Yesterday, I had a somewhat awkward conversation with a relatively old-school project manager who disparaged the new online presence features of Microsoft's recently unveiled mobile operation system for smart-phones and other smart-devices, called Windows Mobile 7. He felt the social media-oriented aspect was a distraction for business users who are more task-oriented. So, Microsoft is essentially alienating its traditional user-base. Incredulous, I pointed out the upcoming millennial workforce is more conscious of work-life balance and values the new contact and event-driven features. Besides, modern business has realized using such tools as Facebook and Twitter thoughtfully can help them establish their brands (lends to good will) and cultivate familiarities with prospective clients, customers, or patrons. Savvy businesses, that realize benefits should not be measured $/click (or $/follower), also learn about their market at the micro-social level.

To me, Microsoft, having "out-Appled" Apple with respect to their mobile operating system's dynamic interface, made the platform attractive again. In a ubiquitous computing environment, devices need to be multi-functional. While I am not a member of the millennial workforce, I participate in several vibrant online communities using social media tools. It has grown my personal and professional networks, connecting me with people I would never have imagined speaking to. Many connections have materialized in the real-world and developed into friendships.

What does this have to do with sweet potatoes or gnocchi? I am blessed to have so many different people in my life. Through my participation in the food blogging community, I met Leela (@shesimmers), the blogger behind SheSimmers. Later I would meet Melody (@gourmetfury), the blogger behind Gourmet Fury. Together, they run Beet 'n Squash You. This month, it is battle sweet potato. For my entry, I asked a handful of people in my networks how they take their sweet potatoes. That is when I discovered how versatile the traditionally winter root vegetable actually is. I know people who only eat sweet potatoes as shoe string fries. I know people who like their sweet potato as pie filling. I know people who swear by "candied yams", topped with marshmallows. I know people who roast them, jacketed in aluminum foil. I decided to try my hand at sweet potato gnocchi, pairing it with a wilted green and some pulled pork. It is not my Beet 'n Squash entry.

Well, the pulled pork worked...
Pernil-Inspired Pulled Pork

One Pork Shoulder Roast

Second Pork Shoulder Roast

Spice Rub

Hawaiian Salt

Pork Shoulder Roasts Dried

Pork Shoulder Roasted Oiled and Coated

Pulled Pork after 90 minutes of Covered Roasting

Pulled Pork after 3 hours of Covered Roasting

Pulled Pork Mid-Shred

Pulled Pork Texture

Here's what you need:

• Pork Shoulder
• Enough Rub to Coat the Pork shoulder Above
• A Little Canola Oil

Yes it's that simple. For this batch, I used the following ratio of flavourings 6:6:1:2:1:1 onion flake, dried oregano, Hawaiian salt (seriously cool gift from seriously cool friend), Hungarian paprika, ground cumin, and red pepper flake by volume. My choice for measuring this time, a teaspoon.

Prep:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F
2. Dry the pork shoulder roasts of moisture.
3. Very lightly coat them in oil
4. Coat the roasts in rub

Method:

1. Bake covered for 3 hours or until the meat falls from the bone.
2. Shred
3. De-fat the drippings and reduce to taste.
4. Sauce the meat with the drippings. It should be slightly moist, not wet

Plan A: Gnocchi (failed)
Because the gnocchi failed, I am not going to write up the recipe. I am only going to record notes, so I can re-attempt it.

Pair of Sweet Potatoes, Pricked All Over
The potatoes were lightly coated in canola oil and roasted at 350F, until softened. This took 1 hour.

4.2 oz of Old Cheddar Cheese
The cheese was grated finely.

One Hot Green Chili, Finely Chopped
When the sweet potato had been roasted soft, it was left to cool for 5 minutes.
Then, it was forced through a ricer in batches.
To the riced sweet potato, 1 tsp of nutmeg, 2 pinches of kosher salt, 3 grinds of black pepper, and the shredded cheese was added. The remnant heat melted the cheese.
When the mixture cooled completely, one egg was added.

Sweet Potato Mixture Pre-Flour
2 cups of flour were sifted in with minimum stirring.

Sweet Potato Mixture Post-Flour

Here is where things went awry. After looking up several sweet potato gnocchi recipes on YouTube, I figured the texture of the gnocchi dough should resemble ones that contained 50% by mass ricotta. Thus, I added more flour, thinking my dough too wet and overworked it. I then overworked them further, shaping and re-shaping them.

Shaped Gnocchi
The gnocchi was boiled in simmering salted water until they floated.

Gnocchi Post-Boil
Then, the gnocchi was fried in brown butter.

One Batch Browned

Another Batch Browned

Here are three platings with gently wilted young spinach

Wilted Spinach

Plating 1

Plating 2

Plating 3
While they looked and smelled delicious, the gnocchi were neither tender nor light.

