Tag Archives: food

Pizza sandwich

I’m not a big fan of sandwiches for lunch. Part of the reasoning is that I prefer hot to cold food. Another is that I ate sandwiches all through school, and I feel like just because I work at a school now doesn’t mean I should still have to bag a sandwich for lunch every day. But sometimes I don’t bring a lunch, and when that happens I will often go to the neighbouring pizza place for a couple slices… and make a sandwich out of them!

I pick two different slices, request banana peppers added, then I put them together top face onto top face, with the peppers in between. I love the taste of all the toppings and peppers together. I like the double layer of cheese, and I especially like how easy it is to eat like this. I also like that it’s hot. I have to say that of all the sandwiches I eat, this one is my favourite.

Oh, and note the way I fold the paper plate around it. This serves two purposes: It helps hold the sandwich together, and if there’s any sauce dripping out, this catches it before it lands on my shirt or pants.

Try a pizza sandwich… you won’t regret it!

Duck wings

There were only 3 items on the menu, Pulled Pork on a Bun, Confit Duck Wings, and Jerk Chicken Tacos. When I walked in the cashier said, “You look like a guy ready to try some Duck Wings.”

“Actually, I would like the Pulled Pork.”

“Really, you can have that anytime you want, try the Duck Wings.”

“You are right, absolutely.”

She kept convincing me, even though I made the switch, and I repeated that she convinced me.

“You won’t be disappointed,” she said confidently.

This reminded me of a friend, Geoff. He’s a colleague from a district up north, and I’ve had dinner a couple times with him when we connect for meetings. Both times he left the ordering of food completely in the hands of the waitresses. Completely. When one of them asked clarifying questions, the only thing he shared was, ‘I’m fairly hungry.’ No hints as to what he likes, or what part of the menu he would favour. He told me that he’s done this hundreds of times and only once was he ever disappointed.

I’m not as brave. I have often asked a waiter or waitress what their favourite is between 2 or 3 choices and if they reply with anything specific, (rather than, ‘they are all good’), then I’ll take their recommendation. The idea of a person picking anything off of a menu for me doesn’t seem appealing. But the idea of a recommendation between two hard to choose items appeals a fair bit.

Back to the Duck Wings. They were delicious! So much better than another pulled pork sandwich that I could have had in so many other places. Food is a great place to be brave and make choices you wouldn’t normally make. Don’t duck out. 😜

The unseen casualties to come

I am saddened by the physical destruction, and especially the death and disruption of innocent lives happening now in the Ukraine. But I think (and hope) this will end soon. However, this war will affect far more than the Ukrainian people. As US President Joe Biden said,

“It’s going to be real. The price of these sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia; it’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well,” Biden said. “Both Russia and Ukraine have been the breadbasket of Europe in terms of wheat, for example — just to give you one example.”

This will have a massive impact on the world’s poor. Many reading this will feel the financial cost of increased prices, but that burden can be absorbed. We simply will have less buying power and less options of things to buy. But we won’t go hungry. For people living at or below the poverty line, and especially in developing countries where limited food choices become both expensive and scarce, it’s a different story. People will go hungry. People will revolt. People will die.

Since WWII many of the global conflicts have been about oil. The conflicts of the future will be about food and water. No matter what the reason, global conflict affects us all more and more in the interconnected world we live in. It’s one thing to look at the horror of lives lost in a conflict like this, still another to know that more casualties are coming.

Family and food

I have been back with my parents for just over 24 hours and I’ve already over-eaten. I blame it mostly on my sister who barely weighs 100lbs and eats 6-7 meals a day, each one bigger than a normal sized meal for me. She’s always thinking about food and she’s an incredible cook. I just finished a pickled cabbage salad she made that I could eat every day for a month without getting bored of the taste.

For me, getting together with my family has two wonderful benefits. First, I spend time with them and laugh, and enjoy their company. And second, and equally as important, I get to enjoy the fusion flavours of home. With Chinese and Jewish heritage, both with roots from South America (Guyana) and the Caribbean (Barbados & Trinidad), my family meals are three things: eclectic, spicy, and delicious!

I’m glad that I’m maintaining some level of fitness while here, because in the coming days I’m going to over-eat. I can’t help myself… and I don’t want to!

There’s nothing like home cooking.

Spicing up a recipe

I shared this tweet before, but the post was more about life than cooking:

I’m not a big fan of cooking, but I have certain recipes that I do quite well. One of them is a stir fry. Last night’s was really good! I’m not just saying that because I enjoyed it, both my wife and daughter complimented it, and my daughter said, “I have to slow down so I can enjoy this longer.”

I didn’t use a recipe as my baseline. I didn’t measure anything. I just added things that I thought should go together. I cooked the peppers, red onion, carrots, and beans longer than the broccoli, which I cooked longer than the green onions and cilantro. I added way more sesame oil than any recipe I’ve ever followed, and way less soy. And I added a whole lot of garlic powder. This no-recipe-as-a-base approach doesn’t always work, but my stir fry always does.

One of my favourite things to do is to start with a recipe then go on a tangent. This is a lot less risky than flying by the seat of my pants, and it makes cooking fun for me. A couple days ago we made tacos, and when I went to the fridge for salsa I saw sweet chili pepper sauce and decided to try it instead… Absolutely delicious!

I don’t like easy puzzles, and to me a recipe is an easy puzzle… I like to spice things up a bit, and I’m usually glad I did.

