A meatless variation with an over-easy egg, satiny avocado, sweet tomato and salty queso fresco stacked on a ­buttery egg bun. $10. Delux

Succulent porchetta, crunchy pork cracklings, smoked Gouda, a fried egg and grainy mustard on a light Caldense bun. $6.45. Porchetta and Co.

A crisp toasted English muffin with chive-spiked scrambled eggs, gooey sharp cheddar and sweet onion jam so good it should be sold by the jar. $8.The Gabardine

And my personal favourite:

A Thuet croissant cradles two perfectly poached free-range eggs, smoked coho salmon and silky Béarnaise flecked with chervil, tarragon and dill. $14.50. Mildred’s Temple Kitchen

courtesy of: torontolife.com

i’ve been hearing a lot about this dish lately, but i’ve never made it before. this will be on tap for a dinner next week. after some virtual digging around, it seems that giada’s recipe reigns queen…978 people average a 5 star rating on this puppy. here’s the deets:

Ingredients

• 2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All-purpose flour, for dredging
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

courtesy of sushi couture on bloor street (and jeff).

p.s. this place is by far the best one on the bloor street sushi strip…a notch above the rest

i don’t know that i’d go to all the trouble to make these, but i’m a sucker for a good latke and this picture makes my mouth water. click the pic if you’re in a hardcore potato/parsnip mood for a link to this smitten kitten recipe.

nom.

in general, i’m not a fan of chain restaurants…there are too many delicious options in this city to settle on some mediocre, cookie-cutter cuisine. 

however, there is an exception.

i adore P.F. Chang’s. i just do. crunchy, sweet, salty, coated chicken and shrimp. tasty noooooooodles and veggies and flavourful fried rices. but nothing…and i mean nothing…beats their infamous lettuce wraps. i’ve tried countless times to replicate it, researching copycat recipes, to no avail. nothing even comes close. 

when i was there a few weeks ago, i grilled our waiter on the ingredients in the lettuce wraps and he told me that 90% of their customers order them. he then started rattling off ingredients, but the only thing i remember is “vegetarian oyster sauce”, which i’ve never seen in any copy cat recipe.

anyways toronto, apparently the tasty, americanized chinese food chain is heading our way sometime later in 2012. 

click here for a very popular lettuce wrap recipe (although it won’t taste AS good as the real thing).

LaSpadas. Fort Lauderdale Florida.

you think you’ve had great sandwiches before, but nothing compares to this. it’s the king of all sandwiches. it’s the jedi grand master of the hoagie galaxy. it’s freaking phenomenal and i’m not exaggerating even a little.

the secret behind the magic is a combination of super fresh ingredients (all meats and cheeses are sliced before your eyes as you order them), delicious toppings (sweet peppers, hot peppers, pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato, oregano, oil and vinegar), the “tuck” technique (all hoagies are topped with an extra layer of meat or cheese that’s tucked in to keep the whole puppy together), and the efficient assembly line sandwich production:

this place has been around forever and there are now 4 or 5 different locations around the fort lauderdale area, but my go-to spot is the lauderdale-by-the-sea location on sea grape. don’t let the crazy, out the door lineups deter you…it moves fast. also, unless you’re a total beast, just order a small (8 in) because it’ll guaranteed be enough to fill you up. over the years, i’ve never been able to score the crab meat hoagie because they would always run out early in the day, but this time i got it (ok, fine….i got it twice). check out this beauty:

oh, and the prices are unbeatable for what you’re getting. every single time i’ve visited this place over the past 10-15 years, i wonder how the heck i can franchise it and bring it toronto. and it just can’t be done. a stand alone florida tradition.

click here for more info and be sure to stop in if you’re ever in the area!

ingredients:

directions:

the delicious salad dressing you get at japanese restaurants has always intrigued me. now i’m gonna make it!! i’m pumped that i even have all the ingredients at home already!

for the dressing you need:

1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 small shallot, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh ginger

2 tablespoons sweet white miso

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil

1/4 cup grapeseed or another neutral oil

2 tablespoons water

and the salad:

1 small/medium head of lettuce (I used Bibb) or mixed greens of your choice

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1 avocado, quartered

source: smittenkitchen.com

cobb salad rules and it’s totally worth all the prep that goes into it. check out the recipe from smitten kitchen here.

i’m hosting a brunch this weekend and trying to come up with tasty breakfasty things to serve. maybe i’ll try this one? hmmmm. anyone out there have any other ideas?

click pic for recipe.

it’s just that time of year, donchathink?

so this is kind of an original recipe because i consulted a number of sources and then just sort of smooshed them together and added some other things :)

ingredients:

- 1 butternut squash, seeded and cubed (i’m lazy so i bought a pre-packaged one so all of the work was already done for me)

- 1 carrot, chopped

- 1 parsnip, chopped

- 1 potato, peeled and cubed

- 1 onion, chopped (i used a sweet vidalia)

- fresh garlic (to taste)

- fresh ginger, chopped (to taste)

- some buttah 

- 3 springs of fresh rosemary (essential in my opinion…nothing beats fresh herbs)

- 1 carton of organic chicken broth (because i’m just like that)

- salt and pep 

ok, this was actually way easier than i thought to make. 

1. throw the butter into a soup pot on medium/high heat and melt it, then add the onions and cook until soft

2. add the garlic and ginger and stir around for a minute or so before adding the squash, carrot, parsnip and potato

3. cook all the veggies for about 5 minutes…maybe a wee bit more, until they soften and start to look and smell lovely

4. add broth until everything is submerged (about 4/5 of the carton) and add the sprigs of rosemary. 

5. bring to a boil and then cover the pot and put the heat on LOW and cook for 40ish minutes.

6. make sure all the veggies are nice and soft, let it cool for a bit and then remove the sprigs of rosemary.

7. blend that puppy until smooth. add the rest of the broth to thin it out a bit and add some salt and pep to taste.

enjoy!!

so i’ve been on this mission for the last few years to try to replicate the lettuce  wraps from p.f. changs. i’ve never made them quite as good, but this recipe comes the closest. i like you so i won’t lie to you…it takes some effort. but if you’re jonesing for a yummy low carb dinner that’s kinda fun to eat, then here’s your recipe.

• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 decent size package of ground chicken
• 1 cup water chestnuts, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped (i prefer cremini mushies for this)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• firm, cup shaped lettuce leaves (iceberg,boston and some romain)

Stir Fry Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• chili flakes, to taste
• *you might need to add a tablespoon or two of water depending on the amount of chicken you have*

Special Sauce

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon hot mustard
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 2 teaspoons garlic and red chile paste

1. make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl and then add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil.
2. mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you’re ready to serve.
3. combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.
4. right before serving, you will add your desired measurement of hot mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.
5. bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan and saute chicken for about 5 minutes until browned.
6. remove chicken from the pan and cool and keep remaining oil in the pan, keep hot.
7. as chicken cools, prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing ingredients together in a small bowl.
8. when chicken is cool, mince it with the mushrooms and water chestnuts
9. with the pan still on high heat, add another tbsp of vegetable oil and add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan.
10. add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce cups.
11. top with special sauce.
12. eat