Month: November 2008

The Cooking Chronicles: Vegetable Tortellini Bowl

Darn, another recipe that was great to eat but I can’t locate on the internet…

On a day when I was feeling under the weather and craving something warm with vegetables, I turned to a trusty Company’s Coming cookbook for Vegetable Tortellini soup. I figured the filled pasta would give the soup that extra filler, and if nothing else, the tricolore tortellini provided some nice color.

Instead of diced tomatoes, I used a can of whole tomatoes, which, by the time we were ready to eat the soup, lent the chicken stock a lovely red hue. Along with the tomatoes, I threw in the recommended carrot, zucchini, bell pepper, and substituted celery for spinach, and the recipe turned out wonderfully. I remember Jane saying that she was in a “soup phase” at one point – if all soups are this easy and tasty to boot, I may be in one soon too.

Vegetable Tortellini Bowl

Veggie Donair World Premiere

After interviewing Eric Ng, the mastermind behind the World Premiere of the Veggie Donair for a Vue article, I was more curious than ever about the event. I bought an advance ticket at Listen Records, and headed for the Hydeaway (10209 100 Ave) on Wednesday evening.

While I’m not sure what the most appropriate venue for a world premiere of a vegetarian food item would be, the very casual, pub-like space of the Hydeaway suited Eric’s “do it yourself” mentality, I thought. Shortly after 7pm (the event’s start time as listed on the tickets), employees were still shifting around furniture and setting up the stage, as attendees began trickling in.

Around 7:30pm, Leif Oleson-Cormack (an old friend of mine from high school), did his best to entertain the hungry crowd, as Eric headed to the kitchen to begin assembling the donairs. Leif’s set was about 20 minutes in length, after which we got up from the table to wait in a line that snaked halfway around the space.

By this point, I realized I should have had something to eat prior to the event, as the wait was painful. For a food-focused event, an hour and a half to get to the “meat”, so to speak, was unacceptable. At the same time, I had to feel for Eric and the rest of his helpers – a peek inside the kitchen saw four busy hands, and the one waitress had trouble delivering orders to a shifting crowd of patrons. A number system would have helped, but it seemed organization wasn’t the evening’s strong point.

As for the donair itself – while I am not the best judge of donairs (I can’t remember the last time I had one), I liked the crispy, toasted pita shell, and the combination of the tomatoes, onions, sauce, and meat replacement. The consensus at our table, however, was that we wished that the gluten/tofu slab had been sliced a little thinner – it was a tad too thick served as it was (and with a chewy texture very similar to some of the vegan dishes I had at Padmanadi). I did attempt to take a few photos, but as our table and the surrounding area had no overhead lights, the pictures turned out much too blurry to post, unfortunately.

Eric said the turnout of just over 60 was perfect, as he ended up running out of supplies. Overall, it was a fun night and an interesting experience – I hope more food item world premieres are in Edmonton’s future!

City of Edmonton’s Planning Academy

Two weeks ago, Mack and I took one of the City of Edmonton’s Planning Academy courses. A series of learning opportunities offered by the city so citizens can be better informed on the subject of planning and development in Edmonton, courses are offered at least once a year on subjects such as land use planning, urban design, and transportation.

I was most interested in the course titled “Getting a Grip on Land Use Planning”, as I was hoping it would answer my questions on why some areas of the city are more pedestrian-friendly than others.

The makeup of students that day was quite diverse – from city employees to design and engineering professionals, to an articling law student and Alberta Employment and Immigration manager at our table, it was nice to see a cross-section of city residents. I did wonder, however, if bursaries were available to the low-income, as while $35 isn’t an unreasonable fee, it might make the course out of reach for some.

The best parts of the course were the concrete examples the two speakers were able to provide based on their experience. And while the material covered didn’t fully answer my questions, I do have a better appreciation for the planning department – what seemed to me before was an absence of thought in planning, but really, quite a bit of work goes into the design of neighbourhoods.

I was also intrigued to find out about some planning regulations in effect – for example, new neighbourhoods must have 10% of land dedicated to park areas, pubs are required to have 1 parking spot per 3.6 square metres of space and downtown  (as specified by the Area Redevelopment Plan), developers are mandated for just 1 parking stall per 100 square meters.

The planners of the course tried to incorporate hands-on learning throughout the day, and while well-intentioned for small group discussions, I thought they were a waste of time. Perhaps I have a lack of foresight, but the exercises of designing a secondary garage suite and rezoning of a hospital building were not practical or necessary for a layperson.

