Calgarys own Pragmatic and Personal Sushi Blog

Please Note That The Website Has Changed

2010-12-10T12:19:00.001-07:00

Hi there,

I haven't posted here in a long long while. But this is the new and improved blog

http://www.rjeffphoto.ca/day2day

Thanks all!

Boogies Burgers 8th ave & Edmonton Tr NE

2009-07-07T11:13:00.004-07:00

How could I resist deviating away from sushi to talk about this little spot off of Edmonton trail and 8th Street NE? This place has been flipping some of the biggest, juiciest local beef since the sixties, and I doubt the portions have gotten any smaller. What was a family run venture but a few years ago, the recent shift in management has had little impact on the food. Their shakes are still made with hard ice cream(now Chapmans), that comes in a multitude of different flavors, and forget the bag stuff, their chips are sliced and diced on location!

So here, we work on a imperial system, 1/4, 1/2, and full lbs of prime AAA Alberta Beef. Now there is a claim! Although we live in the land of beef and the town of cow, but not everywhere actually claims this making me wonder on the quality and distance that that meat has traveled.

Now its been a few years since I had last been to Boogies but I had totally forgotten how BIG these burgers were! The bun was easily the size of my hand spread out, 7-8 inches across! and so was the patty and the layer of condiments. I decided to go all out and get some mushrooms and cheese and chowed it all down with some yam fries, and a tiger shake to go with it. For those not familiar with tiger or tiger tail, its a fusion of orange and licorice , and it has got to be the best ice cream flavor in the world!

To go with the chips, and or some of the burgers, they had this spicy plum sauce that had a real kick to it. Not as hot as rooster, but way more of a kick than franks. Chips were good, nice and sweet, the fries were pretty traditional soft light fluffy, very home style, little bit of rock salt on that or fry spice and your good to go. Ketchup too of course.

I have a hard time deciding about burger joints but I only have a few points of reference. I definitively rank Boogies Burgers over Peters Drive in ANY day, but I'm not sure how it stands with the Burger Inn, so for now it's a tie. Price is better than the Inn, but fairly expensive compared to Peters, a 1/4lb with 2 extra condiments plus thing of fries and milkshake about 13-14$. Quality is rockin', everything tasted great, I could barely finish the fries, i was stuffed off a 1/4lb. Not as much selection in terms of meat at Boogies, but more style, personalized burgers and a selection of other foods.

I'm not rating this one but consider it high up there!

Return to Tenchi - Calgary Alberta

2009-06-20T10:33:00.009-07:00

After a previous trip down to Tenchi in Kensignton without a camera I returned fully equiped with a very interesting plan. I decided to change my style in ordering sushi. After three years of trying the same staples and occasionaly mixing it up I have decided to now simply ask for a 20$ Omakase(Translates to chefs choice). I went in blind and my sense were very much appreciative.

From Calgarys own Pragmatic and Personal Sushi Blog

The chef accepted the challenge and started me off with a soup and a sea weed salad. I have a feeling the miso was not home made, but I could not tell, it resembled the packaged products but had a fresh tasting sea weed and green onions. The salad was a very nice mix of fresh soaked sea weed, seasame seeds and a special sauce. I also decided to go a little all out and grab a sopporo.

From Calgarys own Pragmatic and Personal Sushi Blog

I was then again suprised by a fair plate of mixed tempura. Yam, melon and shrimp where key players in this plate. A very nice fry with not much oil. A definit winner. The sushi arrived just a little later and was shocked to see a a selection of futomaki (large roll), nigiri(Pieces on rice) and sashimi (Simply fish). The shrimp, scallop and red clam were amazing. I was shocked when I saw two pieces of shell fish on my plate considering that their season is usually in the winter. I inquired further and found that Tenchi has an ace up it's sleeve. It imports their clams f rom Japan. Japan is known for having the best, year round crop of clam. It was leaner, more succulent and smooth as butter. If you are to check out this restaurant I highly suggest getting clam and scallops.

From Calgarys own Pragmatic and Personal Sushi Blog

The crunchy roll blew my mind. I still am not able to guess at what was in it. But it had a crunchy, smooth, popping texture that exploded my taste buds. Tempura, fish roe, avocadoes and cuccumbers where used in this piece, I also believe there may have been some chicken believe it or not. I am missing what the tempura is but non the less very tasty.

From Calgarys own Pragmatic and Personal Sushi Blog

The sashimi although simple was very good. The maguro and sake were very tasty and very fresh. Over all Tenchi may or may not be a step above their competition across the street ( Sushi Zeal) . Both are very hospitable, good service and some impecable food. I'll rate this one fairly high for it's flexibility, service, food quality, originality and atmosphere. I'll rate them with a 7.5 of a total 10.

Never be afraid to ask for what ever the chef is willing to make for you. It's a great way to save on a usually costly trip to the sushi bar and it will give you some diversity in what you eat. It may or may not also be a compliment to the chef.

Till the next time, Mata Ne!

Dashi Stock to Miso Soup

2009-06-01T05:09:00.002-07:00

Alright well it's about that time every year(summer) where I have time, energy and am on a cooking binge again! This year I'm even going to include some TASTY pictures :D. Today I'm gonna give you a really quick run down on how to make a dashi stock and then turn it into a miso soup.

First I'll tell you a bit about dashi stock. Dashi is a fish and kelp based broth that comes from Japan and was more than likely passed down to them from the chinese. This is the basic broth for almost any soup you eat in a japanese restaurant, ramen, udon, miso etc. Dashi is also applicable in many other recipes.

So to start you will need

(BASIC)
Bonito Flakes
Kelp
Soy sauce
Green Onions
Canola Oil
Cooking Sake

Miso Paste (Fermented soy been paste, the darker it is the richer in flavor, the lighter it is the sweeter the flavor)

(EXPANDED)
I add a little garlic and a little ginger to mine. You can also add a few pieces of pork, shrimp or chicken.
I also like adding some starch aka: Complex carbo hydrates to my soups, I usually opt for udon noodles or simple ramen noodles(yes the mr noodle kind work just as well)

Add2-3 healthy pinches, cruched, to about 4 cups of water on a medium heat. Add about half a sheet of kelp , crushed and soy sauce for color. Careful, miso is also very salty so go easy on the soy. Next add about 1/3rd of a bunch of green onions and a drizzle of canola. A splash of cooking sake does add a lot of taste but is not necesary.(Add extra ingredients here). Let come to a slow boil.

Now at this point if you've let it sit and slow boil you'll notice that its smelling like a wonton soup, PERFECT! if it doesn't... well keep going and better luck next time.

So you have a dashi stock, Now what?
Well from here you add whatever you want out of it. Wontons, noodles, more meat etc, at this point you can do almost anything with a dashi stock but we are making miso so I will go with that.

Lower the heat of the broth to about 2-3, or very low. You don't want it to be too hot when you add your miso or this will add to the cloudyness because the soy protein is being denatured. Add about 2 tablespoons worth of miso paste and stir.

At this point you are basically ready to serve. Makes 4 servings

Enjoy, Mata ne.

Benkei Noodle Shop Downtown Vancouver

2008-09-11T13:13:00.006-07:00

Benkei ramen shop.
Vancouver
1741 Robson St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-688-6980

For the years I have been searching in Calgary for a simple ramen it only took me two days in vancouver to discover this little shop. I was having a hunger for some fresh noodles, but what a shock I got from picking up the menu in this normal looking japanese restaurant. It was paper thin and only had one side to it. Advertised on their menu was 3 kinds of ramen plus a cold noodle mix! Go figure, a ramen shop that only does ramen!

