Trattoria Toscana

Saturday night Tim and I decided to try the new Italian restaurant in town. It opened 4 months ago in the former Mavericks location. I reviewed the menu on line www.toscanas.ca before we made the reservations and started drooling immediately... So expectations were set. We've eaten at some amazing Italian restaurants in NYC and in Stockholm, yup you heard right, Stockholm. So we were pretty excited to try this new place. We had heard nothing about it from anyone we knew so it was risky but we were up for the challenge.

When we arrived we were pleased to see they had updated the decor to match a more Mediterranean style restaurant. It was a bit bright but cheery. We were seated in the back room along the wall. Now this is the seating style I dislike the most when you have a row of tables lined up so that you are sitting beside your neighbor like it is communal dining. It's hard to have a private conversation this way. The waitress did look to move us but the place was fully booked. The real reason she looked to move us was because we couldn't hear each other. It was so noisy! Neither of us could ever remember it being that noisy when we ate in the same room when it was Mavericks. And there was no background music. Some nice cheery Italian dinner music would have been perfect. I could see speakers but only heard the loud ramblings of the other diners.

We were served drinks in a reasonable time period which always makes me happy. The waitress took our order then had to come back to clarify a few things. She quickly explained that she had only been waitressing for 3 weeks but that the food was way better than her service. She was actually a full time paramedic who was waitressing as a new challenge. By her taking the time to share this with us it endeared her to us and we were quite willing to be patient and offer our feedback. And, as I said to Tim, I could never imagine being able to waitress myself so I have a lot of respect for those who attempt this.

I ordered a bloody caesar to start. I feel this is one of the basic measures of a good restaurant. Tim had a glass of chianti. Both were perfect. And my caesar had 2 spicy green beans as garnish - my favorite! They also served us bread with olive oil and balsamic for dipping, another of our favorites. We were off to a good start. And the large table behind Tim was about to leave so there was hope that the noise level would drop soon.

Tim ordered the calamari to start and I ordered the mussels. I only ordered the mussels because usually the calamari is a relatively small order. Not here! It was huge. Had we known that I wouldn't have ordered the mussels too. However, they were delicious. They had a cream wine sauce with basil that was amazing. The calamari was obviously seasoned with course salt because we would actually bite into a piece of salt while eating them. Now if you remember, we eat low sodium at home which means we are a little salt sensitive. Tim told our waitress because really the calamari should have been salted with a finer salt, even a plain kosher salt would have been better. Tim figured this was a course sea salt. It may have had more to do with the fact that the calamari may not have been salted as soon as it came out of the fryer so the salt didn't melt into the calamari like it should have. We also recognized that we may have to start asking for the chef to leave off the last seasoning of salt because of our own sensitivity. Anyway, the calamari itself in the batter was a good texture, not too chewy. We had the remainder of it wrapped to take home because it was just too much food and we didn't want to spoil our appetite for the main course.

We didn't order salads because there was creme brulee on the dessert menu. However I saw a bunch of the salads come out to other tables and I will definitely be trying one next time. They looked divine.

I should tell you about our dining neighbors because they were moderately amusing. I wouldn't normally but I'm pretty sure they won't be reading this and there are some good lessons to be learned from their night out. First of all they were seated after us with wine in their hands so they had obviously had to wait to have their table prepared. There were 4 of them. From what I could tell, a couple, the sister and the mother. We had reservations for 7:30. Even if they had their reservations for 7, it is still way too late to be taking out Granny. When dining out with your beloved elderly mother or grandmother, make reservations for no later than 5pm. Older folks tend to be on an earlier schedule. This poor woman looked as though she was going to fall asleep in her chair while her dining companions proceeded to sling back the wine and behave badly... When I say they behaved badly, well aside from the basic disregard for Granny needs, they sent back the caeser salad which I drooled over when it came out. It was not a diner caeser salad, no this was a gourmet caesar salad with big freshly toasted croutons and beautiful crisp green romaine. I think their complaint was how the dressing was placed on the salad. I believe it was drizzled and they wanted it tossed. I'm not sure why they hadn't gone to East Side Marios, especially when I heard them order the lasagna. Why bother going to an upscale Italian restaurant if all you want is lasagna? Mind you, every good Italian restaurant in North American must have it on their menu but all 4 of them order it. So you could tell they were really gourmet connoisseurs...

Things were moving slowly as we waited for our main course. We had ordered a bottle of wine and neither of us was driving home so we were quite content to drink our wine and enjoy each other's company. However, the table next to us were missing Granny's med time and were getting antsy. The gentleman went to complain to the manager and felt quite vindicated when, as he returned to his seat, their meals appeared. The lasagnas were individually baked so while the gentleman was convinced that complaining to the manager made their meals appear, the truth is it was just coincidence that they came out of the oven at the same time. At this point he felt compelled to tell the waitress that he was from Nova Scotia. I'm not sure what that proved but as a fellow bluenoser I was embarrassed. And then he went on to state that they were reviewers. Okay no reviewer ever reveals himself like that. It was quite laughable and Tim and I were quite entertained.

We were offered complimentary drinks for the wait since we had polished off our bottle of wine. This is always a nice touch when the service isn't going smoothly. Nothing like free booze to make your customers happy! Our meals arrived, Tim had the beef tenderloin with wine sauce and gorgonzola while I had the salmon stuffed with shrimp and scallop puree. It was totally worth the wait! And this is an important point - if you make your customers wait, it better be perfect when it gets there! We both cleaned our plates.

