jenc

mmmm... foie. Was there a distinct taste-difference between the goose and duck foie?

Went to Lucien last week! Got some okay shots. The Black Hoof ones were better, but the lighting also wasn't as good at Lucien. More verbiage/photos/menu of Lucien Restaurant: http://www.foodpr0n.com/2010/03/05/lucien-toronto/ Unbeknownst to me, The Wine Bar shut down for gold-medal Sunday. So, wandering around the corner brought us to Lucien's doorstep instead. With its cred, I don't hear about this restaurant very often. Actually, to the point where this wasn't even on my radar. Though it's late and the kitchens are set to close, it's good to know that no one is snoozing back there. French Onion Soup With quotes included on the menu, the "French Onion Soup" consists of duck confit, slow roast onion, aged gouda, croutons. The chicken-based broth had such a good and intense flavour. There were chunks of foie gras and thinly sliced duck. Really quite a lovely melding of flavours. Wild Mushroom And Sunchoke Flan With organic spinach, black truffle and hazelnut pesto. While the sunchoke flan was reminiscent of a slightly more gelatinous tofu (albeit a really nice piece of tofu), it made for a really good vehicle to showcase the very tasty chanterelles and assorted mushrooms. A generous slice of black truffle sat on top (sadly, not very fragrant). obligatory flickr link Ontario Harvest Beef Bourguignon Couldn't resist getting the Ontario Harvest Beef Bourguignon. With wild mushrooms, cippolini onion, heirloom roots, baby chard. I didn't catch everything that was described, but the typical Bourguignon elements were actually individual puddings at the bottom of the plate. I quite enjoyed the carrot – really smooth and subtle. Lots of tender and well-flavoured beef chunks stewed in wine – a well-executed dish. Ontario Red Deer Having never tried this particular game meat, I ordered the Ontario Red Deer with puréed celeriac, wild rice puffs, granola foam and tuille. With the first bite, I was surprised at how delicate the taste of the deer was and I really enjoyed the tenderness and taste of the meat. The wild rice puffs, which I had thought extraneous at first, went really well with the dish. And the cranberry reduction around the plate added a traditional tang to it all. The celeriac purée, creamy and slightly sweet, made a nice substitute for the standard starch. Overall, I was really happy with this dish. Something new, lots of textures, and good flavours. obligatory flickr link Chocolate Complex For dessert, I chose the chocolate complex, described as “a chocolate selection from around the globe”. From left to right: Madagascar (Cluizel), Italy (I didn't recognize the pattern - do you?), Dominican (traditional old-school chocolate-making process, SOMA), Ghana (?), Papua New Guinea (?). I love my dark chocolate and while interesting in presentation, I'd eaten at least two on the plate. So this was less discovery than I had hoped for. Anyone recognize this pattern? For everyone else, it's a nice way to taste a variety of dark chocolates. As a note, some bars cost $6-$7, and trying five kinds on your own makes the $18 price tag a little more reasonable. I wished that they'd had more information for me to read about on the different chocolates – things like cocoa percentages, bean origin, maker, and the like. What made this chocolate flight more fun were the accompaniments: rose pudding, cedar jelly, pink sea salt and balsamic vinegar & oil. Most interesting taste with the chocolate was the olive oil. Tastiest on its own was the rose pudding. The cedar was too subtle, and the sea salt too coarse and strong. Minor quibbles given it's the chocolate you're tasting. I sort of wished that I had tried another dessert though, as their mains were quite interesting and the chocolate taster didn't showcase that creativity as much. In summary: Good food. Not-so-good service. Expensive. Would I go back? Yes, but with reservations. They really need to up their service imo. Maybe it was because it was a slow Sunday or something, but service is a glaring anomaly between the food and cost.

My lunches sound so less exciting...

