Month: February 2009

The Cooking Chronicles: Pad Thai

It seems after years of holding out and not buying cookbooks (instead, choosing to rely on printed recipes gleaned from the internet), the floodgates have opened. I mentioned buying Diners, Drive Ins and Dives a few weeks ago, and along with that, also ordered Trish Magwood’s James Beard Award-winning Dish Entertains. I especially like the book because of its beautiful pictures, which not only provide satiating shots of food, but also really great serving and presentation ideas.

I’d been eyeing the recipe for Vegetarian Pad Thai for some time (a Food Network version, similar, but not the same is here), and finally got around to purchasing the needed “Thai essentials”, as she calls them. Of course, not being able to live without some protein in the meal, I decided to add shrimp to the mix.

I put Mack in charge of making the sauce, while I washed and prepared the vegetables and began heating up the noodles. Our only missing ingredient was chili flakes, so we were forced to substitute chili powder. As expected, this impacted the desired flavour and resulted in more sweetness than heat in the final product.

When we finally poured the sauce into the wok, it looked like an overwhelming amount of liquid to be incorporating. Surprisingly, the noodles soaked up most of it, and we ended up with a dish that wasn’t too wet or dry. I made sure to be overly generous with the amount of chopped peanuts I included on my finished portion (as I find some restaurants tend to scrimp on them), and for the most part, our pad thai was satisfying. It didn’t pack enough heat for reasons mentioned above, and for Mack, was too sweet for him. Done again, we’d make sure to have chili flakes on hand, and reduce the amount of sugar added.

Pad Thai

As this was our first try at a Thai dish (and one that looked remarkably easier than Chez Pim’s more authentic, but time consuming version), we were very happy with the result. I’m sure this is just the beginning of many happy returns to the pages of Dish Entertains.

Edmonton Twestival was a success!

Thanks to everyone who came out to Edmonton Twestival tonight! Mack and I were hoping 50 people would come out, and we came pretty close with a final tally of 45. Best of all, we managed to raise a total of $1000 for charity:water – definitely a great showing from the city for a great cause.

Following the #yeg hashtag live

This was actually my first time at Vintage Lounge (formerly Mangiamos), and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Jenn, the Event Coordinator for Vintage was great – accommodating (allowing us to set up a projector and screen at the front of the space), and made sure to check in with us throughout the night to make sure we were well taken care of.

My Passion of Brazil Cocktail

We ended up ordering some small plates to share, as we didn’t get a chance to have dinner before heading out to set up, and I was pretty happy with the food. The Grilled Cheese Bites ($10), made with provolone, havarti and cheddar were fantastic, and paired with the roasted tomato soup was a comforting bite on a cold day. The Duck Spring Rolls ($14) were a little less successful, probably because I”m used to vermicelli in my spring rolls. The house plum sauce was also a tad too spicy for my taste. When we went to pay our bill, however, it turned out that 5-8pm was happy hour, so all of the food and drink we ordered was actually 50% off – a steal!

Grilled Cheese Bites

Duck Spring Rolls

I think Edmonton Twestival was a great success – thanks to Mack for spearheading the Edmonton event! Thanks also to everyone who donated door prizes: @sassycakes, @transcendcoffee, @bruceclarke, @NAIT, @thechadj, @Out_Inc, @cmscritic, and @tonyratcliffe. I’m not sure which was the most coveted prize, but the car starter and cupcakes seemed pretty popular!

We did our best to try and take photos throughout, but they didn’t turn out as nice as @bruceclarke’s (of Moments in Digital)!

Chatting (photo by momentsindigital)

Mack trying to convert Eric and Amanda to Twitter (photo by momentsindigital)

Waiting for the door prizes to be drawn (photo by momentsindigital)

It was good to see some familiar faces, and some new ones as well. Onto the next Tweetup!

Culinary Q & A with Brooke Jensen

Occupation:  Insurance Adjuster

What did you eat today? 

