Berry Hill Food Company

Brunch is a long weekend requirement. As we are back from a long weekend visit with my family, it is time to share Sunday Brunch with you. We went to Berry Hill Food Company in downtown Oshawa, mostly because it is one of the few places I haven't been yet in my hometown. Actually, I am sure there are many, but it looked like it would be good. I scoped out the eggs Benedict options, and went for the Beef Tenderloin. At $16, I was expecting perfectly tender beef with creamy Hollandaise sauce. I was extremely disappointed - the beef was chewy, the Hollandaise was thin and there wasn't very much of it. The eggs were fine, but I have had better of every component. The potatoes were over-salted, but tasty. I really was filled with regret, wondering how good other menu items might have been, and why I made this choice.

Beef Tenderloin Eggs Benedict with sauteed garlic mushrooms

Scott was after more quantity, and ordered the Full Mounty. He enjoyed it, and I had some of that sausage, it was good. Nothing exceptional, again for $15 I would hope for more delight.

The Full Mounty - Canadian peameal, English sausage, 2 eggs, strip bacon, grilled tomato, baked beans, BH potatoes & toast

We left feeling overcharged and unimpressed. Looking for a great spot in Oshawa, we will have to keep looking. It seemed like there was so much potential, so maybe by ordering different things we might have been more on board. I do really want to say nice things... the service was good!

Likes: The coffee was served in a huge cup.

Dislikes: The food and prices weren't great.

Food: 3/5

Service: 4/5

Would I go again?: Probably not.

Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, so I decided to do some baking before Scott got home from feeding other happy couples. His mom got us a calendar for Christmas that includes recipes each month - February's being for sugar cookies. Turns out, you can order the recipe as a print for just $24 from Lily & Val directly. For icing, I followed a basic icing recipe found here. These cookies are kind of perfectly sweet and buttery, where you realize you have had 5 and should probably stop so you don't die.

To make them you will need:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 3/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

To get started:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Cream butter and sugar together until smooth. Add vanilla and egg and mix thoroughly.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour and baking powder.
4. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and combine into a dough.
5. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin and cut into hearts.
6. Bake at 400 F for 7 minutes.

For the icing, mix together the following:

• 2 cups icing sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• food colouring

When they come out they are very soft, but harden up as they cool to a nice cookie consistency. You need to wait for them to cool before icing them. To ice them, I just dipped them into the icing, then let it set. Enjoy!

Earth to Table: Bread Bar

On Sunday we were headed through Guelph to visit friends and decided have a little brunch on the way. On the recommendation of a friend of a friend, we ended up at Earth to Table: Bread Bar. Their website looked really promising with lots of fresh looking dishes. As you may have noticed by now, we are breakfast & brunch connoisseurs with a critical eye for an egg. The brunch situation here is a kind of breakfast tapas, with small plates you can share or eat all yourself. It isn't what we started with, but I will start here with my favourite dish: Brisket & Potato Hash with Poached Egg. The brisket was delightful, so savory and flavourful, with a perfectly poached egg. Yolk on potatoes is one of the greatest joys of breakfast.

Brisket & Potato Hash with Poached Egg

My biggest disappointment was the French Toast. It wasn't very eggy, instead rather dry. The whipped cream made up for some of the lost moisture, and the caramel was tasty, but the bread was entirely the wrong choice for french toast. The bread was seedy and not very absorbent. I was very glad this wasn't the focus of my meal.

French Toast with Caramel & Whipped Cream

We were also a little underwhelmed by the Eggs Hammy. There was just very little seasoning, making it boring. The bread used here was fabulous, suiting of the Bread Bar name.

Eggs Hammy - poached egg with ham & hollandaise

The Root Beer-Baked Beans came in an adorable mini cocotte dish and were full of flavour. They were actually a little too spicy for me, and the beans were undercooked, so Scott ate most of this one.