Where better to celebrate International Pig Day than at The Black Hoof? Full post w/menu and photos: http://www.bit.ly/bA2T2C I had some really good lighting, so the photos turned out decent. And the food? Pretty darn good. Foie & Bacon Jam Crostini We started off with the foie & bacon jam crostini. Toasted baguette with chunks of sweet bacon and polished nuggets of foie laid on top. Good as a starter. Or as a dessert. It certainly played both roles in the evening’s meal. Beet and Bottarga Salad The beet and bottarga salad was quite interesting. House-made ricotta, beets, micro-greens, lightly pickled Sicilian lemon rind (really liked this element – see how big it is in the gallery below!), and grated fish roe. An odd mix that went fairly well together. I wanted the beets to be crisper, but that’s just my preference. Blood sausage and farro My personal favourite of the night: blood sausage and farro. I’ve never had farro before, but I liken it to a chewier barley. There were nuts in there as well, so it added a lot of texture and crunch to things, which I greatly enjoyed. Pockets of whole mustard seed added another dimension of crunch and texture as well. The blood sausage had a nice crust on it and a smooth velvety interior. Nicely sauteed greens rounded things out. Fried octopus salad The spicy octopus salad was a visual treat and I really liked the purple of the olive purée. The spiciness of the octopus chunks were counterbalanced by the thinner discs of sunchokes. Pork Belly and Kimchi w/Apple Another interesting combination – suckling pork belly and kimchi with apple slices. The sauce was reminiscent of a Chinese dish that I couldn’t pin down. Definitely some hoisin in there. Though the kimchi was very mild and young, I really enjoyed the crunch of it and the apple together combined with the fatty pork. Now, this would have been the end of our meal as we were told that it was a lot of food when we were placing our order, and so we had held back a couple of dishes initially. Taking a brief moment to evaluate stomach space, we decided we still had room and forged ahead with the rest of our original order. Pork ragu papardelle The porcini & gorgonzola papardelle in a pork ragu was less my thing than I thought it would be. I like my pasta, so the thin papardelle wasn’t doing it for me. It did, however, let the hearty pork ragu come to the front. Fried coxcomb stuffed with pulled pork in a BBQ sauce. We had originally wanted the southern fried sweetbreads, but there was a sweetbread shortage. Instead, fried coxcombs, stuffed with pulled pork and doused in a tangy barbeque sauce made for a really tasty and unique treat. I had recalled reading about it on @TheBlackHoof’s twitter feed not so long ago and I’m glad I had the chance to try it. Came sided with a blue cheese slaw. All went together really well and I enjoyed this a lot. Consider asking them about this if you go. It wasn’t on the menu. Heart Attack Snack Since we were right in front of the kitchen all night, we got offered a sampling of one of their latest experiments: the heart attack snack. I liked the chew and sweet and salt of the bacon, and well… candied pecans… how can that be bad? Good as a sweet finish if you’re too full for dessert, but I don’t think they’re serving this yet. I had wondered if they’d considered doing this bourbon-style. More butter and a splash of alcohol wouldn’t hurt things. In the name of experimentation and all that. Sticky Toffee Pudding Despite being treacherously full, I jumped on to dessert. Really, if you were going to convince me to order dessert and sell me on forgetting how little room I had left in my stomach, sticky toffee pudding would probably be one of your better offers. With brown butter cream and candied hazelnuts, this was one of the better renditions I’ve had. They had toasted the long bar of cake with some salted butter (I think), which made for a very tasty foil to the sauce. Toss in the sweet crunch of toasted hazelnuts and I was one happy girl. Stuffed, but happy. Good meal. Lots of fun and great flavours all around. So full... edit: Just found out! It's Pork Belly Day (March 3) in Korea... should... celebrate (again)? http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2010/03/123_61708.html

Mascarpone and garlic mash with sausages and beets. Didn't have any cream, but had a tub of mascarpone!

whoa. thanks for the recipe and site!!

Today: pancakes and blueberries and maple syrup.

Fats, I like to keep around for as long as possible. I had some chicken fat left over from soup-making and fried up some eggs and chicken with it a couple weeks back. Duck fat, pork fat, fat, fat, fat. All good! Keeps well, at least. And rice. I keep rice around because it's a good insta-fry with anything. That's about all I can think of though. I definitely have stuff in my fridge I need to toss though. Stuff I'd hoped to use eventually, but never did...

For whatever reason, I feel like it would just sit on top of the milk. You wouldn't be able to homogenize the mixture. Like the curries you see with its orange pools of chili oil on top. But... there's one way to find out...!

Was just in the Asian markets looking at coconut milk and I grabbed the (second) can of Arroy D that I had found, since it had a higher CF% (same as listed in Darienne's list). So there are variances between the same brand as well. And yep, water for drinking. Milk for cooking. So it is in my family!

