Summer Harvest Garden Party 2012, Ottawa

The Summer Harvest Garden Party, supporting the Ottawa Humane Society and in memory of the late Chef Kurt Waldele, was a beautiful afternoon celebrating great food and a love for animals. The fundraising event, organized by Robin Duetta, featured 20 local talented chefs, restaurants and food shops from Ottawa.

Upon arrival, guests were greeted and welcomed with Champagne. Everyone was free to mingle and sample food from the indoor and outdoor food stations. The event ended with a live auction to raise money for the Ottawa Humane Society, followed by ending remarks from Ron Eade, Kurt's wife, and The Ottawa Humane Society's director.

Here's a tour of some of the awesome food that was served:

K.W. Catering & Events served a wonderfully tender 'deconstructed sushi'. It was a salmon confit served with pickled ginger 'caviar', sesame rice crisp, yuzu 'air', wasabi mayo and sesame 'snow'. This was definitely one of my favorites!

Chef Michael Blackie from Le Cafe served a warm pineapple sticky sting licker with a mallow torch, peanut crumble, drunk summer cherries and caramel squeeze. Most of the food stations were salty meat dishes, so it was nice to see someone doing something different.

Tim Wasylko from the Prime Minister's Residence served a fun chipotle pulled pork taco with corn salsa.

The Urban Pear served a light lemongrass infused grilled flank steak wrapped around pickled daikon, peashoots, fresh herbs and topped with a fermented black bean and corn emulsion.

Marc Lepine never ceases to amaze me. I love how he surprises with every one of his dishes. No two dish is ever the same, or remotely similar. For the party, Marc served smoked duck tongues with spicy mayo, Kentucky fried quail legs with prune sauce and coleslaw chips. I had never tried duck tongues until today...it had a fatty texture, like all things duck.

The Algonquin College Culinary Arts Program featured two dishes. One was port marinated strawberries in a chocolate phyllo cup with ginger foam and the other was a sesame crusted chicken mousseline with Asian Slaw and beet & fennel relish.

 

You haven't tried chicken wings until you've tried the wings from the Real Sports Bar & Grill. They were massive, juicy and full of flavor. The event featured their salt lime wings and double smoked bacon, maple and mustard wings. They were awesome!

 

Westin Hotel showcased a couple of dishes: smoked chicken, potato and peach salad, and mini prosciutto scone sandwiches.

Backlane cafe served a spicy Catalina gazpacho that was fresh and delicious.

Grounded served empanadas with roasted corn and black bean.

One of my favorites was Whalesbone's PEI Pickle Point oysters.

The oysters were simple, salty and fresh. An assortment of sauces were available with the oysters.

Cake Shop really impressed me with their cupcakes and shortbread. There are so many cupcake places now that I glossed over this stand when I first walked in. Their cakes are really something else and I'll definitely be back for more. I brought some goodies back for my sister Freebs, and she said the exact same thing. My favorites were the strawberry cupcake and the chocolate banana cupcake.

Stubbe Chocolates had an assortment of cocoa products. The lemongrass chocolate was cool to try.

Chef Robin Bowen from Shallows Restaurant at the Southway Inn served a nice cracked fennel seed & Madagascar peppercorn hickory smoked Atlantic salmon with yellow corn pancake, mango & serrano chilli and creme fraiche.

 

Other food stations included Brookstreet Hotel with a roast sweet corn and chorizo chowder and a shrimp & pork dumpling, Big Easy's New Orleans style food, The Pine Restaurant at the Monterey Inn, and sweets from Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana.

 

The auction featured a lot of 'foodie' prizes which included brunch/dinner for 8 at Gay Cook's home, Cocktail-Dinatoire for 12 with Margaret Dickenson, weekend for 4 in Prince Edward County, and a Chefs at Home package where Ottawa's most talented chefs like Marc Lepine and Matthew Carmichael will come to your home and entertain 10-12 guests.

 

The event was extremely well organized, and the length of the event was just right. Not too long and not too short.  And to top it off, one couldn't have asked for more perfect weather.

