A Better Night at the Bitter End

Last Friday I did the usual; went to work, ran errands and stopped by the liquor store for some weekend libations. I was in the middle of crafting plans for the weekend when my phone went dead - and my lights, and my stereo, and virtually every appliance in my apt. For some unexplained reason, myself and up to 10,000 other South End Haligonians lost their power. Hmph!

What to do when the power goes out on a Friday night? Well, I DID have some writing to do, so I lit some candles and vowed to work until my computer died. Still not knowing what the night had in store, I was filled with delight when, as my comp's battery lost it's last bit of juice, my friend Jazmine called with her perky 'tude and asked what my plans were.

We decided to meet at the Bitter End for some drinks and much needed catch-up. I like the Bitter End, always have, but in my quest for new watering holes, I haven't been in a while. We ended up there at a relatively early 9 pm, and it seemed as though many powerless South enders had the same idea. We proceeded to hop up on some bar stools and browse the drink and food menus.

Being the die-hard vodka martini lover that I am, I chose my usual. I'm not a huge fan of the syrupy, juicy cocktails, nor am I oft to go for a creamy based one. My bevy of choice is a Grey Goose martini, straight up, lots of olives- the big ones. I can attribute my love of these salty bites back to my childhood. At Christmastime, there was always a bottle of olives in my stocking - adding to the comforting Christmas memories of clementines and peppermint. When I was sick, my other used to remove the pimento, stuff in my Penicillin pill, and I would chew up the revolting combo of chalky pill and chewy pulp. Ugh, how THAT memory makes me shudder!

Sitting at the bar certainly has it's advantages; quick service, good gossip, and a view of all the goings on. However, sitting there made me realize why I love this place as I quickly noticed jelly worms in the bar tray, a childhood - who am I kidding, a current favorite of mine. When I asked the bartender in my sweetest voice and biggest smile whether I could have a couple, he presented me with this!


I was into martini number 2, and olive number 11 when Jaz suggested that we get a little bite. Having been unable to make anything in my electric-less apartment, I was quick to concede to her choice of calamari with a roasted red pepper dipping sauce. I love calamari, but I find that it's touch and go with some places. My uncle actually refers to this bar staple as "deep fried rubber bands", a descriptive that makes me smile every time I see them on a menu.

The Bitter End's rendition, however, did not disappoint. The calamari itself was tender, and cooked just so to have an al dente consistency. The batter was light and served to complement the sweet flesh. The dipping sauce of choice was slightly chunky and with a touch of heat - I always love the sweet meets heat combo.


At night's end, we stumbled out into the cold, dark street. However, when I arrived home, I was met my the comforting hum of my refrigerator and the confirmation that my power had been resotred. It may have been cold outside, but in, it was home sweet home.

Happy Valentine's Day

I posted my pics for restos yesterday as well as a sinful Valentine's Day cupcake recipe. I thought that my work for this festive occasion was over. Then someone sent me the link for this fundraiser on the part of Kraft Canada and I wanted to share it with you all. It's incredible when you think that if one person does something small, it can do a world of good.

This Valentine's day, Kraft Canada created a Valentine's Day heart that you could send to friends and family. For every heart sent, they would donate a jar of peanut butter to a local food bank. Canadians were
certainly feeling the love this year, as the grand total was revealed;
36, 988 hearts were sent, and 36, 988 jars of PB were donated.
Now that's news that makes my heart skip a beat.

http://www.spreadthefeeling.ca/

Red Hot Cupcakes

Well, the day has come. It's V-Day, and everyone has a different feeling about it. Couples love to celebrate with extravagant showings of love, romantic dinners and snuggling. Singles curse the occasion as they wallow in their pints of chocolate chip cookie dough- brownie ice cream while downing a few bottles of wine...Me? I love V-Day- it gives me another excuse to bake something!

On the menu this year- Red Hot Cupcakes. This is an incredible combination of sweet and spice and everything nice- everything Valentine's Day should be. It's interesting when you think about Valentine's Day and the presence food has within it. Yes, there are the aforementioned romantic dinners and the over-commercialized boxes of chocolate, but the food itself plays an integral role.

Here is not the post to get into the highly questioned theory of aphrodisiacs - there are just too many forces at play for that debate. But the fact of the matter is that food make you feel good; it satiates your palate, fills your body, brings you comfort, and yes, even arouses you.

These little puppies are just the trick for the end to a V-Day meal. Or, you could play my game and make them the meal...The combination here is seductive; rich, luscious chocolate with a touch of heat to spice things up.

Red Hot Cupcakes
Dark Chocolate Cakes w/ Hot Chili Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

1 box Devil's Food Chocolate Cake Mix
1 bar (100 g) Lindt Chili Chocolate Bar, chopped
3/4 c. heavy cream
Hot chili flakes for garnish

Method:

Prepare cake mix as directed and fill cupcake tins. I used my mini tins for these babies, as you don't need alot-pretty much one bite will do it. Bake as directed. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting, otherwise the ganache will melt right off.

Heat cream on low heat until it just starts to bubble. Pour over chocolate and whisk briskly. Refrigerate ganache 10-15 minutes to thicken. Remove from fridge and whisk until smooth. Frost cupcakes and garnish with hot chili flakes.

