Bien manger à Montréal (troisième partie)...

Frites Alors or shall we be screaming Poutine Alors!?

Our annual summer mini vacay in Montreal to visit family has always been belly-lavished with homemade Vietnamese flavours but this rare time around, with a heavy pulse still on Asian, we were able to venture out and delve into some other tastes around the city- Lebanese falafels and shawarma and Benny & Co.'s rotisserie chicken not shown here. I seriously focused my attention on eating so these snaps are the best I've got from our lil' four-day escapade of eats. One fine afternoon consisted of Frites Alors, my nostalgic fave chic greasy spoon to mange frites in la belle province... only my boys wanted poutine... boat loads of it!

Classic squeaky cheese and gravy poutine

Bacon and grilled onions poutine

Head-over-heels in love with the rest!

My husband's family welcomed us with a lovely lunch of Asian-inspired chicken breast brochettes (marinated in fish sauce, garlic and ginger) served with a tasty-fun topping of gremolata- toasted coconut shreds and sliced green onions. Simple steamed string beans and a large green salad tossed with smoked salmon and grapes in a honey Dijon dill vinaigrette rounded the meal. Hearty and delicious! Merci Beaucoup sis-in-law Veronique!

Grapes add an interesting texture and sweet flavour to the savoury salad.

Some bun (vermicelli) and deep fried shrimp crackers too cause we Asian :D

Morning glory with a mixed berry danish and a coffee. Kids were all over chocolate croissants.

A late lunch in a Chinese Vietnamese noodle shop.

Roasted duck egg noodles soup

Spicy beef (bun bo hue) noodle soup 

Family dinner at a Vietnamese-Cambodian restaurant Kim Hour. They also owned the supermarket in the same strip plaza, offering an extensive and affordable menu. Merci beaucoup Kathia et famille! C'est tres delicieux. Bon choix!

Vietnamese Crab Meat and White Asparagus Soup

Extra Crispy Chicken and Cambodian Beef with Onions and Peppers.
Love the heavy fish sauce, lemongrass and ginger  indicative of Cambodian cuisine.

Mixed Seafood and Bak Choy

But the highlight of this delicious meal-- frog legs! Even my kids loved chewing on the deep-fried scrawny legs in a thin batter with a hint of fish sauce and possibly five spice.

Taste just like chicken wings :D

Snack at my parents-in law-- deep fried spring roll pork filling leftovers and battered fish. 
Wrap the pieces in lettuce and Thai basil leaves then dip in prepared fish sauce nuoc mam. 

Handheld bite-sized goodness!

The best part of the trip is just being out and about with the family and enjoying the Montreal air! 

Hoppity, Skippity, Jump!

And of course, no Montreal trip is ever complete without bags and bags of fresh oven-baked sesame bagels to tote home. These are from Fairmount Bagels and are possibly the best! Until next year....

Dense, chewy, slightly sweet and ever-so tasty!

Japanese Cabbage and Pork Gyoza...

Japanese gyoza and Chinese dumplings (jiaozi) -- what is the difference you ask? There are four noteable distinctions in my books. First, the ingredients-- while they share similar ones, Japanese tend to always use garlic in their filling and more veggies combined with a little meat. Next, the wrapper which also leads to the technique difference. Gyoza skin is softer more pliable, conducive to the technique of steaming first then pan-frying. Whereas Chinese dumplings do the reverse. Typically pan-fried then steamed, it's wrappers are designed thicker to hold up in the pan-frying process. Lastly, the texture. The gyoza wrapper is more pliable and expands during steaming creating more of a puffy pouch to house the filling and since more veggies is used, it's result looser than the dense meat-heavy Chinese jiaozi. The star to gyoza however is potato starch! Dusting gyozas first while it steams to cook, the water evaporates and bottoms start to brown that surely crisps up when the oil hits, creating an irresistible duo crispy and soft skin texture. This method applies to certain types of Chinese dumplings but not universally. No hard fast rules in this world of cross-cultural adapting perhaps, but some observations I've made to this day noshing on and making countless dumplings. One thing undeniable is that both styles are delicious and addictive, as you can't stop at just eating one.. am I right?

