Freezer Scraps – Philly Steak Benny

It’s Sunday and we’re in for our meals today, since yesterday we had breakfast at our local greasy spoon Sunset Grill (we shared the French Connection which consists of two poached eggs, 2 breakfast sausages, 2 slices bacon and two slices of thick cut French Toast – and JT orders an extra side of rye toast) and a fine dinner at Le Select (we shared an antipasto plate, I had the bison steak tartar and JT had a flat iron steak, all wonderful!. They have an $18 corkage fee, so bringing your own bottle saves a bit!).

I had remembered that I had frozen a small baggy of leftover braised beef and onions so I defrosted them, and warmed them up. JT made whole wheat English muffins and I poached a couple of eggs, made a Cheddar Bechamel Sauce and tossed together an Arugula and Tomato Salad (drizzled with Blueberry Baco Balsamic from Treadwells and a peppery Greek Olive Oil). It was delicious!

I took a very casual shot with my iPhone after JT finished one of his Bennys. The caramelized onions and the smooth cheddar sauce really pulled it together. You can do this with left over pulled pork too (the BBQ sauce and cheese would be an amazing combo!).

Philly Steak Benny

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Lee Inspired Asian Slaw

Recently a friend and I dropped in for a bite at Susur Lee’s restaurant “Lee’s” on King Street. It was my first time there, but certainly not my first time enjoying his food. JT bought me his cookbook in 2009 for Christmas, and although most of the recipes are way too laborious, I definitely recommend this one. It is abso-f-in-lutely the most wonderful explosion of flavours you can imagine! It is an ever morphing ingredient list, which entirely depends on what’s fresh and available. Don’t allow my recipe or his to deter you from this dish…make it your own! Use the same shredder for all the ingredients that require shredding, and that way each bite is an adventure!

Inspired by Lee's Slaw

Lee Inspired Asian Slaw (adapted from Susur Lee’s Singapore Slaw)

• 2 cups shredded purple cabbage
• 2 cups shredded celeriac (celery root)
• 1 cup shredded English cucumber
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup very thinly sliced celery
• 1″ diametre chives in similar length to the shredded veg
• 1 cup any kind of vegetable sprouts (arugula would be great)
• 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 3 tbsp chopped peanuts
• 1/2 cup pickled onion (this is definitely worth the effort)

1. Pile on a decorative plate, alternating colours. Dress and toss in front of your guests. It’s a real show stopper!

Pickled Onion (directly from Lee’s recipe)

• 1 red onion
• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme

1. Peel and julienne red onion and set aside in a medium bowl.
2. In small saucepan, bring vinegar and water to a boil. Season with salt, peppercorns, fennel seeds, bay leaf, and thyme; continue boiling for another 5 minutes.
3. Pour mixture over onion while hot and let sit for 1 hour or more. This lasts a good long time in the refrigerator, if you don’t consume it first!

Papaya Dressing

The main thing about this dressing is that you need a balance of salty, sweet, sour and spicy – so if you don’t have something at hand, improvise, as I did!

• 1/2 cup ripe sweet puréed papaya
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon mirin
• 1 1/2 tablespoons puréed onion
• 1 tbsp agave nectar
• 2 tbsp Rose’s Lime Cordial
• 1/2 tablespoon peeled and chopped fresh ginger
• 1 tsp fresh green or red Thai chillies
• 1/4  or more teaspoon salt

1. Blend until smooth using an immersion blender.
2. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This salad keeps well refrigerated if you keep the wet ingredients (such as cucumber) separated from the dry and dress it when you serve it!

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Mexican Chocolate Paté with Caramel Drizzle

Part of the tapas dinner I recently served to nephew Brian and his gal Adrienne was the Mexican Chocolate Paté with Caramel Drizzle. I have been itching to make this rich dessert but extremely hesitant because of the volume and richness (no, I don’t want JT eating too many sweets, I’d like him around for a long, long time!). I came across the recipe in Epicurious, and of course, I altered it. Click Epicurious to see the original! Also, because Adrienne is gluten intollerant, I decided to make this sans crust, which just adds to the paté name anyway. It’s very spicy and rich, hope you enjoy!

