Red Lentil Kafta

Kafta is great. Kafta is the Lebanese way of saying "kofte", which is the Turkish way of saying, "kufta" which is the Hebrew way of saying kofta, which is the East Indian way of saying, "kefta" which is the Moroccan way of saying.... well.... they all sort of mean "meatball", without necessarily having to involve meat or balls.

 In Halifax, Lebanese food is the shiznit and you will find it in pizza shops, cafes, food courts, and full service restaurants. And if you have a good Lebanese friend, like me, you may be fortunate enough to learn the art of kafta-making.This requires a lot of ground beef, parsley, onions, and some special spices. It is rolled into an oblong shape, skewered and grilled. Yummy!

Awww.... and you thought I was going to teach you how to make that. Sorry carnivores!

The vegetarian in me does not approve (at the moment). Fortunately, Middle Eastern cuisine is very suitable for a vegetarian diet, involving such things as lentils and rice, chickpea fritters, parsley & bulgur salad, fava bean dip, eggplant dip, chickpea dip, stuffed grape leaves and spinach pies. For those in the know, I'm talking about mujaddara, falafel, tabouli, foul, baba ghanoush, hummus, dolmades and fatayer.

But not Kafta!

Until one day, I walked into a Turkish restaurant in Halifax called Turkish Delight. At the time I was a pretty hardcore vegetarian, so I was "delighted" when I discovered the existence of red lentil kafta (the Turks call it Mercimek Kofta). This unique vegetarian dish, composed mainly of red lentils and bulgur wheat, and served warm or cold, is eaten frequently in Turkey as finger food. Ah yes... the rest of the world recognizes things like lentils, beans, and cracked wheat as food items to be enjoyed as well as meat. But I digress....

At the end of the day, these cold little tidbits aren't really an alternative to the grilled meatball-like skewers that won my heart albeit not my digestive system. But I think they are a great vegetarian food that deserves more recognition than just the strange looks I got last night in the work cafeteria.

Red Lentil Kafta
(I say Kafta 'cus my influence is Lebanese, even though this is a Turkish dish... but who cares? Kafta means meatball and there isn't any meat! I can call it what I want! This recipe is based on the recipes you can find online. It's really great wrapped up in some lettuce, Belgian Endive or pita bread).

1 cup red lentils
1.5 cups water
1.5 cups bulgur 
1.5 cups finely chopped parsley
4 green onions, minced
1 medium onion, minced, or at least finely chopped
1 heaping tbsp tomato paste
1 heaping tbsp Turkish red pepper paste (for those in Calgary, you can find this at Kalamata Grocery. Harissa would be another substitution, or just use extra tomato paste).
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the lentils in the water, covered, low-ish heat for 15-20 minutes or until they are smushy.
Put the bulgur in a large bowl and add the cooked lentils.
Mix them together and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. 

In a perfect world the moisture from the lentils would cook the bulgur, but this isn't a perfect world. Start boiling some water, 'cus you're gonna need it.

After 15 minutes or so, stir the mixture around like you're angry, 'cus you will be, 'cus the mixture will be too dry. 
Add some bowling water, and mix it up. Cover and wait another 15 minutes or so. Do this until you think you could mold it into shapes without it falling apart everywhere.


But while all this is taking place, you can start frying up your onion (not the green ones), and once it gets soft, add your tomato and red pepper pastes, paprika and cumin. Mix together and set aside.
Once you are happy with the consistency of you lentil mixture, add the saucy cooked onions, as well as the parsley, green onions, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix really well.
Roll the mixture into oblong shapes, and stack on a plate. These can be eaten right away, while they're warm, or you can chill them and eat them cold in a crunchy piece of lettuce. 


They are great for packed lunches! I'm bringing some to work with me tonight : )

Turkish Delight (Halifax) 

The Pizza in Calgary

When I first moved to Calgary, the only thing more shocking to me than the eggrolls (don't get me started) was the pizza. A friend of mine from back home ranted and raved about Pizza 73. Yeah... its cheap, but very mediocre chain pizza. That's not what I was looking for, though in my confused state of affairs I did settle on Chicago Deep Dish as my favorite pizza chain in Calgary. I also tried some small ma & pops shops and was equally disappointed. When I moved downtown, I gleefully noted a "Pizza & Steak House" (another Calgary institution) underneath my building. Naturally, I picked up a pizza and.... what?? Why is the sauce sweet? Why is there so much cheese? Why is the pepperoni so thick? Why is this so expensive!?!

