Father's Day Brunch: Four Seasons, Avenue Lounge

Restaurant:  Avenue Lounge, Four Seasons Hotel

Where:  21 Avenue Rd., Toronto, ON  416.964.0411

The day for the other parent, Father's day.  Another breakfast brunch at a different hotel.  I had another idea but I will save that for another year when the babies are older.  It fun and interest of it would be lost on them and us because they are so young.

This day, we went to the Four Seasons, Avenue Lounge.  It was a nice spread but the consensus was, we enjoyed the brunch at Intercontinental Hotel's Azure Restaurant more.  Don't get us wrong, the spread was nice but due to our taste, we thought the selection at Azure was more to our liking.  (Plus, it was more inexpensive.)  A change of scenery was good as well. The thing was, Avenue has a larger anit-pasti selection which we didn't care for as much.  I found the dessert selection wasn't as good either.  The decor was nice but it was much too cramped.  Oh ya, and they threw in 1 golf ball for the fathers.

- mussels, lamb, mini burger, French toast, smoked salmon/bagel -

- orange juice & some tabletop arrangement -

- dessert:  tirimusu, creme brulee, lemon tart, fruit/cake with chocolate, fruit tart -

- cold shrimp -

- view from our table of the bar (elevated section) -

- antipasti bar -

- bowl of shrimp -

- dessert selection -

Macarons - an attempt (not very good one)

I've been seeing these delicately perfectly little French pastries in many places these days.  So, I attempted to produce my own.  No wonder these little discs of perfection can be quite pricey.  As you can see from my results, their appearance does not reflect the description of delicate and perfect.  If you search on the internet for "macaron", you will see its true appearance.  Macarons are supposed be smooth discs, not round bumpy crater like cookies.  I suspect my error is in the coarse results of my ground almonds and the too stiff whipped egg whites.  Nonetheless, our taste buds have no eyes, so it's flavour is just the same.  Although I have not had the pleasure of indulging in a professionally made macaron, I have spied a package of 6 at Thuet Bakery on King St. W.  I couldn't bring myself to shell out >$12 for said item but maybe next time I pass by I just might have to (for research sake). ;)

The recipe is quite basic.  Through my research, I have come up with this recipe.  It's an adaption of a few different recipes.

Ingredients:

• 3 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup of ground almonds (might have to source of almond powder/flour next time)
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (will use less next time - a little too sweet for my liking)
• 5 tblspn granulated sugar (will probably reduce this next time)

my ganache recipe:

• 4 ounces bittersweet/semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 whipping cream

In a mixer, whip egg whites to until peaks are medium (so that when piped, they will be loose enough to disperse on it's own to perfectly round smooth topped discs).  Combine confectioner sugar and ground almonds together.  Mix sugar/almonds with meringue.  Pipe into 1 1/2 inch discs.  Bake at 300F degree for 20 - 25 minutes.

Prepare ganache my combining ingredients in a double boiler.  When melted, set aside to cool.

- sliced almonds -

- almonds in food processor -

- ground almonds -

(see how the ground almonds are not fine enough)

- just out of the oven -

- chocolate ganache spread - 

- assembly line -

Molten Chocolate Cake

Another one from Martha. This Molten Chocolate Cake recipe it fast and easy and the portion is perfect for us.  It makes two cakes in no time.  If you love chocolate, this just hits the spot.  It's not too rich the size is just right to not over-indulge.

The raspberry sauce I added.  I enjoy my sweets with fruit.  It cuts the balances out the sweetness with a little tart and raspberry flavour marry so well with chocolate.  It's easy to make raspberry sauce.  Just put a 1/2 pint of raspberries in a small sauce pan with some water and sugar.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the raspberries are soft and broken down.  Then pour sauce through a strainer to remove seeds.  As a garnish, I had some blackberries.  The blackberries contrast so well against the red of the sauce.

- simmering raspberry sauce -

- cakes just out of the oven -

(rice bowls were used, I didn't have any ramekins)

- cake unmolded -

- another view of unmolded cake -

- finished presentation -

- mmmm so good -

Lee Restarant

Restaurant:  Lee

Where:  603 King St. W., Toronto, ON.  416.504.7867

The grandparents are still here to babysit (one more day).  So, out for another meal.  The meal at One, sucked.  Then there was Colborne Lane but I have to pictured for that because it just wouldn't be appropriate at a business dinner.

The meal at Lee would be what we considered one of the best meals we've had in a long time.  Everything we ordered was good and most of exceeded our expectations.  I would eat here anytime (and all the time if we could).  I was a bit delinquent in my photography duties because I missed a few of our plates; probably because the food was so interesting.  The lighting wasn't the best for food photography.  My side of the table had a spotlight over it.  You'll be able to see that in the pictures.

The service was excellent.  Our waiter was knowledgeable in the food served at Lee.  The selection on the menu was great too.  We ordered the chickpea battered onion thing (pakoras basically), the watermelon salad (delightfully refreshing - ice cold watermelon cubes with balsamic & feta), singapore slaw (it was okay buy not spectacular - was recommended by people hubby knows but it would've been my last choice on the menu), black cod (this was tres excellent) and szechuan pork loin (thought it would be heavy but rather very light - slices of perfectly cooked pork wrapped around crisp julienne celery and apple).

- our lucite table - 

- chickpea battered onions -

- singapore slaw -

Oh, ya.  We ordered dessert too.

- his dessert, a warm banana choc cake with ice cream -

- my dessert, a mango pana cotta -

Not very good Tiramisu

What you see in this picture is a partially eaten "tiramisu". At least it was labeled as such at the Spot Coffee on the corner of Bremner & Navy Wharf Crt. I knew something was suspicious when my husband opened the box that he brought home. It had fallen apart and was a glob, goob and ooze of white. No, it wasn't hot outside and no it hadn't been sitting out in any heat. I think tiramisu is supposed to be made of mascarpone cheese. It lacked this key ingredient, it was just full of a whipped cream filler. No wonder why the piece was so large. A small tub of marscapone costs approximately $13 at the supermarket. yukkkk!!! That's what I say about eating just whipped cream....

My Mother's Day Meal: Intercontinental Hotel, Azure Restaurant

My mother's day feast took place at the Intercontinental Hotel's restaurnat Azure. We had been there for breakfast once before and that meal was decent. It is convenient for us because it is a short distance from our home. The restaurant is spacious, especially on the weekends. It is probably busier during the weekdays with business people wheeling and dealing. Oh, it also has good high chairs. I didn't expect many people there because when we went there a few weeks back, the restaurant was practically empty. We might have been the only people there. Anyway, I thought we'd be ordering off the same brunch a la carte menu but....no! Azure was offering a mother's day brunch buffet. On this visit, the restaurant had people in it - mommies and their families.

There was a lot of food and a great selection. There were breakfast foods, eggs benedict, sausages, waffles, made to order omellettes; hot foods - vegetables, fish, chicken, potatoes, roast lamb; antipasto platter; fruit platter; cheese platters; variety of breads; soup; seafood table - mussels, shrimps, oysters & clams; sushi; and a separate dessert area. I have probably left something out and don't remember some of the special names of the food items. I concentrated mostly on the seafood and didn't stuff myself with anything ordinary.

Here are the mouth watering visuals of most of plates...

A sweet evening with Martha's chocolate pudding

Chocolate pudding from Martha's web site. To make it a bit healthier and less sweet, I reduce the sugar, egg yolks and butter by 1/2. (Sometimes no butter at all.) The vanilla recipe has been used to fill eclairs I've made.

Simple, fast & delicious!