Good Things That Happened This Weekend

A roundup of good things that happened last weekend. I find that I share a lot of little awesome things on Facebook and Twitter, but rarely do I put them on the blog as well. Which I should do, since reminiscing about the past or pointing people to great products is easier through a blog link. It was a good weekend.

Friday

Great cheeses were found, and excellently paired up with Cave Spring Gamay. I decided to stay at home after a full week of events and weeknight outings. Plus, I wake up at 6:30AM and get to work for 8 every Friday because of a report deliverable at 10AM. Coupled with candy Friday, I just end up being apathetic on Fridays. Which is fine by me. I went to Kensington market to grab some assorted olives, smoked salmon and cheese to snack on. I grabbed some Beemster, which is never a bad idea, and gave Fleuron de Bruges a try. Wow. I am not a fan of soft cheeses but when I tried this extra soft cheese with an orange rind and nutty flavor, I waited for 15 seconds, then declared, “It’s growing on me”, and bought some. Now I want more!

I also watched a 1995 foreign film, Man Bites Dog, which I tuned in and out of. It’s a black and white film which follows a reckless young serial killing man as he goes about his business. It was fun. The main character says a lot of interesting things, can play the piano, sing, recipe poetry and…also kill a lot of people. Oh well! I actually roared with laughter a lot more than I thought I would.

Saturday

The day started with me hosting brunch for Nadine and I. Pardon the blurry photo, but at the time I didn’t notice anything wrong it. We enjoyed a breakfast spread that was a bit too big for two people, but still: salad, fresh baguette, organic butter, organic citrus fruit, cheese, prosciutto, smoked salmon, olives, and scrambled eggs with caramelized onions & zucchini. No wonder brunch lasted all afternoon, but so did the writing. I wrote a detox summary (which I posted two days ago), I wrote some pages for the 3 pages a day challenge (which, by the way, is turning into a 10 pages a week exercise, but oh well). Productivity!

When I came over to my friend’s place to play Settlers of Catan, I was in high spirits. Then I lost the game (or was on my way there), and that didn’t bode too well. We turned the evening around, however. We also watched Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, but unfortunately I fell asleep at the part where Jackie was making sharp deals with the racketeers or whatever they were.

Sunday

I slept in till 11am just because I could. Woke up sans alarm and read a bit. I’m few days away from finishing Luis Bunuel’s autobiography. It’s a great book. While I was reading on Sunday, I realized that I have a passion for learning about the lives of talented and truly brilliant individuals of the 20th century. I also enjoy the fact that I am familiar with the work of most players of several artistic movements of the times. When I read the stories of one of the movement participants, I learn about others. And when I read their accounts, I gather new and interesting information about their life. Or anecdotes. Or quotes. <3

Then I indulged in mysticism, courtesy of Meghatron. I figured something things out and decided to take it easy all day. But first, I had to update my wardrobe for a garland of holiday parties coming up.

So I purchased the following Marais black lace up heels, just cause I don’t have any proper black booties / heels / “serious” shoes. All my shoes are red, or sneakers, runners and heels I don’t want to wear anymore. Look at these versatile cuties:

And the Shakuhachi red animal bat wing dress. It looks pretty awesome.

I also downloaded the Amazon iPhone app, which was the end of me, really. I became obsessed with the idea of reading truly inspiring, interesting and intelligent biographies (but preferably autobiographies) of artists, writers, intellectuals and film people. I called for a list of said biographies and so far I received these recommendations (and thus, recommend them to you):

• Pablo Neruda, Memoirs
• Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls
• G.I. Gurdjieff, Meetings With Remarkable Men
• Mark Twain, Autobiography, Vol. 1
• Frank Zappa, The Real Frank Zappa
• Cleopatra: A Life (by Stacy Schiff)
• Patti Smith, Just Kids
• Peggy Guggenheim, Confessions of an Art Addict.

I bought the Reinaldo Arenas one, and it’s currently in ze mail, en route to me!

I also made several delightful sandwiches to keep me full at lunches at work. Here’s one specimen:

Post-Detox Thoughts and Musings

I completed my first ever detox 10 days ago. It started on November 1 and ended on the 10th (inclusive).

It was amazing! It was restrictive. It was a test of character. Turns out I’ve got solid willpower skills when I want to use them. The thing is, usually I don’t want to apply willpower Let’s go over the detox and my survival of it, then finish with lessons learned and future detox plans.

Why did I detox? I just wanted to feel better, that’s it. I wanted to feel lighter, healthier, to have better skin and and more energy. Simple wants, really.

