It's midnight on Saturday and I'm hungry! I've been trying to adhere to a no-eating past 9pm policy and it helps if I just go to bed and conk out. Some people say to drink water but as if! My late night cravings are almost always salty and starchy, unless there happens to be some leftover popcorn cake lurking in the kitchen. So if I could have one thing right now, it would be this homemade pizza. Maybe I'll have a dream about it tonight instead.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Saturday night craving
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Mediterranean Chili
Fusilli was inspired to make this when they didn't have the ingredients she was looking for at the local store. I'm calling it mediterranean chili because that's how it turned out. I think this could also work with fish instead of chicken.
• Heat olive oil in a pan. Once hot, brown the chicken breasts (bone in) on both sides. Remove and set aside.
• In the same pan, sauté onions and then add red pepper
• Add garlic, white wine and chicken. Turn temp. to low and cover until the chicken is cooked through
• Remove chicken, set aside to cool
• Add white beans and tomato, simmering until heated through
• Shred the chicken, adding it back with chopped Kalamata olives and cilantro
• Top with crumbled feta cheese and serve
Monday, May 25, 2009
We had dinner outside today
Now this is what I call a beautiful thing. C's mother made this zucchini and tomato pizza as part of dinner tonight. Check out the entire progression of our dinner here: here
Thursday, May 21, 2009
It's 29 degrees today in Toronto…
… so after a quick dinner of Japanese curry (with chickpeas, sweet potato + cauliflower) and a cucumber + carrot salad, we headed on over to St. Clair for the first gelato of the season! I had the Donatella, which contained crunchy bits of Ferrero Rocher and C had Straciatella (white gelato with chocolate bits) and Pistachio. We took our cones for a stroll along St. Clair and ended up at a corner fruit and flower market where I bought three strawberry plants and a columnar basil and C got a purple basil and a broccoli plant. Tune in for future posts on our edible plants!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Pea Shoot Pesto with Flank Steak
Another excellent recipe from the NYTimes – Pea shoot pesto. You can find the pea shoots, downstairs, at the back of the St. Lawrence Market.
The salad is a combination of baby arugula, pea shoots and cilantro. Instead of pork chops, we broiled a flank steak that had been marinating in lime juice, sesame oil and garlic. The steak was served thinly sliced, over the salad, topped with toasted pine nuts.
I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry again.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Pasta Primavera
Fusilli found an interesting variation on the classic spaghetti primavera. This version uses miso paste in place of cream and butter. Healthy and delicious.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Addicted to tortillitas
Ever since my blog co-author, Broccoli, introduced me to this post by Mark Bittman, he hasn't stopped raving about the simple yet delicious tortillita and the oh-so-many twists and turns it can take. Last night I made them for the first time with tiger shrimp and wild sole from St. Lawrence Market. I noticed the garlic chives on my balcony planter had come back, so I snipped a few strands and added some thinly sliced onion. And voilà! Some sliced avocado and lime wedges on the side and a crisp vinho verde to sip on and dinner's on, so fast and tasty. I don't know why I'd never known about chickpea flour before, but I'm completely hooked. Tortillitas are the new tortillas.
Monday, May 11, 2009
I'm back!
Canon's been giving me grief lately. My SD 10 battery died so I had to order a new one. But then I upgraded to a G10, which as soon as I brought it home, found out it was recalled for servicing. Thankfully I have a working battery in the SD 10 now so I can finally post photos! First up, the Kissing Cousins burger from Utopia on College street. Do you know I've been trying to eat this delectable lamb burger with feta and garlic dill mayo for the past two months and I kept being denied? What up with the 1 hour wait to eat a hamburger? Finally, after only a mere 15 minute wait last Thursday, my craving was satiated. I dare you to find a tastier $10 burger anywhere else in Toronto. And! You get meaty crispy fries on the side included. I know, this meal isn't the lowest on the glycemic index but you only live once, right?
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Duck & Asparagus
Look at the size of these asparagus spears! We picked them up at the North Market on Saturday. Don't they look like logs? Tasty, tasty logs. We had them with a nice Muscovy Duck breast and a truffle oil & lemon vinaigrette.
MysteryMeal™ #2 – Revealed
I totally forgot to post another MysteryMeal™... until today! I'll give you one hint: it's what you eat when you're judgment has been "clouded".
**UPDATE** Congratulations Scampi! Poutine is correct! I think I made that one too easy by admitting we were judgement impaired at the time. Thanks to the Lakeview Lunch for providing an inappropriate late night meal.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Cannellini & Lentil Soup
There's still time for some comfort food before the weather turns. This hearty soup has cannellini beans, lentils, fennel, red pepper, onion, bacon & spinach. Perfect for a crispy anchovy bruschetta.
