Whats_For_Dinner's Profile
St. Catharines/Niagara people! I need your help!
Based on my one visit and several of my friends', would definitely recommend Memphis Fire over the Bull any day. The burgers at the Bull were adequate, but that was about it, whereas everything I've had at Memphis Fire has been awesome. Sad -- I was hoping for so much more when the Bull opened.
St. Catharines/Niagara people! I need your help!
Great Korean at a little hole in the wall at St. Paul and Carlisle. Only identifiable by the "Bone Soup" sign.
Cheap and cheerful pho at Pho Dau Bo, and while you're there, check out Dinh Dinh, the Vietnamese store next door. LOTS of neat stuff. I hear there's another great Asian store on Vine.
There's an interesting Mexican/Caribbean-type store, Elda's Place, at Bunting and Welland. In that area, lots of Polish bakeries and so forth in the Facer St. neighbourhood.
Meat from Lake Land if you feel like dropping a bundle, Pilgrim's at Queen and Welland if you feel like dropping a slightly smaller bundle, or R&J Meats at Bunting and Carlton for great quality and super friendly service by people who actually cut their own meat (I know, right? Shocking.)
At the market, buy beef, chicken eggs, flour and potatoes from Tom in the northwest corner. Apples from Beamers. Duck eggs and garlic from Cathy. Cheeses from Cheesy Guys -- can't find those cheeses anywhere else in the city, and they're super nice. Bread on Saturdays from De La Terre. Ice cream from the ice cream girl in the summer!
Not a lot of gems around here, but it's a lot less desolate than I figured it would be when I moved here from Toronto a few years ago. Good luck!
Two chicken livers
I just made an absolutely killer omelet filled with chopped chicken livers, halfway-caramelized onions (I just couldn't wait!) and spinach, finished with a little truffle oil (which I usually despise but was gifted recently...) Fantastic breakfast.
How Waiters Read Your Table - WSJ
A large part of their job is "reading the table" te get a handle on their expectations and hopefully be able to anticipate their needs. You can't behave the same to every table.
Massimo Capra at Rainbow Room - Crowne Plaza Niagara Falls...
Soft opening tonight, apparently. A couple weeks behind schedule. Interested to see how they make out.
Things you want to try making
Made this for myself for my birthday a few years ago. Truly ridiculously decadent. Glad I'm missing a few ingredients, or I would be rushing to the kitchen for a sudden, irrational baking spree.
Soft-shell crab GTA, Niagara, London?
Many sushi places serve tempura softshell crab year-round as an app. You can be almost certain that they're frozen at most places, and if they're fresh when in season (late spring) you'll know it, as it'll be heavily advertised and you'll pay through the nose for it.
When in season, they're fairly common on menus, but at a fairly high price, as they cost about two bucks each wholesale, for the "super jumbos" at least.
Ramen
Tried this back when the thread was hot, and thought it was excellent.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/746545
Reese's peanut butter -- anywhere in WNY?
Hi,
I've been dying to try Reese's brand peanut butter ever since I became aware of its existence. It doesn't seem to be available here in Canada, and as much as I love peanut butter, I balk at paying five times the value of the damn thing to buy and ship it via eBay.
I live in Niagara, and both the Falls and Buffalo are fairly convenient for me. Is there anywhere within a reasonable distance from the border that I can get this elusive peanut butter? The Hershey's website says no, but my past experience with unreliable online product locators leads me to believe that it just might be out there. Somewhere. Any help is appreciated!
Mini muffin/cupcake pan - NOT non-stick
Yes, try Tap Phong, or any restaurant supply.
Where to find Prague #1 Powder in Mississauga for making a ham...Superstore just had a big sale on pork leg...
Make sure you're getting the exact stuff that you need, but my local Superstore has had the same sale on for a couple of weeks now. Last year when they had a similar sale, they stocked sausage-making items (pink salt, casings) as well. I asked the woman at the meat counter if these would be available, and she said that yes, in February when they have the next sale, they should have these items in as well. Hopefully she's right, because I'm rationing out the last of my own pink salt as if it's gold dust. Hope that helps.
Fine Dining Vegetarian - Ottawa
Zen Kitchen immediately comes to mind. http://www.zenkitchen.ca/
Eggnog pudding?
