T-Dot to MTL

I’ve been to Montreal a few times but I haven’t seen or, better yet, eaten all that much. That was soon rectified over three days in this beautiful Francophone city. The plan was to head to Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount-Royal and then destroy some poutine. What happened? My stomach was waging war and we had to make a pit stop to eat before heading to the oratory. Enter: Frites Alors. Props to them for attempting to replicate Belgium fries - it was close, but no cigar. The Croque-Monsieur, however, was perfect. The melted gooey cheese, perfectly toasted bread and lightly salted ham made for a great lunch.

 So did we make it to a poutine place? Hells yeah! Right after the oratory, we headed to La Banquise - I think everyone and their mothers told me about this restaurant so we had to try it. It’s little off the beaten path but, then again, seems like every good restaurant these days is. Eeks, I ended with a verb! Alright, alright, focus. We ordered La 3 Amigos and waited in anticipation.

OH MY GOD. What is this deliciousness going on in my mouth? I tried the fries, cheese curds and gravy first and thought “Hot damn, this is good.” Then, the “toppings”: hot dogs, pork and beef sausage, and marquez sausage. Overload of meat you say? You crazy, I say. AND, believe it or not, not greasy and I dare say, super light. Didn’t have to adjust my pants or open a button = a good day! I don’t care if you are in Montreal for an hour, this is a must do. 

So I lied about going to La Banquise right after the oratory. We made another pit stop to St-Viateur Bagel and picked up some poppy seed, cinnamon raisin, plain and sesame seed bagels. 

I love the slight sweetness and chewiness of Montreal bagels; so far, my breakfasts’ have been a delight. You would think my culinary adventure ended for the day, but the pièce de résistance came that night. Stay tuned!

Unleash the Beast

It was one of those days when the stars aligned and the world stood still, in other words-destiny-that brought us to Beast (King/Tecumseth). Okay fine, it was Mildred's Temple Kitchen (Liberty Village) telling us that the wait was 45 min and my tummy telling me that was not acceptable that drove us there...but Beast was my first choice for brunch so I'm going with my former explanation. First off, its location is rather odd, surrounded by new construction, realty offices, semi-detached residences and fast food joints, so if you think you're not heading in the right direction, rest assured, you probably are. Given that it felt like -12° outside, my first order of business was to get myself a hot beverage: enter, Cream of Earl Grey tea. It even came with a timer so I would know when my tea was perfectly steeped. Brownie points Beast!

We ordered the poutine to start. If you're thinking cheese curds, fries and gravy, think again. This was fried gnocchi, braised pork, cheese curds and creme fraiche....freaking awesome right?? I love ANYTHING fried but the gnocchi took it to another level AKA the level of awesomeness!!

One glance at the menu and I knew instantly what I wanted for my main event-challah french toast topped with duck confit, cranberry mostarda, creme fraiche and maple syrup. I know at some point in my life, I'm going to be waking up in the middle of the night and craving this. The myriad of textures going on was incredible: the slight crunch of the toast, the creaminess of the cranberry/creme fraiche concoction and the chewiness of the duck just melded so well together. It was what I would imagine brunch at Buckingham Palace would be like. Decadent and divine.

Al, my life/food partner, was oohing and aahing about his main so you know I had to try some: make way for the Beastwich, which was a fried chicken thigh sitting under pimento cheese, a fried egg and smothered in pork sausage gravy, all encased in a buttermilk biscuit and served with a side of potatoes. One word I would describe this would be homey. This is definitely a meat-lovers sandwich, which is perfectly alright by me.

Oh I almost forgot, I also got the Grilled Luis Suarez Chorizo. And, yes, I got it purely for the novelty of it (for all you football fans), although I'm not sure if that's actually who it's named after. In any case, Luis Suarez isn't worth commenting on....I'm referring to the sausage (ok, fine, and the player too). It was just good-quality grilled chorizo. That food bump aside, I think Beast is a solid choice for brunch; just don't order the sausage: there you've been warned.

