The Perfect Weekend

I really couldn’t have asked for a better long weekend.  The weather was perfect all three days, I got to spend time with good friends, totally worked on my tan and of course ate! Shockingly, I did not indulge in any ice cream but as I write this there are still 5 more hours before the day ends so who knows

I did indulge however, in making brunch for myself – a plate full of scrambled eggs (à la Jean-George Vonderichten styles), pork breakfast sausages from Sanagan’s, roasted potatoes and sweet, sweet pineapples.  What a great way to start my day.  I was so full from this meal that I didn’t even have to eat lunch.

My parents, who just returned from a trip to Europe, came over for dinner as well and I got to try out a recipe from the latest LCBO Food & Drink magazine, lamb kebab with pilaf and coriander cream.  (You can’t find this recipe online yet but the magazine is available in stores right now.)  I love lamb but it was a little out of my budget so I substituted with the suggestion of  centre cut pork chops.  The marinade consisted of olive oil, honey, lemon zest and juice, garlic, ground coriander and cumin, paprika and fresh cilantro; I let the chops soak up all these flavours for a full day.  These were then grilled for about 4 minutes per side on my cast iron grill pan because I have not yet worked up the courage to try and BBQ again.

The pilaf cream was super simple and just Greek yogurt (or plain which is what I used), mixed with more fresh cilantro, ground coriander and lemon juice.  I added finely chopped green onions for added zing and really loved the results.  I slathered each bite with a heaping spoonful and felt zero guilt because it was just non-fat yogurt

As an aside, may I just say that I’ve realized how poor my plating skills are??  This plate is so amateur looking I really need to work on this.  Any suggestions?

It was great to see my parents and to cook for them and they also brought me presents from their trip, mainly a random selection of spices they thought I would like, including a bottle of dried chilis and a bottle of mixed peppercorns.  My dried pepper/chili collection is really starting to grow!

And now it’s back to reality and even mother nature seems to realize what a drag this can be because it’s supposed to rain today.  Oh well, at least it’s a short work week.  Happy-Monday-it’s-really Tuesday everyone!

Banh Mi Boys

Let me first start off by proclaiming this to be the best long weekend ever! It’s not even over but the weather has been glorious and I’ve had my first beach visit of the year so really, I couldn’t have asked for more.  Side note: if you live in Toronto and don’t know about the HTO and Sugar Beaches then you need to go – they’re great urban escapes when you don’t want to make the trek to the actual beach.

Photo care of http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=HTO+beach&hl=en&sa=X&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4TSCA_en___CA367&biw=1441&bih=646&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=2vEkRJmzE491iM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hto_Park_Urban_Beach_2.jpg&docid=0RByabpT9IPsqM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Hto_Park_Urban_Beach_2.jpg&w=800&h=599&ei=vPO4T4THPIav6AHqo-HmCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=595&vpy=146&dur=252&hovh=194&hovw=260&tx=83&ty=118&sig=101569741584816006210&page=1&tbnh=133&tbnw=197&start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:75

My long weekend started on Friday night, when I met up with my friend Michelle for dinner.  I decided to take her to the month old Banh Mi Boys on the corner of Spadina and Queen West.  I didn’t know that they had opened very briefly in December before closing again for renos but do remember seeing the brown craft paper covering all the windows for months and wondered when they would open.  I’m a HUGE fan of the traditional Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, which is usually filled with a variety of meat (such as Vietnamese sausage, pork belly, etc.) pork liver pate, mayo, pickled daikon and carrots and lots of fresh cilantro in a crusty French baguette.  There are quite a few Vietnamese shops in Chinatown that sell banh mi so I feel very lucky to be able to get one at any time for as cheap as $2 a sandwich!

Obviously I was quite excited to try out Banh Mi Boys and their take on one of my favourite sandwiches.  There are 10 options to choose from, including a more traditional grilled pork, to a pulled pork version and even fried squid.  There are also a small selection of tacos and steamed bao but almost everyone in line plus those already sitting down ordered the sandwiches.  Michelle chose the pork belly and I opted for the duck confit with onion chutney.  This small space seats only 15-18 people and once we got our food we decided it would be better to take it somewhere else to enjoy

These sammies range in price from $5-8 which isn’t too bad given their substantial size.  I know Michelle really enjoyed her pork belly and I did like my duck confit.  I’m not sure what exact seasonings they used on the duck but I think I tasted a slight hint of five spice.  The duck was very tender and moist, the onions very sweet and the pickled carrots, cucumber and cilantro helped cut through the richness of the meat.  However, I’m not sure if it’s because I’m so used to the traditional banh mi but as good as this was, I still like my $2 version better! That being said, I’m still interested in trying their other options, especially the braised beef cheek.