 

Other sponsors of the event included Knock on Wood, Beau's Beer, C.A. Paradis, Colaneri Estate Winery, Kara's Sugarcubes, Responsible Choice and Star Motors Ottawa.

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Scampo, Boston

People are like onions. At first glance, they may seem plain on the outside, but on the inside, there are layers and layers to be discovered, and sometimes they may make you cry. That's exactly how I feel about my friend JM, who I appreciate more everytime we meet. I didn't have a very good impression of him when we first met, but I was proved wrong as I got to know him. He is a sweet person, extremely creative, and secretly likes musicals! On my last trip to Boston, JM (who is local) and I met up at Scampo to catch up. It is a great Italian resto in Beacon Hill's funky Liberty Hotel.

Liberty Hotel was once a jail. After having gone through a major face lift, it now has a very grandeur feel with extremely high ceilings, oversized metal chandeliers, and granite wall murals.

As an appetizer, JM and I split the caprese salad. The tomatoes in this dish were ok but they made sure it was fool-proof by sprinkling a generous amount of fleur de sel and by coating the cheese with a light layer of finely chopped red onions.

Caprese Salad

I ordered the special of the day which was a soft shell crab BLT sandwich with fries and coleslaw. The crab was delicious and I loved the idea, but the bread was a little too crispy for me to eat as a sandwich. I ended up breaking it up and eating the different parts separately.

Soft Shell Crab BLT

JM, who is Italian, wanted to try and critique the thinnest and lightest layered lasagna a la bugialli with cotechnino meatballs. JM was definitely impressed. Each layer was almost paper thing... I wonder how they do that!?

Thinnest and Lightest Layered Lasagna

For dessert, I had Lydia's tiramisu. It was awesome and the rock sugar and coffee beans added a nice touch.

Lydia's Tiramisu

Scampo (in Liberty Hotel)
215 Charles Street
Boston, Massachusetts
617-536-2100

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Fabulous Soy Ginger Carrot Salad

I love when recipes just randomly pop into your head! And I love it even more when you make up a recipe on the fly with someone else! One afternoon, my husband and I just stared at each other blankly wondering what to have for lunch. All I knew was that I wanted something that would make me feel healthy and fabulous. We started rhyming off what we felt like eating and before we knew it, this carrot salad was our new creation.

And, in case you are wondering. This salad will make you feel healthy and fabulous.

This recipe yields 4-6 servings.

Soy Ginger Carrot Tofu Salad
- 5-6 carrots, julienned or shaved in thin slices using a peeler
- 1 chayote, julienned or shaved in thin slices using a peeler
- 250g of firm tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 cup of raisins
- 1 large handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
For the dressing:
- 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 lemon, juice
- 1/4 tsp of grated ginger

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing, mix well and set aside.

2. In a lightly oiled pan, stir fry the tofu with a little bit of the dressing (approximately 1 tsp) for 4-6 minutes on medium-high heat.

3. Mix all of the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Add dressing and mix well. Refrigerate and serve cold.

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G for Gelato & Espresso Bar, Toronto

Someone told me about this place so I'm simply passing on the good word. G for Gelato & Espresso Bar has GREAT gelato!!!

CK and I split the cappuccino, pistachio and strawbery rhubarb trio. The cappuccino and pistachio were really good but the strawberry rhubarb is a must try! Tart and full of flavor. It was a new flavor they just started making, along with yogurt stracciatella.

Cappuccino, Pistachio and Strawberry Rhubarb Gelato

It all started in the 50's in Italy with Gerardo and Giuseppina Polsinelli, who ran a small gelato business using their own special technique and serving only 3 basic flavors. They did very well and their refrigerator on a bicycle business expanded to a truck business that served many different flavors. In 1967, they left Italy to start a better life with their 5 daughters. Decades later, the Polsinelli daughters bring back the family tradition with G for Gelato, which opened in 2011.

I love places with a story.

G for Gelato & Espresso Bar
75 Jarvis Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 416-792-1761

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Banh Mi Boys, Toronto

If you're in downtown Toronto and wanted to eat something easy, fun, exotic and affordable, check out Banh Mi Boys. It is a contemporary Vietnamese banh mi shop with a twist. The Chau brothers, who own the place, know how to do it well. They should since they learned the tricks of the trade from their parents who also owned Vietnamese sub shops - the traditional kind.

