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 :)

Roast Pork with Orange Sauce and Smashed Potatoes

I intended to make roast pork with a cranberry sauce but found I didn't have any cranberries. So I made up an orange sauce instead. Pork goes really well with fruit and this sauce has a bright orange flavour. The smashed potatoes are one of my favourite side dishes. These, paired with a light mixed green salad, made a great weeknight supper. Here we go!

What you'll need:

For the Pork and sauce:

• 1 Boneless pork roast (or a pork tenderloin, whichever you prefer)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 cup chicken stock
• The juice of 2 large oranges (or about 1 cup of orange juice) plus a few small pieces of the rind
• 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• salt and pepper to taste

For the smashed potatoes:

• 1/2-1 lb of small new potatoes (the amount depends on the number of people you are feeding)
• Sea salt in rock form (big chunks of salt)
• Pepper
• Olive Oil

To make the pork:

1. Place 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Get the pan nice and hot
2. Season the pork with salt and pepper and sear it in the hot frying pan. Don't put the pork in a cold pan and wait for the pan to heat up. The pork won't get a nice brown crust this way.The picture to the right shows the seared pork.
3. Once the pork has been seared on all sides, place it in a roasting pan in an oven heated to about 375* F
4. A note: When cooking meats I always use a digital meat thermometer like this one:

It has settings for each kind of meat (beef, chicken, pork, veal) and you can just put the probe in the meat and leave it in throughout cooking. The thermometer will alarm when the selected temperature is reached. I usually take the probe out and move it to another section of the meat to ensure it is done throughout. It's great because you never have to cut into the meat to see if it is done. They cost about $10-$20 at the grocery store and everyone should have one!

5. While the meat is roasting, the sauce is started in the same frying pan used to sear the pork. You'll notice there is a brown coating in the pan now. Throw in the diced onion and it will pick up all of that brown "stuff." It will add flavour to the sauce. Season the onions with salt and pepper and cook them over medium heat until they are soft and brown. This will take about 20 min.

 

6. Once the onions are cooked 1 cup of chicken stock, the juice from 2 oranges (about 1 cup of liquid) and the cayenne pepper, ginger and honey. Slice off 2 small pieces of orange rind and put them in the sauce too. Make sure you don't get too much of the white pith when you are slicing the rind as that will leave the sauce very bitter.  

Leave the sauce over medium heat and let it reduce. The onions will continue to cook down and the liquid will get quite thick. I left it for about half an hour, stirring every once in a while and this is the finished product: (note: make sure you remove the orange rinds before serving!)

7. Once the pork is done (about 40 mins to 1 hour depending on it's size) remove it from the pan to a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes. This ensures that all the juices stay in the meat.

For the smashed potatoes:

1. Wash the potatoes and place them in a large saucepan filled with water. Boil the potatoes until fully cooked (about 30 minutes depending on the amount of potatoes). You should be able to easily poke through them with a fork when they are done.
2. Drain the potatoes and allow them to cool enough so you can handle them.
3. Once cooled, place them on a cookie sheet and, using the palm of your hand, push down on them until they are "smashed" flat on the sheet. Repeat this with all of the potatoes, making sure they are in a single layer on the cookie sheet.
4. Once they have all been smashed, drizzle olive oil over all of them. Sprinkle some of the sea salt and pepper over each potato. At this point you could also put herbs on them, like rosemary, basil, thyme etc. These don't work with this dish but they would work with others.
5. Place under the broiler of your oven. I used my toaster oven because the pork was in my big oven. If you don't have a toaster oven, you could make your potatoes first in the big oven and just reheat them while your pork is resting.
6. Leave the potatoes in the oven until they get brown and crisp, about 20 minutes.

Slice the pork thinly and fan out on a plate. Top with lots of the orange and onion sauce. Put some smashed potatoes beside this along with some mixed greens. I mixed up some lime juice, honey, salt and oil and used that as a dressing for the greens. This was an easy, tasty, citrus-ey supper. Enjoy!

Chives Canadian Bistro: Easily some of the best food in Halifax!

