Eat My Love

My New Favourite Sandwich

2011-07-24T02:24:00.003-04:00

Recently I made a sandwich (pictured with fried tempeh) with the aforementioned buttermilk biscuits. I fried an egg inside the same shape-cutter that I use to cut/shape the biscuits, so that it would fit perfectly in the biscuit, and put buffalo ricotta on top. It was amazing. Does anyone have any suggestions for a vegetable that could be added? I think it needs a little crunch, is all.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2011-07-24T02:24:00.001-04:00

For the past few months I have been regularly making a recipe for buttermilk biscuits from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home. I like it so much that I have seriously been making them almost every other day ever since I first made them (though initially I was making them every day). I will give you my own slight variation of the recipe, as I make half of what the recipe prescribes, and take a few shortcuts.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup pastry flour

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter (chopped into about 1 square centimetre cubes)

3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 425 ºF

2. Prepare a pan for the oven (with aluminum foil or wax paper to reduce dishes)

3. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir it up

4. Add the little butter cubes, then mix it all (I do it with my hands) until the butter pieces (or shreds, as tends to be the case) are pretty small (the original recipe recommends “pea sized”)

5. Make a well in the centre, then pour in most of the buttermilk, and mix it in (but not too much)

6. Make the dough into a 2-2.5 centimetres-thick slab on the pan, then cut (or shape) biscuit shapes out of it

7. “Brush” the remaining bit of buttermilk over the tops of each biscuit (I drip it on and use my fingers to “brush” it around)

8. Put it in the oven for ten minutes on each side (sometimes I need 15 mins for the second side)

Before and after

Regional Foods: Maritimes

2011-05-16T16:47:00.033-04:00

Alexander and I talk a lot about "local" cuisines, and he often expresses envy that I come from a place (Nova Scotia) that has many more "regional foods" than does Ontario. I have decided to compile a list of them here for the Eat My Love audience.*

For the purpose of this post, I am defining "Maritime food" as cuisine that originates in, or has specific relevance to, the gastronomic culture of Canada's Maritime region** The food of this region is influenced especially by its geographic proximity to the ocean, and the ethnicities of the people who have lived there. My examination of the food of the region will no doubt have a white, anglo Nova Scotian bias. For this, I apologize.

Donair

A variation of the meat-cooked-on-a-stick-in-a-pita genre. Created by Lebanese (?) immigrants in Halifax during the 1970s. "Donair meat" (beef cooked on a "spit") is served on a pita with tomatoes, onions, donair sauce, and often cheese.

Donair Sauce
A thick, white sauce made of evaporated milk, garlic powder, sugar and vinegar.

Donair Pizza

Pizza dough with mozzarella cheese, donair meat, tomatoes, onions and topped with donair sauce

Garlic fingers

Pizza dough with garlic butter and cheese, often served with donair sauce.

Fish and Chips from a truck

This may be a contentious entry since it is certainly not specific to the region, but it is the ubiquity of the fish and chip truck within the Maritime provinces as compared to other regions (for instance, there were two within a five minute walking distance to my suburban Jr. High school) that I think it should be included on the list.

Lobster rolls

A bun (often hot dog-shaped) filled with pieces of lobster meat mixed with mayonaise and spices. Nova Scotia lobster rolls differ from others in the East Coast region in that they often include pieces of celery in the lobster mix and usually also lettuce inside the bun.

Poutine Râpée

A boiled potato dumpling with pork filling. An Acadian dish that I have heard of, but as an anglo, never consumed.

Fayots au Lard
Acadian dish of baked dried beans and salt pork fat served with molasses.

Fish Cakes

Fish cakes are certainly not unique to this region, but the traditional Maritime version of the fishcake is, I believe, distinct from its global counterparts in that they are made with boiled fish- usually haddock and/or salted fish (like cod)- and potato, rather than breadcrumbs. As I child, I hated fishcakes the way bratty American kids on TV hate their mother's meatloaf. In my family, they were the ubiquitous, horrid, pasty, mushy-meat meal I dreaded.

Mini-Sips

Single-serve clear plastic bags of low-quality fruit-flavoured drink made by various local dairy companies. May be frozen and eaten as a popsicle-in-a-bag.

