Dessert By Candy

For many years, I’ve been hearing other people’s account of great experiences at the famed Eigensinn Farm. With a stroke of good fortune, I got myself a reservation for our group of six at short notice. It was a night of great food, great wine, and great company. Between our gracious host Nobuyo’s hospitality and chef Michael Stadtlander’s cooking, it was indeed a very memorable experience. I’ll write more about our meal in the next couple of days. For now, I’m going to sleep with a belly full of delicious food and happy memories of a wonderful evening.

Technorati: Eigensinn Farm

After talking to BHD last week about poppyseed strudel, she promised to take me to a nearby Polish plaza today. Of course I took up her offer without hesitation. What could be better than getting an introduction to Polish cuisine by a native who cooks for her family every night?

The Dixie Carriage Works Plaza is located on the southeast corner of the Dixie and Burnhamthorpe intersection (3615 Dixie Road) in Mississauga. Like a typical strip mall, it has deli, bakery, convenience store, bank, travel agency, florist, fishmonger, restaurant, and doctor’s office. What’s not typical is that this entire plaza caters to the Polish population in the area. Just add "Polish" in front of every store that I just mentioned and you get the idea.

My favourite store has got to be Wisla Delicatessen. This is a mini grocery store with a very nice pastry and bakery section (BHD told me that their bread and pastries are purchased from wholesaler). They have a couple different types of poppyseed strudel that I wanted to try. The huge meat counter is filled to the bream with smoked meat, sausages, and smoked fish. I was very tempted to get a variety for a choucroute garnie dinner. However, I am most impressed by their grocery selection. They have european imported butter available at very reasonable price, with no less than four different brands to choose from! The selection of jams and preserves is mindboggling. I’m a huge fan of griottes (sour cherries). As you can see from the picture, I purchased a bottle of pitted griottes in syrup and a very nice bottle of all-natural sour cherry syrup. On the right is a small bottle of banana white chocolate spread made by Czeko Dzemi. They have a full line of chocolate fruit spread to satisfy my inner child’s sweet tooth. I’m already fantasizing about my breakfast of white sandwich bread with banana white chocolate spread on one side and Nutella/peanut butter on the other. The two containers on the left are cheese very similar to fromage frais. They are delicious either eaten plain or with fruit compote (like a fontainebleau). Last but not least, I bought a bottle of diced apples with apricots. It tastes great on its own but it can so easily but turned into a quick apple strudel.

We next stopped at Jaswoj Bakery. This bakery actually bakes its own products so I was eager to give it a try. Most of the cakes are sold by weight and you let them know how large of a piece you would like to get. I got a small piece of poppyseed cake with a lattice top and a piece of plain baked cheesecake. These cheesecakes are very different from the NY-style cheesecakes. They are actually not made with cream cheese. I think it’s either quark cheese or bakers’ cheese though I’m leaning towards the latter. Without the tanginess of the cream cheese, these cakes are not overly sweet nor dense. In fact, the texture is rather smooth yet crumbly. It’s quite similar to the cheesecake I had at Prague Fine Food Emporium before. I think a good litmus test of a good Polish bakery is the quality of their plum jam-filled paczki (kinda like a jelly donut). I’ll be sure to report back next time I come back to this plaza.

After all the shopping, BHD and I stopped for lunch at the corner restaurant. This place has a hot table of their lunch specials. For $6, I got the liver & onion half-portion lunch served with mash potato with gravy and a salad. Since they ran out of the radicchio salad, the ladies there let me chose a second salad as well. I found the liver and onion lacked a bit of salt but this hearty fare tasted like homecook meal. Not such a bad thing for a midday lunch. BHD had a crepe filled with cheese/cream and blueberry compote. The portion was HUGE!!! However, the crepe looked like it had a very nice texture.

Since this was such a whirlwind tour, I didn’t get a chance to take a good look at many of the foodstuff available in the plaza. I’m looking forward to come back soon and find out more!

Technorati: Toronto

I’ve been making quite a few spontaneous decisions recently involving anything from purchases big & samll to engaging in activities that I’ve never done before to visiting places that I’ve never been before. RS asked me yesterday if this is the way I’ve always been and what motivates me to act on a whim. The first question was an easy "no" but I could not come up with anything intelligent to say about the second question.