Root Beer-Baked Beans

The Potato Latkes were the most confusing dish. It really wasn't clear how it was intended to be eaten. It reminded me of a pile of hickory sticks in both appearance and taste. I was really not into the taste of the salmon roe, way too fishy for me - although that is probably just my uneducated palette.

Potato Latkes with sour cream and cured salmon roe

While we are on the topic of fish, let's move on to the Smoked Salmon on Toast. This was much more how I prefer my breakfast salmon - classic, delicious combination. The only way this would have been better was more of it, luckily it was all you can eat!

Smoked Salmon on Toast - with cream cheese, capers, lemon, dill, & red onion

The breakfast nachos were better than they looked. They have found a really good guacamole recipe, there was just not enough. Not a huge egg presence, but it was good.

Breakfast Nachos - jalapenos, guacamole, scrambled egg, sour cream

Last but definitely not least, Scott's favourite dish: Eggs in Purgatory. This was a stunning example of the bread quality, that I hope and assume they make in house. The poached egg in tomato was excellent for dipping, being very rich and tasty.

Eggs in Purgatory - tomato, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan, toast

We were there right when the restaurant opened, and were really excited about it conceptually. The dishes themselves weren't that impressive, and left us thinking wistfully of our fabulous breakfast in Kitchener, ON at Gilt Restaurant. Nothing was terrible, but for $28 per person I would rather be impressed than overwhelmed with amount of food. There was also a cold food bar available with cold salads and cold, disappointing pizza. We tried a couple, and they were big mistakes. Served hot, perhaps the pizza would have been better, but they weren't good. The pastry cart on the other hand, was filled with delightful treats. There was a salted caramel brownie that I couldn't get enough of, and actually bought 4 to take to our friends. Our service was great, very attentive, informative, but not too overwhelming.

Likes: Selection and concept of breakfast tapas is great.
Dislikes: I wasn't impressed by most items, cold pizza shouldn't have been included.
Food: 3/5
Service: 5/5
Would I go again?: No, and I wouldn't recommend it either. It just wasn't worth it.

Rico's Pizzeria

Yesterday we snuck in a lunchtime pizza date at Rico's Pizzeria. It was somewhere we had never tried, and it was close to where we needed to be, so we tried it. I ordered the Balsamic Marinated Mushroom Pizza with some added prosciutto. It was huge! The crust was thin and crispy (maybe a little too crispy on one side). The mushrooms were delicious, and the prosciutto was definitely the right choice.

Balsamic Marinated Mushroom Pizza - thin, crispy crust smeared with roasted garlic and organic olive oil, covered with seasonal balsamic marinated mushrooms, onions and goat cheese, topped with fresh rosemary and prosciutto

Scott ordered the Farmer's Sausage 'Za, and we can safely say I was the winner this round. His pizza was good, but a little boring. It was so cheesy, with the right amount of pull. The house made tomato sauce was really tasty. Mine was so good though, I couldn't stop eating it.

Farmer's Sausage 'Za - thin crust topped with house made tomato sauce, fresh Fieldgate Farm sausage, locally sourced bacon, and mozzarella

Overall we were pretty satisfied with this little pick, and while they seemed a little overwhelmed with customers heading into the holidays, they managed to keep everyone happy and well fed. Their attention to locally sourced ingredients (including beers) and options for everyone, including vegan and gluten-free fare, makes it really worth recommending. From the outside you can't tell they care as much as they do about the experience - it looks like it could be any 2-4-1 location.

Likes: The crust was very thin and crispy, the toppings were delicious!
Dislikes: The sausage pizza was boring.
Food: 4/5
Service: 4.5/5
Would I go again?: Maybe. It was great, but for $17 and $16 they weren't outstanding.

Shrimp Scampi

This is one of my favourite dishes to make - so easy & fresh, and it seems pretty healthy, too. I first found a recipe similar to this called Dawn's Shrimp Scampi, which is no longer easy to find on the internet (there is a Dawn's Scampi, it is not the same). Anyways, its a light pasta and shrimp dish where the freshness of the lemon makes all the difference!

