Ever since Jenn finished schooling at Queen's, she and I have been throwing Christmas dinners for her family every year. This year, we went with a turkey-based feast. Due to other engagements Thanksgiving weekend, we opted for Mongolian Hot Pot using a chicken pho broth in October. This left me without having cooked a turkey for 2009 and I could not let December pass without roasting one up.

Given the shopping insanity we witnessed at the nearby Loblaws Superstore (190 Richmond Road), leading up to the week of the 25th last year, we opted to order an (apparently frozen) organic turkey from Wellington's own Saslove's (1333 Wellington Street W.). Originally scheduled for pickup on Christmas Eve, we requested to fetch our turkey the day before (December 23, 2009). We were glad we did. Apparently, the entire neighbourhood and surrounding ones order turkeys from Saslove's. While the 22nd of December was quiet at Saslove's store front, word quickly spread that the entire shipment of turkeys had arrived. Surprised employees had to create a queue to the back of the butcher's the next day to hand out turkeys. They created a queue to the only cash and till that could handle debit and credit cards. They created a bypass queue to a second cash and till for anyone paying with cash. Guess which queue was longest? On the bright side, everyone in line was friendly to one another and the staff made light of the situation to lift spirits. I remarked to Jenn that we have never had a better turkey buying experience. Though, next year, we will be ordering two small turkeys instead of the giant $86.31 (before taxes) monstrosity we ended up lugging home. Interestingly, giblets cost an extra $5.

Dinner-wise, here is the menu we chose:
Chinese Appetizers (Small plates for Arrivals)

Small Plate Buffet

Rolled Prosciutto

• Pig tails slow poached in a soy master sauce with brown sugar, Chicken marinade, ginger, and star anise, served warm
• Stir fried ginger and scallion omasum (3rd stomach of a chow), served warm
• King oyster mushroom chips
• Atlantic smoked salmon
• Pingue prosciutto from The Piggy Market

Starter

• Cauliflower Soup, flavoured with Parmesan and topped with shredded and crisped king oyster mushroom

Mains

Feast

Tortiere

Lo Mai Fan in Lieu of Stove-top Stuffing

• Butter and Summer Savoury Roasted Turkey Breast
• Turkey Leg Confit
• Traditional Quebec Tortiere (filling: pork, ground beef, onion, cloves, rosemary, thyme, celery and potato) from Petit Bill's Bistro ($16.95, $5 of which to raise money for the Salvation Army's Toy Mountain campaign)
• Stir Fried Chinese Greens (Yu-Choy, which seems to be the green of choice this Christmas), courtesy of Jenn's mom.
• Sticky Rice (called Lo Mai Fan) with Chinese Sausage (lap cheung), celery, and shiitake mushrooms

Dessert

• Fresh fruit (freshly cut pineapple and orange segments)
• Apple Pie from Farm Boy, courtesy of Jenn's brother

Recipes follow:
Omasum
The recipe for the stir fried ginger and scallion omasum has already been posted to foodiePrints.

Pig Tails
Pig tails, like pig feet are offcuts prized by Asian cuisine. They are usually long braised in a sticky sweet sauce, loaded with umami for special occasions like Chinese New Year. For Christmas dinner, we opted to slow poach them (2 hours) in a soy master sauce, originally leftover from a red-braise. This master sauce is one Jenn and I continually re-adjust the seasoning of and use to poach chicken with to make soy sauce chicken. We poached the tails the night before and reheated them in a pan to caramelize the sugars, just before guests arrived.

Pig Tails Added to the Soy Master Sauce

Pig Tails Poached
The tails took on the flavours of the poaching liquid. Their skins softened and caramelized beautifully in a well seasoned cast iron pan on medium heat.

More after the jump...

Sleep deprived and with a second batch of chicken pho broth simmering under my better half's watchful eye, I ducked out to the ByWard Market two hours before our guests were scheduled to arrive for Thanksgiving dinner. Before you think this my deserting the kitchen to frivolously go shopping, Jenn and I decided to serve a Mongolian-style Hot Pot this year using the aforementioned broth. The meat, seafood, and vegetables had already been sliced and layered in between plastic film, ready for "service." I needed to re-stock the fridge, every piece of produce spoken for for dinner.

Here's what $20 CAD got me at the ByWard open air market, which was bursting with Autumnal vegetables that October weekend.

$20 of produce

Tomatoes, Russet Apples, and Uncured Red Onions
The majority of this produce was purchased from the Rochon Farms stall, my favourite local farm. Rochon also has a stall at the Ottawa Farmer's Market at Lansdowne, Gerard Rochon sitting on the board of that farmers' market.

