Nature Walks in New York City?

New York City is amazing for shopping, shows, people watching and nature walks. Oh, did that surprise you? Earlier during our séjourn Charlie at Hotly Spiced commented and asked what JT does whilst I am shopping — he explores — mainly to find cool spots to show me when we get together. I love that he gets excited about showing me his discoveries. This post will tell you about two new discoveries and one we did last year too. They absolutely knocked my socks off (well, they sure would have had I been wearing socks, but it was just too hot!).

I’ll tell you about the High Line first (or better yet, I’ll let the experts tell you about it) Excerpt from thehighline.com:
“The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line’s preservation and transformation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. It is now the non-profit conservancy working with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to make sure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy. In addition to overseeing maintenance, operations, and public programming for the park, Friends of the High Line works to raise the essential private funds to support more than 90 percent of the park’s annual operating budget, and to advocate for the preservation and transformation of the High Line at the Rail Yards, the third and final section of the historic structure, which runs between West 30th and West 34th Streets.”

Now if you are going to NYC, I strongly suggest a visit to this surprising nature walk. Norma (From Garden to Wok) mentioned it to me when she saw were were going to New York this spring, but fortunately we had already been the year before, so I was able to tell her how excited we were to be able to see it expanded even more!. Splendidly landscaped with a huge variety native plants and trees, this gorgeous raised walkway provides a quiet retreat for a hectic day in a hectic city; New Yorkers alike love to take a break for a picnic, a little reading or even sun bathing (believe it or not). On the Sunday we were in NYC, we did not notice a large number of tourists, just a few; I would guess that the majority of visitors are native New Yorkers.

Every part of the High Line is set up for the enjoyment of the visitor, taking in views, nature and art specifically designed for the High Line. One of my favourite parts is the stage overlooking 10th Avenue. It is equally as cool from the High Line as it is viewing up from the street (we did that last year).

The Theatre of 10th Avenue. Darn, I was really counting on that parking spot.

Everyone loves grass.

I always try to colour coordinate with the art I visit

Cute little gargoyles that for some reason remind me of …

The other surprising escape is a wonderful path along the Hudson River down on the Lower West Side’s famed Financial District. Beginning at Chambers Street, this path goes all the way to Battery Park at the base of Manhattan. The 2.4 km (1.5 miles) walk will entertain you with sculptures, moments to pause and reflect on various memorials and spectacular views of New Jersey across the Hudson River. The New York CIty Police Memorial is a beautiful fountain and engraved wall with Police Officer names who have died in the line of duty; the Irish Hunger Memorial which is is dedicated to raising awareness of the Great Irish Famine during which about a million Irish died (we even spotted wild strawberries on this memorial). There is a bicycle boulevard that spans directly to the New World Trade Centre, it is really awe inspiring.

It’s really heart breaking that there are so many names

The Irish Memorial

Wild strawberries in the middle of NYC for my avid gardening friend Norma

Gorgeous Atrium along the path

Finally a photo of JT.

Boy, someone sure loves taking pics of his wife.

We’ll leave the commentary of these to your imagination

We walked all the way to Battery Park at the base of Manhattan, it was so incredibly hot and sunny (not complaining) we had to stop and pick up some water from a street vendor. I would like to point out that the water in NYC is quite reasonable even in the touristy areas like Battery Park. In Toronto, our vendors seem to enjoy taking advantage of the lowly wonderer and charge sometimes as much as $4 for a bottle of water they bought in bulk at Costco for 10 cents! We continue towards wall street to a very special area…an unexpected surprise…the old part of NYC. We pass by a 400 year old house, Fraunces Tavern est 1762 http://www.frauncestavern.com/. Very cool but they don’t have outdoor space and we want to sit on a patio for lunch so we continue to Stone Street. Basically just one restaurant after another; I highly recommend a visit, even if you don’t eat there. Original cobble stones line the streets, the buildings are old and quaint and they close the street down so that the restaurants can put their patio tables into the street. It’s very festive. We were there early as we had a 3pm plane to catch at Newark, but JT didn’t want me to miss this experience, and boy am I glad he saved some time to share it with me. This is a side of New York that is very unexpected.

This is the plaque for the oldest house in Manhattan

This is the closed off street with cobblestones and tables. It was a VERY sunny day.

We selected a cute little restaurant for lunch, but I’ll save that for another Restaurant Review Post.

Read Full Post »

Start spreading the news!

Start spreading the news. I am leaving today. I want to be a part of it. New York, New York …

Photo for Charles, to show that we can see the Empire State Building! It’s behind a condo which makes it look a little weird.
What a day! The weather was INCREDIBLE! Hot, sunny albeit a little humid (oh come on, it wasn’t that bad!)

Even though it was an anniversary trip, I like to have a day to myself when I can run amuck in a familiar city (like New York, Paris and Chicago) okay, who am I kidding? I want a day to shop, unburdened by ‘how much time do you need in there’ so JT and I have a quick breakfast and we kiss good bye and split for the day! Woohoo!
Get ready, I’m about to give you my secret low-down. Shhhhhhhh.
I have my game plan in Manhattan, it’s tried and true and has reaped many great finds over the years. I’ve had to modify a bit as we are residing in a different part of town this trip. Truth be known, I love this neck of the woods!
Stop #1 is Century 21 downtown in the financial district. I get there on the Yellow line using the R train. They have a great shoe department and two floors of designer clothing of various budget levels, but you have to get there early otherwise it’s a total zoo to try things on and pay! I was there about ten minutes after it opened and it was already packed! But the fitting rooms were not bad, no waiting in line! Whew!
I scooted back up north on the same train.
Stop #2 Union Square: DSW, Nordstrom Rack, Strawberry! There used to be a Filene’s Basement but sadly they are all gone now. Moment of silence.
Then I walked the remaining route. 11-3pm. Note to Kristy: I wore flats!
Stop #3: Loehmans. Similar to TJ Zmax and Marshall’s, but one level up.
Stop #4: Chelsea Market, mainly for the Bowery Kitchen Supply Store I bought a chocolate chipper fork and a tube for plating stacked courses! I sat down for 10 minutes had a quick bite of sashimi at The Lobster Place and a little limone Gelato from Buon Italiay a real treat for me!!

