hot for food

Today I checked out Dufferin Grove Farmers’ Market. A year round Organic Farmer’s Market just a bit west of centre – Dufferin & Bloor. I have only shopped at a Farmer’s Market once or twice and living across the street from a Sobey’s got me feeling pretty guilty. I hate GUILT, but I’ve just finished reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma and it just got me thinking – even more than I already do – about eating organic, sustainably, and locally etc. I won’t get into it all here, but I thought I should figure out the closest option for me to buy local, organic.

The market was cute, maybe 15 vendors there today. There are 30 plus in the summer. I bought some seasonal produce for $7 – butternut squash, potatoes, yams, onions, broccoli, and carrots. I used half of this stuff tonight for dinner and it was delicious. The vegetables being noticeably more delicious than the ones I have bought at Sobey’s before.

I want to do this as often as possible and I buy organic in the grocery store as often as possible, but I can’t say I’m strict to these rules all the time. Why? I don’t know. Convenience, price… all the reasons most people don’t go to a Farmers Market or buy 100% organic. I don’t lose sleep over it at night or anything, but tonight maybe I’ll sleep just a little better.

I bought a mesh bag of 6 or so avocados, which I never do because they end up getting too ripe before I can use them all. But I was  inspired by the bag. It had a tag on it for Avocado Sorrel Soup. So I bought it with the hope that I would now have another delicious use for these things other than salad toppers and guacamole.

What is a Sorrel? A kind of herb or leafy green… I soon found out, after googling.

I certainly didn’t recognize the name or ever recall seeing it with the other greens/herbs in the grocery store. I figured I’d have to go to the fancy Fresh & Wild up the street from my new apartment to find this herb/green. Not a pleasant experience being in this highly claustrophobic grocer, and they didn’t have it anyway. So much for Fresh & WILD!

I decided to modify my Avocado Soup recipe and use Basil and Lime, and still keep the other suggested ingredients from the mesh bag tag recipe like creme fraiche in there.

So to make this incredibly delicious soup use:

2-3 ripe avocados, onion, garlic, olive oil, creme fraiche, fresh squeezed lime juice, fresh basil leaves, vegetable stock, salt & pepper to taste, top with corn chips.

Sautee the onions in a good amount of olive oil in a soup pot or dutch oven. You could also use butter instead of olive oil. Cook until they’ve sweated out a bit then add in garlic and chopped basil. Cook another 4-5 minutes and then pour this mixture into a blender with the avocados, lime juice, and vegetable stock. I just kept adding stock until I felt it was the right creamy soup consistency. I also used the juice of one whole lime for 2 1/2 avocados. Once blended and creamy I put it back in the pot to simmer a bit longer, right near the end I stirred in some creme fraiche. Serve with crunched corn chips and more pepper to taste.

This was a really yummy soup that was NOT reminiscent of eating a more liquefied guacamole, which is what I feared. I thought it was good enough to be served in a Mexican restaurant!

Browsing around looking for my avocado soup recipe I came across this amazing tip. What to use to keep the un-used half of your avocado from going brown!

I don’t like the word AMATEUR , but it appears a couple times on this website… this amazing online food blog called HungryNation. TV but on the internet. And in a lot of ways more entertaining and shot better than some network cooking shows. These are amateur cooks… or people just like you and me!

It’s refreshing to watch someone you can relate to. Not someone like Martha Stewart who you will strive your whole life to be like, but never get there, and therefore be disappointed because you’re not insanely perfect… ok sorry, I’ll stop bashing Martha. But with HungryNation and with many of the online food blogs you don’t need to feel intimidated. In fact you will feel empowered to do it too… cook, bake, even blog! I am certainly brand new to this. Not to the internet, but to sharing my “stuff” on it. I’m wordpressing, but not twittering… that’s just unnecessary.

HungryNation has a couple of cool shows, Working Class Foodies and VendrTV and I have no idea how long this internet TV site has been around, but it’s awesome. And I rarely find awesome video blogging. As I’m sure you know, there’s a lot of crappy crap out there.

My goal was to start video blogging on Hot For Food sooner, but I wanted to wait until I moved into my new apartment. Which by the way, is happening tomorrow. So stay tuned. I will have a small, but much nicer looking kitchen to work in and plenty of recipes to dish at you.

Anyway, my point is I really like this website and if for some reason someone stumbles across hot for food before HungryNation I’m just telling you to check them out.

Just wanted to share this…

Vancouver Slop asked me about my Top Slop – favourite restaurants in Vancouver – check it out here

I am waiting on the edge of my seat for The Foundation to open up here in Toronto. Unfortunately they don’t have a website but this is the Vancouver location at 2301 Main Street.

