Mulled bourbon apple cider

Hi y'all. Just trying out a post from my iPhone. I wanted to hate this photo from a few weeks back when I made a delicious mulled cider with a shot of bourbon. The key is simmering your apple cider with a whole spice/ herb blend. I used two cinnamon sticks a couple of star anise, few sprigs of thyme and two orange peels (be sure not to include the white pith, which adds bitterness). Use a shot of your favorite bourbon and 4-6 oz of hot cider. If your thinly slice a whole apple it makes a beautiful garnish! Serve this warm cocktail for the holidays or on a cool October night perfect for a hurricane or Halloween. Have a safe and week everyone. Good luck bearing the cold rainy weather. Chow for now. 

Roasted Pumpkin and poblano soup with coconut milk

Today is the day. A cold rainy mess here in Toronto definitely a day for a delicious pumpkin soup. This soup is the bomb as they say and was certainly one of the stars at our Thanksgiving dinner. I hope you love it as much as my family did. For an extra touch toast the pumpkin seeds up with a dash of cinnamon, cumin and sugar. You can also toast up some shredded coconut in a pan on medium high, just be sure to use a non stick pan, agitate it constantly and remove as soon as you achieve the perfect golden brown colour. 

PREP: Rough chop pumpkin and roast (on a parchment lined baking sheet) at 350º with a drizzle of honey, coconut oil, salt and pepper for 30 -45 mins. At the same time roast off the poblano peppers until the skin is charred on all sides. Place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. The steam will loosen the skin and make it very easy to remove.  Rough chop all of the other ingredients. When the roasted peppers have cooled remove skin and seeds.
COOK: Sautée onions, garlic, carrot & celery in coconut oil until tender. Add spices, roasted pumpkin & poblanos, stock or water and allow everything to simmer for 10 minutes or so, then add coconut milk and puree soup with hand blender until smooth. Taste to check seasoning/ sweetness. 

Like my pumpkin photo? If so follow me on twitter & instagram @thetomatosnob aka JaimeVerkPerez

Cold season damn it!

Hi all. Sorry I haven't posted the recipe for Roasted pumpkin and Poblano soup yet. It seems that between getting over my "cold" and  the weekend I've actually ended up with another cold. At least this one has all the usual "cold" symptoms. This week has been cray with a bunch of events, out of town guests and one of my best friends weddings. I'll post the recipe as soon as I can. 
Chow for now!

Feeling crappy & suffering from Thanksgiving withdrawal

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in days but I've been pretty under the weather and uninspired over the past two weeks. Maybe not uninspired but way too tired and run down to sit at the computer to do anything productive what-so-ever. I tell ya, this cold which doesn't even have the right to be called a cold since it lacks all basic cold principals such as a sneezing, sniffling and any sort of nasal issue. This "cold" is the type of cold that probably would have wiped out half the population 200 years ago. Needless to say it has  taken it's toll on me. I feel slightly like I did in third year university when I had mono for five months - bad times to say the least. My throat had been crazy sore, I have a hacking old lady smokers cough, the headache of a coffee addict first thing in the morning before they've had their first cup and just overall feelings of nausea, exhaustion and overall  crap. I had a nice sleep last night for the first time in days thanks to the fact that I had the fore sight to drug myself with advil cold and sinus an hour before bedtime yesterday. I'm almost feeling human today and will actually attempt a workout, which I need desperately since I've been feasting on not one but two days of Thanksgiving heaven. I hope everyone had a delicious holiday over here in Canada. These photos are some highlights of my long and delectable weekend. Check back tomorrow for my recipe for Roasted pumpkin & poblano soup with coconut milk (your welcome to any vegans that stumble over here). 
Chow for now xo 

A speedy fast ending hopefully in a feast

For those of my Jewish readers may you have an easy and meaningful fast. I couldn't help but provide some comic relief with some of my favorite ecards about Yom Kippur before repenting for all the naughty things I've done and eaten last year. For those of my non Jewish readers if you are curious about this sacred day we call Yom Kippur please check out this "fact" sheet.  G'mar Chatima Tov - may you be sealed in the book of life.  
xo Jaime aka The Tomato Snob

Tuna Tartare inspired by Asia de Cuba

Asia de Cuba is one of my all time favorite restaurants. In fact I can still remember my first meal there when I was 18 years old. My mom took me to NY city for my birthday and we ate our way through some of the cities best and trendiest restaurants. Till this day my mom is one of the most serious foodies I know, I guess we now know where I get it from. Anyways Asia de Cuba is fabulous restaurant with locations in NY,  London, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami. The food is tapas style with influences from Cuban & Asian cuisine.
 
This tuna tartare is my take on their famous dish "Tunapica". To make to make the dish a little more heart healthy I serve it in cucumber cups instead of deep fried wantons. Either way the tartare is to die for! If you don't have time to make cucumber cups or fry your own wantons you can serve it up on potato or tarot chips as well.  What's great about serving an appetizer like this is you can prep everything in advance then quickly toss it together right before serving. If you like spice you can add a drizzle of sambal or sriracha to the dressing.

