The Week In Yum March 13-19 The Green Living Show is Coming, Lentil Love and Some Interesting Food Events Coming Up

featured wine and beer and lots of great food will there for the tasting

The Green Living Show

The Green Living Show is almost up on us so this week I stopped in at Hawthorne Food and Drink on Adelaide and Church to check out some of the food and drink that you will be able to sample at the show.



Before I go on, I just want to say that I have never been to this little spot but just based on the little morsel that chef Rickey Caspie laid out for our enjoyment, I am going back. His Chicken Chicharron Chips with Whole Chicken and Carrot Kimchi were so good that not only did I eat the whole thing (I don't usually actually eat everything I photograph you know - unless I am crazy for something, I usually just take a bite or two or I would die of the gout), I went back for a second. The deep fried chicken skin takes the place of a cracker and the tender, shredded flesh of the bird makes a soft bed for the spicy, tart kimchi to lay it's head on.

If you want to taste this delight, you will have to get yourself down to the Green Living Show from March 27-29

If you think that this show is nothing but hippy dippy eco products you are wrong. It's not just for the vegan and gluten free - there will be wine, beer, sweets and all manner of delicious things to try and lots of great ideas for becoming a bit more eco friendly in your kitchen.

For the food obsessed, some of the people I met this week that  you are going to find there, with their wares:

The Black Oak Brewing Company, Stone City Ales, Stanners Vineyard and Green Estate Winery,
Scout Canning, Urban Acorn Catering (a flexitarian caterer who I have met at various events and their stuff is always delicious), Veghead Bar and that Chicken delight up there from Hawthorne, of course.

The Green Living Show will take place from March 27 to the 29th at the Metro Convention Centre.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors and free for under 12s AND if you bring in a piece of junked electronic something or other, admission is free. Click here for all the details



God I love Homesense and Winners



My week started with a trip to Homesense and Winners with my friend, Kate. She was looking for some new bathroom stuff and I was supposed to be going along for the ride and to keep her company. Of course, this means that I bought myself ten times more stuff than Kate did, even though I wasn't supposed to be buying anything at all.

But, first I saw that tin rooster sign at Winners (Kate bought it for me as an early birthday gift) and had to have it. Who could resist those bowls with the little blue and green birds on them for $10????
Not me, that's who.

On to Homesense where they practically held a gun to my head and forced me to buy that Simple Human compact dish rack that I have been lusting over for weeks. It has sat in my Amazon.ca shopping basket forever but it doesn't qualify for free shipping with Prime so, really, I actually saved money by buying it for myself, didn't I? It would be criminal to NOT buy it!

We ended our morning with a tasty lunch at Pizzeria Libretto on the Danforth before I could do anymore damage to my wallet under the guise of "it's my birthday!"


I am sharing a disaster and a win with you. I was going to do my first sous vide salmon this week. I had the salmon brining in the fridge while I enjoyed a visit from an old friend when Shack called to say he was on his way home. Shack doesn't like salmon and there wasn't enough for four of us anyway, so he suggested going out for a bite. This meant I had to quickly cook the salmon so that I could put it in the fridge and I got sloppy. 

I didn't get my kitchen in order first, I was rushing around, talking to my friend and I was absolutely distracted. I threw together some miso butter, threw the fish in the bag and cooked it. I pulled it out of the bath and thought 
"My, that's a ton of liquid in there" 
just as the bag dumped all that fish water all over my feet and the floor. The bag had not been sealed up properly and it was full of cooking water. Luckily, it was only two pieces, we had decided to eat dinner out and The Kid wasn't feeling well and wasn't all that hungry anyway because it went straight into the garbage.

LESSON LEARNED


Oh a happier note, I tried out these thinnish little boneless loin chops the next night and they were much more successful. I served them sliced up on a simple risotto and even though they are the kind of pork chop that usually ends up drying out if you fry them, the meat was tender and juicy. This will be happening again.

I finally went and got my Food Handler Certification so that I can start branching out. I have dreams of teaching my own classes and workshops in addition to my Loblaws classes so it was time. I am happy to say that I passed with flying colours (only 1 question wrong so there is really a very small chance that I will kill you with my cooking) but I did learn that we are all lucky to be alive. After a lifetime of eating room temperature mousaka in Athens, roadside pork tacos in Mexico, pie that has sat out on the counter for days and rice that was left out all night because you fell asleep and forgot about the rice cooker but, hey, it's just rice.

 RICE! WHO KNEW THAT RICE CAN GIVE YOU FOOD POISINING VIA BACILLUS CEREUS???


Thanks to Dianne at Canadian Food Safety Training, my whole "death by jam" phobia has been expanded tenfold and the first thing I did on the way home was buy a big bottle of bleach.

The week ended with a What's For Dinner class at Loblaws, which is always a high note for me. I am really starting to love it more and more and let's face it, talking and cooking are the two things I do best in this world.


Recipe Revelations Contest Results Are In!

Oh yeah, my Dulce de Lentil Ice Cream with Lentil Praline won in the dessert category in this year's Lentil Recipe Revolution contest! Congratulations to all of the winners, and especially the grand prize winner, Brittany from I Love Vegan. You can download the Recipe Revelations ebook here - because my Caramel K Corn was a runner up in the Wildcard category, it's in there as well. I am now agonizing over which camera to buy with my lentil money. I am already starting to brainstorm about what I can do with a bag of lentils for next year's contest. The winners:                                                                                                                                                                                                               Sonal Gupta - Best in Appetizer - Lentils & Kale Powerhouse Sausage                                                                                         Denise Bustard - Best in Salads - Tropical Lentil Lunch Bowls with Mango and Coconut-Lime                                                   Tara Noland - Best in Main Dish - Lentil Prosciutto Parmesan Pizza


From Monday on, I have non stop media events so I am already anticipating a long ass Week in Yum this time next week. Be forewarned.


Coming Up This Week:

From 11:30am to 3:30 am on Sunday, the good people of Toronto will be wolfing down a plethora of international styles of curry dishes at CurryFest (put on by the same people who do Yum Cha so it should be a well run affair). There will be curries from expected places like Thailand, India and Trinidad but that is not all - go and find the less common curries from places like South Africa and Japan and have a pint or two of Sam Adams, while you are at it.
Tickets are available here for $10 a pop.

This Tuesday, March 24 from 6-9pm, Dillons, makers of my favourite gin, are hosting Round 1 of the  Dillons Cocktail Cup at Food & Liquor. This starts a year of 10 competitions, each at a different spot, leading up to the grand finale in the Fall where the king of TO cocktails will be crowned.
Tickets here and $30 will get you two drinks, a small plate and action, whatever that means lol

On Wednesday, The Drake is having another guest chef pop up featuring Noah Bernamoff, co-founder of Mile End Deli. He will no doubt be treating guests to his brand of hip, unscale spins on classic deli food.
Click here and scroll down for more details

Pin of the week: Sous Vide Tonic Water Recipe??? I'm all over that

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