Fiddleheads

Young fern fronds harvested from the forest during the early spring. Usually boiled, steamed or pan-fried and eaten as a side vegetable.

Dulse

A thick, leathery seaweed that grows attached to rocks and snarls your legs up when you swim in the ocean. Eaten dried, as a snack.

Chow-Chow Pickles

A green tomato and vegetable relish, often eaten as an accompaniment to a traditional Sunday supper of roast meat and boiled vegetables.

Moon Mist ice cream

A combination of grape, banana and bubblegum flavors

Oatcakes

A Scottish creation made of rolled oats, flour, sugar, and shortening. In the Maritimes, they are baked into a hard, dry disk whereas in Britain they are, apparently, usually cooked on a griddle. Nearly any bakery, cafe or supermarket in the Maritimes will sell these as a sweet to consume with coffee or tea. You can find oatcakes in Ontario, but they are not nearly as popular here, and those that are available commercially are almost without exception imported either from the U.K. or from the Maritimes.

"Grunt"

An Acadian dessert, usually made with berries, that resembles a fruit cobbler. My first solo-baking endeavor was being assigned to cook a no-sugar, diabetic-friendly blueberry grunt at Girl Guide camp when I was 10. It was awful.

* This list will not be exhaustive, and I hope to add on to it as additional dishes spring to my mind.
** I have deliberately focused on the Maritime provinces rather than "Atlantic provinces" (which includes Newfoundland, a province with its own very unique and very rich gastronomic history that differs considerably from the Maritimes and about which I am largely ignorant). This food culture of this region blends into that of the States along the East coast, so there are many evident similarities and continuities between some of this food and that of New England.

Scones Part 2

2011-03-14T12:14:00.001-04:00

After having made scones loosely based on a Bittman recipe for a while, last night I tried a new recipe from Smitten Kitchen. These scones were much fluffier and better overall. Without any clotted cream in the house I had to settle for crème fraiche, which is less similar to the former than I imagined (it’s almost like sour cream, though, fortunately, the slight sourness was perfectly eclipsed by the strawberry jam). The inside was slightly undercooked, despite having cooked them for twenty minutes (as opposed to the recommended maximum of 15) and letting them rest for ten minutes. Next time I will cook them longer. Either way, I think these will be my new scones.

Mozzarella en Carozza

2011-03-07T12:30:00.006-05:00

Pamela and I had been wanting to try an Italian food called mozzarella en carozza, so yesterday we got the ingredients and made some. It’s like a grilled cheese that went through an Italian testosterone machine: Fresh mozzarella is sandwiched by two pieces of bread soaked in egg (and maybe milk) like French toast, and the whole thing is deep fried. It was ridiculous, needless to say. It gives my mouth separation anxiety to see these photographs. The bread was so crispy it was bubbly, and each bite would send strings of mozzarella out like spider webs.

100% Haligonian Garlic Fingers

2011-03-07T01:56:00.003-05:00

In our recent trip to Halifax, Pamela and I returned to the local Greco Pizza chain in which I first lost my garlic fingers innocence. As crude as it may be, this particular item remains my favourite gastronomic experience of Halifax. I day dream about it often and longingly look through these pictures over and over. All our attempts at recreating this at home, though wonderful, have not equalled the pleasures granted by these unassuming rectangles.

This Echoes My Opinion of Annex (on Bloor) Food

2010-08-29T14:21:00.004-04:00

“About time the Annex Bloor strip got a decent place to eat. [It’s] all fast food/frat food.”

-comment courtesy of “popsy” on an internet article about the former location of Burger King on Bloor near Bathurst becoming a Guu Izakaya

2010-08-24T16:09:00.000-04:00

Today I found myself doing some research on pasta shapes because I have a bag of these big tube ones (which I have since learned are Rigatoni) and wanted to find out a good recipe for such a noodle. I love some of these pasta names. Behold:

Stringozzi - shoestring-like things
Elicoidali - Helicoidal ones
Marziani - Martians
Mezzi Bombardoni - Half bombards
Cannelloni - Big little canes
Mostaccioli - Moustache-like things
Pasta al ceppo - Log-type pasta
Cencioni - Large rags
Gramigna - Infesting weed
Strozzapreti - Priest-chokers
Maltagliati - Badly cut
Occhi di Lupo - Wolf eyes
Occhi di Pernice - Partridge's eyes
Stortini - Little crooked ones

Pan sauces

2010-06-12T18:28:00.001-04:00

http://rouxbe.com/cooking-school/lessons/180-introduction-to-pan-sauces

Videos like this get me really excited about cooking.

