Tuesday, December 9, 2008
How Cute is This?
Monday, December 8, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Back in the Saddle
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Over Easy
Hello to everyone reading this (yes Sarah, I am talking to you). This week I won't be posting because I have far too much work to do. But, it just so happens that my favorite assignment in this extremely busy time is to compare classic breakfasts at Diner's across the city. So here is an image that should tide you over for the next week or so until I am able to post again!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Choose your own adventure
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Mmmmmmmm
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Recipe Time
Thursday, October 30, 2008
My New Obsession
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Don't be a Hater
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Eating Seasonally
All you need is:
1 lb fresh Brussels Sprouts
3 strips double smoked bacon, cut into small bits
1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
chili flakes
Kosher salt to taste
Trim down the sprouts and cut them in half length wise. Drop them into salted boiling water for a few minutes, so they still have a crunch in the centre and aren't soggy or falling apart. Heat a non-stick pan and drop in the bacon. Cook until done and some of the fat has rendered. Add the Brussels sprouts and toss so they are coated in the bacon fat. Transfer into a serving bowl and add oil, chili flakes and salt and toss. Perfect as a side dish to any meat!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Easy Bake
Paella Perfection
Here's how to make it.
1 Spanish onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, smashed w/ the widest part of your knife blade
.5 green pepper, julienned
.5 red pepper, julienned
1 Serrano chili, finely chopped
1 Portuguese chorizo, sliced into bite size pieces or double smoked bacon cut into bite size pieces
1 chicken breast, sliced into pieces and/ or
white fish, cut into chunks
2 tbs saffron, diluted in a touch of warm water
.5 cup of pitted black olives
3 mussels per person, cleaned and checked for beards. *note: of they are open when uncooked, toss aside. If they don't open when cooked, toss aside
fresh cilantro
1.5 cups long-grain rice
3 tbs olive oil
3 cups water
salt to taste
Heat olive oil in paella pan (if you don't have one, use a cast iron skillet or a pot with a lid.) When oil is shimmering, add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and chorizo and cook for a few more minutes. Add the peppers and olives and sprinkle with salt to taste. When everything is properly mixed and coated with oil, add the rice.
Once the rice has mixed with all the vegetables, and add chicken (and fish if you are using it), saffron and water. Cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until a lot of the liquid has been absorbed.
Place mussels in a decorative fashion on top of the paella, and cover again until the mussels have opened, about 5-10 minutes. Cook uncovered for the last few minutes.
Serve topped with fresh cilantro and a bottle of the Terre Rouge Tete-a-tete. Comer bien!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Car Camping
You will need:
4 oranges
1 box Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake mix
Cut a lid off the orange and scoop out the inside with a spoon. Fill it with the prepared cake batter. Put the lid back on, wrap in aluminum foil and throw in the fire. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the cake is ready.
p.s. you can do the same thing with muffin batter in the morning. Enjoy with a cup of steaming hot coffee.
Food Porn
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html?em
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
My New Obsession
Check out Ella's Uncle, the coffee and the sweets are great. Only problem is, you still might be exhausted after your double Americano from all the hipsters up in the joint. Sorry to all the grown men in skinny jeans but if the Jonas Brothers are doing it, then you probably shouldn't be!
http://ellasuncle.com/
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Reading Rainbow
Why not do both? Here's some stuff you should be reading!
Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture http://www.gastronomica.org/
Meat Paper: A Print Magazine of Art and Ideas about Meat
http://meatpaper.com/
City Bites: Toronto's guide to great food and drink
citybites.ca
The Book of Jewish Food: And Odyssey from Samarkand to New York by Claudia Roden
http://www.salon.com/march97/food/cookbook970312.html
Jeffrey Steingarten: The Omnivore and in Vogue Magazine
http://books.google.ca/books?id=iyUxAAAACAAJ&dq=Jeffrey+Steingarten&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result
Michael Pollan: The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php
Kenneth F. Kiple: A Movable Feast: Ten Millennia of Food Globalization
http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521793537
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Reason Number 1,299 Why I Hate Toronto
Come December, I'll be eating the legendary chorizo sausage sandwich on a crusty white bun with tons of spicy rocket and a smear of good mustard, thanks to London's Burough Market. Cheerio!
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/index.php
Cruising for a Bloomin
http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/04/taking_stock_of_the_calorie_co_1.html
Monday, September 29, 2008
I'm Baaaccckkkk!!!!!!
so I haven't really been blogging this summer because, well, who the hell blogs anymore? This being a food blog, and today being the Jewish New Year, let's consider this a fresh start. I made wicked tagine the other night with the help of a Mrs. Roden that I though you might all enjoy now that the weather has turned. Have it with a bottle of the Lan Rioja, 100% tempranillo and absolutley delicious.