Now that we got this out of the way, let's start mixing, wrapping and cooking gyozas :D. So many recipes out there, but this is the one I'm enjoying right now...

Japanese Cabbage and Pork Gyoza
Makes about 48 dumplings

1/4 small white/green cabbage
1/3 medium nappa cabbage
1 tsp. salt
1 cup lean ground pork
2 tsp. chicken seasoning powder
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. sake or Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

3 cups green onions, finely chopped (or use 2 cups garlic chives and 1 cup green onion)
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger (optional)
salt and ground white pepper
1 pkg. round Gyoza skins (Chinese dumpling wrappers ok substitute)
potato starch
cooking oil (I use canola)

Dipping sauce:

2 parts soy sauce to 1 part rice vinegar

a little sesame oil

toasted sesame seeds and chili oil (optional)

Finely chop the two kinds of cabbage. Mix together in a bowl tossed with the salt (this will aid in releasing their excess moisture). Set aside for 15 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine the pork with chicken seasoning, sesame oil, sake and soy sauce. Mix well, then add green onions and garlic, and mix again.

Squeeze the cabbage to remove excess water. Add to the meat mixture, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. The filling is ready, use it immediately or refrigerate covered overnight and use the next day.

As I mentioned this is key for great crispy succulent gyozas-- potato starch! Dust each dumpling with a little potato starch. Shake the dumplings to remove excess starch before pan-frying!

Here I heavily dusted a platter to sit the dumplings and to roll in to coat.

Set a small bowl of water for rimming and sealing the filled dumpling wrappers.

Wet the edges of the wrapper with water and place one Tbsp. filling in centre of wrapper. Pleat the wrapper or simply fold over so that two edges meet. Press along seam to seal shut. Repeat with wrappers. Cook immediately. Do not refrigerate prepared dumplings or they will get moist and stick together and to the plate. Click here for my complete step-by-step on how to make and wrap dumplings. 

For more on wrapping, check out my Dumplings 101

Shake the dumplings to remove excess potato starch. Heat up your pan to medium high and swirl 2 Tbsp. oil. When hot arrange them in a circular fashion in the pan with a little give between each so they don't stick too much when they cook and swell.

Made Pork Dried Bakchoy Soup as a yin counter balance to yang gyozas.

Add enough water to come a third of the way up the dumplings, cover and cook over medium heat until the water has evaporated and you can see the bottoms of the dumplings changing colour. #steamsteambaby

Remove the lid and drizzle a little oil over the dumplings. Cook uncovered, until the bottoms are crispy, then turn over carefully with a spatula to brown the other sides. Transfer to a serving platter.

Combine the dipping sauce and serve with the hot gyozas. Add some chilli oil if you wish.

I had some leftover filling and it was perfect tossed in a skillet with leftover steamed rice. I adjusted the taste with a bit of soy sauce and voila... creative leftovers that turned into a small meal.

Leftover gyozas reheated in a pan for a casj lunch the next day served with some tasty leftover cabbage pork fried rice!

Wrapping dumplings can be a fun family affair-- of course the kids can get in on it too!

My then 7-year old Japanese-Chinese nephew is a wrapping pro!

Gyozas can make for a great appie or side dish at any gathering! Itadakimasu!

Served with Korean Chap Chae, Inari Zushi and Deep-Fried Chicken Karaage

You Thirsty? Take The Ultimate Beverage Tour In York Durham Headwaters...

Here is a copy of my freelance article for Huffington Post on Drinking Your Way Through York Durham Headwaters (Original Post). Home to 60% of the Greenbelt’s protected fertile farmland and many conservation areas, this heart of Ontario’s countryside is a burgeoning scene in multiple award-winning cutting-edge craft beverages made farm-to-bottle. Quench your thirst for adventure, engage in fascinating stories from brewers firsthand and support local producers. A bounty of homegrown treasures awaits you!

