[Toronto Restaurant Recommendations 2009]

Would love some recommendations for fantastic eating options in Toronto.  Which restaurants are considered the best and are there ethic foods that Toronto is well know for?

Many thanks!

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I benefited from this thread on a recent weekend in Toronto, and I'd like to add a few comments of my own.

Cora's on Wellington www.chezcora.com is one of the best breakfast places I have ever encountered. Very popular and deservedly so. Great benedicts, crepe dishes, even some whole-grain choices.

A remarkable sleeper is Arrabiata on Yonge St. www.arrabiata-trattoria.com The Italian menu here is supplemented by a sprinkling of diversity, the chefs are actually a couple of Tamil guys. These guys did a stint at an Italian place where they obviously absorbed every molecule of knowledge and skill that was to be had, and bring a considerable talent to their own place.

I had the Platonic ideal of a chicken sandwich: "a point" grilled chicken breast piled with grilled onions and peppers on a soft crusty warm slab of bread. This was accompanied by a pile of perfectly dressed mixed greens. Seasonings were excellent and textures absolutely perfect. My SO had a fruit salad, and again the freshness and textures were excellent. The skill of execution was striking - and all out of proportion to the inexpensive price. If time had permitted, I'd have been back to eat my way through the rest of the menu in a hot minute.

We enjoyed JKWB and found the pairings and execution to be excellent. The service was aloof and disengaged though, and I left feeling like the hefty price tag was somewhat weightier than the experience.

On the coffee scene, The Green Beanery on Bloor St W has great staff, competent espresso, and the most spectacular selection of coffee equipment I've ever seen in one place.

[eG Foodblog: smallworld - Spring in Tokyo]

Wow, this blog makes the wheels start turning. This latest meal in particular makes me want to get some bonito, make up some ponzu and experiment with dressings. Sounds very cool.

I have never seen umeboshi used as a condiment - that's new to me. I have always used them to make medicinal tea. Do you just mince them up into tiny bits? Any particular other ingredients that combine well with them to make a good rice topping?

[Coffee Grinders: Models, Sources, Maintenance/Hygiene]

I agree with Mr. Solomon. I finally disassembled my Rocky after a year and a half or two years of use. (Too long really but better late than never).

The burrs themselves were clean and uncaked, but the feed areas between the burrs and the chute were pretty ugly.

It was easy to take apart and put together again, and easy to brush and wipe anything that could not be removed and rinsed.

No need to buy anything really...

[The pancake topic to end all pancake topics]

BTW, there is another thread called "Pancakes, how do I love thee?" which has some nice recipes on it and perhaps could be merged with this one.

I do have a semi-chemical question. Pancake recipes seem to be almost evenly divided between the use of baking soda and baking powder, and some even call for both. What are the differences in how these two behave in pancake batter? What would be the advantage of using both?

Also, what is the interaction between buttermilk and either baking soda or powder? Does the use of buttermilk in a recipe rather than regular milk mean that less of those two things will be necessary?

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Some people prefer a single-acting agent in pancakes on the theory that double acting baking powder doesn't have time to completely work, given that pancakes cook so quickly, and the extra chemical then gives an unwanted taste. In the Cloud Cake recipe, buttermilk = acid, baking soda = alkali; together a single leavening action that works immediately.

[Breadmaker]

When you buy a bread machine, you buy an automated kneader, proofer, and oven, and any bread machine is a better kneader and proofer than it is an oven. There are tricks you can do to move toward artisanal breads, see:

http://www.amazon.com/Rustic-European-Brea...99049703&sr=1-1

But, you will never really quite get there with the robobaker.

Many people don’t care, since they mainly want control over ingredients, convenience, and fresh bread smell. This describes the everyday me. There is a thread on egullet called “in defense of the bread machine” that covers this pretty well.

Incidentally, my Salton bread machine was flimsier than my current Panasonic, which is built like a tank. The non-stick surface of the paddle and pan rubbed off quickly on the Salton, not so the Panasonic. Breadman is a Salton product – does the Ultimate model suffer from this?

Tell you what, I don’t know what part of Paris you live in, but if you let me live with you, I volunteer to be the one who goes down to the boulangerie every day….I would not need (heh heh) my Panasonic there.

Guys, please help me.  I am having a huge dilemma.  I've already done a few searches of past threads/messages but there are so many conflicting opinions.  I need the straight dope.

