The Coup - Reason to go Veggie? March 22, 2007

Maybe not, but they still provide some seriously yummy veggie chow that doesn’t make me crave meat at great prices.

Zac is a meat-a-holic, I am open minded, but that being said, having tried the veggie route in highschool, I’m pretty concerned about the whole nutritional side of things… plus I can’t live without pepperoni pizza (and fish, and burgers, and roast chicken and sausage and pate … you get the idea).

I have wanted to go to The Coup for some time, Zac has looked at it uncomfortably and stated that after eating there we would probably need to make a trip to Tubby Dog,  up the street. For some reason having to go for supper, after going for supper, doesn’t really appeal to me but that being said last week the two of us decided that we wanted to go to the Coup.

Zac was pleasantly surprised and my expectations were surpassed.

The space is very modern and clean but quite busy. I suppose the best way to describe it is that modern funky look (think Vancouver) with greens and dark wood being the central colours (very pretty). It is a little cramped as it is such a narrow space but I thought they made good use of the space they had. Zac disagrees, but then again, my mother didn’t study interior design. 

Later on in the week they get a DJ in to spin some tunes which is VERY cool. I’m going to have to make a point of heading over there one of those times. They have street side patio as well which would be a great way to enjoy the 17th Ave atmosphere in the summer.

We were given a drinks menu and a I ordered one of the freshly squeezed juices, Zac got a dark Sleemans beer (I think). The juice was great it was a cranberry lemonade and it was tasty, there were fragments of REAL lemons in the drink and it was garnished with four floating honest-to-goodness cranberries, it was very good and refreshing I would have loved to sit on a patio and sip it’s tastiness way into the late hours of the evening.

To start we ordered a plate of their Sweet Potato Fries with a Tahini Miso Gravy. Oh so yummy. The fries were in fact baked wedges of Sweet potato sprinkled with some salt and rosemary, I didn’t mind that they weren’t crispy as I found that the smooth texture of the fry really did compliment the tahini miso gravy quite nicely. We devoured these.

Shortly afterwards came our main course, Zac ordered the Falafel Quesedilla with a side salad. It looked fantastic, fresh and green loaded with lots of thinly sliced vegetables. Very appetizing. It tasted great too although the whole wheat tortilla though VERY healthy was very chewy, I mean obviously this is because of the fact that it is WHOLE WHEAT, but still it would be nicer if you could get a bite with out having the cardboard feeling in your mouth.

I ordered the Beach-Front hot pot and it was equally colourful. An excellent hot pot, the vegetables were cooked but not soggy, they were delightfully crisp and incredibly tasty.The tofu was firm and flavourful, I really do like tofu and this tofu was great! The lemon grass coconut broth was nice and spicy, I wouldn’t have wanted it any hotter but I’m certain that someone with stronger tastebuds than I could have made a request. What really excited me about this dish was the lotus root, this is a fairly bland but crispy and nice addition to the mix of veggies. Frankly there is something about looking at lotus root that just makes me feel better about the food I’m eating. The portions were huge and Zac being the lucky boy that he is got to take home the left over veggies and rice noodles to have for his lunch.

All in all The Coup was a success AND Zac didn’t end up heading over to Tubby Dog! HORRAY! (instead we got gellato, see below)

So go to The Coup on 17th to soak up some good vibes and munch on some heavenly food!

The Coup

924b 17th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta Canada
Ph: 403.541.1041

Nellies Kitchen - Sunday Brunch March 21, 2007

Scrumptious food and half decently good service. If you can wait in a line for at least half an hour Nellie’s is the place for you for a good Calgary brunch. 

After a day of playing rugby up at the Irish Club  for St Patty’s Day on Saturday Zac and I fancied a good breakfast of the greasy spoon variety, something half decently substantial but not far. Since we’ve maxed out our trips to the Belmont over the past few months we decided a trip to Nellie’s was in order.  

There are quite a number of Nellie’s all over the city, from the Nellie’s in the Loop to the one in Kensington the owner has created a little empire of these restaurants. For me, the ultimate Nellie’s is Nellie’s Kitchen, I think this is solely because our old High School is right across the street and it brings back memories of simpler times.

