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Spent part of this long weekend perusing through the Summer 2011 edition of LCBO’s FOOD & DRINK magazine, enjoying the shade of a black oak in High Park, and thought I would share with you a few of my fav’s!

White Owl Whisky
pg. 20 LCBO 194878 $39.95

In the glass it’s hard to believe it’s Canadian whisky, but this crystal-clear 10-year-old spirit distilled from wheat and rye is filtered after blending to remove impurities– and colour, too. With citrus and floral notes and a touch of vanilla, it shines in your favourite cocktails, or served straight up, it goes beautifully with caviar.

Paul Delane Crémant de Bourgogne Réserve Brut
pg. 22 LCBO 214981 $17.50

Whatever you’re celebrating this summer, make sure to pop the cork on this new listing. An outstanding bubbly at such a good price makes luxury affordable. Produced primarily from Chardonnay, it’s dry and fruity with delicious bubbles and toasty notes. The ideal warm-weather aperitif, it also teams well with sushi.

Beefeater London Dry Gin Summer Edition
pg. 28 LCBO 242735 $24.95

Crafted by master distiller Desmond Payne to celebrate the season, Beefeater London Dry Gin Summer Edition captures the essence of summer by blending the original Beefeater recipe with elderflower, black-currant and hibiscus flower. A decidely mellow version of a classic, the Summer Edition has floral notes and is surprisingly less juniper-forward than traditional gins, says The Martini Club’s Michelle Hunt– making it lovely for sipping in the sun. For backyard entertaining or garden parties, Michelle recommends serving it either with pink lemonade and a fresh mint garnish or with sparkling grapefruit and a few chives.

I am definitely getting the Beefeater, and don’t you think it would make a most charming summer gift hamper with this book and some cute glassware? Sigh.

There’s a great-looking recipe for veal tenderloin in the F&D too; I can’t find a link to it online, so click here or scroll down to the next post for my adapted version.

I also think this wine is worth stocking up on now for some winter dinner parties, because it’s so kitschy! It seems to be your basic table Riesling. But check out the label:

And on that note… Happy Canada Day weekend!

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What you’ll need for the meat:
2 veal tenderloins, each about 1 1/2 lbs., silver skin removed
1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper & sea salt mix
1 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp olive oil

…and for the sauce:
1 tbsp salted butter
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp brandy, diluted with 2 tbsp water
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed
freshly ground black pepper & sea salt to season

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, combine the freshly ground black pepper & sea salt mix with the smoked paprika. Take tenderloin out of fridge, rub with olive oil and then massage well with the spice mixture. Set aside for 30 minutes to come to room temperature.

2. For brandy butter sauce, place a medium saucepan over medium heat on the barbecue side burner or stovetop. Heat 1 tbsp butter until foaming. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until very soft and fragrant. Remove from heat and stir in the diluted brandy. Whisk in the cold butter, 1 cube at a time, until fully incorporated. If the mixture becomes too cool to melt the butter, place it back on the burner briefly while whisking constantly to ensure sauce does not split. Season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm over very gentle heat until ready to serve.

3. Preheat the grill to medium-high or 450 degrees.

4. Sear the tenderloin in a pan on the side burner or stovetop, about 1 1/2 minutes a side. (Original recipe called for searing on an infrared burner.)

5. Move tenderloin to medium-high barbecue and grill for about 4 to 6 minutes a side for medium-rare. Remove from grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

6. Slice the tenderloin into 1″-thick medallions, remove to a platter and spoon brandy butter sauce over.

*This recipe has been adapted from the Summer 2011 edition of LCBO’s FOOD & DRINK magazine (pg. 168)

So I’ve had a pretty nice weekend and thought I would share the deets with y’all.

Friday after work I met up with ME at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. There was mad chaos out front as the babes of Bollywoodland arrived for the next night’s awards soiree. We headed to the Library Bar for Indian-inspired cocktails, and were quickly consuming their Jaipur Mojito with its fresh watermelon infusion. Although, the BEST watermelon mojitos I’ve had were poolside at the Hollywood Roosevelt, these ones were not bad. The $24 “sharing plate” of massala-spiced tapas was GRAVELY disappointing, however. Describing the size as miniscule would not suffice.