I personally had their miso ramen, as I am sucker for miso. Ramen is one of the few times I'll actually indulge in pork, and I don't regret it one bit! Along side of the gristly meat were green onions, bean sprouts and what I can only assume was japanese pickle. Now don't get me wrong, some people consider it a delicacy, but I would much rather try raw snail again than eat another japanese pickle. Pushing the pickles aside I had a very nice meal.

My uncle who accompanied me decided to try the cold noodle and broth bowl. It was topped with a little bit of everything! Shaved pork, shiitake, shrimp culled cucumber , pickled red pepper and then that yellow stuff (help me out people??)
But yes, I tried some of that and for a cold soup thats not borche I was happy. Both of our meal cost us 8 dollars each. With a drink and taxes we paid a little over 20$.

There must be at least 100 good japanese restaurants in Vancouver and area, but sadly I only had the time for two this trip, this happens to be one of the ones I went to, and I highly recommend that you check it out if out. Right near the sea wall and near/on some of the major streets. An average priced ramen shop with great results. A small selection, but totally unimportant in this case. Great wait staff, quick and courteous, I don't think anyone stayed for long than 40 minutes, flat. Without directly comparing this to the calgary scene I would love to give this palce a healthy 7.5/10.

Till the next!
Mata ne!

Urban Diner Edmonton Alberta 12427 102 Avenue NW

2008-08-04T17:04:00.002-07:00

Best two weeks of my life started 5 days before the Urban Dinner incident. We had just got off a 6 hour bus ride down from Ft. Mac, capital of newfoundland and primary producer of oil in Canada. Pumping out more oil than you could dream of, and yet I still managed to be cheery. J, A and I were all pretty peckish, but two of us had never really spent any time in Edmonton. What were we to do? Well the only thing we could do, and that was trust our friend. Am I glad we did! He has spent the summer looking for hip places to eat, have coffee and occasionally hang. This was deffenitively a good find.

There were black and white photos all over the wall. We actually took a few minutes to take the walk around. Most of the pictures were of normal coffee/breakfast place items such as cups, sugar, spoons, plates etc. All well shot and carefully hung. Repetitive a little but I guess most people don't walk around.

I can't even remember what J and A were eating but I do know I had this weird wrap with beans and eggs and veggies. It came with a side of cubed breafast potatoes that were scrumptious, and two dips. One was a sour cream and the other was a sweet chili sauce. Together they were amazing.

They also made an ice tea beverage there that was kind of the specialty of the house. If you like ice tea, you might enjoy that. A and J both enjoyed it, myself not being an ice tea fan should have gone for milkshake.

Again I'm not going to rate them although I will say again that this was an awesome find. If your like me at all, I'll probably never be able to find this place again. But if your a local or know your way around Edmonton, try it out, it might suprise you.

Woods Restaurant in Canmore

2008-08-04T16:39:00.003-07:00

Hey,

Havn't really been doing too much in terms of independant stuff so far this summer which is a little bit of a bummer but I did take a lot of good pics this summer and managed to try quite a few good restaurants. I'll be posting quite a few over the next day or two. They won't be as detailed as some of the other ones, but I'll try and get my memory going as much as possible.

In the few days that I was working franticaly to get 10 good shots of misc "Calgary Heritage" for this company I took a few hour trip up to the mountains. While navigating through JV(buddy/driver) has the great idea of going a little further in the mountains to have some lunch. We get to Canmore which is this small little mountain town and sit down at the first outdoor patio we found. Right the end of the main road, where most of the shopping and activity seemed to be in town, we found the Woods and their massive patio. The main reason for our pick was for the open air. The view of the mountains that came up on every side was fantastic.

Both JV and I were in a burger mood so I went with the pacific coast salmon burger(Above) and he had the mushroom mozza burger. The salmon burger had a heavy terriyaki and ginger taste(note the healthy helping of white pickled ginger). The use of spinach as greens was well recieved.I can't talk much on his but he seemed to enjoy it.

The prices were a little high mind you. I think each of these burgers came to the 12-14 range and 6 dollars a drink. All in all I was happy with the location, the food was terrific, service was alright. It may have cost a little bit more than I'm used to paying for a burger but it was worth it.
I'm not going to rate this one because it was a while ago.

Mata ne!

ps: I know it's not sushi but ... ya :P

Shibuya Izakaya Calgary Alberta Late Night Sushi and Ramen and Sake

2008-06-06T23:05:00.005-07:00

So a while ago I noticed that the shop beside the bubblemania cafe had change owners again. A new bright sign had gone up and the hours were in the window. I had not paid much attention to it till a few weeks ago when I read a review on it by another local foody. Are you gonna eat that? tipped me off to some of the best ramen I've had yet.

We arrived just after they had opened. First to be seated that day actually. It was nice. Gave us some one on one time with the waitress and the manager. Talked sushi and talked sake. The first thing I noticed on the menu was their two page spread of import and local liquor. Their sake list took up the whole first page. We settled on trying a nigori sake which is a sweet unfiltered sake. The Takari nigori sake which was brewed by sho-chiku bai was almost thick to the palette, chunky closer to the bottom but maintained a very sweet taste and smell. The taste and burn of alcohol was a little heavy but delicious none the less. This sake was served cold and went for a modest 20$.

So I had to re write this part. But oh well. We decided since we were drinking sake that we would have the ramen first since rice + rice is usually a no go. I ordered the curry ramen and my partner in crime went with the tonkotsu. Both were plate the same with pieces of bbq pork, ginger egg and seeweed. The Tonkotsu was a beautifully rich cream broth that was a thick white color and just screamed of pork. While the curry ramen just screamed of curry. I haven’t been able to satiate my hunger for spice in a long time and this did the trick. Beware though it is not for the weak at heart. My only qualm with the ramen was the hard boiled egg. The yolk had become denatured due to cooking the egg at too high of a temperature. You’ll notice sometime that when you boil eggs the yolk will turn an off greenish color, which is easily remedied by cooking the egg just below boiling point.

Now that our sake was done we felt it was appropriate to jump right into the sushi. I was very surprised to find one item in particular on their menu that is just going out of season and that is very hard to find, especially in Calgary: torigai, or cockle clam(Which was falsely advertised as geoduck). This shellfish is easy to distinguish from other shell fish due to the fact that it has a "tail" that points almost always up and towards the body. I was pleased with the sushi although disappointed that the art of sushi is now left to "personal choice". Sometimes I wonder why people can't just go with the flow and withstand the proper amount of wasabi, but oh, I digress. The torigai how ever is a piece better served solo. No shoyu no sabi. I will comment that although getting the perfect rice is far from easy, we both found the rice to be a little undercooked.

We finished off with the house roll. The Shibuya roll was a combo of cream cheese, bbq unagi, green onions, seaweed which was then deepfried in a light tempura batter and finished with a light glazing of unagi sauce. It was an interesting combo. It had a very creamy texture with just enough crunch to offset the very soft ingredients. The taste had a nice flow to it, from unagi, to cream cheese and back again with that little hint of onion. Made for a great finally.

All in all I have to say I had a great time at Shibuya, ate contently and was privy to some amazing ramen and a sake list I will go back to. on the flip side I will probably not order more sushi unless I see another piece of interest on the list, and this time I will have to ask that the chef do what he will with the piece, and serve it as he sees fit. The rest of the food looked brilliant too. Worth going back to for sure. Prices were right, everyone was friendly and the decor and location were good. To top it off this has to be one of the only places that are open late nights, so it's a perfect spot for a late night drink and soup. Food, now theres something most bars don't have past a certain time. I think I'll give this place 8/10.

