Much has changed since Sushi Umi first opened its doors Easter 2009. The restaurant has expanded from a single room eatery and takeout to two rooms with an expanded menu and a liquor licence. Despite the changes, the quality of food has remained consistent and is always beautifully presented. Don and I are frequent visitors and have introduced many friends to Sushi Umi. After doing a quick check of the foodiePrints archive, I realized that we have written very little about this great place. Determined to change that, we dropped by for dinner two weeks ago after seeing a sign on the sidewalk advertizing a new noodle special. How could I say no to that?

Like many sushi houses, Sushi Umi offers the standard maki rolls, sashimi, nigiri, bento boxes, tempura, and udon noodles (stir-fried and noodle soup). In 2011, the chef-owner created a blackboard of sushi specials. Most recently, other items were added. With so many new specials (including tuna tataki: thinly sliced seared tuna on a bed of seaweed salad - $9.95 and robata shrimp: chopped broiled shrimp with imitation crab and avocado - $5.95), we didn't know where to begin.

After much debate, we settled on a pair of appetizers: a basket of vegetable and shrimp tempura ($5.95) from the regular menu and a plate of takoyaki ($5.95) from the blackboard.

Vegetable and Shrimp Tempura

Takoyaki

Takoyaki (fried octopus balls or dumplings) are a favourite with Don, ever since I first introduced them to him during a trip to Vancouver. Crispy on the outside, but moist on the inside, there is a piece of octopus in each dumpling. Sprinkled with some bonito flakes, this appetizer was a nice way to start the meal. However, Don prefers the street-food style version, made with rocket-hot cast-iron molds, bamboo skewers, and really quick hands. Sushi Umi's were deep fried.

As usual, the vegetable and shrimp tempura were satisfying.

Noodles are one of my essential food groups. In fact, I love all kinds of noodles, but there's something about ramen noodles that just makes my mouth water. With only two choices, I decided on the chicken ramen ($8.50) while Don opted for the seafood ramen ($9.50).

Chicken Ramen

Seafood Ramen
Although we found the soup too sweet, the packaged noodles were cooked al dente. Mine contained a generous helping of seared chicken, while Don's bowl was complete with shrimp, scallop, and mussels. While this was not necessarily the most authentic bowl of noodles, it was very warming on a cold winter night.

Overall, it was a very filling and enjoyable meal. We finished our dinner with some slices of orange and some handmade cookies shaped into cute birds.

Chocolate-filled cookies. Awww, aren't they cute?

Total: $33.79 (after taxes, before tip)

Particulars:
Sushi Umi
1311 Wellington St West
(613) 724-2488
Dine in, Take-out

Well, our wine blogger is home sick...in bed...with a man cold. A man cold is the debilitating form of the common cold (runny nose, nasal congestion, and sneezing) that is near fatal unless treated immediately.

Treatment involves resting motionless in bed or sofa while partaking of daytime television or mindless cartoons. Tissues should be placed in easy reach and medicinals like tea with ginger and lemon should be administered regularly.

Claire has a man cold and we hope she feels better soon.

That said, it is Wednesday and I bet the rest of us could do with something "medicinal" in the form of beer or wine come week's end. I chose beer, Mill Street's Tankhouse to be exact and this post is about cooking with it.


Beery Tankhouse Balls

Yes...you can drink it too, especially given the Mill Street Brew Pub (555 Wellington Street) opened three days earlier than their target date, January 27, 2012. This, after months of delays, renovating the 140 year old building at LeBreton Flats that was once the iconic Old Mill Restaurant and, before that, a grist mill.

In fact, management at the new brew pub won't take reservations until January 31st, keeping the establishment first-come/first-serve for about a week. That is, despite the people behind Fab Concepts Inc., Mill Street's parent company, answering e-mailed inquiries pre-opening for post-opening reservations that they would. Anyhow, I digress...

I do not partake of beer as a libation too often, but you will find my fridge well stocked these days. Beer is great for braising and marinating meats. And, I purchased a copy of restaurateur Stephen Beaumont and Chef Brian Morin's The Beerbistro Cookbook before Christmas. It sits atop my stack of culinary lit I pour through when time permits.