Zac and bopped down to 17th and I got in line while he picked up some coffee for us, from the evil corporation that is the Starbucks across the street and we waited, I’ve found that the key to waiting in line at breakfast places is to become quite Zen about the whole endeavour, something like “Oooom we will have breakfast when the time is right Ooooom” and, of course, not checking your watch (if you watch it, it will never boil).

Finally, after being offered coffee a couple times by one of the waitresses, we managed to get a seat at the bar. Not a bad spot, you always get a fresh and piping hot breakfast when you’re sitting at the bar and frankly that rocks.

 I had made my mind up earlier that I would have the Ukranian “Break the Fast” as I am, in fact, a HUGE fan of Kielbasa and the idea of perogies smothered in sour cream for breakfast with runny yellow yolks from poached eggs was just WAY too appealing (yes also worthy of giving myself a heart attack, but remember, RUGBY the day before, I rationalized it). Zac tried to order their Seafood scramble but unfortunately they weren’t able to make it for him and he settled for a Cody Scramble.

 The decor of Nellie’s is pretty consistent throughout all the restaurants I’ve been to. A mishmash of old toys and posters, slightly retro and slightly kitsch with a homey feeling. The bar at Nellie’s is as good as any, but ideally a table is SO much better. I always find that my legs are too long and my knees bump up on the bottom of the counter (oh the horrors when someone sticks there gum there), if you are tall you understand my pain/problems.

 Our food was brought to us quite quickly and we both tucked in. Four perogies, two pieces of sour dough (toasted), 1 quarter of a kielbasa (fried), two poached eggs, hash browns and a side of sour cream. The effect of this food was exactly what I was looking for the poached eggs were oozingly good on top of the perogies and the kielbasa was just what it needed to be, a gloriously garlicky sausage. I thought the sour dough toast was a nice touch too, exactly what I wanted. My only complaints would be that the hash-browns and kielbasa hadn’t been fried for long enough, I really wanted that nice fried crunch that you get when you have fried food, but alas, it was not to be and it was still YUMMY.

 I didn’t hear any complaints from my man so I’m assuming that the Cody scramble was indeed a success and worth a try. ALSO definitely try the pancakes, they look fantastic and HUGE. I’m getting one the next time I go; I’m usually into the savory for breakfast but my oh my the thickness and size of those pancakes made me wish I had ordered them!

The service we had here was good, probably the best I’ve had at a Nellie’s, I have a feeling that they put their best people on for Sundays, but that being said I have a feeling that if we weren’t at the bar we would have had a much slower breakfast, I wouldn’t have minded, but bear in mind that if you want something quick then it might be a good idea to go to McD’s or something that will give you something fast.

So Nellie’s a bit slow but definitely worth the wait, make sure you go on a Sunday, when they have to have their best people working.

Nellie’s Kitchen

738B - 17 Ave SW Online map
(403) 244-4616
Mon-Fri 7:30AM - 3:30PM; Sat-Sun 8:00AM - 3:30PM

HAPPY SPRING March 20, 2007

Just in case I miss posting tonight…

 

Happy Spring! 

(mind you today we’re having psycho weather, ie, ice fog, blizzard, sunshine and cloudy)

 I’m thinking I want to make easter eggs so that might just happen sometime this weekend! Yummy omlettes and pretty decorations, SHOULD BE FUN!!!

Fido - A touching story of a boy and his Zombie March 19, 2007

On Friday Zac, Nathan and I hustled our tushes over to the Globe Theatre to go see the premier Fido, the new Zombie movie featuring Carrie-Ann Moss, Billy Connelly and K’sun Ray (to name but a few) followed by a Q&A session with one of the producers.

I have to admit I’m not a huge fan of the whole Zombie gross out/gore genre, that being said I LOVE Shaun of the Dead and the silly fun that movie produces. Fido effectively takes the story of Shaun of the Dead to the next level moving it from “the night of the Zombies” to somewhere in the future, after the Zombies have attacked and having a collared/docile Zombie is the latest gadget that everyone must have, like a dishwasher and a slave all in one.

 This film brings to mind the whole 1950s scrubbed clean look with a very simple pallett of colours and a very “Leave it to Beaver”/”Pleasantville”/Lassie feeling. The only difference with this story is that it includes everyone’s favorite character, Zombies :D.