Shibuya sushi is located on 16th ave and 4th st NE address is 453 and you can reach them for reservations at 277-8823.

Keep those chopsticks sharp, Mata ne!!!

A list of sushi by seasons : Whats in Season Now

2008-05-26T03:19:00.004-07:00

Well all it's getting close to actually being summer here in calgary even though it feels like Vancouver these days. So with the change of weather, the wanting to go out and the students actually having money I thought it would be a good idea to let you all know whats in season. And no I'm not just going to tell you whats available over the summer but all the seasons. Here it goes.

Whats Available all year?

Toro (Tuna)
Bincho (albacore)
Chu-Toro (Medium tuna)
Akami maguro (Red meat tuna)
Karei (Halibut, lemon sole, type of flounder) Rare
Aji (Horse mackerel) Type of small/shiny fish
Ebi (Black tiger shrimp) Cooked
Botan ebi (Spot prawn)
Ama ebi(Sweet shrimp)
Hotategai (Scallop)
Ankimo (Monkfish liver) Easy to aquire but might not be on the menu. Ask your chef about it.
Unagi (Fresh water eel bbq)
Ika (squid)
Uni (Sea urchin) Spiky fish that only the ovaries are edible
Tako (Octopus)
Inari (Tofu pouch filled with rice)
Ikura (salmon roe) Because of the pickling process it's available outside of the salmons summer mating season.
Tamago (Light sweet omelete)
Tobbiko, Tobioo-noko (Flying fish roe)
Masay (Smelt Roe)

The pieces that I've just listed make up the majority of what I usually see on the menu in Calgary. Don't let that get you down though, always remember that even if you don't see it on the menu it never hurts to ask the chef about it.

Summer (June - August)
Kan Pachi (Amberjack)
Shima Aji (Yellow jack)
Suzuki (Sea Bass)
Hiramasa (King fish) This piece is very similar to yellowtail thats best in the winter months
Kohada (Gizzard shad)
Shakko (Mantis shrimp) This is a rare piece. If you manage to find it over the summer you will be happy because they will be filled with eggs.
Anago (Sea eel, Canger eel)

Next, Fall (September - November)
Shine Saba (Pickled makerel) Fall - Winter months
Tairagai (Razor Clam) Also good in spring
Sake (Salmon)

Winter (December - February)
Otoro (Really fatty tuna) the cold makes these fish fattier than normal
Hamachi, buti, inada ( Yellowtail) available all year but best in the winter
Madai (Red snapper) Winter to spring months
Hirame (Sole/flounder) Winter to spring months fatter and bigger though hard to find
Akagai (red clam) winter to spring
Hokkigai (Surf Clam) Winter to spring
Torigay (Cockle) Winter to spring
Matsubaguni, zuwai gani (Snow Crab) If your having a california roll this is probably the type of crab used (If not imitation)
Kuzunoko (Herring roe)

Spring (March-May)
Mirugai(Geoduck, horse neck clam or giant clam) February to June
Katsuo (Bonito) Easier to find on the west coast outside of Japan. Also best from February to June

Rare
Tarako (cod,pollock roe) Looks like a tongue and is not very popular outside of japan.
Komochi konbu, kazunoko konbu, komo chi wakame (Herring roe on kelp and seaweed) Delicacy in japan but rare in North America
Soft shell or blue crab. This type of crab is hard to find outside of North America
Dungeness Crab. Mainly found on the Pacific coast of North America
Awabi (Abalone) Protected shellfish thats cultured. This is the type of clam that produces pearls.

There you go. Hope this helps you on your quest of expanding your sushi experience.
Mata ne!

Information found in this post was published.
Sources Sited

Suetsugu, Bobby. Samurai Sushi:A Field Guide To Identifying And Appreciating The World's 4Most Unique Wraps, Rolls, And Sashimi. becker&mayer! Books. Washington. 2005

Sushi Hikari Calgary 320 16th Avenue NW

2008-05-09T10:53:00.006-07:00

I almost hesitate to let such an awesome new restaurant be truly discovered. But it's the least I could do for the exemplary service and beautiful fresh array of foods. Hikari is located on 16th ave and 2nd st NW in Calgary, Where Mamas Italian restaurant used to reside. The interior transformation makes for an odd fusion. Classic pillars and fireplaces, European cabinets and stone floors right beside rice paper doors, katana swords and lanterns. More impressive than their use of the space is their huge menu. Their menu is comprised of a multitude of both Japanese and Korean dishes. For a new restaurant I was surprised to see how large their menu was.

I was again shocked when we were served a marvelous arrangement of appetizers, free of charge. There was a little starter bonito broth and rice noodles, mashed potatoes, fried fish in sauce and sesame seeds, potato pancakes and lightly boiled kelp with spicy sauce. It was all amazing. The mashed was light and chunky with vegetables. The Broth was also very light but tasty none the less, it was a nice balance between soy, bonito and kelp. The seaweed was a little rubbery but I didn't mind it, the spicy sauce that went with it also gave a real zing.

Lately I have been compiling lists of what is in season when and I ask when I go out if they have some of these specialty items. The reason for this is sometimes the special pieces aren't on the menu and you have to ask the chef for it. Remember though when asking do not ask what is freshest, ask what is in season or what is the specialty. Asking about freshness implies that it's not all fresh and thats an insult. Sadly I haven't been able to find most of what I'm looking for. Instead we went with some red maguru (red medium fatty tuna) Hamachi(yellow tail) a piece of tamago for myself and a tuna roll. Their tamago was surprisingly good. It was nearly gray which is weird because most places have the off yellow tamago. It also was not overly sweet which was nice. As a bonus I didn't have to ask for wasabi on my pieces.

To mix it up a little we figured we would try their signature roll called the Hibiki Roll. It was a layered delicacy with flying fish roe on top of thinly sliced avocado with shrimp tempura and cucumber in the middle. The mix between crunchy, poppy and smooth worked out very well. The textures flowed well from one to the next. This was also the first time I had a crunchy unagi maki which is simply bbq eel with cucumber and sesame seeds on the outside. The bbq sauced eel was very tasty and not overpowered by cucumber nor by the seeds.

And when we were stuffed and near finished we were suprised yet again by desert! Can you believe it? It was a simple orange, fancyfully cut and presented. We ate it up happily.

To just reiterate quickly. Amazing service, bonus dishes, great food, awesome atmosphere, good location, unbeatable selection, very agreeable pricing ,etc. I can't actually think of any complaints for this place so I'm going to give Sushi Hikari a straight 10 out of 10!

I hope you enjoyed this, Mata ne! Keep those chop sticks sharp!

Back to sushi zeal again and again calgary alberta

2008-03-06T22:06:00.004-07:00

Yes thats right I have returned not once but twice in two weeks to this quaint sushi shop thats parked right in the middle of Kensington in Calgary. This was more of a meal than a review and I've already done that. They rate pretty high in my books right now. I definitivly prefer them over globe fish. so here are a few shots.

They have this one piece (the middle one) crispy salmon, amazing. A little bit of sauce and cooked salmon. The top right one is a piece of squid I think it was. If you can see the chef has sliced the piece into small cubes almost (outside only) and this helps tenderize the squid. Interesting and chewy.