We were too full of wine to have room for dessert. The chef came out to say hello. But this time there was only us and one other table left in the restaurant. Apparently he had just come back from catering. It's a hard call to make for a lot of these folks in the restaurant business in small markets like Moncton. When it's busy you have to try and do it all because in a small market it can be slow for a long time. It turned out that the kitchen had a hot water problem halfway through service and the chefs in the kitchen were panicking. I thought the service was just slow because they had been only open for 4 months and getting the timing down to keep meals running smoothly is truly an art. My point here is to tell your customers what is going on. You'd be surprised at how most of them will be understanding. Life happens. We still had an excellent meal.

And then the chef sang for us. This chef is known as the "Singing Chef" and he was quite good. At the end of the evening when the bill came we were shocked. We had a full evening for under $125! Tim tipped the waitress well and made sure he told the chef what a great job she had done. We'll be back!

On a side note, on the cab ride home we were also sang too. Seems our cabbie was a long time singer songwriter. Tim and I just may have to get out more often.

Mac and Cheese Tip

Everyone knows I am a big fan of freezing meals for eating later when life is short on time or I just don't feel like cooking. This week we had a meal I wasn't thrilled with. I had made macaroni and cheese a few months ago and put one square aluminum pan in the freezer. I took it out this week and baked it. It was toooooooo dry. And not very cheesy. I've talked about freezing your pasta separately from sauces and soups because they tend to continue to absorb the liquid until completely frozen, making for mushy pasta and gloopy soup. Well I think this also applies to some casseroles. In the future I will make my cheese sauce and boil up my macaroni but I will stop there. I'll freeze them separately. When I'm ready eat the meal at a later date, I'll defrost both the pasta and the sauce and then combine them in a pan for baking. If it gives a nice creamy casserole then it is definitely work the effort!

Crepes! They aren't just for breakfast!

Here is a fun idea for the whole family or for a romantic evening in.... Crepes! They aren't that terribly complicated and you can put almost anything inside of them. We used a simple recipe of 1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs, beaten
2 cups of skim milk
2 Tbsp melted butter
Mix it all together. You should have a thin batter. You don't need a crepe pan, any frying pan will do. Heat the pan to medium and spray it with a little cooking spray. You should put the batter in the middle of the pan and then sort of swirl it around. You want to cover the bottom of the pan. It will most likely take you a couple of tries to get a nice crepe but even Julia Child used to throw out the first one she made out of each batch! So don't get frustrated. Once you get the hang of it you'll be fine. This recipe makes about 10 - 10" crepes. They freeze well so don't worry if you aren't going to eat them all at one meal.

The recipe I used was inspired from the cookbook "A New England Table", a great resource for home style recipes.

We had crepes because I had bought some lovely asparagus at the grocery store and Tim isn't a big fan of them just steamed or sauteed with garlic so I wanted to dress them up a little. We had leftover ham from Christmas in the freezer so we pulled it out to go with the asparagus. Then I made a "mock" Hollandaise sauce.

Mix 1 cup of milk with 1 Tbsp of cornstarch and 1 egg yolk. Heat them in a pan over low -medium heat, stirring until thick. Remove the pan from the heat and add 1 Tbsp of butter, 2 1/2 Tbsp of lemon juice, 1/2 tsp of dijon mustard, 1 tbsp of sour cream and a pinch of salt and pepper.

I sauteed the asparagus and ham, which I had cut into strips. We then assembled the crepes by putting in some asparagus, ham, shredded mozzarella and mock Hollandaise sauce. The important thing is for everything to be warm. That way the cheese melts all through it.

You make your crepes with different things. Chicken and broccoli with cheddar cheese would be nice. Smoked salmon and spinach with a yogurt dill sauce. Lunch meat would work well since it's thinly sliced or leftover roasted meat would be nice too. Layer in some veggies like spinach or any other leafy green, green onions, chives, mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, zucchini, etc. Consider cheese if you like. Cheddar and mozzarella are good choices but what about brie or feta or Gouda? Remember crepes are french so hit that section in the cheese aisle. Sauces are optional but aside from Hollandaise, Bearnaise or any of the store bought fondue sauces will work. Or just add some herbs and seasonings to yogurt.

The nice part about crepes is that each family member can make their own. So if you have picky kids they can just put add the ingredients they like to their crepes.

Turning Leftovers into a Frittata

How many of us had a nice "cooked" dinner yesterday? Being part Newfoundlander, it is a tradition in my family to have a nice big dinner on Sundays with all the fixin's. Usually there is a roast chicken, beef or pork with mashed potatoes, turnip and carrots. There may be some greens, turnip tops or green peas. Gravy is a must. All these things freeze reasonably well which is convenient for quick meals at a later date. However, how about trying something different with the leftovers on Monday night? I'll often take the leftover veggies, sometimes the meat too, and make it all into a Frittata (which is basically Italian for omelet). Due to the fact that the eggs add protein to the dish, I often leave the leftover meat out, using it instead for sandwiches for weekday lunches. And I put away the gravy in the freezer for making meat pies at another time. There is no place for gravy in this frittata unless you are feeling super adventurous...

All I do is fry some onions in a non-stick pan with some cooking spray. Add in the veggies, dice up any veggies that are big. You want everything to be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. If you mashed your potatoes and/or turnip, don't worry, just add them to the pan as is. I like to get the veggies browned a bit over medium high heat. Stir over 4 to 6 beaten eggs. I like to add some cheese too. Mozzarella or cheddar work well as do ricotta or even cottage cheese. Yes I'm serious! Put a lid on the pan if you have one. It will be quite thick and a lid will help it cook through quicker with the steam. If your pan is oven safe you can also put it in the oven for about 10 - 15 minutes at 350.

