Miss.Adventure @Home

Pizzeria Libretto (Toronto,ON)

2011-12-02T21:30:00.008-05:00

221 Ossington
Toronto, Ontario
416.532.8000
website

After our day in Toronto, including brunching at Drake Hotel and munching on mini-donuts, we met our friend V for dinner. At a colleague's recommendation, we decided to try real Neapolitan pizza at Pizzeria Libretto. The restaurant does not take reservations, so after being told that there was a 2 hour wait for a table, we decided to head back to Drake Hotel for a drink. Unfortunately, minutes after we ordered our drinks, our friend V's cell phone rang, informing her that our table was ready! It had not even been an hour! So if you do decide to try this restaurant out, take the timing with a grain of salt, and have drinks closer by!

Our friend V and her boyfriend F ordered the salumi tasting ($24) as a starter. There seemed to be a variety of cold cuts, including Ontario prosciutto. They seemed to really enjoy their sampler.

Salumi Tasting.

My sister, brother-in-law and I shared an order of butternut squash arancini ($9), served on cauliflower purée and topped with a crispy sage leaf. The deep-fried ball contained rice mixed with butternut squash that provided a creamy texture. We really liked the cauliflower purée.

Pizzeria Libretto boasts that it makes VPN (Vera Pizza Napoletana) certified pizza and bakes their pizzas for only 90 seconds at a very high heat. This gives the crust a satisfying char. I think there are clearly two camps when it comes to pizza: thin crust and thick crust. I am a thin crust girl through and through, and so Pizzeria Libretto pizza's are right down my alley.

The first Neapolitan pizza we shared was the cremini mushroom ($17). I love mushrooms, so when there is a mushroom pizza available, it is highly likely that I will order it. I loved the earthiness of the cremini mushrooms against the mozzarella, the salty gorgonzola and the sweet roasted garlic cloves.

The second pizza we shared was the house-made sausage ($16). The sausage atop our second pizza was well-seasoned and I could really taste the fennel seeds. I loved the addition of chili oil and the very crispy basil leaves. This pizza had a lot more pizzaz compared to the milder cremini mushroom pizza.

For dessert, my sister L and I debated between the tiramisu and the chocolate-amaretto budino ($7). While I do love tiramisu, it is widely available, so we ordered the budino, which ended up being an excellent choice. The budino was chocolatey and creamy, topped with chopped hazelnuts. It seemed like such an indulgence to be eating the budino with a spoon out of a jar.

Even with the timing drama before our meal, we thought Pizzeria Libretto was worth the wait. Two thumbs up from everyone!

Mini-Donuts @Little Nicky's Coffee (Toronto,ON)

2011-11-23T13:00:00.001-05:00

375 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
416.260.0500

After brunch at Drake Hotel, we shopped our legs out at the Eaton Centre and on Queen Street West. The plan is that when we'd start to feel peckish, we would go have fresh donuts! After dealing with the crowds at The Gap, we turned down the street off Queen and headed to Little Nicky's.

Little Nicky's is a small coffee shop with a handful of tables and stools at the counter. It has a French bistro like vibe and offers good quality coffee. My sister splurged and ordered the Nutella hot chocolate! My brother-in-law and I each ordered an Americano, which was freshly made by the barista who asked how much hot water to add to the 1 or 2 shot of coffee. I liked that they offered spoons instead of stir sticks; I always admire efforts to minimize waste!

I was beyond excited to order a dozen of mini-donuts ($4) that were made to order. There's a small little machine where the mini-donuts are deep fried and come off of a mini-conveyor. The donuts are then tossed in powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Preparing mini-donuts.

We were excited to dig into the paper bag of hot donuts. They were soft on the inside, crispy on the outside, with a satisfying coating of sugar and cinnamon. There are really no sufficient adjectives to describe this, are there?

For $4, you really can't beat freshly fried mini-donuts! It makes me never want to have a donut at Tim Horton's ever again! Fresh donuts should be easily available everywhere!

Brunch at Drake Hotel (Toronto,ON)

2011-11-20T13:15:00.003-05:00

1150 Queen St West
Toronto, Ontario
416.531.5042
website

My sister and brother-in-law came for a quick visit. We spent the day in Toronto and started it off by having brunch at Drake Hotel. Drake Hotel seems to be the ultimate hipster spot for brunch (I don't really use the term hipster often, but it really seemed befitting in this case - although really, what do I know about being hip?!).

We had brunch on the café side, where we sat under a colourful bicycle frame lighting structure. We were very impressed!

My brother-in-law D started out with a pretty cappucino.

We decided to share the warm scone share plate ($8) deemed Toronto's best blueberry scones by The Toronto Star. We wholeheartedly agreed and enjoyed each bite of our buttery scones, served with a choice of clotted cream dotted with vanilla specks, whipped butter and jam. Very worthwhile ordering!

Blueberry Scones.

My sister ordered the Eggs Benedict ($13), which consisted of 2 poached eggs, smoked pork loin on toasted English muffin with hollandaise, and replaced the hand cut fries with home fries. The home fries were nicely crisp with slices of sweet onion. She really enjoyed the thick cut smoked pork loin and hollandaise sauce (on the side).

Eggs Benedict.

My brother-in-law and I decided to share the Southern fried chicken + waffles ($14.75), which seemed like a novel menu item. It was made up of a large herb waffle, fried chicken, maple syrup, crème fraîche and Niagara cherry jam. I loved the savoury fried chicken and herb waffle combined with sweet syrup and cherry jam. The fried chicken was well-seasoned with a bit of a kick from cumin (?). I really liked the big pieces of cherries; my sister scooped the leftover ones over her scone. My only issue is that I don't like things overly sweet and thought there was too much syrup. Were I to order this again, I would definitely ask for the syrup on the side.

Southern Fried Chicken + Waffles.

We really enjoyed our brunch and even came back later in the evening for drinks. It's a great spot to hit in Toronto for a meal or drinks, if you're not staying at the boutique hotel. We also checked out a combination of cool and vintage items at the General Store next door.

Roasted Broccoli with Garlic and Parmesan

2011-10-16T21:45:00.001-04:00

My latest obsession, meaning I've had this new dish every week for the past 3 weeks, is roasted broccoli. I already love broccoli, but this recipe has helped me re-discover this vegetable. It has also replaced my go to broccoli recipe, broccoli with garlic (another Ina Garten recipe). Roasting gives the broccoli a different texture; there's more of a chewiness (instead of the hard crunch when sauteed) and the caramelized edges provide a new dimension. Adding Parmesan and salt makes it a nice savoury side dish.

Roasted Broccoli with Garlic and Parmesan
This recipe is from The Barefoot Contessa. I skip the lemon juice and it's still good. I did have pine nuts when I served this dish to guests (and it is a great addition!), but on an every day basis, I skip that also.
From Ina Garten.

* 1 brunch broccoli
* olive oil
* salt and pepper, to taste
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 2-3 Tbsp grated Parmesan

Slice off the florets and cut up into smaller sections.
Wash under water and dry well - by laying the florets on a dish towel.
Spread the florets on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Drizzle olive oil over the florets.
Season with salt and pepper.
Roast the florets in the oven for 15 minutes at 350F.
Add the garlic and sprinkle with Parmesan; roast for another 5-10 minutes.
Serve as a yummy and healthy side dish.
Tada!

Well-dried florets to be roasted.

This recipe is so easy. The trick to getting the best texture is making sure the florets are dry. Either dry the florets after washing, or even prep the broccoli on the previous night to allow it to dry out. Be ready to become obsessed!

Roasted broccoli.

More broccoli recipes:
* Broccoli with Garlic
* Stir Fried Broccoli on Pan Fried Cantonese Noodles

Kindfood (Burlington, ON)

2011-10-08T17:15:00.000-04:00

399 John St.
Burlington, Ontario
905.637.2700
website

My colleague K and I went to check out Kindfood, a vegan restaurant in Burlington. Kindfood serves strictly vegan and organic food. Their motto is "Good food ain't cheap and cheap food ain't good."

After seating ourselves, we went to order by checking out the chalkboard. I was disappointed to hear that they had run out of the Morrocan Quinoa Salad. Instead, I decided to try out the OMG Grilled Cheeze ($8.95), while K ordered a bowl of tomato and garbanzo soup (I think).

OMG Grilled Cheeze ($8.95).
The Grilled Cheeze, served with a salad, is made up of Daiya cheese, which is mainly made of cassava. I had heard that the Grilled Cheeze was very good but I'm not sure I believed it. I have to admit that I thought it was very satisfying and it would definitely hit the spot if I had a grilled cheese craving. The Daiya cheese even oozed and stretched like real cheese!

I had a taste of K's soup and it was very good too. I really enjoyed the spicing that ensured the soup was not bland.

Grilled cheeze and soup.

K and I decided to bring cupcakes ($3.50 each I think) back to the office. After K got a dulce de leche, I spotted half-price day old cupcakes and got the red velvet and grasshopper mint ones. We weren't sure if it was the specific flavours but the day old cupcakes seemed on the drier side. I think I would stick to the freshly made ones next time. The icing was really good.

Vegan cupcakes.

Clearly based on this blog, I am not a vegan or a vegetarian. However, I do think that most people eat too much meat. I am definitely not averse to eating less meat, or dairy, sometimes. Kindfood is a great way to introduce vegan foods to those who are not familiar with it.

Miến Xào Cua (Bean Thread Noodles with Crab)

2011-09-29T20:05:00.001-04:00

My mom always likes to cook for me when I visit and this time she made miến xào cua (bean thread noodles with crab). I loved this dish when I tried it in Vietnam at the Crab Shack. I have to admit the crab meat wasn't as fresh as the crab in Vietnam but this dish was still a treat. How can you go wrong with noodles and crab?

Miến Xào Cua (Bean Thread Noodles with Crab)

* 250 g bean thread noodles (or mung bean noodles)
* oil
* half an onion, sliced thinly
* 1 cup crab meat (or more!), picked through for leftover shell
* 1/2 tsp salt
* pepper, to taste
* 3 or 4 ladles of water, or broth
* 1 green onion, sliced into 1/2" sections
* coriander (optional)

Run dry noodles through water.
Cut noodles in smaller sections with scissors if they are very long.
Heat oil in a large pan or wok.
Add onion slices and white sections of onion, and sauté until softened.
Add the crab meat and mix in.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add the noodles, mixing it in until the noodles soften.
If the noodles seem to dry out, add a ladle of water or broth.
Once noodles are nearly cooked, add green onions.
Taste the noodles, and adjust seasoning to taste.
Lower the heat and cover the noodles with a lid, cooking a further 5 minutes, until the noodles are cooked.
Garnish with coriander.
Tada!

Miến Xào Cua (Bean Thread Noodles with Crab).

This dish is easy to make and a good alternative when you want a big bowl of carbs with a yummy accompaniment! It will have to do until I can get back to Vietnam and get my hands on fresh crab dishes!

P.S. My mom served this with wonton soup as a starter and mango salad as a side (ooh, I thought I had a recipe for mango salad - will have to add it!).

Other bean thread noodles:
* Vietnamese Chicken Bean Thread Noodle Soup
* Vegetarian Bean Thread Noodles

Brit & Chips (Montréal, QC)

2011-09-27T21:25:00.000-04:00

433 McGill
Montréal, Québec
514.840.1001
website

Still hanging out in Montréal, my sister, her hubby and myself headed for Brit & Chips on a Friday after a hard class of boot camp at Parc LaFontaine. It was a beautiful night. Unfortunately, all the seats outside were taken so we had to find a table inside.

You can order for take-out at the cash or they will take your order at your table if you eat in. The restaurant had an old school, fish 'n chips place, with different sea adornments, like a life float. The fried food is also on newspaper, as it should!

My sister L and I decided to quench our thirst with imported drinks. L got the bitter shandy ($1.50), described by our waitress as a mix of beer and tea. I ordered the Irn Bru ($1.50), which was a sweet drink reminiscent of cream soda. Yum! A perfect accompaniment to the fried food that was coming!

Imported drinks: Bitter Shandy and Irn Bru.

D ordered fish and chips ($11.50), choosing the haddock as his fish of choice. The haddock was covered in a maple syrup batter. Each fish has its own batter; for example, the salmon uses a Guinness batter and the hake an Orange Crush batter (gulp! L and I weren't sure if we'd like that). Both fries and fish were freshly fried and crispy.

L gave me the reigns when it came to ordering for us so I decided to order various nibbles and share. After much deliberation and consultation with the waitress, we decided to go for various small bites from the "Nibbles" section of the menu and ordered the Tandoori Popcorn Shrimp ($6), the spicy whitebait ($4), the salted cod fish cakes - or accras de morue ($6) and a side of mushy peas ($1.50). Oh, and we also had to have our own serving of chips ($3), of course!

Various nibbles from the sea, top left - clockwise: (1) chips, cod fish cakes and mushy peas, (2) popcorn shrimps, (3) fried whitebait and (4) flaky accras de morue.

My favourite of the nibbles was the flaky accras de morue. I just can't resist the combination of salty fish and potatoes, deep fried into fish cake goodness! The popcorn shrimp was good but the Tandoori flavour wasn't apparent on the shrimps. Rather the flavours came from the curried mayo. Lastly, ordering the fried whole whitebait was a risky move; they were a bit fishy for our tastes but good nonetheless. And no complaints in the chips department! L was happy to have malt vinegar available to soak hers in!

Brit & Chips offers a really good selection for fish and chips. A vegetarian option is even offered, with fried haloumi stepping in for the fish (L and I were tempted - maybe next time!). It also offers British fare that could be interesting to try out, such as Scotch egg, pasties and deep-fried "Whatever" in the soda section. It reminds me of when I was in London, England. I thought having fish 'n chips was a must experience and wasn't sure if it was part of the experience that the pub reeked of urine...

Biztrot Crêperie & Gelateria (Brossard,QC)

2011-09-25T13:00:00.002-04:00

6705 boulevard Chevrier, local 103
Brossard, Québec
450.443.6000
Facebook page

The last time I visited Montréal, my mom's husband H took us out to his friend's newly opened crêperie. It's hard to turn down a crêpe so we stopped there for lunch to try some out.

H ordered the ham and cheese panini ($7.50) and seemed to enjoy it. My mom ordered the chicken, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes panini ($8.50). I had a bite - the large pieces of chicken were very well seasoned and there was a generous amount of sun-dried tomatoes, which made it a great savoury sandwich.

Ham and chicken paninis.

I stuck with the specialty, ordering a crêpe with apples ($6.50). It was made up of an oversize crêpe folded and filled with large chunks of apples. It was topped of with powder sugar and raspberry sauce.

Crêpe aux pommes.

The sweet proprietress insisted that we try some gelato and sorbet. The most memorable one was the Ferrero Rocher. If you enjoy Ferrero Rocher, how can you go wrong with Ferrero Rocher gelato?

If I lived closer by (on the South Shore of Montréal), I would definitely be visiting Biztrot. It is currently in a rather unassuming spot where nearby store have not yet opened up. However, I would rather stop by for a crêpe for breakfast, rather than the breakfast chains out there. They also offer savoury crêpes and specialty coffees, as well as a daily soup. Check it out if you're nearby!

Tung Hing Café & Sweets (Hamilton, ON)

2011-09-09T12:45:00.002-04:00

103 Queen Street North
Hamilton, Ontario
905.527.8333

I've been living in Hamilton for over 10 years but have never been able to enjoy a bánh mì. Enter the new Asian grocery store a stone's throw from my place and the adjacent Café.

Tung Hing Café & Sweets - shelves of Asian sweets.

Tung Hing Café offers typical Asian fares: little cakes, pizza buns, spring rolls and sesame balls. Customers grab a tray and serve themselves with tongs. Bring the tray to the cash and they will bag the treats for you. My favourite item has to be the sesame balls. They are always crispy, a good mark of freshness and come in two flavours: lotus and red beans. Try it out if you've never had it!

