Not-So-Crappy Ice Cream And The Market

One of my favourite places in the entire city of Toronto is St. Lawrence Market. With a plethora of fresh produce vendors, butchers, fish mongers and bakers bringing their best to the market each day, it is a dream for foodies.

Saturdays, St. Lawrence hosts a farmer's market across the street which I visit regularly for a number of specialty items. Throughout the summer I regularly drop by several of the different butchers to pick up meat for the grill and find the seafood some of the freshest available in the city.

But of course, the vegetarian cleanse continues this week and when I was by the market running an errand for The Gullet I had to avoid my usual stops in favour of something a little more... Earthy. While the prices are usually expensive, you can always find great produce throughout the market and it was easy to find a few great ingredients for a salad, but St. Lawrence offers so much more than fruits and veggies for the beef challenged.

I have always been a big fan of the Stonemill Bakehouse on the lower level, but on our recent travels throughout Europe my love for Stonemill's baguettes was confirmed. The Gullet and I were lucky enough to stay about a half a block from one of the tastiest streets in Paris last month. Rue Montorgueil is lined with fabulous cafes, restaurants, bakers and more (a lot like St. Lawrence Market). For a true taste of Paris I wouldn't recommend any other location and you can't make a bad choice picking up a fresh baguette from any one of the many artisan boulangeries on the street.

It's kind of a cliche, but it's also true that the streets of Paris are regularly filled with busy Parisians hurriedly walking around with a baguette under one arm and a bottle of wine in hand.

A few years ago the art of baking baguettes was almost dead before the French government stepped in and decided to make it illegal to mass produce the baguette, forcing the truly talented bakers into action and saving the tasty, crusty breads from extinction. While Paris is clearly the best place in the world to find a great tasting baguette, the Stonemill Bakehouse measures up to some of that city's best and I always grab at least one on a trip to the market.

However, man and Gullet cannot live on bread and salad alone. I needed something resembling a main course for dinner and faced with more back bacon specials than one meat-free man should have to endure, I was starting to wonder if this whole vegetarian exercise was worth it before I turned the corner on the market's lower level and ran into European Delight.

Along with some really great potato latkes, traditionally flavoured cabbage rolls and the like, Boris and Bella Reizas offer some of the finest homemade perogies in Toronto out of their little corner of the market.

While the vegetarian cleanse ensured I could not partake in the doughy dumplings filled with potato, bacon, cheddar and onion, it did not stop me from grabbing two dozen of the cheese, potato and onion variety. When it came time for dinner I lightly fried them up with a little red onion and served them along side a dollop of sour cream and my market fresh salad. Crispy yet still doughy, The Gullet and I discovered quickly that, bacon or no bacon, there is good reason these perogies are considered among the city's elite.

Having eaten a half dozen fresh baked cookies from the local grocery store the night before (as I am known to do), I couldn't bring myself to purchase any of the delectable deserts on offer at the market, but I forgot all about that on my way home when I noticed an old friend had come back to the neighbourhood.

Anybody who made the trek to The Beaches last summer might have noticed the Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop was never open. It seemed crazy that an ice cream shop would be closed all summer, but it was. In fact, while it seemed less crazy, it remained closed all winter as well.

Much to the delight of kids of all ages along Queen Street East with short memories, Ben and Jerry are back! But the reason forgetfulness is of great importance here is that both Ben and Jerry were full of crap last year.

The story is that the city was working on the sidewalk outside the shop and a pipe burst flooding the store and forcing its closure. Unfortunately it wasn't just any pipe - this one was full of raw sewage. Famous for their crazy flavour concoctions, Ben and Jerry decided to shut down rather than try out the "T-Dot Doo Doo" flavour on an unsuspecting public.

While I'm sure the proprietors of the local shop were hoping a year off would help everyone forget what happened and come back, I'm also sure they did a hell of a job cleaning the place up.

Toronto Health must half been convinced as well as they green lighted the re-opening and The Gullet and I had our first taste last night.

Always willing to celebrate new beginnings, we welcomed Ben & Jerry's back to the beaches with two new flavours. First we tried something called Imagine Whirled Peace, a tasty combination including caramel and sweet cream ice creams swirled with fudge peace signs and toffee cookie pieces. It was awesome and went well with the less sweet ONE Cheesecake Brownie flavour that featured a combination of cheesecake ice cream and cheesecake brownie chunks.

Trust me folks - this is not crappy ice cream and The Gullet and I will surely be back!