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A burgeoning beverage scene exists less than an hour outside Toronto, and it's worth discovering. Cutting edge, award-winning craft breweries, cideries, distilleries and wineries abound in the York Durham Headwaters region.

Presented in partnership with Ontario Tourism and York Durham Headwaters, here's a small sampling of some of the area's best spots to quench your thirst for libationary adventure.

Old Flame Brewing Co., 135 Perry St., Port Perry

Old Flame Brewing Co. set up shop in an old Ontario Carriage Works building, transforming the original structure into a beer-lover's paradise. Taste specialty bevvies on tap or take a behind-the-scenes tour to see how craft brew is made.

The Second Wedge Brewing Company, 14 Victoria St., Uxbridge

The Second Wedge Brewing Company is a brewery, tasting room, bottle shop and beer garden dedicated to crafting flavourful ales. This year, you can follow co-founder Joanne Richter on a beer and cheese tour through the region. Named "Boxcars and Beer: The Cheese Train," this experience is 90 minutes of pure bliss -- because nothing is better than beer and cheese. Incerpt- Learn more on My Post about my full experience on the cheese train.

All Aboard on Uxbridge's Boxcars and Beers: The Cheese Train

Incerpt-- Enjoying a nice day with my pal Ann with flights, lunch and loads of goodies to take home.

Noteables: the Pear Cider with Lavender and the Normandy Apple Bread
made with apple cider, chopped apples grown on site and cinnamon!

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery, 1137 Boston Mills Rd., Caledon

Located in the picturesque, rolling hills of Caledon, Spirit Tree Estate Cidery is an award-winning cidery and so much more. Its bakery, bistro and farm shop make it a culinary destination to be savoured. It prides itself on its many environmentally friendly practices. And perhaps most uniquely, Spirit Tree's owners practice the centuries-old art of wassailing, a ceremony each winter in which the trees in the apple orchard are sung to in order to ensure a good harvest the following year.

Adamo Estate Winery, 793366 3rd Line EHS, Mono

Adamo Estate Winery is a labour of love for the Adamo family. They took a chance on an unchartered terroir, burying vines in the winter to protect them from the cold, hand-picking the fruit and bottling on site. Indeed remarkable that this young winery is already the recipient of multiple international wine awards. Tour the vineyards, sample at the tasting bar, and pair your visit with a stay at the winery's sister property, Hockley Valley Resort.

Grand Spirits Distillery Inc., 22 Mill St., East Grand Valley

The newly opened Grand Spirits Distillery is the first legal purveyor of gin and whisky in the region. Grand Valley was the last wet town in Ontario during Prohibition, so the entrance of the region's first "resto-distillery" promises to "reignite Grand Valley's prohibition-era infamy," their website notes. Their handcrafted spirits are adapted from old regional recipes and use juniper, white oak and wild hickory to flavour their gin and whisky.

Located in a restored 1892 schoolhouse, the distillery has a Speakeasy-themed restaurant bar and a Victorian-themed tasting room.

Last Straw Distillery, 40 Pippin Rd. - Unit #9, Vaughan

This super-cool distillery is for the gin and whisky lover in all of us. Fulfilling their lifelong dream to open a micro-distillery, husband and wife team Don and Ana DiMonte develop each of their spirits from scratch. Dark Side of the Moonshine is a liquor that's aged for a year in an old Tennessee whisky barrel while Blackstrap Rum is a new take on an old classic. It's made from blackstrap molasses and packed with dark-toffee flavour. While you can find Dark Side of the Moonshine and Blackstrap Rum at the LCBO, you can only buy their vodka, gin and darker blends at their distilling workshop in Vaughan. Visit today to learn first-hand how these spirits are made.

These are but a few of the many flavourful locations to raise a glass and toast Ontario's York Durham Headwaters region. When touring the area, please drink responsibly. To learn more, follow what's happening in its ever-growing food and drink scene here.

