Warm weather means BBQ season’s back. Not a moment too soon, winter was long … and nasty. And with hotdogs, hamburgers, steak, chicken, etc., set to sizzle, the time for replenishing supplies is prime … talkin’ ’bout the essentials … A1 Steak Sauce, Heinz 57 Sauce, Cheez Whiz, and Kraft Singles … yep, I’m good to grill!! 😎
… from yesterday’s Easter Feast! This is the BEST Indian food in the GTA … and loses nothing nom nom noming the next day!
Chicken Tikka, Aloo Gobi, Butter Chicken, Goat Saag, Channa Masala, Chicken Biryani, and Raita
Today I pan seared ossobucco, Italian sausages, and my famous meatballs … then gently plopped them into my homemade tomato sauce letting them slowly simmer for a few hours creating this flavourful gravy. Casareccia pasta, with its great texture really helps the sauce cling, sopping it up … oh I also added a bit of broccoli rabe before serving to give it that extra oomph. Freshly grated Grana Padano Scelto, and a glass (or two) of vino … yep, life don’t get no better!!
Had these sexyshanks a while back with the family … believe me, there’s enough meat here to feed the troops, and then some … finally got around to bloggin’ pics ’bout it. Real easy & simple too … key is to have a butcher who’ll go out of his way for you, willing to work with you … getting the exact piece you ask for, and cutting to your specs. Season liberally with salt and pepper, brown in olive oil … then, add the shanks to 1.5 – 2 litres of the best homemade tomato sauce/passata you have, and bake in a dutch oven at 350° for a couple of hours till falling off the bone tender, the marrow oozing/melting into the sauce. At this point, I pulled out the ossobuco and cut/broke apart into 1-2 inch portions. I also extracted any remaining marrow from the bones, adding it to the sauce, discarding any sinewy/grisly bits as well. Served up family style with my best al dente Italian linguine (sorry, no pics … was crazily rushing around …and stressing, lol)!! 🙄
yeah, thick ass is right …
browning away #1 …
… and #2 …
… what else is there, lol? Absolutely LOVE putting together a simple platter like this. Admittedly, it’s a basic one compared to my other efforts … but it was only the two of us, and there was plenty of food … plus I don’t need to always impress the hellouttaya … for a last minute, quickie-throw-together-thingie, it worked out great. That’s my fave focaccia again, Jarlsberg, extra old Cheddar, salami, another salami, ham … but what really got me excited was the new speck available at my Highland Farms. My receipt in shorthand form referred to it as H/TYROL SCHINKENSPECK SMKD … it’s Austrian, it’s smoked … and it’s FANTASTIC … 3pics y’all, enjoy!!
… ya ALMOST ruined ma b-day dinner for TIFF K!! Yer recipe writing skills leave a lot to be desired … lucky for you I have shittywrittenrecipefixingskills!! 👿
… yesterday’s leftovers; collard greens, tomato sauce and potatoes that I baked. Knew that it wanted more liquid/sauce, so today I added between 500 ml and a litre of water and stove top cooked it (basically reheating, letting it slowly simmer) in my All-Clad saucier. Transforms it to more of a soup/stew … just loosened it up, and changed it completely. A few pics y’all.
… completely made this up. Had a Lock & Lock container of leftover homemade tomato sauce w/ chopped collard greens (was from my baccala holiday meal) in my freezer, and a 20 lb sack of spuds sitting chilly in my root cellar (ok, I don’t REALLY have a root cellar, but my parents did when I was a kid, lol). I defrosted the collard green tomato sauce (put the ice chunk in a sauce pan on low heat), peeled 6 or 7 potatoes into large chunks … oh, for added flavour, thinly sliced a Spanish onion and sautéed till translucent … then combined everything thoroughly and dumped it all into my Le Creuset Stoneware dish to bake for an hour … voilà, danistrulythemakingshitupman … 💡
… Bellwoods Brewery y’all!! Ambled on over after our Ossington Ave. Wonderboy birthday brunch. These hipster places are popping up all over, and it’s these doofuses who insist on letting everyone know how great and cool these places are with their geek tweets even though it may not be the case … as long as their social media fingers are the quickest outta the pockets/purses … but, I digress. I’ll speak the truth, PLUS I’m a beer drinker from WAY back with a shitload of experience under my 32″ waisted belt, so I kinda know my stuff. Here are my thoughts. I liked the beer (White Picket Fence Belgian Wheat, Bootknife (Belgian Brown)) enough, and I’m a HUGE fan of fresh beers, so they scored bonus points. But, there is no escaping economics, and these 650 ml bottle were priced too high, WAY too high – $5.85 (I recall, thereabouts in any case), and I won’t ever buy again due to that very reason. Saying you’re pricey is the proverbial understatement. A quick example/lesson of better beers w/ better prices; Beau’s Lugtread 4X600ml bottles – $15.85 … and my favourite night and day comparison – Chimay Premiere 750 ml – $6.00 … less 10¢ deposit to boot. Word to the wise, ya get what ya pay for … and my smart money’s on Chimay!!
