Brunch at Galaxie Diner July 10, 2009

Galaxie Diner is a small place where you can have brunch. The place itself is not special in any way. If you ask me, its main advantage is that it is conveniently located downtown, next to 17th Ave with 11th St (1411 11 Street SW Calgary). It seems to get really crowded at brunch/ lunch time, so plan to wait in line for some 10 -15 minutes. Food is fine, your usual brunch thing in Calgary: eggs, toast, hash browns, with prices ranging from $10 to $14. I got the poached eggs with smoked salmon ($14) and they came on a croissant and with hash browns. No veggies, just your plain heavy breakfast…

Tomatoes and Zucchini Soup July 10, 2009

This soup is incredibly tasty, but you have to like sour tastes to enjoy it. It’s quite easy to make, and you can use canned tomatoes instead of fresh ones if you want to save time. You’ll need 4 big tomatoes, 1 zucchini, 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, oil, salt, pepper, basil, parsley, curry and some corn kernels (canned).

Instructions:

1. If using fresh tomatoes, bring a pot of water to boil, sink each tomato for 1-2 minutes. Put it under cold water, and peel away the skin. Cut tomatoes into small pieces and set aside.
2. Peel and cut zucchini and set aside.
3. Cut onion and garlic cloves. In the pot where you’ll cook the soup, pour a bit of oil and cook the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes or until translucent.
4. Add zucchini and tomatoes. Add some water if needed (1/2 cup of water should do it, since the veggies are  gonna release a lot of juice). Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add salt and pepper, and just a pinch of curry (optional). Cover and let boil, mixing every now and then.
6. When the veggies are cooked, add basil and parsley.
7. Add corn kernels and bring to quick boil.

Eggless Raspberry Cake July 6, 2009

Cake batter

I ran out of eggs but still wanted to make a raspberry cake. It turned out really really delicious! You’ll need some 200 gr raspberries, 2 cups flour, one and a half cup milk, 1/2 cup oil, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup  cocoa, vanilla essence, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp baking soda, 1 tbsp vinegar.

Instructions

1. In a big bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa.
   

   Cake

2. Gradually incorporate milk.
3. Add vinegar.
4. Add vanilla essence.
5. Pour everything in a rectangular cake pan and spread it evenly with a spoon. Using your hand, spread the raspberries on top and push them gently in with the spoon.
6. Bake for some 45 minutes or until done (350F).

Sweets from another world June 23, 2009

Why is it that we do not have anything like this in Calgary? The closest you can get are small fruit tarts at T&T…

Crab Flakes Phyllo Pastry June 9, 2009

If you like pastries, this might be your thing. It’s similar to spankopita – except there’s no spinach. So we could call it crabopita…  You’ll need 1 pack of pollock flavored crab flakes, 1 pack of phyllo sheets (the ones they sell frozen in Superstore, Safeway or Coop), some 250 gr. Philadelphia cheese, 3-4 mushrooms, 1 grated carrot, 1 celery stick, salt, pepper, basil (or any dry spices you like with seafood), 3-4 tbsp melted butter, 1 egg (beaten).

Instructions:

1. Prepare the filling: in a bowl, mix crab flakes with the grated carrot and the mushrooms and the celery stick cut into small pieces. Add salt, pepper and the spices. Add the cheese and mix well.
2. Spread the phyllo sheets and cut them into squares (or into any shapes you want to use for the pastry).
3. Melt the butter, and use it to brush the phyllo sheets (I find that using 3 -4 of them per pastry is the best). Then spoon some of the crab mixture onto the phyllo sheets, and using your hands roll them (I prefer doing them like spring rolls, but you may choose other shapes, like triangles).
4. Brush each pastry with the egg then put on tray.
5. Heat the oven (350F) and leave them for 15 minutes or until the phyllo pastry is crunchy.

Crab Flakes Oriental Salad June 8, 2009

This salad is so easy to make and so tasty, that you’ll wanna eat it all at once! It’s also rather cheap to make, since you’ll need 1 pack of crab flakes (the ones you find in Superstore or Safeway, it’s really crab flavored pollock), 2-3 potatoes, 1 celery stick, 300 gr. olives, 1 carrot, 4-5 cherry or grape tomatoes (for decoration and as a side), mustard, dry basil, dry parsley, oil, salt, pepper.

Instructions:

1. Cut potatoes and carrot into cubes and boil.
2. When water is boiling, sink the celery stick for 2-3 minutes to tenderize. Remove and cut into pieces.
3. Drain potatoes and carrot, put in a bowl, add celery stick pieces, olives, and the crab flakes (cut into small pieces).
4. In a small bowl, put 1-2 tbsp of mustard and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Mix thoroughly, add salt, pepper, parsley and basil.  Pour over the potatoes and mix well.
5. Serve with tomatoes.