Of course I can’t help but think about this question all day today. Having gone through that horrible bout of depression a short while ago, I’m doing everything in my power not to be in that same place again. It was a very scary place to be in. Deep down I know that when it comes back (and I know it will), no amount of spontaneity or pro-active living that I’m doing now would help. However, since I’m feeling strong now, I may as well live it up while I can.

I suppose my competitive nature also plays a role. The best way to describe my mentality now is I’m dead-set to "out-fabulous" J. I’m still sad but it sure feels better to have a plan to do something rather than nothing. I always have lots of strange ideas for passing time and they’re quite harmless. Realizing these whims is my way of saying I do not only dream, I make things happen.

Hmm, I like the sound of that. I make things happen.

I found a copy of La Maison du Chocolat: Transcendent Desserts by the Legendary Chocolatier at half-price last weekend. It contains very enticing photographs, some of which are the pastry from the recipes and many of the signature products from La Maison du Chocolat. I have not yet tried any of the recipes but I do plan to experiment with the florentine and the chocolate fruit cake soon. The florentine I bought from this chocolatier is one of the best I’ve tasted. It’s crunchy, doesn’t stick to my teeth, fragrant with citrusy scent from the candied orange peel, and the sweetness is kept in check by the dark chocolate.

Like most recipe books, there’s a section in the front of the book that contains "words from the author". This is pretty much a wildcard section of any books…some can be exceedingly thoughtful, some can be vain, some are saccharine, some are preachy, some are just down right boring. However it is written, I do enjoy reading this section because it gives me more of a glimpse into the author than the recipes would reveal. After reading La Maison du Chocolat, I was totally floored by its founder’s, M. Robert Linxe, passion for his craft. This chapter draws comparison of chocolate-making with jewelry design, composing music, and perfume-making, which makes perfect sense. Furthermore, it is also informative in the sense that it tells us about the care that the artisans at La Maison du Chocolat put in to create a well-balance and delicious bonbon. Everything from the blending of different cocoa beans from different origins to create distinctive layers of flavours to the matching of flavour ganache to the selection of different couverture chocolates that complements the ganache are covered in this book.

However, after reading this book, I am most inspired by the following quote from M. Linxe. I think it captures perfectly his passion for chocolate and his pursuit of excellence.

"You can never achieve perfection," says the founder of La Maison du Chocolat. "It takes stubbornness, perseverance, and a lot, a lot of hard work, to get…somewhere. You must taste, discern, and evaluate. But this ’somewhere’, for me, is still out of reach. Even though I have not yet attained it, I am content with what I have done. Creation is a never-ending process, constantly improving upon itself."

Technorati: chocolate

I’ve been listening to some old albums and rediscovering some old favourites. I haven’t been following Chinese pop music for I don’t know how long. A few years ago, based on T’s high recommendation, I listened to 光良 [第1次個人創作專輯] and fell in love with this album. For lack of a better explanation, his songs are simply very moving. In the age of over-production, it’s good to know that beautiful melodies and lyrics that resonate with emotions are refreshing and not at all out of fashion.

Call me sentimental but every time I listen to the song "第一次", I can’t help but be drawn into the feeling of unsure and joy when love first blossoms. This is one of my favourite songs of all time.

當你看著我　我沒有開口　已被你猜透
還是沒把握　還是沒有符合　你的要求

是我自己想得太多　還是你也在閃躲
如果真的選擇是我　我鼓起勇氣去接受
不知不覺讓視線開始閃爍

喔　第一次我　說愛你的時候
呼吸難過　心不停地顫抖
喔　第一次我　牽起你的雙手
失去方向　不知該往哪兒走
那是一起相愛的理由（對我）
那是一起廝守

喔　第一次吻　你深深的酒窩
想要清醒卻沖昏了頭
喔　第一次你　躺在我的胸口
二十四小時沒有分開過
那是第一次知道　天長地久

感覺你屬於我　感覺你的眼眸
第一次就決定　絕不會錯

This is my clumsy translation of a stanza of the lyrics that I particularly like:

The first time I said "I love you", I couldn’t breathe and my heart was trembling

The first time I held your hands, I lost my sense of direction and didn’t know where to go

Those are the reasons to be in love

That’s what it means to be together

The first time we kissed, I wanted to be clear-headed but was distracted by your dimples

The first time you leaned on my chest, we did not seperate for twenty-four hours

That’s the first time that I knew what it means to be with you forever

Today, I’m giddy, I’m Canadian, and I’m high on sugar. For many years, I’ve been meaning to attend one of the many maple syrup festivals held in spring but somehow never quite made it for one reason or another. After reading a feature on sugaring-off in our local paper a few days ago, I found myself browsing the website of La Sucrerie de la Montagne. One thing led to another, I ended up with a reservation for a traditional Quebecois feast this Sunday afternoon and hatching up plans for a nice field trip.

