Revisiting Buster's

Last week, I brought Mom to watch the hockey game. Since the food at the Canadian Tire Center is crappy and overpriced, we went over to Buster's Bar & Grill. With the purchase of a meal or drink the ride on their shuttle bus to the game was free.


Mom settled for the special of the night: Buster's Burger with fried mushrooms added.

I already knew I was going to get wings after my second visit to Buster's. Were they going to be crisp and juicy again? Or was that a fluke?


The 1lb medium wings were remarkably spot on!


We quickly ate what we could, put away the leftovers, and then hopped on the school bus to watch the game. The Sens ended up winning 5-4 in a shootout.

~

On another visit, Andrew and I headed over to Buster's after a long day of work. The bus ruined our original plans to go for some chicken at Zaki. The main reason I suggested Buster's was because it was near the Lincoln Fields bus station. It would be much easier to bus home after we ate.

I was craving something comforting. Their special of the day was lasagna and a salad for $6.99. Tempting. But I find lasagna only tastes good when we make it at home with our simple meat sauce.


Hot turkey sandwich is a special dish that's close to my heart. I knew that the gravy would probably be from a can or made from powder. I was hoping that I was wrong. But if I was right, I was crossing my fingers that the gravy wouldn't be offensive.

The dish didn't live up to the name of hot turkey sandwich. It was warm at best. After a two bites, I sent the plate with the waitress to get it heated up a little more. Once it returned, it was easier to eat even though it was only a tad warmer than when I originally started to eat. The gravy was probably from a can. It was on the sweeter side which was a bit odd. I still found it comforting though.


Andrew didn't know what to get. He was either going to go for the fish and chips, cacciatore chicken parmesan, or breaded chicken parmesan. The random number generator decided that the cacciatore was the one tonight.


There were peppers, mushrooms, and onions underneath that blanket of cheese. He inhaled his ginger ale and dinner, although he argues that the pace was his normal speed. He's probably right. I'm a terribly slow eater.


I tried some of Andrew's dish. Then with the small piece of cheese left I made a little poutine.

The unassuming bar and grill inside the Lincoln Fields Mall has now been added to my rotation of restaurants. Perhaps it has become a pre-Sens-game meal.

Braised Lamb Shoulder Chops

Around 2am in the morning, I was in the middle of watching an Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations marathon when the scene in Naples (season 7, episode 11) transitioned from a marching band to the sound of "... slow simmering of meat in red sauce." It was like music to my ears. I wanted to eat some of the pasta tossed with the ragù and braised meats.

The next day, I found a package of lamb shoulder chops in the fridge. Mom told me that I was making dinner that night. After researching on Google for ideas, I began to get frustrated because nothing appealed to me. My mind kept wandering back to the clip of the ragù though. Done. That's what I'll try to make. I knew I wanted to slow cook the lamb and serve it separately from the pasta.


I began with dicing up onions, carrots, and garlic for the sauce. Then the lamb chops were seared with a little flour and vegetable oil. They were set aside while the sauce/braising liquid was made. Onions, and carrots were sautéed first, then the garlic was added in with some broth. A can of plain tomato sauce was poured into the pan. The sauce simmered on the stove top for a few minutes. Then the sauce and seared lamb chops were layered in a baking pan. It was put into the toaster oven at about 360F for about 3½ hours.


Richard had actually made a loaf of bread in the new bread maker. Not sure what happened with the giant air bubble at the top.




The bread was airy and moist. A little too moist though. But that didn't stop all of us from eating half of the loaf of bread before starting dinner. I guess it was the complimentary bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar you get at some restaurants.


I asked Richard to make a bean salad. Unfortunately the yellow beans, despite being rinsed a few times,  still tasted strongly of the can. It ruined the, otherwise good, bean salad.




Just like they did in the Naples episode, the pieces of braised meat was plated up and set aside. Most of the oil floating on top of the sauce was scooped out. The penne pasta finished cooking in the remaining sauce. At this point, I was getting excited at how dinner turned out.


Here was Mom's dinner plate with cognac to drink.


The lamb meat was really tender. Some of the cartilage was still a bit crunchy though. I really should've baked the lamb longer. The pasta tasted great in the sauce. It tasted even better the next day when I took it to work for lunch.


One plate of food was good for dinner. I needed a bonus round though. Just a couple extra bites.

