e-Stomach

Kitchenaid Appliances Are Junk: A Rant

2011-09-14T09:34:00.003-04:00

At the beginning of 2007 my father wanted new appliances, the whole shebang, all kitchen appliances and a new front loading washer and dryer. He was at a local home show and saw a set he liked, he went with KitchenAid applances for the Kitchen and Whirlpool Duet for the laundry room. I believe Whirlpool is in charge of the KitchenAid brand. At least, when I ask for service calls on the appliances, I am greeted with "Thank you for calling Whirlpool Canada"....

From the get go our dishwasher (Model #KUDS02FRSS4) malfunctioned, the door would pop open mid-cycle, and after a while, the door wasn't held closed tight enough to start a cycle, we'd get an error indicated by a flashing LED on the door. We had the dishwasher reparied twice and the same thing happened again and again. In the end, this was dad's solution:

Yes, that is a bungee cord and a piece of lumber used to fool the door sensor into thinking it's closed and to physically keep the door closed through a cycle. Ah, the quality workmanship and pride in your products. KitchenAid/Whirlpool this post is to out you! Wait, there's more....

We also bought a microwave/range hood combo to make more space in the kitchen. We selected (Model #YKHMS155LSS-2) as a microwave it works just fine, it heats quickly and efficiently. As a vent hood it suffers, but, this is an issue inherent with this style of product. What angered me about this appliance was the quality of the finishings and trim. Being over the stove, it gathers grease, grease on stainless steel isn't pretty. When the appliance was just out of warranty (one year), I was wiping the vent grille on the front of the microwave and the clips that hold it on simply broke off. I wasn't being rough, I was wiping it and the cheap plastic clips just let go, looking at the remnants of the clips I could see how porous the plastic was, there was no strength to it. Pics to follow.

The fridge (Model #KBFA25ERSS01) Has alwys been noisy, when the fridge first turns on there is a few seconds grumbling from one of the fans before it quiets down. We had a frosting issue in the freezer, which was a combination of user error and design, a popsicle slipped through the basket and was jamming in the runner for the door forcing the door open ever so slightly... One day this past summer it simply stopped cooling. We lost all the food in the freezer and the fridge. After we cleaned it out and reset the thermostats, it seemed to run fine again, but, how can I trust it? What if that had happened if we were away on vacation?

The stove has been fine, as with the Duet washer and dryer. Three out of the six appliances have shown poor workmanship and a lack of reliability, in the case of the dishwasher, it has shown us to be absolute garbage.

Why am I writing this piece? The lack of after warranty care and support we've received from KitchenAid/Whirlpool. I told the last person I spoke to that this shouldn't happen after two repairs and I then asked if I could speak to a manager or someone higher up and was flatly refused. "Everyone will tell you the same thing" I was told. "Our one year warranty is strictly monitored, if it happened to be just out of warranty we might be able to help" was the follow up. I just want to make sure that the few readers I have make an informed decision when choosing their next appliance.

Pita Delites - Shawarma

2011-04-06T13:09:00.003-04:00

Ok, I promise, this will be my last shawarma post for a while..... Maybe.

After a quick shopping trip in the area, I stopped in at Pita Delites (102 Harwood Ave.) in Ajax. They offer both chicken and beef shawarma for $5.99 each, I tried a chicken and a beef. Frugal meter alert!

To each shawarma I added garlic sauce, which was very mild, their green pepper hot sauce (which didn't add too much heat) and tahini. They offer a wide variety of vegetables, more than any other place I've visited. I added lettuce, tomato, pickle, pickled turnip and onion.

I must say, the quality of the chicken shawarma was apparent. I think this is the first shawarma joint I've reviewed that offers breast meat in their shawarmas. I believe they use a mix of white and dark meat. The meat was very mildly spiced, if at all. I could really taste the spit roasting on the chicken rather than much spice. The only issue I have with using white meat is that it's got a small window of use before it dries out. A couple of the breast meat chunks in my shawarma were a little dry.

The beef was definitely spiced, I could pick out allspice (maybe cloves and cinnamon) off the bat. It had that familiar rich, beefy flavour I've experienced at Shawarma Empire and Cyrus. It really had a great taste, my only issue with the beef was the greasiness of the meat. Some places use caul fat to help maintain moisture in their beef shawarmas, I've seen it prepared this way at Ibrahim. Whatever Pita Delites does, it's overkill. Fat had oozed out of the shawarma and became trapped between the pita and the wrapper, which was a turnoff.

At over $13 after taxes, these were the most expensive shawarmas I've ever tried. They were generously filled with meat but you can get four similar-sized shawarmas from different places on the Lawrence strip in Scarborough for a buck or two more. Pita Delites does serve a very solid product, I liked the white meat in the chicken offering, their beef was too greasy. If I had a choice in Durham I'd still go to Cyrus, it would be a tough call though. The overall price, and the greasiness of the beef at Pita Delites would be the main factors in my decision.

Port Union Bakery

2011-04-05T11:46:00.005-04:00

A tiny little shop tucked into a strip mall at Port Union Rd and Lawson Rd, the Port Union Bakery (287 Port Union Rd.) has been around for as long as I can remember. They offer a small assortment of breads, pastries and doughnuts. It's run by a lovely Filipino woman who is there every time I go in.

In my opinion, their best items are their filled doughnuts and their Filipino style empanadas. When I go I usually pick up a dozen empanadas (chicken or pork) and 6 jelly filled doughnuts (my favourite is their Boston Cream).

I think we've all experienced the 'empty doughnut' phenomenon. You go to a doughnut shop (usually a bigger chain) see a Boston cream or a jelly-filled doughnut that looks too good to pass up. You bite into it expecting to be doused with oozy jelly or cream and all you find is dry doughnut. You try again and end up with the same result. It isn't until the last couple of bites you find that tiny pocket of jelly or cream and you consider the waste of calories you just endured.....

You won't find this at Port Union Bakery. They actually slice their filled doughnuts in half and spread on the filling before reassembly so each bite has an equal amount of filling. This is exactly what you'd expect when ordering a filled doughnut. I love the Boston cream because it's a tender, yet slightly chewy doughnut filled with a pudding-like vanilla cream and then topped with a thick layer of chocolate frosting. The best Boston cream I've tried.

Their empanadas are Filipino style which differ from Central or South American style in that they are sweeter, containing ground chicken or pork, raisins, green peas, carrot, onion, and potato. They are seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper. South American versions I've seen are less sweet and more savory containing olives and egg, even beans and cheese and cilantro with the meats and vegetables.

The balance of sweetness and salt works well for me and the baked crust (while a little tough) still maintains a flaky texture.

I've loved these empanadas for years, and have been disppointed on a few occasions when I went in later in the day and they were already sold out. I picked these pork empanadas up at 12 noon and they had aready sold out of chicken empanadas for the day. I am torn as to which I like better, I usually lean to the pork version anyway...

The dozen empanadas and the six Boston cream doughnuts I picked up were $11.25, a steal.

Lamanna's Bakery

2011-04-02T13:39:00.008-04:00

A long time favourite of mine, I stopped in at Lamanna's Bakery which is located at 6758 Kingston Rd. (at Port Union Rd.) in Scarborough. They offer items from a hot table (a solid veal sandwich, lasanga slices, rice balls etc.). Deli sandwiches made from italian cold cuts, coffees and have a beautiful cake and dessert selection on display. No word of a lie, I have to restrain myself from licking the display case window whenever I go in (you have to see it to understand). It's always packed, no matter what time I go in.

Today I picked up an assortment of pastries, including my all time favourite, the Lobster Tail (Sfogliatelle).

What is a Lobster Tail? I could describe it, but, the Cake Boss tells it best. It is time consuming to make but is an awesome treat. Lamanna's is absolutely stuffed with a wonderful creamy, custardy filling which contrasts the crunchy pastry. I always end up wearing most of the powdered sugar. They are a steal for $2.79 each (especially considering the cost of the rather-easy-to-assemble boutique cupcake these days).

We also picked up Strawberry Tarts, Cannoli, a slice of Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Mousse, a Mini Tiramisu, a Mini Chocoloate Mousse Cake, a Mini Strawberry Cheesecake, and a couple of small, chocolate/hazelnut filled lobstertails.

I thoroughly enjoyed everything we purchased, the small pastries varied in price from $1.79 to $2.00. Our complete box was just over $20. Not too bad!

The young lady who served us could have packaged things better, most ended up mashed together in the box which was unfortunate.

Cupcakes Canada

2011-03-30T14:30:00.017-04:00

Cupcakes, they've been around for years yet they seem to have only recently become a craze. There are at least three different cupcake shows on the Food Network and W Network with more on the way I'm sure. Cupcake shops seem to be opening up all over the place as well. Cupcakes Canada recently opened at 299 Kingston Rd. E in Ajax. I'm never one to pass up a piece of cake so it wasn't hard for me to stop in when my wife asked if we could check them out.

Full-sized cupcakes are $2.50 each, $13.50 per half dozen or $26 per dozen. Off the bat, my frugal meter went through the roof! Mental note, perfect a buttercream recipe and make my own....

We got a half-dozen with a mixture of Red Velvet, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Celebration, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Double Dutch Chocolate.

The cupcakes had a slight crust on the tops but were moist throughout. The bakers at Cupcakes Canada use a simple buttercream icing which was a little sugary and a tad on the grainy side for my tastes. The high sugar content in the buttercream created a slight crust on the outside layer of the icing which didn't sit well with me. The icing just didn't have the creaminess I was expecting.

I love supporting local business, but, if I'm paying for premium items I want to be blown away. Sadly, I was a little underwhelmed. I really liked the richness of the Double Dutch chocolate, and the flavours in the Chocolate Peanut Butter. The Red Velvet, Very Vanilla and the Chocolate Celebration didn't wow me.

I detest sprinkles, candy (as seen on the Chocolate Celebration) or the waxy chocolate variety that look like mouse poop. I liked the look of the shaved chocolate on the Chocolate Peanut Butter, even the coloured sugar on the Red Velvet. Sprinkles are for grocery store cupcakes, not a $2.50 per piece, boutique product.

The cupcakes are shown below, in order, clockwise from the bottom left:

Red Velvet, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Celebration, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Double Dutch Chocolate.

Shake, Rabble & Roll

2011-03-30T14:03:00.005-04:00

Located at 939 Dundas St W in Whitby, Shake, Rabble & Roll has piqued my interest many times as I drove past. Inside it's done up like a 50's diner and has car meets in their parking lot on occasional summer weeknights. Today I decided to stop in.

My order was the Rabble Burger & fries combo with bacon and cheese added to the burger. The Rabble Burger is a homemade 6oz. patty which is flame broiled. It's pressed thinly and cooked from scratch (thank you for no par cooking!) The bun is a kaiser style bun which many places use and is lightly toasted on a flat top beside the grill. When the buger was ready I chose to add lettuce, onion, pickle, hot peppers and a chipotle mayo. They use real shredded cheddar which is another huge plus.

The fries are hand cut but could use a little work. They were very blonde and occasionally had a slightly raw interior texture to them. I don't think they use Resset potatoes for their fries, a personal favourite of mine.

Overall the burger was very well done, it was juicy and very flavourful, the outside had a nice char which you really only get from flame broiling. It was what I affectionately call a Greek burger, a burger flavoured with onion, garlic, oregano, pepper and mixed right into the meat. Shamrock Burger, Big M Burgers, The Real McCoy in Scarborough are similar in this regard. Purists may want to taste meat alone, I love and welcome the change.

The ladies behind the counter were super friendly and made us feel very welcome. We'd go back for the great burgers, better fries can be found at Buster Rhino's and Starr Burger. At least they're making the effort and not cooking frozen fries!

Cyrus Persian Restaurant - Shawarma

2011-03-23T17:58:00.001-04:00

As the old saying goes, another day another Shawarma. Well, at least in my books. This is my sixth or seventh shawarma review in the blog. Diversify? Me? Bah!

Cyrus Restaurant (563 Ritson Rd.) in Oshawa is in a totally non-descript building (which I believe used to be a house). I have driven by it dozens of times and never realized it was there until I actually looked for it. Upon entry I was hit with a wonderful aroma of spices, which I likened to entering and Indian food restaurant. It's a modest little place with tables in dining areas to the sides of the entrance and a hallway leading to the kitchen in back where you place your order. I looked around at numerous dinner options of various stews, kabobs, falafel and shawarma plates which I will have to try one day. The shawarma options were chicken and beef, one of each please! The cost for two was $8.99 before tax.

Each meat was cut right from the spit and placed onto a fresh pita with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, garlic sauce, tahini and hot sauce.

The flavour was a mix of Persian and Lebanese, less curry than those at Shiraz, and a little more like those found at Nasib's in Scarborough. The spicing on the meat was subtle, there was a flavour I recognized but couldn't pick out off the bat. I'll have to try them again. I enjoyed their version of hot sauce, it packed heat that lingered, but, didn't overwhelm. Both the beef and chicken were tender and very moist. The beef had a rich, beefy flavour similar to those found at Shawarma Empire. I'm not sure what they use (blade perhaps?) it's got a great flavour from the meat alone.

The shawarmas were generous and tasty but were pricy at $10.15 after taxes. I realize they don't have the competition, but, at $3-$4 more than the Lawrence strip for a comparable meal, it leaves the wallet a little sore..... Overall they are the best I've tried in Durham to date, but, still not quite up to par with the Lawrence strip (although, not too far off).

Shiraz Bakery - Shawarma

2011-03-22T14:30:00.004-04:00

You may have noted from earlier posts that I am a huge fan of Shawarma. Traditional spit roasted Shawarma places have been lacking in the Durham Region until recently. Luckily, a few have popped up over the last couple of years and today I stopped in to try the newest entrant on the scene.

Shiraz Bakery is located at 785 Taunton Rd (at Harmony) in Oshawa and has only recently opened. They sell a variety of hot dinners and grocery items but I was after their version of chicken shawarma (2 for $7.50) this afternoon. Shawarma has regional differences depending on the ethnicity of the cook preparing it. To me, the most conventional are Lebanese or Turkish shawarmas, flavoured with nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, black pepper and salt. Recently I've been seeing more and more shawarmas that have been flavoured with curry (I'm assuming as it's spread along the Persian Gulf to Afghanistan and Pakistan).

Shiaz Bakery's version falls into the latter category, the flavour of the chicken is dominantly curry, right down to the bright yellow appearance of the meat. The chicken is very mildly flavoured and tender, there could have been more of it however. I added tahini and garlic sauce and they were very mild as well. Some places take the garlic sauce over the top, here it was not overly pungent, the tahini sauce was even more dominant. The toppings were fresh green lettuce, red onion, pickle and hot pepper. Each topping was applied individually, most places I've been have had a salad of onion, parsley, lettuce, tomato, and occasianally sumac to apply as one condiment. Either is good for me.

Overall it was a solid shawarma, but, is not really in the same league as those found on the Lawrence strip in Scarborough. In a pinch it'll satisfy, but, didn't blow me away.

Chili Sauce

2011-02-18T21:04:00.004-05:00

As a kid, the end of summer always meant mom canning peaches, pears, pickles and beets, but, my favourite has always been her chili sauce. When she passed away in 2004 it was one of the recipes I needed to find. Two years ago I started carrying on the tradition and canned my first batch. This past year, with more experience and better preparation, the batch turned out wonderfully and brought me back to my childhood in the kitchen watching mom chop and can for hours on end.

My favourite use for this sauce is with pork chops and breakfast sausages.

Chili Sauce

22 cooking apples peeled and diced
1 4L basket of tomatoes peeled and diced (peel by cutting a shallow X in the bottom of the tomato and blanching in boiling water for 30 seconds first)
3-4 cooking onions diced
3 red peppers seeded and diced
3 green peppers seeded and diced
3 jalapeno peppers seeded and diced
1 1/2 bunch celery chopped
3 cups white vinegar
3 cups white sugar
3/4 cup of salt
8 Tablespoons pickling spice tied in cheese cloth

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and simmer for 2 hours once it has come to a boil.

I prepare my jars by washing them thoroughly and then boiling them for 5 minutes in the canning pot. I fill the jars with the sauce, pour boiling water over the lids to soften the gasket and then place them on the jars and lightly tighten the rings. I boil in the canning pot for 15 minutes and remove to cool on a towel. I re-tighten the rings once the jars have cooled overnight.

I got fourteen 500ml jars from this batch, it will do twelve jars easily with some left over for sampling.

