This year, from June 1 to June 15, Amnesty International organized the "Taste for Justice" fundraiser to support its work to stop violence against women. Many participants hosted Taste for Justice events or "dined in", by registering online, planing an event, ordering a "Host Kit", inviting guests, distributing donation forms, and directing all proceeds to Amnesty International. Others "dined out" at number of participating restaurants in several Canadian cities.

In Ottawa, 20 restaurants participated as "Taste for Justice Friends." One, Infusion Bistro (825 Bank Street), a "Partner for Freedom." Taste for Justice Friends donate a portion of proceeds from June 1-15. Partners for Freedom restaurants donate a minimum of $750 and actively promote Amnesty campaigns year-round. Chef Matthew Carmichael's e18hteen (18 York Street) donated a percentage of sales from its seasonal strawberry shortcake.

In the Wellington West neighbourhood, we had three participating restaurants: Agave Grill (1331 Wellington Street), Caffé Mio (1379 Wellington Street), and Thyme & Again Catering (1255 Wellington Street).

While I'm told that Agave Grill makes a stunning mojito and is owned by the former owner of Feleena's Mexican Restaurant (Comida Mexicana) in the Glebe (corner of Bank (742) and Third), Jenn and I decided to support Amnesty International by finally giving Thyme & Again a try. After all, we've passed by the caterer/eatery hundreds of times during our 5 years, living in Wellington West.

Thyme & Again
According to its website, Thyme & Again caters events of various sizes, from dinner parties to weddings, and operates a popular brick and mortar retail space, called its "food shop." They also supply the dishes served at the nearby Great Canadian Theater Company's (GCTC) in-house restaurant, mostly food that the establishment can heat up or serve cold.

Regarding their food shop, it is stocked with frozen dinner ideas from game-meat stuffed pasta, vegetable stir fries, soups, desserts, breakfast scones, and even tourtiere. Their "eat-in" options include various pastries (both miniature and full-size tarts), cookies, chocolates (mostly in-house made truffles), soups, pot pies, and sandwiches. They also serve entrees that change from month to month. Everything is listed on their website.

Me, I love sandwiches, so we went to Thyme & Again for a light dinner after work. Unfortunately, we were served sandwiches that were wrapped in plastic and chilled for several hours. We surmise this is because the majority of the store's "sandwich" business comes from its lunch service. Because workers from surrounding office buildings, including from the large government campus called Tunney's Pasture, pile into the establishment during lunch time, sandwiches may be made en-mass in the morning. Such leaves whatever remainder after the lunch rush for the afternoon and evening.

Originally, I wanted a calabrese sandwich: capicolla ham, soprasetta, orovolone cheese, red onion, and spicy eggplant finished with a lemon herb mayonnaise. They were all out. Instead, I had the "Green Thai Curry Roast Beef with Lemon Grass Aioli and Smoked Gouda." Jenn, the dilled Egg Salad: egg salad with fresh dill and chives.

Green Curry Roast Beef ($5.25)
My roast beef sandwich was less than impressive. The roast beef tasted bland and had a refrigerated texture. The seeded kaiser had succumbed to the cold, hardening and tasting somewhat stale. The smoked gouda added some sharpness. The featured "green curry and lemon grass" flavours came from the aioli, which was unevenly spread throughout the sandwich. As such, some bites carried faint flavours. Others, much more.


Dilled Egg Salad ($5.25)
Jenn was equally unimpressed with hers. Her egg salad had only fleeting dill flavours, which is normally a powerful herb. She tasted no chives. Her kaiser was equally hard and stale. In fact, she had difficulty eating her sandwich as the egg salad kept spurting out the opposite end. She also found it somewhat too salty for her linking.

At $11.87 after taxes, but before tip, I was glad a portion was going to charity. Else, this would have been a rather expensive "cafeteria"-style sandwich.

Here is Thyme & Again's card:

Front

Back

In fact, I was so non-plussed that the next day, I moved up my visit to a Portuguese bakery and sandwich shop near my workplace, so I could remind myself what a made to order sandwich tastes like.

