A sure sign you're Canadian is the uplifting feeling you get when the snowbanks melt away to reveal bare sidewalks again. You then throw off your heavy winter-wear. You don thick hoodies and vests and exclaim spring has arrived. The temperature, only 4C.

Greeted by sunlight this morning, Jenn and I wandered downtown to enjoy the newly warm weather; me, thick hoodied and she, vested. There, we decided try our luck at breakfast at the original SconeWitch (388 Albert Street). It is one of those eateries, we hear volumes about, but never found the time to try. Friends recently told us, the original was such a success another opened in the Beechwood area.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. When we arrived, we found the restaurant's 25 or so seats were already taken. The scent of butter pastry filled the air. And, it was uncomfortably humid inside. In fact, condensation clouded the front window, giving patrons a little privacy and a complementary moisture treatment. We ended up picking up an Eggwitch ($5.50), a B.L.T. (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) with pesto SconeWitch ($5.50), and an Orange Cranberry sweet scone ($1.90) to go.

Jenn's Eggwitch consisted of a savoury herb and onion scone that was hollowed out to hold eggs scrambled with cooked ham. Recommended by the line cooks at the back of the restaurant, my SconeWitch sandwiched baby mesculin with crisped and microwave re-heated bacon between the halves of feta scone. One half was brushed with a store-bought basil pesto. The other, spread with mayonnaise.

The Scone Witch is a canteen style restaurant. The dining room, decorated in a bistro style greets you when you walk in from the street. Against the wall is a graduation-style painting of chefs. In the middle is a witch with a tray of scones.

There is an open kitchen at the back. The separation is marked with a counter, where your order your food. We discovered lines formed at both the counter and at the door. The latter, for tables.

There are no servers. While the restaurant is professionally equipped, there is no traditional line. The three cooks who take orders and assemble scone dishes are also bakers and servers. When you eat in, they will bring your plates to you. After you eat, you head over to the cash and till to pay. When you eat out, they bag everything and point you to the cashier. Dishes are made to order. The cashier doubles as a dish washer, there being two dish washing stations in the restaurant. Given the turnover, I can imagine the restaurant going through a lot of dishes.

As we waited for our order, Jenn and I gave opening tables away and took our scones to a park bench on Kent Street, across from the Crown Plaza Hotel. There, we devoured our late breakfast. I found my sandwich quite the realization. Rich and decadent, well-made scones work in sandwiches. Mine was freshly baked, light and airy. Buttery, it tasted passingly of feta. With the peppery greens, nutty pesto, and salty bacon, I exclaimed with delight biscuit sandwiches did not even compare.

Jenn likewise enjoyed her breakfast, giving me her blackberry. The crumb of scone I stole from her when she wasn't looking was likewise light and buttery with just the right amount of dill.

Total cost: $15.57 (after taxes)

Next time, we're coming in when the place opens at 8:00 am on weekends for brunch. At $10.50, you get scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, a scone, and greens. The scone is accompanied with Moss Berry Farm jam or lemon curd. Everything is topped either with mustard-baked ham, a dollop of mushroom ragu, or Mediterranean vegetables and goat cheese.

Update: I looked into the comment from Pearl of the Eaten Up food blog that there was originally another Scone Witch in New Edinburgh neighbourhood. Indeed, the Scone Witch at 35 Beechwood Avenue was originally located on 42 Crichton Street. According to an older "The Materialist" blog by Kirstin Endemann of the Ottawa Citizen, the 42 Crichton Street location was takeout only. In September 2009, the former location was re-opened by Chef Susan Jessup as 42 Crichton Street Fine Foods.

Particulars:
The Scone Witch
388 Albert Street
(613)232-2173

More after the jump...

