Indian Spiced Iced Tea

I opened a jar of cardamom and star anise this morning. I was craving their sweetness and warmth. But I wasn't sure what to do with them.

The fragrant spices reminded me of a warm, generous friend, Roberta. She and her husband paid us a recent surprise visit. They managed to steal time away from their business in Oklahoma City. We gave them a tour of Canada's capital. We ate and laughed, talked politics and travel, traded tales about our children.

Roberta is a finance executive-cum-art history expert. She herself is an artist who specialises in portraits and still life paintings. She has an eye for finding exquisite things and unique gifts. For example:

That's Shakespeare taking a bath in my tea cup. The cup and saucer were from the Van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery. The Shakespeare cut out came with Voltaire, Dante and Goethe in a set called "Tea Poetics" which Roberta picked up from another gallery in her neck of the woods.
A little chuckle with my herbal tea.

Roberta's artful gifts were the inspiration for my Indian Spiced Iced Tea.

Indian Spiced Iced Tea
3 tea bags
2 cardamom pods, bruised
2 pieces of star anise
1 cinnamon stick 
honey (optional)

Brew the tea and let it steep with the spices for four minutes.
Make sure you put your timer on because a minute longer might make your tea bitter.
Once the tea is ready, pour it into a pitcher full of ice.
Add honey to taste.
Enjoy!

If you like Indian flavours, here's a quick rundown on essential Indian spices.

Cheap Eats in Quebec City: 3 Must-Do Stops

Quebec City is one of my all-time favourite cities. How can I not love a city that offers stunning architecture and landscapes, chocolate and croissants galore, and an opportunity to jazzer en français?

We made time to admire Quebec City on our road trip to Percé Rock. On our first morning in the Old City, we took a stroll along the cobblestone streets up to the Château Frontenac hotel. It was around 8 in the morning and the streets were just waking up. I desperately needed my morning java.

We found Café-boulangerie Paillard. It was easy to see why the place was voted "best croissant in town" by a local magazine. I ordered a double espresso allongé and sampled one or two (or four) sweet treats. I couldn't decide on my favourite, although I did need to steal another bite from my daughter's pear almond dark chocolate pastry.

Poirier at Boulangerie Paillard

We walked up to the landmark Château Frontenac and took in the views of the St. Lawrence River... just long enough to work up an appetite before our next food stop.

The Chien Mechant, or Bad Dog, was three weeks old when we stumbled in at 46 rue Garneau. (Their website was still under construction at the time.) Their specialty is European sausages and waffle potatoes.

Waffle potatoes with curry dijon mayonnaise.

Owners Christian Trudel and Irina Severin told me that they offer "good, delicious food. Nothing with junk. Just good value and good food." We certainly got that; lunch for myself and six-year-old Alexander cost under $10. Alexander enjoyed the Puppy Dog, a mini-sausage on a bun.  I had the Bad Cat chicken sandwich. 

The "Bad Cat:" chicken with a mango curry mayonnaise.

Saving the best for last, our final food stop for the day was just outside the Old City, down rue St. Jean. We were in chocolate heaven at Choco-Musée Érico.

You can learn all about the history and preparation of cacao. You can check the time on the chocolate clock. You can sample fine dark, milk and white chocolate chips for only a quarter for a handful. We gladly emptied our pockets of our spare change.

My favourite indulgence was the "Erico espresso," a version of affogato using a demi-tasse of rich   melted dark chocolate with a dollop of homemade ice cream. I brought home bags of exquisite Tanzanian chocolate so I can experiment at home.

Erico espresso: warm chocolate with a dollop of coconut ice cream. 

I was thrilled to have found three delectable eateries. On the downside, I lost my waistline. I'm pretty sure it's somewhere between Boulangerie Paillard, the Bad Dog and the Choco-Musée Érico.

The Pierced Rock

Mother Nature is an amazing artist. Her awesome work of le Rocher Percé and l'Île-Bonaventure sidetracked me from my regular preoccupation with food.

I'm back from a breath-taking road trip along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to the Gaspé region of Quebec. Our final destination was le Rocher Percé, "the Pierced Rock," the legendary limestone monolith, 450-million years old and 88 metres high.

Just across le rocher Percé, we spotted seals frolicking on l'Île-Bonaventure.  

We watched the delightful dance of tens of thousands of northern gannets. Bonaventure Island is the largest bird sanctuary in North America.

 The natural beauty left us exhilarated and grateful beyond words.

We did take time to appreciate the food. But for this vacation, Mother Nature's palate trumped anything on a plate.

More on the food in my next post. Stay tuned.

Big Fatty's for Big Daddy

My man loves his meat. So much so that we have an unwritten rule for Father's Day: meat and lots of it. Braised or smoked, roasted or cured, the word meat reduces hubby's vocabulary to a three-syllable grunt: Bring-It-On!

