Salisbury House Cheese Nip

There is something distinct about a Salisbury House nip, other than the fact that they are called 'nips' and owned by The Guess Who former frontman Burton Cummings.

No, Sals nips are distinct in their own right due to their own glorious taste. Always piping hot, the nips come on a soft, thin bun. The meat has all the right things going on - garlic, onions, and otherdelicious unspecified seasonings. A big thing for me with food is texture. If the texture is off, if I suddenly bite into something hard or gummy while trying to enjoy a hamburger, the experience is instantly ruined and I get turned off of the restuarant for a while. But I have never had this experience at Sals. Consistant, delicious, and comforting (maybe that should go on their sign).

I think the main thing that makes Sals burgers so good is the carmelized onions. The slight crunch and sweet taste combined with the soft burger and bun make this a tastebud treat. Its worth a try, beleieve me.

VERDICT: I want to go eat one RIGHT NOW.

photo borrowed from flickr.com/photos/41828430@Noo/3259323734

Risotto

Mmm, Risotto

A while back Kristin and I were inspired to make risotto. It is a labour intensive process: Browning it beforehand, adding liquid at certain intervals, the continual stirring. If you are prepared for all that, though, it is wonderful.
We made a creamy, parmesan risotto from the recipe on the box. How cool is that? It was the first time I had tried risotto, but I had no fear to overcome. Knowing it was pasta and cheese and smelling it on my plate alleviated any anxiety.
It was excellent. Rich and flavourful. I never wanted to stop eating it. Risotto is what Mac & Cheese dreams it could be. A mouthful of risotto is delight.
 VERDICT: This doesn't often happen on a first tasting, but risotto is favourite!

photo borrowed from http://www.gustosecco.com/assets/risotto_m634544.jpg

Donair

Donair 3,
originally uploaded by KT in NB.

While we were in Halifax over Easter we tried a local culinary creation, the donair. A donair consists of finely ground, spiced and seasoned shaved meat, onions, tomatoes and donair sauce wrapped in a thick, soft pita. I cannot really be more specific about the meat. It reminded me of gyro meat so is probably lamb or beef, but I can only guess. The donair sauce is really something else. It is made largely of icing sugar and may also contain garlic, depending on who makes it. It is almost unbearably sweet, but people like it on everything out here: bread sticks, garlic fingers (cheesy bread sticks), pizza and the like. Pretty much anything I would dip into hot marinara sauce at pizza hut they dip into donair sauce. It leaves me shocked and appalled. Minus the garlic I may use donair sauce to dip cookies into, but that's about it.
All put together it is a very messy food. The sauce to meat and veggies ratio is nearly one to one and the pita I found to be about two times too small. We were even told to pick off about half the toppings and then attempt to wrap it up, which is kind of bizarre. It turned out to be very neccessary. I picked a bit then rolled and started, only to have my donair fall apart after two bites.
I ordered mine with the works, since I wanted the true Halifax experience. I know now that it was a mistake. As mentioned before, the works includes raw onions and tomatoes. They are not minced, nor julienned, but thick sliced and a great hindrance to my enjoying the experience. The mushy tomato, crunchy onion and puzzlingly sweet sauce were in direct opposition to the tasty, almost crispy meat shavings. Four bites or so in I was picking the plant substances out of my donair (to the best of my ability). A few onions were able to escape my notice, but I was very fastidious as to the tomotoes. Afterward, I enjoyed the donair more, but was still mystified by the much lauded donair sauce. I am aware of people mixing tastes together. People I am well acquainted with dip fries into ice cream. I am a big fan of sweet and spicy thaï chili sauce and sweet and sour chicken balls are almost their own food group. Yet I must draw the line at mixing meat with what can best be described as runny cupcake icing. It's like matter and anit-matter combining: destructive and unnatural.
If a donair was just the meat wrapped in a soft bread, I would eat one every day. If a donair did not come with onions and tomatoes I would consider having one every time I went to Halifax, but since a donair has the sauce, onions and tomatoes I will do my best to avoid eating one for the rest of my life.
VERDICT: Gross! Donair sauce is just plain wrong.