It has been a while since I had a cone. This one in particular was sweetened omelet(tamago) and Bbq eel (unagi) also very tasty.

A well adorned veggie roll

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and sorry about lack of updates XD

Globefish sushi in Kensignton Calgary

2007-10-03T20:09:00.001-07:00

Heya folks! Some of you will be happy to hear of another great classic town, Globefish Sushi 326 14th st NW in kensignton. I've been hearing great things about this place for a while and it came very close to living up to it. We visited this restaurant twice over two weeks and tried different items both times.

Arriving the first time we were seated right away. I noticed the mirrors on either open wall, it made it look much bigger than it was. It's a fairly cozy place but with enough shoulder room so that your comfortable. The kitchen and bar are also right there, giving you a plain view at the whole process. Very mild decor but it came off as very pleasant.

We did not eat much the first time. A few pieces of sushi, a bowl of vegetable tempura and salmon sashimi don and a bowl of their beef udon. The broth to the udon was a little weak but other than that everything was quite good. Sorry about the brevity but I took no pictures and wrote little down.

The second time how ever I took meticulous notes. We also had a large as to try out a fair bit of the sushi. In the rolls we had an Alaska Roll, Vancouver Roll and a Spider Roll. The Vancouver Roll tasted a little of mandarin oranges, sweet but not overly sweet. Although the Vancouver Roll was rolled with mangoes and not mandarin oranges. The Alaska roll which had the smoked salmon was good, but not to my liking. I'm not a particular fan of smoked fish. It was a little creamy and the smoked taste lingered a little, I still found it particularly appealing and would probably try another one else where. The spider roll, an interesting piece with a piece of tempura fried shrimp. Crunchy yet cool because of the cucumber. A odd but well done combo.

Next the pieces. They are as follows: Shake(salmon), hokkigai(Surf clam), tataki(seered beef aka gyu) and unagi(Eel). The shake was pretty much to taste although the wasabi was a little strong. The hokkigai was also a little strong with an above average fish taste. The best time of year to get hokkigai is in the winter and fall months. They tend to get bigger during those months. The tataki was simply amazing. The perfect crispness that they gave the garlic made the piece for me. Although, still, to this day, I do not know what kind of meat that piece that I ate was. It was good none the less. Heres the interesting part, their eel looked very white. It didn't even look like a regular bar-b-q sauced piece, but did it ever taste like it! Even though it wasn't drenched, or even look sauced, it was one of the deepest flavors I have taste in unagi.

To give a quick breakdown, the food was good even if a few pieces were overly spiced and that our gyozas didn't show up that night, we all had fun enjoying good food for average prices. The location is also fairly easy to find just down from sait/acad on 14th st. You can find them about half way down on the east side. All in all the service and food were good, decors were simple, the noise was fine, the line was a little long (15 min wait) the second time around,a few pieces were strong, the broth had little taste, the prices were ok and their menu was good. I'll give this a jolly 8,5 out of 10. I should have another post on Sushi Kai in dragon city mall next week.

Till then,
mata ne!
(having problems with uploading photos, I'll try again later.)

Sushi Ichiban 39th and Macloud TR Calgary

2007-07-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

Just a short walk away from the 39th ave station you can find Number one sushi, which is the direct translation of "Sushi Ichiban". We were all quite curious to see if hype lived up to it's name. We were not dissapointed but at the same time neither were we wowed.

I was a little dissapointed to see that we had gone to another restaurants boasting it's all you can eat for 20 dollars deal, but we didin't let that sway us from going the regular root. Being the first time here we stuck with the sushi and just had at 'er. There was sashimi, rolls and regular nigiri to boot. The nigiri and sashimi list look something like this: gyu, hamashi, hotategai(S), inari, maguro(S), massago, sake(s), smoked sake, shittake, tamago, toro(S) and unagi.(S= sashimi).

All the pieces were very nice and up to standard, although It was a little odd bitting into a pices of still frozen toro. I ate it none the less and it gave a much diffrent feel than it normally would.

I should have posted this last week when it was still fresh in my mind, but I didin't so I will cut this a little short. All in all I would say this place is on par with most of the other places I had tried. The service was good, prices were resonable, location was very easy to get to. It will loose points how ever on the pink gari and frozen toro, and yet gains points on it's nice tamago and great gyu. The interior was pretty un original, same japanese look that every other place has. I guess it's time to start looking up crazy new places to eat. Still while keeping in mind to ask to add wasabi to the pieces, no one seems to understand the importance of this step.

For those interested in going, I would recommend it, although next time I go I will try ordering some food, since they have a great menu with lot's of options. I'll give this place a 7.5 out of 10 for the moment, hopefully in the future that number will go up with the trial of some of their other items.

Thats all for now folks, Mata ne!

Taketomi Village 36th ave NE Calgary

2007-06-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Right beside Marlborough station in Calgary is a little gem of a Japanese restaurant. Taketomi Village might not look like much from the street, but once inside you're pulled into a peaceful classic style Japanese sushi bar environment. Mani the sushi chef is very talkative and enjoys having the company. He even makes a special piece for us, but I'll get to that later.

After getting stuck in traffic and making many detours we see the Village. I had passed it a few time on my adventures but never stopped in. I am not disappointed that we ended up going here over any other place I even returned a few days later for a snack. Anyways on to the restaurant.

I ordered myself a piece of each of the following: ebi; tamago; inari; white maguro; toro; sake;unagi; hokekkai. Can you see a certain level of consistancy in the ordering? This has been a good time for tamago, the past few places I have tried have good tamago, this place was no diffrent. A little sweeter than the other places but it worked well on its own and with a bit of wasabi and soya.

The tuna, both the maguro and the toro were so succulent and soft, I didn't even feel the toro. When they say that toro is meant to melt in the mouth, they mean it, this was one of the best pieces of toro I've had in a while.

Before leaving Mani, the chef, gave us a little something special, what he called mamashita. There was a wide variety of meats on it, there was ebi, toro, scallop and sake with some roe on top, a little bit of avocado paste, topica. This piece was very interesting it offered a cool taste with many diffrent textures that mixed very well. Thank you!

We had a very pleasant time, the service was good, the restaurant itself was appealing and the food was great. All in all I give this restaurant a 8 out of 10. I expect that once I try some more of their food it will fluctuate, but just for their sushi they received this high mark. I docked a few marks for not adding wasabi on the pieces, which at this point is almost becoming my problem, I must start asking all the chefs to add their own to the pieces. It gets a bonus though because Mani grated some fresh ginger for me. I wanted to ask for grated wasabi but thats not how it worked out. Also gets an extra point for presentation. The Unagi and the Mamashita was very nicely presented and each got their own plate. "Very nice".

But thats it for now folks,

Thank you all, Mata ne!

Zeal Sushi Kensignton Calgary

2007-05-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

Sushi Zeal 101-227 10 Street NW Calgary

Entering this quaint and familiar spot, I recall its fresh décor and modern feel. Illuminated by lanterns and natural light it gave the entire restaurant a very calm feel. The entirety of the setting is very inviting and appealing. It’s amazing location adds to the valued cultural experience, and fits into the community perfectly. Being nestled between The raging belt line and SAIT College, Kensington is full of bright and modern businesses, this one is no different.

I was also impressed with the quality of the service. The waitress was very kind and even asked the chef about pickled pieces or Hikari-Mono. This item is not yet popular in the West, but I’m hopping to find it eventually.

