Le Papillion on the Park (guest blog by Amy)

Saturday night: my husband and I met our friends at Le Papillion on the Park, a French & Quebecois restaurant on Eastern Avenue in Toronto. From the outside, the building doesn’t look any different than a regular old brick house, but inside it has been transformed into a fabulous space with dark wood, an exposed brick wall, high ceilings, funky art, and a wood-burning fireplace.

The restaurant is spacious enough that it holds over 100 people. While being taken to our seats, we noticed that the dining area was packed with people of all ages; even so, tables were far enough apart that you didn’t feel like you were eating with your neighbour. Soon after the bubbly hostess sat us, we were welcomed by a lovely waitress who brought us over a basket of fresh bread and rolls. The four of us started off sharing a delightful bottle of Syrah and each ordered an appetizer— escargot in garlic butter, french onion soup smothered with Swiss cheese, jumbo scallops in a light cream and brandy lobster sauce, and broiled tiger shrimps in garlic herb butter. YUM is all I can say! We all raved about our appys. The menu also has 3 different sizes of poutine, which I may have to try the next time I’m there.

There is a wide variety of mains on the menu, including almost 20 different crepes. I decided to go with the Crepe Francois, filled with bacon, diced tomatoes, garlic mushrooms and cheddar cheese. It was quite large, but oh so good—not wet or greasy like some other crepes I’ve tried.

The vegetarian at our table asked for no chicken in the fettuccine asparagus pasta special, which wasn’t an issue with the kitchen staff. She did, however, feel that the fettuccini was a little undercooked. The others ordered lamb shank and Steak au Poivre—the latter coated with a brandy, Dijon, and black peppercorn sauce. Both dishes received glowing reviews…especially the steak.

My hubby and friend each ordered a dessert, but we all had a little taste of the Meringue Glacee (meringue, ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream) and the Crepe Banane Royale (bananas, almonds, ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream). The Crepe was delicious, but my husband felt there was too much meringue in the meringue dish. Nonetheless, he devoured it.

This place was divine and very reasonably priced. Le Papillion has been around for 35 years. Recently the restaurant’s founding partners went their separate ways and opened their own restaurants—Le Papillion on the Park and Le Papillion on Front. I hear the one on Front is equally amazing.

I’m a small town girl who now resides in Toronto and can’t get enough of it…especially the restaurants! What can I say? I love to eat! Sometimes I wonder if I’m addicted to food. As one of Menu Maniac's roomies from university, I watched her whip up a roast leg of lamb while others ate Kraft Dinner. Her adventurous cooking has inspired me to attempt to cook, and although I try, living in Toronto is so hard when there are many tempting places to eat out. I’m an east-ender hoping to bring you some good options next time you visit Toronto.

The Ceili Cottage (guest post by Amy)

Mac 'N' Cheese

Two of my friends that I usually work out with, decided it was time we get together for a good meal instead of a good sweat. We decided to hit up The Ceili (pronounced kay-lee) Cottage in Leslieville – an Irish pub which was once an old auto shop. I started off with a Mill Street Lager and roasted and spiced Ontario peanuts – the beer was perfect, but the latter was neither roasted nor spiced. As I waited for my friends I noticed the smell of a wood burning stove that filled the air with a warm, “cottage-y” (go figure), type feel.

When my friends arrived through an entrance with virtually no signage, they sat down on wobbly chairs and ordered our mains from a not-so-friendly waitress. A sucker for a good mac and cheese I decided that I had to order just that, even though it’s not typically Irish fare. I must say, I was disappointed – it was ok – but quite bland and not rich and creamy like I was hoping for. ET had the special – a mutton burger with green tomato salsa and mixed greens and a Pinot Noir-McManis Californa 2007. The burger came with a side of some sort of dijon, horseradish spread which added a kick to the lamb and made me wish I had ordered it. SA ordered a Merlot - Tin Roof, CA 2005 and the Celtic and Canadian cheeses with Sausage Partners’ preserves and bread – the bread was delicious.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

To finish, my friends decided to split the sticky toffee pudding (note: waitress getting happier as night went on). For a girl that doesn’t like sweets, and I’m talking hasn’t eaten a birthday cake since her 4th birthday, I truly believed I wouldn’t like the dessert my friends demanded I try. Wow! I couldn’t have been more wrong, this was heavenly goodness. I even had a second bite, and a third, and ok, I even had a 4th. It was divine! I’d consider going back to this place for a few pints, but I definitely wouldn’t rush back for the service – the table beside me even commented on the waitresses’ attitude problem. The food was very reasonably priced, but it seemed to be hit and miss and that wood burning stove that cut the winter chill also made my hair & jacket stink for 2 days after!