Mexican Chocolate Paté

Mexican Chocolate Paté

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2.5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/8 cup (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, room temperature
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cayenne if you’re daring, if not, just do a 1/2!
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Bring cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; whisk until melted.
2. Add butter, 1 piece at a time; whisk until smooth.
3. Whisk in vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt.
4. Allow to cool a bit.
5. Line a very small (10cm x 5cm) loaf pan with plastic wrap. Make sure you press the wrap into the corners well.
6. Pour filling into pan. Chill until filling begins to set, about 15 to 20 minutes, but overnight is best.
7. To serve, remove from pan and carefully peel away the plastic wrap.
8. Slice into 1 cm slices and carefully place on a large plate (I paired this portion of the dessert with two other chocolaty desserts to make a trio, but you don’t have to)
9. Drizzle caramel sauce over (you can also add whipped cream and berries if you wish).
10. Enjoy!

Caramel Sauce (originall from Christine Cushing, and I only altered the directions!)

• 3/4 cup sugar (175 ml)
• 2/3 cup whipping (35%) cream (150 ml)
• 2 tablespoons brandy (30 ml)

1. Heat sugar on high in a tall medium sized pot. When sugar melts and JUST begins to turn a darkish amber colour, remove from heat and add cream (you’ll want to do this in a sink as the caramel will bubble up quite a bit).
2. Continue to whisk and add the brandy and whisk until smooth.
3. Let cool before serving. Serve with the Mexican Chocolate Paté, above.

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Onion Bahjis

• 1 large Vidalia onion, medium coarsely chopped
• 2 cups chick pea flour
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1-2 cups water
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp meat masala
• ½ L peanut oil

1. Sift spices into the chick pea flour.
2. Mix chick pea flour into egg mixture, adding water to make a thick batter. Add onions and mix well.
3. Heat peanut oil until it is 350°F. Fry by teaspoon full until golden brown.
4. Cool and freeze in a zip lock bag.
5. To reheat, pre heat oven to 350°F, place in a single row on a baking sheet and bake for 15-25 minutes, until defrosted and warm all the way through.
6. Serve with your favourite sweet and spicy sauce (we served it with the Papaya BBQ Sauced)

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Gluten Free Profiteroles

I made these for my nephew Brian’s girlfriend Adrienne who is gluten intolerant (they’ll be great for my other friend who is also gluten intolerant).

Makes about 12 five centimetre profiteroles.

Gluten Free Profiteroles

• 33 g of Gluten Free Flour
• 1/4 tsp xantham gum
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• 32 mL water
• 32 mL milk
• 25 g butter
• 1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Sift the flour, xantham gum, salt and sugar together 3-4 times, set aside in a handy location close to the stove.
3. Break egg into a measuring cup and whisk to combine. Set aside.
4. Prepare your hand mixer so that it is ready when needed.
5. Measure milk and water into a deep heavy bottomed pan. Cut butter into smallish chunks and add them into the milk mixture. Heat gently until all the butter has melted.
6. Increase heat on the butter milk mixture until is comes to a rolling boil.
7. Remove from heat and pour flour mixture into the milk mixture all at once. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon.
8. Return to a low heat and continue beating with the wooden spoon until the flour forms a smooth paste and has come cleanly off all the sides and bottom (should be shiny and smooth). The recipe says to avoid over cooking this paste as the buns will become heavy.
9. Remove from heat and slowly pour the egg into the mixture, beating well with the hand mixer, being careful to to make the paste too runny (the recipe indicates that the amount of egg required depends on the humidity, so add in smallish quantities). Continue to beat until shiny and stiff. The paste should firm but elastic and should be able to stand on its own when dropped by spoonfuls. This paste may be kept for a couple of hours covered with a damp cloth. Also, the recipe indicates that this paste can be frozen and used successfully (next time I will freeze excess balls individually on a cookie sheet, and bake individually as required in the future!).
10. Prepare a cookie sheet by running it under cold water, shaking excess water off, but leaving it damp. Use two baking sheet to protect the bottom of each puff from burning.
11. Place tablespoons of the mixture about 10 cm apart (the chou’s will double to triple in size).
12. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the exterior is golden – do NOT open the oven for the first 15 minutes. Chou needs to be golden otherwise they will collapse as cooling. All sides must be golden brown, if not, the inside has not finished baking and they WILL collapse!
    When done, remove from the sheet to a baking rack, piercing with a toothpick to allow steam to escape. Chou pastry may be reheated for about 10 minutes to crisp them up again.

