crazy white girl with a kitchen

I have the pleasure of scanning the cover of most books that are reviewed or given away in the Journal. The historical biographies, fitness manuals, novels, self-help books all cross my desk at some point or another. My favourites are obviously the cookbooks.

I pulled a recipe for brie + caramelized onion stuffed scones from one called “Savoury Baking” a few months ago. Ever since, I have been experimenting with fillings. Recently when I found myself at Sunterra, I felt inspired by the luxury ingredients and loaded up on balsamic fig spread, Westphalian ham and brie.

I’m off for a few days of travel, but I’ll see if I can’t post the recipe when I get back. The filling possibilities are endless.

Side entrance to Zinc. You may also enter through the main foyer of the AGA.

On Sunday January 31, the Art Gallery of Alberta reopened after being closed for nearly five years of renovations. The new building made a lot of promises: more gallery space, better exhibits, a stunning exterior and new spaces for restaurants and cafes. Tuesday February 2 marked the first day of operations of the flagship restaurant, Zinc. (Or is that ZIИC?)

Naturally, I have been excited about Zinc for sometime. Working where I do l afforded me the ability to see a lot of behind the scenes photos as things were put together going up to the big day, and doing a site tour of the Art Gallery of Alberta as a possible wedding venue amped up the excitement even more.

Visiting on the first day of a restaurant’s opening is a different experience, and not one necessarily recommended. Service may lack smoothness, menus could be in the process of being tweaked and may not be complete yet, and everything is in a state of change and upheaval.

I attempted to make reservations earlier in the week on their online reservation system, but it wasn’t operational yet. It wasn’t clear what number I should call to reach the restaurant, but the woman manning the phones at the AGA’s main number put me through.

We arrived a bit late for the 7pm reservation, but were seated in a mostly empty restaurant. Perhaps we missed the dinner rush, or perhaps there was just less hype about the restaurant than I expected.

The room, and building, are stunning. Some have criticized the design to be a non-Gehry designed Frank Gehry style building, and there are definite similarities, but the building is stunning nonetheless…especially when compared to the building before. Many people walking by stopped to peer in and more than once a car slowed to a crawl outside as the occupants stared as the impressive curvy zinc facade.

The restaurant itself has soaring zinc ceilings, with large ENORMOUS windows. Sitting near them, it was not chilly at all, however. Cool blue light accents the metallic accessories which is equalized by a warm yellow glow from candles and the bell tower at nearby City Hall. It’s a very industrial room, but also cozy due to carefully placed dividers and a gorgeous Douglas Fir wall. The view is quite captivating as it overlooks the square and City Hall, and I imagine in the summer it will be a great place to grab a drink before attending a festival or event in Churchill Square.

After we were seated our (very) green waitress asked us if it was our first visit to the restaurant which amused me a great deal. She was definitely still learning the ropes, but was careful to do things the right way in a restaurant of this calibre, like serve from the right and switch out cutlery after each course.

The menu was an abbreviated version of what is to come, and is expected to change seasonally, according to sommelier and maitre d’ Claude Fournier. He came around twice to see how we liked our meals, and took our thoughts and concerns very seriously. It’s nice to get someone who cares about the answer when they ask the question. Claude also said that Chef David Omar and him hope to have dishes which reflect the different exhibits in the gallery at that time. I’m excited a restaurant in Edmonton (other than the Blue Pear) will focus on a varied rotating menu. Although he is not a beer fan (“I cannot stand the yeast,” Claude said) he hopes to do beer pairing as well at some point.

At first glance, it seemed that there was a lot going on in the menu. I saw a lot of food trend buzzwords like foam, gelee and the like. I was also alarmed by the amount of flavours appearing on a single dish. For instance, the fois gras ballotine. However, they were all variations on anise, and it really worked in the end. There were only three appetizers plus a soup and five mains available to order. Later, two desserts (which we had to pass on.)

