Rösti and smoked salmon with apple salad

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I loved the hot corner of the Pelican Grill's Battle of the Salmons, so I decided to make my own version using the smoked salmon portion that we bought there.

It was also a great excuse to finally try my hand at rösti. I love to get it at the Richtree restaurant in the Rideau Centre. It's one of those dishes that I love, but because I don't eat it often I sometimes forget that it exists. Shameful, I know.

I put the salmon portion on a plate and served it with an apple/cherry tomato salad, a dollop of plain yogurt mixed with dried shallots and thyme (because I didn't have sour cream and chives), and I made my own rösti.

Rösti

one sweet potato
one russet potato
one small onion
one apple, cored and halved
shredded cheddar cheese (about a quarter cup)
salt and pepper

Over a cutting board, grate the potatoes using a box grater. Handful by handful, squeeze the excess water out of the grated potatoes over the sink. Place the squeezed potato in a large mixing bowl. Repeat with the rest of the potatoes, the onion and half of the apple (cube the other half for the salad).

Add the grated cheddar cheese to the rest of the ingredients in the mixing bowl, season and mix well with a fork.

In a frying pan on medium heat, add a couple of glugs of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the rösti mixture to the pan, patting it down to form a dense pancake.

Flip it when the bottom has started to crisp up and turn golden, about seven minutes on my stove.

Slide a spatula underneath the sides to loosen the rösti pancake. Take a large dinner plate and place it upside down on top of the frying pan. Turn both upside down so the rösti slides out onto the plate. Add more oil to the pan and slide the rösti back in to cook the other side.

It's crunchy, cheesy and delicious. Next time I'm going to experiment with some paprika and chopped herbs, and make this as an afternoon snack!

Treats from the sea at the Pelican Grill

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I was first introduced to the Pelican Grill by my friend Em, who bought sushi-grade fish there for a girls night.Then I sampled some of its wares again at the Ottawa Wine and Food Show. S and I have since checked it out for lunch and cooked fish from its shop, and we have become faithful patrons.

At lunch, I ordered a bowl of chowder for us to share. I am so used to small soup portions in restaurants so I passed up the "cup" portion, but lo and behold the waiter brought out a behemoth of a broth. It was delicious. I cast in my spoon and was rewarded by big catches of salmon pieces.


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Next, I ordered the "The Battle of the Smoked Salmons" (above). The menu describes it perfectly: In the hot corner, we've got a salmon served with crispy potato rosti smothered in crème fraîche. In the cold corner, grilled romaine hearts with crispy capers, aioli and parmesan shavings wait to steal the round. I couldn't resist and filled up on the hot salmony goodness first!

S ordered the halibut and chips, a hefty portion for a one-piecer, and very flavourful and good-looking to boot. I love the newspaper touch, so old-school English.


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Our meal of chowder, the salmon battle, fish and chips, soft drink and coffee cost $41.36 plus tip.

Afterward, we picked up some trout and cod to take home. The Pelican Grill has a fishery attached to the restaurant, with lots of delicious catches of the day. Their labels also indicate whether things are Pacific or Atlantic, and whether they're wild. (I've heard in terms of salmon anyways that wild Pacific is the best, which generally means it's not farmed.)


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The decor is very nice. The restaurant is filled with lots of copper tabletops and on the walls there are beautiful, professional photographs of the staff posing with feature sea creatures. There's even one of Ron Eade, the Ottawa Citizen's food blogger, who is obviously a big fan!


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Spanish Tapas in Ottawa

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My favourite Spanish restaurant in Ottawa is 222 Lyon Tapas Bar. I am tapas crazy, and the food here is really good.

It's a cozy hole-in-the-wall sort of place, all painted up in warm yellows, oranges and reds. It's very charming and reminds me of all of the little restaurants I used to frequent in Montreal when I lived there.

The service is very friendly and attentive, too. I have been lucky to always get the blond waitress with the sunny personality.

The last time S and I went, we ordered four tapas dishes. In the photo, clockwise from the top, they are shrimp Mona Lisa (in a brandy cream sauce with mushrooms and peppers), chicken al Ajillo (made with prosciutto, garlic, wine and chilli), artichokes in a vinaigrette and a ratatouille of eggplant and zucchini.

The tapas dishes are pretty big here. They recommended two per person and also give you unlimited bread for scooping up the delicious juices.

My favourite dish was the shrimp, so juicy and tasty. The artichokes were great, too. Artichokes are so intimidating to make at home — how do you get inside that vegetable, anyway? But they taste so good, and the sauce here does not overpower the wonderful natural artichoke flavour.

These four tapases, a small dish of olives, a glass of wine and beer, and a dessert that we shared, all came to $72.75 plus tip.

Does anyone else love this restaurant as much as me? :) Do tell!