In October I realized that I will need to drastically cut down on my indulgent consumption of delicious (and sometimes not) and bad-for-you (but sometimes not) things. Plus there have been a lot of visitors and out-of-town guests, which usually requires going out to restaurants and bars.

I just didn’t feel right. I feel bogged down, I feel heavy, unhealthy and not my chipper self. Moreover, with the seasons changing, I wanted to feel as light as possible, since the extra fall/winter clothing was sure bound to make me feel only worse.

So I started researching detox options. And so I found one. I learned that “there can be no dairy, grains with gluten, meat, shellfish, anything processed (including all soy products), fatty nuts, nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant), condiments, sugar and obviously no alcohol, caffeine or soda.” All right. That seemed challenging enough! Perfect time to stretch those willpower muscles.

The biggest challenge was breakfast actually. I usually have no problems surviving on salads, and I don’t care for soda and most condiments. Giving up alcohol was not a problem either as I’ve done it in the past (there are practical consequences that make it difficult – for example, getting bored at parties when everyone is tipsy and silly. Or declining invitations to open bar events because that usually leads to nowhere go. My favorite is always surprising people when I tell them that I’m not drinking, though. People are not used to young social people not drinking).

Breakfast was a bitch. At first. On day 4 I decided that I love smoothie breakfasts (with Vega and greens plus by Genuine Health were what made them amazing). I am also the kind of a person who eats in the morning (how can you not eat in the morning and stuff yourself silly at night? You’re doing it wrong!), so going hungry till lunch was a pain. However, as the detox progressed, I realized that a breakfast smoothie was enough to keep me going.

I discovered that steamed fish is the best thing in the world, too. Simply steamed with a bit of natural herbs. Bam! I also fell in love with kale all over again.

I blended a lot of green vegetables together. And made very green soups.

I learned that one doesn’t need to eat a lot of food. Moreover, I learned that the many foods that we eat on a daily basis can make us feel pretty bogged down and tired. I had SO much energy when I didn’t eat bread, grains, dairy (biggest culprit, I think) and meat. Night and day.

I now have more respect for a vegan diet. I am considering a plan where I eat vegan several days per week just to maintain that feeling of lightness.

Despite not drinking coffee and having one of the busier weeks at work, I fared incredibly well. Instead of coming home to crash, I would come home and find that i had enough energy to take on personal projects or just work some more. All right! In fact, getting enough rest and taking your vitamins (or greens plus) was better than drinking coffee.

I also developed more appreciation for the foods I took for granted. For example, for some people a steak is a usual thing. Whereas for me a 100% grass-fed strip loin is now a treat on par with lobster. I just appreciate the fancy (and usually bad for you) foods a lot more now. I try to not wolf the food down as fast as I can, but really take the time to enjoy it.

Eating natural and healthy (and in most cases, organic) foods has made me feel lighter, better, more mellow and happier. I lost 5-7 lbs, and I now want to do a weekly detox once a month. Or 10-day detox every two months. I do admit that I had two pretty dark days where I spent the evenings reading menus of various restaurants (from ridiculously indulgent to plain ol’ pizza chains). But I prevailed.  There were only positive consequences of this detox, once you get over the fact that you can’t eat anything you desire.

My Paper Is Made of Meat

Two weeks ago I bathing in the brief but wondrous period of magazine discovery and appreciation. When I came across Meatpaper, I was on the sexy Mag Culture blog. I was scrolling through, checking out various magazines and news when something caught my eye. A sandwich booklet that will be shipped with 13th issue of Meatpaper. I thought, Meatpaper? What kind of a joke is that? And then, Sandwich?!! Who said, Sandwich?

Because recently I have fallen in love with sandwiches like never before, anything sandwich-related caught my eye. Especially when there’s a white and pink unicorn sleeping soundly between the slices.

Back to Meatpaper. It’s a quarterly San Francisco-based magazine. And it’s amazing.

What is this ALL about? In the words of Meatpaper:

At once divisive and universal, delicious and disturbing, funny and dead-serious, meat polarizes us unlike any other food.
Us, we’re ambidextrous here at Meatpaper — no agenda except to gnaw on the ideas, artistic excursions and bone-deep emotions the subject inspires. We invite you to dig in with us.

The reasons I fell in love with it:

• Covers. Mixture of New Yorker and art/life photography. I can’t quite place it, but there is something crisp and beautiful about all the covers.
• Quarterly. Good fucking content comes in quarterly packages. For a topic such as this.
• Amazing collection of topics.
• The culture of meat. I’m a foodie, okay, I like to read about food besides consuming and photographing it. Meat is an interesting topic. It can be very polarizing, and it can be quite uniting. It is painful to some, and delightful to others.

