Soup

On the weekend I made some soup.  I'm a big fan of one pot meals and soup is such a great meal to keep in the fridge for the week for lunches or a quick dinner when I'm starving if I get home from yoga late.  Recently the latest 'Food and Drink' magazine published by the LCBO came out.  If you don't know about Food and Drink you have to get to the LCBO to pick it up.  It is published 'seasonally' about 6 or 8 times a year and it is great for inspiring meal ideas -- although admittedly some of the recipes can be a bit too labour intensive or contain ingredients that you might not normally have easy access to purchase.  Anyway ... all that aside.  I found a recipe for 'Jerusalem Artichoke and Bacon Chowder' and while the title wouldn't normally have caught my attention, the picture certainly did.  And except for the jerusalem artichokes (also known as sunchokes) I pretty much had everything on hand.  A quick trip to the fruit and vegetable market took care of everything I needed.
The soup is pretty easy to make and doesn't take long.  Cube about 1 cup of pemeal bacon and saute in a soup pot with some olive oil until the bacon is browned.  Add:  1 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1lb peeled and choped jerusalem artichokes and 1 cup chopped potatoes.  Let the vegetables cook in the bacon fat until beginning to soften slightly - about 5 minutes.  Add 5 cups of chicken stock and 1 tblsp of fresh thyme and bring to a boil.  Turn heat down and simmer for at least 10 minutes until the veggies are soft.  Stir in 1/4 cup of whipping cream and 1 tsp of hot sauce.  Continue to simmer until ready to serve and then add 2 tblsp fresh chopped parsley.

If you compare the picture of my soup with the picture in Food and Drink you will notice that mine is MUCH darker; and in fact it looks like I used beef broth rather than chicken.  In fact, I kind of burned the bacon when I was frying it - which coloured my stock darker but didn't impact the flavour.

The soup is quite good and easy to make.  It is a mild soup and nice for spring because its warm but not too heavy.  If you are not familiar with jerusalem artichokes they are not really artichokes but rather root vegetables.  They sort of resemble ginger root in the raw.  They have a dark thin skin - very much like soft skin of fresh new potatoes.  I peeled them with a peeler but they are a little hard to manoeuver because of all the little arms sticking out.  They have a very soft, light mild buttery/nutty flavour - would say they are kind like a mix between a potato and a parsnip.  This was my first experience eating and cooking with them and I was very happy with the outcome and would definitely use them again.

Bitten - March 15

This is 'Bitten on Broad' in Regina.  A restaurant recommended to me by my friend Julie and I confirm, it was a great suggestion.  Its near downtown and the casino and has the illustrious location of being one storefront away from the only sex shop in Regina -- not that I was looking for a sex shop -- that is what I was told!  Honestly.
The decor is warm; lots of candles, antique chandeliers, unmatched tables and chairs (that's called eclectic for those of you not in the know!), dark red and black velvet table covers and a fire place, which I was sitting right beside.  I felt comfortable sitting on my own; it was upscale but comfortably casual.  Bitten started out as an 'apps' and 'desserts' place when they first opened. They have since added dining specials of:  one pizza, one pasta, one mussel dish and one dinner feature which changes on a weekly basis.  For this week, the pizza was honey mustard chicken with cheese; beef tenderloin with pesto fettucine alfredo for the pasta; maple chili mussels; and the dinner feature was a cold duck salad with berries.  I was undecided between a couple of appies and the pasta feature.  Patrick, my waiter, recommended the apps and added that the Tuesday night special is 1/2 price appetizer for every drink.  Well that settled it for me.  I started with the Royal-tini.

This is my totally arty-farty picture of my cocktail:  vodka, chambord, cranberry and pineapple juice.  Very similar to a concoction I have made myself before.  Not only TASTY and DELICIOUS but also only $5.25!  What!  Are you kidding me??  That's what I said:  $5.25.  Wow!  About half the price of an Ottawa cocktail.  I guess there really are some benefits to living in a smaller town!
For dinner I chose two appetizers which were served at the same time.

