The Cookbook Store welcomes Ruth Reichl for lunch Sunday May 25th, 2014

Our bricks and mortar location at Yonge & Yorkville may be closed, but this doesn't stop us from bringing you visiting chefs and authors.

What better way to kick off Spring than with a visit from beloved food writer and former Editor in Chief of Gourmet magazine RUTH REICHL. Join us for lunch at The Chefs' House at George Brown College as we celebrate the launch of Ruth's dazzling debut novel, Delicious!

TICKETS: $65, which includes lunch and a copy of the book Delicious!, can be purchased directly from The Chefs' House by calling 416-415-2260, or chefshouse@georgebrown.ca

Sultan of Samosas, Toronto

Sultan of Samosas started with a shop located on O'connor Drive. The new location that I went to is on Oak Street, just off Parliament St.

This is a true story: as a result of founder Reza's research assisted by the National Research Council of Canada, the Company received Canadian Patent 2,588,248 and international patents-pending for an apparatus and processes to manufacture improved samosa pastry commercially, of the Indo-Pakistan Gujarati cultural tradition. Since this breakthrough, Sultan of Samosas has added several varieties of ingredients for a total of over 10 types of samosas in 3 sizes.

Ten  samosas  fillings to choose from:

• 10 vegetable splash seasoned with methi leaves
• Beef with onions and coriander leaves
• Steak and potato with garlic, dill and black pepper(A FAVE)
• Paprika marinated chicken, onions and coriander leaves
• Tandoori chicken Kabuli
• Curried four-way vegetables with assorted baghara spices
• Spinach with feta and mozzarella in oregano and basil dressing
• Potato, cheddar cheese seasoned with paprika
• Daal, turmeric and fresh coriander
• Mutton with West-Indies flavours
• Sweet samosa in coconut or apple pie flavors.
   
• Although the samosas are available in 3 sizes, the middle snack size is what is typically served in the restaurant.

These samosas have a crispy, light wheat based pastry that crunch with a bight. Two different kinds of fritters are also shown in this photo. Three house made sauces are available, as shown above, left to right, are tamarind and date, spicy mango and coriander with vinegar and yogurt.

The  passionate staff are very happy here!

These crispy "fritters" are available in either spinach, potato, mushroom or eggplant. They are a bit like Indian "latkes"! 

When out of the fryer the samosas have this lovely golden colour. On this paper napkin, one can see that they are quite ungreasy.

The True Story Behind The Beginnings of the Cookbook Store

The history of the cookbook store began with my desire to collect and read cookbooks, cook and eat well, a life long pursuit. My former wife Barbara Caffery was a passionate bibliophile. When the location became available on the corner of a family owned building that housed a dying book store, when the family was trying to decide what to do with the space, Barbara was inspired to open a cook book store there. That is where the store passion began. Of course Barbara and I were both very busy professionals so we put an ad in the paper. Barbara interviewed a number of people, but when she discovered Alison Fryer, it was passion meeting passion, at first sight. And thus the beginnings of the cookbook store. We all met and planned and discussed the store concept, design, store colours and I designed the logo. The store became a continuing work of passion for all of us!

Brock Sandwich Shop, A Toronto Destination Spot.

Brock was created by Matt Gregoris, Dom Amaral and Peter Ornelas. Amaral was the former sous-chef at Zucca Trattoria. Casually chatting with Matt, he passionately expounded on his trips to the wild, finding mushrooms and wild leeks. This food enthusiasm translates into what these sandwich entrepreneurs seasonally incorporate into their menu of salads and sandwiches.

The owners pickle or roast what is seasonal, preserve and jar for use in the sandwiches or for sale.

A very good roasted beet and blood orange salad, with ricotta salata, shaved fennel, arugula and red wine vinaigrette. 

Brined chicken that has been brined in herbs for 24 hours, then left to soak in buttermilk, dredged in spiced flour, then into the fryer and cooked perfectly juicy with a crispy, ungreasy exterior, then dressed with a house made piri piri sauce, charred/ caramelized onions and lettuce, on a good bun. A great, tasty sandwich!

Top view of the fried chicken sandwich.

House made cole slaw, very creamy, but not unpleasantly so.

The porchetta sandwich topped with sauteed rapini, house made roasted peppers and crackling. I told them to skip the cheese. The porchetta is brined for about 24 hours in herbs and spices and is very juicy (without being fatty) and flavourful.

Inside view of the porchetta sandwich.

Paprika dusted fries. Good taste but could be a bit crispier. They were served with 3 house made sauces, a vinegar aioli, a very good beef gravy and a smoked tomato/onion jam.

