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Search Results for: dessert

raw bar

November 15, 2011 By Fareen Leave a Comment

It’s been weeks since we visited Raw Bar but I’m still thinking about the amazing food we had that night.  Tucked away in Hotel Arts, we were lucky to get a reservation.  The place was packed and we soon discovered why.

It was hard to decide which appetizer, everything looked so good.  We decided to share the BC Spot Prawn and Papaya Salad Roll.  This was a really pretty dish to look at.  Eight mini rolls were served on a long platter on top of strips of cucumber, carrot and daikon.  It was really tasty and left us wanting more.

Seafood prevailed in our main course with both of us choosing fish dishes (and splitting them of course).  We settled on the Miso Black Cod Donburi which was served with king oyster mushrooms, sticky rice and teriyaki sauce.  This was such a great fish and I really loved the Asian flavours.

The other dish we had was the Salmon.  This came with lemon ricotta tortellini, spring vegetables in a shellfish broth.  The salmon was prepared perfectly and hubby was happy that it was paired with the pasta.

As full as we were, we ordered dessert.    We had a white chocolate cheesecake which was served with a strawberry sorbet.  I was looking forward to the coconut lime sorbet it was supposed to come with but this was still delicious and satisfying.

All in all, it was a great evening and I look forward to going back!

Raw Bar on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: eating out

celebrating 37 years with a turtle cheesecake

August 6, 2011 By Fareen 2 Comments

My parents just celebrated their 37th anniversary!  This definitely called for a celebration, and every celebration calls for cake.  Tired of making the usual though, I wanted to do something different.  I decided to do a cheesecake, a dessert that my dad loves.

I knew this cheesecake needed nuts, chocolate and caramel and after doing a search, this recipe was found on the Kraft website.  The layers of caramel and pecans are divine.  As good as it tastes when you first make it, it tastes even better the next day, if there’s any left!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!  Love you lots!

 

Ultimate Turtle Cheesecake

2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
6 Tbsp.  butter or margarine, melted
1 pkg. caramels
1/2 cup  milk
1 cup chopped pecans
3 pkg. cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 eggs
2 squares chocolate, melted

Heat oven to 325°F.

Mix crumbs and butter; press onto bottom and 2 inches up side of 9-inch springform pan.

Microwave caramels and milk in small microwaveable bowl on high 3 min. or until caramels are completely melted, stirring after each minute. Stir in nuts; pour half into crust. Refrigerate 10 min. Refrigerate remaining caramel mixture for later use.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over caramel layer in crust.

Bake 1 hour 5 min. to 1 hour 10 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Microwave reserved caramel mixture 1 min.; stir. Pour over cheesecake. Melt chocolate and drizzle over cheesecake.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: cake, celebrations, dessert

father’s day and passion fruit ice cream

June 20, 2011 By Fareen Leave a Comment

This year, we celebrated Father’s Day with a Mexican Fiesta!  Fried fish, tortilla chips with fresh salsa and guacamole started out our meal alongside some margaritas.  Our main was fajitas with shredded, barbecued chicken with grilled peppers and onions.  It was a simple menu but packed a lot of flavour and our families were full and satisfied.

For dessert, we cooled our palates with homemade ice cream.  I’m a bit addicted to my dad’s ice cream machine.  It was supposed to be a weekend loan but I’m having too much fun, I haven’t given it back.  This time, I experimented with passion fruit!  Using only one passion fruit gave the ice cream a subtle flavour.  It was a hit and this recipe is definitely a keeper.  Hope all the fathers had a great day being spoiled by loved ones!

Passion Fruit Ice Cream

1 cup whipping cream
1 can evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
1 – 2 passion fruit (pulp and seeds)

Mix the above ingredients together and follow the instructions of your ice cream machine.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: celebrations, ice cream

anniversary dinner at teatro

May 25, 2011 By Fareen 1 Comment

Hubby and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary last month. We never got around to going out for dinner though.  It had been a busy few weeks and weekends never seemed to be working out.  We had planned this dinner so many times but something always came up.

Maybe not planning dinner in advance is the way to go.  We decided in the afternoon that it would be the perfect evening for date night and our belated anniversary dinner.  We had a voucher (yes, I love my deals) for Teatro and I had been itching to use it for a while.  I had been to Teatro once before but it had been so long since I had been there, I was looking forward to going back.

Our wonderful server Mitch started our evening off with an amuse-bouche, tuna tartare.  The tiny morsel tasted fresh and left us wanting more.  We were also served little chewy focaccia buns that we devoured with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

We chose to go with the Alberta Bison Tartare for our appetizer.  Topped with a quail egg, this was served with a tiny crostini with triple creme brie as well as a small arugula salad.  The flavours of the bison were incredible, especially paired with the arugula.  Our only complaint was there wasn’t enough of the crostini to eat up all the tartare with.  Mitch happily brought us some focaccia bread which was a great accompaniment.

