Search Results for: cheese

state and main

August 7, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

When a restaurant is able to provide me with many choices for appetizers that I can fill myself with a meal of them, I am a happy girl. That is exactly what happened last week when I checked out the new State and Main with some media friends. State and Main is the new kid on the block, opening its doors in Calgary at Chinook Centre. From the same people that brought us Original Joe’s, State and Main offers classic comfort food with character.

All the appetizers we enjoyed were delicious! These included the Chicken Gyoza, Spicy Tuna Tartare, Dragon Boat Lettuce Wraps, Mama’s Meatballs, Calamari and Butter Chicken Poutine. My favourite were the Bang Bang Shrimp. I could probably have eaten these all by myself.

The mains were also tasty and the ones we tried included the Long Beach Fish Tacos, Red Thai Shrimp Curry and the Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak. The fish tacos were a fave amongst our whole group.

Definintely looking forward to going back to try out the dessert menu and for some more Bang Bang Shrimp!

oeb breakfast co.

August 1, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

I’ve been wanting to check out OEB Breakfast Co. for a while now and I finally got an opportunity a couple of weeks ago. I had attempted once before but the over one hour wait was not going to work for my little guy. This time, I met a friend early on a weekday and we were seated within a few minutes. Definitely the best time to go.

Opened almost four years ago, this cute little place is located conveniently on Edmonton Trail. The menu is extensive and it was so hard to decide what to have. I had heard many things about their Box’d breakfasts and thought I’d give one of those a try. I went with A-Lott A-Lox -poached eggs, herb potatoes, Quebec curds, cured salmon, fresh dill, Spanish capers, brown butter hollandaise – all served in a little takeout box.

The food was so good! The eggs were cooked perfectly and the soft yolk oozed over the herb potatoes and cheese curds. The salmon was fresh and the hollandaise was perfect.

My friend had the vegetarian option and the eggs sprinkled with paprika and sitting on top of avocado and tomatoes looked so delicious.

There are still so many menu items to try, I can’t wait for my next visit. Breakfast anyone?

strawberry edamame salad

June 17, 2013 By Fareen 2 Comments

Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful dads out there! Hope everyone had a great time celebrating the men in their lives. We had a family potluck and my job was salad and dessert.

Since we were initially going to have a picnic, I decided that cupcakes were the way to go. They’re portable and everyone could have their own. Although we skipped out on the picnic, I stuck with the original plan and made some mini coconut cupcakes.

I know some people think that being in charge of salad can be kind of boring. I think if it is, the salad is just not worth eating. It’s always fun to play with textures and tastes and make a salad that everyone goes back for.

I started with the greens, both spinach and baby romaine. I also wanted to add a few of Q’s favourite things, so that he would be enticed to eat his veggies. One thing he can’t seem to get enough of, at the moment, is edamame. These were cooked for less than five minutes and cooled. Added to the mix were crisp rings of sweet peppers, sweet slices of strawberries, tangy goat cheese and crispy fried onions.

I thought a balsamic dressing would be great to go with the strawberries and goat cheese. The tangy balsamic was cut with a bit of sweet honey and the salad went perfect with our Father’s Day meal of ribs, chicken, rice, corn and potatoes.

Balsamic Dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp honey
salt
pepper

Combine and drizzle as needed.

lobster and prawn cannelloni

April 19, 2013 By Fareen 1 Comment

Hubby and I celebrated our seven year anniversary on Monday! I feel like I was just reminiscing the other day about our honeymoon and that flashback has already been a year! Time really does fly.

Although we went for sushi with our little guy on the weekend, I wanted to make hubby something special. My cousin had been talking about lobster mac and cheese a few weeks ago and I had been thinking about it ever since. Lobster definitely had to be in the picture, I just changed the cheese and pasta – cannelloni!

I filled the tubes with a flavourful mixture of ricotta cheese, sweet lobster and meaty prawns. Instead of using a bechamel, I opted for an alfredo sauce which covered the filled pasta shells and baked them in some bubbly cheesy goodness.

The richness was cut by the addition of some fresh tomatoes. The perfect indulgent meal to celebrate!