222 Lyon Tapas Bar
222 Lyon Street North
Ottawa, Ont.
613.238.0222‎

Celebrity chef sighting: Jamie Stunt

Jamie Stunt, chef at Oz Kafe, on Flickr by beFOODled.

S, myself, and Squeaky and Calimocho went to Oz Kafe for dinner on Sunday night and guess who was taking five at the bar — the head chef, Jamie Stunt.


Chef Jamie Stunt at the Ottawa Wine and Food Show on Flickr by beFOODled.

The first time I saw Jamie was in November 2008 at the Ottawa Wine and Food Show's 100-mile cook-off.


Roasted lamb chop on Flickr by beFOODled.

In less than an hour, he made an appetizer, a main and a dessert. Above is a photo of his roasted lamb chop with a pumpkin and wild boar sausage hash, Brussels sprouts and a cranberry-apple chutney, and his appetizer in the background. For dessert, he made French toast with artisan bakery bread, apple butter and cheese.


Ryan, server extraordinaire, and Ozlem Balpinar, owner of Oz Kafe, on Flickr by beFOODled.

This is Jamie's employer, Ozlem Balpinar, and Ryan, one of her servers extraordinaire. Ozlem is originally from Turkey and has lived in Ottawa since she was 10.

Oz is consistently delicious and a neighbourhood favourite with many of my friends. The following photos are of dishes that S and I have had here in the past: freshly caught halibut with lobster salad, grilled asparagus and roasted potatoes, and bison with fiddleheads and garlic mashed potatoes. I have written a longer review of Oz Kafe on Food Network Canada.


The fish special at Oz Kafe, on Flickr by beFOODled.


Bison and fiddleheads at Oz Kafe, on Flickr by beFOODled.

Got to go because I am now officially dying of hunger. Note to self: no more blogging before dinner.

Charcuterie from patio to balcony

Murray Street's charcuterie on Flickr by beFOODled.


beFOODled's charcuterie on Flickr by beFOODled.

S and I recently discovered Murray Street, a restaurant in the Byward Market that serves upscale Canadian comfort food. Since the Ottawa Foodies have already done a great job of reviewing it, I'm going to tell you about how a recent visit there reaquainted me with a timeless French classic, the cheese and charcuterie sharing plate.

The chefs at Murray Street buy artisanal cheeses and make their own pâtés and terrines using locally sourced meats. For $30, you can order a combination of either three meats and two cheeses, or the reverse. The charcuterie, pictured above, comes with crostini in a cute burlap bag and three sauces: one with plumped-up raisins, an apple jelly, and a cranberry and orange compote. With two glasses of wine, the cost is closer to $42 plus tax and tip.

We ordered three meats — keilbassa from the Elk Ranch, a thick slice of country terrine with smoked pork tenderloin, and a pork rillette (in the photo, it's the white spread in the jar and the best value because you get quite a bit). My favourites were definitely the cheeses because they had the strongest and most robust flavours. We chose a sharp seven-year-old Pine River cheddar (delicious with the apple jelly) and the Fritz Kaiser Le Douanier, an ash-coated cheese from Quebec.

The Murray Street charcuterie is nice for a special occasion when one is feeling decadent (and solvent), but on Sunday, S and I made our own version at home for less than one-third of the price.

Our Sunday balcony charcuterie, also pictured above, included genoa salami and spicy soppresata, an Italian dry-cured salami. We also had sliced baguette, olive tapenade, bristling sardines and a small plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping bread. Not forgetting two cheeses — gouda, my favourite Dutch cheese, and Rouy, a mild-tasting, orange, soft surface-ripened cheese from Bourgogne, France, which comes in an orange cardboard box (and was on sale for $3.99 at La Bottega!).

I love eating this way because of the tapas-like variety of choice, and the big, strong flavours. It also always brings back fond memories of similar meals — of lunch with my aunt and uncle and then-little cousins in Edmonton, and with S's parents in the Rockies, crowded around the tiny convertible table in their Westfalia camping van. And most recently, of France, when S and I made this for dinner one night in our room with cheeses bought from the sweet little market at La Bégude-de-Mazenc. Ah, memories with food!

Murray Street Kitchen | Charcuterie | Wine
110 Murray St.
Ottawa, ON K1N 5M6‎
613.562.7244‎


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Fettuccine's on Elgin St.

Fettuccine with tomato vodka sauce for two on Flickr by beFOODled.

On Friday night, I rented three movies and take-out from Fettuccine's for S and I. Fettuccine's is our neighbourhood's fresh pasta joint. (When I lived in Parkdale, I used to go to Parma Ravioli).

