Keep your eyes peeled.

Good morning fellow Tomato Snobs. I just wanted to let you in on a bit of news. On Thursday, yes this Thursday October 20th, will mark the day of my first published recipe! Horay. I'm so excited! I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure,  but I received confirmation yesterday. Please keep your eyes peeled if you live in Toronto my recipe for Pasta With Ricotta and a Fried Egg will grace the pages of The National Post. I hope this is the beginning of many of my recipes to be published somewhere other then my blog. 


I want to send out a big THANK YOU to all of my readers for inspiring me and pushing me to continue to follow my dreams! You are all awesome. A special thanks to Jesse for being my personal PR agent - you're the best!

Homemade potato chips with smoked salmon and creme fraiche

There are classic flavor pairings and classic canapés. This chic party pleaser satisfies both of these ideas. Canapés usually refer to  hors d'œuvres - delicious and decorative morsels otherwise know as finger food. Traditionally a canapé will be served on a dry pathetic round of stale bread, but not these puppies!  My classic combination of smoked salmon, potato and creme fraiche is refreshing and light - a far cry from brittle bread and fish scraps.  The key is to find great quality smoked salmon, and you can usually do so at your local fish monger. If you're in Toronto City Fish has excellent smoked salmon.  You get to decide exactly how much you'd like to buy and they'll even vaccuum seal it for ya. 

INGREDIENTS: 

Smoked salmon

yukon golds - super thinly sliced (use mandoline if you have) 

creme fraiche - dollop 

cucumber - remove skin and brunoise

chive - 1 inch chop

dill - 1 leaf per 

s&p

olive oil 

parchment paper

PREP FOR POTATO CHIPS: 

Slice up your potatoes toss in olive oil, s&p then place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Pre heat oven at 300. Serve the chip warm or at room temp - but the rest of the ingredients chilled. 

COOK: Bake until golden about 10 mins. (keep your eyes on them - they can burn easily) 

* you can use either the chive or dill - I like both
* creme fraiche can easily be swapped for sour creme

Greek Village style salad

Choriatiki or Horiatiki means village or country in Greek.When followed by the word salad it refers to a bowl of veggies consisting of chopped tomatoes, cucumber, red onions, feta cheese, and kalamata olives with lots of greek olive oil and oregano. In short it's a chopped salad! In some regions capers are also added to the salad, or vinegar.  This delicious mix is mostly eaten in the summer months when all of the ingredients are at their best. My version of this classic Greek salad uses the addition of fresh herbs and peppers. 
INGREDIENTS: 
red peppers - chopped
yellow peppers - chopped 
green peppers - chopped
orange peppers - chopped
red onion - slices 
tomatoes - chopped
cucumbers - chopped
black olives (I used sun dried - not classic) 
handful fresh mint - chopped
handful fresh dill - chopped
handful fresh oregano - chopped
handful of feta - crumbled 
1 lemon - juiced 
a few tbs evoo 
splash of red wine vinegar 
s&p to taste 
PREP: Combine everything in a bowl toss and enjoy. This salad is good for 2-3 days. 

How To Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds

Hi fellow foodies. My grandmother - yes grandmother sent me this video and I just couldn't wait to share. This is simply one of the best kitchen tricks I have ever seen, and I can verify It totally works like a charm. I'm wondering how many of you knew about this amazing short cut? I'm also now wondering what your favorite kitchen tricks are? Please share...








Read more!

Yes to Philly No to Cheesesteak

As my hubby gets ready for a business trip to Philadelphia, I'm left reminiscing about my first (and last) experience with the iconic Philly cheese steak sandwich. I was so excited to try this blue collar special,  it was basically all I could think about during our 11 hour drive in. We were told we just had to try the sammy at Geno's - a 24 hour legendary spot in south Philly. I couldn't believe the line on a random Friday in August. People just kept on coming, locals tourist you name it. I figured by the line this sandwich was going to be something special however I was sadly mistaken!  I will admit I some what enjoyed
bites 2-5 but beyond that I totally grossed 
out. The bread was fresh and chewy, but the gloopy cheesewiz and petrified beef left me feeling queasy and empty inside. Here's where the Snob in me really comes out. I give the sandwich a 4.5 out of 10 and I have to say it was totally overpriced at nine bucks. The only redeeming part of my meal was the delicious Birch Beer which tasted suspiciously like Dr. Pepper one of my all time indulgences. In short there are much better sandwich spots in Philly and you won't have to wait in a line for your meal. 


We found one of the absolute best chicken Parmesan sandwiches at a quirky little place called Criniti restaurant. Yes the photo looks like a hot mess but please trust me when I tell you it was amazing.  At $6.75 the sandwich is a steal! This colossal sammy is ooey gooey mozzarella dripping of the sides of the perfectly crispy Italian roll. The golden fried to perfection, plump juicy chicken breast was wonderful and the tomato sauce was zesty and drenched through the bread as it should be. One bite of this sandwich erased any ill feelings I had towards Geno's. All was right again in the world.  

Tales of Onions - Part Two

Hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving, I was deprived of my favorite turkey holiday this year, but with good reason. My dad got married to a super awesome lady, and it was a very beautiful night. Im pooped from a very long weekend of celebrations and house hunting. Today is the follow up to the Tale of Onions. 


Lots of times when we have stomach problems we don't know what to blame. Maybe it's the onions that are to blame. Onions absorb bacteria is the reason they are so good at preventing us from getting colds and flu's and is the very reason we shouldn't eat an onion that has been sitting for a time after it has been cut open!

LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS

I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, Makers of Mayonnaise.. Mullins is huge, and is owned by 11 brothers and sisters in the Mullins family.  My friend, Jeanne, is the CEO. Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what I learned  from a chemist. The guy who gave us our tour is named Ed. He's one of the brothers Ed is a chemistry expert and is involved in developing most of the sauce formula.
He's even developed sauce formula for McDonald's. Keep in mind that Ed is a food chemistry whiz. During the tour, someone asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed's answer will surprise you. Ed said that all commercially- made Mayo is completely safe. "It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it, but it's not really necessary." He explained that the pH in mayonnaise is set at a  point that bacteria could not survive in that environment. He then talked about the quaint essential picnic, with the bowl of potato salad sitting on
the table and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when someone gets sick.

Ed says that  when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the officials
look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where those onions came
from (in the potato salad?).   Ed says it's not the mayonnaise (as long as
it's not homemade Mayo) that spoils in the outdoors. It's probably the
Onions, and if not the onions, it's the POTATOES. 


He explained, onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked
onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion.. He says
it's not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator. 
It's already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit,
that it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you
put in your hotdogs at the baseball park!) Ed says if you take the leftover onion

and cook it like crazy you you'll probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover

onion and put on your sandwich, you're asking for trouble. Both the onions

and the moist potato in a potato salad, will attract and grow bacteria faster than

any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.

Please remember it is dangerous to cut an onion and try to use it to cook
the next day, it becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and
creates toxic bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of

excess bile secretions and even food poisoning.
          
There you have it folks. Believe it all or not!

The Brothers Bent-Lee... of Susur Lee

Judging by the lack of activity yesterday I see many of my readers are either A. are not a fan of cold cantaloup soup, or B. were too busy enjoying the stunning weather to read my post. Either way It's all good. Today I leave you with an article from The Dish  (Torontolife.com) on some buzzing rumors around the restaurant scene.  Supposedly 777 Dundas Street West will be the home of a new restaurant by famed chef Susur Lee. The thing thats most interesting is that the face of this alleged resto will be Lee's two sons Levi, and Kai. Momma bear Brenda Bent confirms that the plans are in motion and says the boys hope to open before christmas. One thing is for certain if this unnamed restaurant does make it to opening it will be in good company as the Dundas west strip has been heating up over the last year.  I guess we will have to wait and see. 

Indian Summer Cantaloup soup

I'm not sure what's going on with the weather this fall  but I sure am liking it. Torontonians are notorious for complaining about our weather, it's too cold, it's too hot, it's too rainy... you name it.  This Indian summer week we are having is sure to please even the most cranky residents.  I figure since it feels like summer outside it would only be right to write about another delicious chilled summer soup. If you love cold fruity things you love this simple recipe. 
INGREDIENTS: 
Cantaloup - seeded and pureed
6 key limes - juiced and thinly sliced for garnish 
1/2 english cucumber - peeled and pureed plus more for garnish
1 tbs - evoo (olive oil)
mint or basil - julienned for garnish 
s&p - pinch of each
PREP: Puree cantaloup, cucumber, limes and evoo. 
*You can ball a few pieces of the melon for garnish in advance as well as thinly slice cucumber and lime - it's optional. 
SEVRVE: Chilled with a drizzle of mint or basil infused evoo, julienned mint or basil, melon balls, thin slices of lime 
and or cucumber. 
Enjoy the weather while it lasts all!

Tales of Onions - Part One

This old wives tale was sent to me last week, and I couldn't wait to hare it all with you just in time for cold and flew season. 


In 1919, when the flu killed 40 million people, there was this Doctor that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu. Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it, and many died. The doctor came upon this one farmer, and to his surprise, everyone was very healthy.   When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different, the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home, (probably only two rooms back then). The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy.

- I heard this story from my hairdresser in AZ. She said that several years ago many of her employees were coming down with the flu and so were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work....Try it and see what happens. We did it last year and we never got the flu. 


Now there is a P. S. to this.... I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to me on health issues. She replied with this most interesting experience about onions:
 Thanks for the reminder. I don't know about the farmers story.... But, I do know that I contacted pneumonia and needless to say I was very ill... I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion put it into an empty jar.....placing the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs.... Sure enough it happened just like that.... The onion was a mess, and I began to feel better.
 
Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

Wow - pretty amazing tale. I'm a firm believer in the power of onions and garlic. I double dare all of you to try this old remedy out at some point this winter. Please share your finds. Stay posted for tomorrows follow up in Part Two of Tales of Onions. 

Party/cook/feet hurt and some damn good shawarma from Bagel Nash

Sorry to keep you all waiting. The Jewish holidays left no time for blogging. I was super busy with catering a party Saturday night and today was my first day working at Catering with Style  where I've been hired on for a few large parties. Needless to say I have been a busy bee and I'm totally pooped. Since it is Monday and I've left you in the lurch for a few days I'm making a serious effort to write a short post today. I want to tell you all about an amazing little shawarma stand in Thornhill called Bagel Nash. For those of you who don't know what  Shawarma is  you are seriously missing out.  Shewarma is a Middle Eastern delight made by stacking either lamb, chicken or turkey in think slices on a mettle skewer that cooks for hours on rotisserie. The juices from the meat slowly drips down and creates crunchy little bits surrounded by moist juicy meaty goodness. The meat is shaved off the skewer and serves with pickled turnips, cucumbers, Israeli salad, cabbage salads, hummus, tahina and skhug. BN (Bagel Nash) is made up of a bakery counter with beautiful looking pastries and obviously bagels as well as a walk up window where you can order some of the city's best shawarma and falafel. I was running errands a few weeks back and I couldn't resist stopping in for some take out. If you love middle eastern food this place is a must try!