Little Italy, A Little Risotto, and My Little Sister

Wednesday afternoon was a really enjoyable, really foodie time. Once classes were over, my little sister and I met up to shop for and cook dinner. I've been meaning to check out the Italian Centre Shop in Little Italy for quite some time. I'd heard it was awesome with so much Italian food and excellent prices. It was a bit of a journey from the University on the LRT and a really old-school electric bus. We thought it was like a journey back in time what with the old bus and the state of the Little Italy neighbourhood, which is maybe a touch run down. The store was absolutely awesome, though.

There was a lot of food you don't see elsewhere like goat stewing meat. There was a ton of dried pasta in every imaginable shape, a pretty much exhaustive selection of Italian cheeses and cured meats, and an olive counter. I found treasures like cheap figs and fennel bulbs in the produce department. There were also piles of Italian cookies and chocolates including single Bacci chocolates available at the checkout counters.

My sister and I bought ingredients for a recipe by Giada Di Laurentiis for Dirty Risotto, that features pancetta, hot Italian sausage, mushrooms, red bell pepper, onion, and Italian flat leaf parsley. For the two of us, we prepared essentially half the recipe with a few alterations. We used less than a tablespoon of butter and one approximately 4 ounce link of the Italian Centre's fresh hot sausage. We skipped the white wine due to the expense and the fact we wouldn't drink the rest but added a chopped clove of garlic with the vegetables. We also didn't add any salt. . . but that's a matter of taste. Leslie was a fantastic sous-chef and the dish came together beautifully. She even cut all the mushrooms really, really carefully into slices.

Here's our masterpiece:
The pork products added a ton of flavour to the risotto, which was also wonderfully creamy and starchy. Both my sister and I like starch so we really enjoyed this. The bits of sausage were very tasty, clearly the Italian Centre knows what they're doing making it. I think it was comparable to what I tasted in Southern Ontario. Freshly grated Parmesan also added delicious flavour.

I think this was my sister's first risotto and she liked it. As a side dish we had a plate of heirloom tomatoes with pepper and basil. It was an excellent choice to cut some of the starchy richness of the risotto. All in all, it was a really successful shopping trip and supper with my sister.

Dad Isn't Afraid of Yeast: Making Pizza

In my last post I conquered my fear of separating eggs and whipping egg whites. I still haven't started making food requiring yeast. My dad on the other hand uses yeast enough to have a brand preference so strong that he'll make a separate visit to a different supermarket just to get some of the right brand. But hey, that's okay with me if buying yeast means he will make one of my favourite foods. . . PIZZA!!!!

I think I request pizza pretty much every time I'm at home now, but really who doesn't want pizza? He made extremely loaded pizza for Christmas Eve. That was pretty traditional pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. But this time, he was up for an experiment in the form of an attempt to recreate a Murrieta's flatbread he had once in Canmore at home. Needless to say he was impressed by the restaurant's creation. I believe it must have been the "Chorizo" with sun dried tomatoes, roasted mushrooms, black olives, and goat cheese. Incidentally, he must have forgotten about the mushrooms since he didn't suggest including any. But, what do you expect from a guy who persists in calling chorizo "chorozo"? Anyways, mushrooms or none, my dad makes a mean pizza and the experiment was a success.

I was semi-involved in the process so I'll tell you more or less how it went down:

My dad prepared a sauce of fresh Roma tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper. He put it in the fridge until we were ready for the pizza making. He also cooked up some Spolumbo's chorizo sausages and sliced them and let them brown nicely. I think these were also chilled until the main event.

Next, came the magic I know not as he made a whole wheat pizza dough crust. This was actually the first time I had his pizza in it's new whole wheat form and it was a winner with more flavour than a white crust. I also know that the crust utilized the fine buckwheat honey we bought at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto in place of sugar. The honey flavour was too subtle for me to notice despite using the "Guinness of honeys," buckwheat honey.

