Category: food

Fast and Filling: Mucho Burrito

A day off from work became my errand day, and I was finally able to finish my Christmas shopping (too late in the year for me, particularly because I am the type to stockpile presents throughout the year). At any rate, the weekday freedom meant I could meet Mack for lunch, so we decided to take the time to try out Mucho Burrito (10124 109 Street NW), a relatively new addition to the 109th Street complex.

I was expecting a similar meal experience to the one I had at Taco del Mar a few months back, a franchised chain that started popping up all over the city in the last two years. On the outset, the two eateries didn’t seem to be too different – a long ordering counter took up half of the space, while basic metal-framed tables meant not for lingering filled up the rest of the area. Mucho Burrito was decidedly less kitschy décor-wise (no tiki-bar or neon signs to be had here), but the playful posters (one featuring an oversized burrito on a forklift) reminded me very much of Famoso’s early wall coverings. Their overhead LCD screens, though notable, were unfortunately out of focus as they cycled through in-house advertisements.

We joined the line – which didn’t let-up through our brief stay, even though it was after 1pm – and were greeted by indifferent but amazingly efficient staff. They had their assembly line roles down pat, and whisked us through the ordering process in minutes.

This new breed of taco stand separates itself from their fast food cousins by offering choice at every turn – from the white or whole-wheat tortilla, to brown or black beans, to chicken, beef, or vegetarian filling, to supplementary sauces and toppings, the price reflects the approach to a custom order. My small burrito, Burrito Pequeno, was priced at $6.99, while Mack’s namesake Mucho Burrito was $10.99 – we were definitely out of value menu territory.

Down the assembly line we went – I chose a white tortilla, brown beans, beef and cilantro to accompany the lime rice, cheese and salsa base. We each ended up with a perfectly wrapped burrito in an aluminium pizza pan, a practical alternative to plastic trays, as Mack’s bottle of pop was better restricted from rolling off onto the floor.

Aluminium tray alternative

We sat down at a table and dug in. The combination of all flavours together – the smoky chipotle sauce, the tang of the lime rice, the juicy, savoury shards of braised beef, and the freshness of the cilantro – really sold the burrito for me. Mack could barely get his mouth around his burrito (easily double the size of mine), but gave it a thumbs up as well – he was full for hours afterwards. Of course, for $11, his hunger should have definitely been addressed.

Mack takes a bite out of his burrito

Mucho Burrito

Burrito Pequeno

In all, Mucho Burrito provided a satisfying lunch, and a meal that was much better than one we had obtained at Taco del Mar. Ideal for take-out or a quick stop, while not inexpensive, Mucho Burrito was both fast and filling.

Mucho Burrito
10124 109 Street NW (2 more locations in Edmonton coming soon)
(780) 429-4220
Daily 11am-9pm

The Cooking Chronicles: Roasted Salmon with Roasted Tomatoes

I had my eye on Dave Lieberman’s recipe for Roasted Salmon with Roasted Tomatoes for some time, but forgot about it after a bout with a bad cold. I was finally organized enough to buy the ingredients needed earlier this week, and pulled it together in no time at all.

The salmon was flavoured with nothing more than salt, pepper, fresh dill, and a squeeze of lemon, and the roasted tomatoes with olive oil, dried oregano (instead of fresh thyme) and salt and pepper to taste.

For such a simple recipe, the fish tasted great – perfectly cooked, and complemented the sweet roma tomatoes well. I served the fish with some creamy rice to round out a weekday meal, but the recipe would translate well for entertaining as well, jazzed up with some risotto. It’s definitely a keeper!

