Friday Lunch from Clafouti

Clafouti is something of an institution on Queen Street West. Noted for its croissants and tarts, it is a convenient place to grab a snack before heading to Trinity Bellwoods Park. For those of us in search of something more substantial, there are also sandwiches.

We try two sandwiches. The "333" is layered with turkey, beef, cheddar, bacon, and lettuce lapped with barbecue sauce and mayo.  While the bread is nicely crisp and golden, the too-sweet sauce overwhelms the filling. Why bother with lettuce on a pressed sandwich?  You don't need lettuce on everything, especially when it is going to wilt and turn bitter.

The second sandwich is billed as a tuna nicoise.  When we think "nicoise", we think of a garlicky mix of black olives, anchovies, and tomatoes. Served on a pale, slightly flaccid baguette, the tuna nicoise is really tuna salad garnished with slices of hard boiled egg,  a component of salad nicoise to be sure, but not enough to warrant employing the name.  Though a bit too moist, the herb-flecked tuna salad is quite tasty, just not quite what we expected.

We can't leave without dessert.  What we thought was a raspberry and pomegranate clafouti tart does not have a clafouti texture or much pomegranate bite. On the other hand, a key lime tart is excellent starting with its crust. All too often graham cracker crusts are soggy or too buttery or both,  this one, on the other hand, has just enough butter to hold it together without the faintest hint of sogginess.  The filling is tart and creamy.  If there were a little garnish--a dollop of whipped cream or a half slice of lime--it would be even better.

Though the sandwiches are okay, it is probably best to stick to pastries.

Price:  two sandwiches and two pastries, $19.44

Location: 915 Queen Street West

Phone:  416-603-1935

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: Delica Kitchen

Posted by Jennifer

We go off to Delica Kitchen with high hopes and visions of the old Ace Bakery café dancing in our heads since its owner, Devin Connell is the daughter of Ace Bakery founders, Martin Connell and Linda Haynes. In fact, the opening of Delica coincides nicely with the autumn release of Devin and Linda's mother-daughter cookbook Two Dishes.

We try three sandwiches: Garden Party, Spicy Bird and The Classic. The first, a vegetarian offering, features white bean spread on a multigrain bread with avocado, pickled carrot, tomato, cucumber and arugula.  The spicy bird is a sort of like chicken wings-on-a-bun with, chicken breast anointed with Franks Red Hot sauce, pickled carrot slaw, blue cheese aioli, and lettuce on a bianco roll. Thick double-smoked bacon with aged white cheddar on white Pullman bread comprises The Classic.  The promised Delica tomato relish seems to be AWOL.

 One of the things we really like about these sandwiches is that they are not enormously large.  Too many sandwiches are huge, messy affairs that quickly fall apart.  And, if you do manage to finish one, you feel
sluggish for the rest of the afternoon.  These hold together well, not only physically but in taste as well.  No particular element stands out -- it is just one balanced whole.

The same goes for the quinoa salad which one of us groaned at in anticipation of the ubiquitous lunchtime item.  She quickly changed her mind after tasting it. Often overwhelmed by the acidity of vinegar or lemon, this quinoa with just a hint of lemon and a shower of herbs, cranberries, and almonds is very satisfying.

For us, each a confirmed sweet tooth, the highlight is the homemade oreo cookie.  Though not quite as crisp as the manufactured version, the dark chocolate wafers have that indefinable oreo flavour, while a hit of salt cuts the sweetness in the soft slather of vanilla cream filling. No other homemade version of the icon cookie has gotten it so right.

Three sandwiches, one made a combo with the quinoa,  plus three "oreos" cost us $31.58.

Photos by Gina

Friday Lunch: Whole Foods

Posted by Jennifer

Along with our every grocery need, Whole Foods offers up a wide range
of takeout foods, hot and cold.

From the brick pizza oven, we try a chicken Alfredo slice.  Topped
with chunks of chicken on a sea of molten cheese, this slice has an
unexpected but welcome spicy zing. Though it might have been crisper,
the thin crust makes a good base.

When imagining panini, images of hot, toasty, and melted., dance in
our minds. Though pressed, this sandwich is none of those things.
Loaded with mozzarella, prosciutto, a hint of greens, and highlighted
with a smear of fig jam, this is one sophisticated sandwich, just not
what we thought it would be.

With all this bread and cheese, we need one of our five to 10 a day
servings of vegetables.  Some people may not like Brussels sprouts; we
love them.  We eat these roasted beauties cold but they would be even
better hot.  Perfectly cooked, still crunchy, they are garnished with
walnuts and onion cooked to sweetness. Yummy!