Oh and I must not forget about the kim chi fries.  I thought these were just kim chi flavoured fries so when I told Michelle to order the sweet potato fries and I would order the kim chi ones I figured this would be a good way for us to try them both.  I was wondering though why they were $5.99 but dismissed my concerns and placed my order.  Since I never saw the cooks preparing my fries it was until I took the box out of the paper bag that I realized I had no idea what I ordered!

Like, WHOA! These were literally kim chi fries.  Fries smothered in spicy kim chi, pulled pork, scallions and house mayo – like an Asian style poutine!   It was surpising and different and totally addictive.  Would highly recommend that you order this at least once.

I think it’s really refreshing to see shops like Banh Mi Boys open with such great success in Toronto.  We could always use more affordable good food options that also represent the cultural diversity of our city.  My next target? Lamesa Filipino Kitchen that just opened in the old Rosebud space at Queen and Bathurst.  The pictures of some of their plates featured in this Toronto Life post look absolutely delicious and very refined.  I love Toronto!

Aspragus in a Sandwich? Sure!

About 2 weeks ago I finally signed up for pinterest AND received a quick tutorial from someone on how to use it.  I can barely understand twitter so you can imagine my hesitation to take on yet another social media thingy.

Now that I was armed with the know-how I started searching for asparagus recipes to see what other ways I can enjoy my annual spring obsession. Is was through pinning (is that even the right  term?) that I came across a recipe for an asparagus sandwich that I thought I posted to my Yum Stuff board but clearly I didn’t and now I can no longer find it. The point is that I never thought of putting asparagus in a sandwich which were the exact sentiments of the recipe’s creator.  But why not right? She paired it with hard-boiled eggs., pickled red onions and a healthy dose of Dijon mustard all stuffed into a baguette.

I pretty much did the same thing except I used a ciabatta bun and raw asparagus stalks because they were so thin and tender. I also added 18 month aged prosciutto di Parma. And what a good-looking and absolutely tasty sandwich this turned out to be.   The only thing I didn’t like was the Dijon which I found overpowered everything else so I switched to a milder sweet and spicy mustard when I made a second sammy for lunch.   This one also went into the panini press since we have one at work and wow, was it close to perfection!

I am totally making this again and maybe I’ll switch up some of the toppings like using a garlic dill aioli or a mild gooey cheese like taleggio or even fontina and maybe even adding a more substantial protein like roasted chicken.

Oh asparagus, how I love thee!

A Beastly Brunch

After weeks of trying to have a brunch meal, I finally, finally got to indulge in my brunch craving this past Sunday.  It was a beautiful day outside and I was pretty excited as I made my way to Beast Restaurant.

And yes, you can correctly deduct by the name of the restaurant that Beast focuses heavily on carnivorous delights and while they do have some vegetarian options it’s not really the best place for a vegetarian.

The menu is full of enticing plates from Rachelle Vivian’s famous donuts (@doughtoronto) that were sadly sold out by the time we arrived to gnocchi “poutine” (I sooo wanted to try this but refrained) to water buffalo pastrami hash to challah French toast topped with creme fraiche and, wait for it, the beastwich, a buttermilk biscuit fried chicken thigh, pimento cheese, pork sausage gravy, 2 eggs and house potatoes.  Um, can we say CRAZY!!! How does one even eat that???

So obviously I didn’t order the beastwich for lack of wanting an immediate heart attack so I chose something a little less rich - the crispy pork hocks tossed in sweet chili sauce with kim chi and house potatoes.  I was being sarcastic about the rich part.

The pork hocks were crazy rich and fatty with a crunchy exterior which played nicely against the sweet spiciness of the chili sauce.  I was making bites of pork, runny yolk and crispy rosemary potatoes – so delicious.  I wasn’t really impressed with the kim chi because frankly it didn’t really taste anything like kim chi aside from a slight pickled flavour and there was waaayyy too much butter on the toast. But otherwise a very lovely brunch meal.