I subscribed. After checking out the kinds of articles presented in this publication, I contacted the office and subscribed. And yesterday I received my issue 12 and 13. Off to reading!

(I highly recommend you check out their website)

Just look at the sample articles and coverage:

• stories about a variety of meats, including python, locusts, tripe, beef tongue, porcupine, dog, and jailhouse meat
• report on competitive eating, bug tacos, squirrel hunting, sea turtles, and more.
• learn about oyster farming, meat facials, and the global origins of one taco’s ingredients.
• a multi-disciplinary, sensory extravaganza of topics, including meat perfume; meat aura photographs; meat in rock, punk, and soul music; meat as building material; and rabbit farming as a sustainable food of the future.
• the controversy about eating seal meat in Canada (and what that has to do with maple syrup)
• the day-to-day life of a livestock veterinarian, the lard vs. butter debate among pie bakers, and that age-old question: What did T. rex taste like?
• how a county fair sow is like Miss America, pig lit, chefs’ pig tattoos, a fake bacon taste test, and much more.
• AND MORE

As you can see, this is interesting to everyone interested in food or ethics and aesthetics of meat. I can easily be a vegan and read this. Moreover, I will most likely be put off meat (or very much drawn to it, haha) after some articles, but in all cases I will gather a better understanding of the world of meat and its elements.

On their press page you can see that they’ve been mentioned in New York Times, GOOD magazine, HuffPo, BBC, Boing Boing, Maclean’s etc.

Oh yeah, yearly subscription is $28 in the US and $34 in Canada. You can buy individual issues too ($7.95 per issue + shipping to wherever you live).

InCuisin: Time is Short, but Tastebuds Stay Demanding

Great new product to add to your kitchen, folks. I’ve recently had the pleasure of trying all varieties of InCuisin mashed potatoes. The website and the packaging both claim that that “our mashed potato is as good as home-made without the fuss and ready in 2 minutes.” In practice, it took me about 4 minutes to get the potatoes ready to serve, but, I admit, it is still faster than procuring, washing, peeling (optional), boiling, mashing and salting, peppering and spicing them to taste.

Let me tell you, I was skeptical to receive a brightly colored packages with frozen mashed potatoes. They looked like broken chocolate pieces (that’s the size of the pellets). Why? So you could control serving sizes. That’s a bonus!

There are 5 flavors:

• Cream and Butter mashed potatoes
• Peas and Carrots mashed potatoes (sneaky vegetable placements! Bonus with kids I bet)
• Garlic and Chives (MY favorite)
• Carrots and mashed potatoes
• Cauliflower mash (1/3 less calories than and 1/2 the carbs of the regular InCuisin mashed potatoes)

What is the process? Just throw a desired amount of pellets into the bowl, zap that in the microwave, fluff it about with fork (I add spices, salt and pepper if I want to), and voila! Mashed potatoes are ready.

The flavor is… surprisingly great. I was very skeptical at first. You know me, I’m into great food and I eat out + cook full meals at home (when the fancy strikes). When I was met with the prospect of serving originally frozen mashed potatoes for dinner, I was a little wary. But then I put a spoonful in my mouth, and

Oh my god, amazing flavor! I can’t emphasize this enough. For time-strapped people, this is the best alternative. Especially if you pick the cauliflower mash – healthy.

So here’s what I did. Besides eating these with my 100% grass-fed striploin or a grilled salmon steak, I did a Thanksgiving experiment on my friends. Had to. I prepared a package and a half for 5 people, and placed the potatoes in nice bowls. Look how weird it looks:

And then it turns into the mushy mass that we know as mashed potatoes. See for yourselves:

(Uh, Slava, thanks for the finger photo bomb!)

And then, the best thing! See, they were meant to be together with 8-hour slow-cooked organic Ontario carrots, beets, shallots, chantrelle mushrooms and the precious roast beef.

My Thanksgiving guests ate them like they were the usual potatoes. Good! Nobody noticed anything. I couldn’t help telling them, of course, that these potatoes were in fact frozen first, and that I prepared them in a microwave! Shocked faces all around… but also some signs of relief: they could replicate the flavors themselves!

The InCuisin mashed potatoes are available at Sobey’s and all Loblaws affiliates (except No Frills), and, I believe, Provigo. If you’re the busy person who enjoys comfort food once in a while, but doesn’t have the time nor energy to whip out mashed potatoes, this is your answer!