So I did some research on Chowhound. Calgary pizza is what many foodies refer to as "Calgary-Greek-Style" pizza. This style of pizza has a not-as-greasy-as-Pizza-Hut pan crust. The pizza is thick. All the toppings go under the cheese, and the pizzas tend to be heavy on the toppings.

The sauce is often spiked with a little cinnamon or something sweet... which is undoubtedly the workings of Greek fingers. Alternatively, some sauces speak more of oregano, and it is quite common to have pizza offerings that use a meat sauce. I have to admit, I originally was not a fan of this style of pizza and longed for the pies back home. But I've put in my hours and have acquired a taste for it.

What really made me scratch my head is the menu system. Here is a pizza menu that is virtually identical to every other pizza menu in the city. Please note that there are thin crust joints and other styles of pizza in Calgary, but this blog is solely dedicated to the Calgary-Greek-Style, which I think best represents what Calgary pizza uniquely is, and what I would tell somebody to eat if they wanted to know what pizza was like in Calgary.

Okay, so what is the deal with the numbered system? Surely you don't need to dedicate a slot on your menu to "Ham" .... or "Mushroom, Green Pepper". I'm pretty sure I could come up with that myself, and I would just ask for a pizza with mushroom and green pepper. This whole thing is pointless. All you need to do is show the pricing for a plain cheese pizza and the cost of additional toppings, and then show what the additional toppings are, and if the customer isn't a complete retard I'm pretty sure they will be able to figure out how to order.

 Most menus do get more interesting at the bottom of the list, where they showcase pizzas like:

But who are Paul and Jim? Why are these two pizzas basically identical with minor ingredient substitutions? Usually these "pack on everything" pizzas would include shrimp. Here is something strange:. I come from a land of fresh and local seafood, but you will NEVER see shrimp on a pizza. Whereas here in this landlocked cattle town, there is shrimp on pizza like it's going out of style! ... and I never knew it was in style. Especially when you use those canned salad shrimp... ewwww! I tried it once and my pizza tasted fishy. There's anchovies for that, if that is your desired effect.

Calgarians also like to order dipping sauce with their pizza. Things like ... ranch dressing. They really like to smother ranch dressing on everything here in cowtown.

Okay, I'm almost done complaining about Calgary pizza. My next complaint: It's expensive!! Since it's so thick, the sizes tend to run smaller... so whereas normally a large pizza would be a 16", in Calgary a large is a 12" and it will cost you at least $20. It's usually very filling, though. Calgary is expensive in general. If you don't like it, you can eat Pizza 73 and drink Lucky Lager.


I have differentiated three types of places to get this pizza.
1) The Pizza & Steak House. I don't know if these exist outside of Calgary... but think of it like, a bunch of Greeks came to Calgary and instead of opening up diners, they opened up these. Probably because Calgary is known for steak. Besides pizza and steak, the menus unfailingly feature Veal Cutlets, Veal and Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Cordon Bleu and some pretty basic pasta. Example: Nicks.
2) The Pizza & Sports Bar. Example: Atlas.
3) Greek restaurants that serve pizza. Probably better put, these are pizza restaurants that serve Greek food. Example: Manies.

Now what we've all been waiting for! Some pictures of pies!

 Atlas Pizza & Sports Bar. On Memorial... kind of off the beaten trail, but it has many, many fans. Yeah, they wouldn't deliver to me. I had to get a friend to drive me there. And... I might do it again. The golden cheese and crust is the best part of this place, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I ordered less toppings. This was a vegetarian and all those vegetables piled beneath the cheese were just a burden to me. Next time: plain cheese or plain pepperoni.

Dimitris Pizza in Kensington. This is loaded with toppings and it looks like a disaster but it was very, very enjoyable. I actually enjoyed it more than my plainer spinach & feta pizza I got from there, which I will also show because it is more aesthetically pleasing.

Check out the big cloves of garlic located in the middle of this pizza. Yum! - if you like garlic!

Manies Pizzeria & Greek Cuisine on 17th Ave SW. People say this is the best pizza in Calgary. I say it's overpriced and not even that tasty. I am particularly not a big fan of the crust.

4th St. Pizza in Mission. Not as thick as the others (or maybe I just didn't put that many toppings on it) but this was really good. This was one of my favorites.