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Tapas Dinner with nephew Brian and his better half, Adrienne

We’re having Brian and Adrienne for dinner on Saturday evening (wow, I could hardly believe it myself, the young’uns gave us a Saturday?!?!?!?). And I decided to make another Tapas dinner so that we’re sitting around the cozy fire, instead of the dining room. We’ll start in the kitchen and move to the living room; JT and I will split the work so that we can take turns being with our guests. Adrienne has a gluten intolerance, which I have some experience in, since my best friend Kim has the same (Kim’s a bit more complicated as she is also allergic to soy!). The only difference with this meal is that I had to make a few things from scratch for the dinner, instead of pulling from my inventory in the freezer!

Round 1: Kitchen Party
Baba Ghanoush and sesame crackers (gluten free) and flat breads
Onion Bhajis with Papaya Dipping Sauce (onion bhajis are made with Chic Pea Flour, totally G.F.)

Round 2: Let’s get the party rollin’
Leak and Potato Soup with gruyère fondu (just a fancy term for crispy gruyère on the top of the soup)
Sausage and tomatoes in a red wine sauce with JT Bread (and G.F. bread)

Round 3: Cleanser
Wine Gelée (I’m getting a lot of mileage out of the gelée)

Round 4: The Main Event
Seafood Xtravaganza! Cold shrimp cocktail, oysters in pesto, sautéd scallops and calamari in garlic butter.
Singapore Slaw (chef Lee’s signature dish!)

Inspired by Lee's Slaw

Round 5: The Finale
Mexican Chocolate Pate, G.F. Profiteroles with Chocolate Bourbon Ice Cream and a Chocolate Kalhua Shooter all cohesively joined with a drizzle of rich caramel sauce!

The End.

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Country Chicken Liver Paté on Grilled Garlic Croustini with Papaya Sauce

This little amuse bouche can easily be served as an appetizer or an hors d’oeuvres (or even part of a tapas dinner). I left the paté a coarse texture this time to play against the smoothness of the sauce. The sauce was a last minute substitution as JT made it for dinner on Thursday night (Roger Mookings recipe, Food Network, Everyday Exotic) – I just loved the subtle sweetness and the bang of heat at the very end. It really complimented the Asian flavours in the Paté.

Country Chicken Liver Paté on Grilled Garlic Croustini with Papaya Sauce

Country Chicken Liver Paté on Grilled Garlic Croustini and Papaya Sauce

• 3 chicken livers, cleaned and minced finely (you may also use your food processor if this grosses you out, just pulse a couple of times)
• 3 medium porchini mushrooms medium coarsely chopped (you may also use wild mushrooms which will add an earthier flavour)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced (we try to buy garlic grown in the States or better yet, Canada – we try to avoid Chinese garlic as they are picked too young and ripen in their container travel – no flavour!)
• 1 tsp Chinese five spice (I made my own mix, but you may use the store bought kind)
• 1 tbsp Mirin (Japanese Rice Wine)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Melt 1 tbsp butter with the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onions and cook about 1/2 way, add the mushrooms (mushrooms will release quite a bit of liquid, but don’t worry)
2. Add the chicken livers and cook through.
3. Add the garlic, Chinese Five Spice and cook until you can really smell the aromas. Add the mirin, salt and pepper and the remaining 1 tbsp butter (melt the butter).
4. Mix thoroughly and allow to cool slightly.
5. Line a very small loaf pan (or ramekin) with plastic wrap. Press the paté into the form tightly. Refrigerate. This paté gets better with age, so you may want to make it in advance.
6. See assembly instructions below.

Grilled Garlic Croustini

• Four 1 cm thick slices of the best bread in the world (JT’s, of course!)
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and cut in half (make sure one half is large enough to hold onto)

1. Grill both sides of the bread until slightly chard, but toasted.
2. Rub garlic over one side really well, repeat to each slice.
3. Set aside.

Papaya Puré (this is an adaptation of Roger Mookings BBQ sauce from Everyday Exotic)

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup sweet onion, finely diced
• 2 tbsp sugar (taste the papaya, you may wish to add more)
• 1 green chili pepper, pith and seeds removed and quartered
• zest and juice of 1 limes
• zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
• 2 cups papaya, large dice
• 1 teaspoons salt

1. Cook onion in the olive oil until translucent and not brown.
2. Add sugar, chili pepper, zest of limes and lemon, and stir until sugar disolves.
3. Add water, juice from lemon, limes and vinegar.
4. Bring to a boil and add papaya and salt.
5. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Using a blender, puree until smooth. You may push this through a fine sieve for a creamy consistency, but it’s not absolutely necessary.
7. Serve warm or cool.

Assembly:

1. Drizzle the papaya sauce on the plate, making sure there is enough to be able to dip the croustini into.
2. Slice paté into 1 cm slice and lay carefully on one croustini.
3. Serve.