There is also a large cocktail list with some interesting libations available, and a selection of Alberta beers, but all in the bottle.

Our amuse bouche was served in a tiny coffee cup and was an extremely cold, extremely bland cream cheese avocado “pudding” with ginger. Thank god for the overly zingy ginger, because there was NOTHING going on in this otherwise. It did not amuse my mouth at all.

The housemade butter was angelic. Fennel with spring onion and fleur de sel. It was served with brioche baked in house.

Foie gras appetizer. A slice of foie gras with salted licorice caramel ice cream, black sambuca gelee, coriander apple with salad and brioche toast. As I mentioned previously, this dish sounded all over the map, like there was too much going on. Turns out: it was pretty good! The saltiness balanced well with the sweetness and the anise flavours just worked with the foie gras. The brioche provided just enough crunch for the creamy foie gras.

My dish was less successful. I had the beet salad. The Good: the presentation (like a salad painting!), the parsnip goat cheese puree, fresh carrot juice as a palate cleanser and rose honey reduction. The Bad: Rose honey reduction was hidden on the bottom of my salad, creating an unbalanced sticky glop of flavour as my greens disappeared and the beet “carpaccio” was kind of ridiculous. They’re just raw beets. And they were hard to cut. In addition the beets that were supposed to be roasted were not and were mostly crisp and hard as well.

“Taste of Alberta” main. At $44 this was the most expensive item on the menu. It featured (left to right) bison short ribs, caribou and a saskatoon berry sausage on a bed of braised red cabbage, artichokes and gnocchi. On top, a drizzle of spice chocolate sauce. To put it lightly, disappointing. While the short ribs were toothsome and savoury and moist, the sausage was dry, as was the caribou. How dry? This dry:

This caribou does NOT look succulent.

Wild Alberta pickerel with pickled mushrooms, edamame, beets and warm potato espuma.

I waffled on a main, but finally went with fish. I just HAD to know what “potato espuma” was. I was pleasantly surprised by this dish; it really knocked it out of the park. The pickled mushrooms perked up what is a relatively plain, light fish, and the glorified mashed potatoes just worked. Espuma is supposed to be more of a foam, but this is more of a light creamy mash. Menu error? I was left wanting more; the serving size was adequate but I just wanted to taste more.

I will have to return before I make any firm decisions, but this first visit left me wanted more of the good and less of the bad. I sense great things in the making, though, so I will remain hopeful and try to not judge before they are fully operational.

Dinner for two (two courses each), with one beer ran about $130.

Liane Faulder wrote a preview about Zinc in the Journal a few weeks ago: Zinc offers beautiful food, by design

–

Zinc at the Art Gallery of Alberta
Open for lunch and dinner service everyday but Monday
Sunday Brunch is also served
780.392.2501
online reservations also available

My make-at-home, oven-friendly S’more kit. Based on an idea from Twig and Thistle.

So perhaps the title of this post is a bit misleading. I knew what I was getting into by making marshmallows. Candy thermometers, sticky messes and experimentation. But somehow, it still turned into a nightmare.

Oh sure, everyone says they are easy. Those people are highly talented in the kitchen though: people like Martha Stewart and the bloggers behind Smitten Kitchen and Whisk. Even with an anxious approach, I still screwed up.

My intention was to put together adorable little S’more packages as New Years gifts. I can’t take credit for the idea, it originated here, at Twig and Thistle. The main difference was that I was going to make my own marshmallows. I really regret not making my own graham crackers as well, but: next year!

The most challenging part of this was finding a trustworthy candy thermometer and the right packaging for the kit. I ended up ordering a bundle of clear acrylic boxes from a wedding favour supply company in Vancouver called Wedding Things. A company called Uline, as well as Etsy and eBay were both options, but they either sold in HUGE amounts or shipping was a bit higher than I liked, so I went with a company close to home.