A Ruthys Cakes in Chelsea Market

Beautiful Barbie Cake

Cool lanterns at the Chelsea Market
Stop #5: TJ Maxx and Marshall’s around 17th and 6th. It’s around 3pm by the time I hit those two places and they were packed (did no one leave Manhattan for Memorial Day?). I spec out a few things but won’t wait the hour+ to buy them! Time to call it quits and I plan to head back the next morning.
The next day I went up to JCP, Daffy’s and Macy’s at 6th and 34th. I reach Macy’s after 4 and its a total zoo. Conspicuous consumption at its best. The variety and selection are absolutely overwhelming; like going to Ikea or Costco without a list! I am a dear in headlights! Why did I come here? The ladies shoe department is on the fourth and fifth floors! Two? I might think I’m in heaven. Well, not really. It’s a MESS! So many people you’d think they were giving them away for free. Shoes EVERYWHERE strewn on the floor. It’s so sad. I can’t even be bothered to search for my size. The selection is overwhelming. I think Macy’s best be done from 10-10:30 right when it opens. I leave empty handed :(.
Overall a good shopping trip. Next time I will plan to do it only from opening to noon over two days. I just don’t do crowds well anymore!

Read Full Post »

Restaurant Review: Riverpark, NYC

That’s my Angelina pose!
The day turned out to have perfect weather, so JTs first pick for dinner the Riverpark was wonderful. Situated in Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood, Riverpark is a Tom Colicchio restaurant (Top Chef Judge);
this restaurant is in an unlikely location of the main floor of an office building overlooking the Hudson river. We arrived on time and they seat us at a lovely window-side table (talk about lucking out!). Here is a gorgeous photo, mine was burnt out.

It’s designed beautifully with attention to detail but not overwhelming so that the view can be the star.

The ceiling over the large bar has lights like stars in the sky!
The restaurant gets most, if not all of its produce from its own ‘farm‘ amidst the sky scrapers in Alexandria Centre. Cool eh?
We start with half a dozen East Coast Oysters from Maine ($15); the waiter said the were briny, but they are not briny enough for my taste (I like to taste the ocean, my fav’s are Prince Edward Island oysters). I had the Salmon Tartare ($15) which was roughly chopped salmon seasoned very simply with capers, lemon and parsley, so delicious! JT had Baby Lettuces ($11) with marinated vegetables and herbs and a champagne vinaigrette.
Keeping with the smaller portions I had another appetizer of the Grilled Calamari Salad ($17) with farm baby greens, grapefruit and a Niçoisse olive vinaigrette – it was perfect! JT had the Smoked Ricotta Gnocchi with peas, long peppercorn, morels and pecorrino
which were tender with a hint of smoke in a very delicious broth-based sauce. A pleasant surprise to the traditional cream laden sauces (he too had the smaller plate ($17).
Our waiter was attentive but not in your face, he was knowledgeable about the food and wine, and when he didn’t know, he wasn’t afraid to ask. For the quality and ambiance, I did not find this place expensive.
Overall rating of Riverpark (in my opinion): Decor 4/5, service 3.5:5, food 4.5/5, Value 4/5, Noise: 4/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet). We paid for our meal in full.

Read Full Post »

Restaurant Review: Crema NYC

The weather has been incredible and day one in the Big Apple was no different. When we landed it was a teeny tiny bit overcast and cool, but that’s great walking weather (and like Kelly’s family last week, we walked and walked and walked), so we were thrilled! Our amazing hotel, Eventi is located in Chelsea so JT selected a restaurant only about 12 blocks away. We always choose Mexican for our first lunch and NYC has a handful of exceptional restaurants and Crema will probably be our new flavourite! It has more contemporary décor with a touch of Mexican! It’s nice and cool inside even though the door is is wide open, it’s hot and humid outside and there is an open kitchen. We’re very glad because during our walk the sun came out blazing and I was really sweating (like the Eastern European that I am!).
We are seated and served immediately without reservations. The server described our food with detail and passion when he served us.
I had the Ceviche de ($14) which was
African Octopus marinated in orange citrus vinaigrette, avocado, cilantro and garnished with four flour tostadas with avocado mousse in a Mille Feuille presentation. It had black sea salt speckled on it (gotta get me some). Incredible! Beautifully presented and so incredibly tasty!

JT had Flautas en Trilogia de Salsas ($12) it was crispy corn tortillas with shredded chicken, corn, caramelized onions and served with a trio of salsas: tomatillo-avocado, chili aioli paste, and a velvety pinto bean. Very tasty, and beautifully presented.

We may even break our cardinal rule and come here again on this trip!

Overall rating of Crema (in my opinion): Decor 3/5, service 3.5:5, food 4.5/5, Value 4/5, Noise: 4/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet). We paid for our meal in full.

Read Full Post »

New York City! Woohoo!

We flew off to NYC this fine morning. Toronto is hot and humid, Manhattan is slightly cooler but with higher humidity. As long as it’s not cold, I’ll be ok, I think I packed enough ;)! Okay, don’t ask!
I’d like to apologize if I’m not commenting on your lovely blogs, I will surely catch up on my return. Please forgive me 🙂
We flew United and had to pay $28 per checked bag! Really? Since when? We don’t pay with Canadian airlines. I’m already rethinking my wardrobe for Europe, although we are flying Air Canada! I’m sure they will catch on by the fall. For Manhattan I brought 6 pairs of shoes, 7 if you count the foldy/rolly ones!
We arrived at the airport with plenty of time, and thank goodness as we were ‘flagged’ by Nexus. We had to go to a special room and drop off our credentials and wait. JT has a common name and we were tagged! Lucky us. 😦 This has happened before and we discovered that there are a lot of criminals who have the same name as JT. Our kind US agent marked our info on their system so we are never tagged again, at least that is what he told us. We’ll see if the let us back in!
Our plane was a small Boeing turbo prop, at gate 91 out of 99; of course it was! I wore appropriate traveling shoes so the walk was a breeze (7 minutes, the sign said!)

