Wordless Wednesday #111: Supper Club, Vanessa

Olive-Oil Poached Halibut - parsley-fennel-vermouth broth, pickled asparagus,
braised leek, spicy walnut crumble

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Wordless Wednesday #98: Makkal Chon

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Maple Butter-Dijon Glazed Sockeye Salmon

A few weeks back, I attended the Saltscapes Expo, which showcased the beauty, attractions, products, and food of the Eastern provinces, particularly New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

I had the opportunity to get up on stage (eep!) and help out with the Black Box Challenge, where two chefs each received a black box containing three “secret” ingredients that they had to incorporate into their dish. I was paired with a local chef, Chef Geoff Hopgood of Hopgood’s Foodliner, who is a Nova Scotia native and whose restaurant features contemporary East Coast comfort food.

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Grilled Halibut with Herb and Caper Vinaigrette

Maybe it’s the change in the season—the milder weather, the longer days, the budding trees and blooming flowers, that freshness in the air. Whatever the reason, spring has made me turn to making lighter meals at home. While it’s been a wonderful fall and winter of braised and roast meats, I’ve been craving a lot of fish, seafood, and vegetables lately. I was thrilled to bring home a beautiful piece of halibut from the market, along with some local, in-season asparagus.

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Wordless Wednesday #72: The County General

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Summerlicious '11 Round-up: c5 at the ROM

Another summer. Another Summerlicious. Toronto diners rejoiced at yet another season of fabulous food at an affordable price. Whether chefs hate it or love it, it’s a chance for them to showcase their food and restaurant to potential new clientele, while still welcoming their regular customers.

I originally had reservations for three restaurants, but unfortunately, one of them got cancelled by the restaurant. In the end, my Summerlicious was themed around “museums,” as both restaurants I ended up going to were at Toronto’s two most well-known museums: c5 at the Royal Ontario Museum and Frank at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

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Oven-fried Fish and Chips

Have your cake and eat it too?

Well, in this case, yes, when the "cake" is in fact fish and chips.

Oven-"fried" fish and chips, that is.

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Cook Like a Gold Medal Plate Chef, Part I - Arctic Char Challenge

I'm all for dishes that are fast, easy and delicious, especially when I'm trying to juggle a busy work schedule with, well, life! But there are days when I just want to slave away in the kitchen for the whole day to make an incredible meal. Chefs make it look so easy (when I well know it's not, but chefs are great illusionists, no?) Me? I just create a complete disaster in my kitchen that would easily get me kicked out of any chef's kitchen. But I always love the challenge of it all, as it pushes me to hone my cooking skills, use my creativy and trust my instincts.

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Cheater's Teriyaki Salmon

Teriyaki is such a common thing to find on menus at many Japanese restaurants. From chicken, to beef, to fish or shrimp, it's popularly served in bento boxes.

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Wordless Wednesday #15: Yo, I'm a Ling Cod!

Indian-Spiced Salmon with Herbed Yogurt Sauce

Oh, how I've missed my kitchen!



It has been weeks since I last cooked a good meal in my kitchen. I'm pretty sure the most action it has seen is my water kettle boiling water. But with the craziness of work behind me and a long weekend at my leisure, I had the luxury of making myself a lovely home-cooked meal again.

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Quick Lime and Honey Glazed Salmon

Yes, you can have dinner ready in 10 minutes.



This is honestly one of the simplest dishes I've ever made and perfect for a weeknight meal. The combination of lime and honey and soy work so well to balance each other out. With only a handful of ingredients, the Asian fusion marinade is clean and fresh tasting—perfect for fish or chicken.

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A Smokin' Frittata

You know it’s been a busy week when you haven’t eaten at home for the whole week, the weekend has slowly crept up on you, and you’re blogging about something you made last weekend. Such was this week, so I’m thankful for the stash of leftovers I had from the weekend that I can tote to work, including the Smoked Trout and Dill Frittata I made.

It’s no secret I’m a pancake lover, but since the parents were in town for a visit, and my mom leans more towards the savoury stuff, I made a frittata instead. Great way to use up eggs and whatever you have lying around in your fridge.



My family is a fan of Starsky, a local grocery that specializes in fine European foods. Go on the weekends and its always packed with people, but the wait at the deli counter is certainly worth it, with a slew of hams, sausages and other cold cuts, along with lots of cheeses, to choose from. I’m also a huge fan of their smoked trout. Luckily, I had wrapped up an extra fillet of the smoked trout and threw it in the freezer after our last visit to Starsky, so I threw some of the fish into the frittata, along with some dill (the perfect accompaniment to fish!) and a parboiled potato. It makes for a delicate and light brunch or lunch that looks fancy and complicated, but really only takes minutes to put together. Great for a lazy Sunday meal, and makes for a delicious lunch the next day!