Soda

2010-05-26T13:08:00.003-04:00

I made some Cream Soda.

I brewed it with yeast, sugar, and artificial vanilla extract. The yeast taste is quite prominent, perhaps more so than the vanilla taste. There is also a nice lemon like taste. The aroma is much more noticeable compared to store bought sodas, probably because of the yeast. The carbonation is very good.

Starving Artist

2010-03-03T01:26:00.008-05:00

Roughly two weeks ago my dad and I went to Starving Artist (584 Lansdowne Ave, just north of Bloor). Their claim to fame is making sandwiches using waffles instead of bread. My dad had the smoked salmon waffle sandwich, and I had the cheese and chive waffle plate with salsa, sour cream, and fruit salad. They mixed the cheese and chives into the actual waffle batter before it was cooked and it was much better than I was expecting (and I was expecting great things). It's a really fun menu, and a good alternative to pub food, nachos, or regular sandwiches. It's also a bar. It's inspired me to try adding savoury ingredients into my pancakes. I figure a sharp cheese and maybe rosemary would be good. The plates were roughly $10 or there abouts. They make excellent coffee as well, and have live soul and jazz nights often.

Xu's Collards

2010-02-28T20:13:00.004-05:00

This is a flavourful way of preparing Collard greens.

Ingredients:

-A mild tasting oil

-Balsamic vinegar

-Honey

-Hot pepper sauce

I used a saute pan and about a third of a bunch of collard greens. Coat the bottom of the pan with oil and put the collard greens in when the oil is hot. Saute briefly, then put in about a teaspoon of honey, some vinegar, and some hot pepper sauce. This should give you enough liquid to cover the pan and braise on medium-low for a few minutes. The whole operation took me about five minutes. Cook longer if you like your greens soft.

Ezra's Pound

2010-02-07T12:45:00.014-05:00

Pamela and I went recently and it was better than ever. I hadn't gone for so long but I want to go all the time (I also want to support my local Dupont businesses/community more). It's so insanely beautiful inside; it's like a bastion of good taste in the (relative) middle of nowhere. Plus, “99.5%” of the ingredients here are organic, according to a sign, and the baguettes (among other things) were made in-house. Most everything was carefully considered and tastefully executed. It is the sort of place where you can tell that the owners are meticulous and passionate about food/decor/etc., not just using the restaurant as a means to an (economic) end.

Pamela got a baguette sandwich with cheddar, apple jelly, and onion/shallot marmalade ($8.64). I got “Le Continental,” which was also only around $8, and included a baguette, jam, a hard-boiled egg, and a choice of three cheeses: either brie, cheddar, or chèvre. The requisite salt and pepper for the egg was placed handsomely on the plate, the application of which could then be executed by one's fingers.

Bonjour Brioche

2010-02-07T12:04:00.012-05:00

We went here one grey rainy afternoon recently and it was really wonderful. I think it's my new favourite breakfast in the city. It felt so cosy and elegant and beautiful inside. Jazz was the main background music instead of the ubiquitous rock & roll or pop shit at most eateries. This is what it felt like inside, and here is a photograph of food on the counter waiting to be taken to people.

There were tasty-looking pastries everywhere. We bought two baguettes to take home and they were perfect. I ate mine in a french onion soup.

Most of us got the french toast, which was like no other french toast ever. It tasted like french toast with a cinnamon bun fused into it. It was also very dense, making it more like a “wet cake” (like bread pudding) than french toast. One unnamed guest even claimed to taste chocolate swirls, though the veracity of this statement was doubted by others.

One of us got a quiche, and it was also really good. Here is a photograph dominated by salad, but you can also spy the quiche and included baguette with (weirdly amazing) butter. I want to get this next time.

