My trip to Calgary is not nearly as exciting as Court's Californian vacation, but I had a great time and some good eats. I haven't had the chance to eat out a lot in Calgary, so I had my cousin Mercedes suggest some places to choose from; we decided on Muse and I was not disappointed. One of my favourite things about this restaurant is that they offer online reservations - it seems to run in the family that we hate talking on the phone, which makes getting reservations a huge pain.
The main restaurant is in a basement, with dark wood panelling and spotlighting which made it nice and cosy. There is also a chef's table available by the kitchen upstairs. The service throughout the night was knowlegable and prompt, and we were helped by any server p
assing by our table. This was a nice touch, as we never had to wait for our main server to notice us.
Instead of bread we were given a starter of popcorn in truffle oil, followed by cheese scones. I have a popcorn addiction, and I loved this; it was peppery and there was just enough truffle oil to give it a unique flavour. The cheese scones were also very good, though scones with dinner always seems a bit strange to me.
The menu here 
offers First, Second, Third, and Dessert courses. We decided to stick to First and Third courses, and ordered the Belgium Endive Salad and the Poached Beet Salad to start. The endive salad had orange & saffron vinaigrette, dried apricots, and roasted walnuts and was light and fresh tasting. The beet salad had arugula, goat cheese, and bacon - this was my absolute favourite of the whole night and I will definitely be trying to recreate this at home. The beets tasted mildly pickled, like they had been poached in a red wine vinegar rather than just red wine, and while I had never thought of beets and chèvre together, the flavours complemented each other perfectly.
For the main, Mercedes had the Beef Tenderloin with Fondant Potatoes, Foie Gras “French Toast”, Green Beans, in Cherry Jus. I didn't try her beef as she prefers it well done, but the french toast was super tasty. We were both a little con
fused, however, by the presence of two freeze dried cherries placed on top, as they certainly didn't seem edible. I had the Maple Braised Pork Shoulder with Smoked Potatoes, Carrots, and Peas. The pork was cooked just to the point of tenderness and the maple glaze worked well with it, though it may have been too sweet for some. The carrots and smashed potatoes were also good, but the peas were not very sweet and tasted like your average frozen peas.
Unfortunately, because we'd made a late afternoon trip to Starbucks we were not able to make room for dessert. Certainly a shame, as there were several tempting options - next time, I'll remember not to snack before dinner!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Muse (Calgary)
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Cafe Des Beaux Arts (Palm Dessert, CA)
I know I am starting to sound like a broken record, but I LOVE California in the winter. The other day we went shopping along El Paseo to see what kind of stuff we would be buying on our trip if we were rich. We took a little break mid day to have lunch at Cafe des Beaux Arts. My review will be short and sweet - vacation style.
It was a nice lunch, but nothing spectacular for the price. The real draw is getting to sit in the sun and people watch. Norm and mom had the smoked turkey croissants with cheese and the usual fixings. They both found it to be pretty standard. I had curried turkey salad on top of a papaya, and other melons. It was good, but seeing as it was the special, I didn't get the full description, so I didn't realize that it would be packed full of raisins - gasp! (I am not a raisin fan, but ate them anyway). It was nice and light, and the fruit was a nice touch at lunch, but the turkey salad didn't have much curry flavor to it at all. I guess it is meant to be subtle and therefore appeal to those that don't want a ton of curry, but if I am ordering curried anything, I generally want a fair amount of curry flavor. Lunch entrees ran around the $12-15 mark, which is a bit pricey for lunch in my books, but I guess we were in an area of town where that should be expected. For the price though, I would rather eat mom's lobster mac and cheese from the other day.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Perfect Peppery Potatoes
I love, love, love potatoes. And bread. And rice. Basically, if it's carbs I'm all over it. I could probably post at least a fortnight's worth of different potato recipes, but I don't think my waistline would thank me. While Court is chillin' down south, I'm "chilling" here and sticking with winter comfort foods.
For these, it's best to use the smallest baby potatoes you can find as you can then eat them whole. I love the feeling of breaking through the crisp skin to find perfect fluffy potato inside. Pepper is extremely under-rated as a seasoning, and it's used to fabulous effect here. If you're cooking for anyone who doesn't like things spicy, you'll have to tone it down a bit.