Salad or Primavera: Posting Pasta Possibilities

Despite the fact I am still eating only vegetarian food for the next little while, I managed to find a way to fall back on a few old stand-bys this weekend when entertaining and discovered something new about a popular dish I've made for a very long time.
First things first though - I believe I owe you all one an Eggplant Parmesan recipe. I made some noise about this in previous posts and want to get it out there because it's as simple as it gets and also as tasty.
I make frequent trips to Chinatown on Spadina for several reasons. One happens to be the price of produce. For some reason a few of the grocery shops on Spadina around Dundas have some of the cheapest fruits and vegetables in the city. The difference in price compared to a grocery store can be staggering for many items. I'm not sure why it's so cheap, but I'm not complaining. If you can stand the smell of some of these places (warning: fish mongers abound) then you can get great prices on some really fresh produce - just make sure you give it a good wash considering the massive pest population in the neighbourhood.
When I decided to start this little vegetarian experiment, it was a given I would stock up on produce on at least one trip to Spadina and Dundas. When I did get over there last week and found a few choice looking eggplants, I decided it was time to throw together a little Eggplant Parmesan.
The first thing I do is slice the eggplant on the bias, turning it into five or six (depending on the size of the eggplant) half-inch thick slices. I roll the slices in flour, dip them in egg wash (an egg and a little milk) and then cover them in a breadcrumb mixture. You can use plain old breadcrumbs for this, but why bother. I toss in a little basil and oregano, Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes to give it a little flavour.
Once the eggplant is covered you fry the slices in a little bit of oil - just enough to brown each side, then pull them out and place them on a cookie sheet.
Next you add a little tomato sauce and cheese. The sauce is really up to you. Whether you choose to make a great tomato sauce from scratch or cheat with some store bought it will taste great. Either way, put a large spoonful on top of each eggplant slice and cover with grated mozzarella. Throw them in the oven long enough to melt the mozza and serve. I like a little pasta and fresh salad on the side, but these are also great tucked between slices of garlic bread for an Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich - a truly great idea if there are leftovers for lunch the next day.
I would make Chicken or Veal Parmesan the same way, but the way the eggplant seems to melt in your mouth makes it a better choice even if you are eating meat.
My vegetarian cleanse continued through the Victoria Day long weekend as The Gullet and I made use of the three days off by visiting with some family and friends. While I was stuck eating side dishes only on Friday night with my family, it gave me a chance to avoid my mother's usually desert-dry chicken. The Gullet swore up and down it was great this time, but everyone can tell when she's lying.
When Sunday rolled around it was time for her family to do the same. The Gullet's sister, brother in-law and four-year-old nephew were scheduled to drop by for dinner giving me a chance to try out a vegetarian menu on them. But when I woke up Sunday morning, I was feeling a little less than creative kitchen-wise.
These are usually the times to lean on a few standard recipes you've made for years that can please any crowd. However, this left me in a bit of a situation as I wanted to continue to cook vegetarian, but my old stand-by recipe book isn't exactly filled with meat-free staples.
In the end, I decided my Pasta Salad, loosely based on a dish I used to make at a restaurant I worked at 15 years ago, would make a good choice. It's simple, flavourful, chock full of freshness and no meat to speak of.
I thought it might be a good idea to pair the pasta with some fresh Bruschetta as well and decided to twist things up adding a little roasted red pepper to a standard Bruschetta mix I planned to serve over a little grilled garlic bread.
The pasta salad is quick and easy. First you thinly slice two red, two green and a yellow pepper and toss them in all in a large bowl. Then add a small red onion sliced, a couple of broccoli crowns cut up and four roma tomatoes seeded and thinly sliced.
For the pasta, I use cheese tortellini - usually a large handful for every person I plan to serve. It only takes a couple of minutes to cook and then I shock it under cold water once it's done and add it to the bowl full of fresh veggies.
Store bought works, but I have made my own in the past and you can't beat the flavour of fresh pesto. Either way, you toss the veggies and pasta in about six tablespoons of pesto sauce, add a few toasted pine nuts and serve it up.
The Bruschetta mix isn't any more difficult. This time you seed and dice about six roma tomatoes, dice an entire large red onion and mix it all together in a bowl. Add in some fresh oregano, basil, extra-virgin olive oil and a whole lot of garlic for flavour and you are almost done.
Normally a little salt and pepper would be enough to make this taste great over some fresh bread, but this time I roasted two red peppers over charcoal and diced them up before adding it to the mix.
With the coals still warm, I brushed a little garlic, chillies and olive oil on slices of fresh baguette and toasted them up before serving the Bruschetta on top.
I made a little Caesar Salad just to give us a little roughage with all the raw vegetables and everybody ate well.
As usual, I made way too much food and with a fridge full of leftovers, Monday started out looking a whole lot like Sunday when it came time to eat - until The Gullet got involved.
The Pasta Salad has never been her favourite and Sunday she decided to blame that on the fact it was too cold and much too raw. Instead of closing her eyes and forcing it down, The Gullet came up with a new plan - heat and serve. She tossed it in a little leftover tomato sauce from the Eggplant Parmesan served earlier in the week and cooked it up. I just used some more pesto and did the same a little later and we were both extremely pleased with the results.
It would be hard to count how many times I've had great hot food one night and still enjoyed it cold the next day, but this may be the very first time I've had great cold food and enjoyed it warm a day later - who knew yesterday's Pasta Salad could become today's Pasta Primavera!

