Posts tagged smoked salmon
Gastronomy and Life's Other Pleasures
Follow me on my gastronomic adventures!
Snack time at Must Wine Bar
We had the pleasure of stopping in for a snack at one of our favourite Byward Market spots this past weekend. We came to love Must Wine Bar after dining there last summer before attending Aziz Ansari’s show at the National Arts Centre.
This time around, we ordered the smoked salmon plate with rye toast, lemon dill ricotta, and pickled Bermuda onions; the daily special, which was a slider with fries; and lastly, the in-house rib eye ground meatballs stuffed with smoked mozzarella and served in tomato Parmesan sauce. Everything was delicious! I especially loved my smoked salmon plate; the salmon was served rolled up in a beautiful rosette.
We will be back at Must again soon - it is a must do while walking around the Market! haha
Dinner at Rare
Some friends of ours met the fiancé and I at Rare one recent Saturday night for an evening out. The four of us had been trying to go to Rare for quite some time; they have been either fully booked or closed on all of our attempts. We finally got a reservation and were very excited to eat!
My first priority was trying one of Rare’s mojitos; I’d been craving a mojito forever (due to the fact that I probably have about one per year). I went with the berry mojito, which was Smirnoff raspberry vodka, muddled mint, lime, soda and cane sugar syrup, topped off with a few fresh raspberries. It was extremely fresh and satisfying (and has covered my craving for a mojito until next year haha).
Described as a steakhouse and bar, Rare’s menu is quite large, with many options from which to choose. They also have quite a generous appetizer menu. I will usually opt for some sort of seafood so I finally decided on the sea scallops. As you can see, it was quite the plate! Five large grilled sea scallops came covered in a layer of rich smoked salmon, topped with a creamy tarragon-infused sauce. All of this was accompanied by fresh grilled vegetables (abundant and delicious) and a little pilaf of sweet pickled cabbage. I was delighted, and everything was delicious!
The fiancé and one of our friends ordered steaks; one with a caesar salad and the other with lattice fries. Both thoroughly enjoyed their meals, and the fiancé added the caesar to his top 5 list.
Our other friend ordered the braised beef ravioli, which was served in a lightly spicy tomato sauce with julienne veggies, and a few slices of garlic toast. She thought it was fantastic! She gave the fiancé and I one of her raviolis to split, and the beef was melt in your mouth tender and delicious.
We all saved some room for dessert, so the fiancé and I shared the berry-stuffed crepe, and our friends had the cookie flavoured cheesecake. Our dessert was just ok for me; nothing too special, but our friends really liked theirs.
Overall our experience at Rare was fantastic - the service was spot on, the ambiance was chill but nice, and the food was plentiful and delicious. We will definitely return!
Breakfast at Eggstyle
The boyfriend and I used to be avid brunch-eating folk. When we lived downtown, we’d go out for breakfast or brunch almost every weekend! All that changed after I perfected my breakfast sandwich recipe and started making weekend brunch for us in the comfort of our own home a while back, so it’s not often that we will eat out for a morning meal. However, when Eggstyle-a new restaurant serving only breakfast items along the lines of Cora’s and Eggspectations-opened up a while back, we thought we’d give it a try.
Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by its very bright yellow and orange interior and decorations and were seated immediately by a friendly hostess. I had no trouble deciding on my order: the smoked salmon eggs benedict, which is served with sliced red onion, cream cheese, and, of course, hollandaise sauce, and comes with homefries, fresh fruit and and warm cinnamon apples. The boyfriend chose the two egg breakfast (scrambled), which is served with bacon, homefries and warm cinnamon apples. Both were fantastic, and absolutely HUGE in portion size - neither of us could finish our meals - and reasonably priced! Everything was cooked perfectly; the boyfriend even said it was the best breakfast he’d had in Ottawa!
Because it was our first time, we decided to go all out and share a one of their waffles to go with our breakfast: we chose the banana chocolate waffle. All I can say is WOW! Two of my favourite things in life are bananas and chocolate mixed together, and I enjoyed this waffle very, very much, as did the boyfriend. The menu goes far beyond what the boyfriend and I ordered: smoothies, freshly squeezed juices, crepes, blintzes, pancakes, omelettes, french toast, breakfast sandwiches and more!
All in all, the service, the food and the atmosphere were all fantastic, and we can’t wait to go back again!
My perfect lunch
I put together this little spread as a special treat to myself one day recently. I was craving a smoked salmon eggs benedict so this combination of ingredients really hit the spot (I can live without the hollandaise - I know, crazy right?) I’ve finally figured out how to poach eggs effectively, so I’m proud of myself for that! I topped a toasted english muffin with slices of smoked salmon, fresh baby spinach, chopped green onion, a poached egg and a sprinkle of smoked paprika. Yum! So satisfying. Served with a bowl of fresh chopped fruit and a big mug of coffee and I couldn’t be happier.
A weekend in Montreal
Please pardon my lack of posts as of late; work has been consuming a lot of my time and energy. But I finally forced myself to take a break to share with you some of my recent adventures!
The boyfriend and I spent the previous weekend in Montreal visiting with my sister (who was attending a conference) and taking in our favourite sights, sounds and treats that the city has to offer. More to come on our amazing dinner at Le Bremner in an upcoming post.
This fabulous spread was a breakfast we enjoyed on one of our relaxing mornings lazing around the hotel. We opted for the amped up continental breakfast, which included glorious items such as smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, mini rolled crepes, freshly cut fruit and endless buttery croissants! Coupled with the amazing view from our table looking out from the 19th floor over the city (sorry, I was too busy stuffing my face to photograph said gorgeous view), it is a breakfast that I will be dreaming about each morning as I stare into my computer screen at work! haha
Brunch at….Gabriel’s Pizza
Yes, I said brunch….at a pizza parlour! An Ottawa institution that is famous for its thick, cheesy pizza also has a number of sit-in locations serving a full range of meals, including breakfast!
There are so many options to choose from on the breakfast menu, but I am partial to my smoked salmon eggs benedict! Usually served with a side of homefries, I opted for a side of fresh fruit instead (and ate some of the boyfriend’s homefries off of his plate - he didn’t need all of them! haha). The boyfriend had the Big Breakfast, which comes with two eggs, homefries, toast, your choice of bacon, ham or sausage (the boyfriend always chooses bacon) and your choice of either two pancakes or two slices french toast, all for $9.95! The best part? All breakfasts include endless coffee or tea. What could be better?
Smoked salmon pizza
During my sister’s recent visit, she had the fantastic idea to make this pizza! She had enjoyed something similar this past summer at Mercatto and thought it would be fun (and delicious) to recreate it. We found the recipe on allrecipes.com here, and the only change that we made was that we used a four cheese blend of fontina, mozzarella, provolone and parmesan (instead of just mozzarella).
I have to say, this was so, so simple and totally yummy. We even decided that it would make a great app cut into easy to hold strips.
My lunch today: open faced smoked salmon sandwich. This is my own little recipe, but I was inspired by one of my famous appetizers, which is smoked salmon and cream cheese on crostini.
I adapted the appetizer to a sandwich size portions and have made this many times for family and friends for both brunch and lunch.
The sandwich consists of smoked salmon (I used President’s Choice) on top of a split multigrain ciabatta bun with a cream cheese mixture (chopped chives, lime juice, cream cheese and greek yogurt) and a dollop of greek yogurt and chives for garnish.