Buffalo Chicken Crispers

2011-02-18T20:43:00.000-05:00

This was a recipe I whipped a while ago based on an appetizer that used to be on the menu at Tully's, a small chain of sports bars located around the Buffalo area. Tully's serves some awesome chicken tenders, and, on my last visit I tried this appetizer (which it appears they no longer serve).

I often end up with leftover chicken when I roast a bird or two, and, other than chicken soup, chicken pot pie, or chicken salad, I haven't had much luck using up the leftovers, until now.... This recipe is still a work in progress as I wasn't totally satisfied with the end result. I will post my observations and tweaks to try next time after the recipe.

Buffalo Chicken Crispers

1 package of egg roll wrappers
4 cups of shredded cooked chicken
2 8oz pacakges of cream cheese (softened)
1 cup of shredded mozarella
4 Tbl Franks hot sauce
2 Tbl finely minced onion
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 egg mixed with a teaspoon of water (to be used for sealing the wrappers)
Blue cheese dressing for dipping

Preaheat a deep fryer to 375 degerees F.

Mix the shredded chicken, cream cheese, mozzarella, hot sauce, and onion until well combined. Taste and adjust amount of hot sauce and salt and pepper at this point.

Take a tablespoon (depending on the the size of the egg roll wrapper) and lay it on one eggroll wrapper oriented in a diamond shape. Take the bottom corner and fold it around the filling. Take the two side corners and fold them toward the middle. Continue rolling the direction you started from to seal the egg roll, dab a little of the egg wash on the top corner as you finish rolling to seal the wrapper.

Deep fry for 5 minutes or until the wrapper is golden brown.

Serve hot with blue cheese dressing to dip.

My Tweaks for Next Time:

I found them to be a tad rich, I would probably cut back the cream cheese next time to one 8oz package. I'd also add a little more Franks hot sauce.

Sundae Cafe - Fried Seafood

2010-11-10T14:02:00.004-05:00

While on a Day trip to see Fort Pulaski and go on a dolphin sightseeing tour on Tybee Island just down the highway from Savannah, we stopped in for lunch at the Sundae Cafe. We were offered a tip to this little joint from one of the park Rangers at Fort Pulaski. Needing to kill some time before our dolphin tour (and in need of some lunch) we stopped in. The place would be easy to miss, it shares a parking lot with a gas station and a liquor store. From the outside it looks like a bit of a dive. Don't be scared off, it's excellent.

Since we were next to the ocean, I was in the mood for fresh seafood, something I don't usually get back home in Toronto. I was torn between oysters, scallops, and shrimp (wanting some of each). Thankfully there was a combo plate ($22.95) which came with all of the above plus a grouper fillet, a crab cake as well as a couple of hushpuppies. I figured I might as well go all in! The side I chose was homemade potato salad.

I would probably say this was the best meal of my entire trip. The seafood was super fresh, the batter was light and crisp and didn't overwhelm the flavour of the seafood. The grouper was flaky and tender, the oysters were probably the best fried oysters I've ever eaten. They also served a delicious remoulade on the side which I loved. I was sure I wouldn't be able to finish the plate when it arrived. It was so good I couldn't stop. I wasn't totally sold on the crab cake and the potato salad, but, in the grand scheme, my issues were minor (the salad needed more seasoning and the potatoes were a little crisp, the crab cake was a little tough from overworking).

I loved my meal, it was simple with no frills, but, was excellent overall. In the picture below you can also see the corner of their fish sandwich ($10.50) Three massive fillets of grouper on a crusty roll, totally amazing as well.

Zunzi's - Multicultural Sandwiches

2010-11-10T13:36:00.001-05:00

While on a tour of Savannah I looked for a place to grab a quick bite while wandering around. Zunzi's (108 E York St) seemed to get a lot of positive word of mouth both from reviews online and especially from the folks at the front desk of our hotel. At that point it was a must try.

We stopped just after noon and there was a line out onto the street. It seemed a little confused and one poor girl seemed to wait forever for a burger to arrive. Saying that, the line moved quickly and we placed our order, a Conquistador ($8.50) and a Godfather ($9.80).

The Conquistador comes with freshly sliced baked chicken with lettuce, tomato, and special sauce on a demi-baguette. The Godfather comes with the above with the addition of homemade Boerewors (a South African sausage) parmesan and tomato sauce (I declined the tomato sauce).

At first I wasn't sure about the price of these sandwiches, at almost $10 each I wasn't sure I'd get value for the money. When they were being prepared I was very impressed. The owner was slicing chicken breast and sausage to order and the sandwiches were huge. One thing I've noticed about many places in the USA, you don't usually want for quantity.....

The sausage was very tasty although a little crumbly, cloves and allspice were the dominant flavours. The chicken on both sandwiches was very moist and flavourful. The special sauce seemed to me to be a watered down version of Caesar dressing but was nice nonetheless.

What I really liked was the owner's repeated chiding of his employees for not laying the lettuce on the bread properly. If he takes that much care about layering lettuce I'm sure he takes the same care with the rest of the preparations...

I was stuffed after my sandwich and would definitely head back to try other things on the menu if I'm ever in town again.

Maurice's Gourmet BBQ - South Carolina Style Pulled Pork

2010-11-10T11:52:00.000-05:00

On my way to Savannah Georgia, I passed by a roadside sign for Maurice's Gourmet BBQ, a place I'd never heard of before. It turns out there are 14 locations around the Columbia South Carolina area. I happened to stop at the 4411 Devine St location in Columbia. It's a tiny location offering mainly drive through service.

I was tempted to pull over here because I've never really tried South Carolina style BBQ. South Carolina style BBQ is typically served with a mustard based BBQ sauce. This differs from the tomato based sauces most of us in the rest of North America are used to seeing.

Looking over the menu I decided on a Little Joe sandwich basket which comes with a 5oz pulled pork sandwich, fries, slaw and two hushpuppies. Hushpuppies are simply cornbread fritters, quite often generously flavoured with onion and can be sweet or savoury. Hushpuppies are a favourite of mine and whenever I'm in the south I look forward to the many variations of this dish on offer.

Onto the meal.... The pork although apparently pit cooked, lacked any smoke flavour and didn't seem to have much of a rub on it at all. The mustard sauce was very nice, having an appealing tang. I actually dipped some fries in the small container of sauce that was served on the side. The fries were very ordinary, standard frozen variety. What I really loved were the hushpuppies. They had a slight sweetness and were packed with oniony flavour, they were very tender and had a light texture. They were one of the better hushpuppies I've ever had.

Unfortunately the meal was pretty blah overall, the hushpuppies were excellent.

Sorry about the image quality, years of storing the cell phone in my pocket has messed up the lens and everything gets a haze around it now....

Prime Rib and Yorkshire Puddings

2010-10-16T14:15:00.005-04:00

My family and I split half of a grass-fed Black Angus cow this past summer. I've been making my way through the 75 or so pounds I claimed from the animal. This past week I found a 4.5 pound prime rib in the freezer and decided to make it along with traditional Yorkshire Puddings.

My technique for roast beef is a little different than most, but, it makes a tender, moist, perfectly cooked roast every time. The secret here is to have an accurate digital meat thermometer. I use a Nu Temp remote probe which I would never be caught without when making roasts, chickens or turkey. I have three transmitters that are all monitored by one receiver base. In my opinion this system is the creme de la creme of remote temperature transmitters, it's reliable and simple to use, the perfect combination.

Anyway, onto the technique....

Season your prime rib generously with salt, freshly ground pepper and garlic powder. Insert your temperature probe into the middle of the roast ensuring the probe is in meat and not a fat pocket. Put the roast in a metal pan with about 1/2 an inch of water in the bottom of it and place it into a preheated 200°F oven. These are the guidelines I follow for doneness: 125°F for rare, 135°F for medium, and 145°F for well-done.

Once the roast has reached your target temp, turn the oven up to 450°F and let the roast brown on the outside. When the oven hits 450°F, take the roast out of the oven and tent with foil to rest until the Yorkshire puddings are done. Slice to your desired thickness, and serve with horseradish.

Simple, no?

Yorkshire Pudding recipes can be hit and miss. When I first tried making Yorkshire Puddings they always seemed to turn out flat, like hockey pucks. I had quite a few bad batches using various recipes until I stumbled across Jamie Oliver's recipe. I have adapted the technique to suit my needs while I've left the ingredients as-is.

Ingredients:

290 ml milk
115 g all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
enough vegetable oil/lard/beef drippings to cover the bottoms of each section of a 12 cup muffin tray

Directions:

1. Whisk together all the ingredients except the oil.
2. Let it rest for 30 minutes (I rest it longer in the fridge and take it out 15-30 minutes before I'm going to use it).
3. Preheat oven to 450°F.
4. Add oil/drippings to the muffin tray and let it heat in the oven for 5 minutes or until the oil starts to smoke. I actually put it in the oven while it's coming up to temperature as the roast is browning.
5. Gently stir the batter to re-combine it and transfer it to a measuring cup for easy pouring.
6. Remove tray from oven and quickly pour the batter evenly into each cup.
7. Cook for 20 minutes at 450°F on the middle rack of the oven. Do not open the door to peek or they won't rise.

This roast was cooked to 133°F and rose to 136°F while resting under foil after it browned.

Semi-Lazy Sausage Stuffing

2010-10-16T13:30:00.007-04:00

Thanksgiving just passed and I thought I'd share my sausage stuffing recipe in time for Christmas (or Thanksgiving to those of you in the USA). This recipe is relatively easy and makes a pretty darned good stuffing for a larger crowd. I used to cube my own bread and add poultry seasoning and chicken stock to moisten the mixture. Using the Stove Top is much easier and my family loves it. I wait until the stuffing mixes are on sale (they always seem to go on sale around the holidays) and stock up. Because I make my own sausage I can feed an army with this recipe for about $10.

Ingredients:

3 pounds of pork breakfast sausage meat (I make my own sage breakfast sausage, a Jimmy Dean clone)
8 boxes Stove Top turkey stuffing mix
5 cooking onions finely diced
3 ribs of celery finely diced
8 ounces button mushrooms sliced
2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1. Cook the breakfast sausage in a large pan making sure to break apart any large lumps until it's just cooked through and not brown.
2. Strain the meat and reserve a little of the fat to cook the onion, celery and mushrooms until they're softened but not brown.
3. Prepare the Stove Top according to the package directions.
4. When the stove top is ready, search out the biggest bowl you can find and combine the Stove Top with the cooked sausage, onion, celery, mushrooms, and mushroom soup. Stir to combine.
5. Pour the mixture into a large disposable aluminum tray or multiple casserole dishes making sure not to pack the mixture into the container. Cover with foil or the lids to the casserole dishes.
6. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes at 350°F

Enjoy with some home made turkey gravy and you're set!

These shots are of the stuffing before it was baked in the oven:

4 Girls Roti Shop, Roti Hut

2010-07-25T20:39:00.001-04:00

A guilty pleasure of mine is the occasional Trinidadian style roti.

What is a roti? A roti can be curried chicken, goat, beef, potatoes, pumpkin (virtually any combination of meats and or vegetables) wrapped in a dhalpuri roti. A dhalpuri roti is type of wrap similar to a tortilla, with a stuffing of ground yellow split peas and spices. The stuffing is pushed into the roti dough and sealed. When rolled flat, the filling is distributed within the roti.

I recently tried a local roti joint called 4 Girls Roti Shop (113 Dundas St W) in Whitby and one I have visited quite a few times in the past, Roti Hut (351 Pitfield Rd.) in Scarborough.

I ordered a potato and chickpea roti from 4 girls and it was ready in a couple of minutes. Even though their location has a steam table out front, all of the preparation is done in the back. Actually, they have no food prepared out front and the steam table has been unused both times I have been in.... Instead, I'm pretty sure the rotis are assembled cold and microwaved on order, a little sad.

The roti after taxes came to $7.50 which is a little expensive for a vegetarian roti in my opinion, but, it is a generous portion. The dhalpuri itself has a homemade quality about it. It's very tender and the outer layer of flour is very thin and delicate. The filling is very nicely spiced and moist with a somewhat complex flavour, I thought I could pick out sage and thyme notes. I added hot sauce which gave it a pleasant tingle of heat without being too hot. I really liked this roti, price withstanding.

The potato roti from the Roti Hut was $5.60 after taxes, a little more reasonable, but, it was smaller than the 4 Girls roti. The roti is ordered and prepared in the back, the fillings are in pots on the stove and the dhalpuri is taken from a warmer and prepared on the spot, no microwave involved. The dhalpuri was much more tortilla like. It had a tougher skin which did hold together better than the one from 4 Girls, it seemed a little more commercial to me. I guess it's a matter of personal preference...

The filling was much thicker and pasty than that from 4 Girls, it had a nice bite of curry but also has a somewhat vinegary taste to it. Overall, I think the consistency was a little off putting and the vinegar taste (possibly from the hot sauce) knocked my overall opinion of this roti down a little bit. I hold the Roti Hut near and dear to my heart but I sadly didn't like this roti all that much....

Oyster Po' Boys

2010-07-19T20:36:00.002-04:00

I picked up a 2 pound tub of shucked British Columbia C. gigas oysters from Beaver Fishery Inc. in Scarborough to make fried oyster po' boys.

What is a po' boy?

A po' boy is a Louisiana specialty. A sandwich usually made with fried seafood (oysters or shrimp but can be made with roast beef, chicken, or even burger patties) served on a baguette or french style roll. Additional toppings can be lettuce, tomato, and mayo.

I recently found a recipe by Sunny Anderson from her show Cooking For Real and decided to try it out. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly as written. I did add 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika and used a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt in the flour dredge.

The coating was excellent, only, I felt it needed a little more seasoning and a touch more salt. The remoulade was great, I didn't have capers so I added a second tablespoon of dill pickle juice. I didn't find it to be spicy at all, so, the title is a touch misleading..... Whatever! With a few tweaks next time the recipe will be a definite winner.

These oysters were absolutely massive! I bought 2 pounds thinking I'd make a pile of fried oysters for the sandwiches and have a pile leftover for dipping. It turned out I got exactly 12 oysters in the 2 pound tub. Yikes!

Curing Bacon

2010-06-29T21:37:00.018-04:00

Curing? Wha?

Curing is the addition of salt, or, in my case, salt, sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate to aid in preserving meat by inhibiting bacterial growth. Curing also draws moisture out of meat and allows it to retain an attractive pink colour when finished. The curing of meat has been practiced for centuries, salting and smoking has been used to preserve meat since Ancient Greece.....

Why haven't I tried it? If the Ancient Greeks could to it, what's stopped me? Fear of the unknown....

Over the last year I've compiled curing agents and all the ingredients I'd need to make bacon, I was hesitant to splurge on a pork belly and fail.... But, Chris you say, remember the Ancient Greeks?

Well, today I threw caution to the wind and went for it. I picked up a 13 pound belly, sliced it into three and got to curing..... Each of my belly portions are around three and a half pounds after trimming some bone and scrappy bits off.

Belly #1

Is getting a brown sugar cure from the Sausage Maker located in Buffalo New York.

Belly #2

Is getting a maple cure, again, from the Sausage Maker in Buffalo.

Belly #3

Is getting a cure of Morton's Tender Quick and honey.

What has worried me has been the ratio of curing agent to the amount of meat. Using Tender Quick, the package says to use a tablespoon per pound of meat, easy enough. With the packaged Sausage Maker cures I was informed to "Thoroughly rub the dry cure into the bacon." Ummm ok, again I used about a Tablespoon per pound, maybe a tiny bit more, we'll see how it turns out.

I decided to keep my recipe simple, I'd love to make a paprika or peppered bacon, but, I figured I'd better keep it simple to begin with. If these turn out well, I am going to be in trouble....

Update Day 6

Almost immediately the cures drew out quite a bit of liquid from the bellies. I massaged the packages and turned them over once every day to ensure that the curing liquid was evenly distributed in the Zip Lock bags. I had a minor incident part way through the curing of the brown sugar bacon. For some reason the seal on the bag leaked and let some of the cure out. Luckily it was the thinnest and still had some liquid in the bag. After 6 days in the cure I decided to prepare the bellies which had all firmed up nicely.

I rinsed the bellies well under running water and dried them off with paper towels and let them sit for half an hour while the smoker warmed up. I placed them on my Traeger Lil Tex smoker set on the "Smoke" setting which should run between 180°F and 200°F, but, with my luck a heat wave began today. The outside temperature was 28°C (82°F) at 9am when I started smoking the bellies and the cooker ran at 230°F most of the time.