This past Friday, Jenn and I had the pleasure of meeting Vicky (@momwhoruns), blogger for the Urban Mom's blog and foodie. The "Not So Supermom" (but could have fooled us!) was visiting Ottawa for meetings, one with Costco and another with Farm Boy. She, an Ottawa ex-pat who makes her home in Toronto, we tweet quite the bit about the many foodie splendours her city has to offer. Before she arrived, we arranged a tweet-up for breakfast at Jak's Kitchen (479 Bronson Avenue), one of Ottawa's locally-owned restaurants, known for it weekend brunches.

After some pleasant discussion about food, blogging, some of Ottawa's better purveyors of pho, coffee, sushi, and the state of Chinatown post T&T, we tested Jak's reputation for serving our fair city's "best Eggs Benny."

Well, Jak's has a list of Eggs Benedict dishes, one shorter than the Lieutenant's Pump on Elgin (361).

Jak's Kitchen Eggs Benny Menu
The two Eggs Bennies Vicky and I ordered were nonetheless impressive.

Mine, the Don Francisco ($10), comes on black bean cakes with corn sofrito and a red pepper coulis.

Don Franciso Eggs Benny
Accompanying sides included deep fried freshly cut potatoes and a fresh salad, lightly dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Poached eggs on black bean cakes, corn sofrito, and red pepper coulis
The black bean cakes were crusted on a flat top and provided an earthy alternative to English muffins. The corn softrito was made with frozen corn and sweated celery and onion. It provided savoury flavours and some texture. The red pepper coulis provided sweetness and brightness.

Runny Poached Eggs
The eggs were well poached so the whites were set and and the yolks, still runny.

Vicky's, the Michelangelo ($10), comes on rosemary foccacia with capicolo ham and basil cream sauce.

Michelangelo Eggs Benny
Accompanying sides included the fried potatoes and a cup of fresh fruit.

Jenn ordered a Balderson omelette, sans cheese. It comes with sauteed sliced mushrooms, chopped shallots and chopped bacon.

Balderson Omelette
Accompanying sides included a buttery freshly made biscuit and a cup of fresh fruit.

What surprised me were the condiments. The jam tasted like it was made and jarred in-house, naturally fruity sweet, neither metallic nor artificially sweet. There was also a nice hot pepper sauce called "Shania", made by local Chamomile Desjardins.

Shania Hot Sauce

Total: $27.12 (before taxes, including tea and coffee).

Vicky, Jenn and I enjoyed our breakfasts very much. The food was great and so was the company. Vicky even blogged a quick mention of our encounter on Urban Mom's.

Would Jenn and I return to Jak's Kitchen? For brunch, absolutely! Given the specials we saw that day, we want to try its lunch too.

Specials
However, with Jak's Kitchen only having less than 2 dozen seats available, we suggest visiting in small groups.

Business Card

Jak's Kitchen's Business Card

Particulars:
Jak's Kitchen
479 Bronson Avenue
(613) 230-2088

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...

As I wrote in my recently posted muffin recipe entry, breakfast is quite the social quandary to me. What are acceptable breakfast foods? Why is it that we turn a blind eye to someone reaching for a cold slice of pizza for breakfast. Yet, we give others odd looks when they reach for leftover dessert. Are cheeseburgers appropriate breakfast foods when you're no longer in your 20s?

According to dictionary.com, breakfast food is defined as "any food (especially cereal) usually served for breakfast." Assuming this definition is apt, acceptable breakfast foods are determined more by shared experience, than by specific requirements. Thus, breakfast foods have a social root and cultural significance. This explains the regional specificities of breakfast foods.

The social and cultural aspects of breakfast food result in a large variety of foods eaten to start the day. This is evidenced by Esquire Magazine's online slideshow of the 59 "Best Breakfast Places in America", which has garnered 493 Digg's since it's posting 3 days ago. In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the breakfast of choice includes a slice of ham with red-eye gravy and cheese grits. In Conway, Arkansas, it's corn beef hash with fresh biscuits and strawberry preserves. In Atlanta, Georgia, it's fish and grits or a "heap" of potatoes, onions, cheddar jack, green peppers, two eggs and a slice of bacon. In Paia, Maui, Hawaii, it's the "top it anyway you want it" breakfast burrito. In Bloomington, Indiana, it's Eggs Benedict. In Chicago Illinois it's the cinnamon bun. In Wilmette, Illinois, it's potato pancakes with apple sauce and sour cream.