Chives Canadian Bistro
1537 Barrington St
www.chives.ca

I arrive at Chives at 8 pm on a Friday night with 2 good friends. All of us are really looking forward to it as none of us have been here and we hear amazing things. We are greeted and seated immediately. We wait a few minutes for our waiter to show up with menus. He tells us the specials, gets us some water and leaves. He leaves us for too long. We are ready to order drinks and all of our food by the time he is back at the table.

The menu here is extensive, with wine pairings beneath all dishes listed on the menu. My friends are thrilled to see they still have Nova 7 on their wine list. This delicious, fruity, slightly sparkling wine makes a great start to the evening.

Quickly after our orders are placed, a paper bag arrives with warm, freshly baked buttermilk biscuits inside. These are served with whipped butter and molasses. This combination is a classic and was a lovely way to start off our meal.

I order the feta, tomato and basil salad to start, as does one of my dinner companions. We both agree this is a great salad. With heirloom tomatoes, olives, olive tapenade and good balsamic, it’s got big flavours and is delicious. What takes it over the top is the feta. Panko crusted and flash fried; the normally hard cheese turns into a creamy, salty ball with a delicious crunchy coating. It is a perfect foil for the tomatoes and vinegar.

The other appetizer ordered is the mussels. A word to the wise, this appetizer is enough for 2 people to enjoy. My friend can’t finish them for fear of not being able to eat her main course. They are cooked in a lovely tomato sauce and served with a toast point. The sauce is thicker than most mussel cooking liquids I’ve seen in the city and this is a nice change. It is easily picked up with the mussel shells. There is smoky chorizo sausage in it and the flavours of the sauce work well with the mussels.

The decision on what to eat for my main was a difficult one. Many of the items on the menu were extremely appealing. I end up choosing the maple sausage and bacon stuffed pork loin and it is a decision I am glad I made. The pork is stuffed with sausage and coated in house made bourbon barbeque sauce. I was worried that the sausage inside would be really greasy and ruin the sauces around it by oozing out its fat. It was, however, perfect. Very moist but not overly oily, it is subtly flavoured and amazing with the barbeque sauce and pork. This dish is served with potato gnocchi in a three cheese sauce. You can tell the gnocchi are made by a pro because they are perfectly creamy and melt in your mouth. No springy balls of dough here. The three-cheese sauce on the gnocchi is lovely. Thick and creamy, while not overly rich, it mixes well with the barbeque sauce on the pork. Roasted root veggies round out this amazing dish. I ask the server to give my compliments to the chef and I hope he did.

The other contender for my main was the free-range chicken carbonnara and my friend helps me out by ordering it for himself. Carbonnara is a traditional Italian pasta dish in which raw eggs and cheese are added to hot pasta to make a very smooth, creamy sauce. It can be difficult to make. You wouldn’t know that if you ate this carbonnara. The sauce is perfection. It is very smooth with no lumps of cooked egg. It is light enough that my friend was able to eat most of the dish without finding it too rich. The pasta is cooked perfectly al dente. However, it is the bacon in this dish that my friend raves about. Thick cut, double smoked and not too fatty, he makes us all eat some and it truly is delicious. I go back for a second bite of the pasta, sauce, and bacon combination.

The third member of our dinner party orders the Mediterranean lamb shank. This lamb is braised in red wine and is fall apart tender. The lamb is very gamey and my friend is a little put off by this. This is a risk you take when ordering lamb. Sometimes the flavour is subtle and light, sometimes it slaps you in the face. I try it and agree that it does have a strong flavour but that it is cooked perfectly. It is served with a rice pilaf and house made tzatziki. My friend has trouble finishing the dish. We agree, however, that this is mostly because of the huge amount of mussels she had as her starter.

Our plates are cleared and dessert menus are handed out. Once again, our server leaves us for far too long. During our meal, a very large party arrives with at least 20 people sitting at a long table down the centre of the restaurant. Our server does not appear to be involved in the service at that table so there was no excuse for leaving us for the length of time that he did. When he finally does return, we order a chocolate peanut buster to share and I order a decaf cappuccino. These both arrive very quickly. The peanut buster has a flourless chocolate torte topped with house made peanut butter ice cream, chocolate ganache and peanuts. It is truly to die for. If I had not been in a public place, I would have licked the plate clean. The cappuccino is served in a small cup and saucer and is wonderful with our dessert. Sometimes decaf coffees can lack the flavour of their caffeinated siblings, but not with this coffee.