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Thanks for ‘rides’ Dinner

Friday, we’re having a good friend and boss Kim, her hubby Rob and their daughter Chloé for a ‘thanks for the rides’ dinner (I generally catch a lift with her from work, since we live across the road from each other). Because their 8 year old will be joining us I decided not to make it tapas (although of all the kids I know, she would most likely like it, however, I think it might drag things out a bit long for a kid).

Hors D’oeuvres: Roasted Red Peppers with Sheeps Milk Feta and Balsamic Reduction

Amuse Bouche: Home made Chicken Liver Paté on a Crisp Garlic Toast with Parsimon Confit (the parsimon confit was a gift from Anone on Christmas Day)

Soup: Leak and Potato Soup with Gruyère Crème

Palatte Cleanser: Wine Gelée (although I will have to figure out something for the under 18 guest!)

Main: Paella

Pre Dessert: Kahlua Chocolate Shooter (this is a dessert I served to the adults while the younger guest enjoyed her dessert, so she could watch her movie!!)

Dessert: Apple Pudding with Caramel Sauce

Photo styling by Chloé, photography by Kim with Rob’s iPhone! The Littlest Petshop Friends really add the warmth this photo needed!

Kahlua Chocolate Shooter and Friends

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Mushroom Velouté Profiterole

We love our Martini Cocktails, and I never like to serve booze without some kind of food, so on Saturday I decided to extend the versatility of the profiteroles I made for Friday night’s dinner to an appetizer: Mushroom Velouté. Even though the profiteroles had a bit of sugar, the savoury mushrooms and the creamy sauce worked very well. I am still working on the light in my photos.

Mushroom Velouté Profiterole

Preheat oven to 350°F and defrost profiteroles (I put the unstuffed extras into a zip lock bag, heating them straight from the freezer doesn’t allow them to get soggy!)

Mushroom Velouté

• 4 medium mushrooms, washed and thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tsp porcini mushroom powder (I found this in a gourmet shop in Niagara)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 green onion finely chopped for garnish
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt butter in a saucepan and add the onions. Sweat the onions until transluscent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
2. Add the mushroom and cook down. Add the porcini powder.
3. Add flour and cook well. Add milk and stir until smooth – once this cooks through it will be thick. Add chicken stock until a desired thickness is achieved.
4. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Cut the profiterole in half and fill with the mushroom velouté, sprinkle with the green onion.
6. Enjoy with a cold Martini (vodka, of course!)

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Wine Gelée

I was inspired by this recipe while watching Chef at Home on Food TV over the holidays; Chef Michael Smith made Wine Shots and I thought ‘wouldn’t that make a lovely palate cleanser between courses for a large dinner?’. Of course, I just didn’t make it verbatim, I had to make it my own (go figure). Our version is not nearly as sweet and we found it to be tastier the longer it is in the fridge. I recently made it for Pam and Don’s engagement dinner (a six course collaborative meal with my honey).

My step brother-in-law Alan from out west also made a very similar recipe for a family get together that was so tasty. He used a sparkling wine and as I recall sparkling jello instead of gelatin. I’ll have to find that recipe again and make another version, as it seem to be having a come-back!

Rosé Wine Gelée

• 750 ml bottle of pink zinfandel
• 3 envelopes of powdered gelatin
• 1/4 cup of sugar

1. Pour about 1 cup of the wine into a a small saucepan, add the sugar and 3 envelopes of gelatin.  Stir over low heat to dissolve sugar and gelatin.
2. Once this has been dissolved, add the remaining wine to it and stir until fully combined.
3. Pour into a lightly oiled 8 inch by 8-inch pan and refrigerate until set.
4. Slide a knife around the edges of the pan, dip the bottom the pan into hot water and then invert, hopefully the wine jelly will release; cut into very small cubes.  If it doesn’t release cleanly, fret not, I actually tore mine to resemble gemstones and I thought it looked lovely.
5. This recipe makes about 8-10 servings, but it keeps well for weeks int the fridge sealed with plastic wrap so you can serve it over several parties — or just the two of you 😉

PS. I think my photo skills are improving, comments? (I can take it, good or bad)

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Ham ‘n Cheese Panini Crêpe

It’s the last day of my holidays 😦 so I thought I would make a special breakfast and try out my new camera. I’ve been doing an on line youtube tutorial on how to use this complex gadget, so hopefully there is a difference in my photography. I am still playing with the lighting but you can definitely see that I am able to control the depth of field!