And that's it! There is your Monday night dinner. Quick, delicious and nutritious. Anything the kids don't like? Make smaller ones for each person or just a separate one for the kids. And if you are lucky you'll have leftovers for lunch on Tuesday.

Bogart's Restaurant Review

When your dinner companion asks you at the end of the evening "was that really worth $125?", you have to question your restaurant selection. For years now we have had a "like" versus "not so crazy about it" relationship with Bogart's. I used to live close by so it was great fun to stroll over for a good bloody caesar and a nice appetizer. They used to make a great hummus back in the days before Tim made his own. Then they changed the menu. Tim was so disappointed at the time that we stopped going.

Every once in a while we give Bogart's another try. They have a solid menu of fine dining classics. Veal Osso Bucco, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Rack of Lamb, Roast Duck, etc. Last week we tried it again. They always make a fuss about having reservations. In the city of Moncton a reservation on a weeknight for 2 people is rarely needed unless you are going to the Windjammer or Pastelli's. Few other restaurants are that busy during the week. I called ahead. This time they had lost our reservation in the 30 minutes that elapsed between the time we called and the time we showed up there. They were still able to seat us given that the restaurant was only about 20% full.

We were served drinks fairly quickly which as you all know is one of my pet peeves. Don't leave me sitting there without a cocktail! I can eat at home and have a cocktail in my hand in a timely manner! The bloody caesar was okay but not one of the better ones I have had. Tim ordered a brandy and the waitress had to bring out the whole selection for him to pick one because she knew nothing about brandy. Okay, I could let that slide.

Tim ordered the fish chowder as a starter and I ordered the roasted duck salad. We never got our bread until we already had our appetizers on the table. And we had to move our own bread plates out of the way for the waitress to put our appetizers down. These are little things but when you are paying fine dining prices, you should expect fine dining service. She kept saying how I was the first one who had ever ordered a duck salad in the 6 months since she had been there. That should have been a sign.... I now know why no one orders it. It was mostly salad with a little duck that was basically tasteless. The greens were nice and there were lots of them. The dressing was lovely too. But there was really no need for the duck. Except that it was called a "duck" salad. And for $12.99, I wanted to taste some good duck! I was a little disappointed. Tim's chowder, on the other hand, was fantastic. Full of flavour and rich. It even had corn in it which Tim does not like but he thoroughly enjoyed it anyway.

For our main courses, Tim ordered the Chicken Aphrodite. It was an interesting dish of chicken stuffed with walnuts and cooking in phyllo pastry. It had a sweetness about it. It was interesting but Tim was full after the chowder so he was a little disappointed that he couldn't enjoy his main dish more. This is why sometimes we just go out for appetizers or don't bother ordered them if we are being sensible.

I had fillet of sole stuffed with shrimp and crab. It tasted just like the ones you can get at the Costco. Isn't that a terrible thing to say?! But I've had the ones from the freezer at the Costco and they are pretty darn good. Now we should point out here that the kitchen at Bogart's is open for all to see so I'm pretty sure they aren't whipping out boxes from the Costco. The fillet was served on a bed of creamed leeks and spinach which was divine. I also had the rosemary mashed potatoes which were lovely.

We shared a bottle of Germany Pieroth Riesling, had cocktails to start but no dessert. So was the meal worth $125. For us I'd have to so no. I can do most of the dishes at home but I am The Gourmet Goddess. For most folks looking for the fine dining standards, this is a good place to go and it's not too fussy so you won't feel embarrassed if you don't know which fork to use.

If you have a different view or something to say, leave a comment. We all work hard for our entertainment dollar so let's share our experiences!

Braised Dinners - Quick and Easy

I love winter but even I feel like it's dragging on at this point. Here is a meal I like to make to help me cope with those cold nights. Braising doesn't take a lot of effort and is a great way to make an inexpensive and perhaps not so tender piece of meat melt in your mouth. The smells of the dish simmering away in the oven will fill your whole house with warmth.


For this recipe I'm going to show you how to braise chicken legs but you could use beef, pork, lamb or turkey. You do want something on the bone as this will help flavour the dish. I cut off any visible fat or skin to help lower the fat content.

Braising consists of 3 simple steps - 1. Brown 2. Add everything to the pot 3. Simmer.

First we brown our meat. Use a 1-2 Tbsp of oil. Heat it in an oven safe frying pan with straight sides and a lid like I have here or use a dutch oven (biggest pot out of your set with 2 handles). If you don't have either then do all you work on the stove in a pan and transfer everything to a round casserole dish before you put it in the oven. You must have a properly fitting lid - this is a must! Heat the oil to medium high. Brown your meat on both sides, about 5 minutes each. Remove them from the pan and put them on a plate to add back in later.

Next brown your aromatics - onion, celery, carrots, garlic, ginger, whatever you want. I used onion and carrots in this dish.
Once they are brown add in your liquid, herbs and flavorings. I used a small can of diced tomatoes, 1 cup of red wine, 2 cloves of garlic, chopped rosemary and a smidge of anchovy paste. Stir it all to blend well and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. You should still have the pot on the stove so it should all start to simmer together. Add back in your chicken.
Now you are ready to go to the oven. Preheat your oven to 350. Cover your dish and cook it for 40 -50 minutes until the meat is falling off the bone. That's it! That's dinner. You can serve this over rice, pasta, couscous, potatoes, whatever you feel like. Make your own combinations. Just Brown, Mix it all together and Simmer. That's braising!

