French Toast

I go through phases when I'm obsessed with looking up and reading recipes online.
For the past month, it's been upside down cake recipes: did you know there are many variations beyond pineapple? I've made a couple, with the help of Betty Crocker boxed cake mixes. Delicious!
Now I'm into discovering savoury French Toast recipes and topping variations. They sound divine. While reading a few of these recipes this morning, I realized I could combine those popular toast toppings with savoury French Toast: so exciting! I know what I'll be making on the weekend!
Did I make you hungry with this post? Me too!

Holiday Monday

Contemplating a nap this afternoon. Gotta love a holiday Monday when the SO is away and I can do whatever I please. All I have to do to enter the nap zone is start reading the novel I started this past weekend. That's not a comment on the novel, more a comment on the overtired state of my brain.
My latest addiction on social media is Google Maps. A photo I posted on Google Maps has received more than 5,000 views: how did that happen? It's a nice cloud photo, highlighting the brutalism architecture of the McMaster Children's Hospital: https://goo.gl/maps/PfBZmf2R9hK2. On Google Maps, I'm most excited about being able to support local businesses by writing positive reviews and posting pictures, especially of the tasty food at the many amazing restos in Hamilton. I really hope that every person who looks at my food photos on Google Maps -- more than 4,000 views of one chili dog photo (!) -- will support these local restaurants and other businesses too. I really want them to succeed.
The dog is settling down: a good time to nap.
Laters!

Eating out in HamOnt

Sarcoa, 57 Discovery Drive in Hamilton, Ontario
This waterfront restaurant serves the kind of food that makes me want to be filthy rich (and I really almost never want to be rich!) so that I could eat there every week.

After I ate this appetizer plate of "Chicken and Waffles," I said, "Can we eat here every Friday for early supper and have the chicken and waffles?

Sarcoa Chicken & Waffles with herb gravy & pork belly.

The appetizer & salad parts of the Sarcoa menu were the most tempting to me, so we also ordered the poutine. A poutine like no other: thinly carved, tender beef brisket with authentic curds adorned hand-cut fries smothered in a jus as rich as any I've ever tasted, and my mother is the queen of gravy-making in my books! I don't think my description really does it justice, but brown food doesn't photograph well, so I'm not including that pic here. It was an enormous serving for an appetizer, so we shared it (I didn't share my chicken & waffles, not because there wasn't enough to share -- it is an ample serving too -- but because it was so delicious that I went into greed mode). I can still taste that brisket, when I cast my mind back to that evening.

I think it's probably best to let the photos tell the rest of the story about this amazing place, which sources as many ingredients as possible from local farms and producers.
Anyone who adores beets as I do must have this salad:

Roasted beet salad with pomegranate was simply divine.

The entree chicken dish arrived with the smoothest squash puree ever conceived by humans, and chicken so moist and tender that I couldn't believe it was real. I know I'm descending into hyperbole here, but this meal was seriously one of the best I've ever had in my life.

Most juicy, tender chicken breast ever, atop kale, squash, and spatzle.

Since we were there to celebrate my birthday, I had to try a dessert, and chocolate is the best way to dessert, right? The dish was delicious, of course, and spectacular to look at, but this is the one area where I was a teensy bit let down. For a chef who did a stint as "pastry chef at Vineland Estates Winery," the dessert menu is a little spare.

White chocolate & pistachio mousse (on left, my favourite!), macaron, & ice cream sandwich.

The servers treated us like special people, always a nice way to dine when you're splurging on a night out at a fancy place. The decor is modern and inviting, with surprising bursts of colour and wooden tabletops for a dash of eclecticism. Some of the best views of any restaurant in the city too, being right on the water down at the harbourfront.

View from our table at windowside at Sarcoa.

Overall, I would give Sarcoa an A+ and have been recommending the place to anyone who will listen and who wants to indulge.

Where's the kibble?

I love to eat. I adore patronizing restaurants. I even like cooking. Visiting farmers' markets to choose some delightful local produce makes for a perfect outing on a mild summer afternoon.
Some days, though, I wish I had the option of human "kibble," like the nutrition-complete pellets I give to my dog. Easy, convenient, portable, crunchy, fast, all requirements in one portion, simple portion control, don't need a fridge, and many other entries on the plus side.

Seriously, I think someone has missed the boat on this entrepreneurial opportunity. I would invest my hard-earned dollars in a company making palatable human kibble that didn't break my teeth. Really.

I guess cereal with milk can be a sort of "complete breakfast," but I want a certain type of pellet that is rounded, crunchy, a particular size, has good mouth feel, and doesn't require milk to make it palatable. 