Favourite food on the menu

When you find that one dish that you love having at a restaurant, don’t deviate. Order it every time. Why? Because if you decide to try something else, more than 9/10 times you will be disappointed.

I am a huge fan of food from all over the world. I take chances with food. I eat ‘street food’ when I travel. I like variety. But when I find a food I like at a restaurant, I mean really like, then I don’t stray from it.

Why take a low risk for a small reward? I already really like a dish, so why try something new and get disappointed? Even if there is that one dish that might be slightly better, the reward is small since I’m already enjoying a favourite. And besides, more than likely the different dish won’t be as good, and I’d leave the restaurant feeling let down.

When you find a favourite, stick to it. Enjoy and savour it, knowing you aren’t missing out, you are getting exactly what you like. Save the experimentation for new restaurants, or restaurants where you don’t already have a favourite.

Summer stuffed

It doesn’t matter how much I try to take care of myself, I over-eat on holidays. Just had a whole pizza for lunch (my wife and daughter shared one), and now, a few hours later, I’ve bbq’d dinner and rather than eating, I just want to nap. But I will eat, and I probably won’t listen to my body and stop when I’m full.

I’ve bbq’d my wife’s awesome honey garlic chicken recipe, and I’ve cooked soaked corn in the husk on my grill. It’s all too good not to eat. To follow this up, my daughter and I are having steak for breakfast tomorrow. It was going to be for dinner, plans changed, and it would be a waste not to eat them.

Yes, I’m on holidays, but I’ve got to get off this gluttonous path that I’m on… after breakfast tomorrow… maybe.

Favourite steak sauce

I love steak. Seared, medium rare, moist, chewy, with a thin slice of crispy fat. Tonight I bought an eye of round roast cut and made my own steaks out of it. I’ve cooked the end piece in 2 slices for myself and the rest have gone into the fridge, seasoned, and in a ziplock bag, for a future, shared dinner. These will taste better than ones I ate today, after having the marinade soak in longer, but I enjoyed my steaks so much that I wanted to share my simple 2-step recipe.

1. Sprinkle la Grille Montreal Steak Spice liberally onto both sides of the steak, forcefully pushing the spice into the meat with your palm.

2. Mix 50% HP Sauce and 50% Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce with some of your favourite (liquid) hot sauce to taste. Dip your streaks in.

That’s it. That’s all you need.

Cook on the BBQ, turning only once if you can, so as not to dry out the sides. I tend to have the BBQ above 500° when I add the steaks, and drop the temperature a bit. Then I flip onto a hot, unused part of the grill, put the lid on and lower the heat. I don’t always get the timing right and sometimes end up with medium rather than medium rare, but the moisture stays in cooking it this way and I’m not disappointed.

A simple recipe that you probably already have the ingredients for in you kitchen.

Enjoy!

Pizza sandwich

When I want to treat myself, I have pizza for lunch. We have a Papa Leo’s Pizza that is a 3 minute walk from our school, and I love their pizza. When I go, I order two slices and they sandwich it for me. That is to say, I have them put one slice upside-down onto the other slice, to make a sandwich with both crusts on the outside. Usually it’s one Hawaiian slice and one all-meat or vegetarian. (Yes, I like pineapple on pizza.)

I don’t know when I started doing this, but it’s a regular habit for me. There are a couple things that I really enjoy about this. First, the flavour; I love pizzas with everything on them and by-the-slice pizza toppings are limited. Second, I don’t need a box, I can just use the flimsy plate they give you, and I don’t have to worry about juggling a second slice while biting into the first. I hold them like a sandwich and bite them both at the sane time. As a bonus, I don’t have to throw away a barely used box.

Is it weird? I don’t care. Delicious, convenient, and easy to eat. Give it a try.

Family and comfort food

Last night we made me mother’s Spanish rice. It’s a funny recipe to follow. It was given to me over the phone, more than 20 years ago. It is written on the back of a used envelope and it doesn’t have any measurements on it. It’s just a list of ingredients with a curly bracket to indicate which ingredients to cook on the stovetop first, before the rice is baked in a dish.

I’ve never made it exactly the same. This time my wife started it and I finished it, and it was only after I got it all in the baking dish that I realized that I forgot a key ingredient. Back into the stovetop it went to mix this ingredient in… it still tasted wonderful. My daughter loved it, and said it’s one of her favourite home cooked meals. I said the sane to my mom at her age. It’s the quintessential comfort food for our family.

It’s funny how recipes get passed down; how families share food like traditions. My grandmother on my dad’s side is the best cook I’ve ever met, and she never used a measuring cup or spoon. Following her recipes was impossible. My mom would watch her and take notes, but could not master her dishes like granny. And granny’s repertoire was incredible. A Chinese decent Guyanese who married a Jew, she could make dishes from three distinct cultures, or fuse dishes and flavours with the expertise of an alchemist.

Everything she made was a favourite. I remember staying over with her once and she asked me in the morning if I wanted an omelette. I said ‘sure’ and she went to the kitchen to cook. 20 minutes later I heard her say in her thick West Indian accent, “Ehh-Ehh!” I asked what’s wrong and she said, “Ah, don’ have any eggs!” I had the stir-fried ingredients on toast and, despite the lack of eggs, it was one of the best omelettes I ever had!

It’s wonderful how we can be comforted by food, and how certain dishes can take us back to our childhood.