As usual I kept my order fairly simple, yes I had been before but I had not written much about it. I tried a few pieces of a friends roll, they called it a caterpillar roll. This was a nice roll, it had alphalpha sprouts, unagi, cucumber and topped with avocado. It was really nice, the different textures mixings and interesting tastes. First real “new / unique” roll I’ve had and I was impressed. I’ve found a new avenue to venture down during this trip.

From left to right. The Mackerel was simply amazing! I was looking for aji( a type of hikari-mono) but instead I got this, a very pleasant surprise too. It had a very thin slice of lemon on top of it which added so much to the piece. The citrus mixing with the shoyu, sabi and fish underneath left me very impressed. The maguro was also very pleasant, melting as it should. The sake was of a nice thickness, little bit bigger than the mouth but a healthy serving. Then there was the ebi, and a very well balanced tamago, place number three to have good tamago. The Inari was alright and the unagi was, as in the caterpillar, amazing.

With all this and a little more in mind I would give this place a 8 out of 10. It gets its points from location, décor, service, taste, ingenuity, selection and creativity overall. They also get points for having very fresh, home made miso soup. Applause to the miso!

That’s all folks! Mata ne!

Osaka Sushi House on 16th Ave Calgary P.2

2007-05-01T01:39:00.000-07:00

I returned to the sushi house a few days ago. Coming through the door this time I woke the poor chef. The owner was walking around, making sure that I was properly served. I'll admit I felt a little special eating there this time. As I expected, the food and service this time were much better.I didn't order much on account of not being overly hungry and only needing a few pieces for what I'm working on. I ordered a california roll, unagi, a tuna hand cone, toro, surf clam and ebi. Most was fresher although the toro and tuna wasn't all the way up there. Still a very nice dish. I must remember to ask to add wasabi to the pieces though. Neither osaka or Kyoto had wasabi on their piece. It's a little bit of a piss off not to get the whole taste.
'
Here are the pictures!
Enjoy, Mata yo.

Osaka Sushi House on 16th Ave Calgary

2007-04-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

Alright this is just a quick one, and I'll start this one with a story. My buddy KV comes to bug me at work every so often, we've known each other for so long and my boss is lenient towards him. He wants to go grab a quick bite down at Wa's on Center St. which has amazing sushi, a little pricey but well worth it. It's closed. So we try the Shakiji... also closed, at this point were wandering in and out of upper china town and through shopping centers, when it dawns on me, theres that little place beside the fish store in that strip mall. Off we go to The Osaka Sushi House. We walk in and are greeted by a larger Chinese man. We sit down in this quaint cafe style little shop. It advertises classes, sell gear and even have books on sushi.

After a little confusion over drink we peer over the menu. Right away we were both blown away by the prices! Most of my favorite pieces were 99 cents! Tamago, inari, Hokki, etc. Cones didin't go over 2.20$! So we get to ordering I'm not very hungry and plus I didn't have my camera so I go light. 5 pieces: Tamago; shake; Inari, Unagi and masago. Right off the get go the shake was not all that fresh. I also noticed a lack of freshness with the masago. The unagi was small and a little too crispy(overcooked/burned) and the inari wasn't nearly sweet enough. How ever, the tamago was not overly sweet, which was nice, but it wasn't quite sweet enough either. It did not mix well with the shoyu. The ginger was pink as well...

The presentation on the other hand was amazing! KV got his on a glass dish, a small 1 roll green plater and his cone in a 3 cone holder which looked really nice and displayed it very well.
All in all I'm not particularly impressed but at the same time I'm not dissapointed. Taking everything into account I am going back to take picture. The price was right for the quality, and the portions were good. It's not a good place for a date but for a hungry man on a budget it will satisfy. I give this place a 6.5 out of 10. It looses points for quality but gains in price. It gets points for the set up and creative design, but looses points on freshness.

I'm also on the look out for 4 other local people who want to take a sushi class. Osaka offers a sushi class that cost 30$ all supplies included and you get to take home your entire tray(family of 6 style HUGE). If anyones interested leave me a comment containing your email address and I'll get back to you.

Till the next! Mata ne!

Kyoto 17 on 17th Ave Calgary

2007-04-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

Alright, heres news. Most of you have probably walked 17th ave, and probably seen Kyoto 17 tucked away in the basement of that place on 9th. I decided it would be sweet to finally go check it out and I wasn't disappointed over all.

We started off with some egg drop soup, which was really good. The litle pieces of sweet corn really work with the broth and the large soft pieces of egg white. Made for a very nice soup.

We were then serve our tempura. Cooked just right, cucumber was still a little crunchy which is nice and the shrimp just slipped out of the tails. The
udon noodles where thick and neither slimy or undercooked. The broth left a little to be desired, but still very good.

And of course, the sushi. I have found a second place where I will eat the tamago! It was very nice, thin, but not over sweet and went very well with the soya. The guy was good, but a little tough. The Hokkaiki was very nice and the masugo literally melted in the mouth. I starting to lean towards the masugo more so then the toro. I was disappointed by both the inari and the shitake though. The inari was really leaky, tons of oil, and the shittake was way to sweet.

A special shout out goes to the beautiful cuts of salmon that they had! what a beautiful nice and faty piece of salmon *drool*

Lastly... pink ginger... oh well, what can you do!

All in all I liked this place. The atmosphere was nice and the service was amazing. The lighting was a little dim but thats ok if your on a date. The prices where a little all over the place, cheap items where cheapers than other places and the expensive items where more expensive than other places. The meals where well prices and had very nice portions. Goo dlocation, interesting set up, I will give this place a 8/10, points being docked this time for lack of wasabi on pieces, and some general discrepancies.

Till next time! Mata Ne

Dill Havarti Lemon Pepper Salmon

2007-04-23T23:32:00.002-07:00

Hey all time for a new recipe. Lemon pepper, dill Havarti salmon on a bed of sprouts with a side of hot an cold veggies. Ready?

You will need

[u]Salmon[/u]

1lb skinless salmon fillet

1 lemon thinly sliced

1 cup of alfalfa/broccoli/ any small sprouts

1 cup of grated Havarti cheese

1tbs of black pepper

1 tbs of dill

drizzle of olive oil

[u]

Veggies

[/u]

1 cup of your favorite veggies. I used shanghai buk choy, tomatoes, asperagus spears and red peppers.

1 shot of sake or white wine.

And heres how we do it. Wash your hand thoroughly. Drizzle about 2 tbs or oil on a skillet, put to low heat(bout 3/10). Take the fillet and turn it so that the flattest side is facing you, rub half the dill on that side. Add to pan dill down. Add the pepper to the opposite side, top with lemons. While its cooking make the Dill Havarti cheese.

Add grated cheese and remaining dill to a small corning wear or along the lines, heat on low(no higher than 2/10). add dill, stir often.

Check on salmon, usually take about 8-10 minutes on each side. Flip, let cook for about 7-9 minutes on that side, checking the cheese often. once creamy and consistent lower temperature.

Once cooked, remove salmon lemon side down. wash hands, apply a layer of cheese to the dilled side, level cheese with knife or fork, top with a good number of sprouts, flip salmon fillet on sprout side.

Veggies. In separate or same skillet, heat up to medium low (4-5) add veggies and shot of wine. cover and let crisp for about 3-4 minutes. Add to plate in decorative and creative fashion. Serve.

As a side dish I also included a sandwich.

soooo.

Kaizer buns(or any type os sandwich bread.

Oka cheese

mayo

tomatoe

red onion sprouts and spinach.

In which even order you like. :D

Pics!!

