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September, 2011:

Holy Chuck Burgers Opens

Sep 30th, 2011
by David Ort.
8 comments

I carried a mixture of high hopes and skepticism on the short walk down the west side of Yonge Street from St. Clair. On a tip from @momwhoruns I was going last night to check a new burger place that allegedly could rival the best in the city.

Holy Chuck Burgers has been slotted into the space that Retro Burger occupied for a short period. The irreverent logo and the delicious aroma of griddled, high-quality beef is a sure sign that the new owners are doing things entirely differently.

Update: I took a bunch of friends back for a second shot at Holy Chuck Burgers. I’ve added some more photos and the one of the menu is now clickable for a larger version.

(Double) Cheeseburger with pickles and mayo; hand-cut fries

(Double) Cheeseburger with pickles and mayo; hand-cut fries

I tried the cheeseburger ($7.99, $14 and change as a combo with fries and a water, all in) that is two American-cheese covered patties (cooked to order), between a barely-toasted, note-perfect, squishy Wonder Bread style bun. For a first taste I did my usual charitable thing and ordered it with pickles and a bit of mayo.  (more…)

Off to the Fair

Sep 29th, 2011
by David Ort.
6 comments

Today, a break from all the wine content (but please don’t forget to vote for my LCBO blog challenge entry) for a brief guide to entering your preserves for competition.

To be honest I had never done this before this year. So, take this as a rough beginner’s guide and not as expert and sage advice from on high.

I started my quest for a ribbon by asking We Sure Can! author Sarah Hood for her advice. Sarah was good enough to point me in the direction of fellow WSC contributors Shae Irving and Yvonne Tremblay. Yvonne is a five-time grand champion at The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (“the big show” for fairs here in Southern Ontario) and Shae has a bunch of posts on her site Hitchhiking to Heaven about entering the Marin County Fair. These include results from this year and results from 2010 with her guide. (more…)

LCBO goLOCAL Niagara Tour

Sep 28th, 2011
by David Ort.
No comments yet

I really like trains. That our early-September tour of Niagara’s lovely wine country–organised by Suresh Doss and the LCBO’s Trina Hendry–started in a dedicated Via 1 train to Saint Catherines predisposed me to enjoy the day.

What with the third annual Spotlight Toronto 30 days of local wine and the LCBO’s goLOCAL: Find Your Favourite promotion I’ve had a lot of wine on the brain this month. For the seventh day Jen Bylok, Mike Di Caro, and I live blogged the highlights of the tour.

Obviously, I’ve also entered the LCBO’s blog challenge that is part of the goLOCAL promotion and you can read my post here and vote for it here. (more…)

It’s All in the Brine

Sep 20th, 2011
by David Ort.
3 comments

Ten years ago brining was a rarely used technique in home kitchens but is now widely recommended. Even as it gained popularity there were several open questions on the supporting science.

Does the water in the meat draw salt in and then does that salt draw in more water from the brine? Does the brine change the meat’s structure or just add salt and water? How far can brine penetrate in the usual brining time? Do flavoured liquids, aromatics like onions and garlic, herbs, or spices make a difference to the meat’s final taste?

It’s the last question that was at the centre of a brief discussion I had on Twitter with Chris Nuttall-Smith, Eric Vellend, and Michael Ruhlman. Harold McGee (patron saint of food science) writes in Keys to Good Cooking (and also in this Serious Eats Thanksgiving post) that the flavour molecules in aromatics are so much larger than salt or water molecules that they will have much more difficulty crossing the osmotic barrier to get inside meat. Ruhlman says that he’s found differently from his tests. (more…)

A goLOCAL wine meal

Sep 19th, 2011
by David Ort.
2 comments

The LCBO’s 20th annual goLOCAL promotion is on now and as well as featuring great wine (130 labels from 50 wineries in the province’s four regions) they’ve added a blog challenge.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading this post about a dinner that prominently featured Ontario wine.  Once you’re done please visit this link, scroll down to the bottom of the page to vote for my entry.

For me, the last month of summer is about appreciating the final days of that too-short window when it is truly enjoyable to be outside in Ontario. Usually this means as many weekend days as possible spent at the cottage. This year, because of long overdue repairs to the island’s harbour, we had to close up early.

Usually Thanksgiving is the end of the season for us so dinner last Saturday night stood-in as a late-September substitute. Naturally, the meal featured Ontario VQA wine both as ingredient and accompaniment. (more…)

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