The nice part about this dish is that it is truly elegant enough for company and you can have it in the oven before dinner guests arrive. But it is also quick and easy enough for a week night. You could even brown everything the night before and even have it all mixed together in a container in your fridge, just put it in a oven safe pot or casserole when you get home, cover it and pop it in the oven. You will have to cook it a little longer to allow time for the food to warm up from fridge temperature. I'd add 10 minutes to the cooking time.

Perfect Weekend Indian Chili

Why does chili have to be Tex-Mex inspired? If you have a crock pot and some ground meat, you can make all sorts of variations of chili. This one is easy to assemble and if you don’t want to wait all day for it to cook, put it in a big pot on the stove and it will cook in about an hour. Remember though, all chilies – no matter what the variety – taste better after they have sat a while. So think about making this a day or 2 before you want to eat it.

I used all frozen veggies in this. During the winter months I find frozen veggies tastier. And it is definitely more convenient!

Serves 8
Ingredients

• 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, chopped fine
• 2 tsp or 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 lb, 454 g ground lamb, extra lean beef or buffalo
• 540ml can of chickpeas
• 14 oz./398ml can of tomato sauce, no salt added
• 1 cup low sodium beef broth
• 2 Tbsp Curry Powder
• ½ Tbsp 13 Spice Curry Blend or ½ tsp each – cumin, coriander, chili powder and turmeric
• 4 cups frozen cauliflower
• 2 cups frozen diced turnip or one small fresh turnip, diced small
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 1 cup fat free yogurt

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat

2. Sauté the onion and ginger until softened, about 3 minutes

3. Add in the garlic and cook one more minute. Empty the pan into the crock pot

4. Return the pan to the stove. Brown the ground meat. If using lamb, drain it and rinse under hot water to remove the excess fat. Add it into the crock pot.

5. Add the next 7 ingredients to the crock pot (from the chickpeas through to turnip)

6. Cook for 4 -6 hours on high or up to 8 hours on low

7. Right before serving, stir in the peas.

8. Put a dollop of yogurt on each bowlful before serving.

9. Enjoy!

This dish freezes beautifully. If you want to lower the fat content then go with the extra lean beef or buffalo. You may need more broth if you are using fresh veggies or are cooking this on the stove. Just be sure this is enough liquid to cover the other ingredients.

Serve with mashed potatoes or basmati rice, white or brown.

Nutritional Information Main Servings with Ground Lamb: 323 Calories, 14g Fat, 5g Saturated Fat, 0g Trans Fat, 37 mg Cholesterol, 400mg Sodium, 8g Fiber, 32g Carbohydrates

We ate in?! The Signature Fish Dish, Roasted Veggies and Smashed Potatoes

Last night we had a meal that was elegant enough to be from a restaurant yet simple and quick enough to put on the table after a long week. And most of it came out of my freezer! The meal consisted of my signature wrapped haddock, roasted brussel sprouts (other veggies work well here if you don't like brussel sprouts - but why not? what did a brussel sprout ever do to you?!) and smashed crispy potatoes.

First we start with the potatoes. These are fresh, not frozen. You need to give them a wash then boil or microwave them until soft. Not quite ready to eat soft but soft enough so you can poke them with a fork and then smash them down. Use a dish towel and place the potato inside. Now use the palm of your hand to squish the potato down to about 1/2 inch thick. Put the smashed potatoes on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil and then a layer of parchment paper if you have it. Sprinkle on Olive Oil and salt or salt substitute. They get cooked in a 425 oven for 30 minutes.

Next we prepared the brussel sprouts. I used frozen brussel sprouts - much easier. Just toss them with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a little pinch of salt or salt substitute. The can cook in the same oven as the potatoes during the last 15 minutes. You could also use frozen asparagus but it will only take 5 minutes in the oven.

Now on to the fish. The fish cooks at 350 for 15 minutes or so. The rule is 10 minutes per inch of thickness of the fish. All I do is smear some Laughing Cow light cheese on the top. If you don't have this then use light cream cheese. Want to shake it up some - use a flavoured light cream cheese like herb and garlic or vegetable! You only need about a Tablespoon per fillet. Lay a slice of prosciutto on top of each fillet. That's it. Put it in the oven. I have a toaster oven so I used it to cook the fish while the potatoes and brussel sprouts were in the big hotter oven. Once the fish was done I topped it with some shredded parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of fresh basil which I had on hand. It's optional.

Valentine's Day Dinner- Creme Brulee

Last night we stayed in for Valentine's Day. As my rant from yesterday states - we went out the night before Valentine's Day for dinner. But just because we weren't going out doesn't mean we weren't planning a nice evening in. Oh contrare. I had a great menu planned. Raw Oysters on the half shell, Rack of Lamb Persille on my signature creamy spinach and for dessert, Creme Brulee. We love Creme Brulee and I figured as an experienced cook, I should be able to handle making it myself. Honestly, I was pretty worried that I'd screw it up.

First off I had to shuck the oysters. I had picked up an oyster knife a while ago because the very first year Tim and I shared Valentine's day I had made oysters and didn't have a proper knife to open them with. So this year I was all set. It isn't that terribly hard. The box of oysters didn't look pretty but only one out of the 14 I shucked was bad. It was easy to tell it was bad because I could smell it before I even got the shell fully open. What a stink! One of the serious advantages of having oysters out in a restaurant - you don't have to deal with the bad oysters. It can ruin your appetite. But we persevered and it was worth it. We had them with a little cocktail sauce and they were great. We also had a bottle of Italian Champagne - Prosecco with it. Oh my god, it was perfect. If you haven't tried this sparkling wine I highly recommend it. Smoooooth


Next we had our rack of lamb. I just drizzled it with lemon juice and rubbed chopped rosemary and bread crumbs on it. I cooked it at 400 for 15 minutes and then reduced the temp to 325 for another 10 minutes. We like it rare but you could cook it longer. I made my signature spinach dish to go with it (I'll enter that recipe as a separate blog entry). We had a nice Shiraz with it.





