Brazilia Cafe

1526 Dresden Row
902-423-9742

As a person who works downtown, I am always looking for quick places to get a good lunch. Brazilia has consistently provided me with that.

Located on Dresden row across from Pete's, it is in a prime location to capture the downtown workforce for lunch. This family run place serves everything from Lebanese classics (falafel, shwarma etc) to club sandwiches, salads and soups. They always have a special which is more of a main meal. These include things like cabbage rolls and meat balls with rice. All the food is fresh and made from scratch.

I went twice recently and decided to write about my experiences there.

On the first day, they had a special of lemon chicken with potatoes and rice. I will never understand why so many place in Halifax serve both potatoes AND rice with their meals. Talk about carb overload! I asked them to switch the rice to a Greek salad and they were more than happy to do so.

The chicken was delicious. They used chicken breasts which can sometimes be dry. These were cooked perfectly and retained their moisture. The potatoes were cooked with the chicken and were out of this world. Whenever I've had a dish like this, the potatoes are usually cut into large wedges. These, however, were round slices. That allows for more flavour because they absorb more of the cooking liquid. I don't know what they put in their Greek salad dressing but I love it. It is tangy and spicy. Great with the lemon chicken.

A few days later, I return. This time, I decide to have something from the main menu. I choose a falafel wrap. I love falafel but it can be hard to find good versions in Halifax. They are often very dry and require a lot of sauce to be palatable. Not so here. They are moist and not overly salty, which can also be a problem with these tasty balls. Three balls are wrapped up in a pita with lettuce, tomatoes, garlic sauce and the pink things often found in these wraps. I have never known what these are, but they are delicious. Having done some research, I am lead to believe they are pickled turnip. Who knew the usually mushy root veggie could be so tasty when pickled?! I ordered the wrap with a Greek salad again. I know that I should have gotten something else to give you an idea of the scope of the menu. However, as I mentioned, the dressing is too good to bother ordering any other salad. Please forgive me.

On other occasions, I have had their club sandwich. The girls at work often order this too and we all love it. I also had their cabbage rolls recently and they were awesome. The sauce was sweet and smooth and they had rice and meat inside, which made them lighter than their all-meat counter parts.

This is a great place to grab a quick, healthy, homemade lunch. The family who runs it are all very friendly and will take the time to walk you through the menu and specials if you don't know what you want. The only thing missing is dessert. They often have cookies and sometimes banana bread. However, I think some more homemade desserts would be a welcome finish to a great lunch.

Baked Brie with Maple Fig Sauce and Pecans

I had a wine and appetizer night on Friday night. I made lots of different appetizers and decided that I would share this one with you. A very good friend of mine made up this baked brie and it is by far the best version of this dish I've ever had. Sweet, salty, gooey and crunchy, it is awesome! It also goes really well with red wine.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 medium-sized round of brie
• 1/2 bottle of PC Memories of Tuscany balsamic vinegar and fig sauce
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 100g pecan halves (the small bags in the baking aisle)

1. In a small bowl, combine the fig sauce, syrup, balsamic, salt and pepper.

2. Place the brie in oven proof dish. The dish should only be a little bigger than the brie. If you use a bigger dish, the sauce will burn before the cheese melts

Ingredients

3. Pour the sauce over the brie, making sure it covers the cheese completely.

4. Sprinkle the pecans over the top of the cheese.

5. Place this in an oven heated to 400* F for 20-30 minutes, or until the cheese oozes out of its casing when poked.

6. Allow to cool a bit and serve with crackers. I always use a spoon to scoop this onto the crackers rather than a cheese knife. I used Melba Rounds  sesame crackers and found they went really well with the cheese.


Enjoy!

Lunch At Jane's on the Common

Jane's on the Common
2394 Robie St
http://www.janesonthecommon.com/

I know it has been a while since I posted something. Hopefully this makes up for that.  I went for lunch at Jane's with a friend of mine today. We have both been there countless times and have enjoyed it every time.  This trip was no exception.

I arrive first and the server who greets me gives me my pick of tables. I choose the table in the corner. It is a little hidden and I think it's the best table in the house. I sit down and order a glass of  Las Moras Black Label Bonarda.  I love this wine. It has a deep, rich purple colour and has great flavour. I find it goes well with almost anything. While I wait for my friend, I check out the specials. Today the soup is carrot and mint with a dollop of poppyseed yogurt. The special is turkey pot pie with a sweet potato, cheddar and peppercorn topping. One of my all time favourite albums is playing in the background. Careless Love by Madeline Peyroux. I am content to wait at this little table and listen to the tunes.

