Beer, Mustard, and Cheddar Bread

This is probably not the best way to begin a post, but I was recently hit hard with Norovirus, a nasty stomach bug that put me out for a few days. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom and my smartest move on the whole weekend leaving the garbage can at my bedside. I even took a day off work, something I haven't done in two years. In my sleepy, feverish state, I tried to recall what I could have possibly eaten that could have caused such a violent reaction, only when I shared horror stories with my coworker did I realize I must have picked up the virus from work.

As I recovered in bed, lamenting over my sore back, I even thought of summoning up the energy to bake something sweet. That was wishful thinking. Maybe later this week when I'm feeling 110% better. Instead, I have this beautiful bread to share. It's got a load of heat that will linger in your mouth, so be sure to have some water nearby (I love spicy food, so this bread is right up my alley). It's messy to make and the beer isn't pronounced, but it's totally worth the fluffy, cheesy goodness. Now that my appetite has returned, I could go for another slice of this toasted with a slather of butter.

Tweet

Recipe here!

Toronto Festival of Beer

If you, like me, was once a painfully shy girl who cringed at the thought of making new friends in a crowd of thousands of people, you will have no trouble finding plenty of new buddies at the Toronto Festival of Beer. I had a blast on Saturday with my friend Lisa (creator behind Confessions of a Dietitian) meandering through dozens of tents in search of the best tasting beers, talking to beer reps, not to mention finding some food to soak up all the booze. 

It was early afternoon when we made it to the festival grounds and had to make sure it wasn’t Frosh week. There was dance music blaring, adults wearing custom-made hats designed from Steam Whistle beer cartons in various shapes like a pirate’s ship, a palm tree, and antlers. There were men with sparkly mardis gras beads around their necks and beer stickers all over their shirts and the ones who didn’t have stickers all over their shirts, donned clothing that had paid some sort of tribute to beer. It was wild and we loved it. Tickets to the festival were sold out on Saturday, so you can imagine how busy it was.

After walking around, we found our way to Rock Lobster’s booth also known as the “Lobster Shack” and right next to them was a team representing one my of my favourite beers, Sam Adams. I’m no stranger to either; I've been to Rock Lobster a few times and could sit all day stuffing my face with fresh seafood. Sam Adams Boston Lager was one of the first beers I fell in love with since I began to appreciate the golden liquor, we go way back.

We ordered the Sam Adams Summer Ale and Latitude 48 IPA to try. I’ve had the summer ale before and love how easy it goes down, its crisp citrus flavor complements the lobster roll we ordered. The lobster meat was tender yet juicy, we couldn’t help making a mess on the table. The Latitude 48 IPA had a beautiful amber color and a hint of sweetness with a strong bitter finish, it contrasted the sweet lobster tacos nicely. I could have had 10 more tacos but I wanted to leave room to sample more beer. It’s a tough life. 

We spent a good 4 hours at the festival, eating Porchetta and Co sandwiches stuffed with cracklings and homemade mustard plus roasted potatoes doused in lemon crème fraiche (amazing!!). We watched a food demo by Ted Reader who grilled a mean, thick steak that was age dried for 42 days. We also tried so many beers I lost count. Some memorable ones included the Raspberry Ale from Granville Island (another of my favourite breweries), the Fruli (on tap!!), and Melville’s ginger beer.

The best part of the festival aside from drinking was meeting fellow beer enthusiasts. I’m sure the constant consumption of liquid courage had something to do with it, but everyone was very friendly. We even met Matt Pettit of Rock Lobster! There was a group of guys dressed in their own cultural attire, including one dude who's been going to the festival for 10 years. One guy came all the way from Burlington too. There were a ton of beers to try, sadly, I didn’t get a chance to sample the watermelon cider I spotted. Guess I’ll have to go back again next year.

Big thanks to Toronto's Festival of Beer for the kind invite to attend and cover the event!

Tweet

Recipe here!