Okay, here it goes, with a little shopping guide for the two of you reading this:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, grated or chopped very finely
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron threads or saffron powder *I like to use threads and soak them in a teaspoon of warm water for a few mintues before adding it to a dish
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 chicken, jointed
salt and black pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped corriander
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
peel of 1 large or 2 small preserved lemons
*For all of the above, check out Arz Bakery and Fine Foods, 1909 Lawrence Ave. East (at Warden), 416-755-5084
12-16 green or voilet olives
In a wide casserole or heavy-bottomed pan that can hold all the chicken pieces in one layer, heat the oil and put in the onions. Saute, stiring over low heat, until they soften, then stir in the garlic, saffron and ginger.
Put in the chicken pieces, season with salt and pepper and pour in about 300ml of water. Simmer, covered, turning the pieces over a few times and adding a little more water if it becomes too dry. Lift out the breasts after about 20 minutes and put them to one side. Continue to cook the remaining pieces for another 25 minutes or so, after which time return the breasts to the pan.
Stir into the sauce the lemon juice, the chopped corriander and parsley, the preserved lemon peel cut into quarters or strips, and the olives. Simmer, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes, until the reduced sauce is thick an unctuous. If there is too much liquid, lift out the chicken pieces and keep them to on one sode while you reduce the sauce further, then return the chicken to the pan and heat through.
Present the chicken on a serving dish witht he olives and lemon peel on top of the meat.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Long Time
Friday, June 6, 2008
Sluuurrrp
Mangi!
Negroni
1 ounce gin
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce campari
Slice of orange
Pour gin, vermouth and campari into a chilled old fashioned glass. Garnish with an orange slice.
Friday, May 30, 2008
It's Tiiiimmmee!
4 parts Citron Vodka
2 parts Cointreau or Triple Sec
2 parts Cranberry Juice
1 part Lime Fresh Juice
Very is a weekly free-association by Elizabeth Spiridakis, in which she calls it like she sees it.
The closer we get to the May 30th release of the “Sex and the City” movie, the more these promo pics keep popping up. They are presumably meant to spark our interest in what promises to be two hours of relentless shopping, dating and complaining. But we’re much more interested in the behind the scenes goss because this picture suggests it was no slumber party happy times on that set.
This forced group hug is:
- Very very uncomfortable. They look so disconnected and like they hate each other as much as the tabloids suggest. Would anyone be surprised if this picture turned out to be four separate images photoshopped together?
- Very ladies who lunch…on the blood of virgins and sacrificed lambs. They all have crazy eye!
We’re also getting very different vibes from each of these ladies:
Kim Cattrall is:
- Very “Real Housewives of New York.” Aren’t cougars out by now? Her face is frozen in a hate smile mask and we can just hear her hissing, “If your skinny little shoulder comes even close to blocking my cleavage, I will cut you, Parker.”
- Very Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter, the kind of woman whose diamonds are older than her boyfriends.
Sarah Jessica Parker is
- Very Julia Roberts Oscar speech forced sincerity. Gee whiz, wow, I’m a star? I love everyone! Wheee!
- Very Cha-cha de Gregorio meets Teen Vogue prom styling.
Cynthia Nixon is:
- Very post sex-scandal humiliated wife. We have seen this face — the forced smile! — a lot lately in the news except behind Nixon’s is the awful realization that whatever amount of cash she was paid was not worth all this.
- Very Forever 21 fun summer shift and matching belt. Definitely not the slick Miranda we remember.
Kristin Davis is
- Very J Crew bridal collection (always the bridesmaid limited edition).
- Very “Oohh, who dropped that butterfinger on the floor and can I have it?”
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Montreal Wants Me, But I Can't Go Back There
Montreal must be absolutely beautiful right now, and boy oh boy do I wish I was sitting on a corner eating a fried bologna sandwich from Wilensky's right now. With a sour pickle. And yellow mustard. And a cherry coke.
Oh well, I guess I'll have to settle for Montreal making it's way to Toronto.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080523.wlbeard23/BNStory/lifeFoodWine/home
Monday, May 26, 2008
Pork & Sons
Try this one for yourself at home!
Jambon de Paris, bacon, apple and curry sandwiches
Preparation Time: 20 Minutes
4 slices Bacon
1 Granny Smith or other tart eating apple
1 celery stalk, cut into thin batons
4 slices cook jambon de Paris or other unsmoked, fully-cooked ham, coarsely chopped
1 punch of fresh parsley, chopped
4 pita breads
For the Sauce
1 egg
scant 1 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon curry powder
Preheat the broiler, then cook the bacon, turning once, for 4-8 minutes. Cut into small strips.
Peel, cure, and dice the apple.
To make the sauce, beat the egg in a bowl, then whisk in the opil, 1-2 teaspoons at a time, until about a fourth of it has been absorbed. Beat in the vinegar, then continue to whisk in the oil, adding it in a steady stream. Finally, whisk in the mustard, honey and curry powder.
Stir the bacon, apple, celery, ham and parsley into the sauce. Cut each piuta bread in half and fill the pockets with the ham mixture. Cut each in half again and serve.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Ideal Sandwich
Today's ideal sandwich:
1 holy land pita
4 tbs sunflower kitchen hummus
1/4 cup french fries
1 fried egg
1 baby
Turns out, the NYT's has a different idea about an Ideal Sandwich.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/dining/30sand.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Churro Borough
So follow my quest for the perfect Mexican-style doughnut. And I don't even like doughnuts.
