Winter Shoes…

The socks belong to Honey… her feet are so small that when we go out in cold weather, they shrink even more and the tiniest shoes we could buy are too big and slip off.. so yeah we had to bulk her up a bit… the pink ones belong to Cherry... the Spiderman boots are mine…

Dinner: Monday Feb. 19th, 2007

Guests: Lisa, Kinga, Jay and I

Dinner was so delish this week… a twist on chili potato skins due to our resident vegetarian… hahaha…

- Baked potato skins stuffed with vegetable ratatouille.. toped with some white and yellow cheddar sided with little gems lettuce with roasted tomato vinaigrette… yummers… I had to stop myself from licking my plate clean

Dessert was inspired by a jar of blueberry compote that we had for the longest time..

- Lemon angel food cake with the said blueberry compote and unsweetened whipped cream

I have to say… damn I’m good… that’s right I baked it from scratch.. bought the special cake thing for it too. I almost let Jay bake it, but then couldn’t let him do it.. he doesn’t really have patience for measuring ingredients…

Next dinner will feature mini cornbread puddings (we tested the recipe today… thumbs up)… and Lisa is making cupcakes for dessert… we love cupcakes

I wonder who’s hiding from the cold in there…

Winter in Toronto...

The storm is finally over but now we are in the deep freeze, it is so cold outside, the minute I stepped out today it felt like thousands of little needles pricking my legs… despite the discomfort I enjoyed my walk. If you can get over the cold, it’s a beautiful day today, I went to the park to take some pictures… lol… I was the only one there, walking thru the piles of snow, it was great…

mmmmm.....

We had a wonderful dinner tonight… wish I took pictures of it but I sort of got caught up in eating it … I did take a picture of a fabulous drink Jay made us… papaya, shredded mint, blood orange juice and prosecco… sipping on my second one as I type this... and damn it’s cold outside.. the lake is freezing over…

I sure was suprised...

It's Valentie's Day today and the weather is nasty... the biggest snowstorm this year... let me tell you the girls aren't liking it...

Jay and I don't celebrate Valentine's because it's too commercial.. well at least I thought we don't, yet this morning I was surprised with a little token from Tiffany's... It is called the Eternal Circle... and I do love it... but lol.. i had nothing for him.. I sort of stick to the rules...

Dinner: Monday, Feb. 12th, 2007.

Guests: Lisa,Kinga, Jay and I

This week being the reading week at school, I actually had time to help out with dinner. I do enjoy to cook and bake, especially when things turn out for me.. So the menu was

Smoked Trout Rillettes - a version of a pate.. it was delicious I have to say... served with green olive and chipotle bread and grain toasts

Crispy polenta squares, with sauteed spinach, carrots, asparagus and mushrooms all on a pool of red pepper sauce

Fudgey Brownies with ice cream... mmmmmm

I made the first and the last course, Jay sure appreciated that... lol.. usually he's stuck with the whole dinner himself... I'm already planning a desert for next week.. it has a lot of steps so I'm not sure if I'll go thru with it yet...

Winterlicious 2007: Thuet

Last night we did our last Winterlicious restaurant, with Jay’s sister Tammie and her new beau Nick. We went French to Thuet’s on King.

Our reservation was at 7pm, we showed up 15min earlier. The restaurant was nicely empty, I suppose their first seating was way over and now they were revving up for the second. We didn’t start of so hot, once we checked in our coats, the host asked us if we were here for the Winterlicious menu, we informed him that yes we were, at that point he politely informed us that he hopes we enjoy it but (since we are here for the budget meal… well ok he didn’t use those exact words but that’s the impression I got…anywho…) we only had an 11/2 for our meal… yeah I know what the?, but we were there so we said good to know and were shown to our table…

Our waiter showed up promptly, with menus… we actually had the option to go with the regular menu or Winterlicious, we decided to go with the budget meal and took our drink orders. Tammie and I went with a Manhattan on the rocks Jay with the Godfather and Nick had a nice glass of white wine.

The bread basket was very nice.. as Thuet’s has it’s very own bakery.. the bread was fresh dense and yummy, served with house made dip… a good start..