 Thematically the film brings to light ideas of love and loss and echos (though I’m not sure intentionally) the current political tendancies south of the border of “Security through containment”. Suggesting that love can be quiet and without words is something that echos an episode of Lassie but without the fluffy dog.

 Even though there is a distinctly interesting and very developed thematic core to this film, which really does give it heart, the writers have developed a very funny and humorous story with moments where Fido (the Zombie played by Billy Connelly) brings the mother (Carrie-Ann Moss) to Timmy’s (K’sun Ray) rescue.  This is just a hint of the jokes that are incredibly prevalent in this fantastic film.

 

The acting does add to this film even more with all three of the principle characters playing their parts fantastically. A special note though must go to the performance by Billy Connelly as it was impressive to see the Glaswegian comic with out his iconic long hair, beard and huge accent. He relies soley on eye movements (much like Lassie) to indicate what Fido is feeling at any given time. The sublety of this performance is fantastic and really does make the film even better (look for Fido’s smile, it made me giggle, alot).

 The costuming and set are gorgeous, certain moments are quite obviously set in Kelowna (for anyone who has ever been there)  and the costuming with it’s limited technicolour pallet is gloriously 50’s.

 Frankly this is probably one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in ages this might not be in the Borat, ” I can’t believe he’s actually doing that” way but in a more subtle and soulful way.

 From what we heard from the producer this film has been a long time in the coming and had been shelved for a number of years, that being said it had recieved huge backing by a number of people in the industry and even though it was a struggle with such a stellar cast and a fantastic story it should go quite far.

So go see Fido, it is FUNNY, it is CUTE and it is CANADIAN!

Glory of India - GLORIOUS! SIMPLY GLORIOUS Dah-ling! March 16, 2007

I am excited about this one, much in the way that I was excited about Mango Shiva but with a bit more oomph because I’ve found a curry place that lives up to my English memories (but not in the chicken tikka masala chips and rice way).

 Zac and I met up and ran into our friend Nathan yesterday. (Poor Nathan, I feel doubly sorry for him, firstly because he’s having all of his wisdom teeth out today, and secondly because Zac and I are going to the opening night of Fido tonight with the showing followed by a Q&A session with the director. Nathan is desperate to come along, even though we all know that there is no way being in a semi conscious state that he could survive the film.) So partially because of the guilt and partially because the best plans are often the ones that happen in the blink of an eye Zac and I grabbed Nathan and took him to Glory of India.

 Glorious it is.

 Usually Zac lets me order at Indian restaurants and he obediently eats what I order for him, yesterday we changed things up and he took the menu and scrutinized every page while Nathan and I discussed whether he would be able to make it out to the Unicorn on Saturday night for our St Patrick’s Day celebration.

 After much pondering, Zac ordered and I paid no attention, I’m pretty sure he was enjoying the male ordering food moment and I didn’t want to interject with a cheeky comment.

 For a starter we had the mixed vegetarian appetizer which came with samosas, veggie pakoras and paneer pakora. It was good, the samosas were nice and had a nice amount of heat to them which made me happy the pakoras were great and crispy. I’m not a HUGE fan of the fried cheese thing but I dont’ mind eating it when it’s placed in front of me, so I managed it (somehow ).

 Very quickly after the starter came our mains. Now I forgot something about my man and the food he likes. He likes meat and loves lamb so there I sat with probably about half a lamb sitting in front of me with a dish of rice and three garlic naans.

But oh was it ever fantastic. Zac had ordered the Seekh Kabob and some other melt in your mouth lamb dish that I will get him to tell me the name of tonight. The Seekh Kabob was very yummy and a little spicy, it probably could have done with a little more heat, but I’m not going to complain because it was nicely flavoured and tasted great. The other lamb dish was FANTASTIC the lamb did in-fact melt in your mouth and included were lovely mushrooms the flavours were robust and spicy and I loved it SO much.

 Nathan ordered the Lamb Chop Kandhari which was the house special. It was also VERY good and super tender. Nicely spiced and again it probably could have done with a little more heat, but this is Calgary so I’m happy that I’m eating indian food at all.  