Thanks Darienne! Lior you could certainly make them w/o a mold. I tried using a small melon baller (remember: bite sized!) at first, but went to the more complicated weigh-and-mold when I thought they weren't pretty enough. You may wish to try a small cookie scoop perhaps? The ones I had seemed a little too large, but at the right size, it'd be still good, taste-wise. If you're going to seek out a mold, mine looked like this: However, unless you have some very Asian markets around you, they're difficult to find. Keep in mind that this mold was too deep for these cookies, and thus why I had to weigh dough. Traditionally, they're in the shapes of animals (so I'm told!). I'm hoping that one of my aunties can bring one back for me, as I was unable to locate one locally. It is pretty specific, I'd think, so unsurprising that there were none to be found.

Update on cookies: Success! The family liked it and found it quite authentic. Something else I realized - the cookies are gluten-free! Since I didn't want to use the full height of the mould, what was painful was having to weigh each ball of dough to be 8g to shove into the mould for any kind of consistency. kueh bangkit recipe

kim shook > well, the cookie itself, you would call "dry" and crumbly. However, because it's with Tapioca flour, the flour dissolves with liquid. Think uh... corn starch. It's flavoured with coconut and pandan (sorta the vanilla of Malay cuisine), which are really very aromatic and they tend to intensify when you leave the cookie to "melt" on your tongue. It's odd if you're unprepared for it. But I love the texture and the flavour of it!

Okay, Kueh Bangkit was a success! These are traditional Malaysian tapioca flour cookies. http://www.foodpr0n.com/2010/02/12/kueh-bangkit-recipe/ So I think the success was mainly due to finding pandan that didn't suck. My mother managed to find fresh pandan, but I found it very "green" smelling and not at all as fragrant as the frozen-in-water product I obtained. You can really smell the aromatic difference when you dry-fry the flour with it. Anyway, despite my mother claiming that this was a hard recipe to get right, I didn't find it too bad at all (and there was some winging it when adding the coconut milk)! next: Kayang! (gotta do something with all the leftover pandan...)

Dakki > I use a modified (minimally) recipe from cooking for engineers, but I've made it twice so far and had good results. But that's all in relation to cracking and taste. As for lumps, I mix my cheese cakes by hand, so this was a big concern. So, do what I did: pull a Thomas Keller manoeuvre. Grab your strainer and pass your batter through to your pan! This was the strawberry one, but I preferred the salted caramel topping I had done for the first one instead. Obligatory link to flickr

Made two cheesecakes and both turned out well. However, the best topping was the salted caramel that I drizzled on it (from a failed attempt at making caramels). That'll be a keeper. This week coming up is making some traditional tapioca cookies for Chinese New Year. I've been warned about the difficulty, though the read-through seems straight-forward enough... we'll see!

Should note that MTK seems to want to "take it back" now... http://www.thestar.com/living/article/761098--restaurant-that-promoted-sex-in-bathroom-would-rather-forget-all-about-it Since I think that public bathrooms are generally gross and dirty (no matter how well kept they are), the notion of having sex in there is a distinct turn-off. But I don't care if others get it on.

My favourite soup happens to be chicken. But being Chinese, the chicken soup I grew up with had little to do with making a mirepoix and is closer to broth – with the addition of ginger, salt, and sometimes, pork. I tend to have this plain usually, but I have dropped in some pasta shells for lunch. This is a pretty clean-tasting soup, but I do like to simmer it for hours to get all that lovely gelatin out and intensify the flavour. My best results usually involve deboning a bunch of legs (reserving the meat to do some hainanese-style chicken later on) and using those bones instead of chicken carcasses. - chicken bones/carcasses - a little stump of ginger - salt, to taste - stump of pork It's literally, dump ingredients into a pot, cover with only just enough water and simmer on low heat for hours. I do a second and third round of boiling to get stock(ish) for use with other meals (like the hainan chicken). Just careful on the ginger - it's pretty potent usually, so something less than an inch for a large stock-pot is fine. I've managed to amalgamate my mother's "recipe" (I believe she said the pork should be "about the size of your fist") and a few techniques from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc At Home book (to make things more complicated). You know: parchment lid, straining, and more straining. But the results are good! So this is now my updated standard of chicken soup. My mother's Chinese chicken soup post with (more) photos

