top 5 farmers markets in GTA by sweetspot.ca

sweetspot.ca has recently posted their pics for the top 5 farmers markets in Toronto. I haven't tried them all yet, but by the end of the summer i'll have plenty to report. Have a delicious weekend everyone!

CONTEST: by chefshaunice

A chance to win a set of Paula Deen prep bowls by fellow foodbuzz blogger chefshaunice. Good luck yall

Cupcake heaven - ming makes cupcakes

Holy cupcake food porn, I 'm salivating all over myself.  The site of these sweet treats are almost satisfying enough. Everyone loves cupcakes and there is this ongoing battle for the best of. I would love the chance to try these cupcakes from mingmakescupcakes a site of amazing recipes by one very skilled cupcake baker.  I may just have to blog my way through their recipes a la "Julie and Julia" style. Maybe not such a great idea since i'm in the thick of my fat off. Must look fab for my engagement party in August. Will have to make these over the next few years or something... I usually try and make recipes healthier and less fattening, but that would just be wrong in this case. I challenge any of you to try some of these recipes - but please invite me over! Look out for my upcoming trip to NYC and my Magnolia Bakery review. Chow for now!

Spring Veg- Buckwheat noodles with spring veg

This post should have been published a few weeks ago. I just love the spring! Seriously my friends are starting to think i've gone nuts - I get so excited to welcome asparagus and obviously tomatoes to Ontario. Being seasonally obsessed i've been deprived from my red seeded friends since I was in Mexico in december and oh how i've missed them. In tomato season I usually enjoy them raw since they are so sweet and delicious. This recipe should come right after my fiddle heads post as I used the left overs in this dish as well. Buckwheat noodles with spring veg INGREDIENTS:

left over fiddle heads - finely chopped (see Hey Diddle Diddle some shallots and some fiddle post)

Japanese buckwheat noodles - boil and rinse in ice cold water

1 garlic clove - minced

1 head of asparagus - blanched and trimmed

1 bunch of campari tomatoes - cut in quarters

1 bunch of cherry tomatoes - cut in half

handful of crumbled Bulgarian feta cheese

handful of parsley - rough chop (optional)

1/2 lemon - juiced

olive oil

salt

pepper

PREP: cook noodles in boiling water - then shock in cold water when cooked. Keep the boiling pasta water to 

quickly blanch the asparagus (1-2 mins) then add them to the chilled pasta water. Drain well. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and give a quick toss. Easy breezy fresh and fabulous food. Enjoy

LEARN-COOK-EAT

New cooking experience in the Toronto area. Sort of like a cooking class - but not really. 
Check it out 

New kitchen cooking - made it out alive

Is very happy to report that I'm back to myself again. Appetite less then before so there's at least 1 good thing from food poisoning. I also moved... bigger kitchen, new butcher block me = very happy Tomato Snob! Right now have a pot boiling with blackberries, nectarines, ginger mint vanilla and lime... to be served as cold delicious bevie.  Oven piping hot - roasting carrots tomatoes garlic and basil for to be delicious soup dinner. Guacamole with mint and shallots done. It's great to be back to normal - better then normal! Getting geared up for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for later. Chow for now ;)

Pan fried haddock with golden beets and fiddle heads

Another triumph! If I do say so myself my plating is getting better and better. My partner Jovan told me this was restaurant plating. Now if only my photography skills would improve as well. One of the most difficult things to do is take beautiful pictures of beautiful food - not the easiest subject matter. This was my first time using or eating fiddleheads, and while I did enjoy them  I must advise they are definitely an aquired taste like ocra. They both have the same sort of slimy quality to them. Its best to quickly blanch them before sauteing.


FISH: Haddock is a great meaty fish most commonly used for fish and chips, but of course not limited to. I seasoned mine with a bit of dijon mustard sumac s&p.  Pan fried the fish with a little white wine and butter it was fantabulous! Ridiculously delicious.
BEETS: thinly sliced and simply roasted with olive oil s&p.
FIDDLEHEADS:  from previous recipe
All on a bed of spinach with some finely chopped parsley dusted over everything. Sorry no formal recipe.  Perhaps one day I will re make this stunning dish and publish the recipe so all you tomato snobs at home can taste the deliciousness.

The Killer Burrito - Burrito Boyz delicious but deadly

I just had to warn all my Tomato Snobs that the day has come. An awful day I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy.  A day filled with many trips to the LOU, excruciating gastronomic cramping followed by nausea, fever and weird pains in my hands and chest. This was no ordinary case of food contamination it's Ciguatera poisoning and it's day five - please shoot me. Any other form of food poisoning would be long gone by now, only remembered by the empty rolls of toilet paper in the waste basket, but not Ciguatera.  This horrendous experience can last up to two weeks with symptoms even lasting up to one year. Right now i'm in bed praying to wake up normal again. 