Roast Potatoes:
680 g/1.5 lbs baby potatoes
a few glugs of olive oil
lots of freshly ground sea salt & black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400F/200C, and place your baking dish inside to preheat as well. Add all the ingredients to the dish and toss around to coat. If you're unsure on how much salt & pepper to use, just keep going until it looks like too much. These are really spicy, and I like to open up the grinder so the pepper is grounder more coarsely than usual. Bake for 50-60 minutes.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Holiday Breakfast
This is what breakfast looks like here. We picked it off the tree and then served it up for breakfast. Yup, that's it - I'm on vacation!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
California Dreamin'
I'm on vacation! We are down visiting my parents in Palm Springs, escaping the cold of Edmonton winter, and enjoying a lot of food experiences that I wouldn't be having at home (either things we don't have or things we don't have at this time of the year). This post is nothing but a mix of food porn and rubbing it in that I am in the sunshine.
We arrived here just in time for a late lunch, and even though it was hot dogs, i was thrilled because we got to have them BBQ'd. 
Hot dogs are pretty much the opposite of fancy food, but they are delish when you get to have them hot off the BBQ and eat them outdoors in the sunshine. Mom had a couple of dips for us to have with chips on the side, and fresh strawberries that actually had some taste to them.
This morning, we were off to the College of the Dessert Street Fair. It was like a mix between a flea market and a farmer's market. Really, it was more like 90% flea market at this time of year, but there were still a few items that i wanted to photograph just for the joy of having seen them piled up in a stand outdoors. I have never seen a baby pineapple being sold before, but they are just like cute little pineapple, just a bit larger than the limes they were right beside.
After hitting up the market, we went for lunch at the Indian Wells golf course. My mom had the lobster 
mac and cheese, which sadly made my homemade mac and cheese pale in comparison, and I had a shrimp quesadilla. The whole group enjoyed a number of fruity cold drinks while we ate on the patio.
Finally, on the way home we stopped at a Trader Joe's store to drool over some of the different food items that they stocked. I couldn't pass up getting a couple bottles of the wine they all call "two buck chuck." 
The price is right, and the lady in front of me in line was telling me that it is good enough that it wins blind taste tests from time to time. To be honest, if it doesn't taste like vinegar, it will be a good deal. I also grabbed some mixed root vegetable chips to give a try. I have heard that they aren't much more valuable for you nutritionally than normal potato chips, but I just wanted to try something a bit different.
Did I mention that I picked the orange I ate for breakfast off the tree in the backyard? HAHAHAHA. I'm in California, and most of you are not!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Happy Australia Day!
Living in England with Australian flat-mates gave me an enduring love for Vegemite, Tim-Tams, Jaffas, and - best of all - fairy bread. You'd think this was meant only for children, but I first tried it at an event at the Australian Embassy in London. It's so delicious and such a guilty pleasure for me. All you need is white bread, margarine, and hundreds-and-thousands (rainbow round sprinkles will do, as I unfortunately can't find the pastel version here). Enjoy!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Cheese Tasting From Paddy's
Paddy's Cheese Market used to be right across the street from me when I lived just off of Whyte ave. Just after I moved downtown, it moved to a small minimal area just west of downtown. Finally, once I had moved to St. Albert, I got a chance to finally visit this local retailer, and I realized what I had been missing the whole time. I had always assumed that specialty stores equated to very high prices, but really, the price is great, especially when you factor in the quality. I now regularly pop in to pick up some cheese. I love that you can get the amount that you want, as opposed to a huge chunk. It ensures that I don't end up spending money on cheese that will go bad before I can eat it.
For Christmas 2008, Brooke got us each "something by the month." My husband was getting cookies by the month from her, my father in law was getting cakes, and I was given cheese. It was an excellent idea, and while the baking kept up pretty well, I didn't end up getting cheese every month as expected. To make up for it though, Brooke decided to have me over one evening to do a cheese tasting to make up for the shortfall. I was thrilled!
I gave Brooke carte blanche on picking the cheeses, and with some help from the knowledgeable staff at Paddy's, we got a diverse assortment. Going counter clockwise starting from the left on the wooden fish plate, we got Appenzeller, Riopelle, Wensleydale, Pont Couvert, St. Paulin, and finally Pont L'evesque. We had a number of other food items to enjoy with the cheeses, including blackberries, dried apricots, almonds, pear chips (that Brooke baked just before I arrived, and tasted like pear candy), melba toast and french bread slices. As we went along, we added in a cured ham, some balsamic vinegar, honey, sundried tomatoes, vegemite and marmite, just to try some different combination.
