Food and Cooking Workshop at the Brick Works (Toronto) - Feb 9

For anyone living in Toronto, a friend of mine is putting on a cocktail party cooking workshop at the Brick Works on February 9th where she will demonstrating how to prepare small Persian- and Pakistani-spice plates using ingredients from the Brickworks farmers market. The workshop runs on Thursday February 9 in the evening from 7-9pm and costs $55 per person (less if you buy a multi-class pack). For more information and to register for the workshop, visit Evergreen Brick Works "Green Bites Workshops".

From the Spice Spoon:

MY COOKERY WORKSHOP- FOOD IS LOVE: 

For my Canadian readers- I will be teaching a ‘cocktail party workshop’ at Evergreen Brickworks on February 9th, entitled: FOOD IS LOVE- based on my childhood memories. I’ll be teaching you how to create small Persian- and Pakistani-spiced plates, (a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian) influenced by the recipes I have inherited from the women in my family, while giving them a modern twist. Preparing Persian or Pakistani dishes can seem time-consuming and challenging, but they are not. Come and join us to prepare small plates using ingredients from our farmer’s market. I will also be preparing a fancy-coloured cocktail to pair with the treats. 

On the cocktail menu, there will be the following, for example: 

Pomegranate & Rosewater Essence Sparkling Wine Cocktail 

Saffron Chicken and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Brochette with a Cucumber Yoghurt Dip 

Farmer’s Cheese, Dried Cranberry, Walnut and Tarragon Tartine 

This is the link to sign up for my workshop.

Variations of the Garden Vegetable Sandwich

This is the second post about our day trip to Buffalo and our visit to a US Tim Horton's. The other item we tried was the US Tim Horton's spin on the Garden Vegetable Sandwich. This is an item available at Tim Horton's in both Canada and the US (unlike the prized Peanut Crunch Donut) however, in my opinion, the Canadian version very clearly wins over the American one.

Total cream cheese overload...

The American version was rather disappointing for me. First of all, it had way too much cream cheese on it. I'm not sure exactly how much, but you'll see in the photo above that I managed to scrape off at least 2 full tablespoons of cream cheese (the bagels were huge) and there was still a more than reasonable amount left on the bagel. Also, the vegetables consisted of just shredded lettuce and a couple tomato slices--not even a cucumber! It was bit like a Burger King Whopper on a bagel without any meat and with cream cheese instead of Whopper Sauce. A Whopper might just have been better.

The Canadian version of the Garden Vegetable Sandwich, on the other hand, has full lettuce leaves and fresh cucumbers in addition to tomatoes. My preference is to have them with a bit of ranch sauce and sliced cheddar cheese instead of cream cheese. But it's actually such a simple sandwich that you can make them yourself at least as well, if not better.

Garden Vegetable Sandwich Variations

Take your favourite bagel and toast it. Throw on a couple slices of good cheddar cheese (I use an old or extra old white cheddar). Pile on a few fresh sliced cucumbers and tomatoes (and lettuce, optionally), season it with sea salt, freshly ground pepper and a light splash of olive oil and you have a perfectly simple and delicious sandwich. For another variation, try it with freshly sliced avocados as well.

These sandwiches also travel very well (we take them to work quite regularly). Be sure to wrap the vegetables separately in plastic wrap and place it at the bottom of the sandwich bag with the bagels and cheese on top (to prevent the vegetables from making a mess of the bagel).

Another simple variation is to make it a bagel and egg sandwich. For an easy "fried" egg, take a small glass dish (the flatter the bottom the better), lightly spray it with an oil spray, beat in one whole egg, add a touch of salt and pepper and top with freshly shredded parmesan. Microwave for 60-80 seconds and top with tomatoes and season with olive oil, salt and pepper.