Pita Delites - Shawarma

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.




Edit as of May 12, 2012: Sadly Shiraz has closed at it's current location. I am not sure if it relocated but as of earlier this week, the location noted in my review was up for lease.

Chili Sauce

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.