I’m a small town girl who now resides in Toronto and can’t get enough of it…especially the restaurants! What can I say? I love to eat! Sometimes I wonder if I’m addicted to food. As one of Menu Maniac's roomies from university, I watched her whip up a roast leg of lamb while others ate Kraft Dinner. Her adventurous cooking has inspired me to attempt to cook, and although I try, living in Toronto is so hard when there are many tempting places to eat out. I’m an east-ender hoping to bring you some good options next time you visit Toronto.

jamie oliver's chickpea & leek soup

I spent part of my day in Detroit doing a walk-through of the GM stand at the North American International Auto Show. Tomorrow is the first of two media days and I'm helping out with some of the broadcast interviews. Let me tell you, it was very chilly in the convention center today. Very chilly. All of the big doors were open so cars and trucks could be loaded onto the show floor. Seriously, I couldn't warm up so I decided to make a pot of my favourite soup for dinner -- chickpea and leek.

Tip: You can quickly make this soup on a weeknight if you change the first step. Rather than soaking the chickpeas and boiling the potato, use canned chickpeas and microwave the potato until soft.

need some food inspiration?

While I'm on break, check out my three favourite food sites:

Fresh Eats - Maria is a Detroit-based writer and communications professional who prides herself on using fresh ingredients and incorporating the fifth food group...pancetta.

Big Girls Small Kitchen - Phoebe and Cara are 20-something food bloggers from New York City. They update their site regularly with tasty concoctions and plenty of recipes.

Food 52 - a food community led by Merrill and Amanda who are working on a cookbook created by user content. Loads of ideas, weekly recipe contests and an online shop.

Talk soon!

-Jordana

going on hiatus

I thought I would be cooking a lot over the holidays but I'm not. In fact, I'm going on a little hiatus. Talk to you soon!

bloggers, cupcakes and chevrolet

Yesterday was National Cupcake Day in the U.S. Who knew? Well, these folks did. (Video from When Tara Met Blog)

chili con carne and cheesy garlic bread

Have I told you that I go to school on the weekends? I'm in an MBA program at the University of Windsor that supplements my time away from work. Yah! Busy. Last Saturday while intently listening to my fascinating accounting prof discuss the new IFRS accounting standards, I glanced out the window and noticed the snowflakes. In my brain (or stomach) the first sign of snow, means the first chili should be made. And, what better to way to complement chili than with gooey-cheesy garlic bread (and I mean stupid-gooey-cheesy garlic bread)?

Pioneer Woman's Firecracker Shrimp Appetizer

Pioneer Woman's Garlic Cheese Bread
~I substituted Mozzarella for Monterrey Jack cheese~

Jamie Oliver's Chili Con Carne

~I used a cinnamon stick instead of ground cinnamon and added a small can of tomato paste~

The evening ended with us playing Taboo by the fire. Almost as cheesy as the garlic bread...I know.

gnocchi gone wild, making it for my first time

Picture this: I'm flipping through Cook With Jamie, trying to find the perfect meal to impress our friends George & Kara. They were driving in from Toronto so I wanted to make something special. I noticed a recipe for Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms & Sage. Yum, right? Best of all, it appeared I could make the gnocchi a day ahead and then cook them for a fabulous Saturday night dinner.

The first step in the process was finding a potato ricer. That only took three stores...I should have hit Little Italy first! Next, I baked the potatoes...easy peasy.

Once I turned the potatoes into dough, I placed the gnocchi on a semolina flour lined cookie sheet and left them in the fridge overnight. Pretty.

The following day, I made crispy sage and sauteed wild mushrooms for the sauce.

When the sauce was almost ready, I placed the gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water. And, here is our "gnocchi" with wild mushrooms and sage.

Wondering what happened to my beautiful homemade (filled with love) gnocchi? Well, something went terribly wrong and I had a total gnocchi fail -- they disintegrated. My hard work disintegrated in front of my very eyes...and my guests' eyes. So I did what any good hostess would do, I pretended that I wasn't absolutely heartbroken and I threw a bag of brown rice pasta in another pot of boiling water. And, then proceeded to talk about how F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S brown rice pasta is for your health...it's lot easier to digest and much better for you than regular pasta or gnocchi, ya know!

help me with chicken and leek pot pie

Some people say I'm relentless. Of course, I always take this to mean driven, ambitious, dedicated, committed, etc. So, I guess it's not surprising that I tried to make Jamie Oliver's Chicken and Leek Pot Pie again. The last time I made it was for my good friend Mishka and I forgot to take the puff pastry out of the freezer. This time I made it for George & Kara and it was too runny. I used flour (maybe not enough), simmered for much longer than recommended by Jamie (maybe not long enough) and chilled the stew in the fridge for a few hours before reheating (maybe not for long enough). Any suggestions on how I could have thickened the stew?

simple thai menu

While my American friends were celebrating Thanksgiving, I was having an impromptu dinner with two friends and their new baby boy. Craving some kind of Asian fare, I decided on a simple Thai menu. I don't have recipes for the spring rolls but I've included links to the chicken and pineapple rice (just omit the shrimp in the recipe) both from Nancie McDermott's Quick & Easy Thai.