For dessert we had creme brulee, my first attempt at making it even though I've had all the necessary tools for a couple of years now. You must have a small kitchen torch to make this properly. Although a long lighter may work. It was really easy to do! The ingredients are simple


For 2 Creme Brulee


Just under 1 cup of whipping cream


2 egg yolks


2 Tbsp sugar


1/2 tsp vanilla extract, the real stuff, not the imitation stuff


Rock sugar or regular to sprinkle on the top.





Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it starts to simmer. I added in the vanilla with the cream.


Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and cream in a medium bowl.


Once the cream starts to simmer, take it off the stove and let it sit for 10 minutes.


Add a small amount of the cream to the egg yolk mixture, whisking quickly. This is called tempering the eggs. You are trying to bring them up to temperature without scrambling them. It's really easy.


I then added a little more cream into the eggs a second time just to be sure I wasn't going to scramble them before I added all the cream. Then I added all the cream. All the while whisking away. But try not to whisk in bubble or you'll end up with a bubbly top on your custards (which is what the creme brulees are, a custard)


Pour the mixture into small au gratin dishes for each serving.


Boil a kettle of water. You will put the dishes in a bigger baking dish and then pour the water in the bigger baking dish to a depth of 2/3 up the side of the littler dishes with the creme brulee in it. I put the whole thing on the oven rack before I pour in the water.





Bake at 300 for 40 - 50 minutes until the custard is firm. Take it out and let it fully cool. We put ours out in the snow after it had come to room temp.





Sprinkle with sugar and light your torch! The most sober person should do this job. I put ours on a tea towel to protect the countertop. You heat the sugar until it is golden brown and you have a nice crust.

I forgot to get a picture until I had half eaten mine. It was delish!! We finished it off with a nice glass of port. What a lovely evening.

Maverick's

I thought I had already written about the move Maverick's has made but I can't seem to find it in the archives which is fine since we went again last night and I have more to say.

For those of you who don't know yet, Maverick's has moved from it's downtown location to the Future Inn on Mapleton Road. I was concerned that it would have lost it's charm. It's different for sure. But is some ways it was a good change. There is more seating which was why when we decided to drop in for dinner last night we didn't worry about having a reservation. Tuesday night before Valentine's day didn't seem like a big dinner out kind of night. We ended up waiting a good 20 minutes for a table. However, this was not because they were full by any stretch of the imagination. They tried to put us at a table along the wall where everyone is lined up but I don't like those seats. There is no privacy and since Tim was in the mood to complain about work, I figured privacy was best. They have booths and nice tables in 2 rooms in the back. We could have a better table but we'd have to wait. It seemed the hostess was seriously overwhelmed. I didn't recognize her so I assumed she was new.

She finally seated us amongst many empty tables...and without a wine menu! Number one rule of fine dining - never let your customers sit for more than 5 minutes without someone taking their drink order. Hard to do when we weren't even given a menu to choose from. We waited for about 10 minutes when someone came over and asked if we had been looked after. Apparently the server who approached our table had been told we had been when in fact, we had not. I was not impressed. She did not get us a wine menu or take our drink orders but told us she would send someone over. Unacceptable. When our server finally came over I was losing my patience. When I go out to dinner I want a glass of wine in my hand immediately! This server took our food order and then brought us a wine menu. Okay, that order is wrong but at least there was a sign of hope that we'd get something tonight.

Now here is the clincher. We got our appetizers before we got our drinks! I'm a huge fan of wine and food pairing. I had ordered a pinot grigio to go with our calamari and all I had was water to drink with it. When the server finally showed up with my wine I asked if they were seriously understaffed tonight. She told me no! Now I should mention that one of the chefs was out on the floor serving food. That was definitely a sign that they were understaffed. And I can appreciate that sometimes life happens. But if they weren't understaffed then they had to be seriously incompetent. Maverick's, as one of the better places to eat in town, should also have excellent service. And for years they have had excellent service. Which left me wondering if the move from fine dining establishment to hotel restaurant hadn't hit them in the service department. I have a hard time with poor service when I eat out. Remember, I can make most of these meals at home so when I go out it's for the luxury of having someone else provide the experience for me.

The meal itself was good as expected. On our way out the hostess mentioned that they were short staffed. Apparently she had been there since 6 AM! Okay so that explains why she didn't seem on the ball. It was sheer exhaustion! Why our server denied this, I do not know. I would have appreciated her situation much more and not made the assumption that they had a bunch of incompetent people working if she had just shared the truth with us.

Moral of the story may be to wait until Valentine's day to go out for dinner. The hostess told us they were fully staffed for Valentine's day and they were fully booked. The jury is still out about this move Maverick's has made. Some of it's charm is definitely gone and it seems some of it's more experienced staff is too although I think, due to the longer hours the restaurant is now open to accommodate the hotel guests, that they are spread out more during the day. They do need to work on things a bit. I overheard someone say last night that there is a Keg restaurant going in a new building downtown. That will be serious competition for the steak crowd here in Moncton.

Mexican Lasagna out of Leftovers

I took my Super Bowl Chili (which had been frozen) and made it into a Mexican Lasagna yesterday. It is really simple to do this. You only need a couple of ingredients. You can make it up and freeze it for another time. And you all know how I feel about freezing meals! It's just a great idea!!