Roasted Salmon with Roasted Tomatoes

Food Notes

  • My latest Vue Weekly article, a profile on the man behind Origin India, Arvind Sawhney, was published last week. It’s also important to know that the restaurant offers wine pairings with their food. I reviewed the restaurant (albeit the buffet and not the recommended a la carte) back in October.
  • Courtney of Take it and Like it reviewed her recent experience at the fairly new Kai Asian Grill – it seems to be on par with other casual upscale chains in the city.
  • From Mack: Wildflower Grill made it onto Where Magazine’s annual tally of the 10 best new restaurants in Canada. See the entire list here.
  • The “oldest wine festival in Calgary” is coming to Edmonton – Winefest, on February 28 at the Shaw Conference Centre.
  • Walter Schwabe, one of Mack’s colleagues, launched the fusedlogic Food Bank Challenge last week. The goal is to have one million pictures of one million Food Bank donations by next December.
  • Information about the Food Security Conference on January 29-31, organized by the Edmonton Food Security Network, was released this week – the schedule of sessions looks great!
  • On a related note, the theme of International Week 2009 is food: “Hungry for change: Transcending Feast, Famine and Frenzy”. It should be a good event, as usual.
  • According to Canwest, the latest incarnation of Family Restaurant, a reality-show that focuses on a family-run establishment, will debut on January 8. As I mentioned a few months back, the family behind The Lingnan and Chicken for Lunch will be showcased.
  • On the topic of Food Network, I have to say that the cheesy Food Network Holiday Special, that saw a number of Canada’s celebrity chefs “get together” to cook got to me. It was staged, but still cool to see them interact. Also, I may finally be jumping on the Top Chef bandwagon. Foodie Suz wrote about her love for the show earlier this week; I’ve caught a few episodes of the season here and there (my interest being more on the side of the NY location than the competition itself), but the individual personalities involved, and the cooking challenges have been quite enthralling.
  • Starbucks will be debuting a new line of tea lattes in January. What happened to the coffee focus?
  • For all the accolades given for positive accomplishments, how about a negative one: Eater just rounded up its search for the worst food porn on the internet. Take a look and judge for yourself.
  • If you’ve ever called someone “beefy”, here’s the perfect gift for them – meat-scented spray from Burger King.
  • I bought a cute little jar of Chicken Curry spice mixture from a coworker last week, with all proceeds going to an orphanage near Mumbai. Using the mixture, I of course decided to deviate from the recipe attached and use rotisserie chicken (instead of uncooked meat) to cut down on the cooking time, and added a can of diced tomatoes. As a result, the curry flavour was weaker than it was probably supposed to be, and the chicken was unfortunately dry. Guess I need to be reminded to follow instructions closely.

 

Mrs. Susannah John’s Chicken Curry mixture 

  • I raided my emergency food drawer at work, on a particularly hungry afternoon. This ended up in my first encounter with microwavable Kraft Dinner in a cup. Thankfully, the sauce thickened up a bit after the following photo was taken, but I’m not sure I will buy it again – the styrofoam-like cup didn’t seem to be able to stand the heat of the microwave.

 

Microwavable Kraft Dinner

  • The franchised Sbarro replaced the family-run Italian fast food  outlet (whose name escapes me) in Edmonton City Centre a few months ago. I tried their lasagna ($4.79), but it just wasn’t the same (or as inexpensive) as what I had been used to.

 

Lasagna from Sbarro

Short but Sweet: The Bison Restaurant & Lounge

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, I was in Banff, AB for CanUX 2008. I had a great time and learned a lot. One of the best parts about the event was that all expenses were included – registration, lodging, and meals. We ate our meals at the restaurant at The Banff Centre except dinner on the last day, which was not included. I decided to take advantage of that and stopped The Bison Restaurant & Lounge on my way out of town. Sharon had recommended it to me in case I had time to visit a local establishment.

The restaurant is located on the second floor of the building, with the Mountain Bistro General Store underneath. Much of the building was closed for renovations at the time, but fortunately the restaurant was still open. I climbed the wooden staircase and was warmly greeted and immediately seated in the nearly empty restaurant (there were a handful of people in the lounge).

My waiter was attentive during my short stay, but not overly so. He answered all of my questions, but mostly left me to scope out the coppered kitchen and surf on my iPod touch (there was open wireless nearby). I would describe the interior of the dining room as sophisticated, with dark wooden tables and chairs, wine glasses at every table, and funky dim lighting.

I looked through the menu, including the “local for locals” insert, and eventually decided upon one of the wood fired pizzas. I chose the Smoked Bison, Caramelized Onions, Edamame, and Fresh Mozzarella pizza for $17. I wasn’t overly hungry, but the waiter assured me that the pizza was a good size for one person. He was right.

I didn’t have to wait long for my pizza to arrive. It tasted just as good as it looked! I thought the smoked bison together with the fresh mozzarella was the best part. The caramelized onions seemed to disappear in comparison, and the firm edamame beans didn’t quite fit with the rest of the pizza though they tasted fine. I thoroughly enjoyed the dish.