Coconut sweets, vegetable spring rolls and sesame rolls (2 for $1.10).

While I can easily get distracted by the display of sweets, it's the bánh mì (Vietnamese subs) that are the real stars here. A variety of bánh mì 's are offered (unfortunately, I was stopped from taking pictures), my favourites being the gà nướng (grilled chicken) and nem nướng (pork patties), which was translated as pork with honey I think. These subs were around $3.25. They also have a vegetarian selection with tofu and vegetables.

Bánh mì nem nướng (pork patty sub).

The meat is served in a crusty Vietnamese baguette. A bit of homemade mayo is slathered on the bread, with pickled carrots and daikon, cucumbers, coriander and if you like it spicy, green chilies.

Pork patty and grilled chicken Vietnamese sub.

If you've never had Vietnamese subs and you live in Hamilton, this is a great place to try them. At less than $4, it's a very affordable option for lunch. I grabbed a couple for my train ride back to Montréal.

Magical Breakfast Cream

2011-08-25T21:25:00.001-04:00

I've been enjoying Magical Breakfast Cream (or MBC) as my daily breakfast for a year now, from the French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook. I don't usually follow fad diets but I'm always on the lookout for good and healthy recipes. I really love this recipe because it really includes all that you need nutritionally in one bowl. It's a great start to my day!

Magical Breakfast Cream
Adapted from French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook by Mireille Guiliano. I realized typing this that I don't follow the quantities and suspect I have more yogurt and honey than the quantities below. Of course, ingredients can be improved to taste: different fruit, different oil. One of the suggestions in the book is to sweeten with mandarin juice. I would buy fresh mandarins and squeeze the juice out. It was good but rather tedious so I add honey instead.

* ⅓ cup Greek yogurt, any type will do but I like how thick it is
* 1 tsp flax oil
* 1 tsp honey
* 2 Tbsp cereal, ground (I like to use Grain Shop High Fibre Crisp)
* 1 Tbsp nuts, ground (I use a mix: walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts)
* handful of blueberries
* half a banana, peeled and sliced

Scoop the yogurt into a bowl.
Add the flax oil and honey, and mix.
Add the cereal and nuts, and mix again.
Top with blueberries and banana.
Tada!

Yogurt with honey and flax oil, then cereal and nuts.

This recipe made me start having flax oil, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acid. It has to be refrigerated and ingesting 1-2 tsp a day is recommended.

Clearly, I like this recipe so much that I've been having it regularly for a year. Even on weekends when I allows myself to splurge on breakfast, sometimes I just want to have MBC. My perfect spoonful is having some blueberries and banana, and the crunch of nuts.

White Beans and Mushroom Salad

2011-08-21T21:25:00.004-04:00

After having dinner at her friend M's, my sister raved about a white bean and mushroom salad, served with steak. Her instructions were sauté mushrooms, with a lot of onion, mix with white beans and grilled veggies, and toss with a Dijon dressing; serve with steak. I decided to skip the steak and make a healthy and very filling salad.

White Beans and Mushroom Salad

Dressing
Honestly, I throw in whatever looks good for a dressing and adjust to taste. I cheat and rarely follow the 3:1 oil to vinegar usually recommended.

* 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
* 3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
* salt, to taste
* freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix all the ingredients together.

Salad
* oil
* small onion, sliced thinly
* 2-3 good handful of mushrooms of your choice, sliced
* thyme, dry or fresh
* salt, to taste
* freshly ground black pepper, to taste
* dried chili flakes, optional
* 1 can white (cannellini) beans
* grilled veggies of your choice, such as peppers or zucchini

In a hot pan, heat oil.
Add onion and cook for 1 minute.
Add mushrooms and sauté.
Add thyme and season with salt, pepper and chili flakes.
Meanwhile, rinse and drain white beans.
Place beans in a bowl.
Once mushrooms are cooked through and dry, add mushrooms and grilled veggies to the bowl of beans.
Pour the dressing and mix well.
Refrigerate or serve hot.
Tada!

White beans and mushrooms. Grilled Zucchini.

I find that allowing the components to sit in the dressing really help add flavour to the salad. I am happy eating this salad as lunch for a whole week. I like eating it at room temperature so take it out of the fridge and let it warm up a bit. I love the creamy beans, with the mushrooms and grilled zucchini. Tasty eating with no guilt!

For mushroom lovers, more mushroom posts:
* Bacon & Parmesan stuffed Mushrooms
* Chicken and Mushroom Orzo
* Fried Polenta and Mushrooms
* Goat Cheese stuffed Mushrooms
* Mushroom Crusted Tilapia
* Mushroom Pita Pizza
* Mushroom Ravioli
* Mushroom Soup
* Potato Mushroom Bruschetta
* Red & White Quinoa Mushroom Risotto
* Spinach and Mushroom Cannelloni

Corn and Shrimp Fritters

2011-08-17T11:55:00.002-04:00

My sister gifted me with six different spice blends from Chasseurs d'épices (Spice Hunter), a Québec company. The spices come whole to maintain the flavours, and you grind up the spices before you use them. The package also came with a little recipe booklet. I had eyed a number of recipes to make, corn and shrimp fritters, made with the satay spices, being at the forefront.

Corn and Shrimp Fritters - Makes 10 fritters
Adapted from Spice Hunters - Ethné and Philippe de Vienne. Add more shrimps if you like or skip them altogether to make this a vegetarian appetizer. If you don't want to make the whole spice mix, just pick a few ones, like a bit of cumin.

* 1-½ cups corn kernels, fresh if they're in season
* 1-½ cups shrimps, roughly chopped
* 1 green onion, sliced thinly
* coriander (optional)
* dried chili flakes (optional)
* ½ tsp salt
* ½ Tbsp Satay spices, ground (cumin, coriander, cardamon, white pepper, bird chili, kaffir lime leaves, dried lemon grass, dried garlic)
* ¾ cup flour
* 1 egg, beaten
* oil

In a bowl, mix corn, shrimp, green onion, chili flakes, salt and spices.
Add enough flour so that the ingredients are somewhat dry.
Mix in the beaten egg to make a stiff batter.
Shape into 3" patties.
In a large pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Cook patties until golden brown (about 3 minutes per side).
Serve hot or cold - I like them hot with sweet chili dipping sauce.
Tada!

Satay Spice Mix.

(1) Ingredients, (2) making the batter and (3) frying the fritters.

I was very happy with this recipe. It was easy to put together, and very good. I am loving corn right now, and this was the perfect recipe to showcase this seasonal offering. I enjoyed the combination of the sweet corn kernels with the chunks of shrimps. Let's be honest, the word fritter always win me over and these fritters made for a delectable appetizer!

Perfect bite of corn and shrimp.

Other recipes featuring fresh corn:
* Corn Soup with Dill
* Corn Spring Rolls
* Fresh Corn Salad
* Lobster and Corn Soup
* Sautéed Corn

Trứng Chiên Củ Cải Muối (Vietnamese Omelette with Pickled Daikon)

2011-08-15T08:30:00.003-04:00

As mentioned in my previous post, I asked my mom to have trứng chiên củ cải muối (Vietnamese omelette with pickled daikon). I remember having this dish growing up with rice. As it's just an omelette, it's quite easy; I just wasn't sure where to buy the ingredients. Pickled daikon (củ cải muối) can be purchased at Asian grocery stores, in sealed plastic. It is often served with bánh tét for Vietnamese New Year, after being soaked in fish sauce.

Trứng chiên củ cải muối (Vietnamese Omelette with Pickled Daikon)
Củ cải muối is salty so this dish does not need added salt.

* oil
* small onion, sliced
* ⅓ cup dried salted radish (or pickled daikon) - or more if you'd like
* 3 eggs, beaten
* freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a large pan.
Add the onion slices and salted radish.
Meanwhile, season the beaten eggs with black pepper.
Once the onions have softened, add the beaten eggs.
Turn over your omelette, once the bottom is cooked.
Tada!

Củ cải muối (pickled daikon) is purchased bagged and not refrigerated but I did refrigerate it once I opened the bag.

Cooking the omelette.

Củ cải muối (pickled daikon) has a distinctly salty and a bit sweet taste. It also has a crunch that combines well with the crunch of the onions. For someone who loves salt like me, this has been my go to recipe for a quick and easy dinner for the past few weeks.

Trứng Chiên Củ Cải Muối (Vietnamese Omelette with Pickled Daikon).

Sautéed Pea Shoots

2011-08-13T10:55:00.001-04:00

My mom came to visit for a long weekend a couple of weeks ago. She always asks if there is something I'd like her to make. In the laziness and heat of the summer, I just wanted something simple and easy. So my request was rice with sautéed pea shoots and omelette with pickled daikon (recipe to come on the next post).

Sautéed Pea Shoots
If you can't find pea shoots, you can replace with any other green, such as spinach.

* oil
* garlic, minced
* pea shoots, hard stems removed
* salt

Heat oil in a pan to medium-high heat.
Add the garlic.
After about 30 seconds, add the pea shoots.
Season with salt to taste.
Cook until the shoots are wilted, for just a few minutes.
Tada!

Picked over pea shoots and sautéeing the shoots.

Calling this a recipe seens a bit of an exaggeration. Vietnamese enjoy a variety of greens just simply sautéed like this, served with rice.

Lobster Ravioli

2011-07-27T08:45:00.002-04:00

I was watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and saw the most decadent recipe: lobster ravioli! I quickly googled "Rino's Place" for the recipe but only found Rino's Special veal cutlet recipe, so I quickly scribbled down the ingredients for future reference. (I could also have watched the episode on youtube here.)

I really love lobster but have never cooked with it. When there was a lobster sale on Father's Day, I quickly went and bought 3 small ones at $4.99 each. I was hanging out with my friend T, so she made the pasta dough while I prepared the filling. It was a lot of work to get the lobster meat out of the shells, especially for someone inexperienced like me. However, the work was well worth it!

Lobster Ravioli - Makes about 3 dozen ravioli's (about 4-5 servings)
Adapted from Rino's Place on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Watch the episode here.
You can make these ravioli's as small or large as you want. My friend T and I had 7 each and it was plenty. You could make less and serve 2-3 per person as a decadent starter! These would also be great with crab instead!

Lobster Ravioli

* olive oil
* 1-2 shallots, chopped
* 1-½ cups of cooked lobster meat, from 3-1lb. lobster (set aside ¼ cup or so of lobster meat for the sauce), or use canned lobster - chopped roughly
* parsley
* ½ lb. ricotta
* 3-4 Tbsp Parmesan
* salt, to taste
* pepper, to taste

* 6 pasta sheets - or make your own!

Cook shallots in olive oil on medium high heat.

Once the shallots have softened, add lobster meat and parsley.
Take the pan off the heat and mix in the ricotta and Parmesan.
Taste filling and season with salt and pepper to taste.
On a pasta sheet laid out on the counter, add about a tablespoon or so of filling a couple of inches apart. (I was able to make about 12 ravioli's on one sheet but it depends on the size of your pasta sheet.)
Wet the pasta in between the filling creating the borders of the ravioli's so they seal properly.
Top off with another pasta sheet.
Around each mound of filling, press out on the wet area, making sure there are no air pockets in the filling.
Cut each ravioli out with a pizza roller.
Ensure the ravioli's are well sealed again (or they will open up in the water when cooking).

In a large pot of boiling water, cook the ravioli's for 7-8 minutes until they float up.
(If you are lucky enough to have extra, lay them individually on a baking sheet and freeze before cooking them. When they are frozen, place them in a sealed plastic bag.)

Taking out fresh lobster meat was hard work but worth it!

Top: Sautéeing the lobster; adding cheese.
Bottom: Making the ravioli's.

Lobster Sauce - for 4 servings

If you want to make this sauce even more lobster-ey, cook the shells in the sauce and strain out. I didn't do this and it was still very good!

* oil

* chopped shallots

* minced garlic

* a handful of sliced mushrooms (optional)

* ¼ cup lobster meat that was set aside

* ½ cup tomato sauce

* 1 cup cream (heated in the microwave - this helps preventing from curdling)

* salt, to taste

* pepper, to taste

* a few basil leaves, chopped

Cook shallots and garlic in oil.

Add mushroom slices and cook on high heat.
When the mushrooms have softened, add lobster meat, tomato sauce and heated cream.
Turn down the heat and let the sauc simmer until it has slightly thickened.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add basil last.
Place the ravioli's in a deep plate.
Top with the sauce.
Tada!

My friend T and I were so happy with the outcome of this dish. It felt like quite a treat between the lobster in both the sauce and the filling, and the fresh pasta! This recipe is definitely worth saving for special occasions or when lobsters are in season!

I wish I had this in front of me right now!

Slicing into the lobster filling!

For other lobster recipes:
* Lobster and Corn Soup
* Salt and Pepper Lobster
* Stir Fried Lobster with Ginger and Green Onion

Café Vasco Da Gama (Montréal, QC)

2011-07-23T12:00:00.001-04:00

1472 Rue Peel
Montréal, Québec
514.286.2688
website

I went to meet two of my friends during their lunch time. My friend D suggested Café Vasco Da Gama in between both their workplaces, in downtown Montréal.

I got there right before the lunch time crowd to snag us a table. This small restaurant gets busy very quickly. Once you have a table, you wait in line to order. There are a variety of sandwiches, salads and baked treats. You pay, then go to your table with a number, and your lunch is served to you.

I decided to get a trio of salads ($10.25): hearts of palm and avocado, barley salad with sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo, and a Greek salad. I also ordered a salted cod fish cake, which I forgot to take a picture. The salty little treat was heated up and crispy.

Trio of Salads.

The trio of salads came with some bread slices. I loved all three salads. I've even tried to duplicate the hearts of palm and avocado salad with great success (recipe to come!). I liked the barley with salty bits of chorizo and sun-dried tomatoes. I ordered this another time, when the barley was replaced with orzo - also good, but not as healthy! I also enjoyed the Greek salad with large chunks of vegetables.

Hearts of palm and avocado; Greek Salad.

If you're in downtown Montréal and are looking for a little spot to eat, Café Vasco Da Gama will definitely hit the spot! I also noticed that they serve tapas after 6 pm. I'll have to come back and try them out!

Cuisine Szechuan (Montréal, QC)

2011-07-19T13:30:00.000-04:00

2350 Guy Street
Montréal, Québec
514.933.5041

My family in Montréal tried Szechuan for my mother's birthday back in March and really looked forward to take me. I am half Chinese on my father's side, more specifically Cantonese, so am not familiar with Szechuan cuisine.

[As a long side note - please skip if you're not interested: I just finished reading Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: a Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop. It was a very interesting read. "Chinese food" is really a general term that doesn't mean much considering how varied food can be from province to province. The book spends a large amount of time on Sichuan food since the author spent her first year in Chengdu. She then follows by cuisine in Hunan, Fujian, Hong Kong, Beijing, Kashgar, etc.

What was interesting was understanding Chinese cultures through food, such as one of the chapters callled "Only Barbarians Eat Salad", in which the author is frustrated that she has put effort in being open-minded about Chinese food and the feeling is not at all reciprocated. The book spans more than a decade of travel in China. Changes and events are discussed, and their impact on the food culture, such as the growing middle-class' purchasing power for delicacies like shark fin, pollution, the Communist regime and SARS. She also touches on how ethnic minorities are treated in China.

I thought the book came full circle. The author first opens herself up by trying all food. At a point, she realizes that she's moved on from being an open-minded adventurous eater to actually enjoying such delicacies as goose intestines. Finally, she becomes somewhat weary of eating Chinese food and yearns for simple food. I really liked the description of the progression of eating in China (p.303): first, 'eating to fill your belly' - this is eating as a means to stau alive, followed by 'eating plenty of rich food' - splurging to make up for years of deprivation and the final phase, one I think everyone should strive for, 'eating skillfully' -"eating with discernment, seeking out 'green food products', reducing their consuption of animal foods, and ordering less gluttonously in restaurants."