 Spiros Pizza. This was my favorite to date. See how the cheese is baked crispy and golden on the crust? The sauce has that sweet spice in it here, which I normally don't like, but this pizza was just so perfect.

 

Sophies Pizza. I heard that these people were originally part of the Spiros crew, but I can't be sure. The pizza is similarly amazing, but the sauce favours oregano over cinnamon. The crust doesn't look as good either, but I swear this was an all around good pie.

 

Inglewood Pizza... in ... Inglewood. But they delivered to me downtown. This place actually placed 3rd in this year's FFWD "Best of" edition for the pizza category, and was the only Greek-style place to make the cut. But I've had this pizza and it doesn't make my top 3. There was something not quite right about the crust. 

 

Paul's Pizza and Steak House. Downtown. They got something sweet in that sauce and thick cut pepperoni. I think you can even get the meat sauce and pastrami on your pie. But the crust here just doesn't do it for me, and when it comes to Calgary-style pizza... it's all about the crust and cheese. 

 Nick's Pizza and Steakhouse. This is a well known Calgary institution. I was not at all impressed by the pizza.... this isn't even Greek-style! Just very lackluster. 

 

This picture is no good, but a friend took it on their phone for me before I realized I should be better prepared for my Calgary pizza research. This is Ogden Pizza & Pub, and it's actually pretty good for being out in Ogden (not that Atlas has a better location). The sauce is flavoured with oregano, and everything was satisfactory, except for when I tried the shrimps on my pizza and it tasted fishy. 

My Top 3:

1) Spiros 

2) Sophies

3) 4th St. 

Runners Up are Dimitris and Atlas.

Spiros Website

Sophies Website

4th St. Website

Dimitris Website

Atlas Website

Nicks Website

Manies Website

Inglewood Website

Paul's Pizza & Steak House on Urbanspoon

Ogden Pizza & Pub Website

Vegas Snacks

Each day we were in Vegas started off with a buffet. Since these were provided free of charge by our hotel, we didn't venture to the extravagant buffets of the Bellagio, the Rio, Paris, or Planet Hollywood. My advice is, if limited to the Excaliber, the Luxor and Mandolay Bay, skip the first two and go for the latter.

Other than  buffets, we just kind of hopped, skipped, and jumped along the strip and downtown and snacked on things that were in our path. I actually did some research and found a few interesting tidbits I was interested in trying out.

 

Sorry about the bite mark in this one... I was drunk and hungry and almost forgot to take a picture. This is actually one of the best slices of pizza I've ever had, and I don't think it was just because I was drunk. Go to New York New York and upstairs there is a place called New York Pizzeria. I remember the crust being perfectly crispy.

This was a actually a really satisfying quesadilla from Main St. Station Casino 777 Restaurant and Brewery, located downtown. Happy hour is Mon-Fri from 3pm-6pm and you can get $2 drinks and $4.50 appys like this sirloin and black bean chili quesadilla, served with fresh salsa and guac.

 Now this is really interesting. Spam Musubi. Kinda looks like sushi, but it was served warm. This is a Hawaiian favorite, and yes, it is nori seaweed surrounding rice and spam. Hawaiians love their spam. The California Casino downtown is apparently where Hawaiians stay in Vegas. I don't know why. But there is this little no frills cafe upstairs that serves authentic Hawaiian fare. This was actually pretty cool.

 

Strangely enough, my research directed me to a hip cafe called The Beat @ Emergency Arts, which is kind of an artistic centre with a bumpin' cafe right on Fremont St. as you walk west of the Fremont Experience. What is strange is that I heard they were known for their deviled eggs. I have never heard of a place known for deviled eggs so I had to try it. They were awesome! The egg was deviled just like any other deviled egg, but it was topped with a piece of crispy bacon, a slice of jalapeno, and a sliver of something pickled. The flavour profile of these elements really worked together to create the best deviled egg experience I've had to date. The cafe is also known for their peanut butter, jelly and bacon sandwiches. 

 

I had read a lot about the famous $1.99 shrimp cocktail at the Golden Gate Casino in downtown. Apparently this was the place to introduce shrimp cocktails to Vegas, and it was 99 cents for the longest time. There were a lot of people eating these, actually, but really it's just plain small shrimp in a cup with spicy ketchup on top. It was mediocre, as "legends" often tend to be ... *Peter's ... cough*.... besides, I've been spoiled with seafood living on the coast my whole life, so... yeah. Whatever.