Estoril
Located in Gatineau (89 rue Eddy), Boulangerie Estoril is family owned and run. It supplies ethnic Portugese products along with more French-style freshly baked bread. Its signage is tattered and well worn. There are domestic chest freezers in the middle of the retail space. Its eating area only has a handful of tables. However, it serves deli-sliced made-to-order sandwiches, something I readily appreciated after my experience with Thyme and Again. It's owners, an older couple that speak mostly Portuguese and French, are also warm and friendly.

And yes, Estoril is located nearby two large government complexes Place du Portage and Terrasses de la Chaudière, furthering the comparison with Thyme & Again.

For a measly $3.95 (before tip or taxes), I was able to pickup their "Portuguese Special": deli-sliced Portuguese sausage (whose Paprika flavours have me thinking it was linguiça); Portuguese cheese; all, on a freshly baked roll with mayonnaise and yellow mustard.

Lunch

Portuguese Special

Linguiça?
It was delicious, every flavour playing well with one another: savory, spice, sharp, and bright. Best of all, the textures met my expectations for an ethnic sandwich shop: fresh bread, slicer thin meat, and a generous amount of cheese. None, cold!

For dessert ($1 more), I picked up a Portuguese egg tart, which differs greatly from the Chinese variety that is served at dim sum.

Egg Tart
Served chilled, the egg tart's custard was dense and sweet, tasting of vanilla and slight hints of caramel. Its pastry was light and flaky.

If you work in walking distance of Estoril, I urge you to drop by.

It seems the only redeeming quality of our visit to Thyme & Again is our discovering a cache of Pascale's ice cream.

Pascale's Ice Cream
Thyme & Again sells Pascale's ice cream a dollar more ($10.95) than she does at the Piggy Market. This is good information for those evenings when we have surprise guests and we need to make an ice cream run.

Nevertheless, with its reputation, I promise to try Thyme & Again again, perhaps when I find them supporting another charity campaign.

More after the jump...

Sunday afternoon, my better half and I took our guests to the Piggy Market in Westboro to visit Dave Neil and Pascale Berthiaume. Apparently, we arrived two hours before closing. Pascale had just returned from the Landesdowne Farmers' Market. Both she and Dave was visibly worn, but happy to answer all of our friends' many questions. Suffice it to say, Abby and Mlle Ling were curious about just about everything in the self professed "fine food delicatessen with a focus on artisanal pork products, and locally produced foods."

Bread and Smoked Duck Breasts
In the end, we picked up a loaf of oat and cranberry Art Is In bread and a pair of smoked duck breasts. Originally, I promised Mlle Ling duck confit, but Dave was all out. He offered me some frozen ones, but I substituted smoke duck breasts instead.

Abby Carefully Slicing the Art Is In Bread

Pair of Smoked Duck Breast

Sliced, served chilled
Mlle Ling's boyfriend Thomas picked up a tub of Pascale's Hazelnut and Chocolate ice cream for dessert.

Dave also graciously invited me back to see a batch of in-house hot smoked pork belly bacon. Were I not just in the market for appetizers for that evening's dinner, I think I would have walked away with an entire side. It looked and smelled incredible.

Total cost of duck breast and bread: $32.25 (and worth every penny!)

When I tweeted what I planned to serve as an appetizer (thinly sliced smoked duck breast on artisanal bread), Epicuria's Chef Tracey Black mentioned that smoked duck breast goes very well with fruit chutney. Yes, Chef! I then walked up to my fridge and demanded ingredients. My fridge coughed up a pair of mangoes, so I made mango chutney.

Mango Chutney
With limited ingredients and time, I settled on FoodTV's Anna Olson's recipe with slight omissions. The modified recipe follows:

Recipe

Ingredients

Diced Onions

Baking Chutney

Done
Things you'll need:

• 2 cups diced mango - I know, mass would be better. Still, 2 regular large mangoes produce 2 cups of diced flesh
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• zest of 1 orange
• white granulated sugar to sprinkle

Prep:

1. Disassemble the mango, onion, and ginger
2. Pre-heat an oven to 375°F

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a non-stick pan and simmer on medium to medium-low heat until the onions are tender and the liquid reduces to a syrup
2. Spoon the mixture into heat proof ceramic containers. I used oval gratin dishes
3. Sprinkle with sugar
4. Bake for 20 minutes

The latter oven baking is meant to create a sugar syrup on top of the chutney. Had I a butane torch, I would have brullé'd the top.

