Spinach Egg Drop Soup

Soup season is officially here! Whenever the weather starts to get cold outside, I default to soup. I have it almost every day until it starts to warm up again. There is something so comforting about a hot brothy soup, full of veggies and goodness, warming up the body when it's cold outside. Kinda like a big warm fuzzy sweater for the soul.

This spinach egg drop soup is an easy soup to whip up if you don't have a lot of time. It is very similar to the Italian stracciatella, but minus the cheese. CK is not a fan of soups, but he says yes to a bowl of this everytime! Now that says a lot.

Spinach Egg Drop Soup
- 300g of baby spinach
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 4 cups of vegetable broth
- 2 cups of water
- 3 eggs
- 1 can (19 fl. oz, 540 mL) of white kidney beans
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt + pepper

Method
1. In a pan, saute the garlic until slightly translucent. Add the spinach and some salt, and continue to saute until the spinach has wilted.

2. In a large pot, combine the broth and water and bring to a boil. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and set aside. When the broth comes to a boil, turn the heat down slightly and add the spinach.

3. While the soup is still hot and slightly boiling, pour the egg very slowly into the middle of the pot. With a fork immersed in the soup, beat the egg as you are pouring it into the soup. This will break up the egg while it is cooking and create a cloud like look. Add the beans. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

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ChikaLicious, New York City

If you have a massive sweet tooth like my friend JM, then you must check out ChikaLicious, a 3-course dessert bar in NYC.

The establishment is a fun and intimate 20-seat restaurant that does not take reservations. They have a friendly doorkeeper managing traffic in +  out, gracefully telling drop ins how long it will be before a table is ready.

When JM suggested this place after our dinner, I didn't think I had it in me to eat a 3-course dessert. "Don't worry! The portions aren't that big," she says to me. And she convinces me to eat while I am insanely stuffed...AGAIN!

The 3-course dessert meal costs $16, where you get an amuse bouche, a dessert of your choice, and assorted petit fours to end your meal. The desserts at ChickaLicious are described as "American Style Dessert, with French presentation, and Japanese tasting portions". There are normally 6 dessert choices on the menu, with everyone in mind. A really good mix of light and rich desserts.

Our amuse bouche for the evening was a basil seed mango salad with basil sorbet. I don't see basil seeds used a lot, so that was cool. This was a dessert that wasn't overly sweet, which was a good way to start our meal.

Basil Seed Mango Salad with Basil Sorbet

My dessert of choice was the kiwi marinated in lavendar topped with coconut sorbet and a crispy Kataifi made of phyllo dough. I wanted light and this was the perfect choice.

Kiwi Marinated in Lavendar

JM opted for the warm chocolate tart with pink peppercorn ice cream and red wine sauce. She wanted rich, and that is what she got!

Warm Chocolate Tart

S had the toasted almond panna cotta with peach tea sorbet and frosted almonds

Toasted Almond Panna Cotta

SM had the Necatrine terrine on pecan sandie wafer with buttermilk ice cream and maple syrup.

Nectarine Terrine

Our petit fours for the evening were coconut marshmallows, white Genova sponge cake with Grand Marnier, and chocolate sable cookies. This was my favorite course of the entire meal. A delightfully sweet ending!

Coconut Marshmallows, White Genova Sponge Cake, and Chocolate Sable Cookies

ChikaLicious
203 East 10th Street
New York, NY United States
Telephone: 212-475-0929

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Caracas Arepa Bar, New York City

Right across the street from Porchetta is a Venezuelan arepa bar, called Caracas. I actually had no clue what an arepa was until I set foot in this place. My hosts in New York City were from Venezuela, and they insisted that I try an arepa before I left.

Caracas has both a take-away and a sit down joint, side by side. Our hosts were in a bit of a rush, so we opted for the take-away place. They do have tables at the take-away restaurant, so we quickly ate our food there and went on with our day.

Caracas has 4 locations in New York. One in Manhattan, two in Brooklyn, and one in Queens. I'm not sure what the other locations are like, but the take-away restaurant in Manhattan was a very charming and ecclectic place with a WHOLE lot of energy.

