Winterlicious: North 44 )º

North 44 )º

2537 Yonge Street

Toronto, ON M4P 2H7

Tel: (416) 487-4897

Last Winterlicious dinner for the year! We're just slowly making our way through Mark McEwan's restaurants in Toronto. Having tried Fabbrica and Bymark, North 44 was the next logical step. We went after work and surprised ourselves by arriving early - rush hour traffic wasn't too bad!

Our hostess led us to what we thought was a cozy corner of the restaurant. But, because it was near the entrance, the area was really chilly every time customers came or left. The nice thing was that it was roomy and we didn't have to coat check (because my coat may have helped keep me from catching a cold that night).

We had a very nice waiter who gave us some great drink recommendations for the night. I personally loved that they had a mocktail menu, yum!

Most of us ordered the seared ahi tuna served with Japanese pear, cucumber, yuzu, and chili. Can't go wrong with that combination, it had great flavours and textures with each bite.

The crisp skinned chicken supreme with potato croquette, leeks, honey mushrooms, and pan jus. Wow, was not expecting a large portion of chicken! I found mine to be juicy, but Howard found his a bit dry. We all liked the potato croquette, would have loved more!

Our dinner companion tried the ice cream sandwich with vanilla ice cream between two winter spice cookies, served with a warm caramel sauce. It was also sitting on top of some shaved coconuts, quite a playful dish.

Pavlova with passion fruit and berries were not the guy's favourites. I guess they need something more substantial when it comes to dessert. I thought it tasted fine and that the presentation was quite nice compared to the other two.

I seem to always be gravitating towards chocolate. Their chocolate pot de crème was served with some cherry cookies, toffee crunch, and pop rocks. The spoonfuls of chocolate with the pop rocks were really fun!

The overall meal was okay. For some reason, I had thought that North 44 was on the same level as Bymark or higher, but after experiencing both, Bymark's service was more in line with "fine dining." The food runners at North 44 were a bit rough and would plop the dishes on the table and leave. At Bymark, dishes were neatly presented and explained. The atmosphere at North 44 was also more on the casual side and each waiter appeared to serve a greater number of tables.

Just One left for us to try! We can't wait to see what will be offered during Summerlicious, heck, we can't wait for summer!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pots de Crème

Last weekend, we were invited to a dinner party (in which the hosts didn't have to do any of the cooking - now that's my kind of magical, we'll leave you to figure it out) and we called dibs on bringing dessert. We always try not to show up empty handed!

So some ideas were milling about, we really wanted to do something with our jars again, since they would be perfect individual portions and easy to bring over to their house. No amount of rocking will smudge or ruin these desserts. Our hosts like the chocolate and peanut butter combination, so we were thinking of chocolate pots de crème and adding some peanut butter element into it.

During the week, we happened upon the blog, Tar-Tryin', where Emily blogs through the Tartine cookbook. An amazing feat no doubt, but it was a sign. She's made the chocolate pots de crème recipe from the book! Next thing you know, we're pulling out our Tartine cookbook off the shelf and going on a grocery trip.

Minor variations in our recipe - just a swap of chocolate type. We melted 5 ounces of semisweet chocolate and 1 ounce of REESE'S Minis over a double boiler. Next, we combined 2 3/4 cups of heavy cream, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt in a sauce pan and whisked until it was blended. Once it started to boil, we took it off the heat and whisked in the chocolate.

We preheated the oven to 175°C (350°F). Now, using our stand mixer, we whisked 8 large egg yolks until combined (save the egg whites - you'll need them for our next post). Then slowly poured in the chocolate mixture as the machine continued to whisk. Once it was all blended together, poured the mixture through a fine sieve into a container with a spout.

Next, we divided the chocolate mixture among 8 oven-proof jars. Placed them in an oven-proof pan and popped it into our oven. Using a kettle or container with a spout, we poured water into the pan so that it came up 3/4 of the way up the sides of the jars.

Baked for about 20-25 minutes. The sides and top were set, but the middle of the crème was still jiggly.

We carefully removed our jars from the oven. If you can carry the whole water bath out - we give you thumbs up! We were cautious and took the jars out individually (chicken!), since we couldn't guarantee that we would carry it out without any hot water sloshing onto the floor!

While the chocolate pots de crème are cooling, we worked on garnishing. From our bag of leftover REESE'S Minis, we quartered each piece. There's something fun about chopping up peanut butter cups....

Once our desserts are completely cooled, we garnished the top with the chopped peanut butter cups and added some Callebaut Crispearls for a crunchy texture. Or, whatever chocolate and peanut butter goodness you like!

Mmm, can't wait to dig in!

Now, to store them for safe travels. If you have seals and lids for your jars, put them on!

Clamp them down!

Ready to go! They're very cute in presentation and great for placing out in a potluck or buffet style dinner party. Just place a spoon on the top of the jar and guests can grab one whenever they feel like it.

First bite, managed to get two out of three! No Crispearls here, but the top crust of the crème will provide texture.