Pages

 photo img_03.jpg  photo img_04.jpg  photo img_06.jpg  photo img_05.jpg  photo img_07.jpg

"A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch." - James Beard


AOL Ad

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Rock Au Taco

Note: this restaurant closed a while back, but the owners have a new place in a new location in London, Ontario called Los Lobos.  Still excellent. Amazing cocktails too!


As you may have heard, we love, love, love tacos.  So we were very excited when we heard about a new taco place opening right here in London.  It's by the owners of The Early Bird diner and it's right next door/attached.  It's called Rock Au Taco (cute!).



The shop itself has counter service, but you can order the tacos next door at The Early Bird too.  We decided to order ALL of them!  It's a tough life but we did it for research.



Clockwise from the left, this is the Pescado (fish), Papa (potato) and Cachete (beef cheek).  The Pescado had crispy fish, guacamole, slaw, radish and a creamy sauce.  It was one of my favourites.  The potato is a great vegetarian option with little cubes of fried potato, cheese and veggies.  The beef cheek was so tender and delicious, I loved it.  



Then we had the other three options:  clockwise from top left, that's the Bean, Lengua (beef tongue) and Panceta de Cerdo (pork belly).  I didn't personally try the bean but it got great reviews.  Another good choice for a vegetarian, but try the meat options if you can!  The Lengua was great - tender with deep flavour.  But our favourite was the pork belly.  It came with a corn salsa and creamy sauce.  The textures and flavours were fantastic.  Matt likes things spicy and we were given 3 bottles of salsa to spice things up.  We also tried the chips with guacamole and salsa.  



Plus, we had cocktails!  They have a great selection of tequila and bourbon/whiskey based cocktails.  We tried a grapefruit-tequila drink that was delicious. Plus we had margaritas made with spicy tequila, and a version of an old fashioned with marinated cherries.  I love the huge ice cube!

We plan to return often.  It's a great place to grab lunch or a bite before a show.  Check it out!  


Thursday, February 20, 2014

Tortilla Soup


This recipe was originally intended to use up stale tortillas, but it is so good, I bought fresh corn tortillas just for this soup.  It's rich, spicy and flavourful, and so easy to pull together in just minutes.  



I used store-bought white corn tortillas for this but you can always make your own

Here's what you need:

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Vegas Valentines


Winter has been pretty tough on us this year. It just never seems to stop snowing. We usually travel to Las Vegas in the fall for our anniversary, so I was surprised and delighted when Matt suggested another trip over Valentines Day to get away from the snow.  



We fly out of Detroit and cross the border at Port Huron, so on our way to the airport we decided to stop for some BBQ at Fuel Woodfire Grill in Port Huron.  To celebrate our little holiday, I had a Haymaker bourbon cocktail and Matt had a Hopslam from Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo.  We both ordered the brisket sandwich which was smoky and delicious. The fries were really excellent as well.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Tart of the Month: Meyer Lemon Tart


Finally a tart recipe!  I've mentioned before that I'm not a baking expert but I'm trying to learn. I still haven't made a true pie crust, but this tart crust is close.  It does not need to be rolled out and I mixed it in the food processor, so it was pretty easy.  



Meyer lemons are in season this time of year.  They are generally smaller and sweeter than regular lemons. They are actually a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange.  

Here's what you need for this simple, tasty tart:

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Lazy Cabbage Rolls


I can't say cabbage rolls have always been my favourite.  My family has cabbage rolls every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas, along with pierogies, meat sticks (breaded pork skewers), and turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc.  With all that deliciousness, the cabbage rolls are not the first thing on my plate.  And they always seemed complicated to make outside the holidays.

But these "lazy" cabbage rolls are pretty easy.  They are actually like mini-meat loafs. The recipe makes a whole bunch so I froze half and cooked them later and it made a fantastic quick weeknight dinner.  


Here's what you need for the cabbage rolls:

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Chicken Wing Cook-Off


Welcome to our first annual Super Bowl Chicken Wing Cook-Off!

We love chicken wings, but I'm not a big fan of deep frying in the house.  So Matt and I decided to try two methods of cooking wings that don't require frying but still make a crispy, tasty treat.  


I decided to make classic Buffalo wings, baked in the oven.  Matt tried dry-rubbed wings smoked on the grill.  Both turned out spicy and delicious.