I’d love to take Sharon to The Bison to try one of their more interesting dishes next time! I think she’d really like it. If you’re looking for something unique in Banff, give The Bison a try.

Bison Restaurant & Lounge
The Bison Courtyard 213
211 Bear Street, Banff, AB
(403) 762-5550
Monday-Friday, 5pm-10pm, Saturday-Sunday, 10am-10pm

The Cooking Chronicles: Chocolate Truffles

Mack’s Grandma mentioned a while back that she liked chocolate truffles, so I thought this season would be a good time to try out the recipe I picked up at the Truffology 101 session I attended a few weeks back.

I bought milk chocolate callebaut chunks at Save-On-Foods, along with a bulk container of golden syrup. I measured out the ingredients on a small baking scale I have at home, and prepared the ganache as directed. I covered the resulting mixture with saran wrap and placed it in the fridge to cool overnight.

In the morning, I pulled out the glass bowl to discover that the mixture hadn’t really solidified into the clay-like consistency I was expecting – it was more like a thick syrup. As a result, I spread the mixture out onto a sheet pan, and put it in our equivalent of a “blast chiller” – out on our back step, hoping the –25 weather would help matters. Half an hour later, the mixture still hadn’t congealed to the necessary thickness. I did some digging on the internet, and found that the substitution of golden in place of corn syrup may have been the problem, though our scale was another potential point of failure.

My Mum, always quick on her feet, suggested that we mix in Oreo cookie crumbs to serve as a binder. While it helped somewhat, the “truffles” still didn’t quite hold their shape, and the dry crumbs made coating the external layer with cocoa, confectioner’s sugar, coconut, or sprinkles a little difficult. The final product, though less attractive than the truffles I had put together during the session, were a nice treat, as they had the added texture of crushed cookies in the mix. We put together enough to fill a small box, and poured the rest of the ganache into a freezer bag.

 

Chocolate Truffles

Other failed attempts as reported on the internet resulted in people having a ready-made fondue base, or at the very least, frosting for a future cake. So the bag I now have in the freezer will serve some concrete purpose at some point, in addition to reminding me never to use golden syrup in place of its corn-based counterpart.

A Cold but Tasty Reception: Thai Valley Grill

Annie introduced me to Thai Valley Grill (149-4211 106 Street NW) on Friday night, a tiny eatery tucked right next to the Whitemud Crossing Library. Located near her school, she had been to the restaurant once, and was eager to see what else they had to offer.

I didn’t expect the establishment to be busy, but it was packed during our entire visit. To be fair, Thai Valley seats around forty patrons, but the majority of diners who entered had the air of regulars, a sign of a healthy business. The decor reminded me of a charming French bistro – nice tapestry curtains, forest green carpet and ceiling, and worn, slightly mismatched wooden furniture. All in all, a comfortable setting for the evening. My only qualm with our table was its proximity to the door – on that cold winter night, we were reminded of just how chilly it was outside every time new customers arrived. I felt even worse for the couple seated right next to the door, as they kept their coats on for their entire meal.

The menu had a sense of humour to it, rarely encountered in the Edmonton restaurant scene: “Our dishes can be tempered to your taste, mild, medium or hot, even Thai Style if you dare!!! Fire extinguishers are available and include milk, bananas and slices of cucumbers. Speedy delivery costs extra. If all else fails, we have an assortment of ice cream.” Both Annie and I decided on the Pad Thai ($12.95), Thai style stir fried rice stick noodles with shrimp, chicken, bean curd, green onion, bean sprouts, roasted peanuts and egg.

Annie told me that the kitchen had been slow during her last visit, so we were both surprised when our dishes were delivered fairly promptly. The lettuce and carved carrot garnish were nice touches, and made up for the use of plain white china (compared with some other Thai eateries in the city). Our plates came with a small vessel of dried pepper flakes for us to add to taste, but I was fine with the semi-sweet sauce that thoroughly coated the noodles. I appreciated the liberal quantity of green onions included, which provided a crunchy boost, but I wished for more tofu and larger shrimp. While the dish wasn’t as flavourful as Syphay or Bua Thai‘s version, it was pretty good as a whole.

Pad Thai

Annie opted for a sweet ending for the meal, and ordered the mango with sticky rice ($5.95). Garnished with whipped cream, mango syrup and a cherry, the dish was nicely presented on a square plate. For someone who doesn’t really enjoy mango, I have to say, the combination of the warm, chewy rice with the ripe fruit was actually quite tasty.