People at work are telling me to buy a bread machine.  Their daily raving about the smell of freshly-baked bread in the morning is driving me crazy.  But here's my dilemma.  It seems their main two reasons for advocating the bread machine are the following :

- it works out cheaper in the long run than buying bread, and

- it's easy to use.

The thing is, I don't really give a damn about either of these factors (especially the first one, which frankly I find hard to believe).  What I want to know is whether the bread machine can make bread that's better than bakery bread.  I already make my own bread all the time, but I find that at best, it's only as good as the bread I buy at the bakery, and usually rather amateur in appearance.  As a result, I rarely feel confident enough to compete with the local bakery and tend to confine my bread-making activities to things like pizza and calzone dough, pastries, hamburger rolls, etc.  Because I like working with yeast, kneading, etc. and I wouldn't get that with a bread machine.  For me, the attraction of the bread machine would be the ability to produce bread to match what I can get at the bakery, with a consistency that I can't get on my own.

However when I asked my co-workers whether their bread machine bread is actually better than bakery bread, they said, "Once you get used to it."  What does that mean?  Why should it take getting used to?

Now I think that they probably never baked bread at home before they got their bread machines, so perhaps they're just bowled over by the smell of freshly-baked bread, etc. and don't really have any other basis for their preference.

Any thoughts?  I would really appreciate it.

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[The pancake topic to end all pancake topics]

FG's apology for using Bisquick is graciously accepted. The world suffers from inadequate Bisquick guilt.

With a nod to Chris Kimball for his "Cloudcake" Recipe:

Serves 4-6

2 c ww pastry flour

2 T sugar

1/2 t baking soda

1 t table salt

2 c low fat buttermilk

1/3 c sour cream

3 large eggs, separated, beaten whites folded in at the end

3 T unsalted butter, melted

My particular prejudice here is that while I happily eat many a delicacy made with white flour, I cannot abide chewing my way through a whole plate of cakey white flour pancakes without eventually feeling like I’m chomping away on a cud of sweet dairy glue.

The whole wheat pastry flour gives these cakes the substance of real food.

At the same time, the buttermilk, sour cream, separated egg approach lightens up and tenderizes the whole thing so they avoid the “leaden slab” image that comes to mind when whole wheat is mentioned. Pastry flour is important since whole wheat bread flour is an irredeemable pancake disaster.

If you are not so afflicted as I, you can substitute all purpose flour in the above and almost have the Kimball Cloud Cake. Chris punches up the recipe from stratocumulus to cumulonimbus by adding an additional egg white. I don’t know what to do with the extra yolk and don’t like throwing it away so I usually stick with the three eggs.

I followed chefcrash’s “one bowl” method today (see up thread) – I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before either – but I still had to use my zabaglione bowl to beat the egg whites.

Hoo-ray for Tammylc for using the magical ww pastry flour! With the right iron, a similar recipe to this will produce 100% whole wheat Belgian waffles so light and airy as to elicit reactions of shocked incredulity from those informed of what they are eating after tasting them.

[Electric Flour Mills]

I've had a Champion Juicer for the last 25 years, and the grain master attachment for it for the last ten or so. While the juicer has been used sporadically, the mill attachment has been used for all our household whole grain flour and cornmeal for our bread, pancakes etc. No repairs or problems. MFger's site:

http://www.championjuicer.com/

It uses steel burr discs similar to those on the old Corona hand mills if anybody remembers them, which means it will do grains but not oily seeds and doesn't do so great with some beans. If beans and seeds are a must, andiesenji's suggestion is a good one.

The flour doesn't get particularly hot, grinding speed is OK, dust not a problem. Noise level between the dishwasher and the vac.

For the same $$ as some of the grain mills, you get a mill plus a versatile and heavy-duty juicer/homogenizer too. Not a bad deal.

I am considering the Wolfgang flour mill.  It has gotten one good review on amazon.com from someone who seems knowledgeable.  Then I also looked at the comparison chart here, which opened up several other options.  The Wolfgang model seems to satisfy all my requirements (capable of grinding various textures, quiet, easy to clean, and relatively compact).  However, I could not find information on how often the parts might need replacement.  Having never used a flour mill before, I thought I should check  with other experienced users for recommendations.  If anyone here uses the Wolfgang model (or any other electric flour mill), please post your experience and suggestions here.

Thanks,

Veena

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