full post with menus, images, and more blab : http://bit.ly/9MAB81 Now, it was remiss of me, but I hadn’t posted any of my other Splendido meals – not even on flickr. So this will be an amalgam of three visits. Overall, I’ve found Splendido to do their veggies very, very well. It has been true of three out of four visits that a vegetable of some sort ends up being one of the favourites – if not the favourite – of the night. But first, let’s start with drinks! The drinks at Splendido are quite good and we’ve had the opportunity to try several of their cocktails (right) as well as a few staples like their martini (with a twist!) and a Caesar (left). My favourite among the cocktails is the Harbord 88 (right-most glass with sugar rim), a sweet and tropical concoction. The Anjou Sky (front, no straw) is also interesting with its pear vodka and juices with a sprig of fresh thyme. Pulled-pork poutine from the bar menu. I wasn’t sure of this at first, but I quite enjoyed the the perfectly cut and stacked potato pieces (a la Jenga) with the porky shreds and cheese. A good snack. This intensely green chilled organic pea soup was a particular favourite. It reminded one of my dining companions of eating peas fresh off the vine. Not on the current menu. Sadly. Farmer’s market roasted winter vegetable salad with broccoli purée, Olive oil emulsion, Walnut vinaigrette. All these awesome flavours coming together. Our favourite of the night and on the current menu. A lovely app to share: Victor’s foie gras parfait with toasted brioche. Quite light vs an all-foie mousse. Classic butter-poached lobster. Part of our self-cobbled surf-and-turf. Buttery goodness. To share, we ordered the roasted aacorn squash with toasted hazelnuts and the crespelle – crepes with pancetta and bechamel sauce. The squash was nice with the sweet hit from the maple and balanced by the hazelnuts. The crespelle is very classic European. Heavy, but tasty. We’d tossed that in as a random pick and was glad we did. Our picks from the current cheese board offerings: Roquefort Carles (France), Belle de Jersey (Québec), and Avonlea clothbound cheddar (PEI). We found the 18 month cave-aged cheddar best consumed by letting it dissolve in the mouth. You miss all the aromas and nutty notes otherwise. The semi-soft from Québec had a lovely mushroomy taste. And the Roquefort was pretty much all mine. I wasn’t complaining. Our cheeses were accompanied by an Oloroso cream sherry from Sandeman. Nice. On another night where we were eating at the bar, we were served this wonderful El Dorado 21-year old rum that was subsequently quested for in the following weeks. This is my new drink of choice. So smooth and lovely, without that bite. We skipped on dessert as we were quite satiated by the cheese sherry, though we did linger with some tea and coffee. All in all, a good meal. And that roasted vegetable salad lingers in my memory. As does that pea soup. So tasty.

I visited Duggan’s Brewery in December while it was still in soft-launch mode, but a quick check via a phone call places the official launch date on the 22nd of January. Though the decor is a little sparse, our group finds the food more than just-palatable, making this a place to earmark for those caught in the beer-vs-food dilemma. My favourite of the night - the pork hock. Or, as one of our party called it, “The knuckle of God.” Obligatory link to flickr “Monstrously huge” is the first thing that came to mind when it landed on the table. “Tasty” and “good” came after we got over its size and actually tried it. Really lovely pink meat falling off the bone. And sided with tasty beans! It also comes with cider kraut, which I didn’t love when eaten straight, but it made for a good balance to this rich dish along with the chunks of apple as a sweet hit. Theoretically for two (if you’re starving), but good as a shared starter… for 6. We all really enjoyed the pork hock and cleaned it to the bone. Full post (briefly covers the duck poutine and cornish hen): http://www.foodpr0n.com/2010/01/12/duggans-brewery/ Went back recently and had the pork hock and duck confit poutine again. Both were really good. Far too much food for two. For a non-beer drinker, I enjoyed the Porter.

I'll have to bug you about Montreal dishes next time I go, Phoenikia! and Gilead is opening for brunch this week or something to that effect. Maybe they'll have your pancakes again!

Hmn. Menu I can't help you with. Biff's I ate at a few years ago, but it was a set menu for some business thing in the private room they had in the back.