Wheatheres

2007-04-23T23:32:00.001-07:00

Another dawn, seeping into oblivion

Raising its way to the heavens

Overcast and shadows make up this life

Yet also fill our rivers and light our lives

Beauty on the horizon, multiphasic illumination

On a panel of chocolate, speckled with milk

Dew forming on the cheeks of flowers

Blooming , releasing the heart ache trapped inside

Higher still, trapped behind heavens security gates

Large graying passing portions of pivotal proportions

Blocks us from believing in breeching boarders

Only when we fly might we truly see the sky

Rain is always to be expected, umbrella handy or not

Nature runs it’s own course much like the creek in the meadows

Flowing on and on, never stopping, unless we dam it

Beside the trickling torrent, flowers, trees and reeds grow.

Eventually all that comes must pass

Clouds may idle by and drift as the wind lets then

But nay, let us be the wind, the water

Let us erode a new path, one worth taking

A winding road besieged with perpetual flora.

Shikiji Noodle House on Center St. Calgary

2007-04-23T23:22:00.001-07:00

Alright, this is going to be the second photo critique I have posted and I though I would start by explaining a few things. 1: I am by no means an expert. I like good food, I like photography and I especially like getting new ideas from the place that I go. 2. Most of the places I go to are going to be in Calgary. I will how ever be adding one or two extra-city restaurants in the next few months, namely e\Edmonton and red deer. 3. I like to stick to what I know. I've been studying Asia since I was young and am particularly interested in their cooking and their way of life. This doesn't mean however that I won't post blogs about other style of cuisine. I also love to hear about other peoples experiences with restaurants. So if any one has any good suggestions as to the next place I should try please please please let me know and I will give it a try.

Now that that’s out of the way, on to the photo blog! It took me two trips to the Shikiji to fully appreciate both the environment, the music that they played and their amazing food. Like a lot of places there were ups and downs. But by far this noodle house has more ups than anything. Its location is very well though out. It’s just a little off of the trans Canada Highway and on center St. N. This is a prime location, just a little off of the expanding china town but far enough away from any other reputable sushi places. Note also this isn’t so much a sushi place, their a noodle house that also offer sushi. The exterior is very nice. Plastic plants and bamboo blinds are very inviting. Passing the customary overhanging curtains on your way in, you arrive in front of their large drink and pay island in the middle of the restaurant. On the left and going back are a few small table and two bars, one facing the window and one right in front of their stainless steel kitchen. On the other side is a little alcove of tables. It has a very earthy feel to it, lots of plants and wood decorating.

Although this is apparently a Japanese establishment I highly doubt there are many Japanese people working there. Their service and attitude where excellent none the less and I do not hold the false advertising against them.

The first time there, we had just finished ordering when a small experimental sushi trial was offered to us. It was an odd kind of tamago roll. It’s the first time I’d been offered a sample or one of the chefs creations before.

I was impressed to see that the miso soup was not only very authentic looking but that it was also very much so home made. I could tell by the little pieces of fresh cut green onions. So far this has been the best miso I have tried. It took a long time for it to loose it’s cloudiness. This to me is a sign of a good mix of ingredients and proper cooking. If you over cook miso soup it can really ruin the miso.

We both started with a few pieces of sushi. Just the regular to try of course; Shake, toro, ebi, tamago, maguro and piece of inari. Inari, it’s a bean curd paste mixed with rice and then deep fried. A very tasty little piece that’s both sweet and oily while still having a firm texture. A must try. I was more than impressed with the maguro, more so than I was the toro. It’s a lot nicer and just melts in your mouth. The tamago was a little too sweet for me. It had a nice fluffy ness to it, but it still just didn’t taste right. All in all their sushi was par with an excellent selection and a great piece of maguro.

Next I had a soy ramen with bbq pork. Right off the bat I will say that their cut of pork was far from lean, which is good because it offers a lot of taste to the soup, but on the flip side, fatty pork also makes for grisly pork. I could not finish the pork because of the amount of fat in it. The broth was great. It’s a lot more similar to the ramen broth I make at home. Not as strong as Hibiki’s, and I really liked it. The noodles were great, not over cooked at all. They still had a good strong consistency to them. The topping were great. A half piece of baby bok choy and some chopped green onions. The taste of the broth was really absorbed into the bok choy. It was very enjoyable.

Next item on my list was the bento box with sukiyaki beef, mixed tempura, home style salad and teriyaki chicken. Of course eating salad with chopsticks would seem weird to everyone else but I feel that since they didn’t offer a fork I would muscle through it and still have a little fun. I swear their salad dressing had a little bit of miso paste to it. It was a very unique sauce with lots of taste that really accentuated the fresh ripe tomatoes carrots and cabbage. The sukiyaki beef was a little stringy. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would other sukiyaki places. There was less sauce than others I had tried which left it dry. The onions how ever were very nicely caramelized. The BBQ chicken was beautiful. Nice lean pieces, the onion very much bringing out the bbq taste.

As a side note, they used a lot of onions in their cooking. I even had onion tempura which is ten times better than onions rings in my opinion. I really like onions so having a full meal with onions was delicious. The tempura was very well done. Shrimp and squash with onions. Although the onions were all bunched together, their taste was still amazing, just required a little work to break them apart.

Christy had the Shikiji style soba noodles warm. The broth was very similar to the ramen that I had last time, but with a little variation. It was a little sweeter, that might be due to the little pieces of sweet soy that was scattered in the dish. The buckwheat noodles were very good, firm and not sticky.

Both time were very pleasant dinning experiences. It’s a little one the pricy side but it won’t break the bank. I would definitely recommend this place to any one wanting to try some “Japanese style” noodles. We all enjoyed ourselves and will probably make a return visit to have some sashimi.

This has been another food blog by moi. Mata ne!

Sushi Hibiki Calgary

2007-04-23T23:21:00.003-07:00

Wow I am terribly sorry everyone. I've been totaly awal working this last job. I did however find some time to live it up and have some fun. The latest bout of restaurant madness comes in the form of this beautiful little Japanese Sushi place just down the hill from me. Sushi Hibiki is in a great little location. On a major road that accomodates thousands of people everyday. Just off of a highway going into downtown, and nicely tucked away in between two eatries in the same strip mall.

When first entering this restaurant do not be suprised if they politely welcome you in the door using this term, Irasshaimase, which means, Welcome to our store. I love to see places that do that. We were quickly accomodated as our party was the only one in the store. Not a bad sign, considering we were also the last to leave.

When we recieved our sushi platter I was happy to see healthy helpings of both sabi and gari. Sadly when I asked "Guru sabi desu ka?" (asking for grated wasabi) she sadly hadn't. I have yet to find a place in calgary that has some. But my quest goes on. Although, they are deffinitivly a step up from the places with pink ginger.

We ordered a little bit of everything. Myself sticking to what I knew I liked I ordered some; shake, toro, hokkekai, ebi, gyu and tamago. Off of advice given at http://sushifaq.com/sushiotaku/ 's blog I began trying out tamago, and just after a few shops I had seen the diffrence. Tamago at a larger place, which I am never returning to, was very sweet, but the tamago here was light, fluffy, not too sweet, and was quite good with a little bit of soy. All the other pieces were good. The guy was lightly seasoned which made it very nice, even had a little sabi on the underside, was suprised at the combo. Notice the little piece of green onion, mmmm.

We also had a mixed tempura bowl which was to the satisfaction of everyone.