Now for Thuet Winterlicious menu:

Appetizer:

Sweet potato with Jerusalem artichoke chips, saffron crème fraîche
or
Red beet marinated organic salmon, yuzu infused Napa cabbage, sashimi essence

Main:

Beef Bourguignon à l’Alsacienne
or
Choucroute de poisson

Dessert:

Île flottante
or
Profiteroles with warm Soma chocolate sauce

To start Jay had the salmon and the rest of us the soup. The salmon was wonderful, the soup very sweet and nice as well however the Jerusalem artichoke chips didn’t hold up so well, they were already sunk in my soup when I got it… soggy little chips weren’t crunchy at all but … well I didn’t really expect them to be…

For the main I went with the fish and the rest of the group had the beef. The French beef stew was served in a bowl with spätzle.. it was very good… the beef amazingly tender. The fish I didn’t understand … it’s French food… but my skate wing was served on a bed of sauerkraut with two tiny paressiane potatoes, a quenelle of fish mousse and two slices of carrots cut out in the shape of daisies all sided with some kind of foam. Now the sauerkraut threw me a bit… but I like the stuff… but what’s with the cut outs of veggies… that is so old school.. seriously poor whoever you are in the kitchen with the daisy cookie cutter making sure your carrot daisies are even… just a tad tacky…

The dessert was disappointing... Jay and Nick had the island, Tammie and I had the profiterole… the floating islands were floating pucks… well actually it was a floating island… they weren’t tough, they were fluffy and soft but shaped like pucks.. small disks.. like someone was cutting a floating island log back in the kitchen.. the profiterole was served on a bed of chocolate sauce with a scoop of ice cream in the center of the profiterole… I enjoyed the sauce Tammie didn’t… I would have preferred some sort of custard in my profiterole the ice cream didn’t go with it… and it wasn’t very tasty either… over all I had better…

One more thing.. our waiter was pretty much absent thru most of our meal.. I felt very ignored.. we had to place our wine order for the main course with the busboy.. who went found our waiter.. who had to come to our table and confirm it… not classy… maybe if we were there for the regular menu we’d be paid more attention.. I don’t think we’ll be going though… there are plenty of other restaurants in the city… I might reconsider come Summerlicious..

So… Mistura/Sopra are our hands down winners… no one came close..

Winterlicious 2007: Sopra

So this past Wednesday we went to Sopra for dinner... it was just as wonderful as Mistura... well almost... hahahahaha

The place itself is beautiful, very cozy and welcoming. The arrangement of the tables has been well thought out, giving each diner a nice view of the stage.

When we booked our reservations we were under the impression that the menu for Sopra is different form the one for Mistura, however we were wrong, the menu was the same. We were very glad because we really wanted to taste the second half.

So first things first, the bread basket.... Not up to my expectations, because it was served with butter, but the basket contained 2 freshly made biscuits along with white baguette... forgivable...

Pre-dinner drinks of course.. martinis... I had their Ice Wine Martini.. it was very good ... strong... lately I've been craving more bold drinks, I wasn't disappointed. I can't remember Jay's but it tasted like candy.. he enjoyed it...

So to start I had the escarole salad and Jay went with the risotto. The salad was wonderful, perfect crisp fresh lettuce, the tomatoes burst in your mouth, and the crostino was tasty and interesting. The risotto while technically the same was more strongly seasoned and not quite as strong in beet flavor as mine was a couple days ago. For the main Jay had the chicken and I had the fish soup.... and OH WOW.. the chicken portion absolutely huge.. 2 pieces.. i think it was half the bird.. perfectly fried.. the coating crisp and not at all oily.. the meat tender and delicious.. their salsa verde was very good as well... My soup was very nice, served with a slice of grilled focaccia... more than enough seafood, and the broth itself very rich and satisfying.. of course we had our respective red and white glass of wine with dinner... And for dessert I had the creme brulee and Jason couldn't resist the chocolate cake once again.. well since I've already talked about the chocolate cake in my previous post let me concentrate on the brulee because it's worth talking about.. most place serve their brulee in a typical round ramekin... at Sopra my brulee came in a shallow square dish.. lots of bruleed surface... it had some blueberries on top.. the crust was thin and cracked very easily the creme was divine... soft, velvety, creamy, tasty... mmmmmm... delicious... I never order brulee in restaurants because I'm afraid that either it will be too runny or too firm.. but this, this was heaven...

Now to mention the service.. very attentive.. maybe a bit too much mother henish.. but we didn't mind that much... Oh and let me mention that at 7 a pianist took the stage and we had wonderful live music..

I think Mistura and Sopra are our new places... both experiences were worth the time and money... :)

The Bread Basket...