The turkey club, stuffed with house made roasted turkey, sage stuffing, crispy bacon, mustard seed mayo, lettuce and tomato. Delicious.

Braised beef cheek with sauteed onions and peppers. I told them to skip the cheese.

Brock is one of the great sandwich shops in Toronto and a unique food experience.

Two Wild Game Dinners Cooked By a Prominent Canadian Chef

Wild game is available at any restaurant in Europe or Asia. Wild game is now legal to be served in the restaurants of the province of Quebec. It is time that Ontario modifies it's outmoded game laws for restaurants. Game can add such a delicious dimension of flavours to any menu. I present these 2 game dinners below, to show the range of flavour possibilities prepared by the same chef.

Wild Game Dinner #1

Snacks (no photos): Oak-fired, breast of wild woodcock with oak-fired stuffed woodcock leg. 

Wild perch with paddlefish caviar and a tartar sauce emulsion.

Wild pickerel, shaved Alba truffles with with truffled chervil nage (ate into this one before the picture!).

Wild mallard duck breast, cooked rare, with slices of black Perigourd truffles, game gelee, shaved duck egg yolk and some frisee. DRC Grands Echezeaux was served with this course.

Wild Griffith Island pheasant breast with seared foie gras and a raisin foie gras sauce.

Wild teal breast with parsnip puree, huitlacoche (the "truffle" of Mexico, made of corn fungus) and truffle sauce.

Game gelee and Perigourd black truffles.

Truffle-glazed wild venison sausage with matsutake mushrooms.

Ravioli di selvaggina with an intensely flavoured game broth.

Wild venison chop with pork n'beans, yellowfoot mushrooms, brussel sprout leaves and quince puree. Dominus, a revered California wine was served with this course.

Sevogle farms rhubarb and custard.

Buckthorn sorbet with myer lemon curd and wild blueberries.

Game lovers, known to the Toronto foodie community, tasting and eating at this fabulous food and wine event.

Dinner #2

Snacks (no photos): Amhurst Island potted wild white deer, foie gras and spruce tips; Saskatchewan wild Hungarian partridge and shaved Alba truffle; wild venison striploin carpaccio, gelee, topped with paddlefish caviar.

Griffith Island, very intensely flavoured game consomme with game tortellini, celeriac and shaved black truffle.

The amantillado sherry served with the consomme. A brilliant match.

1986 La Turque, by Marcel Guigal, served with the next course.

Wild mallard and wild mushroom salad with blueberries and duck jus.

Wild Saskatchewan Sandhill crane breast with maple bacon, butterball potatoes, cabbage, carrots and pearl onions.

The wine for the dessert, 1989 Inniskillin icewine, a great year.

Poached quince and wild bresaola with blue cheese, walnuts, vanilla ice cream and shaved black truffles.

Look at the possibilities we are missing in our restaurant meals.

Toronto's Best Sunday Lunch: Edulis

There are so many restaurants in Toronto that do very good Sunday brunches and lunches, but Edulis is unique in what chef Michael Caballo offers for lunch. There is an exceptional range and quality of what is offered, and all for the flat prix fixe of 40 dollars!!! And, "just for fun", all wines are available for HALF PRICE!! I can assure you that I could not eat better, anywhere I have traveled!

House made bread with delicious house made butter.

Rutabaga fries with anchovy mayonnaise. The sweetness of the caramelized rutabaga matched nicely with this well conceived mayo. They were gone in a flash.

Beet "grits", golden, red and candy cane varieties cooked with bacon, accompanied by ricotta dumplings, beet shoots and sheep's milk yogurt. So beautiful to look at and so enticing, I (we) forgot to take a photo! A wonderful dish, again, well conceived.

House smoked mackerel, with a remarkably good texture, only made possible by chef Caballo's sure hand. The mackerel slices were topped with crunchy salad that included radish, black garlic vinaigrette and fried bread cubes. A marvel of different and pleasing textures.

House cured and hot smoked St. Canut Ham (from pigs that free range in Quebec at St Canut Farms, and are finished before slaughter on a diet of milk), with celeriac, pickles, dijonnaise and braised leeks. Another remarkable dish of wonderful flavours and textures.

 Delicious duck fat potatoes.

Cochinillo ("suckling") pig, cooked in a "wood oven" accompanied by roasted onions and treviso. The crackling was crisp and delicious; the meat was so tender and succulent . Such a great "comfort" dish.

Brillat Savarin, a creamy cheese from Burgundy, layered in house with shaved black Perigourd truffles, drizzled with a bit of honey and madeira, not included in the Sunday prix fixe. What could be better!

Gateau Basque made with house preserved Ontario plums and almond cream, a very tasty finish to a truly delightful meal.