We finish with  oatmeal raisin and pecan chocolate chip cookies.
Despite not quite enough cinnamon in the oatmeal cookies, and too few
pecans in the chocolate chip cookies, these are satisfyingly
old-fashioned.  They are the sort of slightly doughy treats that
scream out for a glass of milk on the side.

The total cost was $17.20.

Bitten: Tim Horton's Pomegranate Danish

Posted by Jennifer

Say it ain’t so, pomegranate. Have you really gone from “It” fruit status to latest flavour of a Tim Horton’s cheese Danish? Scanning the display case, one finds it is only too true.

The glob of jelly in the centre of is certainly a deep, rich pomegranate-ish red. But, bite into this fancifully named bun and what registers? Why, only the unmistakable taste of a Tim Horton’s pastry. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but there is none of that uniquely astringent zip we expect from pomegranate.

Yes, you leathery red orb, your name is known on every street corner in Toronto, at every small town’s major intersection from Goderich to Cochrane(birthplace of the infamous Maple Leaf defenceman). But, you
sold your soul.

Belated Friday Lunch: Mela Vegetarian Italian Café

Posted by Jennifer

There are a few things in life which are both beautiful and virtuous. The food at our neighbouring restaurant, Mela (7A Yorkville Ave), is among those things. Its Italian vegetarian soups, salads, sandwiches, and mains feature vibrant colours.

Three of our four purchases are vegan.  The non-vegan selection is  a lasagne with spinach noodles, ricotta, and a bouquet of vegetables of which broccoli is most prominent.  Unlike most lasagnes, this one is light on pasta and cheese, heavy on the vegetables. A heavier hand with seasonings -- salt and perhaps a shower of herbs would lift  it beyond the ordinary.

A quinoa salad is better. With a high ratio of vegetables to grain, the red cabbage, kale, celery provide great crunch against the tender grain. While many dressings are too acidic, this well-balanced  vinaigrette is a perfect complement to the salad.

The star of this meal is the breaded eggplant and basil panini with a tomato dipping sauce. Grease-free and gilded to a crisp, this is the best panini we have had lately.  The excess dipping sauce goes well with the lasagne.

For dessert, we try the wild blueberry pie -- also vegan.  The filling is good with its intense berry flavour.  The spelt pastry is another matter.  A little soggy yet a little tough, it does not overcome me from my vegan dessert prejudice.

The total for this lunch is $26.08.

Photo by Gina

To Market, to market

Posted by Jennifer

The Bloor/Borden market is not quite so deserted as its sister market at Sick Kids was the previous day -- not even by Bosco/Sweetiebelle farms who claimed they were going home for the season. Leeks, squash, rosemary, and more German butterball potatoes find their way into my bag.

Monckton Organic Farms & Bakery, which is also at the Green Barn on Saturday will be moving indoors at that location for the winter. Potato Lady -- Ayse Akoner -- and her family are bringing their Marvellous Edibles stand indoors at the Green Barn too. Initially, it will be only once a month to see how things go at this much larger market. Their first day is November 14. Meanwhile, there is one more week at Bloor/Borden.

Friday Lunch: Le Gourmand Express

 Posted by Jennifer

With the weather taking a turn for worse and winds sweeping leaves down Yonge Street, we decide we would like a bowl of chili from Le Gourmand Express in the food court under the Bay. Alas, those of us who would lunch after 3:00pm are out of luck. The chili bowl is empty.

Instead, we try the tomato/bean/parmesan soup. Even after traveling the equivalent of three blocks (though only one of them outside), it is hot enough to warm us. Its orangey-red colour brightens a rather dull day. Though pureed, there is still some texture, revealing little bits of bean. Without making the dish too salty, you can taste the parmesan through the tomato. Billed as the “small” size, this serving is more than adequate for two and comes with a slice of bread for each of us.

Most of the sandwiches are gone too, so we split a chicken curry wrap. It is heavy on apples, a bit light on moist chunks of chicken. Spice-phobic eaters have little to fear from the mild curry. Combined with the green-skinned apples, the curry does make for a pretty wrap.

For dessert, we share a supersized oatmeal raisin cookie. Crispy on the edges, it is soft to the point of under-baked on the inside. Regardless, we devour the whole cookie.

The cost: great value at $14.07

Friday Lunch: Eat-a-Pita

Posted by Jennifer

When the winds start to blow and the cold germs are running rampant one of our favourite antidotes is the lentil soup served up at Eat-a-Pita. Well, formerly served up at Eat-a-Pita. The same family has taken over the former Chinese restaurant next door so soups and salads have migrated while the falafel and shawarma have stayed in the regular location.

A large soup is enough for two. Lentils float in a clearish broth with bits of spinach, potato, and cloves of garlic which have been boiled to sweet submission. Lemon juice gives a tangy counterpoint to the saltiness of the broth. The point is, when you have consumed a bowl of this soup you feel a whole lot better, even when, as it is this time, not quite hot enough.

