Foodies Across Borders

Unfortunately, The Dude and I are the only ones in the house that will eat sushi and he’ll only tuck in to the occasional bit of salmon or tuna. That means that I don’t get to eat it all that often now that I work from home. Fortunately there is a wonderful little spot in Whitby called The Villa which does a pretty good job with the sushi and an even better job with teppanyaki.

Today I needed a sushi fix so I dropped in to get some take out. 14 bucks includes a nice size assortment of sushi, salad and miso soup. Pretty good deal if you ask me! I had the camera out so I thought I should grab a few shots before I scarfed it all!

Gallery after the break
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Many foodies are afraid of a big piece of meat like the one above. That folks is a whole beef tenderloin. We regularly buy them at Costco, where recently the price has dropped drastically. This guy cost us only $62. To put that into perspective, I often watch people at the butcher’s counter paying $15 a piece to make filet mignon or $60 for a 6-8″ tenderloin roast. That is just poor economics, but many people don’t think of buying a whole loin because they are afraid to clean it.

That’s a shame, because not only is it a great way to make one of the nicest cuts of beef affordable but it is also really easy. As a muscle, the tenderloin has a fine layer of sinew around most of the flesh. Basically all you need to do is remove that layer or silverskin. You will want to work with a small, very sharp knife, as you want to slice it off cleanly, not tear the flesh. Another reason for using a very sharp knife is that you want to have good control while you are cutting, as you are working in very close quarters with your fingers. Don’t slip because you were using that old paring knife you stole from Mom when you moved out. Yes, we all have one or two of those in the drawer!
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I came across Food Porn Daily today, pun intended, and spent about 20 minutes captivated by the rotation of simply salacious photos.

You see, not only are we Foodies, but Mooby and I have sort of become photography buffs over the past few years. This isn’t to say that either of us are overly skilled, but we like taking photos. More so, we can really appreciate the skill it takes to really create captivating photos.

Food Porn Daily is guaranteed to make you hungry and it just might make you feel a tiny bit naughty…

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the frightening vision of Bacon Cheese Turtle Burgers!

Yes, you really are looking at a turtle shaped lump of heart attack on a plate. This artery hardening vision was sent my way via This is why you’re fat. Believe it or not, the little snappers are not the most unhealthy things on the menu, though certainly the most disturbing.

Some of the other treats include Meta Meat Cake, Corn Dog Egg Rolls and the Bacon-Wrapped Burrito Log. All of this is just part of the first page! I’m almost afraid to delve further into the site to see what awaits me.

It was a big weekend here in the FAB South kitchen, as the chefs from the FAB NorthEast kitchen invaded for some culinary adventures, not to mention the draining of more than a few beverage containers.

The big experiment of the weekend was the creation of two different Beef Wellington dishes. We began with a full beef tenderloin, which always creates lots of tender little beef scraps and rich, soft fat. Neither the fat or the little bits of beefy goodness are really good for anything, yet it is a shame to just toss them in the bin. What to do? Make stock!

This morning, out came the big pot, filled with water. I added in all of the beefy bits, a few shallots, a couple of heads of garlic and some no longer fresh celery. A bit of poking about in the fridge also produced half of a root veggie of some sort, I think it is a turnip. To finish up I tossed in a bit of thyme that was in the crisper. The pot has been simmering all morning and smells absolutely FAB.

Once cooled and strained, this gallon or so of beef stock will go into the fridge next to our latest batch of chicken stock.

I know, Valentines Day weekend is upon us and you were hoping for something a little more sexy than chicken stock. Not to worry, we’ll have some fun stuff for you over the weekend. For now though, it is time to get down to the basics. Basics that any serious foodie should always have on hand.

I’ll never forget the first time I noticed a chef making stock. I say the first time I noticed, as I’m sure I had walked past a stock pot hundreds of times in the several kitchens I worked in but never noticed. I was the floor manager of a marina restaurant here on Lake Ontario. The resident chef was a crusty, mean old Dutchman who had very little patience for anything outside of his kitchen and even less for anyone who ventured into it. One day I noticed him loading a chicken carcass and a bunch of veggies into a giant pot. I asked what he was making and he told me he was making chicken stock before shooing me out of his domain.

A big pot of water, chicken scraps and a bunch of veggies. Simmer all day. Strain.

So simple and yet I didn’t start making my own stock until recently. Read the rest of this entry →

It used to be that a real foodie would never talk about the little shortcuts used in the kitchen lest they be considered less of a cook by their friends. The reality these days is that many large chain stores have gone to a lot of trouble to create ready made products that are not only easy, but taste great too. Here in Ontario, we are lucky to have the President’s Choice brand that offers many unique products that can’t be found elsewhere. The do sauces particularly well. In this recipe, we’ll use their Memories of Lyons peppercorn sauce as the base for a quick, easy and flavorful pasta.

The beauty of cooking like this is because there is no recipe you can make as much or as little as you need.

What ya need:

Boneless chicken breast – we used 3 big ones, but you can vary depending on the size of your clan
1 package of the pasta of your choice. We used penne.
1 bottle PC Memories of Lyons 4 peppercorn sauce or similar.
Whipping cream
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As an automotive writer, I often have the opportunity to visit places that I wouldn’t likely ever see otherwise. The down side is that I am usually only in a city for about a day and a half and I have little more than a few hours to explore on my own. This past Fall I was in Portland for the first time. Once I woke up from my cross country travel induced nap, I headed out for a walk to see a bit of the city.
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When a Milestones restaurant opened in our neighbourhood, we just had to try it.  All of us loved  their Baked Goat Cheese and Slow-Roasted Garlic Flatbread Plate and decided we had to try to duplicate it to take to neighbour’s 40th birthday bash.  it is so simple and wows guests. We liked it so much we used it in our header image.

What you need:

1 log of goat cheese (small)

1 cup poppy seeds

2 head of garlic

4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 jar of corn relish

package of pitas
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Our sixteen year-old daughter loves to eat.  So when she approached me and said it was time to make some soup, I didnt’ realize how much soup she meant.  Two of her favourite things are bacon and cheese so that is the soup we started with.  Below is our recipe for Cheesy Potato and Bacon Soup.

What you need:

8 slices of bacon (more if you prefer), sliced into 1 inch pieces

1 cup onions, chopped

8 cups chicken broth

8 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

In a pot, cook the bacon until crispy (or to your liking).   Remove and keep warm.

Saute the onions in the bacon fat, adding a tsp of olive oil if needed, until onions are translucent and tender.
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