free food) and as Chris O'Donnell suggests, to consider food as an infrastructure in itself. If food was a physical thing, that is giant and has an artistic scope to it, people will want change.
   The third session discussed Edible Archeology. Panelists in this group included Rebecca O'neil (PhD @ UT), Robert Wright (professor), Shawn Micallef (senior editor of Spacing), and Natasha & Andrew Akiwenzie (owners of Akiwenzie's Fish). Andrew was asked to describe a bit about his company and the process they used. As the discussion began, it quickly became clear to the audience that Andrew & Natasha's method of fishing, preparation, smoking and selling is probably the best way to have fresh fish! Most of us will likely not go back to eating fish from other sellers again! Andrew uses the traditional methods of fishing and sells his produce at local farmer markets rather than selling his fish wholesale. This is because wholesale fish is often 'sold' for 5 days. Once the fish cannot be sold and is getting soft, they are then put into a brime. Andrew's product is extremely fresh and is sold the day after the fish is caught. If the fish is not sold that day it is immediately frozen or placed into a brime. Shawn, an architecture by trade talked about how ethnicity affects restaurant designs. He pointed out the example of Spring Rolls a pan-asian cuisine in Toronto where each and every single Spring Rolls is unique, but yet designed in such a way that you know you're in a Spring Roll. Rebecca discussed her thesis 'brain food' and how food helps children excel academically. She discussed the school lunch programs versus having lunch in a cafe. She talked about the difference between a lunch box, which is designed to equip children for the day (a sort of daily, comfort food) whereas a lunch program is often for children that need sufficient food, the right food and is a way to help educate parents. She mentioned that the ways family think about food is very different from the way a school thinks about it. Robert Wright concluded that food education involves people having a relationship with their food and to know how food is made.
   During the break we were treated to range of delicious farmer's market produce (cheese), pitas, and smoked fish from the Akiwenzie's. This fish was so good, many participants had several pieces!

Finally, the last session was on Feast, Famine and other Scenarios. This last session proved to be the most lively and interesting of the sessions with Evan Fraser (professor at Guelph, author & blogger), John Knechtel (editor of Air, Water, Food, Fuel & Trash), Kathryn Scharf (program director at The Stop Community Food Centre), and Michael Wolfson (Food and Beverage Sector Specialist with the City of Toronto). Kathryn was asked how The Stop (a locally based program with its own greenhouses that serves the community with local and sustainable food in their food centre) could be replicated in various parts of the city. The panelists were asked how we could redesign the infrastructure to redesign the future. Kathryn indicated that it wasn't so much knowing the problems since we all know the list of problems with a city's infrastructure & policy. However, Kathryn said, the answer can't simply end at the farmer's markets! Since, really as great as they are, they are not a viable means to feed an entire city. "There is a lot of poetry and romance on it right now", says Scharf, "but just not enough 'science'....No one has the desire to do it". Evan Fraser reminded the audience that we need start thinking about food insurance in the likely event that the 'good years' will end. A chilling worst-case scenario Fraser said would be mass migration and and political destabilization of fragile global hotspots. He reminded all that in the end food prices are linked to everything from gas prices, to security. So, food for thought: How much food locally do we need to have in food reserve to guarantee food insurance?
All in all, there didn't seem to be too many solutions brought to the table during these sessions, but rather discussions. Hopefully these discussions will jump start the process towards change in not only the select few that are passionate and interested, but to pockets of the city, and eventually to the public.
For more information and to catch-up to the talks click the archived video feed here, the official Foodprint Toronto page with details about each speaker. Pictures of the event from Nicola Twilley can be found here (Can you find me?). Below are some pics from the Farmer's market that I snapped that morning prior to Foodprinto TO@ Wychwood Barns (from 8am -12pm).

Foodprint Toronto!

2010-07-30T15:05:00.000-04:00

Food Print Toronto is just around the corner and starts tomorrow, Saturday July 31st at 12:30pm. It seems to be quite the event with many local panelists that will be discussing what shapes Toronto's food and how we can continue to feed the city in the future. And of course, the exciting part is that an event talking about food has food for attenders to munch on! There will be refreshments and snacks from Not Far From The Tree, beer from Steam Whistle, smoked fish from Akiwenzie’s Fish, healthy snacks from the Ontario Natural Food Co-op, and others. For those interested more info can be found here:http://www.foodprintproject.com/toronto/
And, for those that won't be able to attend this event, you can catch it through live streaming!

