Pukka: Modern Indian One Year Later

I loved Pukka a year ago and I'm still loving it. The talented chefs at this contemporary Indian restaurant on St. Clair West have an uncanny ability to consistently deliver bold, immaculate flavours on every plate. And when I say "bold flavours" I don't mean just spicy; I mean layers upon layers of delicate spices and seasonings that magically come together, creating unforgettable flavours on your palette. The inventive twists at Pukka (Twitter: @pukkatoronto, Facebook: Pukka Toronto) are done tastefully with a purpose and never gimmicky, all the while paying homage to classic Indian dishes. Pukka is certainly "Not your mother's Indian".

At the media dinner on Tuesday, co-owners Harsh Chawla and Derek Valleau, and sommelier Peter Boyd led us through a tasting menu accompanied by wine. Yes, Indian food with wine pairings! An unfamiliar concept to most but I assure you it works really well.

Here's a look at what I had:

BRITISH RAJ

Gosling's rum, lime, almond syrup, pineapple juice

STRING CHAAT

String vegetables, sprouts, rice crisps, pomegranate, mango, chutneys + yoghurt

Wine pairing: '13 Muller Thurgau, Nals Margreid. Alto Adige, Italy. 

TANDOORI CHICKEN TIKKA

Herb-infused + tamarind chutney

Wine pairing: '13 Muller Thurgau, Nals Margreid. Alto Adige, Italy.

GUNDPOWDER PRAWNS

Tempered moong bean salad

Wine pairing: '13 Muller Thurgau, Nals Margreid. Alto Adige, Italy.

Pastizza

Pastizza (Twitter: @PastizzaTO, Facebook: Pastizza) is a stunningly beautiful restaurant. The 5,000 square foot two-story Italian eatery at the corner of Market Street and The Esplanade in downtown is home to a magnificent 30 foot tall custom wine chandelier, a massive open kitchen, and a 100-seat patio in the summer. What's even more attractive (to me at least) is its location; Pastizza is conveniently located across the street from one of the world’s greatest markets, the St. Lawrence Market. With over 120 vendors, the St. Lawrence Market is my favourite place to shop for fresh fruits, meat and seafood. It is an awesome place to grab a quick bite (i.e. the world famous Peameal Bacon Sandwich from Carousel Bakery) but if you're looking for a nice, relaxing sit-down place for lunch or dinner, the Market is not the place. What you need to do is head over to Pastizza which is literally just a few steps away.

Co-owners Paolo Paolini (founder of Splendido and Mistura) and Thomas Baker (proprietor of Thomas George Estate winery) opened Pastizza in August of last year. Their vision for the restaurant involves serving Italian comfort food with a strong focus on using local ingredients.

Look at this space. It's gorgeous, ain't it? I'm not feeling those large TV screens though. They can go.

This majestic and elegant wine chandelier is not just for looks; the tower can hold up to 600 bottles.

Exclusive, one-of-a-kind Pastizza branded bottles from Thomas George Estate in Sonoma, California

The Whisky Cabinet Giveaway - CLOSED

I'm giving away ONE SIGNED COPY of The Whisky Cabinet plus PERSONALIZED WHISKY RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE AUTHOR!

Value of this amazing prize? PRICELESS.

(Photo from The Whisky Cabinet)

For those of you who follow me on Instagram and/or Twitter, you may know that I'm a whisky enthusiast. Although I love whiskies I'm far from being an expert (to be honest it was only last year that I started getting really into it.) There's so much to learn about whiskies, from it's history and how it's made, to why certain whiskies tastes different than others. The part I enjoy the most is obviously tasting different whiskies and finding out which ones I like, which ones I dislike and why. I don't have a huge whisky collection yet but I'm working on it :)

My whisky collection

Over the Christmas holidays, I had an opportunity to read The Whisky Cabinet from front to back, literally. I spent hours on the couch with my head completely immersed in the book...I couldn't stop! I learned so much about whiskies from The Whisky Cabinet and I'm so glad I got my hands on it. The book is really well written in that it's approachable and easy to understand without all the technical jargon and frills. I personally love the book and would recommend it to anybody. Not surprisingly, The Whisky Cabinet became the #1 Best Seller in Whisky and Buyer's Guide (Spirits & Wine) Categories on Amazon last week.