The first recipe I tried was from Smitten Kitchen. I liked it as it included egg whites, which is not a common component of most marshmallow recipes. I was hoping they would make springy, less saccharine marshmallows. I bought most of my ingredients from Bulk Barn (more on that later) and made them with my mom’s KitchenAid mixer. It’s an important tool for making marshmallows, as a hand mixer may just not have enough power. But some people reported success, so give it a try.

Uh-oh. This doesn’t look right. It foamed up like a science experiment, too.

My first error: using a pot that was too large. I anticipated a huge mess, so I used a huge pot to contain the sugar syrup. This allowed the sugar mix to have large changes in temperature, and I think in the end what got me was that my thermometer didn’t get a good read, and I was anxious for the mix to hit the magic temperature of 240F. One second it was clear and bubbly…and an instant later: golden brown and smelling of burnt sugar.

I put my mix into the gelatin in my KitchenAid mixer, and mixed. Then: problems. The candy syrup had hit the candy temperature, and was starting to solidify. It got stuck in the marshmallow mix, to the whisk and embedded itself in the mix.

This is what I liked to call marshmallow amber.

Much like real amber, right? Just missing the prehistoric insect.

The hard chunks were embedded in nearly every marshmallow, stuck to the KitchenAid mixer whisk and pretty much ruined my first batch…and nearly killed the KitchenAid. It was overheating like you wouldn’t believe, as the candy wrapped itself around the whisk and slowed the motor considerably.

While the flavour was good: kind of caramel tinged, the texture and colour were horrible, and there were still hidden chunks of candy hidden inside. Bad news.

So, I remade the marshmallows, using a new recipe. This time, no egg whites, and I relied on a more scientific Alton Brown recipe. He laid it down in terms my science background could understand. Oh: I also did not let the candy mixture get too hot, stopping at 235F. I added a half teaspoon more of vanilla, and used clear vanilla so it kept the marshmallows snow-white.

The second batch went much better. Here, cutting them. Some people use scissors, or a pizza cutter.

Giving the marshmallows a corn starch/icing sugar bath.

The first batch is on the right, the second on the left. They are puffier as I used smaller pans to make them thicker, and didn’t over heat the syrup this time. They were a bit sweeter because there was more corn syrup in them, but the texture was wonderful.

Packaged up, tied with bakers twine and…

Given instructions and a best before date.

My recipe cards were some silly tissue paper fires. I think a grade two student may be more skilled with glue than I am.

So my tips:

• Use a medium sized, Teflon coated pot.
• Get a thermometer you trust, and pull the syrup off the stove at, or just below 240F.
• Coat your stiff spatula in spray oil or wet it first before scraping the marshmallow out of the mixer bowl.
• RESIST the urge to scrape everything out of the bowl. This is where things get really sticky. It may go against your nature of “getting the last drop”, but it will be easier.
• Use a mix of corn starch and icing sugar to roll the slightly sticky mallows in.

I will be trying lavender marshmallows soon, much like the ones I was too full to try from The Bison in Banff.

Some other marshmallow posts:

• Duchess marshmallows and mocha
• Marshmallow showdown: Whole Foods vs. Butter Bake Shop
• Recchiuti S’more pack

I’ve been crazy for gingerbread this year, and have been experimenting with different gingerbread recipes for a month.

Gingerbread

The best has been one that is molasses-y but not too much so, kind of crumby yet moist and very spicy, with both ginger powder and freshly grated ginger root. I’m about to make another batch tomorrow, this time with ginger chunks from Bulk Barn.

This opened the flood gates and I started obsessing over ginger flavours. Before I knew it, I was trying anything remotely ginger related. Gingerbread lattes at Starbucks (ho hum, kind of thin). Gingerbread snap cookies (meh.) Then, finally a break through:

Real ginger beer by Crabbie’s

Summer? We drank this the day it was -46C in Edmonton. No ice though.