If you don't have leftover chili, don't worry. You don't have to take the time to make some... Buy it in the can or even better yet, go through the drive through at Wendy's and order 2. Wendy's chili tastes great and is on their $1.99 menu if I'm not mistaken. It'll be the perfect substitute for the homemade leftover stuff.

This serves 4 in a square pan like the picture above.

2-3 cups of leftover chili

5 tortillas

1/2 jar of salsa

1/2 cup of corn, frozen works best.

Cheddar or tex mex cheese blend. I used some of each and I got the light cheddar.

Layer a bit of the chili in the bottom of the pan, just enough to cover the bottom. Cut to fit a layer of tortillas. Then put in the rest of the chili on top. And top with some grated cheese.

Cut to fit another layer of tortillas.

Top with the salsa and corn and some more grated cheese.

Cut to fit another layer of tortillas

Top with cheese and fresh cilantro if you want or sprinkle with some chili powder.

I used a Spanish Cheese, Queso Manchero because I had found some at the grocery store. Try any "queso" cheese if you can find it.

Oh, and by the way, this meal is low fat and nice and healthy! You can assemble it and freeze it. And you can freeze any leftovers after you cook it.

Spinach Salad - It's not just for Popeye!

Spinach salad doesn't have to be boring. Here is a simple way to stretch your creative juices without spending the whole night making dinner. For this variation on spinach salad I used toasted walnuts (yup, I toasted them for about 5 minutes on a baking sheet at 350.), dried cranberries and crumbled blue cheese.

I made a dressing out of the following:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
and with the toasted walnuts I also roasted a small shallot. If you don't have a shallot, finely slice some red onion and roast it. Or if you have neither, add a sprinkle of onion powder!
Whisk it all together and that's it!

Now isn't that a healthy looking meal! I roasted both white and sweet potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes at 350. I had some pork pieces with I just rubbed with a salt free herb mixture and sauteed in a pan. Excellent!

Quick and Easy Spaghetti Squash

(I don't reheat in these margarine containers, I just store in them and reheat in microwave approved dishes)

I've preached about the virtues of spaghetti squash before. It's cheap, tasty and a nutritious replacement for regular spaghetti. Just cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and place it cut side down on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. You can then use a fork to scrap out the spaghetti like strands. An average size squash will feed 4.

Here is a super quick way to serve spaghetti squash. We do it as the main meal but if you have a meat obsessive in the house, add a pork chop or chicken breast on the side.

Prepare the squash. This can be done the night before while you watch TV! Then it's all ready to go the next night for supper.

1 red onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic

1/3 - 1/2 a head of broccoli chopped or 2 cups frozen broccoli

2 cups of fresh spinach or one box frozen

1/2 cup light cream cheese

1/2 cup red or white wine

2 tsp Italian seasoning or 1 tsp dried basil and 1 tsp dried oregano

Saute the onion in a tbsp of olive oil until soft, add the broccoli and garlic and saute until the broccoli becomes that vibrant green colour. Add in the spinach and cook until wilted or heated through if using frozen.

Add in the cream cheese, red wine and seasoning. Mix until the cheese is melted and it's all blended. Add in the spaghetti squash and toss it all together. That's it. Dinner is done!

You end up having a plate of veggies for dinner!

If you don't like spaghetti squash simple boil some spaghetti while you are making the veggies and sauce and toss it in instead of the squash.

Super Bowl Sunday!

Are you ready for some football!!! We sing that every Sunday around here. Makes the dogs crazy... I made my chili and pineapple salsa yesterday so the flavours could meld. I still haven't added the fresh cilantro to the chili. I'll wait until just before serving to do that. I also added 1/2 a bottle of beer. It really does add a great flavor. When I open a can of chipotle peppers, I use what I need and then freeze the rest in ziplock bags. I put one pepper per bag. Most recipes only call for one so then I can just take out what I need. I also used roasted garlic in my chili so the garlic taste isn't strong.

I did the pineapple salsa in the food processor. I think I liked it better done by hand. It looked nicer but the processor made it up in a snap!

GO COLTS!!!!!!!!

No New Recipes?!

Okay, so once again I have been slack about sharing recipes. Mostly because I haven't really been cooking. Tim was away last week and so far this week he's been working late. Tomorrow I should have him home again for a while and we are determined to get back on the healthy track. Well to be honest, I've still been on the healthy track, eating out of my freezer. Tim, however, has been off track as he has been on the road which is never healthy. But we'll fix that ASAP!

On another note, Super Bowl Sunday is coming up. It's one of my favorite days of winter. Time to put on a pot of chili and chill some beer. Even if you don't love football, the commercials are worthy of tuning in. I'm going to make my chili the day before do it has extra time to let the flavors meld. And after Sunday I'm going to share with you some great recipes to make with your leftover chili. Chili also freezes beautifully so it's a great meal to make lots of and then you have healthy meals on hand! I'll finalize the recipe on Sat. and then I'll share it with you. But a priliminary list of ingredients follows:
1 lb of stew meat or simmering or marinating beef (yup, not ground meat - chunks of beef are soooo much better!!!)
1 can of black beans
1 can of kidney beans
red pepper
onion
garlic
can of tomatoes or tomato sauce depending on whether you like your chili chunky or smooth and saucy
chipotle powder
chili powder
cumin powder
dried oregano and basil
fresh cilantro
These are subject to change but that's the basics. Sometimes I add tabasco sauce too but we'll see.

