NOW’s ultimate veggie burger challenge

(So, continuing along with the veggie burger debate...NOW published this back in October, but I guess I missed it. Not surprisingly, their top pick was the Lick's Burger!):

It seems like every sports bar, student-friendly pub and health food café in town may offer them, but not all veggie burgers are created equal.

To find the best veggie burger in Toronto, we looked for spots that take the time to make their own patties (Pulp Kitchen, for example, does not). We passed on places that rely on suppliers with names familiar from supermarket freezer cases like Yves's (Yellow Griffin Pub), Amy's and Sol Cuisine (e.g. Grapefruit Moon). We also gave a miss to joints that call grilled tofu on toast veggies burgers. Note, too, that we asked non-vegetarian venues if their veggie burgers are cooked separately from their beef, a concept most carnivorous restaurateurs still can't get their heads around.

this beet wonders...

(i'm curious, but also testing out this poll thingy)

How often do you cook per week
	7 times or more per week
	5-6 times a week
	3-4 times a week
	1-2 a week
	practically never
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Lobster ice cream, anyone?

It's confirmed. It's now cool to eat 'ethnic' ice cream. CBC said so, so it must be true. It's not weird anymore, it's an 'untapped market'. Statisticians have determined that the drop in Canadian ice cream consumption was directly correlated to increased numbers of people of colour who just weren't diggin' good ol' vanilla. So go on and enjoy that jackfruit ice cream along with your curry & wasabi chips. ps. maybe we should make a trip to Cochrane, AB, for a food review. anyone? anyone? via CBC:

Canadian scoops into untapped market with ethnic ice cream flavours

A Canadian ice cream maker says she has the scoop on an untapped market: flavours that appeal to a multicultural clientele.

Vanilla and chocolate are old news at MacKay's ice cream store in Cochrane, Alta. Now, workers are dishing out new ice cream flavours including jack fruit, purple yam, guava, avocado, buco, durian, green tea, lychee, papaya and passion fruit to appeal to a multicultural clientele.

Robyn MacKay, who runs the store, says that the new flavours are immensely popular.

"There are times when I look at the line up and the entire line out the door [and] we're the only Caucasians in the store," she said.

When MacKay was still in the stage of early product development, she went to Asian specialty stores in Calgary and asked store owners to suggest ice cream flavours and test her samples. Now, her customers are so loyal and varied, she can ask them for their feedback, she says.

Doug Goff, a professor in the department of food science at the University of Guelph, says he's tasted ice cream all over the world, trying everything from lobster to green bean. He sees a large audience in Canada seeking this kind of new specialty food.

"There are unique indigenous flavours that are part of a cultural community and those aren't necessarily catered to," he said. "Although what we're seeing in some of the more ingenious types of ice cream makers is that they're trying to get into that market by making Indian style ice cream or ice cream with Asian type flavours or the Latin American savoury types with chili and jalapeno and so on."

This new change may help to counter the increasing numbers of Canadians who are giving up ice cream.

A 2004 Statistics Canada food consumption study found that ice cream consumption had fallen to 6.2 litres per person per year, more than 25 per cent below the 1994 level.

strawberry pancakes, with a hint of orange

ooh la la!

me and G. just made strawberry pancakes (with a hint of orange). we mainly went by this recipe, modified based on some of the reviews:

ingredients:

1 c flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp cinammon
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tbsp oil
1tbsp orange extract (because we had it - the original recipe called for vanilla extract. could have added a bit more)
1 c (or more) strawberries (or other berries), very finely chopped

the dry ingredients got mixed together first. next, we very slightly beat the egg, before mixing it in with the other wet ingredients. the wet got added to the dry. more mixing ensued. strawberries were folded in last. the batter had nice little bubbles, which is a good sign.