Each chapter ends with mouth-watering recipes related to the chapter, such as fish-fragrant aubergines (I've tried a recipe here.) and Dan Dan noodles. The book is also rich with descriptions of different foods - the one I was most intrigued with was guo kui.

I highly recommend this book if you're at all interested in Chinese food, and really China in general, since food plays such a large role in China.]

On to the food, speaking of fish-fragrant eggplant , I think we ordered the Yu Xiang Eggplant with Dou Ban Jiang (Yu Xiang = Fish Fragrant, Dou Ban Jiang= black bean sauce). I think because my sister couldn't recall what she ordered the last time since there were 3-4 eggplant dishes. The aubergines were slick with a sweet and sour sauce that we all enjoyed.

Yu Xiang Eggplant with Dou Ban Jiang ($7.99).

The dish that my family was excited to have me try was the tofu flower & sliced halibut in a chili pepper & Szechuan peppercorn broth. It consisted of slices of fish in a very spicy sauce. The heat came from both chilies and Szechuan peppercorn, which gave the sauce a very distinct flavour. Under the fish, were soy bean sprouts. This sauce was very, very spicy!

Tofu flower & sliced halibut in a chili pepper & Szechuan Peppercorn Broth ($11.99).

Soy bean sprouts and Szechuan peppercorns.

We also ordered the Kung Pao chicken. I don't remember it being overly hot, and it had a nice sweet and savoury sauce.

Finally, we ordered a fried shrimp dish that was totally disappointing. Nothing exciting about it and the batter was too thick.

I know that Szechuan food has been out there for a long time but it was the first for me. This visit, combined with reading Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: a Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China really inspire me to not only try Szechuan food but Chinese food from different regions.

Gà Nướng Chao - Fermented Bean Curd BBQ Chicken

2011-07-10T19:56:00.015-04:00

As I mentioned in the previous post (for the vegetarian mung bean noodle dish), one my sister's favourite dishes is Gà Nướng Chao, or fermented bean curd BBQ chicken. My mother uses the red bean curd, which leaves a nice red hue on the chicken. This recipe is quite simple as the bean curd is the main ingredient. The chicken is then grilled on charcoal.

Gà Nướng Chao - Fermented Bean Curd BBQ Chicken - Makes 12 drumsticks
Red Bean curd can be purchased at Asian grocery stores in jars. My mom likes making this recipe with drumsticks but any part of the chicken will work.

* 3 cubes of red fermented bean curd, and 1-2 spoonfuls of the liquid from the jar
* 1 Tbsp sugar
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 12 skinless drumsticks, sliced to the bone but not cut through

In a large bowl, add the red bean curd cubes, the liquid, sugar and garlic.
Mash the cubes with a fork and mix, creating a paste.
Add the chicken drumsticks into the bowl and slather the paste into every nook of the chicken drumsticks (that is why the drumsticks are sliced so there is more surface area for the marinade).
Marinate overnight (ideally) in the refrigerator or at least for 5-6 hours so the flavours seep into the chicken.
Take out the drumsticks 30 minutes before grilling so the drumsticks come up to room temperature.
Grill the drumsticks (not on too high heat, so on the periphery of your grill), about 5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Serve with bún.
Tada!

(1) Red bean curd jar (2) Red bean curd marinade ingredients (3) Red bean curd paste (4) marinating the chicken.

Not only does the red bean curd leave the chicken drumsticks with a red colour, it also imparts a distinctly bean curd flavour: salty and fermented. As my sister really enjoys this, it usually is a BBQ staple of ours when grilling Vietnamese food!

It's really finger licking good and I love the char from charcoal!

I am submitting this to the July 2011 edition of Delicious Vietnam, a blogging event featuring Vietnamese food and created by A Food Lover's Journey and Ravenous Couple. It is hosted this month by Lan from Angry Asian creation. (For my other Delicious Vietnam recipes, click here).

For other Vietnamese BBQ recipes:
* BBQ Corn with Scallion Oil
* Bò Lá Lốt (Ground Beef stuffed Wild Betel Leaves).
* Bún Thịt Nướng (Grilled Meat with Rice Vermicelli)
* Gà Nướng Xả (Grilled Lemongrass Chicken)
* Nem Nướng (Pork Meatballs)
* Sườn Nướng Xả (Grilled Lemongrass Ribs)

Bún Tàu Chay (Vegetarian Mung Bean Noodle)

2011-06-16T20:00:00.004-04:00

I have yet again neglected my little food blog. No excuses, but I do have a few posts planned. I have been making this vegetarian mung bean noodle (bún tàu = Chinese noodles, which refers to mung bean noodles and chay = vegetarian) dish fairly regularly recently. This is my mother's go-to dish during Lent, when we abstain from eating meat on Fridays. This is actually a vegan dish as it contains no meat products!

I love the combination of the savoury soy ingredients: fermented bean curd and fried gluten. Fermented bean curd, soft salty cubes of soy found in jars, is often used in Asian cuisine; we often have it in plain congee. My sister loves my mom's chicken marinated in fermented bean curd. Fried gluten, which comes in cans, is used to make faux/mock meat in Asian cuisine. Mung bean noodles (or cellophane noodles), another Asian ingredient, are made out of the starch of... mung beans, what else?

Bún Tàu Chay (Vegetarian Mung Bean Noodle) - Serves 4
One of the reasons it took me a long time to write this post, was that I wanted to figure out how to best cook the noodles. I've tried soaking them and they get too soggy so you just want to rinse them and have them a bit wet. You can add any vegetables you prefer. Mushrooms would be a great addition! Fermented bean curd is quite salty, so you probably won't need to add salt.

* oil
* ¼ or so of a napa cabbage, sliced ½" thick
* 3 or 4 small bundles of mung bean noodles (I like to buy mung bean noodles in a package of small little bundles)
* 6 cubes of fermented bean curd, or to taste
* cooked/thawed frozen vegetables of your choice (I sauteed some green beans, corn and carrots beforehand)
* 1 can of fried gluten, drained (I don't rinse it because I like the flavouring)

Heat up oil in a large pan.
Add the napa cabbage and cook for a few minutes; it will release some liquid.

Quickly rinse the mung bean noodles and add to the cabbage.

Mash the fermented bean curd so it becomes a thick paste, adding a bit of water if needed.

Pour the bean curd paste on the noodles and cabbage, and mix.

Once the cabbage is cooked, add the vegetables and fried gluten.
Taste and season to taste, adding salt or more bean curd.
Tada!

From top left clockwise: (1) jar of fermented bean curd and can of fried gluten (2) cubes of fermented bean curd (3) mung bean noodles and (4) straining the fried gluten.

When you have excessively eaten meat, this is a great dish to get back to eating healthy and light! It has quickly become a new savoury favourite dish for dinner.

Another mung bean noodle recipe:
* Vietnamese Chicken Bean Thread Noodle Soup

BBQ Kale Chips

2011-05-15T12:05:00.008-04:00

I'm not very proud of my special ability of downing a whole (large) bag of potato chips. I've mentioned before that my weakness is salt. I get a pretty strong craving for salt daily, hence my love for chips. However, I have tried to cut back for 2011. No more large bag of chips for me! So I was really excited to try this kale chip recipe from one of my favourite lifestyle blog Sterling Style.

BBQ Kale Chips
Adapted from My Father's Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow, via Sterling Style.
I first tried this with salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. I then went looking for Cajun seasoning but could only found a spicy mesquite. I very much prefer the mesquite to salt.

* a bunch of kale
* olive oil
* spicy mesquite seasoning, seasoning of your choice or simply just salt

Thoroughly clean the kale leaves.
Dry the leaves - I used a salad spinner.
Cut the leaves off from the thick stem.
Tear the leaves in small 1-2" pieces.
Place the kale pieces in a large bowl.
Drizzle with olive oil, while mixing the leaves so they get coated evenly.
Season lightly with your choice of seasoning or salt. (Do this carefully. I over-salted my first two attempts. It may seem like a lot of kale but they shrink down to nothing.)
Spread on two parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes or so at 375F (I switch the baking sheets halfway through), or until the leaves are dried out and crunchy - if you leave them too long, they become brown and slightly bitter.
Tada!

The kale chips did a great job of satisfying my craving for salt. The kale gets a really crunchy texture too. Kale has a pretty distinctive taste and I wasn't sure I was going to get past it. These kale chips have really grown on me and are addictive! I now have a new ability: eating a whole bag of kale chips!

Crunch and saltiness without the guilt!

Another healthy snack:
* Roasted Chickpeas

Nigella's Nutella Cake

2011-05-07T13:30:00.001-04:00

A while back, I read Sweet Artichoke's take on Nigella Lawson's Nutella Cake. First of all, I have mixed feelings about Nigella. I started out really liking Nigella, a beautiful woman making simple recipes. Then, with Nigella Express, encouraging the use scissors instead of chopping with a knife, it seemed she was bringing oversimplification to a ridiculous level. Having said all of this, this recipe really appealed to me because 1) it involves Nutella (I'm a sucker for Nutella and I always look forward to spending time with the empty container making sure it's really clean...) and 2) it's simple! Not only that, but it was a big hit with my friends!

Nigella's Nutella Cake - Serves 8
Adapted from Nigella Lawson.
Since I made the recipe a while ago, I'm not sure changes I made were deliberate or not, such as dipping the hazelnuts in the ganache first (I think deliberate) and using 10% cream instead of whipping cream (that was definitely not deliberate and caused my icing not to be as thick as it should have been).

For the cake:
* 6 large eggs, separated (at room temperature)
* pinch of salt
* 125g (½ cup or 1 stick) soft unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
* 400g Nutella (1 jar)
* 1 Tbsp Frangelico, rum or water
* 100g ground hazelnuts (I ground them myself, skin on because I couldn't find them skinless)
* 100g dark chocolate, melted (microwaved or over simmering water)

Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry.
In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, and then add the Frangelico, egg yolks and ground hazelnuts.
Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a large dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time.
Line a 9" springform pan with parchment paper.
Pour into the prepared tin and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on a rack.

Making the batter: (1) mixing the Nutella and butter, (2) adding the egg yolks and ground nuts, (3) adding the egg whites and (4) in the springform pan, ready to bake.

For the icing:
* 100g hazelnuts (I couldn't find skinless ones and it was too much effort to peel)
* ½ cup 35% cream
* 1 Tbsp Frangelico, rum or water
* 125g dark chocolate

Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until the nuts are golden-brown in parts: keep shaking the pan so that they don't burn on one side and stay too pallid on others.
Transfer to a plate and let cool. (This is imperative: if they go on the ganache while hot, it'll turn oily.)
Over a simmering pot of water, add the cream, liqueur and chopped chocolate in a bowl, and heat gently.
Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice the top of the cake.
Unmould the cooled cake carefully, leaving it on the base as it will be too difficult to get such a damp cake off in one piece.
Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and dot thickly with the whole, toasted hazelnuts (I dipped them in the ganache first and also iced the sides).
Tada!

If you love hazelnuts or Nutella (they go hand in hand, don't they?), this is the cake for you. I liked the added texture of the ground hazelnuts. It is a flourless cake, so it is dense and very moist. It's definitely a recipe I will repeat (maybe with shortening for my mom).

Before icing the cake and a slice of cake (I didn't take pics when we cut the cake so that's a leftover piece...).

For other hazelnut related recipes:
* Lemon Hazelnut Tiramisu
* Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

Fried Polenta and Mushrooms

2011-05-01T21:05:00.001-04:00

I know I wrote that I would be better at updating my blog. Unfortunately, my laptop got a virus and was down for a few weeks. Waah-waah! But I hope May will be my more successful month in an unsuccessful 2011. So a few weeks (months?) back, I invited a couple of friends over for lunch before we headed to the home show to see Sarah Richardson (I'm a big fan of all of Sarah's HGTV shows and her design style). I decided to attempt making fried polenta and served with mushrooms. It was easy and quite successful!

Fried Polenta and Mushrooms - Makes 8 triangles
Adapted from Honest Fare.
While I liked that the original recipe has mushrooms in the polenta, I wanted to serve a mushroom sauce over the polenta triangles.

For the polenta:
* ½ cup cornmeal
* 2 cups water
* salt to taste
* pepper to taste
* ¼ cup Parmesan

Bring 2 cups of water to an almost boil in a large pot.
Lower heat and slowly add ½ cup of polenta while stirring so it doesn’t clump (this is an important step and caused me to throw out my first batch because I felt there were lumps).
Stir until polenta is creamy and begins to thicken.
Add salt (start with a ¼ teaspoon and add more to taste) and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese. Continue cooking and stirring for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Line 9" x 9" pan with parchment paper.
Spread polenta evenly across using back of a spoon or spatula.
Cover with another sheet of parchment paper.
Flatten, smooth and form nice edges by gliding your hands across top of parchment paper. Put in fridge to cool for at least 1 hour (or overnight).
Once a solid polenta slab has formed, cut out the cakes into squares, triangles, circles or whatever shape desired.

Preparing the polenta.

For the mushrooms:
* oil
* 1 shallot, diced small (or ½ onion)
* 2 handfuls of your favourite mushrooms, sliced
* 2 thyme sprigs
* Marsala wine (optional)
* salt and pepper
* cream

In a large saucepan, heat up the oil on medium heat.
Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 1-2 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and thyme leaves.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add marsala wine if using.
Add a bit (or more to make it saucier) of cream.
Once the mushrooms are cooked, set aside.

Putting everything together:
Coat bottom of pan in olive oil and heat to medium high heat (it has to be high enough or it will stick).
Place a cake on the pan and DON’T move it.
Let it fry for 2-3 minutes per side untouched.
Flip and repeat.
Drain on paper towels.
Top with mushrooms.
Tada!

Frying the polenta.

I would definitely make this recipe again and would consider making small dainty portions to serve as an appetizer. I still really like the idea of mushrooms in the polenta and would try that next time. While mushrooms is often served on polenta, so many other vegetables, such as asparagus could also be served on top.

A delicious vegetarian dish!

Canh Xà Lách Son (Vietnamese Watercress Soup)

2011-04-05T09:30:00.001-04:00

I really love canh. What is canh? It's the Vietnamese term for soup. Most Vietnamese meals never go without any canh. It accompanies rice and the main dishes. You can have canh as a side, or I sometimes scoop some canh into my bowl of rice. What's great about canh is that it's actually quite simple to make. It's usually a basic soup and so doesn't require many ingredients. One can make a canh with only a vegetable, a protein, some salt and water. It's a great way to try and taste new vegetables!

It's common to make canh out of greens and one canh that my mom makes is canh xà lách son, xà lách son being watercress. I like watercress in its raw form in salads, but it's pretty tasty cooked too. Try it out!

Canh Xà Lách Son (Vietnamese Watercress Soup)
This soup can be made in under 15 minutes.

* oil
* 1 Tbsp very finely diced onion
* 1-2 Tbsp ground pork
* salt and pepper, to taste
* watercress, washed and cut in 3" sections (I just use scissors)
* 2 cups water

In a small pot, heat up oil.
Add onion and pork.
Season with salt and pepper.
Once the pork is cooked through, add 2 cups of water
Add the watercress.
Bring the water to a boil.
Turn off.
Taste and adjust seasoning to taste.
Tada!

Ground pork and watercress.

Canh xà lách son - Vietnamese watercress soup.

Other canh recipes:
* Canh Khổ Qua (Bitter Melon Soup)
* Canh Hến (Baby Clam Soup)

Kazu (Montréal)

2011-04-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

1862 Rue Ste-Catherine Ouest
Montréal, Québec
514.937.2333

On a quick visit to Montréal, my sister and I dropped by Kazu. She'd been raving about this izikaya and I really wanted to try their ramen (because I have never tried ramen before...). Since Kazu only offers ramen at lunch time we dropped by at noon, and it was quite packed with a business crowd. We were able to squeeze onto two chairs by the counter.

Kazu and view from our counter seats.