Mark Bylok (Photo from The Whisky Cabinet)

Not only will the winner receive a signed copy of The Whisky Cabinet, he/she will also receive personalized whisky recommendations from Mark Bylok. When writing The Whisky Cabinet Mark has tasted many of hundreds of whiskies, and based on this experience he will personally recommend the next whiskies the winner will enjoy purchasing. The winner will be in contact with Mark via email, and provide Mark with a list of whiskies he or she enjoys and the sort of recommendations they’re looking for (price point, region, etc..). Based on this information, Mark will provide buying recommendations to round on their personal whisky cabinet. New to whisky? Not an issue, Mark will offer great starter whiskies too.

(Photo from The Whisky Cabinet)

HOW TO ENTER

1) You MUST be following me (@foodieyu) on Twitter

AND

2) Tweet the following sentence, exactly as shown, nothing before or after it: 

Hey @foodieyu I want to win a signed copy of @whiskybook + whisky recommendations from @markbylok! http://bit.ly/1yChD9Y #fjcwhisky

1. For your entry to be valid, you need to tweet the above sentence exactly as shown

2. You may tweet once a day for the duration of the contest. Re-tweeting others do NOT count as a valid entry

3. Contest is tracked by the #fjcwhisky hashtag. If you don't see your tweet in the hashtag stream it means there is no entry from you. Read this to find out the possible reasons why your tweets are not showing up

4. Contest is open to all Canadian residents.

CONTEST DURATION

Contest starts on Tuesday, January 20 and ends on Tuesday, January 27 at 12PM. 

One lucky winner will be chosen randomly from www.random.org and I will announce the winner shortly after.

GOOD LUCK!!! ^_^

Byblos: Eastern Mediterranean in King West

One of my favourite spots right now, one that I can't wait to go back to, is Byblos (Facebook: Byblos, Twitter: @ByblosToronto). Serving Eastern Mediterranean cuisine in the heart of Toronto's Entertainment District, the upscale 120-seat Mediterranean restaurant by Charles Khabouth and Hanif Harji of Icon Legacy Hospitality and Ink Entertainment was recently ranked #5 in Globe & Mail's list of "Top 10 new Toronto Restaurants of 2014" (the restaurateurs also own NAO Steakhouse, Weslodge, and another one of my favourites - Patria). Byblos' Executive Chef Stuart Cameron (@chef_stucameron) focuses on making ingredients in-house and sourcing as many products as he can from the Middle East. 

"Using time-honored classic cooking techniques and modern methods, Executive Chef Stuart Cameron has created dishes that showcase the regionally-specific spices and flavours of the Eastern Mediterranean seaboard. The menu is a true coastal and cultural mosaic, served family style in a convivial atmosphere."- Byblos

The 2,000 sq. ft restaurant opened its doors in March of last year in the 170-year-old Storys Building. I was eager to sit in the main floor dining room (which I heard is gorgeous) but unfortunately, the main floor was closed off. Upstairs, the large dining room has shiny gold and copper panels, aged white walls, and oiled wooden floors flanked by Persian style rugs.

The large bar area.

The Byblos menu is divided into "small", "large", "sides" and "rice", and they are all meant to be shared family-style. The four of us shared five small plates, two large plates, one rice dish and five desserts:

CRISPY EGGPLANT ($12)

Tahini Aioli + Bayildi Sauce + Basturma

Schnitzel HUB on Yonge

Can you name a few popular Eastern European dishes? I can. Schnitzel, beef goulash, bratwurst, cabbage rolls, perogies, blinis, beef stroganoff, borscht and vodka (yes I said vodka) It's certainly not an impressive list, especially coming from a self-proclaimed "foodie" but what's even worse is that I've had very little experience eating any of those dishes. I think unless your family is from Eastern Europe, it's safe to say that most Torontonians have very little exposure to Eastern European cuisine in general. Aside from the perogi, where we have a handful of popular downtown restaurants (i.e. The Saint tavern and Richmond Station) serving their take on the Polish dumpling, it's not an easy feat to find traditional or modern twists on Eastern European classics. So, does that mean we have to make a trip to Australia, Hungry or the Czech Republic for some wiener schnitzel? Nope. All you gotta do is venture north of Bloor to Yonge and St. Clair. You can do it, guys.