Another worthwhile book that I gotrecently from the library is this book titled: The Edible City -Toronto's food from farm to fork, edited by Christina Palassio & Alana Wilcox. It's essentially a series of essays and short stories discussing how one city eats and the perceptions of each author about food. The book as a whole brings together the bigger picture of how a city can successfully sustain itself.

Well, I'll let you know how Foodprint Toronto goes tomorrow. Meanwhile check out their website and the book.

St.Lawrence Market - Good Variety of Food

2010-07-17T19:50:00.000-04:00

Took a nice walk down to Toronto's St. Lawrence Market today. The weather in Toronto has been fairly warm lately, but with a nice breeze the 20 minute walk down to the market was thankfully not too tiring. Plus, a nice bonus was the free Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich and Grace coconut juice being given out as I passed by Union Station. After a quick walk east of Union station, I approached St. Lawrence Market.

St. Lawrence Market is rich with - well you guessed it food and lots of it! All the usual suspects are available. There's fresh salmon to buy, meat, cheese from every part of the world, olives (yes, even the stuffed ones), baked goods, tea and coffee.

I was on a mission to find a bottle of balsamic vinegar - something that I could use everyday. I entered Scheffler's Deli, hoping to find something. Plus I figured I couldn't go too wrong as their sign indicated that they had been around since 1955. While in the condiment section I approached an associate, who was busy eating a salad, so I figured I would ask him. Pictured below, is the bottle of balsamic he directed me to. Not too highly priced ($5.99), and would be suitable for everyday use. Too bad they couldn't find the bottle of balsamic he was actually using in his salad!

Now walking down to St. Lawrence Market turned out to be an easy one, but the walk back, was a different story! However, once home I quickly set to making a light dinner. Since I had just bought some cheese and the bottle of balsamic vinegar, I decided on a grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with two types of cheese (English Stilton & Smoked Gruyere) accompanied with a romaine lettuce salad topped with herbed feta, tomato, and a home-made vinaigrette. Delicious! :)

Salad dressing (for 2 -3 salads)
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs olive oil
1-2 tbs honey (depends how sweet you want it)
mix well in a small bowl or salad dressing dispenser and serve
*note* for this meal I used 1 tbs of Verry Berry Black Raspberry Honey

St. Lawrence Market
92 Front Street. East.
Toronto, ON
http://www.stlawrencemarket.com/

The Dish - a taste of Edmonton's comfort food?

2010-07-13T17:11:00.000-04:00

In light of my previous post on comfort food in Vancouver, I would say that The Dish Bistro could very well be a good choice for comfort food in Edmonton. Dan and I brought our friends to The Dish one saturday evening as they wanted to walk down the 'food' side of Edmonton and experience a place with great food. They were not to be disappointed.

We started with an appetizer based on the recommendation of Edmonton's Avenue magazine article "25 Best Things to Eat in Edmonton 2010" - pear and cambozola triangles.

True to it description, the oven baked flatbread was crispy, aesthetically pleasing with its toppings of sweet carmelized red onions, sautéed sliced fresh pears, thyme, and melted cambozola cheese. However, it was quickly finished as there was only one piece per person. We also found it difficult to taste the pear as we felt that the onion and cheese overpowered any fruit taste the pear was to provide. Nevertheless, it may have been adequate that the appetizer was portioned smaller, as our main courses turned out to be fairly heavy.