Located just 5 hours from Toronto, La Sucrerie sits on top of Mont-Rigaud, reachable by a tree-lined winding road. Today must be one of their busiest day of the year because there were line-ups everywhere from parking to ticket booth to getting seated in the 100 year-old barn for the feast. However, since the weather was so warm and sunny, I didn’t really mind the wait…more time to relax in the sun after a few months of winter! Once we were seated at a long pine wooden table completed with wooden benches, I had time to take a look around. The dining hall was bubbling with boisterous spirit buoyed by the energetic live folk music playing on stage. Table after table were filled with diners eager to dig into the plates of food brought on by the busy but friendly waitstaff. There were various Canadiana knick-knacks hanging around the wall and a big fireplace facing opposite the tiny stage anchoring both ends of the room. Midway through a song, a staff was handing out wooden spoons to the diners. One of the musician showed us how to make neat clapping sound by tapping the pair of spoons against your hands or your thighs. Before you knew it, everyone was tapping along to the music. Though a little cheesy (at times I thought I’ve stepped into a CBC television special), the atmosphere was so infectious that I was having a blast.

Menu

• Mountaineer’s Pea Soup
• Country Fresh Bread
• Garlic Mash Potato
• Country Sausages
• Traditional Quebecois Tourtière
• Meatballs
• Maple-glazed Smoked Ham
• Wood-fired Baked Beans
• Soufflé Omelette
• Canadian Salted Back Bacon
• Homemade Fruits Ketchup and Marinades
• Pancakes with Maple Syrup
• Sugar Pie

T and I were very hungry after the long drive and found this hearty food quite satisfying. I particularly liked the baked beans and tourtière. T said that the homemade meatballs were delicious. However, the best part of the meal got to be the maple syrup. You know how when you go out for breakfasts, restaurants are usually very stingy about maple syrup? Well, rest assure, there’s no such stinginess here at La Sucrerie. Each table has a large glass bottle filled with the gorgeously amber liquid, glistening in the sunlight. Of course maple syrup is a mandatory topping to pancakes but as far as I (and many other diners) was concerned, it was an universal condiments in this meal. I discovered for the first time that maple syrup pairs very well with eggs, sausages, ham, baked beans, and of course, coffee. After such a big meal, a nice cup of coffee would be the perfect ending. I looked at the packets of sugar and the bottle of maple syrup…the choice was clear. Even without milk or cream, coffee sweetened with maple syrup was simply marvelous. I am now a convert.

Despite all the hustle and bustle of tourist attraction, La Sucrecrie is essentially a working maple grove. The site consists of acres of maple trees, each having at least one bucket dangling off the trunk to collect all the maple sap. The picture on the left shows a drop of sap flowing out of the spout into the bucket. It’s tempting to catching the sap and have a taste. However, as you may already know, it takes about 40L of sap to make 1L of syrup. This means the sap really doesn’t have a strong taste. We peeked inside the sugar shack to see a huge boiling cauldron (well, not really, it’s a very modern stainless steel vat) steaming away. As the water evaporated, the sap became more concentrated to eventually turn into syrup. It’s amazing to think of this traditional Canadian delicacy being made hundreds of years ago using essentially the same principal by the pioneers.

Before we concluded our little field trip, we stopped by the general store to purchase some maple syrup and fudge made with maple sugar. We met the owner of La Sucrecrie, Pierre Faucher, sitting on the porch. He had been pretty much everywhere the whole afternoon, chatting with guests, clapping to the music, and making sure everything ran smoothly. His larger-than-life presence at La Sucrerie really made this experience memorable. M. Foucher, thank you for such a wonderful afternoon!