For Father's Day weekend, we drove down to Burlington, Vermont for a soccer tournament for our eldest. (The Nordic Cup was great fun on beautifully manicured fields.) We cruised downtown Burlington and spotted a place that looked like they really know their meat. One glance at Big Fatty's menu and we were Pavlovian puppies. (Cue panting.)

We had our first taste of hush puppies - a fried dough of cornmeal and black pepper, flavoured with bacon, green onion, cayenne pepper and dunked in a sweet vinegar sauce.

We also devoured fried catfish, pulled pork, Memphis style ribs. Hubby consumed so much meat that he felt like the original Big Fatty the next day. And the day after.

Near Church Street, we were pleasantly surprised to see an inviting selection of eateriers that celebrate local farmers. August First, the Skinny Pancake and the City Market  just to name a few.

So much good local food. So little time. Burlington, we will be back. Until then, I'm almost certain we'll get another hankering for southern-style barbeque in the very near future. Luckily, we can stay close to home and indulge at the Ottawa Rib Fest.

As hubby would say, "Bring-It-On!"




 

Heirloom Garden Marks Big Progress in Small Package

I'm testing my green thumb with miniature garden. I planted a some heirloom seeds of tomatoes, peppers and basil. The "garden" is really a metal planter that sits in the window sill of my home office.

The organic growing kit was gifted to me two years ago by my long-time friend Aviva. At the time, it was her gesture of hope, a way to keep me preoccupied when I homebound.

When I first opened the package, I couldn't make out the instructions. The page was a dizzying blur. In frustration, I pushed the package to the very back of my pantry. I'd see it at least once a week when I was putting away groceries. Everytime I'd attempt to read the instructions, my eyes and brain failed me.

Until this morning. The page was as clear as day. I was able to identify every letter, number and punctuation mark. Huge progress!




I carefully read over the instructions with gratitiude for my re-newed abilities.

I soaked the disks of coconut fibre in water, transfered half  into the metal planter, sprinkled in the seeds and covered them with the remaining coconut fibre. Easy enough, when you can actually see and feel what you are doing.

Over the next few weeks, I'll tend to my itty bitty garden. I'll keep my fingers crossed for signs of life. Hopefully, in a few more weeks, my planter will produce tomatoes, peppers and basil. I'll be able to make a homegrown salad to celebrate a new chapter with my friend Aviva.

"The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place."

The Merry Maid of the Merry Dairy

We all have wild and crazy dreams. Not all of us have the courage to make them happen.
Especially when that dream is way out of your comfort zone, you need a healthy dose of faith, hope, and -- some would say-- insanity, to take the plunge.

My friend, Marlene Haley, is taking a taking a deep breath and plunging head first into a new food venture.  She's scooping out vanilla frozen custard, and living out her dream.

Courtesy Katy Watts

Her dream began about 10 years ago when she and her husband had their first taste of frozen custard in the United States. "It was so creamy and delicious. The egg yolks make the difference compared to regular ice cream. We'd make special road trips just to find frozen custard," she recalls.

"When we moved back to Ottawa, we couldn't find frozen custard. I thought, we have to bring frozen custard to Ottawa. People in our neighbourhood of Wellington West - Westboro will love it."

The idea percolated for years as Marlene continued her day job as a professor. Last fall, she decided to trade in her lesson plans for cream, eggs and a professional ice cream maker.

"That was the toughest decision, to change your lifestyle, decide to work long crazy hours and just go for it," says Marlene.

She did her market research and drew up a business plan. She attended a custard-making course in the States. She bought her ice cream truck just a few weeks ago and dressed it up in the new Merry Dairy colours. After months and months of preparation, she's ready to roll.

Marlene Haley dishes out vanilla frozen custard from the Merry Dairy truck.    

Her frozen custard is made with local dairy and eggs, plus sugar and vanilla. That's it - no artificial ingredients or preservatives. Each batch is made fresh that morning in her specially-equipped kitchen.

 

The Merry Dairy is a family affair. Marlene's nine-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son are often on duty manning the sprinkles station or the loudspeaker. (On my visit, the truck was belting out Led Zeplin's "Stairway to Heaven,"  the rarely-heard chimes version.) Other family members have volunteered to pitch with scooping and babysitting duties.

For now, the merry maid churns out vanilla frozen custard with various toppings. She's experimenting with other flavours.

I take my hat off to Marlene for daring to try something completely different, and for expanding  Ottawa's food scene.

Dream it. Do it. Lucky for Westboro residents, we get to savour Marlene's adventure.

If you're lucky, she'll be rolling by a neighbourhood near you. You can follow the Merry Dairy truck on Twitter @themerrydairy.

Back on Track

I've been away for far too long. Away from AK's Kitchen. Away from tasty, wholesome cooking. My family's been living on bland and boring express schlock. We've had lots of variations on rice and pasta. 

A number of new projects have kept me preoccupied. I was also flat out from a nasty cold which wiped out my appeitite for any culinary creativity.

Time to climb out of the rut.

I'm glad to be back on track to share a delicious story. It's the story of fresh, frozen custard and the woman who's bringing it to Ottawa.

Stay tuned...