The design that went on the terriaki chicken was apealing to the eye. Little pieces of red bell on a blue and white plate. I really liked that. And the chicken itself was so moist and well grilled. The taste wasn't overpowering and the sause was dryed and cooed on, nothing sloppy.

Now, usualy im very gun ho about ramen. I love the stuff. Make it at home all the time. But I think I might have missed the mark a little. Now I like my bonito flakes, and my nori (chopped into slivers) and a little shot of sake and as much soy as you like. But when I taste his, I was blown away. It was a very strong bonito flavor with just a little soy. It was very good, but it entirely changed my view on ramen.

The udon was as I expected it would be. Added some hot salts and away we go! A little soy for taste.

All in all a very good meal. Love the enviroment and being able to practice a little. I will be making this my signature place for the moment and I hope that the Itamae-san will eventualy make me a very enjoyable omakase.

Till the next!

Veggie Sandwich

2007-04-23T23:21:00.001-07:00

Today I'm giving you a recipe for a sand witch. you will need:

-1 whole zucchini cut into 3/4 inch slices
-1tomatoe sliced thinly
-1 carrot shredded
-3-4 pieces letuce folded
-Cheese
-4 pieces of Multi Grain Bread
-a little lemon zest
-mixed salad seasonings (oregano, basil, savory, etc)

Heat frying pan to high, add 1 tbs of olive oil. When hot enough fry zucchini with seasonings.
Fry carrots sepperatly with lemon zest (on either side of the pan works well)
Make your sadnwitch while these cook by adding the rest of the items in any order as long as the two pieces of bread are on the opposing sides of the topings. Add both carrots and zucchini evenly. Put together, cut and serve.
Serves 2
Tip: You can add sprouts, mayo or salad dressing to give it a little extra something. Buttering the bread can also yeild good results.

Veggi Stir Fry

2007-04-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

So tonight I was expecting a guest over for stir fry. So I bust out the Wok, get some veggies from the store and go at it. Here my recipy for a fucking amazing mixed stir fry dish. Ready? Lets do it.

So I started with my rice. It takes the longest and you can do it on the side.

Rice

2 1/2 cups rice (basmati long)
4 3/4cups water
1/4 onion cubbed
1 clove of garlic minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1 handful carrot shavings
1 handful Cellery
1/4 cup of peas
hand ful of mushrooms well cut.

Throw it all together in the rice cooker let cook.

Next You need the Noodles

Noodles

1 pack of noodles (shanghai, rice, egg etc)
Soy sauce
2tbs oil

Noodles are pretty straight foreward, thaw them in warm water (or low on the stove) drain them off. Add some oil to your wok, heat to about a 6-7 on your stove, throw in dryed off noodles, add soy sauce and fry till it browns a little. After, put them aside.

Next the veggies. I used quite a good variety of veggies to compliment my dietary choices. Heres what I used but you can use your own assortment of veggies. You should have about 2-3 cups of assorted veggies when your done.

Veggies

Carrots
Japapenios
snap peas
sprouts (Added cold after wards)
a tbsp garlic
a tbsp ginger
onions
celery
broccoli
buk choy

Take your assorted veggies and quickly fry the fragrant ones in some oil (onions garlic ginger etc) add the rest with a few tbsp of water and then cover your wok. Let crisp on low for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and put aside.

For meat I used tofu. It has protein, iron and a few vitamins. It also has very little fat. I marinaded the cubes in tamari soy sauce, coarse pepper, garlic powder and sesame seeds. Fry them on high with quite a bit of oil. Fry them. Let them brown on most sides before taking them off the heat and putting them aside.

I also used prawns. I boiled them, shelled them, then fried them in soy sauce pepper and a dash of lemon juice.

I personaly served them all seperate kind of a mixed asian meal, but for those who like fried rice. fry up a scrambled egg in the wok and while it's still a little runny add a bunch of the rice and let fry for a few minutes, stirring every so often. till it starts browning.

If you would like you can add the rest into the wok at this point to to heat them before serving and making a stir fry with noodles, fried rice, beggies tofu and shrimp. Enjoy :)

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

2007-04-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

Well, for those that know me, you've often heard me rant and rave about my banana bread, and some might even have tried it. Well, today I felt inspired and I baked a loaf. It turned out to be some of the best banana bread I have ever made. You also know how stingy I am on my recipes, wellllll... No longer, I will post, right here, my recipe for Banana Bread! Ready?

You will need

-3 frozen bananas (frozen for at least a month(a week if your really in a rush))

-Medium mixing bowl

- a little over 1/2 a cup of sugar

-2 eggs

-1tbs salt

-2 cups whole wheat flour

-2 handfulls of raisins

-1 tsp cinnamon/nutmeg/poudre douce/ etc or a mixture of two or more

-1tsb vanilla extract

-1 tbs baking powder

-1 bread pan

-1tsp butter

-1 ripe banana

-1/4cup of hemp hearts

-2 tsp of icing sugar

Alright sounds like quite a load eh? It really isin't. So to start, get 3 bananas, I used organic but you don't have to, and put them in the freezer. Put down this recipe, write somewhere noticable, "Make banana bread in (insert amount of time ranging from 1-4 weeks)". Or you can use ripe, but I recomend freezing your bananas. They should last in the freezer for 2-3 months. When the day comes to make banana bread, take out your bananas first. Place them, peel still on, a appropriatly sized container and let hot water flow over them for about 2 minutes. Drain water and remove bananas, they should feel soft for about 5 mm. The tops will easily give way, just slide them out from the back into the empty and dry container. Once all three are there, fork until roughly seperated, put aside and start on the dough.

In the bowl, mix the sugar, the eggs and the salt. Add the floud and baking soda, mix well. Got back to the bananas mash well, until they form a pudding almost, no lumps. You can add your spices, extract and raisins to your banana pudding. Mix it with dough. Do not let your dough sit for too long or it will go very hard, might even suggest putting a wet paper towel over it to keep it from drying out. Butter the pan and put well mixed dough into pan. You should allow to the dought to rise a little. Not much at all.

Once in the pan, level it out with a fork, down the length of it. Add ripe banana slices to the top, down the middle. Sprinkle hemp hearts followed by icing sugar over the top. Let cook for an hour and fifteen minutes at 325f, Should slide out of pan when done. Best served a few minutes out of the over with a little bit of butter. Or serve cool, with soft butter to enjoy a more raisiny side of the bread.

Yogurt Roast Beef Sandwich

2007-04-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

So today I have invented a new sandwitch, one of distinction and filled with flavor. The interesting mix here will make you question my sanity, but if you try it you will agree this is a good sandwitch. It is also very filling and quite nutricious.

Heres what you'll need:

- roast beef 50g

-cherry tomatoes 5-6 cut in half

-plain yogurt 1tbsp

-hemp hearts 3tbs

- a medium or old/strong cheese

- multigrain bread

I just used normal roast beef and multigrain bread, nothing fancy. My cherry tomatoes, yogurt, hemp hearts and cheese though were all organic. Hemp hearts are shelled hemp seeds, they are very high in protein iron and omega acids. The cheese I used was a hot pepper white cheddar.

So, toast 2 peices of bread. Add roast beef, followed by a thin layer of yogurt. Sprinkle Hemp Hearts over the yogurt then add the cheese and cherry tomatoes. Add second peice of toast. Serve how ever you want. I would suggest a nice bowl of stew of chicken noodle soup.

Achromatic Attention to Detail.

2007-04-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

Achromatic Attention to Detail.