Mango with Sticky Rice

Thai Valley Grill provides a nice refuge from “mall food” for those at the nearby Southgate Shopping Centre, or a low-key, comfortable venue for a small party. But to be on the safe side, make sure to call ahead for reservations first.

Thai Valley Grill
149-4211 106 Street NW
(780) 413-9556
Lunch: Monday-Friday 11:30am-2pm; Dinner: Sunday-Thursday 4-9pm, Friday-Saturday 4-10pm
Appetizers $4.95-13.95, Entrees $11.95-17.95, Dessert $3.95-5.95

The Cooking Chronicles: Toasted Party Nuts and Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

I usually stick with tried and true recipes for my holiday baking regime (I’m partial to the festive appearance of Mini Linzer Cookies), but for one couple, I had to cater the recipe to their dietary needs. Thankfully, a trip to the library wasn’t in vain, and I found two recipes that would work well – Toasted Party Nuts and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

The first recipe was quick to execute, and made my kitchen smell absolutely divine – I heated oil and a spice mixture containing cumin, cayenne pepper, ginger powder, cinnamon and onion salt over the stove, then tossed it with a cup each of pecans and almonds. After fifteen minutes in the oven, topped with some kosher salt, they were done. While the spices aren’t immediately discernable, they kick in as an aftertaste. More than anything, I’d be likely to pop these in the oven before guests arrive just for the aroma; “essential oil” air fresheners don’t hold a candle to the real thing, heh.

Toasted Party Nuts

As for the cookies, I didn’t have raisins on hand, but the cranberry substitution I used worked nicely with the applesauce added to decrease the overall amount of sugar needed. The recipe asked for the oats to be toasted (and cooled) prior to incorporation with the batter, which was an extra step that I wasn’t sure I could taste in the final product. Overall, they were a lighter, less saccharine cookie than I am used to – the only downside was that the reduced fat and sugar content meant the cookies keep for a very short period of time.

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

The preliminary comments from the gift receivers were positive ones, so I may end up making up more batches of both recipes.

Not my Slice of Pizza: Santo’s Pizza and Steak

Our work team was fortunate enough to be treated to lunch this week at Little Italy’s Santo’s Pizza & Steak (10821 95 Street NW). It seems Santo’s was the designated backup, as Sorrentino’s couldn’t accommodate our group of twelve. At any rate, I enjoy any opportunity to try a restaurant off-the-beaten path, particularly one I likely would have never stumbled upon on my own accord.

Just before noon, the lounge we passed by on our way to the dining room was busy serving a few patrons who definitely seemed to be regulars. The dining room itself was quite small; our party literally took up half of the space. A short while later, another large party was seated directly behind us. It turned out to be a rather unfortunate placement for the waitress – more than a few coats were knocked off chairs as a result, and required her to do quite a bit of maneuvering to get through the tight space between. She did an admirable job overall of catering to refill requests despite this inconvenience, particularly as she was the lone staff member on the floor.

The menu seemed to focus on pizzas and pastas, though to be fair, a number of sandwiches and entrees also occupied some real estate. The Meat Lovers pizza ($12.65) with beef, ham, pepperoni, salami and sausage ended up winning my order, mostly because I just had pasta for dinner the night prior.

Though not quick, I would give the kitchen credit for handling our meals in a fairly efficient manner. I would imagine the delay in the delivery of some dishes was handicapped more by the fact that there was just one waitress available.

For the record, the 12 inch pizza was big enough to provide me with lunch for an additional two days. However, as quality wins over quantity most times, I have to say I was disappointed with the product. There was a tad too much tomato base, resulting in a tangy taste that didn’t complement the salty slices of meat. The crust was also sub-par – it retained its crunch, but wasn’t anything special. Having munched my way through many a pizza, I think I like my crust in one of two ways – thin and chewy, a la Famoso, or just full-on greasy, as served at Pizza Hut. The varying medium ground just doesn’t appeal to me.

 

Meat Lovers Pizza

On a side note – while I didn’t get to try the cappuccino first hand, a workmate said it was the best she’d ever had. Perhaps that would be worth a return trip.

While a work lunch is a poor way to judge a restaurant, at least I know Santo’s doesn’t meet my pizza standard.

