vickichowder: March 2013

FOOD PORN: BREAKFAST EDITION

As the school term comes closer the end, I've found myself so occupied that I rarely have time to watch my favourite show: No Reservations (though I think I've already watched nearly all the episodes...). After waking up, making myself presentable and going to classes, the rest of the typical day of the week usually consists of:

1. Researching food,

2. Looking at food pictures,

3. Reading the descriptions of food on menus because I'm not rich enough to go to the restaurant to eat their food,

4. Making food,

5. Eating the food I make, and

6. Doing assignments / studying

So let me share some breakfasts I've been having over this month (although I can't guarantee the actual time frame for which these photos span):

Homemade gyozas/dumplings

Radish cake

Glutinous rice with green bean, pork belly, salted egg yolk

Oatmeal + milk tea

Oatmeal + barley

Barley + honey + jujube soup

Avocado + flax seed + milk + cereal

Strawberry + flax seed + milk + cereal

Pancake with lots of hunny (because that's the way Winnie the Pooh spells it, and my love for Winnie the Pooh and everything about him go way back)

Pancake with breakfast sausage and lots of honey

Pancake with avocado and honey

Shawarma, deconstructed, sans wrap, to which I asked for four sauces to be added: garlic, tzatziki, spicy something, hummus. From FMT - Farmer's Market Thursdays

Apple fritter and vanilla icecream. The side that is heavily dusted with cinnamon is mine. From FMT

Super creamy scrambled egg with spinach, on top of sourdough bread

Poached egg with mozzarella sauce, on top of spinach and buttered+toasted rye

Lately I've been really enjoying to make grilled sandwiches. There's just something very comforting and indulgent about biting into crispy-buttered toast to reveal hot, layered - meats, veggies, and melted cheese (and a good spread of grainy mustard which I would like to thank my friends for, because I was just lamenting over how I didn't buy it - which they magically brought along with them when they visited me).

I hope this has contributed to your daily serving of food porn.

Please come again soon,

MUAH MUAH MUAH

VICKI CHOW

P/S

I think I've watched almost all of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, so I began watching another show of his - The Layover. But none on that for now. There was a No Reservations special that was dedicated entirely to food porn, in which he describes the enjoyment of food as sinful as, well, things you do that are considered to be sins. What does Mr. Bourdain say about this topic, exactly? Well:

"The human body reacts in very similar ways when anticipating food and sex. Capillaries swell, lips and membranes become engorged, saliva thickens, and the pulse rises. It’s no accident that the two pleasures have become confused."

Can you guess what this is?

On my lazy-but-must-muster-up-motivation-to-blog days, I will post up these sorts of picture posts, for those who are as lazy as I am - have no will to read words but just want to let their eyes take in everything for them *how thoughtful of me*

Happy Easter! May you eat many delicious foods this weekend (:

, by vickichowder

AMERICANO

THE MON CAFE, MONTREAL (PART IV)

My posts for my trip to Montreal have been going on for way to long, but here it is: the last part of the trip! Coincidentally, this is also the last day of my stay in Montreal, and having woken up late, we quickly researched for a nice cafe on our phones while still rolling around in the warm bed.

The twenty or thirty minute walk to brunch

A cafe called The Mon Cafe was liked by many on Urbanspoon, so we thought to give it a go. One of us originally wanted to eat crepes, but I convinced her otherwise, since I feel that crepes are always overpriced in restaurants, and I could just make them for her instead (on my Cloer crepe maker, of course).

Outside of The Mon Cafe

Although short, each item on the lunch menu had us drooling before we even saw the actual food. I was tempted by the croissant TMC, but seeing that we took a while to decide, the owner began ~~giving us suggestions~~ to describe their grilled cheese. I am weak before cheese, and when he started telling us that their strong Quebec-made cheese was aged for X0 years, all three of our eyes lit up. We looked at each other and all had the same thought:

"We're not sharing this."

So the three of us ordered one grilled cheese, and our drinks:

The barista was very thoughtful and asked us what kinds of coffees we like, how we like them, and so on, until he had in mind the perfect drink for us.

Cafe Americano

Lovely European friend likes her coffee black and no sugar. Though I typically don't drink my coffee black, Americano has a much different taste than black coffee, and so I enjoyed the few sips I tried very much.

Hot Cocoa

Made from cocoa powder, and dusted with a lattice of more cocoa powder, this hot cocoa should be for those who really like their cocoa hot. Cause this is literally hot - cocoa. It was nice and rich, sadly, too rich for me to have more than one sip.

Medium Latte

This was lovely as it was made with 2% milk (less creamy), and with a strong, strong espresso.

And it doesn't hurt to have it look so pretty.

House made cauliflower soup

Grilled Cheese avec Gelee

Extremely crispy on the outside, from grilling evenly butter-coated bread slices, and meltingly delicious on the inside. All grilled cheeses should be made with strong cheeses like this, and served with this:

Crab apple Gelee

This crystal-clear, ruby pink gelee is homemade by the owner's mother, and I cannot think of a single condiment that would better complement the cheese than this one. Well done *claps*

In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I had to rave to the owner about how much I enjoyed it, who, without hesitation, proceeded to give me a small container of it to take home! (:

Enter the bank through the big rotating doors!

