September 28, 2008

100 Canadian Foods to Eat


Andrew at Very Good Taste, peaked my interest with his list of VGT's Omnivore's Hundred. After responding to this list I looked for more and found the Big List of "Things You Must Eat". I then knew that I must come up with a list that focused on the top 100 Canadian items to consume.


Below is the list. The rules will be along the same lines as Andrew's list:


1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Post a comment here linking to your results


Maple Syrup & Poutine's 100 Canadian Foods to Consume



1. Arctic Char
2. Ketchup flavoured chips
3. Wild Rice Pilaf
4. Caribou Steak
5. Gourmet Poutine
6. Screech
7. Beaver Tails
8. Maple Baked Beans
9. Bison Burger
10. Bumbleberry pie
11. Nanaimo bar
12. Butter Tarts
13. Cedar Planked B.C. Salmon
14. Wild Blueberries
15. Pure Local Cranberry Juice
16. Chocolate from Ganong or Purdy’s
17. A cup of warm cider from your local orchard
18. Caesar
19. 4 of the following types of apples (Cortland, Empire, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Spartan, Greensleeves, Liberty, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, Golden Russet, Idared, Gala)
20. Freshly foraged mushrooms
21. Dinner cooked by Michael Smith, Susur Lee or Rob Feenie
22. Fondue Chinoise
23. Dish created from a Canadian Living Magazine recipe
24. Peameal Bacon Sandwich from St. Lawrence Market in Toronto
25. Lobster bought directly from a boat in a Maritime harbour
26. Handmade perogies from your local church or market
27. Alberta Beef at an Alberta Steakhouse
28. Leamington Tomatoes
29. Roasted Pheasant
30. Wild Game hunted by someone you know
31. Ice Wine
32. Habitant Pea Soup – entire can
33. Any Canadian Artisinal Cheese
34. Bannock
35. Tourtiere
36. Flapper Pie
37. Jellied Moose Nose
38. Saskatoon Berries
39. Fish and Brewis
40. Screech Pie
41. Fiddleheads
42. Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich
43. Flipper Pie
44. Montreal Bagels with Smoked Salmon
45. Toutins
46. Jam Busters
47. Bakeapple Pie
48. Bridge Mixture
49. Canadian Style Pizza (bacon, pepperoni. Mushrooms)
50. Shreddies
51. A cone from Cow’s Ice Cream
52. Lumberjack or Logger’s Breakfast
53. Jigg’s Dinner
54. Rappie Pie
55. Pemmican
56. Lake Erie Sturgeon Caviar
57. Belon Oysters
58. Brome Lake Duck
59. Beer from a stubby bottle.
60. A beer from Unibroue or Phillips Brewery.
61. Salt Spring Island Lamb
62. Fry’s Cocoa
63. A bag of Old Dutch Potato Chips
64. Every Flavour of Laura Secord Suckers
65. Chicken Dinner from St Hubert’s or Swiss Chalet
66. Hickory Sticks
67. An entire box of Kraft Dinner
68. Candy Apples (NOT caramel apples)
69. Corn from a roadside stand
70. A meal at Eigensenn Farm
71. Okanogan Peaches
72. Berkshire Pork
73. PEI Potatoes
74. Something cooked in Canola oil
75. Figgy Duff
76. Blueberry Grunt
77. High Tea at the Empress Hotel
78. Fresh maple syrup hardened on the snow
79. Oreilles de Christ
80. Nova Scotia Beer Warmer
81. A cheese plate containing Bleu Bénédictin, Friulano, St. Maure and Oka.
82. Black or red currant jam
83. Maple glazed Doughnut from Tim Horton’s with a Large “Double Double”
84. A glass of Mission Hill’s “Oculus”
85. Alberta Pure Vodka
86. Chokecherries
87. Canada Day Cake
88. Boulettes
89. Canadian Iced Tea
90. Mead
91. Fricot
92. Grandperes
93. Local honey
94. Creton on toast
95. Glen Breton Rare
96. A whole box of Smarties, where the empty box is then used as a kazoo
97. Grilled cheese made with Canadian Cheddar
98. A meal from Harvey’s
99. Lake Erie Perch
100. Red Rose Tea
If you are unsure of what the item is, look it up! Please pass the list on to your friends and fellow bloggers - whether they are Canadian or not.