Having mentioned it in my last post I would like to expand on the bread basket. I have issues with bread baskets in upscale restaurants, when I'm served plain baguette with butter... I'm judgmental and usually don't care much for the place if they're that sloppy with something that simple.. My perfect bread baskets consists of at least 2 different types of bread.. and for crying out loud get the kitchen to make some kind of a dip.. butter is a lazy copout, oil and vinegar isn't much better...

Having said that, there is a restaurant that is an exception to the above, and that is The Keg.. their bread and butter is in a class of its own.. but all the rest of you out there who charge an average of $10 per appetizer and over $20 for main... you have no excuse..

Winterlicious 2007: Mistura

Last night Jay and I went out for our second winterlicious dinner this year to Mistura. The only way I can describe our dinner is "OH MY GOD... OH MY GOD.... OH MY GOD..." It was unbelievable... the most incredible and delicious dinner I think to date.. and we've been to some swanky places..

I knew it was going to be good just by their bread basket. It had beautiful cheese-sticks, flatbread and mini baguette... and the dip wasn't butter it was made from black olives.. mmmm.. Anyone who takes the time to make the breadbasket an experience, couldn't possibly disappoint with the rest of the meal... and I was right...

We showed up just before 7, the place was already packed. Got this awesome table right next to the bar, which offered us maximum privacy and excellent view of the front door. They had a gentleman sitting playing guitar not far from us, perfect setting for a perfect dinner. Our waitress turned out to be someone who worked with Jay at Jump... too funny. We stared of with a drink.. Jay a Godfather (scotch and amaretto) it was very nice, and me with a a perfect Cosmo.. Since Jay likes red wine and I prefer white we each had a glass of our choice with our main course.. The service was very prompt and efficient.. flawless for a restaurant that was super busy...

And now for the dinner part...

Mistura's Winterlicious Menu:

APPETIZER:

SCAROLA & PANELLA Escarole lettuce, chick pea crostino, olives & oven dried tomatoes, oil & vinegar dressing
or
ZEMINO DI CECI Genovese style chick pea soup
or
RISOTTO ROSSO The classic red beet risotto with beet greens & roasted garlic
or
INSALATA DI POLIPO Sliced baby octopus, potato, arugala, lemon, capers

MAIN:

ARISTA DI MAIALE AFFUMICATA Smoked pork chop roast with lentils & Savoy cabbage sauté
or
CACIUCCO Tuscan style fish soup with squid, mussels, clams, shrimp, crab, fish filet
or
POLLO ALLA FIORENTINA Florentine style fried chicken with slow cooked vegetables and salsa verde
or
PESCE ARROSTO Roasted sea bass filet, sautéed rapini, fresh herbs cannellini beans dressing

DESSERT:

CRÈME BRULEE
or
TORTA AL CIOCCOLATO Chocolate torte with hazelnut cream
or
TORTA DI LIMONE Lemon torte
or
TORTA DI FORMAGGIO Gorgonzola & Mascarpone, Mostarda di Cremona and walnut bread

Jay started with the octopus and I with the risotto. The octopus was divine, so tender and flavorful. The risotto, everything I wanted, dark purple, a bit sweet and savory at the same time.. the right consistency, with this delicate beet flavor... mmmm. Presentation of both courses was simple... pure perfection.

For the main Jay went with the pork chop and I with the sea bass. The pork chop was massive, I had a hard time believing that this meal was costing us $35 each.. and the taste... wow melt in your mouth, it was delicate and flavorful and lick your plate good. The same for the sea bass. I'm not a fan or rapini but I ate every last bit, it was so good. There was nothing left on our plates.

And we finished with chocolate torte for Jay and a lemon one for me. The chocolate torte was layered with hazelnut cream, served with some toasted nuts (I think they were hazelnuts...lol) in a pool of milk chocolate and dark chocolate sauce.. very sumptuous... Jay was in heaven. My lemon torte was served with I want to say lemon curd sauce and strawberry sauce.. it was delicate and lemony and I didn't want it to end...

We finished with a cappuccino and an espresso... I was more than satisfied.

After our dinner the Chef himself Massimo Capra stopped by our table and Jay and him discussed the perfect aging of meat... men and their trade... it never stops... :)

Mistura has a little lounge upstairs named Sopra which opened this past August. Well they're doing winterlicious as well with a different menu. We have reservations for dinner there for this Wednesday... I can't wait...

Swiss Chalet

Jason didn’t feel like cooking tonight… I guess I can give him a day off… he met me at Union Station, we took care of some business and then headed to the newly opened Swiss Chalet on Queens Quay… It’s been well over a year since we had any of that chicken, and it was good…