More after the jump...

For those of you shaking off effects of yesterday nights celebrations, you more than likely have a vague recollection Canada demonstrated its prowess in hockey, our Olympians fighting their way to the finals and winning gold medals in both the Women's and Men's events.

Having watched a number of the events during the Vancouver Olympic Games, including both final hockey games, I have to highlight history was made. 2010 saw Canada break two records: most gold medals earned by a hosting nation and most gold medals earned by any country in a Winter Olympics. It brought a smile to my face to hear our national anthem played so often. It brought a tear to my eye when an entire stadium of people sang along with Sidney Crosby, who scored the gold medal-winning goal during sudden death overtime.

Please note, I am not a hockey fan. I am more interested in how concession food is made than hockey itself, but Sunday afternoon, like much of North America, I stopped to watch the Canada vs. US game. I watched the last major event of the games live, streamed though the Internet by CTV and Bell, while reading tweets on twitter. I even bet on the game.

Like our Prime Minister's spokesman, Dimitry Soudas, who mad a bet with White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, I accepted a blog challenge by the blogger (@kalofagus) behind Kalofagus.ca: Greek Food & Beyond. Soudas and Gibbs bet briefings, wearing opposing team's jerseys. It would later be reported President Barack Obama bet Prime Minister Harper beer. I bet a front page blog post.

Kalofagas (Feb 28, 03:15 PM)
who's up for the hockey challenge? Canada wins, you wear/blog Canada apparel, US wins....Cdns. wear /blog US apparel if we lose?

foodiePrint (Feb 28, 03:20 PM)
@kalofagas I'm in! Go Canada Go!!!!!!!

Several food bloggers likewise accepted.

Both men's hockey teams played spectacularly well, tying the game at the close of the 3rd period and forcing an overtime one. It was epic. In the end, Canada won.

Even though I am not required to blog, here is something for my fellow American bloggers who accepted @kalofagus' challenge. Jenn and I are not sure how available Canadian Olympic-wear is across the border, so we took this picture.

Save for the beaver toque, Hudson's Bay-issued (HBC) Official Olympic-Wear
Feel free to post the image on your blogs to make good on the bet. Click here for a link to Flickr.

By the way, Jenn (dressed as she was in the picture), some neighbours, and I ventured out as Canada erupted in celebration. As we walked through our neighbourhood, we heard cheering and honking well into the start of the closing ceremonies.

foodiePrints (Feb 28, 07:50 PM) Re: cheering on Wellington Street (#Ottawa), this may have had something to do with it http://flic.kr/p/7Gx65q cc @robvogt @kalofagas

Still, foodiePrints is a food blog, so this entry requires a food component. Here is the celebratory meal, Jenn and I ate as we watched the closing ceremonies:

Stewed Beef Rice Noodles in Broth with Yu Choy

My Bowl After Adding some Sriracha
Not poutine, but made by proud Canadians!

Update: Here is a picture of front page headlines from two newspapers, one from Friday (after the Women's Hockey Final) and one from today (after the Men's Hockey Final)

Frontpage News: Men's and Women's Hockey Gold Medals

And here are some thoughts during the closing ceremonies:

• New winter Olympic sport: Freestyle Human Hamster Ball Jumping :P [referring to the "Zorbs"]
• Ok...need to point out that moose don't fly in Canada. When fed maple syrup, they do leap great distances though.
• Wonder if the giant beavers can be trained to chase Nickelback off the stage...
• Re female Mountie outfits, they don't exist...Poor gals would freeze!
• Umm...A lot of athletes on the "dance floor" look confused...Canadian ones too!
• They should have prorogued the closing ceremonies after the parade float musical with the hot mounties...

It was however a real pleasure to see Michael J. Fox take to the stage during the ceremonies and the crowd rise to its feet shortly after he introduced himself as Canadian. While many columnists wrote William Shatner warmed our hearts with his "I am Canadian" speech, I firmly believe Fox stole them.

Avid foodiePrints readers will have noticed that Don and I love bubble tea and are constantly on the lookout for the best local bubble tea shop. Thus far, we have visited Bubblicity (both Chinatown and Dalhousie locations), Nihao Tea House on Holland Ave. (now closed), Maple Valley, and finally, Ottawa's newest competitor, the Toronto-chain Teashop 168. On my last bubble tea entry, I had updated foodiePrints' list of top bubble tea shops in Ottawa, but did not reveal number one. I shall now fill in that blank spot.

Last summer while looking for something spontaneous to do with my younger sisters as we waited for an order of pizza, we decided to walk from Hintonburg to Chinatown's newest bubble teashop, My Sweet Tea for something cold, sweet, and refreshing. Granted, My Sweet Tea has been in business since July 2008, but it was my first trip there. My youngest sister, who could probably live on a diet of bubble tea, claimed its drinks tasted just like those in Vancouver and Toronto and that I would not be disappointed. Sufficient to say, she was correct.


