Grand Electric

We'd heard all the buzz about grand electric... Apparently you have to show up at 6pm if you don't want to wait an hour and a half. We ran late And got there at 6:30... Waited an hour and a half. We had a couple of beers at the Rhino, desperadoes really whet my appetite for Mexican.

We got the call and headed over. People were lined up and being told it was a two hour wait.

Tiny place. Great food. The tacos were amazing! We had fish tacos, a ceviche, pork tacos and the guacamole. The fish tacos were probably the best thing we had  - I'd love to go again to try some more food... if I can handle the wait.

Barque - yum

Sunday is family night at barque. $25 and you get a sampling of the menu - everything was amazing.

First we had some popcorn that seemed to have smoky BBQ flavour. Then had root veggie soup that was packed with spice. Then pulled brisket crostini with root vegetable chips. Amazing and still not done. On to salad with apples and almonds - pretty good - some of my salad had seen better days. I think this is more of a meat place.

Then the mains the best ribs I've ever had, BBQ chicken, and slow cooked chili. Served with two different and delicious barbecue sauces with individual basting brushes. Very comforting food, very tasty, and a great deal!

But wait there was still dessert. A coffee-chocolate cake, not that we needed it, also good- but who could taste anymore after all that.

Drinks were great too - I had a glass of negroamaro- so delicious. Then I had to order the caesar rimmed with BBQ sauce and bacon bits served with a pickled bean. Pretty crazy- but next time i'll stick with wine!

Great night, great deal, I'd go back!

10 dollar wines - Tasting Party!!

Since we were on a major hunt for 10 dollar wedding wines, we decided to host a 10 dollar wine tasting party. Next time I'd do a simpler tasting card... The one I did was a bit too much for a bunch of friends getting a bit tipsy. Don't worry though, we did small tastes of each first then finished all the bottles so everything was fair. We weren't drunk when tasting the last one... I think. Also, since it was a social event my notes aren't great.

We tried:

La Casona Monastrell
Nose - Cherry with a hint of acidity
Mouth - nice fruit but again has a bit too much alcohol...

This was my favourite of the evening (and I'd had it once before) but I was almost alone in this.




Misterio Malbec
Nose - pepper
Mouth - sweet, peppery but thin... it just fell flat.



Castillo de Monseran - Carinena Grenacha
Nose - Acid! Oak!
Mouth - Very thin and very oaky - surprisingly not too tannic.




Mezzomondo - Negroamaro Salento
This was the evenings winner!
Nose - Acid and cream
Mouth - Thin bodied but with a real creaminess, it did have the bitterness of a Negroamaro but it was well balanced in the wine with sweetness and cream.

Below are the nonsensical tasting sheets but there are some funny comments. Such as "homeless man's breath", "oily vaseline quality", "don't buy this, Boozy".  All around fun night, I'd do it again!!

Chateau de Luc

Chateau de Luc Les Murets Corbieres 2008

Delicious creamy yet fragrant wine. Ripe black fruit and a bit of spice. great mouth feel- minimal tannins.

Love it!!!

10 Dollar Wines - Wedding Whites

So, in case you weren't aware, Brad and I are getting married in August at the Design Exchange. As you are aware, I love wine... but we have to get the bar package to make the wedding day go smoothly. The Design Exchange agreed to let me pick the wine, if it was under 10 dollars. Is that a challenge!? So now we, Brad and our chosen friends (yes you, you're probably the only ones reading this) have started tasting wines in this price range. Here are some thoughts on the whites I have bought:

Cesari 2009 Chardonnay Nose - sweet- with hints of apple, almost strawberry and hints of honey. really nice... with a bit of alcohol at the finish. Mouth - Creamy texture. Pear with spiciness and a bit of sharpness from the alcohol. It is quite good. I think this is a definite pick for the wedding white. Spinelli Pinot Grigio Nose - Alcohol and apple Mouth - even more alcohol and apple. It is very sharp... too sharp. I like the apple, but that is all. I also tried a 10 dollar beringer white... it was fine, nothing special and very flat. I also tried the Mezzomondo white, a bit too tart with too much alcohol. I'll keep trying and see if I can find something amazing... the Cesari Chardonnay was really good though, so I feel it is definitely one for the wedding. I have to try it again and see...

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.