My friend arrives and the server gives us some time to chat and pick what we want. I go with a bowl of the soup and an open-faced chicken sandwich with Caesar salad. Not surprisingly, my carnivore friend chooses the burger and also picks the Caesar.

The soup arrives first. It is bright orange with specks of mint throughout. It is served with a light and crunchy tea biscuit.  

Carrot and mint soup with tea biscuit

The soup starts out tasting like most carrot soups, sweet and smooth. The mint, we both agree, is a surprising aftertaste. We both love it. The yogurt is nice with the soup but unnecessary. Yogurt tends to go better with spicier soups. The biscuit is crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and still warm.

While I finish the soup, my friend notices that the restaurant has completely filled up. This is on a Tuesday afternoon around 1 pm. A testament to how many people love to eat here.

The mains arrive. They both look delicious and we find it hard to wait to eat them while I take a picture.

My friend's burger is huge. The meat is moist and has a distinct smoky flavour. It is topped with pickled red onions. These add a sweet & sour flavour to the burger. Also on top is applewood cheddar, homemade mustard and bacon aioli. My friend thinks the toppings are wonderful and I agree.

Char broiled burger with Caesar salad.

The open faced chicken sandwich is delicious. Nova Scotian free-range chicken is lightly spiced and topped with provolone and a red pepper slaw. The slaw is awesome. It also has the sweet & sour flavour of the pickled onions and is perfect with the melted cheese. It is served on crunchy toasted sourdough spread with roasted garlic aioli. This amounts to a "party in my mouth" and I can't get enough.

Open face chicken sandwich with Caesar salad.

We both ordered the Caesar salad. The dressing is creamy and garlic-y. It is topped with crunchy bacon and thin slices of parmesan. My friend comments that she likes the cheese sliced as opposed to the usual grated version in most Caesars. I think the salad could have been mixed up a little better. I have some dry pieces of lettuce and some blobs of dressing on the plate. Otherwise, it goes well with my sandwich.

Though both of us are full, we decide to look at the dessert menu. The server informs us that the gingerbread is the best seller but her favourite is the pumpkin cheesecake. We decide to listen to her advice and order a piece to share. I order some orange pekoe tea and my friend orders coffee to go with the cake.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

The server was right to recommend this cheesecake. It is light, fluffy and full of spicy, pumpkin-y flavour. The base is made of gingerbread and pecans. The pecans are a nice touch because they give a little crunch to an otherwise smooth dessert. I'm not a huge cheesecake fan but I helped polish this one off pretty quick. I loved it.

Jane's is my favourite restaurant in Halifax. This is mainly due to its consistency. The food is always good. The chef is innovative and has great ideas for flavour combinations. You can come here on any day of the week (except Monday when they are closed) in any month of the year and have a great meal for a reasonable price. The staff are friendly and attentive. Jane herself can often be seen serving, chatting with regulars and making sure everyone is enjoying their meals. This is truly a great place to eat.

FYI: Jane's Next Door is a store next to the restaurant that serves take-out. It consists of sandwiches, muffins, soup etc.  They also have frozen foods, like homemade macaroni and cheese. These are made by the chefs at Jane's and allow you to take a little piece of the restaurant home. They also sell all of the great jams they make for brunch here.

Brioche French Toast

Adapted from The Best Recipe by America's Test Kitchen

 

 My cousin invited me to attend an exercise class she was teaching this morning. Rather than go to sweat and work at the class I chose to invite her over AFTER the class to serve her a fattening breakfast instead.

I ran over to Pete's to pick up some eggs and while I was there I came across a beautiful loaf of brioche. This French bread is made with eggs and sugar. It is very light and fluffy with a slight sweetness. I immediately decided to make French toast with this wonderful bread.

America's Test Kitchen is a group of chefs and food scientists who test recipes to arrive at the best way of making them. They found that by adding sugar, vanilla and flour to the traditional French toast batter of eggs and milk you have perfectly browned French toast with a custard-like centre. It is truly the best French toast recipe. The recommend using a crusty loaf of bread for French toast. While this is good, the brioche was out of this world. 