September 27, 2008

Cooking Club II - Gourmet Junk Food

This month's meeting was a bit of a bust. Two people had to cancel, two were late and one had to leave early! We did get some cooking done in there.

Here is what the menu looked like:

They are serious when they say only a small amount of water and make sure you wait until the caramel has cooled a bit. Mine were tasty but not so pretty.
Christine - Twinkie Tiramisu

...Gonna Get Ma-a-arried!






My sister was married earlier this summer in a gorgeous ceremony over looking a quiet lake in cottage county. It was a very small fete so she and her partner decided to invite the rest of their friends and family to a celebration of their wedding at their own place in Southern Ontario.




My mother and I were the caterers and spend about 12 hours last week, cooking ourselves silly. The fruits of our labour seemed to be enjoyed by all.




The menu included:








Potato, Beet and Carrot Latkes with Creamy Horseradish or Ginger Applesauce




Asian Sesame Slaw








Grilled Vegetable Anitpasto




4 Cheese Penne




Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and Thai Dressing




Grilled Flank Steak with Florentine Mayo, Peach Salsa and BBQ Sauce




Fresh Fruit with Chocolate Dipped Strawberries




Chocolate, Vanilla and Coconut Wedding Cupcakes

Cooking Club - Local, Seasonal Food

It is almost every chef's mantra to use the best quality, local and seasonal ingredients in their cooking. Our group of amateur cooking club members decided to join them in this.

Our menu included:

Tomatoes from Essex County are simply the best
and are only enhanced with basil right from the garden.
Danielle - Cumin Scented Beet Latkes with Canadian Horseradish Goat Cheese &
Carrot Latkes with Gingered Michigan Applesauce
Beets and carrots from the backyard, doesn't get more local than that.
The ingredients were very seasonal, maybe not so local.
All of this was served with Walkerville Brewery beer and Pelee Island wines.

September 14, 2008

The Omnivore's Hundred

LISTS! Love them! Seriously, a good list where I can cross things off and see my progress is ever so satisfying. I am a list geek and proud of it.

Very Good Taste has come up with a list to determine just how many of 100 items bloggers have consumed. It is an omnivore's challenge, so veg people may feel a bit jilted - doesn't mean you can't come up with your own though.

Here are the instructions:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/ linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:



1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba Ganoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB & J Sandwich
14. Aloo Gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses - yum! this is on my future list though
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom Tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie Gras
24. Rice and Beans
25. head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - just not worth the pain
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna Cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Saurkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O - more often than I'd care to admit
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects - I wouldn't say never, but probably not
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu - not sure I'm interested in taking the chance
47. Chicken Tikka Masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Pickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. poutine - of course!
60. carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. kaolin - um, no.
64. currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill - yuck!
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three- Michelin-star restaurant - WooHoo! Worth every penny
85. Kobe Beef
86. Hare - if it means rabbit then, yes
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft Shell Crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
100. Snake

In conclusion, there are 9 items I would never eat, 24 items I have not eaten yet, and 67 I have already consumed! Not bad at all...I'll be working on those 24.

Recipe Review


I heart poutine - blog's name kinda cements this. Here are some of Bonnie Stern's latest recipes for the cheesy, gravy covered Canadian concoction - National Post


I am at work every day, which must mean the kids are back in school. Some ideas for fantastic lunches - Epicurious


Recipes for breaking the fast during Ramadan - Epicurious


My mother adores chutney. She uses it as some would ketchup. Here are some recipes to add to her arsenal. - Seasonal Ontario Food





September 5, 2008

We test it, you eat it.


Coney dogs, yum! Check out the latest article on the Food Network Canada site about my adventures in taste testing.