They took just over an hour and a half to reach 130°F internally (I am not eating the bacon right from the smoker, I am going to fry it first). If I was going to sample pieces straight from the smoker I'd take the internal temperature to 150°F to make sure it was cooked through.

The bellies did develop some nice colour, they would have been darker if the cooker had run a little cooler. I cut off the rind when I took the bacon from the cooker and let them cool. They are now in the fridge getting ready for BLTs for dinner.

I didn't want to overload the Traeger so I did the Sausage Maker bellies first and when they were finished I did the Tender Quick/honey belly. The outside temperature was 33°C (91°F) when I put the last belly on the smoker. The Traeger was in the shade and ran a bit cooler than in the morning, varying from 195°F to 230°F. The pellicle seems a bit thicker than the pre-made cures and the didn't darken as much as the maple and brown sugar cured bellies. We'll see what the taste is like when I fry some up.... All in all, it was a very simple project, to this point I don't know why it appeared so daunting...

The results? Very good bacon. The Sausage Maker cures turned out on the salty side, next time I will use a little less and be more precise in my measuring. The main issue I had with these cures is that I couldn't pick up any brown sugar or maple notes once cooked..... As a curing agent they were fine, I would have to say as flavoured cures they were a miss.

The real winner was the Tender Quick and honey cure. It had the perfect amount of salt and once cooked, I could pick up the aroma and taste of honey right off the bat. The only thing is that I'll need to remember to cook it over a lower heat, the sugars in the honey tended to darken in the pan quicker than the Sausage Maker cures when cooked side by side.

As a side note, I let the bellies firm up in the fridge before trying to slice them. I used a 14 inch granton edge slicing knife to slice the bacon. A long, sharp knife and some patience is all you need to cut thin, uniform slices of bacon. If I was to do a lot of production, a meat slicer would be handy, but, for now I'm set.

Is it wrong I am itching to head to the butcher for more bellies?

Pizza Pino's Restaurant & Tavern

2010-06-22T14:01:00.002-04:00

As part of my new excercise regimen, I broke my mountain bike out of storage last week. I quickly realized that the tires needed to be replaced and my trip computer was broken. Time for some repairs! As I drove down to the local bike shop I noticed Pizza Pino's Restaurant & Tavern (855 Westney Rd. S.) in Ajax, a place that I had heard about a few times but had never tried. Today I stopped in.

In my previous 'fatter guy' life, I'd tell you how much I loved pizza, that I could probably eat it every day and never tire of it. Nowadays I don't eat it often. Some of my favourite holes in the walls have been pizza joints like Antonio Pizza just outside Montreal, Calabria Bakery and Fratelli Village Pizzeria in Scarborough, and Bocce Club Pizza in Buffalo. Each have their own style, Bocce Club and Antonio Pizza come heavily topped with a hearty crust while Calabria and Fratelli's are thin crusted, wood burning oven pizzas.

Pizza Pino is very similar in style to that of Bocce Club and Antonio Pizza, probably more so the latter (Montreal style) because of it's crisp crust (Bocce's is more breadlike).

I got a large (14") pizza with pepperoni, bacon and green olives ($18.85). I was told the wait would be 25 minutes, a good sign.

When my order arrived the box was very heavy for it's size. When I got it home I was met by this:

Impressive, loaded with toppings and very well cooked, the crust was nicely browned and it smelled heavenly.

I tugged a piece loose and went at it. The crust had stayed amazingly crisp, the cheese was extremely thick, and there were piles of bacon, pepperoni and olives hidden underneath.

How was it? The sauce wasn't spectacular, actually, it tasted somewhat like spaghetti sauce but it was perfectly fine. The pepperoni was similar to what you can get in a supermarket. I prefer a harder, more zesty pepperoni but this is fine as well. The bacon was diced (unlike the pictures on their website). My only complaint is that the cheese doesn't have a great melt to it. It retained a rubbery texture once cooked. It's amply applied, it just seemed like a 'cheese product' to me.

Overall I really liked the pizza, it fills a niche that's definitely lacking in this area. Price wise, it's not too much more than local chains and the product is far superior. When I'm craving a Montreal style pizza it'll be my go to place from now on.

Author's note: Dear Pizza Pino or their webmaster, I have no problem sharing my photos. It would have been nice to have been asked to use the first photo in my blog post (of the complete pizza) rather than simply taking it and posting it on your web site.

Charbroiled Garlic Parmesan Oysters

2010-06-13T15:47:00.021-04:00

About 10 years ago I tried my first oyster on the half shell. A plump, sweet, fresh-from-the-Gulf of Mexico, Apalachicola oyster. I was hooked.

Living toward the middle of the country, I have always been wary of the freshness of seafood. This has kept me from purchasing my own oysters. Instead, I have relied on one of the few oyster bars we have in the city for my fixes (which have, sadly, been few and far between). The problem with an oyster bar is their markup. Having inherited a touch of my mom's frugality, the oyster bar is basically a once a year trip. I'm always amazed how quickly costs soar for a night out. I frequently wondered how many oysters I could buy from a seafood distributor and shuck myself for the equivalent of night out at the oyster bar.

Earlier this winter I was directed to a local seafood purveyor (Diana's Seafood) that gets in a wide variety of fresh oysters and I went to check them out. They had numerous east and west coast oysters (Crassostrea virginica, Crassostrea sikamea, Crassostrea gigas) and Irish Flats (Ostrea edulis) with trade names for most.

On my oyster scouting visit to Diana's I tried some Kumamoto (C. Sikamea) and Colville Bay (C. virginica) oysters and was very impressed with the freshness of their wares. This past week after reading Robb Walsh's Sex Death and Oysters, I had to try some charbroiled garlic parmesan oysters which Walsh talks about in the book. I headed back to Diana's to get a couple of 33 count boxes of Standard grade Malpeque oysters which were on sale.

This recipe is based on a recipe from Drago's Seafood Restaurant, located in both Metairie and New Orleans Louisiana.

Charbroiled Garlic Parmesan Oysters

Ingredients

36 oysters
1/4 pound room temperature butter
3 cloves of garlic finely minced
4 Tbl grated parmesan cheese

Procedure

Fire your charcoal in a chimney starter while you get to work on the garlic butter and oysters. Mix together the softened butter, parmesan and garlic. Shuck your oysters trying to reserve their liquor in the bottom cupped shell.* Place the shucked oysters on an aluminum sheet pan for easy assembly and transport. Add a dollop of the butter to each oyster and take them to your grill.

Once all of your charcoal has lit, spread your coals evenly in your grill and place the oysters on the grate directly over the hot coals. Depending on the distance from the coals, the oysters will take three to five minutes to cook. You want to remove the oysters once the gills have curled and they have charred a little around the outside of the shell. Don't be alarmed if they flare up! The oysters will bubble and spit and some butter will fall on the coals, this is normal. Actually, it's desirable as a little extra char adds flavour to these beauties.

Enjoy Hot!

*I don't recommend using a premium oyster (save them for eating raw on the half shell). A Gulf Coast C. virginica is perfect here because they are relatively cheap, plump and large enough to still give you a decent sized finished product. The oysters will shrink a lot while cooking, so, if you're going to shuck 'em, make it worth your while!

Here are some shots of the Standard Malpeques I did over the weekend, they were small and many were tough to shuck, but, man were they good!

Update #2

2010-06-10T14:06:00.000-04:00

I've been slipping recently, sneaking in a few of my previous vices and being a little lax on my caloric intake. Saying that, I finally hit the 40lb mark this week. I've been yoyoing around the 38 pound mark for the last month and will have to recommit myself to the cause....

Down 41 and feelin' good!

Grilled Tandoori Chicken

2010-04-11T20:16:00.000-04:00

I am a huge fan of the tandoori chicken from my local Indian takeout (Cheetal Indian-Chinese Restaurant) but, I've never had success making it myself at home. When I've tried jarred tandoori pastes they have ranged in taste from bad to terrible, and I always feel like I've ruined the meat.

A while back a fellow BBQ competitor (who goes by the username Roxy on various BBQ forums) posted a recipe that he had adapted from his experience working in an Indian restaurant. I decided to give it a whirl and have really enjoyed it.

I have made a couple of tweaks to the recipe myself, so here it is:

Tandoori Chicken

4-5 pounds of chicken pieces
375g (half a 750 g container) of plain yogurt
5 Tbl Oil
3 Tbl Vinegar
5 tsp Tandoori Masala
4 tsp Garam Masala
4 tsp Paprika
4 tsp Salt
3 tsp Ground coriander
3 tsp Garlic puree
3 tsp Ginger puree
2 tsp Cayenne pepper or 1.5 tsp. traditional Indian chili powder

Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive bowl and add chicken pieces, toss well to coat chicken completely. Marinate chicken pieces overnight. Grill over low heat (covered, turning often) until chicken has reached a safe internal temperature. Serve with raita, naan, and your choice of vegetable.

Note: This seems like a lot of salt, it is. The chicken will absorb it as it marinates. If you don't plan on using the whole 4 to 5 pounds of chicken, cut back on the salt accordingly. The rest of the ingredients can remain the same even if using less chicken.

Onion Buns

2010-03-22T15:37:00.004-04:00

I love onion buns and have, in the past, taken sandwiches on them for lunch for weeks at a time.

The other day I was browsing a bread making site I found called The Fresh Loaf and found a recipe for Norm's Onion Rolls and decided I must make them.

I followed the recipe pretty much as directed (I did rehydrate 1/2 cup of onions instead of 1/4 cup because I'm an onion lover). I didn't have bread flour so I used all-purpose, and I used all sugar because I didn't have malt syrup.

They turned out beautifully, but after they cooled they turned into little rocks..... I am not a pastry chef so I'm not sure what I did wrong, I'm assuming it was cheap, all-purpose flour. The same thing has happened to my pepperoni rolls using this flour. In the end I threw them away; such a waste of time...

Next time I will use bread flour and make sure I follow the directions to a T.

With more practice and patience these will improve.

Pepperoni

2010-03-17T20:34:00.002-04:00

My name is Chris, I am a pepperette junkie. A pepperette is a small snack sized pepperoni which is either dry cured or cured and then smoked and dried. I recently got into sausage making and tried my hand at a simple pepperoni recipe I found at Tammy's Recipes.

This was for a full sized pepperoni that was oven baked, but, I will easily be able to adapt it to fill a small collagen casing and then smoke it naturally. I had never used liquid smoke and was worried how potent it would be as it seemed to overwhelm the raw meat. In the end the finished pepperoni was wonderful and comparable to commercially available sliced pepperoni here in Canada. The best part is that 2 pounds of pepperoni cost a little over $4 to make..... Cha ching!

I made a couple of minor changes to Tammy's recipe in that I used 75% lean ground beef and 25% lean ground pork and cooked it at 170°F until the meat temperature reached 152°F internal (about 7 hours).

I must send a huge thank you to Tammy, this pepperoni is excellent.

An Update.....

2010-03-14T12:32:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been laying low for a couple of months, definitely eating better and mixing in some guilty pleasures from time to time. In the end it's all about moderation......

As of March 14th 2010 I'm down 28 pounds and I'm feeling much better. The ankles and knees are feeling great, the back is getting back to normal, and the pants are sliding off (who needs buttons and zippers anyway).....

I promise some more posts in the near future. For now, just a quick update.

The State of Affairs

2010-01-24T09:59:00.000-05:00

As you can tell from my photos, I tend to live the good life with little regard for calories. This has, unfortunately, led to some self-diagnosed health concerns. Some constant back pain and occasional knee/ankle pain has led me to conclude I need to make changes in the way I live my life.

Life is all about choices. I'm hoping to start making some better ones.

From now on I'm going to monitor what I'm eating and plan out my menu more closely so I'm not resorting to food on the run quite so often. I will still strive to post my food adventures, but, recently I've been cooking mostly chicken and lean meats at home. Boring stuff for the most part.

Anyway, because of this I am proud to say I've lost almost 10 pounds and taken in the belt one notch since the 7th of January! Hopefully this will be the start of a lifelong trend.

Wendy's - Bacon Deluxe

2009-12-21T14:34:00.001-05:00

Alright, it's a chain, sue me.

I have been bombarded by ads for the 'new' thicker applewood smoked bacon commercials Wendy's has been putting out recently and decided to see if it's worth the hype. I had a Bacon Deluxe (formerly called the Big Bacon Classic) which is billed as: "Four strips of Applewood smoked bacon piled high atop a hot 'n juicy beef patty, made to order every time. Add American cheese, cool and crisp veggies with a little condiment love and you've got a burger to satisfy your senses."

Ok.

Here what arrived for my $5.80 (after taxes):

Not too shabby! One of the better looking fast food burgers I've seen.

How did it measure up? In a word, meh! The most pronouced flavour of the burger was onion. It's thinly sliced but it still managed to dominate the flavour profile of the burger. The beef was dry and underseasoned, what was supposed to be the star of the show (the bacon) had no real pronounced smoke flavour even though it did look fairly thick.

For close to $6 for a burger, no sides, you can do much better.

Stanley's Fish & Chips - Haddock & Chips

2009-12-21T14:16:00.003-05:00

Virtually a neighbour to Krispy's Fish & Chips in Brooklin is Stanley's Fish & Chips (67 Baldwin St N).

I dropped by for lunch today and took out an order of Haddock and chips ($8). The filet, is cut very similarly in size and shape to that of Krispy's. The haddock itself was outstanding, fresh and flaky. The batter was very thin, probably the thinnest I've had on any order of fish and chips locally. It was not at all greasy but became soggy very quickly. It was so thin, the piece of fish began falling apart as I ate it. I can't really fault the fish, but, the batter could use a little work. the bits that remaned crisp were quite nice.

The chips were a bit of a let down. They just weren't very impressive. They were cut in store, and double fried, they were just ho-hum, a little dry in texture, pale looking and not all that crisp.

An excellent piece of fish dampened by a weak batter and ho-hum chips.

Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins

2009-12-18T23:28:00.009-05:00

Back in October I happened across a blog called Inn Cuisine which features recipes submitted by Inns and B&Bs around the USA. I stumbled upon a recipe for Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins. The photos taken by Sandie, who runs the site, were striking. They made me want to try the recipe out right away.

I'll let you browse the recipe from Inn Cuisine as I have not gotten permission to duplicate it here.

I made the recipe as stated and got the 12 muffins, I seemed to have almost half the cheesecake filling left over when I had finished. I should have used more of the cheesecake filling as it melts and leaves hollows if you don't use enough (see photo below). I made a second batch of six muffins using up the leftover filling by making them in large muffin tins and they were much better. I still think there is too much filling for a single batch of batter.

Sandie's description of the finished product is spot on: "Surprisingly well-balanced, these muffins are a chocolate lover’s delight and stop short of being cloyingly sweet".

The only thing I might change in the future is springing for quality cocoa, the store brand that I used didn't give the same striking contrast in colour that Sandie's had.

Duff's - Buffalo Wings

2009-12-17T09:22:00.005-05:00

On my last food stop during my stay in Buffalo I had to end it with Buffalo wings. In my opinion nobody does it better than Duff's in Amherst NY (3651 Sheridan Dr).

Whenever I go I get the same thing - 20 wings (medium), large fries, and a large pitcher of Diet Pepsi ($21).

The wings are classic Buffalo style, very large, fried until crisp and served tossed in a buttery vinegar and hot sauce (Franks Red Hot more than likely). Some complain they're too vinegary, some that they're too salty, I find the flavour here to be the gold standard for Buffalo wings. I've been going since I was a teenager some 20 years ago and still try and head back whenever I can.

The fries are frozen shoestring fries and are again, nothing special. You do get a massive pile of them in this combo. I dip the fries in Duff's excellent blue cheese dressing, a mild dressing teeming with chunks of blue cheese. I always make sure to order an extra container of it ($0.80) so I can take a fresh one home with my leftover wings.

Fuddruckers

2009-12-17T09:00:00.006-05:00

Another burger chain I have frequented in the past is Fuddruckers. I visited the Amherst location (4300 Maple Rd) last week during my stay in the area. Again, I try and avoid chains, but, when they do something well I have to give them credit.

*Please note* As of March 2011 this location has closed and there was a For Lease sign in the window. It always seemed busy, I'm wondering if they found a new location?

I had the 1/2 pound original burger combo with American cheese ($8.99) on this visit. They offer to cook to order which shows confidence in their product. I get mine medium well anyway so this isn't a huge issue for me. The burgers are griddled and arrive with a slight char on outside. The meat is always juicy and flavourful. The buns are fresh and soft, topped with sesame seeds. A nice addition to the burger.