The things I will do for a rhyme...
If you aren't heading to NYC anytime soon and just can't wait, try this recipe from 1080 Recipes.
Churros175 g / 6 oz plain flour
sunflower oil, for deep frying
icing sugar, for dredging
salt(Makes about 25)
Pour 350 ml / 12 fl oz water into a saucepan, add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Tip in the flour all at once and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool. Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or saucepan to 180–190°C/350–375°F or until a cube of day-old bread browns in 30 seconds. Put the cooled mixture into a churrera and make the churros, cutting them to the required length with a sharp knife as the dough is pushed out, and adding them immediately to the hot oil. Alternatively, spoon the cooled mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe directly into the hot oil, cutting the churros to the required length with a sharp knife and working in batches if necessary. When the strips of fried dough are golden brown all over, remove with a slotted spoon, drain well, dredge with icing sugar and serve immediately. Note: Some people prefer to use a mixture of water and milk (more than half water, less than half milk), which makes lighter churros.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Moules
So here goes.
Buy 1 pound of fresh mussels and put them in a bucket. Fill it with cold running water and pick through to clean the mussels off, pulling off any beards or junk.
If there are mussels that don't close in the water, throw them out immediately.
Heat 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of oil in a large pan (like the one I am using in this photo). Add a tsp of minced garlic and cook until aromatic, about 45 seconds.
Add 1 cup julienne vegetables (I like using onions, peppers and carrots) and toss until slightly soft, another 2 minutes or so.
Then, add your mussels and toss them with the fat and veg until nicely coated. Add 1 tbsp Sambal (a great Indonesian-style hot sauce) 2 tbsp heavy cream and 1 bottle of good beer (I was using Mill Street Belgian Wit). Give a good shot of salt, toss and then cover until the mussels have all fully opened. If there are ones that haven't opened, discard them immediately.
Serve with fresh baguette.
C'est bon.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Keeping it in the family
7 sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 bottle beer
1/2 head fennel, julienne
1 large white onion julienne
7 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 summer sausage cut into bite size pieces
1 chorizo sausage cut into bite size pieces
double smoked bacon cut into bite size pieces
1 cinnamon sticks
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 whole chicken, skin on and cut into edible pieces
A generous amount of fresh rosemary
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup of black olives
4 tbs olive oil
Soak the sun dried tomatoes in the beer for 20 minutes or until soft. Blend them with the beer in a food processor until it becomes a paste and put aside.
Preheat oven to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit.
Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet, brown the chicken all over and set aside.
Keep the oil hot and add onion and garlic. Sautee until onions become translucent but not brown.
Add fennel and sautee for another minute.
Add bacon, summer sausage and chorizo.
Arrange the chicken skin side up. Smear it with the sun dried tomato paste, add the cinnamon stick and sprinkle the olives and rosemary all around.
Add the orange juice and cover the pan with tinfoil.
Braise for 1/2 hour and uncover, adding the orange slices and pine nuts. Bake for another 20 minutes or until skin is crispy and chicken is cooked through.
Serve in the skillet and make sure to scrape all the good bits of the bottom of for maximum taste sensation.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Gross
I'd heard of this product a while back and couldn't believe my ears even then. A beef flavored drink doesn't sound even slightly appealing, even to a meat and potatoes gal like me. Drink it with vodka like you would a Caesar. Or, if you were like me, you would try adding it to a soup or something.
Spicy stuff!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Life just isn't Fair!
Some people wax poetic about the fashion in NYC, others about the restaurants or the fact that you can walk everywhere. But I'll tell you the only thing NYC has that Toronto doesn't. The only thing that matters, that is.
Trader Joe's infamous Two Buck Chuck. That's right, get yourself a totally drinkable bottle of California wine for two American dollars (that's $2.01 Canadian) at this Whole Foods competitor. Charles Shaw wines are from the Eureka state and grape varieties range from Cabernet Sauvignon to Shiraz to Merlot. Honestly, I couldn't care less about their white counterparts. But if you do, pick up a bottle of their equally cheap Chardonnay (that's a flavor of white wine, right?).
So, when I head to NYC this April I'll be hitting up the Trader Joe's in Union Square to stock up just like the girl in the photo. I suggest you do too.
Trader Joe's Wine Shop , 138 East 14th Street, 212-529-6326
Reunited and it Feels so Good
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Fun Fact
For a good recipe, go to http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/241201
Eating your Emotions
I fell in love with these fresh dates the moment I had them. What else can I say except that I love them just the way they are. Or was it that they had me at hello? I can't remember.
Nasar Foods, 1996 Lawrence Ave E., 416-757-1611
I Hate Rachel Ray
The folks over at The Daily Show hate Rachel Ray as much as I do. When New York Magazine asked them to create endings for shows that were stuck in limbo due to the writers strike, they came up with this gem.
Yummo!
Rachael Ray
Rachael wraps a pretzel in a piece of bologna and calls it a “healthy 30-second snack.” TV executives reward her with another multimillion-dollar contract.