memories of a wee bit of tea

The other day D was telling me about one of his childhood taste memories - his mom's homemade yogurt (lucky guy, huh?) scooped into a kiddie bowl, sweetened with greedy little spoonfuls of dark strawberry jam. A bit of swirling, slurping and happy times...mmmm!

Which got me thinking...

I've been a pretty active (enthusiastic? affectionate, perhaps?) eater these last three decades, and so have many, many madeleines, so to speak. The funny thing is, is that sometimes I blur my real memories with ones that I'm sure I haven't experienced myself, but rather have read in novels or seen in movies...tell me I'm not the only one?

A real memory: we have a bottle of chili oil (at my mom's house, kept in the middle door shelf of the fridge), of indeterminate age and provenance, although early 80's chinatown might be accurate, whose greasy orange label and fiery, sinus clearing, vaguely medicinal taste instantly reminds me of my dad's sunday afternoon ritual of noodle eating. Whether it was the instant Ichiban or the fancy fresh kind, he'd always douse his steaming bowl of soupy noodles with great rust-coloured lashings of that crazy oil. And then proceed to turn an alarming shade of purple and red. I was pretty little then, but I'm almost positive I remember hearing him swear under his breath, while inhaling deeply and nodding his head, right before throwing down another fire laced spoonful into the bowl.

The other morning, though, I had a funny, vaguely familiar recollection as I puttered about making some tea and eggs for breakfast. I'm really enjoying the super strong breakfast tea these days. I poured my cuppa and added the milk, and all of a sudden thought of a scene from Angela's Ashes. (I have to admit that I'm usually terrible at remembering names, events, sometimes even whole days, unless there's food involved, in which case, I'm your girl!)

These guys, by the way, are pretty much the most incredibly delicious eggs I've come across in awhile. Deep orangey yolks and all...

Another little treat I picked up, made from pastured cows in Quebec, lovely golden yellow creamy butter, mmmmm....

I remember being struck by one particular scene in the story where the main character, who has spent his childhood poor and constantly starving, living off of stale bread and strong milky tea (and in one melodramatic case, licking the grease from old fish and chip newspapers), is dreaming about the most outrageous of treats: a boiled egg.

I look at my brother Malachy. Did you hear that? Our own egg of a Sunday morning. Oh, God, I already had plans for my egg. Tap it around the top, gently crack the shell, lift with a spoon, a dab of butter down into the yolk, salt, take my time, a dip of the spoon, scoop, more salt, more butter, into the mouth, oh, God above, if heaven has a taste it must be an egg with butter and salt, and after the egg is there anything in the world . . .

And egg lover that I am, I haven't ever quite gotten that image out of my head. Funny how some things stick, isn't it?

And so, my new morning treat these days is a strong cup of breakfast tea and a little boiled egg. With butter and salt, of course.

hot dog, i love this shirt!

Happiness is a sunny yellow tee...especially if it's done up in stylin' ketchup and mustard writing!

I found this perfect-for-me shirt (I never met a hot dog that I didn't like...) on one of my fave sites, threadless. I'm a big fan of the works from there because the tees, and now posters/prints, are all designed, submitted and voted on for printing by the users themselves. It's awesome to see some real rough n' ready, naively sweet offerings presented next to more polished, often playful works by established artists/illustrators/graphic designers. Love it!



This beauty is designed by Alex Trochut, a freelance graphic designer from Barcelona. And I have to say, I don't know if he meant for this design to be so very tongue-in-cheek, so I'll have to take a second out and tell you just why it rocks so much. (Because I like to overthink things sometimes. And I like food. And overthinking things about food...)



So here's the thing; the funny words (lorem ipsum delor sit amet...for all you latin majors) being spelled out by the squeezie bottles is part of a standard "dummy" text used by designers when presenting layouts, so that viewer, instead of being distracted by recognizable words, can concentrate on the overall visual flow and design of the work.

And for the food lover in me and you, this inside graphic nod totally translates into our funny world of playing with our food. Consider the Condiment, as is were. With ketchup and mustard being the total #1 and #2 on the essential list, it's great to think about just why they work. The mark of great condiments? They complement and enhance the main work, without drawing any excess attention to themselves.

A bit of a stretch? Maybe. All I know is that I'm totally craving a hot dog now...

hello, dumpling!

Sometimes a favourite food can be so inspirational, so mouthwateringly hug-worthy, that one has no choice but to sing its praises, in whatever convoluted form that may take.

Say, a haiku, for example:

O porky dumpling
my chopsticks bow, O Plump One
dip dip dip dip yum!

Hmm, needs work, but you get the picture. I do luuurve me some dumplings!

The bundles come helpfully labeled...this time it's pork and chive. (Second favourite: lamb and coriander)

We indulged the other night in some beautiful handmade dumplings, bought from a tiny local restaurant (they make them so much better than I ever could, plus it's a great instant lazy-night meal). This place specializes in the northern Chinese style of dumpling making, offering hand rolled, hand formed, wheat flour based shuijiao (boiled dumplings) and guotie (potstickers).

The handmade floury wrappers are wonderfully tender, yet have a bit of pleasant toothiness to them.

