Swirl

Went to Swirl on Queen East with some work friends.

Great place. Especially great because it has some interesting art, sewing tables spray painted and repurposed and wish drawers... People put their wishes into the drawer. No I didn't read them, totally wanted to though.



I tried a few different wines and some cheeses:
Carlos Basso - Dos Fincas Malbec 2008
Mendoza, Argentina
Nose: Acidic with hints of cassis.
Mouth: Easy drinking but I like a little more fruitl. Paired very well with the Hermit Blue... It really brought out the sweetness in the cheese.
Montepulciano D'Abruzzo Doc Crea Vini
Abruzzo, Italy
Nose: Floral with strong oak.
Mouth: Not good, Acidic alcohol and not much else

Cave Springs Cellars - Gewurztraminer 2007
Nose: Honey, crisp apple and spice.
Mouth: Buttery, crisp, not overly sweet with subtle honey.

Tenuta Santome Anna 2007
Prosecco/SauvignionBlanc/Chardonay
Treviso, Italy
Nose: Fragrant, buttery, floral
Mouth: Not a big fan. Buttery yet sharp and spicy... just not well balanced.






Cheeses:
Hermit Blue - Nutty Blue, pretty good... went very well with the cheese and the delicious poached pear.
Le Sauvigne - a brie style cheese with a bitter rind. I prefer a creamier brie without the bitter, but it is nice to change it up.
Niagara Gold - Cheddar/Swiss style cheese with a strong flavour. A great pair to wine!
Marinated Goats Cheese - Amazing! olive oil roasted garlic and goats cheese. How can you go wrong?!




I really like this place and will definitely go again. The wine list was pretty large so I'd like to see what else they have.

Terroni

Our friend Paul was visiting from Vancouver so we went to Terroni. I've never really thought Terroni's food was fantastic. It is very good and subtle and their cheese plate is amazing but I prefer places with really flavourful, bold and different foods. However, the number one reason I go to Terroni is THE WINE!

We sat out on the patio on a beautiful day and decided to get a bottle of red. The waitress brought over a few samples. We tried the Bolla Valpolicella Classico 2008. The nose was tannic with a hint of plum. The taste was well balanced with equal oak and fruit and it was juicy... but it was nothing really special.

We also tried then subsequently bought a bottle of Le Cruste - Nero di Troia 2006 This is one of the best wines I have ever had. It is from the Alberto Longo winery and isn't available here... I may buy a case from Terroni!

Nose - Cherry with a slight sharpness from the alcohol. Also aromas of plum, cinnamon and spice is present.
Mouth - Black Cherry, and ripe plum. Really great bold fruit and a very juicy feeling that fills your mouth with flavour. A little spice and acidity from the alcohol leaves you feeling refreshed. Really, really fantastic wine!
Body - Medium - best of both worlds, creamy and full, yet refreshing and easy drinking.

Weekend Wines

Chateau Pey La Tour - 2008 Bordeaux - Merlot/Cab Sauv blend
Okay, easy drinking wine... wouldn't buy again. No distinguishable flavours, aside from oak, grape, tannins and a bit too dry. Not good enough at the $20 (lcbo) price point.


Best Heim - 2008 Pinot Blanc from Alsace
Fantastic!
Nose - honey, pear/apple with citrusy and floral notes... very fragrant.
Mouth - honey a nice amount of sweetness. a little sharpness from citrus and apparent apple flavour. really, really nice wine



Montes Alpha - 2007 Syrah
Not worth saying anything about a decent easy drinking wine but nothing special. No complexity.


Alsace - Domaines schlumberger - Pinot Gris
on first sip it tasted like grape juice. but once it opened up it became much more smooth and floral.
Nose- buttery citrus and pear.
mouth - Once it had breathed a bit it was buttery and almost floral... really nice and smooth. Hint of citrus definite honey and pear. very good balance of sweet, tart and fragrant. yum.

I also tried an alsatian gewurtztraminer... I usually like these, I believe it was rated well but I didn't write down the name. It was just too much. Very floral very fragrant but very, very sweet... too sweet.

Mexican Fiesta

On the weekend we decided to have some people over for a little Mexican Fiesta. I went overboard as usual and decided to make Tacos Al Pastor from scratch as well as Bean Tacos... Of course I made Guacamole and salsas from scratch. Here's what I did:

I bought most of my ingredients from St. Lawrence Market and needed to because I needed some special chili peppers (guajillo and pasilla) for the tacos. I didn't find pasilla but did find it ground up into a powder and just used dried ancho and guajillo peppers instead... with a little dusting of pasilla powder.


TACOS AL PASTOR (with seared pineapple salsa)

First I sliced and marinated the pork with white wine and lime and put it in the fridge.