I’ve been craving their vegetarian fair for months since I moved from Vancouver. So much so that I had to try and mimic my faves at home. I just attempted my version of “A Tight Spin”, their Spinach Salad.  It’s pretty darn close, it’s just missing their signature Mango Vinaigrette. Although I’m fairly certain that if I just add some fresh mango puree to this White Wine Vinaigrette that I whipped up, it would be nearly spot on to what I get at Foundation.

The Foundation’s “A Tight Spin” Salad

Baby Spinach
Toasted, Chopped Walnuts
Crumbled Goat Cheese
Slices of RIPE Pear
Salad Dressing:
1/3 Olive Oil, 2/3 White Wine Vinegar, 1 TSP Dijon Mustard, 1 TSP Honey, salt & pepper

This basic salad dressing with a touch of honey had the right amount of sweetness to taste like the dressing The Foundation uses. Next time I’m going to puree some ripe mango and add a TBSP or 2 of that to this mix. It’s pretty easy, but the combo of fruit, nut and cheese, with the texture of spinach at its base is SO addictive!!

I totally love the magical, fantastical world that is Food Television. I’m pretty sure NO one in real life, myself included, ever looks this good while cooking. Nicely dressed up, make up done, hair perfect… oooh and don’t forget the manicure! That’s the best part. I’ve been known to cook with immaculate nails, however they never maintain themselves after all the food handling and dish washing. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if a teeny tiny chip of nail polish has ended up in something I’ve made.  Gross? Maybe. But no one on a cooking show has to do the dishes… in between their dishes… to make sure they have enough dishes! Get it.

Oh how I envy their industry standard stainless steel pots and pans, especially that double boiler and strainer built INTO the water pot! How much do you dream of having a spice wall in your kitchen? An entire portion of your work area dedicated just to spices! And what I would do to own a KitchenAid Artisan 5 Quart Stand Mixer… black please!

Man, I will probably never own one of those, ever, in life. Alas, me and you have to make due with our 5 x 5 kitchen, with no island, and a cupboard full of pans, utensils, and useless machines made of plastic that typically tumble like an avalanche when we go to get what we need.

Now, I’m not complaining. Hey I do it! I cook my way through each day, make due with what I got, and have become resourceful and creative with what I do have. I still imitate those attractive, enigmatic cooking show hosts like I did when I was 6 and I’ve learned a hell of a lot watching them.

As a kid I spent countless weekends playing “cooking show”. My sister was my assistant, and I was the star of the show! Making incredibly delectable dishes with my Fisher Price plastic food, mixing bowls, utensils, and yes, I even had the whole damn Fisher Price Kitchen. What’s hilarious is that 20 years later, I’m pretty much doing the exact same thing but in a real kitchen with real food, but the scale and scope of my resources is practically the same as when I was 6 years old!

It’s cool. But for someone who loves food and cooking as much as I do, sitting around watching The Food Network imagining what it would be like to cook on a set kitchen is about as destructive as imagining what you would do if you won the lottery. I don’t recommend it. Though my mind still wanders into both fantasies at least once a week.

I am enamored by this Food TV world and even though I may not ever have my mixer or spice wall, I’ll still “play make believe” like I do.

I’m definitely not one of those no-carb eating chicks. I am a carb-o-holic! As I’m sure most women are…

Pasta, though, I have a love/hate relationship with. I LOVE to eat it in all its starchy glory, but I also hate myself after I eat it. It doesn’t make my tummy feel very good and I wake up the next day looking puffy. Does that happen to you? Not to mention it has little to no nutritional value and a REAL serving of pasta, based on the information on the package, is fit for a rat.

ANYWAY, there are many alternatives to traditional white pasta. And NO Whole Wheat isn’t going to do. Whole Wheat pasta is disgusting, dry, and unsatisfying. My new favorite is Brown Rice Pasta, particularly the brand Tinkyada. Organic and naturally gluten-free, it has the look and texture of white pasta, but you can eat a more realistic portion of it with the same amount of calories as a mini portion of white pasta.

Some other ideas I have seen recently and was curious to try is using eggplant as a pasta noodle, as well as Spaghetti Squash. Both very low in calories, high in fibre and can easily absorb and take on the flavours and textures of traditional pasta dishes.

Here’s the Eggplant Pasta dish I tried. Food Networks Alton Brown made this on The View.

Overall it worked and looked like pasta. However, the salt you need to use to extract the liquid from the eggplant, stayed in there even after I rinsed it quite well. It was WAY too salty. Almost inedible. I ate it once and had so much left over that I had to throw it out. So while Eggplant Pasta might be a healthier option for many reasons, it’s probably canceled out by the fact that the salt involved probably exceeds your daily limit. I don’t really like the texture of eggplant in general, so I probably won’t try this recipe again to see if I just need to rinse off the salt even more.