The first part of the flight was rough and we were tossed around like a plastic bag in the wind. Then it calmed fortunately. I’m reading 50 Shades of Grey on the iPad, for all the reasons. It’s an easy read; I’m on page 70, when do we get to the good parts? (and by that, the ladies will know what I mean!)
We pay $57 + 17 for tolls for a cab into Manhattan from Newark. Expensive, yes but it gets us to our hotel in about 40 minutes!
Our hotel is the Eventi, a Kimpton. Thank you Karen, Back Road Journal, for mentioning about joining loyalty programs. We were upgraded to a higher floor AND the concierge sent up fruit and bottle if wine for our anniversary!

Free WIFI too! So great. View from our room, if you look far left you’ll see the Empire State Building (not in the photo):

I’ll blog about lunch tomorrow.

Read Full Post »

Restaurant Review: Scaramouche

I wrote this post from the cottage, sitting on my porch with this view! We had the most incredible weekend weather wise; high twenties Celsius and virtually cloud free.

Saturday was our wedding anniversary and as a real treat we went to Scaramouche. Scaramouche is one of Toronto’s top rated restaurants and being so, we generally reserve it for really special occasions. It’s been around for about 30 years, situated in an unlikely location in the basement of an old apartment building. But what makes this place special is that although it is in the basement, the entire back side facing south is open with large windows offering up incredible views of the city skyline.
We had 7:30 reservations and the place was already packed with the wealthy silver-haired bunch finishing off; we were shown to a wonderful table directly beside a window and a great view. Our waiter, Andrew has been working there for 23 years, we have had him serve us before, and he seems to remember us. Andrew is an charming character and given the opportunity will offer up interesting tales in a soliloquy-like delivery; he is rather dramatic! Sadly he was not as dramatic on this evening, or he was busy, but there were no tales.
We began with a martini, I with my vodka martini, very dry without an olive nor a twist, and JT with a gin martini, with two olives. The olives are strange looking, kinda bluish green, Andrew told us the name but I already had a sip or two of the martini, so I cannot recall!
We placed our order and Andrew paces us very nicely. I’m still watching my portions do I order two appetizers, JT eats like a normal person. Although it is a fancy place and quite expensive, I do find the portions are rather generous (it’s usually the opposite, high price, tiny portion). Andrew starts us with a wonderful amuse bouche, a little mushroom mousse, which did its job very well and had us salivating like Pavlov’s dogs at the sound of a bell! Not surprisingly I order the Yellow Fin Tuna ($20) sashimi grade tuna tartare seasoned with lime, ginger, soy, coriander, shiso, caramelized daikon, soy and sweet chili sauce as my first course; the Asian flavours hit my taste buds perfectly. I would guess there was close to 100g of tuna on the plate, very very tasty. JT ordered the Three Goat Cheeses ($19) made of fresh Monforte, St. Maure, Bûche de chèvre with beets, walnuts, lentils and a mushroom crostini, with pesto and a Moscatel vinegar reduction. He said it was good but not over the top.
Our second courses were Spicy Steak Tartare ($18) hand-cut filet mignon with garlic crostini garnished with watercress. It was about 70g of meat and a little too saucy in my opinion (like mayo). The flavours were good, just too creamy; JT had Lamb ($46) roasted rack, slow cooked shoulder with eggplant, black olive, artichoke preserved lemon and pine nut and a salsa verde. He said it was good but again not over the top and for forty six dollars you expect OTT!
We finished our dinner with a cappuccino which was OK, definitely not the best coffee I’ve ever had.
Although the dinner was good, it wasn’t the level I’d expect for a $200 meal; everything was fine, it just didn’t meet our lofty expectations set by our previous dining experiences at this place.

Overall rating of Scaramouche (in my opinion): Decor 2/5 (except for the view which is 5/5), service 2/5, food 3.5/5, Value 2/5, Noise: 4/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet). A note about this rating: we valued it to expectations garnered by the expensive cost and high level of this restaurant. We paid for our meal in full.

Read Full Post »

May 2-4 (we say two-four) weekend

Saturday was our 26th wedding anniversary; what’s even scarier is the other number, the number of years together! I won’t even bother to say it, you wouldn’t believe me anyway! I’m really not that old, really. No really!!!!
This past weekend was also very special because it was Canada’s first ‘summer’ long weekend: the May ‘2-4’, also known as Queen Victoria’s birthday; it is a national holiday in Canada (I don’t think it even ranks in the UK!) it is the first weekend of cottage season for most and JT and I are fortunate to be in this crowd. The drive up north could be treacherous, the normal 3.5 hours could take in excess of 4 or 5 hours with the traffic, but we planned to leave early on Saturday so we beat it.
Our cottage is remote; it was remote in the late 1800’s when JT’s grandfather purchased the land (it took him three days to get there using three forms of transport: train, horse and buggy and finally a row boat), and it’s still remote; no fancy grocery stores, one has to plan everything — everything. There are three family cottages on the land (100+ acres); JT’s sister, known as Sid (because her iPhone always auto corrects ‘Sis’), used to occupy the old log cabin, they renovated about 20 years ago but they prefer something less rustic than the electric toilet (don’t ask) as they are now using the main cottage that used to be JT’s parents place (Dad is just too frail to come up). We use the boathouse, a small 400 square foot place, two bedrooms. It’s small enough to clean top to toe in an hour and it’s large enough to have our closest friends over. But the absolute best (the best Jerry, the Best) part is the porch—it’s right on the water, we overlook the Bay and it’s perfect.
Part of the menu planning is having little munches for cocktails, and I couldn’t help but want to make my friend Charles’ (Five Euro Food) and Jessica’s (kitchenbelleicious) Roasted Chick Peas and of course, my friend Barb’s (Profiteroles and Ponytails’ version), and there was also Betsy (Bits and Breadcrumbs who also did a take on them! Absolutely wonderful, although because we did not use the allotted oil, we had to roast a wee bit longer, but well worth it. I really liked the texture, JT was so so! I may have lied, I didn’t make them! JT made them whilst I was at the salon getting my roots hair done! We had them for cocktails on Sunday night. Very tasty indeed. Plus they are a protein and we reduced the oil a bit to limit the fat. Still calories but at least they are good calories! Because they are a protein, they will fill you up a lot faster than potato chips, which is fine by me! I changed up the flavouring since Sid doesn’t eat too hot foods (also added a touch of sugar to help calm the heat)