The oven was preheated to 450 F with a ceramic pizza stone inside while the pizzas were prepared. The tomato sauce was spread over the dough, which was shaped by hand. Next the topping were arranged on top including sausage slices, strips of sun dried tomato, and pieces of kalamata olive. Finally, large crumbles of soft goat cheese were added. We to reconstitute the sun dried tomatoes in boiling water for 2 minutes and pit the olives. To pit the olives my dad smashed them with the side of a knife like you would with garlic. It really makes the pits easier to remove.

This is the pizza before baking on a sheet metal pizza paddle with cornmeal for easy transfer to the stone in the oven:
And this is the delectable pizza after baking. . . a little longer than my dad wanted to 'cause I like a crisp crust:
It was really good and different from the usual pizza. There was much less cheese but the cheese that was on the pizza was creamy, tangy, perfect goat cheese. The crust was crisp and tasty with it's light smearing of fresh tomato sauce. The toppings: olives, sun dried tomatoes, and chorizo were all very flavourful. Needless to say, I did my part in eating the pizza. My dad was disappointed with the minimal leftovers with me home and eating pizza.

For the record, my mom also makes great food. I couldn't get enough of her Caesar salad the night before we returned to Edmonton.

Family Vacation

I haven't updated this blog in a while, I know. That's because I was away for a week visiting family in Southern Ontario. So, I guess I will mention a few food related highlights. Actually my sister complained that it was a week of sitting around and eating. But, I'd say we weren't just sitting there and I don't mind eating.

Over the first few days in Mississauga we enjoyed sausages, kabobs, and a "happy cake" made by my grandma. It was a very Paula Deen style cake using yellow cake mix with canned mandarins mixed in and a Cool Whip, vanilla pudding, and canned pineapple topping. But it really was pretty tasty, moist and smelled like a creamsicle.

Our next stop was in Uxbridge. At lunch we had amazing tarts from a place that I think is called Butter Tarts and More. I had a blueberry one. Dinner included some amazingly sweet corn. Afterwards we went to Kawartha Dairy for ice cream. My dad's cousin was told that she wouldn't be cool if that's the only place she took my sister and I. But, I think ice cream is pretty awesome. A whole bunch of us went and we all got "baby size" ice creams. They were still pretty big to me and a bargain at $1.90 each. There were a ton of flavours and I chose Heavenly Hash. It was quite good with big bits of chocolate covered almond, chocolate ice cream, and marshmallow swirl.

Next we went to Waterloo. The most interesting and best things that I ate there were a peach and tomato salsa for pork that my aunt made and lots of fresh, wild blueberries with vanilla ice cream for dessert and in my cereal for breakfast. They were super tiny and berry tasty.

Later we went to downtown Toronto for an afternoon. For lunch I had a pulled pork sandwich at the Hard Rock Cafe. It might seem lame and touristy, but I think they knew what they were doing with the mountain of pulled pork. It was tender, vinegary, and just so good. There wasn't too much sauce and the meat really shone though. The beans on the side were also very tasty, the fries were crisp, and the coleslaw was okay. It was pretty good value, too at about $11.

Back in Mississauga with another uncle, we ate really well. Dave was a fantastic cook and host. The first night we went to his favourite pub, The Crooked Cue in Port Credit, for dinner. I'd been there before years ago. My dad and I split a Greek Pizza and a Greek Salad. They were both a good size and well prepared. The salad was perfectly dressed, not over dressed. The pizza, my first in months or so it seems, was good with a thin crispy crust and tasty toppings. Dave says that all the food there is generally well prepared.

The next night, my uncle made spaghetti with red sauce and a choice of fixings. Most of us had it with hot Italian sausage, red bell pepper, and zucchini. It was really good. Man do I love pasta.

The following night was a serious feast thanks to this contraption:
This is a smoker from Texas also known as a real "barbecue." My uncle made smoked chicken and sausage with maple and cherry woods. It was amazing as was his vinegary barbecue sauce. The side dishes were pretty good as well with green salad, potato salad, German coleslaw, bread, German mustard, and pickles. It was completely fascinating to watch the smoking process and eat the results. The meat was extremely tender and flavourful after it's low, slow, and smokey cooking. It was a serious privilege to have real Southern barbecue made just for us.