This is an awesome alcoholic beverage by the way. I got it at Sherbrooke Liquor, when they were out of the newest obsession in the house, a beer called Route Des Épices (Ale Rousse Au Poivre) by Quebec’s Dieu Du Ciel (it’s spicy. VERY spicy.) $6 for a reasonable serving, and this was tart, spicy and light. It’s 4%.

Then, because it was so cold I wanted to find a way to keep warm. I made hot chocolate from scratch. That is to say…

Gingerbread Hot Chocolate

I attended a Christmas party a number of years ago where I remember exactly three things: we watched a Lord of the Ring marathon, we had souffles but the host was perturbed they fell, and there was some wicked home made hot chocolate with Screech in it.

What’s Screech? Why it’s a rum endemic to Newfoundland. Mike’s mom brought some back when she visited the east coast a few months ago. I’ve been dying to use it.

Real cinnamon reserved for special occasions

Chocolate “paste”

(This pot is my Gran’s. It is great for heating milk in, as it never burns, and stays hot a long time. She made it for making cream of wheat in.)

I edited my dad’s recipe for hot chocolate and came up with an awesome Gingerbread modification.

Gingerbread Hot Chocolate

• 1 cup of whole milk
• 2 portions of 1/4 cup heavy cream (i.e., whipping cream. My dad uses evaporated milk)
• 1.5 tablespoons of good-quality, unsweetened cocoa powder (I have started using Ghirardelli, but Valrhona or even Fry’s are good)
• 1.5 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 0.5-1 ounce Screech (or any rum. Can also be omitted entirely.)
• stalk of ginger root, peeled and cut into slices
• half stick of cinnamon
• dash of ginger powder and cinnamon
• whole cloves or nutmeg, if you have them

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat, pour in milk and 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Add ginger root, cinnamon and any other spices you desire, such as cloves and nutmeg. Let just come to a simmer, and drop heat until milk gets very hot and steeps in spices, 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine cocoa, sugar, dash of ginger powder and cinnamon, vanilla, rum and 1/4 cup of whipping cream with a whisk. It will get very pasty, so add milk or water to thin slightly and incorporate.

When milk has steeped, whisk in chocolate mixture until it has dissolved. Strain into a cup, over marshmallows or with fresh whipped cream on top.

This recipe is not too sweet, very spicy and highly drinkable. I don’t know how well it scales up, as I have only made two servings at a time of it. It’s quite rich.

Finally, at Duchess last week I saw one of their seasonal items:

Gingerbread macarons.

I have nothing to say other than: they’re great. Just like everything else they make.

Finally, at work a few weeks ago, we had to photograph some products from local business Beardog Cafe. One of their products smelled so good it was all I could do to not scarf it down as I shot it: Raven’s Gingerbread.

However, it’s for your four-legged friend. All-natural, and some pretty cute packaging, too.

Do you have any favourite ginger treats?

Our second night in Calgary, we visited Janice Beaton’s FARM. FARM is a casual restaurant serving mostly local meats and cheeses. The food is simple, but also simply well done. The decision on where to eat was easily made when we saw it was free corkage Mondays. We just so happened to have a bottle of champagne to drink.

FARM is cozy, outfitted with chandeliers and tea-cupped candles, rustic sideboards and tables, and mismatched, yet quaint cutlery. It’s farm-chic, I suppose. It’s kind of like eating at a friend’s house.

We started with a charcuterie board of three meats and three cheeses. They sell many of the cheese at their on site deli, but unfortunately they do not sell their housemade pâté. We would have purchased some of their rillettes which were meaty and tender. The mousse-like liverwurst from Old Country Sausage was very good as well.

Grilled cheese with tomato relish, pickles and slaw.

We each ordered a main dish, with a small dish of macaroni and cheese to share. The housemade pickles were crisp, but a little sweet for my tastes. I found the macaroni and cheese slightly thin in the sauce, but I couldn’t stop eating it.

