Road Trip, Day 2: South Dakota

After spending a night at a rather seedy motel in Broadus, Trapezista and I left Montana. We briefly drove across the northeastern Wyoming corner to arrive to South Dakota. We entered the Black Hills area which was quite unique. We continued to see black cows munching on grass.


Black Hills, South Dakota.

Our goal was to stop by and check out Mount Rushmore in the morning. It was exactly what we expected, very touristy and surprisingly busy, even on a rainy and cold day. Still the size of the sculpture is quite impresive. We pretty much took a few pictures and left. It cost us $10 for parking.


Mount Rushmore.

While our plan was to go to Minnesota and have a fried walleye sandwich (Minnesota's specialty) for dinner, I detracted from it by suggesting visiting Badlands National Park. Plans are made to be changed! The description for Badlands and the possibility of seeing wilds bisons roaming seemed too cool to pass on. The park is right off the I-90, and you can do a 1-2 hour loop, depending on how fast you go through it. After paying the $15 entrance fee, we entered at Bandlands National Park to find pronghorn antelopes (which are not actual antelopes) munching on grass; we actually saw many throughout our drive through Montana.


Pronghorn antelopes.

The view was quite spectacular, even though we did not have the best weather. I can imagine it feeling quite different with a blazing sun. It reminded me slightly of Drumheller and at times going through the Atlas mountain range in Morroco. There was a rattlesnake warning, but we didn’t think rattlesnakes would venture out inthe rain!

Bandlands National Park from an overlook.

After taking pictures from the overlook, we headed to the Roberts Prairie Dog Town, where we encountered some prairie dogs. We initially imagined them to be ugly like hyenas but prairie dogs are actually very adorable rodent-like creatures, like a mini-beaver. The grass was dotted wit holes and you could see their little heads popping in and out of their hole-y homes.

Prairie dogs and their holes.

As we approached another overlook area, I thought I saw a bison from afar. I figured it had to be a fake one for tourists. Then it started moving, and I thought maybe it was a mechanical one. It turned out to be real! We got the chance to see a bison from pretty close. What an animal! It’s rather monstrous looking and very large. We were both in awe of the bison!

Our friend, the bison.

Our drive through the badlands continued to be amazing. Although I was disappointed to miss out on eating a walleye sandwich in Minnesota, the detour was well worth it! [Side note: No food on this post, but plenty on the next one, when we hit Chicago!]

More badlands!

For other posts on the road trip:

Road Trip, Day 1: Montana
Road Trip, Day 3: Wisconsin (Part I)

Road Trip, Day 3: Chicago (Part II)

Road Trip, Day 1: Montana

Trapezista and I are drove back to Hamilton, Ontario from Banff, Alberta. Trapezista had previously done the drive to Banff but went through Canada. Supposedly going through the United States is quicker and it's a change of scenery for her. I was very much excited to come along this road trip after 1) recently seeing the Canadian movie One Week and 2) recently reading Jack Kerouac’s (whose parents are actually Québécois) On the Road. I expected the same caliber trip, minus the drugs, alcohol and sex, and plus lots of food! Ok, so Kerouac might not find our drive as entertaining…

Prior to our trip, Trapezista and I exchanged a few e-mails regarding our road trip and came up with a pretty good itinerary. I tried to research some food options, knowing we’d be likely restrained on time. How did one research anything before the existence of the internet? Amazing...! My favourite sites were Urbanspoon and 10best. I also trolled different discussion boards, including chowhound. However, on a road trip, you have to go with the flow. Trapezista suggested we hit at least one of Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. We ended up eating at two of them!


Leaving Canada and entering the US through Sweetgrass, Montana.

Montana
It took us about 5 hours to reach the Montana border. Montana, the "Live and Let Live" state, offered us some nice scenery. Though we could see the beautiful Rockies at the beginning of our drive, they dropped off but we still got to admire hilly landscapes. It reminded me of Ireland, not that I've ever been to Ireland... We saw many black cows munching on grass. Life seemed good for them. That’s the kind of cow I want to eat!!

Diverse Montana landscapes.

Hilly landscapes.

Around 2 pm, we stopped for gas and lunch (at Loaf ‘n Jug!). We saw what looked like an authentic, old school drive-in and decided to give it a try. After using the dirty bathroom, Trapezista thought it should also be eligible as a dive…! A girl came out and took our order. We decided to share a chicken strips’ dinner. Nothing special, pretty good chicken, weirdly served on toast with fries. I also had a very enjoyable cherry milkshake but wish I had gone for a less common flavour, like Montana Huckleberry... Oh well!

Ford Drive-In.

Our chicken strips' dinner.

We continued our drive on a beautiful day. The skies were so blue that, with the white fluffy clours and against the grass, it reminded me of one of the Microsoft backgrounds.

We were also amazed to see wind turbines. Trapezista commented it was an eerie feeling, seeing these huge wind turbines turning slowly on their own, with no one in sight.