Healthy, delicious, and it made enough to take leftovers for lunch.
Friday, May 1, 2009
"Julie & Julia"
I cannot wait for this movie! Ever since I saw a quick blip of this movie at the end of this year's Oscars, I've been searching for the movie trailer. How can you go wrong with Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, French cooking and several baking/cooking mishaps by Amy Adam's Julie character that remind me so much of myself in ANY kitchen setting?!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tomato and Fennel Pasta
I found some excellent fresh pasta at the North market on Saturday. Check out the ingredients – red fife, semolina, eggs, water. Nothing extra, just the goodness.
I remembered a great quick tomato sauce recipe from Martha. To the sauce, I added diced fennel, fresh basil and Niagara prosciutto. A tasty compliment to the fab fresh pasta.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday Halibut
After learning about the seafood selector, I've been trying to choose fish from the "happy" list. With a few options in mind I went to the market and found a nice wild Halibut fillet. It was dredged in chickpea flour, and then pan fried with olive oil and garlic. On the side, asparagus, peas and basil.
Fantastico!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Star-Shaped Scones
My networking group of graphic designers got together this past Sunday for a pot luck brunch at Matt & Mary's apartment in Logan Square. There was a good mix of different brunch eats (migas, muffins, egg dishes, etc.) and plenty of fixings and mixings for Mimosas and Bloody Marys. My contributions to the potluck brunch were a bottle of Prosecco and a batch of cranberry scones cut out with a star-shaped cookie cutter. The easy, shmeasy cream scone recipe is from Susan Branch's Autumn cookbook...yum.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Feta Fennel Anchovy Pasta
I picked up some fresh whole wheat pasta at the north market last Saturday. In an effort to use up what's in the fridge, I decided to have the pasta with the rest of the fennel and feta cheese.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
White and Orange Salad
If you had to go on a colour diet and only eat only three colours – which three would you choose? I'd choose red, orange and green. That covers about 80% of my favorite foods. The whole idea sounds crazy, but of course a quick search uncovered an interesting article about the benefits of food by colour. What Color is Your Diet.
The white and orange salad has fennel, roasted yellow beets, orange sements, mint, sunflower seeds, walnuts and feta.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Chicken Tortalittas
I just can't get enough of the tortallitas. They're like bread, they go with everything. This time we stacked them with butternut squash, chicken, avocado and a dollop of plain yogurt.
Irish Coffee on Easter
I stayed in Chicago for Easter this year. One of my good friends, Mary Beth (of Chicago Gourmet; Mayor Daley fame), took pity on this Easter orphan and invited me to share in an Easter dinner with her husband and friends at their home in Norwood Park. Their gorgeous rehabbed, 80 year-old home was the perfect setting for a fantastic Easter meal. Each place setting had an Easter basket filled with yummy Easter candy. We had the traditional spiral cut ham, asparagus with Parmesan, a delicious mixed greens salad with fresh raspberries, walnuts and raspberry dressing, fabulous warm-from-the-oven rolls, all paired with a delicious Argentina red wine. For dessert we had an out-of-this-world cheesecake served with our choice of toppings: A tequila and almond or raspberry sauce. We also had our choice of regular coffee or an Irish coffee...I chose Irish. It's the house specialty! Great old and new friends, great conversation and amazing food...I was lucky enough to get leftovers...no better way to spend an Easter in Chicago. A big thank you to the Thomas clan of Norwood Park!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Open Faced Chicken Sandwich
Another Oma recipe – chicken burgers. We used the leftovers to make an open faced sandwich with avocado and mâche salad. The chicken is cooked slowly with onions and fennel seeds before being shredded.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Havin' Huevos
Having breakfast or dinner at the Village Creperie is a must whenever I'm in the 'Loo. On Saturday morning we put the top down (summer jumping in the autoshare) and headed out for breakfast. I was planning to have my old favorite, smoked salmon with two eggs, but I was swayed by the huevos – an excellent choice. After starting with an americano we switched to prosecco and freshly squeezed OJ.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Happy Paska!
Paska is a traditional Easter bread that Fusilli makes every year. It's a lot of work, but we (the people who enjoy eating it, but don't make it) agree that it's worth it. The recipe, passed down by Oma, involves mixing the finished batter with whipped egg whites. This is done by hand, which is quite messy, but fun to watch.
I've been trying to think of an example to illustrate the difficulty of this step, which is questioned each year, but never skipped. Have you ever tried giving a cat a bath? It's not an entirely fair comparison, but the point is – these two things don't want to be together. You just have to roll up your sleeves and use both hands.