CN Tower Cuisine

2010-01-15T14:38:00.004-05:00

The CN Tower 360º Restaurant has really improved over the past decade and a half or so since I was last there. Pamela and I went there with my family recently and had a wonderful dinner with a ridiculous view. Fortunately, there was a separate vegetarian menu, though we had to ask about it to see it. We both ordered the Black Truffle Macaroni & Cheese. The macaroni was really good, though the truffles were (understandably) exiguously present, and the asparagus was perfectly cooked, with a juicy lemon on the side. It was amazing and $35 (although considering that we didn't have to pay the $30 CN Tower entrance fee [elevator fee] because we ate at the restaurant, it could be said to have costed $5).

Xu's Supper

2010-01-10T21:20:00.004-05:00

Just thought I'd post a picture of supper.

Thanks For The Cheeseries

2010-01-06T00:40:00.002-05:00

Tonight for supper I made a modified version of the famous pasta sauce mentioned in the post below. It was only 10pm so Alexander wasn't hungry for supper yet (ha!). I made a single person sized serving using one small can of diced tomatoes in a new-to-me brand (Aurora), two small shallots chopped in half instead of a big onion, and since I was out of proper butter, some Earth Balance. I topped it with some grated parmigano reggiano left over from Zicheng's tasty contribution to the New Year's party. Alexander tried a bite of it and loved the taste so much that he forgot all about not being hungry and enthusiastically ate a bowlful of my leftovers. The above is a video of his reaction to how tasty it was.

Tomato Sauce

2010-01-05T11:33:00.011-05:00

This is the best tomato sauce recipe. Every bite is a taste explosion. I've been eating this at least once a week since Ms P. Clark taught me.

1. Cut an onion in half, put both halves in a fairly big, wide pot with about 60 ml of butter, and sauté for a few minutes.

2. Add a can of diced tomatoes (preferably Unico) and diced garlic, then cook for about 50 minutes.

3. It's done when most of the water has evaporated from the sauce and you are left with ridiculously flavourful bits of tomatoes. Just remove the onions (their flavour has now been absorbed by the sauce) and put it in your pasta.

Rice & Beans

2010-01-02T01:57:00.010-05:00

One of my favourite meals in the world is rice and beans. I don't know if I still make it exactly as my grandmother taught me – thus faithfully replicating the Dominican style – but I do know that it tastes incredible. Also, it is black and white, which is my favourite colour combination.*

Cut an onion into little bits, sauté it in olive oil in a little pot, add a bunch of chopped up garlic, then pour in a can of black beans (Unico brand is what we use). Mix and cook that stuff on medium-low heat for like twenty minutes or until the beans aren't hard. Add 3/4 teaspoon of salt (or until it tastes good), a puff of cumin, and then throw (a small portion of) this bean mixture on top of a pile of white rice.

*It is not coincidental that this is the official Deep Madder meal.

2009-12-04T00:21:00.005-05:00

Some simple salad and fruit fun. This top picture is a salad idea I got from a co-worker. It's a twist on the Caprese salad. It's hollowed out small tomatoes filled with bocconcini pearls and then drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Guava (meh), persimmon (yummy), mangostein (amazing!), prickly pear (gross), and fruit I forget the name of.

I forget what this fruit was called. It tasted amazing - like tropical fruit juice. The downside was it was filled with ten trillion little seeds that were flakey and barky and too small to spit out or avoid.

Red Lentil Pasta Sauce

2009-11-20T23:49:00.006-05:00

Okay guys, I just made some amazing pasta sauce that I'll try to write out a recipe for. It's sooooo good for vegetarians who need iron and delicious pasta sauce.
As usual, I didn't take a picture, but you wouldn't want it if you saw my presentation! This made 2 or maybe 3 meals'-worth.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp margarine or butter
1/2 butternut squash (in little cubes)
1/2 red pepper (in little squares)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 jalapeno pepper (minced, but optional)
cumin to taste
sage to taste
1 bay leaf
2 tomatoes (chunked)
1/2 cup red lentils (rinse em!)
2-ish cups of water
salt to taste

Instructions
1. Melt the margarine or butter in a medium pot.
2. Add the butternut cubes and fry them for a minute or so.
3. Add the red pepper, garlic, and jalapeno pepper (if you're using it) to the pot and fry all that up for another couple of minutes.
4. Add the spices, coat the vegetables with them, and fry for 20 seconds-ish.
5. Add the tomatoes, stir them into the mix.
6. Add the lentils, water, and salt.
7. Cook it up until it's saucy. I smooshed the butternut against the side of the pot with a spoon a bit once it was soft.
8. Put it on pasta with some parmigiano reggiano and eeeeaaaat it!