We started with the Riopelle. It was the softest cheese in the bunch, and was like a creamier, slightly sour tasting brie. This cheese was one of both of our favorites due to it's texture. You can actually spread it onto bread like butter, and when you eat it, it is lovely to roll it around in your mouth. I loved it with the pear chips crumbled on top so that the slight sour taste of the cheese was contrasted with a delicious crispy sweetness.
Next up was the Pont L'evesque. It is similar to brie, but slightly more firm, and very very mild in taste and is not stinky at all. It was nice paired with the sweeter items such as the fruit and the honey. This is a safe choice for those that don't want a strange cheese.
Third we gave the St. Paulin a go. It reminded me of a cross between cheddar and gouda. It had a mid range firmness, and would be a good choice for sandwiches. It didn't pair all that well with fruit in my opinion, but it went nicely with the cured ham and the nuts.
Fourth up was the Pont Couvert. It was the other front runner of the evening for the best cheese of the bunch. It was a bit of a surprise. The rind looks very rough, and the colour gradient changes from the edge to the center. We expected it to be firmer, but the center was actually quite creamy. It tasted like a mild goat cheese or a very mild version of a stilton (seeing as stilton is quite strong). I loved this cheese with blackberries! I don't know why, but it was just a magical combination for me. It was so good, it almost ended the night for me as I was getting pretty full.
We followed that up with the Appenzeller. Brooke did not like this cheese at all, but I didn't mind it. It was like a stronger swiss cheese. It would probably be nice on a french onion soup. It was nice with nuts, as they toned it down a bit, and I had leftovers the next day melted on a tuna sandwich, which was tasty because both the cheese and the tuna were strong enough to hold their own. Beware of keeping this in the fridge as it is very stinky, and stinks up the place.
Our last cheese was the Wensleydale. It was very crumbly and difficult to eat in pieces. I expected it to have a strong, salty taste, like a feta, but it didn't at all. It was surprisingly mild, and I can't say I liked it much. I think it was the disconnect between the texture and the flavor. I expect mild cheeses to be creamy, and after some of the stronger cheeses, it just was not a stand out for me. Brooke didn't mind it and thought it might be nice in a salad.
Having a cheese tasting is a great way to spend an evening in. You can also have fun with wine pairings to spice it up a bit. The staff at Paddy's can be very helpful in putting together a variety of flavors and textures for you to experiment with, and new cheeses are a great way to create new recipes!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
The Cuban
Recently, my mum was looking for something different to do with pork loin, so I pointed her to Mary's Tuscan Pork Loin (which is fantastic, by the way). This also made for delicious leftovers - the meat was pink and tender enough to be shredded easily. When I was over the next night, I decided to try to copy my favourite panini from The Free Press Bistro. This was a little difficult without a panini press, but necessity is the mother of invention! In lieu of a press, I wrapped the sandwiches in foil and placed a heavy stoneware dish on top while baking.
The Cuban:
1 loaf french bread
1 roasted pork loin, shredded
cooked ham, sliced thin
dill pickle, sliced
swiss cheese
dijon mustard
butter
Cut the ends off the loaf, then slice through horizontally. Divide the loaf into 4 even sandwiches. Spread with butter and dijon, then pile with pork and ham and top with pickle and swiss cheese. Place the four sandwiches back together into a loaf shape and wrap with foil. Bake in a 350f/180C oven for 30 minutes, weighed down with a cast-iron skillet or heavy oven-proof dish.
This served four very generously, with a side salad of butter lettuce, apple, and avocado with a wholegrain mustard vinaigrette.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Homestyle Mac & Cheese
I halved this recipe and it fed two people quite generously:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Parmesan grated
2cups milk
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
250g Oka grated (I found Oka at Superstore in the cooling bin with the goat cheese and brie)
280g old cheddar (3yr or older) grated
ground black pepper
500g fusilli or macaroni
Preheat oven to 400F. Boil water and cook pasta. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a saucepan and add flour to make a roux, then gradually whisk in the milk. Add mustard, Oka, cheddar and pepper to taste.
Mix pasta and cheese sauce and pour into oven proof dish. Mix breadcrumbs and Parmesan and sprinkle over the pasta mixture, bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes (less time for a runnier sauce).I loved this dish, and it is so quick and easy to make. I think it would even be a fun starter for a dinner party if you made little individual servings in ramekins. I used more breadcrumbs than the recipe call for just because I like having a good crunchy crust to go with the creaminess of the cheese and pasta.
We're in the News!
For those of you living in St. Albert, check us out today in the Saint City News. For those not, check us out online in the Jan. 23 issue on page 12. Yay!
