banh mi boys

Banh Mi Boys has quickly become one of my favourite places for lunch, dinner or a mid-afternoon snack. Not gonna lie, I was a bit skeptical at first about the mixing of Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese and Mexican cuisine, but after my first bite I was hooked. 

Let's start with the kimchi fries. Kimchi and fries may not sound like a good combo, but somehow it works. The crispy fries topped with pulled pork, mayo, chopped green onions and a good helping of kimchi were amazing. Every bite had so many textures and complementing flavours—very addictive. 

The banh mi here are a higher end version of the classic mystery meat banh mi sold on Spadina (which are also tasty in their own way). The lemongrass pork banh mi comes stuffed with juicy grilled pork, pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber and cilantro. It's topped with their Asian bbq sauce and the bun is slightly toasted so it has a nice, crisp exterior.

The kalbi beef taco layers Korean grilled short ribs with Asian slaw, kimchi, pickled carrot and daikon, and cilantro all in an Indian paratha-like shell. This bad boy is pretty messy, but equally satisfying. I like the chewiness of the bread and the meat is perfectly sweet and savoury.

When I first pictured the steamed bao, I thought they would be small two-bite buns, but they're not. The braised beef cheek bao is filled with a good helping of tender beef cheek topped with a sweet and tangy onion chutney and more of the obligatory pickled carrot, daikon, cucumber and cilantro. The bao itself is pillowy soft and hefty enough to hold all that filling.

The restaurant space is pretty small and there's no table service here: you need to order and wait for your food. I suggest going with a friend who can snag a table while you grab the eats. Line-ups are common, but the service is fast and efficient. So glad that Banh Mi Boys is a short walk from my house.

Banh Mi Boys

392 Queen St. W.

back in the day

A few months back I impulsively (as always) picked up The Back in the Day Cookbook. It was during a time when I was dreaming about a vacation to the deep south. Visions of peach cobbler, fried chicken and sweet tea were floating through my mind on a daily basis. Well, that vacation hasn't happened (yet), but I'm still hopeful that one day it will. And when it does the Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia will definitely be on my must stop list. 

Recently I tried out their chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's actually similar to the NYT cookies in that they are finished with a good sprinkle of fleur de sel, but these were more up my alley in terms of texture: crisp, chewy and buttery good!

strawberry hand pies

The thing about strawberries is that they usually only last a few days in the fridge before turning soft and bruised. After strawberry picking over the weekend, I ate more berries than I could count and froze a bunch for later use. The remaining strawberries were transformed into individual hand pies. I experimented with a couple different shapes just for fun.

I use this trusty dough recipe and for the filling I just sliced up some berries, added in sugar to taste and about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. The tops were brushed with some egg yolk and sprinkled with sugar before baking at 400 degrees until golden. These pies do bleed while baking since the berries are super juicy and some may even burst open, but I don't mind. I like to serve them warm, served with a scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream (I use this recipe).

berry good

I started to panic when I realized that strawberry season was almost over and I had none in my freezer for emergency smoothies. So last Sunday, Joe and I braved the heat and drove to Lindley's Farm in Ancaster to pick some berries. We were lucky because they let us know that this was probably the last week for pick-your-own strawberries. 

The best thing about these sweet little jewels isn't only that their grown here in Ontario—but they're also pesticide free! Lindley's has started pick-you-own raspberries this week too. I couldn't bear to be in under the sun any longer, but grabbed a half pint of red raspberries and black raspberries (sometimes called "black caps") at their roadside market. 

Lindley's Farm

900 Fiddler's Green Road

Ancaster

la gaspésie

I've been back in the city for a while now, but you know how it is after coming home from vacation. Catching up at work, doing a billion loads of laundry (even though it felt like I only wore two outfits the entire trip) and getting my life back in order, always seems to take longer than expected. My trip in a nutshell was great. Relaxing, low-key and just what I needed. The scenery was amazing! Cliffs, coast and tiny villages.

And the seafood! It was fresh every day. We ate a lot of lobster and I was obsessed with the sweetest little shrimps from Matane. 

Along the way, we passed poissoneries, fumoirs and fromageries. I  couldn't resist the snack packs of still warm squeaky cheese curds and Joe went wild for the smoked fish.

