My baby brother is out of the hospital today after a short stay, so I thought I'd be a good sister and make him his favourite treat. We grew up eating these, so they're kind of the taste of our childhood. Also, he was always a really picky eater and these were one of the few things he would eat. They are apple-y and spice-y and almost more cake-like than muffin-like... yum!
Applesauce Muffins:
1 cup margarine
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp allspice
3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
4 cups flour
1 can unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
icing sugar (optional)
Cream the first four ingredients together, then add the spices and baking soda. Mix in the applesauce and the flour. Stir in the chocolate chips. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake in a 400F/200C oven for 15 minutes or more (until a toothpick comes out clean). When done, place on a wire rack and sift over icing sugar then leave to cool. Alternately, this can also be baked as a loaf for 50-70 minutes.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Applesauce Muffins = Love
Thursday, February 26, 2009
I Heart Soup
Inevitably as the weather here takes a turn for the cold, my appetite turns to soup. It is the kind of meal that banishes cold from your entire body, starting with your tummy and working right out to your fingers and toes. It also somehow always makes me feel like I am a pinnacle of healthy eating, as it typically contains more vegetables than most of my meals usually do. Yesterday I trekked through the ice and snow to have lunch with a friend at Soul Soup on Rice Howard Way, and ended up landing smack dab in the middle of soup heaven.
I have had the card for Culina TV dinners in my desk drawer for the past few years (I think I got it right when they were launching the concept). Up in the corner it says "Now available downtown at: Soul Soup." Other than the fact that the TV dinners sound fantastic, and I keep it to remind me to try them one day, I have kept this card to remind me that I want to try Soul Soup. How great does that name sound for a restaurant?!?! Finally, yesterday was the day.
Soul Soup is tucked inconspicuously into a building on the East Side of Rice Howard Way, just across the street from Bistro Praha. It is a tiny space with no tables, just a take away counter and a lunch bar with three seats. We were very lucky to have arrived early enough to nab a couple of them. There were three choices on the menu: a meat soup (jerk chicken with yam and mint), a fish soup (scallop and bacon chowder), and a veg soup (zucchini and veg).
I got myself a small bowl of the jerk chicken soup, and a side of corn bread. It turns out the soup came with a bun as well, so the corn bread wasn't really necessary, although it was very nice. My dining companion got a small bowl of the jerk chicken soup as well as a small bowl of the zucchini soup. Although she reported that the zucchini soup was good, it was the jerk chicken soup that I am still thinking about today. It was unreal. A bit spicy, but not overly so, it was everything I wanted on a cold winter day. The yam puree made it almost seem creamy, while the mint (that I had some concerns about), was almost undetectable.
While we sat enjoying our soups, making way to many "mmmm" noises, we looked around a bit and noticed a little flier taped up indicating that Soul Soup partners with a group called Full Course Strategies to promote provision of a natural, stress free environment for farmed animals, sustainable farm systems for future generations and stewardship of the land. Apparently all the meat products used in the soups are growth, hormone, stimulant, antibiotic and animal by-product free. I am not sure how rigorously that is guaranteed, but it did make me feel even better about my crazy delicious soup. Oh food that marries tastiness, healthiness, and uses a high degree of natural local ingredients!
If you think this can't get any better, oh it can! My bowl of soup and a bun only cost $4.75!!! I know some people would probably want the larger sized soup portion, but for me this is a great sized lunch (as long as I am not starving), and I like being able to opt for an appropriate sized meal as opposed to having to get a jumbo size at a jumbo price.
I will definitely return to Soul Soup in the future, and maybe even purchase their larger sized soups for take away. It would be a nice starter for a winter dinner party. In the mean time, I guess I will be hitting the internet in search of a recipe for jerk chicken soup in an attempt to make some of this magic for myself.
The only complaint I have is that there are no tables. I noticed a number of potential patrons peeking in only to turn around when they realized there was no where to sit.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Ochazuke
I've been knocked out by bronchitis for the past week and have completely lost my appetite. I have only been able to eat things with very mild flavours, so this is perfect. It is my ultimate comfort food when I'm not feeling well.
