While visiting the Toronto Garlic Festival back in the fall, I had the opportunity to sample a Seafood Chowder from a vendor that was simply outstanding. That vendor was Smoked & Cracked, who also happens to own a restaurant at  516 Mt Pleasant Rd. (just north of Davisville).

Last week I went to visit their restaurant and it was so good that I returned a week later. I simply had to try more items on their menu and share this “find” with more friends.

The restaurant has a lovely “East Coast” feel without being too kitchy. (you know what I mean). There’s small touches that I really think are cute: i.e small jade plants can be found on each table that are planted in empty tomato cans.

The menu is on a chalkboard. Simple but effective.

This is what I’ve tried so far.

–Lobster Bisque

–Manhattan Seafood Chowder: This soup had  a beautiful broth with massive chunks of perfect scallops, shrimp, and mussels in it. I think this was my favourite soups out of the two that I tried.

–Lobster Mac and Cheese

Comfort food at it’s best

–a WARM lobster roll (that was the best lobster roll ever)

What really impressed me was that every vegetable was perfectly diced. Plus the shrimp, scallops and lobster that were in my soup were cooked to perfection.  Bonus that the owners are super friendly and know the industry inside and out!

This is what I want to try on my next visit (which there will be…trust me).

Either the lobster omelette or the lobster scramble gratinee…which is served on Sundays only.

Who wants to join me?

For Further Info:

Smoked & Cracked  516 Mount Pleasant, Toronto ON 647 748 5722

Twitter: @smoked_cracked

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SmokedandCracked

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I always look forward to receiving the  Milk calendar. As much as I love my iphone calendar, I still keep a calendar in my kitchen. I was delighted to received the Milk Calendar in my Toronto Star last week and while flipping thru it, this recipe caught my attention. I always make the same french toast recipe so it was nice to kick things up a notch.

NOTE: you need to prepare this dish 6 hours before you want to serve it. I learned the hard way. I went to make it on Sunday morning only to read the instructions: “cover and refrigerate for 6 hours”. I still made it – but we enjoyed it on Monday morning.!! (which was a pleasant way to start the week off).

Here’s what you need. (ps I cut the recipe is half as I was only making it for two people)

BAKED NUTTY BERRY FRENCH TOAST

6 thick slices (preferably whole wheat). *I was lucky and received a delicious loaf from LaBamboche  (1712 Avenue Road)

4 eggs

3/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg AND cinnamon

2 cups of milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pacans

1/4 cup melted butter

4 cups mixed berries

DIRECTIONS:

1. Butter a 13 x9 glass baking dish. Arrange bread in a single layer

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, 1/2 cup of the sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon until blended. Whisk in milk and vanilla

3. Pour evenly over the bread.

4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

6. In a small bowl, mix remaining 1/4 brown sugar, pecans and melted butter.

7. Spread  berries over the bread mixture. Followed by the pecan mixture (I only sprinkled the pecan mixture as I wanted the berries to be fresh and not cooked)

7. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until bread is puffed in the centre and fruit is bubbling.

FINAL PRODUCT

Can’t wait to try more recipes that are in the Milk Calendar. 

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Recently, I made a new friend on Twitter. When I saw that she had a blog called Fables and Focaccia,  I knew that she would be the perfect person to invite over to help me use my Kitchen Aid Pasta Attachment. Sadly the Pasta Attachment had been sitting in a box for MONTHS. I was all too thrilled that Jenny agreed to come over and share her expertise with me.

The evening started off with wine. (of course).

Then Jenny started to mix a few ingredients together and do her magic.  As for me….I was too busy taking photos and drinking wine to actually participate.!

Before you knew it – we had an amazing meal of pasta in browned butter with fresh sage. Even though I’m on a carb free diet, I couldn’t resist and dug into this bowl of fresh pasta.

Jenny was even kind of enough to share her recipe with me:

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE FRESH PASTA (we doubled this recipe)

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I was on Twitter a few weeks ago and noticed that a new ramen restaurant was opening in Toronto. I was so excited seeing as I’m a  huge Ramen fan. I clicked the “follow button” and asked if they would  keep me in the loop when they were opening.

Shortly after, I received an email asking if I would like to attend their opening. I quickly said “YES…COUNT ME IN”.

They opened today for a media preview and I was one of the lucky people invited into their restaurant, which only has 36 seats!! Touhenboku Ramen is located at 261 Queen W. and in my opinion this is a great spot for a ramen restaurant.