I’ll have the alfalfa sprouts and a plate of mashed yeast

Lick's proudly touts is Nature Burger as "award winning" and "the best bar none." Those are pretty lofty claims for the simple little vegan soy patty, but as anyone who has tasted it will tell you; it's pretty damn good.

As I mentioned previously, in my efforts to stay vegetarian for the month (really only three weeks or so) I have eaten a lot of salad, a lot of pasta and tried a few new tricks in the kitchen, but lately I've turned to meatless burgers to quench my thirst for cow.

After falling in love with the Harvey's Veggie Burger a few days back, it was time to take The Gullet over to Lick's last night and see if they could measure up.

There's no doubt, at a quarter of a pound, the Lick's Nature Burger is bigger, but I can't say it's any better. While the flavour of the Harvey's Veggie Burger could best be compared to... a Harvey's Original Hamburger, the Nature Burger has a unique flavour all it's own that screams out soy.

It's not that it doesn't taste good, it's just that it's not going to fool anybody into thinking they're chowing down on a real quarter-pounder. A tasty sandwich, but the next time I go to Lick's it'll be for the Home Burger, while I am still considering making the Veggie Burger my regular choice at Harvey's.

Unfortunately, that next trip to Lick's may be quite far off as The Gullet ran into a few issues with the staff there last night. We had to draw a road map to the spicy mustard sitting right in front of the girl serving us as pointing and screaming didn't seem to get The Gullet's desires across to her. Then when we arrived home and pulled the burgers out of the bag it was too late to remind the condiment-challenged counter staff about that cheese on top she'd bought and paid for. A little less than satisfied with the service, The Gullet could only remark that the Nature Burger had tasted better the last time she bought a box full of frozen ones and made it herself - Surprisingly, she had zero complaints about the fries and onion rings though.

While these meat-free burgers have dominated the menu during my vegetarian experiment the last couple of days, I do understand that eating out for the average vegetarian is about more than just meat substitutes slapped between two sides of a bun - Although, in the city of Toronto, there's really not that much more to it.

Vegetarian restaurants in this city seem to fall into just two tiny categories. First we have the trendy, where you might find yourself chewing on a plate of steamed bok choy, kale, swiss chard and broccoli with grilled tempeh, pickled ginger, toasted sunflower seeds, tahini sauce,
toasted nori and ginger tamari sauce while sipping on a wheatgrass shake - not that there's anything wrong with that.

There's about a dozen of these spots scattered throughout the downtown core filled with new-age hippies plotting the death of George W while crunching away on portion sizes that are less than hearty. The chefs at most should be commended for their creative use of veggies, but I hate paying for food that just makes me want to go out to eat afterwards.

The other kind of vegetarian restaurant you can find in Toronto is, of course, Indian. Indian restaurants across the planet have been offering great vegetarian food forever, but with an increasing number of people being drawn to the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle, more and more strictly vegetarian Indian eateries are popping up all over the map.

Always a fan of Indian fare, meatless or not, I took The Gullet to Siddhartha Pure Vegetarian Cuisine this past weekend. We opted for the $11 dinner buffet filled with Vegetarian South and North Indian delights including dosas, dals, vegetable curries, naan, and a few different variations on basmati rice. While everything was quite tasty, certainly fresh and dripping with Ghee, it's worth noting The Gullet claimed the Pakora were the best she'd ever had.

The four or five block stretch of Gerrard where the restaurant is found is known as Little India and along with Siddhartha Pure Vegetarian, a whole whack of other Indian restaurants and way too many saree shops to count, you'll find Siddhartha Pure Vegetarian Cuisine's meaty little cousin Siddhartha, commonly referred to as one of the best Indian restaurants in the city.

