A Life, Lived

Coras

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She got her start in Montreal in the '80s, making fruit-laden crepes, shakes and French toast recipes and hasn't looked back since. Cora Mussely Tsouflidou, a hard-working single mom saw her restaurant dream to fruition in La Belle Province, opening a chain of successful restaurants and breakfast has never been the same.

Cora's came to Ontario a few years ago and for that we say, merci . I can remember our friends Ruth and Catherine talking about special trips just to have breakfast. This is unheard of! They even declared that were they to wine a lottery the first purchase would be a Cora's franchise!

Usually packed, the restaurants have a country kitchen feel. Expect warm, yellow-painted walls with specialty dishes etched on the walls. Service is cheerful, though depending on how busy the place is, can be slow. Whenever I have been to the ones in the Toronto area the line-up has been to the door.

The menu is huge with a wide array of breakfast items, making it hard to narrow down to just one choice. Recently seen on the menu: Cora's Special (eggs, bacon, ham, sausage and crepe) $8.45, Eggs Ben et Dictine (two poached eggs, English muffin, with hollandaise, potatoes and fresh fruit) $10.45-$11.35, Crepes $7.95-$9.45, Rosemary's Sunday $8.25, Surprise (egg, ham and Swiss cheese sandwich with fruit) $8.35. Menu selections change regularly depending on the season and each dish has its own tale to tell.

Earlier this week when I was in Ottawa I discovered that there was a Coras near the hotel in which I crached for the night. I found my way there at 6:30 am (ready to beat the morning rush) and had a wonderful breakfast. I decided upon the special of the month which was a breakfast paninni stuffed with a ham and cheese. The paninni was grilled and served piping hot. On the side was a huge serving of fresh fruit. This truly was an incredible way to start off the day.

 

Orange Pork with Scallions

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Last night we needed a quick dinner and we were craving something Asian. I was intrigued by the flavour combination in this recipe and happily we had all of the ingredients on hand. Dinner came together in less than 30 minutes and the result was flavourful. When I make this again I will increase the amount of chili because we like more heat. It would also be good with the addition of some toasted cashews (although that would significantly alter the nutritional information listed below).

Serve pork over rice noodles or rice.


1 pound pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
1/3 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
2 cups matchstick-cut carrots
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons bottled ground fresh ginger (such as Spice World)
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/3 cup diagonally cut green onions
Sliced green onions (optional)

Cut pork into 2 x 1/4-inch-wide strips. Combine pork and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a bowl; toss well. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch, broth, and next 4 ingredients (through salt).

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until desired degree of doneness; stir frequently. Remove pork from pan.

Heat oil in pan. Add carrots, 1/4 cup water, ginger, and garlic to pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return pork to pan. Stir in broth mixture; bring to a boil. Cook 30 seconds. Stir in 1/3 cup onions. Serve immediately. Garnish with sliced onions, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup pork mixture)

CALORIES 214 (29% from fat); FAT 6.9g (sat 1.9g,mono 3.1g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 24.1g; CHOLESTEROL 65mg; CALCIUM 37mg; SODIUM 586mg; FIBER 2.2g; IRON 1.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 12.7g

Cooking Light, JULY 2006

Mudslide Martini

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Paul works in retail. You can imagine what the end of November and December brings for him. Tonight when he came home he was wiped. What was a good spouse to do? Whip up a martini.

Happily there was NOT a repeat of the unfortunate martini incident. However this treat did have him tipsy after three sips. It is safe to say that the craziness of work was soon gone.

1 part Starbucks™ Cream Liqueur
1 part Starbucks™ Coffee Liqueur
½  part ABSOLUT® VANILIA®

Shake ingredients over ice. Serve in a Martini Glass. I garnished the martinis with a chocolate covered malted milk ball that was cut in half. The picture above shows a double - which explains the alcohol-induced tipsiness!

Ham and Asparagus Fritatta

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This is my entry for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging round up.  The blogging event was started by Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen. Kalyn is also serving as the host this week.

On Saturday, when we were enjoying dinner at Urban, one of our friends spoke about having breakfast in bed and what a treat it had been. I did my usual 'wow, wouldn't that be wonderful!' with heavy emphasis. Of course it went nowhere.

Paul's response: 'it would be messy.'

What he doesn't get is how nice it would be to be pampered once and awhile. In the ten years we've been together I don't believe I have EVER had breakfast made for me. The dishes get done, laundry washed, and trash taken out, but a nice omelette once and awhile might not be amiss.

Anyway, time to clamber down from my high horse.

So, I didn't get breakfast in bed (or even served to me at the table) on Sunday. Sunday is the one day of the week where we enjoy a more leisurely breakfast (as compared to the ten minutes we have during the week prior to racing for the train). I whip something together, we brew a pot of coffee, and eat, drink, and read the Sunday papers. Heaven!

This week I looked in the fridge and decided to whip together a fritatta made with whatever ingredients we had on hand. The great thing about this dish is it is so flexible - you really can toss in whatever ingredients you have on hand.  I like to mix it up and use diffierent herbs depending upon what I have readily availble in either the garden or the refrigerator.