Wind turbines.

Blue's BBQ, Billings, Montana

523 Hilltop Road

Billings, Montana

406.245.2583
website

When I think of the US, there are specific foods I think about and one of them is BBQ! While Montana doesn’t have a trademark food, I figured it should have good BBQ. I kind of imagined Montana with cowboys and all. So I researched the internet and found Blue;s BBQ in Billins Montana. It looked authentic enough; we even saw big BBQ's at the back.

After asking the girl at the counter for her recommendation, we both went for a shredded pork sandwich ($4.50). If you mention the coupon online, you get a free side. Trapezista ordered the homemade coleslaw while I got a side of yams. The pork sandwich was good but we both thought the sauce was overwhelmingly sweet. Adding the hot sauce we were given did not help much since it was not really hot. The coleslaw was too heavy on the sauce. I did enjoy my baked yams though I thought giving me 4 packages of butter seemed excessive!

Shredded pork sandwich with sides.

For previous road trip posts:

Road Trip, Day 2: South Dakota
Road Trip, Day 3: Wisconsin (Part I)

Road Trip, Day 3: Chicago (Part II)

Banff (again!), Moraine Lake & a Little Missteak

Last time I visited Banff, it was November and already snowing. It is still definitely colder in Banff than in Hamilton but at least most of the snow has melted. The mountains are still as spectacular as I remember. Trapezista was a lucky girl to be able to wake up to them every morning!

Since the road to Moraine Lake was closed for the winter last time, I had the chance to see it this time around. Even though Lake Louise is the more popular lake, Trapezista prefers Moraine Lake and I can see why. The lake was not quite as spectacular when were at the level of the lake; the water was much more shallow than when Trapezista visited in the summer. We were actually able to walk where the lake should be. However, once we climbed up a hill (where we encountered a very friendly chipmunk) to view the lake from higher up, we were able to admire the beautiful turquoise colour of the lake.

Morraine Lake at the bottom and an encounter with a chipmunk on our way up.

The view from the hill was breathtaking!

Another turquoise (thanks to glacier water) shot!

Two Jack Lake on our drive back.

Melissa's Restaurant

218 Lynx Street

Banff, Alberta

403.762.5511

website

After our trip to Moraine Lake, Trapezista and I were ready for lunch. Last time I was here, I did not have a chance to eat Alberta steak so I figured I’d take advantage of it this time. We headed to Melissa’s Restaurant, which offered a little missteak (4 oz.) for $8.95 for lunch. We were served by an Australian waitress since it seems Banff is overrun with Australians!

Melissa's Restaurant.

While I had the steak, Trapezista had a Caesar salad with grilled chicken. My steak was served on garlic bread with a side of fries: carb overload! While the steak was good, it was nothing special really. I guess I'm not a huge steak person to begin with...

Alberta steak!

After our lunch, Trapezista and I replaced our planned run (we were too full!) for a very long walk. Banff is so scenic that walking is an extremly enjoyable activity! We were also very lucky to have two wildlife encounters. The first was with an elk, hiding behind a tree and the second a deer. I spent a great day in Banff before we hit the road the next morning!

Encounters with an elk and deer.

For previous posts about Alberta:

Banff, Day 1: Town of Banff and The Best Burger

Banff, Day 2: Lake Louise and The Bison Mountain Bistro
Banff, Day 3: Gondola, Hot Springs & Fondues!
Banff, Days 4-6: Hiking and Wild Life

Banff, Day 7: Drumheller

Fiore Cantina (Calgary)

638 17 Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta
403.244.6603
website

(Since I will be spending a significant amount of time on our road trip with my ex-roommate and good friend D, I thought she deserved a better name than just D. Since she left her engineer job to become a trapeze instructor and is heading back to Ontario to teach trapeze at camp, she will henceforth be known as Trapezista.)

I arrived at 6 pm in Calgary (8 pm EST) famished and with a thumping headache on top of that. Trapezista came to pick me up from Banff. She drove us to dinner at Fiore Cantina, where we were meeting our friend AM who lives in Calgary. I cannot believe that for the second time in less than a year, I am in Alberta, having dinner with both Trapezista and AM!

AM picked Fiore Cantina because of its proximity to her apartment and its affordability. In fact, Fiore Cantina has a $7.99 special on all their pasta dishes, offered on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. AM is planning a wedding for August, and Trapezista and I are pretty budget-minded these days...

Both AM and Trapezista picked a vegetable heavy pasta. I don't remember which one it was and can only guess from the online menu that it was the linguini vegeteriano ($12.95 regular price). I decided to go for the spinach fettucine mare e monto ($13.95 regular price) after the waiter informed me that fresh rock crab was used rather than canned crab.

Linguini vegetariano.