Breakfast: Muesli Scone & Earl Grey tea

Lunch: Strawberry yogurt with red grapes & a banana

Dinner: Planning on making katsudon (rice bowl with breaded pork cutlet).

What do you never eat? 

There really isn’t much I NEVER eat. I don’t eat chicken that often, and I only eat packaged baked goods under duress. They just taste like chemicals to me.

What is your personal specialty? 

I’m not sure I have one – maybe cakes?

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you will always find:  

margarine, cheese (parmesan & 1 other kind), eggs, plain yogurt, water, sake, Pimm’s, nori, maple syrup, dijon & wholegrain mustard, jam/marmalade, dashi granules, curry paste, natural peanut butter, tomato paste, pesto, spinach or lettuce, pickles, onions, carrots, apples, and usually an open bottle of white wine.

What is your weekday meal standby? 

I don’t really have a stand-by. If I don’t feel like cooking, I’ll take some leftovers from the freezer or have toast for dinner (healthy, haha). I usually plan my meals in advance and they vary a lot week-to-week because I hate eating the same thing all the time.  

What is your favorite kitchen item? 

Rice cooker, hands down.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

I would either like to go to a 3 michelin star restaurant and have a super long, many course meal… or it would be a ridiculous combination of all my favourite foods – yorkshire pudding & tuna sashimi & butter chicken & french beans & custard & bacon & chevre salad & miso soup & veal & greek salad & fried rice with tons of ginger… I could go on.

Where do you eat out most frequently? 

There’s not really one place – there are so many restaurants I’ve never tried so I like to switch things up. For convenience, I suppose I go to the Free Press Bistro or I Heart Sushi most often, as they’re both only a few blocks from my place.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton? 

I am definitely no authority on best places in Edmonton. The best place I’ve been recently is Characters, but I’ve never tried Red Ox Inn and there seems to be a consensus on it being one of the best.

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

I would go to Japan and try all the meals I’ve only read about; I particularly want to try basashi (horse meat). And if I could afford it would go for kaiseki-ryori (a multi-course meal in a traditional restaurant).

Brooke blogs at Take it and Like it.

Nice Packaging, Small Portion: d’Lish

This guest post was written by Mack, an Edmonton-based geek who fancies himself a part-time foodie. You can find him online at his blog, and on Twitter.

A little over a month ago, Sharon and I were in need of a relatively quick dinner before heading out into the cold for the Winter Light 2009 opening ceremonies. Fortunately she’s a better planner than I am and had picked up a prepared meal from d’Lish, Edmonton’s newest meal assembly studio (Sharon wrote about them in Vue Weekly). We decided to give it a shot.

Our meal was called “Don’t You Wanna Enchilada” – enchiladas with Cumin Crème fraiche ($19). All of the items on the menu have clever names. My favorite this month is “Fantabulous Flatbread Pizza – BBQ Beef-tastic”. I thought the plastic bag and ribbon was a nice touch on the packaging.

After preheating the oven to 375 F, we stuck them in for the prescribed 20-25 minutes and waited. Though they came out nice and hot, I have to admit the enchiladas didn’t look incredibly appetizing.

The enchiladas, which contained potato, beans, and corn, tasted pretty good even without the cumin crème sauce (Sharon liked it more than I did). They weren’t as crisp as I’d have liked however, and that made them quite messy to eat.

I think my least favorite part about the meal was the portion size. I wasn’t really full after eating my half of the dinner. Perhaps it’s not a fair comparison, but I kept thinking about Mucho Burrito – much more food for about the same price. Buying local and organic (which d’Lish prides itself on) has its price, I guess (and probably the packaging too).

I’d be willing to give d’Lish another shot, but I think I’d go the meal assembly route instead of trying another prepared meal.

d’Lish
10418 124 Street NW
(780) 482-2242

Edmonton Foodie Meetup!