The side in the combo is wedge fries, they are cooked from frozen and are then hit with a seasoned salt, they are fine but not anything to rave about.

What I like about Fuddruckers is that you get to dress your burger yourself from a condiment bar. You're able to dress the burger to your exact specifications. I chose lettuce, onion, pickle, hot peppers, mustard and mayo. I usually like to get nacho cheese from one of their dispensers for my fries, but, the last couple of times I've been they've been empty, cost cutting or lazy employees? You can see a tiny drip of the cheese on my fries in the pic below....

Charlie the Butcher - Beef on Weck

2009-12-16T18:55:00.004-05:00

I stopped by Charlie the Butcher (1065 Wehrle Drive) in Williamsville NY for a beef on weck ($5.65). What's a beef on weck? I explained it in my review of the Bar Bill Tavern.

The hand-carved beef was perfectly cooked but was on the tough side. I had a tug of war going on with this sandwich and often slices of beef pulled out because I couldn't bite through them.

The bun was fairly average in my opinion as well. It seemed like a hamburger bun topped with rock salt and a tiny bit of caraway. It's a shame because many see Charlie the Butcher as serving the best beef on weck in Buffalo. I can't agree on this one. Bar Bill easily topped this sandwich with their excellent roll and tender beef. I'd even rank Anderson's beef on weck ahead of this one.....

The Original Pancake House - Apple Pancake & Potato Pancakes

2009-12-16T18:33:00.002-05:00

I stopped by the Original Pancake House (2075 Niagara Falls Boulevard) in Amherst last week while in the area doing some shopping. Another online recommendation had us in to sample a couple of their specialties, the apple pancake ($9.35) and the potato pancakes ($7.65).

Upon order we were advised that the apple pancake would take 20 minutes to cook. We were in no rush so it was perfectly fine to wait. The staff seemed pretty friendly and as we waited I sipped my coffee and my dining partner had an overpriced apple juice ($3) for a 'large' six or seven ounce cup.... Oh yeah, on the point of expensive, four strips of thick sliced bacon were added for $4.05. Yep, a buck a slice....

When the food showed up I must say it looked impressive:

The apple pancake was still bubbling and puffed up as it arrived on the table. Cutting into it revealed lots of cinnamon laced apples, butter and I'm assuming brown sugar. The first few bites were great, the mixture worked well and it was more than enough food for the two of us to handle. After a few more bites, we were left with the sensation of chewing on sugar. The cook must have been heavy handed because as the pancake cooled we were left crunching on more and more of it. It was rather off-putting. I will admit it was a great, tasty start, but, chewing on sugar doesn't do it for me.

The potato pancakes looked impressive but tasted like fried, leftover mashed potatoes. No seasoning, not much of anything actually..... We chose sour cream as our side (we could have had bacon or apple sauce). I guess I should have saved $4 and had a couple of slices of bacon with it.....

The server who refilled a water glass for me and my coffee cup while we waited, disappeared for the duration of breakfast after we were served. I was left with empty cups waiting for refills for the remainder of our stay. I had no option of washing down my sugar other than sucking on rapidly melting ice cubes.

I wasn't really impressed, for $30 plus taxes I'm sure I could have found a better mom and pop place in the area. Heck, Bob Evans was down the street, it probably would have been a better option.

Bocce Club Pizza

2009-12-15T18:51:00.007-05:00

I happened upon an online review of Bocce Club Pizza (4174 Bailey Ave.) in Amherst NY which touted it to be the "Best Buffalo Style Pizza" in Western New York. I'm not sure what exactly classifies as a Buffalo style pizza but I will admit it was good.

The Bailey Ave location was doing a steady business as I walked through the door. I counted no less than 32 pizza ovens behind the order counter. I didn't see anyone making pizzas which I thought was a little odd. I then noticed that pans were appearing through cutouts in the wall where a couple of guys would grab the sheet pans containing assembled uncooked pizzas and place them in one of the multitude of ovens. Every so often one of the guys would slide a nearly finished pizza off it's tray and let it finish cooking directly on the bottom of the oven.

We ordered a large (18 inch) pizza with pepperoni, bacon, onion and green olives. The total cost was $21.50 before taxes. Once the pizza was assembled and cooked we eagerly took it away. This was what met our gaze upon arrival:

The toppings were very good, they were fresh and generously applied. The cheese ran over the outside of the crust leaving charred bit of cheese at various points around the edge of the pizza. What made the pizza stand out was the sauce, it was sweet and not overly acidic (something I find with many tomato sauces). This is what made the pizza unique. The crust however, did not. I thought the crust was very 'bready', similar to a chain crust like Domino's or more locally, Topper's pizza. If you've ever tried a Domino's bread stick, you'll know the flavour and texture of this crust. I was impressed with the overall flavour profile of the pizza, the addition of what I believe was a herbed oil was a nice touch as well.

I feel that a different crust would make the pizza amazing, as it was, I found the pizza to be solid but not outstanding.

Upon returning to Bocce Club on a second visit I tend to stand by my original assessment. The pizzas are very generously topped and I love the sauce, the crust is a little bready for me. This was a 1/2 meat lovers pizza, the perfect amount for 2 hungry people or three lighter eaters.....

Krispy's Fish & Chips - Haddock & Chips

2009-12-08T13:33:00.004-05:00

Krispys Fish & Chips (53 Baldwin St) in Brooklin was established in 2008 and I've driven past it many times on my way through Brooklin. I'd always meant to stop by and last week popped in for dinner and was really impressed.

I stopped in again for lunch this afternoon and was equally impressed with their fish and chips. I had the haddock and chips ($7.50). I received a generous portion of haddock in a light beer batter. The fish was fresh and cut rustically (a thicker, oblong shaped piece, as opposed to the rectangular, flat, paper thin slices many fish & chip places offer). My only complaint is that the fish is thinner at the ends than in the middle, the batter tends to stay crisp there more than it does in the thicker, middle section of the filet. I am nitpicking here though, overall it's an excellent product.

The fries are thinner than many fish & chip places I've tried. They are very good, nicely browned and cooked perfectly throughout. The cook seasons the fries on order which is a nice touch, many places don't do this. Who likes a fried potato with no seasoning? Even fast food places do it.....

Krispy's makes excellent hand-dipped onion rings as well ($2.95). A fair portion of super crisp, hardly-at-all-greasy rings in a light batter. This contrasts the 'donut rings' offered by Starr Burger and Shamrock Burgers. These are very light, I'd compare it more to Krispy's fish & chip batter. Best of all, you get a decent portion for the money! Most places charge close to $4 for six or seven pre-manufactured onion rings, here you get a handful of house-made rings for under $3. Good on ya Krispy's.

Author's Note September 25th 2011: Sadly Krispy's closed down earlier this spring and has become a burger joint. I will try and review it in the coming weeks......

Starr Ave Burger - Starr Burger and Onion Rings

2009-12-08T00:33:00.005-05:00

I stopped by Starr Ave Burger (900 Brock St N. in Whitby) last week for a burger and rings. Starr Burger has been my go to place since I moved into the area last year. I have found them to serve consistently solid burgers and onion rings. They are very similar to Shamrock Burgers which I reviewed a while back.

I had the Starr burger combo (with cheese and bacon, an additional $0.50 each) onion rings and a fountain drink which came to just under $10. The Starr burger is their version of the homeburger. A pre-formed steakette can be had for a lesser price.

As I stated earlier, I've been to Starr Ave Burger quite a few times over the past year. It's always busy which is a good sign. The last couple of times I've been, the burger patties have been par-cooked and taken from a warming tray on the grill and finished to order. Again, I am disappointed that places have started doing this. I know you want to get orders out, but, c'mon! Does the extra couple of minutes it takes to cook a patty on order take THAT much longer? The guy that operates the grill does a great job, he had a pile of patties on to par-cook while getting out multiple orders of homeburgers and steak sandwiches.... Save yourself the headache, cook on order!

Anyway, onto the buger.... I ordered my Starr burger with bacon, cheese, sauteed onion, hot peppers, pickles, mayo and mustard. Despite the par-cooking the patty was cooked very well, it was still very juicy and actually made the bottom of the bun a little soggy. Ok, I can somewhat forgive the par-cooking if it's still got moisture, Jetsun Juicyburger take note! The beef was a fine grind and well seasoned. The lightly toasted bun was fresh and soft, unremarkable, but, did the job well.

Please excuse the pictures, I didn't realize how bad the glare was until I looked at them on the computer.

The onion rings are hand dipped and can be best described as 'donut onion rings' as I find the batter they use makes the rings look like and have a similar texture to a donut. They are pre-cooked and then fried again on order. The only issue here is that depending on the thickness of the batter, the coating on some remains soft, others get pretty crunchy. The onion inside seems to melt away with the double fry as well. You end up with a decent ring, but they would definitely benefit a single fry.

The fries at Starr Ave Burger are very solid as well. They are house cut and double fried, I feel they could use a little longer in the oil. The fry cook needs to be a little more selective as to what gets served, check out the nice black spot on that top fry......

Pete's Big Bite Burgers - Cheeseburger and Rings

2009-10-10T14:35:00.007-04:00

I've driven past Pete's Big Bite Burgers (817 Dundas Street W, Whitby) quite a few times in the past. It looked well decorated and funky with a classic diner theme so I decided to check it out.

On the menu was a 4oz cheeseburger ($3.75) and onion rings ($3.35). The burgers are flame-broiled which is my preferred cooking method, because, in my opinion nothing gives meat more flavour than a lick of flame. Upon witnessing the burger getting tossed onto the grill I immediately wanted to cancel my order.... A steakette similar to a commercially available Schneider's product was the meat of choice. UGH!

I avoid chains in order to support the local guy, the mom and pop places in hopes of some home cooking. For these guys to bust out a steakette nearly made me shed a tear.... The burger once assembled was pathetic. My lettuce, pickle, onion, mustard and mayo overshadowed the meat by a wide margin. The patty was thinner than the bottom of the Toronto Bread style kaiser bun. In fact, the patty didn't come close to reaching the edges of the bun. It should be renamed the Pete's Big Bite Failburger.

The onion Rings were once again standard pre-manufactured onion rings. Just plain lazy.

Kel's Chip Pit & More - Cheeseburger and Poutine

2009-10-10T14:00:00.011-04:00

After some discussion on a food message board about the best chip trucks in Toronto, a recommendation was given for Kel's Chip Pit & More in Pickering (778 Kingston Rd West, at the intersection of Kigston Rd and Notion Rd in the Moodie's Motor Inn parking lot).

On the menuu for today was a cheeseburger ($4.50) and a small poutine ($4.75) taxes included.

The burger was griddle cooked and weighed in at around 6 ounces, a respectable portion. I had mine dressed as usual: mayo, mustard, lettuce, onion, pickle. At first glance you can see Kel's uses a coarser ground beef, you can see the texture of the grind before you bite into it. There is little to no filler in the hand-formed patty, biting into it reveals nothing but the texture of the beef. Excellent.

My only peeve about the burger itself is that 1) Kel needs to lighten up on the cooking time, the patty was well done to the verge of being dry. I like my burgers cooked through (medium well, with a slight hint of pink at the very least) so this isn't a huge deal, but, there's cooked through and then cooked to death..... My other peeve is that 2) the meat needs some seasoning, it's nice to let the meat speak for itself, but even the best cuts of meat need a little salt and pepper.

The bun was a D'Italiano style cornmeal topped bun you can purchase at most supermarkets. It was nothing special, but, in my opinion the bun is just the delivery vehicle for the meat, so this was perfectly acceptable.

The poutine was very well done. Kel's only gives their chips a single fry. This results in a crisp outer layer with a fairly stiff internal texture. I am a fan of the double fry method but these fries are very capable. They use real cheddar curds and a fairly standard beef gravy. It's not the biggest order I've seen for the price, but, in terms of quality it's right up there with some of the better poutines I've had.

Big Boys Burgers, Pickering

2009-10-06T14:14:00.017-04:00

I stopped by Big Boys Burgers (located in the Lone Star Plaza at Whites Rd and Kingston Rd in Pickering) this afternoon for lunch.

Driving up, the place looked busy. Entering I was met with bright yellow painted and diamond plated walls, stools lined up along a bar top on one wall and racing seats in booths with folks seemingly enjoying their fare.

Looking over the menu I decided on a Big boy burger combo, an 8oz burger with fries and a can of pop (I added a slice of processed cheese for $0.65). After taxes the meal came to $10.67. Yikes!

The burger was par cooked on a flat top griddle and then held in a stainless steel tray and finished on the charbroiler. I don't know why places have started using this process. How much time do you actually save par cooking the meat, a minute or two? I once again find this unforgivable. My second peeve is that the cook broke the patty in half to ensure it was cooked. If you have any experience at the job, again, why?

You have the option of dressing your burger as you see fit and I chose, mustard, mayo, lettuce, onion, pickle and hot peppers.

The burger arrived and I must say it looked impressive, nicely charred on the outside and oozing juice onto the foil it was wrapped in. At first bite it hit me. This bad boy was full of filler, the meat had a pasty texture to it. I'm almost positive the patties have got a commercial hamburger binder mixed into them. The patty had the flavour profile of a Harvey's burger (but didn't have that cardboard texture that Harvey's patties seem to develop). The bun was a kaiser style bun available from a few bakeries (such as Toronto Bread) in the GTA. It held up well to the patty and was soft and fresh.

From there I moved onto the fries, at first glance they appeared to be moving in the right direction. They appeared hand cut and crisp. Biting into a few of them revealed an odd leftover potato taste. As a kid, my mom used to boil potatoes to go along with dinner and try to pawn off the leftovers on me the next day. I always hated how those gummy next-day potatoes tasted. These had a similar vibe..... To make matters worse, they weren't really crisp, some were, some were crispy fry imposters, limp and leftover tasting......

Village Bakeshop, Orono - Apple Fritters and Beef Rolls

2009-06-05T11:39:00.006-04:00

A few years ago I was introduced to the Village Bakeshop (5340 Main St, Orono). Over the years I've tried quite a few items they offer, from pies, cakes, tarts, bars to sausage rolls meat pies and breads. Some are great, some not, some are brought in from other suppliers, many are however done in-store. Two things that I consistently grab are their apple fritters ($1.00), and their beef rolls ($1.10).

The apple fritters are formed from what seems like a fairly loose dough and then deep fried. The fritters are usually quite thin and the dough maintains a nice crispness on the outside while remaining moist and tender inside (without being too doughy). Chunks of cinnamon laced apple are spaced abundantly throughout the fritter. The dough isn't too sweet, but the glaze makes up for it. Those with a sweet tooth will not be disappointed.

Their beef rolls are made with puff pastry and I never feel cheated with the amount of filling I get in each roll. The filling is consistent all the way through. What irks me with many bakeries I've been to in the past is that their sausage rolls or beef rolls display a nice thick piece of sausage at the end of the roll, you take a bite and the center of the roll is hollow. Shame on you bakeries, shame on you.....

The filling reminds of a Bridie stuffing in a way, it's hinted with onion, salt, pepper and a grain I am not quite sure of, at times it looks like mustard seeds, other times sunflower seeds... Regardless it's a tasty snack.

Both of these treats can be easily accessed and eaten during a trip to the cottage and make a delicious (if a little flaky) road food for the trip up north.

Signature Indian Cuisine

2009-05-28T13:02:00.012-04:00

I heard about Signature Indian Cuisine the other day on a message board I frequent. Reading through some positive reviews, I decided to check out a couple of their lunch specials. Selected were their Chicken Vindaloo with rice ($6.95) and Chicken Tikka with Naan ($6.95).

The Chicken Tikka was moist and had decent flavour. It didn't pack a charcoal flavoured punch like other tikkas I've tried in the past. Thankfully it didn't seem to have the bright red 'food colouring' look to it that many tikkas seem to have. Overall it was nice but not outstanding.

The naan that was served with the Chicken Tikka was very solid. It was similar to those served at my favourite Indian place in Scarborough (see my earlier review of Cheetal). It was freshly made, lightly charred and blistered, flaky yet still chewy, just how I like my Naan. It had the prefect amount of ghee added to give it a little extra flavour. Very good.

