Monthly Archives: January 2009

Vegetable and bean soup

Posted on by bruleeblog
Vegetable and bean soup

Vegetable and bean soup

In my efforts to eat more vegetables and reduce the amount of daily calories, I took my tortellini soup and changed it up. Took out the tortellini, added more vegetables, and added a can of white kidney beans (cannellini beans).

One of the vegetables I added was a bunch of roughly chopped kale. This is the first time I have ever eaten kale, and it worked wonderfully in the soup. The leaves are quite tough, so the first servings of soup had some still crunchy kale in it. The kale softened in subsequent servings of the soup the next day. If I had used spinach on the other hand, it would have been overcooked and wilted if left in the soup, and I would have had to add fresh spinach every time I ate a bowl of the soup.

The beans added some protein and, together with a piece of whole grain toast, made the soup into a healthy meal with few calories.

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Chocolate deal

Posted on by bruleeblog

The forums on Chowhound and Redflagdeals.ca have been talking about finding $1 CDN Scharffen Berger 3 oz bars at Dollarama stores, so when I saw them today I grabbed a few to try. They were over by the cashier in a big cardboard display instead of over by the other candies. Picked up 41% milk, 62% semisweet, 70% bittersweet, and 82% extra dark bars, all at a buck each. Have tried the 70% bar so far, and I have to say it’s not half bad. Definitely a good deal for $1.

TV food shows

Posted on by bruleeblog

Fox plans Gordon Ramsay cook-along

This will be a US version of the cook-along he did in the UK (hopefully with less bleeping and yelling than they get him to do in the US versions of Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, but it’s Fox so I’m sure they’ll urge him to freak out some how for the entertainment value). Based on what happened in the UK cook-along though, I’m not sure I’d want to do it. Sure, the stuff he makes on the F Word looks pretty good, but on the UK cook-along, his “70s-inspired menu of prawn cocktail, steak diane and mandarin cheesecake” did not sound appealing whatsoever.

The next season of Hell’s Kitchen is starting soon as well. It looks like the contestants all actually have food backgrounds this time, so hopefully it will be better than last season where I lost interest in who won or lost.

And speaking of cooking competitions, last night’s Top Chef was hilarious. The look on Stefan’s face was priceless!

One last link - Jay Rayner risks a night on the town with Mario Batali.

Selected tweets from the live chat (incl. typos!)

Posted on by bruleeblog

bruleeblog Question for the chef – how does he feel about food bloggers doing reviews and the effect it has on restaurants? #naitchef -9:05 AM Jan 28th, 2009

NAIT @bruleeblog #naitchef You’re question will be on the air I hope & they will mention your blog -9:41 AM Jan 28th, 2009

NAIT @bruleeblog #naitchef You’re question will be on the air I hope & they will mention your blog -9:41 AM Jan 28th, 2009

Yay me! :)
 NAIT @bruleeblog You win our second cookbook for making it to air! #naitchef I’ll get your contact later. -9:49 AM Jan 28th, 2009

When asked for food recs: NAIT @GuitarKat tuna tataki & tomato & gin soup & tenderloin & potato pave & dessert anything chocolate #naitchef -10:13 AM Jan 28th, 2009

Question regarding photography in restaurants: NAIT @mastermaq he thinks clients come first and if they want to -great! #naitchef -10:16 AM Jan 28th, 2009

NAIT A couple of Rob’s chefs work for Gordon Ramsay now #naitchef -10:38 AM Jan 28th, 2009

NAIT Talking about students going into cooking not for the fame, but for a passion for cooking…so important #naitchef -10:44 AM Jan 28th, 2009

NAIT Rob picked Morimoto for Iron Chef because of his Japanese specialty, not because he was the toughest #naitchef -10:48 AM Jan 28th, 2009

When asked about more TV shows or solo restaurants: NAIT @bruleeblog tv yes, future in restaurants connected to @cactusclubcafe #naitchef -11:18 AM Jan 28th, 2009

One ingredient he could not cook without: NAIT @NAITCareers olive oil #naitchef -11:46 AM Jan 28th, 2009

bruleeblog Another q – when Rob is creating new recipes or tweaking, does he consider food allergies at all (dairy-free, gluten-free, etc.)? #naitchef -11:47 AM Jan 28th, 2009

NAIT @bruleeblog yes and no – it really depends #naitchef -12:14 PM Jan 28th, 2009