Food in my Shirt Victoria restaurants

Monday, September 13, 2010

Devotion

I took my friend James to Devour today. He had never been and since he is a healthier kind of guy, I was excited to bring him. Have you been? It is exquisite! That's not a word I throw around but here is the thing, it's all local! The menu changes everyday, that's how season dependant these women are. And it is women. One in the front, one in the back. And the place is tiny and filled with cookbooks. It's like foodie heaven. I seem to always get the sandwiches with salad. Today was no exception to their awesomneness: Bacon, tomato and brie on a lovely baguette with some kind of homemade mayo (garlic?). The bread was chewy and crispy, the bacon was tender and caramelized, the tomatoes were fresh and the brie was melty. The creamy homemade mayo just pulled it all together. And then there was the salad. I'm not usually into side salads. they are just kind of plate dressing for me, but at this place, i just inhale it! nothing on the plate remains at the end! I left full and happy for $10 and that is a pretty good deal. James seemed pretty into it too. he got the smashed chickpea sandwich. Sounds kinda lame to me because of my deep hatred of legumes (totally different story) but he was pretty into it and also enjoyed his salad.
I had a great lunch with a lovely friend at an amazing local place. This is the kind of place that deserves our support because, by buying and selling local food, they support us.
Yay for Devour!


Devour on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Beef Stew!!!

Alright, now that the fall seems to be upon us I thought I would share with you my ultimate favorite comfort stew recipe. This recipe calls for beer but you don't need to use it. You can double up on the beef stock and the add a little more vinegar. Yum!!! Serve it with crusty rolls, fresh bread or biscuits as well as a couple drips of Tabasco.

Oil
1 pack stewing beef, cut into small cubes
Salt and pepper
2-3 sweet onions cut up, not sliced
1 head of garlic, each clove smashed and pealed
brown sugar, about a table spoon
1-2 TBS flour
bay leaf
thyme
1 biggish bottle of beer, something like a honey brown or maple something is nice. Nothing bitter or too crappy
1 carton of beef stock
1 splash malt or cider vinegar
3 boiling potatoes, cubed
1 big carrot, pealed and cubed
6 white or brown mushrooms, quartered
4 ribs celery


Ok, so first season the meat. Get it all tossed in with the salt and pepper. I like to use a little steak spice too, but i love steak spice so maybe that's just me. Now heat the oil in a big ass pot and brown the meat. the trick here is to do it in small batches and actually let the meat brown. Don't get impatient and take it out when it's kinda brown/gray. You want that browned flavour, so wait it out. When all the meat has been browned, put it in a bowl and leave it somewhere in the kitchen. Now toss the onions in the pot, put on the lid, put the heat to med.low and let them wilt a little. When I say cut up onion I don't mean chopped. i mean cubed it that were possible with an onion. You want the to have some size since they are gonna get melty and delicious. Yummm! Stir the onions every few minutes or so until they start to brown. Now throw in the whole smashed garlic gloves. Like the onions, the garlic will get all melty too, so don't chop them up. Stew is all about big yummy chunks of stuff in an amazing broth. let the ingredients be big enough to stand up for themselves!
Ok after a few more minutes of this, you can take the lid off and check it out. Smell good? Yes, yess it does. So now, add the sugar and give it a stir. this will help brown and caramelize the onions after a minute of stirring this, add the flour. How much? I don't know, go with your gut on this one.stir it in and let it cook for a few minutes. you want some of the flouryness to cook out of it, so don't skip this part. When the flour start to cook, add the beer. Oh man, that first sizzle when the beer hit the pot is magic! Stir it as you poor making sure to scrape all the yummy parts off the bottom. Now put the meat back in. Add the vinegar and about half the carton of stock. Now toss is the thyme and bay leaf and step away from the pot. for the next hour and a half to two hours you should only go near the pot for stirring. Nothing else.Yes this takes awhile. go watch a movie or something. ok, 2 hours are up. How is the liquid holding out? not enough? Add some more stock. Now is the time for the other veggies. Toss in the potatoes, carrots and mushrooms. Hold of about 15 minutes on the celery because nothing is grosser than soggy celery!.
ok, cook another 30 minutes or so, let sit for ten off the heat and eat it!!!
Yes, you can use turnips and parsnips and any other crazy veg you want. I've made a really good veggie stew using veg broth and tons of odd ones and barley. the main thing is the herds, onions and a fair amount of time.
Now, go eat stew!!

