Montreal Eats

Over the holidays I got a chance to hang out in Montreal and check out all the great eats there.

I was inspired by the Quebec epidsode of No Reservations :





So I knew Au Pied de Cochon would be the highlight and we managed to get a reservation on Dec. 30th (the last day of 2008 they are open) at 10:30 pm.

We started off with a lot of pre-drinking and a cheese plate at Reservoir. APDC was packed (of course) when we showed up. It's not a big place, and a real informal party atmosphere.

We started off with some deep fried head cheese terrine (a special that is often available but not on the menu), a a blue-cheese endive salad and something called cochonailles (which is a selection of terrines). For about $6 the cochonailles was a lot of food.

Below are our mains :



from left to right you have: the pied de cochon (with mash and a biscuit), the duck in a can, foie gras putine and the plogue a champlain.

foie gras poutine :



plogue a champlain (which is a pancake topped with bacon, lard, foie gras and maple syrup) :



this was maybe the most memorable dish and most representative of the restaurant. This is the aftermath, me managed to finish everything except the pied :



Considering the legendary reputation of the place, it is pretty cheap - $200 for three including drinks (before tip).

Even though we were still reeling the next day (New Year's Eve), we hit up Schwartz's for the famous smoked meat. Almost all the time there is a line up outside, so we were in for a 30 min. wait in -20 deg. C weather :



once inside I ordered a smoked meat platter (extra fatty), which for $10 gives you a stack of bread and enough meat for three sandwiches - an insane deal.



It was very good of course, but I honestly can't say it's better than Caplansky in Toronto (I know, I know).

I don't have a lot to say about our New Year's dinner at a place called Raclette, but the next day we made it to La Banquise, which is the sort of potine headquarters and had some real Quebcois food. Below you see a Michigan red hot (a hot dog smothered in tomato meat sauce) and a classic poutine.



Both tasted pretty good at the time. One of our friends ordered a chicken sandwich which comes topped with gravy and canned peas :



this type of food is basically extinct in Toronto, but it would be nice to have once in a while.

More rolling your own

A while ago I developed what was a pretty good burger recipe.

This week when I went to Nosso Talho, the prices were dirt cheap (chicken 78c/lb. ground beef .99c) I came home with enough meat for seven or eight meals.

So this is a quick way to make some burgers for later, when you're a bit too strapped for time (or too lazy) to really cook.

I make up the meat into balls :



and stack'em in an tupperware, with wax paper between them.



I don't even have to squish them down, the lid does that and I toss it into the freezer. Six burgers ready to go ... cost ? about $1.00, and without all the dubious stuff that might be in store bought patties.

Back Alley BBQ

After missing out on some great BBQ while I was in Rochester I still had a need for some ribs, but sadly there is no place in Toronto (that I know of) that compares to US BBQ joints.

But I was in Kensington during (one of the car-free) pedestrian Sundays and hit up Back Alley BBQ on Augusta for some BBQ and beer.

For $10.99 I got the half chicken and rib combo.



Being an asian run place it has an inevitable asian touch. The chicken and ribs were super tasty, but white rice and asian style vegetables were a weird choice for sides and the home fries in gravy were passable.

The rice with the asian sauce was not bad but some cornbread or mash would've been the ticket....and of course portions were not American-sized.

I would add this to the rotation if it cost about $4 less.

Roll Your Own Adventure

I caught a ground beef sale and decided that it was too hard to pass up and take (another) shot at rolling my burgers. Despite what I've heard peeps say about homemade burgers mine have been hit or miss. Sometimes tasting to "beefy" and kinda bland.

But armed with All Purpose Soul Seasoning I had to take another shot.

Here are the patties rolled up. Each one is a good softball-sized fistful of beef.

Ingredients :
Salt
Pepper
All Purpose Soul Seasoning
1 egg
breadcrumbs (3 tablespoons I'd say)

I used a bit of binder (egg and breadcrumbs) but didn't overdo it.

Here are the babies on the grill :



They held together fine and I figure I cooked them about 8-10 mins per side med./high heat. I drizzled a bit of soy sauce on them while they grilled. Lookin' good ...



They were cooked through, a bit of a crust outside but still really juicy :



Taste : Awesome ! The one lesson I've learned is ....

The KEY to a good burger is SEASONING.

Sunday Brisket

I'm loving the Korean grocery lately and picked up a brisket ($4.00). The hardest part about making somethig like brsiket is the planning. It takes maybe four hours so you can't just decide you want brisket and whip it up, like a steak or some pasta.

I set it all up in the pan on Sat. night, with potatoes. Spices: Chopped garlic, crushed red peppers, salt and a good dose of All-purpose Soul Seasoning (which I really am finding lives up to the "all-purpose" billing).



For braising sauce I went with soy sauce, olive oil, oyster sauce and a bit of water. On Sunday I came home from my ride and stuck it in the over. Four hours at 300 degrees C. Slooow Cookin'. Here's the "after shot".



It came out nice and spicy and it all came apart in strands like it's supposed to. Here's it is plated, unfortunatley the pic came out blurry.