Odds and Ends Lunch

I was clearing out my fridge yesterday and found that there were little bits and pieces of ingredients sitting around and taking up room. The problem was, there wasn’t enough of each to make a full on meal on its own. What better way to use up these odds and ends than throwing them together to create something new?

I came across a recipe for Tuna Tofu Miso Burgers at Just Bento, and it had me intrigued. I definitely had the basic ingredients, since there always seems to be tofu in the fridge, and cans of tuna sitting in my pantry. I made a few changes, like replacing the breadcrumbs with cracker crumbs, as I was far too lazy to make my own breadcrumbs. I also had a few shiitake mushrooms leftover, so I added those into the mix.

If you want a smoother texture to your patties, throw everything into a food processor and let that do its magic, although they turn out perfectly fine (and with a bit more texture) if you mix by hand. Plus it'll be one less thing to wash! These mini-burgers are super easy to make, freeze well, and are the perfect size to pack into your lunchbox, along with some fresh veggies and fruit.



Tuna Tofu Miso Mini Burgers
Adapted from Just Bento
Makes about 8 to 10 mini burgers

½ block extra firm tofu (about 250 g)
One 200 g can tuna, oil- or water-packed
2 tbsp dry plain breadcrumbs or soda crackers, finely crushed
2 stalks green onion, finely chopped
Handful of fresh shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped (about 6 to 8 small)
1 heaping tbsp white miso (add more according to your taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 egg white

Drain the tuna and the tofu very well. To drain the tofu, wrap with paper towel and place the block on a flat surface (like a cutting board). Place another flat object on top of the tofu, and then place a heavy object (like a heavy pan) or a couple of cans on the flat surface. Let stand for 15 minutes to allow water to drain from the tofu block.

In a large Ziploc bag, place all the ingredients, mashing up the tofu with your hands and crumbling the tuna into finer flakes as you add them to the bag. Seal bag and mix well by squishing the ingredients around. Place in the refrigerator and let stand for at least an hour. (You can also do this in a food processor, which will also give you a finer texture.)

Heat a little oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Scoop out heaping tablespoons of the mixture and form into mini patties. Pan fry the patties on each side for a couple of minutes until golden brown.

Singing Praise to Salads

There’s this lovely little café on the Danforth that I love to frequent for lunch. Mocha Mocha Café is a small establishment with only a handful of tables squished together that specializes in homestyle, comfort foods, serving a variety of salads, sandwiches and daily specials for a quick bite to eat. I’ve only ever had their salads when I’ve eaten here, but they have been some of the best salads I’ve ever had. They are always fresh, and the combination of ingredients makes for a hearty, comforting and satisfying meal (something that not all salads can achieve!).

What really makes Mocha Mocha’s salads so special (in my opinion), besides the fact that they’re always very fresh, is the addition of warm potatoes. Most people often pick salads because it’s healthy and because there are no carbs. Trust me, I’ve been one of those people who have sometimes picked to eat a salad over a club sandwich for those reasons. But the potatoes give you enough carbs to satisfy your hunger and give you energy for the rest of the afternoon. Plus the combination of the warm potatoes against the cool crispness of the lettuce is so comforting. I had lunch at Mocha Mocha this past week with a friend, who tried their Mediterranean salad for the first time and loved it. Alas, we ended up dreaming of salads with warm potatoes for the rest of the week.



This sparked me to replicate Mocha Mocha’s Salad Niçoise for dinner the other day. I simply tossed some torn romaine lettuce with some balsamic vinaigrette, and topped it with chopped parsley, grated carrots, cucumber slices, roasted beets, hard-boiled egg, boiled potatoes and tuna salad (I mixed a can of drained tuna with 1 tablespoon of mayo and a handful of chopped parsley). It was so delicious and satisfying, and if you’re a salad hater, it’ll really change the way you think about salads!

Tilapia Two Ways

Fast and easy cooking continues this week. I think my body is still recovering from writing my feature article, so it hasn’t been very happy with me when I put heavy things into it. Plus with all the baking I’ve done the past week, I just don’t want to spend another hour slaving away in the kitchen merely to feed myself. By the end the last batch of cookies for the day are out of the oven, I just want to sprawl out on chair and not have to even worry about making dinner.


