Toronto and Hamilton 2012

Hey everyone! August was a pretty busy month which is why I didn't blog much but I'm back! 

At the end of August I headed to Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario for my uncle Leslie's wedding. It was awesome! Our first day we went to a great restaurant called Sarcoa.

Slow roasted pork belly sandwich. Mayo, pickled shallots and apple cabbage slaw. Homemade ketchup and fries on the side.

Shrimp po-boy. Fried black tiger shrimp, chipotle mayo, lettuce and red onion. Side caesar. 

The night before the wedding we went to probably one of my favorite restaurants in life called Rapscallion. They only served one kind of beer called Mickeys that had a little riddle on the cap of the beer. If you guessed in five seconds you got your beer for free. Needless to say no one got a free beer. 

 Beet and goat cheese salad. They made little ravioli out of the beet and goat cheese! How cute!

Antipasto

Grilled octopus salad

Roasted bone marrow

Veal cheek and tongue

In Toronto my uncle Chris brought me to this great bar in Kensington Market called Thirsty and Miserable. I had a cool beer called Kwok that came in a neat glass that needed it's own wooden older. They had a GREAT selection of beer and it was nice and small which is what I'm into. 

We also decided to make dinner at my uncles one night. BBQ chicken(I forget what we put on it but it was spicy)corn on the cob and beat and goat cheese salad(my fav).

View from my uncles place in St. Lawrence Market area.

Dinner!

The cook.

Last but not least was probably one of my favorite places I've been in Toronto. Don Don Izakaya.

When you walk in they announce you and hit the taiko drum twice and the kitchen staff greets you. 

Some of our food.

Fwhat-Fwhat Pork bun

Steamed Shabu-Shabu

My uncle Chris.

There were many more places I went but I didn't get any pictures. I guess I'll just have to go again really really soon!

What are you favorite places to eat at in Toronto?

-Marielle

Midnight snack

My sleeping schedule is all out of wack recently so I tend to go to bed pretty late and wake up late. Which means my eating schedule is also out of sorts. Last night at around midnight I made and AWESOME pizza and am now craving it. If you like garlic, you will like this pizza. 

For the crust I decided to use some pita bread we had in the fridge that we get at the Greek Market in Winnipeg. They're the perfect size if you're like me and can't eat a lot.

I've never been a huge fan of pizzas that are COVERED in tomato sauce so I often use balsamic reduction or pesto. Last night the only thing I had on hand was some balsamic reduction.

When the reduction hit the pita, which was cold, it became really hard to spread so if you encounter this problems just put how much you want on and then throw it in the oven for about a minute. That should loosen things up and make it easier to spread.

Then I sliced up one clove of garlic really thinly. You can use roasted garlic which I actually recommend.

The Greek Market sell ready made dips and spreads which we often get. My favorite is the feta and roasted red pepper. I took about a tablespoon and spread it out thinly. Again I'm not a fan of sauce so if you want to lay it on thick, by all means. 

I usually like to look in my fridge and see what I have that will go together really well. My mom had just picked some zucchini from our garden so I sliced one up really thin. I did it thin because I want the outside to get a little crispy and I didn't want my pizza to be watery from a thick piece of zucchini on it. I then added goat cheese, the thinly sliced garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper.

I had some peppers I had roasted the night before so I added some to the top which turned out to be a really good idea.

The finished product! I put the pizza in for 8 min at 450f. When I took it out I oiled the edges(you can also use garlic butter) drizzled a little balsamic reduction on top and green onions.

This pizza was so good but had a real garlic kick to it which I love. 

What kind of pizza's do you make at home?

-Marielle

"Domburi"

For dinner yesterday I decided to make domburi for my mom and my friend Justine who is staying with us right now. My mom isn't a huge fan of rice so we got these great noodles from Lucky Supermarket to use instead. I also added a few extra things for fun. Here is the recipe.

