Paella Bake

Cottage season is almost over and we’re heading right into the holidays: Canadian Thanksgiving, Halloween, American Thanksgiving and then Christmas! My how time flies. This “recipe” has become a “go to” recipe for brunches and lunches at the cottage where refrigerator space is at a premium and standard grocery items are difficult to find (to say the least). It’s the perfect recipe to reinvent ‘leftovers.” For the last couple of years, whenever I make a one pot rice dish like Paella, Jumbalaya, Risotto or even a pasta dish like JT’s Mediterranean Pasta, I ALWAYs make 2 extra servings. The trick is to set aside the two extra servings so that you’re not even tempted to finish off every last bite and lick the plate clean ;-p! The two extra servings combined with eggs and a little flavouring bake up into the most delicious dish, you will be tempted to make the recipe just to rebake it for brunch the following day! And the best part is that it freezes very well, so even if there is only two dining on leftovers, freeze the rest cut into single portions in a ziplock bag, ready for a quick lunch or a fancy brunch.

On some mornings the lake is so very still.

Bits of the seafood, chicken and chorizo dot the delicious egg bake.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 4 cups leftover Paella (this or this) or Mediterranean Pasta (this or this) or even Risotto.
• 6 eggs
• 1 tbsp La Bomba

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (177° C). Prepare a square baking pan with perpendicular sides (some square cake pans have angled sides). Line with parchment so that it extends up two of the sides. Spray lightly with nonstick spray.
2. Combine eggs and La Bomba and whisk well. Fold gently into the leftover paella being careful not to squish the rice into a mushy mess.
3. Pour into the prepared pan and jiggle around making sure that the proteins are distributed evenly. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
4. Cool slightly and cut into 8 portions with a very sharp knife. Serve with lemon slices and a light salad.

Would you care for a slice?

Our Paellas are always full of flavour.

Red sky at night, sailors’ delight!

Cocktails inside the screen-in porch, so peaceful.

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Restaurant Review: The Good Fork, Bloor West Village

We’ve been to The Good Fork a few times now and I thought it was time to do a Kitchen Inspirations review. The folks at The Good Fork were incredibly generous around the Christmas holidays when Toronto experienced wide-spread blackouts and JT and I were without charging power for our phones for a couple of days — they let us plug in! The Good Fork is located just on the cusp of the Western edge of Bloor West Village and because it’s on the cusp, sadly it’s pretty easy to forget about it; I’m glad that on that cold December day we didn’t!

It’s about 1.6 km from our house which makes a good walk but there is street parking usually close by. I would recommend reservations if you’re going with a group because it does fill up quickly and there isn’t a bar to wait at. If you’re going for brunch, like we did, make sure you arrive before 10am because you’ll have to wait for a table if you arrive later!

The folks are very nice at The Good Fork and we have found the food to be very good quality. I like that their menu is not huge but what they do is very tasty and the prices are not bad. The portions are a good size and if you’re not starving you may even find it enough to share with an extra salad. The Good Fork is fully licensed and serves VQA wines and beers from Canadian micro breweries. The decor is modern and simple and there are many spacious booths. Their second floor can be rented for events. 

JT and I visited The Good Fork for brunch; I ordered the Nova Scotia Benny ($13.00) which came with two poached eggs, a generous serve of smoked salmon, cream cheese, preserved lemon and fresh dill on Gordy’s gorgeous house-made bun (it was so good that even I found it difficult to resist eating the top!). I chose a side salad instead of home fries and although the salad was very tasty, it was over dressed for my taste which is a mistake I find many restaurants make (note to self, ask for dressing on the side next time).

A delicious combination of flavours.

JT ordered a slightly more decadent dish: The Pulled Pork Benny ($13.60) topped with crispy fried shallots and a delicious slaw on the same house-made bun. The pulled pork had fantastic flavour and the crispy fried shallots added the much needed textural contrast to the sweet and tangy pulled pork. JT also ordered the salad as the side and it too was over dressed. Overall, I would say that both dishes were winners and we will order them again (perhaps to share next time).

Succulent pulled pork and a very tasty house-made bun.

 

Overall rating of The Good Fork: Decor 2.5/5, service 3/5, food 4/5, Value 3/5, Noise: 5/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet).