From there, we head to a bank that the cafe owner said we should go see because it was constructed so detailed-ly.

And that concludes my Montreal trip!

MUAH MUAH MUAH

VICKI CHOW

P/S

Lately I've been deep frying foods quite often. And whenever I do deep fry, we happen to find mounds of food in our fridge that are very deep-fryer-friendly, which includes broccoli, zucchini, onion, sweet potato, any meat, any seafood - and recently, we thought it would be a good idea to try that with apples.

In case you were wondering, it was a good idea. After coating them liberally with cinnamon and sugar, they tasted like little mouthfuls of apple pie.

Elevator of bank

Ceiling of bank

Some part of bank

I just finished making a blog card! Similar to the idea of a business card, but advertises my blog instead of a business. Hence, blog card *yay*

Please read soon because I will finally post meals I cook again!

, by vickichowder

CALAMARI

LE STEAK FRITES ST. PAUL, MONTREAL (PART III)

A good three-or-so years ago, during my March break, my family and I visited Montreal (with the intent of eating, sightseeing, and shopping). That week was during Lent, when you pick something to sacrifice or give up for the 40 days leading to Easter. I happened to pick land meats, basically, beef, pork, chicken, duck, and lamb, so I could still eat seafood.

Wondering what those metal baskets are for? Read on ~

With this in mind, please imagine yourself in my shoes (actually, boots because it was winter), as I walk into Le Steak Frites and get bombarded with the mouthwatering aroma of steak. I sat down, studied the chalkboard menus on the walls and concluded that the only non-land-meat entree I could order was the salmon or tuna. So salmon was what I came all the way to Montreal for.

A few of the many menus they had all around the restuarant

So after having endured being tempted by both parents by their 6oz filet mignons, I thought:

I will come again to eat you *stares at juicy meat*

Warm rolls, served with butter

And I did. I went to the exact same location of St. Frites, but this time, I had the intention of ordering anything but that salmon filet.

Saumon Fume

Two friends and I shared the tapas so we could try more than one (three, to be specific). This smoked salmon tasted more than just the salt and smoke that you usually taste from the prepackaged and sliced smoked salmon. The taste reminded me somewhat of salmon sashimi, albeit much more seasoned. Of course, capers, diced onions and olive oil are always the best accompaniments to smoked salmon.

Tartare au Saumon

A spoon of this is like a spoon of spicy salmon roll, minus the seaweed and rice. Note that I say like, because no matter how similar it may seem , the seasoning is much creamier and has a pronounced onion taste (making even the anti-salmon-sashimis to enjoy it too!)

Calamars frits

The tartar sauce is really good! I think I put some on my bread just to have more of it when the calamari was all finished. The calamari itself, though, was not especially mind-blowing since I think the fried calamari from Modavie was much juicier and meatier (:

Rosé wine

This dinner was an all-girls-night, so we thought it would be suitable to buy pink-colored drinks, and Rosé was one of them. The other was a strawberry daquiri which I didn't like that much because it was rather sweet.

Le Steak-Frits (9oz)

They rested this medium rare steak for a sufficient amount of time so that when its cut, a pool of blood doesn't gush out, and every single bite is just as juicy as the previous. The waiter asked which sauce I'd like, and after sensing my indecisiveness, he said he'd being all three for me (mustard, black pepper, and gravy). And the -Frits at the end = unlimited fries = what constantly becomes refilled in the metal baskets.

Steak Frits & Chorizo

I didn't have any of these, but I imagine the tapas version of the steak frits to be as wonderful as the one I had. Chorizo, a spanish sausage, was wonderful and juicy, as my friend said.

Napoleon

By checking into the Steak Frites on Foursquare and showing them on your mobile phone, you are entitled to a free tapas dessert! I chose Napoleon because I had creme brulee last time, and none of the other desserts appealed to me much.

Trio Cupcake

Appearing in front of your on a charcuterie board, the red velvet, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes are cute, small, but still taste delicious!

Creme Brulee

It's the tapas version, so it comes in a small teacup rather than in a ramekin. I personally would choose the regular sized creme brulee over this one just because the ratio of custard and caramelized sugar on top is more equal.

*Click* It's on Urbanspoon!

I hope your mouth is watering, stomach is grumbling after reading this, because that was what I experienced while watching my parents slowly devour their filet mignon in front of my beady eyes.

MUAH MUAH MUAH

VICKI CHOW

P/S

Today I had a spontaneous baking moment:

"I want to make biscottis.
[to my beautiful European friend:]Have some more coffee later, because I'm making biscottis!"

And as I'm typing this, my almond-cranberry biscottis are sliced and undergoing their final bake in the oven to dry up. Outside, the wind is furious, and I can hear it roaring past as my window is open. I tend to have to keep my window open nearly all the time to ventilate my room from the smells of cooking (which can be annoying when I'm in bed and want to fall alseep!)

Take me back to Montreal where they have gelato stores as frequently as icecream stores ~

Today is Monday, and the day that everyone is transitioning from St. Patrick's Day weekend - so I wish you a quick recovery (:

Have you ever been taunted with food?

, by vickichowder

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