We also order fattoush. Though the greens are a little wilted ,the cucumbers have retained their crunch in the peppery dressing. What is strange is that the ingredient which gives the salad it name -- strips of pita, usually toasted or fried--is totally absent!

For dessert, we have sesame cookies, a pistachio baklava, and some plastic-wrapped Turkish delight. The cookies are good, perhaps a little salty. Though usually excellent, baklava is soggy on this day. Light on rosewater, heavy on pistachios, the Turkish Delight is a deliciously chewy treat.

With all this for only $10.00, it is another great spot for starving students.

Bitten: Meringues

Posted by Jennifer

Meringues are perennially seductive, their billowiness promising the experience of biting into a cloud. Alas, so often they disappoint. Too hard. Too weepy. Too sweet. Not puffy enough. There are so many ways to fail with meringue.

Co-worker Gina, a recent graduate of the baking certificate programme at George Brown College not only followed the Ottolenghi cinnamon hazelnut meringue recipe to perfection, she shared! Crispy on the outside, marshmallowy on the inside, they were the ultimate meringue. How to top this triumph? Perhaps the pistachio rosewater variation.

Photo by Gina

To market, to market

Posted by Jennifer

The number one reason that I make to effort to go to the Sorauren market: De La Terre Bakery. Located in Fonthill, it makes superb sourdough breads. While some of the artisanal sourdoughs can be heavy on the inside with such hard crusts that they are a danger to unsuspecting teeth, the breads from De La Terre have risen well but still have great body and lovely chewy crusts. My favourite is the Pelham sourdough with the honey/walnut a close runner up.

I went thinking I would only buy the bread. Instead, I left with a full shopping bag. One of my prizes was, at last, some decent peaches. From the Oso Leo stand, I got Red Havens and Loring varieties. If I have had a Loring peach before I was not aware of it. Given the opportunity, I will have one again. Usually peaches just
register as “sweet”. However, the Loring has a hint of both the tart and the floral along with the expected sweetness.

At Cutting Veg, I was seduced by perfect red onions, and bags of heirloom tomatoes for only $4.50. I also got zucchini to make Rose Murray’s zucchini almond cake. Even the zucchini-hating males in my household gobbled it up.

The Singhs, whose beets I have enjoyed, also had irresistible shallots, and the first Cortland apples I have seen this year. Usually when I leave a market with a bag this full, my wallet is empty. This time, even after buying meat, and two more Preston empanadas (beef, peach), there is money to spare.

Friday Lunch: Saturday Market Edition

Posted by Jennifer

Our Friday lunch was actually a Saturday lunch on goodies gathered at the Withrow market. From Saucier Foods, we have a provencal onion tart and brioche. Topped with mini tomatoes, olives and thyme, the tart is not quite as tasty as it is beautiful. To our taste, the onions could be just slightly more caramelized, the pastry baked a few minutes longer.

The individual-size brioche is heavier and perhaps less buttery than some brioche we have had. Still, it is flavourful, especially with homemade strawberry jam.

The empanadas are small enough to eat out of hand, and on this particular day, excellent. The cheese and potato is the best of a good thing, seasoned well, but without overwhelming the other filling ingredients or the pastry. Everything is in balance. The spicy dark lentil is also a standout without the chalkiness of many lentil
dishes.

The price of one onion tart, two empanadas, and two brioches is $19.50.

Photos by Gina

To Market, to market

Posted by Jennifer

On Saturday morning I went back to the Withrow market since I managed to get there just before closing time on my first visit. One of the most conveniently located markets, it is just south of Danforth, between the Chester and Pape subway stations -- great for people who do not drive.

My usual strategy at any market is to do a stroll-pass before stopping to buy anything. On this morning I receive a painful reminder to buy immediately if there is something I really want. What I saw and really wanted was an Aunt Ruby’s German Green tomato at Haystrom’s. When I went back, a matter of minutes later, it was gone.
There was more bad news there. The heirloom tomatoes will only be available for one more week. On the other hand, Webers still had lots of eggs left.

Withrow has good take-away food at Preston Empanadas and Saucier Foods, both of which are also at the Sorauren market on Mondays. Saucier Foods, run by the former chef of Café Brussel, also has Limousin beef on offer here--but not at Sorauren. There is also St. John’s Bread.

This is one of the few markets offering other goods -- pottery, handmade wooden items, and if I remember correctly, jewellery.

To Market, to market

Posted by Jennifer


If this is Saturday morning it must be the Green Barn market. It is crowded but relaxed. Beans, potatoes, carrots, summer squash, mushrooms, and greens are in great supply. Strangely, I see no corn and few tomatoes. Also, unusual for this time of year, the Pine River booth, home of my perfect garlic, has mounds of asparagus.