As soon as I walked in, I felt like I had left New York, and stepped into Venezuela. Latin music was blaring, the staff were all speaking Spanish, and the decor and bright colors of the place screamed Latin America!

At each table, was a jar of aji sauce, which we poured onto everything we ate. Aji sauce is a blend of tomatoes, cilantro, and hot peppers. Venezuelan food, surprisingly, is very mild so adding this sauce to our food was a nice addition.

We started by sharing a plate of tequeños, deep fried Venezuelan cheese sticks. This, with a whole lot of aji sauce was awesome!

Tequeños

So what is an arepa you ask? The arepa is a thick cornmeal patty that kind of resembles an English muffin. They are not as fluffy and soft as an English muffin, but chewier and more dense. They are filled with all sorts of fillings and you eat them like a sandwich.

I ordered the La de Pernil arepa. This was filled with roasted pork shoulder, tomato slices, and a spicy mango sauce. As mentioned, Venezuelan food is quite mild so even the spicy mango sauce wasn't all that spicy.

La De Pernil Arepa

J ordered Los Muchachos, an arepa filled with grilled chorizo, spicy white cheese, jalapenos, and sauteed peppers.

Los Muchachos Arepa

F orders the same thing everytime, which is the De Pabellón arepa: shredded beef, black beans, white salty cheese, and sweet plantains.

De Pabellón Arepa

My first Venezuelan experience was definitely a positive one. As mentioned, I was definitely suprised at how mild the dishes were.

Caracas Arepa Bar

93 E 7th Street

New York, New York

Telephone: 212-529-2314

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Porchetta, New York City

I recently got back from a trip to New York City where I met up with a few old friends, met a few new friends, and ate myself silly!

One of my most memorable meals in NYC had to be at Porchetta, a super casual joint that specializes in one thing: Slowwww Roasted Pork.
I originally didn't want to come here because I was insanely stuffed. We had just eaten lunch across the street, and my friend, JM, insisted that I couldn't leave NYC without trying a porchetta sandwich. "All you have to do is take a bite", she says. "We'll walk around for a bit and before you know it, you'll be hungry again and can eat the rest later." I hate saying no to food, so I reluctantly agreed. Boy, am I glad I said yes!

Porchetta is a traditional Italian pork street food sold from a cart or truck. As defined on their website, porchetta is "roasted pork with crispy skin, highly seasoned with aromatic herbs and spices, garlic, sage, rosemary and wild fennel pollen. Typical plate of the Roman cuisine. Slow cooked Italian fast food."

Porchetta's pork is sourced from Niman Ranch, where the pigs are raised without the use of growth hormones and antibiotics.

Their sandwiches are served in a white ciabatta bun, and stuffed with pork 3 ways: lean loin, fatty belly, and crispy skin. The sandwiches are served without condiments, as they believe it should be good enough on its own. But, if you are totally craving for sauce, mustard and hot sauce is available.

I was pleasantly surprised when I took a bite. It looked a bit dry, but it was anything but. And they are totally right when they say the sandwich does not need condiments. The pork is so seasoned so well, you really don't want to taint the aromatic flavors by adding sauce.

Porchetta
110 East 7th Street
New York City, New York 10009
Telephone: 212-777-2151

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Silken Tofu with Pork Floss and Century Egg

Yes, I am posting this dish for the 'fear factor'. It's likely going to gross most of you out, and that's ok! That's probably the normal reaction.

This is a cold dish of silken tofu and century egg, aka preserved duck egg. The color of the egg comes from the the clay and ash that it is preserved in. The tofu is topped with pork floss, and the dish is served in a pool of dark soy sauce.

Do I recommend this dish to the general public? No. Do I dare you to try it? You bet.

Although I like this dish, I don't recommend it because it truly is an acquired taste situation. You really have to love each component of this dish to truly appreciate it. The most bizarre parts of this dish are probably the texture of the pork floss, and that black, rotten looking egg, whose name implies that it has been sitting around for 100 years!

You can find this dish at Din Tai Fung, an awesome dumpling restaurant scattered across Asia and Australia.

You can also check out my previous meal at Din Tai Fung here.