Spaghetti Squash was something I just saw in the grocery store. Conveniently it even had a sticker on it explaining how to cook it and a recipe option! I just decided to follow the cooking directions and make up my own pasta dish with what I had in the fridge.

Using 1 whole Spaghetti Squash, you cut it in half (rather difficult!) and scoop out the seeds. You can bake it for 45 min at 350F, microwave it for 10-12 min, or boil it in 2 inches of water for 20 min. I did one half in the microwave and the other I boiled, to test what would work best. I think I ended up over boiling the one half and it got a bit mushier than the microwaved half. In this instance I would go quick and microwave the damn thing!

So scooping out the squash flesh I was kind of disappointed because it didn’t look like spaghetti! It looked like mashed squash. Been there done that. Anyway I pan fried some chicken while the squash was cooking and used the same pan, with all the brown bits left in it, to sautee mushrooms, peppers, and tomatoes which I combined with some pesto. Once everything was done I added in some grated parmesan. Ta Da!

It sort of looked like a mushy angel hair pasta dish. I was not convinced.

But once my boyfriend and I started it eating we really liked it! It totally had the texture of angel hair, and we felt the same comfort and satisfaction you get from eating a pasta. The seller is that my boyfriend had seconds… of squash…he eats white things and meat. So Spaghetti Squash should probably be called Angel Hair Squash, but try it and cook it with your favorite pasta pairings and you won’t be disappointed!

I am in search of the best AUTHENTIC Mexican in Toronto. So the other night was my birthday dinner with two close friends and I wanted real Mexican cuisine. I didn’t know of any places and asked a couple of other friends. Funny enough they too are in search of the best Mexican in Toronto. I ended up googling “best authentic mexican toronto” and Dos Amigos was one of the first results.

It’s a quaint little family run restaurant at 1201 Bathurst Street, between Dupont and Davenport. What I didn’t know is that Bathurst Street is completely f’ed North of Bloor so it’s not exactly the best place to go unless you’re in the that area and not sure how long the road work will last. Anyway that doesn’t matter. Dos Amigos had a thorough menu of highly authentic dishes. Except I decided to eat vegetarian that night and I was disappointed with my Enchilada’s. Not the restaurants fault, but I feel like if you’re going to eat Mexican it needs to be shredded pork tacos, or chicken enchiladas or something. MEAT! I’ll give into temptation next time. But I am obsessed with guacamole and that was a delicious starter. My friends’ meals contained shredded chicken and were reportedly incredible, and for dessert we had Churros with chocolate sauce. Those were to die for!

I would go there again, because its certainly better fair and a better atmosphere then popular, trashy spots like Sneaky Dee’s and Tortilla Flats (Unfortunately the only sit down restaurants I’ve been to in the city that serve Mexican, if you can even call it that. TexMex maybe?) but I feel like there’s better authentic Mexican out there somewhere in Toronto.  If you’ve found it, PLEASE let me know.

Here’s the review from blogto that convinced me to try Dos Amigos AND these people were smart and took photos before devouring their food… I forgot amongst all my girlfriend chat!

And here’s what’s in my Fave Guacamole recipe that I probably eat at least 3 times a week:

Avocado, frozen corn, diced red pepper, green onion, chopped cilantro, fresh lime juice, salt & pepper

Those are the base ingredients and it’s tasty just like that. But if I am making it for a group, I season it even more with  the following:

1 TSP cumin, 1 TSP chili powder, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 TBSP tabasco sauce, 3 TBSP olive oil, and 2 TBSP red wine vinegar.

I usually eyeball my measurements of the spices because I have made it so many times. Add more or less depending on how much guacamole you are making. Just taste test until you’ve reached your fav combo! Personally I think you can make better guacamole yourself then you can pay for in any restaurant.

I’ve seen a couple of examples recently on TV where the cook has suggested using Wonton Wrappers to make ravioli! Because seriously no one in their right mind is going to spend the time making and rolling out fresh pasta. I have used wonton wrappers to make Asian style dumplings before but I never thought of using them as a pasta. My favorite ravioli’s are filled with creamy Butternut Squash. So when I googled “Butternut Squash Ravioli” tons of recipes come up for Butternut Squash Ravioli with different variations of Brown Butter and Sage sauce pairings. Apparently a good taste combo! I didn’t know. So I mixed and matched some things and threw in my own idea and here we have my Butternut Squash Wonton Ravioli Recipe. Actually after having made it, I would suggest not revealing that you cheaped out and used Wonton Wrappers! Your guests won’t know the diff!