Signage My Sweet Tea

Located in the heart of Chinatown, My Sweet Tea provides great competition to another bubble tea shop on Somerset Street, Bubblicity, a popular Ottawa chain. Upon entering the shop, I was struck by the sheer delightful fruity smells in the air. There is nothing more comforting when entering a tea shop when you can smell recently made bubble teas of various flavours and tapioca pearls. The fruitiness is enough to put a happy grin on your face and the knowledge that you are in store for a great treat. The chic decor and furniture gives the shop a casual, yet sophisticated feel, and adds to the relaxing atmosphere inside.


Bubble tea barista making a customer’s order

Checking out the menu.....
My Sweet Tea serves a variety of bubble tea drinks in many flavours including ice tea, ice slush, milk tea, ice cream smoothies, yogurt drinks, blooming tea (hot drink). In addition, snacks of fish balls, chicken wings, toast, and chicken popcorn along with cake are also available.

I ordered my usual staple, a lychee bubble slush ($3.99 + $0.50 for jelly) . It was sweet, cold, and delicious. The lychee flavour was strong, but not overpowering. It also had just the right amount of lychee jelly pieces and there were no hard bits or shards of ice. More importantly as the slush slowly melted, the lychee flavour continued until the very last drop. I was in bubble tea heaven.


Lychee bubble slush served in a tall narrow glass cup

Don chose one of his favourites, a black tea based milk taro bubble tea. According to him, it was cold, sweet, milky and smooth, the right consistency of a taro flavoured drink. Feeling adventurous, Don decided to add red beans to his drink, rather than the usual tapioca pearls. The red beans were perfectly cooked and sweet. At $3.99 + $0.50 for the red beans, it was money well spent.


Milk Tea Taro-flavour (black tea base)


A close up of red beans

Looking for a Snack…
Despite finding a drink quenching my thirst, I was also in search of some food. Choosing from a curious selection of flavoured toast on the menu, I decided to try the honey toast. Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised to be presented with a thick slice of toasted white Asian-style bread drizzled with honey on a glass plate. Each bite had a lovely crunch, but found it somewhat greasy with honey tasting of the typical store-bought kind. I am not sure if I will order this dish again in the near future.


A snack of honey toast

Take Out Bubble Tea
Don’t have time to relax and hang out in the tea shop? No problem! My Sweet Tea also has a take-out option, serving the drinks in plastic cups and sealing them in a thick, but clear plastic sheet with teddy bears and a riddle written in Chinese.


Refreshing bubble teas to go! Delicious!

In the top left hand corner is a mango flavour bubble tea with mango jelly pieces, a favourite of my younger sister. Beside it, a black tea based taro-flavour milk tea with tapioca pearls. Below in the bottom right hand corner is a green tea based lychee-flavour ice tea with lychee jelly pieces. Finally in the bottom left hand corner is my drink, a lychee-flavour bubble slush with lychee jelly pieces.

Since the summer of 2009, Don and I have re-visited My Sweet Tea on numerous occasions and feeling satisfied each time. As a result, My Sweet Tea is foodiePrints’ pick for Ottawa’s best tea house!

4. Teashop 168
3. Bubblicity
2. Maple Valley
1. My Sweet Tea

Particulars:
My Sweet Tea
824 Somerset Street W.
(613) 321-3481

Earlier this afternoon Rosemary Vaughan (@ottambassador) of Ottawa Tourism tweeted a link to her blog (OTTambassador's Blog) where she embedded the following video.

OTTAWA - Summer in 30,000 Frames from NiWoTa on Vimeo.

The video was produced by NiWoTa, a "Creative Collective" that is based in Toronto. It is a great time-lapse collage of summer in Ottawa, compressed into 2 minutes 15 seconds.

52 seconds into the video, significant footage filmed at the Manor Park location (363 St-Laurent Boulevard) of Ottawa's Works Burger appears. It shows employees of our city's home grown "gourmet" burger chain, assembling and serving burgers and sides. Featured are the "Tower-o-Rings" ($9.41) and a "Hold the Phone Burger" ($11.31), which is topped with Peanut Butter, Cream Cheese, and Monterey Jack. Click here for our experience at that location. We recommend the Glebe location (580 Bank Street).

Thing is, Ottawa has many eateries besides the Works. Several are in the video. Here is a non-exhaustive list I have compiled.