We decided to take some uncooked, freshly made bundles of goodness home with us, so we could cook and feast with (private) abandon.

Pajama dining. It's a guilty secret pleasure. Tell me I'm not alone?

I love lots of ginger in the dipping sauce...

About the dipping sauce: I'm all in for the fridge-raid version, which includes glugs and dashes of varying proportions of soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha and other chili spiked condiments, but sometimes the clean and old-school rules.

I highly recommend that you try this, if only once (and if you aren't just crazy about it already), just to see how incredible two simple little ingredients can make the best, and easiest, dumpling sauce. Ever!

Ready? Mince, grate or finely chop some fresh ginger. Pour a dash of black vinegar (I like the Gold Plum brand, pictured below) over and let it infuse with bracing gingery goodness. That's it! (You gotta try it, you'll become a convert, I promise.)

A dumpling must-have! Black vinegar, made from glutinous rice; its mellow tang could maybe, if totally desperate, be replicated with a bit of not-too-sweet balsamic.



A bit of ginger prodding helps infuse the vinegar. (Plus it's fun to do too!)

And so...gingery sauce? Check. Pot of water bubbling away, dumplings standing by? Check. Pajamas on, Dexter dvd playing? Check and check! Ooh, it's gonna be a great lazy night!

Today, we boil.
(Sometimes if we're craving the crispy golden goodness we do the pan fried version.)



A big plate to share...although I have been known to get in quite a few all on my own!



Plump. Juicy. Porky. Mmmm....



They went pretty fast; maybe I should've made just a few more....

Yes, delish! Thank you, dumpling, for being your plump, fabulous self. Until we meet again!

A few of my favourite things...

It looks as if spring has finally sprung today; I had my first strolling-whilst-licking-ice-cream-cone and shorts-with-shiny-flats sighting this afternoon! (The latter definitely being more hopeful/wistful than the former - we Torontonians are such an optimistic bunch when it comes to the weather.)

The cheery sunshine has got the ol' mojo working, and like bear coming out of hibernation, I feel as if I'm starved for some serious grub. As someone who likes thinking about food nearly as much as eating the actual thing, days like this are a sort of all-you-can-eat mental buffet. I've got a couple of my favourite things on the brain, some snacks that always please, some dishes to inspire, tastes I can't wait to try again, and those few special things I just can't live without.

Dedicated to those raindrops on roses and those wee little whiskers on kittens, here, are just a few of...you know:

Dumplings

Gyozas

First, and perhaps closest to my heart, dumplings. Potstickers, gyozas, be they steamed, boiled or fried, the dumpling in all its individually wrapped, crispy, juicy bite-sized glory is truly a thing of beauty.

Men At Work (does anyone else remember this band?)


Behold, the shao long bao!!

It's my own personal belief that the absolute king of dumplings has got the be shao long bao. (The most awesome example of which my friend M and I had the good fortune to sample in a ram packed dumpling house in Shanghai...another story there!) Mmm, tender soup-filled dumplings. The black vinegar and ginger dipping sauce is pretty much the best thing ever too.

Caprese salad, with mozzarella di buffala

I have a very special spot in my heart (and several in my belly, it seems) for buffalo mozzarella. I will, and have been known to inhale a whole blob of its silky concentrated dairyness, a la Nigella, that is, by myself, late at night, as I sneak away from the fridge.

Chocolate croissants from St. Lawrence Market



Nothing satisfies my sweet tooth better.



Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk, to finish a meal, at Pho Hung.


I love the set-up. Condensed milk in mug? Check. Grounds a brewin' percolating down? Check. Thermos of hot water handy? Check. Eat that, Starbucks!




Underneath lies sweet creamy coffee love.



The parmesan dusted fries at Thuet.


Crispy, cheesy, deep fried goodness.

A whole platter of potatoes, deep fried, then tossed in parmesan cheese. What kind of genius is that? (Think poutine with these would be overkill?)

Mrs. Whyte's ridiculously huge pickle (serves 2)


This mamba jamba is hee-ooge. Like kind of giggle and blush big.

I think this may be the same brand that gets served with Scwartz's killer smoked meat sandwiches. Either way, this is the perfect pickle. Great pucker to crunch ratio!

The fresh pasta guy, Saturday mornings at the market.


Am I the only one that gets excited by reading this sign?


Like a grown up, and infinitely tastier, version of our childhood Plah-Doh sets...






The start of an amazing meal...



Black truffle-infused pecorino moliterno


My current cheese obsession.

This, shaved over your lovely fresh pasta, drizzled with a touch of extra virgin olive oil...my idea of heaven!

Artichokes; boiled, fried, baked, roasted....

And dipped in butter, or aioli, or simply tossed in olive oil and a bit of lemon, or served raw, cleaned and very thinly sliced, tossed with arugula and parmesan shavings...

Tomatoes with a sprinkling of crunchy Maldon sea salt


Oh, this makes me wish summer would hurry up and get here already!

Crunch. Squish! The best part is that your face actually makes a smile when you bite into a tomato like this...you can't help but be happy!

So, those are just a few of my faves...what about yours?