Zac decided he wanted dessert, or rather he offered ME dessert which always means yes we will be having dessert.

Zac had a rice pudding, I’m not a fan of rice pudding in general  so it’s really not fair of me to review it.

 Nathan had pistachio icecream and I will assume that it was very good, he made yummy noises and discussed with us how fantastic it was (Pistachio is so good when it’s good).

 Now I had a very interesting dessert Gulab Jamun Fudge, effectively a Gulab Jamun sundae. Oh my god, it was great. So sweet and so good, it reminded me of brownie sundaes but with a very indian fusion flavour. It had three slices of the Gulab Jamun in a martini glass with mango coulis in the bottom, topped with vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream, a maraschino cherry and chocolate sauce. It was a GLORIOUS way to finish off our meal at Glory of India.

 What really did MAKE this meal for me though was the group of 50-something British men that sauntered in when we were ordering, they knew the waiters and proceeded with horrible puns like “Mamoun, My MAN” etc. From my eavesdropping it seems that they come here at least once a month, that sold me on the Glory of India as being my English curry house away from England.

That being said there are still more to try and Zac isn’t tired of curry… YET!

Fiasco Gelato - Taste test #1 March 15, 2007

Fueled by some warm Chinook winds and the breaking out of the white Chuck Taylors, Zac and I went for icecream on Monday, and then went again on Tuesday… we want it to be summer, NOW!

Zac has decided I need to do a weekly review of the gelato/sorbetto flavours at Fiasco Gelato on 17th. I think this is simply for the reason that I don’t want to eat all of one and therefore he gets double the ice cream.

So also we ended up going to Fiasco last night after tucking into some seriously yummy veggie chow at The Coup (to be reviewed ASAP).

Monday:

Zac’s admitted favorite flavour Pistachio. Yummy and creamy. Pistachio gelatto doesn’t cease to disappoint me and this one was SO yummy. I really love the pale green colour.

 Tuesday : (I’ve just realised that we went to this place two days in a row, YIKES!)

Me - Mango Sorbetto : I felt it would compliment my yummy noodley lemongrass and coconut hot pot from the coup nicely and it was VERY good. You have to love Mango! (also because of this mangomangomangomango: GO MAN GO!)

Zac - Chocolate (Bernie C’s): Chocolate sorbetto while good always makes me wish I was eating chocolate icecream, so this one didn’t necessarily work for me but it was still tasty so I’m not complaining.

 We also combined the two, not bad but not the flavour sensation we had hoped.

(pictures to follow)

Rajdoot - but I’d really rather not… March 12, 2007

To escape the winter cold, and to celebrate the COMPLETION of someone’s demo reel (horray) I decided to treat my man to a curry.

 Unfortunately it was less of a treat than I had hoped.

 We wandered our way down 4th street with the address in hand (this time) to check out this place that Marta and Marshall had recommended oh so many moons ago. It was five and therefore we felt we had lots of time for our film that we wanted to go see at 7:30.

 We got in the door and found a dark and mildly welcoming interior with a bunch of waiters hanging around while a few tables ordered drinks and began looking at the menu. We were placed in a booth and much to Zac’s/my surprise, I ordered a beer, a small beer but I find I can manage about one Tiger beer before I find myself not liking it. (I avoid beer, the English ruined it for me generally but occasionally it is needed).

 Our beers arrived and we perused the menu, it wasn’t different from the curry places I had been to in England and so we decided to get the “mixed meat” starter followed by the lamb rogan josh some saag aloo and two different Naan breads (Zac wanted one, I wanted another so we decided to compromise). This is where the evening began to get weird, upon ordering the two Naans the waiter asked us if we were sure, I said yes and he impatiently said alright and took our order to the kitchen.

 We sat and chatted about the menu and I slowly drank my beer, the starter came and was alright, very  nice meat samosas, good tandoori chicken, what seemed to be a merguez sausage and that yummy chickpea and potato salad with crisp roti crumbled up (reminded me of potato salad with other things).  The starter was good, well, passable, but I was hungry and ready for a good munch so it definitely filled the post work hole.

At this point I had drained my beer and the waiter asked me for a refill, I declined and he seemed to get a little bit annoyed with me, very strange but I ignored it.