… made it here … finally!! Had the group discount WagJag from what seems ages ago, and today decided to go. Oh, and I’ve never been to South St. … famous for their mango chutney (and no if you must know, not on you life, lol), as well as other fun (unique) offerings. I loaded my burger with gorgonzola, chipotle BBQ sauce, spicy onions, dijon horseradish mayo, w/lettuce and tomatoes too!! Tiff had guacamole, spicy onions, hot peppers, garlic mayo, honey mustard, w/lettuce and tomato (sorry, no pic). We agreed the food was good, Tiff especially loved the fries, and I second that – they were great. The burgers were good too … but nothing outstanding, we’ve def had better. Must admit, I really enjoyed the chipotle flavour on mine, the spiciness was perfect. Unfortunately the bottom line is we probably won’t go back … er, unless we snag another WagJag, lol!!
fries and shake …
ma burger (toasted bun – nice touch) …
even with the coupon – it ain’t cheap …
… was part of a previous roast beef blog, and with the star of the show getting all of the attention, these didn’t make the cut. I was remiss not previously posting pics … all’s rectified!!
topped with caramelized onions, melt in your mouth goodness …
… brunch at UNION Restaurant. Again. Great Toronto joint (on the Ossington strip). Great brunch. Again. Sorry, lazy-ass blog today. Blah.
blueberry pancakes w/bacon & maple syrup;
sausage, beans and corned beef;
BBQ ribs eggs benny;
mushroom & fontina frittata (X2);
the bill -$175 w/tip;
… along with rapini … my favourite greens, hands down! Very healthy, and easy to prepare/make too. I grab the bunch, and chop off the bottom (thicker) stalks/stems … wash and rinse 3-4 times quickly, shaking off excess water, yet leaving it wet … heat up my pot, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and throw in the kale. You can immediately hear it crackle as the cool, watery leaves interact with the hot oil … season liberally with salt, black pepper and put a lid on it. A few minutes later when it’s wilted somewhat, I add the slivered garlic (I find they’ll burn if I add them along with the kale), allowing them to get golden, by that time it’s all done. All that remains is the plating, and tossing on a few chili flakes too. Enjoy!!
Stewing beef (3 lb, nicely cubed too btw), thanks butcher bud … today was prep day, beautifully blackened for my EuroStew (just made that shit up, DON’T plagiarize please!!) tomorrow (stay tuned folks), ready for my Rival Crock-Pot® … The Original Slow Cooker … yep y’all … b l a c k e n e d …
… backing up the leftover truck. didn’t realize, or plain ole forgot ’bout ’em.
from a rock hard frozen ice chunk, now back to life and simmering in my All-Clad
perfectly roasted mushrooms
my plate – served with a baguette (buttered), and lotsa cheese (of course, lol)
… I’m plum outta posts … perhaps that shoulda been the title, lol?! Anyways, you guessed it, leftovers … frozen and defrosted leftovers … this is the third and final day of my killer balls. My turkey meatballs that first started rolling Christmas Eve. Comfort food on a cold day … open faced sammy on a toasted ciabatta roll with roasted creminis, caramelized onions, hot banana peppers, and bubbling provolone after a moment under the Sally …
two for the price of one
yummo closeup
digging in
have steak knife will travel
… ya done good kid … still sayin’ & repeatin’ (capped out too) said aforementioned “WOW” to myself over and over … and OVER again. Greatest Christmas EVER … lots of fun family times, lots (… and lots, lol) of good food … a few silly family pics too, lol … and plenty of presents … but none more heartfelt than WonderBoy’s … think I mentioned this limited edition vinyl Sublime to him a millionmonths ago (can’t believe he remembered) … and then he went doubly LPLuvin’ me with Nirvana … WOW … NEVERMIND!! Yep, done good motherfucker, real good … muchluvson!!
➡ today’s 4:20 … thanks Sublime, lol. 😉
Went to my fave Hakka joint today, ordered lunch to go (as you can see from the styro container), but as I was leaving, Charles the owner corralled me and insisted I sit and dine in the restaurant … so I did. He, his family … all his employees (many, long time employees) are all of Chinese descent, but born in India (on a side note; funny to hear him speak English fluently … with a British accent, lol) … hence the hot/spicy influence … think of it (Indian Hakka cuisine) as Chinese food kicked up a notch. He also tones it done if you want, today I did … told him to surprise me. In nothing flat tossed this together in his smoking hot wok for me … chicken chow mein he said … yep, yum!!
… all the way to the bank. One of those group discount deal-of-the-day websites, my favourite one btw. Tiffany K has been keeping a keen eye on the goings-on lately … got in on this incredible Special K score … did you know they made Flatbread Morning Sandwiches? Well me neither, but I do now, AND I got mine for free … same for their Morning Shake Beverages as well … wasn’t aware of them, but yep … gratis. Before the Kellogg’s haul y’all bought into $20 worth of food for $10 from South Street Burger Co. … and here’s the kicker; when Tiff was signing up for the deal, sitting in her account was an unexplained $5 credit … so actually it only cost five bucks five bucks five bucks (sorry Pizza Hut, lol)!! I’m so excited, have never been, although I was close to going on a number of occasions. From what I heard/read, their burger is throughthemothereffingroof delicious, PLUS included (no extra charge) is a shitload of cool toppings available … who does that? Mango chutney, HELLO?! 😀
voucher printed …
… that’s what i’m takin’ ’bout, love me my leftovers … and overs and overs and … done good y’all if i boastfully back slap myself and say so. yep, yum-em-ef-oh!!
danistrulytheman 