Serves 4

4 cups hot, cooked rice
1 whole chicken breast
4 white mushrooms
3 scallions
4 eggs

Domburi ni Shiru:

1/4 cup dry sherry(I use rice vinegar)
1 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 cup chicken or clam broth(I used chicken)

This is the text in the book:
"Domburi is the name for a large bowl with a lid, as well as the dishes served in it. A soup bowl is a good substitute...
Put a cup of rice into each of four domburi and keep it hot while you are preparing the toppings.
Skin and bone the chicken breast and shred the meat finely.
Slice the mushrooms thinly.
Trim the scallions and chop a few teaspoonfuls of green part for garnish.Shred the remainder.
Beat the eggs.
Mix the domburi ni shiru(sauce). Toss the chicken, mushrooms, and scallion in the domburi ni shiru.
In a heavy pan(we prefer non-stick for this)heat the chicken mixture to a boil. Stir for a minute or two until the chicken is becoming opaque, lower the heat to simmer, and stir in the beaten eggs. Stir quickly until the eggs are just barely set. Ladle one-fourth of the mixture over each of the bowls of hot rice. Garnish with the reserved chopped scallion."

I added fresh corn to the mixture and I also garnished it with green onions, BBQ'd pork, carrot and roasted peppers.

Chicken, mushrooms and corn cooking in the sauce.

After I added the egg. I was in a bit of a rush so I didn't do it perfectly. There are little pieces of egg in there but that's OK. 

Finished product.

-Marielle

Summer dinner

I was in the mood to make dinner tonight so I decided on wings, salad and corn on the cob.

The wings I did in an easy sauce which I put olive oil, balsamic, dijon mustard, honey, brown sugar, salt, pepper and sesame seeds in. I cooked them in the pan first, threw them in the oven and then back in the pan just to thicken the sauce up a bit.

The salad was candied walnuts, roasted beets, goat cheese and a balsamic and olive oil dressing.

What kind of wings do you like to make at home?

-Marielle

Egg Salad Sandwich

I was in a sandwich mood the other day and made egg salad. Typical ingredients(hard boiled eggs, mayo, paprika, salt and pepper) and then I added garlic dill pickles because pickles are AWESOME! I also used lettuce that we grew in our garden. Enjoy!

I also had my girlfriends over for some sangria! 

What kind of sandwiches do you like to make?

-Marielle

Corn on the BBQ

I really love corn and lately we've been making it like crazy which is fine with me! I don't mind having just regular boiled corn but if I have time I like cooking my corn on the BBQ WAY more. This is the method I use which is easy and delicious.

First I soak the corn for about 15 min in water. This is done so that all the leaves get wet and don't totally burn on the BBQ. If you don't have 15 min then you can always peel back the leaves and wet them as you go.

Second I peel back the leaves but I don't break them off. Do take the strings off though.


After thats done I brush butter on the corn. You can do just butter but I like to mix rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper into the butter and then brush it on. You can put on as much or as little as you'd like. 


When that is done put the leaves back up and tie them in place with a string. Make sure to soak the string too otherwise it'll burn right off.


My BBQ gets pretty hot so I usually put them on for about 15-20min at 500f. I flip them after 10 and rotate the ones in the back of my BBQ to the front. If you know your BBQ as well as I do, you will want to do the same if your BBQ is hotter in the back.

You'll know they're done when the kernels are a golden yellow. Completely shuck your corn and eat away!

Here is the corn I made last night. Instead of string I used some of the leaves that fell of to tie the corn shut.

I really like doing it this way because not only can you add anything to your butter but the leaves of the corn actually add a really good flavor. If you have tried this or are going to, let me know what kind of butter you make!

-Marielle

Burgers Part 2

 I made the mango coconut burger tonight but you couldn't really taste either. I think it would have helped if there were big chunks of mango and coconut in the burger and on while I cooked it. Here is a picture of the burger.

My whole meal.

This was my "snack" last night. Smokie with ketchup, mustard and diced garlic dill pickles and white onions. Also a carrot salad with balsamic vin(of course), mayo, coconut and sesame seeds.

I have also been drinking blended lemonades in my new Starbucks to go cup! I love it!

-Marielle