Montreal Love

This winter has been unexpected, to say the least. Everything from the weather to what I thought I'd be doing with my life, none of it could have been prescribed. No one guessed we'd have a mild winter; quite the contrary, scientists were expecting a harsh one. In addition, I never expected that I'd be leaving Montreal so soon. Even though I graduated last December, I had anticipated staying in Montreal until going to grad school next fall. But as quickly and often as the weather changes (especially in Montreal), so life plans do the same.

Yet, I did, in fact, anticipate this winter to be my last winter in Montreal. Little to my surprise, it's actually my last couple weeks here in Montreal -- at least for the time being. In two weeks I'll be moving to Paris for a three-month internship. I'm incredibly excited for this adventure, and you'd better believe I'm going to have a field-day with blog posts of all the amazing Parisian food I'll be eating. Yet, there's something achingly bittersweet about leaving behind the city I've come to love the most, my Montreal.

And even though I loathe winter and am quite happy that we've had an unseasonably and snow-less warm winter, I couldn't have been happier when last night's snow arrived. There's something magical about staying in when there's a snowstorm outside, watching fresh snow fall gingerly on the rooftops and tree branches outside.

Especially since I had made plans to make my boyfriend dinner that evening, nothing could be more romantic than just the two of us eating dinner at home, cozied around a candlelight table while the snow bucketed down outside.

So what did I make for dinner, you ask? To start, I made my mother's special thai-style spring rolls, filled with chicken, shrimp and vegetables. I also made skewers of steak and grilled vegetables (I thank God for having a George Forman grill -- simple grilling for when it's too cold to do the real thing outside). For dessert, I made a delicious lattice-top apple pie with McIntosh and Granny Smith apples.

(Side anecdote: You've gotta love the inconsistencies of Montreal weather. Yesterday it was snowing; the day before, it was beautiful, sunny, high of 5 degrees Celsius. Birds were chirping; spring was near. It was a perfect day to take a walk to Jean Talon market, where I picked up some apples to make this pie. Even though its February and the fruits and veggies aren't in season, there's still loads of great produce to be found at Jean Talon!)

Excuse the grease, but these spring rolls are oh-so-worth the extra calories from frying them. They make not look so pretty, but they're delicious on the inside!

Pre-George Foreman

Post-grilling. I marinated the steak in red wine and Montreal steak seasoning. Then I grilled them to perfection along with the peppers and onions. 

Mixed apples: McIntosh and Granny Smith

Apple pie is so easy! Just mix a couple spices and some sugar and then use your favourite pie-dough recipe (everyone has their go-to recipe, don't they?) for a delicious and simple dessert. In addition to cinnamon and nutmeg, I love adding a bit of Cointreau to give the flavour a little kick. 

We ate this baby right out of the oven. We ate it so fast that I didn't get a chance to snap a pic of the pie before it was half gone! Mind you, it was only two of us... But don't judge! It was just really good. 

For me, this low-key evening was the epitome of why I love Montreal: even though it may be miserable outside, you're guaranteed to find good company and good food inside. :)

Until next time, happy eating!

-Talia 

Valentine's Day.. or not

They say Valentine's day is a day for lovers. Lies. This is a baker's holiday. When you're a baker, this day is AMAZING. In reality, it's no different than any other day, except that it gives you an excuse to bake profusely, eat excessively, and adorn your treats with obnoxious pink and red hearts -- something you can't get away with any other time of year.

I know this post is a bit late for Valentine's day, but I wanted to share my experience making Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream frosting with you because it's something you can make all year round, not just on Valentine's day. Nevertheless, since I was making these for a special someone on this special day, I added a few simple touches that gave it some Valentine's flair.

For the chocolate espresso cupcakes, I used Ina Garten's chocolate cake recipe as a base. I love this recipe and use it all the time, including in one of my previous posts. Except this time, in addition to the 1 cup of brewed hot coffee, I also added a table spoon of finely ground espresso. The addition of coffee really brings out the rich chocolate flavour and the coffee grounds give just a hint of dark mocha. 

To make the caramel buttercream, I first made caramel sauce (or you can just buy caramel sauce!):

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
4 tablespoons unsalted buter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon sea salt

Combine water and sugar in a sauce pan on medium-high heat. If you're wondering if one tablespoon water is enough, trust me, it is! Incorporate the water into the sugar but then leave alone and bring to boil - do not stir! Let the mixture turn a medium-dark brown colour before removing from heat. Then, add the butter, heavy cream, and salt and stir until all is well-incorporated. Let the mixture cool completely before using, or save it for later use.