The place is set up like a fast food joint. Fast fast fast. In addition to Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, you can get Chinese style steam bao sandwiches or Korean style tacos. Seating is limited so it may be hard to snag a seat during peak hours.

There were a lot of things that I wanted to try on the menu, but finally, I decided on the lemongrass grilled pork banh mi served with Asian bbq sauce, house mayo, pickled carrots, pickled daikon, cilantro and cucumber. The pork was char grilled to perfection and had just the right amount of lemongrass.

Grilled Pork Banh Mi

CK ordered the Kalbi beef banh mi filled with beef short ribs, kimchi, Asian bbq sauce and the regular toppings. He really enjoyed his sandwich.

Kalbi Beef Banh Mi

We also ordered the kimchi fries. Unknown to us, the kimchi fries are covered with pulled pork in addition to the kimchi! While the fries were fantastic, I wished they posted the pork bit on their menu. Had I known, I would have ordered something smaller to make room for the heavy fries!

Kimchi Fries

We also got a jicama papaya salad to share. It was a nice light salad with a light soy sauce dressing.

Jicama Papaya Salad

Banh Mi Boys
392 Queen Street W
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 416-363-0588

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Art Is In Bakery, Ottawa

Happy Canada Day everyone! Hope all you Canadians are enjoying the Canada Day weekend.

I'm continuing the Ottawa post trend with a feature on Art Is In Bakery. I almost feel like this post doesn't need an introduction. People from Ottawa know and love the bread here. Even if you haven't visited their shop, you have probably seen their bread at restaurants, cafes, or local grocery stores like Farm Boy.

Art Is In started out as a stand at the Ottawa Farmer's Market and grew from baking their bread at the Ottawa Bagel Shop to now owning a permanent shop in an industrial warehouse area. It almost seems like an odd place to have a shop when you first pull up, but you quickly forget where you are as soon as you walk towards the bakery. They have created their own unique funky atmosphere, and all the wonderful scents from the bread, sandwiches, pastries and desserts are sure to distract you from everything else.

The mango and aloe drink is especially good. It was a combination of aloe juice, mangosteen juice, and mango juice with chunks of aloe floating in the bottle.

The special of the day was the ginger beef banh mi with fennel, cucumber and pickled carrots. It was a really cool idea but the beef unfortunately was way too salty and overpowered everything else in the sandwich, including the condiments.

Ginger Beef Banh Mi

I'm a prosciutto lover so you can't go wrong with the warm prosciutto, ricotta, white truffle and arugula sandwich served on their dynamite kalamata olive bread. Delicious!

Prosciutto, Ricotta, White Truffle and Arugula Sandwich

The eating area at Art Is In is alfresco style so they don't have a/c in the summer time.

They have a great selection of pastries and sweets including almond croissants and cookies. And of course, if you want to buy some of their bread before you go, there is a section where you can do that. Two favorites are the 12 grain fennel and the dynamite potato caramelized onion & dill bread.

Art Is In Bakery
250 City Center Avenue Bay 112
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-695-1226

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Back Lane Cafe, Ottawa

I've been featuring so many posts abroad lately, that it's time I talk about the food from the city I actually live in for once! OMG, we have had a crazy heat wave here this week and everyone is just cooped up in their a/c blasted houses. It's a funny weather dynamic we have here in Ottawa. When it's cold, we complain. When it's finally hot out, we also complain. We get the two temperature extremes for so much of the year, it's hard not to complain. The good stuff in between just doesn't last long here. If the beautiful warm May weather could last a bit longer, I'd be happy.

I recently checked out Back Lane Cafe and I'm so glad I did! I've been waiting for something new in Ottawa to pop up that would get me excited, and this is it. Atmosphere, for me, is just as important as the food, and this place does both really well. What I love about Back Lane is how cozy and quaint the place feels. It has an ecclectic feel mixed with a small cottage feel. A place where you can kick back and be yourself.

I started my meal with the frisee salad with walnut, orange, parmigiano and walnut vinaigrette. The vinaigrette was awesome. Light with a bit of a tang.

