In this case, I decided to take a stab at one of my all time favorites: Green Curry Chicken. I have admitted before 2002 and my move from Montreal to Toronto, I had never tried authentic Thai food, much less Green Curry Chicken. But now that I have, years later I’m still loving it.

If you want real Green Curry Chicken, I highly recommend you check out either Thai One On in Toronto or Green Papaya in Ottawa. My version, like I said, is my spin on the classic dish.

I wanted the onion flavor without the harsh onion taste, so I decided to use leeks. They have a sweeter taste to them and they’re also visually pleasing in a meal.

Next I chopped lemongrass which adds, as you would guess, a lemon flavor.  Lemongrass is tough, but it breaks down and releases flavor when cooked.

Cilantro is a staple of many meals I make because of its unique taste. It adds flavor without overpowering it. For this dish I diced up a handful.

I’m sure some purists would say that using canned sauces is anything but authentic, however I decided that since my kitchen in Barrhaven is about as far-removed from Thailand as one can get, nobody will mind if I bring out the canned Green Curry sauce.

To add to the sauce, I used coconut milk. (Which for some reason was found in the coffee and tea aisle and not the baking aisle where I assumed it would be) The coconut milk makes for a more milky sauce that coats the chicken and allows all the ingredients to boil and cook while simmering.

Scallions (or green onions) cut on an angle for taste and style. I’m all about the style on this one…

And of course the chicken.  I decided to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts because thighs are meatier and have more flavor on account of being ‘dark meat’. From a large pack, I diced have the thighs and left the others whole.

Bring on the skillet. In a pan with a small amount of oil, I added the scallions and leeks.  You can use normal oil if you like or add a very small amount of sesame seed oil for a touch more flavor.  But be warned, sesame seed oil is very strong and brings on an entirely new taste

Once the onion/leek mixture starts to soften, I added the chicken and let it cook, turning frequently to ensure that the thighs are getting cooked.  You don’t want to brown the chicken, but you certainly don’t want it to be raw. Many bad things happen with raw chicken.

Once the chicken appears to be cooked on the outside, add the coconut milk and green curry sauce which you can mix in advance. Slowly pour the sauce into the pan, coating the chicken.

Allow this to cook covered and uncovered, stirring on a medium-high heat for as long as it takes to cook through the chicken — roughly 15 to 20 minutes.

Once it is cooked, serve on a plate with your choice of fancy rice. For those lacking fancy rice, good ol’ Uncle Ben’s will do or you can get really swanky and get yourself that two-minute microwave rice that cooks in a bag.

Again, I’m sure some people will turn their noses up at the idea of what I made being anything even remotely close to real Green Curry Chicken, but that’s the beauty of not being scared to take chances in the kitchen.  I made something that I enjoyed and hopefully anyone who tries it will too

Longo’s at York Mills Road in Toronto

When I was in Toronto recently, I couldn’t pass up the chance to stop by the store and see it again.  Yes, most people miss friends or family when they move away.  I miss a store.  But I assure you, it’s not just any store.

As a foodie and an at-home chef, I can’t begin to stress the importance of a local supermarket that is more than just a grocery store.  You can get a liter of milk and potatoes just about anywhere these days. But a store like Longo’s makes you feel as if you’re at a market rather than a fast-paced in and out store.

For those who have never been, Longo’s started out back in 1956 with one store on Yonge Street and Castelfield. In 1962 they added a second store on Woodbine Avenue.  Since those days, Longo’s has grown to 21 stores in the Greater Toronto Area including The Market by Longo’s, a smaller scale market-type store located in downtown areas.

Longo’s York Mills had (and still does have) an amazing seafood department where many great meals started, as well an outstanding produce section and deli counter. And even at the end of my time in Toronto, Longo’s was there when it came to getting take-home meals, prepared fresh each day, so that I could eat something good rather than take-out from a fast food restaurant.

And while Barrhaven has no shortage of supermarkets as I’ve discovered, and I have managed to find a very good local store with Farm Boy, I will always pine for the days of Longo’s.

But to let the cat out of the bag — and as you may have guessed from the title — the Nacho Podcast is on its way!

Yes, I felt it was finally time to get off my butt and do the whole podcast thing as I had promised I would do years ago when I started the blog. (I didn’t publicly promise it, in case you’re searching archives or waiting for a hyperlink. It was more of a thought in passing along the lines of “…Need to pick up my dry-cleaning… I’m all out of dish soap… A Beautiful Mind was highly overrated… a podcast would be fun to do…” )

I was recently inspired to get back to the podcast idea by Scarborough Dude, who by the way does a thoroughly entertaining podcast about life in Toronto that you owe it to yourself to check out, and by Etiquette Bitch who is one of Chicago’s top bloggers/Twitter/podcasters and actually gave me a shout-out on one of her recent podcasts. She too does a great podcast that is both funny and entertaining.

