Gastronomy and Life's Other Pleasures

Dinner at The Burbs Pub

I always thought the name of this restaurant was a little bit cheeky, which I am sure it was meant to be.  Truthfully, it put me off a little bit, which is why it took us so long to give it a try.

The term “the burbs” has a bit of a negative connotation to me.  I mean, I live in the suburbs, and I love it.  I just don’t like the connotation of the word, as it negatively describes where I live and where I love living.  

All this to say, when I finally figured out that the restaurant was owned by the same people who own La Cucina, a lovely little restaurant just down the road from the Burbs Pub, I changed my mind.  We have enjoyed many a delicious meal at La Cucina, so I knew I had to give this place a chance.

We decided to go for dinner (we were toying with the idea of breakfast at first) as the husband loves a club sandwich and loves trying them wherever he can.  The restaurant wasn’t busy when we arrived around 6 p.m. or so on a Saturday night.  A few tables were occupied with couples and families.  

After perusing the menu for a bit, I was impressed to note that a lot of what they serve is made in-house, which was true for both the pulled pork sandwich that I ordered and the turkey from the husband’s club sandwich.  The pulled pork was crazy delicious - super sweet (just the way I like it), tender, juicy - everything you could want in a fantastic pulled pork.  The side garden salad left a bit to be desired, but both the lettuce and the vegetables were fresh and crisp.  I also really liked the coleslaw - it had great flavour.  The husband was impressed with his club and the french fries; they didn’t jump to the top of his all-time favourite list or anything, but they didn’t disappoint.

We would definitely return to this little pub.  The food, service and atmosphere were all great! 

Brunch at Panera Bread

The husband and I decided to take a drive to New York State one recent weekend to do some shopping.  We go a few times a year just to hunt for new grocery/food items, and, while there, we always dine at Panera Bread.

I tend to try their new menu items whenever we go because we don’t go that often.  This time, they had a new breakfast sandwich which was a flatbread stuffed with turkey chorizo, scrambled egg, potatoes, cheese and veggies and grilled until hot.  Yum! We also shared their new muffin, the peach pecan crunch muffin, which was super moist and packed with huge chunks of peach. I also loved the crunchy granola baked into the top of the muffin.

The husband got his usual (the bacon turkey bravo sandwich, the mac and cheese and a cherry cheese danish) and he ate every bite like it was the first time.  Sigh. haha

This was yet another lovely holiday meal that we enjoyed while visiting family over the holidays.  I was lucky enough to be treated to not just one but two turkey dinners, which is my favourite and not something I get to have very often.  

My Aunt and Uncle went to a lot of work to put on this meal, and we were all very happy and thankful that they did! One of my favourite dishes was my Aunt’s green bean casserole.  It is unique to me as it is not something we traditionally make as part of our holiday meal, and it was delicious! 

For dessert, we had two home made pies (blackberry and strawberry rhubarb) as well as a home made gingerbread cake, which was incredible dense and spicy.  

Slow cooker turkey meatball soup

So the boyfriend and I purchased a slow cooker a while ago and it took us quite a bit of time before we actually worked up the courage to use it.  I decided to pick up a few slow cooker specific cookbooks from my local library where I came across the Canadian Living Slow Cooker Collection.

In doing my research as a first time slow cooker user, I have come to the conclusion that there are really two types of slow cooker recipes: those that require absolutely no prep work, and those that do.  The Canadian Living collection tends to fall more in the latter column, which might seem to defeat the point of the slow cooker, but for our first few tries, we have been using it only on the weekends so we figured a little prep work wouldn`t kill us.

For our first recipe, (well, truly it was the second as I made steel cut oats for the first try) we tackled Canadian Living`s turkey meatball soup.  The biggest part of the prep for this particular recipe is hand rolling the meatballs and precooking them in the oven for 15 minutes.  The rest is simply chopping the vegetables and throwing them in.  The result was a light and delicious soup that I we will definitely make again.  I am soup obsessed in the fall and winter seasons, so the slow cooker is a new welcome addition to the kitchen!

What`s your favourite slow cooker soup recipe?

Turkey Meatball Soup - Slow Cooker

Ingredients

3 cups sodium-reduced chicken broth

3 cups of water

2 green onions, sliced

2 stalks celery, cliced

1 carrot, sliced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

1 sweet red pepper, diced

1 cup vermicelli egg noodles

1/2 cup frozen peas

For the turkey meatballs:

1 egg

1/4 cup grated onion

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tbsp minced fresh parsley

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

1 lb lean ground turkey (or veal)

Directions

For the turkey meatballs:

In a bowl, beat egg.  Add onion, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper; stir to combine.  Mix in turkey.  Shape by 1 tbsp into balls.  Bake on greased rimmed baking sheet in a 400 degree oven until firm, about 15 minutes.

For the rest of the recipe:

Place meatballs in slow cooker.  Add broth, 3 cups water, white parts of green onions, celery, carrot, thyme, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.  

Cover and cook on low until vegetables are tender, about 4 to 5 hours.  

Add red pepper, egg noodles and peas.  Cover and cook on high until steaming hot and noodles are tender, about 15 minutes.  Sprinkle with green parts of green onions. 

Paninis

Have I mentioned that I love sandwiches?  The boyfriend too.  We adore sandwiches.  We took another stab at paninis the other night, and we each hand selected our own toppings.  We were inspired by the Food Network Magazine’s 50 Panini recipes.

For my sandwich, I chose shaved deli turkey meat, sliced d’Anjou pear, Swiss cheese, and a little bit of honey for my condiment.  I had originally planned to add a little fresh baby spinach leaves, but, sadly, I forgot.  To be honest, my sandwich was a little low on flavour, so I am already plotting what I’d do different next time.  Any ideas?

The boyfriend also had turkey, sliced pear and Swiss cheese, but he added some hot capicolla and some bbq mayo.

We grilled the sandwiches on the old George Foreman, which I think I prefer than pan frying them (like a grilled cheese sandwich).