Wondrous larb gai

A few moons ago, the book club chicks were at my place and I wanted to make something fast, fresh and knock-your-socks-off.  I chose larb gai.

Larb (pronounced lob) refers to a salady-kind of preparation in which chicken (gai) duck, beef, pork or even offal is minced, stir-fried plain and simple, then pumped up with flavour using fresh herbs, salty fish sauce and the sour pucker of lime juice.  It’s a really easy dish to make and tastes best served at room temperature. Continue reading “Wondrous larb gai” →

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Life changing gizmo

My friend Rocca recently said, “I’m not a gadget girl, but I do love that blue vegetable peeler Madeleine gave me!”

It changed her life!

Now Rocca can peel a mango, an apple and a piece of fresh ginger like nobody else.

She can zoom through a chayote in a second.  She can spin out zucchini ribbons faster than it takes her to find a mandolin and use it. With a Y-peeler in Rocca’s hand, no veggie or fruit is insurmountable. Continue reading “Life changing gizmo” →

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West side dim sum story

If you live in Toronto, you have to really want dim sum to drive 40 minutes to get some. And it better be good. We’ve got Chinatowns galore in this city and it seems crazy to make the trek to Mississauga for the sake of a dumpling.

But today, my posse and I would not settle for less.  So we drove west, far west, to Hurontario Street to the Emerald Chinese Restaurant (30 Eglinton Ave. W; 905-890-9338) where they wrap up their tall boulevard trees so strangely, they look like they belong on the storybook pages of Dr. Seuss.  We were ready for anything and everything.

Emerald seats 400; serves dim sum daily; the selection is vast; and the prices are reasonable — if not astounding. Unlike most Chinese establishments, they even accept credit cards. There’s just one problem: weekends attract so many devotees to this har gau mecca that they hand out numbers and use a loudspeaker to manage the sorry (but eager) waiting sardines knocking elbows in the foyer. Continue reading “West side dim sum story” →

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Doghouse eats

Here’s what a sleeping, happy, fully satiated dog looks like. But just an hour earlier, my mutt Kobe did the unthinkable. He poked his snout into a gift bag, pulled out a loaf of banana bread wrapped in aluminum foil and started a major scarf-down.

Dog mistake number one: leaking evidence. He’s not the smartest Lab in town and blew it making all that strange noise.  I was in my bedroom dressing after a shower when I detected loud, rustling paper nearby, interspersed with snorting and chomping.

I called him… but nada. Continue reading “Doghouse eats” →

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Muesli and me

Lately, a lot of my food friends are making granola. I’ve received two gift bags of the crunchy stuff in 2010 and have loved every crunchy, roasty, yummy, Birkenstockish mouthful of the stuff.

Instead of granola, I’ve reciprocated with a gift of muesli. No one gets too razed up when I hand over a bunch of beige flakes with white-dusted pieces of fruit.  But who can blame them? It’s an odd little breakfast item that Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner came up with some 110 years ago. Continue reading “Muesli and me” →

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Sushi on Front

“You can’t write about this place,” says my husband.  “It has the worst name for a sushi joint.”

Obviously, I don’t agree.

It’s called John’s Sushi Bistro. Five months ago it opened on 132 Front Street East, kitty corner to the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People.

John Moon is a sushi master, standing prim and proper as he awaits orders.  He wears a v-necked, sushi-making kimono over his shirt and tie. A name tag is pinned to his chest. But it’s his hat that sets the tone.  He could double for an air cadet. Continue reading “Sushi on Front” →

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