Ham ‘n Cheese Panini Crèpe

Crêpe (I tend to eyeball this, so the recipe is very loosey goosey) – makes two crepes, give or take!

• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup flour
• soda water (my mom always used soda in crèpes, she said it made them lighter!)
• pinch of salt

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend, adding soda to make a smooth slightly thick batter (not lumpy and thick like pancake batter).
2. Pre heat a cast iron crêpe pan, rub with olive oil.
3. Pour 1/2 the batter onto the pan and spread out to form a thin circle. Cook until brownish on one side. Flip for about 1 minute (these crêpes will be cooked again on a panini pan, so you want them quite pliable).
4. Repeat with second crèpe.

Dijon Béchamel Sauce

• 1 tbsp butter
• 3-4 tbsp flour
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, or more to taste
• pinch of salt

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan, add flour and cook through (a minute or so)
2. Add milk slowly, whisking to create a smooth sauce. The flour will thicken as it cooks. Add Dijon and salt.
3. Cook on medium heat until desired consistency is achieved, adding more milk as required.
4. Keep warm.

Panini Crèpe

• 2 slices of ham
• 1/2 cup + of coarsely grated double smoked cheddar cheese
• 1 cup spinach and arugual leaves (washed and dried)
• 6 mini tomatoes, washed and sliced in half

1. Preheat your panini pan/maker (we have a cast iron one) and rub down with olive oil.
2. Lay each crèpe out flat. Add one slice of ham, about 1/4 cup of cheese, 1/2 cup of the greens and 6 mini tomato halves.
3. Fold each crêpe into 1/4 of a circle.
4. Place on panini pan and put another clean cast iron pan on top of it. Cook until the crèpe is heated through and cheese is melted (you want grill marks).
5. Plate 1 crêpe on each warm plate, drizzle with hot Dijon sauce, and garnish with a little additional cheese.
6. Enjoy!

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Profiteroles

Profiteroles

Our good friends Rae and Mon invited us for Boeuf Bourguignon so I volunteered to make a French dessert, Profiteroles! This group are not huge chocolate eaters, so I made a Butterscotch sauce instead. The recipe for the Pâte à Chou came from a cookbook my dear friend Kim from university gave me in 1984, Traditional Cakes and Pastries by Babara Maher – published by New Burlington Books in 1984, but I see there are updated versions now (yes, they had books back then!). It’s best to get everthing organized before you start. I modified the recipe only by its quantity.

• 65 g all purpose flour
• 1 tsp sugar (omit if you are using this as a savory dish)
• 60 mL water
• 60 mL milk
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F.
2. Sift the flour, salt and sugar together 3-4 times, set aside in a handy location close to the stove.
3. Break two eggs into a measuring cup and whisk to combine. Set aside.
4. Prepare your hand mixer so that it is ready when needed.
5. Measure milk and water into a deep heavy bottomed pan. Cut butter into smallish chunks and add them into the milk mixture. Heat gently until all the butter has melted.
6. Increase heat on the butter milk mixture until is comes to a rolling boil.
7. Remove from heat and pour flour into the milk mixture all at once. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon.
8. Return to a low heat and continue beating with the wooden spoon until the flour forms a smooth paste and has come cleanly off all the sides and bottom (should be shiny and smooth). The recipe says to avoid over cooking this paste as the buns will become heavy.
9. Remove from heat and slowly pour the eggs into the mixture, beating well with the hand mixer with each addition, being careful to to make the paste too runny (the recipe indicates that the amount of egg required depends on the humidity, so add in smallish quantities). Continue to beat until shiny and stiff. The paste should firm but elastic and should be able to stand on its own when dropped by spoonfuls. This paste may be kept for a couple of hours covered with a damp cloth. Also, the recipe indicates that this paste can be frozen and used successfully (next time I will freeze excess balls individually on a cookie sheet, and bake individually as required in the future!).
10. Prepare a cookie sheet by running it under cold water, shaking excess water off, but leaving it damp. Use two baking sheet to protect the bottom of each puff from burning.
11. Place tablespoons of the mixture about 10 cm apart (the chou’s will double to triple in size).
12. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the exterior is golden – do NOT open the oven for the first 15 minutes. Chou needs to be golden otherwise they will collapse as cooling. All sides must be golden brown, if not, the inside has not finished baking and they WILL collapse!
    When done, remove from the sheet to a baking rack, piercing with a toothpick to allow steam to escape. Chou pastry may be reheated for about 10 minutes to crisp them up again.