Fancy Grilled Cheese Family Project: #3

Special weekend edition! My beautiful friend Colleen came over for a Sunday meal prepared with love, freshly ground coffee and good conversation. I’m glad we caught up. I am also glad we created this beautiful breakfast grilled cheese with a story.

I present you with the modified Croque Madame member of the fancy grilled cheese family: New Mexico Croque Madame.

This is a beautiful woman in her early 40′s. She has wild hair, restless spirit, a dozen pairs of cowboy boots, vibrant memories and a lot of determination. She has a ranch in New Mexico, and a stable of beautiful horses (she breeds them). She never married, and never wanted to; she follows her heart and her passions. She used to live in France a decade ago. She’s a bit of a black sheep in this Fancy Grilled Cheese family, but she enjoys that. Every cousin is secretly jealous of her vivacity and thirst for life.

Ingredients

• Two slices of organic rye bread
• Avocado
• Dijon mustard
• Two eggs
• Muenster cheese (from Finland, no preservatives and lactose-free)
• Unsalted Butter
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• A dash of nutmeg
• 1 cup of milk
• Salt & Pepper
• Hungarian Paprika

The process in two parts (for 2 people by the way)

1) (Easy) Prepare the sauce by combining 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a small sauce pan. Wait for it to melt. Whisk in the flour. Add whole milk and keep whisking for 5 minutes. You gotta keep whisking it every minute or so in order to keep the saucy consistency.

2) (Requires effort and concentration) Grab a slice from each sandwich and liberally spread sauce on both sides. Let it sit and soak it up. You shouldn’t have any leftover sauce.

Then grab Muenster cheese and distribute it liberally on both sandwiches. Be liberal if you want the cheese to ooze later on! Add slices of avocado on each sandwich. Top it off with another slice of Muenster. Grab the other slices of bread, spread Dijon muster on the inside of that slice and form a sandwich. Spread some butter on the top of the sandwich.

Place them on the pan. Remember, low heat, longer time. Cover with lid. Carefully turn them over (I use a spatula and tongs) after 2-3 minutes and continue.

In the meantime, crack an egg in a small pan and fry the egg with the lid on as well. I’ve a silicon heart-shaped egg thingy to produce lovely egg topping

Place the grilled cheese on the plate, add the egg on top, sprinkle with Hungarian paprika. Voilà!

More photos

Fancy Family Grilled Cheese Project:

Grilled Cheese #1: Swiss Uncle Fruity

Grilled Cheese #2: Distant Eastern European Relative (Hungarian)

Stay tuned for Fancy Grilled Cheese family member #4. I’ll post later this week.

App Alert and Recommendation: Foodspotting

My new favorite app combines foursquare and food photographs. Foodspotting! This is a location-based iPhone app that lets you share photos of particular dishes at restaurants, and post them to Twitter, Facebook, and whatever.

You know how sometimes you go to a particular restaurant because of the specialty dish? Or you know how you’ve heard about this poutine for ages? Or how that other restaurant does amazing homemade ravioli and so on? Well, this app is to help you share and find more of these cool items.

You create an account, and then upload photos of particular dishes. There are tons and tons of dishes listed already, so chances are you won’t have to create a new one. Pick the right one, pick the restaurant (there is surprising a large and global variety! When I typed “Ajisen Ramen”, some ramen place in Bangkok popped up, and was populated with 11 dishes already, whoa).

You can add friends via scanning your email address book. You can follow all sorts of people, leave comments and such. You can check your profile from the Foodspotting website, or see it from the device. You receive points for uploading photos, for having users “nom” your photos and want your photos. The summary page looks kinda like this:

Oh, there are badges too! Below is the list of badges I already won. The faint ones are the near-completion badges:

Overall, it’s fun. I’m loving what’s happening here and hoping that more people in Toronto and Canada in general get to uploading their pics. Us foodies and food lovers already take a ton of restaurant food photos, so why not upload them and help fellow food seekers decide what foods to nom in their hood?