we put a little too much oil in the pan. it wasn't really necessary because of the oil in the batter. in terms of the cooking - i discovered that little things definitely count with pancakes. for ex, the strawberries need to be chopped really finely so that the batter is as smooth as possible. also, when you add the batter to the grill, you have to be very careful to spread the batter out evenly and in a nice circular shape. oh, and there's a certain moment when you flip (and you only need to flip once) - just when the top is getting a bit cooked, and there's still bit of raw batter. these pancakes were luckily very easy to flip.

anyhow, the size/shape of these cakes could definitely use some work, and i would also add a bit more orange flavour as it was oh so slight...but overall they tasted great - the strawberries are a nice little surprise in your mouth when you bite in, and the cinammon really does it. we had them plain but you could top with syrup, cream, fruit, yogurt, or whatever you please.

There are some interesting posts up on the Women of Color Blog on Healthy Cooking While in Poverty and Finding Food When Poor. Check it out.

rabfish's birthday daal

Rabfish was kind enough to send me the recipe for the yummy daal she made at her birthday party last week. mmm, I'm looking forward to trying it out!

Measure out one heaped cup of daal into a bowl, rinse several times with water, let soak in water while making masala. Works for all kinds of lentils--red, brown, split green, etc etc.

Use pot big enough for several cups of water.

Masala:

chop up one onion
finely mince three garlic cloves and 1/2 - 3/4 inches of ginger
fry above in pan with oil or butter
when it looks like the onions garlic and ginger are starting to darken and caramelize then add a bit more oil and these spices (the following amounts are approximations of what I used, add according to your taste):
coriander seeds (one teaspoon ish) (first crush them, like with the back of a spoon)
cumin seeds (one teaspoon)
mustard seeds (one heaped teaspoon)
(let the seeds roast in the pan for a minute or two, then add the following)
cayenne pepper or chilli powder, whichever you prefer, to taste
a ltitle bit of black pepper to taste
turmeric (1/2 - 3/4 of a teaspoon)
a few dried pomegranate seeds if you have them
one bay leaf
just under one teaspoon salt
finally add 1/4 - 1/3 cup of diced tomatoes, canned or fresh

cook masala with tomatoes until scent thoroughly permeates hair and apartment (approx three min--it will look dark and yummy, add tomato-water so it doesn't dry out) add washed lentils with two to three cups of water, stir. Cook on medium heat until lentils no longer raw, stirring occasionally, keeping partly covered. Add water as needed. (The amount of time always varies for me, but it is at least 15 min, usually more like 1/2hr). Add squeezed lime or lemon to finished daal if you like it tart. If you prefer your daal creamy add cream. Sprinkle chopped cilantro on top, serve with rice and yoghurt.

enjoy!

Cookbook Inspiration

I've been pretty uninspired about cooking for the last several months. Being a student means my eating schedule is way out of whack and most of the time, I've been feeling too distracted and stressed to think about different cooking ingredients, tastes and all that jazz. But I got a bit of that inspiration back today while reading the Toronto Vegetarian Association's Tastes of Toronto cookbook. So now cooking is on my ever-expanding list of summer plans. yay! I originally got the cookbook as a parting gift for a cousin who was leaving town (remembering that we had gotten Sharmalade a copy when she was in the 'fax), and who had recently gone veg (as I discovered though, she's back to meat again), but realized it looked too beat up to give as a gift (it's 10 years old, and according tot he TVA staffperson I spoke to, has survived a lot of carting around). So I kept it for myself. Which is a good thing, since I've really missed The Garden of Vegan - it went mysteriously missing after I moved last October.

What I'm inspired to try out: no specific recipes, but I'd like to try to incorporate things like miso, eggplant, squashes and different grains (bulgur, couscous, quinoa etc) and noodles into my grocery store staples. I find that I'm comfortable with a pretty small repertoire of ingredients, and there are a lot of things I don't buy only because I'm not used to regularly using them in my speedy cooking routine. And I'd like to experiment with different ways of cooking with ingredients I already use (or don't use). Also, I'd like to plan my eating schedule better so that I'm less frequently in the rut of not knowing what to eat, or starving hungry and having no choice but to buy something.