Grilled (in our case roasted) garlic chicken, issahn style

Pineapple fried rice

I encourage you to give Thai home cooking a try, and let me know how it goes!

Lil' Baci in Toronto (guest post by Amy)

I decided this week, after my husband suggested I pick the restaurant for our Friday date night , that we needed to start utilizing the Leslieville area after living close to the east end Toronto neighbourhood for over two years, and only ever trying one or two restaurants.

I’d made a list of six places and we decided Lil’ Baci – a small (approx 25 seats), casual, Italian restaurant - would be the first we'd check off our list. After my husband found out they didn't serve traditional liquors, he was pleasantly surprised by the wine I ordered as he doesn’t love it (at least not as much as I do). We ordered the 2006 Montepulicano d’Abruzzo, Masciarelli Doc (Marche) which went fabulously with our meal. We shared the Lil’ Baci salad which consisted of bibb lettuce, radicchio, arugula, smoked provolone, salami, chick peas, sun dried tomato, and red onion. This was followed by a pasta dish – the gnoochi alla spinachi e limone, and the beef ravoli with pomodoro sauce.

Good things about this place? It was a warm atmosphere for a chilly November night, they offer take-out, and great pasta dishes that although good for the waistlines were quite small in portion size. This could have been overcome (b/c we were warned by all the small dishes we saw being served to others) by a larger appy, but the salads and small list of antipasta they had on their menu didn’t quite cut it for our big Friday night appetites.

That being said, I enjoyed the vibe at Lil’ Baci. I’d consider going back to try their pizzas – they had a ton on the menu that all looked like the yummy traditional Italian style versions I had in Rome just a few months ago.

Next stop: Celi Cottage

I’m a small town girl who now resides in Toronto and can’t get enough of it…especially the restaurants! What can I say? I love to eat! Sometimes I wonder if I’m addicted to food. As one of Menu Maniac's roomies from university, I watched her whip up a roast leg of lamb while others ate Kraft Dinner. Her adventurous cooking has inspired me to attempt to cook, and although I try, living in Toronto is so hard when there are many tempting places to eat out. I’m an east-ender hoping to bring you some good options next time you visit Toronto.

editor's pick on food52

Happy to report that my Roasted Pumpkin, Manchego Cheese, Serrano Ham Autumn Salad was chosen as an editor's pick on Food52. You can get the recipe here.

Thanks Amanda & Merrill!

the key to the good life...

The key to the good life is having a friend who bakes. A friend who is an extraordinary bake. A friend who happily brings over a fresh challah. A friend who graciously offers to contribute pumpkin chocolate chip loaf to Thanksgiving dinner. A friend who is not offended when you send her a recipe at 2:30 p.m. on a Friday and suggest that she bring it over for dinner that same night.

Last-Minute Menu

Guacamole & Blue Corn Tortilla Chips

Paprika and Worcestershire Marinated & Grilled Top Sirloin
Roasted Fennel
Roasted Potatoes with Grainy Mustard & Shallots
The [gooiest-yummiest] Maple Pear Upside-Down Cake

*Recipes from Bonnie Stern's Friday Night Dinners except dessert which hailed from the Bitten Blog in the New York Times...and Julie's kitchen.

food52 entry: roasted pumpkin, serrano ham, manchego cheese salad

Every week Food52 summons home cooks around the globe to enter their contests. This week the themes revolve around your best Autumn salad recipe and best sweet potato recipe. Want to know how I created my salad? Click here. Better yet, I encourage you to sign up on Food52 so that you can comment, vote and participate. It's fun and it's food -- how could you go wrong?!?!

awesome pita chips, autumn salad, roast chicken

Have you checked out Food52? I'm addicted to the videos, the Piglet and their weekly recipe contests. This week, Amanda and Merrill are asking home cooks to submit recipes for their best autumn salads and best sweet potatoes. I thought about the salad, and what flavours/foods I'd like to include, then I built a Sunday night dinner around it.