Our next course was also a sharable – the Pappardelle.  Noodles coated with a green curry mayo, tossed with avocado and topped with grilled lobster.  This was an amazing dish but very spicy.  Even hubby who can actually eat spice found it quite spicy.  The taste was amazing though and it would be a dish I would have again.

By this point, we still had our main course to eat, but we were completely stuffed.  For my main, I went with the Honey-Rosemary Seared Duck Magret.  This was served with polenta verde, caramelized cippolini, and fig fricassée.  There was also supposed to be some pancetta which they happily left out for me.  This dish was so delicious!  The duck was moist and the flavours were incredible.  The pesto in the polenta went really well with the duck.  I was very happy with my choice.

Hubby went with the Milk Fed Veal Striploin alla Milanese.  This was served with creamy spaetzle, green olive, spicy rapini, and fried capers.  The meat was moist and the tasted amazing.  We found that this tasted even better the next day.  Of course, there were leftovers!

Despite the fact that we were full, we couldn’t leave without having dessert.  Tempted by the creme brulee, we decided on chocolate instead and shared the Chocolate Varieta.  This dish had chocolate three ways with chocolate marquis, milk chocolate semifreddo, and a cocoa ginger madeleine.  You have to love chocolate to enjoy this dish.  It was a great way to end a fantastic meal!

Teatro on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: celebrations, eating out

nutella ice cream with almonds

April 11, 2011 By Fareen 3 Comments

As much as I enjoy chocolate, I can’t eat plain old chocolate ice cream.  I need add-ins, like roasted nuts or coffee or chocolate chips.  The combination of this chocolate ice cream with nutella (yum!) and roasted almonds is divine.  This is an easy recipe, perfect for those nervous about making ice cream with eggs, like me.  I am determined to try that one of these days, but for now, the simplicity of this creamy concoction will do just fine.  This is the perfect dessert to end a meal, even my parents agree.

Nutella Ice Cream with Almonds

3 cups whipping cream
1 300 mL can sweetened condensed milk
4 TB cocoa
4 TB nutella
1 cup roasted almonds, coarsely chopped

Whip together the first four ingredients until everything is well incorporated.  Place in the chilled canister and follow the directions of your ice cream machine.  5 minutes before your ice cream is ready, add in the roasted almonds.  Chill for a couple of hours and enjoy every heavenly bite.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: dessert, ice cream

ruth’s chris steakhouse

March 11, 2011 By Fareen 1 Comment

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, hubby and I chose to have dinner at Ruth’s Chris.  We had been to one Ruth’s Chris in Vegas a couple of years ago but we hadn’t tried the Calgary location.  We had heard such a range of reviews, we just had to check it out for ourselves.

For Valentine’s Day, Ruth’s Chris was offering up their date night menu – an appetizer to share, an entree each, a dessert to share and wine for $99.  It was a good thing we had reservations because the place was busy!  The restaurant, located in the Tower Centre, was on the 2nd floor and had a good view of downtown. Ruth’s Chris provided parking in the Tower Centre.

To start, we settled on the mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat.  There were four mushrooms and the crab stuffing was pretty good.  We were also served garlic bread and cheese bread, both of which were delicious and we had inhaled them long before our steaks arrived.

For our mains, I ordered the 8 oz petit filet and hubby ordered the 12 oz new york strip.  The steaks came sizzling to the table in butter, how could that not be good! The petit filet was perfect if you were looking for meat that was soft and melted in your mouth.  For flavour, the new york strip was the way to go.  By ordering one of each, we had the best of both worlds.

We were able to order two sides to go along with our meals.  We ordered the sauteed mushrooms and the mashed potatoes.  Unfortunately, the sides were bland and disappointing.  The mushrooms tasted like they were straight from a can.

To finish off our meal, we chose the creme brulee.  Creme brulee is one of those desserts that we order every chance we get.  This was one of the best brulees we have had!  The sugar topping was light and delicate and the custard was creamy.

All in all, we enjoyed our meal.  Except for the sides, the food was good.  The service, which is a huge factor for me, was really good.  Our waiter was very attentive and even the manager came to every table to ensure that everything was going well.  We will definitely go back for the steak!

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: eating out

progressive dinner party

January 25, 2011 By Fareen Leave a Comment

We had a wonderful dinner party this past weekend. After watching Giada’s Progressive Dinner, I thought it would be such a fun thing to do!  A three course meal at three different houses – it was a perfect event to do with our close friends who live minutes away.

It was bound to be an interesting evening since we weren’t coordinating our menus.

We started with appetizers and cocktails at our house. Hubby was in charge of the cocktail and came up with an orange / nectarine mojito.  With all the citrus and the mint, the drink was delicious and so fresh.