Sweet Almond Dessert Soup...

Out of all the Chinese-style sweet dessert soups, this one is hands-down my fave. A popular traditional dessert house sweet white soup, it literally translates to almond paste to describe its thick pasty texture. Typically served warm, it's made with a combo of Chinese sweet and bitter almonds.  Since these are not easy to find, skinless blanched almonds are a great substitute! Not only is this concentrated soup nutritious, with 1/2 cup of almonds per suggested serving, the dessert is said to do wonders for the skin. Some even eat it as a breakfast. I know I would :).  When I took notice to see my mom make this, I learned the trade secret to the thick texture, and it's surprisingly not cornstarch... but a small handful of raw rice.

Sweet Almond Dessert Soup
Makes 2 servings, 1 cup each (double the recipe to double the pleasure)

1 cup slivered almonds (or use whole blanched almonds), soaked in water for two hours
1 heaping Tbsp. raw Jasmine rice, soaked in water to cover for ½ hour, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp. equivalent of yellow rock sugar or golden sugar
2 cups water, add 1 Tbsp. at a time to get the consistency you want
2 to 3 drops of almond extract (optional)

Toast almonds in a saucepan on medium heat until slightly fragrant about two minutes- do not let it turn golden. Blend in blender along with water and rice until completely pulverized and smooth. Strain through a strainer into the saucepan and cook over low heat until mixture is thickened, stirring frequently otherwise it will burn on bottom. Add sugar and cook, stirring until dissolved. Add the drops of almond extract. Adjust flavourings to your taste preference. 

NOTE: Make sure almonds and rice are finely ground otherwise, almonds will leave a gritty taste and rice will cook up during heating into unwanted particulates.

The soup thickens as it cooks.

Growing up, my mother prepared small pots of sweetened red bean soup (another very popular Chinese sweet dessert) to eat during the day or after dinner and it has been a favourite in our family to this day. Packed with protein, making it is a cinch to do with just five ingredients.

Simple Chinese Red Bean Soup Dessert

Food Revolution Toronto August Contest-- Show Off Your Salads!

Resharing from Food Revolution Toronto:

Happy August! This month's #CookwithFoodRevTO challenge is all about SALAD! Each week we'll be showcasing an idea for you to use your produce - this week, how about these twists on Jamie's simple green salad?

This is my kind of salad! Toasting almonds to just short of being burnt gives an interesting slightly bitter dimension to this unique salad dressing. Balanced with the sweetness of honey, sourness of red wine vinegar, piquant Dijon mustard, and salt, this nutty vinaigrette strikes a harmonious chord in fresh green salad mixed with the juiciness of grape tomatoes, licorice crunch of fennel and the creaminess of avocado. The results are gloriously addictive- full of flavour and textures, and easily a star at any gathering! What's yours?

Mixed Green Salad with Fennel and Avocado in a Burnt Almond Vinaigrette

And hey, just by showing us your seasonal fruit, you could win a Jamie Oliver cookbook thanks to HarperCollins Canada!

How To Enter:

Show us your salad! Snap a photo of your seasonal salads and tell us a little bit about what you made and how.

You MUST use the hashtag #CookwithFoodRevTO AND tag us on FB, or at @FoodRevToronto on Twitter or Instagram. That's it! Then you'll be entered to win a cookbook!

Eligibility and Contest Rules:

– Contest begins on August 1st 2017 at 6am EST on and closes August 31st 2017 at 6pm EST.
– Prize consists of one (1) Jamie Oliver cookbook
– Open to readers of the age of majority with a Canadian mailing address.
– No purchase of any product necessary for entry.
– Winner will be chosen randomly (using random.org) from all qualified entries on August 31st 2017 after 6pm EST.
– Winner will be notified via email September 1st 2017 and will have 48 hours to respond to the email.
– Winner will be required to answer a skill testing question.