A New York kind of weekend

I want to travel. I miss the prep work, the endless researching to find tried and trusted local eateries. Eventually I always stumble on one that shocks me enough to add it to my itinerary. That's right, food itinerary! What better way to take in a city than by eating your way around it? I want to eat mind boggling stuff worth writing home about like fried unicorn horn, which I imagine tastes like candy or at least maple bbq candied hot dogs. I miss sitting down, taking the scenery or lack of it in, the menu's surprises, and eavesdropping on the regulars orders to see if they know a secret ordering lingo I might be able to pick up.

NYC was the best foodtinerary I've had so far, excluding America: The Trip (too long to replicate), and my stomach's been growling to relive the experience since then. I've been hearing about Japan these days again which made me miss real ramen, the biggest build up of anticipation other than Turducken. Never been to Japan myself, but I had to hear tales of deliciousness for months, reading all about memories the best ramen houses, the ramen Nazi, ramen on tv and especially about how thoughts and prayers of eating real ramen in Ottawa would never be answered.. then one day I ate Sapporo Special Ramen in NYC and understood how one bowl could make me a believer, an explorer, a chaser of the best tummy fillers for life!

When I asked CC Fried Unicorn Horn Pockets about his recent trip to NYC he mentioned the best thing about eating at BLT Prime (other than the forbidden steak?) were the popovers. A quick link up to the online recipe was provided, and I wanted them then. I could imagine tearing one apart, spackling it with Mama's peach marmalade and eating it Dr. Evil getting the handcuffs's keys from Frau-style. How would it taste, how could they pop right out of their pan hole with that cheesy crusted rug top, and how could I convince my stomach to agree with all the forbidden ingredients?

I thought about the popovers I couldn't have until the day the doctor told me those Lactose aide pills really do work. As he confirmed, I'm lactose intolerant and sensitive to bad foods that are hard to digest. ("just avoid them") That's it? Ok then! I'm making popovers!

I prepped for days, reading about the perfect method not to ruin a popover recipe, apparently there's a real precise science to it.I'd never eaten popovers myself and didn't know what to expect, but if a food link is sent from a reliable source, it must be tried. I was determined to conquer those lil alien cheesy bread puffs. I even dreamed about successfully battling it out with the Gruyere pops before having a go at them. "You really do only think about food don't you?" Evidently. Later at the Asian grocers I bumped into sesame balls, which I hadn't personally seen since Dim Sum Go Go in NYC, yet another reason to miss my favorite destination city.

And more surprisingly, a hollow middle?
Not so! Look at the cross section show!
And for the main event... BLT's popovers... take 1..

4 cups warmed milk *not skim
8 large eggs
4 cups flour *unbleached all purpose
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/4 cup grated gruyere cheese *pre-divided into 2 1/2 tbsp clumps if you really like to be prepared..

Put popover pan on a baking sheet at 350F.

Carefully warm milk over low heat.

Whisk eggs until frothy and arm hurty, then slooowly whisk in milk.

Though I've heard you shouldn't toss the flour around much according to popover science, sift the flour with the salt.

Slowly combine wet and dry until mostly combined.

Remove pan and quickly butter the pan. Batter should still be warmish at this point, fill popover cup to 3/4 and top with 2 1/2 tbsp Gruyere.

Bake at 350F for 50 minutes.

Here's where it gets tricky, according to the tips and tricks of the trade, don't open the oven for 30 mins, then do, pass out from the overpowering smell of baking gruyere, recover and rotate the pan half a turn. Another tip said to bake at 450F for the first 10 minutes, then lower to 350F to ensure maximum popping.

The popovers are ready when the sides of them are cooked enough to hold their weight, or else they'll implode as soon as you take them out of the oven. A still tasty, but disappointing ending to meticulously prepared fare. If you've gotten this far, here's what you can expect.



Maybe I'm not giving enough pointers here as to when you'll know they will be ready, two recipe takes later and I haven't mastered it either. It sure is fun to retry, but oh, my thighs! I can't get tired of these.

They're simply irresistible.
The second time I made a half batch for a friend, gave one to the roommate and kept two for myself, one of which I crushed (inhaled) immediately, the other which rested on top of the oven ready to be reheated and eaten for breakfast the next morning.. Needless to say, I woke up to no breakfast popover on the oven. Probably best for my arteries in the end, but I would never turn down a popover, even if it was collapsed and reheated! (pop in oven until it reaches 350F)

I thought it was flattering that someone in the house couldn't pass by it without caving in to the smelly fluffy crusty temptation, that is until that night when I tried to decipher which one did it. I said to a full house:
"Hey, uhm.. how was that last popover?"
the one who had already had one: "did you leave it for me?"
"no."
"Good! It was Really good! After eating everything I could get my hands on in the fridge and cupboards, I couldn't resist but regretted taking it when I realized I was too full to eat it all so I gave half to the dog." (It's a Chihuahua.)