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Le Kim Chi, Ottawa

My favorite Ottawa Korean joint, for non Korean BBQ dishes, is Le Kim Chi. This is our go-to place if we are craving something easy, casual, fairly healthy and something with an Asian twist that is not a pho noodle house.

The wait staff at Le Kim Chi is extremely friendly, and helpful with the menu. They've made it a pleasant experience everytime we've dined here.

When CK and I come here, we pretty much order the same thing everytime. I have my dish and he has his. I hmmm and hawwww everytime debating whether or not I should try something different, but why fix it if it ain't broke, right?

Every meal always starts with a salad with strawberries, and the house special pineapple dressing. It's a little sweet and a little tangy, a unique taste.

Salad with Pineapple Dressing

Like any traditional Korean meal, you also start with a selection of small side dishes. The kim chi and pickled radish is pretty much what you see everytime but the third dish varies. This time, we had salad with corn and mild creamy dressing. You can ask for more of any of these dishes free of charge.

Korean Small Side Dishes

My go-to dish is the dooboo kim chi chi ge: tofu kim chi stew stewed with aged kim chi and served in a hot pot. I absolutely love kim chi, love tofu, and love anything spicy! What can be more perfect? If you're not a tofu fan, you can get this stew with pork or tuna. The stew is served with a bowl of rice that you mix in with the stew.

Dooboo Kim Chi Chi Ge

CK loves bibimbap, so that is what he gets. Bibimbap is a lot of fun to say, but it is also very tasty! It's basically a hot stone bowl filled with rice, seasonal veggies, beef, and an egg yolk cracked on top. A dish of blended red chili sauce is also served on the side. While the bowl is hot, stir everything together to further cook the yolk and rice and enjoy! By the time you get to the bottom of the bowl, you get bits of crunchy rice (from the heat from the bowl) that is a lot of fun to eat. The texture change is something that appeals to most Asians.

Bibimbap

The bibimbap comes with a bowl of miso soup.

Miso Soup

For dessert, CK and I shared the ggae gwa ja, Korean sesame cookies. They are simply toasted black and white sesame seeds rolled in honey, and they taste just like sesame snaps.

Korean Sesame Cookies

If I were to try something different, I would go for the galbi jjim: a braised beef short ribs stew seasoned with sake ginger soy sauce...a dish highly recommended by one of the waitresses!

Le Kim Chi
420 Preston Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-233-2433

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Blind Lady Ale House, San Diego

I need to thank my friend Lisa for showing me a very cool side of San Diego. My initial impression of San Diego was that it was conservative and quiet. Boy was I wrong! Lisa introduced me to pockets of cool neighborhoods like Normal Heights where there was funk and a great sense of community.

On my last visit to San Diego, she introduced me to the Blind Lady Ale House, a super awesome local beer and pizza joint. Blind Lady prides themselves on top notch quality beer and food, and specializes in draft beer. They offer 26 on tap that change often, and the majority of the ingredients used in their food is certified organic and locally grown.

What I loved about this place was that it was more than just a restaurant. It was a place for friends, families, and the community to come together and connect. For breast cancer awareness month, they had vendors and educators come in to teach about breast cancer and raise money for it.

Here are some of the goodies that we left with:

And here is Lisa who is learning all about breast cancer and how to detect it early :) For those who don't know, Lisa owns an awesome organic popsicle shop not far from Blind Lady Ale House called Viva Pops.

I'm normally not a beer fan, but I was loving the different beers I got to try. My favorite was the strawberry beer...very girly!

To go with our beer, we ordered a bunch of pizzas to share. First one was the Crows butternut squash pizza with shiitake mushrooms, besciamella, Fontina, sage, and lemon zest.

Crows Butternut Squash and Shiitake Mushroom Pizza

We also had the quattro formaggi loaded with Gorgonzola Piccante, Fontina, Pecorino Romano, Smoked Mozzerella, olive oil, and garlic

Quattro Formaggi Pizza

And lastly, a delicious ham, pear, and chive pizza!

Ham, Pear, and Chive Pizza

I also got to meet Tuesday, a very memorable charismatic little girl who is going to be a politician one day. She may have been the smallest person there, but she was skillfully schmoozin with anyone and everyone in the restaurant!!

Blind Lady Ale House has also been featured in Draft Magazine's America's Top 100 Beer Bars, 2 years in a row!