Korean "Roast Beef" - Best Steak I've Had

I spotted these great looking steaks at P.A.T. Central, the Korean grocery at the corner of Manning and Bloor. These were thick, marbled steaks selling for $3.95/lb. Five buck for three steak.

They were tender to the touch. So tender you can poke a finger through it or flatten it out my hand.



I rubbed salt, olive oil and a bit of pepper on to one. But the real inspiration was to rub on (quite a bit) of the "All Purpose Soul Seasoning"



It formed pasty coating which lightly covered the steak. Then I set it on the George for 3 minutes. I flipped it after two minutes and so that the two sides were pretty even (even though the George has two grilling surfaces, they never cook both sides the same) and let it stand for a few more minutes before eating.



The taste was INCREDIBLE! This was the best steak I've had, and to think they sell for less than $2 each and take 3 minutes to cook. Obviously a lot is due to the Soul Seasoning and the tenderness of the meat, but it would be hard to beat under any conditions.

Maultasche and Schweineshaxe

Gasthaus Loewen is some pretty good German eats....

I had the Maultasche, which is kinda like a Swabian ravioli case, filled with onions, egg and ground pork inside. Of course there's alot of sauce, which is the way German food is supposed to be eaten. I liked it quite a bit, and for 7,50 Euros, I think its rather reasonable.




Betty had some pork hox, or Schweineshaxe, which is actually a Bavarian specialty. It was a bit too dry, if you want good Schweineshaxe, I recommend the open air market in Munich. Its much juicier, and I'll post photos of that next time. This Schweineshaxe cost 7 Euros, but wasn't as good as expected.

Things I have Georged: Flank Steak

I picked up a flank steak from Nosso Talho and decided to grill it up to make some steak sandwiches. I sed some pada buns (pictured left), which is apparently a Toronto thing.

The steak itself was an 8"x8" sheet and I cut it into 4"x2" strips with shears.

The marinande was pretty simple:

• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• Thai crushed chilies
  

Meat likes salt. Especially if you're going to grill it. It forms a smoky, salty exterior. So I use lots. A steak unseasoned or underseasoned is gross.



Here it is on a Pada bun with some Chipotle sauce.



I had a pic of the steak sliced open, but it didn't come out.

Weekend Roasts

First up some chicken thighs. I coated these on hot sauce, barbecue sauce and maple syrup and roasted for 45 mins at 400 degrees in the toaster oven.



I think the oven was too hot, the skin burned and got too dry, but the meat was still nice and moist. But I liked the hot and sweet taste. So I picked up a pork butt the next day -- I figured that would be the best way to put that maple syrup to use.

I rubbed some Italian spices and thai crushed pepper on to it, along with the maple syrup and roasted it at 325 degrees for 90 minutes. It was super tender and the sauce was spicy and sweet and perfectly complemented the pork.

It was pretty damn good, and the pork came apart really easily. It would make really good sandwiches, but I just ate half of the roast on it's own.



This is a pretty pasty dish that's easy to roast up, but you have to be careful not to roast it too hot (burnt!) or to long (dry!). After a day in the fridge it fired up, and sliced up it was not bad -- but didn't taste nearly as decadent as it did straight out of the oven.

Ribfest

http://torontoribfest.com
Has anyone heard of this? Worth going? It kind of looks like a kid/family event but there may be some good meat.

Things I have Georged: NY Striploin

Georging a steak can be tricky, my george gets very hot and it's very easy to overcook shit. In general cooking time is half of what it is on a grill or bbq. A thin burger ... 3 mins. 6 or 7 minutes on the George is an eternity.



Euro-trash had a sale on the NY striploins, so I picked up about a 14 oz. for $4, marinated in salt, olive oil + pepper for a few hours, for steaks the taste is all from the marinade, and then ... 5 mins on El Jorge, and perfect med. rare.

Oh yeah... the steak was super tender and pretty tasty.

Christmas eve

So I had picked up some beef shanks from Eurotrash (midway down the page) a couple of weeks ago and had this grand plan to make braised beef shank with mashed potatoes and kale for Christmas Eve. I was going to braise the shanks in red wine along with some mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. So at around 4pm on the 24th, I started to chop the veggies and take out the defrosted meat. I took out my Lagostina pasta pot and put it on the heat to get it ready to brown the beef. I realized that the meat hadn't fully defrosted so I stuck it in the microwave for a couple minutes while I prepared the spice rub - some paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne - and then put the rub onto the meat:
All rubbed up, the shanks were ready to be browned. I grabbed my Becel oil and poured it into the pasta pot. I heard a "fwoosh" and watched as the oil caught on fire - I guess the thick base of the pasta pot allowed it to heat up beyond the fire point (?) of the oil!! In my haste to put out the fire, I didn't cover the pot but instead reached for the fire extinguisher (in my defense, the flames were up to the fume hood). The fire extinguisher did the trick, but it also left yellow dust everywhere:
The dust got into cracks everywhere in the kitchen, and all over veggies and meat that were going to go into the braise (so we had to chuck it). As well, the fume hood was tinged with a gray that could only be removed by several applications of Vim. So after about 3 hours of cleaning, we decided to go for Japanese food.

And I had to toss the pot. Damn.