The Chicken Vindaloo and rice were acceptable but not outstanding. The curry wasn't too spicy and I picked up clove and or allspice in the sauce. The chicken pieces were chunks of Tikka that they'd added to the curry. I'd prefer chicken made specifically for the vindaloo (for added depth of flavour). I'd like them to save the Tikka for Tikka Masala not their vindaloo.

The lunch was decent, value for the money was a little lacking and the bold flavours I've experienced elsewhere just weren't here. The naan was great, the other portions of the lunch were a little 'meh'.

Hooksey's Fish & Chips - Halibut & Chips

2009-05-26T14:33:00.010-04:00

I have been to Hooksey's Fish & Chips (3050 Garden St.) in Whitby a couple of times in the past. Hooksey's is unique in that they only serve halibut, no other fish is available. A single order halibut and chips is $9.50 which at first seems a little outrageous for a takeout order. The size of the halibut fillet is one of the larger pieces I've seen which makes the price a little more, ahem, palatable.....

For lunch I took an order to go. The fillet, while large (possibly 6 to 8 ounces) was quite dry. Strands of halibut ended up wedged between my teeth which I haven't experienced with halibut before. The batter was very nice, crisp, not too thick and only slightly oily.

The fries were also a let down. In the past they've been fresh and crisp, lightly browned and tender inside. Today they tasted leftover, were pale and limp with barely any crispiness and a dry interior texture.

If this had been my first try I probably wouldn't go back. I will give them another chance based on previous experiences. If today was an indication in the direction the restaurant is taking, I'll have to give up on their fish and chips.

Pepperoni Rolls

2009-03-29T13:01:00.006-04:00

I was introduced to the The pepperoni roll (a regional food, popular in West Virginia) by an acquaintance from the US a few years ago. Surprisingly they are virtually unheard of outside the state. Regional specialties are something I love and need to try when in the area.

Here's a description of the pepperoni roll taken from Wikipedia:

"The classic pepperoni roll consists of a fairly soft white yeast bread roll with pepperoni baked in the middle. The pepperoni can take several forms: a single stick; several folded slices; or shredded or ground meat. During baking, spicy oil from the pepperoni suffuses the bread. Most people prefer the rolls to be moist but not soggy; thus, the texture of the bread is an important factor in the rolls' quality. A typical pepperoni roll weighs about three ounces, eaten as a snack or as the main dish of a lunch. Pepperoni rolls are eaten either unheated, if not then warmed slightly in an oven or microwave.

The rolls originated as a lunch option for the coal miners of north-central West Virginia in the first half of the twentieth century. The pepperoni roll bears a resemblance to the pasty and sausage roll, which originated in the mining communities of Great Britain, as well as to the Italian calzone. All these foods allow a miner on a break from a tiring and dirty job to eat a full meal with a minimum of fuss. Pepperoni and other Italian foods became popular in north-central West Virginia in the early 20th century, when the booming mines and railroads attracted many immigrants from Italy."

My first experience with pepperoni rolls were from the Country Club Bakery in Fairmont West Virginia, the creator of the pepperoni roll. Since then, I've been meaning to make my own version. The other day I jumped in with both feet.

The recipe I use combines a sweet roll recipe I had and a stick Bridgford pepperoni.

Ingredients

1/2 stick of Bridgford pepperoni sliced lengthwise into 3 inch long pieces
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tablespoon salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups of flour (if you find the 3 cups too wet) this recipe will make a sticky dough
1 egg
1 tablespooon active dry yeast

-Mix butter and 1/2 cup milk - add sugar, salt, then heat this mixture slightly until it hits 95-105°F.
-Stir in the yeast. Let this mixture set for a few minutes until the yeast starts to activate. You can tell this when the yeast starts to froth, it takes about 10 minutes.
-Put the rest of the milk in a separate container and beat the egg into this milk.
-Pour the milk and yeast mixture into a large bowl. You can then start sifting in the flour. After about half of the flour has been worked in you need to add the milk and egg mixture. The remainder of the flour is then worked in.
-Once this is completed you need to cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap, and let it rise until it has doubled in size.
-Make round balls of the dough and put them on a cookie sheet. In order to roll the round balls you will need to put some flour on your hands or the dough will stick to your hands.
-Once you have made 12 equally sized balls, wrap the dough around 2 to 3 sticks of the sliced pepperoni. The dough will be quite sticky and should easily wrap around the pepperoni. Be sure to seal the pepperoni into the loaves.
-Place the loaves on a cookie sheet and let them double again and then bake in a 350 degree oven for about 13-17 min. Or until golden brown.

The rolls turned out better than expected, I cooked them on a large Pampered Chef bar pan and they turned out wonderfully. I'd suggest using a baking stone whenever making bread as it helps prevent the scorching of the bottom of your loaves due to oven temperature cycling.

ABTs (Atomic Buffalo Turds)

2009-03-24T18:53:00.006-04:00

A BBQ staple and very addictive, the humble Atomic Buffalo Turd (ABT in short). The ABT was introduced to me on a BBQ forum about 4 or 5 years ago and are a must have for any BBQ gathering. They are simple to make but time consuming, the rule of thumb is to always make twice as many as you think you'll need, they are that good.

There are many variations of this recipe, my recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

10 jalapenos
1 pound of thinly sliced, reduced salt bacon (I prefer Maple Leaf)
1 to 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 brick of room temperature cream cheese
1 teaspoon of minced onion
freshly ground pepper to taste

-In a bowl mix the softened cream cheese, the shredded cheddar, the minced onion, and pepper with a fork until everything is incorporated into the mixture.

-Remove the stems from the jalapenos (You may need to slice them off, be careful not to cut into the pepper itself).

-Cut each pepper in half.

-Using a teaspoon, remove the seeds and the inner membrane without disturbing the stem end of the pepper. This will help remove much of the heat from the pepper.

-Stuff the pepper with the filling mixture, to just above the cut line.

-Wrap each jalapeno half with a slice of bacon.

-Bake at 350°F using indirect heat on a BBQ (or in an oven on a broiler pan so the moisture drains). Remove when the bacon has crisped and the jalapenos have softened. A telltale sign they are ready is when the cheese starts to be squeezed out of the jalapeno.

Serve hot!

Home Made Poutine

2009-03-24T18:32:00.029-04:00

Earlier in the year I had a huge craving for poutine. My main gripe about poutine is that most places don't use real curds, instead using diced mozzarella or even worse, shredded cheese.... My second gripe is that poutine from a restaurant or chip truck is usually pretty expensive. My recipe can feed four people and be made for less than $10.

Ingredients

4-6 Yukon Gold potatoes (I prefer Russet potatoes, but this was what I had on hand)
Poutine sauce of your choice (a brown beef gravy is equally delicious)
Cheddar cheese curds (I used the Black River Cheese Company curds in this recipe but have since found that the Empire Cheese & Butter Co-op produce a higher quality, better tasting curd with more squeak)
Oil for frying (peanut preferably but vegetable oil will do)

-Slice your potatoes into 1cm square strips and soak them in cold water for 10-30 minutes.
-Rinse your potatoes and dry them well.
-Frying will be a 2 step process. Fry the potatoes for 5-6 minutes at 325°F until they are cooked through but not browned.
-Set them aside and let them cool.
-Once cool, cook at 365°F for 2-3 minutes until they are crisp and have browned.
-Top with cheddar cheese curds and the poutine sauce and serve hot.

After the 325°F blanch:

After the final frying:

Cheese curds:

Finished poutine:

In the end I was happy with the result. I would try and use a home made gravy next time because poutine sauce just doesn't have the same richness to it.

Tangerine Asian Cuisine - Hakka

2009-01-02T13:40:00.016-05:00

I stopped by Tangerine Asian Cuisine (30 Taunton Rd. East) in Whitby this afternoon for some takeout. They claim to specialize in Szechuan and Hakka cuisine but also have some Thai dishes on their menu. I ordered a few Hakka dishes, some familiar, one not.

I started with their chicken pakoras ($9.25). They were the highlight of the meal. They arrived crisp on the outside, cooked well throughout and with large chunks of chicken in them. They were perfectly spiced (a nice tingle of heat without overwhelming). I could pick up a hint of cinnamon or allspice, a nice touch compared to the drab, almost tasteless pakoras I had at Lin Garden. For the amount you get I thought they were a little expensive, at least they were very tasty.

Next up I had the Manchurian fried rice with shrimp ($6.75). The rice was cooked perfectly and I was impressed with the amount of shrimp the order contained, it lacked a little in the flavour department. While Lin Garden and Kim Kim have a bright pink and highly perfumed rice, Tangerine's looked and tasted pretty close to your average order of fried rice (not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just not what I expected). It was a pretty oily as well, something I noticed when I took out the leftover rice to reheat some.

For my first main I had Chili Chicken ($8.50). I was impressed with the quality of the chicken found in this dish, there were no real pieces of gristle that were found in the order from Lin Garden. The chilis are finely chopped so you don't end up with big chunks of chili in each mouthful. It's got a heat which builds gradually and does get fairly hot, so lovers of heat this one's up your alley. Flavour wise it was better than Lin Garden but still didn't pack any bold flavour. The sauce is nice, has a nice heat to it but seems like a gravy more than anything else. What turned me off a little was that there was too much sauce, way too much. It's almost like it was a chili chicken soup. You can order it dry, I will try it that next time.

The weakest portion of the meal was the beef in spicy garlic sauce ($8.50). Cracking into the container revealed a mass of greyish thinly sliced beef swimming in sauce. It didn't look appealing in the least. Tasting it, the garlic was apparent and the spiciness built up over time. It had what seemed to be a seafoodish taste to it, like the beef had been cooked alongside calamari. I was expecting seared beef, it looked like it was simmered in the sauce. Again, there was too much sauce, I would order it dry if I were to choose this order again (which isn't likely).

Overall the meal was decent, the orders were fairly generous although not as generous as Lin Garden. I would definitely go back for the Pakoras and would try the dry chili chicken, the fried rice was well prepared but not what I expected, and the beef was a strange tasting mess which I probably wouldn't order again.

Highland Fish & Chips

2008-11-21T13:54:00.005-05:00

Today I was in the mood for fish and chips. I hit up my local standby, Highland Fish & Chips (3357 Ellesmere Rd) for a takeout order of cod and chips ($5.55). I have been a fan of Highland since the late 80's when I moved into the area. The folks who run it are super friendly and very efficient considering the volume that they seem to be pushing through whenever I stop in.

I used to get the halibut but they've raised the price quite a bit over the last few years (I believe it's $7.65) per order and I refuse to pay it. They also serve haddock for $6.65 per order. Saying that, they are still one of the more reasonable shops around.

The cod fillet this afternoon was reasonably thick and of a substantial size, something I've noticed they are a little inconsistent with recently. The batter, as always, was not overly thick but is a hint oily. It's got a decent crispness to it but doesn't have an extreme crunch like that from Malt 'n' Salt (see my earlier review). The fish itself was sweet and moist although it was a little mushy. The fries are hand cut in the store (I believe they're Yukon Gold). They aren't super crisp (notice the lack of browning in the pics) and have a nice fluffiness to their interior. Highland makes a very solid fry, not the best I've tried but very nice.

Shawarma Empire - Shawarma

2008-10-08T14:40:00.005-04:00

Today I hit up Shawarma Empire (1823 Lawrence Avenue E.) for a chicken and a beef Shawarma ($5.99 before taxes). The shop is not quite as clean looking as others in the area but I wouldn't say it's dirty. I'll say it needs a good scrub down.....

Shawarma Empire makes their shawarmas a little differently than most other places I've tried. They use a smaller pita, cut a slice from the top, open the pita, fill it with meat and sauces, veggies, then meat and more sauces and top it with the cut piece of pita in the open end.

They use a salad of lettuce, pickles, pickled turnip, cucumber to make their pitas, additional onion and parsley are added as well. Their sauces include a garlic, tahini and and incredibly flavourful hot sauce (description to follow). Their pickles have a high salt content to them and a nice sourness, they add a tangy salty bite to the shawarma which is very nice.

In their hot sauce I can pick out curry, but there are other flavours mingling in there as well. I believe there is black pepper, garlic and possibly a hint of cayenne for a slight heat. I'd almost think it's harissa, with some added curry and a touch of oil.... Excellent stuff!

The chicken was very moist but as most other local places, not all that heavily spiced. In this case the hot sauce adds what the meat is lacking, although, if you didn't have the hot sauce you'd be missing out on so much.... A minor gripe, because almost every sandwich I saw made, included the hot sauce.

The beef was excellent, crispy on the outside yet very moist, again not heavily spiced but enhanced by the tahini and the hot sauce. The top shot is the meat after I removed the piece of sliced pita, the second shot is after a few bites....

Shawarma empire does a different take on the shawarma with some unique flavours which I wouldn't associate with a traditional shawarma. It's a toss up between this place and Ibrahim as to which is my current favourite....

Nasib's - Shawarma

2008-10-08T14:21:00.007-04:00

I had the craving for Shawarma the past couple of days and hit up a couple more of the Shawarma joints along the Lawrence Ave. E. strip between Warden Ave. and Pharmacy Ave.

Yesterday was Nasib's (1867 Lawrence Ave. E.) where I ordered a beef and a chicken shawarma (I somehow ended up with two beef $6.99 before taxes). Veggies included lettuce, tomato, onion, pickled beets, and parsley. Sauces were garlic, tahini and their hot sauce. Their shawarmas are much like those found at Farhat, the beef isn't heavily spiced. The beef was very moist which was the main difference. Their sauces are very tame and don't bring a lot to the table, their garlic doesn't pack much of a punch, but, the hot sauce does add a hint of heat.

There wasn't a whole lot going on with this shawarma, no real depth of flavour and ended up tasting fairly bland. Unfortunately, the tahini was the most pronounced flavour. The folks working were very nice, their shawarma needs more spicing as their sauces couldn't resurrect the ho hum flavours of the beef.

Ted's Hot Dogs

2008-10-01T13:43:00.011-04:00

In the USA the hot dog is king. There are even regional diversities and preparation styles devoted to this humble meat product. I love that there are restaurants dedicated to the hot dog in nearly every city in the states. I can really only think of one restaurant in Toronto that specializes in hot dogs....

Anyway, Ted's Hot Dogs was on the menu during my last stay in Buffalo. Ted's uses Sahlen's wieners, a local product similar to a European wiener found in butcher shops in Toronto. Some might find them to be an acquired taste, I really like them.

The neat thing about Ted's is that they use real hardwood charcoal to cook their dogs, walking into the restaurant it actually smells like someone's having a BBQ out in their back yard.

When cooked, the dogs get a nice bit of char on them and the skins split, making the dogs easy to bite through. Condiments are typical, relish, ketchup, mustard, onions, pickle. Ted's does have a spicy relish/hot sauce I added to mine to give it a peppery kick.

Their fries seem to be of the frozen variety but arrive nice and crispy without being overly dark. Their onion rings are almost onion straw-like, lightly battered yet very crisp. My only complaint with the rings is that their batter/flour could use more seasoning....

Ted's is pretty reasonable as well, lunch for 2 was just over $11.

Grover's Bar & Grill - Groverburger

2008-09-29T12:20:00.010-04:00

In the same article that recommended Jim's Steakout, I read about Grover's Bar and Grill (9160 Transit Rd.) in East Amherst NY. They were praised as having the best burgers in the Buffalo area. Since it's quite difficult to find a decent burger (that you don't have to go to a high end steakhouse to get) in Toronto, I wanted to give it a shot.

My party arrived at the small 12 table restaurant and it was full so we added our name to a chalkboard and waited to be seated. After about 15 minutes of checking out the waitresses coming out of the kitchen with order after order of huge burgers we were shown to our table.

Grover's is famous for their 12 ounce patties, they are cooked on a flat top grill not char broiled. I ordered the Groverburger with bacon and cheddar cheese ($6.95), the other toppings offered were lettuce, tomato and onion, simple and classic. Mustard and ketchup are available at the table to add if you wish. Burgers are served on their own with a slice of pickle, we chose a basket of rings to complete our meal.

What I like about the Buffalo area is that many burger joints will ask you how you want your burger cooked. I like this, it shows you have confidence in your ingredients. Saying this, the servers at Grover's didn't ask me how I wanted mine done.

After 10 minutes of anticipation our burgers and onion rings showed up, this was mine:

It had a wonderful crust on the outside of the burger and was still oozing juice into the bun upon arrival at the table. I kept the burger simple and didn't add any other condiments other than the lettuce tomato and onion it came with.