I'm born in Canada. I grew up in the suburbs of Ottawa. I am a urbanite and I love sandwiches, so I believe that breakfast foods should be bread, into or onto which goes "stuff." Here's what I consider appropriate to start the day:

Using the "banh mi hot ga op la" from the Wandering Chopsticks Blog as inspiration, here is the breakfast "bahn mi":

Halved Crusty Roll, Slathered with Liverwurst, and Stuffed with a Fried Egg

Add a slice of fresh lettuce, and you're balanced
Savory, eggy, crusty, crunchy, and sweet, the breakfast bahn mi also makes a great snack food item as well.

English muffins offer a myriad of choices. Toasted, they easily substitute the traditional bagel for a smoky and savory treat.

Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese and Capers
They also make great holders of ham and egg, producing a respectable home-made McMuffin

Deli sliced ham with a fried egg
Which happens to go well with a cup of freshly brewed Columbian coffee, especially if the coffee maker is a Christmas gift from the parents of your better half.

Nice cup of Columbian Coffee

Single Serving Coffee Maker

Speaking of Christmas, here's something I put together during the holidays, the Hello Kitty breakfast sandwich.

Take two pieces of Hello Kitty toast

Spread strawberry jam on one slice and cream cheese on the other

Assemble, Slice and Serve
Of course to make the Hello Kitty toast, you need some specialized equipment.

Hello Kitty Toaster
Otherwise, you've just a sweet and savory breakfast treat that borrows from Tim Horton's strawberry breakfast strudel.

Speaking of cheese, grilled cheese makes a very acceptable breakfast sandwich

Shredded Old Cheddar on Dark Rye, pan fried in butter
If you've no time to grill your cheese, try spreadable cheese such as individually wrapped wedges from the Laughing Cow dairy.

Laughing Cow Spreadable Cheese, Prison Mug, and 2 slices of Dark Rye

Unwrap

Spread, Repeat

Now if you're thinking of a platter for breakfast, you can do better than the "1 dollar" breakfast at Ikea

Tempting Dollar Breakfast at Ikea

Strange Textured Eggs, Dried Out Sausages, and Greasy Home Fries

Consider sourdough from Ottawa's own French Baker bakery. At a measly $3.50 per loaf, you've expertly baked bread for breakfast and something decent to sop up your excess pasta sauce with during dinner.

Small Loaf of Carefully Risen Sourdough

Crusty all over

Goes very well with scrambled eggs
While I found it somewhat less than sour, the loaf Jenn and I picked up at the local Herb and Spice on Wellington Street (1310) had an exquisite texture.

If you want to go to the source, you have to visit either its ByWard Market or Glebe locations.

French Baker Business Card

All this to say, with good bread and great fillings, you're spoiled for choice for breakfast.

Particulars:
French Baker
119 Murray Street
(613)789-7941
or
801 Bank Street
(613)236-7579
frenchbaker.ca

Herb and Spice
1310 Wellington Street W.
(613)722-5747

To me, breakfast is quite the social quandary. What are acceptable breakfast foods? Why is it that we turn a blind eye to someone reaching for a cold slice of pizza for breakfast. Yet, we give others odd looks when they reach for leftover dessert. For those of us who like a little cake in the morning, there is a perfectly acceptable substitute that carries no stigma: muffins.

Last week, I decided to split a batch of muffin batter and make a half dozen each of blueberry and cheese muffins. Muffins easily make it from the kitchen table into a lunch bag during the morning rush to work. They are easily consumed while sitting on the bus, on your way to work or sitting at your desk, waiting for your latest batch of corporate-mandated software updates to run.