Fancy Grilled Cheese Family Project: #2

This is the Distant Eastern European Relative (Hungarian) fancy grilled cheese sandwich. It’s a less lavish option than the grilled cheese #1, but you must understand that eating thick slabs of cheese – however tasty – is not a good idea. So this is a “healthier” and a very filling alternative. This Eastern European fancy grilled cheese sandwich is simple, redolent of the geographical area it imitates, but still is exotic. Our Hungarian relative here enjoys a good wine and Dutch cheeses (his first wife was Dutch, too).
My grilled cheese project is coming along and here’s another sandwich I prepared and share with you. This is the modest result:

List of ingredients:

• I used a thick slice of Beemster cheese from Leslieville Cheese Market.
• Two slices of Edam from the Kiev Moscow Vilnius Russian store near my house.
• Wine salami (as many slices as you want)
• A dash of Hungarian paprika
• A bit of non-salted butter
• And dark rye bread. I got it from the Euro store and this is the proper Borodinsky slab of bread. I don’t know what it’s in English. I just know that this is the bread I loved as a kid back in Russia. Still love it!

You know what to do. Order is of no particular importance here, as long as the salami is in the middle. This grilled cheese sandwich tasted more like a regular sandwich that I grilled on the pan instead of being a grilled cheese creation.  The wine sausage played well with Beemster and the Hungarian paprika really made itself known against Edam. All in all, a little spicy creation, definitely savory, and great for a cold night outside.

I will put more cheese in next time. And will hopefully feed the other half to my roommate or nearby friend. Wanna have a grilled cheese date?

Fancy Grilled Cheese Family Project: #1

I came up with a new idea. The Fancy Grilled Cheese Family project, which includes me coming up with all sorts of fancy cheese recipes, taking ingredient photos, and then resulting photos. I’m suspecting each grilled cheese family member is going to come with a story. So this is a cooking and a creative writing class, two in one.

So here goes #1. It was amazing! Delicious! Decadent!

The Swiss Uncle Fruity

Final product:

In the Fancy Grilled Cheese family this uncle Fruity lives in Montreux, Switzerland where he enjoys the fresh air, attractive ski instructors. He has a sweet tooth and he sends lavish gifts to his nephews and nieces. He may or may not have a lover in Paris and likes the perceived no-nonsense lifestyle of the American cowboys (that he gathered from old movies).

We start with the following ingredients:

Bosc pear slices, salted butter, Gruyère slices, red hot chili pepper Jack, sourdough bread, and coronation grape compote (if you happen to have a grape compote sitting around after you preserve some of the specimens).

I think the order really matters here:

Spread some coronation grape compote on the insides of the sourdough slices, place them facing up. Add a slice of Gruyère to each side. Pick a favorite side and carefully place the bosc pears (you can sprinkle a little cinammon here if you like, but just a little), add the liberally sliced Jack, then put the sourdough together and spread some butter on both outer layers. Grill each side for 2 minutes or until the cheese starts spilling onto the pan. That’s your cue to place the sandwich on a plate and to devour!

Suggestions and Tasting Notes: It was AMAZING! Red hot chilli peppers radiate the flavor for a full few minutes after I ate the sandwich. And when pear met coronation grapes I mentally leaped with joy.

Try dipping the sandwich in compote is not a bad idea. The red hot chili Jack leaves a pleasantly warm aftertaste and the compote notes are like the cowbells of heaven. Delightful!

It’s been decided that on the cheesy days like this I’ll have to be eating salads and generally lighter food fare in order to over

Less emo photos (blurry realism, if you like) after the cut.

My Weekend Meals: Recap

And the reasons why I should stick to salad and leafy,  non-meaty, non-carby things this coming week. Except for Wednesday night when I will be venturing out to Buca for a dinner.

I. Friday

It started with a dinner at Enoteca Sociale, which you should try visiting for yourself. It’s Pizza Libretto’s sister restaurant on 1288 Dundas Street and Dovercourt. Really worth it. They also have a cheese cave with more cheeses than regular food items (listed on the menu, teehee). Follow Enoteca on Twitter.

For wine we ordered Faraghina 2009, which was a crisp, dry white wine. Despite eating a medium-heavy meal we all agreed on trying this wine and were not disappointed. Please keep in mind that I forgot to photograph some items on the menu. That’s my fault. For next week’s recap I’ll be more careful.

We started with crispy veal sweetbreads and arugula, as well as artichoke fries. For the first round of firsts we ordered house made pappardelle braised rabbit, house made duck liver ravioli sage brown butter and raviolo (ricotta, wild spinach & peas) with porcini mushrooms.

The latter (and the above photo) was part of the tasting menu which also included chef’s antipasto, ontario lamb chop parmigiana & green beans, treviso & green salad. Here’s the lamb:

For dessert we got allegretto (thermalised sheep’s milk, quebec, sharp) and a sweetened ricotta, almond biscuit & ontario peaches:

Then we ordered three kinds of cheese from Nonna’s cheese cave. Our server let us go downstairs and see the beauties for ourselves. Annie picked a blue cheese, Hesam got sheep’s milk and I went for the goat, which apparently turned out to be Nonna’s favorite,  Chaput St. Maure. Forgot to mention the dessert wine! Moscato was a pleasant surprise, with rose petals and just enough sweetness for a dessert wine.