Besides incredibly fresh tomatoes, apples, onions and carrots, I also picked up a pint of vegetables dreaded by many children at Thanksgiving.

Brussel Sprouts
Chosen for their tight and firm heads, this pint of brussel sprouts ran me $3.

Taking some inspiration from fellow local foodie @spoonsie, Ottawa's Bacon Princess, I cooked them up with bacon and onions.

Bacon and Onion Brussel Sprouts
The bacon was standard single smoked breakfast bacon, sourced from Saslove's Meat Market, $2.46 worth (approximately a half dozen rashers).

To make "Spoonsified" Brussel Sprouts, boil a pot of salted water (preferably kosher). Carefully add the brussel sprouts and cook for 10 minutes. Remove them to an ice water bath to cool. This "shocking" process will give the sprouts a brilliant green.

Chop the bacon and render them in a pan set to medium low. Essentially, slowly cook the bacon at relatively low heat to draw out its fat. When a couple tbsp of drippings "comes out", turn up the heat to medium and crisp the bacon.

Remove the crisped bacon bits, draining them of their drippings and set them aside. Pour the bacon drippings into another pan. Alternatively, you could do what I did: reserve the drippings, de-glaze the pan with some water, dump out the water, wipe the pan, and replace the drippings.

Halve the brussel sprouts and dredge the cut side in a very thin layer of corn or rice starch. Place them in the pan of bacon drippings, the brussel sprouts cut side down and the bacon drippings heated on medium to shimmering.

Carefully, placing the brussel sprouts in the bacon drippings.

Fry them in the bacon drippings for 1.5-2 minutes.

Frying to crust the brussel sprouts

Remove the brussel sprouts from the pan once a crust forms and the sprouts heat through. For a pint of sprouts, this will take two batches. You may need to supplement the bacon drippings with vegetable oil.

When all the brussel sprouts have been crusted, de-glaze with a medium chopped onion and sautee until coloured.

Assemble everything, chopped onion, crisped bacon, and crusted brussel sprouts together and serve.

The resultant brussel sprouts take on a bacony flavour while remaining earthy, crisp, and green. The onion and bacon add savory. They disappeared quickly...

As for what happened to the rest of the produce, the carrots and onions were sweated and the tomatoes roasted for a sauce.

Roasted Tomatoes

Roasted Tomato Sauce
The russet apples...Well, I'll leave that for another blog.

Particulars:
Saslove's Meat Market
50 Byward Market Square
(613)241-9266

With Food Day upon us, my better half and I decided to scrap our planned menu and "fly by the seat of our pants." In my case, bike shorts, well Bermuda shorts billowing in the wind as we raced down Wellington Street and Richmond Road on our bikes. With two burly backpacks loaded with ice packs, we decided that our food story for food day would be one about the epicurean row of shops and restaurants we love so much.

To start the day, I woke Jenn with fresh from the baker's oven sticky buns. Where does one find sticky buns first thing on a Saturday morning? That would be at 3 Tarts bakery on Wellington Street West (1320).

Signage
During the past week, I started hearing great things about the bakery. At the monthly Hintonburg Supper Club meeting, neighborhood locals sang praises of 3 Tarts' lemon tarts. On Twitter, a tweep who goes by the name @jmoore613, tweeted that 3 Tarts makes some great cupcakes.

Jmoore613 Jul 30, 01:13 AM
@foodiePrints 3 tarts make better cupcakes. Check it

Then, Paola St-Georges, caterer and personal chef, chimed in.

PaolasEpicure Jul 30, 09:56 AM
3 Tarts=a fave pastry shop @foodiePrints. Delectable treats made w/ best ingredients. Also try sticky buns in am (go fast) & butter tarts!

On Twitter, Paola goes by @PaolasEpicure and has established herself to be an excellent authority on things food in Ottawa, so who am I to question?

With the bakery opening at 9 on Saturdays, I dashed to be one of the first in line. When I arrived, I found 3 people lined up before me. What did they want? Sticky buns! 3 Tarts, however, is not a one baked treat wonder, just look at its display case:

Display Case
It sells cupcakes, cookies, cakes, squares, pies and tarts, and loaves and scones.

Bakery available at 3 Tarts - front

Bakery available at 3 Tarts - back
At $2.25/bun, I picked up a pair with pecans and a pair without. They were still hot from the oven that, as I carried them home, they actually warped the box they were put in.