Overall, we had a lovely meal at Chives. The atmosphere is lovely there, with head chef Craig Flinn coming out of the kitchen periodically to check on the service. He knows several of his customers well and greets them with hugs. I wish I had been able to talk to him, as I have been a fan for some time. I have one of his cookbooks and use it regularly.

The service was the only glitch in our evening. Now, I have had far worse service than this and been to far worse restaurants. However, if I learned anything about Craig Flinn that evening, it is that he prides himself on a well-run restaurant. I agree with giving people time to chat and peruse the menu, but the length of time given to us was far too long. Service aside, I will surely be back because that was some of the best food I have ever eaten in this great city of Halifax.

Major compliments to the chef!

The Coastal: Great Breakfast, Perfect Coffee

The Coastal
2731 Robie Street
Halifax, NS B3K 4P1
(902) 405-4022
www.thecoastal.ca/index.html

My friend and I hit up the Coastal for breakfast on a foggy Tuesday morning. We are both tired when we arrive and ready for some coffee and good food.

Then menu at the coastal is pretty small, though the breakfast offerings take up most of the available chalkboard space found above the counter. The “not breakfast” offerings are on a separate chalkboard and while they look great, they are not our focus today.

I know what I want going in. Having been to the coastal before and had a savory breakfast dish, I was in the mood for some sweet. I order “The Elvis”; a breakfast sandwich made out of banana, peanut butter and bacon served between 2 waffle halves and soaked in maple syrup. I hold the bacon because I don’t want a really heavy breakfast this morning. A word to the veggies: making anything veggie at the coastal takes $2 off the price. Not too shabby. A word to meat-eaters: the bacon would have made this a delicious sweet and salty dish. Next time, I won’t be opting out!

My friend orders “Les Oeufs D’ete”. Two sunny side up eggs are topped with a basil oil and served with a crisp green salad and baguette topped with brie. The server behind the counter asks if sunny side up is ok and my friend says she would prefer over easy.

Ordering at the counter, you are forced to leave the tip before you eat, which I do not like doing. Tips are about the service and food and I would rather have the option to leave it at the table or pay after I have eaten. Oh well, we move to one of the small tables and start to chat and enjoy our coffee.

The food arrives quickly and I dig in. The flavour combo of my waffle is great. Peanut butter, bananas and maple syrup work well together. However, the waffle is a bit cold and not crisp on the outside (it seems to have the “heated in a microwave” texture about it) and it is a little dry (I go to the counter and get more syrup the make up for this). Overall it is a great dish that needs a little more love to make it amazing. The coffee, on the other hand, is perfect. Smooth, perfectly brewed and fresh, I kept wishing for the server to come and ask me if I wanted a refill (my answer would have been yes!).

My friend enjoys her meal but to our dismay, the eggs are done sunny side up rather than the requested over easy. She says she doesn’t mind because they are not as slimy as some of the sunny side up eggs she has seen. She raves about the bread and brie and is sad to realize she ate all the bread first and didn’t have any to dip in her eggs. She find the basil sauce a surprisingly delicious accompaniment to the eggs.

The coastal is a great place to eat and has some of the best breakfast in the city. The way it works is a little cumbersome. You order at a counter but the food is brought over to you. It then makes it hard to know if the server will be back to check on you or if you are expected to fend for yourself. The food makes up for that, though. Fresh, full of flavour and very filling, the food is worth the trip every time!


A note about these reviews: I plan on taking pictures of the restaurant and food in future posts. For now you will have to use your imagination! L

Post #1

Well here it is, post #1.

I have been thinking about doing this blog for a while now. This is mainly because there are few places Haligonians can go to read restaurant reviews. Sure, there is a review in the paper every week, but they are usually too short to do a restaurant justice. This is through no fault of the writer but stems from the shrinking size of the local news papers. Here, I can go on as long as I choose and make sure every detail of the experience is captured. Halifax has so many great restaurants and new ones are popping up every day. I can't wait to get started!

I have been to a few restaurants in the past few weeks and am editing the reviews now. I hope to have them posted tomorrow or the next day.

A lot of cooking has been happening in my kitchen lately as well. After I get a few posts under my belt, I will post some of the best recipes I've made recently.

Bon Appetit!