It was hard to decide on just one appetizer so I made a few.  Rosemary almonds were placed on the table for people to munch on.  It was nice to see that these were a big hit.

Since I had just had my lesson in making butternut squash ravioli, I definitely had to make a batch.  Everyone was served one big ravioli with a serving of greens.

The idea of the progressive dinner came shortly before we visited Kayne‘s a few months ago.  I knew after tasting their brie, I had to have something similar.  I didn’t want to fry anything so I baked some panko breaded brie which was served on top of red pepper jelly.

The final appy was a shrimp dish.  Sauteed shrimp in a red pepper cream sauce served with baguette.   It’s a dish that I had at a restaurant recently and I was happy to find the recipe online.

We hopped into our cars and drove a few minutes to the next house for dinner.  S and P had made an amazing thai dinner with both green curry and a spicy red curry.  This was served with rice and was enjoyed by all, even the kiddies.

We then headed around the corner to S and G’s house where we indulged in two desserts.  Molten lava cake served with ice cream was the chocolate contribution of the night.  The other dessert was a concoction prepared by S with lemon pound cake, custard and strawberries – delicious!

It was a fun evening and a nice way for everyone to contribute without doing a potluck. Looking forward to many more of these dinners!

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: events, party

a night at NOtaBLE

January 14, 2011 By Fareen Leave a Comment

My husband has a new job.  For the past few years, hubby has been a construction project manager, working on office buildings, supermarkets and large box stores.  I am excited about his new venture with LUX Group where he will be in charge of building restaurants and coffee shops.  Yes, food establishments.  Hooray!

Hubby’s new boss B and his girlfriend M (who it turns out I went to high school with!) were kind enough to take us out for dinner at NOtaBLE, Michael Noble’s restaurant located on Bowness Road.  I had heard and read great things about the restaurant and was excited to check it out.

We weren’t able to make reservations for the day we went and the restaurant was busy – we did have to wait about 30 minutes for a table.  We were quite hungry by the time we were seated and went straight for the main course.  I ordered the char-grilled and braised lamb shank served with chanterelle mushroom and asiago risotto.  It was a great choice.  The lamb was moist and the risotto was creamy and delicious.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Hubby ordered the whole grilled sea bream with lemon, thyme, and red wine butter sauce.  Our server offered to debone the fish for him, although he didn’t take her up on the offer.  The fish was moist and very tasty.

There weren’t a lot of vegetarian options for M but the kitchen was kind enough to make her gnocci with assorted veggies which she seemed to enjoy.  B ordered the New York steak which looked juicy and tender.

We had to of course order dessert.  The double baked chocolate cake was served warm with a scoop of chocolate sorbet and was delicious!  B ordered the stilton cheesecake and enjoyed it even though he didn’t like blue cheese.  The cheesecake was served with a rhubarb compote.

Michael Noble worked with B on the menu for Kayne’s so I did get an introduction after our meal.  He was even kind enough to take a picture with me.  We had a great time at NOtaBLE – great food and great company.

NOtaBLE on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: eating out

sinful chocolate squares

December 23, 2010 By Fareen Leave a Comment

When we were younger, my sister and I loved it when my mom made desserts with condensed milk.  We couldn’t wait to get our share of the sweet liquid.  Sometimes we would open up a can and eat it like pudding.  One of my favorite things to do with condensed milk is to make these squares.  Very similar to Eagle Brand’s Magic Cookie Bars, these are even more sinful with a chocolate crust.

Sinful Chocolate Squares

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk (plus a little more for licking!)
1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup almonds

Combine the crumbs and margarine and and press into the bottom of an 8″ x 8″ dish.  Pour the condensed milk over the crumbs followed by the chocolate, coconut and almonds.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: Christmas, dessert

grilled pineapple salsa

July 9, 2010 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Has it already been 2 weeks since my last post?  The days just seem to be flying by and we are already in July!  We are finally enjoying some wonderful summer weather and there’s no better time to do some grilling.  Grilling at my house is a year round affair but nothing beats grilling fruit in the summer.  My favorite is grilled pineapple, the bbq bringing out even more sweetness.  While preparing Mahi Mahi burgers for dinner, I figured the best topping would be a grilled pineapple salsa.  The combination of sweet pineapple, smoky roasted red peppers with a spicy kick was fresh and delicious. 

And hey, if you have some extra grilled pineapple, spread some Nutella and sprinkle some nuts and you have yourself dessert!

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

Grilled pineapple, cubed
Roasted red peppers, chopped finely
Green onions
Red onions
Mint
Lime juice
Hot sauce

Toss and serve!

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: appetizers, dessert, fruit

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Hello!

My name is Fareen and I'm so happy you stopped by! This blog is about my favourite things - family, food and travel. Here you will find adventures with hubby, my two boys and my great big family. There is food (lots of food!), as much travel as we can squeeze in and just life in general.

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