Flammeküche

Flammeküche (flam-KOOSH), also known as Flammkuchen (German) and Tarte flambée (French), is a traditional dish from Alsace, a region in north-eastern France along the border with Germany and Switzerland. It is comprised of dough topped with sour cream, onions and bacon, salt and peppered to taste. Although, the recipe varies regionally in France and worldwide.
This dish contains ingredients that I have varying reactions to individually. Dough and bacon are both awesome things, great things, wonderful things! I started out afraid of onions, but have come to appreciate them and, yes, even enjoy them in most circumstances. Raw being the main exception, but they were cooked so again no problem. The only remaining ingredient is sour creme. Generally, I'm terrified of sour cream. Sour cream dip: no thanks. Sour cream on a taco: definitely not. This made me apprehensive about trying flammeküche, especially since the dough is entirely coated in it. To try flammeküche there is no escaping sour cream. However, by not trying flammeküche I miss out on so much bacon.
Truthfully, it wasn't a very tough decision. There were two factors that made it a quick, easy choice. The first and less influential was that we were guests of the Bergers and I wanted to be polite. The second was bacon. Bacon  is very influential when it comes to food. It is just that good. I tried scallops because of bacon and that is saying a lot. It was definitely bacon that tipped the balance.
It was a good thing too. Flammeküche is awesome! The bacon is great and mixes very well with the onion. Surprisingly, for me anyway, it is the sour cream that makes the difference. It bakes into the dough, so isn't the  puffy, whipped stuff I find so nasty, and provides the perfect tang. An excellent combination.
Cornelia made a comment that if you're being polite you'll try one piece, if you like it you'll have two or more. I had more, much more. I wouldn't be surprised if it was over six. I was even "persuaded" to finish it off.
This has taught me that I like sour cream in cooking, but not alone as its gloopy white self. Interesting note to end: the direct translation of the original Alsatian flammeküche is "baked in the flames" since it was just laid over the coals when the oven was at maximum heat.
VERDICT: Make! I would love to make this in our very kitchen!

photo borrowed from http://ricettedifamiglia.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/flammekueche.jpg

For more information on Alsace click here and for Flammeküche here.

Doritos Cheeseburger

Welcome to a slightly delayed edition of I ♥ hamburgers. We were in New York and busy seeing the sights and doing the do-s. Much to my surprise I only had one hamburger in New York and it was from the Metropolitan Museum of Art cafeteria and was nothing to write home about, nor blog about either. Just a run-of-the-mill cafeteria burger, though it had fancy museum-type cheese.
The first thing that comes to mind for me when I see Doritos Cheeseburger is adding some (most likely nacho cheese) Doritos to a cheeseburger and having a flavour and crunch explosion, much like putting onion rings into a hamburger. While, that would be great and I have probably done something like that in my lifetime, the Doritos Cheeseburger I'm talking about now is completely different.
Doritos has a line of tortilla chips called Late Night. These are chips that do their best to accurately mimic the taste of what the bag says they taste like. One of the newer flavours is All Nighter Cheeseburger. We were stopped in the last town in Maine before the New Brunswick border getting gas and a little snack. I had already picked out a small bag of Salt 'n' Vinegar, but we walked by a Doritos display on the way to the checkout. They stood out like my eyebrows when I don't wear glasses. Some of the bags of chips said Cheeseburger! I couldn't help myself. I immediately set down my puny S'n'V bag and grabbed the cheeseburger chips.