Let's Talk Good Breakfasts

During our weekend in Calgary, Albert and I essentially skipped lunch opting instead for gargantuan breakfasts at Avenue Diner, which a waitress at Milestone's (closed at the time) recommended. This turned out to be an excellent breakfast spot.

On Sunday morning, there was a short wait to get in around 10. Interestingly, there were about a dozen firefighters eating at the counter. They must have known it was good. I took their presence as a good sign. On this morning we went with traditional, hearty breakfasts of two eggs, maple bison sausage, hash browns and toast. My poached eggs were perfectly cooked with delightful runny yolks in which I dipped some of the multi-grain toast. The rest of the toast was slathered with an in-house berry jam that was absolutely delicious. Hash browns were very good, well seasoned and of the pan fried variety. The bison sausage was also excellent as it was no overly greasy and quite tasty. Maybe that's not a very good description, but I'd eat it again. Albert ate the same thing with eggs over easy.

On Monday morning, our breakfast was quite late but I think breakfast is served well into the afternoon. I went with a super-sugary breakfast this time, the banana split waffle. No ice cream was involved but the four pieces of waffle were between the halves of a banana and covered in lots of whipped cream, chocolate sauce, strawberries, and some chopped walnuts. There's nothing like chocolate at breakfast and I really enjoyed the strawberries and banana. The waffles were good, so good I sort of wished there was less chocolate and whipped cream on them so I could taste the waffle for itself. I felt a little guilty about this breakfast though, too much sugar and not enough substance. Albert ordered the Avenue French Toast stuffed with brie and bacon and served with sauteed granny smith apples. This dish had been mentioned by the server who recommended the diner. It seemed not as generous as other breakfasts, although perhaps very rich, as it was only two halves of one stuffed thick slice of bread. I tried a bit and thought it was good. Albert however commented that it might have been a little over cooked to his taste. Overall, breakfast at the Avenue Diner was very good, even if the chairs were slightly uncomfortable. Service was good and we were recognized on our second visit.

Before Albert left Edmonton on Thursday morning, we had some breakfast the the Sugarbowl. I've mentioned it many times and I need only say that the half cinnamon bun and fruit salad did not disappoint. The bun was a delicious blend of textures--soft and crisp-- with caramelized bits once again.

Yin and Yang: Quinoa and Sausage

Quinoa is supposed to be this super-healthy grain-like substance that contains all the essential amino acids. I've been meaning to try it for a while. If it tastes good what's not too like. Now, you might think I'd incorporate it into some super-healthy dish. But, that's not quite what I did. You see, at the same time I bought the quinoa at Save-On I also bought some Spolumbo's Spicy Italian Sausage.

Thus I created a sort of sausage "ragout" perhaps and served it over quinoa. It also may have been good over pasta. Anyways, what I did was to boil the sausage until it was mostly cooked. Then I sliced it and sauteed it in a little olive oil with about one medium chopped onion; seven large, chopped crimini mushrooms (the brown ones), and a couple of chopped garlic cloves. I sauteed for quite a while to try to get things browning. Then I added a 14 ounce can of plum tomatoes that i stabbed up a bit (stabbing is a good cooking technique, you should stab the sausage with a fork while you boil it). I added some pepper, thyme, and oregano and let it simmer for a bit. Towards the end of the simmering I added a chopped red bell pepper and some crushed chili pepper flakes. Finally, at the very end I stirred in some fresh parsley. I served it over quinoa (cooked by boiling for 15 minutes) and garnished with parsley and grated Asiago cheese.

This is what my concoction looked like:

It was quite delicious, spicy from the pepper flakes and sausage. Sweet with red bell peppers. Aromatic from the herbs. Meaty-tasting chunks of mushroom and of course the incorporable joy of pieces of sausage.

You might be wondering about the quinoa: Did that "grain" work? It worked wonderfully. It has this fantastic slightly chewy texture and a subtle flavour. I liked the way it stuck to the bits of meat and vegetables in this dish. This is what cooked quinoa looks like if you're curious:

I cooks up fast, tastes good, has an appealing texture, and is very healthy as it is high in fibre and protein. I can see myself buying more quinoa and making it a regular part of my dining at home. Actually, I ate quinoa today as sort of a "salad." I sauteed peas, garlic sprouts, and green onion and mixed that with quinoa, canned sardine, pepper, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. I thought it was pretty decent for something thrown together and quite enjoyed the quinoa. But, no photo of that.