Lobster and Prawn Cannelloni

10 cannelloni shells, cooked as per package

2 lobster tails, cooked and cut into chunks
10 large prawns, cooked and cut into pieces
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 parmesan cheese
bunch of basil, chopped
salt
pepper

1/4 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup parmesan cheese
pinch nutmeg

Cook the onion and garlic in a bit of oil until softened. Combine with the cheese, seafood and basil. Stuff this mixture into the cannelloni and place in an oven safe dish.

For the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add cream and garlic and let simmer for a few minutes. Add the cheese and a pinch of nutmeg and stir until the cheese has melted.

Pour the alfredo sauce over the filled cannelloni and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until golden and bubbly.

food mamma is 3! we are celebrating with a few giveaways!

March 29, 2013 By Fareen 29 Comments

Food Mamma is 3! Can’t believe it’s already been three years since the inception of my blog. It’s been a great outlet to share my love of food and all the pictures I seem to take of everything I eat. This blog has also helped in connecting me to some fabulous food loving people. Thanks to everyone who follow my blog and for all your support!

In honour of Food Mamma’s 3rd blogiversary, we are celebrating with 3 awesome giveaways from 3 great sponsors! Chocolate, cheese and kitchen gadgets…just a few of my favourite things!

Win a baking basket from Chocolaterie Bernard valued at $100. All the best baking products for you to make some amazing stuff. This prize is for those in Calgary and surrounding areas as it will have to be picked up at one of their stores.

Win a Castello cheese board and $20 in grocery vouchers. Use these vouchers to pick up some cheese to eat by itself or incorporate it into something delicious.

Win a Real Cream whisk and spatula set. These useful kitchen gadgets are perfect for baking or cooking!

Entering is easy! Just leave a comment below. Also, please let me know if you are local to Calgary, so I know which draws I can enter you for. Earn extra entries by liking on Facebook and following on Twitter. Contest closes on April 3rd. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

tasting menu at teatro

March 19, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Today is my birthday! As long as I don’t think about the fact that I’m a year older, I love birthdays. That may be due to the fact that in our house, we celebrate all week long! Our celebration began on Friday and since then, we’ve been to the hockey game, had dinner with my fabulous cousins and had a celebration with my awesome family. My birthday present this year from hubby was an evening at Teatro for the chef’s tasting menu. We had been wanting to do this for a while, ever since we observed another table enjoying the food when we were last there and I was happy to finally experience it on Sunday.

Good food is always better when enjoyed with friends so we were happy that some of our food-loving friends were able to join us. The food came out at a great pace. We savoured the meal and enjoyed the company and I was surprised that three and a half hours had passed by. Every time I thought I had tasted my favourite, they would bring out something even more delicious. It was an incredible experience and definitely worth the time and money. Teatro is great at making people feel special and their extra touches, like the stools for your purse, are well received. I also love the open kitchen so you can watch the chefs in action as they prepare the delicious food.

Here’s a recap of our fabulous meal:

Venison tartare

Apple consommé with butternut squash

Root vegetables with goat cheese and ouzu encapsulation

Brussel sprouts caesar salad with lemon air, toasted parmesan, shaved parmesan

Duck prosciutto with focaccia, garlic aioli and raspberry spaghetti

Passion fruit marshmallows and dehydrated passion fruit

Kale filled tortellini with red pepper and saffron sauce with a citrus buerre blanc

Parsley crusted scallop with spaetzle and morels and lemon foam
(they also, using liquid nitrogen, created the ambience of the ocean)

Dry aged sous vide beef tenderloin with parisian carrots, fried mashed
potato, brussel sprouts with a fermented garlic beef jus

Goat cheese snowman with a sage cream puddle and dehydrated blueberries for the eyes and buttons

Parsnip creme brûlée

Caramel ice cream made with liquid nitrogen and topped black Cyprus sea salt

Birthday Tiramisu

cauliflower “bread” sticks

March 8, 2013 By Fareen 2 Comments

The recipe for cauliflower “bread” sticks were making the rounds on Pinterest a while ago and I finally had a chance to make them this week. They were so good, I had to make a second batch the same day.

Looking at them, you would never guess that these sticks were made out of cauliflower! Combined with eggs and cheese, they were irresistible. I think they are hubby’s new favourite thing.