"Sage and cumin TOGETHER?"
Oh, I SO just did that!

2009-11-16T00:17:00.003-05:00

Coach House Books has just released a book of essays on Toronto food and gastronomy called the Edible City, which I want to buy. On the website they offer this map of notable food locations.

View The Edible City Snack Map in a larger map

In Praise of: Parmigiano-Reggiano

2009-11-15T19:40:00.002-05:00

Great stuff. I'm talking about the cheese sold as Parmigiano-Reggiano and not Parmesan. It's been a while since I've had the latter and I don't remember being particularly fond it then. My late appreciation for the former stems mostly from adding it to soups and in risotto. A very versatile cheese, despite the fact that you can't easily put a slice on a sandwich, or spread it on a cracker. It also seems to keep for months in the refrigerator with no appreciable change in texture. The stuff I bought is hard as a rock anyway. If you want a recipe for risotto, ask me.

Have you heard of Buddha's Hand?

2009-11-14T16:45:00.005-05:00

Pamela and I were at Whole Foods the other day and came across this bizarre specimen called Buddha's Hand. Pamela tells me it's like a lemon, except shaped like a bizarre hand with fifty fingers. It's seriously the strangest fruit I can imagine. It looks like it came from Jupiter. This picture is of the underside of one.

Ricotta Salata

2009-11-13T00:18:00.003-05:00

I bought a new (to me) cheese yesterday called Ricotta Salata. It's Italian for salted Ricotta. It's kind of like a dry feta cheese, except not as salty. I can't stop munching on it. It's ridiculously good if, like me, you like stark-white, hard, crumbly, dry cheeses with a subtle taste.

Soft Gingerbread

2009-10-27T22:08:00.005-04:00

I made these using the following recipe from this website. I doubled the measurements for each of the spices except for allspice because I like my cookies extra spicy. They're chewy and filling and taste great.

CHRISTMAS EVE SOFT GINGERBREAD COOKIES
WITH BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

4 c. flour, sifted
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 c. dark molasses
2 eggs
1 c. water

Sift together flour, salt, soda and spices. In a separate bowl cream together shortening and sugar. Beat in molasses, then eggs, one at a time. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with water. Beat well after each addition. Divide batter into 3 parts and wrap in aluminum foil. Freeze batter for 12 hours. Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick on a well floured pastry board. Use large, floured cookie cutters. Refreeze dough before re-rolling. Place cookies at least 1 inch apart on a greased and floured cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees 15 to 18 minutes. Cool thoroughly before frosting.

BUTTER CREAM FROSTING:

1/2 c. soft butter
2 1/2 c. confectioners sugar
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Whip butter until creamy, blend in sugar and milk, then vanilla. Add more sugar if needed. Decorate cooled cookies with frosting. Divide frosting into small portions and color with food coloring. Also use raisins, sprinkles, chocolate chips, etc. to decorate.

Sukho Thai

2009-10-24T23:35:00.016-04:00

A collaborative review by A. Arvelo McQuaig and P. Clark

Sukho Thai
274 Parliament Street
Monday - Saturday, 11:30 - 8

This evening we ventured into Regent Park to eat at Sukho Thai. It is a tiny restaurant slotted in between two unremarkable buildings that we ignored.* It is so small and aberrantly located that we would probably never have encountered it if it wasn't for the Internet mob that brought it to our attention. It seems like it would seat little more than the cast of Melrose Place, but that makes it cozy. The decor is mostly bright, white, and sterile, implying an IKEA-assisted aesthetic.