Seems many other people wonder about this item that is lacking at the grocery store: Human Kibble article on io9

Cooking Red Corn

On a recent trip to the grocery store I bought some bicoloured corn, something new to try cooking. Since the weather was so unsettled today, and I had the irrational weather theory that if I set up the BBQ it would immediately start to rain, I opted to roast the corn in the oven. One of my favourite spring/summer salads is a black bean mixture that I thought would go great with the roasted corn. A new camera has inspired me to take photos of almost everything, and a friend's food pictures of her culinary adventures are always so wonderful, that I had to try a food blog entry. Here are the pics from our nice dinner of roasted corn and black bean salad.

Bicoloured red corn from the grocery store

Corn with butter and spices, ready for the oven

Black bean salad ingredients

Salad prior to mixing

Finished plate with an egg bun and some peach chutney

 Yum! And I have enough salad left over to stuff into taco shells with extra salsa tomorrow for a quick supper prior to heading out for trivia night. Wish I could post this in taste-o-vision because black bean salad is scrumptious.

Simple foods

Grilling vegetables releases their most primal flavours, reminding the eater of the true taste of those foods. I spent the afternoon grilling large quantities of vegetables, to make into several meals; it's hot out there, but I used the patio umbrella, and I survived. I had one green fig left from my first-ever fresh fig experiment, and I've been reading often on food blogs about grilled figs, so I sliced it in half and popped it on the electric non-stick (non-stick, my A**) that I use because I'm scared of gas and too lazy to work with charcoal. [Aside: can you believe that I waited until I was over 39 to eat a fresh fig?] Grilling a fig (see the one on the left in the pic here) proves that they are basically pure sugar, leaving a gorgeous dark crust on the grill when I pried it off. I let it cool for a few minutes, then cut each piece into halves, so that I would have four mouthfuls of HEAVEN. Yes, just like that, no added herbs or spices or oils, a fresh fig grilled: succulent, sweet, charred to perfection, ooey gooey loveliness.
I enjoy all sorts of foods and recipes and combinations, but lately I have been experimenting with relearning the flavours of the basic food: what does a cooked carrot really taste like, do I actually like broccoli or only when it's drowned in cheese or stir-fried with mucho spices and surrounded by other veggies? That was what I was doing with the fig/grilled fig: I ate both without any added ingredients, and I enjoyed them so much.
As we age, our sense of taste does dull somewhat, so I guess I am trying a mid-life "remembrance of foods past" so that after another 20 yrs on this Earth, I will have those imprints on my brain and the sights of those foods will still evoke the taste-memory if not the actual taste in my mouth. A large part of the enjoyment of food for me is the visual display of the dish and the memories associated with the enjoyment of eating that particular food previously.
As part of thinking about the basic flavours of food, I tried to remember some of the simpler tastes that I have enjoyed over the years. I realized that some of my favourite dishes from among the thousands of recipes I have sampled during 40 years of eating are some of the simplest. The recipes are practically in the description of the dish, they're that simple. If the freshest ingredients and some attention are paid, they are so satisfying and delicious. 

Here are some of the most simple foods that still delight my palate:

Sauteed mushrooms on toast;

Whole grain sourdough bread toasted with BUTTER;

Poached egg with salt and freshly cracked pepper;

Tomato and cucumber salad with lemon juice/evoo vinaigrette;

Crackers and goat cheese;

Spaghetti with butter/olive oil, parmesan cheese, and fresh-ground pepper;
Aged cheddar in a grilled cheese sandwich;
Broccoli and spaghetti;
Fried egg sandwich;
And any vegetable grilled on the Bar-Bee-Q. Good thing I just ate, or this blog entry would be making me hungry!

Too hot

I had ordered green curry at several places in the past year or so, and had enjoyed the hot bite mixed with Thai basil and coconut milk. I was not prepared for the Limeridge Mall Thai Express's version of green curry: the woman at the cash register warned me it was hot when I placed my order, but I was naive. The first bite made me choke, and I almost spit my food out on the table! Note to self, in future when the staff person says, "It's hot," take her word for it. Luckily for me, we had ordered a bowl of TomYum soup too, which came with enough noodles to re-roof my garage (I really couldn't think of a better metaphor there; I have over-eater's brain right now). My D. was eating a large portion of veggie pad thai, and looking at the gigantic bowl of soup, so he said I could eat that if my meal was too hot.
I really hate to waste food, so I choked down some of my Green Curry chicken and a few vegetables, but the rice was soaked in the sauce. I warned my D. about the heat, but I guess he didn't really believe me; after listening to me complain with every bite, he grabbed some saucy rice, the worst part for heat, and ate it; he couldn't speak and almost spit it out. "My nose is running, my eyes are watering, I feel hot all over, and I only had one bite; how are you eating that?" "I don't know," I choked, blowing some air past him. "Oh, please don't breathe at me like that, the air is even stinging my eyes!" he winced.
After a few more bites, I gave up and launched into the noodle soup. The broth made the hot spices in my mouth spread around even more, so I had another jolt of that heat before it finally started to get washed away into my stomach. I recommend the TomYum soup, for veggies and value for your money, but so many noodles that I think we could have shared the one serving and been satisfied. But, watch out for the green curry at that particular Thai Express.