Fall Sunday Night Dinner

Rosemary thyme pita chips (awesome recipe from Food52)
Roasted garlic & sage cannellini bean dip
Autumn salad (I'll post on Food 52 later this week)
Roasted chicken with lemon and rosemary potatoes

Let me know what you think about Food52. Could it become one of your go-to recipe sources?

cauliflower, broccoli, and chedder cheese soup

Cauliflower, broccoli and cheddar cheese soup

Between the flu pandemic and colder weather, we're craving warm bowls of goodness. Recently, I modified Jamie Oliver's Cauliflower and Cheese Soup to use a relatively old broccoli in my veggie drawer. Plus, I decided to increase the soup's fiber and protein by adding chickpeas, which help to thicken it (full disclosure: got the bean idea from my friend Maria at Fresh Eats who included beans her mushroom soup).

Ingredients:

2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 onions, chopped
Head of broccoli, chopped (discard stem)
Head of cauliflower, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 litres of low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
28 oz can of organic chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cups of old white cheddar, grated
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1 tbs dried thyme
Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

Cook all of the chopped veggies and garlic in a large pot over medium heat until soft (about 10 minutes). Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the chickpeas. Turn down the heat and cover with a lid. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Then, cool for a few minutes.

Add the grated cheese, mustard, thyme, salt and pepper. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Return to the stove to simmer until warm.

Serve with fresh Russian rye bread (recommended by my mother!) for a warm lunch.

Sunday dinner: braised short ribs

A few years ago Sharon and I went to a cooking class at the local LCBO (government-owned liquor store, for my American friends). The class was taught by Erik Peacock, from Niagara's Wellington Court Cafe. He showed us how to make Asian-inspired beef short ribs. We left the class and Sharon's been making those sweet, gingery short ribs ever since. It's taken me almost five years to attempt short ribs and I decided to try a more traditional recipe.

Braised in red wine and Port, short ribs can be started in the afternoon and left to cook over the next several hours. What wonderful comfort food for a cold Sunday night!

My Sunday Night Menu from Bonnie Stern's Friday Night Dinners

Hummus with cilantro pesto

Braised beef short ribs on red-skinned smashed potatoes
~I added roasted garlic and a couple of spoonfuls of caramelized onions for fun~

When I mentioned on Twitter that I was making comfort food for dinner, Meg from Maker's Table sent links to two of her favourite recipes: Beef Stew with Zinfandel and Mama Lorette's Rice Pudding. I will be sure to try both of these recipes soon!

Do you have a recipe that you'd like to share? What's your favourite, go-to, homemade comfort food?

pizza party menu

Gudrin's smoked salmon, roasted red pepper, roasted artichoke & goat's cheese pizza

One night this week, Erin and Gudrin came over for a pizza party. What was on our menu? Take a wild guess! Pizza and wine. That's it. BTW, kudos to Erin for making the pizza dough between clients. :)

Erin's pizza: Extra virgin olive oil with a hint of garlic salt, sliced Bosc pear, crumbled blue cheese, a smattering of mozzarella and Parmesan

Gudrin's pizza: Smoked salmon, roasted red peppers, roasted artichokes, Mrs. Porter's homemade roasted tomato sauce, mozzarella, and goat's cheese

Jordana's pizza (which got stuck to the pan...so we couldn't really eat it): Sliced tomato, ricotta and Mrs. Porter's homemade roasted tomato sauce with a touch of pesto

I think we'll have another pizza party. My plan is to recreate my favourite pizza from Terra Cotta in Windsor. I like olive tapenade, spinach, eggplant, roasted red peppers, feta cheese and rosemary. Girls, will you come over again soon?

P.S. Lulu B Pinot Noir was also on the menu. It's a perfect pizza wine. Thanks to Gudrin for bring it along!

Jamie Oliver's Sweet Potato & Chorizo Soup

It's really starting to feel like fall; the days are short and crisp. Not surprisingly, the cooler weather makes a hearty soup that much more enticing.

Jamie Oliver's Sweet Potato and Chorizo soup was an absolute standing-ovation hit in my house (hubby and I were both standing and clapping!). It was easy to make and got better after a couple of days in the refrigerator like any good soup. Try it.

*Click on this link to see the recipe on Facebook.
*Check out Suzie the Foodie's blog to read and see someone else's attempt.
*Go to epicurious.com for a completely different sweet potato and chorizo soup.

la creuset...finally

During one of our recent visits to HomeSense, I put a La Creuset French Oven in our shopping cart. Hubby was stunned by the price tag. I was stunned too, because I knew we were saving a whack of money by purchasing a "second" (I think we saved about $100!).Well, this little French oven did not disappoint. Yesterday, I made a Bolegnese sauce and was thrilled to see how evenly everything was cooking. Nothing burned. Nothing got stuck to the bottom of the pot. Best of all, it made me happy to see the little red French Oven sitting on top of our stove!