Blind Lady Ale House
3416 Adams Avenue
San Diego, California, USA
Telephone: 619-255-2491

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Eurostar Train Meal - London to Paris

Travelling from London to Paris, I decided to take the Eurostar train instead of the plane. The price was cheaper going by train, you don't have to go through the hassle of airport security, and the thought of going through the chunnel was really cool to me!

Paris Gare du Nord

Not knowing when I would be able to do this again, I decided to go all out and travel business class. I'm a sucker for the business class lounges...who doesn't want to feel pamperd and be able to relax over free food, coffee, and magazines before travelling?

The Eurostar menu was designed closely with Alain Roux, chef patron at the 3 Michelin star reastaurant, Waterside Inn in Bray near Windsor.

There were two choices for breakfast. I decided to go with the English breakfast: an herb omelette with a chicken herb sausage, mushrooms, roast tomato, and bubble & squeak. The chicken herb sausage was really good! The rest was good but tasted like any other airline meal.

English Breakfast

The second option was organic ham with red Leicester, and homemade raisin loaf.

Organic Ham, Red Leicester, and Homemade Raisin Loaf

All breakfasts also came with bread, pastries, organic yogurt, orange juice, and your choice of wine, hot chocolate, tea, or coffee.

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Roger La Grenouille, Paris

We got to celebrate Super J's boyfriends's fabulous birthday while in Paris. They wanted to go to a traditional French restaurant that night, so we headed to Roger La Grenouille, or Roger the Frog...what a cute name! This restaurant has been in service for over 80 years, and the decor of the place really shows it.

As the name implies, Roger La Grenouille specializes in frogs...more specifically frog's legs. They serve 9 different frog leg dishes organized in 3 sections: classical, creation, and original savours. Classical frog legs include Provençale (sliced garlic & parsley), and creamy white wine sauce with chives. Creation comes in flavors like "Niçoise" (candied lemon, dried tomatoes, and black olives), and "Grenobloise" (capers, fried bread cubes, and lemon juice). Original savours have an international twist combining ingredients like tandoori, fresh mint, and chorizo.

There are hints of the frog theme beyond what is offered on the menu like this toilet paper holder in the washroom. When Super J saw it, she made me go in and take a photo. Haha.

Frog Toilet Paper Holder

Our meal started with a dish mini olives, and a dish of radish and butter.

Radish and Butter

   

As an appetizer, we ordered a big plate of juicy Burgundy Snails to share. They were smothered in butter and herbs, and were probably the best escargots I had ever had! I couldn't help but soak my bread in the butter sauce when we were finished.

Burgundy Snails
  

Of course, we couldn't come to Roger La Grenouille without trying the frog's legs. We decided to order off the Original Savours section, and chose the "Andalouse" frog legs. This was a plate of meaty frog's legs tossed with chorizo sausage, piquillo peppers, candied lemons, and basil. The flavor combination was fantastic, and the addition of candied lemons was a nice way to balance the salty chorizo sausage. After the escargots and frog legs, I wished I had ordered more of each!

"Andalouse" Frog Legs

For my main meal, I ordered the "aioli" roasted cod with vegetables. The fish was cooked very nicely, but the entire meal was a bit bland...especially after all the butter, sausages, and candied lemons in the previous dishes.

"Aioli" Roasted Cod and Vegetables

 Super J ordered the poached chicken breast with creamy lemon sauce. What beautiful presentation!

Poached Chicken Breast with Creamy Lemon Sauce

The birthday boy ordered the seared rib steak of 350g. This was served with home made "Béarnaise" sauce, and french fries. We loved the way the fries were served...reminded us of Jenga building blocks!

Seared Rib Steak

For dessert, Super J and I shared the strawberry salad, coconut cake, and fresh mint ice cream. It was a great way to end our meal.

Coconut Cake, Strawberry Salad, and Fresh Mint Ice Cream

This is a very charming restaurant with the full French experience. Next time, I am going to indulge in just the escargots and frog legs over a nice bottle of wine!

Roger La Grenouille
26-28 Rue des Grands Augustins
75006 Paris, France
Telephone: 01 56 24 24 34

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