Naruto Sushi & Hibachi :: AYCE Thanksgiving Lunch with the High School Crew

Edamame

California Roll & Spicy Crispy Tuna

Crispy Spicy Salmon and Spicy Tuna Handrolls, Red Dragon Roll, Spicy Crispy Salmon Roll, & Cheese Salmon Crispy Roll

AK47 Roll

Scallop Tempura & Squid Tempura

Shrimp Tempura

Butter Fish Sushi, Spicy Salmon Roll, Salmon Sushi

Fish Egg (Tobiko) Sushi, Crabmeat Sushi, & Shrimp Sushi

Daily Fruit, Red Bean and Green Tea Ice Cream

*Deep Fried Banana not pictured

Considering that the restaurant was an All-You-Can-Eat-Sushi style (AYCE) restaurant, the restaurant itself was surprisingly clean and nicely decorated. The staff were present - they weren't overly friendly or welcoming, but were able to answer questions and alert to take orders. The overall quality of the sushi was standard AYCE quality - the food was fresh, but not as fresh as Mi-Ne Sushi or Inatei (both of which have just-came-out-of-the-sea quality of freshness, though that caliber of freshness is not expected at AYCE). The food was also plated neatly/nicely considering the fact that Naruto is AYCE. The standout menu item during lunch was the AK47 roll - for its name. However, the AK47 roll was also surprisingly good - something that you would expect from an a la carte sushi restaurant's maki menu. The AYCE lunch menu had a wide variety of rolls and sushi, but it was disappointing that they did not offer sashimi during their lunch hours for individuals who do not prefer rice (though I suspect that the dinner menu has sashimi). The lunch AYCE experience at Naurto was great and served the purpose I went there for: To catch up and overfill my stomach with my high school friends, while maintaining the shape of my wallet ($13.99 + tax per person).

Naruto Sushi & Hibachi 

1015 Elgin Mills 

Richmond Hill, ON L4S1M7

Homemade Triple Layer Blended Potatoes for Thanksgiving

So this year, I was assigned potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. Last year, I made scalloped potatoes. I love scalloped potatoes, but I stumbled across this recipe and wanted to give it a try.

For ~16 servings:

Chop/Dice 8 golden potatoes and 4 sweet potatoes (or yams) into cubes. Place in separate pots. Cover the chopped potatoes with cold water and turn stove on to high to boil. Add 3 cloves of garlic and 1 tsp/4mL of salt to each pot. Once boiling - lower to a gentle boil for 10-15 minutes (until soft). Drain water. 

While boiling potatoes, heat some milk (500mL) with pepper (1tsp/4mL) in a sauce pan on medium until steaming. 

Using a handheld blender, blend the potatoes evenly. While blending, gradually add 3/4 of the heated milk mixture (350mL of the 500mL) and half the sour cream (125mL of the 250mL). Add 1-2mL of salt.

Ensure that the potatoes are evenly blended - no lumps.

Repeat the same with the sweet potatoes using the remaining 1/4 of the milk mixture and the other half of the sour cream. Add 1-2mL of salt for taste.

Butter the baking dish. Add the mash potatoes into the baking dish. Smooth layer with a knife or the back of the spoon.

Carefully add the mashed sweet potatoes. Repeat spreading process.

For topping mix the following: 1cup/250mL of whole wheat bread crumbs (I used a brand that also had Italian seasoning) + 250mL of shredded cheese (I used 2 types of Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Swiss, and Parmesan) + 4tbsp/60mL of fresh chopped parsley (or rosemary).

Place topping on top of sweet potato layer.

Broil at 180°C/350°F for ~2-3 minutes or until topping is crisp and golden. (For those who never broiled before - watch so it doesn't burn & place on lowest rack).

Enjoy!

Dessert Kitchen :: Ice Cream Apres Grand Electric with Mike DG

Dessert Kitchen

Liberty Square, Unit 106

3623 Highway 7 East

Markham, Ontario L3R 8X6

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Grand Electric :: First Impressions with Mike DG

Tuna Ceviche

Words cannot be used to describe how delicious this Tuna Ceviche was... It was so amazing, that we ordered a second dish! The Tuna Ceviche also tasted phenomenal with the pita chips from the Guac & Chips! Since no description is provided on the blackboard or Grand Electric's website, it tasted like seared white tuna marinated in a creamy white sauce (possibly sour cream?), with lemon/lime juice, thinly shredded turnips, and onions. It was delicious. My mouth is drooling writing about it.

Scrapple, Baja Fish, Beef Shoulder Tacos (T/CW)

I throughly enjoyed all three tacos. I couldn't really pick a favourite of the three since they all were delicious - I really enjoyed trying the Scrapple Taco since it was my first time trying scrapple. For those who don't know what it is, Scrapple is a mix of pork scraps mixed with cornmeal! The Baja Fish Taco was battered well - light, crispy, and buttery - and not too thick. All three tacos were scrumptious, moist, and extremely flavourful. Eventually, I hope to try all the tacos (ie: the Crispy Cauliflower Taco!)