Ochazuke:
3/4 cup cooked rice
green tea
I've been eating it plain like this or with crumbled senbei (rice crackers) on top, but you can top this with many different things. Check it out here!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Lamb Shoulder Steak
Recently my husband and I bought a lamb. Not a living adorable lamb, but a lamb in pieces for our freezer and many suppers. We were completely familiar with the lamb chops and what to do with them, but have been pleasantly surprised since then with discoveries we have been making with other cuts of the meat.
Last night we had our second round of shoulder steaks, and I have to rave. What a great cut of meat! It has fantastic marbling so that all you have to do is give the steaks a little pat with a paper towel, hit them with some salt and pepper and then pan fry them on high for a few minutes a side to turn out a beautiful, tender piece of meat. I would say it is a bit easier to gnaw the meat off the bones than a standard chop, and the meat comes off so nicely that we were left with a small pile of perfectly clean bones (not shown to save the appetite of those that would be turned off by that kind of thing). I am a lamb lover, and this cut may have just risen to be my new favorite cut! 
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Norm's Jamie's Green Bean Salad (made with asparagus)
This is one of those evolutionary recipes that slowly became the version of itself seen above from my dinner the other night. To begin with, my husband Norm found a recipe in one of our many Jamie Oliver cookbooks for a warm french bean salad. Seeing as we love whole grain mustard, "the Jamie Oliver beans" quickly became one of my husband's signature dishes. Over time, the ingredients changed a bit for the sake of convenience (shallots can be hard to come by at our local grocery store), and a bit so that the same recipe could be applied to other veggies.
Norm's Jamie's Green Bean Salad:
1 clove garlic finely minced
1 tbsp onion or shallot finely minced
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp olive oil
4 servings worth of beans (or asparagus in today's case)
Mix the first four ingredients to create a "dressing." Cook the beans or asparagus any way you like (steam, boil, grill), and while still hot, toss in the dressing to coat. This is a great tangy side dish. I frequently pair it with sweeter meat preparations such as my fig and plum glazed duck or apple pork chops because the help make sure that your dinner doesn't end up being sickly sweet.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
PC Blue Menu Steel Cut Oats
I had been hearing about steel cut oats for a long time without really knowing what they were, so when I saw them at Superstore a while ago I finally decided to give them a try. However, the long cooking time indicated on the packaging made me put off making it... and then I remembered that my rice cooker has a porridge setting. Yay! No effort required (that's my kind of breakfast).
Steel Cut Oats:
1/2 cup oats (rice cooker cups)
water to fill line
1/2 stick cinnamon
If you don't
have a rice cooker, just follow the package directions. But it is absolutely genius to be able to pop all the ingredients in the rice cooker in the evening, and set the timer to have my breakfast ready in the morning. This made enough for 2+ servings, and I just left the machine on Warming to keep breakfast ready for the second morning. It tasted just as good! On day one I topped it with brown sugar, 1/2 a chopped apple, and chopped walnuts, and on day two with dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and a little sugar. Delicious both ways!
Downtown Dining Week!
Downtown Dining Week is almost upon us. Click here to see a list of participating restaurants as well as links to their menus.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Delux Burger Bar & Gabanna: A Review Two for One
One day over the holidays I came home with with the sweet bellyache of gluttony. I went out for lunch and then later for dinner, and filled myself to the brim and beyond both times.
To start with, I went to Delux Burger Bar. One of the Century hospitality Group of restaurants, I had never been to before. I am not really a burger gal, so I was not that interested, but it was close, so my friend and I gave it a try. The restaurant was pretty packed thanks to it being holiday time. It was cute and seemed like a contemporary diner type space.
We decided to share the burger of the day, which was a chicken burger with bacon, bbq sauce, and havarti cheese, as well as a side order of sweet potato fries (sides are ordered seperately), and the glass noodle salad. The burger was pretty much as expected. BBQ sauce, cheese and bacon really can't be bad together. The sweet potato fries were tasty, and for me are always a welcome option to regular fries. They came with a typical spicey aoli dip, which was not too spicey, but just a nice side. The glass noodle salad came with a good amount of teriyaki chicken, but not enough cashew nuts in my opinion.
The waiter did split up our meals so that we each had our own plates, and I love it when restaurants do that since I like sharing entrees (why eat one thing when you can try two things?). It is a cute concept, and I would go there again for lunch, but I am not sure I would choose it for dinner.