Among those who keep apprised of foodie** news in Toronto, it is legendarily difficult to find anything even remotely close to authentic Thai food in our fair city (this, in spite of the veritable preponderance of restaurants that bill themselves as Thai restaurants, that use clever Thai referents in their names, and that serve dishes they call Pad Thai and Pad See Ew and Thai green curry, notwithstanding the uninspired Canadianized rubbish [ie. "Pad Thai" that replaces the traditional tamarind sauce with something bizarrely tomato-based] they serve). We were drawn to this dining destination on account of the contagious enthusiasm of the aforementioned Internet mob for Sukho Thai's devotion to authenticity. Beyond this, we were also lured by the intriguing promise of specialization in Northern Thai cuisine, which is purported to be less spicy than the food in Bangkok and around the coast.

Ultimately we were charmed by this family run joint with its amazingly warm, personable, and gregarious staff, reasonable prices, and – oh yeah – also its fresh and delectable food.

Garlic Tofu ($6.75)

“Crispy, chunky, tasty as hell.” These are a vegetarian version of the “Garlic Chicken” on the menu, and they were the indisputable summit of our Sukhoian ascent. Battered nuggets of silken-esque tofu with a sweet dipping sauce. They were moderately spiced with garlic, salt, and black pepper hints. Not too greezy, despite being fried.

Sukho Thai Pad Thai with tofu ($9-ish)

Sukho Thai offer two types of Pad Thai, and we chose this one as it was purported to be more Northern Thai in style. We ordered it mild, but this was still considered too spicy by the more gustatorily fragile of your reviewers. Deliciously fresh ingredients, perfectly chewy noodles, a generous portion of fried tofu bits, and, according to the same punctilious reviewer, garnished with needless, though admittedly exiguous, shreds of cilantro.

Tapioca with coconut milk ($1.99)

This dessert consisted of exquisite pearls of tapioca that were pillowy, soft, and yet toothsome, floating in a delicate coconut milk soup. It was also topped with wisps of coconut flesh, which neither of the reviewers deigned to consume, owing to their mutual mild allergies to coconut flesh. Upon first tasting this delight, one is driven to a dimple-inducing grin, reminiscent of a child tasting her first “Pop Rock.”

The proprietors (a charming, young, and gracious married couple) were extremely attentive and cordial, making us feel like family once removed. As we dined, a steady stream of “regulars” stopped in for takeout and the owners insisted upon sending each of them home with extra treats. Not pictured is the sample of cassava cake they brought us, which was both tasty and well-received. In texture and taste, it vaguely resembled a Portuguese custard tart, with a slightly stickier texture. We will eat here again.

The food was so yummy that we were reluctant to give away the leftovers we carried out to the ostensibly homeless fellow who asked for them. Guilted into ethical action, we bestowed him our styrofoam carton, at which point he requested a fork to eat its contents. We didn't have one, so he handed it back saying he was, “going home anyway.” Huh? In any case, we were happy to have them back.

*Only to remark on them anyway, ultimately.

**Modern epicureans who are apparently too young to refer to themselves using more traditional, historically extant terms such as epicureans.

Onion Rings!

2009-10-15T23:31:00.004-04:00

These are terrible for you and make the apartment smell like Fran's, but here's the recipe for the vegan onion rings I just made. I don't know where my camera is, so no pictures! Totally stolen from someone else's blog.

1 onion, sliced into rings
1/2 cup white flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp white vinegar
Black Pepper
Salt
Oil for frying

1) Heat a bunch of oil in saucepan. You can also use a deep fryer if you have one.
2) Mix flour, cornmeal, water, and vinegar. Add enough extra water to get a semi-runny batter. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3) Coat rings, and throw into oil. Fry until golden brown, flipping if you're like me and don't want to use a tonne of oil on one project.
5) With slotted spoon, remove from oil onto paper towel-covered plate/colander over plate.

New York from Toronto: Food

2009-10-12T00:49:00.022-04:00

Zicheng asked me for food recommendations in preparation for his upcoming trip to New York, so here I go. This is the third part of th is series from another blog that is not dedicated to food.

