beFOODled

Rustic potato rösti for breakfast - yay weekends!

2012-01-28T13:24:00.001-05:00

Visit beFOODled on Flickr. This is my weekend morning potato specialty. It's a rustic rösti adapted from Jamie Oliver's Cook with Jamie, the best recipe I've found for this Swiss specialty. It takes a bit of time, but so do most good things in life, so I don't mind. Rösti is of Swiss origin where the farmers of yesteryear used to eat it for breakfast, according to Wikipedia. Thankfully it has

Herbed goat cheese balls with crostini

2012-01-22T18:21:00.001-05:00

Visit beFOODled on Flickr. Squeaky and Calimocho had a big party last night, the kind where you end up drinking in the hallway with strangers and bond over games of "Who's your gross-celebrity crush?" (Rules: They can't have ever been a heartthrob material and you have to imagine yourself kissing them.) I pondered this with a wonderful mixture of curlers, writers, engineers and advertisers.

Domaine des Cotes d’Ardoise

2011-09-27T17:49:00.015-04:00

Visit beFOODled on Flickr.Domaine des Cotes d’Ardoise is a beautifully landscaped winery that is as much a celebration of art as it is of wine. We sampled some tasty whites and a peppery red that I also liked, and purchased a bottle of the Seyval Carte D'Or (on the far right in the photo above).The grounds are lovely. There's art for sale on the walls of the building where you do tastings and buy

Les Trois Clochers, a winery in Quebec's Eastern Townships

2011-08-22T20:24:00.004-04:00

It is very hard to pick a favourite vignoble in Quebec's Eastern Townships because they all have their unique charms. However, if I have to pick just one, it would be the winery Les Trois Clochers. The boutique is in an old barn, full of lovely wines and sweetly furnished. The grounds are very secluded and overlook three churches in the nearby city of Dunham, Que. It is so peaceful and

Wine tour of Quebec's Eastern Townships

2011-08-10T23:03:00.005-04:00

Time for a long-overdue feature on our trip to Quebec's Eastern Townships, where we visited an abbey that makes cheeses and ciders (St. Benoît), and toured several of the region's wineries (more on those later). The photo above shows some of the wines we bought during our visit. We stayed at À La Maison Campbell, a B&B run by Jean and Danielle Goyer, who make delicious, delightful breakfasts.

Pasta primavera with roasted vegetables

2011-06-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

I made a big batch of this on a Sunday afternoon, and we ate it for lunch all week long. It's a nice treat after a morning at work, plus you save so much money not buying lunches every day. The trouble is you have to resist eating it the night you make it! This recipe is adapted from one by Giada de Laurentiis in her cookbook Everyday Italian, long a source of pasta inspiration for me.Pasta

Luscious beef cheeseburgers with tomatoes, arugula and melted cheese

2011-05-28T14:22:00.005-04:00

Lately, I've been dressing up my burgers with tomatoes, arugula and melted cheese. Sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions are also nice toppings. Here's my burger recipe below. I like to add a handful of arugula or spinach right into the beef mixture to top up my vegetable servings for the day. (If you are a meat-lover like me, you just don't get enough!).Luscious beef burgersServes five or

Rosemary and parmesan popcorn

2011-02-27T17:12:00.005-05:00

It's Oscar night! My favourite night of the year for fashion dos and don'ts! I'm heading to a party with some gourmet popcorn in hand, a recipe adapted from one recently published in the Globe and Mail. Rosemary and parmesan popcorn3 bags unsalted popcorn1 cup butter1/2 cup rosemary1 cup parmesan cheese1 Tbsp pink rock salt1 Tbsp cracked black pepperStrip the rosemary leaves off the stems and

A sea bass duet at Canadian Celebrity Chefs

2011-01-26T22:15:00.003-05:00

From left to right, Chef Norm Aitken, emcee Kevin Brauch and Chef Mike Howell demonstrate how to cook sea bass at the first-ever Canadian Celebrity Chefs Event.When I was a journalism student in Montreal, I bought a Chilean sea bass and cooked it in the kitchen of my shoebox apartment. The next day I told my classmates about my delicious fish and was on culinary cloud nine until one of them

Canada's celebrity chefs are coming to the NAC!

2011-01-23T14:33:00.017-05:00

Canadian celebrity chefs Michael Howell (left) of Tempest and Norm Aitken of Juniper.Tomorrow is going to be so exciting! I've been invited, along with several other Ottawa food bloggers, to shadow the chefs at the first-ever Canadian Celebrity Chefs Event at the National Arts Centre, and guest blog about the proceedings. This event is a Canadian first and the brainchild of Michael Blackie,

Chez Edgar, a food blogger's restaurant in Gatineau

2011-01-04T08:00:00.097-05:00

Marysol, author of food blog She Eats Bears, has recently opened her own restaurant called Edgar in Gatineau, Que. It's a sweet little place where you can sit down for a coffee, and buy sandwiches and innumerable baked goods, all made fresh daily. You can also get garden-fresh soups and dips and pasta dinners to go. S and I took some friends there recently and we all tucked into some wonderful

Salmon potato patties

2011-01-01T11:52:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! These little salmon potato patties are a nice way to turn boring leftovers into something new and exciting. I combine mashed potatoes (and/or stuffing) and canned salmon in roughly equal parts, and then add an egg, a tablespoon of breadcrumbs, some herbs, and salt and pepper, and then fry the patties until they are golden on both sides. I

Oktoberfest at the Beau's Brewery

2010-11-05T17:38:00.014-04:00

Jelly, S and I went to the Beau's Oktoberfest again this fall to eat and drink wonderful things in a farmer's field. This is an annual event hosted by the Beau's Brewery just outside of Ottawa, Ont. It always brings together several great Ottawa-area restaurants that sell rib-hugging fall foods, the perfect accompaniments to the brewery's fantastic beers.This year the food was really good.