I made two tilapia dishes this week. Partly because it’s pretty fast to prepare after I’ve defrosted it from my freezer the night before; partly because I needed a break from tofu and soup. Tilapia is a fish with a really mild flavour, so if you’re not a big fan of fish but would like to start eating more fish, this is a good choice. It also has a firm texture, akin to cod (although cod is more flakier), making it really easy to handle, and ensuring that it won’t flake out on you (pun so intended!) while cooking.

The first version was simply dredging the fillet in a mixture of cornmeal, dried parsley (if you have fresh parsley, even better!), salt, pepper, and some finely grated lemon zest and Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese. I pan-fried it for about three minutes on each side. The cornmeal crust gives the fish a great crunchy exterior, and the herbs, lemon zest and parmesan flavours the fish really nicely. I served them with a side of roasted root vegetables: carrots, parsnips and beets roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin, and drizzled with a honey-balsamic glaze.



The second version was just as easy. The fish was dredged in a bit of flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, and pan-fried like above. I served that on a bed of caponata. Well, more like a bastardized version of caponata, since I’m pretty sure every nonna out there would cringe at my method of making the eggplant “stew.” Best of all, caponata tastes fabulous all on its own, or tossed with your favourite pasta.

A Quick Fix

As I much as I love being in the kitchen, there are days when I walk through my door at the end of a long day, plop myself on my couch and just wish that, with the snap of my fingers, dinner would be on the table waiting for me. Granted, living in the twenty-first century, life is almost as easy as a snap of a finger. Pick up the telephone and you have delivery in half an hour. Open the fridge or the cupboards and you’re bound to find some frozen or dried, over-processed food that requires reheating or minimal cooking (yes, even I have a few of those stashed in the dark depths of my cupboard/freezer for backup and emergencies).

The thought of ordering in or eating something frozen doesn’t always appeal to me. The better half of me tells me that it’s a healthier choice to just get my lazy ass in the kitchen and whip up something quick and easy, even if it’s just boiling pasta and opening a jar of pasta sauce. Better yet is when I can make use of whatever I have lying in my fridge and just toss them into my dinner as well.



I saw this recipe a couple of weeks ago in one of my favourite food magazines, delicious, a gorgeous Australian import that makes quite a dent in my wallet each month, but is oh-so-worth it. I love how the recipes featured in the magazine are always simple and easy, with a touch of flare to it. There’s always something for everyone, and luckily, I flagged a recipe that was perfect for a weeknight. The Sesame Chicken with Buckwheat Noodles and Bok Choy, featured in Vol.5, Issue 6 of delicious is great because it’s so forgiving; you can easily substitute many of the ingredients it suggests for something else.

Thinking I had buckwheat soba noodles in my cupboards, a thorough search through them made me realize that I was wrong in my presumptions, thus I substituted the noodles with spaghetti. I also poached a fillet of salmon in lieu of the chicken. You can also play around with different vegetables; I’m sure this dish would taste just as fabulous with some napa cabbage thrown in. As for the sauce, you can just as easily substitute the tahini with peanut butter to make a peanut dressing. Add a bit of spicy chili sauce to it and you’ll have a Sichuan flare. And do tinker around with the sauce to your own tastes. I personally found it a bit bland-tasting at first, so I played around with it until I was happy with the flavours.



You can either toss this together in a bowl, making for a nice cool (or even warm) dish, perfect for a summer’s day, or toss it all in a skillet during the chillier months. Simple, quick and nutritious, you’ll be happy to know that dinner is only 20 minutes away. And yes, that is faster than calling for pizza.

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Fish Paste

This dish can often be found at Chinese restaurants on the dim sum cart: pieces of green pepper stuffed with a smooth but springy shrimp paste, and lathered in a black bean sauce. During my vacation in Hong Kong a few years ago, I came to love this dish, as my aunt would make this dish with fish paste rather than shrimp paste, and rather than in green peppers, stuffed them into mild chilli peppers that gave the dish a nice (but not too over-powering) kick.

What's so great about this dish is how easy it is to put together when you have some pre-made fish paste and black bean sauce on hand. Granted, if won't taste as delicious if you take the effort to make your own fish or shrimp paste (because everything tastes better when it's made from scratch!), it is a good substitution when you're in a pinch. Pre-made fish paste can be found in most Asian grocers, in the fridge aisle and probably hanging out with the various different kinds of fish balls, cuttlefish balls and beef balls.