Dan and my friend S ordered the Spanakopita with the house soup. He found that the crispy phyllo pastry with its accompanying yogurt sauce (reminiscent of tsatsiki) to be excellent. Crispy, flavourful with a hint of dill. The house soup, on the other hand, that D ordered was slightly on the interesting side. It reminded us of an asian beef stew, with a hit of spice for good measure. S' husband ordered the Sheppard pie with an accompanying side of fresh greens (perhaps the healthier order of the night). S and I both had the creamy tomato soup topped with croutons and heavy cream as a garnish. My soup worked nicely with my multi-layer quiche, jammed packed with cheese. This of course, was probably not a wise decision for me since I've found that I can be lactose intolerant at times. But, I cannot say 'no' to cheese! Especially cheese in my soup and in my quiche. Admittedly, the cream and cheese combination in mine and S' tomato soup was found to be on the heavy side. Added with the cheese in the quiche, I was fastly approaching cheese overload. On the other side of the table, I suspect S' husband thoroughly enjoyed his Sheppard's pie (also topped with baked cheese) as he had a big grin on his face throughout the meal.

After such a filling meal, I'm not sure what warranted our desire to have two orders of dessert. I'm banking on the fact that the dessert presentation was too irresistible to ignore (dessert options are presented on a dessert tray). Thankfully, we didn't commit dessert gluttony and order our original plan of four desserts. Sharing their warm toffee cake topped with vanilla ice cream, and a slice of carrot cake with a scoop of blackberry gelato (the gelato was my slight tweak in their dessert presentation as I really wanted a fruit gelato and not whipped cream) was probably the best way to end our meal at The Dish.

The Dish Bistro

12417 Stony Plain Rd.

Edmonton, AB

(780) 488-6641

http://www.thedishandspoon.com/

Burgoo Bistro - Comfort food in Vancouver

2010-07-09T23:23:00.006-04:00

Ah, it's been a while! I apologize for the lack of updates as other things have been keeping me quite busy in Toronto. However, a big chunk of my time for planning some personal things are now completed and I now have plenty of time on my hands! Soon, I will post up some photos of Toronto eats. Meanwhile, here are more pictures from my trip back in May to Vancouver.

Comfort Food
It was a rainy day (of course!) in Vancouver and we were very hungry! We had originally wanted to go to a Anton's Pasta Bar but the line up was almost down the block with a wait time of almost 2 hours! Even take-out was no better at 45 minutes. So, with no luck at the pasta bar we checked our extensive list of restaurants (kindly provided by a friend) and ended up at Burgoo. It was raining fairly steadily by the time we reached the bistro, but we managed to squeeze our way into the small waiting area and prop ourselves on a small bench. At first we were told that the wait would be 20-30 minutes as all their tables were full. We agreed, partly because it was too wet to go outside anymore, and mostly because we lacked energy to travel elsewhere. As luck would have it, within 5 minutes, staff offered us bar seating as three spots were open. The bar also served everything on the menu.

The menu that night included a prix fixe for $18 (+tax). There were four choices for appetizers (two soups, two salads), 'mainstays' (ratatouille provencale, chicken dijonnaise and beef bourguignon) and two choices of dessert (chocolate banana bread pudding & baby banana sundae). We ended up choosing three of their soups and a salad, everyone got the beef bourguignon (partly due to the wet and cold weather), and we all finished dinner with warm banana bread pudding accompanied with vanilla icecream.

By the time we reached dessert, my companions and I were certain that Burgoo lives up to its claim. It truly is comfort food at its best! The carrot soup was noted to have the taste of carrots with a hint of cream, while the caesar was fresh and crunchy and Dan found his tomato soup tart and refreshing (almost as if there were 30 tomatoes in his soup!). So, perhaps not for those that aren't a fan of tomatoes! Continuing with the trend of enjoyable comfort food, the beef bourguignon was soft and was accompanied with enough sauce to eat with the mashed potatoes. Perhaps it was the weather outside that allowed the food combined with the atmosphere to make a memorable tasting experience for all involved. I'm certain we will come back again!

Oh and when we go next, we will have to try the Mac 'n Cheese as we saw two versions of it leave the kitchen during our meal. It looked visually appealing, filled to the brim and topped with aged white Cheddar and oven baked.
Burgoo Bistro
4434 West 10 Avenue.
Vancouver, British Columbia
(604) 221-7839
limited reservations
11am-10pm
http://www.burgoo.ca/

Sweet Mango - Vietnamese Food

2010-07-02T00:41:00.000-04:00

One rainy Friday, my colleagues and I made reservations at Sweet Mango for lunch. Sweet Mango is actually located in a tiny strip mall, on the north side of Whyte Ave right beside a veterinarian clinic. Upon arriving at the restaurant, parking proved to be a slight issue as there was limited parking in the lot and on Whyte Ave. Regardless, I managed to parallel park into a tight spot on Whyte Ave despite medium traffic flow.