Crunchy and just slightly hot, perfect with that martini. May I get you one?

Roasted Garlic Cumin Chick Peas

Ingredients:

• 1 large can of Chick Peas (~500g)
• A quick spray of non stick spray
• 2-3 tsps Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp light brown sugar
• A handful of garlic cloves, minced finely

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. Add all the spices to the drained and dried chick peas. Mix well.
3. Give the pan a good spray and lay the chick peas out to an even layer.
4. As Charles so eloquently put it: roast for about an hour until the peas are shrunken and crispy, and a rich golden brown in colour. We found that because we did not add the oil, we had to roast for about 1.5 hours to get them crispy. And we even let them sit in the oven as the oven cooled down (tasting throughout, of course, the insides had to crisp up)
5. Allow to cool and enjoy with your flavourite cocktail (our’s was the traditional Vodka Martini, stirred, not shaken!)
6. Cheers!

I know you want to just dig in, but it’s so much more civilized with that wonderful wooden scoop!

Read Full Post »

Happy Birthday, Dear Michael, Happy Birthday to you-oooooooo!

My best friend’s husband just celebrated a benchmark birthday last weekend. We normally don’t really do anything for the guy’s birthdays; my friend and I are only eleven days apart so we usually go get a pedi together, but because it was a benchmark (and a big one at that!) I wanted to surprise him with a visit and a home made cake.

My friend’s daughter conspired with me (using Facebook messaging) to find a time where JT and I could pop in. They live about an hour from our place in Toronto so I really wanted to make sure they would be home if we dropped in. He apparently loves lemon cake so that is what I made.

The recipe for the cake came from Baking with Julia, a Dorie Greenspan cookbook, but in my searching around the web, I realized that the recipes are never reprinted on the internet, so to respect this tradition, I am not reprinting it either. It’s a loaf cake with a good lemon taste, but I wanted really lemony so I added a 1/2 cup lemon juice, mixed with 3 tbsp sugar when it finished baking as a glaze. My friend Liz (That Skinny Chick Can Bake) made the cake last month. It’s not a typical recipe for this type of cake, but it does come together quite easily and produces a lovely lemony dense cake. I baked it in a square pan and then cut two smaller squares so that it can be layered. I wrapped it in the Marshmallow Frosting from Martha Stewart that I made for the cupcakes at Easter.

Deliciously lemony with a creamy marshmallow frosting

I bought the plate so I could just leave it at my friend’s place

Happy Birthday Mike. May you have many more!

Read Full Post »

Sesame Bread

My friend Sawsan of Chef in Disguise made this bread last week and as soon as I saw it, I knew I HAD to make it. I’m still doing the no carb, sugar, blah, blah, blah diet, but my Mom’s husband was coming down for a visit and I wanted to make a special breakfast of home-made bread for him. The loaves turned out beautifully, light, a good crumb, great texture (just a little chewy, like egg bread) and quite sesame-ish. I followed Sawsan’s recipe and I didn’t half or even quarter it and I am sure glad I didn’t. I LOVED it. And I will make it again. Thank you kindly Sawsan, for the glorious recipe, I likely would have never found on my own. One little round was plenty for dinner for two people.

Gorgeous round loaves

Sesame Bread (from Sawsan, Chef in Disguise)

Ingredients:

• 3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I actually found I needed about 4 1/2 cups, but it was rather humid the day I made it)
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tbsp powdered milk
• 3/4 cup warm water (it should feel slightly warm to the touch not hot)
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt (this was increased from 1/4 tsp because it just wasn’t enough 2016/03/15)

For the topping:

• 1 egg white beaten (I had the same concern as Sawsan, and I didn’t want it to taste eggy, so I just used the white)
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• sesame seeds (about a cup)

Directions:

1. Combine the yeast, sugar and 3/4 cup water, stir gently and allow to bubble up and foam (if it doesn’t you need to discard it and start over with new yeast).
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer add the flour, salt ,powdered milk, eggs and vinegar. Rub the eggs into the flour with your finger tips and switch to a dough hook to incorporate completely.
3. Add the yeast water mixture and knead the dough for 10 minutes untill you get a smooth slightly sticky dough (you may or may not need to add more water depending on the type of flour you use).
4. Place the dough in a slightly oiled bowl, cover it and allow it to rise in a warm place till it doubles in size (this only takes about 45 minutes).
5. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Roll out each part into a rectangle thin rectangle Sawsan has excellent photos showing what your bread should look like.
6. Pre-heat your oven to 500°F.
7. Begin by rolling the dough tightly on the long end, bring the two ends together and pinch to seal. Pinch the seam along the edge as well so it doesn’t unravel. Coat with the vinegar, egg wash and then entirely cover in sesame seeds (I used black and white ones). Complete the remaining dough the same way. Allow to rest about 20 minutes.
8. Bake for 5-7 minutes on the high heat, then reduce to 400°F and bake for another 7-10 minutes or until the bottom is golden.
9. Serve with fresh preserves and unsalted butter. JT even used the wedges to sop up the gravy from the Bœuff Bourguignon he made for dinner on Saturday night.