After lunch, my D. usually likes a sweet treat, and we were dangerously close to a Cinnabon. Thanks to the escalators, it was a relatively short trip from the food court, so we made the detour to get him his sweet-fix. And, oh my gosh they now serve cupcakes: they're beautiful and the flavours are fun too, including cinnamon and carrot cake. I bought a cinnamon cupcake to take home for later. The reason I'm describing this is because I wanted to write about my D.'s enjoyment of his Cinnabon on the way home in the car. I have never seen or heard another human enjoy eating something that much before in my life. "Is the smacking sound during each chew absolutely necessary?" I asked, after listening to it for a few moments. He was almost non-verbal with sugary ecstasy: "oommm, yeah." "Okay, just so I know," I said. A few oohs and ahs and sighs later, an "Ouch" escaped his lips. "What was that?" I asked. "It's still hot in the middle," he gurgled through sticky-coated lips that were descending toward the box in search of more goodness. But he sure wasn't complaining about the hotness, fresh out of the oven, just sublime, I could tell by the noises he was making. He swiped out the icing from the bottom of the box with his fingers after the last crumbs of dough were gone, and said, "Ooogh, darn." "What?" I thought maybe he had spilled some on the car seat or something. "It's all gone." He sounded so sad. I told him that I enjoyed listening to him eat it with such gusto. I never thought dessert could make me laugh so much; that Cinnabon nosh was immensely entertaining.

To garden or not to garden

This year I chose not to garden; after a couple debacles with the dog in the backyard -- see my post about one incident -- I had already determined that buying plants for the back was a waste of money. I did transplant a giant overgrown sedum to the front yard, to save my dog from her fetish for snapping at stinging insects because flowering sedum really attracts bees.
I also shared some overgrown plants with a friend, and I trimmed back the overly enthusiastic grapevine once or twice, but now I've given up. Maybe it's just too hot this week, or maybe I'm sick of trying to rewind the water hose that bends the opposite way no matter which way I turn or twist it, or maybe I'm just supremely lazy (likely that option), but this summer I had no real desire to excavate an area and try a new planting. I have many perennials that are doing all right, so they've filled in the available areas. If I had wanted to garden this year, I would have had to dig out an area covered in thick knotted grass, and I must be the weakest person in Canada, because excavating one little spot takes me all afternoon. I saved some money with my lack of interest in gardening this year, but I do sort of miss the adventure of picking something at the garden gallery store, planting it and tending it and watching what it turns into ... or watching it get shredded by the dog or eaten by slugs. Yes, I made the right choice this year; now, I just have to accept that choice and move on.
One thing I did learn this year, while tending my perennials, is that I must remind myself while doing a clipping project or weeding, or watering, or raking, or trimming, that I must leave energy for the cleanup part of the project. That has been an important lesson for me; not leaving detritus from a project lying around is crucial for my self-respect. Last fall I clipped a huge section of the grapevine away from the fence, and was so exhausted that I left the pile of vines in the middle of the yard until snow fell; then I was too darn lazy to pick them up and try to bind them and tie them into a manageable bale. Luckily, my long-suffering husband helped me with them this spring and a helpful neighbour took them to the transfer station in his truck for us. He's so nice! That pile of vines and its six-month sojourn in my backyard was an important lesson for me: I remembered it every time I started a project, and I have not left a pile behind yet this year. Yet, I say "yet" because I'm sure if I get any crazy ideas about working in the garden in this heat that I'll run out of gas and leave another mound of weeds or clippings lying about until the temperature changes.

A friend's vegetable garden makes me yearn to be ambitious, and hearing my parents talk about their wondrous food-growing landscape in their backyard almost inspires me to try something modest; but I remember the dog and my absence of fence-building ability, and my general lack of wanting to work hard at anything lately, and I resign myself to begging for excess zucchini or tomatoes from people I know who have gardens. I did that today, actually, while talking to someone about her garden, maybe that conversation will bear fruit/veg. Just call me the punster.