Biting into it revealed just the slightest hint of pink remaining in the meat, this disappeared as I continued to eat the burger. It was juicy, and had a nice beefy taste. I'm assuming it's made of ground sirloin. My only complaint about the meat is that it needs more seasoning, at the very least some more salt and pepper. At first it was a little unwieldy to eat because of the sheer size of the patty and uncompressed bun, after the first few bites it becomes easier to manage.

EDIT:

On my last trip to Grover's I had their bacon and blue burger which came topped with 5 strips of bacon and blue cheese crumble. These additions added more than enough salt to the burger..... To season or not to season?

The toppings were quality and fresh, thinly sliced tomato, green leaf lettuce, and strong white onion complimented the beef perfectly. The bacon and cheese were apparent but didn't overwhelm the taste of the beef. The bun was excellent, it was a little denser than a standard burger bun but it had to be to hold up to this beast of a patty. It was fresh and the tiniest bit sweet.

The onion rings appeared to be pre-made but were thick cut which isn't the case in most restaurants. They needed more time to drain, they left a puddle of oil in the bottom of the basked they were served in....

They might be large for most burger fans, especially people looking for craft burgers. If you're looking for a good old fashioned beefy burger that you can brag to your friends that you actually finished, this is your place.

My only major gripe is that Grover's is cash only, no debit or credit.

Jim's Steakout - Steak Hoagy

2008-09-29T11:48:00.008-04:00

I was in Buffalo for Oinktoberfest again this past weekend and was in the mood for a Philly steak sandwich. I'd heard good things about Jim's Steakout in a newspaper article about the best places to eat in the Buffalo area. Jim's was recommended for steak hoagies. They have multiple locations around the Buffalo area, I hit the 3336 Sheridan Drive location in Amherst.

I went in and saw what I was after, a 12 inch Philly steak hoagy ($9.25, yep almost ten bucks) which came with chopped sirloin steak, cheese, fried onions and topped with Jim's secret sauce.

It was interesting to see them chopping the meat directly on the grill with a couple of spatulas, it was prepared very quickly, placed on the bun and doused with the secret sauce.

Eating it was a messy affair. Once wrapped, the sauce oozes everywhere soaking the bun, the paper it was wrapped in and forcing the eater to hunch over significantly to save their clothing from drips.

The taste of the sandwich was hit and miss for me. The meat, although heavily sauced was very bland, it was well chopped and very tender but didn't bring any spice to the table. I'm assuming the sauce is supposed to spice it, I would have rather had some pepper and garlic sprinkled on it. I'd say the sandwich needed salt but the cheese was incredibly salty. I'd take a bite of a meaty section and it'd be bland, then I'd hit the cheesy section below and my tongue would send signals of salt overload to my brain.

The bun was excellent. It was fresh and stood up well to the moisture filled meat and toppings that were piled into it.

On the whole I was a little disappointed with the sandwich. The disparity between the bland meat and salty cheese (which would have probably been great if they were combined better) made for a tale of two sandwiches. I don't know what the sauce brings to the table other than making a mess.... While the sandwich was very large I don't think the price of this sandwich was justified, I wouldn't order it again.

Jamaican Beef Patties

2008-09-24T14:59:00.013-04:00

A topic that arises in a couple of forums I belong to is "Who makes the best beef patty in Toronto?"

I sampled the wares of four of the more popular Jamaican patty suppliers in the GTA.

Up to the plate this afternoon were spicy patties from:

Randy's Takeout Service Ltd. - 1569 Eglinton Avenue West
Allan's Pastries - 3056 Don Mills Road
Michidean Pastries - 7725 Birchmount Road
Juici Patties - 50 Thornmount Drive

From left to right we have Allan's, Michidean's, Randy's and Juici patties.

First up was Allan's ($11 per dozen), they were the only patty that varied from the traditional patty shape. The pastry was buttery, not overly flaky and was the most like a pie crust of the bunch. The filling was the saltiest of the four patties tasted and also had the least amount of filling per patty. These patties tasted like they had a brown gravy inside them, the beef was very fine and not all that substantial. In terms of spiciness, the patty didn't really pack much of a punch. Traditional flavours such as curry, thyme, garlic, allspice, pepper and onion were somewhat lacking. The lack of filling really hurts these patties, they have great flavour, value for the money is somewhat lacking.

Next on the menu was Randy's, they were the smallest and the most expensive of the group ($13.50 per dozen). The crust was tender and flaky it was the thinnest of the group. The filling was above and beyond the other patties in terms of flavour profile and ingredients. It tasted the most home made of the group and pieces of onion, pepper, and ground meat were identifiable. It didn't pack a lot of heat either, which was a little surprising. The gravy had a richness that the other patties didn't have, and the spicing was very nice.

Michidean's patties ($8 per dozen) had the most tender and flaky crust, it was almost as if I'd been given a patty wrapped in puff pastry. The spicing of the beef was very nice, with a spicy, peppery bite. It seemed to have more filler than the previous patties which turned the filling into a somewhat pasty consistency. It has the most filling per patty, so at least you feel like you're getting some value for the money. Michidean needs to work on the consistency of their filling and examine those of Randy's a little closer. They have a solid start with their awesome pastry, but need to improve their filling.

Juici Patties ($8 per dozen) was tied with Michidean for the cheapest of the group. Their pastry was flaky but didn't seem to have the same flavour as the others in the group. At first bite I was hit with unusually strong taste of lard which must be their choice of fat for the crust. Their meat was spicy and ranked up there with Michideans. Other than heat, the meat was fairly bland, and like Michidean's, had a pasty consistency. You can see in the pictures that Randy's and Allan's have a rich brown filling, while Michidean's and Juici have a greyish, pasty filling. Juici's patties were quite boring, I think I've had sausage rolls with more flavour.

The best filling of the day went to Randy's. Their patties taste the closest to home made of the group. You pay a premium for their patties, which is money well spent.

Michidean's had the flakiest, most tender and best tasting crust. If they could improve the texture and to a lesser extent the flavour profile of their filling, they could contend for top honours.

Ibrahim BBQ and Pizza - Shawarma

2008-09-23T13:53:00.004-04:00

Ibrahim BBQ and Pizza (1967 Lawrence Ave. E) is a bit of an ironic name because I don't think they serve pizza. It's another popular Shawarma place in Scarborough. It's almost directly across the street from Farhat. In fact, there are no fewer than 9 or 10 shawarma places along this strip of road between Warden Ave. and Pharmacy Ave.

I had a beef and a chicken shawarma with a bottle of Diet Coke ($10.15 after taxes). Vegetables and sauces today included lettuce, tomato, onion, tabbouleh, cabbage and toum.

The shawarmas served here are alittle larger than those at Farhat but what really separates them is the flavour. Biting into the beef shawarma at Ibrahim you can taste the cloves, the cinnamon and mint from the tabbouleh. The vegetables support the flavours of the meat, they don't provide the flavours which was my problem with Farhat.

The chicken was moist and flavourful, the spicing isn't as bold as the beef, I'm assuming they use a shish taouk spice on the chicken. Again the flavours are complemented by the vegetables and sauce not provided by them.

Their toum (I'm calling it toum, not sure it's the proper name for this style of sauce) is a little different than other places in that it's not whipped and looks like a yougurt with fine chunks in it which I am assuming is finely chopped garlic. It's got a great flavour but isn't quite as pungent as those from Farhat (and my favourite) Shawarma Palace in Ottawa. I think it's got another vegetable mixed in as well, possibly cucumber? Whatever it is, it's very nice.

Farhat Restaurant - Shawarma

2008-09-23T13:29:00.008-04:00

I had a craving for shawarma so I visited one of the more popular shawarma restaurants in Scarborough this afternoon. Farhat Restaurant (2020 Lawrence Ave E) gets a lot of praise for their shawarmas, and usually has a large lineup. In the past it's looked a little run down, but it looks like it's recently had a renovation and looks a lot nicer inside.

I ordered a beef and a chicken shawarma ($7.90 after taxes). I ordered my shawarmas with the works which was lettuce, onion, tabbouleh, pickled turnip, toum, and tahini.

I'll start with the beef. It was tasteless and dry, I mean dry to the point where the fibres of the meat begain to look like frayed cotton (see pic below). The vegetables were fresh and flavourful and were the only saving grace for this sandwich. The toum is excellent and rivals that of Shawarma Palace. The pickled turnip was very nice as well. The meat itself tasted like beef, no spicing whatsoever, this may be to some people's taste, not mine.

The chicken was more of the same, it wasn't as dry as the beef, but really lacked any spicing. It tasted like roast chicken. The vegetables and sauces brought the meat to life, they shouldn't have to.

In my opinion, shawarma meat needs to be juicy and have bold flavours such as cinnamon, cloves, coriander, and black pepper. Sadly, Farhat disappointed in this regard.

Jetsun Juicyburger

2008-09-19T15:56:00.014-04:00

Had a craving for burgers today and once again I tried a new place. I'd heard some good things about Jetsun Juicyburger (1900 Eglinton Ave East) so I gave it a shot. My brother was in attendance as well as he was interested in my choice this afternoon.

Upon entering it's a funky looking little diner. The quarters are pretty tight as the location isn't all that large and they've managed to squeeze in as many seats as possible.

There is a $0.50 discount if you order a side and a drink so we both took Jetsun up on their offer. I had a Cadillac (burger with cheese and bacon $5.99 while the bro had a Juicyburger $3.99). I'll briefly talk about the sides in a sec, I'm concentrating on the burgers today.

The first thing I noticed was that an employee was weighing out ice cream for their milkshakes and placing it into cups (I'm assuming to expedite the process when a shake is ordered). I thought this was odd, It doesn't take that long to scoop some ice cream and weigh it on order does it? Secondly, I noticed that when we ordered our burgers, they were par cooked and were taken out of a stainless steel pan full of liquid on the grill. Yep, I said it, par-cooked!

The topping process of your burger works a lot like a Canadian chain (Lick's) down to the Post-It note on your wrapper. The toppings looked impressive and I can see they're trying for freshness, a good sign.

Our par-cooked burgers only took a minute or two to finish so we picked up our sides (fries and a strawberry shake for the bro, poutine and a large Diet Coke for me) and headed out.

The burgers themselves were just ok. The patties have little filler and Jetsun appears to be striving for quality. They don't appear to be hand formed (note the smooth edges in the pics below). I found mine to be moist but the bro thought his was a little dry. I had added cheddar and bacon to mine for an additional $2.00 but couldn't taste either. The cheddar slice and the bacon were very thin. My lower bun was either over toasted or stale. It was hard and made the burger difficult to eat. A peeve of mine is when a burger place tears into your burger to make sure it's cooked. Doing this lets all the juices run out of it! Additionally, tearing at it breaks the patty in half and lets the halves slip around while you're trying to eat the burger. The par cooking was inexcusable! Busy or not, if you're promoting freshness on your signage, par-cooking your burgers seems an oxymoron.

The bro said his shake was pretty thin but did have a chunk of ice cream at the bottom of his cup. It was probably just a case of the counter person rushing the process and not giving the mixer enough time. I am pretty sure the fries are prepackaged and they need to work on their cooking method. The fry cook needs to ensure they're not overloading the fry basket because the fries aren't getting enough space and the oil temperature drops too much. This results in an oily fry. Additionally, the fries could use a little longer in the fryer. They have done a decent job with their poutine, it's typical packaged beef gravy but at least they use real curds.

To Jetsun's credit, they are trying. They use Kawartha Dairy ice cream (a favourite of mine) and machine mix their shakes. Their toppings are fresh and attractive. They use real curds on their poutine and real cheddar for their burgers which is a plus!

The negatives were using par-cooked patties, charging $1 each for bacon and cheese and not being able to taste either on the burger, their fries need work and they need to keep their buns from going hard.

My order was $11 after taxes and the bro's was close to $9. For this price I'd expect a premium burger, unfortunately I didn't find my lunch worth the money I spent.

Author's note: We didn't get a shot of the poutine as the curds had melted by the time we got to the bro's house and taking a photo wouldn't have done the poutine justice or been fair to Jetsun.

Antonio Pizza - Montreal Style Pizza

2008-09-18T11:59:00.013-04:00

A couple of summers ago I took a trip to the east coast with my girlfriend. On the way home I decided I'd try and drive from PEI to Toronto in one shot. It was a valiant attempt but after a 12+ hour drive I had to give up and stop just west of Montreal.

We ended up in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, tired, hungry and looking for something open late at night. We ended up calling a pizza joint called Antonio Pizza (169 rue Salaberry Ouest) that was recommended to us by the hotel.

I know of a few pizza styles, New york Pizza is usually a thinner high-gluten bread flour crust served lightly topped. Chicago style is a deep dish, almost pie-like crust with toppings piled inside of it. Montreal pizza is more like a Chicago style, coming on a crispy, slightly thick crust and arrives heavily topped. Traditionally, Montreal pizzas are served with the cheese on top of all the other ingredients.

When we ordered the pizza, there was a definite language barrier. We ordered our pie with bacon, pepperoni and olives, and, after some "pardons" and re-confirming our order a couple of times we were set. When the person told us our order would be close to $30 we broke out in a sweat. For $30 in Toronto you can get a family pizza meal at numerous chains....

When it showed up I was amazed at the weight of the box, it wasn't huge but felt like it was. It was after midnight, I was starving and I think I would have accepted just about anything. This was what met my gaze:

I had never seen a pizza like that before, and have yet to since. I managed to eat two slices before giving up. It was heavy but delicious. It had the requisite crisp crust, a sweet sauce that had been generously applied. The toppings, man the toppings! I think there was close to a pound of bacon on it, the pepperoni came in large slices which were buried under the bacon, olives and cheese.

I had cold pizza for breakfast the next day and hit the road for the trip home.

Anderson's Frozen Custard

2008-09-18T11:23:00.009-04:00

Another chain (albeit a small one) that I enjoy is Anderson's, located throughout the Buffalo NY area. I originally tried them when I was attending teacher's college and try to make sure I hit them whenever I'm around Buffalo.

Anderson's is a cross between an ice cream parlour and a fast food operation. They serve many different sandwiches, salads, burgers, even a very solid beef on weck. In addition, they serve both soft serve and hard ice cream and yogurt, sundaes, milkshakes and smoothies.

I really enjoy their soft-serve custard, it's velvety smooth and is extremely creamy. It's got an excellent mouth feel you don't get from other soft serve places I've been to in Canada.

I usually go for their flavour of the month although I really like their vanilla. Below is a shot of a banana/vanilla twist ($2.65) I got the last time I visited Anderson's. It's a decent value and doesn't fail to impress.

Since my original post I have fallen in love with Anderson's pistachio custard. Whenever it's available it's what I go for. This large cup was $3, a bargain.

Ike & BG's Rib Restaurant

2008-09-17T13:35:00.002-04:00

During my trip to Oinktoberfest last year, I went to the Anchor Bar to get some wings. The most direct route was to take Genesee St, as it was close to our starting point and ended up right near the Anchor Bar..... Little did I know that it takes you through a rougher looking part of town so to speak.... Anyway, on my way through this neighbourhood I happened across a street corner that had a large propane cylinder on it bellowing out smoke. Being in a strange town, in a strange country, in the darkness of the evening, I was too petrified to stop. I couldn't resist the lure of smoke and decided to check it out in the daylight the next day...

This was I found, Ike and BG's Rib Restaurant (1646 Gennessee St):

When I stopped to take the picture posted above, the owner came out and yelled ""Do you want to try something?" I wasn't sure if he was mad or was inviting us in... I pulled up in front of the place and asked him about his cooker, what he cooks on it and he told me he'd just taken a load of ribs off of it and to go in and try some....

Here is the beast:

I went in and looked over the menu, fish, fried chicken, grilled chicken, and ribs. Sides were mac and cheese, slaw, green beans, baked beans, and fries. Desserts were sweet potato pie, 7 UP pound cake and banana pudding. They also had burgers and hoagies, but I was only interested in the ribs. I ordered a half slab with sauce on the side. As I waited for BG (Ike's wife) to prepare the food, I talked with Ike who was sitting by the counter in the front window of the restaurant.

He told me about his love for his neighbourhood, making sure nobody left his store hungry, even if they had no money. He said "You never know when it could be someone's last meal." This touched me. Since my visit I've found out he gives away food at Christmas time to thank his community for supporting him throughout the years.