Mussels Steamed in Beer with Fennel

I have an agreement with my boyfriend that for every beer we open together, I get the first sip. On our first date, we shared a beer at the Beaches Jazz Fest and he said, “the first sip of beer is always the best.” Since then I’ve taken the first sips of all the beers we’ve had, and that’s a lot of beer. One of my favourites is Sam Adams, in fact, I wouldn’t even share it, I’d make sure that we each have our own beer to drink. Good thing it's at the LCBO we can easily split a six-pack.

Mussels in beer have always been a special dish to me. Maybe it reminds me of a summer when I visited Montreal, a city that awoke my taste buds and bolstered my deep-seated interest to cook and bake. There was a restaurant that served mussels in beer with fresh cut fries, a classic Belgian dish. It was delicious, I wanted to slurp up the briny juices from my bowl. 

This dish can be made in less than 20 minutes. All you need to do is chop up fennel and onions, toss them into a pot with butter until softened, add the cleaned mussels, pour over the Sam Adams, and let it steam for about 5-8 minutes and viola! Dinner! 

My home smelled like hot butter, seafood and malt. Mom and I had these for dinner the other day, there was plenty of bread to mop up the salty juices. The mussels were plump and juicy, the fennel and onions had absorbed the hoppy flavours of the beer, the acidity from the lemon brings it all together. It was a beautiful meal, especially with a cold bottle of Sam Adams.

“This post is sponsored by Branding & Buzzing"

Tweet

Recipe here!

Lately

I don’t know how we got to August so soon. I feel like I haven’t played enough, haven’t tanned dark enough (put me next to my mom and we look like night and day), haven’t gone on any road trips, nor have I enjoyed summer to its full potential. I’m not complaining though, I relished each heat wave as if it were my last, sitting motionless on the patio, inducing a minor heat stroke when I arrived at work, woozy with an angry migraine pounding the top of my head. 

Other memorable parts of my summer include hanging out at Centre Island (we didn’t go to the nude beach, but it’s marked high on my bucket list), sipping ridiculously strong mojitos surrounded by calm water at Ennismore, watching the sun go down at 8pm, splashing the sky with a beautiful purple glow, eating fresh, local peaches so sweet, I could feel the glucose bubbling in my blood.

But the proudest thing that I fumbled upon in the past few months, was discovering my love for beer. As I was a child, my dad would occasionally order a tall glass when we dined out, I eyed the golden, foamy drink with curiosity. Silent, I looked to him for approval, with a nod, he pushed the glass closer to me, leaving streaks of moisture across the table. I looked down at the creaminess and took a whiff, I already didn’t like it and I wasn't sure if this was a good idea. Still, like a true food warrior, I took a sip, instantly regretted it and gulped it down making a face. Never again I vowed.

And yet, a spark went off when I went to the Bier Markt for the first time. I tried Achel 8, then Muskoka Brewery’s Mad Tom IPA (I only drink it because of its awesome name), and I tried Belgium’s Leffe and loved them all. They were flavourful, complex and delicious. My 11 year old self wouldn’t believe it, but it’s true.

I went to the Brewer’s Backyard at the gorgeous Evergreen Brickworks and tried Mill St’s blueberry beer (!!) and raspberry beer, my favourite being the former for its refreshing tartness. There were also hot pressed sandwiches to accompany them, like my meltingly tender beef brisket with baked beans and cheddar cheese or my friend’s pulled pork with guacamole and tortilla chips (thank you Fidel Gastro’s!). Both sandwiches sealed the deal that lovely Sunday.

The other day I went for a walk through Kensington market, bringing back flashbacks and then made new memories with the help of a brilliant pint-sized lady named Stella Artois. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn’t have the guts to ask this friendly stranger for a portrait with his handsome Mamiya camera (I promise to dedicate a whole blog post to beer soon). I've been to Kensington several times already and each time, I get lost in the colourful buildings and eclectic crowd that mill around the streets.

 

Tweet

Recipe here!

Lately and The Delicious Project: Mushroom Risotto

As most food-lovers will agree, at meal times, you must have your camera ready. When I dine out, I frequently have my camera sitting in my lap, with the appropriate settings turned on to capture the perfect moment. It's especially awkward however, when the table is small, there's only a smidgen of space between me and the next diner and I have the urgent need to whip out my DSLR. I know they stare at me in bewilderment, I know they're judging, but I do it anyway. It's critical to document these meals ykno? 