To make the buttercream, use the cooled caramel sauce mixture and beat it with 1 1/2 sticks room-temperature butter in a standing mixture. Then, add four cups confectioners' sugar one cup at a time until all ingredients come together into a deliciously salted caramel frosting!

To make these cupcakes more Valentine's-y, I wanted to make rice krispy treats in the shape of a heart to put on top of the salted caramel buttercream. Surprisingly, the most difficult part of this whole endeavour was finding heart shaped cookie cutters to use for the treats! I went to multiple grocery stores and even a speciality cooking store to no avail. I finally found what I was looking for at the Dollar Store (the mecca of all things random). I also picked up some heart-shaped sprinkles to make the treats extra sweet :) (feel free to gag here...).

 Rice krispy treats are by far the easiest dessert and really yummy, too! No matter what age you are!

 The cookie cutter worked perfectly; and the best part is you get to eat the scraps while you make them. 

 Here's what they looked like all put together! 

My boyfriend was studying for most of the day on Valentine's day so I thought I'd take these cupcakes over to him in the mid-morning so he can have brain fuel while he studies. Look how happy he is!! Trust me, this type genuine smile doesn't come out very often for men on Valentine's day, where men are supposed to empty out their pockets on dinner, flowers, and candy to make their women happy. So seeing Matt smile like this, you know these cupcakes must have been good! :) 

To all you Valentine's day lovers... or not.. happy eating!! 

-Talia

Icehouse on Fire

On my bucket list of restaurants to go to is a place in the Plateau-Mont-Royal area called Icehouse. I'd had friends who raved about it and I'd also biked by the restaurant many times, intrigued by the unique exterior wood decor. It's a relatively new restaurant, opened only a couple years ago. It's technically classified as a Tex-Mex restaurant but I'd hardly define it as such. Its concept is Tex-Mex but it introduces new ingredients and different styles of food. For example, the pulled pork tacos have pickled watermelon rinds and chicharrones (fried pork rinds). Also on the menu are a wide variety of things: sweet potato tempura tacos, crab nachos, and their famous fried chicken. The variety of dishes and ingredients makes it hard to solely classify the place as a Tex-Mex restaurant.

To start, we ordered a pitcher of their famed bourbon lemonade. Although I was technically born in the south, I have always hated the taste of bourbon -- and whiskey, in general. But this mix was surprisingly delightful. Incredibly sweet with a tart and tangy aftertaste, the drinks were probably my favourite part of the evening (isn't it always?). The drinks were strong but too strong to make me wince at the taste of whiskey.  In fact, I actually think I started to like the flavour!

Our meal was lovely, but nothing to wow our socks off. The portions were a bit small (except the nachos), but the service was friendly and the timing of the delivery was prompt. Unfortunately, a little mishap marred the rest of the evening for me...

 Popcorn Shrimp with lime seasoning

 Nachos with crab (and everything else) 

 Pork tacos 

Shrimp tacos 

I found that my tacos weren't spicy enough, so I asked for hot sauce. They make their own home made Tobasco sauce, except I found that it still wasn't spicy enough. So I asked our waiter for something hotter. To be fair, he did warn me that this sauce was not for the faint-hearted. But I thought that I'd have no problem handling it, as I've grown up eating incredibly spicy food and typically have a high tolerance for spice. False. Just one drop of this sauce was enough to nearly send me into cardiac arrest. I had a couple bites of my taco before the spice really hit me. And then it was like the world was attacking my taste buds; I could hardly breathe, my mouth went numb, and tears were streaming down my face. I certainly couldn't eat the rest of my food and I also didn't feel "normal" again until well into the next day.

Even my roommate, who merely touched the bottle, but never tasted the sauce, can attest to the strength of this hot sauce. After we came home, she touched her face and immediately felt the impact. Her eyes watered and her face went all red. This sauce is truly dangerous!

 Do not try this hot sauce unless you're slightly deranged with quasi-suicidal tendencies! 

Overall, Icehouse was an interesting and fun experience. But if I were just judging the food alone, I'd give it a mediocre rating, at best. In addition, it was also quite overpriced, given the portion size and quality of the food. But the ambiance was fun and its owners successfully achieved concept of a Tex-Mex local joint they were hoping for. 

Until the next (hopefully less spicy) adventure, happy eating everyone! 

-Talia

A Gluttonous Champagne Birthday

Do you know when your champagne birthday is? It's when the date of your birthday matches the age you're turning. This weekend was my roommate Alex's champagne birthday, since she turned 22 on January 22nd! Naturally, the weekend was filled with way too much eating, drinking, and of course -- lots of cake, too!