I was barely back to the interstate before I asked Kristin if she could pass me a cheeseburger. (I'm funny like that.) I was kind of leary before first trying it. I've had pizza chips before and they just don't quite cut it, but I took a deep breath, kept watching the road and chomped down.
I was shocked. Aside from the crunchiness the experience was exactly like eating a cheeseburger. Kristin and I were both amazed. The beef taste was there along with all the condiments. It was realistic in a way that no chip I'd ever tried before was. If I wasn't driving and could have closed my eyes, I may not have believed that I was eating a chip. They are that good. Kristin figured they tasted most like McDonald's hamburgers and I thought for a while, while eating quite a few crunchy, triangular cheeseburgers, and decided that they taste most like Dairy Queen cheeseburgers to me.
 Doritos may put a little bit more mustard on their cheeseburgers than I usually do, but I'm not so picky anymore and love these chips. I really wish they were available in Canada. Another product to add to the please-bring-these-here list, especially since they are now my favourite Doritos flavour.

photo borrowed from http://www.everyview.com/2010/01/16/doritos-late-night-all-nighter-cheeseburger/

Mango Pineapple Curry

Last night we visited the Bergers for supper and a game of Clue en Français. A visit to the Berger house is most often a new food experience for me and last night was no different. Supper was Indian themed. We had samosas for entrés (which oddly enough is the French word for appetizer) and for the main course there was mango pineapple curry served over rice and roasted almonds. The curry had cubes of chicken, pineapple pieces and chunks of mango. The sauce was made from a mixture of pineapple juice, milk, cream and curry powder, with salt and pepper to taste. It was fantastic! The flavours mixed perfectly. There was a combination of excellent and different textures. I had eaten a late lunch and wasn't too hungry before we went over for supper, but I still had seconds. This just confirms how awesome Indian food is for me. YUM! I also have a reason to go to the grocery store and pick up a mango or two now.

VERDICT: Make as often as possible. The only reason it is not rated favourite is because I still like butter chicken just a little bit more.

photo borrowed from http://www.dinnercakes.com/2009/07/pineapple-mango-chicken-curry.html

No Name Pizza "Pockets"

I have eaten scores of pizza pockets and pizza pops in my day. In fact I used to eat them so often for lunch in school that I became sick of both of them. I have recently started enjoying a pizza pop or two and thought that I should retry pizza pockets. This thought was brought by the need to have something easy for lunches and an excellent sale at the local Superstore.
Pizza pockets are the round ones whose claim to fame is that they are, "baked, not fried". I got the no name pepperoni variety and I have to say for a pizza snack they are quite excellent. Better than bagel bites and I am fond of bagel bites. I guess waiting seven or so years has made them palatable again. I had almost forgotten the hybrid cheese/tomato sauce mixture pizza pockets use. It is hard to describe it, but I don't think cheese and tomato sauce could be merged into a single entity any better.
I'm going to have to be careful with getting back into pizza pockets. I have already over-indulged on them to the point where I couldn't look at them without feeling queasy once in my life and will have to keep my devouring instinct on a tight leash. Just one lunch after going years without I already feel like there is nothing I'd rather do with the rest of my day then sitting around eating delicious circular, meat and tomato/cheese sauce filled, pizza-pastry delights. I know where that road leads, though, and will stick with moderation.
VERDICT: Order, because if I could make them there wouldn't be much else that I would eat.

Mango

I've never been a big eater of tropical fruit having kept mainly to the regular fruits. I have however eaten mango every now and again. Strangely enough I never really had a fear of trying it or eating it. It's just off my radar. When someone asks me to eat one I have almost a "sure, why not" response, which is very different from my usual "AH! Run and hide under a big rock" response. Mangos don't taste bad. Mangos don't taste great. They don't look offensive. They don't look particularly appealing. Its texture is very different from what I'm accustomed to, but I don't really mind it. Mangos are the fruit of mediocrity. I have no problems having a slice of mango every time it's offered to me, but I never really want one.
VERDICT: Polite, since that is the only way I ever eat them.

photo borrowed from http://pested.ifas.ufl.edu/newsletters/2009-10/mango.png

I ♥ hamburgers!

Welcome to the February edition of I ♥ hamburgers! Today I'm going to talk about McDonald's McDouble: the poor relation of the double cheeseburger.