I've only been to Nota Bene for lunch a couple times. The noise seemed okay when I went, though I'd almost say the noise is the same at dinner. I never had to shout to talk, but it's not quiet, IMO. You can talk, but it's definitely a busy atmosphere.

Happy New Year! Full post on foodpr0n of my Notable 2009 dishes (it's pretty much just photos + intro you're missing below). So, here are my picks, in no particular order. From the flickr. More on my love of the Baja rice bowl. Brown Rice Bowl, "Baja Style" Topped with black beans, aged white cheddar, pico de gallo salsa, avocado, sour cream, scallions, & cilantro. (Lady Marmalade, Toronto) Waffles sided with maple syrup and poached pears. I knew these plate-sized waffles were good when my enjoyment still held up, even to the last bite. (Aunties & Uncles, Toronto) Gnocchi, shellfish stew, white wine. Perfectly cooked gnocchi in a refined chowder. The creamy and hint-of-sweet stew, combined with the delicate taste of clams and various shellfish, was sublime. This, along with the rest of our meal, prompted us to return the very next day for lunch. (Le Club Chasse Et Pêche, Montreal) BC Spot prawns with a hot sauce and toasted corn nuts. Super tasty. Sweet and tender in-season shrimp kicked up with a creamy-and-spicy sauce. So good, this was re-ordered later that night as a dessert. (The Black Hoof, Toronto) Gazpacho Refreshingly good. With a significant body (thanks to the bread crumbs) to this cold soup, the sweet notes of tomato and fresh vegetables have a great base to work with. Loved the crunch of the peppers/onion. Almost ordered another for dessert. (Txori, Seattle) Takowasabi. Cooked octopus with chopped wasabi stem and vegetables. To be wrapped in nori. Oh, how I loved this dish. Crunchy bits of octopus with that wasabi-hot punch and sweet-and-vinegar notes dancing all around it. (Guu Izakaya, Toronto) From the flickr. Butter-poached Lobster on a golden beet reduction with leeks. Decorated with a potato-chip flower. Perfectly cooked lobster that melted in my mouth. And the beet reduction was so very tasty that I all but licked the plate. (Private dinner) Tacone. Grilled salmon, cilantro-spiked salsa, chipotle crema and coleslaw, rolled into a white-flour tortilla cone. This delicious take on a fish taco combines the crunch of tangy slaw mixed with a subtle chipotle spice and tender chunks of fresh salmon. (Go Fish, Vancouver) Melton Mowbray Pork Pie. Had this for lunch with a side of pickled beets and slaw. Nice chunks of porky goodness and this lovely thin layer of jelly lining the interior pie shell. So good that I bought two to take home. (High Street Fish & Chips, Toronto) Creamy tomato double-smoked bacon soup. Really tasty and a thick body. Tomato taste really pops through and the bacon - well, it's bacon. Very tasty and satisfying. (Ceili Cottage, Toronto) Jimmy Screech. I'm fond of breakfast foods and this is no exception. A fried egg in a piece of buttery and salty toast, part of a sandwich of ham and cheese. (Morning Glory, Toronto) Tarte d'Erable with this awesome pie crust. I love maple syrup and this is a whole pie of it. I was so full that at one point, I thought there was no way I could finish this (it's for two, you know!). However the wall that I had hit somehow got moved and I was able to continue on and finish every last bite. So good. (Au Pied Du Cochon) Marrow and toast. Hot and meltingly good marrow spread on toast - give it a pinch of Maldon sea-salt and it's heaven. (Hoof Café/The Black Hoof, Toronto) Jumbo Inari are fat pockets of rice and onion in a slightly sweet pocket of tofu. Even knowing I can't finish this with a bowl of noodles, I'll order it anyway. (Manpuku, Toronto) Pumpkin caramel cake is not the neatest dessert to eat, but the mix of cream-cheese frosting and a pool of caramel on top make it a worthwhile mess. (Flaky Tart, Toronto) Gruyère and onion pastry. Sweet. Savoury. Flaky. Toasty. With onions. AND Gruyère. Totally had me at "hello" or whatever the pasty equivalent is. (Café Besalu, Seattle) Gnocchi with Crab in an awesome uni sauce. Creamy and luscious, a really delectable dish. (Elemental @ The Gasworks, Seattle) Special bowl. Now, one usually doesn't order anything with the word "special" in the name at a restaurant. However, Pho is an exception. Amazing broth that makes you want to drink it all up. (Pho Linh, Toronto) Chacuterie plate. Really, it's all about that chicken pate, all swirly up in front. Really great flavour and texture. While this resto is no more, at least you can still buy it from Gilead. (JKWB, Toronto) Double Baked Almond croissant. Nutty, flaky, and really good. Love those toasty notes. The almond filling is just right - not too much, nor too wet. (Thomas Haas, Vancouver) From the flickr. My first and last dinner at the old Splendido. Poached Dutch white asparagus with local ramps. I cannot tell you how delicious this was. Perfect texture, lovely asparagus flavour with the hint of ramps. And while it was done simply, it displayed the combination of ingredients to their best. Probably my favourite dish of the year. It's a toss up between this and the gnocchi from Montreal. Alas, this old incarnation of Splendido is no more. (Splendido, Toronto) And that's it. Apparently, I've had 21 really notable dishes this past year - either mainstay dishes or amazing stand-outs. So, what's your countdown like for outstanding dishes of 2009?