Santo’s Pizza & Steak
10821 95 Street NW
(780) 421-1507

Food Notes

  • I’m always happy when restaurant websites actually have content on them. So much so that it’s definitely something to note – welcome, Silk Hat, to the blogosphere!
  • The Journal reviewed the random Rice Bowl Express (8926 149 Street) on the weekend.
  • There was recent chatter on Chowhound about the whether or not the west end Julio’s Barrios has closed. Based on their website, and the listed locations, it looks like it is.
  • Via Loosen Your Belt and Eat Around Edmonton, I learned that the space that was formerly Cafe Select on the southside will become a second Original Joe’s outpost.
  • On the topic of blogs, I’ve noticed that the last few local food blogs that have come up are authored by duos. I wonder if this is a trend on the writing side of things – to offer multiple perspectives while splitting a time-consuming task.
  • Sobeys is pushing consumers to think about having lobster in place of turkey at Christmas this year. I have to say, seafood just doesn’t convey the holidays to me as much as poultry.
  • I’m pretty hard on most chain restaurants (particularly those selling the “upscale casual” idea), but some do escape my wrath. Milestones (1708 99 Street), for example, does a decent brunch, which I have written about in the past. Mack and I took his Grandma there prior to a movie this weekend. The menu has changed slightly since I had been there before, but the Prime Rib Hash ($12.95) looked good to me: slow roasted and thinly sliced prime rib tossed with crispy potatoes, bell peppers, sweet onion, roasted corn in our specialty hash seasoning, then topped with two poached eggs, real hollandaise, roma tomatoes and grilled herb toast. While it was all right, I probably should have gone with the no-fail Strawberry French Toast, which Mack’s Grandma ordered, as the kitchen was light on the prime rib, and the sauce flavouring the tomatoes was much too sweet.

 

Prime Rib Hash – so much food!

 

Strawberry French Toast

Grilled Shrimp California Benedict

  • Mack and I also stopped by the Vue Weekly Christmas party on Saturday, where we met Hanne and Carlo from Supper In Stereo (Hanne is also a fellow writer in the Dish section). It’s always lovely to finally meet people you’ve been reading online for some time.

 

The spread (half eaten) at Vue’s shindig

Nothing Out of the Ordinary: Hoa An

There seem to be a never-ending stream of restaurants in Chinatown that arise out of nowhere, begging to be tried. Hoa An (9653 107 Avenue) was such a place, and I chose it for a weekday lunch destination.

It turned out Dickson had already been there, but didn’t know it until we were right in front of the restaurant. Next to the popular grocer Lucky 97, it seemed to blend in with the surroundings of the hub, with all traffic in the area seemingly drawn to the always bustling parking lot in front of the store.

At any rate, walking into the restaurant, we were immediately directed by someone to a table along one wall. Hoa An was moderately busy, with more than a handful of parties either already in the midst of their food, or waiting patiently for their orders to arrive. The overwhelmingly pink interior was an interesting color scheme, but overall, I couldn’t complain much about the well-kept dining area.

The menu, which included stir-fried dishes and a variety of noodle and vermicelli bowls, didn’t highlight anything out of the ordinary, though I likely wouldn’t have considered any dishes other than pho that afternoon anyway. I zeroed in on #35, with well-done flank ($7.35), while Dickson opted for the more interesting rare steak, well-done flank, brisket and tripe ($7.35).

In a lightning quick fashion similar to Pho Hoa and Pho Tau Bay, our orders were delivered after a short five minute wait. We both commented that the portion size seemed smaller than those served at other restaurants (notably, Pagolac), and that the broth wasn’t as hot as we would have liked. That said, I’m starting to think that trying to sway me from my current pho favourites would be next to impossible. Even though I would never be able to accurately identify, in a blind taste test, the restaurant origin of a bowl of pho, unless a serving knocks my socks off (in a good way), I doubt any new places I experiment with will replace my love of Pagolac and Hoang Long. The memories in this case of the times and meals I have had at those restaurants ultimately take precedent over the minute quality differences that may be noted in the food.

Pho with well-done flank

Pho with rare steak, well-done flank, brisket and tripe

So though Hoa An is reasonably priced and fast, I hesitate to say I’ll be back often. Hoang Long offers a closer stop from work, and the southside Pagolac a comfortably familiar setting.

Hoa An
9653 107 Avenue
(780) 425-6021