In Brandon the advent of the McDouble was silent and somewhat aggravating. I was used to ordering the $1.39 double cheeseburger and then one day I ordered and it was suddenly $1.79. I didn't really notice it until I got home. The next time I was in a McD's I did a double check of the value menu and saw that the double cheeseburger had been replaced by something called the McDouble. At this point I was intrigued. What could have bumped the regular double off the menu? Why would this newcomer get the Mc moniker that the double had worked so hard to claim? I basically had to order it. I was also hungry.
When I get to my seat I open up the wrap to try and solve this mystery. What I find looks an awful lot like a regular double cheeseburger. There is one bun, two puny McDonald's burger patties, ketchup, mustard, those pesky über chopped onions, a couple of pickle slices and cheese. WAIT A SECOND! The cheese is different. A McDouble only has one slice of cheese. That is exactly half the cheese found on a double cheeseburger. My first thought was something like McDonald's thinks one slice of cheese is worth 40 cents?! Why would McDonald's just change the price without telling us? I figure the amount of double cheeseburgers people would buy reflexively before finding the McDouble at the value price would net McDonald's a hefty profit.
It was about now that my hunger kicked in and I stopped philosophizing and bit into my McDouble. (I have to add a note here: I most likely ordered my first McDouble with just ketchup, though I order them now just without onions and then take the pickles off and give them to Kristin.) As my father would say, it was a taste sensation. The double cheeseburger is pretty good, but the one difference in the McDouble is all the difference. In the McDouble McDonald's has finally mastered the all important meat to cheese ratio. The double cheeseburger was always just a bit too much cheese for me. I found myself removing it whenever I could. Pulling the corners off, etcetera. Now, with the McDouble the cheese is finally, perfectly balanced with the meat. I understand why it gets the "Mc" where the double cheeseburger didn't.
At this point I do have to say that Kristin says that there are a lot of people who like cheese, her included. I'm not disagreeing with that. The perfection in the meat-cheese ratio applies only to my taste. Also, in raising the double cheeseburger's price McDonald's has made the love of cheese even more expensive.
I recommend the McDouble for snacking, meals, when you think you might be hungry but aren't quite sure, when Kristin is bugging you for some pickles, for when thinking of food makes you hungry, well, for any occasion really. It's good!

photo borrowed from http://www.mcarkansas.com/6230/

Pomelo - Behind the Scenes

Last week we bought a pomelo and we tried it yesterday. Usually I just find a picture of something I've tried and attach it to a post, but today I want to create a more in depth look at the experience of trying a pomelo. I'm planning on making this a recurring feature as well.
I have been aware of pomelos for quite some time. Their scientific name is Citrus maxima, which is very befitting for the largest citrus fruit. When I think of what to compare it to size-wise the first thing that comes to mind is 5-pin bowling ball. I can definitely visualize a pomelo rolling down a lane and taking out pins. Pomelos are from South East Asia and, again, are just plain massive, weighing from 1-2kg.
Our pomelo's rind was yellowy-greenish. The inner part of the rind was not what I expected. I'm used to the whitish-yellow that accompanies most citrus fruits, but the pomelo's is whitish-pink. The rind is very thick. I would say at its thinnest it was 1cm and thickest 1.5cm. It was so thick that it wouldn't come off all at once. When you peel off all the skin, there is still a substantial part of the pinky-white rind interior to go before you get at the actual fruit sections. It looks a little funny at this point. There are bumps on the white stuff that make it look an awful lot like chicken skin.

Once you peel off the tricky, multi-layered rind you get to the good stuff. The skin on each individual piece of pomelo is quite thick. I just peeled it off as well and just ate the little, juice pouches. So, after nearly 10 minutes we get to the point where we can actually try the thing. A pomelo tastes like a mild grapefruit. Imagine a grapefruit without all the bitterness and that's nearly a what a pomelo tastes like. It has a slight aftertaste that can only be described as Chinese, but that's understandable from a fruit from South East Asia. I enjoy the taste very much.
The pomelo we had had very small seeds. I don't think any were bigger than the head of a pin, but I think that it was just a very good time in its development to eat it. I imagine when fully developed the seeds would be just plain massive, like the fruit itself.