Realizing I would be filling in for Claire, here is what I think of Mill Street's flagship product, using the lingo: an American Pale Ale, Mill Street Tankhouse pours clear, brownish red, almost copper, in colour. Its aroma is earthy and slightly citrus. It tastes of malt and caramel with a bitter finish.

Thus flavoured, I figured it would taste great with meat. So I modified Master French Chef Joël Robuchon's recipe from The Complete Robuchon and imbued lowly ground meat with distinct "beeriness."

Recipe
[adapted from The Complete Robuchon by Joël Robuchon]

Carrot Bread Crumbs and Beer

Ground Meat

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup beer (preferably not dark) + beer for deglazing
• olive oil and unsalted butter for sauteeing the onion and searing the meatballs
• 1 medium onion
• 1 egg
• 600 g (1 1/4 lbs) ground beef
• 600 g (1 1/4 lbs) ground pork
• salt and pepper to taste

Prep:

1. Preheat an oven to 300F.
2. Cut enough day old bread to make 1 cup of bread crumbs into cubes.
3. Process said cubes in a food processor or blender, pulsing until you get coarse crumbs.
4. Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet and bake them in the oven for 15 minutes until they dry out.
5. Allow the crumbs to cool completely.
6. Measure out 1 cup of dry bread crumbs.
7. Soak the crumbs in 1/2 cup of beer for 30 minutes.

More after the jump...

It is an interesting coincidence that the lunar new year and Robbie Burns Day fall but days apart this January, 2012.

The lunar knew year, better known more colloquially as Chinese New Year (CNY) is celebrated in many countries. Festivities marking it with traditional foods and activities are planned for days, CNY being a significant public holiday in China. Similar festivals are held in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
In the Gregorian calendar, CNY falls on different dates each year. This year, CNY fell on January 23rd, two days before Robbie Burns.

Robbie Burns Day or Night (Burns Nicht) is a celebration of the life and poetry of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. The tradition involves supper, which is served on or near the poet's birthday, January 25th. Burns suppers typically include haggis, Scotch whiskey and recitation of Burns' poetry.

Worldly eaters, we at foodiePrints decided to celebrate both by creating an appetizer based on a concept we came across on the news, deep-fried haggis wontons. The dumplings that combine two traditions, Scottish and Chinese, are served annually during Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner. The dinner will seat 275 guests at Floata Restaurant in Vancouver's Chinatown this year. There will be literary readings, lion dances, and a multi-course CNY meal, several courses featuring haggis.

In Ottawa, our wine blogger originated the idea of a haggis tweetup during Christmas. My wanting to make haggis from scratch, I mused about preparing it on Twitter. After 12 people expressed interest in the tweetup, I realized I could not possibly make enough haggis to serve so many. So, I came up with a compromise, haggis appetizers on sticks. Because, food on sticks generally taste better... Originally, the intention was to make haggis "corn" dogs (pogos). But, Kyle from Ottawa's artisan delicatessen and craft butcher The Piggy Market (400 Winston Ave) set me straight. He suggested a beer or, more appropriately, scotch batter (preferably not single malt!). In the end, I went with a thin pastry sheet, normally employed in making spring rolls. And, in North American Chinese tradition, I made one end resemble that of an egg roll...


Haggis Spring Rolls

In all honesty, the reason I prepared this dish was to come up with a "friendly" delivery mechanism for something I rather enjoy working with in the kitchen, offal. Thing is, to most people, packaging oatmeal, spices, and sheep heart, liver and lung, into a sheep's stomach (or ox bung) and poaching it in stock, isn't particularly appetizing.

Are haggis spring rolls fusion-run-amock?

@ChefAlex (Jan 22, 02:54 PM)
Fusion gone too far! RT @foodiePrints: Haggis spring rolls... CNY meet Robbie Burns! CC @gadgetgirl_ca @ElaineOrrMorgan @ChezEdgar

To some extent, yes. But, would you still consider it fusion if I had substituted the spring roll wrapper with several sheets of buttered filo pastry? Did you know the Scots batter and deep fry their haggis?

Do I enjoy haggis the traditional way? Served with cock-a-leekie soup, bashed neeps and tatties (or soda bread), absolutely!