For unknown reasons, I always assumed that in Italy people ate fresh pasta and that dried pasta was an inferior, but non-perishable, alternative. I think it was an episode of Jamie's Great Italian Escape where Jamie Oliver said that both fresh and dried pastas are valued equally in Italy. They use dried when they want the "al dente" texture that fresh pasta can never achieve or when they want a firm texture that can stand up to hearty sauces, like a meaty bolognese. In contrast, they use fresh pasta with light sauces, for example, made with tomatoes and cream.

At Fettuccine's, I usually get fettuccine for two (plain or spinach), two tubs of tomato vodka sauce and two garlic breads. It's a great deal for only $18. The garlic bread is the best in the city — I told this to Squeaky who later investigated on her own and now concurs.

I usually cook the pasta for about eight minutes and heat up one of the tubs of vodka sauce for the two of us (the other I save for later in the week). I toss the pasta in half of the sauce, and save the other half to ladle on top. Then I add cracked black pepper and grate some fresh parmesan over top. The garlic bread is an eight-inch piece of fresh baguette with a garlicky butter spread inside. I open them up and cook them for a few minutes at 350 F and then broil them for a couple of minutes until they are golden and the edges almost charred. I am generally not good at timing but I have made this so many times everything is now ready at the same time. Booya!

The other dish I am partial to at Fettuccine's is the sun-dried tomato cappelleti. This is an antipasti salad of cheese cappelleti (looks like a hat-shaped tortellini), sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, fresh parsley, olive oil and mozzarella. It is unbelievably tasty either hot or cold and very very garlicky.

Fettuccine's
280C Elgin St.
Ottawa, ON K2P 1M2
Tel │ 613.230.4723


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BeaverTails on the canal

BeaverTails on the canal on Flickr by beFOODled.

When I first started skating to work, I ate three of these BeaverTails in the span of about a week. They are highly addictive, and highly Canadian. But I recently found out there's an American connection, too.

Meet the chefs at the Elgin St. Freehouse

The Elgin St. Freehouse's Mark Leonard and Kalidas Cappuccino by beFOODled on Flickr.

Meet Ottawa chefs Mark Leonard and Kalidas Cappuccino and check out some of their delicious fare in my latest post for Foodtv.ca. They work at the Elgin St. Freehouse, a small restaurant in downtown Ottawa that has also been featured on beFOODled.

Ichibei, a Japanese restaurant in Ottawa

Ichibei, a Japanese restaurant in Ottawa, originally uploaded by beFOODled.

I recently wrote about my favourite Japanese restaurant in Ottawa for Foodtv.ca. I also reviewed it earlier this year on beFOODled. I bet you're curious about the identity of that cute little animal in all of the pictures, the one with a bellyful of sake! Either post will tell you about him, so click on to find out more.

Ribfest Ottawa 2008

My peops and I sure know how to pick them! It was Ribfest in Ottawa last week, and we happened to hit the two best vendors according to Ribfest's esteemed judges. I've been living under a rock for the past four years because I didn't find out about this mouthwatering festival until this year! Thanks new friends in HR (that's you TH and KV)!

Teams from Canada and the U.S. compete for best ribs, best chicken and best BBQ sauce in a crazy five-day cook-off on Sparks Street. BBQ perfume wafts everywhere. I feel sorry for the vegetarians who work on Sparks, they must be horrified.

I only went to two places, but they both turned out to be winners. Squeaky, Em, S and I went to Alabama's Camp 31, which won for best ribs and also sold me the best six-dollar pulled pork sandwich I have ever eaten (pictured above, precariously balanced on my knees). The next day some of my work colleagues and I did a noon-hour rib run to Billy Bones, also American. When we got there the choices were overwhelming, but one of my lunchmates made the executive decision to jump in line at Billy Bones because of its great name :) Billy Bones won for best sauce and Camp 31 came in at a respectable second here, too.

These folks have a good sense of humour - the vegetarian combo, also known as the tree-huggers special, is all three meats for $18. They also ring a big cowbell when someone orders the full rib rack, which put the spotlight on S. Including my half-rack that I took home for dinner - my eyes were bigger than my stomach - I ate here three times in two days. Good times!

Totoya - Ottawa's No. 1 ramen

Totoya is Ottawa's No. 1 ramen, but I must add it's also the only source of ramen in the whole city. Regulars of beFOODled will know how much I love ramen and won't be surprised that I consider this dearth a strike against Ottawa's restaurant scene.

But back to Totoya. It's a very nice, clean place. The wait staff are very friendly. My favourite dish is the ramen, which is very good. S and I order it at lunch because unfortunately it's not always on the dinner menu. You also have to go before 2 p.m. because the restaurant closes then and re-opens at 5 p.m. for dinner.

