Can't type... following election

The political junkie in me is hooked on election results! Be back tomorrow...

dinner ditty ~ Rock the Boat - Hues Corporation

One of my favourite ingredients!

I love truffle salt. Love. I air-pop popcorn, and top it with grated Asiago, melted butter, and truffle salt. It is DELICIOUS. You need to try it now.

This little jar of happiness is on its way to me (or will be, at some point) from one Mr. Bear. I use it sparingly, because I never know when I'm going to run out and not be able to find some (like I just did). The last few times I bought it, I lucked out and got it at Winners. I check every time I'm there, but no luck. 

I also put it on vegetables before I roast them. So. Good.

What are some of your favourite ingredients? How do you cook them?

dinner ditty ~ Girl - Beck

Non-foody knitty stuff

I don't only eat and cook and eat... I also knit! I'm getting my knitty stuff together for product assessment at the local centre for craft and design. i just finished this cowl. It'll be a while before I am ready to sell any of my work, but it's good to get the process started. I think it's important to have my work assessed as I am an instructor at the centre... I want to be able to put my money where my mouth is. 

Wish me luck! 

dinner ditty ~ How'd We Ever Get This Way - Andy Kim (it's cheesy, but it's been in my head all week!) 

Feed the chef

Ham kobasa

I work in a supermarket. Much to my happiness, customers sometimes get confused and come to the store to give me food, instead of coming to the store to buy food. This has happened on more than one occasion.

Today was one of those occasions. One of my regular customers and fellow foodie was in Toronto on business. He came back with 100 kilograms of top grade ham kobasa. He brought me some to try. I thanked him profusely and tried to pay, but he'd hear none of it (note... foodies in Cape Breton are ridiculously generous). 

I took it home, snapped a photo and ate a piece with some cheese. I instantly realized two things. One ~ I need to buy fancier cheese. Two ~ I am going to give myself gout unless one of you comes over and helps me eat this glorious piece of kobasa.

My customer wasn't kidding. This is the best kielbasa/kobasa/kubasa/whatever name you know it by that I've ever eaten. It would make a few grown men I know (I'm looking at you both, Mr. Bear and Mr. MKT) weep great big man tears.

I'm going to make some marinated olives (I'll post the recipe and pictures when I do) and chutney, get some fancy crackers and cheese, and have a fabulous charcuterie board. Let me know if you would like to join me and we'll sort out something. Since this lovely kobassa was shared with me, I'd love to share it with you!

I also need to get some of this and make some banoffee pie. Yum!

dinner ditty ~ Can't Stop - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Maple chiffon pie and the obsession with staff meals

I am obsessed with staff meals. 

It is my dream to walk into a restaurant and be asked to join in the staff meal, as they sit around and eat delicious food not found on the menu. The picture above is of mohinga, a Burmese dish. 

There is a restaurant in Moncton, Delightfully Delicious, owned by a Burmese family. It's a Japanese restaurant that serves some of the best Thai food I've ever eaten. I used to go there with my coworkers. We all ordered the same things; I used to get the avocado salad and Pad Siew. YUM. 

I was talking to the owner one day and asked him if they ever served mohinga. Mohinga is a fish soup with rice noodles. It's pretty much Burma's national dish; they eat that tastiness for breakfast.

He told me they only have it as a staff meal, because he didn't think it would appeal to the fine folks of Moncton. He asked me to leave my number, and he promised me he would call me the next time they had it. A few weeks later, I got the phone call. I went down on a Sunday afternoon and they sorted me out with some mohinga.

It was fabulous! It tasted like I was back in Burma. I was very much happiness. They gave me some to take with me when I left, and refused to let me pay for any of it. 

I was the happiest girl in Moncton that day.

Today, I went into Zana's Diner to try some of their maple chiffon pie. They had none left, which doesn't surprise me because it sounds amazing and I should have gotten there sooner to try some. I mean, it's pie! I knew they were making it; Zana told me the other day!

I didn't have any time to be upset about the lack of maple chiffon pie, because I was invited to sit down to have some of the staff meal with Zana, her mom (also Zana!), Heather (the pie maker and server extraordinaire), and a regular customer. I had homemade cheese and homemade flatbread. I had Swiss chard (from Zana's garden!) lentil soup with garlic and noodles. We talked about food and Syria and cooking and other stuff that makes me happy. It was lovely. 

I will be going back for some kibbe and maple chiffon pie as soon as I can. 

I tell you, this move to Sydney was a good one.

dinner ditty ~ A Quick One, While He's Away - The Who

Gyoza for the win!

Gyoza! Whenever I get homesick for Japan, I pick up some Japanese pork dumplings from Bento, the sushi shop at work.

This is what they look like when you buy them ~ 

You could heat them up in the microwave, but then they would taste like sadness. I don't own a microwave, so it's not an option. Here's how I heat them up so they taste just like they do in Japan.

I heat up a dry frying pan ~ 

I heat them for a minute or two, just until they brown and crisp up on the bottom. 

After I check them, I make sure they're sitting up properly. Please ignore the burn on the back of my hand. Stoopid oven rack.

I add a splash of water and return the pan to the burner.

I cover the pan and let the dumplings steam for another minute or two, just until they're a bit soft. They take very little time to heat up.

I throw them on my $1.86 koi plate and eat them with chopsticks. When I heat them up this way, they taste just like they did when I would buy them under the train tracks in Japan. Bliss!

You need to try this at home. You won't be disappointed! Please don't heat them in a microwave. Please. 

dinner ditty ~ Let's Groove - Earth, Wind & Fire

It's November!

It's November! In my old blogs, I tried to post every day in November. Wish me luck!