Taste For Life

What are you doing next Wednesday? Maybe you should eat out!!

April 28th is Taste for Life.
Selected restaurants donate 25% of the bill to support the HIV/AIDS organization in your community - well worth eating out with friends! What a great opportunity to try out new restaurants...

We had the great pleasure of hosting the media launch yesterday, look at these beautiful bites from participating venues:

Lovely vegan bites from Zen Kitchen, the first being a crispy lotus root chip with sauteed mushroom, carrot and pineapple glaze (Opening picture for this blog post) and a very precious edamame bite, so pretty!

Lapointe obviously showcased what they do best, fish! A gigantic piece of tuna was coated in sesame seeds and served with a spicy mayo and roe.

And last but not least, delicious fluffy marsmallows. These had me dreaming. Go to Thyme and Again and buy some, buy a ton, they are perfect little host gifts. Or a caring thought to brighten up a day!

-marysol

The Mediterranean Diet

Like a little mouse, I stayed hidden behind the class and listened to what Chef Larissa Beznaczuk-Smyrnew had to say about the powers of the mediterranean diet.

She started by declaring her love of wine and cheese, but... all in moderation. This is one of the secrets behind the Mediterranean Diet. Not holding back from all that seems forbidden, but rather eating small portions of it.

Slowly, we should all shift our mindsets to the Europeen way of eating, smaller portions, quality ingredients in their most natural form. Raw vegetables and fruit more often. Natural fats. Incorporating more nuts and grains into our meals.

By now, we should all know to stay away from processed foods and be aware of what processed foods are! Some say that all your food items your grandparents and great grandparents should be able to identify, so they should be wholesome, in their most basic form.

This class has been such a success that we will run a 4th quite soon, we'll keep you posted!

...wishing you all a food-filled weekend!

-marysol

byow dinner: chef michael moffat, beckta

mike moffat, executive chef at beckta with chef de cuisine, dirk mccabe, put on a spectacular dinner of all things "wild and raw" - this was our first ever bring your own wine dinner and it proved to be a huge hit with all 18 guests. we started in the kitchen and spent some time oohing and ahhing over the bison amuse: the dish was served "new style sashimi" with pickled shallots, fresh wasabi and the showstopper - fingerlime - which gave the dish an incredible lift.

i snapped a few shots from the event and have included the ostrich tartare (above) accompanied by a sous-vide poached egg, Parmesan wafer and root cellar chips. this dish, as chef moffat explained, starts off arranged in typical tartare style on the plate, but he encouraged diners to break it down with their fork and mix all the flavours together to incorporate the egg and the chips so that a variety of taste and textures collide in the mouth - very effective for this dish.a gamay or chianti was the wine of choice for this course.

not included in the photos was a magret duck breast course: house cured duck ham with fig mostarda, bitter greens and cranberry cumberland sauce. most guests chose an off-dry riesling or a sparkling wine with this dish and from what we heard, it was a perfect match.

the entree was wild turkey - sourced from mirabel, quebec. it was cooked sous-vide for 24 hours and served with a "stuffing" rosti (reminiscent of thanksgiving dinner), with caramelized brussel sprouts and bourbon jus. in the photo above, chef moffat managed to sneak in a bit of wild turkey confit which was so sumptuous! most of the table enjoyed pinot noir with this dish.

of course, this early spring dinner would not be complete without maple. and the chef's outdid themselves with "maple 5 ways": coffee cake, toffee, gelato, cotton candy and preserved strawberry maple jam. this dish got two thumbs up and no crumbs were left on the plate.

chef moffat joins us again in august for his next "byow" dinner. reservations are limited to 18 guests so if you are interested, please call in early to reserve your spot.

Dreaming of Spices

I hope our lucky giveaway winners enjoyed Cooking With Stella!

I have been thinking about spice a lot lately and will definitely test out butter chicken recipes quite soon - that was the #1 request from our readers. Can I honestly say that I have not eaten this more than twice? So far, I have preferred nicely done Tandoori chicken, but I may change my mind!

Some of you also asked for restaurant recommendations... When I crave juicy, tender tandoori chicken, I go to Ceylonta. Every single time, it has lived up to my expectations.

I read just yesterday some wonderful suggestions from Ottawa Food Blogger Shari of Whisk - she also writes for Metro, read her Indian Lunch suggestions!

Spices, spices, spices. I suggest that you buy the best possible... Read Rachelle Eats Food and her wonderful discovery of Epices de Cru. Philippe de Vienne and Ethnee have been to the urban element some years ago and had the most impressive selection and quality - it is worth every penny.

No ham, lamb or turkey for me this Easter - I'm trying out Indian at home!

-marysol

gnocchi dearest

i have always loved gnocchi.
making gnocchi is a labour of love, its an involved, dedicated process.
but the results are worth it! after roasting potatoes, scooping out flesh and pushing the potato through a ricer, mix together with one egg, flour & salt.shape into a ball and cut in four (as above).

roll into strips .... its up to you the size you like

...i like to cut on the diagonal into diamond shape pillows. then toss
the dumplings on a baking sheet coated with flour

boil the gnocchi in salted boiling water until each floats to the top.
remove with a slotted spoon. toss with quality olive oil and let sit until use.
in my opinion, the sauce is the most important (and delicious) part of gnocchi, so put some love into it! this gnocchi was savoured with a porcini and pork ragu, torn fresh basil and a ridiculous amount of parmesan!

-carley

Cooking with Stella ticket giveaway!!!

I recently received 10 double passes to the premiere screening of Cooking with Stella (thank you Mongrel Media!!!) and thought of sharing them with you... but there is a catch.

We would like to hear about your favourite Indian dish.
Is it something that you make at home? Do you have a recipe? Then please share it!
Do you have a favourite Indian restaurant? What are the must haves on the menu?
Maybe would you like to learn to prepare a certain dish that you have tasted? We can test it out for you and post the results!

View the Cooking with Stella trailer and get more info here.
The tickets that we have are for Thursday, March 25th at 7pm for the Coliseum Cinema.

Please reply to marysol@theurbanelement.ca

fun bite

Kerr Farm Beef & Butterfly Sky Farms Microgreens with an Herb Aïoli on Bleu Bénédictine Gougères. Num. Nummmm.