wine food yum

we just got back from chicago - known for its deep dish pizza, and so i thought it would be appropriate to write a quick post on pizza :)

i've come to wonder why (as is my job as a philosophy grad) it is that meet-and-greet group games often force you to answer such absolute questions like "what is your favourite food?" - when it's obviously a completely unfair question - but one that requires an answer to which your new-found-friends (whose names you've forgotten by the time it's your turn) will forever judge you, if you ever see them again (and don't pretend that you don't see them because you don't remember their names).

the following "why" question to my first "why" question is - why is it that "pizza" is always the default answer? you'd think it might be chicken. and why is pizza always the default food for serving the masses? i'd argue that i'm not sure it deserves to be held in such high recognition :\

thus, here are my "confessions" to my rather new-found realization that i've begun to have quite particular and strong feelings against pizza.

now, this wasn't always so. there was a time, i'd beg my dad to let us order pizza for a midnight snack. he'd order it from pizza pizza over the phone and we'd go pick it up, piping hot from the oven, extra cheese and all. three whole pieces and most of the crust would be gone by the time we got home.

but it seems that 10-15 years ago, the caliber of pizza coming from pizza pizza chains was 10x better than it is today. it just doesn't cut it for me anymore, even when it's piping hot from the oven.

i think that with the age of dipping sauces, stuffed crusts, salads, and chicken wings at the pizza parlour, came a long downhill slide of quality in many pizza shops, sadly.







panago pizza - is the sworn favourite of all westcoast and vancouver-ites. i have yet to see what the big deal is about, i find that panago's crust is often soggy and rather doughy. i'd put it on the same level with pizza pizza.

2-4-1 pizza, domino's pizza, pizza hut - can you even call this pizza? it's either flat and oozing with oil and waxy cheese - or see-through at the bottom from all the oil that's seeped through its super crusty crust that's trying to be a deep dish pizza.

mama's pizza - is probably the best take-out pizza i've found so far (of easy access in toronto) that appeases my taste at the moment: variety, good ingredients, thin crust - and a glorious pesto, sundried tomatoes, feta pizza.

as for the chicago deep dish pizza - we had a quick lunch at pizzeria uno's sister resto, pizzeria due, just around the corner a hop and skip away from the "magnificent mile" on michigan ave.

although i have an aversion of deep dish pizza, our bbq chicken deep dish was a great balance of enough dough to make a deep dish, yummy toppings, crunchiness, not too much seeping oil, without having soggy slices.

it was a nice surprise :) but i'm not sure if it has re-kindled my faith in pizza. Read the full story »

I started this post last week, but I didn't have that much time (too busy baking, eating & drinking) =)

Anyhoo, a couple weekends ago, GL and I had a short break before dinner and wanted to make some pasta for the next week's lunch. Didn't get a photo, but pretty much looks like this teamsugar.com photo:



Basic recipe, but super yummy:

Spaghetti, al dente (about 8 to 10 minutes in salted boiling water). Drain without a rinse.

Sizzle some diced garlic in olive oil. Add parsley, sun dried tomato, with some freshly ground pepper and voila! I almost ate a small bowl of it by just "testing"! =)

Last Sunday, we had a small get together and I wanted my first try at risotto. I bought the arborio rice a while back, but I didn't have the chance before to make it. NatY had also been giving me a lot of good tips (she gave me Giada De Laurentiis' "Everyday Pasta" - thanks!)

I did a modified version between Giada's and another online recipe:
8 cups of chicken broth
1 1/2 Arborio rice
2 tablespoons butter
Sliced, 1 Portabello, 4 button and 2 cremini mushrooms
2/3 cup Alsatian Riesling
12 spears of green asparagus, siiced to 1" sections
1 stalk of green onion, sliced thinly
1 medium onion, diced
Aged Parmesano-Reggiano and Piave, Stravecchio (red label) cheese

I couldn't find a decent veggie broth, so I picked up some Knorr cubes (I know, MSG!). I used 6 cups originally, but I used every drop, which is why I'm recommending 8 cups. Bring the broth to a light boil and blanch the asparagus and mushrooms for about 2 minutes. Leave the broth at a low heat and use a slotted spoon to take out the veggies and set them aside. In a medium saucepan, set on medium-high/high, melt butter with diced onions for a couple of minutes - don't let the onions get browned. Pour the rice in and let the butter coat the rice (don't wash the rice) and add any dry white wine - the riesling gave the risotto an amazing aromatic fragrance. Turn the heat down to medium/medium high and let the wine almost completely absorb (~2 minutes). Add 1/2 a cup of broth at a time and let the the rice almost absorb it completely. Should take about 20-25 minutes or until the rice is soft, but "bite-able".

























Will talk about souffles another time, but here is what I baked last weekend:

Read the full story »