They turned out to be about 20 cm in diametre. We sliced them in triangles like cheese.

Read Full Post »

Restaurant Review: Bar Centrale

Last Friday, as a treat to achieving my weight loss goal (10lbs) we tried a ‘new’ restaurant Bar Centrale in the city recommended by our neighbour Tom — it’s part of the Terroni Restaurant Group (Tom is the one who gave us his father’s wonderful olive oil from Greece). Tom is an architect and his company designs all of the Terroni Restaurants (I believe they have one in LA, California too).

Bar Centrale (pronounced Chent-rah-lay) is in what we would call mid-town, sitting on Young Street. Mid-town is an affluent area with modest homes starting around the million dollars to the absolutely ridiculous. Fortunately (or perhaps by design) Bar Centrale has a green P parking lot within a minute walk to its doors, otherwise it would have been a nightmare to find parking.

We had reservations for 8 and arrived about 10 minutes early and the restaurant was absolutely packed but they had our table ready. It’s a large place and occupies 3 stories in an older renovated building. It’s got a Lower East Side industrial décor with exposed piping in the ceilings. Their walls are decorated with their signature pantry staples, some house made and some imported from Italy. Terroni has always been true to their roots from a food perspective, so much so that they will actually refuse to allow you to order something as an extra if they don’t feel it’s authentic to that dish (my friend Kim’s ex-husband loves anchovies and always likes them on his pizza, any pizza, but when he tried to order anchovies on the side at Terroni on Queen West, they told him he couldn’t have them because it’s not authentic to the particular pizza he ordered!).

Our table is an adorable little table for two directly beside a window on a side street, it’s open and a wonderful breeze floats in (we had an amazing 24°C day). The table is small enough that we can hear each other over the noise of the restaurant. And it’s noisy or shall I say, lively! There are still a lot of families dining, but the kids are held at the tables and not running around the place like wild animals. We are greeted by our waitress within a reasonable amount of time and we order our cocktails; I had a Campari Spritz which is 1.5oz Campari, 1.5oz Prosecco & splash of soda and JT had an Il Sorpasso which is 1.5oz Aperal, 1oz Bourbon, fresh Lemon juice, Honey & Sprakling Lemonade. My cocktail is quite bitter on first taste, but then mellows and I find it tasty but not sweet which makes it easy to sip and not guzzel! JT’s cocktail has a bit too much sweetness for my taste. We order out appetizers but wait to order our mains. I had the grilled calamari which was presented typically and rustically with a mix of greens; perfectly cooked, the calamari was tender and dressed just right, it had an absolutely perfect char which really brought out the smoky flavour. I will go back specifically for this course! JT had a chick pea cake with mixed greens. We had high hopes for the chick pea cake but sadly it was bland and really needed some kind of sauce or aioli.

For our main course we shared the cheese and cured meat platter which was just the right amount of food. The platter itself was a lovely slab of wood sliced from the trunk of an olive(?) tree; Tom mentioned that they were custom made. They served an aged Parmesan and a softer mild cheese that I wasn’t familiar with but was very tasty. The platter also came with a small ramekin of honey which was incredibly tasty when drizzled on the cheese. The cured meats were prosciutto and salami. There was bread and focaccia which I declined.
The dinner was a nice pace, about an hour and a half.

Overall rating of Bar Centrale (in my opinion): Decor 4/5, service 4/5, food 4/5, Value 4/5, Noise: 2/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet).

Read Full Post »

The Garden in Bloom

Spring is my favourite time of year. It’s a time of rebirth and renewal. It’s a time to shed the heavy coats and gloves and socks and boots and dawn lighter, airier garments. It’s a time to enjoy the greenery and the burst of colour the garden has to offer.

The beautiful crab apple tree in full bloom. She is just so happy we got rid of that towering shady elm!

We live in the city, and so our lot is not huge, but it’s a decent size for some interesting landscaping. Last fall, as many of you already know, we hard-scaped the back yard and removed all the grass. It never really grew well anyway. Our big huge Elm made sure of that. We also had a smaller elm removed from in front of the kitchen window. We knew the crab apple would be very happy because we did.

The Azalea in full bloom.

My friend Norma has beautiful Azaleas in her rural garden. She is even lucky enough to get deer from time to time! Our back yard faces east, so we really only get the morning sun. It’s still a little cool to sit outside, but I’m hoping that by next weekend we will be able to.

The hostas and ferns are shooting up like crazy beside my little ‘thinker’

I’m finding that the garden takes turns on allowing a different variety to flourish each year; the periwinkle is flowering so much this year, more than I can recall in the past. The violets are not doing as well. Perhaps next year it will be their time again. Or the Lily of the Valley.

A surprise in the back 40!

And so, I’ll leave you with a little surprise down by the back shed: our very own Trillium. The Trillium is Ontario’s official flower and it is illegal to pick them, or even uproot them; you can get fined if you are caught. They supposedly flower every seven years! We noticed this little gem about 5 years ago, when it flowered last (OK, so maybe Trilliums weren’t good at math). We don’t know how it got here, but we sure feel lucky that it is here! And flowering so beautifully. See you Miss Trillium, hopefully in another 5 years!

Read Full Post »

Moroccan Inspired Navy Beans with Mushrooms

This weeknight meal started out to be a navy bean curry, but I went a little overboard on the spices and it ended up with the flavouring of our holiday in Morocco. If you please you could add some raisins, currents or even dates. Perhaps a nut or two for some crunch. All in all a very flavourful recipe that I hope you will enjoy.

Serves 1 (just multiply by the number you need). I eyeballed this recipe, so if you decide to make it, make sure you alter it to your own taste! The only important bits are to soak the beans and cook them all the way through, the rest is really up to you!