Touhenboku Ramen features ramen soup that is made from chicken broth. It can be ordered be with your choice of lean pork, rich pork or chicken chasu. Plus you can choose between thick or thin noodles, which are made from their own blend of flour.

I tried the Garlicky Touhenboku Ramen and was surprised that the broth was so thick but it was indeed one huge bowl of flavorful ramen. I’m sure by the time winter is over I will have tried their other options, which are: Original, Spicy, and Light.

Sadly I didn’t have a chance to try their Chiffon Cake but it looks great, doesn’t it?

Thannks @ortdavid for the photo #iPhoneproblems

For more information:

Touhenboku Ramen: 261 Queen St. West, Toronto 416 596 8080

Twitter: @TouhenbokuRamen

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I did it. I purchased a Blentec and I totally blame Costco for this. I kept passing that demo lady and just couldn’t resist.

My life for the last 3 days hasn’t been the same. I’m too excited for words that I’m now a proud owner of a Blendtec. I’m enjoying a lot of smoothies at the moment but my intention is to be making soups with it.

Blueberry Smoothie

Kale/Spinach/Avocado Smoothie

Things I’m loving about the Blendtec:

-I love the timer feature as I no longer  need to guess what 90 seconds is.

-I love the easy to clean wide pitcher

-I love that it pulverizes everything

Things I’m not enjoying:

-it sounds like a 747 airplane

-I still have to cook my soup. I thought I cook just add raw vegetables and some stock and make a quick soup – WRONG. You really need to brown the onions.

-my freezer has no space as I bought these huge bags of frozen fruit from Costco.

It was an investment to purchase this Blendtec but I think it was a wise one.

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Kitchen stores like Teatro Verde in Bayview Village are dangerous stores for me. I’m bound to buy something and indeed I did buy something. Here’s an example:  See this display? Well…it really worked. I actually stood there…. watched the video and then bought the Rice Cube.

I must add, that I was  (really) nervous to buy this kitchen gadget, as it was $19.99 and there is no refund or exchange policy at this store. But I did. Go figger.

When I got home, I took out my beloved Rice Cooker (thanks @isfalk for ensuring I bought one back in 2010) and my USA Rice and made a batch of sticky rice.

Then I inserted the cooked sushi rice into the little compartment. (photo on the left). Step 2 involved  closing the lid ( photo on the right) and then Step 3 involved taking out the CUBE OF RICE. No fuss. No muss.

Here’s the end result. I was all too happy to serve this to my guests that were coming over for dinner.

Rice Cubes topped with Dried Kimchi that I bought at Trader Joe’s.

This kitchen gadget is certainly going to be motivating me to use more USA Rice.  Also I’ve recently discovered this Rose Reisman Video that I would like to share with you. This video demonstrates the versatility of rice, the health benefits as well as a recipe for a quick and healthy rice salad.

I can’t wait to make these cubes again and top them with chopped nori, or black and white toasted sesame seeds. So many ideas. So little time!!

For more information:

USA Rice 

Teatro Verde, Bayview Village, 2901 Bayview Ave, 416 733 4448

Rice Cube 

Disclosure: I was provided with compensation for this post, however all opinions and ideas expressed are my own.

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I discovered Pukka via Twitter (does that surprise you?) and then found out that they  recently opened up a little over a week ago on St. Clair Ave. West.  I was eager to blog about Pukka seeing as I haven’t reviewed an Indian restaurant ever!!

Let’s start off with the space:

Not too dark. Not too bright. Plus I love the colour combos. It’s a pretty cool space for a restaurant in “North Toronto”. (in my humble opinion)

Now let’s talk about the food. Pukka has managed to make Indian food – INTERESTING. It’s not heavy, or greasy or boring at ALL.

Here’s four dishes that really were outstanding. They were interesting, fresh, extremely flavourful and light.

Top Left: Vegetable String Chaat – puffed rice, sprouts, chutneys and sweet yogurt

Top Right: Baby Kale Salad – dates, lotus chiops and spiced cashew dressing. See what I mean?

Bottom Right: Wilted Winter Greens – pickling spices.

Bottom Left: Tandoor Roasted Paneer – sweet peppers and pineapple

The meal continued with a few other winners:

Top Right: Chicken 65 – South Indian Fried Chicken (this is a MUST to order – and I’m not even a huge fan of chicken!!)