Upon entering the restaurant, I was greeted with reddish and brown wall tones. Dark tables and heavy set chairs with a moderate number of tables. There were also a few big groups in the restaurant, ourselves included - most likely because it was a Friday. Despite the fact that we had approximately 14 people and counting, service was accommodating and they made every attempt to seat us at the same long table; even adding in an additional square table. By all accounts, service this day was good. They were able to make some dishes faster as some colleagues had limited time for lunch, while others had special preferences. The menu at Sweet Mango is definitely extensive. With over 100 dishes, there were quite a few dishes to choose from. The dish below was by far the most popular dish ordered at our table this visit. Priced at $13 or so, I felt that it was a bit pricier than its fellow counterparts at similar restaurants. However, since there is no other competition for several blocks (closest being Maki Maki) Sweet Mango is probably able to maintain a higher price point for this dish. The dish still tasted great, the fish sauce was not watered down, and my bean sprouts still had a nice & crunchy texture to it (I had asked them to be cooked).

Grilled pork, sliced chicken, and spring rolls on a bed of thin vermicelli, sliced carrots, cucumbers and bean sprouts. Served with fish sauce on the side.

This dish that one of my colleagues got was likely the one dish everyone wished they got. When food arrives on a sizzling hot plate, how can you suddenly desire it? Chicken curry with mixed vegetables and served with coconut rice on the side, the diner thought it was delicious (not at all spicy!) and everyone envied her dish!

This last dish was also a popular one at our table. Also a vermicelli, but this one was topped with grilled pork, sliced chicken and a salad roll (Gỏi cuốn).

Sweet Mango also has take-out for those that live in the area or if you pass the restaurant on your way home from work. It seems good for lunch during the work week, but speed of service can vary depending on the day. So, if you're in a slight rush, it may be better to tell your waiter that you would appreciate your food coming out as soon as possible. As for me, in my books this place will be a good lunch option once in a while, as dishes were often priced on the higher side.

Sweet Mango
9120 82 Avenue Northwest
Edmonton, AB
(780) 462-8929
they also have a facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Edmonton-AB/Sweet-Mango/10364510758

Year of the Tiger- roar!

2010-06-30T11:45:00.000-04:00

Baby showers are always beautiful moments. It's also a great excuse to make some goodies! Since we decided to decorate cupcakes for my friend's baby shower, I did a bit of research and made my own vanilla and chocolate cupcakes. Coincidentally, it's also the year of the tiger so I created these cute cupcake toppers.

While planning for this baby shower, I found that Bulk Barn (with one located at South Edmonton Commons) came in handy, especially when you want variety and a small amount of different coloured sprinkles, candy and even butter cream! Here are some of our creations.

Chocolate Cupcake - makes approximately 16 standards or 12 standard and 12 mini cupcakes

1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar (I used 1/2 a cup).
2 large eggs
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line the muffin cups with cupcake liners.
Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light & fluffy (~ 3 minutes).
Prepare double boiler to melt chocolate (heat water in a pot and in a melt chocolate in a bowl on top).
Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Beat in the melted chocolate. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk in batches beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until almost blended.
Stir in Vanilla.
if desired to prevent air pockets Spoon half of the batter into a ziplock bag. Snip a corner from the bag and fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full. Repeat with rest of the batter.
Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Approximately 15-20 minutes.
Remove the cupcake from the baking pan, place on a wire rack and allow to cool.

Adapted from Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson

Tra Amici Cafe & Bar

2010-06-29T13:04:00.000-04:00

After consulting to a school one morning, I stopped by this little cafe & bar and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a rib panino special! For only $5 there was boneless ribs smothered in bbq sauce, toasted and pressed and accompanied with a pickle. Such a great deal! It also filled that craving for a light, but tasty lunch!