Later that night I was getting together for a night out with my dinner club. We go to a different restaurant once a month (no chains allowed), to get out on the town and eat and visit without anyone having to do all the cooking and cleaning. This month we were a tiny group of three seeing as we were competing with all the other holiday goings on. We ended up going to Gabbana.
The decor was bright and colourful, and the menu was described as EuroAsian. We arrived with no reservations, and were told that the wait would be about 10 minutes. We ended up waiting a good deal more than that (maybe 30 minutes?), but were eventually seated.
I got the lemongrass chicken, which was done as a green curry. I have been eating a lot of indian curry lately, and had forgotten how much different a thai curry was and how much I liked it. Whereas indian curries taste complex and warm, thai curries can be much sweeter and fresher tasting. This curry was very well balanced with the lemon grass and the coconut milk. Sweet, fresh and delicious! It was served with rice, and steamed veggies. The veggies were generally done quite well, and the variety was good and included white beech mushrooms. The carrot and squash were over cooked, but the rest were done well.
We decided to share a holiday dessert and went with the three chocolate terrine. It was disappointing, and strangely powdery tasting for a mousse dessert.
The main was good, and the menu had a lot of options that sounded interesting and were reasonably priced ($16 - $24 generally), so I will be back, but probably won't have the dessert again.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Vietnamese Spring Rolls
These spring rolls make a fabulous lunch out of leftovers, and will really impress your co-workers. They only take about 15 minutes to make, but look like they take a lot longer. I made this with my leftovers from the Smoked Duck and it was super tasty, but really they can be made with any meat, or even tofu or just vegetables if you want to keep it simple. I served them with Thai Peanut Sauce (thinned out a bit with milk to make dipping easier).
Vietnamese Spring Rolls (4):
2 small bundles dried rice vermicelli
assortment of veggies and greens
(I used carrot, snow peas, & spinach)
green onion
4 round rice papers, 20cm/8" dia.
1/3 of a cooked duck breast, sliced
Bring water to the boil in a small saucepan, and lower the vermicelli into the water in a strainer. Cook according to package directions, or for around 10 seconds until al dente. Drain & run through with cold water to keep the noodles from sticking; it may make it easier to separate the noodles now into 4 piles. Arrange all of your fillings on a tray to prepare the rolls.
Separate and soak 2 rice papers at a time in a tray with room-temperature water for 1-2 minutes. Set a clean dish towel beside the tray, and when the papers are softened move them to the dish towel and blot them dry. Add the fillings to the papers, and roll as you would a burrito - that is, work about 1" from the edge of the paper, fold the bottom edge over the fillings and fold in the sides. The only tricky part here is getting the papers tight enough to keep the filling solidly together, but not so tight that the papers rip.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Breakfast Casserole - How Retro
I know that casseroles in general seem a bit retro, but I expect them to be making a big comeback this year in the wake of the "economic crisis" and the fact that casseroles are generally economical, filling, and fast for those that are dual income families (meaning no full time cook). I think I will be trying to dig up a couple of good ones over the next little while to help support my prediction. This one happens to be a great breakfast casserole that is extra great because you prep it the night before so that you can sleep in a bit on the morning of your breakfast/brunch. My mom always makes it for us to eat Christmas morning, and it has become a bit of a tradition at our house.
Wife Saver Casserole:
16 Slices of bread (crusts removed)
16 Slices of back bacon or ham (cooked)
16 Slices of sharp cheddar cheese
6 Eggs
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 cup Onion (minced)
1/4 cup Green Pepper (finely chopped)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 cups Milk (whole or 2%)
A dash of hot sauce
1/4 lb Butter
Cornflakes (crushed)
In 9 X 13 buttered baking dish, put 8 pieces of bread (covering the bottom of the dish entirely). Cover bread with cooked back bacon or ham slices. Lay slices of cheddar cheese on top, then cover with the remaining slices of bread (to make it like a sandwich).
In a bowl, beat, eggs, salt and pepper. To egg mixture, add dry mustard, onion, green pepper, Worcestershire sauce, milk and hot sauce. Pour over the 'sandwiches'. Cover and let it stand in the fridge overnight.
In the morning, preheat the oven to 350F.
Melt 1/4 lb butter and pour over top. Cover with crushed corn flakes (or Special K cereal). Bake 1 hour in 350F oven. 
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving or it will slide apart as you remove portions from the baking dish. I left out the green peppers this time to suit one of my guests. It was delish!