Frisee Salad with Walnut, Orange, Parmigiano and Walnut Vinaigrette

My friend A wasn't feeling great so he opted for a soup, lentil & spinach with a goat cheese gougere on the side. It hit the spot for him, soup that tasted like mom made!

Lentil and Spinach Soup with Goat Cheese Gougere

I was torn between the lamb pizza and the special of the day. After some himming and hawing, I went for the special since the lamb pizza will always be there. The special was the pan seared chicken livers on sourdough with sunchokes and shitake mushrooms. I was honestly in heaven eating this dish. The sauce served with the livers was amazing...rich yet very light tasting. And adding sunchokes to the livers was genius because the textures blended together, creating this melt in your mouth feel. I wish they had this as part of their permanent menu!

Pan Seared Chicken Livers with Sunchokes and Shitake Mushrooms

A loves mussels so he ordered the mussels in toasted garlic and provencal tomato sauce with saratoga chips and polenta. The mussels were juicy and cooked just perfectly, and the sauce was very fresh. He absolutely loved his dish.

Mussels in Toasted Garlic and Provencal Tomato Sauce

Check this place out. Restaurants like Back Lane make me excited to be living in Ottawa!

Back Lane Cafe
1087 Wellington Street
Ottawa Ontario Canada
Telephone: 613-695-2999

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Smitten Ice Cream, San Francisco

Another great ice cream place in San Francisco is Smitten Ice Cream. What's different about this place is that they make your ice cream to order. On the spot. In 60 seconds. How? With the Kelvin Ice Cream Maker!

Owner Robyn Sue Goldman spent 2 years developing her patented ice cream maker named Kelvin. In an effort to make the smoothest ice cream possible, Robyn uses liquid nitrogen to make her ice cream. Liquid nitrogen produces smaller ice crystals which in turns produces smoother ice cream. In 2009, she tested Kelvin out by taking it out on the streets of San Francisco on a Radio Flyer Wagon, and the rest is history.

It was clear that Kelvin was a success! So Robyn birthed a few more Kelvin's and opened up a little shop in Hayes Valley. Smitten Ice Cream offers 4 ice cream flavors daily, with add-ons for an extra charge.

I had the salted caramel ice cream with almond brittle, and my friend J had the vanilla with pistachio brittle and Meyer lemon caramel. The ice cream was definitely a lot smoother than other ice creams I've tried, which almost gave the impression that it is lighter than regular ice cream. While it tasted like ice cream, the consistency was more like frozen yogurt.

Smitten Ice Cream

432 Octavia Street

San Francisco, California, USA

Telephone: 415-863-1518

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Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream, San Francisco

When you read about the best ice cream places in America, Humphry Slocombe is sure to be on the list.

What makes their ice cream so good is the way they do the whole shebang well. Fresh organic dairy and ingredients. Unique ice cream flavors that rotate daily. Inviting and quirky atmosphere. Friendly Staff. And the ability to try any flavor you want without having to feel bad!

They offer 10-12 flavors a day, and I had fun trying them all. The ones served the day I went included secret breakfast, brown butta, oolong tea, carrot mango sorbet, and jesus juice sorbet (and yes, it had real alcohol!)

My two favorite flavors were the Vietnamese Blue Bottle a McEvoy Olive Oil. The olive oil was especially good...a little salty freshened up with some citrus zest.

Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream
2790 A Harrison Street
San Francisco, California, USA
Telephone: 415-550-6971

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Black Bean and Tomato Soup

At home, CK and I are trying to eat more organic foods and less meat these days. I eat out a lot when I'm travelling so when I'm home, I try to eat really healthy to balance the fat, grease and salt I put into my body when I'm away.

Ok, so I don't eat super healthy right when I get home. Because I'm so used to eating out when I'm on the road, I have to ween myself off of the excessive eating and drinking. I have what I call my 'weening period'. Doesn't matter what day of the week I come home, I get to eat what I want, as much as I want (like driving to a late night bakery after stuffing my face at a dinner party, and ordering every type of croissant available for dessert, and then eating it in the car because I can't wait for the 5 minute drive home - yep, I'm sexy and I know it!) for the rest of the week, AND THEN I start my healthy eating and regular exercise.