The podcast itself will be about life in Ottawa, as seen through my eyes (similar to the blog) but also feature comments on society, news stories, life in general and whatever else comes to mind.  Bunny will co-host — some “social media experts” will be quick to point out that a podcast isn’t podcast unless there are two people involved, but that’s not always the case — but the floor will also be open to guests from time to time.

And to make the magic happen, I’ll make use of my Audio Technica AT2020 microphone, a Mackie DFX-6 mixing board and Audacity, a great (and free) program used for mixing and audio editing which really is enough equipment to not only record with, but also run a small-time radio station.

But over the last few weeks, I’ve been in the market for a portable, hand-held recorder that would make life even easier and would not only speed things up, but also allow me to take the show on the road, so to speak. A few models I’ve been looking at include the Zoom H4n and the Olympus LS-10 which was recommended to me by Scarborough Dude.

All the technical stuff aside, the podcast is on its way. Might do a few test runs, just to see what it sounds like, but I would say within a few weeks we should have an actual show.

And finding a better name other than Nacho Podcast might also be in order. There could be something in it for you if you can come up with something.

Twitter followers and fellow foodies have been kind enough to suggest many places around Ottawa that they feel come close to the Korean BBQ I had in Toronto, but never having tried it themselves, their suggestions fall into the “close but no cigar” category.

I suddenly realized that maybe it was because people in Ottawa didn’t know what I was talking about.  They didn’t know exactly what I was really looking for — and believe me when I say I can be picky about my food preferences.  I’d made mention of it when I visited Toronto in February and made sure to pay a visit to all my favorites.

For years Korean Grill House, a chain of local Korean Barbecue restaurants in Toronto has been my eatery of choice when the craving strikes. And aside from the in-table grills, the real trick is it’s ALL YOU CAN EAT. That’s the secret.

To properly understand what I mean when I say “authentic” Korean BBQ, follow me down the proverbial rabbit hole and take a look…

My preferred method of Korean BBQ has an in-table grill, most always fueled by gas.

Then come the side dishes that consist of potatoes, sprouts, tofu and spicy cabbage. There are also rice bowls and soup offered.

All you can drink soft drinks are a nice touch too…

Now we get to the main event, so to speak.  Trays of uncooked meat and fish. Vegetarians will be pleased to know there is a grill-your-veggies option, but I’m sure you already figured out that I have never tried that.

The raw meat is placed either tray by tray or by various pieces together on the grill.  Make sure to cook the meat properly. For me, I always start with the beef.  There are very few points in your life when you can actually say “I’ll start with the beef…” but this is one of them.

Once the beef is cooked, feel free to add to the rice bowl so that you can convince yourself you’re having a healthy, well balanced meal.

Then you do the same thing for the ribs…

And the pork…

And the chicken…

And so on and so on.  Wait staff will come over periodically and ask if you if you want more of anything. As you can probably guess, my answer to that is “yes”.

That leaves the only remaining item, the less than awe-inspiring, rather boring “white fish”.

It’s been my understanding after years of eating Korean BBQ that the white fish is basically the ShamWow of the Korean BBQ world.  It’s used to clean up the grill and put out any small fires that may have started on account of left behind meat.

Of course, as always, at the end of the meal comes the bill. But as you can see, for two people with full all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink soda, a meal at Korean Grill House costs under $35, taxes included.

Now, none of this is any use to people in Ottawa as it’s been my understanding that a place such as this does not yet exist in Capital City — or I haven’t found it yet.  If anyone knows of one, I’d love to hear about it. But remember, it has to meet the very simple requirements:

1. It features an in-table grill. Not a stove or a hot-pot or the chef in the back cooking it for you
2. It’s all-you-can-eat

Hopefully I’ll find something like that.

I just have to accept we live in a world of bendy-buses pretending to be rapid transit and 20 minute waits. Oh, and a train that goes from nowhere, to nowhere. And of course spending money on some service garage and dodging investigations and inquires and audits.  All in a day’s work for OC Transpo.

But all of that is to say at least OC Transpo doesn’t waste money like the Toronto Transit Commission.

Under the so-called leadership of now-disgraced Toronto mayoral hopeful Adam Giambrone, the TTC has continued to fail when it comes to providing the service that Torontonians pay for. Not to mention they too just faced a massive fare hike — one that brings their monthly pass to a staggering $121.

One could argue that the city has Streetcars and Subways and a much larger fleet that covers  a landmass three times the size of Ottawa.  But that doesn’t mean they don’t piss away money and then moan to the three levels of government about it.

