Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Indian in Montreal.

We were less picky with our restuarant choice tonight as it was lashing down with rain and rather chilly outside! After a few were rejected we ducked into this Indian restuarant as much for shelter as for food in all honesty. And so dinner at the 'Star of India' happened. 

In typical fashion we ordered way too much food in the name of wanting to try some of everything. Needless to say lunch for tomorrow is covered with left overs! I was extremely content dipping freshly made breads (naan and chipati) into the curry sauces. Sauces being a madras (on chicken) and a spinach (on lamb). The vegetable curry had some of everything in it, literally, including corns kernels and cabbage! My absolute favourite part was sharing a kulfi at the end, which is an Indian ice cream. Basically a plain ice cream that has mango pulp in it and pistachios, yum yum yum!

Italian in Montreal.

So it's dinner time on our first night in Montreal and I have a specific food in mind. If I were at home I would have made myself pasta with a rose sauce, with mushrooms and spinach in it. We set off in search of a hopeful whereabouts and end up in 'Guido and Angelinas', which is close to the hotel and serves Italian. Unfortunately as I scour the menu I cannot find exactly what I am looking for, a problem that is somewhat common when you actually spend time envisaging food and listening to your cravings! Anyway, driven by a fear of irritating my husband as I have spent 10minutes going over and over the menu, I decide on a salad and a pasta that will hopefully hit all the right spots and it doesn't disappoint! (There is also the fear of irritating him when I do order food and am sorely, and very vocally, disappointed! P.S. Fear is the wrong word, but I'll stick with it anyway!).

The spinach salad was so lightly and freshly dressed that it let the ingredients do all the talking whilst keeping it all together perfectly. The goat cheese was like none I have tasted before, in big 'crumbles' and very creamy. The sun dried tomatoes weren't over powering and the toasted almonds gave a lovely crunch.  Mushroom and spinach craving satisfied!

I then had a very simple pasta with a rose and vodka sauce with cracked black pepper. It was just what I was hoping it would be. The sauce tasted like my Mum's home made cream of tomato soup, which is a good sign, as it just has tomatoes and cream in it! Very light, very flavourful.

I noticed a cabernet sauvignon sorbet on the dessert menu, which sounded amazing with the 'fruity undertones' but that will have to be for another day...

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Keg and cake!

Was at The Keg with friends from out of town tonight...how devine are the garlic baked shrimp!? But then, what isn't devine with all that garlic, butter and cheese?! Good job it is a rare dining experience.

Came across a flyer for a bakery recently and I was gripped by the menu immediately. It is called 'For the love of cake', the website is http://www.fortheloveofcake.ca/, definitely worth checking out even if you aren't local, just reading the descriptions of the dozens of cupcakes they make could brighten your day! Japanese Ginger, with plum sake reduction, Salted Caramel, Guiness Chocolate and Tiramisu to name a few, they even do some gluten free.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Funky Monkey milkshake.

Last night I had a hankering for dessert and decided to make a milkshake. Using 1 banana, 1/2-3/4cup chocolate ice cream, 2-3cups milk, 2tbsp Amarula and a blender, dessert was made! Pour over ice in 2 tumblers and enjoy!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

'Indonesian Satay' Curry with chicken, onions, mushrooms, green beans and bamboo shoots served on quinoa.

So the curry turned out just as I was dreaming of! Lots of crunch and full of flavour.

Picked up the latest 'Food & Drink' magazine, wow! I want the White Hot Chocolate with Amaretto right now! And I think the Fingerling Potatoes with Mushrooms and Stilton is the perfect way to use up the rest of my blue cheese.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Pineapple for breakfast and thoughts of dinner already.

Nothing like fresh pineapple for breakfast! Don't eat the canned stuff, it doesn't even taste like real pineapple, and don't be intimidated by the ones still in their skin with scary spiky leaves either! Letting it ripen and cutting it up yourself is the way to go, even if buying it ready cored and cut seems easier.  It's also cheaper this way. A pineapple is ripe when you can smell 'pineapple' at the base, and if a leaf comes out easily when you gently tug on it. If you have yank it out, it isn't ready yet. Leave it on your windowsill until it is ready, sometimes this can take several days.