White bean soup

2010-10-24T13:17:00.005-04:00

This white bean soup is easy to make, delicious to eat and very pretty to look at! It's my new favourite thing for lunch on the weekend. White beans are tasting so good right now. They have a mild, earthy flavour that's a great comfort on a cool fall day. I adapted this recipe from Laura Calder's chickpea soup on her show French Food at Home. She uses presoaked chickpeas, but I've made this with

Beef stew

2010-10-17T19:53:00.004-04:00

Visit beFOODled on Flickr.Tis the season for comfort food! I've been making a lot of this beef stew lately. It's enriched with red wine and beef broth, and lots of aromatics give it depth of flavour. My beef stew obsession, although always lurking in the background, was recently reawakened following a trip to Calgary where S's dad made us a to-die-for oxtail stew that just rocked my world. (His

À La Maison Campbell in Quebec's Eastern Townships

2010-10-11T16:47:00.017-04:00

S and I visited Quebec's Eastern Townships this summer and stayed at À La Maison Campbell, a charming bed-and-breakfast that was highly recommended by two of our friends who love good food.As you can see from the photos, the breakfasts at Maison Campbell are delicate works of art — ideal subjects for a food blogger's camera — and mouthwateringly delicious. The B&B is run by Jean and Danielle

La Tomatina: best food fight ever

2010-08-28T11:41:00.002-04:00

La Tomatina (25.08.2010) / Spain, Buñol, originally uploaded by flydime.I have always regretted missing Woodstock (wasn't even a twinkle in someone's eye then), but I just found out that Spain has something going on every summer that's even better! La Tomatina, a huge squishy red tomato food fight that draws tens of thousands of tourists every last Wednesday in August. This photo was taken last

Food blogger party at Marysol's

2010-08-25T22:19:00.023-04:00

Colourful little mushroom caps by Rachelle Eats Food.S and I went to a wonderful potluck last weekend hosted by Marysol of She Eats Bears. I was so excited to meet her and the other Ottawa food bloggers who were coming. Foodie Prints was there, and also Rachelle Eats Food, Whisk: A Food Blog and If Music be the Food of Love, Play On. They are all great people and they all came bearing delicious

Spaghetti and meatballs, Japanese style

2010-08-21T12:17:00.005-04:00

Put your hand up if you love meatballs! This is spaghetti and meatballs, Japanese style, a great recipe adapted from one of my favourite cookbooks, Jane Lawson's Yoshoku. I use my usual spaghetti and meatball recipe and add the Japanese ingredients that she recommends: sake, dashi, mirin, soy sauce and panko (crunchy Japanese breadcrumbs). I would recommend chicken instead of pork or beef for the

Roasted broccoli and cauliflower two ways

2010-08-15T14:59:00.019-04:00

Visit beFOODled on Flickr.I have discovered two great ways to eat broccoli and cauliflower: Ina Garten's (Barefoot Contessa) delicious parmesan-roasted broccoli tray bake and a yummy, smoky soup inspired by the same recipe. The tray bake made a tasty side to the sweet mahogany salmon I cooked the other night. I followed Ina Garten's recipe but with a few variations. I roasted a combination of

Sweet mahogany salmon

2010-08-12T17:37:00.014-04:00

Visit beFOODled on Flickr.I'm sure that like me, you've probably heard at one time or another that salmon from the Pacific Ocean is the best kind to eat — most Pacific salmon are free and wild-caught, whereas most Atlantic salmon are farmed and subjected to more environmental pressures as a result. Unfortunately, wild Pacific salmon are very hard to find and when you do, they are expensive and

Balcony picnic

2010-08-11T08:00:00.024-04:00

Visit beFOODled on Flickr.I am loving this Canadian summer! It has been as a summer should be — long and hot, like when I was a kid. We've enjoyed many picnics at Meech Lake, Mooney's Bay and on the balcony on weekends. This is a photo of one of our recent balcony picnics: extra-spicy Clamato juice, cheeses, bristling sardines, baguette, canned cream of mushroom soup, and cherries and nectarines.

Sweet Hawaiian pineapple

2010-08-09T12:24:00.011-04:00

Visit beFOODled on Flickr.No tribute to Hawaiian food is complete without mention of its exceptionally juicy pineapples! The Dole plantation is located in Oahu and although we didn't have time to visit, we ate fresh pineapple every day in several sweet incarnations. I will never forget how good it tasted just fresh and plain after climbing Diamond Head, the crater that overlooks Waikiki and gives

Ootoro, the tenderest of sushis

2010-08-05T16:30:00.013-04:00

Visit beFOODled on Flickr.If you love tender meats like pork belly, foie gras or duck confit, then you will also fall in love with ootoro, the most melting cut of sushi there is. We ate it for the first time in Hawaii at Sansei restaurant. Ootoro means "extreme toro" according to S's dad who is Japanese, and from what I can tell this name is a reference to its extreme tenderness. The further down

Miso butterfish at Sansei, a Japanese restaurant in Hawaii

2010-07-31T20:48:00.011-04:00

Visit beFOODled on Flickr.There is so much local seafood in Hawaii, I really wanted to find a wonderful Japanese restaurant, as no one does fish like they do! After much searching in my guidebook, I found one called Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar, and we enjoyed it so much that we ate there twice in one week. Both times we got a table on the balcony, which overlooked the ocean, and