Next year we've agreed that a second batch should be made to experiment by making deep fried Paska balls. I can already imagine how incredible these are going to be. Half dipped in icing and sprinkles... oh yeah!
Asparagus and Monkfish
Dinner on Friday started with roasted asparagus wrapped in proscuitto and tapenade. The main course was monkfish with almond sauce and rapini. We've made this twice in the past month — it's fantastic.
However, this dish raises an important question. Do you avoid eating things based on how cute they are? Like rabbits and Golden Retrievers for example. If so, how do you feel about eating monkfish, which looks incredibly frightening? I don't exclude cute or frightening food from my diet, but I do feel bad eating monkfish since I learned it's been overfished. Yeesh, is there anything we can enjoy without guilt?
Here's a guide to selecting sustainable seafood.
Easter Egg Hunt!
When I rolled into the 'Loo on Friday morning, I found Monte & Fusilli had been enlisted to help in hiding a HUGE number of "eggs" for the neighborhood egg hunt. How many is a HUGE number? Ummm, 600+ plastic eggs that had been filled with toys, candy and things. That afternoon, over 20 kids showed up to root around the yard, scooping up plastic eggs like wild monkeys.
Here's a pick of one tiny spot that was specially prepared for the younglings who were too small to be climbing around in the bush. Can you guess how many eggs are in this one picture? Click on the image to see a large pic. When you're ready for the answer, continue reading to see a picture showing the location of all the eggs. Enjoy.
There are 19 eggs in this picture.
I Like Pizza!
A great start to the long weekend – whole wheat pizza with fontina, prosciutto, spinach and olive tapenade. On the side, a mâche salad.
A Cupcake Favo(u)rite
So...do you think this time around I grabbed a fork and ate the whole thing from the 9 x 13 pan? You know from my last post about these gems that I'm not above that. But, I didn't. I was good. I split the tempting giant cookie bar down the middle and cut them up into bars. Half of the bars went to one of my best clients yesterday and the other half is in my freezer. These are sooo good chilled and with a Cafe au Lait from Goddess & Grocer.
Dunlay's On the Square: $5 Burger Night
Wednesday afternoon I headed over to Logan Square to meet my friend Mary (another graphic designer currently freelancing from home too) for a late afternoon movie and cheap dinner at Dunlay's On the Square. I've been to the other locations of Dunlay's in Lincoln Park: D.O.C. Wine Bar and Dunlay's on Clark...all locations are excellent foodwise AND in atmosphere! Dunlay's, like most restaurants in Chicago right now, are having daily specials to get the customers in the door. Wednesday night is $5 burger night. Perfect for those of us on v. tight budgets! This was actually my second trip to Dunlay's this week. Monday night Mary, Julie (another casualty of the economy) and I met there to catch up on jobs and networking. Monday night was $5 pours and 1/2 price wine night. Nice! I also dined on an appetizer, the Barbecued Pork Wraps...YUM! Next week I hope to try the Spaghetti Bowl night at A Mano or their $5 pizza night. Either night should provide me with plenty of leftovers!
CONTINUE READING...
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Hank's
Some of our hungry loyal readers have been asking us about Hank's since Broccoli and I grabbed lunch there twice this week. Although I did have 2 bad experiences at 9 1/2 Church street previously, this week scored 2 for 2. I wish I could give you a taste of the hearty Moroccan lamb stew I had today. Instead, here's a peek inside our local lunch hangout.
Pizzalittas
Technically speaking, pizza is crust + toppings. I think that qualifies my tortallita + onions, carrots, pork, cilantro and avocado to be called a pizza... or pizzalitta.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Chopped Salad
I've started to chop my salad greens. It makes the salad easier to eat, but really it's about the making it taste better. I know that sounds very 80-year-old-man of me, but consider this: Food tastes better, or different, depending on the shape and size of the ingredients.
For example:
Large circle carrots, or sticks – yuck
Matchstick or shredded carrots – delish
Spaghetti – gross
Capellini – delish
For the salad, I chopped the mixed greens and tossed them in a lemon, honey, mustard and grapeseed oil dressing. On top, I added leftover pan fried roast pork shoulder, avocado and toasted sunflower seeds. Delish.
CONTINUE READING...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Melomakarona
The best treats are only enjoyed at certain times of the year, and that's what makes them special. That's true of these delicious Greek Walnut cookies – Melomakarona. You can get them at the market around Christmas and Easter... and then they're gone. I suppose we could try making them at home, but that would mean we could have them anytime, and then what would I look forward to? Get them while you can!
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