The lunch menu wasn't very extensive, with about 10 offerings. My sister wanted to try something that was only available at dinner time, so she stuck to her favourite: the tuna and salmon bowl. I obviously had to order the ramen, with chicken I believe (this visit was over 2 months ago...). Our dishes started with a soup and a potato salad.

Soup and potato salad.

Elle's (I'll start using her blog name!) tuna and salmon bowl was piled high with crispy noodles. At the base was sushi rice, topped with fish and a generous amount of vegetables. Elle really likes the dressing and she mixed everything together.

Tuna and salmon bowl.

I was quite excited to receive my ramen bowl. It seemed to have a lot going on: ground pork, seaweed, an egg, snow beans and greens. One of my favourite components tasted like pickled daikon. The noodles (that Elle thought were made on the spot) had a great texture. The broth was quite flavourful. Just as I imagined and more!

Bowl of ramen noodles.

Elle and I decide to splurge a bit and shared a green tea ice cream. We were surprised to see that the green tea flavouring came in powder form. Still, it was quite enjoyable.

Kazu was quite delicious. I really want to come back and try the shrimp burger!! I will definitely have to re-visit!

Easy Pan Fried Shrimps

2011-03-30T10:00:00.001-04:00

As an accompaniment to the crab bisque, I was inspired by a popcorn shrimp recipe I saw on Chuck's Day Off. The deep fried version looked mouth watering but I thought I could make a healthier version by pan frying the shrimps instead.

Easy Pan Fried Shrimps
Adapted from Chuck's Day Off's Popcorn Rock Shrimp.

* shrimps
* salt, to taste
* red chili flakes
* 1 egg, beaten
* cornstarch
* oil

Season shrimps with salt and chili flakes.
Dip in egg and then in cornstarch.
On high heat, add oil in a frying pan.
Add shrimps to the pan.
Fry on one side for a minute or two; flip to fry the other side.
Tada!

Shrimps in egg wash and pan frying them.

This recipe could not be easier and it tasted great! I barely noticed that the shrimps were not actually deep fried. The cornstarch gave the shrimps a crispy coating. Properly seasoning the shrimps made them perfect little salty treats. These would probably be good dipped in sweet chili sauce.

Fried shrimps without the guilt!

Crab Bisque

2011-03-27T15:30:00.001-04:00

I have been totally neglecting this blog in 2011. Now I have a little backlog of posts and don't really know where to start. I will start with this crab bisque that I made back in January and hopefully, this will get the ball rolling!

I really wanted to make a bisque but killing a crustacean made me nervous. I collected my courage and headed to my nearby Asian grocery store, where I debated between lobster and crab. The lobsters seemed emaciated so I finally came home with a very large crab in a paper bag. I have to admit that he freaked me out a bit, trying to attack me with his claws. But I won in the end and enjoyed a lovely bisque.

Crab Bisque
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma.

Cooking a crab
I may have called my mom in a panic to ask her what to do with a crab. A helpful hint she did provide is that since I bought a Dungeness crab there was no need for added salt since the salty ocean water would make the crab salty. I thought picking out the crabmeat was the most labour intensive step of this recipe but fresh crabmeat is worth it!

* 1 Dungeness crab, 1 to 1-½ lb. each

Place the crab in a large pot (I used tongs to not get clawed!).
Add about a cup of water - it should not cover the crab but will steam it.
Add half an onion.
Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Twist off the legs and claws and set aside.
Place the crab on its back and pull off the small triangular apron-shaped shell flap, then insert your thumb underneath the top shell and pull it off.
Remove the dark gray intestines and the feather-shaped white spongy gills from the body and discard.
Rinse the crab body well.
Break the body in half and remove the meat from the cavities.
Crack the legs in several places and remove the meat.
Set aside the crabmeat in a bowl.
Crack the large claws and carefully remove the meat from each claw in a single piece.
Slice the meat and set aside for garnish.
Using kitchen shears, cut the shells into small pieces; set aside for the broth.

This guy donated himself to my bisque. Thank you!

Making bisque

* 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
* 1 small yellow onion, chopped
* 1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
* 1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
* ¾ cups chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
* ¾ cups dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc
* 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
* 3 cups water
* ½ cup heavy cream
* pinch of cayenne pepper
* salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.
Add the onion, carrot and celery and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes.
Add the crab shells, tomatoes and wine.
Sprinkle the flour over the top and stir to mix well.
Add water and bay leaf.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
Strain the broth through a sieve and transfer to a clean soup pot.

Making the crab broth.

Place the pot over low heat and bring to a gentle simmer.
Stir in the cream and cayenne and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Add the reserved crabmeat and heat through.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with the claw meat.
Tada!

The bisque provided a concentrated flavour of crab. I loved the orange hue of the soup. I did not blend any of the meat so I could enjoy the lumps of meat with the broth. It's a bit time consuming, but well worth the effort. If you want to wow guests this is the recipe to make. You can prepare the broth in advance and just need to heat it up, add the cream and season right before serving. It will be a guaranteed winner!

Beautiful crab bisque!

Koko welcomes Annisa to the Main

2011-02-24T20:10:00.004-05:00

8 Sherbrooke Ouest
Montréal, Québec
514.657.5656
website

My sister L was nice enough to guest post about her recent dinner at the Montréal Highlights Festival (and check out her outfit details on her blog).

****************************************************************************
My friend M and I snagged tickets to the opening night of Anita Lo at Koko for the Montréal Highlights Festival. Koko is a very trendy restaurant that is part of the also trendy Opus Hotel.

I was pretty excited to find out that the theme of this year’s festival was "Celebrating Women" and even more so when I saw that Anita Lo, executive chef and owner of Anissa Restaurant in New York, was one of the headliners. M was also enthusiastic about eating food cooked by this Top Chef Masters and Michelin star chef.

We arrived right on time for our 6 pm reservation. We were then sent to the restaurant lobby where our coats were checked and we had to wait a bit more. We finally were seated at a small table next to a huge lounging square leather bench that was a little too trendy for my liking. Unfortunately, we missed out first chance to order a drink (we had quick phone calls to make) and it took a while for the waiter to get back to us. We could see the maître d' and hostess running around; the waiters were still getting last minute info as we were seated but we were pretty much the first guests to arrive.

When the waiter finally arrived to ask us if we’d be taking the wine flight ($125) or not ($75), we asked if there was still time for a cocktail. We were told yes and happily took the waiter's suggestion of the house cocktail: a vodka, passion fruit and blood orange martini served since the opening of the hotel ($12.49). We were not disappointed. It was amazing; the blood orange really came through.

The first course consisted of tuna sashimi with mentaiko and radishes. It was amazing. The tuna was so fresh and the texture was perfect. It was accompanied by thin slices of radishes, microgreens, scallions, and (I’m pretty sure) rice paddy herb. The pollock roe was in a mayonnaise-like sauce which tasted strangely egg-y to me; I could have gone without. M really appreciated the accompaniment of radishes for texture. It was accompanied by Kinuyuki Junmai Ginjo, a sake sake which we were not digging.

Tuna sashimi with mentaiko and radishes.

The service glitch came about at this time, on top of not geting a bread basket until the second course. We were served our wine pairing but didn’t see our second course until the waiter came to give us our third wine pairing and we told him we hadn’t received the second course yet. He was surprised, served us our third wine anyway and mumbled something about a rush. We were working really hard on the dissatisfied faces at this point. It took us two hours to get 2 courses. I think that since our neighbors complained the rush was put on them at our expense.

The second course, sea urchin and chanterelle chawan mushi with lotus roots, intrigued us and pushed our adventurous side. Having heard so much of chawan mushi I was looking forward to trying it, but savoury custard is not really my thing. This one tasted like a miso soup in custard form. The sea urchin was a bit lost on me. The texture was very similar to the custard and the fresh ocean salt taste was a bit lost in the dashi-soy flavouring of the custard (and M kept jabbering about it being booggers). The one thing I did appreciate was the chanterelles and the cubes of crunchy lotus seeds that we didn’t realize were sitting at the bottom of our ramekin (I figured the lotus root chip topping was it!). This was our least favourite dish of the evening. The wine, D’Arenberg Hermit Crab Marsanne (McLaren Vale 2008, AUS), was lovely and had a grassy very unexpected bouquet but tasted nothing like what it smelled. Sorry can’t get much more into it than that.

Sea urchin and chanterelle chawan mushi with lotus roots.

The third course of grilled sea scallops with loufah (sic), sweet miso and bacon was a homerun! Two scallops charred to perfection sat on thinly sliced loofah with a runny sauce and dabs of sweet miso sprinkled with crunchy bits of bacon topped with microgreens. The bitterness of the char brought out the sweetness of the scallops, which were amazingly fresh. This was a hit with both of us as was the fourth course. The scallops were so good I don’t remember the wine (it was Sella & Mosca, Thilion, Alghero DOC, Sardinia 2008, ITA).

Grilled sea scallops with loufah (sic), sweet miso and bacon

Following the third course, we received a quick visit from the owner or manager (information carefully garnered by M’s eavesdropping) of the restaurant who was wining and dining food critics (including Lesley Chesterman of Gazette fame) around us, one of which was pretty out there but also providing us which much needed entertainment! She asked us how things were going and I was too polite to say anything and she was very quick so I felt I didn’t get the chance to, and was quickly scolded for it by M who didn’t dare either! M suggested she was trying to save the situation after the mishap.

The waiter returned for the wine pairing (Pfeiffer Shiraz, Rutherglen 2009, AUS) for the next course and committed a major faux pas by firstly, pouring a red into a white wine glass and secondly a glass that had been already used. The roasted rack of lamb with South African flavourings was cooked perfectly, with a side of meat stuffing with peanuts, raisins and spices that strangely reminded me of a Moroccan influence. The stuffing was topped with a white disk that resembled paneer in texture and taste but we were both unsure of what it was. There was a very acidic dark sauce also laced with spices that I wasn’t fond of but M enjoyed. The roasted carrots were glazed and deliciously sweet. The shiraz was very nice and paired well, but I can’t say I can distinguish it from other shiraz I’ve liked.

Roasted rack of lamb with South African flavourings.

The last course, warm poppy seed bread and butter pudding with Meyer lemon curd, was underwhelming in description, but really delicious. The bread pudding had the loveliest texture and offered great contrast with the crunchy crust. The Meyer lemon sauce was out of this world. The sweet Muscat (Rosenblum Cellars, Gallagher Reserve, Black Muscat, California 2006, USA) paired quite well with the acidity of the curd.

Warm poppy seed bread and butter pudding with Meyer lemon curd.

The restaurant owner/manager visited again at the end of our meal and I missed my second chance to bring up our issues. It was interesting to see ingredients that I’m familiar with used in other applications such as the rice paddy herb and the loofah. All in all a great meal, the service could have been better, the waiter was polite and more attentive than most but waiting an hour for a course was definitely not appreciated. But we will definitely be keeping our eyes out next year for another dinner to try.

Fresh Egg Pasta

2011-02-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

Over Christmas (yes, I still have posts related to the holidays), my friend C generously invited me over for dinner. I was so excited to find out that she was making homemade fresh pasta. Due to her Italian background, C is quite serious about her pasta (she even treated us to homemade cannoli's). Her pasta and seafood was amazing; the egg noodles just melted in my mouth! Not only did I come home that night with a very full belly, but I also scored her pasta maker (since C got a pasta attachment for her Kitchen Aid for Christmas)! Sweet!

I was very excited to try my hand at making pasta. Since C's pasta recipe is to add flour to eggs until the texture is right, I used my Joy of Cooking: All about Pasta & Noodles cookbook as a reference. C did have a good tip for quantity: use 1 egg per person.

Fresh Egg Pasta - Serves 4
From Joy of Cooking: All about Pasta & Noodles.

3-½ all purpose flour
5 eggs
1 tsp salt (optional)
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

Pour flour onto a clean counter (or a big bowl), shaping into a mound and make a well in the center.
Add to the well, the eggs, salt and olive oil.
Beat the eggs lightly with a fork, drawing in some flour as you go, until the eggs are mixed and slightly thickened.
Using the fingertips of one hand, gradually incorporate the flour into the eggs and blend everything into a smooth, not too stiff dough.
If the dough feels too dry and crumbly, add water as needed.
Knead the dough until satiny and very elastic, about 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces and wrap the pieces loosely in plastic.
Follow directions of pasta maker to roll dough.
Cook pasta and serve with desired ingredients (this time, I used pesto, corn, snap peas, shrimps and scallops).
Tada!

Rolling pasta for the first time was tricky but fun!

I was feeling so proud to have actual fresh noodles!

I'm not sure how much a pasta maker costs but I think it's worth it if you'll use it often. Making the actual pasta dough wasn't hard. I actually tried making pasta without a pasta maker before Christmas with failed results. I cannot wait to put the pasta maker to use again! Thanks so much C!

Dig in to the fresh pasta!

Skor Bar Trifle

2011-02-03T20:10:00.000-05:00

I think I was feeling especially holiday-ey for my Friday treats at work (this was a few weeks before Christmas. yes, i know am very late posting...). Not only did I bring the ever popular Swedish Meatballs, but I also brought another very popular recipe: Skor Bar Trifle. I clearly remember having this trifle for the first time. At my previous job, we would have a Christmas potluck lunch and my colleague M always brought this trifle by demand. I remember having a spoonful of this chocolatey amazingness mixed with whipped cream and loving it. Later on in the afternoon, I came for seconds. M sent out the recipe and every time I've made it, it's been a hit, just like the meatballs!

What's so great about this recipe is that there are only four ingredients and it is really an assembly job rather than cooking. You can buy all the ingredients ready made. It's rare that I don't make things from scratch but the results are so good. My friend Trapezista has been known to make each ingredient from scratch and assemble them. You can definitely do that, but the lazy way will yield winning results too!

Skor Bar Trifle
Quantities aren't super important. You just need enough to have a mixture of all four ingredients when scooped out.

* 1 package of one bite brownies (or you could bake low-calorie brownies)
* 1 package of chocolate pudding (you could also make it from scratch, or I bought the ready made kind!)
* 1 container of Cool Whip (or whip your own!)
* 4 bars of Skor, pulsed or chopped finely (or make Just-like-Skor bars)

Plan for about 3 layers so use a third of each ingredient.
Slice brownies in half, and lay a third of them at the bottom.
Cover with a third of your pudding.
Cover with a third of your whipped cream.
Sprinkle with chopped Skor bar.
Repeat for the next two layers.
Tada!

The four stars of the trifle!

I didn't take a picture once scooped out but the whipped cream and the pudding mixes together to make a brown mess. You then dig into a piece of brownie and there are little pieces of Skor bar. It's chocolate heaven!

Swedish Meatballs with Spicy Plum Sauce

2011-01-30T21:00:00.004-05:00

I'm back...! I haven't written for a while for too many (not necessarily very good!) reasons. So I do have a backlog of posts. I will start with this meatball recipe that I made for "snack" time at work (every Friday at 10 am - I still love it!). I think I've referred to this recipe before but have never posted it. Whenever I've made these meatballs, they have been quite a hit. The combination of the different types of ground meat makes for a great tasting meatball. I love the sweet and creamy sauce. I also like that it is an authentic "Swedish meatball" recipe (and not those overly sweet frozen ones with a rubbery texture) since Marcus Samuelsson is Swedish!

Swedish Meatballs with Spicy Plum Sauce - Makes 40 meatballs
Adapted from Marcus Samuelsson.
While the original recipe called to fry the meatballs in butter, I baked the meatballs this time. I don't know why I never did this in the past because I actually really dislike the task of frying meatballs, smelling like a meatball myself and worrying that they're not cooked through. Baking the meatballs is healthier, easier and ensure they're all cooked through! On another note, I follow the same recipe for spaghetti & meatballs!

