pierogis + cabbage rolls

One of the benefits of having my mom around is being able to request some of my favourite meals. I was pretty pumped for this one: homemade pierogis and cabbage rolls. Not sure how and when my mom learned to make cabbage rolls (and I’m sure she doesn’t use a very authentic recipe—I saw a can of tomato soup get thrown in the mix), but they taste delicious and that’s all that matters to me. For the pierogis, we used Veselka's dough recipe and filled them with mashed potatoes mixed with caramelized onions and cheddar. 

filipino ensaymadas

My mom is visiting for the week which means I'll be getting lots of home cooking. So far one of the highlights was when she showed up with bags of homemade Filipino ensaymadas made by my 80-year old auntie. Sort of a cross between a brioche and Asian-style breads, ensaymadas are buttery, soft, slightly sweet buns. They can be eaten plain, topped with a smear of butter, then dipped in sugar, or topped with a smear of butter, dipped in sugar and sprinkled with shredded cheese (yes, cheese). Sounds weird, but tastes amazing. 

My auntie used to make these all the time when I was a kid (though we never got the cheese version) and me and my bro used to devour them. She’s passed the recipe onto me, but they’re pretty labour intensive to make and I’ve yet to tackle them. For now, my freezer’s stocked and I’m set for a little while.

house of gourmet

I've been trying to be more open when it comes to eating in Chinatown. I have my usual joints for pho, dim sum and seafood, and when I want "rice & meat" aka roast pork, bbq duck, bbq pork or soy sauce chicken on a bed of steamed rice, I usually head to King's Noodle. But the last time I went, there was a way too long line and I was inpatient, so I tried someplace new: House of Gourmet. Overall it was a pretty good meal. Joe and I ordered our usual King's Noodle dishes and everything was about a dollar cheaper. 

Rice with roast pork and bbq pork. Can't go wrong with double pork right? 

Noodle soup with wontons, brisket and tendon. The portion here is smaller than King's, but I actually liked this version much more. 

This rice flour roll with Chinese doughnut (zha liang) is more of a dim sum staple, but I always order it I see it on the menu. Even though this is a larger portion than King's, the doughnut was way greasier and the rice roll much thinner. At King's the rice roll portion has green onions and dried shrimp mixed in too, making it more flavourful. 

House of Gourmet

484 Dundas St. W.

ultimate butter tarts

Butter tarts are one of the few sweets that I find really irresistible. Buttery, flaky crust filled with a gooey filling—it could be the hottest day on earth and I could be stuffed to the brim, and I'd still eat one. 

And although mine are never picture perfect, they do taste mighty fine. 

For the pastry: makes 12
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 C cold shortening/lard, cubed
1 egg
1 tsp white vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
ice water, about 1/3 C

1. In a food processor, mix flour salt and sugar. Add in shortening and pulse until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. 

2. Beat the egg and the vinegar in a measuring cup. In the same cup, add in enough ice water to make a total of 1/2 C of liquid. With the food processor running, pour in the egg/water mixture. The dough should form a ball.

3. Form the dough into a disk and chill for an hour. When chilled, roll until 3/8-inch thick. Cut out six-inch circles and form in a muffin tin. Chill until ready to use.

Filling:
1 C unsalted butter, soft
1 C brown sugar
1 C corn syrup
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 C raisins

1. Beat butter until fluffy. Add in sugar and beat until light. Add corn syrup and beat until combined. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice and beat until thoroughly mixed.

2. Divide the raisins evenly among the tarts. Spoon in filling. 

3. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 350 and continue to bake for 22-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is dark brown and set. Let the tarts cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing and cooling completely.

mexitaco sunday

It was Sunday afternoon and I was in the mood for tacos. I decided to give Mexitaco a try. 

Two Jarritos to start...

...along with an order of guacamole. Unfortunately, there were too many overcooked tortillas.

Tacos al pastor for me (I love the combination of pork and pineapple)...

and chilaquiles (fried tortillas cooked in tomatillo sauce and topped with sour cream and salty feta-like cheese) for Joe. Mexitaco's version came with a huge flat steak and refried beans. The chilaquiles themselves were pretty good, but I'm definitely a bigger fan of Senor Chipotle's in Guelph.