The braised lamb shoulder chops turned out quite well. If there are tough cuts of meat on sale at the grocery stores, whether it's more lamb shoulder or even beef, I'll try to make this again cause it was a big hit with the family.


Future Tweaks:

• Cook the lamb shoulder chops for longer (over 5 hours)
• Add more tomato sauce
• Carefully go through the sauce to get rid of shards of bones
• Season the pasta more aggressively once the sauce is mixed in
• Make more bread
• Make a double batch for more leftovers

Rediscovering Some Foods

There are three foods that I've happily rediscovered recently.

1 - Mac and cheese


Or at least a twist on the dish. It started with a wicked mornay sauce and penne. I got a sudden craving for baked cheese as I was making it. And then, on a whim, I checked the fridge and found some maple ham. Everything was mixed together in a casserole pan and then I topped it all off with a bit more cheese and Italian breadcrumbs. It. Was. Amazing.

This was the elevated version of the sometimes-monotonous flavour of mac and cheese; the layers of flavours: cheese sauce, fragrant baked cheese, sweet maple ham, and Italian breadcrumbs. I'll try to keep this in mind the next time I make another batch of mac and cheese.


2 - Bread, eggs, and bacon breakfast


Our family rarely eats breakfast. The first meals that we eat are closer to snacks than anything. We do have pancake breakfasts on occasion. But our first meal of the day usually consists of eating some yogurt with cereal, toast, baked goods, and/or oatmeal with milk or hot caffeinated beverage (be it coffee, hot chocolate, Ovaltine, Milo, or milk tea). Nothing substantial.

I picked up some Portuguese rolls from the Lisbon Bakery (2563 Baseline Road), popped some bacon in the oven, and poached some eggs. The thing that took the longest to prepare was the bacon. I have no idea why I don't eat this kind of breakfast more often. I used a aluminum foil-lined tray to bake the bacon for two reasons: firstly, I didn't feel like standing over the stove as the bacon cooked in a pan; secondly, I didn't feel like cleaning the stovetop post-bacon-cooking.


Fluffy carbs from the Lisbon Bakery made a great vehicle for the eggs to my mouth. Mmm! A strong cup of G7 Instant Coffee rounded out the meal.


3 - Club sandwiches


Thinking back, I haven't eaten many club sandwiches at all. My first taste of a club sandwich came in an emergency room. It was late. I was sick. My mom was given a voucher to the (now closed) coffee shop and came back with a club sandwich and chocolate milk. I was really hungry and managed a few bites of the odd sandwich before falling asleep from exhaustion. The sandwich was comforting because it wasn't jello, popsicle, or ice chips.

I've tried to make club sandwiches at home but it just doesn't taste the same. I don't like to order simple sandwiches when I go out because it's so easy to make at home. But I ordered the triple decker turkey club at O'Connor's Irish Pub last week. I didn't regret my choice one bit.


Before that, VN and I shared a plate of sweet potato fries. These were the best sweet potato fries I've had. I find that the fries that most establishments serve are too thin. Because their fries were larger than the typical sweet potato fries that are served, there was more soft sweet potato to enjoy. The ratio between the interior and crisp exterior were just right.


These three dishes made me quite happy. I'm debating whether I want to add these into my food rotation or to only enjoy them once in a while. Do you have any nostalgic foods that you'd want to rediscover?

Sticky Toffee Pudding at Moxie's Grill & Bar

We had plenty of time to grab dinner before a Sens game last week. We weren't craving anything in particular so we just dropped by the Moxie's at (Kanata) Centrum.


Can I just say that I absolutely love the spotlights at the center of each table? Just awesome.

VN had a sandwich with a greek side salad. My main was the linguine with bocconcini-stuffed meatballs with grana padano cheese. I rarely order pasta when I do find myself dining at a north american restaurant/bar & grill. Why overpay for something that isn't very satisfying when I can just make the same dish better at home? I found the pasta and meatballs on the salty side.


Though I admit that it didn't take much at all, VN talked me into having dessert. She highly recommended that we order the sticky toffee pudding so that we could replicate it in the future. We shared the mini portion. The caramel sauce was overkill. Instead of sliced almonds, I would've liked larger chunks of toasted/roasted almonds. Maybe all the sugar from the caramel sauce and the sticky toffee pudding killed my taste buds, but I felt that the vanilla ice cream needed more vanilla flavour.

The Sens ended up losing. It was a frustrating game. Dinner was satisfying though.