Aside from my meal at Hungarian restaurant Country Style on Bloor Street more than three years ago, Schnitzel HUB (Facebook: Schnitzel HUB, Twitter: @Schnitzel_HUB) is most likely the only Eastern European restaurant I've been to since then. I know, it's sad but did you know, my Country Style post is the third most popular post of all time on my blog? Amazing.

With its first location in Thornhill, owners Yan and Rita Khalfon opened their second Schnitzel HUB at 1415 Yonge Street in November of last year. I visited the new midtown bistro during the Christmas holidays.

The Winner of the Truvia® Baking Blend Prize Pack Giveaway is...

@becannee

Congratulations, Rebecca! You've just won a Truvia® Baking Blend Prize Pack! This amazing prize pack has tons of baking goodies in it including a 680 g bag of Truvia® Baking Blend, cookie sheets, a mini cupcake pan, pastry cutter, a set of whisks and a two-tier dessert tray. Please email me your first and last name along with your mailing address to foodjunkiechronicles@gmail.com so I can send it off to you right away :)

I also want to say a big THANK YOU to the 117 contestants who participated in the contest. 

Here's a snapshot of the Excel spreadsheet where I tracked the #guiltfreebaking hashtag from day one of the contest. The tracking was done using chronological order, as in, #1 was the first person to enter the contest. To enter, the person had to tweet "I want to win a @Truvia Baking Blend Prize Pack from @foodieyu! http://bit.ly/1IqdaK5 #guiltfreebaking". Each person could tweet once a day for the duration of the contest. Once the contest was over and everybody's entries were accounted for I checked to see if they follow me (@foodieyu) on Twitter. Below are the 307 valid entries:

.I used "True Random Number Generator" from random.org to pick the winner for me.

Crêpe & Co. European Café

Crêperies. Very limited number of them in Toronto. Having said that it's still not too too hard to find the classic French dish in the city - a number of dessert places come to mind actually, such as Caffe Demetre and Spin Dessert, as well as Crepe De Licious which you'll find in various shopping malls. However, when it comes to stand-alone crêperies that specialize in both sweet and savoury crêpes, I can only think of three: Café Crepe, Crepes A-Go-Go, and Millie Creperie (which serves French crêpes with a Japanese twist).

Anyway, unbeknownst to me, Crêpe & Co European Café (Twitter: CrepeCoCafe, Facebook: Crepecocafe) opened last summer across the street from the Gladstone Hotel on 1167 Queen St. W. So make that four crêperies. I visited the cozy European-style café for an early dinner during the Christmas holiday. 

Inspired by their travels and the delicious thin pancakes found throughout Europe, husband and wife Andrey and Natalie were determined to open a café, one specializing in the traditional French crêpe, both sweet and savoury, with Eastern European influenced fillings (i.e. "My Big Fat Greek Crepe", "Chicken Kiev", "Polish Sausage & Mushroom") 

There are a total of 14 savoury crêpes and 16 dessert crêpes. It shouldn't be hard to find one you want to try; the real problem is choosing only one.

Truvia® Baking Blend Prize Pack Giveaway - CLOSED

Are you an avid baker? Or know someone who is? If your answer is "YES" then this is the contest for you.

I'm giving away a Truvia® Baking Blend Prize Pack! The prize pack includes a bunch of baking goodies: a 680 g bag of Truvia® Baking Blend, cookie sheets, a mini cupcake pan, pastry cutter, a set of whisks and a two-tier dessert tray (desserts not included).

Designed for easy, at-home baking, the new Truvia® Baking Blend is a blend of calorie-free sweetener and sugar. It provides a sugar-like taste in recipes but with 75% fewer calories per serving than sugar (i.e. 1⁄2 cup of Truvia® Baking Blend has 190 calories and provides the same sweetness as 1 cup of sugar that has approximately 760 calories.) In case you missed my post yesterday, I substituted sugar with Truvia® Baking Blend when I made my favourite Carrot Pineapple Muffins on the weeknd. The result was fabulous; the muffins looked and tasted identical to the ones made with sugar, but by using Truvia® Baking Blend each muffin now had 50 less calories. 

Is Truvia® Baking Blend the answer to guilt-free baking? I think so! But here's a chance for you to find out for yourself.