II. Saturday

As if pigging out and enjoying ourselves last Friday was not enough, I made an appointment to meet a friend for brunch at Saving Grace. I had an Americano from Ezra’s Pound while I waited for this brunch spot to open. I then ordered poached eggs with some potatoes and chopped chorizo and Ontario peaches. The food was good and still light enough:

After the food I remembered that I was hosting a friend that night and went to Kensington Market to stock up on delicious things to cook later that night. I bought two salmon steaks and later that night battered them in blackened seasoning for that night’s feast. I also chopped up some homegrown tomatoes and cucumbers, add them to the arugula mix, diced some peppers and added chia seeds. the dressing was olive oil and some salt. See for yourself:

III. Sunday

The following day I had another brunch planned with Nadja Sayej of ArtStars whom I haven’t seen in a while. We settled to meet at Mitzi’s. I ordered the much-praised huevos rancheros and was disastrously disappointed. Not going to Mitzi’s for brunch ever again. The food was tasteless, prepared without any apparent care, and it the portion was seriously meant to serve three people. Bleh! Not again.

To make things right, I didn’t despair about Mitzi’s and instead walked back home home to attend to several things and to anticipate Meghann and our collage-making time. On Saturday I bought a fine pork chop from Sanagans Meat Locker in anticipation. I got a cocoa sauvignon spices for said pork chops, and I also added some pomegranate sauce to make things right. The following is the pork chop I made, and Meghann’s collard greens with butter. And homegrown tomatoes!

We decadently finished off the night with bacon butterscotch cupcakes from Yummy Stuff.

So yeah, I am going to buckle down this week. Excited for that!

Any questions? Holler!

Holiday Update, Mostly Food

I’ve been so busy enjoying the holidays, family and friends time that I have naturally not written any posts. There are many drafts, but I don’t feel like finishing (anymore/yet). There’s updates about books, updates about recipes, adventures, visits to the United States and all that.

Anyway, I will just show you some images of the food and feasts that I’ve assembled while visiting Vancouver. By the way, this visit has been the best so far. Just the right balance of old friends and family. I really miss my family while living in Toronto. It’s definitely not a reason to move back to Vancouver, just to visit more, or as the busy life allows me.

I cooked my first ever roast beef on Christmas Eve. Us Europeans celebrate the real holiday on the Eve of Christmas as opposed to on the day itself (I find I’m always royally spent by the time it’s the evening of December 25th anyway). The roast beef idea was inspired by Colleen who cooked a great one for me. Below is my 2.6kg creation, succulent, fragrant and utterly decadent:

For Christmas dinner I decided to take over the protein reins and assembled a chorizo, lemon, herbs stuffed turkey breast. Mom and I wrestled with the poor bird (who probably had a violent enough existence on the factory farms somewhere in the US), tied it up and sent to the oven for cooking. 1 hour and 2o mins, take note, you cooking birds.

Below is the colorcrossed and bound turkey before the oven transformation. And the untouched finished version. All guests ate their pieces. The turkey was accompanied by Roman potatoes, by the way. Finely sliced potatoes that you bake for 30 mins, then pour 14 oz of diced tomatoes with sauce over it, add basil, zaatar, sea salt and pepper and some sparse tomato slices on top. Bake for 30 more minutes, or until ready.

Now that I feel confident that I can cook any kind of meat, under the pressure of holidays, I’m really set in the kitchen. Big thanks to mom for letting me use the kitchen and trusting me enough with the big meats

Christmas dinner spread. First half was created by me (hors d’oeuvres mostly), Russian salads were my mom’s specialty.

Lactose-Free Milk or Gratitude

I was in the kitchen at work, washing my dishes, and started spacing out when I noticed a carton of lactose-free milk (organic, too) sitting on the counter, well, standing on the counter (we’ll talk about my semantic hangups with the “sitting” expression some other day), and I thought, my god, in this society we have so much to choose from, so much to  please us, we are free to align ourselves with any belief, any brand, movement and organization and so many take it for granted or absolutely don’t realize that in almost any other part of the world things are not the same way.