Since there was no time to cool the chutney or allow it to mature its flavours, I chose to add some caramel sweetness and serve it warm. My intention was to pair savory and smokey with spicy and bright. The pairing worked.

Served

Playful Plating
Think duck breast. dry cured with spices. hot smoked. sliced thin, served chilled. Accompanying it, on slices of expertly worked bread, was something sweet, bright, and spicy.

Stew
Here is the additional entree I was asked to make: slow cooked beef stew (4 hours), using beef rib meat.

Beef Stew
Regarding the sauce, it came from blening the onions I stewed the beef with, forced them through a strainer, and using the resultant puree to thicken leftover braising liquid. Major flavourings: light soy sauce, fish sauce, and black pepper.

Bacon Waffles
For breakfast the next Monday, I snuck out of the condo early in the morning to barbecue a typical supermarket-sized package of bacon.

Barbecued Bacon

Bacon Mountain
When I came back, I whipped up a batch of cookingnook.com's waffle batter: 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 cups plain flour, and 1/2 tsp baking powder via the muffin method; thinned with 2 oz melted butter and 2 tbsp cold water; and lightened with firm peaked egg whites. While the mixture was hydrating, I ran the crisped and cooled bacon through a food processor and added the fine crumbs to the batter.

Batter

Then, my better half ran the batter through our waffle maker. Result: bacon waffles, which tasted really good with pancake syrup.

Waffle maker

Waffles

Texture
Think light waffles, crisp, and loaded with savory bacon bits.

Lunch in the Byward Market follows after the jump...

More after the jump...

If you head over to Costco, you can pickup a box of 6 sealed 6 oz packages of deli-sliced Montreal-style smoked meat in the cold-cut section. They come from Dunn's, an authentic purveyor of smoked meat, whose various establishments sell really tall smoked meat sandwiches. Each package is meant for an individual serving, which, as I found out, equates to an entire meal. Instructions on the box recommend storing the packages refrigerated if they are to be eaten soon or frozen for the long term.

Great! So what happens when it comes time to put together a sandwich? The meat is cold and uncooperative. It's not clear if the packaging could survive being submersed in boiling water. Solution: make like a deli and steam the meat like it were pastrami.

Step 1: Cut the meat out of its packaging and place it into aluminum foil

Wrapped and ready for steaming

Step 2: Bring 2-3 inches of water to a boil in a pot at medium heat. The pot needs to be able to accommodate either a steamer basket or a colander.

Step 3: Once water has been brought to a rolling boil, turn the heat down to medium-low. Place the wrapped meat into the steaming apparatus and steam for 5 minutes

Step 4: Remove, let stand 2 minutes, plate up and serve.

Serving Suggestions:
Single Decker with Dijon mustard and medium cheddar cheese on rye

Layering

Served
Suffices a regular appetite at supper time.

Double Decker with Dijon mustard, medium cheddar cheese, sliced baby tomatoes, on rye

Served
Eat when starving for dinner at supper time.

On February 21, 2009, a user named Carlos Kelley (handle: Ourselves), submitted a website to digg.com with the title "the Top 1 Greatest Sandwiches of All time. Ever." The website was wikipedia and the subject, the iconic Peanut Butter and Jelly (PB&J) Sandwich. As of today, the wikipedia entry on the PB&J has garnered 1703 "diggs" and is the second "best match" item when you search for the word "sandwich." The first, is a top 10 list of sandwiches from a video game blog called Screw Attack. The PB&J placed first on that list.

Since I am allergic to peanuts, here is my answer to the classic PB&J:

Cashew Butter and Jam Sandwich
Meet the CB&J. It is a perfect balance of flavor (nut and fruit) and texture (smooth and crunchy).

My better half packed the sandwich for my breakfast this morning. Remembering that we had leftover homemade cashew butter from making a batch of hummus, she sandwiched just the right amount of it with store bought strawberry jam in two slices of Rideau Bakery light rye bread. It was delicious.

BTW, Jenn and I are presently substituting rye bread for our usual week's loaf of whole wheat. Rideau Bakery's rye bread is our favourite light rye to date. Its texture is pleasantly dense and its flavour is unmatched. It can be purchased from many of Ottawa's megamarts. Loblaws, Superstore, and Farmboy resells Rideau Bakery bread.

Particulars:
Rideau Bakery
384 Rideau Street
(613)789-1019

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