A Late Dinner at Pangaea Restaurant

Arriving just after 9pm after attending the packed book launch of "Poser", accomplished photographer Caitlin Cronenberg's remarkable observations documenting posed nude images of friends, relatives and acquaintances, we settled in for a light dinner.


Wanting something light, I began with a visually appetizing organic beet and warm goat cheese salad, topped with a mix of baby greens and bits of fried ginger, a flavour that brings out the taste of the beets and adds a spicy counterpoint. The intense beet flavour worked well with the warm goat cheese.

My next course was very tender, medium rare, seared Qualicum Beach scallops on a bed of "paella" saffron risotto with baby shrimp, briny mussels, baby clams, mildly spicy chorizo sausage, scallions and slightly tart cherry tomatoes, sided with a rich intense veal jus. Saffron and scallops are a match made in heaven and the flavour of the veal jus was a strong contrast for the creamy risotto and a perfect juxtaposition for the flavour of the chorizo. As always, risotto at Pangaea is perfectly cooked. My hunger was well satisfied.

Finally, a light and refreshing late night dessert, roasted pineapple semi-freddo with a very moist fresh ginger and molasses cake, topped with a crunchy cashew brittle, all surrounded by small dollops of caramel sauce and creme anglaise. This is a sweet tooth appeasing dessert!

To Market, To Market at SIck KIds, July 27

Oh, Tide pen, where are you when I need you.  I arrived at work wearing a stained shirt.  But what's a little stain caused by peach juice dripping off my chin from the free sample at Loffredo's stand at the Sick Kids farmers' market?  Even though still slightly under ripe, these were really sweet and juicy--so different from last year's disappointing crop.

This was one glorious morning at the market.  To begin with, it was sunny but not oppressively hot.  On Saturday at the Withrow market berries appeared to be on their way out.  Here, between them, Andrews Scenic Acres and O.K. farms had golden, red, and black raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries,blackberries, and I believe there were still currants, and plums.  O.K. had a rare treat --harvest apples, aka yellow transparents.  An old variety, it has zilch shelf life so is almost never seen commercially but is a wonderful apple for sauce and pies. Well, it is great once the pie is made but its small size means a whole lot of peeling between apple and pie.  Early in its short season, it is a good eating apple if you like really sour apples.  As the season goes on the fruit tends to become mushy--still fine for sauce but unpleasant to consume out of hand.

Bosco Farms had their usual wide range of vegetables greens, cabbage, broccoli, eggplant, baby zucchini, and baskets of mixed heirloom tomatoes in shades from brownish red to pale yellow.  Down at the north end of the market Haystrom Farms had purple potatoes.  Although there were no  zucchini blossoms at the stand, call or email in advance(www.my-market.ca)and Jim Hayward will bring an order to market specially for you.

Caroll Collins now has baskets of baby artichokes along with her herbs and root vegetables.

If you missed them Tuesday, Collins, O.K., and Bosco are at Borden Street on Wednesday afternoon while Andrews are at City Hall in the morning.

Brunch at Table 17

Brunch on Queen St East has several possibilities and one of my favourites is Table 17. The rustic brick walled interior and laid back service lend a casual feeling to the atmosphere.



We enjoyed very moist and creamy scrambled eggs with spinach and "country toast".

Potatoes rosti, which I would have preferred drier and crispier.

Fried eggs over a very tasty bolognese sauce.

Some very crispy thick-cut, delicious, smokey bacon

The sweet cinnamon bun. A bit too soft. Too "saucey" and not caramelized enough.

To Market, To Market , July 24

This was my first time at Withrow Park market this year. The Webers, Mennonite vendors of meat and eggs, were absent-but they do go to Green Barn so they have not truly disappeared.  Also, no empanadas, one of my main reasons for going there last year.However one of my favorite vendors from Sorauren is now  here--Mr. Singh from Brampton.  Usually there is no sign for this stand but it now has a hand lettered piece of cardboard proclaiming "The Fresh Veggies". This time the fresh veggies do not include rodina beets which I bought from this stand last year.  Mr. Singh explained that he gave up on them for this spring since they are also much admired by four-legged non-paying customers.  He may try a late-summer crop.  He did have some tiny round beets which I have now turned into pickled beets!  I also got a bunch of small, perfect red onions.  This was a day for red vegetables--Small Potatoes Farm had lovely little radishes.