So here are the places and things I've been eating. There was a real yum and affordable classic French food at L'Avenue, I went with a food-lover friend, she got the buttermilk fried chicken and I ordered the croque monsieur, all I can say is I can't wait to go back.

 

There's also been a family potluck in which my cousins who also happen to love food (it runs in the family), prepared not one, but two desserts. There were apple blossoms plus apple and cheddar pies. I'm not even a fan of warm fruit but I was smitten over the blossoms which were deliciously comforting (besides, its fun to say apple blossoms over and over again)

 

 

I had an friend visit from California last week and was eager to try Toronto cuisine. I don’t even know what that is. Thankfully, she did some research and found The Black Hoof, I'm still unsure if it's considered Canadian, but this place is definitely worth talking about. I peeked at the menu online and my heart skipped a beat when I saw roasted bone marrow. Ohmygoodness. I was already excited. At promptly 7pm, we surveyed the cocktail selection, settled on sangria (which to be honest, wasn’t very good and disgustingly overpriced) and chose four dishes from the chalkboard menu and waited.

First, came the cheese platter with complimentary jams, chutneys and homemade raisins, followed by the roasted bone marrow (sigh!) served with salsa verde and flakes of sea salt, I’m happy to report that it was exactly what I envisioned: smooth, silky, and unctuous on grilled bread, I could have eaten five plates of it. But I didn’t, we shared it and moved on to the next dish, burrata and asparagus salad, splitting it into three equalish portions (Terroni wins for making an oozier, creamier burrata). The most surprising thing however, was the beef heart with mussels.

I was expecting a slab of bloody meat and a bundle of steaming mussels to arrive at our table, but when the cute waiter set down a neat plate of slivered beef heart, topped with tender mussels (out of their shell) along with a creamy sauce, a scattering of breadcrumbs and frisée tower, I was blown away. This is serious business folks. The most intriguing part wasn’t the tattoos that snaked along our waiter’s arms and legs, but how the heart was seared just on the outside yet retained a decent chewy texture and you couldn't detect any peculiar beefiness, it was mildly meaty and yet still gracious. 

We didn’t have space to stomach another morsel, so we made our way to the Bier Markt, which I think was the smartest idea ever. Overwhelmed with a dizzying selection of beers, we took our time and chose our first round: Lindeman’s apple beer, Muskoka’s Mad Tom India Pale Ale and Rochefort Trappist Achel Ale. I’ve only just started to enjoy beer and now I’m tempted to go back and try more, the ale was complex, rich and fruity, a far cry from the regular beers I've had. It even smelled good. On our second round, I had the Muskoka Mad Tom, as I was immediately drawn to the floral yet bitter flavours. And as if our big dinner wasn’t enough, we ordered the smoked meat poutine which was so darn tasty, a fellow patron walked by, curious to know what we ordered. I highly recommend it.

 

The following day, I went to Ennismore with a good friend to visit another good friend. We’ve been getting together since the beginning of the year for a girl’s night, and this time, we showed up at our friend’s house near Turtle Bay. Despite the sad, gloomy sky hovering above us, that didn’t stop us from by mixing very strong mojitos and dining on the patio with BBQ salmon and creamy potato salad.

  
Afterwards, we took our drinks and sat by the dock. It was quiet and peaceful, something that I rarely take time for. Buzzed and a little lightheaded, we made our way back to the house for some dessert: Eton mess, a beautiful mixture of vanilla yogurt and heavy cream topped with broken up meringue cookies and berry compote.

On the same busy weekend, I rushed off to meet up my fellow food-lovers for our third Delicious Project, this time taste testing mushroom risotto. But first, Lisa bought pastries from La Boheme to kick off our epic taste test, we shared croissants, almond croissants, chocolatines, danishes, and vanilla custard filled croissants. Then came the serious work, photographing risotto ingredients and sampling four types of risotto (life is really hard), Lisa has documented the results here. I’d say my summer is off to a great start. 

Tweet

Recipe here!