Comedic shizzle like this just writes itself 'round here.

** This friend batch here caved in, I think I mixed the batter too well, the pan wasn't hot enough, or something. Was the taste ok despite that?

Not a review, a reason to eat at Agave

Agave remains my favorite Ottawa eatery.* Those who have been will keep going back, I've never had a less than stellar experience with both food and service. This southwest restaurant is not afraid to tweak their menu when necessary, plus they have the best margaritas (I've had) north of real Tex-Mex country. (Peco's Mex-Mex restaurant in Houston.)

A revamped enchilada platter, the Mexican Flag dish benefits from the recent menu changes. Three of any combination of chicken, beef or cheese enchiladas, now in a corn tortillas instead of it's flour version, no longer topped with jack cheese, and the chipotle sauce replaced by three classic sauces making up the the Mexican flag: salsa Verde, cilantro cream sauce and pico de gallo salsa I think. Served with a side of corn salad, Mexican rice, and baked cheese covered beans, accompanied by two different heat levels of fresh homemade hot sauces, all of which goes superbly with salty lime margs.

At least I imagine it would.. I wanted to try the updated veggie enchiladas (spinach and cheese replaced roasted vegetables?), but I can't have the outstanding cilantro cream sauce or the cheese, so I opted for a milkless Mexican flag with specially requested substitute sides of roasted vegetables and roasted potatoes. Simple and filling, the fresh ingredients are always prepared right. I'd break off into a spiel about other restaurants' unsuccessful attempts at this simple task, but only important bit of info is that Agave does it right time and time again.


I noticed another change, you went from small brightly coloured oblong plates who always seemed overstuffed to big round Texas sized plates where items can be pushed around and free from touching the others (for you freaks out there who obsess about such things) . I'm not complaining, white plates always make you pay close attention to the fun colours of the food.

Thank you Agave for the liquid licorice kiss goodnight, if one day I can have milk again, I'll run to try your deep fried ice cream, which I also imagine goes well with a margarita.


*trailing behind as my next restaurant pick is The Works, partially for squeezing you in the tightest quarters, forcing you to get lost in your own conversation enough to ignore the tables at each side who are no more than a foot away, partially for the ability to cram more stuff on their tiny tables than imaginable, and partially for their off the wall burger toppings, some of which surely haven't been tried. (I kid, I kid, they're all good but they secretly make me wonder!)

Stuffed mushrooms with secret crack sauce

stuffable white mushrooms, stems removed, collars popped
chopped cooking onions
a few golden raisins
minced dried apricots
chopped smoked almonds

You know what, I'm gonna go Chef At Home on you and let you figure out the quantities. Just make sure there's about the same amount of chopped trees as there is of everything else combined. Mix with 1 serving of secret devilish crack sauce, the one that came up with the rice paper rolls. I omitted the peanuts, I needed to roast some almonds and get it out of my system.

Stuff caps, lightly spray with olive oil, cook at 425F for 15-20ish minutes. They're cooked right before they start to burn.

Ta da! Eat as is or with a drizzle of reserved sauce.

Spring Rolling Accident

What do you bring to a potluck hosted by a good cook? Something easy to serve, uncomplicated and tasty. We rolled the dice and opted for a never tried rice paper roll recipe with a straight off the i-net well reviewed peanut dipping sauce. Niki was right, the sauce failed miserably. It lacked peanut taste and had too much satay which covered up the flavors instead of enhancing them. I got so distracted by the botched dip, I made a Rachel-bakes-a-trifle error with two different elements of the recipe, resulting in the best accidental recipe of the century.

Here's how to make your own tasty mistake:

Cook brown rice vermicelli as per package instructions, usually for a minute in boiling water. Rinse, drain well, let cool completely, toss in a bit of rice wine vinegar and refrigerate for now.

Arrange ingredients in a small neat row on rice paper in an assembly line fashion: cut brown rice vermicelli (easier to assemble), julienned carrots, julienned peeled cucumbers, crisp rinsed bean sprouts, basil leaves.
Roll up as tightly as possible without compromising the rice wrap.
Add two large shrimps, continue rolling, folding in the edges.
Completed tucked in package.

Devilish* sauce mishap:

1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh chopped chives
1 tbsp fresh chopped mint
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped unsalted peanuts

mix.
* devilish as in, playful in an appealingly bold way (insert high pitch Michael Jackson grabbing sound here.)
cut rice rolls in half. double dip. push away large crowd gathering for their share.

I was glad they held up their own around the rest of the delicious international fare! A complete success.


Worth pointing out: sinful spanakopita and mini baked samosas.