Cook the Cover: Canadian Living May 2014

Happy spring everyone! Although it still doesn't feel like spring here in Toronto, we're still getting bouts of cool temperature and snow flurries. It'll truly be spring when I can wear my ballet flats and spring jacket to work. For now, I'm still rocking the boots and wool coat.

This month, we were given a salad recipe to try. For me, this was an adventurous one to try. I love a good salad, but I like them green! Iceberg lettuce, arugula, or even spring mix, those are my favourite leafy greens. But cabbage, let alone red cabbage? Fennel? These two ingredients were out of my comfort zone. I do have to acknowledge that I like that Canadian Living is challenging me, it's the reason I signed up to cook the covers in the first place! I want to learn about new things that I normally wouldn't pick up and expand my tastebuds, so to speak.

Sesame Chicken with Fennel and Orange Salad
Shopping List: boneless skinless chicken breasts, salt and pepper, sesame seeds, liquid honey, lime juice, mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, mustard, garlic, fennel, red cabbage, cilantro, and orange.

I whisked together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, mustard, and garlic.

Sob! I really dislike mayonnaise. It is not a staple in my pantry and I never use it on sandwiches or anything else. But, I wanted to give this recipe a true test so I could report back to you, so I bought mayo. Even Howard cringed when it went into our shopping basket. Another condiment I dislike is mustard - Howard's not with me on this one though - and we had this in the fridge. I was starting to wonder if I would like this salad dressing. So far it included two ingredients that I normally don't eat.

I had to take a photograph of the first fennel I ever purchased. It looks pretty cute, like a little heart in some ways. I had no idea how to prepare it so I may have watched a YouTube video to find out. If you're trying it out for the first time too, this is how you core and slice fennel:

1. Slice the bottom of the bulb (the line on the left of the top photograph).
2. Remove the outer white layer.
3. No stalks in this recipe, so slice those off as well (the line on the right of the top photograph).
4. Cut the bulb in half. To core it, make two cuts (the green lines on the top photograph) on the bottom half.
5. You're finished coring it! Thinly slice the fennel. It'll smell like licorice.

I also took a photo of the first red cabbage I bought. It's such a deep purple and felt like shiny leather. It was pretty tough too, I wonder if there's a way to soften up the cabbage?

Mixing in the fennel and cilantro with the salad dressing.

For the chicken, mix the honey, sesame seeds, and lime juice together. Sorry that I don't have a photo of the grilling chicken. I'm not able to work carefully with heat and my camera yet. Plus, the instructions told me to cover the chicken with a lid!

While the chicken is cooking, slice the orange, this should go on the salad last. Once the chicken is done, slice and top it on the fennel and orange salad, serve right away!

What can I say about this recipe? The chicken I would add to my repertoire for future use. I like eating honey glazed chicken and the sesame seeds were a nice touch. Orange slices in my salad? I like that too.

But . . . this salad isn't something I would want to eat again. It includes a lot of strong flavours - fennel, red cabbage, and cilantro. It also includes things I personally don't like - mayonnaise, mustard, and fennel. But that's just me. Howard didn't seem to mind it, his only comment being that the dressing was really creamy. That surprised me too because the image on the cover doesn't show the creamy dressing. However, if I were to make the salad again, I would probably slice the fennel even smaller. And I would use a mandolin for the red cabbage.

See what other bloggers thought about the recipe here.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Canadian Living and I received compensation for it. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this recipe. All opinions are our own.

Summerlicious: Bent

Bent

777 Dundas Street West

Toronto, ON M6J 1V2

(647) 352-0092

We risked rainstorms warnings and floods to have dinner at Bent. In fact, the moment we stepped out of the car and walked towards Dundas, lightning struck. Right across the street. Boy was it loud. I don't know if you've ever seen and heard lightning that was just a crosswalk in front of you, but it is scary. Your heart flutters and yours ears require adjustment. You might shriek and jump a little. Smile nervously at your friends. Then you're left with the pounding of your heart as you realize that you were darn lucky escaping that.

But we lived to tell you about our Summerlicious experience at Bent!

Our group of six was seated near the front and our server took our drink order. Note to self, ask what the price is for drinks that have none listed! They had a great mojito line up in which most of us took part in, but it was expensive and took us by surprise when the bill arrived. On one hand, I felt it was expected as they needed to make up their costs elsewhere, but for that price, I would have expected a pitcher, or the world's best mojito!

While we kept perusing the menu, we actually took to ordering some appetizers off of the Summerlicious offerings because they sounded so delicious!