 This was yummy! It is a crepe served in Paris just outside the buffet area. We didn't get to splurge on the fancy Paris buffet, so we did this instead. This one has cheese, sausage, pepperoni, and marinara sauce. I guess it's kind of the pizza of crepes. I love a good savoury crepe and this hit the spot.

Pizzeria at New York New York

Main St. Station Triple 7 Restaurant and Brewery

Aloha Specialties

The Beat Coffeehouse @ Emergency Arts

The Golden Gate Shrimp Cocktail Bar

Paris Hotel

In & Out Burger - Las Vegas

Apparently when the first In & Out Burger opened in Texas, a woman was brought to tears upon her first bite. It was something she was waiting her whole life to try. I was waiting to try it too, as the fast food chain only operates out of California, Arizona, and Nevada. Well, and Texas most recently. Oh, and Utah. Unfortunately, when in Vegas in the mid-afternoon there is a good chance that you will be hungover, as I was. I don't feel like I got the full effect of this taste experience. So what can I say about it? It was definitely good! Well constructed and presented, oozing with cheese, and featuring some real nice beef patties. They were a little thin, and the onion was a little thick. My only complains, really. As far as fast food hamburgers go, this is probably one of the best. It's nothing to cry over though, whereas a hangover might be. Now that I'm home, I wish I was back in Vegas... and now that I smell McDonalds in the air, I wish I could grab some In & Out.

In & Out Burger
4888 Dean Martin Dr.
Las Vegas, Nevada
89103
(800) 786-1000
http://www.in-n-out.com

District

 

Welcome to one of my favorite watering holes! I discovered this place by accident last summer, strolling along 11th Ave with a friend. By "strolling" and "by accident", I actually mean deliberate and calculated bar-hopping. It wasn't that I didn't know District existed. It was that I had no idea of the delights that were in store! I was completely taken by the house brewed "black pilsnor" and fresh oysters. Recently I returned with a friend in order to try some of the tasty looking menu items. District is sort of a pub for foodies. The menu is always revolving, and is located on chalk boards on the walls. You might have to get up and walk around to figure out what you wanna eat. The menu buzzes with words like "local" and "line caught". They also have a charcuterie and cheese menu at your table with a pencil to make selections. Most importantly, you can see the beer being brewed right in house by Brew Brothers, which is served up in jars. Love it.

The oysters are something like $3.50 a pop, and come with accompanying sauces, which, to a true oyster lover are completely unnecessary. Just a little squeeze of lemon, and slurp! - I am transported to my home on the coast for just a moment. There are usually east and west coast varieties to choose from.

The wings are probably the best in town. Crispy, meaty, and not too greasy. A good selection of sauces. The best part is District's happy hour featuring 25 cent wings and $3.75 jars of house-brewed beer. You can get the same wings and beer next door at the more low-key Amsterdam Rhino for different deals. 

This is the notorious bucket of bacon with maple syrup. This is one of those menu items you just have to try because it sounds so cool. But while the house-cured bacon is really good bacon, there just isn't enough of it to justify the "bucket" gimmick and the price. 

There is a poutine board. That's right, District is also known for their poutines, and yes they have duck confit. This is a small, but there are larger sizes and you can add toppings. We just added some gruyere cheese which was delish. I have to admit, this is one of the best poutines I've ever had. The fries were seasoned and crispy, and the cheese and gravy were full of flavour. My friend Dave enjoyed this so much he ordered a large one on another trip with a big 'ol fried egg on it.

As you may know, I am not a fan of random eggs being inappropriately thrown onto unrelated non-breakfast structures, but he seemed to enjoy it.

This is a lovely bison burger (free range and local I'm sure), with crispy onion rings and house-made aioli; the combination of which was fantastic. The fries were served with a little jar of house-made ketchup.

 

Look at all the oysters! Okay... so how can you not love a pub that brews its own beer, cures its own meat, and features a revolving menu of local, wholesome ingredients? A pub that has a cheese menu, a poutine menu, fresh oysters and excellent chicken wings?? You have to love this place!

District
607 11th Ave SW
T2R 0E1
http://enjoydistrict.com

Gaucho Brazilian BBQ

How does one write a review on Brazilian BBQ? The experience can be overwhelming, between runs to the salad bar and the never ending supply of meat that is continuously brought over to your table. Things get sloppy. People get carried away. Stomachs get full. It is a very enjoyable way to spend an evening.