You have to watch it when using store-bought eggnog in custards -- it's often packed with stabilizers, emulsifiers, and so on, which can really screw with the thickness, stability, etc. of the finished custard. Large variance between brands in this department, too. When playing around with eggnog pastry cream last year, I found that one brand required three times as much cornstarch as another to achieve the same texture.
Given the choice, I would rather make a pudding with eggnog flavours, like you said, and maybe use an all-yolk recipe if possible, to give it the extra richness. Good luck!
You have $10 for a meal, where do you go in Toronto?
No one's mentioned the Fish Store on College yet? Or New York Subway? Crazy.
What exactly is ground Kobe beef?
"what is the point of having it be "Kobe," or even "Wagyu?""
Being able to charge fifteen bucks for it...
Really, though, Kobe or not, your trim's gotta go somewhere, in this case the grinder, and when you can pass it off for triple the price of "ordinary" beef, your bottom line starts looking a little better.
Want to cook a goose, need advice/ recipes/hints
I'm planning to get my first-ever goose this Christmas, too -- in fact, I'm picking it up from the farmer tomorrow -- and I've been all around trying to look up the best way to cook it. I think our plan is to roast it, although we're not sure (Last time we got a whole duck, we made a seven-course dinner for two out of it, heh.)
What I think I've settled on is the Julia Child method (and Jacques Pepin has a similar one) for steam-roasting. Involved, for sure, but I don't mind a lot of work, and I'll have the time.
The County General - simple food, prepared beautifully
Was there very late Thursday (or should I say early Friday) and everything was exceptional -- among our group we had the kimchi pork bun (excellent), chicken sandwich (ridiculously moist, but the coating remained super crispy), burgers (deliciously juicy, fatty and beefy)... but the winner was he pig's head torchon -- a screaming hot deep-fried cube of what I assume to be headcheese/head terrine/whatever. Hot, crunchy, and exploding with pork fat, I would eat these for every meal until I keel over from cardiac arrest. At only four bucks a pop, the perfect late-night drunk snack. Will definitely go again, maybe not at 2:30am this time.
Cavena Nuda-" Prairie Rice"
I was gifted some last year and really enjoyed it. Stays nice and firm like farro or barley, but with a definite oaty flavour. Would be great in any pilaf, salad, stuffing...
Rise Above Bakery - St. Catharines - vegan donuts, etc
I'll definitely check it out. Have noticed that they haven't been at the market lately (as far as I've seen.) Thanks!
The Beast Tasting Menu - Whole Beast
Thanks very much! I've had this on my "to-do list" for a while now, but always wondered if you needed a large group to do one of the larger animals -- good to know you can get something like boar even if you're only a deuce. Thanks!
F'Amelia - new pizza joint in Cabbagetown
A friend of mine went shortly after it opened and loved it. Housemade charcuterie, excellent pasta, etc. His pictures looked great. Excited to try it myself.
BOUDIN BALLS - HELP!!!
Was there rice in them? My experience with rice/meat mixes in the freezer has led me to believe that it's not worth doing. I've tried to freeze extra cabbage roll filling several times, which is about a 3:2 ratio of uncooked ground meat to cooked rice. Texture is great when the cabbage rolls are cooked before being frozen, but when I've thawed the unused meat and tried to use it again, it's disintegrated in the same way that you described.
You could use them in some sort of hash or something, that'd be tasty.
Lamb Nasty Bits
In a similar vein, does anyone use the lungs? I've butchered lambs with two respected, very nose-to-tail type chefs, and both told me there wasn't much that could be done with the lungs. One of them did provide us with some entertainment by playing them like a set of bagpipes briefly, but that was about it.
Looking for a chocolatier (Downtown T.O./Etobicoke)
Etobicoke: Sweet Olenka's on Lakeshore near Royal York!
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Lakeshore Cafe
6320 Lakeshore Rd, Forest, ON N0N1J0, CA
Grant gone at the Black Hoof
Agreed. Was there Sunday, and everything was stellar. Foie and bread pudding for dessert was out of this world.
Fish & Chips-Orillia to Huntsville
Westside in Huntsville. Get the coconut cream pie. If I ever go back, I`ll honestly forgo the fish and chips entirely and just have a double serving of the pie. Fish was fine, fries not worth it, but that pie, OH MAN.
Organic Big Burger - Brown's Line, anyone heard of it? On a daily deal site today...
Amen to that.