Then I started making my sauce/marinade by toasting about six of my dried ancho and guajillo chilies on a pan and then soaking them in hot water. I let them soak until they were quite soft.

While they were soaking I finely diced about half of a large onion, four cloves of garlic and four slices of pineapple. I fried the onions and garlic as well as a whole tomato. Once the chilies were ready i put them into the frying pan as well and added the pineapple, then mashed the whole lot together. I added a bit of orange and pineapple juice and few small squeezes of lime juice.




I spiced up the sauce using cumin, cloves, black pepper, salt and, of course, pasilla powder. I let this simmer, then cool.

Once the sauce was cooled sufficiently, I drained most of the wine/lime out of the pork dish, then coated each and every piece of pork in the rich and spicy sauce. I poured any remaining sauce on top of the pork and then put it all back into the fridge and let it sit over night.

Here is where I started to get nervous... I read online, after I finished of course, that pineapple can actually break down the pork due to its acidity. All turned out fine though.

The next day I cooked the pork on a frying pan, getting a nice sear on the outside. I then chopped it up and served on fresh tortillas with a pineapple salsa (recipes to follow).




I chopped up a load of peppers, onions and cilantro for all of the following recipes.



SEARED PINEAPPLE SALSA

First thing I did, sear the pineapple...



Then I chopped them up into smallish chunks, added, peppers, cilantro, onions, chopped jalapenos, crushed garlic, salt, cumin, adobo spice and a tajin (a mexican fruit seasoning).


I mixed all this together and tasted, added more onion, tasted, added more tajin, tasted... loved!

Then I forgot to take a picture of the salsa... boo.

For the vegetarians in attendance I made a Bean Taco with cabbage, Jack and blue cheese, sour cream and fresh tomato salsa.

SLOW COOKED MEXICAN BEANS

The night before, I drained a can of pinto and black beans and put them in a pot with the water I soaked the ancho and guajillo chilies in and added cumin and a bit of adobo spice. I let them soak over night.

The next day I added half a can of diced tomatoes, onions, garlic and 3 peppers out of a can of chipotles in adobo. I let that slow cook for an hour. I added some corn, then put them on for a little while longer. I tasted then seasoned with salt, pepper and more cumin. I put them on low and let them simmer until we were ready to eat.

These were amazing! Maybe a bit spicy but on the tacos they were great! (and really for me they were perfect, the right kind of spice)



TOMATO SALSA

I made this one with no chilies as to not overwhelm people. I just threw tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, onions and garlic into a bowl. Then seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, adobo and a tiny bit of chili powder.

This tasted fresh and fragrant and went very nicely with the beans.

Again, no picture. wonderful.

SOFT TORTILLAS

My secret? MASECA!



Add water and salt... the back of the bag lies, I always need way more water.

Roll into balls.



Use tortilla press to flatten between plastic wrap. We don't have a tortilla press so we do a little... improvising.

We use a plate and plastic wrap. We press down on the plate then flip it over and pull out the tortillas... a rolling pin doesn't work well with these.

We fry on a hot frying pan and they turn into this:



Amazing, authentic and sooo delicious.

We served the whole thing up with some limes, cilantro, onion, peppers and all the fixun's. Everyone was very happy... and so was I! They were really great. The pork could have used a bit more seasoning (I was shocked considering it was basically chili and chili marinade) but the pineapple salsa more than made up for the lack of flavour. The beans were just... delicious ;) The combo of jack and blue, cabbage, tomato salsa and sour cream with the beans was very good.

My camera battery died so my final pictures turned out... mushy. My presentation could have been better too. Sorry, I'll get better at this blogging thing... I promise.

These images are from Salt in Vancouver... great place where you just go for wine, artisinal cheese and cured meats. I tried the Orofino Beleza, Road 13 Chenin Blanc and La Stella Merlot Rose. I remember the Rose smelling better than it tasted and the Road 13 was a clear favourite. Great place to go for wine while in Vancouver. Great atmosphere with great wine selection local and otherwise.

Beerbistro

Went to Beerbistro... Although the appetizers and beers were awesome the food was not. I got Peanut Crusted Pork: slow roasted pork with crackling, mango salsa, banana onion jam, sweet potato mash... way too complicated and very poorly cooked pork. The pork was hard and tasted old. All the sauces over complicated the dish. Very dissapointing. B had the grilled chicken breast with polenta and although the first few bites were good the dish again was a bit too much and it got overwhelming very soon.

Our appetizers of fries and bacon wrapped shrimp were in fact delicious. The shrimp had a great combo of spicy and sweet.