Our trip to New York was mostly one of food pleasures. Pamela researched and planned a lot about what sort of amazing food we should try, so the trip was replete with chasing tastes across (mostly) Manhattan. We had the best breakfast ever at Clinton Street Baking Co. & Restaurant in the Lower East Side. One must at least visit for the blueberry pancakes with maple butter. The pancakes were so perfect that Pamela loved them though she usually dislikes pancakes, and then one dips them in a hot mixture of maple syrup and butter and it spoils one's mouth for weeks. It makes me cringe with anger that I can't be eating those right now for breakfast. They were ridiculously good. I remember I couldn't speak while eating; I was too depressed that I wouldn't get to continue eating them in Toronto.

The buttermilk biscuits and the grits were also really good. And the place was beautiful; soft, creamy light, a weird sign that says EAT, and other nice stuff I can't remember.

I really miss the Doughnut Plant, also in the Lower East Side. It was like a Willy Wonka factory of doughnuts, a sort of experimental doughnut place that was especially remarkable after a life spent with Tim Horton's monopoly. They don't just churn out the same old shitty doughnuts over and over again. At the Doughnut Plant there is a passion for doughnuts (instead of flagrant corporate gustatory indifference). They're gourmet, connoisseur doughnuts, if that makes sense. There's really interesting flavours, like peanut butter & jelly, tres leches (“three milks” in Castilian), and crème brûlée. My favourite was the simple vanilla bean. There were also interesting variations on the doughnut, like square ones and jelly-filled ones in which the jelly went around the doughnut (so that every bite gets some jelly) instead of just sitting in a big blob island in the middle.

These two locations account for the most memorable and easily describable food outlets we visited, though we enjoyed many amazing vegetarian restaurants as well. Notably, Red Bamboo was a vegetarian meat-lover's paradise. It had alarmingly good pseudo-meat foods, like fried chicken, chicken wings, steak & cheese sandwich, amazing vegan milkshakes, etc. Perhaps even better was Vegetarian Dim Sum, the unambiguously named place in Chinatown where we ate the best dumplings ever. I wish I could eat these right now so much. They were ridiculous. Apparently there's a vegetarian dim sum place at Pacific Mall in Markham, so Pamela and I are going to go try it out soon. Want to join us?

Shorty, Do Your Thing

2009-10-10T01:23:00.010-04:00

So when I'm home on a Friday night watching TCM with nothing better to do and hankering for a project, I bake. Pathetic? Wait until you try my shortbread. It's from the back of the Canada Corn Starch box. I made plain ones, and then I chopped up some craisins and mixed in a few to half the batch. Then, my dad (pictured below) had the idea to add some lavender, which I heaped into the remaining mixture by the bushel load. I went a bit too heavy with it; the lavender ones taste like munching on a field of flowers. Bearing my creative additions, I have considered the recipe tried and true for a number of years now.

Poutini's

2009-10-05T20:53:00.014-04:00

During Nuit Blanche, Pamela and I finally went to Poutini’s in West Queen West. We had read a lot about it on the internet and had been wanting to go for a while, so when we finally visited we had high expectations. The whole experience was amazing, surpassing my wildest hopes.

Soft, creamy lighting, good wallpaper, and other decorative touches make it a really beautiful environment. The whole operation has a very handsome, stylish feel to it, and I like how there's an attempt to reflect the community by playing local music and displaying paintings of local painters. There is standing seating, or standup tables or whatever it's called, so you can't sit and eat but you can stand up and eat. Crazy hip hop was blasting when we were there, and the cashier was bouncing along to it while we made our order. We didn't have to wait in line for too long, despite the number of people there from Nuit Blanche festivities.

I like how simple the menu is. For $6.19 one may order either regular or vegetarian poutine; there are no sizes to choose from and no straying from the classic ingredients. The container and cutlery are disposable and biodegradable,* instead of the more common styrofoam and plastic. I was very impressed by the fact there there is only a green bin and a recycling bin in which customers may dispose of things when they're done. The poutine itself is a masterpiece. The vegetarian gravy is at least as good as any non-vegetarian gravy I've had, the fries were perfectly cooked and fresh as hell, and the curds were squeaky gems. I need to go back as soon as possible. Because it's open until 3:30 a.m. from Thursday to Saturday and 11:00 p.m. on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, it's perfect for my late ways.

*Update: Pamela read that even the straws and dipping sauce containers are biodegradable.