This delicious black bean soup is my recent healthy concoction packed with protein, nutrients...and gas! Just blame it on the dog if you're eating this with other people.

Most of the ingredients in my recipe were organic, but I didn't list it as such. It's your choice

This recipe yields 6-8 servings.

Black Bean and Tomato Soup
- 4 (19 fl. oz, 540mL) cans of black bean
- 1 ( 28 fl. oz, 794mL) can of diced tomatoes
- 3 carrots, diced
- 3 stalks of celery, diced
- 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 tsp of paprika
- 1 tsp of cumin
- 1 tsp of chili powder
- 1 generous cup of cilantro, roughly chopped

Method
1. In a pan, saute the onions and garlic until translucent (about 2-3 minutes). Turn the heat off and set aside.

2. In a food processor, process 2 cans of black beans, the diced tomatoes and some of the sauteed onions and garlic (about 1/4 cup) until smooth.

3. Add the celery and carrots to the remaining garlic and onions to the pan, and continue to saute until the carrots and celery is tender (about 5-8 minutes). Transfer the vegetables into a large pot, along with the processed bean mixture, stock, remaining black beans, paprika, cumin, chili powder, and cilantro and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

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Tecoffee (Tea + Coffee) Anyone?

In 1946 the Evening Standard released an article advising the best way to make and consume a cup of tea. Written by no other than George Orwell himself, the short essay encompassed eleven rules into making the perfect cup of tea with the writer himself stating that, ‘everyone... I regard as golden.’

Of course, out of the eleven fascinating rules in which Orwell wrote, most of them are now redundant to the modern world. Brewing tea within a china teapot for example, is now quite a foreign method to which none of us in the 21st century make much, if any use of. What Mr. Orwell would therefore make of the recipe which you are about to read, could quite possibly force shivers down the spine of the great writer himself.

Spawning from the heartland of Barnsley, far within the depths of South Yorkshire, a new tea drinking trend has started. Forced through the lips at amicable temperatures and brewed in the same style of modern day tea, tecoffee is a surprisingly good yet somewhat bizarre beverage. Combining the elegance of tea and the power of coffee, a cup of tecoffee is certain to give your tongue a twist.

I have to admit, I was skeptical when I first heard about this. Tea and coffee just didn't mix in my mind. Despite what I initially felt, I tried it, and I liked it. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think. Here is a recipe, in the 11-step style of Orwell, on how to make tecoffee.

1. In a kettle, boil water using conventional methods. If of course, you do wish to use a teapot and defy my earlier exclamation, that is fine.

2. Prepare yourself a cup. Orwell himself advised that tea should be made in the smallest of quantities in order to refine the taste; though with the modern advancement of tea drinking technologies, it is fine to presume that a large cup will do just as well.

3. Once the kettle boils, leave it for a minute so that it cools, as a burnt teabag is an unhappy tea bag. Once it has cooled, place a teabag (I like Ceylon or Orange Pekoe best) within the cup and pour in hot water.

4. Stir, squeeze and stimulate the tea around the cup so that the maximum amount of dilution takes place. Once that you feel you have the desired strength of a normal cup of tea, throw the tea bag out.

5. Find from the fridge a bottle or carton of milk and stir into the tea. Use as little or as much as you like.

6. Now, this is where the distinction between tea and tecoffee becomes apparent. Place within the cup of tea a teaspoon of coffee (I used fairtrade coffee by Coffechino). Blended and smooth coffee is best as bitter coffee does not mix well with tea.

7. Stir an ample amount of sugar within the cup as defined by your taste. Although Orwell strictly advised the omission of sugar, he was well aware that he was within a minority.

8. Leave the cup to cool for a number of minutes (approximately 3-5 minutes).

9. Once this cooling has taken place, and you wish you make your drink fancy, cover the summit of the cup with a thick head of whipped cream.

10. If you want to make your drink fancier, place a straw in the cup, suck and enjoy.

11. Break any of these rules to avoid doing something outlandish.

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