Recipe

What You'll Need:

• haggis mince (preferably uncooked 3:1 lamb "pluck":lamb mince)
• one package spring roll wrappers (not the thicker egg roll wrappers)
• egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp water)
• piece of bread or halved bun (halved English muffin works)
• high smoke point oil to fry with (e.g. vegetable or canola)
• thin disposable wooden chopsticks (the kind that comes with takeout food)

Prep:

1. Bring your haggis mince to just below room temperature on the counter. It will cook more quickly and evenly. If you cannot source raw mince, use pre-poached. Just "release" it from the "packaging" it comes in and adjust the time in the deep fryer.
2. Fry up a bit of your mince in a fry pan to taste the seasoning. Adjust as necessary. A minute on each side should be enough to cook it through.
3. Use a 1-2 cm (1/2") cooking cutter and cut rounds out of your bread.

Method:

Haggis Mince, English Muffin Rounds, Eggs

1. Pull apart as many spring roll wrappers as you have rounds of bread.
2. Depending on how long you want your resultant spring rolls, cut the wrappers to fit. Me, I removed about 6 cm's (2-3") worth. Don't discard the cuttings. They fry up nicely into chips.
3. Heat enough oil in a heavy bottom pot, preferably a cast iron or enamel coated cast iron dutch oven, to deep fry the spring rolls.
4. Thread a piece of bread through a chopstick, stop 1/4 of the way down. Use your cut spring roll wrappers as a guide.
5. Form a sausage of haggis mince around the chopstick.
6. "Paint" one edge of the spring roll wrapper with the egg wash.
7. Position the bread along the egg-washed edge and roll the spring roll wrapper around the meat and skewer.
   
   Rollin' an Spring Roll
8. Seal the remaining edge with egg wash.
9. Dap some egg wash into the open end of the roll.
10. Fold it in on itself, pressing down for a 10 count.
11. Repeat with the rest of the wrappers. In total, I made 15 spring rolls.
12. When the oil reaches 350F, fry the spring rolls, 3 or so at a time, until they turn golden brown. Make sure the internal temperature of the haggis mince reaches 71C (160F).
13. Throughout the cooking process, monitor the temperature of the oil with a candy thermometer. If the oil climbs above 400F, lower the heat or the oil will start breaking down. I had to move the pot on and off a burner set to medium to keep the temperature hovering around 350F.
14. Drain the fried spring rolls on a rack over a sheet pan for 2-3 minutes.
    
    Spring Rolls Draining
15. Serve hot.

Served

More after the jump...

For New Year, fellow Ottawa food blogger Jodi Lariviere of Simply Fresh put together her annual "Foodie Bucket List." Number 2 follows:

I want to learn to cook offal (edible organ meat such as the heart, [tongue], liver of an animal) that I actually enjoy eating. I've made beef liver... wasn't a fan of that recipe. But I learned this year that I am a potential fan of anything, as long as it is cooked properly. I can't count the number of times I've said "Oh I normally hate (insert previously hated thing here), but like this... it's good!"

Jodi, this post is dedicated to you.

In it, we share two applications for offal, which we here take to refer to the internal organs or trimmings of a butchered animal after more marketable mainstream cuts have been claimed.

Pho and a Pho Fixing...

Ox tail Pho with Corned Lamb Heart

Firstly, pho is a wondrous Vietnamese beef noodle soup that has become rather popular in North America. Jenn and I have been so taken by it that we keep a batch of pho soup in the freezer for necessities. Pho seems to have medicinal properties. It cures the ails of a long work day. It fights bouts of near frostbite, trying to outrun a polar bear (chasing a bus...being chased by a polar bear is more exciting).

The batch above was one third of the stock I prepared and stockpiled (unintended pun) to help Jenn recover from getting her wisdom teeth removed. In total, almost 10 L of stock came off the stove or out of the slow cooker: a clear Chinese-style poultry stock made from turkey legs, ginger, black peppercorns, and star anise; a more French-style pork stock made with pork riblets, bay leaves, garlic cloves, and roasted mirepoix vegetables; and pho soup made from roasted ox tail.