For the meatballs
½ cup fine dry breadcrumbs
½ cup heavy cream
1-½ Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
⅔ cup ground beef
⅔ cup ground veal
⅔ cup ground pork
2 Tbsp honey
1 large egg
salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs and ½ cup heavy cream.
Stir with fork until smooth; set aside.
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat, and add the onion.
Sauté until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine beef, veal, pork, honey, cooked onions and egg.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the breadcrumb-cream mixture to the meat, and mix well (I find this step takes a while to make sure there are no breadcrumb lumps).
In a frying pan, cook a small meat patty in oil or butter; taste the meat and adjust the seasoning.
With wet hands (to keep the meat from sticking), shape the remaining meat into meatballs the size of a golf ball
Lay the meatballs on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Bake the meatballs for 30 minutes at 350F. (Check that meat is cooked through by cutting one in half; bake longer if required).

Making the meatballs.

For the sauce
3 Tbsp butter
1 large shallot, minced
½ red bell pepper, minced
6 dried plums, chopped finely
2 cups chicken broth
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp plum sauce

In a skillet, melt the butter on medium-high heat.
Add shallots, red pepper and plums.
Saute until softened and lightly browned.
Add chicken broth and heavy cream.
Stir in plum sauce, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add meatballs to sauce and simmer over medium heat, until sauce thickens slightly and meatballs are heated through, about 5 minutes.
Tada!

Making the accompanying spicy plum sauce.

I like serving these meatballs with slices of bread to sop up that sauce! None of it should be wasted. Make these meatballs at your next party. I promise there won't be any leftovers!

Happy New Year and Tetley Tea Contest Winner

2011-01-07T18:39:00.002-05:00

Happy 2011 to all my readers! I have been slacking when it comes to writing but I promise to get at it this week!

Meanwhile, I would like to announce the winner for the Tetley Tea contest.

Congratulations to AnnM! Please e-mail me your home address!

First Ever Contest: Tetley Colour Therapy Gift Basket

2010-12-20T06:45:00.000-05:00

This is exciting! Miss.Adventure@Home's first ever contest!!

I was contacted by Tetley and was sent a sample of blueberry ginseng clarity tea to promote the new line of Tetley Colour Therapy product.

My thoughts
Since I am not a big tea drinker, I thought I would share it with co-workers and friends. One of my colleagues had already tried the blueberry ginseng tea and thought it was very "yummy". I thought the aroma of blueberries was so fragrant. I was actually surprised that I really enjoyed this tea. It's also the perfect time of year for tea as it's getting cold out there!

The product
Tetley Tea is on a mission to help Canadians get more "colourful" with their new line of herbal teas. As you know, colour influences our lives every day. In the home, a bedroom that's painted paled blue an have a calming affect. Wearing red can illicit a sense of energy and excitement. Our colour choices can have dramatic effects on our mood and well being. Now you can match or even influence your mood using colour with this new line of herbal teas for a little Tetley Colour Therapy. Find out more at Tetley Colour Therapy.

The prize
A Tetley Colour Therapy gift basket worth approximately $70 with 2 containers each of tea, a canister/tea pot and 50 mood influencing greeting cards.

The rules
* To participate, simply leave a comment with your e-mail address by January 3, 2010 at 5 pm EST.
* Shipping is limited to within Canada only (excluding Quebec) - sorry non-Canadian readers. (If you are from Quebec, maybe you know someone in another province who can hold the gift basket for you?)

Disclosure
Other than the canister of 20 tea bags, no fees were paid for this product review and is based on my own unbiased opinion.

Langdon Hall (Cambridge, Ontario)

2010-12-13T23:10:00.000-05:00

1 Langdon Drive
Cambridge, Ontario
519.740.2100
website

When my boyfriend A asked me whether I wanted to go somewhere specific for my birthday or be surprised, I tried to play coy. So I gave him a hint: "voted one of the top 100 restaurants in the world this year". I was really hoping that he would get my hint and surprise me. What can I say? A birthday girl wants her cake and eat it too! Well, not only did A make a reservation at Langdon Hall, we also got to stay the night. What a great boyfriend I have!

Langdon Hall made the press earlier this year for being ranked #77 on San Pellegrino's top 100 list. It was one of only two restaurants in Canada (the other, #60, is Rouge in Calgary). Unlike my pal The Gastronomer who has been to quite a few (to name a few:#4 El Celler de Can Roca, #7 Alinea, #9 Arzak, #26 Momofuku Ssam Bar, #32 The French Laundry where The Astronomer proposed), I don't have much experience with acclaimed restaurants. I was very excited to be able to check out a Canadian one for my birthday.

I have to say that I get a little nervous going to very fancy restaurants. I know it's silly but you worry about doing the wrong thing. I could definitely feel a nervous jitteriness but our server made us feel very comfortable.

Dining Room.

Our overnight stay at Langdon Hall included a 3-course dinner, as well as breakfast the next morning. After settling in to our room, which was beautifully decorated in an English country décor and included a tall, feather bed, we headed out to dinner. We had 8:30 pm reservation, but there were still quite a few diners, and it thinned out at the end of our meal.

We each got a glass of wine and were served bread with their famously homemade butter. The very knowledgeable server explained that the homemade bread was made out of the same starter sourdough made when the restaurant first opened. I had heard about this done before and thought it was a very interesting tidbit!

Homemade Bread and Butter.

After ordering, we got complementary amuse-bouches. Unfortunately, it looked suspiciously non-vegetarian, so I interrupted the description of the amuse-bouches to mention that A was vegetarian. (I did feel bad and apologized to the server...) She finished describing the bass and calamari amuse-bouche and a vegetarian amuse-bouche was promptly brought out, made of braised radishes I believe (unlike the remaining dishes, these did not come with menu descriptions and my memory, not so good!).

Amuse-bouche time!

Our package included an appetizer, entrée and dessert, but I have included the prices from the menu. For our appetizer, A ordered the parsnip root tortellini with brown butter vinaigrette ($16). The tortellini seemed to have been fried and topped with a fried parsnip. A really enjoyed the herb jus.

I had the Digby scallop ceviche ($24) to start with, remembering that my sister raved about scallop in its raw state. I'm so used to eating seared scallops but the scallops still had a silky and creamy texture. I enjoyed pairing pieces of scallop with the very thin slices of turnip and some roe.

After our starter dishes were cleared, our server brought new forks and knives which confused me. Just as I was leaning in and asking A why we needed the extra utensils (I know enough that you use the outer utensils first!), our server brought our intermezzo dishes, complimentary from the chef. Aha! Mystery solved! I'm still not sure why we were offered an extra course but we very much enjoyed them.

A was served the lobster mushroom fricassée ($20), on top of a slow egg. A had never had lobster mushroom (well, neither have I!) and commented that it had a very meaty texture.

I got to enjoy the Perth County pork jowl ($21) with a root vegetable duxelle and savoury crumble. I feel that writing a food blog, I should have know this, but that's what the internet is for: a pork jowl refers to the cheeks. It was a fatty piece of pork that was amazingly seasoned, and just slightly crispy on the outside. It reminded me of Chinese BBQ pork. I would usually cut the fat off, but I decided to eat it and it was amazing! The fat just melted in my mouth. If I had a slight criticism, it was that it was a bit too salty. I love trying something that I'm not sure I will like and ending up loving it!

Perth County pork jowl.

For our main, A ordered the pumpkin and barley risotto ($24) that he thoroughly enjoyed. He wouldn't answer me when I asked how it compared to my own risotto...! I will have to try my hand at making barley risotto after attempting quinoa risotto.

Pumpkin and barley risotto.

I really thought I was going to order a seafood dish but the confit veal tenderloin ($48) really appealed to me. I was surprised to really love the celery root purée. I'm not the biggest fan of celery flavour, but I really thought it melded perfectly with the creamy purée. I really enjoyed a little dollop on each bite of the oh-so-tender veal. The veal just melted in my mouth. I also really liked the pine mushroom crumble that looked like ground coffee on my plate. It added a sweet nuttiness to the dish.

Confit veal tenderloin.

By dessert, I was very full. While we did see other diners enjoying a variety of cheese from a cart, we picked sweets to share: the orchard apple ($16) and rouge pumpkin parfait ($16). When we were done, our server asked us what our favourite and the pumpkin won hands down. The apple bavaroise covered in an eerily bright green colour was good, but nothing exciting. We did really enjoy the accompanying sorbet and could really taste the pear and Pernod (licorice flavour). The pumpkin parfait just tasted like a cold pumpkin pie mousse. The pumpkin flavour really came through in a very creamy way. Yums! (Our server also told us that the fromage blanc delice was amazing).

Dessert time.

Finally, a last sweet bite was served. I cannot remember the name but it was a marshmallow topped with chocolate and nuts. I have to admit that A ate most of it since I couldn't eat much more!

The menu is seasonal and ever-changing. Many of the produce is supplied by Langdon Hall's very own garden. Our menu highlighted fall flavours with root vegetables. I'd be very much interested in tasting a spring menu (maybe one day...) and I've even discussed going back for tea with girlfriends!

As expected, the service was immaculately attentive. All the dishes dishes were well paced, allowing A and I enjoy a 3+ hour dinner. I wish I had asked more questions about the food.

Included in our package was also breakfast the next day. A beautiful buffet awaited guests in the morning.

I couldn't wait and served myself food from the buffet. While I did enjoy everything, the goat cheese tart was such a tasty morning treat! A was more patient and ordered Red fife pancakes from the menu. Now that I'm looking at the breakfast menu, I should really have held off for lobster & sweet corn ragoût but I couldn't eat more...

My and A's breakfast.

After breakfast, A and I went for a stroll. There wasn't much left in the garden, but we were still able to find some leeks, beets, fennel and even raspberries. I can imagine that a visit in the spring or summer when the garden is bountiful would be amazing to see!

Garden finds.

Langdon Hall is definitely a "special occasion" place and I was lucky to get to experience it! I also feel very proud that two Canadian restaurants made the top 100 restaurant list, and just for that reason I think a special occasion is warranted!

Spinach & Mushroom Cannelloni

2010-12-07T09:45:00.003-05:00

I enjoy the show Eat Shrink and Be Merry, where the two sisters and hosts Greta and Janet are challenged to make a healthy version of a high caloric dish. On the episode I saw, they were taking on full fat cannelloni. I followed their roasted vegetable sauce and improvised a bit more on the filling.

Spinach & Mushroom Cannelloni
Adapted from Eat Shrink and Be Merry.

For the Roasted Vegetable Tomato Sauce
* 2 pounds small vine-ripened tomatoes
* 1 small fennel bulb, coarsely chopped
* 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
* 1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
* 4 cloves garlic, halved
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 can crushed tomatoes (19oz/540 ml)
* 2 cups vegetable broth
* 1-½ tsp dried Italian seasoning
* ⅛ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
* 8 whole basil leaves (medium sized), chopped

Halve or quarter the tomatoes, depending on their size.
Place tomatoes, fennel, onions, red pepper, and garlic on a large rimmed baking sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then sprinkle with some salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Mix well using your hands.
Roast vegetables at 450 degrees F for 45 minutes on middle oven rack. (I think I may have turned the temperature down a bit.)
Remove vegetables from oven and let cool slightly.
Remove and discard any loose tomato skins.
Transfer vegetables to a large pot.
Add crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper flakes.
Simmer sauce over low heat, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Purée sauce using immersion blender (or carefully transfer to a food processor or regular blender to purée).
Stir in basil leaves.
Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

Making the roasted tomato sauce.

For the Filling
This is where I improvised and added mushrooms! You could really add anything you want! I didn't have cottage cheese so skipped that. Also, I would have used the recommended ready-prepared lasagna sheets, but I couldn't find them so I just bought cannelloni shells

* oil
* ¼ onion, diced
* 2 handful mushrooms, chopped roughly
* ½ package frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed dry and finely chopped
* ¼ tsp dried oregano
* ¼ tsp dried basil
* ⅛ tsp salt, or to taste
* ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
* pinch nutmeg
* 2 cups part-skim (5%) ricotta cheese
* 12 cannelloni shells
* mozzarella cheese, grated

Sauté the onions and mushroom in a bit of oil until mushrooms are cooked.
Season with oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
Mix in the spinach and ricotta.
Taste and adjust seasoning to taste.
Coat bottom of baking pan with sauce (about 1 cup should do it).
With a spoon, stuff uncooked cannelloni shells with stuffing. (It involved a bit of pushing.)
Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees F.
Cover cannelloni with sauce (you will not use all of the sauce; freeze the leftover sauce to use for a busy weeknight pasta dish!).
Sprinkle with mozzarella.
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Uncover and bake an additional 5 minutes.
Tada!

Preparing the cannelloni's.

I really liked that the sauce had more vegetables than tomatoes. While I did enjoy the sauce (and have leftover sauce in the freezer), I'm not sure it was all the effort. I suspect it'd be just as good with a simpler, less demanding sauce. Otherwise, I really liked the addition of mushrooms; it really added another dimension!

For other vegetarian pasta recipes:
* Eggplant Parmesan
* Eggplant Rollatini
* Lentil-Ricotta "Meatballs"
* Mushroom Ravioli
* Pea Ravioli
* Pesto Goat Cheesy Pasta
* Pumpkin Ravioli
* Roasted Vegetable Lasagna Rolls
* Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells
* Truffle Macaroni & Cheese

Chinese Style Eggplant

2010-12-04T18:40:00.003-05:00

I have a confession. As my blog roll indicates, I've been cheating on food blogs with fashion blogs. I guess I live vicariously through all the stylish bloggers out there (even my sister L has started one!). Sometimes I get lucky with a blog, and they also share recipes. This is what happened when Not Just Another Blonde in Beijing shared recipes from her cooking course in Beijing. I was very excited to try making fish flavored eggplant (no fish involved!) since I do love my eggplant!

I have to be honest. I love this recipe. Since I've made this dish for the first time over a month ago, I've probably made this another ten times! I even made a vegetarian version, replacing pork with tofu! This is reminiscent of my mom's stuffed eggplants that I love, but with less work!

Chinese Style Eggplant (鱼香茄子 - Fish Flavoured Eggplant)
Adapted from Not Just Another Blonde in Beijing.
While I closely followed the recipe the first time around, now I improvise slightly. I don't always add ginger because I'm lazy. I also really like the addition of lemongrass chili sauce which makes this dish extra spicy!

* oil
* 2-3 eggplants, sliced into 2-3" sections and quartered lengthwise
* ½ tsp salt, (or to taste)
* 2 Tbsp ground pork or firm tofu (cubed)
* 1 Tbsp ginger, minced
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1 tsp (or to taste) chili sauce, like sambal oelek or lemongrass chili sauce
* 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
* 1 Tbsp Chinese vinegar
* 1-2 Tbsp sugar
* 1 spring onion, sliced thinly
* 2 tsp sesame oil

In a work or frying pan, on medium-high heat, add a generous amount of oil (eggplants tend to stick).
When the oil is hot, add eggplant splices, until they becomes soft; set aside.
In the same pan, add a bit more oil.
Add the ground pork or tofu.
When the pork is cooked through (the tofu takes less time), add chili, ginger, garlic, and stir.
Add the soy sauce, vinegar and water if necessary.
Season with salt and sugar.
Add the eggplant pieces back into the sauce.
Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and sugar if necessary.
Turn off heat, add sesame oil and green onion; mix in.
Tada!

Eggplant slices and pork.

Chinese style eggplant with ground pork.

Every time I dig into a dish of these eggplants, I am happy. I love the soft pieces off eggplant that have absorbed the sauce. I also really enjoy the spicy pieces of meat or tofu. As well, I find the addition of Chinese vinegar really adds a distinctly Chinese flavour that I have never cooked with (I went out and bought the vinegar for this recipe). While my dad is Chinese, he was born and raised in Vietnam. I feel like I don't know authentic Chinese food that well and hope to learn more!

Chinese style eggplant with tofu.

Nectarine and Plum Crisp

2010-12-03T09:40:00.000-05:00

After dining on red & white quinoa mushroom risotto, my boyfriend A and I had a nectarine and plum crisp. To me, crisps, or crumbles (what is the difference?), are the perfect fall recipes. Fall fruit, spiced and baked in the oven. Mmmm! Lucky for me, I stumbled onto this recipe while leafing through the September issue of Food & Wine.

