Friday Lunch at Grilled Cheese

Posted by Jennifer

Just the idea of a whole restaurant devoted to grilled cheese sandwiches makes us salivate.

Our designated delivery girl returns from Kensington Market with three sandwiches:  the classic, the portobello, the black jack (with jack cheese, spinach, tomato and tapenade). Each has the comforting mottled golden crust of a grilled-by-Mum classic.

While we may still hold dear the visual memory of childhood cheese sandwiches, our taste buds have moved on. In a city which has a reputation for excellent bread and with ever more artisan cheese shops, there is no excuse for using the low quality ingredients evident here. The cheese in all three sandwiches is rubbery; the cheddar a nasty shade of orange. The classic should be the signature of this restaurant but there is nothing to mask the lack of quality cheddar and provolone. The others are saved by mushrooms and tapenade. But why bother with a slice of anemic tomato in January? All come with a handful of potato chips, a slice of pickle, and packets of standard brand ketchup.

This much anticipated lunch was a disappointment that could have so easily been improved. Better bread and cheese, with a dab of homemade ketchup or chile sauce, is all it would take to make the reality as good as the idea.

Cost of three sandwiches: $20.34

Bitten: Fiana Potatoes

At the Green Barn I picked up another variety of potato I had never tried before. Fiana is a Dutch variety. At the booth where I picked them up, they were labelled as a mashing potato. They are yellow-fleshed and floury. What I did not expect was their wonderful aroma. One does not usually think of potatoes as having a particularly seductive scent but these filled the house with a really appetizing potato smell. Though they did not have the rich buttery taste of German butterballs, they did have a quintessential traditional potato flavour.

With further research, I discovered that Fiana is also a good chipping potato. Rather than deep frying, I tossed sliced potatoes in oil and baked them in the oven.  They turned a perfect - crisp gold outside, tender within.

I hope these were not the last of the crop. I do not have to wait until next fall for more. To make matters worse, I did not notice the name of the producer.

Can anyone point me back toward them?

To Market, to market

Posted by Jennifer

At the Green Barn, it is pretty much all roots, all the time -- give or take a few apples and cabbages.

Many of the regular vendors are instead selling products made from their crops -- cider, jams, small-batch milled flour. The Sosnickis, who are well-known at several markets for their tomatoes, still have some onions and cabbage, but are also serving up perogies, both cooked to eat on site or frozen to take home. They also offered up news that they are starting to grow more tomato plants in their greenhouse (about 900 plants), so tomatoes will arrive at market sooner this year.

There are more egg and meat vendors than usual at any summer market. Among them, the Belangers (East Lynn, Liberty Village) offer samples of the meat pies they sell frozen. They also have lamb and beef. Green Gate Farm  (Sorauren and others) sells both beef and pork.

ChocoSol, St. John’s Bread, Evelyn’s Crackers and Fish Shack are among the Saturday morning favorites. Lifting everyone’s spirits, there is a great string band.

Friday Lunch: MBCo

Posted by Jennifer

Restaurants that are popular in Montreal do not always thrive when they attempt a foothold in Toronto. The pretty Montreal Bread Company has been serving up sandwiches, salads, and pastries on the south side of the park on Cumberland for several years.

When we dash in to pick up a sandwich just after the lunch hour, the harried cook/server does not have much left. We settle for a chicken and brie pita. Inside its foil paper wrap, the sandwich is superfluously tied with paper twine. Though their sandwich is generously piled with moist chicken slices and mixed baby salad greens, there is very little brie. Neither the greens nor the pita have benefited from heating -- the greens are limp; the toasted pita breaks into shards, scattering filling into our laps as soon as we take a bite. On the side there is a little cup of aioli for dipping or spreading. Alas, instead of garlic all we taste is sweetness.

For dessert, we chose an attractive-looking blueberry muffin. Served in parchment, this tall muffin is also wrapped in twine, to better effect. It may be nice to look at but it is not so great to eat. The texture is rubbery, the flavour AWOL.

Cost of one sandwich and muffin:  $13.83

Haggis tasting in honour of Robert Burns Monday January 25th

posted by Alison

Haggis, seven of them running around the restaurant, having been freshly caught that morning, okay so I slightly exaggerated...................


Martin Kouprie, chef & co-owner of Pangaea extended an invitation I couldn't refuse - taste seven different haggis (haggi?)made by his kitchen staff, including one waiter.
Now I grew up in Scotland and do enjoy haggis so I was all set to do them justice, with my fellow tasters, Lucy Waverman, a fellow Scot, Corey(Toronto Star) and Cheryl(taste.to) I had fully intended just to have a wee bit of each but that didn't last long and clean plates went back to the kitchen each time.

All were creatively presented, one was even deep fried! Which if I saw on a menu I would probably order out of curiosity, but alas the batter was too doughy.