Disclaimer: We purchased our meals for full price and my opinions just that, my opinions.

 

The Good Fork

2432 Bloor St. West
Toronto, ON M6S 1P9

 

Hours:

Monday and Tuesday 9:00 am-4:00 pm
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 9:00 am-10:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am-4:00 pm and 5:30 pm-10:00 pm
Sunday 9:00 am-5:00 pm

 

Contact

647.352.5955
ALI@goodfork.ca
TOLGA@goodfork.ca

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Gorgonzola Soufflé from Manu’s Menu

We love cheese; any kind; all kinds; every kind of cheese. Gorgonzola is one of our favourites but we seldom ‘treat’ ourselves because it’s just too expensive calorie wise. Last week as a very special treat, I noticed a very tiny amount in the refrigerator…hmmm, was JT even going to tell me about it? The piece was about 40g, and my first thought was to slice an apple and pop the two into my mouth…destroy the evidence, as it were. But then, I came across Manu’s recipe for Gorgonzola Soufflé and I saw the writing on the wall…my friends, it HAD to be done! Because I had about 1/2 the cheese required for Manu’s recipe, I cut everything in half and used smaller ramekins. Click on the link here to see her original recipe, she has amazing step by step photography. I’m not that detailed.

Just out of the oven. Don't blink!

Gorgonzola Soufflé

Ingredients:

(makes 2 ramekins of 125 mL (1/2 cup) capacity):

• 10 g (3/4 tbsp) butter, softened – plus a little extra, melted
• 8.5 g (0.3 oz.) flour
• 62.5 mL  (1/4 cup) milk
• 1 egg, separated
• 62.5 mL  (1/4 cup)  white wine
• 40 g (1.25 oz.) Gorgonzola
• Salt
• 25 g (~2 tbsp) Grated Parmesan

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 205° C (400° F).  Brush 2 (125 mL 1/2 cup capacity) ramekins or oven proof bowls with melted butter.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Add flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute.  Slowly add the milk,  stirring continuously for 2-3 minutes or until thickened.  Stir in the Gorgonzola.
3. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolk and sea salt. Now I found this mixture a little too thick (much thicker than Manu’s photos) so I added about a 1/4 cup dry white wine to loosen it up, it worked out great — plus it gave me an excuse to open a bottle, and perhaps to share a taste of it!!
4. Beat egg whites with electric mixer until firm peaks form.  Gently fold through the cheese mixture.  Fill the ramekins two-thirds full and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until puffed and golden.
6. Photograph immediately.  Eat.

Oh, you blinked!

I must say that this recipe is a keeper, thank you Manu, we adore Gorgonzola and the lightness of the souffle really allowed the cheese to sing. I know my friend Barb and Kevin would love this, I will keep it in my back pocket for the next time we have them over!

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Panettone French Toast

Weekends are always special for breakfast. We’re not rushing around to get out of the house as we do during the week, we have a bit more time to fancy it up. One of our favourites is Panettone French Toast. I usually buy a large dried fruit panettone whenever it’s on sale, and slice it up into 3-4cm thick slices and freeze them in individual baggies (in Toronto our Italians make the panetonne in about 20 cm rounds, so I generally cut the slices in half). In effort to cut back and be a little healthier, I find that cubing a 1/2 slice of panettone between the two of us, is plenty. This time I topped it with sliced oranges and prunes.

Panettone French Toast Cups

Ingredients:

• 1/2 slice of panettone cut into 2cm cubes (about a half a circle 20cm in diametre)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of egg whites
• 1/2 cup of non fat yogurt
• 1 orange, sectioned
• 3 prunes cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup maple syrup with 1/2 tsp vanilla, warmed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Spray two ramekins (about 8cm in diametre and 10cm tall) with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Place the panettone cubes into each ramekin (about the same number in each)
4. Beat the egg, egg white and non fat yogurt in a small mixing bowl.
5. Pour half the mixture into each ramekin and push the panettone down so that it soaks up the mixture well.
6. Bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. The egg mixture will rise like a beautiful souffle. Turn out of the ramekin and sit upright in the middle of the plate.
7. Serve immediately with warm maple syrup and sliced oranges and prunes. You can even dollop some non-fat yogurt on top for a nice contract of cold and hot.

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