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 loaf brioche
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1tsp vanilla
• 2 heaping tbsp flour
• 2-3 tbsp butter for frying

1) Mix the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla together. Slowly whisk in the flour, making sure to beat up any lumps.

2) Cut the brioche diagonally into 1 inch thick slices. Dip them in the batter, making sure it absorbs well into the middle of the slices.

3) Heat a frying pan over medium heat. I used my non-stick frying pan but you can use whatever you have. Put 1/2-1 tbsp butter in the hot pan. Once it is melted, place in 2-3 slices of battered bread, depending on the size of the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until a nice golden brown colour. The final product should be brown on both sides and warm in the middle. Don't let the pan get too hot or the outside will burn while the inside will still be cold.

4) Keep the finished slices in a warm oven while you work on cooking the rest.

We served this with Nova Scotia maple syrup and fresh raspberries. My cousin also brought over a bit of Chevalier triple creamed Brie. The salty creaminess of it combined with the sweet toast was fantastic. Enjoy!

Obladee- A New Wine Bar

Obladee
1598 Barrington St.

I stopped by Obladee with a good friend of mine for a glass of wine and some cheese. When I say it is a new wine bar, I mean REALLY new. Obladee opened officially on Monday after a few "soft openings" according to our waiter.

Because it is so new, I think it would be unfair to give this place a full review. I am acquainted with one of the owners through her sister and I mention to her that I do a food blog. She said it is customary to give a restaurant 3 months to get settled before doing a full review. I completely agree with her so I'll call this a half review for now.

I can safely comment on a few things. The place is absolutely beautiful. It is very cozy, with warm lighting and cool jazz in the background. A wonderful atmosphere. You'd never know this was the home of  Frozen Ocean.

It also has a HUGE wine list which includes reds, whites, port, sherry, and sparkling wines. A small selection of draft and bottled beers are also available.

Food is limited to cheese and meat plates. Many of the things on the list are locally produced. Condiments include gherkins, olives, dijon mustard and a delicious mango chutney.

I think this place has great potential. Once they get comfortable there, I think they will be very successful. I hope you will all try it out and I will definitely be back for another glass of great wine in this gem of a bar.

Hamachi House Made Me a Sushi Lover

I will fully admit that I was a sushi virgin before heading out to Hamachi House with some friends from university. Sure, I had eaten the vegetable rolls available at most grocerty stores but I've been told that doesn't count. One of my friends is a sushi expert and raved about the stuff. I was convinced and met up with her and another friend on Friday night.

I walk into the small restaurant and am greeted with the smell of fresh fish, ginger, beer and candles burning. In the middle of the room is where all of the sushi prep and cooking is done. Three chefs share a small work space surrounded by bar style seating and a conveyor belt with little boats on it waiting to be filled with sushi. The seating around the chefs is completely full of people.

My friends and I are seated at at table in a corner of the restaurant. This little corner is very private and quiet and would be great for a date night. I am the last to arrive and cucumber waters are already on the table.  Usually I am not a fan of cucumber water but I like it in this setting; it works well with the food.

The sushi expert in the group runs the show. She wants us to experience real sushi without being overwhelmed. She picks out a perfect rookie menu, allowing us to try lots of different and rather tame things to intorduce us to the world of sushi.

She starts us off with miso soup. I have had this soup before and always found it way too salty to be palatable. Here, however, the chef has a light hand when it comes to the salty ingredients and it is not overwhelming. Freshly sliced green onion and sea weed (salty and slimy but good) float on top. I eat every last drop.

The next item on our rookie menu is Edamame. These are soy beans that are steamed while still in their shells and sprinkled with sea salt.

Edamame

The pods themselves are inedible. Only the beans inside are consumed. To eat them, you bite down on the shell just enough for the beans to pop out into your mouth. You pick up the salt with your lips while you do this. The beans are perfectly cooked, still a little crunchy but with a smooth texture once you bite into them. I find these little beans to be as addictive as chips. My friend wants us to try a Japanese beer called Sapporo with the Edamame. The beer comes in a giant 650 ml can that we split. She says she loves it because it is very "clean" and I can't agree more. Very crisp and light, it is the perfect partner to the salty beans.


Next, our sushi arrives and it is a beautiful sight. We ordered the sushi all together and it arrives on a large plate for sharing. They are served with soya sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger. My friend informs me that the ginger is used as a palate cleanser to allow you to go between different types of sushi without mixing flavours. I was ashamed to learn that I had been wrong to put the ginger on top of the grocery store veggie roll and eat it that way. Rookie mistake.