If you’ve been reading this blog regularly, I’m sure that you are aware that Edmonton has quite an active online food community. The number of culinary bloggers has increased significantly over the last year, and I’m sure there are many blogs I still haven’t come across.

Hanne of Supper in Stereo and I talked about the idea of an Edmonton foodie meetup in December, and after a series of e-mails with her and Courtney of Take it and Like it, we now have details of our first meeting to share!

Who: Local food bloggers and any interested foodies

What: Edmonton Foodie Meetup

When: February 26, 2009 at 6:30pm

Where: Blue Plate Diner, 10145 104 Street NW

Why: To put a face to a blog, and of course, to discuss everything food!

Mack helped me set up a wiki so people can sign up. We were only able to secure a reservation for 14 people total, so if we receive an overwhelming response, we may shift the venue over to a lounge that will be able to accommodate a larger group. If you are interested in coming, please add your name (and blog!) to the wiki by February 22.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for another way to connect with others from the local online community, consider coming out to Edmonton Twestival, in support of charity:water, which I blogged about last week. It’s taking place at Vintage Lounge on Thursday, February 12. Here’s an updated list of the prizes that online registrants will be eligible to win. Hope to see you there!

Food Notes for February 9, 2009

  • Late reporting on a number of restaurant closures, from Chowhound – The Mill (8109 101 Street) is now Maki-Maki, which is offering 10% off for the month of February, La Tapa (10523 99 Avenue) closed at the end of last year, and Grandma D’s BBQ Cookhouse (16336 111 Avenue) early in January. Churros King (10152A 82 Avenue) also closed, to be replaced by a cupcake store (see below).
  • Speaking of cupcakes, Whimsical Cupcakes will be offering cupcake and cake decorating classes.
  • The Journal reviewed Savour Divino on Saturday, and gave it a positive rating. The restaurant is hosting an open house and gala on February 10 at 5:30pm.
  • The Globe awarded Daniel Boulud’s incarnation of Lumiere in Vancouver a glowing review last week.
  • If anyone were to make me Twitter more, it would be Ruth Reichl.
  • This site will either make you hungry or want to hurl.
  • And onto thoughtfully-prepared food, via Urban Diner, AnnaTheRed’s beautiful bento boxes, including my favourite – a Wall-E inspired sandwich and a farm scene.
  • This is a cute way of seeing what to eat that’s in season in New York – a local foods wheel. Alberta has a Savour Regional Flavour Seasonal Fresh Food Guide, but it’s really not the same.
  • On a dinner break at the food security conference a week ago, I headed to Quan’s Cafe (11148 142 Street NW) across the street for a bite to eat. It turns out they are only open for take-out from 4-6pm, so I had to grab my pho and eat, inconspicuously in a coffee shop. It was to determine from styrofoam containers whether or not the soup is worth returning for (particularly because their hours of operation are so tight), but I do like the interior at the very least.

 

Quan’s Cafe interior

  • Has anyone else ever had the fruit flan from Sunterra? I heart the chocolate-coated shortbread crust so light, it almost tastes like a meringue.

 

Fruit Flan from Sunterra

  • Very Eater of us, but we couldn’t resist taking a photo of the exterior of the “CUPCAKES coming soon” sign (in the location that formerly housed Churros King in Old Strathcona). It’s really about time a cupcakes store made it to Whyte Avenue – Calgary’s 17th Avenue equivalent has two, maybe more. Mack’s photo even made it onto Cupcakes Takes the Cake!

 

Coming soon!

Inexpensive Stopover: Kim Tuyet

I’ve mentioned in the past that an unintended benefit of changing office locations is being able to explore a new culinary neighbourhood. In my current case, that neighbourhood is the nearby Chinatown.

I crossed the street from my usual banh mi place, Nhon Hoa 2 on 97th Street and found myself at Kim Tuyet (10645 97 Street NW), another tiny little Vietnamese sub shop. Unlike Nhon Hoa (and really, more ideal for me, particularly in the winter), Kim Tuyet is equipped with two tables for those wanting to eat in. The glass-topped tables and Ikea-like chairs reminded me of the furnishings at The Dawg Father, though slightly less stable. They did serve their purpose though.