Lay it on its side and cut the top and bottom off, then stand it back upright. Starting at the top, cut sections of the skin off, curving your knife with the shape of the pineapple. You will need a fairly large knife for this. Work your way around in small sections . If there are any little dark rings or spikes left, use a smaller knife and remove them. You want to cut the two sides away from the core, cut about half a centimetre either side of the visible core circle and you should avoid the hard centre piece. Then lay the remaining rectangle down and cut the other two small sides away from the core. You can then cube it and have it ready to eat in a container. I remember asking my Mum, when I was growing up in Zambia, if I could eat the core when she was cutting one up for fruit salad, like you would ask to lick the baking spoon (which I did also!). She assured me it wasn't very nice, but I ate it non-the-less. Still tastes the same, just not as strong, and very chewy. You may notice the pineapple has a different colour at the bottom compared to the top - it ripens from the bottom up, so the bottom could be a deeper colour and sweeter. If you have left the pineapple until it is almost too ripe, separate the bottom from the top and eat that first. I will cube the top part first and just have the bottom part on the top of the bowl so as to eat it first.

This morning I had my pineapple with blueberries, thick Mediterranean yoghurt (with strawberries in it) and home made granola. It was wonderful. I had a glass of berry smoothie on the side, which I tipped the last bit of into my breakfast bowl and mushed it all together! My husband thinks this is disgusting, but it tastes lovely.

Am making a Thai curry tonight. Well, after I open a jar of lovely Sharwoods 'Indonesian Satay Sauce' I will make it all my own thank you very much! I use boneless skinless chicken thighs as they are far more moist than chicken breast meat, and cheaper. You can add any manner of things to make it delicious, including peppers, mushrooms, beans, sprouts, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, zucchini, onions. It can be beautifully colourful with yellow zucchini, red peppers, green beans and some good textures from shoots and sprouts. You can also stretch the sauce with a can of coconut milk. Tonight I am going with what I have at home; green beans, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and onions. Looking forward to the creaminess of the coconut, the nutty flavour and the kick of the chillies! It works well as a vegetarian dish too, minus the chicken, you can have as many veggies in it as you like, there are already peanuts in the sauce and you can add further nuts such as almonds at the end. Now to decide whether to have it on rice or quinoa?

Monday, November 22, 2010

Roasted pumpkin and apple soup, blue cheese and crusty baguette.


Yummy soup for dinner! I am not a huge fan of pumpkin to be honest, but when it is roasted it is completely different, especially with some garlic and seasoning! The soup has a lovely caramelised flavour from the roasted pumpkin, and a tartness from the apples, the rosemary takes it to another level! And everything tastes good with garlic in it!

I had been thinking about blue cheese this afternoon and inevitably ended up going looking for some.  I was looking for St. Agur, but Leslieville Cheese Market didn't have any, and recommended Crozier Blue instead, devine! I did some research on it, and it is of Irish origin, and made with sheeps milk, and, like St. Agur, is a milder blue cheese of a creamy nature. People who don't like blue cheese, or think they don't like it, should definitely try these milder/creamier versions. I ate mine with a crusty baguette along with the soup. Mmmmmmm! Blue cheese also works well in salads, say leafy greens with pears and walnuts, crumbled in soups for a flavour burst, or even crumbled over a steak.

The pineapple on my windowsill is ripe, I am looking forward to cutting it up for breakfast, with granola and yoghurt.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Culinary musings of a housewife - First blog entry.

I have finally decided to write about the food I am shopping for, making, eating, or thinking about making. It could be classed as a small obsession, but I am always planning meals, looking forward to eating/serving them, guessing what is in a dish and analysing food. Writing about it seems a natural progression.

This afternoon there was a flurry of activity in my kitchen as I baked some muffins, made egg mayonnaise and soup, as well as got things ready for dinner. The egg mayonnaise has finely chopped celery, chives and fresh cracked pepper in it. I have pumpernickle bread with rye meal and caraway seeds to make sandwiches with. I started getting the house looking 'Christmassy' and decided that the minature pumpkins decorating my windowsill were out of place now, so they were roasted and a soup was created! It has apples, chicken stock, the roasted pumpkin flesh, garlic and rosemary in it. Having these things in the fridge is handy for lunches.

The muffins are chocolate banana chocolate chip. I normally don't have the first 'chocolate' in there but was inspired by a friends version recently. I cheat and buy muffin mixes for ease, and I mix half oatmeal and half bran packets together, then add whatever I want to them. Some yummy versions are chocolate zucchini,  sweet potato/squash and apple/raisin. I just grate the raw fruit or vegetables into the mix and you can add spices to vary it like cinnamon.

Am off to get dinner ready now, crispy baked potatoes filled with tuna mayonnaise and a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, avocado and feta. I make a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, dijon mustard and salt and pepper which has a light, fresh taste!