Warped Box

2 Pairs
And they were every bit as good as Paola says they are. They are what I like to call impossible pastry. They've substance (heft).

Hefty sticky buns with pecans

Hefty sticky buns without pecans
But, were fluffy, almost flaky, and sported a very thin caramel crust.

Bottom end of stick buns

Texture
Best of all, they were not overly sweet. Yet, they retained a sticky bun identity, delivering a wonderful caramel flavour.

Only able to finish one each of the lovely sticky buns, I gave the remaining pair, still warm, to a neighbour. Then, Jenn and I set out to pick up ingredients to participate in Food Day Canada: grilled Food Day Burgers. First, we headed down to Westboro to avail ourselves of some hot smoked bacon and local cheese from our favourite gourmet shop in Ottawa, The Piggy Market (400 Winston Avenue).

Signage

Tamsworth Bacon

Bacon Thick-Sliced

Prince Edward County Medium Cheddar Cheese

Cheese Thinly-Sliced
Cost (with an in-house savory pie and after taxes): $20.26

On our way home, we went to Saslove's (1333 Wellington Street W.) for some medium ground beef and chorizo sausages (pictured above with the Tamsworth Bacon).

Signage

Medium Ground Beef
Cost (after taxes): $15.98

What would be burgers without buns? Harvest Loaf (1323 Wellington Street W.) provided us 6 lovely white bread hamburger buns for $4.25.

Signage

Half Dozen Buns
Cost (after taxes): $4.25

To accompany the burgers, we went to the Parkdale Market's Savour Ottawa certified Rochon Farms stall. There, we picked up corn (4 for $2.50) and a pair of extra-large beefsteak tomatoes ($3.00).

Signage

Sweet Corn
Cost: $5.50

Afterward, we set to work assembling our Food Day Canada dinner:

Beef mince seasoned with red pepper flake, salt, pepper, and butter caramelized onions

5 oz portioned patties

Ready for the Grill

Particulars and finished burgers follow after the jump...

More after the jump...

The microwave just blinked 8:00 pm (EST) on this, a restful, Easter Monday. The setting sun against a clear sky seems to corroborate the determination. The Easter weekend has ended. It is time to take stock of the holiday and share highlights with the masses, well my loyal few.

That said, Jenn and I decided not to run the Easter gauntlet this year as we did the Thanksgiving and Christmas ones, opting for a more low key holiday. We went to a newly opened sushi restaurant on Good Friday. We made a somewhat elaborate meal on Saturday for our neighbor, Viv, to celebrate her surviving yet another harrowing week at "the office." And, we served up decent bowls of noodles to family on Sunday.

Friday Sushi
On our way back from our culinary excursion through the Wellington and Westboro villages, we stopped by the newly opened Sushi Umi that was once Amate on Wellington (1311). There, we had a chat with its chef/owner and took a take out menu, promising to return.

Sushi Umi

That evening, we think we were its only patrons. The restaurant was unfortunately empty. Its tables and chairs were untouched since we visited that afternoon. Its Asahi Beer sushi a-la-cart menus were gleaming and unmarred by hot cups of fragrant sesame tea.

Untouched Seats in Sushi Umi's red interior
On the bright side its chef/owner and his wife lavished their entire attention on us and served a very decent meal.

We started with a pretty good miso soup, which is so common as to be cliche, so I won't bother you with pictures. For starters, my better half had the tempura. I, the sashimi martini.

Tempura ($5.95)

Martini Sashimi ($7.95)
Jenn found the tempura fresh, crisp, and pleasantly crunchy. The magic to tempura is impossible light batter, encasing carefully cooked vegetables and shrimp. It was executed well here. As was the martini sashimi. It was a wonderful concoction of whimsy, marrying both form and function. Martini glasses are meant to keep cocktails cold by sequestering heated palms to the stems. Sushi is, as much texture, as flavour and must be served chilled. Regarding the glass' contents, both the surf clam and salmon sashimi were fresh. The tamago (egg) and shrimp were pre-cooked and chilled. I didn't care for the shrimp as it tasted like the bad cocktail variety (overcooked and watery), but I forgave the shrimp for the presentation. I honestly was hesitant to eat such a feast for the eyes.

For mains, Jenn had the salmon terriyaki bento. I, the "Wellington" combo. Hers came with a tail piece of salmon, two freshly fried beef gyozas (dumplings), salad with a squirt bottle of dressing, two cali rolls, and rice.