Knowing how good vegetarian Indian food can be, there was never any doubt it would be on the menu at home during this vegetarian cleanse as well. Last week I decided to throw a few new twists into my standard quick-curry recipe and came out with a Spinach and Eggplant Curry that tasted great just off the stove and even better the next day (as usual).

It begins, like all my curries, with a slab of butter (three or four tablespoons) and a chopped onion. I usually cook the onion in the butter until you can see through it and then add potatoes and chick peas. However, this time I cubed up an eggplant and threw it in instead.

After mixing the onion and eggplant around a little I covered it in curry powder, picked the stems off a half a bag of spinach, washed it and threw it in as well.

This is the time I usually cover the ingredients in chicken stock and let it cook down, but continuing with the vegetarian theme I used vegetable stock this time around. I understand most people cooking at home don't have the time or the desire to make their own stock, but it's important not to use plain old water here (or anywhere else for that matter). Just boil a little water and add a vegetable bouillon cube if you must.

Once the ingredients are covered in stock I'll add a tomato, whole or sometimes cut in half, throw in a couple chillies for flavour, bring it to a boil, turn down the temperature and let it cook down, uncovered for a good hour or so. This brings all the flavours together and usually allows the liquid to cook down to a nice thick sauce. Once thickened, I served it hot over a little basmati rice to rave reviews from The Gullet that night. But after I let it cool and threw it in the fridge overnight, it made an even better filling for a roti the next day for lunch.

It's dishes like this that make me think the vegetarian lifestyle is almost livable. This particular curry also renewed my interest in eggplant, which I cooked up with a little Italian flair a few days later, but I'll save that tasty recipe for my next post.

Not Exactly a Vegetarian!

Considering the fact there are few things I like more than a good quality piece of meat, this is kind of a strange time to be starting this blog.

I am just two weeks away from what is now become my annual pilgrimage to Sin City for the World Series of Poker including six weeks of 12-15 hour work days in the 110 degree heat that is the Las Vegas summer as I earn my keep working as a poker tournament reporter.

I started this whole poker journalism journey at the 2007 WSOP and have been around the world and back over the past year documenting the world of high stakes tournament poker along the way. Long hours on the job rarely translates into quality meals and being on the road means zero time in my own kitchen, but whether its local flavours or recommended restaurants I still manage to find the odd hidden gem worth writing home (or in the future here) about.

Most recently my travels took me to Monte Carlo for the European Poker Tour Grand Final after which my fabulous girlfriend (AKA The Gullet) and I took a few weeks to trek around Europe stopping in Nice, Paris, London, Amsterdam and Rome.

While I will endeavour to include more about Europe and some of the great food we tasted in future posts, the point of this whole story is that in the few weeks I have between gorging on Euro-delicacies and the inevitable combination of the good, bad and ugly that is Las Vegas dining, I decided it was time for a bit of a cleansing.

No, I am not spending three weeks sipping on maple syrup and lemon juice, but in an effort to eat only wholesome food and try something new along the way, I'm attempting to live the next few weeks as a vegetarian.

Always the carnivore, The Gullet didn't like the plan at first, but having tasted a few veggie specialties she can now be heard in circles around the city musing about the lack of need for meat (although she ate at The Keg with work colleagues the other night). The Gullet is particularly fond of my Grilled Veggie Quesadillas, which I've made for years but have now become a staple of this newly minted vegetarian menu.

The Quesadillas involve a fairly simple process that begins with one green, one red and one jalepeno pepper. While the red and green peppers are cut in half and seeded, I keep the jalepeno whole for cooking. I toss the peppers in a bowl, throw in a good sized zucchini cut into half centimetre slices and a centimetre-thick slice of a medium red onion.

After Drizzling a small amount of olive oil over the veggies I like to spice them up a bit. For this I add a pinch or two of my favourite Chili Roast Garlic Cholula Seasoning from Mexico and a little bit of Ancho Chili Pepper, but chili powder and garlic powder will do. Adding a little Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper is also necessary before firing up the grill.

As you will come to know from reading this blog, I use a charcoal grill. While it's a little more time consuming and a lot more difficult to control the temperature than gas, the authentic flavours are well worth the time and effort it takes - even for something as simple as grilled vegetables.

Once the grill gets going it only takes a few minutes to cook the veggies. I like to char the outside while ensuring each vegetable stays fairly firm. The key is to avoid over cooking and removing every last bit of nutrients our friends of the earth have brought to this party.