The beans were cooked in the ‘curry’ until creamy

Ingredients:

• 75 g dried Navy Beans, soaked overnight
• 1 cup finely chopped sweet onion
• 1-3 cloves of garlic finely minced (I like my microplane for this)
• 1/4 cup dried mushrooms, reconstituted in warm water, liquid reserved
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cremini and white mushrooms, sliced thickly
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 2 tsp Meat Masala
• 3 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ginger (I used the powdered Moroccan ginger)
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• Water, as much as the beans will absorb
• 1/2 cup celery chopped
• 1/4 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
• 1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 1 tbsp green onions
• Hot pepper flakes (to taste)
• Non-stick spray

I like to add pepper flakes for a bit of heat

Directions:

1. Lightly spray a pressure cooker with non-stick spray and heat. Add onions. Cook the onions until they are brown, you’ll have to watch this as the spray doesn’t really give you enough fat so you’ll need to add very little bits of the stock. We don’t want to steam the onions, we want to BROWN them.
2. Add 1-2 minced cloves of garlic and ALL of the dry spices and cook until you can smell the wonderful aroma (you are cooking the bitterness out of them). Add the drained beans and cook for a minute or so.
3. Add the white vinegar and mix well. Add the remaining stock and about 2 cups of water. Close the lid and put the timer on for 10 minutes. At the end of 10 minutes, check to see if the beans have absorbed all of the water (how fast they absorb will depend on how dry they were…and how long you soaked them. Cooking the beans can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour). Keep adding water, or the reserved mushroom liquid until the beans are soft.
4. In the meantime, heat a skillet and spray lightly with the non stick spray. Add the mushrooms and sauté until they are cooked (even the rehydrated ones). About half way through the cooking, add the remaining minced garlic. Set aside.
5. When the beans are fully cooked, add the mushrooms, chopped celery and tomatoes and heat through.
6. Serve garnished with the cilantro, green onions and hot pepper flakes.
7. Enjoy.

This photo shows just a small portion, 75 g of dry beans is actually quite a lot of food

Read Full Post »

Piri Piri Shrimp My Way

Firstly, I would like to add a disclaimer that Kristy from Eat, Play, Love Our Family Food Adventures is not paying me to blog about her recipes (unless she wants to, of course ;-)). It’s just that there are some recipes that click for me, and her choices are often those kinds of recipes. Recently she and the kids made a Piri Piri Shrimp, in a post called Heating Things Up that really caught my interest for a few reasons: garlic and lemon juice, heat and shrimp! Of course, JT and I are still on the low carb, sugar, fat diet for another day or so I’ve had to modify the recipe (not that it wasn’t unhealthy to begin with, it just did not fit the chemical profile we are restricted to). So Kristy, I hope you don’t mind, but I did change it up a touch, hopefully not altering the recipe’s taste. Thanks again for a another flavourful dinner (and incredible lunch the next day!).

Roasting the hot peppers doesn’t really take ALL the heat out of them.

Serves 3 (dinner and 1 lunch, each 100 g protein)

Ingredients:

• 1-2 Serrano chiles
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1/3 cup low sodium vegetable stock (I used vegetable stock as it is slightly sweeter than chicken stock, because I replaced the wine vinegar with white vinegar)
• hand full of roughly chopped parsley
• hand full of roughly chopped cilantro
• 300 g (10.5 oz) uncooked, deveined, and peeled shrimp
• lemon wedges (oops, I forgot)

I forgot the lemon wedges.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven on high broil. Cut the chile peppers in half (don’t bother removing the seeds and stems, they come off easily after roasting). Place the chiles on a lightly sprayed (with fat free cooking spray) baking sheet and roast until blackened, Kristy says about 10 minutes (I didn’t time it).
2. Trim the stems and remove the seeds (the seeds are the really hot bits)
3. In your immersion blender container, combine the chiles, garlic, paprika, lemon juice, vinegar, vegetable stock, parsley and cilantro and purée the ingredients until smooth.
4. Pour 1/4 of the marinade over the shrimp, cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 20 minutes, or up to 24 hours (see note).
5. Heat a large cast iron grill pan on the BBQ (had to involve JT in the cooking, you know how it is). Spray lightly with fat free cooking spray and when hot enough, cook shrimp until done (pink both sides).
6. Serve over greens with a few sweet red peppers drizzled with a bit more of the sauce (but reserve the remainder of the sauce because I have a GREAT IDEA for it for Saturday!)

Notes:

• Citrus can cook seafood quite easily (ceviche is based on this) so if you do leave the shrimp marinading for more than a few hours, check it to see if it’s cooking (starting to turn pink). Otherwise you may end up with rubbery shrimp.
• The Piri Piri sauce was INCREDIBLE — perfect for my taste, JT said it was OK, but perhaps he was just uninspired because the shrimp was served on greens (I live on greens so it was second nature to me) next time, I’ll serve his on Quinoa or Whole Wheat Couscous.
• Roasting the peppers did not minimize the heat, so beware. I adore it and JT found it tolerable, but it could be too hot for some.
• You may wish to add a teaspoon of agave nectar (or some red pepper coulis) to help subdue the heat, I did for JTs dressing but not for mine.
• The sauce is definitely better the next day so you may wish to make it up in advance and let it sit. I used this sauce in a dish I prepared last Saturday for Cinco de Mayo.

Read Full Post »

Egg Foo Yung (gluten free, fat free but NOT flavour free)

Many people think that eating healthfully means eating without flavour or excitement (remember the cottage cheese diets?), but I am here to declare that they are WRONG! It’s particularly important for low fat recipes to be seasoned properly, and I’m not talking salt, but a variety of flavour builders. When you eat low calorie, fat free food, you NEED to be satisfied, otherwise, you will likely snack and cheat. It’s plain and simple, make sure ALL your senses are satisfied and you will be happy.