 Then we waited…

 and waited…

and waited.

 I had barely noticed what time it was until our mains arrived… 6:45… so unless we managed to devour the food in 15 minutes, there was no way that we were going to get to that movie on time.

 So we tucked into the rogan josh and the saag aloo, which were, disappointing, the curry had no heat to it, at all and furthermore it was actually cold. There is only so much heat a little tea light can produce and it cannot reheat a dish that has been sitting out for an extended period of time. Zac and I ate and had our two Naans (which were alright) and then waited for the bill. Paid and left.

 All in all I was disappointed as we didn’t get to a movie that night and the food wasn’t great. We then went back to Zac’s house, so that we could watch some form of film and chatted with his mom, she wasn’t at all surprised at our experience and apparently this place had been on the verge of being closed many times.

 Frankly, my thoughts are that if you’re going to get a curry, go somewhere else, this place isn’t that great and the service was annoying.

Time flies… March 12, 2007

When you’re having fun, working like a dog, exhausted and in need of some chill time?

 All of the above!

 I have been crazy busy over the past little while. Not that it’s a bad thing, just a thing that means I’m pretty tired today and am pondering getting some writing done tonight. (plus the time change has made my body think I woke up at 4 am, never a good thing)

 We’ve been to weddings, movies, restaurants and bars. I’ve been working and sleeping, trying to manage to find time to see people and to enjoy the AMAZING weather we’ve been having here. That being said I’m doing it all, but I desperately need some down time.

 I’ll have it tonight, but in the mean time I’ve got lots to get off my desk and less time to do it in.

 A review of our disappointing experience at Rajdoot will happen tonight, followed by my thoughts on the Frank Miller film ” The 300″ tomorrow. I’ll report back on the wedding I went to and the Blue Toque later on in the week, plus hopefully today or tomorrow I’ll finally get to cook something out of my Jamie Oliver’s Italy cook book (thanks to Zac, it’s been a lovely gift but I need to find a time to use it!!!!).

Cupcaketastic - seven year olds like sprinkles March 1, 2007

Today was Zac’s little bros birthday and my gift to him (and possibly Zac’s mom) was baking the cupcakes for his class. The cupcakes were baked and we forayed into decorating them yesterday.

I made a ganache icing, which I was slightly concerned about as I had never made one before and I’m not cooking in my kitchen, that being said, they turned out quite well and I’ve included the recipe for you to peruse.

 Cupcakes a la Griffin

Step 1 – have older brother’s girlfriend bake cupcakes from recipe she had found online

Step 2 –the cupcakes become concave and “brownies”

Step 3 – have older brother’s girlfriend try once again, this time being a horrible chef and making the cupcakes from the box ( god bless you Duncan Heinz)

Step 4 – wait patiently for older brother and his girlfriend to get back from work

Step 5 – wait patiently while older brother and his girlfriend make ganache

Step 6 – sneak chocolate chips when your mom isn’t looking

Step 7 – eat some sprinkles

Step 8 – HORRAY ganache is finished – COVER iced cupcakes in as many sprinkles as humanly possible

Step 9 – eat all sprinkles that fall off cupcakes

Step 10 – have older brother encourage you to eat the sprinkles and lick the remnants of the icing off the spoon and out of the pan

Step 11 – have old brother wonder why you’re on such a sugar buzz and so desperate for his attention

Step 12 – Cupcakes are done.

Step 13(optional) – eat very little supper because you are “full”

So yes, we all had alot of fun and I was told that Griffin’s friends REALLY liked his cupcakes, which is really all that matters.

I stole the ganache recipe from cupcaketastic this site has some AMAZING cupcakes on it, i’m going to have to try it.

PS - I had forgotten how much seven year olds REALLY like sprinkles… ooopsies!

Basic Ganache - enough for 12 cupcakes (multiply recipe as required)

.

1/2 cup (125ml) thickened cream
200g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely

Bring cream to boil in small saucepan; pour over chocolate in small bowl; stir until smooth, strain through find sieve (if you what a high shine, but still great without the straining). Stand at room temperature until ganache is a thick pouring consistency.

The ganache will self level the cupcake so if you find that they sunk, just fill it with chocolate and enjoy. Decorate how ever your desire.