Shudder with pleasure as the smooth chocolate melts on your tongue and the spice hits your taste buds.

Happy Valentine's Day!

On another note, since I often spend time perusing restaurant websites to see what's new, I thought I'd make a quick list of promising Valentine's Day menus. These are warm, cozy little spots with great service and even better food. Ah, decisions, decisions!

Brooklyn Warehouse @Almon & Windsor
http://www.brooklynwarehouse.ca/
http://www.brooklynwarehouse.ca/Site.Feb.04p.09/Events.html/

Morris East @ Morris & Barrrington
http://www.morriseast.com/
http://www.morriseast.com/menu_valentine.pdf/


Chives on Barrington St.
http://www.chives.ca/
http://http//www.chives.ca/valentine.html/


Fid on Dresden Row
http://www.fidcuisine.ca/

A word of caution...

I'm fairly sure of myself when I'm in a kitchen. I use the word "fairly" because last night, I nearly burned down my building.

It happened like this:

I bought a pkg of chicken thighs at the grocery store. I like chicken thighs -insert whatever joke you like- they've got a nice amount of meat, and it's dark and full of flavor. Here is where my culinary disaster came into play.

I decided to roast my thighs -again, insert- which turned out to be one of the lamest ideas I've had in the kitchen. I thought about all the times that I've roasted chicken breasts, sprinkled with sweet curry powder, earthy rosemary, or spicy cumin; and they've been great. What I forgot about this time however, was the fat content in chicken thighs.

In the usual fashion, I cranked up my oven and drenched them in olive oil to make them nice and crispy. Then I went and took a shower...I emerged to find my entire apartment in a blanket of thick smoke. All the olive oil, combined with the high level of fat in the meat seemed to have started a little fire in my oven. I took them out immediately- almost setting fire to my oven mitts- and swiftly closed up the growing fire in my oven. I waited, with baited breath, as my own little inferno engulfed itself and died down.

I'm filled with shame as I write this to not have put two and two together BEFORE my potential catastrophe. I guess momma was right when she told me time and time again "Never leave a candle unattended - or an oven for that matter."

A Summer Meal to Cure the Winter Blues

Well, Halifax has once again been dumped on with 13824958 cm of snow. Pandemonium occurred today when my early morning bus-ride reverie was interrupted by another of Halifax Metro Transit's fleet blocking the road. That was it- I've had it with winter...though we're supposed to get another storm this week!

*Insert tears and pouting here - hypothetically of course*

Obviously, at 7:30 am, my thoughts went directly to my dinner plans. What could I eat, I thought, that would tear me out of the winter doldrums and enable me to get a taste of summer, if only for a brief moment? I decided immediately to BBQ- That's right, tonight, in my parka and rubber boots, I loaded up the Hibachi and BBQ'd on my balcony.

The result was a juicy and tender pork chop with a side of summer; yellow wax beans sauteed in garlic and sprinkled with a chiffonade of light lemony basil. I could almost feel the sun on my face - and then I looked out the window just as the flakes started to fall anew...

BBQ'd Pork w/ Garlicky Wax Beans and Basil

Method:

The BBQ'd pork is self explanatory- clearly.

Steam wax beans until tender. Remove from heat. In a small skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and sautee garlic until cooked. Add beans and S&P and heat through. Garnish with fresh basil.

And there you have it, a simple summer meal at the height of winter, served with a hearty portion of contentment and a smile on top.

Fried Eggs and Kale

I've recently been experimenting with the variety of greens found at the Halifax Farmer's Market. This week and last actually, I bought a bundle of Kale, a hearty green of the cabbage family. Kale is full of good stuff; vitamin A and C, folic acid, calcium and iron. It's also a good substitute for spinach.

This dish was my breakfast; sauteed kale and fried eggs. It might sound a little less than thrilling, but the tender, salty greens mixed with the rich creamy egg yoke was a combo that I'll make again and again.

Method:

Steam the kale to soften, then saute with thinly sliced onions, garlic, S&P and hot chili flakes. Top with the fried eggs - poached eggs would be equally delicious, but I didn't have the patience for water to boil!

Joanne's Birthday Cupcakes!

My friend Joanne has a serious caffeine addiction. I've never met anyone who consumes that many lattes and cups of coffee in a day. Perhaps that's the secret behind her sunny disposition?

J's birthday was today, and I wanted to bake her a little somethin'. I had all these incredible dreams of creating a milk chocolate-nutella cake, or dark chocolate and chili, or caramel and sea salt, or vanilla and lavender, or...I digress, as per usual.

Anyhow, as much as I convince her to try new sweets, J's pretty unwavering in her likes and dislikes. So I went with a pretty ingenious recipe - if I do say so myself - and made Cafe Latte Cupcakes!

Cafe Latte Cupcakes

*Those green things are little stir sticks from Starbucks down the block.

The recipe is as follows - I feel lame even calling it a recipe.

1 pkg Duncan Hines French Vanilla cake mix
1 pkg Duncan Hines French Vanilla frosting
1 shot of espresso

Prepare cake mix as directed, mix together frosting and espresso, and Voila: an intensely rich frosting with a bit of coffee bite, atop some seriously moist cake.

Happy Birthday J!