There were two haggis which stood out, although it was hard to choose the winning one, we bravely managed. Winner Chris Waye had the right balance of spicing, offal and was spot on with the amount of oatmeal and stock to make it not too dry, not too soggy.

His accompaniments were caramelized brussel sprouts, (b. sprouts are trendy these days if you haven't already noticed) a wonderful sweet flavour, but the really interesting addition was a poached egg! The egg when broken managed to create a tasty sauce for the haggis.

Christopher Waye's winning haggis will be on Pangaea's lunch menu on Monday (January 25th) celebrating Robert Burns Day.

Pangaea
1221 Bay St (at Bloor)
Toronto
416-920-2323

FRIDAY LUNCH AT HOLT'S

by Jennifer Grange

When most people think Holt Renfrew, visions of Armani, Chanel, and Klein begin to dance in the head. We think “Lunch!”  Since we can travel half the distance indoors, picking up lunch at Holts is particularly appealing during the winter.

A cup of butternut squash soup with mushrooms and pumpkin seeds is still steaming hot after being transported a block in the bitter cold. Though rather light in squash flavour and colour, it satisfies with its smooth but ungloppy texture. What we want more of is the accompanying chewy (complimentary) bread. Though we ordered a small serving , this quantity of soup was adequate for two people.

We have been disappointed with panini on several occasions lately. This one is just what we have been waiting for. Gilded to perfection on the outside, the prosciutto, arugula, gorgonzola, and fig butter filling is in perfect balance. The cheese gives a nice zing without overwhelming everything else. Despite both cheese and prosciutto, it is not too salty. The seeds in the fig butter add just enough crunch. Must have another soon!

Dessert is a chocolate chunk cookie large enough to share. Crisp but still pliable, the cookie is loaded with high-quality chocolate chunks. All we need is a glass of milk to go with it.

Soup, sandwich, and cook cost $14.58 at the lower level takeout restaurant.

Michelle Bernstein in Palm Beach

I just enjoyed what was perhaps one of the best fried chicken dishes I have tasted. Wonderfully crispy, non-greasy, perfectly cooked, juicy chicken, that had been marinated in buttermilk and herbs for 48 hours before being fried. It was accompanied by an exceptionally flavourourful buttermilk biscuit, black truffle flavoured creamed corn,  julienned celery root salad, a miniature tobacco sauce bottle, a small jar of honey and white chicken gravy. The dish was executed by the executive chef at Michelle Bernstein's Palm Beach outpost at the Omphoy Hotel, Lindsay Autrey, who worked closely with chef Bernstein at her Miami restaurant.

They also do a very good starter of perfectly cooked bone marrow, in long split shanks that are topped with pulled pork that has been mixed with a tangy BBQ sauce, that goes well with the marrow.

BEST SELLER LISTS!

It was another bountiful year of cookbooks. Our lists reflect the continued strong showing of Canadian authored cookbooks. Kudos to those publishers showing the way in support for Canadian food writing. And of course who doesn't feel all nostalgic seeing Julia Child on the best seller lists, and how many of you have made the Boeuf Bourguignon from Mastering the Art of French Cooking since seeing the movie?

2010 will see another year of wonderful cookbooks - stay tuned as we tease you as to what's coming. 

            December Best Sellers

1  Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller
2  One Pot French by Jean-Pierre Challet (Canadian)
3  A Year in Lucy's Kitchen by Lucy Waverman (Canadian)
4  Best of Chef at Home by Michael Smith (Canadian)
5  Canadian Living Slow Cooker Collection
6  500 Best Value Wines in the LCBO 2010 by Rod Phillips (Canadian)
7  Julie & Julia movie DVD
8  Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Child, Bertholle, Beck
9  Billy's Best Bottles 2010 by Billy Munnelly (Canadian)
10 Three Sisters Around the Greek Table by B & E & E Bakopoulos (Canadian)

             Best Sellers for 2009

1  Muffin Mania by Prange and Pauli (Canadian)
2  Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Child, Bertholle, Beck
3  Ottolenghi by Ottolenghi & Tamimi
4  A Year in Lucy's Kitchen by Lucy Waverman (Canadian)
5  One Pot French by Jean-Pierre Challet (Canadian)
6  Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller
7  Best of Chef at Home by Michael Smith (Canadian)
8  Great Food Fast from the kitchens of Every Day Food magazine
9  For the Love of Soup by Jeanelle Mitchell (Canadian)
10 French Taste by Laura Calder (Canadian)

            Canadian Best Sellers for 2009

1  Muffin Mania by Prange & Pauli
2  A Year in Lucy's Kitchen by Lucy Waverman
3  One Pot French by Jean-Pierre Challet
4  Best of Chef at Home by Michael Smith
5  Earth to Table by Crump & Schormann
6  For the Love of Soup by Jeanelle Mitchell
7  French Taste by Laura Calder
8  Fat by Jennifer McLagan
9  Rebar Modern Food Cookbook Alsterberg & Urbanowicz
10 Meals for Every Occasion - Ricardo