For a quick and cheap lunch, try Central Blends June 4, 2009

The place is very close to the pedestrian Kensington area (203-19St. NW) and there are plenty of free parking options around (really a plus these days in Calgary…). Central Blends is more of a coffee place offering sandwiches and wraps for breakfast and lunch. But they are cheap – and very tasty! I had a chicken peanut satay wrap and a soft drink, and my friend got a turkey sandwich (real turkey, we were told). Also, be advised that both the wrap and the sandwich came without any side. Both were delicious, and the total for both of us was $16.95. The place itself is not fancy at all – I mean, they could do some work on those old, dirty benches and tables, but if you’re there for a quick lunch then you may not be bothered by this. Especially when the food is really tasty!

Sicilian eggplant stew – spread May 27, 2009

Italians call this a specific southern Italian dish. Of course, in other parts of the world, it is thought to be specific to other places, like in the Balkans. Wherever you have eggplants, you’re bound to have a variation of this food considered ‘traditional’. While it’s not that easy to prepare, you can keep it in the fridge (or in a den, in a sealed jar) for a long time. It also helps with your daily veggie portion, and it goes wonderfully with crackers, biscuits, or just bread.

You’ll need: 2 eggplants, 2 bell pepper (red, yellow or orange), 4-5 roma tomatoes, 1 onion, 4-5 garlic cloves, 2 celery sticks, salt, pepper, oil. Optional: 1-2 carrots.

Instructions:

1. You can choose to roast the eggplants and the bell pepper, or not. If you choose to do so, it will take less time to cook the stew. To roast, put in the oven (on a baking sheet or something similar) for 30-40 minutes (350F) or until the skin cracks. Take them out and peel them, then cut into pieces and set aside.
2. If you do not roast – cut the eggplant and remove the skin. Cut the peppers.
3. Peel the Roma tomatoes (sink in boiling water for 2-3 minutes) – or use the canned diced tomatoes.
4. In a big pan, fry for 1-2 minutes the chopped onion and garlic. Add the peppers, the eggplants, the tomatoes and the celery. If you want extra taste, grate the carrots and add them – in the Italian version, you can also add green olives and capers. Add salt and pepper.
5. Let boil for some 30-40 minutes (more if you didn’t roast the eggplants) or until all the veggies are fully cooked and can be easily mashed. I like to mash everything, so that all the veggies blend into each other, then eat it with crackers or with mustard and paprika bites.

Bison Restaurant and Lounge Banff May 24, 2009

I recently ate at the Bison Restaurant and Lounge in Banff and found it quite disappointing. We first checked the menu listed outside the place: easy choice, I always go for the smoked salmon (by the way, if you ever want to try really good smoked salmon and pay only $7 for it, then go to IKEA). And, since the weather was lovely, I wanted to enjoy the sun on the patio.

Bison Restaurant and Lounge has however two separate levels: downstairs looks very much like a shop with a few tables, nothing tempting. Upstairs, they had another menu – the cheaper smoked salmon dish that I wanted was not available upstairs… But there was a brunch menu available til about 2pm, so we stayed. Prices were pretty high: from $12 to $17 for the brunches, to $17 for the signature bison burger. For two mountain breakfasts ($11 each), a tea and a coffee, we ended up paying around $30 (with the tip).

But my main disappointed was the patio… Now, the patio might be sun-drenched, but just because you put some tables and uncomfy benches on a wooden floor that doesn’t make it a patio… Yes, the view is nice, but why is it so hard to design a decent patio? Throw a few cushions on those benches, get some huge flower pots and scater them around, put a flower or two on each table, hang out some garden decorations… just don’t leave us sitting in a wooden box with a view and call it a patio…

Mustard and Paprika Bites May 23, 2009

These little bread-like biscuits work well with soup or with spreads like veggie spreads, humus, eggplant salad or sicilian eggplants. They’re fairly easy to make, and you can keep them in the fridge for a few days. You’ll need: 2 cups of flour, 1-2 tsp yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp dry mustard, 2 tbsp margarine, 4-5 sundried tomatoes, basil, parsley, salt, pepper and some milk.

Instructions:

1. In a very large bowl (has to be large enough so that you can knead the dough in it), put the flour and add the paprika, the dry mustard and the margarine. Using your hands, mix the margarine with the flour.
2. In a small cup, put the yeast with the sugar and add a bit of hot water. Let stand for at least 5 minutes.
3. In another small cup, put the sundried tomatoes with hot water. Let stand for 10 minutes, then discard water and cut into small pieces.
4. Add all remaining spices, the sundried tomatoes and the yeast mixture to the flour mix. Gradually pour milk, and mix with your hands until the mixture becomes a dough. Sprinkle some flour and knead for 1-2 minutes.
5. Roll the dough into a cylinder, then using your hands press it into a flat oval shape. Using a knife, cut three strips lengthwise, then divide them into equal squares.
6. Put the squares on a baking sheet, brush them with milk (or with a beaten egg) and sprinkle with paprika.
7. Put in the oven (375F) for 15 minutes or until done.