Aside: The majority of the stock was used to make long grain rice congee, savoury comfort food amongst many Asian cultures, our "chicken soup" dish. Think loose oatmeal, but made with rice. Traditionally, congee is made with water. I find preparing it with stock fortifies congee with nutrition and adds flavour.

The pho soup was made with the slow cooker we won from a "tell me what you'd make" giveaway by local food personality Korey Kealey on Twitter. Ironically, we never made apple sauce this fall in our new slow cooker, "slow cooker apple sauce" being our winning entry.

For the pho soup, I seasoned 6 lb of sectioned ox tail with kosher salt and roasted them under the broiler until they coloured heavily. Bringing the ox tail to room temperature beforehand is best.

Roasted Ox Tail
Another method of roasting bones for stock involves putting them into a 400F oven for 40 minutes, turning everything over at the 20 minute mark.

Then, I added the sections to the crock of a slow cooker with two halves of a large onion pierced with 10 whole cloves each (20 cloves total), five stars of star anise, a 3" stick of cinnamon, and 1 tbsp of black peppercorns. I deglazed the roasting pan with water and added the deglazing liquid to the crock. Finally, I added enough water to cover the meat and vegetation.


Everything in the Slow Cooker Crock

Finished Stock

After 10 hours cooking on low, I strained the stock and defatted it by placing it in the refrigerator overnight. The fat rose to the top and formed a disk that was easy to remove. Once defatted, I reduced the stock further and held off seasoning with fish sauce until it was served.

Roasted ox tail produced a dark mahogany soup. Normally, pho soup is made by pre-simmering and discarding the simmering liquid to "remove impurities." The latter method produces a lighter coloured soup. Both are equally "beefy."

More after the jump...

It takes a lot of dedicated people to put together fundraising events: organizing volunteers, soliciting donations, selling tickets, all working for a good cause.

As you know, Wednesday January 18th is The Red and the White, a fundraiser for Harmony House,Ottawa's only Second Stage Home for women and their children seeking escape from violence. Harmony House fills an important need in the Ottawa Area and, like most charitable organizations, relies on donations to help fill the gaps in funding. The Red and The White is their annual fundraising event and many Ontario wineries are supporting the cause.

One of the wineries featured on Wednesday is The Grange of Prince Edward. Prince Edward County (or PEC as it is often referred to) is a lovely day trip of vineyards, beautiful landscape and wineries for many Ottawa residents. The Grange began planting it's vineyards in 2001 and today produces over 10 000 cases Trumpour's Mills table wines and single estate Grange of Prince Edward wines.

On Friday, I scoured the city and procured myself the very last bottle of The Grange of Prince Edward's 2007 Chardonnay. This singe estate (Victoria Block) Chardonnay was located at the Rideau Street Vintages for $30.00. Braving a snowstorm and freezing rain, I secured the bottle and repaired to the safety of home.


The Grange 2007 Chardonnay

A quick roasted chicken (500° for 50 minutes), roasted carrots and turnips with onions in olive oil, brussels sprouts (cooked in milk and sautéed with bacon) and mashed potatoes (with goat milk and Dijon) was on the menu that night. I thought this wine might work nicely with the sweet veggies and simple chicken.


Chicken Dinner with Fixings

2007 is an older vintage for a white and the traditional golden yellow of a Chardonnay was a more pronounced in the glass. I was surprised to find that the wine reminded me strongly of a Riesling on the nose, with definite floral notes discernible. When I tasted it, it had the classic buttery flavours of a Chardonnay but, there again, there were sweeter, caramel notes and some slight cooked apple. I did think it worked with the chicken and the tangy mashed potatoes, but it accentuated the sweetness of the root vegetables. (My neighbours enjoyed the left-over wine with a nice turkey soup).

I don't know what The Grange will be pouring at The Red and The White on Wednesday night but I'm looking forward to tasting it. Why don't you buy a ticket and join me?

Particulars:
The Annual Red and White
When: January 18, 2012 at 7pm
Where: St.Brigid's Centre for the Arts and Humanities (302 St. Patrick St.)
Tickets: $60 (includes food and drinks)
To purchase: Online at EventBrite; Call 613-853-3250; Email - fundraising@harmonyhousews.com