Although comparable in flavour to Salt Tasting Room in Vancouver, prices were slightly higher, and portions slightly smaller. Such is Calgary! However, I will definitely return to FARM…especially for their brunch.

Dave & Jenn were commissioned to create the Christmas vignette at Livingstone & Cavell Extraordinary Toys in Kensington. They made this large poster on vellum, featuring some of the wind-up toys for sale in the shop. They had just picked the poster up when we arrived in Calgary, so we did not get to see the final Christmas display.

I managed to stop in at the new Holt Renfrew in downtown Calgary. Three floors of madness! I was really digging the Yves Saint Laurent shoes on the right.

The store reminds me of Barney’s, actually. There are many displays and curious to peer at all over if you are just a tourist like me.

Before we left, we ate at Delicious Thai in Kensington. They had Chang beer!

The dishes were well spiced and comforting on a cold night. The duck curry we got had rambutan floating around in it, cutting through the heat of the chilis. This restaurant was excellent, and is a definite eat again on the next visit.

Although it may be a bit of time before we are able to see Dave & Jenn again (they are busy folks!) I look forward to it.

It has been far too long since I visited Calgary. Nearly a year, in fact.

I’m a big fan of the city. Friends Dave + Jenn live in a great area, Kensington, and love to indulge my eating out when we visit, although we do stay in and cook from time to time. Last visit, Jenn made the richest, most savoury oxtail soup. Bravo!

This trip, they made their famous decadent, super-deluxe flourless chocolate cake for me. Three ingredients: butter, chocolate and eggs. Also, embracing a trend appearing in cakes at the moment: monograms! (They ARE artists, after all) It was a weekend of cakes, as I also brought some miniatures from Duchess Bake Shop.

We returned to Las Tortillas, where I bought four kilos of tortillas. They also offer tacos now, three kinds on weekdays (after noon) and four on weekends. At $3 a pop, they weren’t inexpensive, but they were delicious. Pork, beef and chicken were sampled, and the men liked the beef best. Jenn and I just got pork, but also curious Inca Kola. It’s produced by Coca Cola, but is very different. It’s a yellowish colour and tastes of cream soda. Very strange indeed. The grocery is also better stocked now, with selections of masa flour and various canned beans and chiles.

In Inglewood, the snow started to fall. We visited Savour, a small gourmet food and kitchenware shop.

Pollens, sugars and salts. There were lots of speciality items, including several kinds of popcorn.

Bonus: next door is Choklat. They’re a tiny chocolate purveyor who make their own chocolate. This may seem odd, but consider that many large chocolatiers import their cocoa. At Choklat, they select the cocoa beans and make everything themselves. I grabbed a few bars of chocolate, including the rare Porcelana. They also make boxed truffles to order, while you wait.

Six kinds of drinking chocolate? I had to indulge. The snow was coming down, and although the chocolate river smell of Choklat kind of turned my stomach. Seriously, it smelled like this looked:

The drinking chocolate was spicy, smooth and rich. It was almost syrupy it was so thick. I got the Orient Express with six spices, topped with a swirl of whipped cream and sprinkle of cinnamon.

The spoon comes in handy!

The last stop was The Cookbook Company. This speciality food store offers a wide selection of cookbooks, ingredients and wine but also arrange food tours, catering and cooking classes at their on site kitchen. I’d only been at their small outpost at the Currie Barracks Farmers Market, and was overwhelmed with their store.

Not enough chocolate at Choklat? There’s more at Cookbook Co., including Prestat, Vosges, and Valrhona.

Many kinds of olive oils and vinegars.

The prices were extremely high ($3-5 higher on similar products at grocery stores or even the Italian Centre), but I found many things that have been hard to find in Alberta thus far. Not a place to do your everyday shopping, but an easy one stop shop for special things.

Up next, FARM, Thai food and shopping downtown Calgary.

Be still my beating heart! A gift that combines three things I love: cooking, letterpress and tiny things.