Tra Amici Cafe & Bar
11212 76 Ave. NW
Edmonton, AB
(780)435-8969
Monday-Saturday: 7:30am-10pm
Sunday: 7:30am-7pm

A rainy Friday includes the Duchess, Culina Millcreek and La Ronde

2010-06-12T13:32:00.000-04:00

Early one Friday morning, Dan and I headed out to the Duchess right when it opened and were treated to a fully stocked Duchess. Check it out! Look at all the beautiful macarons all lined up and ready to be bought! One child who came into the store said it looked like mini hamburgers - they sort of do! Just much tastier.

macarons L to R - creme brulee, coconut, salted caramel, matcha, strawberry, pistachio, lemon, dark chocolate, rose, lavender and orange blossom.

fresh goods!

From behind the display case.

We were also treated to a small French style breakfast. With fresh almond croissants right out of the oven, macarons of my choice (lemon, orange blossom, coconut, salted caramel) accompanied with coffee and tea, who could say no?

Then, after a long day at work, we headed out to Culina Millcreek for some dinner. This was a perfect option since this particular Friday - the start of the May long weekend, was a rainy, cold, snow flurry and windy one; which called for a cozy and appetizing dinner. Culina fit the bill perfectly.

PEI mussels in a white wine, tomato and leek sauce.

comments: too delicious to write notes on! But, we do remember the sauce being more like a thin soup, and the bread triangles came in handy as they helped sop up the remaining broth.

home made ravioli filled with cashews, feta, sage; originally on a bed of warm white bean and vegetable salad. However, as I was aching for their quinoa salad they gladly substituted it for me. The quionoa, which is very nutritious, was accompanied with dried cherries, feta, almonds, chickpeas, millet and an apple cider vinaigrette.

Brome Lake Duck Breast - on a bed of roasted potatoes in a white balsamic and cherry reduction.

This entree, was not only aesthetically pleasing but a winner on the taste front. Dan enjoyed it thoroughly! I'm not a huge fan of dried cherries in my food, but with the cherry reduction it went very well with the duck. The cherry reduction added a hint of sweetness to the duck meat, and the cherries gave the dish more body. Without a doubt, we recommend these dishes and will return again!

After a fulfilling meal at Culinas, night's end found us at La Ronde - Edmonton's revolving restaurant. Given all the food we had eaten and the night's events, it was crucial find a seat facing forward. Nevertheless, if you're looking for a great way to enjoy the night sky, try pairing it with this dessert. Light and not too filling, the sorbet helped balanced the rather heavy meal we had eaten. It was also a great way to end a day of culinary adventures.

Hazelnut Praline topped with strawberry white chocolate cream and strawberry sorbet accompanied with strawberries macerated in Amaretto.

The Duchess
10720-124 St.
(780) 488-4999
Closed Monday & Tuesday & holidays

Wed: 9am-6pm

Thurs & Fri: 9am-8pm

Sat & Sun: 10am-5pmhttp://duchessbakeshop.com/

Culina Millcreek

9914 89 Avenue Northwest
Edmonton, AB T6E 2S5
(780) 437-5588

Mon-Wed: 9am-3pm, 5-10pm

Sat: 10am-2pm, 5-10pm

Sun: 10am-2pm

http://culinafamily.ca/mill-creek/

La Ronde

located in Chateau Lacombe

10111 Bellamy Hill Road Northwest
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 4B5
(780) 420-8366 or 1-800-661-8801

reservations recommended

Sunday brunch: 10:30am-2pm

Dinner (daily): 5:30pm-10:30pm

laronde@chateaulacombe.com

http://www.chateaulacombe.com/laronde.php

A taste of the Caribbean in Edmonton from Irie Foods

2010-06-10T01:57:00.000-04:00

Ever since Irie Foods opened on Whyte Ave, I kept saying to myself that I should try their food - a recurring thought I have every day as I drive by. I even came very close to it, one Saturday afternoon back in March. I even went as far as taking a look at the menu options, take-out menu and the layout of the restaurant. Perhaps, it was my nervousness at trying out a restaurant by myself, or the fact that it was rather late in the afternoon for lunch, but either way I made up enough excuses that I did not order that day. Finally the first week of May; time, adventure and hunger was on us, so we headed over to Irie Foods for dinner.