Guac & Chips

Even a simple dish like Guac & Chips, Grand Electric managed to hit the nail right on the head! I believe the chips were made out of pita and the large wedge stuck in the guacamole was a fried pork rind wedge. Both the chips and the rind were amazingly delicious. The rind was crispy and light. The guacamole was perfectly balanced - all flavours were apparent and did not over power each other (as some guacamole have an overpowering onion or cilantro flavour). The salsa was great as well - substantial enough that it wasn't watery and not that spicy. 

Despite the huge hype, Grand Electric surprisingly exceeded my expectations! It took me a couple months before I was able to cross Grand Electric off my hit list, but I'm glad I did (and wish I did so sooner!). I was expecting Grand Electric to be extremely Mexican, but in my opinion its not really that Mexican. At most, I would say its because of the tortillas in the tacos, that Grand Electric would be classified as Mexican. If anything I would classify Grand Electric as comfort food. The food is delicious and leaves the stomach very happy. I throughly enjoyed my meal and despite the tacos being on the small side, both Mike and I left full! We were lucky arriving at around 8:30pm and having to wait for approximately 15 minutes as I heard the line can get quite lengthy at times. The one complaint I have with Grand Electric is that the music is very loud and a tad too dim. I wouldn't recommend this place for a date (due to the loud atmosphere) but it's a great place to check out with friends (and its relatively cheap!).

Grand Electric

1330 Queen St W 

Toronto, ON M6K 1L4

website

Homemade Bruschetta Grid

Ingredients: Loaf of Bread (I used French), Cheese (I used cheddar and swiss), tomato (I used ~1/2 of it), and parsley

Cut length wise

Cut width wise

Add swiss slices in the grooves

Add the tomatoes - add stuffings where there is cheese, so when the cheese melts it adheres it to the bread. I also added shredded cheddar. Add more cheese than you think. Add it until you think the bread may possibly break as the grooves are somewhat superficial and none of the toppings you are adding will reach the bottom unless there is enough.

Add the parsley (great alternative: onions!)

Put in oven (preheat to 350°F - bring down to 125°F when bread is placed inside). No particular length of time - just eyeball it. Just ensure that your cheese is throughly melted to your liking and the bread does not burn.

Enjoy!

Poached Eggs & Hollandaise Sauce

Recently, I've been on an egg binge - trying to try making each type of egg at least once. Personally, I am terrible at poaching eggs, but I figured I could give it another shot.

First boil water with vinegar in it - the vinegar keeps the egg components together

It's easier to pour your egg into the water when you have it cracked into a bowl opposed to cracking the egg into the water

Stir the water to make a whirlpool - this keeps the egg components centralized in one spot

Lower the heat (unlike my photo) and poor the egg into the 'whirlpool'. Unfortunately, I couldn't make the poach egg as round as I liked so I cheated and placed the bowl with the egg in it to cook it in a round shape (bottom right) :p

I was really craving eggs benedict this morning. What's an eggs benedict without the Hollandaise sauce? I improvised for today's Hollandaise as I didn't have any lemon juice but here's what I did.

First take the egg yoke and whisk it thoroughly

Key is to melt the butter indirectly - using a pan boil some water. When steam appears place the butter in a bowl on top. Cutting the butter and increasing its surface area will cause it to melt faster. The indirect heat is required or else the butter + egg yoke mixture will become a scrambled egg if too much heat is applied.

When the butter is melted, also pour in the whisked egg yoke. Continue to whisk the butter and yoke mixture until consistent. Do not let it sit while you make your eggs or else you will have a very buttery scrambled egg. 

My improvised eggs benedict! I still need to work on my poaching abilities. Those who are wondering, I made more 'poached' eggs to eat with the extra Hollandaise sauce.

Soft Boiled Eggs

This morning, I was excited to wake up and make soft boiled eggs! I normally poach or scramble eggs, so I decided to take this morning to figure out the timing of soft boiled eggs. I prefer my soft boiled eggs with a slightly hard whites, but I enjoy having my whites mix with the yolk. The best part of this breakfast is that it's kind of 'snack-like' where the soft boil eggs serve as a dip with the toast being the dipee.

It's super simple, but this is how I make my soft boiled eggs to my liking:

1. Boil salted water. Ensure that there is enough water to cover the eggs by 1cm.

2. Once at a boil, place eggs gently (preferably with a spoon so you don't crack the shell) in the boiling water. Close the pot with a lid and bring to water to the lowest heat setting.

3. Time the eggs to sit in the hot water for exactly 5 minutes. (Consensus on the Internet was from 4-6 minutes. This page is a great visual and includes information on timing.)

4. Take eggs out - crack open the top and enjoy!