Veloute veal stew with braised rice pilaf

White veal stew?! How much more French could it get?

Blanquette de veau à l’ancienne

Featuring my best turned mushroom yet

Riz pilaf

November 29th, 2016

Grilled beef fillet with béarnaise sauce and bridge-cut potatoes

Filet de boeuf grillé, sauce béarnaise, pommes pont-neuf

The potato “fries” were delicious and the béarnaise sauce was the best I ever made. The steaks, however, were not.

One was supposed to be rare, and the one medium, but mine over-cooked so fast that both of these tenderloin cuts are beyond well-done. Ah well. Believe it or not, they still tasted alright.

November 29th, 2016

Roast beef sirloin, artichoke globe and large turned potatoes

Contrefilet de boeuf rôti, fond d’artichaut, jardinère de légumes, pommes château

November 28th, 2016

Lamb stew

Navarin d’Agneau aux petits légumes

Rich lamb stew ft. my best tourné vegetables yet

November 24th, 2016

Steak, herb-stuffed tomatoes and rustic potato hashbrowns

This dish comes with a side of fresh green peppercorn sauce.

Entrecôte au poivre, pommes Darphin et tomates farcies Provençales

In my humble opinion, a spoon-smear of peppercorn sauce on the plate would have really put it together, but c’est la vie.

Steak with rustic potatoes and herb-stuffed tomatoes

Yes, I accidentally removed the fat cap. For this type of plating, that wasn’t smart.

November 24th, 2016

Herb-crusted rack of lamb

Rack of lamb with herb breadcrumb crust and finely-diced sweated egetables

Carré d’agneau avec ratatouille

November 21st, 2016

Stuffed chicken breast

Stuffed chicken breast with zucchini spaghetti

November 20th, 2016

Ottawa Senators vs. Minnesota Wild

Yesterday I attended my very first hockey game! And where better to watch one of Canada’s most favoured sports than the country’s very own capital city?

Not to mention, our seats had an incredible view:

In the first period Minnesota scored one point, and in the second period they scored again but it was ruled out by the refs because the puck was hit down into the goal by a high stick. Finally the Senators scored at the start of the 3rd period, but no more goals were made. We were tied at 1-1 when overtime began, but quickly lost the game to Minnesota just before the time ran out.

Regardless of losing, I had an awesome time. We got complimentary Montreal-style smoked beef sandwiches from the Ledge lounge and ordered some Mike’s Hard Lemonade to sip from our box seats. My school was able to offer all the students a complimentary ticket, as well as a +1 ticket for a cost of $50.

We even got these super cool Senators scarves!!

November 14th, 2016

Roast chicken

Poulet rôti au jus avec les pomme de terres duchess et les oignon glacé

Not my prettiest plating or photography. My sauce was too thin!

In retrospect, I should have just laid down all of my jus gras to fill in the holes and make the mistake look purposeful.

November 12th, 2016

Ottawa food adventures

I don’t tend to eat out much in Ottawa despite my interest in food and the city. Being on a student budget makes it difficult to run a food blog when it comes to food someone else has cooked!

Aside from the delicious samples I tasted on the C’est Bon tasting tour, I have visited 7 places to eat: Nando’s, Presotea, Sash Gelato Cafe, Jay’s Pizza and Poutine, Mu Goong Hwa Garden, Heart & Crown, and Lieutenant’s Pump. I’ve already reviewed Mu Goong Hwa in my first post and the previous two places mentioned were solely for drinks (which are hella expensive here.)

Jay’s Pizza and Poutine offers pizza for $2 per slice, ($2.25 for slices with meat) they’re open late and offer delivery. It’s nestled on the block between 3 Brothers Pizza and Poutine and Shawarma Palace on Rideau, which makes me genuinely wonder how this mom & pop shop could stay afloat. But now I can reason why: the crust is crisp, the cheese they use is St. Albert’s, and the owners are incredibly friendly people. I ate my pizza before I could take a photo of it, but they handed me this nice take out menu which will have to do.

The bubble tea scene in Ottawa has nothing on Vancouver. A medium-sized bubble tea without tapioca pearls at Presotea Ottawa costs an average of $5.50 each, and they’re often made with powder-flavouring rather than fresh fruit. There’s only a small handful of bubble tea shops in the city and so far, I am unimpressed. However, this hang-out spot was surprisingly populated and the tea itself was not bad.

The gelato scene, however, is a worthy contender of Vancouver’s. I’ve only been to two gelato cafes so far, but there seems to be an abundance of places to get your fix. Sash Gelato is definitely a trendy place to try some creative flavours.

Finally, there was Nando’s flame-grilled chicken. Though there are Nando’s(es) in Vancouver, my first time actually sitting down to eat there was here in Ottawa. The ordering system is a little odd, but the food is tasty and the atmosphere is very relaxed (if only I hadn’t snapchat story’d the photo for it, I’d show you.) What I really need to try next time though is the $3.99 bottomless frozen yogurt!

November 12th, 2016