High class with a toddler

We went to Vancouver this weekend for my sister's engagement party. I love my sister very much, and that is the only reason why i would put myself through all that travel over a long weekend. I think, the less said about it, the better.
The day after we got back, we decided to go out for lunch. My darling toddler wanted to go for wonton noodle at Wah Lai Yuen but they are closed on Mondays. My boyfriend suggested Santiago's, which i was all for, but mid way there I got this intense craving fro the macaroni grill. That's pretty odd as I have only actually been there once and that was many years ago for my grandma's birthday. But when a pregnant women wants something and happens to be behind the wheel of a car, there is very little that can stop her. I was a little scared as this seemed like an actual restaurant, not the Red Robbin kind with cheesy music and balloons and plastic cups and food in baskets.
So we walk in and the first thing i notice is kids. There are a ton of kids in this place! i swear every other table was a family with a young child! I started to relax a little. My toddler had to go to the bathroom and fell in love with it. There was a bench with pillows on it and she thought that was amazing. She wanted to just hang out there, lounging, and have out food brought to us here. Oh silly toddler! At the table, there were tall wine glasses and actual linen napkins. Bliss! I have gotten so used to paper napkins and cutlery and glasses only brought out with an order. They have a paper table topper over the table cloth and crayons on every table, regardless of children present. We spent a lot of time drawing pictures and writing notes over the course of our hour lunch. They have a kids menu and it was decent, the only problem was the it didn't list prices.
All in all, it was a great spot for lunch. i had the Pasta Milano. Not the greatest, will try something else next time for sure, but in no way offensive. I am very picky so I try not to hold people up to the standards i hold myself up to when i cook. My boyfriend really enjoyed the sweet pepper and sausage pasta and the toddler devoured the pizza.  We all left full and satisfied, and I left happy to have found somewhere a little fancier where we could come for a family date.

Romano's Macaroni Grill on Urbanspoon

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Where did they come up with the name Alzu's?

You know what's a fun thing to do on a Wednesday? Well I'll tell you! My fav thing to do is to pick up my darling toddler from Daycare, get her a quick snack and then head over to the pool. It's a block away and a super awesome fun time! I'm pregnant so I really like to float around at the moment and she is a toddler, so splashing never goes out of fashion. Actually, her main focus is something she calls Water Ballet. She hums to herself while dancing in the kids pool and making dramatic arm gestures. It's one of the awesomest displays of toddler cool I've ever seen. And the great thing about the pool is it keeps her entertained for a good hour at least so that means I float for an hour and we all end up happy and with slightly dried out skin.
And what better way to celebrate an awesome time at the pool? Dinner at Alzu's of course! Have you been to this place? It's open all night so the clientele at any given time is hilarious. I'm am especially partial to the people who wear sunglasses inside at night and go to the bathroom at lot (it's 8pm and this is not Hush, what are you thinking?). Also, last night there was a table of four. i kid you not, they all had their lap tops and they were all on facebook! It was amazing. I actually looked at their table after they left to see if they left some kind of clue about their existence!
Ok, the food. They serve breakfast 24/7. I don't eat breakfast, so i don't care that much except for one thing: Toddlers love pancakes for dinner. It drives them insane! the idea of having for dinner on a week night something you only ever get in the morning on the weekend is just mind boggling to them!
For me, it's all about the curly fires. They have them and I want them. I usually go with a chicken wrap, your usual chicken Caesar. I dont' really like the fact that sometimes the person in the kitchen tries to get fancy and grill the wrap after it is wrapped. There is lettuce in there buddy, have some respect! I went with Michelle last night and she got the quesadilla. I've never been a quesadilla person, just not into all that melted cheese (insane, right?) but she seemed into it. One icky moment for me was when she asked if there was guacamole the server (I'll get into him in a second) said that there might be some and he would look around. Her guac came but is it really something you want if people don't even know if it's there? Where did he find it?
Ok, the server is this little Hobbit guy, total reformed biker look (or maybe not reformed) who i really want to call Alzu. He could be the guy! Anyway, he is awesome. understands that we rolled in with two toddlers and seated us closest to the bathroom and farthest from EVERYONE ELSE! This guy knows the deal and I appreciated it. he told us on our way out that he has five kids. Ya, i liked being served by someones dad. Dad's don't take any crap from anyone and they are honest (hence the look for the guac comment).
This place is serving ok food, but I still like it because it's comfortable and cheap and totally unpretentious.
YAy!

Alzu's Family Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Oh Siam...

I had lunch with the ever lovely Jeffy today at Siam. We both seem to agree on this place as a lunch destination and I'm pretty sure i know why: Chicken Noodle Delight.
Chicken Noodle Delight is the terrible name they use for something bordering on the sublime. It's this saucy, peanuty, noodly goodness. I'm full but I would still eat more. no one who I have taken there has ever complained about the taste or quality of this dish. My other Favorites would have to be their vegetarian green curry (Spicy!) and their spinach with tofu in chili sauce. The Spinach is so tender and juicy and the light sauce just screams for rice to drench it in. Jeff actually suggested not getting rice. Lo and behold he was the first one going back for seconds of it just so he could have some more of the amazing sauce from the spinach. See, it's that kind of good.
So yes, this place is good. The service is usually awesome, but we had a new girl today and she was a little off her game. it's cool, we all need to learn, right? The guy who seems to work most of the week day lunches is awesome, always smiling and ready to help or just stay out of your way if you're in the middle of something.
So thank you Siam Thai on Fort street for being an awesome Victoria Restaurant!

Siam Thai Restaurant on Urbanspoon