Okay, sometimes we eat pricey too, but the real goal is usually value for money. Why eat junk when something good to eat can be whipped up in 20 minutes? Or when there's a owner-operated restaurant (ie non-chain) nearby where they care about what they are putting on the table?
I was just cleaning a few pictures off of my camera and noticed that a bunch of them are food related. Rather than file them away, or crafting several different posts, I thought an omnibus post with a few tasty shots and associated background would be a good way to use them. So read on if you're in the mood for a virtual bite.
Eating at Home
With some penne cooked up, a little disk of pesto (made and frozen after last years basil crop) was tossed in. The orange bits are fresh cherry tomatoes grabbed from this summer's prolific garden. The green are the flowers off this year's basil plants on the back patio. A spicy Italian sausage was quickly fried and cut up. I topped with parmesan and enjoyed it all with a glass of wine, and some fresh bread.
Letting someone else cook breakfast is a lazy mans tradition for, well a long time. In Montreal a few weekends back, we dropped by "The Avenue" as we've been known to do. Their breakfasts are elaborate and well prepared. This shot shows what the four of us were having. For me it was an Eggs Benedict, T had pancakes with apples, K had a ham and cheese crepe, D had buttermilk pancakes. The potatoes were nice and tasty too.
There is usually a lineup on a weekend, but we seemed to squeak in just before it formed. A nice way to start a Saturday in Montreal.
Eating On the Grass
On a nice day in the summer, food always tastes better outside. And if you're eating outside, and have access to a red/white checkered piece of cloth, you are duty bound to have a picnic. One of the best parts of a picnic - from my perspective - is the shopping for food items. In a city with good markets, it is an enjoyable way to work up your appetite. That same weekend in Montreal, we hit the Jean Talon market and weaved our way through, picking up items for our midday meal as something struck our fancy.
Here is a picture about midway through the extravaganza. The bag (of Ontario origin!) hides a bottle of Quebec still cider which was a nice accompaniment for the food we chose...though I was a little disappointed with it. Probably a gewurtz would have been a nicer bottle with our snack. There are three different Quebec cheeses in there, soft, hard and a mellow orange one that was really good. I can rarely remember cheese names, sadly. Some local charcuterie, some fresh fruit, some olives and a baguette were all valued participants. There was a savory Turkish pastry with spinach in it as well. Nearby, a cricket game was on. One of the sides wore 'Team India' jerseys and were apparently trouncing their opponents. All-in-all a nice civilized afternoon.
With such a warm summer, my ability to keep us stocked with home-made bread has been a bit of a challenge, since I'd rather not get the oven going if I'm going to be running the central air conditioning trying to push the house in the opposite direction. Thus I tend to wait for cool, rainy days to make some bread. Plus, with humidity and warmth during summer, loaves don't last as long before moulding (unlike supermarket bread so chemicalled-up so as to last for months). The remedy is making small loaves and freezing them. I freeze them when they are still a bit warm, and when thawed they taste very fresh, like they just came out of the oven.
Here is a set of loaves just out and cooling from a week or so ago. They were about half and half white and brown flour then a third again as much 9 grain flour, and a handful of rolled oats for good measure.
They're mostly gone now, I'm due for another baking session this week. Let's see what weather comes in behind Hurricane Irene as she passes by. Here's hoping for something cool.