Technorati: Maple Syrup, Quebec, Sucrerie

I’ve never been to the Danforth (Greektown) neighbourhood except for once during the Danforth Street Festival years ago. As can be expected, trying to explore a neighbourhood during any street festivals is a bad idea. So on this quiet Saturday, AL and I braved the drizzling rain and ate our way down Danforth Avenue and back up to Bloor Street. We visited many places throughout the day, some more interesting than others. There’s a rundown of some of the highlights:

Dash Kitchen

http://www.dashkitchen.ca

This is a nice store for prepared food items that you can simply reheat and serve at home, looking like you’ve been slaving all day in the kitchen without breaking a sweat. The minute we walked into the store, we were welcomed by such wonderful cooking aroma that I thought I walked into a friend’s kitchen during dinner time. There’re lots of condiments made by local artisans and a small selection of baked goods as well. I tried the fruit and nut lentil salad made with pineapple, apricots, raisins, lentils of different colour, and almond. It’s a very unusual salad that has a great balance of sweet tart flavour and texture. It reminds me of ambrosia salad except that it is not cloyingly sweet. The lentils also made it much healthier too. Based on this salad alone, I would love to go back and try some of their main courses. Besides, all of their staff are very helpful, knowledgeable, not to mention handsome!

Athens Pastries

509 Danforth Ave., Toronto

(416) 461-5056

No trip to Greektown is complete without tasting some great Greek pastry and I can’t think of a better place than a stop at Athens Pastries. This store has been around since 1978. Judging by the non-stop stream of customers stopping by for their freshly baked phyllo pastries and loukoumades, I have a feeling that Athens will be around for many more years to come. We sampled some spanakopita (fresh spinach and feta cheese wrapped in phyllo), tyropita (feta and ricotta cheese wrapped in phyllo), bougatsa (custard of semolina and milk wrapped in phyllo), and loukoumades (deep-fried dough balls dipped in honey syrup). The phyllo pastries were very flaky as expected and I enjoyed the spanakopita very much…spinanch and feta are so great together. However, I must say the loukoumades made my stop at Athens memorable. They were not at all greasy but the best part was when I bit through the crunchy exterior, the soft centre bursted with honey syrup. Deelish.

Sun Valley Fine Foods

http://www.sunvalleyfinefoods.com/

Although this gourmet food store is far less glamourous than Pusateri’s, I rather like their great selection of chocolate tablettes. You can find a large selection of Valrhona (including their estate-grown tablettes), Green & Black’s, Dolfin, and unusual Lindt bars.

Greg’s Ice Cream

200 Bloor St West, Toronto

(416) 961-4734

Okay, I admit that I’ve never been to Greg’s before today. I know that their roasted marshmallow ice-cream is legendary and it is probably one of the best ice-cream parlour in Toronto. What’s been keeping me away for so long? That was exactly the question I asked myself after my first spoonful of pineapple coconut ice-cream melted deliciously in my mouth. The ice-cream was smooth, quite airy, yet full of moist coconut shreds. It was like a mini tropical vacation in a cup! The roasted marshmallow was not at all shy with its toasty caramelized flavour, evoking memories of sitting by a campfire. However, it did get cloying after a while.

MoDo

http://www.modotoronto.com/

This is a dramatically gorgeous room with oversize chandeliers and a deep red & black palette that reminded me of Anna Sui. I had the Bison carpaccio with truffle oil and boschetto cheese as appetizer and the Venison osso buco for main course. Let me just say that if I do return, it would probably be drinks at the lounge. Between the dim lighting, flickering candles, and beautiful decor, it makes for a great location for drinks.

Pangaea Restaurant

http://www.pangaearestaurant.com/

AL wanted to try some great plated dessert and I immediately thought of Pangaea. I’ve always admired pastry chef Joanne Yolles’ work. Although her dessert may not be flashy, they reflect a restrained classical style that complement the savory menu very well. Besides, it is a joy to taste a dessert which every single element is made of high quality. I’m always amazed at the tender and flaky pâte sucrée used in her signature coconut banana cream tart. I had the winter citrus tart made with blood oranges and passionfruit. It was served with a citrus vanilla shooter and candied citrus. The shooter was a whimsical play on creamsicle with alterating layers of citrus sorbet and vanilla ice-cream. The tart tasty, combining juicy sweet blood orange segments with passionfruit curd and the incomparable pâte sucrée crust.

Technorati: Toronto

The theme for this month’s Is My Blog Burning? is Make It In 30 Minutes which I already have plenty of practice from my daily cooking habit. After coming home from work, I usually try to have supper ready as fast as I can so I can go to the gym after dinner. Instead of making any of my old standbys, I decide to try something new instead. Although spring has officially arrived, it’s still cold enough that I crave soup but warm enough that I want to see some spring colour. This menu is a great balance between comfort food and light meal.

