Greek-Arab Fusion

So within the grillin' season this summer passed, I decided to work some fusion with Greek style Kebab's. I made 2 batches, 1 using lamb, the other beef. Sauces were a falafel style hot sauce, and a tzaziki sauce. And for toppings I used tomato, lettuce, red onion, feta and cucumbers. They were served on Greek Pita's.

The hot sauce was made with Harissa paste, tomato sauce, parsley, and garlic. I cant remember the proportions unfortunately.

The key to a successful tzaziki is to use Greek yogurt. Using sour cream, or any other regular yogurt will leave you with the wrong consistency, and the wrong flavour. I added a few cloves of garlic, approximately 1/2 a cucumber seeded, peeled and minced, and a bunch of mint leaves (can be substituted for dill), and lemon zest.

The meat mixture contained roughly 1 lb meat (beef or lamb), 1/4 cup feta, chopped mint and parsley, 1 small onion, and a few cloves of garlic.

Pita's were lightly oiled and grilled. Everything turned out exceptionally.

El Trompo, Tacos al pastor

So some time ago while walking through the Kensington Market - hungry - my companion and I decided to stop for some Mexican grub. The place, as said in the title, is El Trompo, Tacos Al Pastor. Located just off of College street on Augusta.

I cannot recall if the nacho chips were complimentary or if we ordered them, or maybe they came with the Guacamole. There was a complimentary Salsa Verde however - which was quite tasty with just the right amount of heat.

The chips them selves were good as well. Thick, sturdy, but not had and unpleasant.

The guacamole was rich, thick, and very tasty.

For beverages we had guava margarita's. They were quite nice, I've never ventured to margarita flavours outside of the traditional lime, so it was a welcome change of pace.

For mains we split the Taco's Al Pastor (being within the name of the restaurant it seemed like a straight forward choice). They arrived on what seemed like house made tortillas with well seasoned piece of pork, onions, cilantro, and pineapple. Whilst not as plentiful or filling as perhaps would have been desired, non the less they were tasty, and a welcomed departure for the fast food taco's Ive eaten most of my life.

Shrimp Po' Boys

So missing the good food of New Orleans I made some Shrimp Po' Boys for nostalgia sake.

After a quick trip to the grocery to pick up some fresh buns, I defrosted some "tiger" shrimp. I made a quick seasoned flour for dusting (mixed in Zatarain's creole seasoning), and put together an egg wash with a couple table spoons of creole mustard cut in (mustard was kozliks a local Toronto mustard company). And for the crust I just used fine grain cornmeal (I prefer, and would recommend to use the medium but didn't have any).

For toppings, I used, mayonnaise on one side, creole mustard on the other. Lettuce, tomato, pickles, and the shrimp were topped with a Creole Remulade.

For the Creole Remulade, I used Mayonnaise, capers, Cajun spice, Louisiana hot sauce, horseradish, brown sugar, green onion, garlic, red onion, lemon juice and creole mustard. Unfortunately I cannot recall the proportions, I will fiddle with it sooner or later and get them up here.

Thats all for now, see you all again.

It's... ALIVE!

Hello once and again,

I have decided to continue this blog once again. I cannot guarantee frequency of posts, or when I can get something substantial up. However that being said I do have a back log of material to work with. So with any luck I will have some time to get some stuff up.

Thanks to all you readers out there, I shall do my damnedest to keep you entertained.

Cheers,

Tim

The Devil's Advocate.

The End?

Hello all.

This may be my final post. I am considering retiring this blog. It's not a choice of preference, I just can't see continuing here. I hope to reconsider, but for now at least I will not be updating.

Sincerely,

The Devils Advocate, Tim.

Oh, My Ballz!

Who knew that going to the Taiwanese night market at Metro Square (Steeles and Warden) that those 3 words would be what stuck with me most. But the origin of those 3 words and why they would stick in my head will come later.

For those of you who don't know Taiwanese night markets are market areas set up in public spaces filled with vendors (mostly food vendors). So should the opportunity arise for you to go to one, go with an appetite.

We arrived at late evening (which is one reason the quality of photos degrades, as my camera doesn't take the best night pictures, the huge crowds being the other). After trekking through the mall area to get to the market grounds (and being harassed by several stem cell research volunteers) we got to the over crowded market. The first thing to notice, was the much talked about scent in the air. Coming off Taiwan's national, and infamous dish, smelly tofu. Now there could not be a more appropriate name for a food, as this stuff stinks to high hell. I mean buckets of animal shit rotting under the sun. A smell so sharp it cuts like a winter wind. We made quick to pass this area (with huge lines at each of them).