My friend Norma over at Garden to Wok has been making recipes that have tempted me for a while and I found one a couple of weeks ago that really spiked my curiosity: Egg Foo Yung. Now Norma is a Chinese Culinary Expert and she teaches hands on cooking classes at Pearl River Patch in New York State so I am by no means trying to one up her. JT and I are doing a very concerted effort for three weeks to eat virtually carb free, fat free and sugar-free (a low glycemic diet), so I have modified Norma’s recipe to suite our dietetic needs at this time, it may not be for everyone, but it worked for our taste buds and diet chemestry. So, I hope you don’t mind, Norma, here is my version of your wonderful Egg Foo Yung. Please check out Norma’s blog to see her gorgeous and tasty looking recipe and pictures. This dish satisfied every one of my senses; my sense of smell was being teased as I prepared the dish, my sense of sight was excited at the site of the dish and my sense of taste was bowled over at the first bite. And then I was full.

Note about my ingredients. I made this twice and the second time I used what I had on hand instead of the basics Norma suggested in her recipe. The first set of photos sucked, hence their obvious absence, these are the photos from the second set.

Canadian Egg Foo Yung (for a low glycemic index diet)

The egg and vegetable pancake sits in a delicious stock, that eats like a soup.
It's a perfect light meal.

Serves 1 (recipe can easily be multiplied to the number of people to serve). You will need egg rings for this dish (I used mini spring form pan rings without the bottoms).

Ingredients:

• 50g raw shrimp (I used 3 from a packet that listed 21-30 per pound)
• 4.5 tbsp egg beaters egg whites
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated, divided
• 1 tsp fresh garlic, grated, divided
• 1 scallion or green onion finely sliced, divided
• 1 tsp Kikkoman Low Sodium Soy Sauce, divided
• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock (I use Pacific)
• 15g Chinese mushrooms sliced thinly (use the dried variety and reserved the hydrating liquid)
• 1/2 cup mushroom hydrating liquid
• 50g of fresh baby spinach
• Parsley and scallions for garnish
• non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

1. Peel and de-vein the shrimp, cut into quarter bits and set aside.
2. Pour the chicken stock, the strained mushroom hydrating liquid, 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, 1/2 tsp fresh garlic, and half of the finely sliced scallions or green onions into a sauce pan and begin to heat slowly (the aim is to infuse the broth with the flavours added, not to boil the heck out of it).
3. Pour the egg whites into a small bowl and whisk with the soy sauce and ginger, set aside.
4. Pre-heat the pan WITHOUT the egg rings and lightly sauté the spinach until entirely wilted. Remove from pan and add the shrimp and cook through. Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Pre-heat the pan WITH the egg ring, lightly spray both with non-stick spray.
6. Combine the wilted spinach, shrimp, Chinese mushrooms with the green onions and add to the egg ring and distribute evenly. Heat through (this will help the egg cook).
7. Pour the egg whites over the vegetables and adjust so that it all sits evenly in the ring. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes (you will need to put a lid over the ring so that the top of the egg sets nicely so you can flip it and get that gorgeous golden colour that Norma talks about.
8. When the egg has set, carefully remove the ring and with a large spatula, flip. You will want both sides golden and cooked all the way through.
9. To plate, carefully remove the egg pancake (you may need to slide your knife around the edge to loosen) and pace in a rimmed soup bowl (I like my Asian style bowls for this type of presentation). Carefully ladle the hot broth around the egg, so that it doesn’t cover it. You can either strain the broth so the garlic, ginger and the scallions don’t end up in the presentation (which is what I did for the photo) or you can leave in and enjoy with your egg and broth (which is what I did when I served it to JT and I). Garnish with parsley and a sliver of the green onion (or chives if you have on hand). I also added a few chili pepper flakes on mine for heat!

As FYI: I omitted the ginger wine, egg yolks, oil, salt and corn starch and substituted the chicken broth with low sodium, the soy sauce with low sodium to make my version low glycemic. The vegetables, as mentioned previously are just what I had on hand, you could add whatever you choose as Norma indicated in her recipe.

Thank you, Norma, this is indeed a very flavourful dish even with my alterations.

You may have noticed that WordPress is auto checking “Notify me of all comments made on this post”. l really do appreciate your comments and generosity on my posts, but I’m sure you probably don’t want your mail box filled with comments someone else made to my post! Uncheck the box below before you post your comment.

Read Full Post »

Cinco de Mayo — Celebrate with Ceviche

My friend Angela (Titanic dinner party) sent me this link. Her boys (the lovely stewards of the same party) said it reminded them of a play dough toy they once had. It is pretty gross so be warned if you’re squeamish! I’m not sure what disturbs me more, the video or the comments!

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo a wonderful holiday sadly not celebrated to any degree in Canada, in fact, it’s only been a few years that I have even heard of it, believe it or not. Being one who loves to celebrate, I thought, why not this lovely holiday? And it could and should be celebrated with celebration food, of course. Still watching my carbs, sugars, fats and such, I had to come up with a recipe that would work in this regime I am following.

Celebrate with Ceviche

Serves 1 (or multiply by the number of people you wish to serve)

A little Ceviche never hurt anyone!

Ingredients:

• 100 g Shrimp, deveined, cleaned, tails removed
• 1 tbsp mint, chiffonad finely
• 1 tbsp green onion, finely chopped
• 2-3 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup celery, cubed
• 1/4 cup apple, cubed
• 1/4 cup cucumber, cubed
• 1/4-1/2 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup Piri Piri Sauce (see recipe below)
• 1 tbsp red pepper coulis (or you can use honey or agave, but I am limiting my sugars)
• 1 tbsp toasted shredded coconut (unsweetened, desiccated), plus a pinch for garnish
• Arugula greens

Directions:

1. About 3-4 hours before serving, chop the shrimp up into relatively even bits (this is so that they ‘cook’ in the citric acid evenly).
2. Combine the mint, green onion, cilantro and celery together and mix well. Add about 2 tbsp of this mixture to the shrimp. Toss.
3. Combine the lime juice and Piri Piri Sauce and red pepper coulis and mix well. Pour over the shrimp mixture and coat evenly. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until shrimp is opaque. You may wish to stir this from time to time.
4. When the shrimp is totally cooked, add the remaining mint, green onion, cilantro and celery combo. Toss in the apple, toasted coconut and stir well.
5. Garnish with the pinch of toasted coconut and extra hot sauce. Enjoy!