The layout of the restaurant is nice and open. The restaurant seats approximately 20-25 people with about 10 tables and a 4-5 bar seats The service was friendly, knowledgeable, the atmosphere was calm, and there were a fair number of patrons this particular evening. As for the food, we were certainly impressed! Not just for the amount of food that arrived, and the variety, but the taste! Each entree came with your choice of vegetables, rice and peas or plain rice AND an additional soup or salad. Here are our starters:

the soup - chunks of potato, carrots & home-made goodness

the salad (a bit on the plain side)

Now for the entrees. A decent amount of food presented in open square dishes. We both thought that each dish tasted great, and we were completely full by the end of the meal. However, in retrospect I wonder if the description that was in the menu matched the food we were served.

Stewed beef: tender cuts of stewed beef browned, then slowly cooked, accompanied by coleslaw and a rice pilaf ($16)

Curry Chicken: chicken marinated with a blend of jamaican curry, spices, garlic accompanied with potatoes and scalions served with coleslaw and rice ($16)

Dan had the curry chicken and reported that the meat was tender and the curry sauce was spicy, but not overly spicy. I found the beef to be tender as expected and the sauce went very well with the rice. Overall, we found the dishes satisfactory in terms of their portion sizes, however, Dan wanted to try the snapper fish dish the next time we go since it looked absolutely huge.

Irie Foods - Caribbean Cuisine

10152A-82 Ave. NW. Edmonton, AB

(780) 757-2022

Mon-Wed: 11am~ 9pm

Thurs - Sat: 11am ~11pm

Sunday: 12pm~ 5pm

They also have another location in Millwoods

Street food in Van - Japa dogs!

2010-06-08T22:01:00.000-04:00

If you're ever in Vancouver, the one thing that every good food connoisseur should advise you to try is the acclaimed Japa Dog. Now, this is not just any hot dog, but a beef, bratwurst, pork, turkey or vegetable hotdog filled with a variety of toppings - such as bonito flakes (very good!), delicate pieces of seasoned, dried seaweed (also very appetizing), fried cabbage, Japanese mayo, teriyaki sauce etc... To make it easier for Japa Dog visitors, there is a series of menu options in visual form to make your decision a smooth one. Here's a sample of what you can expect if you're ordering a Japa Dog.

Part of the Terimayo Series - my choice: the Beef Terimayo, an all beef hot dog topped with tasty Japanese mayo, teriyaki sauce, fried onions and shredded seaweed for $4.75.

Dan's pick, the Okonomi with Kurobuta (pork) sausage, topped in layers with Japanese mayo, fried cabbage, okonomi sauce, shredded seaweed and dried bonito flakes for $6.75.

The price of Dan's Okonomi seems a bit on the pricier end, which I'm thinking is attributed to the Kurobuta sausage. Nevertheless, the combination of the all the toppings is truly delicious! I've also wondered, due to the price of the Kurobuta, if you could substitute for a cheaper hotdog such as the bratwurst or beef and still get the same toppings(?). Since, the toppings themselves add to a large portion of the taste factor.

Of course, you can get the 'regular hotdog' at any of their carts, but what's the fun in that? Next time you're in Vancouver, be sure to try a Japa Dog. Certainly a taste towards umami. Be warned, though, that the line can get quite long nearing lunch or dinner hour. As well, according to their website since May 28, Japa Dog has now opened a physical location at 530 Robson St. Vancouver! From what Japa Dog lovers have said, the line is still long. For those wanting the cart version, visit them at the following address:

Downtown Vancouver, BC
corner of Burrard & Smithe
near the Sutton Place Hotel
Monday to Thursday: 12:00 p.m - 8:00 p.m
Friday and Saturday: 12:00 p.m - 9:00 p.m
Sunday: 12:00 p.m - 7:00 p.m
www.japadog.com

Ordering notes: When you arrive at the cart, you will see two lines. This sound self-explanatory, but one line is for ordering and one line is for picking up your order. The line directly in front of the cart is where you order your food. After you've ordered, they will give you a plastic card with your order number and you will be asked to wait in the line beside the cart.