I am eyeing the Transportation Elective taking place in the spring – perhaps it will shed some insight on Edmonton’s car culture.

Good Times with the Old Crew

Thanks to Violet’s planning prowess and Doug’s willingness to play perennial host, friends were able to get together to play some Wii and board games (and celebrate Michael’s birthday!).

I didn’t take as many photos as I intended, so I really ended up with one to post. It captures the aftermath of our round of Trivial Pursuit: Totally 80s, where Violet and Jeff reigned with their seemingly random knowledge of obscure musicians, television personalities, and historical events. I will say that I now have a strange desire to watch Strange Brew, and I do think that I will always think of Don Johnson as “the white suit man”.

 

Care Bear domination

Thanks again for hosting Doug! I’m looking forward to the next gathering where I can bring along Foodie Fight ;).

Culinary Q & A with Lea Alcantara

Occupation: Chief Hired Gun of Lealea Design.

What did you eat today?

Breakfast was two eggs and two pieces of toast. Lunch was a tuna salad sandwich. Dinner is broiled marinated lamb loin chops in red wine, garlic, onion and rosemary, with leftover whole wheat penne and some bottled generic tomato/basil sauce.

What do you never eat?

This is hard because I will almost eat anything. The one thing I will never eat is this Filipino “delicacy” called “balut” — it’s basically aborted duck egg. Seriously. Can I have my eggs unfertilized, please?

What is your personal specialty?

Probably chicken cashew stir fry. So easy. So tasty. 🙂

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My 8″ Global chef knife. Beautiful, light, and very functional.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

It will be a buffet of mostly ethnic items. So I can have a little bit of everything, pause in between to settle, and eat some more. If a gun was pointed at my head and I really only had to have a 3 course meal: calamari to start, lobster and scallop linguine in a spicy rose sauce, and tiramisu.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Double Greeting Wonton House. Rob (my hubby) and I always order their Wor Wonton, and then one other random item. One of the few places where you feel full and spend less than $20 that isn’t a pho or fast food joint.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

So hard to narrow down, but I will have to say Il Pasticcio is probably the best. Nice ambiance, comfy atmosphere, great service, good looking chefs — we like the fact that the kitchen is open to the public, and the head chef my sisters and I call Chef Handsome. Oh, and the prices are pretty decent.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

I think it would be fun to be part of a Hawaiian luau. First of all, it fits my wish of “buffet of mostly ethnic items” while it’s set in a beautiful beach during sunset outdoors, and lots of happy people. Mm, live pig roasts… and seafood!

Food Notes

  • My latest Vue Weekly article was published this week, about a “Veggie Donair World Premiere” taking place at the Hydeaway All Ages Art Space on Wednesday.
  • Vue reported on Thursday that Four Rooms in City Centre has closed: “Henry Song, owner/operator of the City Centre establishment, commented to Vue Weekly that he regrets closing on such short notice. He offered no explanation beyond that the timing was right. He regrets any difficulty caused to clientele, musicians and his staff. He has expressed a desire to continue to work in the food and entertainment industry.” What’s up with all of these recent closures?
  • Lea told me about a new Thai restaurant on the north side called Stephanie’s Thai and Lao Fusion Cuisine. It was reviewed this week in Vue as well.
  • Mack sent me a link to Sassy Cakes, a new home-based cupcake business. They’re also on Twitter.
  • All eyes on the maple leaf: Susur Lee’s debut in New York doesn’t make him flinch at all. A NY blogger I read was lucky enough to go to the Gourmet media event alluded to in the article – her thoughts are here.
  • Mack downloaded the Urban Spoon app to his iPod Touch last week, and I will admit that it was rather fun to play with (the columns can be flicked like a slot machine, but shaking of the iPod will yield a random result – too cool). I hope they add Edmonton to their list of cities soon!
  • Does kids’ cuisine reign supreme? It seems to be the trend, writes Misty Harris.
  • Also on the subject of children – I am tempted to describe the 12 year old food critic in an NYT story as “precious”, but something tells me he would bristle at that label.
  • In a case of ‘coulda, shoulda, woulda’, had I known Starbucks would wholly change their line of mints – from the tiny, power-packed kind to large, money-grabbing tablets, I would have stocked up on the small boxes (pictured below on the right). While the larger case is sleek, it makes me feel a little like a dealer of some kind every time I slide it open.

 

New vs. Old Starbucks Peppermints

Culinary Q & A with Sue Robins

Occupation:  Freelance writer, owner of Apostrophe S.  Mom to three.  Wife to one. Volunteer to many.

What did you eat today?