My tried and true recipe comes from Alton Brown and an older episode of Good Eats, called the "Muffin Man." A slightly modified recipe follows:

Recipe

Sifted Dry Ingredients on a flexible cutting mat

Whisked Wet Ingredients with separate bowls of blueberries and cheese

Coated blueberries, coated cheese, and reserved topping blueberries

Fully incorporated batter

Tinned muffin batter

Baked muffins

Turned out blueberry muffins, cooling

Turned out cheese muffins, cooling

What you'll need:

• 350 g (approx. 12.5 oz) of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Heavy pinch of kosher salt
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of canola, sunflower, or vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup Balkan-style plain yogurt
• approx. 1 cup fresh blueberries
• approx. 1 cup of shredded mixed cheese (e.g. cheddar and mozzarella)
• vegetable shortening for greasing a standard 4x3 non-stick muffin tin

The original recipe called for cake flour, which produces less gluten when stirred. However, I tend to reserve my supply of cake flour for cakes, not everyday fare such as muffins.

As for the Balkan-style yogurt, I like its texture and flavour better than non-Balkan-style yogurt. Please note that I am a strong proponent of traditional styles of active culture yogurt. I have yet to find a good reason for producers to thin it down or add "probiotics."

As for the pedestrian muffin tin, one day, I'm going find myself a cast iron or cast aluminum muffin tin like pro's use. They are much more sturdy and retain heat better than consumer-grade non-stick tins. In the meantime, my $10 dollar muffin tin from Zeller's will have to do.

Prep:

1. Pre-heat an oven to 380F. When the unbaked muffins are added to the oven, the heat will be raised to an even 400F, ensuring a strong blast of heat to raise the batter.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together onto a flexible cutting board. I find that a flexible cutting mats allows you to add the dry mixture to the wet in easy doses. Besides, flexible cutting mats are cheap and react badly to proper knife work.
3. Place the blueberries (save for a handful) and shredded cheese into separate containers.
4. Reserve the handful of blueberries for topping the muffins.
5. Add 1 tbsp of the dry mix to each of the containers of cheese and blueberries. The coating of flour will ensure that the cheese and blueberries stay suspended in the muffins as they bake.
6. Mix to coat. AB's recipe says to add the dry mix to all of the blueberries. I find that coated blueberries retain their white flour coating even after baking. Twice, I had to dust my muffins with confectioner's sugar to make the white coating look intentional.
7. Grease the 3x4 muffin tin

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, oil, egg and yogurt
2. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until everything is just combined. Because this is a quick bread with wheat flour, working the dough more will create excess gluten. This excess gluten will keep the muffin from rising properly and the resulting texture will be less airy. The intention is to disguise cake as a breakfast food, not bake bread.
3. Allow the batter to rest for 3-5 minutes. This step permits the flour to hydrate.
4. Split the batter into two medium-sized bowls
5. Add the floured blueberries to one bowl and the cheese to the other
6. Stir each half batch of batter until the blueberries and cheese are evenly distributed, no more
7. Dose into the pre-greased 3x4 muffin tin using an ice-cream scoop or disher.
8. Top the blueberry muffins with the unfloured blueberries
9. Carefully place the tin into the oven and raise the heat to 400F
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through
11. Remove and turn out onto a tea towel.
12. Let cool completely before consuming.

I find that muffins last a couple days when stored in a sealed Tupperware container and left on the kitchen table. Though, because these muffins always turned out light, fluffy, and chock full of fruit or cheese, I have only had them last a couple days.

BTW, blueberries are somewhat economical this week (February 21, 2009) at the Superstore, considering that Ottawa is still trying to overcome the last vestiges of winter.

Cheap Blueberries from the Real Canadian Superstore
With a recipe this easy, it's a wonder that the food court coffee shops can even sell muffins with only a scant number of berries. At least, it's cake.