Although there were still both raspberries and strawberries, stoned fruits are beginning to take over--plums, apricots and peaches.  Although several other markets have a flood of tomatoes, here it was more a trickle with just a couple of stands offering a limited selection--including Haystrom Farm which also had delightfully flaky-skinned new potatoes.

As usual, the St. John Bakery was there with its seductive breads.

Wine Dinner at Gilead Cafe

I can't say enough about the wonderful cusine Chef Jamie Kennedy is doing these days at Gilead Cafe, so I find reasons to go there often. This time it was a special menu for a group of friends who plan a dinner around  "mystery" wines. All the wines are masked and we try to guess what they are and what the vintage is while the hors d'ouvres are passed. We then enjoy all those wines (as we choose) with the courses that follow.

The wines were Dominus '86; Cain 5 '86 (which was corked); Elevation 1147 (David Arthur) '97; Mt. Eden Vineyard Old Vines '92; Chateau Lynch Bages '85, Beringer Private Reserve '97; Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve '90; Fuligni Brunello di Montalcino '97; Harlan Estates '99.

The hors d'oevres we enjoyed while we "tasted' the wines: a very flavourful, flaky crust tourtiere strudel; swiss chard arancini and croatian style, mildly flavoured lamb cavapcici sausages.

We began with simmered manilla clams with wild leeks. Then, a crisp brioche with soubise (onion sauce) with fresh earthy tasting morels followed. The morels were a wonderful complement for the onion sauce.

We were then served a very enjoyable creative dish, a "farmers" dish of "juicy" pork burger with acidulated vegetables. I was advised that the "secret ingredient" in the burger was geletin from the pig's foot. Now, this is more like nose to tail eating. And, what a juicy burger it was! The beets were a particularly flattering complement that brought out the rich taste of the pork burger. I just loved this dish.

It would be hard to out-do this last dish, but then we received Chef Kennedy's navarin and roast of lamb. Such an enticingly delicious and appetizing picture on the plate. Very tender and nicely flavoured lamb, spring vegetables: peas, fiddleheads, baby ramps as well as potato, turnip and carrot.

Next, a selection of Ontario and Quebec cheeses with wild rice crackers and quince jelly.

Finally a lovely, seasonal, refreshing rhubarb panna cotta was the perfect finish to this meal.

To Market, To Market

Getting to the market at Sick Kids this morning was an event in itself. In was one of those moments that happens once in a lifetime:  the convergence of a visit by Queen Elizabeth II and a giant Shriners parade at College and University.  Military bands, Shriners in fezzes, mounted guards, ladies in their best hats and frocks, I saw it all--except the Queen.

The spectacle at the market was just as fantastic. Both Andrews Scenic Acres and OK Farms had multiple shades of raspberries and currants.  There are still strawberries and rhubarb. At Bosco Farms, there were baskets of heirloom tomatoes along with a whole range of veggies.  At the other end of the market, Carol Collins had her usual great display of carrots--some short and stubby, others long and pale yellow. In from Picton, Jim Hayward of Haystrom Farms had new potatoes, both red and white ones. The best sight of all was sour cherries at the Loffredo Fruit Farm stand.

Supper on this very hot evening?  Sliced tomatoes--yellow, red, and "black"--, German potato salad made from Jim Hayward's sebagos, a green salad and devilled eggs.  For dessert, we had a pie filled with sour cherries and black and red raspberries.  Early summer eating at its best.

To Market, To Market

I do not know what it is about me that makes the skies open when I go to the Green Barn Farmers' Market but it certainly does rain every time I go there.  Despite the downpour the vendors were outside.Cherries, both black and white, have joined strawberries in some of the stalls.  There were more vegetables, even some very early broccoli.

What with Fish Shack's sandwiches, the Irish scones, Ali's cinnamon buns, and a host of other treats,there is always a lot of good snacking to be had at this market.  A new stand is selling tiny donuts.  Fried in organic coconut oil, these wholewheat goodies are light as air without the slightest hint of grease, and are yours for $4.00 per dozen.

Take heart would-be gardeners who are a little slow off the mark.  Urban Harvest still has a good selection of heirloom tomato plants, herbs, and butterfly- attracting plants such as buddleia.  Owner Colette Murphy has opened a storefront on Sorauren(www.urbanharvest.ca).  Well worth a trip to Parkdale.