I'm also going to make my healthy and super tasty - Pineapple Salsa for Super Bowl Sunday. Tim loves it and it is a great way to get some fruit into your diet. And it also does well if it sits for a day or two before eating. A great afternoon snack for the work week. Here's a quick link to the recipe - http://thegourmetgoddess.blogspot.com/2006/09/great-little-salsa-and-other-easy.html yummilicous!

Curry Glazed Salmon

Here is a super quick recipe that tastes great and is fancy enough for dinner guests but quick enough for a weeknight. It requires 3 ingredients....
Salmon fillets, one for each person
Honey, about 1/2 cup for 4 people or 1/4 cup for 2
Curry powder, Curry paste or your favorite Indian spice mix. I used Curry powder and Tandoori Marsala when I made this this week for my folks. Use about 1 tsp of 1/4 cup of honey or 2 tsp for 1/2 cup. Mix it up and drizzle it over the fillets. Cook them at 425 for 20 minutes. It was Divine! We had ours with couscous which was a great pairing.

You can add a nice yogurt sauce if you want. Just mix up the following and let sit until ready to eat. The leftovers go great on veggies!
1 cup of yogurt
1/2 tsp dried mint, basil and ground cumin
2 tsp grated ginger (I used the bottled stuff)
1 tsp of curry powder or whatever you used in the glaze mix above.
That's it. Enjoy!

A Fantastic New Year's Dinner

(small winter village I have that I keep up after Christmas until March - it's just so pretty!)

As I mentioned, we had a great dinner out on New Year's Eve. We went to Chives www.chives.ca for their 6 course New Year's Eve Special Dinner. We'd been to Chives a couple of times before. They create excellent dishes focusing on local products in season. And for the quality of the food, the prices are excellent. The atmosphere is nice and the service is always excellent. We've always walked away pleased with the experience.

For this New Year's Eve dinner they had a set menu. It was well thought out with a nice blend of seasonal tastes and a good balance between courses. We got a bottle of red wine, Wolf Blass Shiraz Cabernet Sauv and 1/2 litre of white, a South African Savignon Blanc so that we could pair our different courses with the right wine (right being a relative term when one refers to wine of course).

We started with Dungeness Crab and Sweet Corn Fritters. I love corn but Tim is not a huge fan. That was irrelevant with these. We were only given a little fritter each, just enough to tantalize the taste buds. They were great with a sip of the white wine. Next came the soup. Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Soup with Maple Balsamic Syrup drizzled on top. Pumpkin soup just does not get the recognition it deserves. It was tasty and soothing to the soul. I make pumpkin soup at home all the time with 100% pure pumpkin from a can. Great inexpensive and easy meal. Of course mine never tastes quite as yummy as this bowl was at Chives. And the white wine worked well with this course as well but the red also had its charm...

I'm going to be honest here... I'm not a huge fan of raw spinach. I like it just fine cooked, preferable in a sauce of some type or with some cheese added in. Tim loves spinach and is why we have it at home so often. Well, that and it's good for you. The next course was an Organic Spinach Salad with "That Dutchman's Blue Cheese", Spiced Walnuts and Cranberry Apple Vinaigrette. Oooh, myyyy god! I brought home the menu just so I could try this one at home. This was amazing. The tang of the blue cheese against the sweetness of the vinaigrette all layered with the natural bitterness of the spinach. I vowed right then and there to attempt more spinach salads at home. And to consider ordering them when I'm out. The red wine stood out here.

Okay, 3 more courses to go. However, we weren't stuffed yet. All these flavours were served in excellent serving sizes so you got the full taste but weren't stuffed. And I had worn my stretchy pants!

For the next course we had a choice between a potato and goat cheese dish or a bacon dish. Tim had the potato dish and I had the bacon. I'm not a fan of goat cheese. Tim enjoyed his but felt he didn't have enough of the goat cheese taste. I had a bite of his and I tasted goat cheese quite strongly. I'm not sure if I got a good bit of it in my bite or if he was expecting a stronger taste overall. My bacon dish was a good size chunk of molasses cured bacon on apple confit and a toast point. It was tasty but not the highlight of the meal. I enjoyed it but if there was one item I had to give up from the meal, this would have been it. I enjoyed the red wine with my dish while Tim found that both the red and the white worked well with his.

Here comes the main course! Once again we had a choice. I had the Atlantic Halibut with Scallops, Roasted Garlic and Baby Clam Risotto and Riesling Braised Leeks. Tim had the Filet Mignon with Maple Wood Smoked Bacon, Brown Butter Celery Root Puree, Roasted Root Vegetables and Madeira Veal Jus. I love Halibut. And the Risotto was quite tasty. Usually when they say "roasted garlic" the garlic flavour is too mild but not in this dish. My plate was a seafood lovers dream. Tim was equally as thrilled with his filet mignon. It was a red meat delight. I had more white wine while Tim continued to enjoy the red with his meal.

Now I'm not a huge dessert person. I can live without it mostly. I do love chocolate but a little goes a long way with me. I will, however, always get the creme brulee if is on the menu. And much to my delight - Caramel Creme Brulee was part of the dessert course! It was paired with a French Chocolate Ganache Torte with Terry's Chocolate Orange Ice Gelato. No problem with milk allergies or lactose intolerance here! We both cleaned our plates.... Ahhhh.

Consider hitting a special tasting menu near you next New Year's Eve. It's worth it! What a nice evening out. And we were home in time to cheer in the new year with family. It was a great New Year's Eve this year. Here's wishing you all a peaceful and prosperous new year.

Happy New Year - really late...