I scrutinized their menu for just a second before deciding on the Beef Sub ($4.25), as they did not have the shredded pork version that I typically order at Nhon Hoa. The friendly lady microwaved a bowl of sliced beef, and layered it, along with pickled carrots, cucumber, and cilantro onto a warmed baguette.

The cucumber unfortunately looked like it had been sitting out for quite some time, but other than that, the sliced sub looked perfectly good to eat. The beef, which had been lovingly slow-roasted, was tender and complemented the fixings quite well. The culmination of flavours – the slightly tangy carrots, savoury beef, and fresh punch of cilantro, was, as usual, satisfyingly tasty.

 

Banh mi with beef

Less than a dollar more than my usual sub at Nhon Hoa, I’d be willing to make the switch, particularly on days when take-out is a less desirable option.

Kim Tuyet
10645 97 Street NW
(780) 990-9600
Monday-Saturday 8:30am-7pm, Sunday 10am-6pm

5th Quarterly Royal Bison Craft & Art Fair

In the same way that farmers’ markets are rising in popularity because of the public’s interest in supporting local farmers, so are arts and crafts fairs that showcase the wares of area artists. I’d been meaning to stop at the quarterly Royal Bison Craft & Art Fair for some time, and finally had the opportunity to do so on Saturday.

Royal Bison Craft & Art Fair

We paid our $2 admission at the door of the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Venue (when did they change the name from Cosmopolitan Music Society?), and entered a small room to the left where a handful of tables were set up. We were expecting a lot more vendors, but thankfully, we found out there was a second larger room on the other side.

Room #2

As a whole, the fair was a lot smaller than the Holiday Stop and Shop I visited in November, but had representation from very similar vendors selling clothing, records, jewellery, cards, and decor items. I was tempted by a few items, including a tongue-in-cheek game called “Leaving Edmonton” by Adam Waldron-Blain, where the objective is to collect enough cards to allow the player to leave the city, and delicate purses made from the covers rescued from old hardcover books. We also found out about a new locally-published magazine called Display, which will feature only-Canadian content (when we asked the person about Display, she asked, “Are you creatives?” I’ve never heard that before). Flipping through the first issue, there was a story about Edmonton jewellery designers Twee, among others.

We ended up picking up a Jam Story poster (too cute) and a set of Gabe Wong’s Blockheads – “Humanoid Paper Toys”, as it is written on the package. I know I do have to show restraint at these fairs, and typically only buy one or two things, or gifts to give away. If you haven’t been to one of these craft fairs, I would encourage you to keep an eye out for the next one – a world of unique gifts await.

Netty likes Jam

“A Very Sexy Party” at Eden Lilly

There was an intriguing invitation to something billed as “a very sexy party” in the latest Kerstin’s Chocolates newsletter I was sent last week. “A collective of likeminded business who like to have fun would like to invite you to share in something chic,” it went on. Among the businesses were Kerstin’s, Leva, Elegant Touches, To Be in Pictures, and Eden Lilly, where the party was to be held. Food and drink were to be expected, but beyond that, I didn’t know what to anticipate. Mack agreed to come with me, and off to Whyte Ave we went on Friday night.

I think the party was most interesting to me because the collective was outside of any established group, such as Keep Edmonton Original or Original Fare, but in my mind, was a great way to cross-promote each other.

When we arrived, we were greeted by someone at the door who checked our name off the guest list (150 people were anticipated, we were told later), and given two drink tickets. Cosmopolitans, wine, and beer were available, and we happily imbibed.