STEPS:
1 - for the dressing add finely chopped chives to the lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, grape seed oil, minced garlic & ginger, and a pinch of s & p
2 - finely chop the tuna and refrigerate until you are ready to use it
3 - toast slivered almonds in a pan over medium heat until golden
4 - combine coconut, currants and almonds once they have cooled down 
5 - remove cucumber skin (using a carrot peeler) and divide into 1" pieces, then punch out using a cookie cutter, then wrap in damp paper towel and refrigerate until ready to serve
6 - toss tuna, dressing, & dry mixture together and spoon into cucumber bites. 
7 - garnish with a sliver of green onion or panko bread crumbs 

So grateful for the #twitterlove from the operators at Asia de Cuba, many thanks. Now when can a girl get a calamari salad in Toronto?

Happy New Year 5773

To my Jewish friends and readers I wish you all a sweet and delicious new year. Lots of love, success, health and happiness. xoxo  Jaime aka The Tomato Snob 

I'm enjoying a beautiful fall afternoon with my mama & my totally adorable grandfather, eating drinking and enjoying our time together. 

Korean Charred Beef & sesame slaw

Yes it's September. I don't know whether to cry or celebrate the fact that fall is here. It seems like the summer swept by in a blink. Like May was only last week and I was celebrating my 30th birthday with family and friends. I'm in a mood today I guess, a mood that can only be lifted with this delicious simple end of summer dinner. It's light and flavorful and will not dissapoint. A while back I had the pleasure of cooking for newlyweds Macy & Stephen. They were a couple cool kids that love their food and wine, needless to say we hit it off emmediatly. I promised them I would post the recipe for their dinner that evening and here it finally is. 

* Macy & Stephen - I actually made a variation or this slaw using a hoisen vinaigrette from the Vietnamese salad roll dipping sauce. It was basically just hoisen sauce, sambal chili, splash of citrus, splash or rice vinegar & sesame oil. I also added julienned peppers & cucumber to the mix. 

FOR THE SLAW: 

1/4 red cabbage - shredded 

1/4 green cabbage - shredded

1 carrot - shredded 

Asian pear - julienned 

1 tbsp minced ginger

2 green onions - thinly sliced

handful of mint - chopped

handful of cilantro - chopped

splash citrus - orange, lemon or lime (or all three) 

splash of rice wine vinegar 

drizzle sesame oil  

pinch s & p 

black sesame seeds - for garnish 

PREP: Chop, shred, mince and toss all ingredients together

FOR THE BEEF: Season beef on each side with salt, then whisk marinade and pour 1/2 on the beef (we used NY strip). Allow marinade to sit for 1 hour  if you have the time. Reserve the rest of the marinade to spoon over the dish once it's finished. 

COOK: In a blazing hot cast iron pan sear beef for two to three mins on each side (for medium rare). Do not move the meat around in the pan, you want a crust to form around the edges to create the char. Touch the beef and if it feels slightly springy remove from heat and place on your cutting board. Allow beef to rest for at least 2 mins before you cut it into slices. *If you have a fan above your stove you will want to put it on before you begin to cook - this dish produces a lot of smoke. 

 

Do you love tomatoes as much as this Tomato Snob?

Happy Labor Day weekend! I hope everyone is having a delicious long weekend filled with fresh local fruits & veggies and strong icy cocktails. I just wanted to let you all know about an awesome opportunity to be in the National Post Newspaper in Toronto. Over the summer I've been participating in this program called #gastropost where food lovers get weekly missions, complete them via blog post, instagram, fb, or twitter and possibly get some newspaper love sharing their mission in Saturday's paper. This week I've been asked to host the mission since it's all about tomatoes. I would love if my faithful readers participated and made this the biggest gastropost mission yet. All you have to do is get your submission in by this Thursday morning for the chance to see your story in print. Lets make it happen people! Chow for now...

Yummly - Feature Food Blog wrap up

Howdy y'all check out this feature that was done about me yesterday on yummly.com 

 Featured Food Blog: The Tomato Snob

By Shelley On August 28, 2012 · In Food Blog of the Day

 

Name: Jaime Verk Pérez
Name of blog:  The Tomato Snob
Twitter:  @thetomatosnob
Location:  Toronto

Describe your culinary style.
My culinary style is laid back honest food with a hint of gourmet. I hate the fussy French traditions and prefer take a simple fresh approach to maintain the quality of seasonal ingredients.

What is the main source of inspiration for your recipes?
I draw inspiration from a global flavors and put my own local twist on classic cultural dishes. For example right now I’m working on a recipe for Jamaican Pepperpot Soup using Ontario okra that’s in season right now. I love allowing one ingredient to inspire the culinary journey – you never know where it’s going to take you.

If you could have one food while stranded on a desert island, what would it be? 
It would be any sort of Asian noodle soup. Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese I’ll take any of them as long as I have hot sauce & fresh herbs.

For someone new to your blog, which recipes do you recommend they try first?

• In the fall I would definitely recommend them to check out the Parsnip & Pear Puree because it’s such a unique combination and really holds a wow factor.
• My recipe for Thai Sesame Slaw with Poached Shrimp is pretty simple (and delicious) 
• Another great one for an easy quick bread would be my Pumpkin Ginger Bread. It’s perfect for the holidays. 

What is your ultimate guilty food pleasure? 
My ultimate guilty food pleasure is going to a nice restaurant with a bunch of open minded food loving friends and ordering a very large selection of the menu. I want to taste everything!

Define Yummly.
To me yummly represents the love and ease of finding delicious recipes.

http://www.yummly.com/blog/2012/08/featured-food-blog-the-tomato-snob/