By Jeff Rodier

“Black and white ideas of time

Pen and ink live like caricatures

Simple shading made of lines

Life in general, but no real ventures

One step in front of the other, keep going don’t stray towards the gutter

If you’re your not going to wonder, at least have the courage to bother.”

In a monochromatic world, much resembling our own, black and white men and women go about their day. Wives rushing to the store in their shades of grey dress and make up. husbands collecting colorless cheques. Constant crossing guard confusion over traffic lights. Livid news programs on the television, with their dreary hosts, recounting the events of a ashen day.

A young boy, of not yet eight, would go about his picturesque life, sitting in-front of the black board, re-writing his teachers chalky words into his plain note book. Usually being treated to vanilla ice cream after his bland supper of potatoes, gravy and roast. Little did he know a small paint ser would set off a sparkle in the young mans eyes. Not for it’s grandeur or for his passion for art, but instead, for the first time in his life he would see a marvelous display of ; brilliant blues, everlasting yellows and gorgeous greens.

Every color imaginable, the kind that he had never even been able to imagine or come across in him average day to day, but alone in his room, he could find solace in, solar shades of orange and red. Majestic magentas of a sunset of a mountain. Deep hues of leafy forest green with hints of icy blossoming blues. Pearl highlights and porous pinks. They were all within his spectrum of enlightenment now. Solitarily covering his canvas, he took as much time as he needed to find his color. No matter how much mixing it would take him. Every minute detail would take hours out of his minutes.

He would spends days, covering canvas after canvas, never giving up, sparing only few moments to sleep. Using many a brushes and even more pallets, filling up his rooms with stretched fabrics, and entirely covered and fully finished paintings. Every part of his day was devoted to the art, shading and color charts spun around in his sleep, so that during the day he could apply the vibrant chromatic paints at will. Even once he had finished every last one of his canvases, he had little to contemplate. He picked up his brushes and continued on to the walls.

He painted a large mural, starting somewhere new everyday. A dragon sneaking into his window, a princess in a tower in the far end. A space ship fighting off aliens battled along the ceiling and multi-national peoples shook hands in the corners. The world as he had always seen it was developing everywhere around him with or without what some would call talent. When the mural was done and the landscape had been filled in. Countless stories from his earlier childhood sprawled along the inexistent boarders and leaped out directly from his memory.

While there were still a few drops to use he started giving his chair more lively hood, though he soon ran out. Noticing that his entire room, and most of the furnishing in it, had been transformed. Every part of his childhood had at least a spec of chromatism to it, but the world outside was still bleak and colorless. He felt so much shame and guilt for being so selfish. Every part of his being now set upon the task of showing this wonderful new agent of youth to the world.

He made his way down to the store once again, speeding up a little every time the excitement grew. Rushing into the store he asked the man about the paint set. He begged and pleaded with the clerk to get him some more of those wonderful colors. Pastels, inks, water color, oils, chalks. Anything, he howled, both tearful and angry that the clerk wouldn’t acknowledge his request.

The clerk simply smiles a tight smile and said with a hint of remorse, “I’m sorry son, we don’t have anything of that nature. I don’t think we’ve ever carried anything like that, and to tell you the truth, I’ve never heard of such thing as color.” He ended sadly. The boy couldn’t believe what he had just heard. He began to even question his own ideas of color.

Walking home his mind was filled with doubts and confusion. The clerk had to know what he was talking about, why he had been working non stop for what seemed to be weeks in the same clothes. He couldn’t be bothered in changing often. Once every few sleeps at least, though, even that didn’t happen to often. He must have been covered from head to toe. Glancing at his hands from every angle, under and over, and the sides too, he couldn’t see any trace of anything but gray’s. Not a speck of color could be found. Not a single different hue that was not a shade.

As fast as he could he ran towards the closest automobile, which, as popular as they where they were scarce. Peering into the looking glass he gazed in bewilderment at his own, spot less, black face. He was shocked, and his face was contorted. The face no longer held its features of youth, his eyes were sunken and wrinkles buried themselves in the trenches. His hair had faded, and his teeth had darkened. Even the once prominent twinkle of hope had dimmed and disappeared as the world of color shifts away with time till all that remains is a glimmer.

The Plaid Toungued Devils

2007-04-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

The Plaid Tongued Devils live at the IronWood Restaurant and Bar in Inglewood, May 5th 2006.

PTD, an old school, new age, upbeat bohemian sound that, I hope, will never disappoint. I haven't been yet, and highly doubt it is even possible. With their interesting mix of instruments, I'm hardly surprised to see them playing at the popular IronWood In the heart of Inglewood, a prestigious artistic community. No matter the stage, be it the Epcore Center, Princes Island Park or a well broken in bar, their sound quality is phenomenal. Their timing, jovial behavior and energy is that of true artists and great friends. That’s what makes this 5 man band(plus a dancer every so often) A great show for all, friends, family, dates. You can even go yourself or with a dance partner and enjoy the night just as much.

The lead vocalist, Ty Semaka, with his hair suitingly fashioned into two horns on either side of his head, booms out at the audience with his fast passed singing, his witty lyrics and his amusing banter. Backed, though not secondary be any means, by his neo-klezmer band of gypsy rockers, each bringing their own talent to the mix. Jonathan Lewis, who has played the violin for over a quarter of a century, does well at dazzling us with his precise and fluid music on his 5 string violin, moving the crowd with his multiple solos and sheer enjoyment of the music he puts forth. Allen Kolodziejzyk on his interesting 8 string guitar, that he says "Is like a 12 string, but it's missing 4 strings". Moving quickly between open chords and bar chord, all across the fret board, to give way to a folkie sound that blends amazingly well with the rest of the band. On drums we have John McNeil, busting out an amazing solo near the end and really pounding away, feverishly almost, on his skins all through out the night. I doubt even a heavy metal drummer could keep up with John as he makes it look almost easy. Last but not least, on the 5 string fretless bass, Kaley Kinjo, working his art and getting the crowd going with his suprising jumping routines with Allen while still keeping a strong baseline. Together the shook the establishment all the way to the far front bathrooms, where the music came in as clear as if you were on stage.

PTD have toured for quite a while. The band, whom have been together for over 14 years, have been a great success over seas, and no matter what always draw a crowd from their home city of Calgary. This group even has their own musical production called "In Kleskavania" which made its debut in 1998 and was back last year, selling out night after night. Their most recent CD, Monsteroma, is also quite the success, evident by the fact that most of the songs played at last nights soiree were from that CD. Other CDs of theirs are Belladonna, Tongue and Groove and Running with Scissors.

All in all this band has more energy, love and talent(not mentioning the near century of musical experience in the group) makes this band one of my top five. Trying to get away from the main stream and more following their own style gives this band the most points though. I doubt you would be able to find anything close to this style of music anywhere short of your public library, under folk/bohemian/Jewish. Which, surprisingly is exactly where this band found their inspiration. "Hava Negela" The Jewish Folk song from my understanding, drew quite the crowd to the dance floor. As a giant oval encircled up to two pairs of dancers in the middle the sweat and fun where just dripping. Their high energy music though doesn't stop there though, with their slight touch of Ska influence, they bring a new life to the estranged polka. Though really, premiering two new songs, was what that night a night to remember. It's not everyday that you get to hear one of your favorite bands newest creations.

I highly recommend this band to anyone who knows how to enjoy good and different music. If you want more info you can check out their website at www.thedevils.com or you can always drop Ty a line, or subscribe to the newsletter at info@thedevils.com. If you feel like seeing their next show it will be on Canada day at Princess Island Park, their set will commence at 5pm.