But we didn't only eat. We saw whales! Even though I was sea sick for most of the boat ride, it was mind-blowing to see whales up close. During our expedition we saw about 10, but we even saw a few from shore.

In a few of the villages we hit the wharf to try our hand at mackerel fishing. At first we didn't seem to have the right lures, but after getting some tips from the locals, we were ready. 

Soon it was time for the long drive home. The best part was stopping at Fromagerie Lemaire near Drummondville. I've written about this place before and still swear by their delicious poutine. 

I'm starting to think that road trips are the way to go. Seeing a part of Canada that I've never experienced before was awesome. And being able to stop whenever we wanted was even better. Next summer I'm thinking, West Coast?

kimbap

The hot weather these days has got me wanting to be anywhere but in front of a hot oven. A staple dinner (and lunch) over here has been Korean kimbap. It requires minimal cooking and is filling enough to be a complete meal. Kimbap is sorta like sushi, except the rice isn't seasoned (usually) and there's no raw fish involved. Fillings include everything from cooked bulgogi (marinated Korean beef), crab stick and even canned tuna, plus sauteed spinach and carrots, fried egg and yellow pickled radish called danmuji. Here's my kimbap pre-roll:

Once rolled, it totally resembles a maki roll:

Some of my rolls had bulgogi and crab stick.

I find that kimbap is best served fresh, when the rice is still warm. Next day kimbap is ok, but the rice gets a bit hard and the seaweed goes soggy. I've heard a solution is a quick dip in some egg and a light fry in a pan, but that means more time in the kitchen.

hitting the road

Things have been too busy these days, which accounts for my very sporadic posting the last few weeks. So I’m really excited to be heading out on a week-long road trip adventure to Quebec Maritime this weekend. I think this is going to be a pretty relaxing trip (for me anyways…Joe will be in charge of all the driving) and I hear the scenery around the Gulf of St. Lawrence is supposed to be amazing. Can’t wait to breath in the fresh air, visit lots of National Parks, sample some local seafood and maybe even catch a glimpse of a whale. Lots of photos will be shared when I’m back! 

*photos courtesy of Le Quebec Maritime

brunch @ mildred's temple kitchen

I'm not sure how I found myself at Mildred's Temple Kitchen on a Sunday for brunch (a meal I usually skip due to my hatred for line-ups), but it happened. Surprisingly, the wait for a table was only about 10 minutes, but we did end up having to sit on the patio with the sun beating down on us (the umbrellas were blocking the rays from pretty much every table except ours.) Because we were starving we sucked it up and ordered a duo of currant scones to start. The apple preserves matched nicely with the flaky scones, but I really missed the clotted cream that I feel is necessary.

I decided on the blueberry pancakes and asked for a side of their homemade fennel sausage. I thought the sausage would be breakfast-sized, but it turned out to be a full sausage. It was juicy and spiked with lots of fennel—a great match with the sweet pancakes. And the pancakes! Fluffy and light, they were some of the best I've ever had. And the maple syrup, blueberries and whipped cream made them truly decadent.

Joe went for "The Manhandler," a twist on steak & eggs. It came with a sliced striploin (cooked medium rare) on arugula and toasted sourdough bread topped with two sunnyside up eggs, horseradish jus on the side. 

Despite how sweaty we were by the end of the meal, it was still a satisfying brunch. Liberty Village is definitely not my scene at all, but the food was good and I guess that's what matters.

Mildred's Temple Kitchen

85 Hanna Ave.

nyt chocolate chip cookies

This chocolate chip cookie recipe comes from The Essential New York Times Cookbook and uses techniques developed by Jacques Torres. The unique thing about this recipe is that the cookie dough needs to rest in the fridge for at least 24 hours or ideally 36 hours. This "aging" of the dough is what's supposed to develop the flavour and create crisp-edged cookies with chewy middles. 

Unfortunately, this recipe was just ok for me. The taste was good and I liked the sprinkling of salt on the top, but the cookies ended up too cakey for my liking. Plus, I need that crisp outer edge and these just didn't have that (even though the recipe said they would). 

spanakopita

Traditional spanakopita consists of a mixture of spinach, onions and feta cheese, all wrapped up in phyllo dough. In my version, I substitute caramelized onions for regular and add in a handful of chopped sundried tomatoes. I usually make these as an appetizer, but this time I made them a bit bigger to serve alongside a simple green salad for a light dinner.