We got around to the other side, and found the meat skewer stands. Now that's what I'm talking about! Fantastic skewered meats roasting over charcoals, seasoned in proprietary blends of cumin and chili powder, and what ever else. We immediately got in line for 8 lamb skewers (for the seemingly high price of 10$).

The skewers were well spiced, well cooked, and very tasty.

Next my friends Jack and Jill (yep that's right) went to get Japanese style octopus balls. I went to get some clams, which were sold out so I got mussels.

The mussels were cold when we got them I had a few and went to get something cooked. I went to get some grilled squid, whilst my friend Kel lined up for more skewers. Jack and Jill were still no where to be found.

The squid was chewy, not very well spiced, and cold. Not that pleasant.

The second patch of skewers, this time a variety of chicken, beef, and lamb, were under spiced, but still tasty.

At this point in the evening, whilst still waiting for Jack and Jill to return, Kel ventured out to find some more stuff. Sometime later Jack and Jill returned with the plate of deep fried octopus balls. Now some of you may be thinking, is this what he meant by 'Oh my ballz'? No it isn't keep reading. Hah.

Very tasty, at first (since I didn't know what they were) thought it was a sweet thing, but when I tasted it and it was savory thought it to be chicken. Although on my second I realized it was in fact the Japanese treat of octopus deep fried in batter.

Now Kel has still been missing for sometime since Jack and Jill returned. So they ventured out to get (to my dismay) a dish of stinky tofu for us to eat. About half hour later, and still no Kel, Jack and Jill return with 2 containers of stinky tofu. Now, I'm not usually one to pass up trying something, but from the fact I could smell it through the closed container, I had my reservations.

Fortunately Kel returned in the nick of time with 2 large pineapples, filled with juice.

2 hulking pineapples filled with juice. Mmm Mmm Mmm. Delicious. Just what I need, a tasty beverage to wash down what was one of the most offensive smelling foods I've ever eaten. I worked up my courage and plowed a massive piece of stinky tofu into my mouth. Now at first it didn't seem so bad, hardly any flavour. But the more I chewed, the more the taste came out. And the more the taste came out, the less I wanted to swallow. The more I started to swallow the more I wanted to vomit. It tasted exactly like it smelt. Eventually after 5 minutes of chewing I swallowed, and quickly washed down with pineapple juice, but nothing could get the taste out. If you eat stinky tofu, and enjoy it, I say kudos to you. This was one delight, I could not delight in.

After finish the pineapple juice, Kel and I decided to walk the market grounds and see what we might find.

Yes this is it! The moment that made my night folks. If only I could have captured the sound of the Chinese guy outside it yelling "Oh! My Ballz!" into a microphone in a bad Chinese accent to draw attention.

On the loop back around we stopped for bubble tea at a stand next to a stinky tofu stand, it was a long wait. We got a mango kiwi slush each, although they forgot about mine a few times, I think they just wanted us to soak in the stinky tofu aroma.

After which we met back with the rest of the group, and it was time for dessert.

Dessert was something I had been quite curious about since seeing the vendor name on the website. Marbolicious, stir-fried ice cream.

Now I'm not exactly a stranger to deep fried ice cream, but stir fried? Now that's a new one.

It seemed they had cast iron plates that they were placing the ice cream and toppings on, and using to large spatulas to rotate the ice cream. Although I admit, due to the crowds it was hard to actually see what was going on.

I ordered the fruit explosion, consisting of frozen shaved berries. Now I'm not exactly sure how stir-frying it helped the flavour, maybe it was just a gimmick. But I know this, it sure was tasty.

Summer Burgers Part 2, Mojito's, and Home Pickled Jalapenos

I cooked up the second patch of burgers at a friends place. We cooked them up and served with mojitos.

The mojitos were made with lamb's rum, simple syrup, mint and lime. Roughly 8 mint leaves muddled, 2 oz rum, 3 oz syrup, a half lemon squeezed, topped with ice.

The burgers were fairly simple, more apple wood smoked cheddar, bacon, homemade pickled jalapenos (pickled in vinegar, water, with cilantro, garlic, onion, cauliflower, carrot, peppercorn) (the cauliflower is in there to pickle spicy to make olive salad for muffaletta), jalapeno buttermilk ranch, and grilled portabello slices.

The jalapeno ranch was made with 1 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 2 cloves garlic, 2 jalapenos, 1/4 red onion, 1/4 bunch cilantro, processed, then fresh cracked black pepper was stirred in.