Teriyaki Bento ($19.95)
Regarding the squirt bottle, the restaurant was newly opened and the chef couldn't find a smaller container, so he gave us his bottle. In it was a very pleasant sesame and ginger dressing. Jenn seemed to have enjoyed her meal, making only one negative comment. The salmon was slightly more done than she preferred. I tried a sliver and pointed out that she clearly hadn't eaten salmon at any big box restaurants recently. I found the salmon done but quite tender. I also enjoyed the piece of gyoza that Jenn put on my plate, crispy skin with a soft and savory beef filling.

For my main, the chef/owner apologetically came to me to tell me that they had no tuna. Having enjoyed my salmon from the martini (never imagined ever typing that phrase), I asked him to substitute more fresh salmon.

Wellington Combo ($11.95)
The fish (salmon and red snapper) was fresh and served at the appropriate temperature. Though, I've never been served nigiri long and narrow before. The rice in maki rolls and nigiri beds were loosely packed and neatly made, so they fell apart in my mouth as I ate them. Don't worry, I used my soya sauce and wasabi prodigiously, as the chef already placed some wasabi in the nigiri. I was sated, but, if you are truly hungry, I recommend opting for Jenn's bento box.

All in all, it was a decent sushi outing, good by Ottawa standards, average by Vancouver standards. In the coming weeks, the chef/owner told us that he plans multiple menus per dinner service. That evening, he operated from the take out menu as his hired cook was off because of the Easter weekend and not all of his supplies had arrived.

Saturday Shawarma
Between picking up duck confit and Niagara bresola (more on this later...promise!) from the Piggy Market (400 Winston Avenue) and preparing dinner for our neighbour, we had takeout for lunch: two trios to go from Istanbouli Shawama House's newly opened Holland Avenue location (81).

Istanbouli Take-Out Trio
Here's a picture of the unwrapped sandwich from another outing.

Istanbouli Eat-In Trio
Think succulent crusted chicken with fresh vegetables and pickles in slightly toasted pita. Accompanying is fresh (sometime microwaved hot) and always crispy potatoes with creamy garlic sauce. There's enough carbs here to fuel a couple days of cooking, let alone the couple hours that followed. Jenn burned off the rest of the calories with a bout of Wii tennis. Me, I attacked the dirty dishes, pots, and pans.

Saturday Dinner Party
Yes, we served rabbit Saturday evening. No, I don't think it inappropriate. Bunnies are celebratory in pagan rituals and have very little to do with the Christian holiday that is Easter. That said, the following images may disturb some (Ryan), so I am going to include pictures of Saturday's meal after the jump.

More after the jump...

While I am extremely grateful to be employed, cubicle life keeps me from enjoying much of the morning sunlight. After March's daylight savings time change, the sun rises as I hop out of bed to start my morning routine. After taking a crowded bus to the office, one of my cube's walls butts up against the windows, effectively blocking the sun.

It being sunny this Good Friday, what do you think my better half and I did to enjoy it? We took the opportunity to wander from the beginning of the Wellington Village to the end of the Westboro Village. We ate at our favourite restaurant for breakfast. We stopped by the local butcher's to set aside something for tomorrow's dinner. We picked up some sweets for Easter. And, we checked out a newly opened purveyor of artisanal meats and ice cream.

Aroma Meze:
First off, we checked to see if Aroma Meze had opened its doors. I have heard good things about its downtown location, so I have been faithful about checking each week.

Old Destination Hair Signage Still Up

Not Open Yet
Next: bunny

Bunny for Easter:
This year's new year resolution is to visit our local butcher's, Saslove's (1333 Wellington Street), more often. Today, that's where we purchased a whole rabbit. For Easter, I decided to forgo the more traditional lamb or turkey and chose to serve the Easter Bunn..er rabbit. The staff at Sasloves found the idea somewhat disturbing, but not at all uncommon. Of the 3 fresh rabbits in the case, we chose one at random, paid for it ($20.62 before taxes), and asked to set it aside for pickup later on that afternoon.

Saslove's

Rabbit for Easter
Next: breakfast.

Breakfast at John's:
Jenn and I can't say enough good things about John's (1365 Wellington Street). To us, it is "hands down" the best place for breakfast in Ottawa. It's lunch isn't too shabby either, but breakfast was extended today past 11:00 am to accommodate those of us who slept in.

This time around, we sat at the bar and chatted with longtime restaurant owner John, whose young granddaughter was visiting the restaurant. Jenn had her regular, the 2 egg breakfast: scrambled eggs; sausages, not bacon; and dry toast with jam. Me, I asked the waitress for whatever she had just served one of the booths across from us. It turned out to be the breakfast club.