I thought back to my Eastern European days, and my country men’s love of sour cream and other dairy. There was no lactose free milk there (but then again, I never met a lactose-intolerant person back there, either), no talk of veganism, gluten-free food and other gastronomic curiosities, self- or doctor-prescribed. What would a vegan do in Sarajevo? Heck, there would be no vegan in the first place, or there would be serious health problems after 1-3 years of veganism. And what about Africa, dare you even mention spelt bread or organic, sustainable, wild/farmed salmon?

I’m not condoning those things, these are great additions to our wonderfully cushioned life in the West, but they are things that a lot of those born here take for granted. Things that don’t even exist in the majority of the world, or for the majority of people. I suppose I’m saying that people should be a little more grateful, or not scorn the poor barista for over/underheating their venti skinny half-sweet hazelnut latte with extra foam. Bitch less about the excess of what you have and instead be grateful for all the wonderful opportunities under your nose.

There’s a Russian expression which applies perfetly: [Они ]с жиру бесятся.

Rajni Meets Krepesz

I’ve written about my talented friend and artist Rajni Perera in the past. I’d like to add something to that.

She is currently exhibiting at Krepesz, the European palacsinta Cafe in Kensington Market, Toronto (253 Augusta Ave). You should go there to explore the new space, have some of the most excellent teas and enjoy the authentic Hungarian crepe. When I say authentic, I mean it — each crepe is lovingly prepared by the mom of the owner of this cafe (I’ve met her) on a daily basis, is stuffed with freshest ingredients and looks like the biggest treat you’ll have all week.

Now, for a limited time only – until September 30 – you will have the opportunity to see Rajni’s newest pieces. I really like how her work has developed from the spunky youngun’s work (who is finding her style) to a deeply personal portrayal of women at their most vulnerable moments. Rajni is unapologetic as she captures the emotion and strong sentiments trapped within these females, with the budding force of Frida Kahlo. I’m eager to see where she moves next. (And I’m secretly lobbying for a portrait)

Just go! Sit and stare at passionate Mahban with a beautiful peacock (I think? Correct me if I got the cocky bird wrong ) across from the room as you hopefully humbly wolf down your sweet or savoury brunch palacsinta.

Best Meal I’ve Made to Date

Or so I and my dinner companion think. I wasn’t afraid to experiment with octopi and peppers. Let’s discuss.

First Course: Basil Grape Tomatoes with Buffalo Mozzarella

I diced white onion and went on to sautée; we needed caramelized onions. I cut grape tomatoes in half, leaving the tiniest ones whole so they burst in your mouth at a later time. Throw in said tomatoes after the onions turn golden and shake the pan a little. Roll large basil leaves and cut them vertically, dispersing over tomatoes and onions as you turn the heat off. Mix them up a little, let them sit, add some pepper. Bring out the highest grade buffalo mozzarella (splurge, it’s worth it!), and slice it up on break it over the tomato mixture. Enjoy! Enjoy it!

Second Course: Boiled Octopus in a Spicy Sauce and Basil Fingerling Potatoes

This actually starts at the very beginning of your cooking ritual – pour a can of chicken broth in a pan, and put twice as much water, start heating it. Chop up almost a whole bunch of cilantro, dice 3/4 of a white onion (large chunks are all right), and put all of that in. Next, I leaped into the unknown by slicing a small red pepper and throwing that in. I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s a tiny light red pepper, just a bit more wrinkly than the usual capsicum, and it’s spicy. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat.

Cut up Mr. Octopus and throw it in. Cutting it is tough, let me tell ya. But persevere. Throw it in the broth and let it simmer for at least 1.5 hours. I took it out at 2 hours and 15 minutes. In the course of this octopus bath you will need to add more water as it will evaporate – I added 4-5 cups extra, and I’m glad I did because that little red pepper set the whole pot on fire (not literally).

In the meantime boil fingerling potatoes (bigger ones sliced in half), and then bronze them in a pan with diced garlic and extra virgin olive oil and a dash of truffle oil. Add basil leaves for extra fragrance. Take out the plate and arrange like in the photo above or better! And enjoy it. Then live to tell the tale

PS. The octopus broth was too good to let go down the drain so I’ve used it to boil wild rice the next day. Guess how awesome my lunch is today

PPS. If anybody wants to hire me for cooking services, or for looking cute while cooking services, or eating and telling the tale services, I’m widely available and most likely ready to hear your ideas

Чтоб Я Так Жил

I will start by telling you that I have started reading Francoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse, and of course, I’ve floating images of the South of France, mansions, beautiful women, white sand, wonderful food and wine and 40+ men spoiling their young daughters, and so on and so forth. As I have these sinful sunny scenes (alliteration bonus, please), Josue makes his way over and we open the bubbly Veuve Clicquot, my favorite.