We have also been here before for Totoya's all-you-can-eat sushi evening with Squeaky, Calimocho, MV and DV (aka the Christmas elf for all you former CWFers). This special night happens very infrequently, but for $26.95 you are constantly offered platefuls of sumptuous rolls. I discovered spicy salmon and salmon-skin here, although tuna and BBQ eel are still my favourites :).

Calimocho also introduced us all to the pleasure of drinking cold beer and sake at the same time this evening ;) Totoya offers a cold, cloudy sake that's very good with beer, and oddly enough, made in Calimocho's home state of California.

Totoya
297 Dalhousie Street
Ottawa, ON K1N 7E5
613.241.2224

The Foolish Chicken in Ottawa

Who can resist a restaurant named The Foolish Chicken? I decided I just had to go and see what this was all about. Now I have started to think of it as my friendly place-around-the-corner. It's a chicken-and-ribs restaurant in the Parkdale area of Ottawa, and one of my favourite places to eat.

The BBQ meats are delicious because the sauce is homemade. You can tell after the first bite that they use very high-quality ingredients, even in the desserts, which the owners bake themselves. That sauce is a secret recipe, but I'm willing to bet that clove is one of the seasonings. It's so so good!

So far, I've had their quarter chicken dinner twice and pulled pork sandwich once. Both are really tender and have wonderful flavours. Entrees usually come with cornbread and another choice of side. When S and I go, we order two big entrees (S usually gets ribs), two pints and two desserts, and the bill only comes to about $55.00.

The atmosphere is very inviting. The couple that owns the place also serve, and they are very friendly and attentive. Plus the restaurant is decorated in warm mustards and reds, which adds to the coziness.

There's history and culture here, too. The bar has nickel panels that were reclaimed from the old library roof on Parliament Hill. Paintings for sale by local artists also adorn the walls, so The Foolish Chicken is not just a restaurant but also a gallery.

I know you're probably wondering about the name - yes, there's a story here, but I won't tell, so you'll have to actually go to find this one out! Trust me, you won't be disappointed :)

The Foolish Chicken
79 Holland Ave, between Scott St. and Wellington Ave.
Ottawa, ON K1Y 0Y1
613.321.4715

Ichibei — the best Japanese restaurant in Ottawa

Ichibei is my favourite Japanese restaurant in Ottawa. I get so excited! It's one of the first places S and I went to together, and where I discovered that Japanese food went far beyond sushi and tempura. Clockwise from the top is our recent meal of sukiyaki, Japanese pickles (eggplant, cucumber and daikon), sushi and an appetizer of tuna and natto (fermented soy beans that I'm slowly developing a taste for).

Ichibei has extremely tasty food and a well-balanced menu. The agedashi dofu and beef tataki pass my "favourite Japanese appetizers test" with flying colours. There's also a harusame salad appetizer that I just can't get enough of. If only I knew the recipe! I've tried to ask but understandably they won't tell me. From what I can tell it has bean thread (harusame) noodles, julienned carrots, crab meat, possibly cucumber and egg, and a spicy mayonnaise dressing that's so light and refreshing.

It's a tiny restaurant, but tastefully decorated. The tanukis (Japanese raccoons) in which they serve sake are just too cute. We always ask for one. You have probably noticed that our tanuki is posing with every dish in the photos :).

My friends at Ottawa Foodies have also noted that Ichibei is the place where the Japanese Embassy takes its guests from Japan, which suggests the food is quite authentic!

The only things I don't like are the small sushi portions, which is unfortunately the norm in Ottawa. The sashimi plate in particular has ridiculously tiny pieces for a price tag close to $25. This especially disappoints S, who spent many years in Vancouver where the portions are more than a mouthful to say the least.

We usually order a medium bottle of sake, two miso soups, two à la carte appetizers, a hot bowl food like sukiyaki or don buri and four pieces of sushi. It comes to about $100 for two people.

Ichibei
197 Bank Street, corner Gloucester
Ottawa, ON
613.563.2375

Elgin St. Freehouse in Ottawa

A few nights ago, S came back after being away for a month. We looked into his fridge and, predictably, it was very bare. So we headed out the door to the Elgin St. Freehouse for dinner.

The Elgin St. Freehouse is a tiny, narrow, darkly lit restaurant that offers a small menu of interesting choices. We have eaten there three times now. I have always liked it because the service is very good, and it has a modern, minimalist silver-and-black decor that is really nice. I ordered the steak pasta, which was delicious, and S had pork chops with a blue cheese sauce and very tasty mashed potatoes. I like this restaurant not just for its good food, but because the portion sizes are just right and everything is beautifully presented, as you can see from the photo. A meal of two entrees, a bottle of wine, two coffees and a dessert to share came to 100 dollars.

Elgin St. Freehouse
296 Elgin Street, corner Gilmore
613.233.5525