First:  the "Goat Cheese and Portabella Strudels" - goat cheese and portabella mushrooms folded into delicate pastry and baked golden. Served with jalapeno cream and on a cucumber salad.  Unbelievable.  Absolutely FANTASTIC.  Patrick, my waiter, told me they were one of his favourite things on the menu and I completely concur.  The mushroom/goat cheese filling was rich and creamy.  It was smoky, the pastry crisp and just ... yummy.  Add to that the jalepeno cream on the bottom of the plate.  It wasn't spicy and really, I wouldn't really have known there were jalepenos in it but it was good.  I could have eaten a whole lot more of that cream.  YUM-MMY!  It also came with a mixed greens salad with cucumbers.  The salad had a very zesty vinaigrette.  Some people may have found it a little too acidic, but not for me.  I love citrus/vinegar anything.

This is second choice of appetizer:  the "Maple Chipotle Glazed Ribs".  These are pork side ribs which can sometimes be a little fatty and greasy compared with baby back ribs, but Bitten's ribs were cooked beautifully.  Not the least bit fatty, very meaty and just falling off the bones.  The flavour was very good - a little hint of a kick from the chipotle (I could have handled a little more bite for my taste but it did not diminish my enjoyment of the ribs in the least).  They were sweet and tasty.  Served along with the same zesty salad as with the strudels.  My only complaint would be that the ribs could have been served a bit hotter.  They were warm but I would have preferred them hotter.  However, it was very busy that night and the kitchen may have been a bit slammed.

It was an excellent meal, and here is the kicker:  $22.  Two royal-tini cocktails (oh yeah, did I mention I had a second drink?  Hey:  buy a $5 cocktail and get your meal for 1/2 price - YA, I'm all over that!) and two appetizers.  I was too full for dessert so I'm not able to comment on that but there were diners around me who seemed to be enjoying their desserts quite a lot and they looked good.  I owe it to Julie for getting me out on a Tuesday night, in Regina, for an absolutely delicious meal.  Yum yum.

Regina March 14-16

So its been a few days since I've posted.  I've been away in the glorious city of, yes you guessed, Regina (the title of the blog MAY have been a hint, right?).  I've been to Regina a few times now, and really, I think its built on a pile of dirt.  I can't explain it, but it just seems to be dusty and dirty all the time.  Its also very industrial.  Here, just for example, is what the view from my hotel window looked like.

Beautiful, ain't it?!!?  I just keep thinking of a picture that I took out the window of my hotel room in Chicago

in 2007 and comparing it to this photo.  I was on the 37th floor in the hotel in Chicago, one block away from the Magnificent Mile; the sun had just gone down, all the city lights were shining.  It was AMAZING.  I'm not saying that I took any kind of Annie Lebowitz/Herb Ritts amazing pic or anything but when I look at that photo I just really remember how INCREDIBLE Chicago is.  It takes me right back to being there in 2007.  I look at this picture of Regina and I just HOPE that I DON'T remember what it looks like in the future!

I know by now, my new friend Julie (who lives in Regina) is probably fuming because she doesn't think I'm giving Regina a fair review.  But more about that in a moment.  This is, after all, a food blog.  What about the food?  For a small city (about 200,000 peeps) it is unbelievable how many chain restaurants there are.  You name it, they have it -- and multiple locations of the same franchises.  So, of course, you know, I had to have some chain restaurant food - which is not necessarily a bad thing but you know its not likely going to be the 'greatest thing you ever ate'!

The first night I went to Chili's.  Of course, we don't have Chili's in Ontario.  The first time I went to Saskatchewan (in 2003) was the first time I'd been to Chili's and I thought it was great.  On Monday night, I'd had a very long day of travelling and I just wanted something reliable, easy and comfortable.  And, conveniently it was right across the (4-lane) road.  I had the Quesedilla Explosion Salad described as:  grilled chicken with cheese, tomatoes, corn relish, cilantro, tortillas strips and citrus-balsamic dressing. Served with cheese quesedillas.

I'm not really sure what the 'explosion' was and the cheese quesedilla was terrible.  However the salad was fresh and the fajita grilled chicken was excellent.  It was the first time I'd had a balsamic vinaigrette on a taco-style salad but overall it was fairly good.  Nothing special, completely predictable but decent enough and hit the spot.