Bottom Right: Butter Chicken – tomato butter sauce.

On the Right: Vegetable Pakoras with Tomato Chutney

Believe it or not,…we managed to try dessert despite the fact that we were full.

Left: Eton Mess – rosewater meringue (my favorite), mango, pomegranate and sweet lassi cream

Right: Chai Pot Creme- candied pistachios, orange blossom creme anglaise, spiced shortbread (I loved the shortbread…hope they sell it separately one day)

Someone knows what they are doing in the kitchen and every dish was executed perfectly. I was super impressed with the flavours, textures, and presentation of each dish.

I have no doubt that the neighborhood is going to embrace Pukka. (which is pronounced PUCK – A).

For more information:

Pukka: 778 St. Clair Ave. West (West of Bathurst). 416 342 1906. They open everyday at 5 pm.

www.pukka.ca

Twitter: @pukkatoronto

Disclosure: Pukka is currently a client but I assure you that all opinions expressed in this blog post are my own.

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Halloween is the perfect holiday for Foodies.

Here’s a list of what I will be eating on Halloween:

1) I will always select chocolate of candy. Love the names of these Nestle “Crave Yard” Chocolate Bars…Scaero, Scaries, and Coffin Crisp. Too Cute. (and yummy too)

2) Pumpkin Caramels  from Purdy’s. So pretty. Not to mention I love the combo of pumpkin and chocolate!!

3) Pumpkinstein Froyo at Yogurty’s.

4) OK I didn’t buy this cereal but the fact that the ghosts turns the milk green appeals to my inner child!!

5) Pumpkin Ale by Great Lakes

6) Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks….good thing I have been using my app and have collected a lot of free drinks to help me with my obsession with this flavour!!

7) I’m sure I will be making a pumpkin pie over the next few days. Feel free to send links to your favourite recipes!!

Happy Halloween!!

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I went to check out the Delicious Food Show on Friday. I thought my visit would be brief but I ended up staying for hours. There were many more vendors than I had anticipated and no shortage of foodie friends for me to bump into!!

The show is taking place Oct 25-27th at the Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place and is a well layed out, and a beautiful looking show.

I’m in love with this display that is at the front and would really like two smaller versions for my apartment!!

I walked thru the aisles and discovered new product – like this Organic Chocolate with Mustard Seeds fromKozlik’s. How unique. Don’t you think?

Those small dots are the mustard seeds!!

I also bumped into some restaurant owners that I hadn’t seen in many years who are just to open a new restaurant (Pai Toronto). While talking to Nuit and Jeff, we discovered that we have known each other since 2008, when I visited their first restaurant (Sudkho Thai) on Parliament.

My food adventures continued and I must say that I had a lot of fun at the View the Vibe booth. They had a great set up – including a Lounge.

The highlight of the day was really Martha Stewart! She attracted a HUGE crowd. Please note that the Delicious Show has a variety of  high profile chefs appearing throughout the weekend. Take a peek at the schedule here.

Hope you get a chance to visit this DELICIOUS show over the weekend. You won’t be disappointed.

Show Hours: Oct 25-27

Friday: 11am-10pm
Saturday: 10am-7pm
Sunday: 10am-6pm

Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto

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I had the opportunity the other day to visit the Chatelaine Kitchen and meet celebrated Chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. I was familiar with these two chefs as many of my friends have their cookbook and I’ve often leafed thru it while chatting with them in their kitchens.

When I posted on facebook that I was at this event. ..there was a lot of very positive feedback. Clearly they have a HUGE following!!

The lovely Claire Tansey who is the Chatelaine Food Director, introduced both chefs and then asked them a few questions while they prepared a salad. (which I forgot to take a photo of..arghh).

Questions from the floor were also taken:

-What are some under used ingredients: They answered – Tehina, Maple Syrup, Rose Water and Sumac.

-Who would they like to cook for?: They answered – Nigella Lawson!!

I was thrilled to find out that all the guests would be receiving an autographed copy of their recently launched cookbook: Ottolenghi: The Cookbook!!

I’ve been flipping thru it and have  spotted a few recipes I’m sure I will be trying in the near future. Specifically:

-Portobello Mushrooms with Pearled Barley and Preserved Lemons

-Danielle’s Sweet Potato Gratin

-Fennel Cherry Tomato and Crumble Gratin

This cookbook features 140 recipes with bold and flavorful ingredients. I’m sure I’m going to love it!!

Happy Cooking!!

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