Breakfast Club $9.95
It tasted as good as it looked, with wonderful textural and flavour contrasts. Its bottom layer had melted shredded cheddar. Its top, a thin spread of real mayonnaise to protect the toasted bread from the tomatoes. There was plenty of bright tomato, crisp lettuce, fried egg, and salty bacon in every bite. A hallmark of breakfast at Johns, the home fries were not at all greasy. They were however seasoned with paprika and made to order. The beans, on the other hand, more than likely came from a can. I'm not holding the beans against the meal. It was wonderful and filling.

During our meal, John told us that his restaurant is "famous" in Ottawa for its club sandwiches. After re-thumbing through the menu, we discovered that John's serves a long list of club sandwiches, all on platters for $9.95 each. Having thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast club, I can understand why patrons would like John's club sandwiches. The next time I dine at John's, it's going to be for lunch and I'm ordering the smoked meat club. There is also a tuna club, ham club, chicken club, turkey club, and much more.
Next: Loeb

Loeb's renovations:
The Loeb in the Wellington Village had announced its renovations weeks in advance. Apparently, after Metro's purchase of Loeb from the former Provigo a decade ago and Loeb becoming a subsidiary of A&P in 2006, Metro has decided to include all stores under its banner. Already, the Loeb website has been subsumed by Metro's. Jenn and I surmise that the scheduled renovations at Loeb are to add the Metro branding to the store itself.

Loeb's side signage had been taken town

Street signage has a placeholder for something else
Next: Sweets

Easter Sweets:
With the sheer number of Easter chocolates in the stores, it is difficult not to pass an easter weekend with sweets. As such, Jenn and I stopped by Truffle Treasures (314 Richmond Road). There, we picked up something to taunt the bunny with ($6.95) and some hand made candy chews ($0.65 each), one lime and the other lemon.

Chocolate Carrot and Citrus Candy Chews
While I have read that the truffles are of "contentious" quality, the candy chews were pleasant, not cloying sweet and gently flavoured with citrus.
Next: Wesboro's newest foodie destination

Piggy Market:
Having read about it in the Ottawa Citizen last week, I was excited to visit the Piggy Market. According to its profile, it is a butcher shop, a local food store, a caterer, and purveyor of ice-cream. If you think this an odd combination, go visit the store at 400 Winston Avenue, just off of Richmond Road.

Road Signage

Store Signage
There, you will find that its owners, Pascale Berthiaume, Dave Neil, and Warren Sutherland, have opened a foodie's paradise of a "general store", selling everything from classic charcuterie and artisanal meats to preserves and premium ice-cream. All goods are locally sourced, most within "100 miles" of Ottawa. Everything is made fresh and with care. Best of all, Dave (don't call him "sir") Neil and Pascale Berthiaume are enthusiastic about their products and extremely friendly.

Berthiaume makes high quality ice cream with real cream and natural flavourings like vanilla from vanilla beans, which she is proud to show off along side her Italian-made stainless steel ice cream makers. When she's not making ice cream, she happily doles out samples and answers questions, even those from a wide-eyed and slightly giddy writer of foodiePrints.

Ice Cream Makers

Sample Vanilla mixed with Malted Chocolate
Hers is not Philadelphia-style ice cream. The half litre containers that bear Berthiame's name and likeness contain ice cream that is made with eggs. This means that the ice cream is rich, carries flavours well, and has a very slow melting profile. This is full flavored ice cream the way the French and the Italians like it. It is not aerated like supermarket ice creams, heavy not light on the tongue. Jenn and I sampled vanilla and malted chocolate flavours. Without exaggeration, we were relegated to giggly children, tasting ice cream for the first time. Damn, it's good!

Jenn and I dropped a tenner for a tub of Passion Fruit Ice Cream to spring on friends this weekend.

One Tub of Passion Fruit Ice Cream
Next time, we're torn between vanilla or the salted caramel. We may end up buying both...

Neil, former sous chef from the Sweetgrass Aborginal Bistro, fills his display cases with mouth watering products. When we visited, he was doling out pulled pork in plastic containers. He fills his display cases with delicacies that those of us who enjoy charcuterie can only read about.

Meat Display
What caught my eye were the cured meats, freshly made sausages, and duck confit. Now that I think about it, his duck confit looked like the "real thing", dry cured duck legs that were slowly cooked in fat and left to cool. How do I know? They're not individually plastic wrapped and sport a thick layer of duck fat. That does it! I'm going to pick up a pair for dinner tomorrow!

All-in-all, I think the day was well spent!

Business Cards follow after the jump.

More after the jump...