A coworker saw this little book “Cooks, on Food, Eating and Cooking” at Notables and thought of me (so sweet!) so she gifted it to me. It’s a mini book, about 3 inches by 2 inches, letterpressed. Inside, quotes from chefs about the nature of food, cooking and eating. Perhaps a fun, whimsical gift for the food lover in your life?

While I have found the stereotype of journalists requiring a lot of coffee is often true, one cannot live on coffee alone. Unfortunately, weekends tend to be a wasteland in terms of food downtown, which is where the newsroom is.

Things got brighter when Healthfare opened a new outpost few weeks ago, however. The restaurant is not only open weekends, it serves breakfast and healthy food to boot. A location opened on the southside of Edmonton a little while back, and the restaurant has now expanded downtown.

The interior is bright and minimal, with funky lights and definite “green” slant. And I don’t just mean the murals.

The restaurants feature low flush toilets, reclaimed wood tables, recycled plastic chairs and energy efficient lighting, paired with eco-friendly packaging. They even deliver using a hybrid vehicle. There is also prominent caloric information, displayed serving sizes and a computer station where you can get guidance on what to order, based on your body type and energy requirements.

Nutritional Information Station. A bit hokey, a bit helpful. Healthfare is also currently working on a system that will allow people to text in their orders. I like their technological stance. The restaurant was opened by an electrician, so this stuff doesn’t really surprise me.

The menu items were planned out with help from a registered dietitian, and feature breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are soups, sandwiches, salads and ricebowls, as well as egg sandwiches and granola. I have now visited Healthfare twice, to mixed results. First, I’ll admit it is a bit pricey. A sandwich runs $9 or so. A bowl of soup $5.

My first visit, I got a chicken peanut lime rice bowl, $8.99

Or so I thought.

What I actually got was the beef orange rice bowl. Sigh. Not off to a good start, guys. I didn’t have time to run back and get my actual order.

The veggies were a bit limp and overcooked, and the beef was a bit chewy, although flavourful. I had to really dig for the rice, too. It was buried at the bottom. I enjoy brown rice, however, and liked it in this dish. It’s nuttiness and nutrition wins me over. The meat can be replaced with tofu.

My next visit, was slightly better. I got a few items for myself and a coworker. We both got the sandwich and soup combo for about $12. I regretted not getting the avocado laden Healthfare Club after seeing my coworker’s, but was satisfied with the goat cheese veggie. Savoury goat cheese with some eggplant, peppers, onion and zucchini and a bed of green leaf lettuce. The bun was, well, it was a low calorie bun as far as I could tell. They have a different texture and I think are a bit dry and bland. I think this sandwich would be great grilled.

There seem to be four soups constantly available. Butternut squash, carrot ginger and spicy tomato were highlighted both visits, with the fourth being a wildcard. On this day: curried lentil.

The soup was flavourful and well seasoned, but I found the broth a bit thin. I just might be used to Mike’s thick lentil dishes, though. What most impressed me were the lids for the packaging. Walking back to the office usually turns things upside down in bags, and gives them opportunity to leak. Both the soups made it back totally dry and intact.

About a cup of soup in the smaller size for $2.99.

The food was good, but not knock-my-socks-off good. A solid choice for lunch. It is mostly nice to know there is another option available downtown, especially on Sunday.  I look forward to trying the sweet potato fries and steel-cut oatmeal one day.

Healthfare
10279 Jasper Avenue
(also located on the southside of Edmonton, 10865 23 Avenue)
downtown hours:
Monday – Friday 6:30am – 9pm
Saturday 9am – 7pm
Sunday 10am-5pm

I eat a lot of sandwiches as meals. Perhaps because they’re easy, perhaps because they are infinitely customizable. Some favourites (made at home) include egg salad, BLTs, and grilled cheese. Purchased favorites are the pita pizza/sandwiches from Sunbake Pita and banh mi from Van Loc.

