Chopped Canada, Season 3 Episode 8: Deconstructed Beef Tongue Enchiladas?

The basket for the main course were as follows:  peach drink box (ew!), beef tongue, pinto beans and salsa morita.  Well, that’s an easy thing – kind of – enchiladas!  Better yet, deconstructed enchiladas. Raw beef tongue One might think that the peach drink can be used as part of the sauce, perhaps giving the […]

Fuller House: Nostalgic and a bit Cheesy at Times

Fuller House, television, Netflix

Us late Xers and early Millennials grew up watching Full House on Friday evenings, and later, Tuesdays.  And now that the sequel (can we call it a sequel?) has launched on Netflix, many may be binge-watching the first season, which launched on February 26.  I still have a few more episodes to watch (at least […]

Chopped Canada, Season 3, Episode 7: Goat Cheese and Hemp Bites Stuffed Capon?

The mystery ingredients were a bit tougher this week – for me to come up with something, anyway.  After a few days of thinking (or over-thinking, I suppose), I’ve decided that maybe a green radish, goat cheese cheese and hemp bite stuffed capon might do the trick (the ingredients in the main course basket were […]

Chopped Canada, Season 3, Episode 6: Eggs Benny with Bitter Melon & White Bass?

If you ever eat bitter melon with my dad, he’ll tell you a story of how guys in his university residence “forced” him to eat bitter melon because that was the only thing available for dinner said evening (because everything was shared family style, as per Chinese custom and the guys KNEW my dad hated […]

Chopped Canada, Season 3, Episode 5: What To Do With Figs and Sausage Patties?

Well, since the Year of the Monkey started on February 8, why not use the mystery ingredients from episode 5’s second round (frozen sausage patties, Long Island Ice Tea, heirloom carrots and figs)  to make dumplings?  Not too hard to think of something, right?  And to make it more main course-like, it can be served […]

Chopped Canada, Season 3, Episode 4: Roasted Chrysanthemum Crusted Lamb

Ingredients for the second (i.e. main) course on the fifth episode of this season’s Chopped Canada were:  lamb crown, tomato sauce, nutritional yeast and chrysanthemum leaves.  The first thing that came to mind was roast lamb.  But I was trying to figure out what exactly to do with it (if I were to make this […]

Chopped Canada Season 3, Episode 3: Dessert with Quinoa

Tiramisu is one of my favourite desserts!  This might sound a little odd, but why can’t one attempt to make tiramisu with quinoa instead of lady fingers?  Can’t be THAT difficult, can it?  And no, I am using ACTUAL quinoa for the “cake” rather than quinoa flour – it isn’t, after all, quinoa flour that […]

Chopped Canada Season 3, Episode 2: Using Bean Curd Sheets

Bean curd sheets, or tofu skins, are often see as savoury items at dim sum (fu pay guin).  However, it was a mystery ingredient on the third episode of the third season, along with white Saturn peaches, black peppercorns and vanilla powder.  If you look at it from a dim sum perspective (even though it’s […]

The Magic Flute and Louis Riel Among Canadian Opera Company’s 2016-17 Season

Mozart’s kid-friendly opera, The Magic Flute will be one of several productions in the Canadian Opera Company’s (COC) upcoming season.  The opera, a fairy tale, is a love story featuring magic (the flute and a set of bells), rescuing a princess (as well as kidnapping a prince) as well as evil (the Queen of the […]

Chopped Canada Season 3, Episode 1: Chicken Burritos with Collard Greens

The first episode of the third season aired on Food Network Canada, featuring, yes, the new host (who made his debut on the show’s teen tournament).  Ingredients in the three rounds included candy necklaces in the first round as well as caramel-flavoured rice cakes and yarrow for dessert.  The main course’s ingredients were rotisserie chicken, […]