One note of caution when peeling and eating a pomelo. It is a citrus fruit, so be wary of squirting. Be wary of squirting on a scale you've never experienced before. A pomelo is at least three times bigger than an orange, but its squirting capability is probably 3 squared. I consider myself lucky, since my glasses shielded my eyes from any stray liquid jetting across the kitchen. An orange will make your fingertips messy, while a pomelo will have your hands messy and sticky down to the wrists.
A pomelo is like a big, mild, difficult grapefruit and definitely makes you work hard for the pleasure of eating it. To get the most of the experience I would say you should definitely give your self a solid 20 minutes. Also, do it with someone. It makes the peeling easier if you do it in shifts and a pomelo is a lot of fruit for the eating (even with its massive rind).

VERDICT: Make, the entire production involved prevents it from being a favourite, but the great taste can't be ignored.

Guest Post - Egg Nog

This creamy beverage has been my arch nemesis my entire life - honestly! Year after year my family insisted that I have never tried it, so each Christmas I was forced to try a sip, only to prove time and time again that I do not like it!

This year, I was feeling all grown up and so I decided to try some of my own free will (it was inevitable, and I decided to get it over with early on in the holiday season). It took me a moment to get over that something chickeny or eggy was in the carton with the milk, but Terrell poured a glass and I had a sip. You see, I have recently started to enjoy the occasional glass of 2% milk, and so I though perhaps my change of heart would include 'nog as well (despite the "egg" factor).

My first thought was "hmm...creamy" which quickly changed to yuck. I am not sure what it is, but I don't like whatever is happening in the middle/end of egg nog's taste - is it black liquorice? Some weird and un-enjoyable taste hit my tongue and stayed in my mouth until I chugged a glass of water. Ick.

VERDICT: It's (still) offical. I DO NOT LIKE EGG NOG!

Photo borrow from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ruB74uRlj8Su9CxXcghCrjOc8l6WHhsj4N8f9U0vo2N-wpn0V6ZRxXEzqec-kQ4yJNTkXA2Cu1Z8Nl1ZwBrACIyYG6ulQtBhVKubnDOX0bq2tdc8p0sQCPxVj8DoOSjoI6tZRZpuwwZH/s320/Egg+Nog.jpg

White Grapefruit

We went shopping today and picked up a variety of citrus fruits I had yet to try. One of them was a white grapefruit. Until today I had no idea that a white grapefruit existed. I guess if the term pink grapefruit exists it should hint at another variety, but I just didn't clue in.
Trying one wasn't much of a challenge. I have grown up eating grapefruits, of the pink variety, and really like them. Using the tiny spoon is very enjoyable. So, since I already know what it tasted like (great) I figure I should have at least something to report on the experience. I know why a lot of people just cut their grapefruit in half and scoop out the tasty bits. Grapefruits are very hard to peel. I was glad I started with a nice serrated knife or it would have taken me over five minutes to peel the thing.
For future reference, if you don't want to just slice the thing in half, bring the right tools to peel your grapefruit.
VERDICT: Make, since it isn't quite a favourite but I do like it.

Apple Pie

Pie is scary. It is just too much to take in and make sense of. I have come to terms with pudding based pies and will admit to actually liking chocolate and lemon pies. From these pies I have discovered that I love pie crust. This has me warming to pie in general, since you can't have pie crust without pie.