I probably have to be careful in the future with how rich I eat because my tummy was not very happy with me for the rest of the day but I still think it was worth it.

I love the atmosphere of Beast, tucked away on Tucumseth just west of King within a strip of residential homes, and a small intimate patio perfect for enjoying all of the sunny days ahead.

Beast Restaurant
 96 Tecumseth St.
(416) 352-6000

Niagara Wine & Herb Tour

Living in Toronto has many perks – constant cultural events, incredible diversity, a vibrant food scene, I could go on – and one of them is our close proximity to Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Just 1.5 hours from the big city and about 20-30 minutes from Niagara Falls, this charming, idyllic region offers a quick escape from the hustle and bustle of urban life.  It also happens to be home to some of the country’s best wineries that continue to produce award-winning wines.

My friend Emily and her husband are avid fans of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Wine & Herb festival, a month-long event every weekend in May where participating wineries are assigned a herb that must be incorporated into an appetizer or small bite and then paired accordingly.  All you have to do is purchase the pass (there’s a designated driver pass as well) and once you’ve decided when you want to go simply take the pass with you and start the eating and drinking marathon!

Emily and Norm are hard-core and actually spend the weekend at a bed and breakfast, visiting ALL 28 participating wineries over 2 days.  As first timers, we went this past Saturday and managed to fit in 10 wineries before we had to give in to our exhaustion.  It sounds silly but drinking wine and eating all day can actually be tiring!

We visited wineries of all sizes, such as the well-known Jackson-Triggs, Hillebrand and Peller vineyards to smaller vineyards like Strewn Winery and Konzelmann Estate Winery.  There were hits and there were misses but the fun part is simply trying.

The super sexy Stratus winery

Some of my favourites included the pairing of a lemon-thyme citron tart and a Reisling from Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery.  The custard was silky and the perfect texture and the lemon-thyme gave it a slightly savory flavour.

Lemon thyme citron tart at Ravine Vineyard

Hillebrand presented a carrot and coriander soup that was full of depth and bold flavour that I it made me wonder what else was in the soup.  It was paired with a limited edition Gewürztraminer that complimented the sweet carrot and bold coriander.  There were quite a few wineries that presented with a Gewürztraminer, a pleasant bonus for me as I very much enjoy drinking this type of white wine.

The grand and opulent Colaneri Estate Winery

Driving up to the yet-to-be finished Colaneri Estate Winery took my breath away and for a moment I felt that I was being transported to the hillsides of Tuscany.  A grilled panini full of tender grilled vegetables and Italian basil (a very fitting herb choice for this family run vineyard) was paired with the most intriguing Pinot Grigio I have ever experienced.  I’ve been trying to avoid Pinot Grigio’s lately because I’m starting to find them a bit too light and often lacking in body but this one, marked by its unique coloring (an almost pale peachy/pink color, a result of a particular step in production) is the exact opposite.  I could see almost everyone in our tasting group purchase one or more bottles of this wine.  It was the only bottle I bought that day.

And my ultimate favourite was a wine I could not have dreamed up even if someone had paid me to try.  We pulled into Sunnybrook Farm Estate Winery and were greeted with one of the most unique wines offered in the Niagara region.  Instead of creating wines from grapes, this winery focuses on creating wine from other fruits such as peaches, plums, black currants and cherries.  The featured wine was a pure peach blossom and it was such a wild flavour.  It was sweet, of course, but nowhere near the sweetness in comparison to an ice wine and it had just a hint of ‘wine’ quality.  But the one that stole the show was without a doubt, the Chocolate Embrace, a blueberry wine infused with chocolate! That’s right, the wine makers literally throw in tons of Belgian chocolate into the wine during production (I can’t recall exactly which step this occurs) and the resulting wine is just out of this world.  I don’t think I can even really describe it.  The sweet yet tart blueberries against rich earthy chocolate flavour… it’s like liquid gold! I’m kicking myself now for not buying a bottle because I thought it was a little bit out of my price range.  Stupid me!

It was our last stop of the day and the perfect way to end our tour.

There are 2 weekends left in May and I would urge you to buy a pass today (regular pass $43, designated driver pass $30) and take advantage of this festival that’s just a hop and a skip away.  Enjoy the beautiful scenery and peacefulness of the Niagara region while you sip, taste, learn, explore and relax.  Cheers!