Leftover Broth? HK Breakfast!

We had leftover soup from Phnom Penh noodles one morning last month. There wasn't enough soup to soak half a package of rice noodles and finish it, so I thought about making some pasta and turning the soup into a Hong Kong-style breakfast.


Our house didn't have any macaroni, so I just slightly over-cooked some rotini. When you have pasta in soup, Lucy and I think that the pasta has to be past al dente or else it doesn't feel right. Soup is supposed to be easy to eat, right? Also, Mom used to make us macaroni in chicken soup as an after school snack, but by the time we got home and ate it, the macaroni was bloated. Ah, childhood.




Anyway, the pasta was drained and then added to the simmering leftover soup. We had a few over-easy eggs and toast made. And to complete the HK-style breakfast, we made cups of strong HK milk tea. As I was enjoying the yummy breakfast, I couldn't help but reminisce about our trip we took to asia last year. Good times!

Homemade Lasagna

We've all had bad experiences with lasagna; the bland lasagna at the cafeteria, the undercooked lasagna at a pot luck, the lasagna that was overloaded with too many ingredients. We all wished that we could snap our fingers and turn the not-so-homey lasagna into something amazing.



It doesn't take much to make a great lasagna. You can actually make a great lasagna with just a simple meat sauce (ground beef, onions, tomato sauce), cooked lasagna pasta, cottage cheese, and mozzarella cheese. That's how Mom used to make her lasagnas and we loved it! Simply remarkable.

When it was my turn to make lasagna, I wanted to change it up a bit. It began with the sauce: I sautéed onions with a bit of olive oil and salt. Then I browned the ground beef until it was just about to be fully cooked. I added two cans of seasoned tomato sauce and then stirred everything together. Some calabrese salami was mixed in as well. Once the sauce simmered for five minutes, I gave the sauce a taste and adjusted the seasonings with soy sauce, Cool Runnings all purpose seasoning, sugar, and black pepper.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Over the weekend, Zee (a friend from Toronto) and her friend TS came over to make some chicken cordon bleu. We didn't make the classic version though. I'll explain that later. Also on the menu: rotini pasta with tomato sauce, glazed carrots with balsamic vinegar, and a side salad.


Before Zee and TS arrived, carrots were peeled and chopped up, marbled cheese was sliced, and the tomato sauce was on the stove.


I didn't want a plain tomato sauce, so I played with the flavours a bit. A bit of BBQ sauce for a little smokiness, a bit of Sriracha hot sauce, some fresh herbs, and a little bit of soy sauce for some depth. I made sure all of those components were complimenting the tomato sauce. Since I didn't know if Zee and TS liked to eat spicy food, I added just enough Sriracha that the warmth of the hot sauce would come late.


We formed an assembly line; I took the chicken breasts, trimmed them of the gristle and connective tissue, and then butterflied them. TS then wrapped prosciutto around slices of marbled cheese, and then stuffed them in some butterflied chicken boobs (to ensure even cooking). Zee used some toothpicks and prevented the components from moving. Then she took the stuffed chicken breasts and rolled them around some flour (which I added salt and pepper to), then dipped them in lightly beaten egg whites (also seasoned with S&P), before she rolled them all in italian (seasoned) breadcrumbs. Chicken cordon bleu is usually made with plain breadcrumbs, I believe.


The chicken was popped into the oven at 350 degrees for about twenty minutes. About half-way through the cooking time, the rotini was cooked and the sauce was reheated.

After the pasta was strained, butter and a bit of olive oil was added to a hot pan. The carrot sticks were tossed in the pan with some sugar and a bit of salt. I didn't move the carrots a lot, because I like it when they caramelize. Just before they totally over cooked, I turned off the heat and TS added a few drips of balsamic vinegar.


I'm always afraid of overcooking chicken, but the breaded chicken came out moist. I wouldn't say it was juicy (at least my piece wasn't). It was close to being over cooked. The chicken needed more seasoning though. We forgot to season the chicken boobs directly. But that's jut being nit picky. TS and Zee both enjoyed the chicken we made though. Zee said that "it was simply delectable!"


The pasta tasted pretty awesome with the chicken. The more I ate the pasta, the spicier it got.

The leftovers tasted good the following morning too. You all should make this more often (including you, TS's fiancée). Simply derishush!

