Cinnamon sugar cookies

Earlier this week, I mentioned Big Oven, a collection of recipes contributed by fellow foodies. One recipe in particular caught my eye: Mrs Fields' cinnamon sugar cookies. I followed the ingredients and instructions almost exactly, but tinkered with different cooking temperatures and times.

When I followed the recipe at 300 F and baked them for 18 minutes the cookies turned out very cakey.  According to the recipe photos, it's supposed to be cakey, but I' m not a fan of cakey cookies (haha).

So I started to tinker.  I baked the second batch at 350 F for 12 minutes - the texture was a little harder, but not quite there.  So I reviewed the recipe again.  

The recipe calls for 2 eggs - which is a lot. This most likely contributed to the cake-like texture. I think I'll try baking with 1 egg next time.

Overall, it's a tasty cookie, and one that I would make again.

Hangover foods

As I write this post, I am waiting for the butter to soften so that I can bake cinnamon butter sugar cookies - a recipe from Big Oven. A friend recently shared this site with me, and I'm eager to check it out. Said friend is also nursing a bit of a hangover (me too, but that's another story), which got me thinking about the best hangover foods.

Personally, I'm a fan of greasy foods, like bacon, eggs and something made from potatoes. A burger could be good too. Throw in some coffee, a couple of Advil and half a dozen glasses of water, and I'll be ready to rejoin the human race. But I know hangover remedies can vary from person-to person. Greasy breakfasts seem to be the norm, but I know some folks who like soup, congee, and even oatmeal (I love oatmeal, but the thought of oatmeal when hungover is well...disgusting).

I remember being at breakfast once and seeing a friend of mine eat a baked tomato with cheese. I'm not a fan of baked tomatoes on a good day, and when I saw that while hungover...ugh...let's just say I made a beeline for the bacon.

What are your hangover remedies?  I'd love to hear from you - feel free to Tweet or add to the comments section! Thanks in advance!

T&T Chinese gourmet bun festival

I love Chinese buns. Not the Westernized kinds (though those can be good too), but the traditional Chinese buns - white dough stuffed with delicious fillings - sometimes sweet, sometimes savoury (I personally prefer preserved vegetables with pork and ginger).  But sweet can be good too.

I was at T&T Supermarket today and saw an impressive and beautiful display of Chinese buns, or bao.  The display is part of their Chinese Gourmet Bun Festival. I recognized many of the baos, but there was definitely one that caught my eye: the pumpkin bun. 

Shaped to look like pumpkins, and filled with pureed pumpkin, I was definitely intrigued. (Pumpkins aren't native to Chinese cuisine, so it's always interesting to me when I see this item on Chinese menus). But I do have to admit that the biggest motivation to me buying the bun was the way it looked (yes, I too can be shallow when it comes to food).  

Lucky for me, the bun was tasty. The pureed pumpkin was mixed with...I'm not sure what...perhaps a lotus paste, and it was GOOD. The bun was freshly steamed and hot to the touch (I basically burnt myself on the first bite!)  The texture of the bun was a good balance of softness and elastickiness (yes, I just made that word up).  

There were lots of other buns available to eat, but since I am watching my waste line, I only ate one.  But I do urge you to try the buns - I'm not sure how long the festival runs, but it's definitely something to try before it's gone. (Note: the dried vegetable and pork buns looked yummy too).

Kitchen tool: cookie dough scoop

It's probably not surprising to you when I say I spend a lot of time thinking about food. What might be surprising is that I also spend a lot of time thinking about the tools I use to cook my food.

My latest purchase is a cookie dough scoop from Crate and Barrel Canada.  (BTW, I heart Crate and Barrel).

I've always ever rolled my cookies by hand, eyeballing each one at a time to try and make sure everything was the same size. It's not a tough job, but it is a looooong one.

The cookie dough scoop makes things MUCH MUCH easier.  Ah...to actually have cookies from bowl to pan to oven in 15 minutes...it's a beautiful thing.

A cookie dough scoop looks and works like an ice cream scoop - though I wouldn't use it as an ice cream scoop as the spring isn't meant to handle something as dense as ice cream. Nor would I ever subject my scoop to anything other than what it is meant for: cookie dough.  

Using the scoop helps ensure the cookies are the same size, and it helps keep your hands clean. The best part  is that it's fast - instead of spending 30 minutes rolling cookie dough, it only takes 10 minutes.

Advice from this cookie maker: at $14.95, the scoop is worth every penny. 

Glammed up burgers

Ah, the hamburger...a delicious ground beef patty, layered with lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard and onions, and placed between a soft, white bun. Yum. Meat, veggies and carbs - perfection.

Or so I thought until I recently visited the Gourmet Burger Co. You walk in, and what you have to do is simple: follow the steps outlined for you on the chalk board - your options of what to put on your custom burger are laid out. And if you're up for a side, you have a choice of a number of things to choose from, ranging from onion rings to sweet potato fries (I had regular fries with vinegar).

I went at lunch with a girlfriend on a Friday afternoon...let's just say this is one place where you truly have to wait for your food.  Each burger is cooked after you place your order, so rest-assured, you're not getting anything from a heating tray (no offense to McDonald's or other fast-food restaurants...there are often times where I would absolutely kill for a Big Mac or a McChicken, but that's a post for another day).