Tangy, sweet, crunchy, soft; it’s everything I dreamed of.

Piri Piri Sauce

(Inspired by Kristy at Eat, Play Love Our Family Food Adventure)

• 1-2 Serrano chiles
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1/3 cup low sodium vegetable stock (I used vegetable stock as it is slightly sweeter than chicken stock, because I replaced the wine vinegar with white vinegar)
• hand full of roughly chopped parsley
• hand full of roughly chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven on high broil. Cut the chile peppers in half (don’t bother removing the seeds and stems, they come off easily after roasting). Place the chiles on a lightly sprayed (with fat free cooking spray) baking sheet and roast until blackened, Kristy says about 10 minutes (I didn’t time it).
2. Trim the stems and remove the seeds (the seeds are the really hot bits)
3. In your immersion blender container, combine the chiles, garlic, paprika, lemon juice, vinegar, vegetable stock, parsley and cilantro and purée the ingredients until smooth.
4. Store in the refrigerator, you won’t regret making an extra large batch!

Read Full Post »

The Anything-but-Boring Egg White Omelet

For all you gourmets who are cream, butter and everything that is not-fat-free lovers, I BEG you to read on. This is an egg white recipe that will make your toes curl, it’s so tasty and filling. I was rather surprised as how filling it was and I think you will be too.

Doesn't that look like a ray of sunshine. Now don't tell me you would love a bite?

Serves 1 (multiply by the number of people you would like to serve)

Ingredients:

• 9 tbsp egg whites (I used Egg Beaters Whites)
• 45g sweet onion, finely chopped
• 40g grape tomatoes, sliced into fourths
• 15g wild mushrooms, finely sliced
• 10g green chili peppers, finely sliced (leave seeds in if you like it spicy)
• 5g cilantro, chopped
• 10g green onions, finely sliced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriandre
• pinch of cayenne (if you like heat)
• non-stick fat free spray (I use Pam Original)

• 115g mixed greens and celery sticks on the side as garnish (dress with a non fat dressing such as Walden Farms Calorie Free Salad Dressing Chipotle Ranch)

Directions:

1. Spray a small cast iron pan (8″ diametre) with non-stick spray; heat pan.
2. Add onions and sweat out, you may need to add a bit of water so that they don’t burn.
3. Lightly beat the egg whites until slightly frothy add the cumin, coriandre and cayenne. Pour over the translucent onions. Allow to set a minute or so and then pull in the edges and allow the remaining liquid to spread out over the pan.
4. Before the omelet sets, add the tomatoes, mushrooms, chili pepper, cilantro and green onions. Turn off the element and cover. Allow the omlet to set, about 3-5 minutes.
5. Carefully fold one side over the other and serve garnished with a little sprig of cilantro.

Read Full Post »

Pork Medallions in a Sweet Red Pepper and Caremalized Onion Coulis

Ann at Cooking Healthy for Me and Kelly at Inspired Edibles have proven time and time again, that you need not suffer eating healthy, just a few smart choices in the kitchen will take your recipe from high in fat, to low in fat and full of flavour. Today’s recipe chooses a pork loin over pork chops because the loin is far less fatty and the fat that it does have can be easily removed before cooking. It can also be easily measured for portion control (we are using 100g (3 ounces) for a portion size). Today we are using the vegetables as thickeners so that we need not add a roux, or cream or butter saving you oodles of fat intensive calories (you should actually try writing down everything you put in your mouth over one day, and you would be surprised! and then you’ll thank me for this recipe).

That's not butter chicken, it's Pork Medallions in a Sweet Red Pepper and Caramelized Onion Coulis

Pork Medallions in a Sweet Red Pepper and Caramalized Onion Coulis

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 400g loin of Pork, all fat removed, cut into medallions about 25g each
• 1 yellow pepper, roasted, skin removed (see notes and tips)
• 1 red pepper, roasted, skin removed (see notes and tips)
• 4 shallots, finely sliced
• 1/2 sweet onion, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1/2 cup low sodium vegetable stock (I like to use Pacific)
• around 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (or slightly more to taste)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 1 green onion and jalopeño pepper finely diced as garnish.

Directions:

1. Lightly spray a medium sauce pan (large enough for the onions to be about 3 cm thick on the bottom). Add the onions and shallots and cook over medium heat until they are golden, add the white vinegar to deglaze the pan. Add the vegetable stock as required so that the onions and shallots don’t burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.
2. When the onions and shallots are caramelized, add the roasted peppers and heat through.
3. With an immersion blender, blend very well until silky smooth. Add the Dijon, salt and blend. If the consistency is too thick, add water until you have your desired consistency (should be the thickness of butter chicken sauce).
4. Pre heat the oven to 350°F.
5. In another pan lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, sear the pork until you get a nice caramelization on the crust. Once done, add to the sauce and bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the desired done-ness of the pork (in Canada you can have pink pork as they have bread the salmonella out of it).
6. Serve over greens or rice or use a flat bread to scoop it up. We’re keeping this on the healthy side, so we’ve put it on greens.

Notes and Tips:

• If you were not able to peel your peppers, push the finished coulis through a fine sieve to remove the tough skin bits of the peppers.
• By adding a bit more stock or water, this would make a lovely soup, perhaps with a dollop of fat free Greek Yogurt.
• We roasted our peppers on the BBQ for a nice smokey flavour.
• I added smoked paprika to the sauce for my lunch the next day…YUM!
• As an alternative flavour, I think one tbsp of garam masala and one tsp of meat masala would be fantastic in this sauce.
• If you’re down right convinced this is not a good sauce, then add a 1/2 cup of cream or a 1/4 cup of butter and be done with it.

Read Full Post »