Crème Patissière (a slightly modified Butter Cream from my twelfth edition of Fanny Farmer’s Cookbook)

• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 egg yolks slightly beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1. In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, sugar and salt, set aside.
2. Break egg yolks into a bowl and whisk gently.
3. Heat milk in a heavy bottomed pan until very hot, but not boiling. Pour into sifted flour mixture and stir until well blended.  Return to pan and continue to stir vigorously over low heat for 4-5 minutes until thick and smooth.
4. Temper egg yolks with a small amount of the creamy flour mixture, pour tempered eggs into the flour mixture and continue to cook 2-4 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and stir well. Set aside to cool completely.
5. Once cooled, beat in room temperature butter with a hand mixer. Use this cream to fill the puffs above.

Butterscotch Sauce (a slightly modified thick gooey sauce from my twelfth edition of Fanny Farmer’s Cookbook)

• 1/2 dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine brown sugar, corn syrup, balsamic vinegar and salt in a heavy bottomed pan (spray your measuring cup with Pam before you pour the corn syrup in, it will slide right out!)
2. Cook over low heat for about 6 minutes (set the timer).
3. Remove from heat and add the butter, allowing it to melt as you stir. Carefully stir in the vanilla and the heavy cream (be careful, it may bubble up).
4. Serve cool or slightly warmed up. YUM!

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A quiet retreat at Niagara Falls

Note that the majority of these photos are taken on my bran-spankin’ new iPhone!!!

Niagara Falls in winter

On December 29th we drove down to Niagara Falls for a couple of days of R&R (click here for photo album). We stopped off in Jordan to one of our favourite little shops Beauty Safari to pick up JTs favourite cologne. Then we headed out to Port Dalhousie for lunch at one of our old favourites, Treadwells – a wonderful farm to table restaurant. Front of the house is mastered by Sommelier James Treadwell and the back of the house is by his father, Chef Stephen Treadwell. Food was amazing, as usual. The lovely thing about this visit was that James recalled our last visit with the Doran’s from Illinois AND that JT loves the Viongier grape. I had the Hoisin Glazed Pulled Pork Shoulder on “Fred’s” Brioche Bun with Asian Slaw (actually, only half, JT had the other half) and JT had the Housemade Tagliatelle “alla Carbonara” with Double Smoked Bacon and “Pingue’s” Free Range Egg. Food was wonderful.

We stopped at Henry of Pelham winery to pick up some old favourites. And the trip wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t stop at Picard’s Peanuts for some snacks!

En route we stopped in Niagara on the Lake and walked around a bit. Of course, 4 o’clock rolled along and we stopped at the Prince of Wales bar for cocktails.

Cocktails at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Niagara on the Lake

Cocktails at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Niagara on the Lake

We then proceeded to Niagara Falls to our newest boutique hotel fav – The Sterling Inn, an old converted dairy. They messed up our reservation due to an inconsistency with the web, so they kindly upgraded us to a suite. How sweet is that? Two rooms, a bathtub that could house 10, and a shower for 6! Wow.  We had dinner reservations at AG (silver in the periodic table of elements!). Another stellar meal. I started with the Truffled Jerusalem Artichoke veloute (which is a creamed soup with little to no cream!), JT had green salad. For mains, I had an appi portion flank steak and JT had the venison. All were wonderful. Service was also excellent. This is by far the best restaurant in the Niagara Falls area.

The fireplace in our suite

Cocktails

Day 2: we had a reasonably early start down to Buffalo for some shopping and of course, wings at the Anchor Bar (famous for developing Buffalo wings).

Anchor Bar, Buffalo New York

We shopped at some premium outlets, which were OK. Not much shopping to be had, believe it or not — even the board guard was surprised! Oh well, maybe next time. We returned to our hotel to do some walking around Niagara Falls.

The highlight of the walking around was the SkyWheel, which was reasonably priced at $9.98 per person! Afterward we hopped in the car to explore the festival of lights, but unfortunately, everyone else in the world had the same idea so the lineup into the drive was ridiculous, so we passed. Dinner was at The Keg; we had appi’s and wine.

The SkyWheel

JT in the SkyWheel

Eva in the SkyWheel

View of the falls from the SkyWheel

The next day we checked out and drove to Inniskillin winery and had lunch at Tony DeLucca’s Old Winery restaurant. We both had one of the stone oven pizza’s which were delicious (I had the Jimmy Hendrix and JT had the Jerry Garcia)! Then we headed home for new year’s eve!

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