Anyway, the next day I was talking to Julie who insists that Regina really is a nice city and it has some beautiful areas and some great places to eat.  She challenged me to go out, find some nice places:  the legislature park & lake in the centre of the city, the cathedral district and the old homes downtown (where convicted killer Colin Thatcher's house located for you Canadian politico-history buffs).  Julie also recommended a few GOOD places to eat.

I took Julie up on her challenge and drove down to 'the leg' (pronounced ledge, obviously).  It was a beautiful afternoon; the sun was shining and it was a lovely 5*C.  A beautiful day for a walk, which I took advantage of the paths around the lake.  These are a couple of pictures of the, currently functioning, legislature.

I drove through the Cathedral district.  Which, come the warmer weather is going to a great place to stroll.  There are some cute shops and restaurants, including the Cathedral Village Free House, which looks totally cool and this UNBELIEVABLE fire hall (I know -- weird right, but this building is absolutely incredible).  In my little tour though the Cathedral area there were two pictures that I just HAD to take.

I thought this was hilarious:  the 'Red Meat Wagon'!  Don't think you can go wrong with that, eh?  You know I loves me some red meat!  And what you can't see clearly in this picture is the 'Red Meat Wagon' is being pulled by an angry red cartoon bull which is really funny looking.  It made me laugh and I had to take it to blog about.

The next picture I encountered when driving by the public library.

OMG.  How awesome is this?  Remember the "Moose In the City" in Toronto in 2000 and the Donkey's and Elephants in Washington DC in 2002?  I don't know if this was Regina's wild animal campaign or if this is an isolated piggie but whatever, I couldn't resist.  He's so super cute!  I wish I could have brought him home on the plane with me!

I have to admit, Julie was right.  I found some great areas, some beautiful houses and some really nice places to go and hang out in Regina.  I still maintain that there are some crazy, horrible, dirty, industrial areas but at least I have a balance of some nice places too.

On Tuesday night I went out for a nice dinner at a restaurant recommended by Julie.  That is the entry under 'Bitten' so read on.

Jambalaya

Yesterday we had rain all day (and I mean all day) - it was raining when I got up and it was raining when I went to bed.  It never stopped all day.  And today, did I wake up to spring and all the snow melted and gone?  Not even!  Today, I woke up to snow.  Snow, snow, snow and more snow.  This is a little taste of how our world looked when I went out to walk the dogs.  Not what you might expect for March 6th -- but it is Ottawa, after all.

This is the perfect kind of day for something warm, hearty and comforting to eat.  Something that not only fills you up but warms you up and makes you feel good too!  Jambalaya.  That's what I will make today.

I found this recipe on-line, where its called "Bubba's Jambalaya".  I don't know who Bubba is but I'm glad he posted his recipe on-line.  It appealed to me for a couple of reasons:  first off, it has no shrimp in it - and since I don't like or eat seafood this was good for me (although I would not hesitate to make a recipe that called for shrimp and just leave it out).  In addition, if you follow Bubba's recipe, you can make the whole thing on the stove top and really have it all prepped and cooked in about an hour.  Of course, I've made modifications so I can call the recipe my own.  I'm going to give you my version because if you want Bubba's you can just go on-line and find his version!  This Jambalaya is not for the faint of heart - this is a manly, meaty full meal deal in a pot.

Starting on the stovetop, with your dutch oven.  This is my KitchenAid cast iron, enamel coated dutch oven.  If you like to cook stews, one-pot meals in the oven you MUST get one!  They are fantastic.  After I got mine, for Christmas from my Mom and Dad, we bought one for my Mom's birthday the following year.  She also loves hers.

Start with your prep.  Chop onions (1-2 medium), celery (2-3 stalks) and red/green bell pepper.  I used slightly more that half of each of a red and green pepper because that's what I had.  If you only have green - use a whole green pepper.  If you have red, orange or yellow, use one of those.  Its really up to you.  Give the veggies a medium chop.