Poached eggs and corned beef hash, grilled gouda, avocado and red onion sandwich on ciabatta, Italian sausage and risotto with butternut squash. 

What do you never eat?

Green peppers and pork hocks, ugh.

What is your personal specialty?

Risotto of all shapes and sizes and cajun bread pudding.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My lemon zester.  I heart it.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

A big glass of Nk’Mip’s Meritage wine.  My husband’s fusilli with Italian sausage, fennel and red chilis.  My daughter Ella’s lemon meringue pie.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

I love Leva for their cappuccinos, pastries, gelati and lunch panino.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton? 

I adore Culina for special night out.  It is dark, intimate and very romantic.  The service is perfect.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

Ah, this is a cliché, but true – Italy!  Specifically, rural Italy, in a region called Abruzzo, on a little olive oil farm called Le Magnolie.  The Nonna of the house does the cooking, and it is simple, hearty, fresh and belissimo!  I am at her mercy, but hopefully she’d serve a big plate of antipasto, homemade gnocchi nestled perched on fresh tomato sauce and garlic, roast turkey with lemon and rosemary and warm pizzelles with homemade cherry jam.

Truffology 101 at the Edmonton Public Library

The Edmonton Public Library has an ongoing advertising campaign on with the slogan “More than just books”. It’s true – libraries are now the hub for many activities – gaming nights for teens, conversation circles for English as an Additional Language Learners, knitting clubs, photography workshops and movie screenings. Their program listings are available on their website, and in paper form as a seasonal guide that can be picked up at each of the 17 branches in the city.

I first saw a course titled “Truffology 101” in the catalogue last year, and though my interest was piqued, the time didn’t work out. When I saw that they were offering again this fall, I signed up immediately, and dragged my Mum along for the ride.

We headed to Strathcona Library on Saturday afternoon, and after paying our $2 course participation fee (for the materials) on the main floor, headed to the upstairs meeting room. There, Adrian, the friendly manager of the branch welcomed us, and shortly after, introduced her husband, John Canty, who would be leading the workshop. He is a hobby chocolatier, and seems to have taken a few courses here and there to learn about the subject.

 

Truffology 101 outline

While he wasn’t as energetic as Nina at the chocolate tasting at Kerstin’s, it was obvious that he is passionate about chocolate. The overview and background of chocolate making also wasn’t as detailed as the one I heard at Kerstin’s, but as this session was only an hour in length (with a different objective), that wasn’t unexpected.

After the chocolate introduction (and recommending Scharffen Berger brand bars, available at Shoppers Drug Mart), John reached the demonstration portion of the session, and while John explained the components of a basic ganache recipe, Adrian set about making it on a portable burner. He had adapted the recipe from one he had received from a course at NAIT (my Mum was wondering whether a sans-corn syrup recipe existed, and I did find one on the Times’ website).

Simple Ganache

300g milk chocolate
225g whipping cream
7 1/4 teaspoons unsalted butter
3 1/8 glucose or light corn syrup

1. Finely chop the chocolate and place in a glass mixing bowl.
2. Pour cream into small saucepan and bring to scalding. Remove pan from heat – do not allow cream to boil.
3. Add glucose/corn syrup to the heated cream and mix.
4. Pour cream-glucose mixture over chopped chocolate. Stir to melt the chocolate, adding butter slowly in small increments. If chocolate does not fully melt you may carefully heat the mixture in a microwave – use only low power settings for very brief periods.
5. Once all the butter has been added, and the mixture is smooth and homogenous, cover mixture and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.

Adrian passed around the bowl once the homogenous mixture had been attained, to show each of us the consistency the mixture must be. Then, like the magic of cooking shows, they pulled out pre-made, cooled, plastic-wrapped ganache for each of us to roll in the plates of cocoa or coconut on our table.

 

My Mum making truffles

The truffles were beyond straightforward to make, and would be a great activity for children – with the consistency of playdough, they could be easily rolled into balls and dipped into a variety of garnishes – colored sprinkles, sugars, chopped nuts. Truth be told, the truffles were a tad to sweet for me, but then again, one alone was enough to cure my chocolate craving.

 

My truffles

A set of colorful truffles would be a great Christmas gift, so to facilitate this thought, John and Adrian are offering another Truffology 101 class at the Riverbend branch on December 6. It will also be repeated in the new year at the Sprucewood and Lois Hole locations. Be sure to call ahead to book a spot. Happy truffle making!

The Cooking Chronicles: Chicken and Vegetable Stir-fry

I am ashamed that it took me this long to make a stir-fry. It’s a dish I quite enjoy, but I typically don’t look to recreate Chinese dishes. On a day where I was craving vegetables, however, stir-fry seemed to be the easiest way to satisfy that hunger.