There are peaches but the free sample I try is not ripe. Crunchy peaches? I don't think so. However, Bizjaks still have sweet cherries and apricots which I scoop up for yet another pie. I get my first apples of the season from them as well. Large, green and red, Bellevistas are tart and crisp.
A disappointment--the Stoddarts are AWOL. No duck eggs this week. Alas, I have already used up the last I had to make custard for gooseberry fool. So rich, so smooth, a lovely colour. I'll try again next week. In the meantime, It's Weber's chicken eggs for me.

The Moncktons, from Berkeley are at a number of markets including Liberty Village, Bloor/Borden, and East Lynn. They always have baked goods made from flour milled from their own wheat. Occasionally, they have flour for sale. I have rarely seen a bag of small-producer flour that I did not have to have, and this is no exception. A blend of red wheats--although not the icon Red Fife, it is a hard wheat flour that I will try in breadbaking.

There is now a vendor selling fresh Nova Scotia haddock and scallops. Since I am on my way to work I don't buy this time. They will be back and so will I.

Strawberry Searching in South Western Ontario

Posted by Jennifer

I can stand a few extra papers blowing about the streets. I can tolerate the aroma of putrefying garbage, at least in the short term. What I can’t stand is the disruption of the farmers’ markets, which make it possible for city dwellers to eat fresh produce everyday of the week. Great news: as the second week of the civic employees strike ends, comes the announcement that all the markets will be running again next week.

Lucky for me, last week when they were all closed, I was in rural southwestern Ontario. Lunching at Auberge du Petit Prince in London, the food (salads, crépes) was only average, but worth the visit for the Lailey Riesling at only $24.95. Though listed as 2007, the vintage served was 2008. Whatever, it was the perfect wine for an early summer afternoon!

Heading north on Highway 4 to Auburn and Goderich, we stopped at a stand offering strawberries and homemade bread. The berries were the best I’ve tasted in what is a very mediocre harvest. Fairly large and a nice deep red throughout, they were neither intensely flavoured nor juicy enough to be perfect. Still, the quart disappeared quickly at dinner a few hours later. At $4.00, they were $2.00 less than I paid in Toronto for the same quantity.

Think old order Mennonites in Ontario, and you usually think of Waterloo County. East of Goderich, and north of Auburn along the Belgrave Road there is a thriving community built up over the last two decades. Along this road there is a sort of commercial district including a sawmill. But the “commerce” such as it is takes place on the farms. Turning left of the north road from Auburn onto the Belgrave Road, the first farmer offers eggs—ungraded, $1.25 per dozen. If they don’t have as many eggs as you need already in the house, the children (this family has 12) are dispatched to pluck more from under the hens. These eggs are so fresh that if you hardboil them right away, they are almost impossible to peel. In season, they sell strawberries and raspberries for $2.50 per quart. Cheap and no nasty chemicals.

One farm has a sign out front simply saying “Donuts.” Further along the road, the area Mennonite bishop has a very rustic general store with large gardens patrolled by armies of young children on the lookout for weeds. When we visit they have already sold out of strawberries but have the first harvest of peas, and tomatoes brought in from Harrow. We leave with some of the tomatoes which are tasty even this early in the season, bread and butter pickles which perfectly blend sweet and sour, and oatmeal cookies which look crisp but turn out to be just plain hard.

There is a familiar name along this road: Hillsview Greenhouses and Market Produce sell at several Toronto markets, including City Hall and Borden Street. The greenhouses are closed when we drop by but they are at Goderich’s Saturday morning market, held in the town square. So are several Mennonite families. Alas, no strawberries to be had. This early in the summer there was not much produce except for green onions and some lettuce. Instead several stands sell perennials for the garden, baked goods and home cured sausages. Two young Mennonite woman sell excellent butter tarts. Just as muffins have gotten sweeter and larger over the years, it seems butter tarts have too. These particular ones are not so sickeningly sweet and at a two-bite size, not so guilt-inducing. My brother-in-law, a health inspector, knows way too much about small meat producers so we skip the sausage, tempting though they appear.

The one place you must not miss in Goderich is Culbert’s Bakery, on West Street, just off the Square. They sell bread, cookies, pies, and scones but you can ignore them. The reason to go to Culbert’s is the doughnuts. If it’s a holiday weekend, best to call ahead, though they may not remember to box up your order. The doughnuts are all of the yeasted variety with interiors that are slightly chewy, like the very best home made bread. Like other doughnut makers, they use fake whipped cream in their cream variety but it tastes way better. Also highly recommended: raisin apple, chocolate chip and the classic standby, honey-dipped. Whichever one I sample gives me a little taste of home.