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Walnut Brown-Butter Sage Sauce

1 pkg of Wonton Wrappers
1 Butternut Squash (however, you can now by it pre-cut and skinned in the grocery store which I did…WAY EASIER!)
2 TBSP Butter
2 TBSP Honey
1 TSP Nutmeg

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F and place cut sections of Butternut Squash on a baking sheet (I lined with parchment first to save my cleaning time) and coat with a thin layer of butter, drizzle with honey, and sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake for 25 to 40 min. Depending on how small you cut the pieces of squash baking time can vary.

Once the squash is baked, puree it with salt & pepper to taste. Keep it in a bowl and let it cool in the refrigerator. You could prep this a day or two before you even want to make the ravioli’s.

Your Wonton Wrappers are already conveniently cut into perfect squares so all you need to do is put a small spoonful of squash onto one wrapper, wet the edges with water, place another wrapper on top and make a small fold around all the edges and kind of pinch them together. I then took a fork and pressed down the edges to seal them even further. That made them look even more like ravioli, but I did it because I was unsure how these would hold up during boiling. You could prep this earlier in the day before you want to cook them. Just place all the ravioli in a dish and cover it with a damp cloth or paper towels and keep in the fridge.

Apparently the name wonton means swallowing a cloud… Well I must say that I’m quite proud of how lovely my little clouds of ravioli look!

When you’re ready to put your dish together here’s what you need. You can vary the amounts depending on how much you are making and what you prefer in the dish. I like lots of greens, remember!

2 TBSP Butter
2-3 CUPS of baby Spinach
1/4 CUP chopped Walnuts
2 TBSP chopped fresh Sage
Crumbled Goat Cheese to top

Timing is everything here. The pasta only takes 3 min in boiling water. Do that first and have your sauce pan heating over medium. Once the pasta is done, drain it and start on the sauce. Put the butter in the sauce pan. It will melt quickly and turn brown. As soon as that happens throw everything else in… walnuts, spinach, sage and the ravioli’s. Toss all together until spinach has shrunk down and everything is nicely coated. Plate and top with goat cheese.

You now have what appears to be a gourmet handmade pasta dish! Way to go Wonton!

I guess I am still in need of some comfort. Its just as soon as I feel winter coming I get entirely different food cravings. In addition to the Mac & Cheese I made the other day, I already baked up an Apple Crumble and Apple Crisp (they are slightly different, and the crisp is most definitely the better of the two) that were shared with family and friends. I had a surplus of apples because I went apple picking at Chudleigh’s a few weeks ago. Then yesterday afternoon I saw an ad with a steaming, warm, yummy Sheppard’s Pie and decided I wanted it. But I did a VEGAN style version. See that’s what happens. I see pictures or TV shows with food and my mouth waters and I have to make my own. Luckily since I am on this comfort food kick, it worked out that I already had a bowl of left over mashed potatoes to use as the top to this Sheppard’s Pie. Keep that in mind when figuring out inventive ways to re-use left overs. So I’m not 100% vegan or vegetarian even, but I’ll get into my “omnivore’s dilemma” in another entry. Here is VEGAN comfort food done right.

VEGAN Sheppard’s Pie

1 pkg (340 g) Yves Veggie Ground Round

- I used one that was pre-seasoned “mexican” style since that’s all the grocery store had available. Which worked well because then you don’t need to add anything else but salt & pepper to taste.

Onion, Frozen Corn, Zucchini, Red and/or Yellow Pepper, Mushrooms, Carrot, Veggie Stock, Potatoes, Soy Milk and/or Vegan Margarine, Salt & Pepper, Paprika.

I used an 8×8 casserole dish, which I lined with a thin layer of vegan margarine.

If you don’t already have left over mashed potatoes, start boiling the potatoes first since this will take the longest time to cook. 4 large potatoes should be enough. I mashed mine with Soy Milk and Vegan Margarine (Earth Spread).

In a large heated saucepan, sautee onions with olive oil. Once they are cooked through and slightly translucent, add in the package of Yves Veggie Ground Round and 1 CUP of frozen corn, with salt & pepper to taste. I also added about 2 TBSP of veggie stock to keep it extra moist. You’re not really cooking this mixture, just heating it though. Once that’s done add this “meat” into the casserole dish as your first layer.

In the same saucepan sautee all the veggies, chopped to your liking. I cooked mine through, but left them with texture and color because I hate mushy over cooked veggies. This is a VEGAN Sheppard’s Pie so I feel the veggies should be the star, but cook to your liking. Then add into the casserole dish as the second layer.

Either make your mashed potatoes now, or quickly nuke your left overs in the microwave just to get them spreadable, and evenly layer them on top of the veggies with a spatula. Sprinkle with paprika as desired.

I guessed at the oven temps. But a pre-heated 375 F oven for 15 minutes should work to get it heated through and bubbling on the bottom, then I broiled it for 5-8 minutes to get the potato layer brown and crispy on the edges.

That’s it! A cozy, warm, vegan meal… perfect to get rid of that winter chill.