Take for example this…

I noticed it last week during my visit to Toronto.  As you can see, it’s a billboard with the iconic TTC shield logo on it, a web address and an information phone number.  And that’s it.

A billboard like that costs roughly $300 a day — and of course you can’t just buy one, or one day. This one is located at the busy intersection of Bayview and Eglinton Avenues. No less than seven TTC bus routes — their spur routes — pass by there every day, on their way to either a Subway station or a RT station.  Thousands of people — who are no doubt already on a bus — see this billboard.

What I want to know is “WHY?” Who in the city of Toronto doesn’t know what the TTC is? Why would you need to take out expensive ad space, on an ad that says NOTHING, just to remind people the TTC exists?

If the creative minds and advertising department wanted to increase ridership through a mass marketing campaign– in the face of the huge fare hike — they could have found a creative way to do it.  Maybe a slogan or stats showing that the TTC is truly “the better way.”

And if TTC riders wonder why their passes keep going up, maybe they should take a look at the man in charge (Giambrone), his pathetic leadership and the decision to spend money on frivolous and useless things such as billboards that tell you nothing you don’t already know.

I’ll be the first to admit I used to champion the cause of the TTC back in 1997 when I visited Toronto.  Coming from Montreal where the transit is only slightly better than Ottawa (they have a subway, but there are still long waits for buses) the TTC was amazing. Plush seats, large subways, streetcars that served as an extension of the subway. The TTC was great — at least to me.

But from living there over the course of seven years, I started to see kinks in the armor of the once great Toronto Transit Commission. Add to that Adam Giambrone coming in as Chairman in 2006, and that was the swan song, in my opinion.

And seeing them waste money on self-serving ads makes no sense.

One good thing is I can assume that come the 2010 Toronto elections, if the good people of Davenport (Ward 18) have any taste, they will not re-elect Adam Giambrone to City Council.  Or he’ll finally make a smart decision and decide not to seek a third term. His reign of terror over the TTC will finally be finished.  Too bad the damage is done.

As far as us here in Ottawa, again, not much can be done. Whether we get a new mayor this year or not, the OC Transpo will continue to do things their way, pushing people around and providing the “service” they provide, until someone comes along and finally stands up to them.

One can only imagine how expensive the fares will be by then.

But as it turns out, my guest is already quite familiar with our Nation’s Capital and has already done all the touristy things during other visits, leaving me with the task of cooking dinner and being a good host.

It was nice for a change to not leave the city on a weekend as I’ve done in the past, and to feel at home, being able to say “this is where I live”.

One of the things that makes Toronto interesting is that it’s so diverse and multicultural. Millions of people from hundreds of countries, all bringing their take on their culture’s cuisine.  And there’s me, ready to try it.

Sure, I may not venture into completely unknown territory when it comes to dining in Toronto as the ethnic and international foods I like can be found in almost any major city, but my seven years in that city did allow me to try things I hadn’t had before — and things I must have every time I go back.

Dim Sum at Pearl Harbourfront

Sunday at noon marked the first stop at Pearl Harbourfront Chinese Restaurant. Specializing in traditional dim-sum (they bring out the best stuff on Sunday) and classic Chinese food, this simple but elegant restaurant overlooks Lake Ontario.  Servers bring carts around during Dim Sum filled with tempting treats such as dumplings, sticky rice and pork buns.

Curry squid served as part of Dim Sum

A few steamed dumplings

Traditionally Dim Sum is offered only on weekends, but the increase in popularity has many restaurants offering lunch versions as well.  Pearl Harbourfront has been one of my favorite places, based on the food, service and atmosphere and quite a few friends over the years have come along for the ride.

Nachos at Harbour Sports Grille

Since that night, Team Canada was playing Team USA in what turned out to be the most watched hockey game in Canadian history, I thought we should try the nearby Harbour Sports Grille. It was close by and it was a sure bet they would be showing the game.

Located at the base of one of the many high-rise condos that have been built up along Toronto’s waterfront area, Harbour Sports Grille is a simple, yet engaging sports pub.  They’re open late and have a wide variety of popular menu items — including…. nachos!

I found the place to be a bit expensive for the type of food they were serving, but all in all it was fun.  Unfortunately, Canada did not win the game.

The nachos themselves were large — one of the largest presentations I’ve ever seen, in fact. I asked for extra cheese and the cooks made a good attempt at layering it the way I like it, but still some cheese remained uncooked inside the pile of chips.

Korean Barbecue at Korean Grill House

Monday night meant returning to a real favorite — Korean Grill House — for some REAL Korean barbecue.  Many folks in Ottawa have recommended various places to  me that they hope will fill the void, but none come close to the way Korean BBQ is supposed to be done.