Wednesday night I enjoyed a delicious fish burrito from Burrito Boyz on Adelaid st. I waited in line for 10 seconds and my order was taken, haddock burrito dressed with guac. lettuce tomatoes cheese rice and beans salsa and burrito sauce (a combination of sour creme and god knows what else).  Some 10 minutes later we were on our way home to watch the seasons finale of American Idol burritos in hand. It was hot outside - like heat wave temperature definitely not May weather. I was already feeling a bit flushed from the heat, but knew I would be fine once back in the comfort of my air conditioned town house. 


We got home and I quickly dove into my piping hot Mexican treat. Half way through my delicious burrito I started to feel full. With disappointment I put the remainder of my dinner aside. Over the next 45 minutes I started to feel queazy. My nausea was growing fast and my stomach started making  strange noises.  Like a powerful thunderstorm  before it turns into a hurricane I felt my guts begin to seize. After three sharp rounds of agonizing cramps I was nearly crippled in pain. I managed to get myself into the bathroom, and thank god for that because my evening was about to take a turn for the worst. 


I've decided to spare you the rest of the horrific details. I've been poisoned by food before, but never to this extent. As I said earlier I'm on day five, and I still feel miles away from being normal again. The last few days have been filled with a nervous combination of rice, toast and gatorade. I tried some soup but nearly ended up in the hospitalized from the outcome. To put a cherry on the whole thing I've spent the last three days doing manual labour - we moved uptown. Body killing, clothes every where boxes galore. I also had to attend a gala fundraiser honoring my grandparents for the Reena Foundation. The night was beautiful, but needless to say I'm was not a happy camper. Couldn't eat anything, couldn't fit into my dress from the bloating, and even worse couldn't enjoy the open bar. If it weren't for the Micheal Jackson impersonator It would have been an all out flop.  I'm cranky bloated and freaking hungry - i've got too many symptoms. Now i'm in bed dreaming about unpacking my new home and enjoying my huge new kitchen. No cooking for now. I'll stick to my rice for a few more days, and get some well deserved bed rest. 


PLEASE Beware of eating fish in hot temperatures - also of eating burritos made by smelly downtown hipsters. I'm thinking about calling my lawyer. 


To read more about food poisoning 

Hey diddle diddle some shallots and some fiddle...

For a few weeks every spring these funny looking coiled fronds are found all over Canada. They are mostly foraged  meaning they are found out in nature and are not cultivated like other commercially consumed vegetables. These things are fun to eat - slightly scary looking - my fiancee was convinced there was a worm curled up inside one of the fiddlehead. You must blanch or wash these a number of times before consuming. If you dare to uncurl the green super food you'll be pleasantly surprised by it's clean tubular inside no worms in here. Fiddleheads with shallots and white wine INGREDIENTS: 

bunch of fiddleheads

2 shallots 

1 clove af garlic - finely chopped

1 tsp butter

splash of white wine

s&p 

olive oil 

PREP: let fiddle heads sit in cold water - rinse 2x then blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds. 

COOK: suatee shallots and garlic in olive oil add s&p to taste add splash of white whine and then finish with a little butter. Enjoy!

Crustless broccoli & red chard quiche with lemon potatoes

Quiche is just one of my all time favorite breakfast/ brunch dishes.  Plainly know as a savory egg pie, quiche is an excellent way to use up whatever is fresh and seasonal in your vegetable drawer. Traditionally quiche is served in a open pie shell that has been blind baked - meaning the crust is baked before adding the filling. To eliminate a couple hundred calories I've decided to make my quiche crustless in a glass vintage pyrex square dish. I just love these baking trays they are so retro - mine is a hand me down from my grandmother. This quiche uses left over red swiss chard and broccoli and is served with the most delicious lemony potatoes. INGREDIENTS: 6 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup parmesan - finely grated
splash milk 
1 cup suateed swiss chard
1 cup broccoli  - blanched and chopped
s&p 
-
1-2 pounds of red potatoes or fingerlings
1 lemon - zested and juiced 
2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped 
bunch parsley - finely chopped
paprika 
s&p 
olive oil
Quiche PREP: Sautee the chopped chard in butter of olive oil... add a splash of white wine if you really want to impress. Beat eggs with milk, sour cream and 1/2 parmesan s&p to taste - add veggies at room temp - or they will cause the egg to start cooking prematurely. You can butter the baking tray before adding egg mixture, but it isn't a must. Use the rest of the parmesan on the top of the quiche for dusting. 
BAKE: for 35 - 1 hour at 350 - when quiche puffs up and turns golden it's ready to devour. 


Lemony potatoes: DRESSING: add finely choped garlic and parsley with lemon juice and zest drizzle olive oil into mixture with s&p. Leave off to side. 
PREP: Chop potatoes into bite sized pieces - if using fingerlings cut in half legnth wise. Coat them in olive oil s&p and some paprika. 
BAKE: 30 minutes at 300 then remove from oven add 1/2 of the dressing making sure all potatoes are covered.  Bake for another 15 - 20 minutes on 400 until potatoes are crisp on the outside and creamy inside - golden colour.