Our weekend plans were fairly relaxed. On Saturday we decided to go for brunch at the famous plateau hot-spot, L'avenue. We had never been there, but it had been on our list of places to try for years. We've eaten at other famous brunch places in Montreal, such as Beauty's, Bagels etc., and Reservoir, but we'd never ventured up to L'avenue. Perhaps it was because we had always thought it's too far (it's not). Or maybe the long wait to get into the place deterred us (we had to wait about an hour outside in the cold just to be seated). But this place was definitely worth the wait! Just to give you an idea of the enormity of the portions at this place, take a look at the picture of their four-egg omelets. The first is the "Idaho" omelet with cheddar cheese, mashed potatoes, bacon and sour cream. The second omelet is with ham, leeks, spinach, and goat cheese. And almost every dish comes with a side of potatoes and fruit. And that's not it all. L'avenue isn't just famous for their amazing food, but also their decor. I won't spoil it for those who haven't been, but I've just got three words for you: use the restroom!

Later that evening, we had a party at our house, with a small pre-drink at our favourite local place, la Distillerie!

To say we woke up Sunday a bit hungover is somewhat of an understatement. Naturally, our first thought was "let's get food!!" And where did we decide to go? Back to L'avenue, of course. This was probably unnecessary given how much we had eaten the day before. But since Sunday was actually Alex's birthday, we figured hey, why not? This time, we brought a couple other friends since they had never been there.

After brunch we had to prepare for the feast we were cooking for Alex's actual birthday dinner. We decided to have a couple friends over and do a potluck at our place. Alex was making jalapeno poppers and buffalo chicken dip. My other roommate Alie made scalloped potatoes and blanched haricot verts with chopped almonds and truffle oil. And since I love to bake, I made Alex a red velvet birthday cake with dark chocolate ganache filling and cream cheese frosting. I also made my mother's rice krispy chicekn tenders, which uses rice krispy cereal instead of bread crumbs. It was all so delicious. Though, we ended up with WAY too much food, especially since none of us was hungry after such a large brunch at L'avenue.

 Scalloped potatoes with thyme and cheddar cheese

 Rice Krispy Chicken Tenders

 Blanched haricots verts with chopped almonds, truffle oil, and fleur de sel 

Buffalo Chicken Dip (with cream cheese, Buffalo sauce, and shredded chicken) 

 Cream cheese stuffed jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon 

Excuse my casual attire, but who doesn't prefer to bake in sweats and a tank top?

 Red velvet cake with dark chocolate ganache and cream cheese frosting. For decoration, I added pirouette cookies around the exterior. 

Happy Birthday Alex!!! 

After such an incredible weekend, I'm going to have to detox for at least a week! That'll give me just enough time to come up with my next food adventure. 

Until then, happy eating!

-Talia

Samplings of the Semester

To make up for my paucity of posts this past semester, here's a sampling of photographs from some of the epicurean activities I got up to...

Fabulous Italian restaurant in Georgetown. The pizza is phenomenal! 

Amazingly light and crisp fried calamari. Perfection

Amazing Italian pizza from il Canale. If you like thin crust that's slightly sweet, this is the place for you!

My beautiful standing mixer, a birthday present from my amazing boyfriend Matthew. 

What happens when you've got too many bars of Toblerone lying around: Toberlone chocolate tart! 

Pizza Night at the Van Knollen Caro Smith Household! This one's a mixture of goat cheese and pesto on one half, and roasted peppers and sausages on the other. 

Lots and LOTS of cheese! 

Mushroom, onions, peppers, ham, sausages and Diane's BBQ sauce. Yum! 

Chicken pesto and goat cheese pizza. 

As you can see, this past semester was filled with LOTS of good eats. I expect 2012 to be nothing less! 

Happy eating!

Talia

Professional Baking

It's been a while since I've posted and I apologize for the neglect. As any collegiate student knows, life can get overwhelmingly busy, especially when you're in your last semester of university. But now I'm done with classes (until grad school, at least) and I can shift my focus to a different type of learning: the culinary arts.

When my parents bought me the bible of all baking instruction books for Christmas, I knew I had hit gold. The book, Professional Baking (5th Edition, by Wayne Gisslen) is a masterful textbook of everything you need to know about becoming a professional. So this semester, I'm not going to be in school, per se; but I'm taking it upon myself to treat this book as a university course unto itself. I may be done with undergrad, but I'm not done learning - not in the slightest!

Prepare yourselves, readers. This blog is back and with a new face, ready for new food adventures in Montreal. And more importantly, with this book, I'm going to explore the depths of my culinary capabilities. The new student within me starts learning... NOW!

As always, happy eating! :)
-Talia

PS - I should probably add that Nikhil is no longer part of this blog! Sorry Nix, I love you but you failed to pull your weight so I'm kicking you out!! Maybe he'll make a surprise guest appearance every now and again...