Overall, an ok meal. Nothing really stood out to me and I probably won't rush back anytime soon, but at least I tried somewhere new. The next place I'll be heading to when it comes to tacos: Rebozos. I hear they do a crazy good tongue taco.

Mexitaco

828 Bloor St. W

going nuts

I made a batch of salty-sweet candied mixed nuts recently for mid-day snacking and tossing into lunchtime salads. Sometimes I only use almonds (I always have them kicking around), but this time combined almonds, cashews and pecans.

1 1/2 C mixed nuts
1/3 C sugar
4 tbsp water
fleur de sel, maldon salt or coarse salt

1. Place nuts, water and sugar in a pan over medium-high heat, stirring often. After about 10 minutes, the water will evaporate and the sugar and nuts will begin to crystalize.

2. Lower the heat and continue to stir. The crystalized sugar will melt and turn golden brown. Continue cooking and coating the nuts with the sticky syrup.

3. When the nuts are coated and a deep amber colour, sprinkle them with salt and tip them onto a plate or parchment paper and let them cool completely. 

caramel cake

This caramel cake recipe comes from an old issue of the now defunct Gourmet magazine. It's easy to make and combines a deliciously moist buttermilk cake with a sticky caramel glaze. If you want to forgo the caramel, the cake itself is a perfect base cake for just about any type of frosting or filling—think sliced peaches and fresh whipped cream or a fluffy vanilla buttercream.

After letting the cake cool, you pour the glossy caramel glaze over the top.

I love this cake. It's so simple, but so good.

just wingin' it

A mad craving for buffalo wings made this dinner happen. For some reason I feel like as long as everything is homemade, an indulgent pub-style meal is ok every once in a while—at least that's what I tell myself so that I don't feel so guilty.

For the buffalo wing sauce (enough for about 3 lbs of wings):

4 tbsp butter

1/2 C Frank's Red Hot sauce

2 tbsp hot sauce (I use Cholula)

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp cayenne

Melt butter in a pot then whisk in remaining ingredients. Keep warm while you fry your wings (I deep fry my wings until crispy before dumping them in the sauce. I'm sure you could also bake your wings, but they probably won't be as crispy.)

For the  blue cheese dip (makes about a cup):

1/2 C crumbled blue cheese
3 tbsp buttermilk
6 tbsp sour cream
4 tbsp mayonnaise
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Mix blue cheese and buttermilk until it resembles cottage cheese. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Let chill for half an hour.

say cheese

I haven't made a good cheese board in a while, so when a friend and fellow cheese-lover was visiting, I decided to whip up a little fromage selection to snack on.

Clockwise from top left: fig jam; Grey Owl, a tangy goat cheese with an ashy rind from Quebec; a triple cream brie-like cheese that I can't remember the name of, sorry; Bleu Bénédictin, a pungent blue from Quebec; Merlot BellaVitano, a sharp and rich cheese that's soaked in Merlot from Wisconsin.

The full spread included a variety of pickles and olives, some bacon-wrapped parmigiano-stuffed dates, crostinis, veggies, plus some of the amazing goods I picked up at Arz.

arz bakery & fine foods

Last weekend, I stopped into Arz Bakery & Fine Foods for the first time. Located in Scarborough, Arz is a grocery store/bakery/deli that specializes in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean ingredients. The produce section was brimming with exotic fruit, eggplants of all shapes and sizes, plus fresh dates and figs. Behind a glass shield was a beautiful display of bulk dried fruits and nuts. The bakery had a wide selection of flatbreads as well as an impressive variety of pastries. The deli was stocked with ready-to-eat salads, prepared vegetables, meats and cheeses. I really wanted to taste everything in sight.

The olive bar was mind-blowing! Now, I love olives hard, so I couldn't stop staring at all of the different varieties. Again, everything was behind a glass shield to avoid contamination.

I picked up some of the freshest pita bread (it was still warm!) and bought a quartet of their famous homemade dips—it included the creamiest hummus ever, a tangy pepper and walnut based dip called muhamarra, garlicky zucchini mutabel and a smokey-sweet babghanouj—plus a feta dip and some stuffed vine leaves. 

At the back of the store, there's a small counter that serves stuffed pastries and shawarma. I went for the beef shawarma and it came stuffed with shaved beef, pickled turnip, tomato, onion, herbs and a slathering of hummus.

Arz Bakery & Fine Foods

1909 Lawrence Ave. E.

Scarborough