I had my first muffuletta when I was but a wee girl, or so the story goes according to my parents. Most recently, I had an authentic one while in New Orleans in 2001 (hardly recent!). I also had a crawfish po’boy, while wandering about.  These sandwiches are regional favourites, are packed with numerous ingredients, and filling. VERY filling.

I made a muffletta this weekend. It’s kind of wrong to just make a single sandwich, and it’s a thing best done to an entire loaf of bread.

An olive salad must be prepared, and meats acquired. They are layered thickly and compressed down.

First I started by hollowing out the loaf of french bread. Round breads or flatter breads are advised for this sandwich.

Then I made the olive salad. This is extremely customizable, but mine included kalamata olives, green olives, pepperocini peppers, roasted red peppers, roasted cauliflower, green onion, celery, garlic, carrots and parsley. Add lots of olive oil and pepper and let it marinate for a bit. It will last for some time in the fridge, so you may want to make a larger portion for future sandwiches. Like ajvar, it’s great on many things.

Layer after layer of meat was added. I included ham, mortadella and genoa salami, along with provolone and mozzarella cheese.

Sliced into chunks and warmed in the oven until the cheese melts, this is a hearty meal.

I don’t know why, but for many years I shied away from bolognese on restaurant menus. Perhaps I thought the sauce was plain and unsophisticated: I mean, meat sauce when you can have a fancier, harder-to-make cream sauce? Perhaps I was reliving bad memories of overdosing on bolognese in Belgium many years ago.

However, lately it has become a favourite pasta sauce. Although my recipe is far from authentic (many believe “true” bolognese should use white wine, not red, and uses very little tomato), it it still very good, and fairly easy to cook up.

My soffritto of carrots, celery, onion and pancetta, frying in a helping of butter and olive oil.

Chubs of meat are not the most attractive packaging. Plus they have a tendency to burst open into a wormy snake of meat when you cut into them.

My recipe only requires a cup of red wine, leaving a lot left in the bottle. I freeze a cup for use later, and drink some while cooking or use it in other cooking in the days after.

At $3.49 a can, these tomatoes were not cheap, but I tried them to see if there was a discernible difference. I think it is worth it to get tomatoes low in sodium and sugar, so that I can control the end flavours a bit better. Here, I am using kitchen scissors to cut the whole tomatoes into smaller bits.

I also spent a bit more on a different brand of tomato sauce. The ingredient list is a long one, as you can see. The paste and tomatoes had the added benefit of not tasting metallic.

Mike’s bowl on left, mine on right. I did go back for seconds, though. I serve a healthy serving of sauce with a chunky, chewy pasta such as orecchiette that helps scoop up the meaty sauce, and top it with cheese and parsley.

Lamb and Veal Bolognese

This will make several cups of sauce, which is good to freeze and serve with fresh pasta later, or just eat on its own. It’s a pretty forgiving recipe, so feel free to adjust amounts if need be.

• 0.635kg (1.5 lbs) meat. I used a mix of veal and lamb, but you could use beef and veal or pork.
• 1/2 cup pancetta, cubed. I just buy a chunk from the deli and cube it at home
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cup red wine you like (don’t cheap out, although it may be tempting)
• 28 oz. can tomatoes, whole and cut up or diced
• can of tomato paste
• cayenne powder, chili flakes to taste
• herbs,  dried or fresh
• salt and pepper

Set large pot on medium high heat, allow to warm up. Add diced pancetta, cook while stirring until it browns. Add splash of olive oil and butter, throwing in diced carrots, celery and onion. Allow this soffritto to soften and brown, about 10 minutes.

Add your meat, let brown. I normally add my spices at this point, cayenne or chili, dried thyme, oregano or basil. Crank the heat to high, and add the wine while scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze. Turn heat down to medium, allow to cook down for about 10 minutes, and add the tomato paste and entire can of tomatoes and juices. Allow to come to a boil, and simmer for as long as you can stand it, at least 45 minutes, but longer if possible.