Full post, photos, menu: http://bit.ly/8M6Zjq We met up with a friend last Saturday morning at the recently opened The Hoof Café, The Black Hoof’s newest outpost. Well, it’s more like a nearpost, as it’s located right across the street. With a totally different vibe and menu, we sat down and were presented with an issue: what to eat? I mean, we knew what we wanted, but really, could we consume it all? Taking the safe tack, we opted to keep it at a main per person and two shared dishes. We threw in the Caesar listed on the wall and we were good to go. Sabodet Supposed to be a strong, earthy pork sausage of pig’s head and skin and a specialty of Lyon. So Google tells me. Reminded me more of breakfast sausage. Came on a bed of lentils, which were pretty tasty. I would say this was our least-favourite dish overall. Not bad, but everything else was just more to our taste. French Press Coffee They use 49th Parallel from BC. It’s quite mild/mellow and quite lovely just black, even if you’re a milk ‘n’ sugar kind of person. A perfect drink for a relaxed morning. Pig Skin Soup Thick and hearty, reminding us of a French pea soup. Came sided with baguette toast, and instead of butter, some delicious kind of porky fat was spread upon it. I had to refrain from eating it up since this was an early dish and I knew we had more coming… Rabbit & Buckwheat pancakes The smell when it hit the table was incredible. Quite a nice dish, but we couldn’t finish it. Chunks of rabbit were embedded within the pancake, but what I loved (and what gave off that heavenly smell) were what I assume are the slightly charred piggy/bacon curls on top. More of that please! Pig tails ‘n’ grits Tasting of a mild tomato with a gentle kick. Loved mixing that yolk in and taking a bite of the pork. A hearty and heavy dish. Maybe a bit too heavy for me in the morning with the addition of cheesy grits, though the hit of green onion every now and then helped to break things up. Tongue grilled cheese Looking more like a pastrami sandwich, but still really tasty. Lovely grill marks on the toasted challah(?). You can’t really tell from this photo, but the thinly-shaved tongue is piled high. Comes skewered with some sweet pickles. My preference would be some dill pickles instead. Marrow side Usually only one marrow per order, we were given two because the first one was small. Since there were three of us, I wasn’t going to complain. Tasty, as always, especially with that hit of Maldon sea salt. So good. A Caesar was up on the drink menu. Pink peppercorn, vodka, marmite syrup, horseradish. It had to be ordered. I kinda felt like it needed more bite and I didn’t really taste the marmite. I think I preferred the one at Ceili Cottage (you’ll see it in a future post) better. You can check out the kitchens through the little window near the door. I think that’s Grant Van Gameren playing with some sweetbreads on the left there. Yay to him for making offal cool and broadening Toronto palates. Though we left things like the Suckling Pig Benny and the Brioche French Toast (with a slab of foie gras on the side, of course!) for next time, despite our discretion, we still were really full. So full that I didn’t even think to ask about dessert – something I regret, now that I hear talk of bone marrow donuts with cherries inside. Sigh. But what we did eat was very good, very rich, and ultimately, satisfying.