What I call garlic sprouts are shoots cut off the green part of the garlic growing in the garden. They tasted garlicy but not really strong.

Quinoa must be rinsed thoroughly prior to cooking to remove its bitter outer layer.

You Are What You Eat

In that case, what am I you might ask? Assuming I'm not a grain, fruit, or vegetable.......I'm probably a pig. That's me....

Living in Alberta, you would think I would eat a lot of beef. Or being a North American in general, a lot of chicken. . . because everything else tastes like chicken anyways. It's not that I never eat those things, it's just that in the last couple of weeks I don't think I've eaten chicken or beef since April 13. I know I ate burgers on that day.

So if I've been chicken and beef free, what have I been eating for that all important protein? As far as animal protein goes mainly pork and a touch of lamb. I've also been eating eggs and various seafood. Plus, I've had beans in my delectable vegetarian chili. I prefer it to my beef chili. I guess that's just because I love beans. But today, I want to talk pork.

I think pork is incredibly varied in its applications. A lot of people think of bacon when they think of tasty pig flesh. I'm not really a fan of bacon, I eat it on occasion and never make it at home. I do like back bacon though, that stuff is lean and tasty. Pork is also found in sausages, hams, pork chops, pork roast, cured meats, and many other things. I would love to cause someone with a religious ban on eating pork to lapse. . . I'm a little evil like that. I also want to see vegetarians lapse.

Anyways, I went on a "special" food shopping trip yesterday. The stuff I bought mainly fell into three categories: produce, cheese, and pork. Obviously, Canada's Food Guide recommends that we all eat mainly full fat cheese and pork. I'm probably going to post about cheese later, so let's talk about the pork products.

I'm a very, very frequent sandwich eater. So naturally, I got something made of pork for my sandwiches....hot, lean capicollo. It's pretty good stuff, I like the spiciness. It beats my usual hams because of that and makes me feel like a proper Italian, even if my mom doesn't make great cannelloni all the time.

I was more excited about the sausage I got, a Spolumbo's spicy Italian sausage. This is the most decent Italian sausage I know of in Alberta. I always hear about how great the sausages are at the Italian grocery stores my uncles visit in Ontario. I haven't been there in three years, so I don't know much about them. Anyways, I was inspired to combine my sausage with a really long eggplant, pictured here:

You might notice a theme with this meal....everything is a bit phallic. So anyways, I cobbled together my culinary not-quite-masterpiece by roasting the chopped eggplant with olive oil, pepper, and salt in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes until it was a bit brown. Meanwhile in the bat cave, I partially cooked the sausage by boiling it in a frying pan. . . kinda weird I guess. Then, I cut it up and browned it in a saucepan. When the sausage was cooked, I added a chopped zucchini (phallus number 3), and a chopped clove of garlic and sauteed those a bit. Then, I added about half a cup of water to deglace the pan--that means to remove the brown tasty bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. When the eggplant was ready, I stirred it in and kept it cooking a bit longer. The end result, severed on a piece of toast because I always need me some carbs, looked like this:

It looks weird and not necessarily appetizing. You might wonder how it tasted, or you might not care. Either way, I'm going to say: it was okay. The sausage was good, but somehow I think it's better in a tomato sauce on pasta. I quite enjoy zucchini, so it's good if you like that. The eggplant though is interesting. I like it, but I could see how a lot of other people would be turned off by the texture. It can be a touch slimy, but I like unusual textures so it was good. Maybe this would have been better with couscous, but I'm out of that. Also, I think the sausage wasn't spicy enough to flavour everything like I thought it would.

I'm sure you're dying for one more pork related comment. My favourite cut of plain pork is the tenderloin--so tender, so lean, so delicious if you don't really, really overcook it like Albert and I did once. I once made this pork tenderloin with mango chutney for Leslie. I cooked the pork in the oven, not on a barbecue. It was really good, easy, and pretty impressive.

That's enough about my pig eating habits, I'm sure you agree.