Hello! Yes I'm alive and well. I know it's been a while since I posted but there has been a lot going on. We've still been eating and I've still been cooking. But it's been so hectic lately that I haven't photographed a single dish. And I even got a tripod for Christmas! I do want to share with you a delicious New Year's Eve dinner we had out but I'll do that when I have more time. It was fantastic. In the meantime, if you are in Halifax for any reason check out Chives Canadian Bistro. I'll give you all the details of our meal there later but lets just say, it's worth a visit. It was a great night.

I have some news. After a year of running The Gourmet Goddess, I've decided to go back to the real work world. It's been an interesting experience but entrepreneurship is not for everyone. And I've decided I like a regular paycheque better! I miss working with a team. Cooking is solitary work. This blog will continue but soon if you go to www.thegourmetgoddess.ca or www.thegourmetgoddess.com you will get directed right to here, not the website. I will still do any cooking classes or consider catering jobs but the personal chef service will not continue. I think I may have been ahead of my time for Moncton with that service.

The recipes, food tips, restaurant reviews and anything else food related will continue right here. So check back often!

It's all over until next year...

Are you exhausted too? Well now all that is left is the relaxing and the New Year celebrating! I hope everyone's holidays were peaceful, safe and full of fun. We had an excellent holiday. I got gifts to placate my 2 passions, cooking and knitting. And a few more things I can put candles in. I'm a big fan of candlelight during these long winter nights. I really learned to appreciate the beauty of the long winter night while spending many of them in Sweden. Everywhere there are tealights to twinkle in the dark. It's so peaceful. Funny I would find the darkness peaceful but I do. So here's to winter! We had a green Christmas day but now there is a nice little blanket of snow, another thing I find peaceful. And when the sun shines on the brilliant snow it really boosts the spirits. But I'll admit, it does look cold out there today. I think I'll stay in.... snuggle up with my knitting and maybe cook up a yummy dinner later!

Just so you know that even us expert cooks screw up, I'll share my turkey story with you. Due to the hustle and bustle, I forgot to take the bird out to defrost. I remembered on Christmas Eve. And while I didn't have a huge bird this year (about 13 pounds, 5.7 kg) it still required some time to defrost. So I left it out on the counter, not in the fridge. Part of the reason I hadn't taken it out earlier was I had absolutely no fridge space. Nada, as in - no way was another thing fitting in my fridge! I kept feeling the bird to see how the defrosting was going. I'm extremely aware of the 4 hour, 4-40 rule. This is the rule where nothing should sit out between 4 and 40 degrees for more than 4 hours. I turned the bird upside down once one end had defrosted enough so that the cold water from the bird would drip down the defrosted part. Just a side note, we had a ham in the fridge in case the turkey became in any way, questionable. So I had a back up plan (just by luck really, we were to have the ham for Boxing Day dinner).

So I kept an eye on the turkey and once it was defrosted on the outside I took it out of the packaging. It was still a little frozen inside but I was able to wiggle out the neck and the giblets. There was only the heart. I put the neck and heart aside in the fridge and added them later to the pan right before it went in the over. I salted the bird and put it in the roasting pan with lots of foil. As I mentioned, there was no room in my fridge so mister bird had to spend the night outside. Last year I had a covered pan so all I did was put something heavy on top to keep out the critters and I think I taped the lid on. This year I was using an open pan so I had to put the pan in the bbq to keep it safe. All night I dreamt about my bird making a run for it. Luckily the temperature cooperated and stayed just around freezing. When I brought the bird in the next day it had some surface freezing but at least I knew it was safe from the temperature danger zone.

I didn't have a rack to put the bird on in the pan so after rinsing the salt off, I put the bird on some celery, carrots and onion. This natural rack also added great flavor to the pan drippings which were later used for the gravy. You can do this for any roast or bird. Since I had a lack of fridge space, once we finished with our main meal we cut up the rest of the bird and put it in freezer bags. Most of it ended up in the freezer but we kept some out for munching and leftovers.

Speaking of leftovers, here is an awesome leftover sandwich. Smear a little dijon and mayo on once slice of bread and layer on some turkey. On another slice of bread smear on some leftover cranberry sauce and then layer some sliced brie cheese. Heat both slices of bread in a 325 degree oven until the cheese melts (about 5 - 10 minutes). Take it out of the oven and put the 2 slices of bread together to make a sandwich. It's very tasty!

Turkey Tip #6 - Great Gravy

Now this recipe is about the gravy, not the turkey but without great gravy, how good can a turkey really be?! This is not terribly complicated and will give you great results.

Okay, you've removed the turkey from the roasting pan. Now you should have a lot of great turkey drippings on the bottom of the pan. You are going to put that pan on the stove top over medium heat. Add 1 cup of riesling wine (or you can use brandy, I like the wine better because it tastes more subtle) and 1 cup of either the homemade broth you made the night before or 1 cup of the store bought broth. Let this all simmer for about 20 minutes. You are looking for the liquid to reduce. You should be able to look at the side of the pan and see where the liquid line has shrunk down the side by about 1/3. While that is simmering, take another cup of broth and add about 1/2 cup of flour, mix it until smooth. A whisk or putting it all in a jar and shaking it works well. Just DO NOT USE HOT BROTH. You'll have an explosion. Happened once when I was a kid.... Not pretty.

Turn down your pan on the stove to med low. Mix in your flour/broth into the pan. This is when a whisk is essential. Otherwise get your kids to all get spoons going in the pan! Pour slowly and mix vigorously as you add the flour/broth mix. Keep stirring until it starts to bubble again. You'll see how it thickens up pretty quickly. If it doesn't thicken up, mix more flour with broth and add it in. Sometimes it takes a little more flour if you have a lot of liquid you are trying to thicken!


Where are those mashed potatoes!?