Here's one of them, a spicy tuna and watermelon ceviche with shaved red onion, cilantro, crispy shallots, fresh citrus juice, Rocoto chili, and Chinese doughnut fritter. I really liked the addition of the yau ja gwai, this was unique and we've never seen it done before. The tuna and watermelon was a good combination and we liked how juicy and large the chunks were.

The second one we tried were the duck confit spring rolls with braised onion sweet tamarind sauce. Quite filling as the spring roll was stuffed to the brim! Admirably, the duck wasn't dried inside and had a good sauce to it.

This was the popular Summerlicious appetizer choice as we saw servers carry these olive trays out of the kitchen again and again. Shrimp tacos with charred onion tomato salsa, chipotle, and avocado in a taro shell. Mini bites consisting of a great flavour combination.

I had thought the shells were fried wonton wrappers since the taro didn't stand out, but the filling more than made up for it.

Howard's Summerlicious appetizer was a crispy chicken dumpling served with roasted chorizo, a maple syrup and smoked chili lime glaze, and Parmesan emulsion with salad of watercress and frisée. This surprised me the most as it had quite the kick. Not the pick for those who can't handle their hot and fiery, but for those who can, this was delicious!

Time for our mains! I had the crispy Assam-styled salmon with tamarind, ginger flower, four citrus, mustard and fruit. That's right, fruit! Little bits of green grapes and grapefruit, accompanied the perfectly cooked salmon.

Howard had the largest ravioli I've ever seen. Pulled beef ravioli with Malay black pepper emulsion, garlic mushroom, and confit tomato. This dish won raves all around the table, from those who had ordered it and from those of us who were lucky enough to try a bite or two. It was so good that our friends joked about ordering another one.

Finally, they also switched it up by not having you pick one of the three dessert items on the Summerlicious menu. You get all three! From left to right: strawberry, rhubarb, and lemongrass compote with a Grand Marnier crème fraiche and a butterfly pastry; passion fruit and mango panna cotta topped with coconut tapioca, pineapple, and passion fruit granitée; and profiterole with vanilla custard served with hot chocolate sauce and sesame brittle.

The all-round favourites of the trio was the mango panna cotta and the profiterole! Please Sur (see what I did there?), can I have some more?

The next time you're walking down Dundas Street West and you see that arrow? Go in.

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!

Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands

When the cruise ship docked at Saint Thomas, we were ready to see the island with the shore excursion tour we purchased. Little did we know it would be such a ride! We boarded an open bus (picture a giant golf cart) and sped up the steep mountains. On the other side of the road. I was holding on tight to prevent being flung from the bus!

A look at Charlotte Amalie from above. Lots of cruise ships park here, so the town is full of tourists.

This is a view of Magens Bay, apparently National Geographic and Condé Nast Traveler have both rated it as one of the top ten beaches in the world. I wished the tour stopped down there instead.

I liked how the palm leaves were framing this.

The other Virgin Islands in view.

The tour took us to a gigantic souvenir shop that also claimed to have invented the first banana daiquiri.

We had to try it, of course! Banana, rum, and ice blended until smooth. Another dash of rum on top and garnished with a lemon wedge and cherry. It is so strong!!

When the tour ended, we went to search for a place to have lunch. There are lots of mini malls off the main street of the town, but we managed to find the right alley.

For lunch at Glady's Cafe was high recommended in a travel guide we looked at before the trip.

They're famous for their hot sauce.

Howard bought home three for his parents.

Each table and the bar were stocked with the hot sauce. Howard tried it and warned me not to attempt it. It was way beyond my spicy-handling level.

Jerk chicken. I ate all of the plantains on the side, which is why there's an empty space on the plate (bottom right). I was so hungry and they were so good, almost forgot about the camera!

Curry chicken roti with salad.

Service was friendly and brisk.

Look up and you'll see the mountains. Look the other way in the same street and you'll see the beach. What a happy medium!

Blood, Bones & Butter and Prune

Blood, Bones & Butter

The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef

Written by Gabrielle Hamilton

ISBN 13: 9781400068722

ISBN 10: 140006872X

Publisher: Random House

Hardcover: 304 pages

Blood, Bones & Butter was one of those books that got rave reviews from industry publications to food bloggers. I think every major food blogger on my Google Reader got a copy of the book and shared how much they enjoyed it.

I quickly got a copy of Gabrielle Hamilton's book on the last week of April this year and finished it on the first week of May. My apologies for not writing a review sooner! Since then, I've lent my copy to two friends who were interested in reading it for different reasons - for the Italian family dynamic and for how difficult restaurant work is. The friend who read it for Hamilton's restaurant moments was able to identify with this line from Hamilton's mother, "There are no accidents, only carelessness."