Korean Grill House has many locations around Toronto, but we stopped into the one on Queen Street West.  Normally a very busy and popular destination, the restaurant is open late and features grill-it-yourself table-top barbecues as well as an amazing all-you-can-eat menu.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Korean BBQ at Korean Grill House is the best value and most unique and fun dining experience in all of Toronto.

Thai Food at Thai One On

Tuesday was a busy day, but thankfully a lunch meeting had me up in North York where I was able to stop into Thai One On for some classic Thai food.

Normally my meal of choice is Green Curry Chicken, but since I knew where I would be going for dinner, I decided to save room and have Hot & Sour Soup with an order of Spring Rolls.

I’ll admit I had never tried Thai food before living in Toronto, but once I did, I visited many places before finding Thai One On that (in my opinion) has some of the best Thai food in Toronto.  They too have several locations around town, but the York Mills restaurant was always my favorite as it was right down the street.

Sushi at Aji Sai Sushi

Tuesday night brought me to probably one of my all time favorite places.  Aji Sai Sushi in Thornhill, located just north of the city, came to my attention after a 2004 visit to Vancouver where I tried All-You-Can-Eat Sushi.  At the time, AYCE sushi was a relativity new concept as some feel the idea of an all-you-can-eat sushi-fest spoils the art of sushi.

But I had all-you-can-eat on the brain and I found this place on Bayview Avenue — and I’ve been going ever since.  The Bayview location was the first to adopt the all-you-can-eat menu which has proven to be so popular, the Queen Street and Yonge locations also offer it now.

And while I’ve found a new sushi stomping ground in Ottawa, nothing will ever take the place of my first sushi love in Toronto.

Lunch at Joey Don Mills

But the food adventures didn’t end there for me.  Wednesday morning, as I was getting ready to leave the city, I was suddenly filled with curiosity about a new place I’d heard about in the new Shops At Don Mills.  An upscale casual dining eatery called Joey – Don Mills.

Part of the Joey Restaurants family, Joey – Don Mills marks the first of what I hope will be more ventures into the Ontario market.

The upscale atmosphere, mixed with the stylish servers and fresh menu breathes new life into the Don Mills area.  Meals range from classics such as grilled chicken, pastas and cheese burgers to authentic butter chicken.

It was  nice to try the old favorites, but I’m glad I got to visit some new places as well.  As long as I can keep going back and trying them, everything will be good in my world.

And, I should point out, that since I’m here in Ottawa, the on-going quest to find new favorite haunts is always on my mind.

Thankfully I’m one of those people who likes to dine out.

This most recent trip gave me a chance to reflect on my choices in life.  Why I did what I did and would I do it again if I got the chance.  Seeing the city through the eyes of a tourist (again) sheds a different light on it — yet toss in the seven years worth of memories and you have an interesting mix.

I’ll be honest; I could see myself living there again one day. Only now do I see all the good that happened while I was there the first time.  The fun times, the great memories and the amazing experiences.  I had to leave so that I could see that.

But now the time has come to find those same feelings in Ottawa.  Capital City is my new home and I will make the most of it.  Because while I’ll admit I do have some regret about not making the most of my time in Toronto, I would hate to ever leave Ottawa and have even more regret that stems from not doing enough while I was here.

So here’s to good times in Ottawa and learning from past experiences.  Here’s to all new good memories and good times and making the most of where I live.

Just a couple days in Toronto, taking in the sights and sounds (and in some cases, smells) seeing a show and finding a way to beat the winter blahs. For me, despite all that goes into it, travel has always been relaxing.

When opportunities come up sometimes you have to seize the moment and go with it.  A couple days off, visiting the city is just what I need and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. And while I’m back in Hogtown, it also gives me a chance to look for a good deal on my latest obsession — Maui Jim sunglasses that were highly recommended to me. (But that’s obviously not the only reason for going.)

But does my Toronto trip mean something else? Should people be reading between the lines or guessing what my next move will be? To that I can say “no”. Things are good right now and it’s best to let them stay that way.

So for the next few days I’ll be back in Toronto, visiting familiar haunts.  Always, feel free to follow along in the world of Twitter for all the late-breaking between blog post action and excitement. (That was shameless self promotion mixed with sarcasm… just so we’re all clear.)

The last day or so has been interesting, to say the least. Aside from some unexpected car trouble that prevented me from going to a Tweet-up in Orleans, and of course the much-hyped death hoax of Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot, everything else has been gaining speed.

It’s amazing how fast one can throw things together and put a plan into action when the situation calls for it. Although I’ve been rather mute and vague  (both on my official Twitter feed and on this site) about things concerning some aspects of my life it seems that once again life keeps creating speed bumps for me to hurdle over.

So I’m thinking I need to do something. Nothing drastic, but something fun.  And we shall see what that is if everything works out right.  I’ve lined up a few ideas and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my “plan” will come together.