The beers we tried were also amazing:

Weihenstephaner Hefe weissbier -A nice light and fragrant white beer.
Ephemere Cassis - Like Ephemere apple but with definite taste of cassis... much like ribena and beer. I loved it, B not so much.
Koningshoeven quadrupel - interesting spicy and sweet beer. I don't think I could drink a whole pint though!
Tillburg Dutch Brown Ale - nutty and bold... your classic beer.
Bitburger Premium Pils - light and refreshing.
fullers london porter - coffee and chocolate. Ok.
Kostritzer Schwarzbier - Interesting and not what you expect. Chocolate and fruit lighter tasting than most dark beers.


In conclusion, I think Beer Bistro is more of an appetizer and drinks place.

Oscars...

So we had the Oscar bash and I did indeed make flat bread pizzas. I had a bit of trouble finding flat breads at Metro, but they have them in abundance at Loblaws. We got a giant sesame one and one of those President's Choice cheese ones... both amazing.


Here's what I did:

Steak Flatbread

Steak - I bought the cheap marinating steak. Big mistake, it was too chewy. Next time I'll splurge an extra two dollars on a higher quality steak.
Gloucester and Stilton - All in one delicious cheese
Provolone
Onions

Mushrooms - I bought cute button mushrooms

Worcestershire sauce

Thyme

First I marinated the steak in wine, beef broth, thyme and steak spice (I just use a pepper blend). Then I sauteed the onions and mushrooms with a little salt, pepper, thyme and Worcestershire. I layered the provolone on one half of the giant flatbread, then put the sauteed veg on top. After that I seared the steak and cut it into thin strips. I placed the strips of steak on top of the veg then added the Gloucester and Stilton.




Gravy
Butter
Flour
red wine
beef broth
seasoning

I made a roux with the butter and flour - essentially just slow cooked flour with butter. When it was brown enough I added the wine and let that simmer. Then I added the beef broth until it was the desired consistency and finally I seasoned with salt and pepper, and a bit of thyme and rosemary.

I poured the Gravy on top of the steak flatbread when it was finished.

Apple and Blue Flatbread

Apple
Farm Blue
Old Cheddar - I got an Ontario 6 year old Cheddar
onions
fig jam



I slow cooked the onions with butter and added a fig jam nearing the end and let it melt into the onions. I put a layer of cheddar cheese on the other half of the flatbread. Then I added the onions, layers of apple and a very small and evenly distributed amount of (the very strong) farm blue. Then I added another layer of cheddar cheese.

I put the flat bread in the oven and baked at 375 until the edges just browned and then broiled for the last bit so the cheese got bubbly and beautiful.

Potato Flatbread

Potato
onion
mushroom
mozzarella
roasted garlic
olive oil
rosemary

This was on the cheese flatbread. I just microwaved the potatoes then thinly sliced them. I used olive oil and roasted garlic as the base and just smothered that evenly onto the surface of the flatbread. Then added some rosemary, mozzarella, potatoes, onions and mushrooms. Finishing with more mozzarella and salt and pepper. Baked at 375.

What everyone thought of the food:

Steak Flatbread: Well the steak was tough so it took away from that dish... the flavour was good but a smaller quantity of higher quality steak would have made it better. It was a bit too much.

Apple Flatbread: Delicious! This had the perfect amount of blue and the fig with the onion was so good... the cheddar was also an amazing addition. It was a great combo of sweet and savoury.

Potato Flatbread: I usually like this with a white sauce on the base but this turned out great. used one small clove of garlic and it was perfect... good balanced flavours and a nice amount of carbs for a wine-drinking night! The mushrooms were unnecessary though, next time I'll lose those.

The clear winner was the Apple and Blue flatbread.

What did we think of the wines:

All of the wines were around the $15 mark.




Pierre Sparr - Pinot Blanc
Buttery with crisp apple aftertaste.... first sip was very buttery and sweet. ended with a bit too much alcohol. Overall a good wine. I'd buy it again on a hot summer day!

Queen of Syrah - Rose
HONEY. As soon as you sip it it tastes like watered down honey... then it just tastes balanced. A dry rose with a definite honey flavour... but not at all fragrant. It was interesting but I wouldn't buy it again... there are better wines out there.

Chateau des Charmes - 2007 Riesling
Fragrant with notes of pear, citrus and oak... Sweet but not overly. Very nice wine and I would buy it again. This was an end of the night wine so I'd like to try it again.

As far as the Oscars, what can I say. Who cares? Hunger and Sam Rockwell in Moon were totally ignored. I wasn't really behind any of the films this year. I am glad Christoph Waltz won though, he did an amazing job. Watching stars in high def is amazing... it is so nice to see them look like humans. Oh and I won the little pool we did... So now everyone owes me a drink. Perhaps a nice Pinot Noir... I'll post about that one later ;)