Now, let me tell you today at 9:30am I had my convocation. I officially graduated from Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management with an Honours (!) degree in Marketing Management and with a Finance minor. Out of all 200 marketing kids graduating today, only 11 of us received Honours degrees. I find that a little peculiar. I was also shocked to find out that many people didn’t have jobs lined up OR any idea of where they wanted to be. Folks, no way. Anyway, more about the ceremony in the next post.

We started consuming Veuve Clicquot, and I began describing this delightful drink as a very potent drug that makes you scrambling for more the moment you hit the bottom of the bottle, the moment all bubbles disappear and you realize you are knee-deep in real champagne attraction. Anyway! Josue loved it, choked on it, spilled some on him and went biking to LCBO for more. This champagne makes one feel as if you are happily floating on the surface of the Mediterranean, ready to bathe your limbs in salty water and running back to these warm sands.

Then we switched to Mitchell Peppertree Shiraz 2004 from the Clare Valley. Now, it is a wonderful smooth red, tangy heavenly drink from Gods, BUT it made me feel like a beautiful young male made of lead was pulling me underneath the surface of the Mediterranean to lock lips in the salty viscous water that is the sea.

I’m loving both. We are back to Veuve Clicquot and it is over, but we have Santa Carolina Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva del Valle del Colchagua 2007.

Gourmet Acrobatics, i.e. plain ol’ feasting

I was just sitting on my patio in Looney Tunes bedroom shorts from La Senza (I’ve Sylvester & Tweetie), soaking in the wonderful sun over Toronto and thinking about how great last night was and what my favorite moments were. Then I realized that I might as well blog about this. Gotta archive memories for those octogenarian days.

I felt obliged to outdo the Beta Party’s edible offerings (i.e. the April patio party). I prepared the following: quail eggs with black caviar and zaatar; avocado with bella donna cheese on a heavy lemoned Parisian toastie; diced herring, green apples, onion on a crostini; straw mushrooms, Quebecois blue cheese salami, olives stuffed with lemons in a sea of virgin olive oil and aleppo pepper; smoked oysters with herbed goat cheese and a dash of black salt on toasties; cucumber cups stuffed with truffled chevre, zaatar and a dill; strawberries wrapped in prosciutto plus melon with prosciutto. I know it was a successful selection because there are no leftovers and everybody is happy.

I was very happy to see some of my favorite people gathered on one patio and enjoying themselves. Guests brought a varied selection of drinks, mostly wines. I was particularly impressed with Jeremy’s quest for a fine red. I even researched this Louis Max 2005 Gervrey-Chambertin Les Azerottes. Denise tied a pretty ribbon around the Francis Ford Coppola Shiraz (I talk about movies a lot to inspire such purchases, hehe), which was also great. Will’s Fat Bastard Merlot was fabulous as well. I haven’t had a chance to savour other wines to comment! Now that I look at the bottles, I notice that all of them are indeed non-Canadian (I pointed out my apathy for canuck wines in my Facebook invite)  except for Lisa and Josue’s Jackson Triggs. The LCBO near their abode closed before they could make it; Josue was actually temporarily upset about having to bring Canadian wine, ha)

Everyone enjoyed the music, as evidence by comments on my taste. That’s very pleasant to hear, it’s encouraging, folks. At one point we all remembered that Jay Goldman was missing, and quickly exercised a tweetmob. I tweeted “Jay Goldman @jaygoldman”, and every  Twitterer (and there were some sans it! I don’t entirely live on the interwebs, see) on the patio sent the same thing. Lo and behold, a couple of tweets from people who weren’t even on the patio followed, ha.

More people came later that night, we danced around and blasted classic Russian rock bands. If you are or want to be into Kino (as you should), check the Zvezda Po Imeni Solnce (A Star Called Sun) album. Even Will Pate made an appearance! I’m very glad about that. I even busted out Vosges Haute Chocolat: sweet Indian curry powder + coconut flakes + deep milk chocolate. After the crowd dissipated and I changed into my sleeping attire (said Looney Tunes shorts), Roger came back with the crew and we set out on a quest for pho. I wore Sylvester & Tweetie shorts in public! And had no Vietnamese late night foods. Bedtime with sunrise for us all stars. Wondrously, I am feeling energized, happy and not hungover, albeit I wish I could’ve slept till 3pm. To the right is the aftermath of 15-20 people soiree. Thank you all, there will be more of nights like this one!