Anyway, I asked Ike to pose next to his smoker for a picture:

At first I was a little unsure of things because there wasn't much of a smoke ring considering they were cooked with charcoal. I've since realized that Ike must use a higher temperature than I'm accustomed to, which leaves little smoke ring. When I bit into them they were moist and very tender. I don't think the ribs are seasoned with anything more than salt before they are cooked because there was little to them other than smoke at first bite.... Once I dipped them in the sauce they came together. All in all a very solid rib.... The sauce was very nice, I soaked up the leftover sauce with the bread that was given on the side! The slaw had sweet relish in it which was a first for me. It was a nice creamy slaw but not exactly my style, the relish made it very sweet.

Coming away from this little adventure I was amazed at how friendly everyone was that came in and talked to me while I was waiting for my food. I must have stood out like a sore thumb because everyone knew I wasn't from around there right away. I guess it was the accent, or that I was the only white guy in the vicinity. Ike has a loyal following and greeted his customers with a smile and a handshake.

The Omnivore's 100

2008-09-16T14:42:00.014-04:00

A little late to the game, but I thought this was a pretty cool interactive food blog entry originally found here: Very Good Taste blog.

I'm simply crossing of what I've eaten, I'll bold and italicize what I would not consider eating.

1. ~~Venison~~
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. ~~Cheese fondue~~
8. ~~Carp~~
9. ~~Borscht~~
10. ~~Baba ghanoush~~
11. ~~Calamari~~
12. Pho
13. ~~PB&J sandwich~~
14. ~~Aloo gobi~~
15. ~~Hot dog from a street cart~~
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. ~~Fruit wine made from something other than grapes~~
19. ~~Steamed pork buns~~
20. ~~Pistachio ice cream~~
21. ~~Heirloom tomatoes~~
22. ~~Fresh wild berries~~
23. ~~Foie gras~~
24. ~~Rice and beans~~
25. ~~Brawn, or head cheese~~
26. ~~Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper~~
27. ~~Dulce de leche~~
28. ~~Oysters~~
29. ~~Baklava~~
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. ~~Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl~~
33. Salted lassi
34. ~~Sauerkraut~~
35. ~~Root beer float~~
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. ~~Vodka jelly/Jell-O~~
39. Gumbo
40. ~~Oxtail~~
41. ~~Curried goat~~
42. ~~Whole insects~~
43. Phaal
44. ~~Goat’s milk~~
45. ~~Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more~~
46. Fugu
47. ~~Chicken tikka masala~~
48. ~~Eel~~
49. ~~Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut~~
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. ~~Paneer~~
55. ~~McDonald’s Big Mac Meal~~
56. ~~Spaetzle~~
57. ~~Dirty gin martini~~
58. ~~Beer above 8% ABV~~
59. ~~Poutine~~
60. ~~Carob chips~~
61. ~~S’mores~~
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. ~~Frogs’ legs~~
67. ~~Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake~~
68. ~~Haggis~~
69. ~~Fried~~
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. ~~Hostess Fruit Pie~~
78. ~~Snail~~
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. ~~Goulash~~
88. ~~Flowers~~
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. ~~Spam~~
92. ~~Soft shell crab~~
93. Rose harissa
94. ~~Catfish~~
95. Mole poblano
96. ~~Bagel and lox~~
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. ~~Polenta~~
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

As of July 7, 2010 I'm at 55 out of 100. Many can easily be knocked off as I've been meaning to try more from this list for a while.

Lin Garden Restaurant

2008-09-13T15:16:00.003-04:00

Lin Garden (1806 Pharmacy Ave.) has been my favourite Hakka joint in the east end for the better part of a couple of years now. They've been reliable and I've ordered from there many times. I hadn't been in quite a few months so I went in this afternoon for some takeout. On the menu was their Hakka Chow Mein, Manchurian Fried Rice, Chicken Pakoras, Kan Shue Green Beans, Chili Chicken and their Crispy Beef Kam-Bien.

I had never eaten the Hakka Chow Mein ($6.50) before and I took the recommendations of some folks online who raved about it. I thought it was decent, but nothing special. I was really impressed with the size of the chunks of chicken that it contained, but it just didn't pack a lot of flavour. For the most part it tasted like I was eating oily noodles. I will revisit the leftovers later on and see if the dish was overwhelmed by other flavours, but for a first try I wasn't blown away....

The Manchurian Fried Rice ($6.50) has been a staple of mine since I first started going to Lin Garden. It's got a uniquely perfumey flavour to it and packs a nice bit of heat without overwhelming. Today it seemed to be slightly overcooked and was a little mushy, the flavour was what I expected. It was a little disappointing because I expected more of the rice.... Ah well, we all have our off days.

The Chicken Pakoras ($8.00) have been a must have since I started going as well. I was once again let down today, other than curry, they seemed to lack their usual flavour and were a little bland. To top things off the insides didn't appear totally cooked and were a touch doughy. I was impressed with their crispy exterior, the size of the chicken pieces and the chunks of chili I could see in the pakoras, they just weren't up to their usual standard. They lacked salt and definitely some onion.

The Kan Shue Green Beans ($6.00) were excellent. They were sweet with a touch of heat. This dish is prepared simply and the beans were the star. A touch of chili and and I was in heaven. Considering I'm not usually a fan of green beans, this dish has me converted.

I will readily admit that Lin Garden's Chili Chicken ($8.00) isn't the greatest. I've had better at a couple of other Hakka Restaurants in the east end. It's simply out of convenience that I order it. Today I was proven right again. It really lacked much flavour other than heat from the chilies. The breaded chicken contains many pieces of gristle and tough chunks of chicken and it's a bit of a turn off. I really wish they'd make changes to their preparation or their supplier, the Hakka Chow Mein although lacking big flavour has wonderful pieces of chicken. Use them here as well!

My love, other than the green beans is always the Crispy Beef Kam-Bien ($8.50). While it's not the most tender beef you'll find, in fact, some pieces can be downright chewy. The sauce they use has me hooked. It's fried in what I'm assuming is corn starch which in turn soaks up the sauce it's topped with. It results in slightly chewy, salty strips of beef when paired with green pepper and onion, results in a wonderfully dark dish.

I hadn't been in a while and some folks have complained about drops in quality. Based on today's lunch I'd tend to lean in the same direction. I can't complain about the quantity of food as you're definitely not short changed. While the dishes looked the same as usual, their taste and preparation wasn't up to par. I'll give them another shot in the future, but, at the moment it appears that I'll stick to the green beans and crispy beef.

Buster Rhino's - BBQ Brisket Sandwich

2008-09-11T14:04:00.008-04:00

As stated in an earlier post, authentic BBQ is a rarity in Canada, so, when someone's doing it right I have to give them a shout out. Buster Rhino's Authentic Southern BBQ (2001 Thickson Rd South Unit 7) is a local producer of BBQ sauces, rubs and smoked meat products. In the last year they opened up a small six or seven table dining area in the front of their Whitby facility. From here they serve pulled pork, brisket, pulled chicken and ribs all smoked on their Southern Pride commercial smoker.

I have been addicted to their brisket sandwich ($7 for a combo including fries and a pop) since the first time I tasted it. It's sliced super thinly and you're greeted by a nice smoke ring. The meat is juicy and packed full of smoked flavour. At first, I found the sandwich to be a little on the salty side, but they've worked out that kink and I think it's awesome. In fact I prefer their brisket to my own...... I know!

BBQ doesn't hold well and will dry out if you don't serve it right away. They've come up with an excellent solution. Eatch portion is individually vaccum sealed and is placed in a hot water bath. When you order your sandwich, your portion is opened and plated. You'd never know it hadn't been sliced right from the roast.

Buster Rhino's sauces are my personal favourite brand and I've used them in both BBQ competitions I've entered. There are three varieties: Championship Original, Championship Hot and Holy Habanero. I love the two that are a little less spicy. Either of them compliment this sandwich wonderfully.

As a side note, the fries offered here are wonderful, crisp on the outside and creamy inside with the perfect amount of skin left on each fry. One of the better orders of fries around!

This past summer Buster Rhino's offered a brisket cheesesteak as a limited time special. I happened to try one and loved it. The bun wasn't a traditional hoagie roll and was toasted, but, it worked well with the sandwich. The griddled peppers and onions combined with a slice of provolone the smoked brisket went wonderfully together. I even topped it off with a squirt of their BBQ sauce. I wish this was on menu full time...

Calabria Bakery - Wood Oven Pizza

2008-09-04T12:36:00.004-04:00

The Calabria Bakery (1772 Midland Ave.) in Scarborough cooks pizzas on Thursdays and Fridays in their wood burning oven. I walked in today and the smoke greeted me right away. In fact, in the 10 minutes I was in there I managed to absorb quite a bit of smoke, my clothes smell deliciously smokey right now.

Anyway, I ordered a Classico (pepperoni and cheese $7.50) and a Calabria (cheese, black olives, hot peppers, and capicolla $10). They were made in front of me and placed in the oven for about 5 minutes, they were turned a couple of times during that span.

The 12" crust is extremely thin and the has a nice crunch to the exterior, near the center of the pizza it loses a bit of it's crispness (most likely it was the 10 minutes of travel time to get home). The crust has a nice saltiness to it but added with the toppings gets a little salty, some may love it, some may not. To me it was perfectly acceptable.

The cheese is shredded mozarella and the rest of the toppings seem to be quality ingredients. The sauce has a nice sweetness to it and doesn't overwhelm the toppings. The hot peppers are very hot, just a few on the Calabria pizza had me hunting for fluids.

They have a few more varieties such as a seafood pizza and a build your own option, as well as panzerottis. Overall a very solid pizza, inexpensive, and definitely one of the best I've had in the city. Too bad you can only get it 2 days a week.

Cheetal Indian-Chinese Restaurant - Chicken Vindaloo

2008-08-28T21:39:00.007-04:00

Today I had a craving for some Indian food and hit up a local restaurant called Cheetal Indian-Chinese Restaurant (271 Old Kingston Road). I've ordered many things from their Indian menu which have been great (I'll have to do a complete writeup later). The restaurant itself is a bit of a hole in the wall and the dining room isn't attractive, so I always take out. One word of warning, they offer Chinese dishes but they are not good, stick with the Indian menu.

I love their chicken vindaloo, which I order every time I go. It's described as boneless chicken cooked in a hot tangy sauce with potatoes, red chilies and vinegar. It lives up to it's name as it greets you with a spicy bite right off the bat, it's also cooked with ginger and onion and is extremely flavourful. I had the lunch special ($4.99) which comes with either rice or naan (I had them both which bumped the price to $6.25).

My only gripe about this dish is that it's oily, and I wish it was cooked using a little less as I don't think there needs to be this much in it. The overall score would be higher if it wasn't so oily, because the flavour is so, so good.

The rice was average but the naan was very tasty. I do like the combination of the sauce from the vindaloo combined with the rice, so it's a tough call to choose between the two...

It's tough to make this dish look sexy, but in the end it's all about flavour, right?

Update as of September 12, 2010:

Unfortunately Cheetal has closed their present location to concentrate on catering for the time being. I went in to order dinner the other day and the restaurant had changed to a Chinese food place, I was crestfallen.

A quick call later, I found that they are looking for a new place and are trying to open for November. We'll see how it goes... I have not found another Indian restaurant that can match Cheetal in terms of flavours and value.

Update as of March 29, 2011:

Cheetal has reopened in Niagara Falls Canada and is located at 5983 Clark Avenue. If you're in the area give 'em a shot. If they're anything like they used to be you're in for a treat! I've never really found much good food around the falls, hopefully these guys will change that.

Sinatra's Italian Sandwiches - Meatball Sandwich

2008-08-19T17:14:00.008-04:00

I had a meatball sandwich from Sinatra's Italian Sandwiches (944 Simcoe Street N) in Oshawa the other day. I've been a few times before but had never tried anything except the veal sandwiches which are very good.

The meatball sandwich ($6.25) as their other sandwiches are served on crusty kaiser rolls. They add their home made sauce to the sandwiches as well, it's a nice sauce but it's a little too acidic and lacks balance and much flavour other than tomato. It needs something to knock down the acidity and at the very least a little more garlic. I find they add too much sauce, making the bun soggy. I'll have to ask to go light on the sauce next time.

The meatballs were huge but compressed when I ate the sandwich, I'm assuming they are loosely formed before cooking. They have a high moisture content which probably helps them crumble. The spicing was very nice, but I thought it could have used a tiny bit more salt. This was easily remedied by a couple of dashes from the nearest salt shaker. I guess it's better to under salt than over salt.....

Montreal Fries - Steamies and Poutine

2008-08-19T16:59:00.004-04:00

I've been to Montreal Fries (36 Simcoe Street North) in Oshawa a few times in the past for Montreal style steamies and poutine. I had a craving today and decided to pick up one of their combos: 2 steamies, a regular poutine and a pop for $8.50.

I got the dogs done 'all dressed' which comes with cabbage, relish and mustard. It's a unique combo that works well together. The cabbage seemes to have a bit of a tang and is accentuated by the vinegar in the mustard. The relish adds a bit of sweetness.

The poutine is not made with gravy but instead uses poutine sauce which is a bit thinner and has a little more zip than regular gravy. The size of the portion is very generous and it's teeming with melted cheese.

Other than being a little difficult to get to because of one way roads in the area, and the lack of real parking, it's a nice little takeout shop. The owner, Wes always seems to have a smile on his face which is a nice touch as well.

Pizza Pals Pub & Pizza - Panzerotti

2008-08-19T16:37:00.003-04:00

I had a craving for a panzerotti and after reading favourable reviews of a place in Ajax, I decided to try it out. It's called Pizza Pals Pub and Pizza (46 Church Street South) a name that to me conjured up a fun little pub. It really isn't. It's more of a pool hall/bar with a pizza oven than anything else. I even rubbed shoulders with a couple of workmen having a liquid lunch as I was waiting for my order.

I got a panzerotti with pepperoni, hot sausage, and hot peppers and a Diet Coke which was just under $12. It was made by a friendly woman who was running the whole show (aka doling out beer and slices to a few people who I assumed were regulars).

First off I'll say the thing was huge, I can pack away the food but had to leave almost 1/2 the crust. The crust was very nice, crisp and tasty (I had it fried, not baked). The fillings were fairly average. The pepperoni was fine but the sausage looked like and had the texture of Polish sausage. The hot peppers were somewhat bitter. The sauce was nice and tangy.

I will return to try a pizza, but the panzerotti I had, although enormous didn't have the flavour I was after. The dough and sauce were excellent, the fillings were average at best. If they switched to crumbled hot sausage I would be so much happier.

The Chipmunk - Poutine

2008-05-26T16:59:00.007-04:00

Well, it's summer time and that only means one thing..... Poutine? Well, I have a favourite chip truck that I have been hitting for years which is on the way to the cottage. It's called the Chipmunk and is located at the intersection of Highway 7 and Highway 2 in Manilla Ontario. I had a medium poutine ($5) and it's more than enough for one person, I love to eat and I usually have to leave a little to share with my Springer Spaniel. The beef gravy is of the typical prepackaged variety but it isn't overly salty or runny. The chips are cooked to perfection. They use authentic cheddar cheese curds which are usually generously applied. They have a nice melt while still retaining some of their shape. Value for the money is great, and it's one of the better poutines you'll find anywhere in Ontario.

Author's Note: Since writing this review I have tried some of the other food items on the menu at The Chipmunk, it's not very good. The fish sandwich is made using a pre-made industrially prepared piece of fish and the burgers are steakettes, cheap bland and very ordinary (bordering on bad). Stick with the fries and poutine.

Author's Note #2: The gas station that shared it's parking lot with The Chipmunk closed in September/October 2010 and the Chipmunk closed it's doors at that location. It has reopened in Lindsay as Rick's Cafe & Grill. I will try it and update this post when I do.

Bar Bill Tavern - Beef on Weck

2008-04-05T22:23:00.007-04:00

Beef on weck is a traditional sandwich in the Buffalo area of New York State. Weck is an abbreviation of kimmelweck, a salty roll that is popular in Western New York. It is similar to a Kaiser roll, but topped with pretzel salt and caraway seeds.

This sandwich is comprised of thinly hand sliced medium roast beef, and served on the weck roll. The top half of the bun can be dipped in the beef jus to add moisture and additional flavour. You can also eat it with horseradish which adds an additional kick.

I traveled to The Bar Bill Tavern (185 W. Main St ) in East Aurora New York on the recommendation of a few folks from both Chowhound and Roadfood.com. The day was beautiful and the drive from Amherst was enjoyable to say the least. On the way we passed through some wonderfully scenic rolling hills.