To avoid over heating, she tells me to dissolve a small amount of wasabi into your soya sauce. That way when you dip the rolls, you'll get some wasabi with your sauce- awesome tip!

L-R: deluxe vegetable tempura, spicy tuna maki, California roll,  shrimp tempura. Back left: salmon nigiri

California roll: avocado, crab, cucumber and fish roe wrapped up in seaweed and rice. This was probably the most "fishy" tasting roll we had and the flavour was still not very strong.  The veggies inside are crisp and fresh. This is the first type I try and I find it delicious enough to try the rest.

Spicy Tuna Maki: Raw tuna, tempura and spices make up the filling to this type maki (roll). The tuna melts in your mouth and has no hint of fishiness. The tempura (deep fried batter) is crunchy, which is unexpected and wonderful. The slight spiciness of the filling is great in combination with the tuna but is not overpowering. This is by far my favourite roll on the plate.

Deluxe Vegetable Tempura: Asparagus, red pepper and green beans are all cooked tempura style and wrapped into various rolls. My favourite of these is the asparagus (pictured above sticking out of one of the rolls). It is easy to cook asparagus too long and have it tun out soggy. This doesn't happen here. I comment that the tempura batter is very light and almost floats above the vegetables. Delicious.

Salmon Nigiri: This is the thing on the plate that scared me the most. Thinly sliced salmon sits on top of tiny beds of sticky rice. That's it. I am not a huge cooked salmon fan and worry that I will hate the raw version. My friends convince me to try half of one and I am amazed. Like the tuna, the salmon has that "melt in your mouth" consistency. It is extremely fresh without the stale taste that salmon can get. I quickly go back for the second half.

Shrimp Tempura: Tempura shrimp and fresh veggies compose this roll. The shrimp is perfectly cooked and sweet. The vegetables are also lightly handled and maintain their crunch. I am shocked to find out that while I like the cooked fish sushi like this one, I prefer the raw fish versions!
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Hamachi House. Our server was very attentive and our water glasses never went empty. The place was bustling with people. Some were families out for dinner together, some people were on dates, some were friends getting together for a Friday night bite. All of them were laughing and enjoying their food.

It was also MUCH less expensive than I had anticipated. All of the food mentioned above plus one beer were split 3 ways and we each had to pay less than $20 before tip. I can now officially say I am a sushi lover and I will definitely be back to Hamachi to try to expand my sushi palate. Many thanks to "the sushi expert" for her menu selection!

Hamachi House
5190 Morris St
www.hamachirestaurants.com

Turkey Burgers with Apples and Cranberry Goat Cheese

I made these burgers because I LOVE "Chevrai Cranberry and Cinnamon" goat cheese. I wanted to use it in a dish rather than just as part of a cheese and crackers plate. So, this recipe was born. These burgers are great to eat in my favourite season- fall!

What you'll need:

• 1 lb lean ground turkey (pork or chicken would also work, beef would not)
• 1 apple, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped fine
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup fine ground bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper
• Chevrai Cranberry and Cinnamon Goat Cheese
• Buns of your choice

1. Place the turkey in a mixing bowl and add in egg, onions, apple, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Mix together with your hands

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On top of the paper, place a greased cooling rack. Form the meat mixture into 6 patties using your hands. Put an indentation in the middle of each burger to help keep them from forming balls during cooking.

3. Place under the broiler for 10 minutes per side. After each side has been broiled, you may need to turn down the heat to 400 or so for 10 minutes extra to ensure the patties are cooked through. I used my meat thermometer set to poultry to make sure they were cooked. Note: these could also be cooked on a BBQ.

4. When they are fully cooked, remove them from the oven and allow them to rest while you prepare the buns and sides.

5. Assembly: choose any bun you like for burgers. I chose the "PC Multigrain Thins" for these because they are nice thin buns that get really crispy when you toast them. Whatever bun you choose, make sure you toast them.

Place a burger on the bottom half of a toasted bun. Place a chunk of the cranberry goat cheese on it and cover with the top half of the bun.

I served this with a mixed green salad with balsamic dressing and red grapes. The burgers would also go well with sweet potato fries. They are easy to make and really tasty!

Enjoy :)