To make this, you will need:

• 6 oz fettuccine
• 1/4 cup panko
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large shallots, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 3/4 lb shrimp (I cook from frozen)
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp black olives, sliced

1. Cook the pasta.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook until shallots are soft (about 5 minutes).
3. In the meantime, combine panko, lemon zest, and parsley in a small bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, combine wine, stock, lemon juice, and olives.
5. Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook on each side until opaque.
6. Stir in the wine & broth mixture, bring to a boil for 1 minute, then reduce heat.
7. Stir in the noodles and the panko mixture. Enjoy topped with fresh grated Parmesan!

A note about the shrimp: it doesn't really matter what kind or how big - I usually just get whatever is on sale. I like to make sure they aren't precooked, and it definitely easier if you get them already deveined and shelled.

Chili

Okay, here we are. I am finally ready to share my Chili recipe with you. It is important to note this is the first time I actually measured things in an attempt to properly inform you, but typically just add as much as feels right and taste as I go - so that is my real recommendation. My chili game was changed after reading The Food Lab, by J. Kenji López-Alt (more info here).

There are couple of keys to the improved chili:

1. Real chili peppers and chili paste instead of just chili powder
2. Umami bombs are essential - soy sauce, marmite, anchovies, cocoa
3. Time. It just can't be rushed. Some people swear by a slow cooker, I do this by stove top - but it still takes 3 hours.

To get a rich meaty chili that isn't just wet meat & beans, let me show you the way! You will need:

• 1 lb ground meat (I used pork)
• 1/4 white onion, chopped
• 3 red chili peppers, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 cup chili paste
• 1/2 tsp anchovy paste
• 1 tsp marmite
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cocoa
• 1 can black beans (540 ml)
• 1 can bean medley (540 ml)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (796 ml)
• 1 can corn (341 ml)
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp bourbon
• 1/2 tbsp molasses
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Cook the meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up as it cooks.
2. Add onion, chili peppers, garlic and oregano. Cook until onions are translucent.
3. Add chili paste, stir to coat and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
4. Add anchovy paste, marmite, soy sauce, tomato paste, cumin, paprika, chili powder, cocoa, beans, tomatoes, corn and cider vinegar. Mix thoroughly and simmer uncovered on medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
6. Add bourbon and molasses, simmer uncovered on low for 30 minutes.
7. Cover and simmer until beans are desired tenderness (1 hour for me), finish seasoning with salt & pepper. Enjoy with some thick, crusty bread!

Creamy Kale & Sausage Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Here is a delightful use of kale that disguises how terrible it is! Okay, so maybe it isn't terrible, but I definitely bought too much of it and had to find a way to make it a little less offensive. I originally found the recipe here, but made some changes - including the olive oil bechamel I found here. This dish was tasty the first time around, and made fabulous lunch leftovers. We just picked up a couple of sausages from the deli, but really any sausage would do.

To make this, you will need:

• 12 oz fusilli
• 2 savoury cured sausages, sliced
• 10 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced (about 1/2 cup)
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups of kale, ribbed and chopped (packed)

1. Cook the pasta, keep 1 cup of pasta water for sauce.
2. Cook the sausage in a large skillet on medium-high heat until fat is no longer white (about 10 minutes).
3. Add sun-dried tomatoes and garlic, cook until fragrant (about 5 minutes).
4. Add vegetable stock, stir to combine & let simmer for 15 minutes - prepare the bechamel in the meantime.
5. For the bechamel, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a small pot.
6. Add flour while whisking constantly until flour is blonde (about 5 minutes).
7. Add milk while whisking. When boiling, whisk constantly to avoid burning until thickened
8. Remove from heat, stir in parmesan cheese, and add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Add kale to the large skillet and mix to cook until kale is tender (about 5 minutes).
10. Add pasta and sauce to the skillet and stir to coat evenly. Add pasta water to desired consistency (I added the whole cup of reserved pasta water for a creamier mix). Enjoy!