Nectarine and Plum Crisp
From Food & Wine, September 2010.
I think I halved the recipe to serve two and there were leftover for breakfast the next morning.

For the filling
* ½ cup golden raisins
* 1 cup hot water
* ¾ cup light brown sugar
* ¼ cup granulated sugar
* 2 Tbsp whole wheat flour
* ½ tsp ground cinnamon
* ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
* 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
* ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
* ¼ cup fresh orange juice
* 6 ripe nectarines, cut into 1" sections
* 6 ripe plums, cut into 1" sections

Preheat the oven to 350°.
In a bowl, soak the raisins in the hot water for 20 minutes; drain.
Stir in the sugars, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest, lemon juice and orange juice.
Fold in the nectarines and plums.
Scrape the fruit into a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish.

For the topping
* 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
* ½ cup whole wheat flour
* ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
* ⅔ cup light brown sugar
* 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
* ½ tsp ground cinnamon
* 6 Tbsp cold butter-oil blend

In a bowl, combine the oats, flours, sugar, lemon zest and cinnamon.
Work in the butter blend.
Press the streusel into clumps and sprinkle over the fruit.
Bake the crisp for 30 minutes, until the fruit is tender and the topping is golden.
Let cool for 20 minutes, then serve (I bet it's even better with ice cream!).
Tada!

Ingredients the filling.

This is the first time that I've made crisp without apples. I had fun getting A to guess what fruit were in the crisp. While I do enjoy apple crisps, this was very good too. I think I still have some leftover topping ingredients and should make myself another comforting crisp while the temperature continues on dipping down...

Mike's Pastry (Boston, MA)

2010-11-30T09:05:00.002-05:00

340 Hanover Street
Boston, Massachusetts
617.742.3050
website

After dinner at Myers+Chang, we headed to my brother-in-law D's favourite spot for cannoli's in Boston. I think he makes a pit stop every time he goes to Boston. As we walked to Mike's Pastry, we passed another cannoli place with a long waiting line and Mike's was no different. The night was young so we got in line.

As we neared the entry, my sister and I abandoned D. We don't like lines. As you can see from the sign below, it's pretty much a free for all once you get in, but I would describe it as orderly chaos. You could see service was very efficient. All that to get a box with blue writing; we saw quite a few people with the Mike's Pastry box throughout the day.

No single file line! Are we in Asia?

D got himself and his twin brother chocolate chip cannoli's.

My sister and I shared a chocolate dipped one.

A few days after our visit, I read Cathy's thoughts on Mike's Pastry. She felt it was a tourist trap. My thoughts? I thought the cannoli was good but I think I've had just as good at other Italian pastry shops. (L has a weakness for one in Marché Jean-Talon.) It was nice to end our Boston weekend on a sweet note!

My sister L (or Elle - she got herself a new blog!). There's no one I like to shop with better!

Check out my attempt at cannoli's:
* Chocolate Cannoli

Myers + Chang (Boston, MA)

2010-11-28T13:40:00.001-05:00

1145 Washington Street
Boston, Massachusetts
617.542.5200
website

When our lunch and dinner plans fell through (diner FAIL), my sister recalled a recent post about Cathy's dinner to Myers + Chang. We found an Apple store, jumped on the internet and made early dinner reservations.

Myers + Chang offers an Asian fusion menu and the decor was diner and Chinese influenced. My sister especially liked the place mats, which were just cut outs of Chinese newspapers. My sister L and I each started with a homemade soda ($5 each). I ordered the lychee-vanilla and L had the cherry-ginger. We could really taste the primary flavours, but I had a hard time tasting vanilla in mine. Still good though.

Homemade Sodas.

I remember our waiter recommending ordering 6-7 dishes, since they are small plates and meant to be shared. We ended up ordering two starters and 3 main dishes. The dishes were on the small side, so we could probably have eaten more. First, we had a green papaya slaw ($6), which was very spicy, like the 3 stars on the menu warned. The slaw was very good, but the portion small. We also shared sweet potato fritters ($10) served with sriracha aioli. We absolutely loved these yummy fritters speckled with Chinese sausage.

Papaya slaw and sweet potato fritters.

My sister decided to share two mains. We first ordered the Cantonese BBQ Pork ($16), served with kimchee rice cake. The pork was good but I feel that I could get a lot of BBQ pork at that price in Chinatown. We did really like the kimchee rice cake; the kimchee's pickled flavours really came through.

Cantonese BBQ Pork.

My sister and I drooled over Cathy's picture of the nasi goreng ($14) so we knew we had to order it! It was a combination of tasty ingredients (ground pork, shrimp, fried onions, pineapple, chili sauce) mixed with milk, and topped with a runny egg. I could have eaten bowls upon bowls of this Indonesian fried rice. This is definitely a dish I want to replicate at home!

Nasi goreng, Indonesian fried rice.

Finally, the brother-in-law D ordered the panko-crusted lemon chicken ($14). The chicken was nicely fried on a bed of rice. The problem was the overly sweet lemon sauce that pooled at the bottom of the rice. It was like eating rice with syrup.

In my fantasy restaurant, I would serve small plates of Asian food so Myers + Chang was really exciting in that respect. We liked most of the dishes, although they were a bit pricey for the portion sizes. I'm still dreaming of that nasi goreng...!

Quincy Market (Boston,MA)

2010-11-24T22:45:00.000-05:00

I'm struggling to write these Boston posts and it seems the more I procrastinate, the harder it is. On to the post... After our first day spent shopping, the next day was spent walking around, with a dash of shopping. My sister L, her hubby D and I had planned very exciting food outings too, involved Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Unfortunately, they were massive FAILS. BOTH OF THEM.

Let me recount. First, we were going to head to Sam La Grassa's for a sandwich. It was only a few blocks from DSW, where L and I got ourselves new boots. We were confronted with a very closed store front. (In case you're wondering, I just checked the schedule: M-F, 10 am -3:30 pm. You're welcome.)

So we decided to head to our second triple D destination, Mike's City Diner. Having become the wiser, we called to check whether 1) it was open and 2) it was serving turkey. Yes, turkey. I was really excited about going to this diner that served turkey year round since we were in Boston for Canadian Thanksgiving (total coincidence that it's American Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers!). The answers: 1) yes, they were open and 2) they were serving breakfast all day. (In case you're wondering II, daily, 6 am -3 pm. All day breakfast on the weekend.) Lesson learned? Research your eats!

So I suggested heading to Quincy Market for lunch. I know it's very touristy and commercial, but I seem to remember always eating there while visiting Boston. Because it was a long weekend, the market was packed, as in you could barely walk.

D wanted chowder in a bowl. I decided to order there too, not wanting to wander too far. I was tempted by the bacon wrapped scallops (about $15, with a very sad salad). The scallops were really not that good, and the price ridiculous. It was a terrible call on my part. I should have found some deep fried seafood.

Chowder and scallops from Quincy Market.

It was a disappointing food outing because I had such high expectations. Sigh!

For more successful Diners, Drive-ins and Dives in Chicago:
* Cemitas Puebla
* White Palace Grill

RendezVous in Central Square (Cambridge,MA)

2010-11-21T14:10:00.003-05:00

502 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts
617.576.1900
website

After a long day of outlet shopping in Wrentham, my sister L, her hubby D and I, ended up in the vicinity of RendezVous an hour prior to our reservation. We decided to try to get seated; the staff was accommodating and found us seats at the bar. We were served a plate of bread and flatbread with butter. My sister and I just loved the flatbread. We also shared 3 cheeses ($14) that came with sweet accompaniments (pears, jam, almonds). Unfortunately, I don't remember the names of the cheese but we enjoyed them all very much.

Bread and cheese.

If you read my blog, you will realize that if there is scallop on the menu, I will order it. So along with our cheese plate, we shared seared sea scallops with Moroccan spices ($12). I liked the combination of the beautiful seared scallops with the exotic spices.

Seared sea scallops with Moroccan spices

Since the entrees are seasonal, the items that we ordered are no longer online. My sister L ordered a steak with greens and onion rings. She enjoyed the meal while she ate it. Unfortunately, she didn't feel quite good later and thought there was just too much fat between the butter and the onion rings.

Steak.

My brother-in-law D ordered the fish dish. I don't really remember the details of this dish, nor the fish. (That's what happens when you write posts a month after the event and relying on the online menu...)

I do remember my summer seafood chowder, with mussels and lobster. It had a light broth and large pieces of lobster. I did enjoy my dish but wish it was a bit heartier. I asked for more bread but I think was forgotten.

We all shared the apple-cranberry crostada with honey-lavender ice cream ($8). We thought we made a good choice for dessert and enjoyed the warm filling.

Apple-Cranberry Crostada.

It was nice to sit at the bar and see the bartender work. RendezVous was fully booked on the Saturday night we were there. The very friendly chef and owner stopped to say hi. There is a Sunday prix fixe menu that may be a good occasion to give RendezVous a try.

MuLan Taiwanese Cuisine (Cambridge, MA)

2010-11-16T13:05:00.000-05:00

228 Broadway
Cambridge, Massachusetts
617.441.8813
website

For Canadian Thanksgiving, I headed to Boston for a shopping trip with my sister and company. I thought I would take advantage of my trip and visit my dear friend E and her baby. When I last saw them in June, prior to my sister's wedding in Cape Cod, we actually tried to go to MuLan but it was too busy, and so we ended up having lunch at Legal Seafood. When E asked what I wanted for lunch, I suggested trying MuLan again.

I was really excited to try Taiwanese food with E, since her mom is Taiwanese. E told me, no surprise there, that the best Taiwanese food to have is in Taiwan. The restaurant was busy with a lunch crowd, but we were quickly served a soup, some peanuts and pickled vegetables, included in all lunch meals.

We bypassed the lunch specials because I wanted something authentically Taiwanese. E suggested the beef with leek wrapped in pancake ($10.95). It is made up of scallion pancakes that can ordered on their own, and then filled with beef with a savoury beef and leek mixture. I had a bite of the accompanying peppers, which provided a lot of heat. While E thought this didn't taste like the same dish she's had in Taiwan, it was still very taste. I love the flavourful filling combined with the crispy pancake - a very filling dish too.

Beef with Leek Wrapped in Pancake.

For our second dish, we ordered eggplant with basil sauce ($6.95). I just love eggplant (and have an upcoming Chinese recipe to share) and this dish was fragrant from the abundance of fresh basil.

Eggplant with Basil Sauce.

Between the very filling beef pancakes and the large eggplant dish, we had leftovers. Maybe one day I will get to visit Taiwan, but this will have to do for now!

Delicious Vietnam #7 Round-up

2010-11-14T20:30:00.000-05:00

As mentioned previously, I got the opportunity to host the seventh edition of Delicious Vietnam, a food blogging event featuring Vietnamese food, created by Anh from A food lover's journey and Hong & Kim Ravenous Couple.

The submissions ranged from an outing to a Vietnamese restaurant to Vietnamese recipes, both traditional ones and with new twists! Without further ado and by order of submission, here are all the delicious posts:

* First off, my friend Cathy from Gastronomy shared her visit to Thiên Ân Bò 7 Món, where she and her friends enjoyed Vietnamese-style roasted catfish (cá nướng da dòn). I so wish I lived in California because that fish is calling my name!

* Julia from Beginner Mom on the Run made Vegetarian Vietnamese Egg Rolls. Her version like my mom's has tofu, but also has the added mung bean and taro root. I remember eating egg rolls in Vietnam with taro, a substantial addition. There is no fried egg roll that doesn't call my name, and I wish I had some right now!

* Lan from Angry Asian Creations submitted Butternut Squash Braised in Coconut Milk. This looks like the perfect fall weather recipe. I can imagine the coconut milk being sopped up by rice. In addition to the butternut squash, Lan added fresh bamboo shoots and beech mushrooms, which I had never heard of!

* Next up is last month's host Doug from Javaholic. He submitted a Vietnamese Ahi Carpaccio recipe. Doug replaced the tradition beef in bò tái chanh with sashimi grade ahi tuna. Sounds like a tasty idea in my books!

* My submission was Tofu with Tomato Sauce. It's a great vegetarian recipe, quick and easy to make!

* Hong and Kim from Ravenous Couple made Vietnamese blood sausage this month. I have to admit that I avoided blood in my soups when I was in Vietnam but this blood sausage really intrigues me. The fresh herbs make it less scary to me and I'm so impressed they made sausage from scratch, casing and all!

* Anh from A food lover's journey, whipped up Vietnamese beef meatballs in tomato sauce, a beef version of xíu mại in her new kitchen (and you must check out her red kitchen bench and beautiful tile backdrop). These meatballs would be oh so good in a crusty bánh mì!

* Finally, Deb from Bear Head Soup, submitted a dessert recipe Chè Chuối Chưng. Oh my, I could see my mom heading straight to the kitchen to make this version of chè with banana, tapioca and cassava.

Thank you to everyone for your delicious submissions! If you'd like to submit a recipe for the eighth edition, it will be hosted by Deb from Bear Head Soup. For more information, click here.

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars

2010-11-11T09:15:00.002-05:00

I found this Smitten Kitchen recipe via A Cup of Jo and have been waiting for just the right occasion to make it. Finally, a trip to Boston during Canadian Thanksgiving seemed perfect. I wanted to make a big batch for my friends E and T, and for my sister and her husband D, as well as his twin brother J and his girlfriend R. Ooof!

I think sometimes the appeal of a recipe not only comes from the recipe itself but from a picture! I've been looking at Smitten Kitchen's picture since August, imagining myself making these exact crispy bars. Well, no surprise, they don't look exactly alike. My layers aren't as well defined and I have to work on being patient to cut proper squares. Aside from how the bars looked, they tasted awesome! Very, very rich. I can only eat a small square at a time. The crispy bottom and the chocolatey-peanut butter combination is reminiscent of Reese's peanut butter cups.

This recipe may seem long because there are three steps but it's really easy. The first step is the hardest (and it's not hard). The next two just involve melting chocolate and other ingredients and pouring out a layer.

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars
From Smitten Kitchen.
I made 1.5 recipe because I wanted to make a larger recipe and use a 8" x 12" baking dish. I think this kind of threw the recipe a bit. My crispy layer was thicker than the picture and the peanut butter layer not as thick. Also, I used semisweet chocolate recommended by Smitten Kitchen instead of the milk chocolate (mainly because I already had some). I think because of this, there was not as much variation in colour between the peanut butter layer and chocolate icing layer.

For the crispy crust
* 1-¾ cups crisped rice cereal
* ¼ cup sugar
* 3 tbsp light corn syrup
* 3 tbsp salted butter, melted

Lightly spray a paper towel with nonstick cooking spray and use it to rub the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan. (I forgot this step with no problems!)
Put the cereal in a large bowl and set aside.
Pour ¼ cup water into a small saucepan.
Gently add the sugar and corn syrup (do not let any sugar or syrup get on the sides of the pan - great tip or you get crystals like I have previously experienced!) and use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture until just combined.
Put a candy thermometer in the saucepan.
Cook over medium-high heat and bring to a boil (this made me nervous so I lowered the heat to low-medium heat - the extra time allowed for me to prep the chocolate and peanut butter for the next step).
Cook until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage, 235 degrees F.
Remove from the heat, stir in the butter, and pour the mixture over the cereal.
Working quickly, stir until the cereal is thoroughly coated, then pour it into the prepared pan.
Using your hands, press the mixture into the bottom of the pan (do not press up the sides).
Let the crust cool to room temperature while you make the next layer.

(Side note: A tip for measuring butter when you have an undefined amount left over: Add a set amount of water into a measuring cup, then add pieces of butter until you reach the total of initial amount of water + amount of butter you need. For example, I needed ¼ cup of butter, so I started with ½ cup of water and added butter until I reached ½ + ¼ = ¾. Drain the pieces of butter. No more figuring out funny pieces of butter.) I then had enough butter to add to the sugar and corn syurp mixture and poured it onto the rice creal.