We ordered the small sandwich ($5.45) which is actually a medium, a mini comes on a smaller roll and therefore less meat. The sandwiches arrived straight from the carving board and the meat was wonderfully pink, it cooked further while it sat which was fine as the meat remained juicy and tender to the last bite. The sandwich was served with a pickle wedge and Lays potato chips.

This was the second beef on weck I've had in my life as the first one scared me away until two days ago. My first attempt was so overwhelmingly salty that I scraped most of the salt and caraway seeds away. This bun was wonderful, crispy outside and soft inside, but, best of all was that it was not overly salty. A quick dip in the beef jus finished the meal off wonderfully.

Shamrock Burgers

2008-02-14T13:28:00.004-05:00

I had the craving for a burger this afternoon so I hit Shamrock Burgers (6109 Kingston Rd) at the Highland Creek Overpass. I have been a customer of theirs since I was a teenager many moons ago. I have always been impressed with their homeburgers, and today I had a home banquet burger and onion rings. Their regular burgers are a bit cheaper but they are preformed patties and not as flavourful.

The home banquet burger ($5.45) is a 7 ounce home made patty, bacon and cheese on a sesame seed bun. I added onions, pickle, lettuce, hot pepper, mustard and mayo. The beef is nicely spiced and had a wonderful texture, not much filler if any at all. I chose onion rings ($3.25) as the side. They are not traditional rings because the batter is rather thick and crunchy, almost like a fish and chip batter. They are fairly greasy but I guess that is to be expected.

Pita Deli - Falafel

2008-02-09T15:24:00.005-05:00

A few months ago I was introduced to a pita place in Oshawa called Pita Deli (285 Taunton Road East). It's located in the Five Points Mall at Ritson Rd and Taunton Rd. I have been back quite a few times since then. Their pitas are very large and the owners take pride in their food, even taking the time to show me how they trim the sirloin steak for their beef shawarmas. The beef shawarma is not cooked in the traditional manner of roasting it on a spit, they bake it in the oven. Unfortunately when you order a shawarma they reheat your portion in the microwave. Saying this, they are very good.

Recently I started ordering their falafel sandwiches ($4.50) which are a couple of dollars cheaper than the shawarmas. It comes loaded with fattoush salad (a lemony oil and vinegar tossed salad with tomatoes, fried pita chips, and liberally hinted with sumac). I always order it with their hot spread, garlic sauce and tahini, a garlicky combination that is incredible. The falafels are very tasty but my only complaint is that they are pre-cooked and wait for you to order them. The sandwiches can be a bit salty so if you are monitoring your sodium intake, I suggest to go easy on the sauces.

There is a second location (1600 Champlain Ave #2) at Champlain Dr and Thickson Rd in Whitby. During the lunch rush expect to line up at this location, seating is very tight here as well.

As you can see from the pictures, the sandwich is huge, taking up a large portion of a dinner plate. The cross section shows the garlic sauce and tahini combining to form a little rivulet of heaven.

Shawarma Palace - Chicken Shawarma Dinner

2008-01-31T01:15:00.003-05:00

While in Ottawa a few years back I ran into a little place called Shawarma Palace (464 Rideau St). I ordered a chicken shawarma plate and fell in love. Since then I have been back many times and have placed the same order time and time again. Their chicken is juicy and packed with flavour, the rice is tender and extremely moist, the potatoes with garlic sauce are out of this world and the salad is excellent. The plate is easily big enough for two people so the price tag of nearly $14 for this plate for cafeteria style dining is somewhat justifiable. I have found a great shawarma place locally (more on that later) but nothing comes close to my beloved Shawarma Palace. Excuse the image quality it was taken at midnight with a camera phone.

Red Robin - Whiskey River BBQ Burger

2008-01-31T00:59:00.005-05:00

I usually avoid chain restaurants because of the lack of creativity and generally generic food choices. Saying this, whenever I go to Buffalo I make sure to hit Red Robin. I am totally addicted to their Whiskey River BBQ burger. There's something about the combination of bbq sauce, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion straws and cheddar that has me craving this bad boy what seems like every other week. Sadly, visits are few and far between.

Their burger patties are pre-formed but are offered cooked to your specifications. My bro states (and I concur) that "If a place won't let you have your burger cooked to your specifications it's either frozen or they don't trust their meat". You really can't disagree with that. The patties are always juicy and are very consistent. I'd expect this from a chain though. Their toppings are fresh and amply applied. Their buns have a soft, mass produced Wonder Bread texture to them but luckily for me I prefer my buns soft, or, at the very most buttered and griddled.

Red Robin has a neat concept of offering endless fries with your meal. So, if you're a fry addict, take them up on their offer. I don't find the fries (generic steak fries) to be nearly as good as the burger but whatever, they're not on the map for their fries. I wish they had a location in Toronto, but if they did I'd probably need a walker and oxygen tanks to assist my breathing in no time...

Authentic Southern BBQ

2007-09-05T01:07:00.003-04:00

Here in Canada when we say BBQ, most of us think of throwing burgers and dogs on the grill and cooking away. Purists call this type of cooking 'grilling' because you're cooking over direct heat. In the USA, BBQ is slow cooking tough cuts of meat using indirect heat using either wood or charcoal. This slow cooking takes hours and turns a tough piece of meat into tender, juicy bites of heaven.

Why aren't there any good BBQ places to eat in Toronto? Simply, it takes dedication and passion for this type of food. Briskets and pork butts can take 15-20 hours to cook if done properly, few people want to put in this type of effort. Unfortunately, a few chains pass off their product to the uneducated Canadian market, what they serve is absolute trash.

If you are ever in the southern states (although authentic BBQ is gaining in popularity in some northern states) give 'real' BBQ a try, you don't know what you've been missing....

I have been trying my hand at authentic BBQ for the past few years and I'm now getting some consistent results. I use a Weber Smokey Mountain cooker, it's relatively inexpensive and very easy to use. I have been working on my pork ribs for most of this summer and recently took a few shots of some back ribs. These were cooked using Maple Leaf lump charcoal and hickory wood chunks. I think they were slightly overcooked as they were fall off the bone tender (when ribs fall off the bone they are overcooked, we have been led to believe that this is perfection). They were very good, one of my better efforts.

Update as of December 18, 2009:

Man, looking back on these ribs makes me smile. I had jammed six racks of ribs onto the top grate of my first WSM. I was using a rib rack big enough for four racks of ribs. The other two racks were laid perpendicularly across the top of the ribs in the rack. The black lines on the ribs are the cooked drippings from the rib bones I had laid across the top of the ribs in my rib rack.

I still do love the Buster Rhino's sauce and always have a bottle around to use in a pinch.

Kim Kim Indian-Hakka Chinese Restaurant

2007-06-11T16:51:00.006-04:00

As it turns out there are quite a few Hakka restaurants in Scarborough. Again, I have a favourite but decided to try out a new place recommended by a few folks at a forum I frequent. I tried Kim Kim Indian-Hakka Chinese Restaurant (1188 Kennedy Rd).

The best way I can describe Hakka cuisine is Indian influenced Chinese food. Many of the dishes I have tried are reliant on chili peppers and have a definite spiciness to them.

Today I tried the Gan-Ben Beef, Chicken Pakoras, Manchurian fried rice, and the Hakka Tandoori Chicken.

The Gan -Ben Beef ($8.95) was served in a sweet sauce that tasted alright, the texture of the meat was a bit of a turn off. It reminded me of jerky and didn't sit all that well with me. I could see what looked like corn starch on the meat and to be honest, it was a bit gross.

The Chicken Pakoras ($7.95) were passable but weren't outstanding. They seemed to be lacking much curry flavour and didn't bring much heat to the table. The pakoras tasted like the cook had simply sprinkled a little chili powder into the batter. I would dare to say that sadly the pakoras were pretty close to being bland.

The Manchurian Fried Rice ($6.25) was better than the previous two dishes but still wasn't outstanding, there were quite a few shrimp mixed in which I was impressed with. The flavour wasn't quite what I'd come to expect from other places I've tried. I don't like the rice to be overly spicy, this was pretty close to the perfect spiciness forme.

The only dish I really enjoyed was the Hakka Tandoori Chicken ($8.95). It was nicely flavoured and went perfectly well with the onions and peppers. The only thing I found odd about this dish was the tiny pieces of chicken that were provided. As you can see in the picture, almost every piece was smaller than the sliced peppers and onion that accompanied the chicken. Taste wise I really enjoyed this dish, but I don't think it would be the sole reason for me to go back to Kim Kim.

Nun Such Jerk - Jerk Pork Sandwich

2007-06-06T21:10:00.003-04:00

I stopped by Nun Such Jerk (2300 Lawrence Avenue East) the other day. Like a moth to a flame I am attracted to the jerk pork sandwich ($3.45) this place offers up . It's simple, pork loin and plantain on coco bread. The balance of the sweetness of the coco bread and the plantain is offset by the saltiness of the meat and is a wonderful combination. The jerk rub is flavourful but not overly hot, lovers of heat might be disappointed but I find it to be perfect. The meat is juicy and tender, not too fatty which is a nice change from other places I have tried in the past.

My First Attempt at Cashew Chicken

2007-05-30T00:21:00.002-04:00

Well, I had a craving for cashew chicken this afternoon and decided I'd try my hand at making it. I found this recipe at allrecipes.com and figured I'd give it a shot. From the reviews, I'd read that it wasn't an authentic recipe but it seemed easy enough to make so I went at it. It took me about 1/2 an hour to prepare the veggies, chicken, and prep the sauce (which I tripled). Cooking time was about 15 minutes and was pretty easy.

I made a batch of Jasmin rice to go along with cashew chicken. I think next time I will use chicken stock with the rice as I found it to be a little bland.

As it turns out, I felt it to be lacking a little something. I was worried it would be too salty but in the end I think the blandness of the rice took away from the seasoning of the sauce. I used a low sodium soy sauce as well, maybe regular soy sauce might have given it an extra kick. Next time I think I might try and use a touch of sesame oil instead of vegetable oil when frying the chicken and onions. Maybe a touch more garlic might help as well.

For a first effort it wasn't too bad.

Red House Thai

2007-05-15T21:17:00.004-04:00

Well, I have to admit, this was not my first time visiting Red House Thai and Malaysian Cuisine (705 Kingston Road) in Pickering. I have been here quite a few times in the past and I am consistently impressed with each dish I try. It's a small place that doesn't seat more than twenty people at any time. Usually there is a wait but it's worth it.

Today I started with the Golden Squid $4.95. The batter was light and crispy and was seasoned with a nice dash of salt. In the past the dipping sauce has been a sweet and sour soy type sauce, but the last couple of times it has come with the peanut sauce pictured. I can't get enough of it, and it's become a must try whenever I go.

My main course was one of the lunch specials Red House offers. With each lunch special you receive a can of pop, two shrimp chips, and two spring rolls. The specials range from $7.25 to $7.55.

I had the Spicy Beef in a Sambal sauce $7.55. It's served with a side of steamed rice. This is again one of my personal favourites. The beef is tender and the vegetables arrive perfectly cooked. I enjoy spicy food and this doesn't disappoint. The heat builds gradually but never becomes overly hot, that said, it does usually get my nose running. I'd really suggest this if you enjoy some spice in your life.

Other dishes to look out for when you visit are their Cashew Chicken and Pad Thai. I am torn as to which of these to order whenever I go. I love the Spicy Beef but the Cashew Chicken is very good as well.

The pics were taken with my camera phone so once again, please excuse the quality. Hey, at least you get to see what I'm talking about! ;)

Royal Ashburn Golf Club - Wedding Menu Tasting

2007-05-10T23:48:00.001-04:00

Tonight I had the pleasure of being invited to a wedding menu tasting by my sister who is getting married later this summer. The tasting was held at the Royal Ashburn Golf Club.

On the menu was:

Broccoli cheese soup
Tomato basil soup
Stracciatella soup

Caesar salad
Spinach salad with a raspberry vinaigrette
Tossed salad with a balsamic vinaigrette

Prime rib with garlic mashed potatoes, grilled veggies and Yorkshire pudding
Chicken breast with cranberry stuffing, steamed veggies, and rosemary new potatoes
Chicken breast with wild rice stuffing, steamed veggies, and rosemary new potatoes
Combo plate with grilled sirloin and breaded chicken breast, grilled veggies and rosemary new potatoes

Lemon tart
Chocolate mousse cake
Apple pie a la mode
Blueberry cheesecake
Strawberry cheesecake

Most of the food was very good, I wouldn't have been disappointed with any of the meals that were served. The Stracciatella was very salty, the caesar salad mix was a prepared box variety, and the new potatoes were rather waxy and tasteless. Other than that, the Royal Ashburn prepared some great meals. I missed getting pictures of the soups and the cheesecakes because we were a bit eager to get to tasting, I didn't want to take pictures of half eaten food. :)

I would love to show pictures of each plate, but I'm sure the bandwidth hit would be huge. So for the sake of brevity, I will only post pictures of the consensus winners. The picture quality isn't that great, I will have to work on that from now on.

The Wedding Menu (as of May 10, 2007)

Broccoli Cheddar soup- Was the consensus winner, solid soup, not overly salty and very tasty.

Spinach Salad- the vinaigrette was light and refreshing, although the raspberries were pre-frozen and the croutons were a little large. Sis is going to ask for goat cheese to be added. Strangely there were some bacon bits thrown in which seemed odd. Those are going to be omitted for the actual event.

Prime rib- was the runaway winner of the night. The beef was tender (although fatty, but hey! It's prime rib!) The Yorkshire pudding looked and tasted home made, wonderful! The garlic mashed potatoes were excellent, nice and creamy with the perfect amount of garlic. The grilled veggies were great, not too limp or overly charred. The gravy was very good as well, an excellent consistency, not too thick or runny.

Strawberry Cheesecake- For a cheesecake it was very light, almost moussey in consistency. I am used to my family's dense baked cheesecakes, this was a refreshing alternative. The blueberry cheesecake seemed to have blueberry pie filling poured over it, so we decided to try and press for fresh strawberries for the actual event.

The Great Fish & Chip Hunt

2007-05-07T14:28:00.003-04:00

Today I sampled a couple of local joints. I have a personal favourite location, but I chose these as I hadn't had them before. Today's contenders: Tugseys Fish & Grille (277 Port Union Road) and Malt & Salt Fish & Chips (285 Lawson Road).

Tugseys: Medium Halibut & Chips: $8.50

When I originally opened the box I was sort of shocked to see the size of the fish. Fairly small, limp looking pieces of fish. The batter was a bit soggy but not too bad taste wise, I prefer a crisp batter. Here's the kicker: you know how they say good fish shouldn't smell like fish? Umm, well this bad boy smelled like fish and tasted like fish. Not so hot.... The chips weren't so bad, they had a nice colour but weren't really crisp. For me there was too much skin left on the potatoes, it was kind of a turn off.

Next up:

Malt & Salt Fish & Chips: Mon-Wed Special, Cod & Chips: $6.00

You can see from this picture, the portion was very large. The fillet itself was a bit thin but the batter was super crisp and not overly oily. The fish tasted fresh and wasn't overpowering. The fries were crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside, exactly what I look for in a chip. They have another Mon-Wed special, haddock and chips for $5. I'd probably check that out next time.

The owners of both shops are super friendly people. From the clippings on his wall, I think Tugseys owner was renowned for a previous hamburger restaurant. I did notice that he has a large number of hamburgers with creative names listed to order on his blackboard. If I was to go back, I'd try a burger but I can't recommend the fish.

Anyone up for half a kilo of cold leftover chips?

My First post

2007-05-07T13:56:00.004-04:00

I often wonder to myself "What do I want to do for lunch/dinner?" I love to try new cuisines and vary where I eat in order to try new places, but I hate to spend good money on crappy food.

I consider myself a decent cook so I'm often disappointed when I pay for a meal I know I could have prepared much better myself. I've set up this eStomach blog to inform you about what my taste buds witness during my travels, both good and bad. I consider myself a 'road foodie' and tend to frequent mom and pop type places, pubs, and holes-in-the-wall. I rarely do any fine dining as I don't believe in spending hundreds of dollars for dinner. In this blog you'll find that most of the places I'll be reporting on serve food with no fills and will more than likely have napkin dispensers on the tables. Some may not even have tables, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I will try and post whenever I can in order to let you know what's what locally and abroad. I'll even post my own successes and failures as I toil away in the kitchen. I believe we're our own toughest critic, so I'll be just as hard on my food as the food I order away from home.