Here you can also see one of my Henkel knives.  Fantastic!  So sharp.  I also have some great Pampered Chef knives too.  If you are going to cook, get yourself some decent knives.  Seriously.  They really are worth the investment (and you can find decent ones for not too expensive) and they make all preparation SOOOO much faster and more enjoyable.  But, warning for Marlene and Emma:  if you are not that comfortable with SHARP knives maybe let someone else do the chopping for you!

Ok, next.  Fry some chicken breast in a bit of olive oil in the dutch oven.  Because this recipe is SOOOO meaty, you really don't need much chicken.  I used one very small breast (insert jokes here???).  Just cook until the chicken is not pink; don't over cook it because everything is going into the oven later.  And don't worry about the browning on the bottom of the pot. This is added flavour for your jambalaya and, because you have this fantastic enamel coated cast iron dutch oven so you know NOTHING is going to stick to the bottom.

When the chicken is lightly browned remove if from the pot.  Add some bacon - four to six strips and cook until it is good and crispy.  I always cut my bacon into small pieces before adding it to the pot because I find it a bit easier to work with and I think it cooks a bit faster, but you could always cook full strips and crumble it later.  Again, the bottom of the pot is going to be brown.  Don't worry about that. 

Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon in order to retain the bacon fat for cooking the veggies.  However, if you have a lot of fat, skim a little bit out to drizzle on top of the dogs' kibble for dinner.  They will love you for it and its good to make their coat nice and shiny.  Set the bacon aside; it does not come back to the party until after the jambalaya has cooked in the oven.

Add the chopped onion, celery and peppers to the bacon fat.  I also throw in some chopped garlic too.  Seriously!  How beautiful does this look?  The colours are great!

Cook until the veggies are softened - 5 to 10 minutes.  Then add all the meat (except the bacon):  cooked chicken breast, ham and sausage.  I used about a quarter pound of low fat ham from the deli, chopped into small cubes and about a quarter pound of smoked turkey sausage.  This is the best smoked turkey sausage I have ever had (ask Issie - he'll agree!!) from Bearbrook Farms.  You have to stock up at the end of the summer though because they sell at farmers markets in the summer/fall.  Stick it in the freezer to use over the winter.  It is so tasty; I use it in pasta sauce, chili, etc.  Mmmmmmm.  So yummy.

Ooops.  Back to the jambalaya.  Add one large can of plum tomatoes, and 2 to 3 cups of broth.  Bubba calls for 2 cups each of chicken broth and beef broth but I find that fills the dutch oven up too much.  So I used 1 cup of chicken stock and almost 2 cups of beef broth.  Now add some spices.  I use:  chopped fresh cilantro (because I put cilantro in almost everything I cook; I LOVE it sooo much), cajun spice, thyme and one chopped chipoltle pepper.  I like the smoky heat of the chipotles but you can add what you like, or nothing at all, if you don't want the heat.  I don't add salt or pepper because there is plenty of saltiness from the ham and bacon and spiciness from the chipotles.

Mmmm.  Its already looking so good.  Get the liquid hot - it doesn't have to be boiling but close to it.  Then add some rice.  I used about 1 1/4 cups of brown rice.  If you are using white rice, you might have to add more - up to 2 cups  - because it doesn't absorb as much liquid.  Give it all a good stir.
Cover with the lid and pop it into the oven, at 350*F.  Another benefit to this fabulous dutch oven - it weighs a TON so it is also an upper body workout while you are cooking.  Be sure to bend from your knees not from your back when transferring from the burner to the oven!  lol!
Cook for about 1 to 1.5 hours.  The rice will be soft and will have absorbed most of the liquid but it won't be dry.  Here I've just taken it out of the oven and the steam is rising.  It smells sooooo good.

Give it a stir and add the previously set aside crispy bacon.  Eat as soon as you can - but that will be a few minutes because it is hot.  But mmmmmm, it is so freaking delicious, you won't be able to wait for too long. 

Even though its cold and snowy out, this hearty meaty dish is just so warm and comforting.  It just makes you happy to eat!  It looks pretty too; great colour and spicy delicious-ness!  You can freeze it too; once it cools and use for lunches.   Hopefully we won't have TOOO many more of these cold, snowy days so you should try it soon!  Or wait till next winter.