I used some of the directions in a Martin Yan recipe, though we added a sliced chicken breast to the mix, which I pan fried first. After that, I added the vegetables we had on hand – red bell pepper, bean sprouts, broccoli, white mushrooms, and half an onion. We didn’t have any oyster sauce, so I phoned my Mum for some emergency advice. She told me to use some chicken broth, soy sauce, and sugar for good measure, which we did, and it turned out nicely.

I’m glad I finally took the plunge into the land of stir-fry – I can’t wait to try out other vegetable and meat combinations!

Chicken and Vegetatable Stir-fry over rice

Service No Man’s Land: Sutton Place Hotel

I’ve written positively before about the Christmas buffet offered at the Sutton Place Hotel (10235 101 Street), so count me as surprised when a recent visit to their twice-weekly Chocoholics Buffet turned out to be a less-than-stellar experience.

Janice wanted to check out the dessert event as part of her birthday night out, and May, Annie and myself were more than happy to oblige. $16 per person seemed a small amount to pay for the right to gorge out on a variety of chocolate sweets, especially when the price included an alcoholic beverage.

We knew from the website that the buffet was open from 5-10pm, so we had a relatively large window to make it down there. After a bite to eat at Lazia, we walked over to Sutton Place and headed straight for the main floor lounge, where the buffet was supposed to be set up.

There is apparently live jazz to accompany the buffet on the last Thursday of every month. That really would seem to be the best time to visit, as the ambiance was lacking that night – the only music we could hear drifted down from the restaurant proper a floor above us, just barely overshadowing the natural buzz of a hotel lobby. The lounge itself was also extremely dim – there were a few peripheral lamps that did their best to make up for a lack of overhead lights, but we found ourselves wishing for a tabletop candle or two.

We hoped the food would make up for the aesthetics of the lounge, and the spread looked quite promising. There were over ten varieties of desserts, including cheesecake, creme puffs, chocolate shooters, a brownie pizza, and a mousse cake. A silver vessel also contained warm chocolate to drizzle over fruit, but best of all, they had a staff member available to make crepes. And like vegetarian entrees on steakhouse menus, they did have a few non-chocolate desserts, including a plain vanilla cake.

Chocoholics Buffet spread

We found a table and waited a few minutes for one of the two waitresses to acknowledge our presence, but our patience waned. At some point, we decided to be proactive and simply load up our table with plates, hoping that might alert the staff that we needed some assistance.

Crepes were up first for all of us. Kim, the chef on hand, provided a nice personal touch to the experience. We asked her about how busy the buffet was on a typical evening, as there was only one other customer dining alongside our group, and she said that during a busy period (such as CFR week), around 7-10 patrons would frequent the buffet. That seemed to me like an awfully low number (particularly if such busy swings were few and far between) for the Sutton Place to continue to offer such a spread twice weekly. She assured me that the food didn’t go to waste, and as employees were given a three-course meal after every shift, that all of the leftovers would be consumed by staff.

Kim busy behind her station

Back to the crepes – once she folded over the crepe, we were able to choose from a variety of sweet and savoury toppings. I decided to add strawberries, chocolate, and sliced almonds to my chewy crepe. It was quite good, and knowing we could go back for seconds and thirds was a reassuring thought.

My personalized crepe

We tackled the main dessert table next, and I attempted to taste a little piece of everything. After careful deliberation (and three plates), I decided I liked the flourless chocolate cake the best. It was moist, the texture was just right, and though it was fairly rich, I appreciated the dense chocolate flavour. The chocolate-dipped strawberries came in a close second.

Plate #2

After we had returned to our table with our first “courses”, the waitress did come to take our drink order. When asked if they had any dessert wine, she told us that we should be drinking a less sweet wine so as to not take away from the desserts. I would be the first to admit that I am by no means a wine snob, but all of us at the table knew that she was wrong. She poured us all a white wine, which ended up being quite nice, but we were off-put by her initial error.

The service didn’t improve over the evening, as by the end of our stay, just one waitress was left in the area. We actually felt really bad for her – I’m sure the short staffing was a product of the boom – but it made our experience less noteworthy on a positive level.

While the buffet is a good deal, and those who like chocolate should definitely look into it, don’t expect to get more out of it than a meal to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Us, ten pounds heavier

Sutton Place Hotel
10235 – 101 Street
(780) 428-7111 
Chocoholics Buffet every Thursday and Friday, 5-10pm