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup cooked ham, cubed
10 asparagus spears, cooked, chopped into 1 inch lengths
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1 tablespoon assorted fresh herbs (I used oregano, thyme, savory, and rosemary), chopped
5 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a large, oven-proof frying pan. Saute the onion in the butter until transparent (about 4 minutes). Add the cooked ham and asparagus and saute until warmed through. Mix in the fresh herbs. Remove from heat.

Cover the onion, herb, ham, and asparagus mixture with the cheese.

In a separate bowl beat the eggs. Add the buttermilk, salt, and pepper. Beat until well blended.

Pour the egg mixture over the onion, herb, ham, asparagus, and cheese mixture.

Bake in the oven until cooked through/set (about 30 minutes).

Cut into wedges and served immediately.

We enjoyed our fritatta with fresh fruit and cranberry/walnut toast. It was a quick breakfast and a great way to use up some leftovers! 

Urban - Restaurant Review

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One of the most challenging aspects of our theatre evenings out is where to go for dinner pre-theatre (live is difficult isn't it? *smile*) We have to balance 6 different tastes, budgets, and varying degrees of food snobbery (OK, I'll admit that I am the food snob). Ruth suggested going to a restaurant close to the theatre that we had not tried - Urban.

Among a string of restaurants in the Theatre District along King West, sits this metropolitan diner. The  Executive Chef Michael Harbour oversees all work in the kitchen, providing an eclectic collection of dishes. With a Mediterranean theme, the restaurant features pasta, pizza, omelettes and seafood for lunch. The dinner menu includes cashew-crusted halibut, pan-roasted Muscovy duck breast, and Australian Big Eye lamb chops. The casual, contemporary diner adds the touch of comfort for colder evenings with a wood-burning fireplace.

The restaurant was featuring a three course prix fixe menu for $ 35. Most of us elected to give that a whirl.

I started with the duck spring rolls. The order came with three crispy spring rolls stuffed with duck confute. The hoisin sauce was laced with freshly squeezed lime juice which provided a nice counterpoint to the duck. The flavors in this starter came together quite nicely.

For my main course I decided to try their take on Osso Buco. The traditional veal shanks were braised and then slowly cooked in a red wine tomato based sauce. They were served with with fondant potato and sauteed french green beans. This was a good dish but not a great one. Both Paul and I agreed that the recipe that Jane shared with us and we made in the spring was far tastier!

For desert I selected a pear and cranberry crumble. This was classic fall fare as far as I was concerned. served with creme anglaise this desert was full of fruit and the wonderful flavours of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves. YUM

All in all it was a great meal. The food was good, prices reasonable, and the wine list passable. The only drawback was the service. While it started off well it went downhill. Now in fairness, this seems to be a pattern for the Toronto theatre district. For some reason whenever we go out to dinner prior to a show the waiter is reluctant to bring the damn bill when we want it. In my mind it is inexcusable to take 45 minutes to bring the bill - when people ask you for it bring the flipping thing!

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest.

Our photo is currently number 15 out of 464 photos.

You can vote by clicking here

Remember a 10 is good!

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---

Sweeney Todd

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Last night was the first show in our theatre subscrition series. It was odd that the first play was at the end of November. In the past the shows were far more spread out. Oh well, I guess that they wanted to really build up to a big show - and they did!

SWEENEY TODD, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is considered one of the great musicals of all times (some people consider it the greatest). The 1979 Stephen Sondheim musical, which plays at the Princess of Wales Theatre until December 9th, is based on an urban legend from Victorian London about a vengeful barber who kills his clients and serves them up as meat pies in his next door neighbour Mrs. Lovett's pie shop.Written by Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, it is a musical that isn't easy to stage.

I confess to being quite curious about how they would handle the story. Musicals are normally light and frothy things, so how does a show about a mass murderer and cannibalism play out on the stage? I had also heard about how when the show premiered back in /79 the special effects were exuberant and folks were splattered with the fake blood gushing from the victims necks after Sweeney had dispatched them to another place with his straight razor. Yuck

But by re-imagining the masterwork in a revolutionary way, British director John Doyle has found the key to making the musical come to life. By having each of the actors in his production also perform a musical instrument, Doyle has given the legendary tale of 19th century London barber out to seek bloody revenge a new thrilling dimension. The chamber-like production allows audiences to become acutely conscious of every note and sound, whether bowed from a single cello or chimed from a triangle.

This production was the toast of the 2005-06 Broadway season, winning unanimous raves from the critics, many major awards (including a Tony for best director of a musical and a Drama Desk for best musical revival) and nightly standing ovations. I can see why - the staging and actor was outstanding; spare, focused, yet nuanced.

I did a quick YouTube search and found this clip from the original Broadway show:

While the words remained the same the rest of the show was completely different! In fact, you wouldn't really recognize it as the same show.

And . . . just in time for the festive season is a film adaptation of Sweeney Todd starring Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman, and Helen Boham Carter in a movie by Tim Burton.