Manx Pub

My friend Karen from Kingston (that's Ontario not Jamaica) was visiting Ottawa for work so we decided to meet up for lunch today.  I chose Manx Pub on Elgin Street.  Manx is a great place but I always forget about it.  If you have never been there for their breakfast/brunch on the weekend you HAVE TO check it out.
Anyway, I'm glad I thought about going there today for a few reasons.  Every time I've been there, the food has been great; its fresh and unique.  It may say 'pub' in the name but this is not your typical greasy fried pub grub.  Karen is not a big meat eater either, and I know there are plenty of non-meat choices.  In fact, one of the worst things about Manx is how to choose!  There are so many things on Manx's menu that I want to try.  I was scanning around the room to see what other people were eating to help me decide.
Another reason to pick Manx is the atmosphere.  This is a real 'Irish' pub complete with copper table tops and a cozy environment.  The servers and bartenders have always been warm and friendly.  Its small, so it was ideal that Karen and I were meeting up later, arriving at Manx close to 1pm when the Ottawa federal government noon lunch crowd was gone.  But there were still enough customers to give the place a nice vibe.

Here is Karen shortly after we arrived.  Although you might think from this picture, that Manx serves GIANT beers, its really just a normal sized pint.  Stupidly, I left my camera at home today and had to use my cell to document our lunch, so not all the pictures are the best, but I think this one of Karen looks really nice.  I promised her if it turned out badly I wouldn't post it!
We ordered our lunch - both off the special board.  Karen chose the rice and bean burrito.  It came with a beautiful salad of fresh veggies and we were both super impressed with the julienned root vegetables (beets, carrots and something yellow - maybe some kind of turnips) were really beautiful.  Karen said that she loved how fresh the salad was.  The rice and bean burrito, which was huge, included sausage and salsa, and Manx's home made hot sauce.  Karen said it was very good.

Again, sorry about the picture.  This really does not do justice to how great her plate looked when it was set down on the table.

I ordered the beef burger with peameal bacon, sauteed onions and smoked cheddar, with garlic mayo, lettuce and tomato.  I chose 'fries' with mine but this really is a misnomer; these are MONSTER potato wedges.  They were crispy on the outside but not at all greasy.  My burger was MASSIVE.  It was served on a kaiser bun and there was no 'excess' bun sticking out beyond the patty.  This was a HUGE lunch but you know, I powered through and ate the whole burger.  I left at least half of my wedgie potatoes though.

My lunch was delicious and I was so happy with my choice.  I was debating between the club house sandwich and a chicken and guacamole wrap, but I think I made the right decision with the ENORMOUS burger.  Unfortunately I had to go back to work after lunch so I didn't get to relax with a beer but that didn't prevent us from totally enjoying our lunch.  Of course, I made Karen wait to dig in until I took the pictures, but she was a great sport about it!

Whenever we get together there is never a lull in the conversation.  It is a wonder we were actually able to eat, we were chatting so much.  Clearly the food was worthwhile!

This is not a petite mustache or burger sauce on my face.  It really is a blot on my cell phone lens!  Really!

As an added bonus for me, Karen treated for lunch (how nice, thank you so much).  From now on, I'll try to remember to keep my camera with me in case spontaneous eating of yummy stuff appears and to avoid future mustaches!
Karen, who is great about exploring the city whenever she is here, was telling me about a new cupcake place downtown and a bakery in the market that I have heard of but never been to.  Stay tuned for a comparison of the new cupcake place with my current favourite, The Flour Shoppe on Bank Street.  We got the cupcakes for my last birthday party at The Flour Shoppe and you can see a picture of one (well me holding one!) on my home page.  I will also be checking out the croissants at the bakery (that Karen insists are a massive, decadent guilty pleasure) at some point in the future, too ... but that means a trip to the Byward Market and I usually don't go there until the weather warms up ... considerably.
I encourage you to check out Manx sometime.  I'm going to try to remember it more often when trying to pick a place to go for something good and different to eat.  But wait, its not just for eating. Manx was a more frequent haunt when I lived just one block away where I spent a few nights pouring booze down my throat there and I'm going to go back for some drinks too.