Food Finds, Part 2. Do you Notice I Have a Sweet Tooth? My Reply: Everything in Moderation.

“Meals make the society, hold the fabric together in lots of ways that were charming and interesting and intoxicating to me. The perfect meal, or the best meals, occur in a context that frequently has very little to do with the food itself.” Anthony Bourdain

My favourite food finds, Part 1, was popular.

I had more time for food shopping and cooking during the pandemic. I browsed supermarket aisles and neighbourhood ethnic markets. 

Cooking is soothing for me. Occasionally it is a chore. Often it is creative.

Among my favourite shows on the Food Network is “Chopped.” Ted Allen is the charming and intelligent host. The concept is: Four chefs compete turning baskets of mystery ingredients into disastrous or tasty dishes. I have the time to improvise culinary-wise like the chefs on “Chopped.”

We rarely went to restaurants during the pandemic. I choose restaurants carefully – the pandemic is not over.

I miss restaurant meals and eating with people. I miss the good servers and people-watching. I miss other people’s food. I miss people eating food around me. In general, I miss human contact.

We started restaurant outings with chicken wings (see the podcast and blog post). I haven’t got a deep-fryer. The best way to cook chicken wings is to deep-fry them. Duff’s Famous Wings is a friendly, welcoming place in downtown Toronto. They get hospitality – and the chicken wings are addictive. I get my fix at Duff’s regularly, about once a week.

We went to Momofuku Noodle Bar, owned by controversial New York chef David Chang, on University Ave. in downtown Toronto. We sat at the bar on high stools. I could watch the chefs silently assembling the ramen and other ingredients in earthenware bowls. Our server was competent and friendly. The manager was welcoming. The food – pork ramen and pork belly steamed bun – was tasty.

We frequent other restaurants: Tutti Matti, owned by chef Alida Solomon, recently featured by John Catucci on his Food Network show “Big Food Bucket List.” The pizzas, pasta and other Italian dishes are authentic and delicious.

I drop into King’s Noodle and Bun Saigon – respectively Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants – both on Spadina Ave., mainly for lunch.

Another theme – grocery food finds.

I love cheating – only in the kitchen. Take steak frites. In my freezer, I have on hand Fast Fry Steak from Farm Boy. It’s quick, easy and toothsome with fried onions in a skillet. I always have frozen McCain’s crinkle cut french fries. They take about 20 minutes in my toaster oven and they have 140 calories in 16 fries. It’s a homemade shortcut to steak frites.

I buy Meyer Lemons when they are available at my local supermarket. They are floral, more subtle than the average lemon with a hint of orange. 

I often buy fresh pasta. The good quality fresh pasta is more tender than dried and takes less time to cook.

I prefer Montreal bagels – they are chewy and thinner than the doughy bagels. Ottawa-based Kettlemans Bagel is known for crisp, flavourful  bagels baked in a wood-burning oven. Their locations are proliferating in Toronto.

Talking of bread, I buy light rye with caraway seeds at Harbord Bakery. It’s the best.

I like Canelés – a small tunnel-shaped, ridged pastry with a custardy interior encased by a thin caramelized shell from Blackbird Baking Co. Warning: They only have them on Thursday, Friday and on the weekend. Blackbird bakery is located in Kensington Market.

Talking also of pastries, I discovered recently Lemon Bichons. It is made of sweet, crisp puff pastry caramelized on the outside filled with lemon cream. I buy them at Rahier and Barbershop Patisserie in Toronto.

I discovered two cookies. Loblaws created PC Creme-Filled Ginger Sandwich Cookies. They aren’t too sweet. They have crunchy texture on the outside – creamy interiors. Many supermarkets in Toronto stock Loacker cookies. I love Tortina – a crispy chocolate confection with a hazelenut cream filling.

I always keep in my freezer Kawartha Dairy’s Moose Track ice cream. It’s luscious between two soft oatmeal cookies, beside my fruit galette and alone. It is loaded with chocolate fudge sauce and chunks of mini-peanut butter cups.

“Chopped” is enticing me to cook without recipes – with my contents of my fridge and pantry. Leftovers are my last food find.

When I discover cooked meat, vegetables (including frozen veg) and sauces in my fridge compel me to compete with myself. In my pantry, I have dried pasta, several kinds of rice, canned tomatoes, canned beans and frozen veg.

From leftovers, I create soups, various pasta dishes and Shepherd’s Pie in several versions. Ruthie, my daughter and her daughter toddler Simone were visiting me from Victoria B.C. last week. I served them three kinds of meatballs (I was testing them), mac and cheese and three desserts: carrot cake, almond tart and chocolate banana bread, all cut in small pieces.

I had leftover meatballs and sauce. I had frozen corn, peas and kale. Leftover mashed potato was in my fridge. I made Shepherd’s Pie the next day – it was delicious.

My favourite improvisation is fried rice.

Fried Rice

I use a large flat-bottomed, non-stick wok for this. Please use this as a guideline. Improvise according to your contents of your fridge and pantry. Be creative. 2 cups of raw rice (I prefer basmati or short-grain rice cooked in chicken or vegetable stock) becomes 4 cups of cooked rice, preferably cooked a day ahead. I chop ingredients in small pieces. I usually add chopped chicken breast or leftover cooked pork or beef. I sometimes toss in small shrimp. My favourite frozen veg are small peas and corn kernels – I always keep them on hand. You can substitute bacon or uncased sausage meat if you want a vegetarian meal with vegetable oil. If you need it, add vegetable oil at each stage. I repeat: Please use this as a guideline!

2 bacon slices, chopped
3 eggs, lightly beaten
About 2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger root, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh coriander roots and stems, finely chopped
About 1 cup each: frozen peas and corn kernels
4 cups cooked, chilled rice
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp Chinese (shao hsing) wine or dry sherry
½ tsp sesame oil
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 to 2 tbsp soya or ponzu sauce
Fresh coriander leaves

Heat chopped bacon in large, non-stick wok or skillet on medium-high until it is crisp. With slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel. Add eggs; scramble them slightly with a spatula until almost cooked through. Drain them on paper towel. Break up cooked eggs in small pieces.

Heat vegetable oil in the same wok on medium-high. Add to wok and stir-fry, one at a time for a few minutes, onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, peas, corn and rice. Add salt, pepper, Chinese wine, sesame oil, cooked bacon and cooked egg pieces. Before serving, top with green onions. Sprinkle fried rice with soya or ponzu sauce (I prefer ponzu) and coriander leaves.

Makes about 6 servings.