However, apple pie is still scary, but not scary beyond all reason, since I have a very good reason: cooked apple! I can't get beyond that. It is just plain wrong. It's like biting into fruity leather and that is not for me, no way, no how. I don't mind the spices mixed with the apple taste, but the cooked apple ruins that. Maybe if it was puréed. More like an applesauce pie. If I wasn't afraid of applesauce I just might like that.
I think it is sad that cooked apples have ruined pie for me to the point where I am just recovering now. It's not like I dislike anything else in pie. If apple pies were just crust and crumble I'd have them everyday. It's the cooked apple that's tainted my view. I don't like it in pie, in apple crisp, in anything else it is used in.
I have tried apple pie a few times over the years and it is always the same. Not even à la mode can help it. When it is an option I just ask for ice cream, if I'm very lucky I can score some whip cream à la mode. Apple pie can never match that!
VERDICT: Gross, while I've had it to be polite those tastes have just confirmed my dislike for it.

photo borrowed from http://www.colleenhammond.com/blog/2009/07/apple-pie-recipe/

Holiday Recap

There is a lot of food around during Christmas and the surrounding holidays. Since a lot of it is traditional and I am picky there are a lot of foods I traditionally don't eat.
Turkey is not one of those foods, however, it is not a food I enjoy. Turkey is definitely on my Owen List­. I just can't bring myself to like it. I don't understand how anyone looks forward to it. I also feel like way too many holidays are celebrated with turkey. Christmas? Turkey! Thanksgiving? Turkey! St. Patrick's? Turkey! If it could be cut down to just one that would be great.
However, the dressing/stuffing from the turkey is another matter entirely. I was introduced to it in the latter part of high school and have never looked back. I figure I have to make up for all the years I was afraid to eat it. I could eat stuffing as a main dish. Yet, it is paired with turkey, so if I escape turkey, stuffing goes with it. It would be very wasteful of me to suggest cooking turkeys just for the stuffing and throwing the turkey out afterward.
I'm warming up to gravy. Poutine is helping a lot in that regard. I like thin gravy more than thick, Jell-o gravy.

I'm still avoiding cranberry sauce. It is definitely a stronghold of pickiness in me. Maybe it makes turkey worth eating? I just don't want to know.

I love Kristin's family's tradition of Christmas Brunch. Bacon, eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns could usurp turkey's stranglehold on celebratory dining any day. They should have their own holiday too. Maybe the Republic of Bacon could make it happen.

Long live bacon!

One food I tried this holiday was Spaghetti squash parmesana. As much as it sounds, it is not a combination of chicken parmesana and spaghetti. THAT would be great, but the squash messes it all up. It's all wet and vegetably. The marinara helps mask it, but not enough. VERDICT: Polite.

picture borrowed from http://www.republicofbacon.com/images/splitter_image_flag.gif

I ♥ hamburgers!

Holidays and travel have postponed this month's I ♥ hamburgers a few days, but just think of it as a flight: great when it arrives on time, but never really expected to ;)

Kristin and her family have always told me about the hamburgers at Choy's restaurant. It used to be in Strathclair, but now resides in Shoal Lake, a town away. Kristin says it is one of her favourites. Janna used to hide her unfinished cheeseburgers under the table, but now she just splits them between three people so nothing goes to waste.

I was happy to end up at Choy's between Christmas and New Year's to visit a friend of Kristin before he heads off to Macedonia. We all got hamburgers. I was feeling particularly hungry, so I ordered the double cheeseburger with fries. It comes with relish and fried onions, oh and of course cheese. I took the onions off and got ready for the Choy's experience. Normally I would have added ketchup to a burger such as this, but I wanted the authentic taste... okay, I was too timid to ask the server when she came around, so had to do without. A Choy's burger is on the small end of the burger spectrum, easily grasped by one hand. The patties are very meat-y and finely ground. They have the chinese burger taste, which is so good, and probably so MSG. The bun is like a regular bun you could buy at the store except slightly greasy. Overall, it was quite good, but the burger was a bit dry. That is probably my fault for removing the onions, so next time I'll ask for ketchup and it will be excellent.

photo borrowed from Choy's menu (http://www.mts.net/~choy1/biz_menu_canad.htm)