A Taste of Singapore, Ossington Style

Singapore is one of my favourite travel destinations to date, despite the fact that I’ve only been there once and it was only for a brief 4 days.  One of the reasons I loved it so much was the amazing food to be found around every corner.  Singapore is a food lovers dream, with the cultures of Chinese, Malay, Indian (to name a few) represented in addition to cuisines that have resulted in the mixing of this ethnically diverse country.

Hawker stands are synonymous with Singapore and are essentially outdoor food stands that can often be found housed together in a giant complex like this one.

I would not be exaggerating if I said that you could probably choose from over 100 vendors and a thousand different dishes in one complex.  And since the country has such incredibly strict laws governing, well, everything,  all of these stands have to pass regular inspections resulting in food that is all very safe to consume.  Which makes it all the more difficult to decide which delicious dish (or dishes) you should order.

You can probably imagine then how I excited I was when I read about the new Hawker Bar on Ossington in The Grid.   Thanks to the guys behind Poutini (my fav poutine in the city), you can now experience a bit of Singapore-style street food in this very small space just south of Dundas.

The menu, written on cut up pieces of cardboard boxes (this is a bit too ghetto even for me but whatever) offers a small selection of snacks, platters, daily specials, traditional Laksa curry and 2 desserts.  Everything looked really appetizing so Jenn and I decided to split as many dishes as we could.

We started off with a tangy, fresh cucumber salad with a mirin dressing,  super addictive fried chili-salt silken tofu with its thin crunchy shell and lovely silky interior and a dish called ‘Son in Law Eggs’ where soft-boiled eggs are deep fried and served with chili jam.  I loved everything but found the eggs too soft for my liking. I love soft, runny or raw egg yolks but when I bit into it (and you’re supposed to eat this in one bite) I felt like there was an explosion of super undercooked egg whites as well in my mouth and that just didn’t sit too well with me.  The chili jam that it came with however was superb and we kept it as condiment for everything else.

Instead of choosing one of the platters or Laksa curries we knew we wanted the fried soft shell crab in chili sauce.  One of my fondest Singapore food memory is of eating chili crabs on a patio beside the ocean and I was curious to try their interpretation.  Although the sauce was much thicker and richer than the one I had it was still really delicious with only a mild spiciness and a nice complex flavour profile.

You can opt between banana fritters or ice kacang a very traditional Malaysian dessert of shaved ice and red bean paste.  It took a bit of convincing but we decided to try the ice dish and really had no idea what to expect when this bowl arrived at our table (sorry for the crappy picture!):

Here they’ve flavoured one half of the shaved ice with a syrup made from a plant (hence the green color) and the other half with a syrup I can no longer remember.  Red bean paste, corn and a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk (which they love to use in Singapore) topped off this version.  We were both pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed this dish, although quite sweet, was light and almost refreshing (imagine eating this in 50 weather plus humidity – it would be perfect!).

It’s really nice to see something so different open up in Toronto and at fairly reasonable price points.  Our meal, including complimentary ginger tea, tax and tip came to $62 total.  I can’t wait to bring my dad to get his opinion on their Hainanese chicken dish but the only thing is I’m not sure he’ll like sitting on a tree stump for the entirety of his meal. My ass was so sore by the end of it I was happy to get up.  BYO-cushions perhaps?

Just Give Me Water Please

I have never really been a trends person.  I like what I like, when I like it and if it happens to be “trendy” so be it.  If you haven’t noticed, coconut water is the latest food rage.  The health food store I frequent has a giant display of them front and centre, my regular grocery store has them featured ever other week it seems and there are even TV ads promoting the health benefits of coconut water (true or not I cannot say).

For someone who likes fresh coconut, dried coconut and most non-artificial coconut flavours, I do NOT like coconut water.  I tried it a while back, took one sip and threw out the rest of the can.  A friend of mine made me try it again this week, icy cold instead of at room temp, and I couldn’t take more than a tbsp of it. What’s wrong with me??? Why don’t I like it?  Why does it taste like…like… bleh? I want to like it, I really do.

Oh well, I suppose it’s for the best, I almost always prefer water to everything else.  Except wine perhaps

And that’s my thought for the day.  I was hoping to share a pasta dish I made on Wednesday with you but it didn’t turn out as well as I had planned so instead you get to hear about my inconceivable dislike for coconut water.  TGIF!