Menu

• Caldo Verde with Chorizo and Crouton
• Croque Madame with Gruyere and Emmentaler
• Mixed Green Salad with Honey Pear Dressing

Caldo Verde

Caldo verde is a classic Portugese soup of pureed potato and kale. I had it for the first time a couple of weeks ago at a restaurant and have been itching to make it at home since. The vibrant colour from the kale is so pleasant to look at…makes me feel so healthy for eating something so green! Serves 2.

Ingredients

• 400mL low sodium chicken broth
• 3 medium yukon gold potato, diced
• 1 cup of kale (only the tender leafy part)
• 1 cup of sliced chorizo
• 100mL 1% milk

Method

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Put the potato dices in the pan and let them simmer at medium heat until they’re tender.
2. Put the kale into the pan and continue simmering until the leaves wilt.
3. Take the pan off the heat. Using an immersion blender, puree everything until smooth.
4. Return pan to medium heat and add in the chorizo. Thin soup with milk to desired consistency. Simmer until chorizo is cooked.
5. Ladle into serving bowl and garnish with crouton.

Croque Madame

This is a popular item to be found in many French cafes, a grilled cheese sandwich with French flair. I’m partial to sandwiches made with sourdough bread like the miche Poilâne. Since I recently found a local bakery that makes exactly the kind of bread that I like, I’ve been waiting to make a croque madame since. To make this more special, I paired it with port wine sweet onion jam. The sweetness of the jam brought out the nuttiness of the gruyere and emmentaler very well. Serves 2.

Ingredients

• 4 slices of sourdough bread
• 1/2 cup of grated cheese, I used a mix of gruyere and emmentaler
• 2 tbsp of port wine sweet onion jam
• butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 eggs

Method

1. Make two sandwiches each with one side spread with sweet onion jam and filled with grated cheese.
2. Spread the outside of the sandwiches generously with butter.
3. Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Place both sandwiches in the pan and press down gently with a spatula. Don’t move the sandwiches around until you see tiny wisp of smoke. Flatten the sandwiches with a spatula from time to time. As soon as you see smoke, flip the sandwiches and fry the other side until they’re golden on both sides. When they’re done, place the sandwiches on plates with a small mound of dressed mixed greens.
4. Turn up the heat to high and put 2 tsp of vegetable oil in the frying pan. Fry two sunny-side-up eggs. Place one egg on top of each sandwich and serve.

Technorati: IMBB24, 30Minutes, Caldo Verde, Croque Madame

I’m the first one to admit my love of complex well-designed individual desserts. This includes anything from plated desserts served at restaurants to ice-cream sundaes to inidividual cakes from a fancy patisserie. However, sometimes, just sometimes, I want to eat a simple unadorned piece of moist chocolate cake. Some cakes are made to be paired with buttercream, whipped cream, or ganache. However, with a good recipe, a plain piece of cake can be a beautiful thing.

The cake that I made yesterday for the one-year anniversary of Dessert By Candy exactly fits that description. It’s moist, chocolatey, and light, with a healthy spicy kick just to give it that special something. It is adapted from the Chocolate Domingo Cake from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible.

Ingredients

• 160g sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 42g Dutch processed cocoa, preferably Valrhona
• 156g sifted cake flour
• 200g sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 5 turns of fresh ground pepper
• a pinch of ancho chili
• 200g unsalted butter, softened

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9X2 inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
2. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla until homogenous. In the mixing bowl of a standmixer, combine all the dry ingredients (cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices) and mix on low speed for 30 seconds.
3. Add butter and half of the liquid mixture to the mixing bowl and mix on medium speed for 90 seconds. Add half of the remaining liquid and mix on medium speed for 20 seconds. Add the rest of the liquid and mix for another 20 seconds.
4. Pour batter into the cake pan and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until a tester insert in the centre of the cake comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly pressed.
5. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes and unmold. I prefer to cool the cake upside-down so that the smooth flat side is the top. Serve with a dusting of icing sugar.

Technorati: dessert, chocolate

It was a year ago that I created Dessert By Candy. Just a few posts shy of 365, this little space of mine documented many of my ups and downs over the past year across different continents. The best part that I enjoy about blogging is that it made me more aware of things happening around me. I’ve always love to play tourist, seeking out interesting shops and delicious food wherever I go (even in my hometown!). The fact that I get to share my findings at the end of the day with like-minded people just makes it so much more fun.

I’m looking forward to another year of baking, cooking, eating, traveling, and sharing…and let’s not forget the requisite exercising to maintain my girlish figure!