That is actually a line that has been stuck with me since grade four. My elementary teacher once yelled at our class and ingrained that saying with us. He used to tell us that car accidents happened because someone was being stupid.

It has been awhile, but the book made it's way back to me during the Thanksgiving weekend, and I thought it would be nice to pair my review with a post about our visit to Hamilton's restaurant.

I think Hamilton has an appealing story because it's a story of having a strong work ethic. We read about her rough childhood, dropping out of school, trouble with the law, and the jobs after jobs she had before she ran her own business. There's no doubt that she encountered many detours, both in her personal and professional life.

One of my favourite section was reading about her summer camp experience. Perhaps I'm being a bit nostalgic of my summers as a camp leader. Or, even further back to when I was a camper and was fed overly sugared cereal for breakfast, flavourless spaghetti at lunch, and from-the-box mac and cheese for dinner. I wish I knew as much about food like Emma, asking for balsamic vinegar, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper. I was beyond floored when Hamilton revealed who Emma's father was. Then, shocked when she finds the suffocated lobsters on the kitchen floor.

An eye opener for me was when Hamilton did catering work. The stale food, the shortcuts, and multiple handling. It makes me shudder to think about how many events we've been to that have been catered!

I liked reading about how casual her approach was. She didn't go looking to open a restaurant, it sounded like it all fell into place. A place opened up and she knew it was her. She didn't know how to open or run a restaurant yet, but focused on the parts that most of us love to do. Picking out the cutlery, the menu font, and the soundtrack. While in hindsight, everything could have gone wrong, she was lucky enough to open and garner lots of publicity for her restaurant.

Hamilton's book introduced me to Jacques Pepin and Andre Soltner. After reading about how Soltner made an omelette, I no longer felt like I had to master cracking and splitting an egg with one hand. I even scraped the egg shell when I made pancakes that weekend. It's moments like these that I love reading about, because they change the way you do things in the kitchen.

While Hamilton was honest and wrote eloquently about everything else, her personal life left me puzzled. Her relation with now ex-husband, Michele, made no sense to me. I wasn't fond of her reason for marrying him and how she had to tolerate with his behaviour. Most people who I discussed the book with were also confused with why she started a family with him. This could be the reason why I finished the book feeling like a bit of the story was not finished.

Unlike other chef biographies and food writing, there are no recipes in this book.

Disclaimer: A copy of Blood, Bones & Butter was given to me by Pamela Osti (my colleague at Random House of Canada) as a gift. There was no agreement or expectations that a review would be written and posted on this site. Thanks again Pamela!

Prune

54 East 1st Street

New York, NY 10003

(212) 677-6982

During our visit to New York in September, I was still intrigued enough to want to try Prune. This was the place she described in her book. She took the dump and renovated it to what it is today. Sure enough, I spotted copies of the book on shelf above the bar.

We went on a Tuesday night without reservations - so we arrived when dinner service officially opened. The staff (in their pink T-shirts) was standing around the bar and the hostess came up to seat us. Corner seat by the opened front window. You can see it in the photo above. The window was open, as if inviting us to sit there. If I tipped back and turned my head left, this was my view:

The open window was also functional, once the waiter reached through from outside to refill our glasses with water.

We were served some chickpea flour crackers in a pail as we browsed the menu. Confused, I was pretty sure we had the wrong menu. We did! The hostess took the brunch menu and found the dinner menus for us.

We'll have to say that service was a bit of "tough love," (something you feel in her book too) I don't think we saw anyone smile at a customer or do friendly chit-chat. Two gentlemen were seated right beside us, and they were probably the second or third group to arrive that night. "With all this room, you'd think they would space us out," one of them joked. Yes, the restaurant is small and the tables are really close together (thankfully, our elbows didn't touch). A bit odd, but maybe they had lots of reservations later that evening? However, it still wasn't full when we left.

As an aside, the two gentlemen both ordered the fish and were served the whole fish. It looked amazing.

I ordered the lamb blade chop with Greek salad. We were told it was a very popular choice when Howard asked for recommendations. The lamb was cooked very well - it was juicy, tender, and didn't taste gamy at all.

Look at the feta cheese! I really enjoyed the Greek salad, differently put together than any other I've had before (because how authentic is Mr. Greek?). I liked the seasoning and the dressing, and felt that I could have had a whole plate of this salad.

Howard had the crispy chicken - but as you can see, there was only one piece of crispy chicken skin sitting on top. We both agreed that I had the better dish this time!