Sweet Potato-Filled Vegan Ravioli

Earlier last month, I ordered an interestingly tasty ravioli dish at Milestone’s. The raviolis were filled with butternut squash and were baked in a spicy tomato sauce. There were toasted pecans, dollops of goat cheese, and ribbons of sweet Thai basil, all of which elevated the plate of ravioli to a different experience. I was pleasantly surprised at how well all the components hit all the right notes. There was textural contrast, a variety of flavours – none of which took the attention away from the butternut squash-filled raviolis. Every bite was surprisingly delightful.

When I thought about the composition of the dish, it seemed easy to recreate. Homemade pasta, butternut squash or sweet potato filling, spicy tomato sauce, toasted pine nuts or something else, goat cheese, and Thai basil. No problem.

VN and I thought of a menu and picked up some groceries. Since Ontario corn was on sale that week ($2.99 for a dozen), corn was the menu twice:

• Pot ang, a Cambodian take on grilled corn
• Sweet potato-filled ravioli
• Che bap, a tapioca coconut pudding with shaved corn

Baked Penne with Cheese

Since moving back from Toronto, I've rarely made macaroni and cheese or any pasta for that matter. While other people resort to instant noodles, pasta and cheese was my go-to quick comfort food. Using the small bits of cheese still leftover from all the homemade pizzas, I made a quick penne with cheese. I don't usually cook with a recipe, but Blog Chef's recipe looks similar to my version. I have written a rough recipe in the past. And by rough, I mean the measurements weren't exact. Should you dare to try out this recipe of mine:

1 cup                       Macaroni, Rotini, Penne or Baby Shells

4 tsp                        Butter

4 tsp                        Flour

1½ cups                 Milk

1½ tsp                    Chicken Bake/Broth Mix or Salt (I use the bright yellow one)

1½ cup                   Cheese (I use old cheddar, but sometimes make it with mild cheddar)

Sprinkle                 Black pepper (Optional)

Although I love baked cheese, I typically don't bake the pasta with cheese because I never have the patience. On this occasion, I undercooked the pasta a bit and then made the mornay sauce with mozzarella cheese. The pasta was incorporated with the cheese sauce and then added to the lightly greased and floured baking pan. Since I just wanted the cheese to brown on top, I just broiled the pasta until it was done.


While the pasta was let to cool on the table briefly, I grabbed my camera and took these photos.




While the pasta was in the toaster oven, I went through the fridge and made myself a side salad. I have to admit that I added too much cheese. The sauce needed more milk. It certainly doesn't look like there was too much cheese though.

Pan-Fried Tilapia Fillets with Salad, Mushrooms, and Pasta

Our refrigerator is filled with condiments, dressings, and the like. The cupboards are stocked with stuff ranging from spices (star anise, cloves, galangal, etc.), to dried packages of rice noodles, to cans of coconut milk, and to a variety of dried tea leaves. Did I mention that our freezers are packed full of seafood and undistinguishable cuts of meat? It’s quite tough to scavenge for food in our kitchen.

We (Lucy, Jimmy, Richard, Andrew and I) were looking for an easy dinner on afternoon. So naturally, we came up with some lazy ideas: McD’s, pizza, pho, or Greek food. While some of us were busy in brainstorming for take-out places, Richard suggested that we take a stroll in our nearby grocery store and just cook up a dinner instead. And so we took a stroll…

We brought back some tilapia fillets, packaged pasta and pre-made sauces, and Portobello mushrooms.

The plan of attack was to pan-fry the basa fillets simply with some salt and pepper. We’d make a salad with the cherry tomatoes and baby spinach, the mushrooms would get sautéed and simmered with some bacon, and we’d make the pasta.

The fish was seasoned with sea salt and black pepper. Someone was a bit too heavy handed with the sea salt. Despite efforts of rinsing off the salt, the cooked tilapia fillets tasted like they were in the process of curing.

A package of bacon was cooked and some of it was used for the salad. All of the bacon fat was used to make the Portobello mushrooms. It was a huge hit and will definitely make more appearances in the future.

How about a little appetizer of cherry tomato, Portobello mushroom and a piece of bacon?

The pan used to make the mushrooms was deglazed with a bit of wine. Some cherry tomatoes and one of the sauces was heated up together in the pan too. The other sauce was added to the cooked tortellini.

Most of the pieces of fish were too salty to eat, but the salad and mushrooms picked up the slack. They were both the stars of the dinner.