For the milk chocolate peanut butter layer
* 5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
* 1 cup creamy peanut butter

In a large nonreactive metal bowl, stir together the chocolate and the peanut butter.
Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is smooth.
Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for about 30 seconds to cool slightly.
Pour the mixture over the cooled crust, using the spatula to spread the layer evenly.
Put the pan in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the top layer hardens.

Chocolate and peanut butter.

For the chocolate icing
* 3 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72 percent cocoa), coarsely chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon light corn syrup
* 4 tbsp salted butter

In a large nonreactive metal bowl, combine the chocolate, corn syrup, and butter.
Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is completely smooth.
Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for 30 seconds to cool slightly.
Pour the mixture over the chilled milk chocolate peanut butter layer and spread (actually, I found it easier to just roll it around until it coated smoothly, avoiding the risk of picking up any of the peanut butter layer with it - damn I wish I had read this part better!!) into an even layer.
Put the pan into the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the topping hardens.
Cut into 16 (at least! - I agree. These squares are pretty rich and I would cut them into smaller daintier squares next time) squares and serve.
(The bars can be stored in the refrigerator, covered tightly, for up to 4 days.)
Tada!

Adding dark chocolate.

I was rather stressed making this recipe because of the mere mention of a candy thermometer. I bought a very affordable one. It actually helped me be more confident making the caramel. No second guessing. I just waited for the temperature to reach 235F! I did not go without a gaffe; I forgot to butter the baking dish. I've done this before with very sticky results. Luckily, I think there was enough butter that I didn't have any problems removing the squares with a little spatula after cutting them. And I really enjoyed cutting these squares. Cutting through the rice cereal was oh so satisfactory!

I definitely will make this recipe again. It was pretty easy, although you should plan for the two hours required to allow the two different layers to cool down. I will have take-aways from my first try and make them even better next time!

Đậu Hủ Sốt Cà Chua (Tofu with Tomato Sauce)

2010-11-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

I wanted to make a Vietnamese dinner for my boyfriend A and me. Since he's vegetarian, I decided to make đậu hủ sốt cà chua (tofu with tomato sauce). This is a dish my mom often made with rice. It consists of fried tofu, topped with a tomato sauce. It's funny because in Western cuisine, tofu has become an alternative for meat. In Asian cuisine, tofu is just another ingredient so it is often paired with meat. However, this dish is vegetarian (although my mom makes a similar dish with tofu stuffed with meat).

I am hosting the 7th edition of Delicious Vietnam, a monthly food blogging event created by A Food Lovers Journey and Ravenous Couple, to highlight Vietnamese cusine. Look for the round-up next week!

Đậu Hủ Sốt Cà Chua (Tofu with Tomato Sauce) - Serves 4

For the tomato sauce
This sauce is super easy to make. It has a bit of sweet (from the added sugar) & sour (from the tomatoes) flavours going. My mom also likes to serve fried fish with this tomato sauce.

* oil
* ½ onion, diced small
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 4 plum tomatoes, diced
* salt, to taste
* black pepper, to taste
* 1-2 tbsp sugar, or to taste

In a pan, heat up some oil.
Add the onion and garlic until softened.
Add the tomatoes and cook on medium heat.
Season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste (I like the sauce on the sweet side so I do add a good amount of sugar).
Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked and have broken down a bit, resulting in a thick tomato sauce.
Taste and adjust seasoning.

For the tofu
You can prepare the tofu while the sauce cooks down.

* 1 package (1 lb) firm tofu
* salt
* minced lemongrass (I buy it frozen)

Slice the tofu into ½" thick slices.
Pat each slice of tofu dry with a paper towel (it will help the tofu crispen when you fry it).
Season liberally with salt and lemongrass. (Since tofu doesn't have much taste, I try to coat each slice to make sure each is properly seasoned.)
In a pan, heat oil.
Fry the tofu about 3-4 minutes on each side, until nicely golden brown.
Top the tofu with the tomato sauce.
Serve with rice.
Tada!

Preparing the tofu.

If you would like to join in this blogging event, please e-mail me at Miss.Adventure[at]live[dot]com, making sure to include “Delicious Vietnam” in the subject line before the end of the day on Sunday, November 15 (sorry for the short notice!). Please include the following information:
• Your Name
• Your Blog Name/URL
• Your Post URL
• Your Location
• Attach a photo (300 pixel wide, please)

Entries to Delicious Vietnam must be written specifically for this event only. Of course, do submit your photos to photo sites and events. Please make sure that your post contains the phrase Delicious Vietnam with a link to the host (Miss.Adventure at Home), and to the two founders (A food lover’s journey and Ravenous Couple). If you use Twitter, please include the tag #deliciousvietnam in your post.

Rice Indian Cuisine (Burlington,ON)

2010-11-03T20:30:00.001-04:00

4460 Fairview Street
Burlington, Ontario
905.681.3301
website

Two of my co-workers, R & K, had been raving about an Indian restaurant near our office. Rice Indian Cuisine serves a lunch buffet for $8.99. About a month ago, we headed there with my colleague K, for R's birthday and had a marvelous lunch. I was lucky enough to be taken out for my birthday last week and we decided to return to Rice with 2 more colleagues!

Rice is situated in a nondescript plaza (steps away from another favourite Bahn Thai), and keeps very busy with office workers at lunch time. While lower quality food may come to mind when thinking of Indian buffets, the food is actually quite good and fresh. All the curries were delicious. Most importantly, the naan bread was hot and passed the freshness test! Even the pakoras were crispy!

My full plate (and no, I did not just have one!).

My favourite curry, that I kept thinking about after my first visit, was the mushroom matar, mushroom and peas in a cashew, onion and tomato gravy. Pieces of mushrooms and peas swim in a rich sauce with fried onions. What's not to like? I will definitely be attempting to replicate this dish in the near future! Other curries that I enjoyed: aloo ghobi (cauliflower and potatoes), mixed vegetables (with a good spicy kick) and butter chicken.

Pakora, butter chicken and tasty naan bread!

Not only were all the savoury dishes excellent, but Rice also serves two of my favourite Indian desserts (really the only two I know and like...). With R & K's influence, we combined the gulap jaman (donut-like dumplings in syrup) on top of the rice pudding. While the gulap jaman's are good, I just love the rice pudding. It's rich and creamy but not too sweet: my perfect dessert. (Side note: you don't even want to know how many jokes about balls were made. Yes, we were all women...)

Gulap jaman and rice pudding.

Rice Indian Cuisine has great food, and at $8.99 for lunch, offers great value. I was harshly reminded yesterday that not all Indian buffets offer good food (unfortunately, my poor boyfriend A and I did not have such good food at another Indian restaurant). My only word of advice is to wear comfy pants when you visit, because you won't be able to stop eating!!

Low-Calorie Brownies With Butterscotch Drizzle

2010-10-31T17:50:00.002-04:00

I read the various Glamour blogs daily and stumbled into this recipe on Vitamin G, Glamour's health blog. I'm not a big "sweets" person so I actually really enjoyed these. I could see some thinking it's not rich enough. I inadvertently made this recipe even more healthy by forgetting the granulated sugar. I still liked it but would add the sugar next time. On top of the brownies is drizzled butterscotch. After my caramel disaster, I made sure I was successful on my first try.

Brownies With Butterscotch Drizzle
Adapted from Glamour's Vitamin G.

* 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, more for buttering the pan
* 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
* ¼ cup low-fat sour cream
* ½ cup light brown sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* ½ cup whole-wheat flour
* ¼ teaspoon salt
* ½ cup bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips
* ½ cup butterscotch chips
* 2 teaspoons 1% low-fat milk

Preheat oven to 325°.
Line an 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Melt butter with chocolate in a medium saucepan over low heat.
Remove pan from heat, and stir in sour cream, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until well-combined. Stir in flour, salt, and chocolate chips (I added a few spoonfuls of Nutella for extra flavour).
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in middle of oven until a toothpick comes out clean (about 25 minutes).
Baked for 25 minutes only with parchment paper.
Cool brownies in a pan; cut into 16 squares.
Top each brownie with a drizzle of butterscotch - recipe below.
Tada!

Butterscotch
Adapted from this how-to make butterscotch. I quartered the recipe since you don't need that much to drizzle the brownies. However, make the whole recipe to top ice cream or just enjoy on its own...!

* 1 tablespoons salted butter
* ¼ cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar
* 3-4 tbsp heavy whipping cream (not ultra-pasteurized)
* ¼ tsp vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt

In a small saucepan, melt butter over low to medium heat.
Just before butter is melted, add all dark brown sugar at once and stir with wooden spoon until sugar is uniformly wet (picture 1).
Stir until mixture goes from looking grainy to molten lava (about 3-5 minutes) (picture 2).
When the caramelizing brown sugar will begin to look and feel more like liquid and less like thick wet sand, add all the cream at once and replace your spoon with a whisk (picture 3).
Lower heat a little and whisk cream into mixture.
When liquid is uniform, turn heat back to medium and whisk every few minutes for a total of 10 minutes (picture 4).
After liquid has been boiling on the stove for its 10 minutes, turn heat off and let rest for a minute or two before transferring into a heatproof storage vessel.
Cool to room temperature.
When butterscotch liquid is room temperature, whisk in vanilla extract.
Taste again, adding more vanilla extract and/or salt until the marvelous taste of real butterscotch is achieved.
Chill butterscotch sauce in a non-reactive container with a tightly fitting lid only after sauce has chilled completely. (It will keep for one month refrigerated.)

Steps to making butterscotch sauce.

The rich butterscotch sauce was a really nice addition to the brownie. It was easy to make as long as you are patient and I can't wait to make it again. I found it also makes a nice visual addition to the brownie. I would definitely make this again!

Low-Calorie Brownies With Butterscotch Drizzle.

Vegetable Tajine

2010-10-29T21:38:00.006-04:00

I remember being really happy with the chicken tajine I had previously made. I was inspired to make a vegetarian version by my visits to Moroccan restaurants (Au Tarot and Rumi) and to Morocco. It seems the vegetables always come in large chunks, cooked so they're soft. I like the combination of tartness and saltiness from the lemons and olives.

Vegetable Tajine - Serves 3-4
You can obviously use the vegetables of your choice but I tried to use those I had encountered in tajines. The addition of chickpeas add protein to the meal.

* olive oil
* 1 small onion, sliced thinly
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* ½ tsp cumin
* ½ tsp nutmeg
* ¼ tsp cardamom
* ½ tsp dried chili flakes
* ½ L of vegetable broth
* ½ L of water
* ½ lemon, sliced thinly
* ½ can of green olives, chopped
* vegetables of your choice, cut into chunks (carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, zucchini)
* a few cauliflower florets
* a small handle of green beans
* a small handle of chickpeas
* salt and pepper, to taste

In a large pot, on medium/high heat, cook onion slices in olive oil.
Add the garlic and spices and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Pour the vegetable broth and water.
Add the lemon slices, olives and vegetables that take longer to cook (carrots, potatoes, squash).
Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer.
Later, add the zucchini, cauliflower florets, green beans and chickpeas.
Cook for 1 hour, with the lid on.
Taste and adjust seasoning (salt and pepper).
Serve with couscous (I had it with minty couscous and raisins).
Tada!

Cooking a tajine.

While I really enjoyed the tajine on the day I made it, I liked it even better on subsequent days. Not only is it nice to come home and not have to cook, but it's healthy and the flavours are so vibrant. Delicious and no guilt at all!

Served with couscous with mint and raisins.

Couscous with Mint and Raisins

2010-10-27T09:00:00.002-04:00

This recipe could not be simpler. Couscous. Boiling Water. Raisins. Mint. Maybe some salt. I'll still write a "recipe" below. I pre-soaked the raising in boiling for a few minutes and I found that it really helps plump the raisins up. I served this couscous with a vegetable tajine that will be the next post!

Couscous with Mint and Raisins

* 1 cup couscous

* handful of raisins
* 1 cup boiling water, plus more to plump raisins
* couscous
* mint, leaves picked and chopped
* salt, to taste

Soak the raisins in a small bowl of boiling water for 10 minutes.
Drain and set aside.
In a large bowl, add the couscous.

Slowly add the water and fluff with a fork.

Add more water as required, a bit at a time. Covering the couscous also helps allow the heat to remain and the couscous to absorb the broth.

Add the raisins and mint.
Mix in.
Season with salt.
Tada!

Minty couscous with Raisins.

The mint from my garden was a refreshing addition. I liked the sweetness of the raising contrasting with the savoury flavours. It was a perfect accompaniment for the tajine.

Red & White Quinoa Mushroom Risotto‏

2010-10-25T19:30:00.002-04:00

Quinoa is considered a complete protein, meaning it provides all 9 of the amino acids crucial to human function. It is the only plant based protein to do so. There are two varieties of quinoa: red and white. I found quinoa in the organic section of my grocery store. Also, if you're in Canada, you can buy both white and red quinoa in bulk at Bulk Barn. It's a tiny grain and once you cook them, you can see a spiral shape form.

For November's Quinoa Salad contest, from 20 minute supper club challenge, I decided to attempt a quinoa "risotto" (By the way, if you haven't had a chance, please vote from my October submission: pesto goat cheesy pasta - it's the first recipe at the bottom and I need your help!). I used mushrooms since it seems like a perfect ingredient for fall, but you could replace them with another vegetable of your liking. Roasted squash would also be a perfect fall addition! The vegetables have to be cooked beforehand and added at the end.

Red & White Quinoa Mushroom Risotto - Serves 4

Cooking Mushrooms
I use the same method whether I'm preparing mushrooms for soup, pizza or ravioli. Thyme combines so well with mushroom.

* oil
* 1 shallot, diced small (or ½ onion)

* 2 handfuls of your favourite mushrooms, sliced
* 2 thyme sprigs
* Marsala wine (optional)
* salt and pepper

In a large saucepan, heat up the oil on medium heat.
Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 1-2 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and thyme leaves.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add marsala wine if using.
Once the mushrooms are cooked, set aside.

Cooking mushrooms: button, shiitake and oyster mushrooms.

Cooking the quinoa
* 2 cups vegetable both

* 1 tbsp butter

* 1 shallot, diced small (or ½ onion)
* 1 cup quinoa, red or white (or both!)
* ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
* mushrooms, cooked (see below - or any other vegetable of your choice!)
* truffle oil (optional)

In a small pot, heat up the vegetable broth. (For extra mushroom flavour, you can add dried mushrooms to the broth).
In a large saucepan, add butter.
Add shallot and cook until softened.
Add the quinoa, and mix, making sure the quinoa gets coated with the butter.
Add a ladle of broth, adding more as the broth evaporates.
Add Parmesan and mix.
Add the cooked mushrooms.
Finish with a drizzle of truffle oil if using.
Tada!

Making quinoa "risotto".

Although I followed the risotto cooking method, the result is not quite risotto like. Instead, quinoa retains its crunchiness, and doesn't have starch like rice to make the "risotto" thick. However, the resulting dish was still very tasty. I love the mix of red and white colours from the two types of quinoa. Considering quinoa's properties, it's also a very healthy dish!

Quinoa and mushroom goodness.

Lemon Hazelnut Tiramisu

2010-10-22T09:00:00.006-04:00

I borrowed Giada de Laurentiis' latest cookbook Giada at Home. It's a beautiful book with lots of pictures, that focuses on Italian and Californian recipes. Luckily, many of the recipes are also featured on her TV show of the same name and so can be found online on foodtv.com.

One recipe that I really wanted to try was the lemon hazelnut tiramisu. I'm not really sure what attracted me to it. Maybe the combination of lemon and hazelnut that I thought my mom would love? Or that the recipe requires no cooking? I also love the use of lady fingers in tiramisu that transform dry, hard cookies into a cake-like texture.