I really enjoyed my spinach fettucine with crab. I thought there was a generous amount of crab. AM and her fiancé have been here numerous times and she thought the cream sauce was on the sweet side. After eating half of my pasta, I had to agree with her. It was a bit of overwhelming with the richness of the sauce. I still managed to eat my whole dish though!

Spinach fettucine with crab.

Fiore Cantina seemed to be a really nice spot for dinner and has a good wine list though we did not indulge. There were quite a few people that came in after us. It seems their pasta special is successful in attracting a good crowd on a Monday night!

For previous posts about Alberta:
Banff, Day 1: Town of Banff and The Best Burger
Banff, Day 2: Lake Louise and The Bison Mountain Bistro

Banff, Day 3: Gondola, Hot Springs & Fondues!

Banff, Days 4-6: Hiking and Wild Life

Banff, Day 7: Drumheller

Grilled Vegetable Couscous

It really seems like I'm obsessessed with Jamie Oliver these days. I've cooked from his cookbook Jamie at Home and also gone through Cooking with Jamie. I watched the first episode of his new show Jamie's Ministry of Food last night. I also made one of the first Jamie Oliver recipes I ever made, from The Naked Chef, couscous with grilled vegetables. I was unable to find his recipe online but I remember the ingredients and that's all I need!

I love couscous, and that was even before I went to Morocco. I don't even remember the first time I ate it. It takes minutes to make and it's so versatile. On a three day tour in the Atlas mountain range in Morocco, we ate couscous and tagine at every meal. While other tourists (mainly Belgian) complained about the repetitiveness, my friend MC and I enjoyed every bite of it!

This recipe is perfect for summer because it's loaded with vegetables and it's very light. It would be a perfect accompaniment to BBQ meat!

Grilled Vegetable Couscous - Serves 2
Adapted from Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef.

This is really just a guideline as you can add whatever you prefer.

* ½ cup couscous

* 1 green onion, chopped thinly

* ½ cup + a few tablespoons of vegetable or chicken broth

* 1 roasted red pepper, chopped small

* 1 small zucchini, grilled and chopped small

* ½ a bunch of aspargus, grilled and chopped

* a handful of olives, chopped

* feta cheese

* herbs of your choice, chopped small

* juice of 1 lemon

* extra virgin olive oil

* salt and pepper, to taste

For the couscous, place the couscous and green onion in a bowl.

Bring the broth of your choice to a boil.

Slowly add a portion of the hot broth to the couscous and fluff with a fork.

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

Couscous: before and after.

Add the roasted red peppers, grilled zucchini and asparagus, olives, feta and herbs, to the couscous and mix in.
Mix the lemon juice, olive oil and oregano, with salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Dress the couscous with the lemon dressing.
Tada!

Jamie Oliver stopped at the vegetables!


I "Greeked" it up with some olives, feta and oregano!

Baigan Bharta

To accompany my chana masala, I also made baigan bharta. Baigan bharta is an Indian eggplant dish that I really enjoyed when I went to India Oven. It was creamy, sweet and so spicy; however, it also looked very oily. My sister told me she makes a healthier, tomato-based version at home that she and her boyfriend really enjoy so I thought I would give it a try.



Baigan Bharta (Serves 2-3)
I followed the same recipe as the chana masala, with the additon of ginger (that I would omit next time) and turmeric. Since I still have some half-and-half left (that stuff does not go bad!), I did add some to make it creamier. I also added a bit of sugar to make it sweet. However, you can make it without the addition of cream and sugar. It's the eggplants' texture that gives the dish a creamy texture! Finally, I used Japanese eggplants because I prefer them but you can definitely use regular eggplants instead.

* 3 Japanese eggplants
* oil
* ¼ tsp cumin seeds
* 1 small onion, finely diced
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1 cup crushed canned tomatoes (or more if you like)
* ½ jalapeño pepper, seeded & very finely diced
* ¼ tsp garam masala
* ¼ tsp turmeric
* ¼ tsp salt
* 1-3 tsp sugar (to taste)
* 1-2 tbsp cream (optional)
* ¼ cup frozen peas (optional)
* fresh chopped cilantro, for garnish

Poke some holes into your eggplants with a fork to allow for the steam to go out in the oven.
Bake the eggplants in the oven at 400F for 30-35 minutes, or until the skin is burnt brown and the outside feels soft (I poke it with my fork!).
Let cool until you can handle it and peel off the skin.
Cut the big pieces with scissors and mash the peeled eggplant with a fork.
Set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat.
Add cumin seeds and cook until they begin to pop - about 30 seconds.
Add onions and cook until they begin to brown.
Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.
Add tomatoes, chickpeas, jalapeño, garam masala, turmeric, salt and sugar.
Mix in the peas.
Stir in cilantro and serve with rice or naan bread.
Tada!

The eggplant is not the most attractive vegetable but tastes SO good!

I was very happy with my baigan bharta even if it's not the most attractive dish!