Sorry, McDonald’s

25 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by notanotherfoodblogca in breakfast

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I caved.

Last night I had the bright idea to go to my old buddy McDonald’s—an idea that I now feel deep regrets for. The moment the fries touched my lips I knew I would fall into a slightly nauseous and sickly food coma.

Well, after waking up with a splitting headache and nasty hangover this morning, I decided to forego McDonald’s again for breakfast and instead recreate their classic breakfast sandwich: the Sausage and Egg McMuffin.

It was so simple to make, and the result is an amazingly fresh, nausea-free, and juicy sandwich, that puts McDonald’s to shame.

Keep in mind these two important steps:

Sausage

I grabbed a few breakfast sausage links from St. Lawrence Market’s Sausage King, removed the meat from its casing, formed them into patties and then tossed it into a pan to fry. You can really taste the high quality, with their meat sourced from Ontario farms and free of any fillers or preservatives. The pork is not at all salty, and has the perfect balance of flavours with a slight hint of herbs and spices.

Poached Egg

Recreating the circular shaped poached egg was pretty simple. Take a look at the video here. Even a circular biscuit cutter would work!

I assembled my sandwich with fresh avocado, a toasted English muffin, honey mustard sauce, and a slice of mild cheddar cheese from Balderson.

LAWD. It was amazing. I’m pretty sure I paused for a few seconds after the first glorious bite of the sandwich. Make this ASAP!

Profiteroles

17 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by notanotherfoodblogca in chocolate, dessert

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chocolate, profiteroles

Homemade profiteroles filled with Kawartha vanilla bean ice cream, topped with Lindt dark chocolate and sliced almonds.

The profiteroles itself are slightly crunchy on the edges, with a simultaneous pillowy soft texture. The hot, melted dark chocolate is an amazing, indescribable combination with the vanilla ice cream.

Wow. I have no words.

This is so easy to make, I encourage everyone to give it a try. You can’t mess this up!!

Get the Recipe!

-20°C Comfort Food: Pasta

15 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by notanotherfoodblogca in pasta, pork

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bacon, carbs

It’s way too cold outside. So cold that my hands are a bit cracked and my nose gets frozen when I step outdoors.

Ah, winter. The reason for those extra 10 pounds. Let’s face it—nobody wants to brave the -20°C weather. We all want to be on the couch, a bowl of pasta in hand, catching up on Netflix.

Which is what I’m doing right now—I quickly whipped up a bowl of Fettuccine Alfredo, adapted from Emeril, and topped it off with fresh Italian Pancetta. The result is: cream sauce with a hint of that sweet and slightly smoky garlic, clinging on to perfectly cooked, al dente fettuccine. A combo nicely contrasted but complemented by the slightly salty, crispy pancetta, and finally topped with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy.

But first, there are two crucial things you need to know when making this pasta:

Fry the pancetta

You want the pancetta to be crispy!

Sweat the garlic and shallot

Sweating, or cooking the garlic and shallot in oil under low heat, allows you to draw out the ingredient’s aroma and flavors. You don’t want to burn both so make sure you take the time to do this important step.