This also makes a fantastic crust for a pizza! This is an amazing recipe that is so full of flavour. With a sometimes picky four year old, I love that it incorporates veggies in a very sneaky way.

Cauliflower “Bread” Sticks(From An Edible Mosaic)

1/4 of a large head of cauliflower or 1 1/2 cups grated
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 oz mozzarella cheese, freshly grated and divided (low-fat cheese is fine)
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning, divided
salt
pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a tray with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray.

Grate the cauliflower, using a cheese grater or a food processor. Put the grated cauliflower into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave (uncovered) until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally (don’t add water or anything else); cool slightly.

To the bowl with the softened cauliflower, add the garlic, egg, 3/4 of the cheese (reserving 1/4 for topping later), 1/4 teaspoon of the dried Italian herb seasoning (reserving 1/4 teaspoon for topping later), and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine and then spread on a sheet pan forming it into a pizza crust.

Bake until set and starting to turn golden, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the broiler. Cut the crust into sticks. Slightly separate the pieces and sprinkle the cheese on top along with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning. Broil a couple minutes until the cheese is melted and golden in spots. Serve hot or warm. (If you let it cool for about 10 minutes after taking it out of the oven, the crust will harden a bit so it’s easy to hold like a thin-crust pizza.)

market restaurant

February 9, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Hubby and I had a great time last night at the media opening of Market Restaurant. Located on 17th Avenue, the new restaurant offers bread and cheese made in-house, and grow their own greens and herbs in their Urban Cultivator. I really need one of these! I don’t know which I loved more, the cultivator or the plants hanging over the bar.

The food we sampled was amazing, from the scotch quail eggs, oysters and fois gras macarons. Our favourites were the duck confit with shallot jam and the coddled egg topped with a chantilly cream. I am really looking forward to going there again for dinner. Here are some pictures from last night.

edgewater grill (san diego)

January 23, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

We were happy to find a few places open on Christmas Day in San Diego. To find breakfast, we walked along the marina and came upon Edgewater Grill. The menu outside tempted us in with smoked salmon bennies and crab omelets. When eating by the water, seafood just makes sense.

For maximum satisfaction, hubby and I ordered both and shared. The smoked salmon benedict had a good sized piece of salmon on an english muffin, topped with a perfectly poached egg, hollandaise sauce and capers. The salmon was perfect and I enjoyed the large chunks with my runny egg. The only disppointment was the hollandaise sauce which was too vinegary.

The crab and asparagus omelet was the real winner. The omelet enveloped fresh blue crab with stalks of asparagus and melted jack cheese. It was comfort and decadence all in one bite.

It was a good place to fill our bellies while enjoying the beautiful view.

otto (las vegas)

January 4, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Mention Mario to most kids, the Mario brothers immediately come to mind. Mention Mario to my 4 year old, and he talks about the chef that he sees on tv. I love this kid!

While spending some time at the Venetian on our recent trip to Vegas, we saw one of Mario Batali’s restaurants, Otto, and thought it was the perfect place to grab a bite after our indoor gondola ride. We took a seat “outdoors” and enjoyed the painted sky ceiling while enjoying the entertainment in St. Mark’s Square.

While we were checking out the menu, Q asked one of the waiters, “Where’s Mario?”. We discovered we had missed him by a week! Bread and breadsticks were brought to the table and they happily obliged when we asked for some oil and vinegar.

As a starter, we tried the Ricotta Fritters. These were morsels of fried goodness! Ricotta cheese and red pepper balls rolled in bread crumbs and fried. The cheese oozed out as we took a bite. Definitely a huge hit with all of us.

We also ordered a couple of entrees – the Grilled Tuna and the Maccherona. Both dishes were great and super tasty.
The tuna was cooked to perfection and served with a sicilian pesto. I really loved this version of pesto and couldn’t get enough of it. Red in colour, it was made with tomatoes, almonds and garlic. So good!
The pasta dish was great as well. With roasted peppers and chilis, it was cooked perfectly.

The dessert menu looked great but sadly we were so stuffed, there was just no room. Definitely a great meal!