In fact, in took nearly 15 minutes for me to get my order - which was fine with me, since I had a place to sit, but for others, it would've been a long wait. I also had a side order of fries (it WAS Friday afterall).

The verdict? Absolutely amazing. The burger was perfectly cooked and not oily (I find burgers are either dry or too oily) at all. I had lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms on my burger. Even the bun was perfectly soft and fragrant (no stale bread here). And the fries? Fresh cut and made from real potatoes.

(By the way, some of my readers know that I am also a fan of Craft Burger. In terms of a difference between Craft Burger or the Gourmet Burger Co. I have to say there isn't much of a difference, in terms of pricing, taste and popularity. Both produce an extremely delicious burger.)

Restaurant rating: Definitely worth an extra hour or two at the gym.

Chef's Challenge part 2

View from stage right(?)

So I was really tired when I posted earlier today (this a.m.) and will most likely be passing out shortly (my attempt at a nap failed).

I have to preface this particular culinary adventure with this line: through my job, I was lucky enough to attend the first inaugural Chef Challenge. I attended as staff, but was able to enjoy many parts of the evening as well.

The Chef's Challenge with Gordon Ramsay, in support of Mount Sinai Hospital was generously sponsored by MasterCard Canada.

Billed as "Canada's premiere culinary fundraising event for Mount Sinai Hospital's lifesaving research and care of women in their daily battle against breast and ovarian cancer", the premise of the event was simple: raise money for Mount Sinai - and if you're one of the top 50 fundraisers, you get to compete in the culinary challenge. The coolest part?  Each fundraiser was assigned to a team captain, each one, a top Canadian chef: Mark McEwan, Lynn Crawford, Jamie Kennedy, David Rocco or Massimo Capra - all of Food Network fame.

And of course hosting the evening was none other than the culinary rock star himself, Gordon Ramsay.

As guests ate, the various teams would go and create culinary arts of work to impress the celebrity judges.  The evening was a mix between Hell's Kitchen and Iron Chef. The evening was absolutely amazing.

And what were the guests eating?

First course: butternut squash soup with chestnuts and sage, paired with 2006 Wildass Riesling.

My thoughts: amazingly creamy and paired perfectly with the riesling. There was a touch of truffle oil in the soup as well.

Second course: seared and marinated salmon, beetroot carpaccio, Gravenstein apple, honey and soy dressing, paired with 2006 Wildass white.

My thoughts: perfectly cooked salmon with a nice crisp wine. The wine was a blend of many grapes, but what came through most was what I believed to be the chardonnay. (Side rant: chardonnay is an amazingly buttery wine, which went with the buttery texture of the salmon).

Third course: braised Pacific halibut, fennel confit, tarragon and a red pepper vinaigrette served with a 2006 Stratus White.

My thoughts: the flavours were amazing, but the halibut was slightly overcooked.  The wine while good, clashed with the red pepper vinaigrette.

Fourth course: fillet of Ontario Angus beef, sweet potato fondant, glazed red onion and wild mushrooms, served with a 2006 Stratus Red.

My thoughts: I'm not a huge fan of Ontario reds, so I won't go further than this on the wine. The dish itself was perfectly cooked - LOVED the glazed red onion and the mushrooms. The beef was done medium rare (which is the ONLY way to eat beef) - my only hangup is that the beef didn't taste as though it had been seasoned.

Fifth course (dessert): honey creme brulee with clementine sorbet and hazelnut shortbread, paired with Inniskillin 2007 Vidal Icewine.

My thoughts: The wine wasn't too sweet (I'm also generally not a fan of icewines) and was a perfect ending. The overall dessert itself? Amazing - I don't have a sweet tooth, but I could've gone for seconds. I loved the shortbread (subtley buttery), and the texture of the creme brulee was perfect. The sorbet was good too - very refreshing - though I had to say I left that on my plate.

The food for the evening was catered by Daniel et Daniel.

But oddly enough, the focus of the evening was not on the food the guests were eating, but on the stage.

Encouraging Team Massimo

Gordon Ramsay truly is a charismatic man, and kept the action going all night. Not only was he funny, he was also extremely gracious. It's no wonder he's a media darling (though I don't doubt for a sec he has a temper, I'm now more convinced than ever it's all an act).

I was lucky enough to have access to the staging area and managed to snag a few photos as well.

Being back stage gave me a chance to see how the stage kitchen was set-up. Let's just say that a lot of work goes into making sure these kitchens are working.

David Rocco and a team member

Mark McEwan and part of his team

Team Crawford: the winning team

The event ran straight through until 11:30, with all the challengers working hard throughout the night. And while it was a tough call, Team Crawford was the strongest and placed first overall. The trophies?  Eggbeaters mounted on a base - genius!

But of course the best part of the night was when they announced over $1 million dollars had been raised that night.

It was definitely a night to remember, and one that this foodie will never forget.

Chef's Challenge

It's been awhile, and I'm only posting a short entry before heading to sleep. But I am lucky enough to be attending the Chef's Challenge at The Carlu - sponsored by MasterCard Canada to raise funds for Mount Sinai.

The event is hosted by Gordon Ramsay and will feature the following chefs:

- Massimo Capra

- David Rocco

- Mark McEwan

- Lynn Crawford

- Jamie Kennedy

This is going to be amazing foody experience. Stay-tuned for pictures!