Applelicious

There's something about the cooler weather that makes me crave apple-based desserts - warm apple pie paired with vanilla ice cream, apple crisp bathed with hot caramel sauce....mmmm, could there be anything better?! Even thinking about it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I've made apple pies and crisps before, so I wanted to try something a little different...and a little more travel friendly. Voila, the apple turnover!

Recipe

• Lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon)
• 2 apples (I prefer Granny Smiths), peeled, cored and finely sliced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 package frozen puff pastry (thawed)

1. Combine the juice and about 2 cups of water in a bowl and add the sliced apples to keep them from browning.
2. Melt better in a pan, add the apples and cook for about 2 min. Add brown sugar and cinnamon and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Then stir the cornstarch with about 1 tbsp of water and mix well. Pour into the pan and stir until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
4. Roll out the pastry dough and cut into squares (roughly 4" x 4"), spoon the apple filling and fold the square over from corner to corner into a triangle shape and press the edges to seal.
5. Place on a baking tray and bake in the over for 20-25 min or until the turnovers are puff and lightly browned.

Tea Time

Afternoon tea has always been an event in my family. Around 3 pm, you could count on my dad asking, “What’s for tea time?” or my brother saying, “Mom, make some sheera” and lo behold at 4 pm, there would be a sweet surprise sitting on the table for everyone to devour. So it’s no surprise that I’ve carried this tradition with me. What’s my perfect accompaniment with tea? Plain and simple (literally!), it is marble pound cake. This recipe is from my baking guru, Anna Olson's book “Back to Baking: 200 TimelessRecipes to Bake, Share, and Enjoy”. This cake is a perfect blend of vanilla and chocolate and is really easy to make. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

Recipe

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature or melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 4 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped and melted

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Brush a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter. Set aside for later.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside for later.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until it is light. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix again.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the batter, alternating with the sour cream.
5. Scoop out half the vanilla batter into a bowl and mix the melted chocolate into it.
6. Dollop the vanilla and chocolate batters into the prepared pan and swirl them with a spoon or skewer.
7. Bake the loaf for 55-60 minutes, or until a cake tester poked through the center comes out clean.
8. Let the loaf cool before taking it out of the loaf pan.
9. Brew some tea and enjoy!

The Return

Welcome to my new food blog! “New blog? What happened to the old blog?” you say. One word: boredom. I was bored with the restaurants in Toronto, bored with food I was cooking, bored that someone hadn’t discovered new meat…just plain bored. But, that all changed one Saturday morning with Playa Cabana – this awesomely delicious, albeit teeny-tiny, Mexican restaurant at Dupont/Davenport.

First order of business, get some drinks. We ordered a margarita and a mojito. By golly, those drinks were good and not watered down! Where are we, Chicago?!

Next up, white seabass ceviche. I’ve never had a ceviche I’ve liked, so I figured I didn’t like ceviche, but then I tried this tangy fresh goodness with house-made warm chips. Wowza! The coolness and freshness of the ceviche married with the warm lightly spiced chips was pure love. Well played Playa…well played. 

To follow, we got the Spanish chorizo sausage simmered in red wine and cerveza – I didn’t have any words for this dish. It was that good. If there was one dish I would go back for, this would be it.

The fried fish tacos were up next. Guess what? These were not slathered in sauce! Hallelujah! The fish had a beautiful golden crust, the slaw had just the right crunch and they were enveloped in light tortillas – simple and gorgeous. 

Finally, the burrito descended. Could there be a more beautiful sight – sauteed tiger prawns and chipotle-marinated rib-eye steak burrito with fresh guac, pico de gallo, crema, green tomatillo sauce and red tomato sauce. I want to cry, but I must eat. You wouldn’t think it but this was surprisingly light, hearty, fresh and finger-licking good. 

For dessert, since there is always room for dessert (ARD folks..ARD…say it!), we couldn’t pass on the Mexican flan. One spoon and my knees go wobbly, I’m making sounds unheard of, people are staring but I don’t care – I just had my first foodgasm. If there was one dish I would go back for, this would be it. Wait? Did I say that already? Playa, you have made a friend for life.