HOW TO ENTER

1) You MUST be following me (@foodieyu) on Twitter

AND

2) Tweet the following sentence, exactly as shown, nothing before or after it: 

I want to win a @Truvia Baking Blend Prize Pack from @foodieyu! http://bit.ly/1IqdaK5 #guiltfreebaking

1. For your entry to be valid, you need to tweet the above sentence exactly as shown

2. You may tweet once a day for the duration of the contest. Re-tweeting others do NOT count as a valid entry

3. Contest is tracked by the #guiltfreebaking hashtag. If you don't see your tweet in the hashtag stream it means there is no entry from you. Read this to find out the possible reasons why your tweets are not showing up

4. Contest is open to all Canadian residents.

CONTEST DURATION

Contest starts on Wednesday, January 7 and ends on Wednesday, January 14 at 12PM. 

One lucky winner will be chosen randomly from www.random.org and I will announce the winner shortly after.

GOOD LUCK!!! ^_^

Carrot Pineapple Muffin with Truvia® Baking Blend

Happy New Year, guys! I hope only the best for all you lovely people in 2015. Whether it be your personal life or your career, make it count this year because we're not getting any younger. This is the year you make it big! No risk, no gain, folks! I'm starting to think this is a motivation speech for myself...

So, how was your holiday? Mine was pure relaxation. I bummed around and did nothing. Well, not really nothing I mean I sat around, ate stuff and watched Netflix. Even though I had time to blog I just felt extremely lazy and chose to vegetate on my sofa instead (bad Stella!) but on Sunday, the day before normalcy began again, I decided to ease back into reality by baking some Carrot Pineapple Muffins.

I'm a big fan of these muffins. My Mom used to make them all the time and I've made them myself in the past too. They may not look like much since they don't have those big poofy muffin tops but I assure you, taste-wise they are absolutely fantastic. My family aren't generally into muffins but we make an exception for these because the crushed pineapple and shredded carrot keep the muffins real moist. These muffins are also very soft, light, and fluffy inside.

I know we are supposed to watch our weight after Christmas but I thought it would be the perfect time to try the new Stevia-based Truvia® Baking Blend sent to me from the kind people at Truvia (Twitter: @truvia, Facebook: Truvia). Right away, bonus points on the packaging. That close-able pour spout is pretty sexy.

 Designed for at-home baking, the new Truvia® Baking Blend is a blend of Truvia® calorie-free sweetener and sugar. The Baking Blend looks virtually identical to table sugar but contains 75% fewer calories per serving. Converting existing recipes is simple when substituting for sugar, just use half as much Truvia® Baking Blend. A 1⁄2 cup of Truvia® Baking Blend has 190 calories and provides the same sweetness as 1 cup of sugar that has approximately 760 calories.

Truvia® claims that its Truvia® Baking Blend has a "sugar-like texture and moistness and will bake and brown like recipes that are made with sugar". So, I put it to the test! I used my trusted Carrot Pineapple Muffins recipe substituting 2 cups of table sugar with 1 cup of Truvia® Baking Blend. 

 CARROT PINEAPPLE MUFFINS with TRUVIA BAKING BLEND

Makes approximately 24 muffins

INGREDIENTS

• 7 oz Cake flour
• 7 oz Bread flour
• 1 cup Truvia Baking Blend
• 2 tsp Baking soda
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Salt
• 4 Eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 + 1/3 cup Vegetable oil
• 2 cups Grated carrots
• 1 cup Crushed pineapple, drained

The Winner of the Elephant & Castle Gift Card Giveaway II is...

@emfriesen

Congratulations Elizabeth! You've won a $50 gift card to Elephant & Castle just in time to try their new Winter Warm-Up Menu! Please email me your first and last name along with your mailing address to foodjunkiechronicles@gmail.com. I hope you will enjoy your time at Elephant & Castle :) Remember you can use your gift card at both 212 King St. W. and 378 Yonge St. locations.

I also want to say a big THANK YOU to the 59 contestants who participated in the contest. 

Here's a snapshot of the Excel spreadsheet where I tracked the #fjccastle hashtag from day one of the contest. The tracking was done using chronological order, as in, #1 was the first person to enter the contest. To enter, the person had to tweet "Hey @foodieyu I want to win a $50 gift card to try @elephantcastle Winter Warm-Up Menu! http://bit.ly/1BfnvGq #fjccastle". Each person could tweet once a day for the duration of the contest. Once the contest was over and everybody's entries were accounted for I checked to see if they follow me (@foodieyu) on Twitter. Below are the 123 valid entries:

.I used "True Random Number Generator" from random.org to pick the winner for me.