Next up in two weeks: Dirty dancing.

Braised Lamb Shanks with White Beans

a shameless self-promotion . . . One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. Our photo is currently number 15 out of 463 photos. You can vote by clicking hereRemember a 10 is good!Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!*smile*

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This is my entry for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging round up. The host will be Truffle from What's on My Plate. The blogging event was started by Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen.

This dish is a modern rendition of osso buco, the classic Italian specialty of braised veal shanks. Here the shanks are served with white beans, instead of the more traditional risotto. The lemon-and-parsley is called gremolata (although a traditional gremolata would would also contain some anchovies).

Because the beans need time to soak it is best to start this dish the day before you plan on serving it.

This recipe was originally from the Williams-Sonoma cookbook - Italian Favorites.

1 1/2 cups dried white beans
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 lamb shanks (about 1/2 lb each)
2 red onions cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 large carrots, peeled, and cut into 1/2 inch dice
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped fresh tomatoes
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
sea salt freshly
ground pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh Italian parsley

Pick through the beans, discarding any bad ones. Rinse the beans. Pl;ace in a bowl, add cold water to cover, soak for 12 hours or over night.

Drain the beans and place in a saucepan. Fill with water so that there is at least 2 inches of water about the beans. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, simmer uncovered until tender (45 - 60 minutes). Drain and set aside.

In a dutch oven over medium heat, warn the olive oil. Add the lamb shanks and brown on all sides - 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the opinions and carrots to the pot and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute, stirring, for 1 minutes. Add the wine, stock, tomato paste, tomatoes, thyme, and bay leaf. Stir well. Return the shanks to the pot. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the shanks are very tender - about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Add the beans, stir well, cover, and simmer gently over low heat until the lamb begins to fall off of the bones, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, stir together the lemon zest and parsley. Transfer the lamb and beans to individual plates and garnish with the lemon/parsley gremolata. Serve immediately.

Serves 6

The Queen of the Night

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One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest.

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I had started reading this book a few weeks ago and I confess that I thought it dragged initially. I got over that quickly though and got hooked. Things have been so bloody crazy at work that I haven't done much reading lately though. I finally finished the book on the train ride home this evening.

Paul Doherty really is the master storyteller. It seem to matter not to Mr. Doherty whether the background to the book is Medieval England, Ancient Egypt, or in the case the eternal city of Rome in the 4th century AD.

I don't think it could possibly be Ancient Rome without the murder and mayhem that almost always seem to accompany any book that uses the city as its background. Doherty brings ancient Rome to live in a manner that informs and intrigues. The city very much becomes one of the characters in the story.

The children of the rich and famous are being abducted and held for ransom. At the same time veteran legionaries who have served in Britannia with Constantine, particularly along Great Wall, in the more northern reaches of the island are being brutally murdered. There bodies are mutilated, a practice that was prevalent among the Picts, the people they were fighting against, so many years ago.

The Empress employs her secret agent Claudia to try to resolve these terrible happenings. However Claudia has her own problems. Her uncles garden has recently had the body of a young girl disinterred and she has the task of trying to solve both mysteries at the same time. The young girl was a Christian and her corpse was perfectly preserved.

Claudia must claw her way through a mist of politics, religion and violence. One false move could cost her much more than her job as a spy . . .

Pecan-crusted Tilapia

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest.

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This was not the original plan for tonight. I had planned on making a broiled Tilapia with a tomato caper sauce. However apparently I was confused when I was making the shopping last last weekend. I did not have several key ingredients.

ARGH

This recipe is one of our favourites, Paul first made it a few years ago and it is quick and tasty.

The recipe was orginally from Cooking Light.

Enjoy!

1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 (6-ounce) tilapia or snapper fillets
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
4 lemon wedges

Combine first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish. Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a medium bowl; place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge 1 fillet in flour. Dip in buttermilk mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining fillets, flour, buttermilk mixture, and breadcrumb mixture.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 tilapia fillet)

CALORIES 302 (27% from fat); FAT 9.1g (sat 1.1g,mono 3.9g,poly 2.6g); PROTEIN 38.4g; CHOLESTEROL 64mg; CALCIUM 98mg; SODIUM 530mg; FIBER 0.9g; IRON 1.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 14.2g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2003

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 fillets; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and fillets. Serve with lemon wedges.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

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One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest.

Our photo is currently number 15 out of 463 photos.

You can vote by clicking here

Remember a 10 is good!

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I'd like to know why it took me close to 42 years to find out about roasted vegetables? As a child growing up so much of our vegetables were boiled to a pulp. It is no wonder that I was NOT a vegetable fan. Over the past two years I have been exploring with roasted vegs and I am amazed at the flavour they pack.

Last week I enjoyed a feed of roasted broccoli. On Sunday I decided to try some roasted Brussels Sprouts to use up some ingredients I had laying about. I found a recipe on the food network web site and decided that it was 'the one'. Originally by the Barefoot Contessa, this recipe came together quickly and was a perfect side dish.

1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons good olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt ( I like these salty like French fries), and serve immediately.