• At 12 seconds, we see the giant vertical rotisseries of Shawarma Palace (464 Rideau), our recommend for the best chicken shawarma plate in the city.
• At 16 seconds, we see the ByWard Market farmers' market.
• At 46 seconds, we see Auld Dubliner (62 William Street) and Pour House (also 62 William Street), both pubs.
• At 49 seconds, we see Dunn's (220 Elgin Street), home of smoked meat poutine.
• At 50 seconds, we see Highlander's Pub (115 Rideau St), known to hold scotch tastings.
• At 51 seconds, there is footage of a patio from a restaurant in the ByWard Market I can't seem to pin point. If you know what the eatery is across the street or which eatery the patio belongs to, please leave me a comment.
• At 1 minute 12 seconds, we see the iconic Beaver Tails (69 George Street).
• At 1 minute 21 seconds, we see the 2009 Sparks Street Chicken & Rib Cook-Off.

I should note that Claudie Petrilli (@claudiapetrilli) of Swing Dynamite (a Swing Dancing School) tells me that the Pour House serves some great butter chicken.

Hats off to the NiWoTa Creative Collective. Great vid!

Update: The tweep behind the Works Burger's twitter account (@worksburger) identified the location where the footage was shot.

Sometime before Christmas, Jenn and I picked up a package from our local post office, a parcel wrapped in parchment paper and tied with butcher cord. Instantly, we knew it was a book and it came from a professional kitchen. Reading the return address, we realized it was mailed by someone in Ottawa's food industry whom we chat with regularly about food, food trends, and local restaurants, Chef Tracey Black of Epicuria Fine Food and Catering (419 Mackay Street). The book was Earth to Table, a cookbook, journal, and amazing collection of chefs' profiles. It's authors were Chefs Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann.

A month later, I learned Chefs Crump and Schormann were coming to Ottawa to host an event at the Urban Element (424 Parkdale Avenue). Only, the timing of the event was in flux as the executive and pastry chefs respectively were balancing running their restaurant, the Ancaster Old Mill (548 Old Dundas Road), and meeting engagements on their whirlwind book tour, stopping in New York City (cooking at the James Beard House), Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto. Chef Crump is also corporate chef at Spencer's At the Waterfront in Burlington, but more on that later.

Completely forgetting, I received word from twitter Chef Crump (@earth_to_table) was coming into Ottawa within days, so I quickly dropped an e-mail to Urban Element to sign up. Lucky for me, the fully booked event had two last minute cancellations. I eagerly snatched one up, making the Earth to Table event my first non-sponsored event. At $125 (before taxes) per attendee, attending decimated my restaurant budget for a month and a half. It was worth it.

Though, I was surprised by the lack of interest from other attendees to greet and chat with Chefs Crump and Schormann when I arrived. After I hung up my jacket, I noticed only a few attendees gathering around the chefs and authors. Everyone was there for a spectacular meal, each course paired with a fine wine. The ticket price included a short introduction to the chefs, a short presentation by the chefs, cheese and charcuiterie, dinner, and wine.

As co-owner/operator Carley Schelck told me when I passed on the wine pairing, had I warned her earlier, she would have made alternate arrangements for someone who doesn't drink wine. Yes, I am a food enthusiast who has not developed a palate for wine. Such regularly irritates front of house staff at several fine dining restaurants, but I digress.

Here is what we were served:
Hor'deurves

Winter Charcuiterie and Cheese
They were accompanied by cornichons, pickled onions, grainy mustard, and zucchini relish

Appetizer

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Brown Butter
The delicate gnocchi was pan fried in brown butter, sprinkled with Parmesan, and topped with deep fried sage leaves

Entree

Braised Beef Short Rib
The short rib was served with apple parsnip puree and whole roasted heirloom carrots

Impossibly Tender and Flavourful

Shot Ribs Broiled and Kept Warm in an Oven
With Chef Crump having staged at Heston Blumenthal's renowned Fat Duck restaurant, the short rib was braised sous vide at 70°C for 24 hours in a gremolata (green herbs and lemon zest). They were broiled in an oven afterward.

Dessert

Sticky Toffee Pudding
The toffee pudding was served in caramel with a "brandysnap" tuile (which tasted of dark sugars and ginger) and creme fraiche.

It was only after the meal attendees followed my lead and took books to be signed, mine already paged through (showing some wear) and me familiar with Earth to Table.

In the proceeding conversations, Chef Crump told us he is sometimes mistaken for Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and the Omnivore's Dilemma. Alas, flattered, he gently responds he is not Pollan and the famed author penned but a short paragraph after he reviewed the original manuscript. However, Chef Crump admits his book's North American publishing (by Random House in Canada), was more than likely the result of Pollan's blessing the manuscript and it being completed during the rise of of the 100-mile diet. When the 100-mile diet is brought up and he is questioned about whether locavorism is a fad, Chef Crump distances both his book and work from either.

More after the jump...