I also get excited trying new ingredients and got my first taste of Frangelico, a hazelnut liqueur. It's imported from Italy so it's a bit pricey but totally worth it! The hazelnut flavour totally comes through.

Lemon Hazelnut Tiramisu - Serves 10-12
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis.
From the picture on foodtv.com, Giada makes this in a trifle bowl. However, I liked making it in a long baking dish and slicing it to make it look like a slice of cake!

Lemon and Hazelnut Syrup
I highly recommend making a larger recipe of the lemon syrup using the same proportions. Maybe one and a half recipe. We had just enough syrup but you really want enough to dip in the lady fingers. If there isn't enough, the lady fingers will be dry and you want them moist so they turn into that cake-like texture!

* ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
* ¼ cup water
* ⅓ cup sugar
* ½ cup hazelnut liqueur (such as Frangelico)

Zest the lemon and set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine lemon juice, water and sugar over medium heat.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved.
Take the pan off the heat and allow the syrup to cool.
Mix in the hazelnut liqueur with the syrup.

Tiramisu
I only ended up making 2 layers instead of the 3 layers in the recipe. I did not use all of

* 1-½ cups whipping cream
* 5 tablespoons sugar
* 1 (15-ounce) container mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
* 42 soft or hard ladyfinger cookies (or enough for 2 layers)
* 1-¼ cups lightly chopped toasted and skinned hazelnuts
* 1 lemon, zested

Whip the cream in a large bowl until thick.
Add the 2 tablespoons of the sugar and continue to whip until the cream holds soft peaks.
In another bowl, cream together remaining sugar and mascarpone cheese for 30 seconds.
Mix ¼ of the cream into the mascarpone.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining whipped cream.
Set aside.
In a food blender, quickly pulse the hazelnuts and lemon zest.
Set aside.
Place the lemon and hazelnut syrup in a small shallow bowl.
Quickly dip a ladyfinger in the lemon and hazelnut syrup, quickly turning it into the syrup. (The goal is to make sure the lady finger has absorbed enough liquid without disintegrating.)
Place the lady finger at the bottom of a 13" x 9" serving dish.
Repeat until the bottom of the dish fully covered.
Spread ½ of the mascarpone mixture over the cookies.
Top with ½ of the hazelnut mixture.
Repeat layering the moistened ladyfinger cookies, mascarpone mixture and hazelnut mixture.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight. (I didn't plan ahead and refrigered it for maybe 2 hours. It was still very good!)
Tada!

The simple steps assembling the tiramisu: 1) dip the lady fingers, 2) cover the bottom with the fingers, 3) top with mascarpone mixture and hazelnut and 4) repeat.

Even though the mascarpone and whipped cream are quite rich, the tiramisu tasted quite light and airy because of the lemony flavour and the moistened lady fingers. I would definitely make this recipe again. It makes quite a large portion so I would have it next time or make it when I have a lot of guests. It's definitely a great recipe for a summer dessert since it involves no baking. A very good alternative to the traditional tiramisu!

Lemon Hazelnut Tiramisu.

Le Caïmorango (Strawberry Cocktail)

2010-10-20T08:45:00.003-04:00

Before our dinner at my mom's, my sister made a cocktail the she learned at Atelier et Saveurs, where she learnt to mix cocktails at a friend's birthday party. The cocktail was well balanced with the sweetness of the cranberry juice and the tartness of the lime, while the strawberries added colour and fruity strawberry flavour. Mmm!

Le Caïmorango (Strawberry Cocktail) - 1 drink
Created by Fanny Gauthier from Ateliers et Saveurs.
Add more strawberries or lime juice (or anything else - like vodka!) to taste!

* 4 pieces of strawberries
* 4 lime wedges
* 2 tsp brown sugar
* 1 oz white cranberry juice
* 1 oz vodka

In a glass, crush strawberries, lime wedges and sugar together (use a muddler if you have one!).
Add some ice cubes.
Mix in vodka and cranberry juice.
Adjust to taste.
Tada!

Perfect for one last meal outside.

Tofu Spring Rolls (Chả Giò Chay)

2010-10-18T08:20:00.001-04:00

Before leaving Montréal, we had dinner at my mom's. We took advantage of the beautiful September evening to dine outside. I thought that my boyfriend A should be introduced to Vietnamese food, and more specifically rolling food in rice paper. My mom made my fave nem nướng (Vietnamese pork meatballs).

For a vegetarian option for my boyfriend A, she also made chả giò chay. Chả giò chay simply translates to vegetarian spring roll. Therefore, the filling could be made out of anything, as long as there is no meat. My mom's version uses tofu to replace meat. The remaining ingredients are the exact same she would use for the meat version (which I still don't have a recipe here on my blog...).

Vegetarian food and vegetarian versions of Vietnamese dishes are actually quite easy to find in Vietnam because of the Buddhists who do not eat meat. The most strict ones do not eat meat at any time, and the more lax ones will not eat meat during specific periods, following the lunar calendar (sort of, but not really, equivalent to fasting for Lent, or for Catholics abstaining from meat on Fridays during the old days). Anyway, just to say that vegetarian food is easy to come by in Vietnam, and there are even vegetarian buffets during these periods.

Tofu Spring Rolls (Chả Giò Chay)
The ingredients in the filling can be adjusted to your liking. Another common ingredient found in vegetarian spring rolls is taro.

* 500 g of pressed (or firm) tofu

* 1 little bunch (37.5 g) bean thread noodles, soaked and drained

* 1 handful of nấm mèo (wood ear mushrooms), soaked and drained

* 2 small carrots, grated

* ½ onion, minced or diced very small

* 1-½ tsp salt

* ¼ tsp pepper

* 1-½ package (or more) spring roll wrappers of your choice

* oil for deep frying

Soak and drain bean thread noodles and wood ear mushroom.

Place the noodles and mushrooms in a bowl, and roughly cut the noodle and mushrooms with scissors.
Mash the tofu with a fork of if it is too firm, blend the tofu until it forms a crumbly texture.

Add the tofu to the bowl, with the grated carrot, salt and pepper.

Add 1-2 tsp of the filling on to the wrapper.

Roll the filling into a spring roll (refer to ram bắp - corn spring rolls post for pictorial.)

Heat up oil. You can test it by adding a spring roll - the oil is hot enough if there are little bubbles.

Deep fry each spring rolls.

Tada!

Pressed tofu and crumbled up.

Vegetarian spring roll mixture and placed onto spring roll wrapper.

Ready to be deep fried!

Try out this recipe and I'm sure most won't even realize there is not meat! It's deep fried with a tasty filling. What else do you need?

For another spring roll recipe:
* Corn Spring Rolls (Ram Bắp)

La Croissanterie Figaro (Outremont,QC)

2010-10-12T09:30:00.001-04:00

5200 Rue Hutchison
Outremont, Québec
514.278.6567
website

Before we left Montréal, my boyfriend A and I met up my university friend C and her boyfriend R for lunch. We went to La Croissanterie Figaro, based on a recommendation of A's friend (the same friend who had recommended Rumi, just across the street). We were a bit worried that we'd have to wait in line on a glorious Saturday morning but we got a table right away, though the restaurant was quite busy.

We got to sit outside under a red umbrella, which tinged my pictures with a red hue. I don't quite remember what we ordered and unfortunately, the menu is not online. I will try to go from memory. R ordered a puff pastry stuffed with rapini and feta (I think). A ordered a roasted vegetable sandwich.

Rapini puff pastry and roasted vegetable sandwich.

Both C and I ordered the Spécial Bonjour ($7.95) which consisted of an orange juice and a café au lait, and a croisant topped with ham, eggs and melted cheese. My croissant was quite good and the brunch special was very filling.

Le Spécial Bonjour.

La Croissanterie Figaro is the perfect spot to catch up with friends over brunch. It was especially nice to be able to sit outside. It's in a very quaint area, near an Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood and we could watch families walking to the synagogue.

Măng Kho Thịt (Braised Pork with Bamboo Shoots)

2010-10-09T10:15:00.005-04:00

I got to spend another week working out of our Montréal office while my boyfriend A was working in Montréal also. I stayed at my mom's during the week since the office is 5 minutes away. This means that I got to enjoy some home cooking! I've written this before but while I do enjoy the special "weekend" treats (that we ate on the weekend) like bánh xèo (Vietnamese crepes), I do also miss the "week day" food we ate with rice. A lot of this food is kho, meaning braised in Vietnamese.

This time around I asked for măng kho thịt (braised pork with bamboo shoots). Like all kho food, is it very flavourful so you can eat rice with it. To get this flavour, you have to take your time to cook it. This is no stir fry! There is usually a tasty sauce that you can add to your rice. One main difference from eating such dishes in Vietnam is that we enjoy a lot more meat. In a similar dish, there might be a handful of pieces, mainly fatty ones. To meet my pickiness, my mom picks less fatty cuts of meat.

You can buy bamboo shoots in plastic packages in the refrigerator section of Asian grocery stores or you can even use canned bamboo shoots. Eating bamboo shoots is a very Asian specific ingredient and I love it. I love the slightly crunch texture of the bamboo and it's a perfect vehicle to absorb all of the flavours from the sauce. I think I might even like the bamboo better than the pork...!

Măng Kho Thịt (Braised Pork with Bamboo Shoots)

* oil
* ½ onion, sliced thinly
* 1 lb pork shoulder, cubed into 1" pieces
* 3 tsp salt
* 1 tsp pepper
* 3 tbsp sugar
* 2 lbs bamboo shoots, canned or bagged
* 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

Season pork with 1 tsp salt and allow to marinate for 1-2 hours.
Heat oil in a medium pot.
Add onion slices to the oil and cook until softened for 1-2 minutes.
Add the pieces of meat.

Season with the remaining remaining 2 tsp salt, pepper, sugar.

Add chopped bamboo shoots, soy sauce and 1 cup of water.
Bring up the liquid to a boil and bring down to a simmer.
Add more water if necessary and the liquid dries up.
Allow to braise for 1 hour or so (until the pork is tender).

Serve with a bowl of rice.

Tada!

All you need is rice!

Rumi Restaurant (Outremont,QC)

2010-10-07T10:00:00.000-04:00

5198 Rue Hutchison
Montréal, Outremont
514.490.1999
website

On Labour Day, my boyfriend A finally was free to go out. (A was working 3 weeks in Montréal and had been keeping quite busy.) He had a list of restaurant recommendations from a friend who also studied at McGill. One of them was near my sister's and her husband's condo (where A was staying) in nearby Outremont, just on the other side of Mount Royal.

Rumi is a quaint restaurant serving a mixture of North African and Middle Eastern food. I loved the décor, especially the Moroccon lanterns (I didn't get to buy any when I visited). The restaurant was first quiet but became very busy very quickly.

A and I each started with a small bowl of dal rumi ($3.50) made of red lentils, ginger and coconut milk. There are not many dal's I've met that I've disliked. I love the combination of lentils and seasoning and this soup was no exception. A great start to warm me up on a rainy day!

Dal Rumi.

At my suggestion, A and I shared 3 mezes (for $17) with naan bread ($2). We picked the hodja (roasted eggplant and peppers), hamdi (roasted peppers marinated in cider vinegar) and wali (sheep's milk feta). All three mezes were tasty. I love the roasted pepper salad - very Mediterranean. The eggplant dip was flavoured with tomatoes. The tangy and salty sheep's milk feta tasted great also. I loved going in between all three mezes, topping each on a piece of naan bread.

Three mezes (clockwise, from left):hodja (roasted eggplant and peppers), wali (sheep's milk feta) and hamdi (roasted peppers marinated in cider vinegar).

Finally, A and I shared the vegetarian platter majdub ($17). The vegetable medley included interesting vegetables like patty squash and celery root (that I had to translate from French and wasn't feeling 100% confident with those two terms, but I was right!). The tomato-ey sauce spiced with cinnamon was a perfect accompaniment to the rice topped with raisins.

Rumi is the perfect place for a date or a nice dinner. The food was very good, maybe slightly overpriced for the portions.

Please help me vote - Pesto Goat Cheesy Pasta

2010-10-06T11:45:00.003-04:00

Dear Readers,
I need some help! I am a finalist in 20 minute supper club's cheesy pasta October challenge. The winning recipe will be the one that receives the most votes by the end of the month.

The prize is an awesome Kitchen Aid package. If I win, I pledge to put the kitchen tools to good use! Please vote for me!! Thanks in advance!

Click here to vote (my recipe is on the last row - first picture).
Click here for the recipe.

Much appreciated and love,
Miss.Adventure

p.s. If you want to enter for next month's contest, the theme is Quinoa Salad.

Bánh Khoai Mì (Vietnamese Cassava Coconut Cake)

2010-10-05T09:45:00.004-04:00

I am not a sweets person in general, and most Vietnamese sweets don't appeal to me. There may be a handful of chè (Vietnamese liquid dessert/pudding). I don't mind the baked goods but I wouldn't really have any craving. Except for bánh khoai mì (khoai mì = cassava), a Vietnamese cake made out of cassava and coconut. When I lived in Vietnam, I would go down the street and buy a slice every few week or so - that was enough to make me happy. Cassava is a root vegetable widely used in Asia, Africa and South America.

Bánh khoai mì does not have the typical texture of a cake. It's a little more sticky and gelatinous. I know that doesn't make it appealing but it's really good. The consistency is due to its two main ingredients: cassava and coconut milk. Though the cassava is grated, you can taste a bit of the fibrous cassava. My favourite part is the caramelized golden exterior of the cake.

Bánh khoai mì (Vietnamese Cassava Coconut Cake)
I've never made this and didn't realize there were so little ingredients. Just three.

* 2 lbs frozen khoai mi
* 1 can coconut milk
* 400 g (about 2 cups) sugar

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
Pour in a round or square pan.
Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or so, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Broil slightly if not golden enough (don't burnt it - like my mom did slightly...)
Allow to cool and slice.
Tada!

You can find this in the freezer section of an Asian grocery store.

Cassava Cake batter.

A nice, sweet treat!

I am submitting this recipe to the 6th edition of Delicious Vietnam, a blogging event featuring Vietnamese food, hosted this month by Javaholic. Details about this month event can be found here.

Schwartz's Deli (Montréal, QC)

2010-10-03T09:30:00.000-04:00

3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard
Montréal, Québec
514.842.4813
website

Schwartz's is a Montréal institution. In terms of food, Montréal is known for its smoked meat and bagels. Schwartz's is where you find the best smoked meat. Montréal smoked meat consists of smoked beef briskets. Similarly in the US, New York has pastrami. I have never tried pastrami so I can't comment on the difference. My understanding is that additives are added to pastrami meat to cure it while smoked meat is just... smoked! At any deli counter across Canada, you can buy Montréal smoked meat but it never tastes the same as back home, just like Montréal bagels at groceries store which taste like bread shaped like a donut.

Whenever I've been to Schwartz's, there's been a waiting line outside. My sister L and I didn't wait too long, maybe 15 minutes or so. The restaurant itself is very small and they seat as many people as they can. We got the farthest table tucked in a corner. The walls are adorned with pictures of celebrities and reviews. Like I said, it's an institution!

You have to have your smoked meat with a black cherry soda so I ordered a Cott. My sister likes her smoked meat with a side of pickles ($1.60) and we got an order of fries ($2.65) to share (rather, I ate most of it!). You can't beat diner fries that are freshly fried in house.

L and I decided to order smoked meat sandwiches. L ordered the lean smoked meat ($5.90). The very high stack of meat is sandwiched between two slices of thick rye bread, and served with mustard. There are bottles of mustard if you want to add more.

I ordered the medium smoked meat which came marbled with fat. Eating a smoked meat sandwich is a messy endeavour but definitely worth it.

They also sell beef briskets and you can even hire someone to slice it at parties.

Schwartz's also sells smoked turkey sandwiches and you can even order smoked turkeys for $6.49 for Thanksgiving! I've already written it twice but Schwartz's is a Montréal instituation so you must visit if you are in Montréal.