With my Cosmo

Eden Lilly was definitely not meant to house large groups of people for any lengthy period of time (the space was rather stuffy and humid by the end of our stay), but the organizers had done a great job in setting the atmosphere. A DJ had set up shop at the cash counter (which answered my question of whether or not we would be asked to buy anything), the lighting was perfect for a cocktail party, and beautiful flower arrangements were scattered on tables throughout the store.

The spread (containing a divine baked brie)

Kerstin’s had provided the chocolate for a self-serve fondue station, which involved dipping raisin bread into rich chocolate, then coating it with a choice of cocoa nibs. Yum!

Mack tests the fondue

We caught up with Roz from Eden Lilly later on in the night, and asked her what inspired the group to come up with such a unique event. She mentioned that customer appreciation was one factor, but also, as all of the businesses had similar goals (and likely similar clientele), that it was a good opportunity to host an event together.

Thanks to everyone involved for organizing a great party! I hope there are similar events in the future.

A Welcome Downtown Additon: Xtreme Asian Fusion

Being the avid diner that I am, when meeting up with friends for lunch, I am usually tasked with choosing the restaurant. Accommodating tastes and budgets are one thing, but the one-hour lunch in particular is always a challenging but fun obstacle to tackle, especially when location, a need for parking, and expediency are factors. Of course, my hunger to try new establishments is also a hurdle, albeit a personal one.

On Thursday, my friend agreed on my pick of Xtreme Asian Fusion (10508 101 Street), which seemed to satisfy all of the criteria. Speed was the only “X” factor (heh), but she and I were willing to take the risk. She picked me up and we parked in a row of free one-hour parking spots, and walked past my old volunteer haunt of the Boyle Street Co-op to reach the front doors of the restaurant. The location might seem a bit intimidating, but it really shouldn’t be a deterrent for anyone thinking about visiting the eatery.

The interior of the restaurant seems to fall in line with so many newly-opened or renovated Asian establishments that toe the line when it comes to minimalist décor and carefully chosen accent pieces. Xtreme’s design touches were light but well-chosen – paper lamps graced the ceiling, while interesting gold and metal wall hangings were attractive without being overbearing.

Interior

While the menu didn’t scream fusion to me, it did have the pan-Asian representation of both Vietnamese and Chinese dishes I’ve come to anticipate from a restaurant trying to appeal to a more Western palate. My friend and I both angled for the exact same Pad Thai dish ($11.95), which contained egg, shrimp, tofu and bean sprouts, among other things.

The service was great throughout – gracious and attentive, though the server who ended up delivering our dishes was definitely a bit of a showboat. As he was an older gentleman, it was actually quite endearing.

In no time at all, our plates arrived, with a smidgen of fanfare by our busperson. I’m not sure why we were floored by this, as there were only two other parties in the restaurant at that time, but we were duly impressed. Our plates were garnished with at least a half cup of chopped peanuts, much to my inner nut lover’s delight, along with quite a generous handful of shrimp. The heat in the dish was nice – contained, but enough spice to elevate the dish above bland. We had more than enough for lunch, and both ended up taking half our portions away with us. Our only complaint was that the noodles were too dry – water ended up being a necessary accompaniment.

Pad Thai

My friend wanted to make the most of our visit and try dessert as well, so we decided to share a plate of deep fried bananas ($4.95). Our final dish arrived, decorated with dollops of whipped cream, a healthy drizzle of chocolate sauce, and bite-sized morsels of the main star. My friend liked it, as it wasn’t overly sweet, and I found the batter nice and light. It did result in a rather sleepy afternoon, but I couldn’t complain.

 

Deep Fried Bananas

I asked our server if they were busy in the evenings, and he said no, something to be expected given the location. At the same time, he was optimistic that with the completion of the Epcor Tower in a few years, business would pick up. I hope Xtreme is able to bridge the tide – their efficiency and solid fare is a welcome sit-down addition to the downtown core.

Xtreme Asian Fusion
10508 101 Street NW
(780) 413-3338
Daily 11am-10pm, except Fridays and Saturdays 11am-11pm