For the past few years, Mike has gone hunting with his godfather and friends south of Edmonton. He wakes early, comes home late smelling of the outdoors, and, every year but one, has returned with a deer or a moose, stocking our fridge and freezer with delicious wild game.

We enjoyed some of the venison this week, as Mike prepped and cooked the backstrap. I wasn’t home for most of the preparation, but I do know there was an all day marinade in spices, beer and leftover red wine, then a rub. It was seared, then finished in the oven. The marinade was cooked down into a rich sauce, and we had it sliced into medallions, with big fluffy loaded baked potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts.

I hope you’ve not heard anything negative about deer, but if you have, it should be ignored. When prepared correctly, venison is flavourful and savoury, tender – not tough – and very lean.

I think we’ll try venison stroganoff and stew soon, and make some sausages.

Fixin’s for a loaded baked potato. Butter, old cheddar cheese, sour cream and salty pancetta bits.

Viphalay Laotian + Thai Restaurant
10724 – 95 Street, Edmonton
Open everyday, 11am – 9pm

I’m not sure if it is the colder weather or my parents talking about their annual winter move to southeast Asia, but I have been nuts for Thai and Laotian food lately. The flavours, spices and variety have been on my mind quite often. As as result, Mike and I have eaten at both Syphay and Viphalay in the past couple weeks. These are both restaurants that feature mixed menus of Thai and Laotian food.

Busy Friday night at Viphalay

The restaurant was busy on a Friday night at prime time, but we were still seated quickly as the waitress snatched a “reserved” sign off of a table for an obviously unfulfilled reservation. It was a bit chilly sitting next to the door though, as people were constantly filing in and out, picking up eat-out orders and coming in to dine.

We ordered some old favourites, like beef lahp salad and a hot red curry. Viphalay insists on serving sticky rice that is fresh, and so you must order it earlier in the day. That was a bit inconvenient, but I admire their dedication to fine foods. It’s the classic accompaniment to lahp, and makes it easy to make morsels of sticky rice and spicy-sour beef to pop into your mouth.

Mike ordered a Singha beer, which came in an extremely authentic style: an icy mug. Sometimes in Thai beach bars you will get your frosty beer in a beer koozie, and in mall beer gardens, a tabletop keg with an ice core, but usually it’s the icy mug. This simple step made me incredibly happy.

Side condiments of crushed dried red peppers and fermented chili garlic.

I had an ulcer for many years and was unable to fully enjoy spicy foods (not to mention the fire in my tender mouth) when I lived overseas but am now starting to ramp up my ability to eat them. We got a hot red curry, with a side of pungent fermented chili and garlic…which I avoided. Mike enjoyed it, though.

The forgettable BBQ beef. “Don’t eat the flower,” requested/told the server.

The food came out quickly and was great. The only thing I would avoid was the BBQ beef. They were quite bland and I found the curious curls of meat a bit tough. I still couldn’t stop popping them in my mouth, though.

Condensed milk roti roll

To finish, I could not avoid the siren song of the street cart favourite, roti, for dessert. These carts are all over Thailand, selling a thin crispy crepe of sorts, both chewy and crispy, sweet and a touch salty. Although there are an incredible variety to get now, including Nutella, raisins, peanut butter and so on, the gold standard is a combo of honey and banana or just condensed milk and sugar. I had no idea there was a place in Edmonton selling this hard to find treat, but I will return when I get my next craving, for sure. They are normally served up flat on a paper plate, sliced into squares, but little was lost in Viphalay’s artsy presentation.

Viphalay is a wonderful restaurant, serving up genuine Southeast Asian cuisine and hospitality. It was all I could do at the end of the meal to not ask for the cheque in the standard Thai manner: “Check bin, ka.” I will most certainly return.

Fiery lahp gnua and red curry with chicken

Thai iced tea candies with the bill, in what looked like a mango wood bowl.