So let's start by explaining what exactly a Brazilian BBQ is, for those not in the know. "Rodizio" dining is a type of dining service where you pay a fixed price and waiters bring all-you-can-eat food over to your table. A "churrascaria" is a type of restaurant that serves grilled meats, often in rodizio dining fashion, in which case the waiters come to your table with skewers of meats and slice off portions for you. This type of dining is popular in southern Brazil, and hence we have what is called Brazilian BBQ! Carnivores rejoice! I have heard that in most of South America, vegetarianism does not exist. If you insist that you are a vegetarian, people will think you mean that you consume only chicken and fish. So you can see how Brazilian BBQ might do quite well in a place like Calgary.

There are two Brazilian BBQ joints in Calgary, and both reside on MacLeod Trail. I had heard that Gaucho was more authentic, but that Bolero was maybe a little bit better. Being a sucker for authenticity, I decided to drag my friend Jordon to Gaucho. Yes... it required a lot of kicking and screaming ; )

Actually, it was his idea. 

The interior was pleasant, but quite busy. Jordon informed me that the service was better at Bolero, but every time we started to complain about something taking a lot time, it came immediately.

The restaurant was busy due to a Telus promotion that took place during the month of May at several locations in the city. Basically, we got a free appy and dessert with our meal, and this was the last night of the promotion. Good timing! ... and the slow-ish service was forgivable. As soon as my beer arrived at the table, things seemed to move more quickly. Our waiter brought us an appetizer sampler basket, which was just ok. I liked the polenta sticks the best, but they are not in the picture. The salad bar was interesting, and I probably put too much on my plate to begin with. Beets, sweet potatoes, cheese and olives, tomatoes and hearts of palm were some of the things I grabbed. There were also a few hot items, like rice, Brazilian beef stroganoff, coconut curried basa, and black bean stew. I especially enjoyed the black bean stew as the backdrop to my meat.

The meat patrol is fast and furious! We had a little flip card of a cow on our table that signified whether we wanted visitations from the bearers of succulent meat. Once flipped, we were constantly asked, "Would you like garlic steak?.... lamb?... chicken wings? ... pork rib? .... beef rib? ... chicken hearts?" ..... we tried the chicken hearts, and we both decided that we didn't hate them, but we didn't particularly like them either. The waiter actually seemed surprized when we consented to having them plop down on our plates.  The garlic steak was a little tough, but the pork was sumptuous! There was only one  cut of meat that would qualify as a bleeder, but all the meat was flavoured nicely and definitely kept us occupied. We also really enjoyed the sausages. When the waiters brought the ribs around, they brought them out on big tables, and sliced off a portion. Both the beef and pork ribs were excellent. Probably my favorites of the night.

Beef Ribs.

Pork Ribs.

The waiters were more than happy to slow down for photos, and even let us pose with the carving knives. Jordon made a little presentation plate for me so that I could show a nice photo of what we were eating on my blog. The lighting was dim, and our plates resembled natural disasters, so this was challenging.

Attempt # 1 shows some nice rare meat.

Attempt # 2 showcases some garlic steak and black bean stew.

Towards the end of our meal, we had to flip our cow card downwards so we could take a breath and contemplate how we were going to digest everything we had just consumed. 

It is a miracle that we still had room in our stomachs after this enormous meal. Let's just say, when I got home I was entirely useless. Normally I don't order dessert when I go out. So many extra calories and dollars, though sometimes I'll treat myself to some cheeses or port. But when your dessert is on Telus, you gotta go for it!

 This is flan. I had heard of flan. Never had flan. It is a sweet custard dessert, like creme caramel and has Spanish origins. None of this matters. This dessert was so good it made me want to start ordering desserts again.

 

This is Jordon's grilled pineapple and coconut icecream. I love coconut so this is a winner for me. Although Jordon looked at me a little funny when I exclaimed, "Mmmm it tastes like sunscreen!"

This was a fun experience, though a little expensive at $35 a pop, and usually it would be extra for the desserts and appys. Still, the amount of meat and salad you can eat is astronomical. I need to take a break from this kind of eating for a while, but in the future I would like to try Bolero, which is known for its skewers of grilled pineapple. In the meantime, I'm on a diet until swim suit season!

Gaucho Brazilian BBQ
5920 MacLeod Trail SW
403-454-9119
http://www.brazilianbbq.ca/