You can go the traditional root if you want and use green peppers, but I love using the colourful sweet bell peppers since the sweetness of the vegetable makes for a lovely contrast to the savouriness of the fish paste and sauce. Feel free to use whatever peppers that fit your fancy; you can ever use mild chilli peppers if you'd like. I used mini bell peppers, but if you are using the normal-sized ones, cut them into quarters and then each quarter in half again horizontally. This will give you a total of 8 little pepper "bowls" from each pepper to hold the fish paste.

Before you stuff the peppers, coat the inside of the peppers with some cornstarch, which will help the paste stick to the peppers. Heat a little oil over medium heat in a wok or a nonstick frying pan and pan-fry the stuffed peppers fish paste-side down first. Pan-fry until golden and crispy, about 6 to 8 minutes; flip the peppers and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the peppers from the pan and set aside.

Add about a tablespoon of oil into the still-hot pan and add 1 heaping tablespoon of black bean and garlic sauce. Sprinkle in 2 to 4 teaspoons sugar (adjust according to your own tastes), a pinch of freshly ground black pepper and a splash of light soy sauce. Add in a tablespoon or two of water and allow to simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Put the peppers back into the pan, stir to coat the peppers in sauce, cover and allow the peppers to simmer for another 4 to 5 minutes in the sauce.

Super easy and super fast, this dish is delicious with steamed white rice and some Chinese vegetables on the side.

Change is Good

Sheryl Crow tells us that "a change would do [us] good" ("A Change Would Do You Good", Sheryl Crow, 1996), and so I put this advice to practice by switching up our usual Sunday brunch routine of pancakes and bacon to a more fancy, upgraded brunch entree. It's no secret by now that I love pancakes, considering I'm constantly rambling on about pancakes--its variations, the different toppings and additions, etc.--but with my dad's birthday being tomorrow, I thought I would make him his favourite, that being waffles.



Don't get me wrong, I like waffles too, and it's great how versatile waffles can be. Serve them with syrup or fresh fruit and it makes for a wonderful brunch; pop frozen leftovers in the toaster for an easy on-the-go breakfast; serve with a scoop of your favourite ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate fudge sauce for an instantaneous dessert; or make them with less sugar for a savoury version.

Regardless of how you like to enjoy your waffles, they are just as easy to make as pancakes, and comes with a nifty gadget to play with: the waffle iron. Since waffle batter is very similar to pancake batter, it is not the process of making it (or eating it for that matter!) that is a turn-off for me, it's the aftermath. The clean-up job required when all the waffles are done, and the iron has been unplugged, can leave me with such a headache that I often ask myself, "Why didn't I just make pancakes instead?"

Making waffles takes a little practice: too little batter and you won't get the "perfect" waffle, but too much batter and you'll get a lava-flow of batter oozing out of the iron and onto your counter. As delicious as waffles can be, those happy thoughts can quickly be forgotten when you find yourself standing in front of a waffle iron crusted with oozy batter, or its remnants in the form of dried, crusty leftovers stuff to the sides of the iron. Hence, waffles at my house have now become a rare occassion, and when I do find the heart (and time) to dig out the waffle iron, I make sure to make a larger batch so that I can stash a bunch of waffles in the freezer to last us a couple of weeks.



I added pecans and some pumpkin pie spice to the waffle batter, but you can just as easily replace the pumpkin pie spice with cinnamon, or leave out the nuts and spice altogether. I served these babies with some sliced bananas, warm apple compote and maple syrup.

To balance off the sweetness of the waffles, I also made something savoury for the taste buds, a variation on the classic Eggs Benedict. I made some Herbed Potato Rosti the night before and simply reheated them in the toaster oven this morning. Topped the rosti with a few slices of smoked salmon, a poached egg and dill hollandaise sauce. This is definitely a dish that'll easily impress anyone without having you to go through a lot of trouble to make!



Spiced Pecan Buttermilk Waffles
Adapted from Food & Drink, Early Summer 2002
Makes about 10 to 12 waffles

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, or ground cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
2 tbsp melted butter, or vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 to 3/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Lightly grease and preheat waffle iron.

Place flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine.

Pour the lightly beaten eggs onto flour mixture, and pour buttermilk, vanilla extract and melted butter (or oil) on top of eggs. Gently stir ingredients together until they create a lumpy batter. Do not over mix.

Sprinkle about 2 tbsp of the chopped pecans onto the waffle iron. Spoon 1/3 to 1/2 cup batter into prepared waffle iron and bake for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until crisp and golden. Repeat using remaining batter. Keep waffles warm on a baking rack in a 200°F oven until ready to serve.