Once done it's back to the cutting board where I will not-so-finely chop up all the veggies and lightly toss them together. Here's where I lop the top off the jalepeno and give it a fairly fine chop before adding it to the mix. I then pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees and grab four large whole grain or whole wheat tortillas.

Outside of a number of soy based products like tofu, cheese is really a vegetarian's meat and the next ingredient in the Veggie Quesadilla. I usually like to use a grated grocery store Monterey Jack, but The Gullet and I rode the bikes over to Kensington Market on the weekend and picked up a little Jalepeno Havarti at one of the market's many cheese shops to throw in this time around.

I simply put a layer of cheese down on one of the tortillas, then a layer of grilled veggies, add another layer of cheese and top with another tortilla. Repeating the process should do away with the rest of the veggies and give me two large Quesadillas which I'll bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, pulling them out when they start to look a little brown and crispy. I cut the Quesadillas into slices and serve with a little fat-free sour cream and freshly chopped green onions. It's easy to do and always goes over well.

Over the past week of this vegetarian cleanse I've made a lot of pastas and a whole host of different salads. Later on this week I'll throw up a few more meal ideas I've used including a great way to marinate and cook tofu plus recipes for my Eggplant Parmesan, and Spinach and Eggplant Curry. I'll also talk a little about Little India and a great vegetarian restaurant The Gullet and I dropped by over the weekend.

For now though, I'd like to finish this post about vegetarian food talking about burgers. I love a good hamburger, from Johnny's Hamburgers on Victoria Park, to the McDonald's cheeseburgers The Gullet likes to call little cookies, I love them all.

While I can look forward to the tastes of In-N-Out Burger and Sonic while in Las Vegas in the coming weeks, I was a little concerned this vegetarian experiment would leave me burgerless as I fear the idea of biting into some sawdusty soy patty soaked in ketchup, mustard and mayo only to be dissapointed in the fact it bears little resemblance to what I'm really craving. But, after doing a little research on the meatless offerings at fast food restaurants around Toronto, I discovered those in the know seem to favour the Harvey's veggie burger.

I'll admit I was still afraid, but I headed on over to the nearest home of flame grilled goodness to grab one of these veggie burgers despite my trepidation. I paused and closed my eyes before taking the first bite, but the second was not so difficult. It wasn't too dry; it didn't taste chalky and before I knew it, this tasty meatless burger was gone. Loaded with all the usual toppings, I am happy to report that Harvey's makes your veggie burger "a beautiful thing".

It was so good that considering it's only ten grams of fat compared to the usual 18 of a Harvey's Original Burger - I am mulling over the permanent switch. In the meantime, I have decided to take The Gullet out to the local Lick's franchise for a taste of its famous Nature Burger - another favorite of meat haters all over the Internet.

Although, it is beginning to dawn on me that what began as a some kind of vegetarian cleanse may have now become just an excuse to eat a lot of fries.

Everybody Eats - The Food Blog Concept

The idea of Everybody Eats is something I've talked about for a long time. After almost a decade cooking in restaurants in Toronto, Vancouver, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida I found a way to make a living as a journalist and while it has been almost another ten years since I traded in my tongs for a typewriter, I've still had to eat.

Cooking everywhere from the neighbourhood bar and grill to the finest fine dining establishments, a passion for food was instilled in me and remains today. While several breakfasts, lunches and dinners have been hurried and a fair share just serving to placate the palate in a pinch, I am proud to say that I have continued to approach the majority of my meals armed with that passion.

Whether its finding fresh ingredients, researching fabulous flavours or choosing the right restaurant wherever I am (Try the famous Primanti Brothers sandwich seen above if you are ever in Pittsburgh, PA or Ft. Lauderdale, FL) , there is a lot of planning and foresight that goes into the majority of what I eat - certainly enough to fill the pages of a blog.

I am currently living in Toronto, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, and in recent times I've been lucky enough to find work that has me travelling all over the globe. What I am hoping to create with Everybody Eats is a blog that will take readers through my own adventures in food - from inside my kitchen at home to the rare fare I find on the road. This will include great recipes, useful cooking tips, restaurant reviews, a little bit of insight into food and culture around the world and some great food-related stories.

When you approach food with the kind of zeal that I do, almost everything you eat has an interesting story behind it - Everybody Eats is my chance to document that story and if you're reading this, it's your chance to follow along as I cook and eat my way across this tasty little planet of ours. Enjoy!