Keep it in perspective; these were all bite-size…

Mmm… watermelony

Afterwards we sauntered over to Queen & John for a pint at The Town Crier, the new beer haven that now casts its mighty shadow over Smokeless Joe. The bartender gave me the stink-eye when I ordered a half-pint. I wasn’t going to get all into it with him, and explain that I have been on a gluten-free diet for the past eight weeks and this was my first foray back into the barley & hops. He looked at me the way me and JG looked at the girl in Paddy Reilly’s in NYC (the world’s first and only all-draught Guinness pub) who asked the bartender for something “girly and not Irish.”

Pure Genius

I wanted to explain to The Town Crier waiter that I own thirstybeaver.ca, I’m one of them– his beer brethren– but he didn’t seem interested. My King Pilsner was quite bitter-tasting, but man how I’ve missed the refreshment of a golden glass fit for the gods!

Saturday morning and afternoon was spent (along with a stomach ache from my gluten cheats) watching WNED, doing laundry, washing the kitchen floor, and cleaning the bathroom. The evening saw me showered and changed into Indian-esque patterned capri pants, a black silk t-shirt, and a sequin shrug– fitting attire for the International Indian Film Academy awards gala! JG invited me to a V.I.P. box to watch the show. The Rogers Centre was PACKED, with screaming, cheering Bollywood fans. Dalton McGuinty was there to give welcome remarks, and a bunch of people dressed in white danced around to a performance ad for the province of Ontario (yup), complete with Chinese dragons (YUP). Maybe 15% of the guests wore sarees. I wanted to but JG said I wasn’t allowed. Since I’m not Indian. And we’d be sitting in her work box. Sigh. I’ve been looking for a reason to wear a saree for years! Instead, I pigged out on popcorn, chips, and white wine. Maybe I was just really thirsty but Two Oceans sauvignon blanc goes down really smooth! (NOTE: On June 15th, JG and I attended iYellow Wine Club’s South African Braai at C Lounge with an amazing array of S.A. wines. Will write blog post about that soon!)

Sunday morning saw me up to watch the Corrie omnibus as per usual, and then pop over to Bloor West Village for a few groceries– including a fresh baguette and some shaved ham for the JAMBON-BEURRE!!! I would soon be eating on my picnic in High Park with my university friend SPK! Yay, ham sandwich! Yay, SPK! (Not sure which one I was more looking forward to, heh heh.) We picnicked by the playground with her two sons, and then sauntered over to the zoo to visit the yaks, llamas, bison, emu, Highland cattle, peacocks, et al. I just love how there’s a zoo across the street from my apartment. I especially love the Highland cattle and their shaggy fringe. (I cut my own bangs on Thursday. I hope my stylist doesn’t read my blog. She’d kill me!)

MOO!

After SPK headed back out of town, my cousin M (of M&M) came over and we went back up to Bloor West Village for a sushi b-day dinner (his, not mine). Loves me some sushi pizza. Then we popped into the Chapters, which is housed in the old Runnymede theatre and you can still see the stage and the gold ceiling decorations. It’s awesome.

Anyhoo, so here it is coming up on 11pm and this eventful, happy weekend has almost come to a close. Whilst writing this post, I finished my bedtime snack of (two) pasteis de Nata tarts and a cup of French-pressed coffee.

Surprisingly, I did not spill this on my laptop…

And now all that’s left to do is pick out something to wear tomorrow, and then get ready for bed. Yay, sleep! That’s where I’m a viking!

Night, y’all.

x

Drop by Queen West at Soho THIS weekend (June 17-19th) as the UK’s infamous Topshop and Topman brands will be setting up pop-up shops to promote their coming to Canada via a deal with Hbc. There will be DJs and ice cream and it’s supposed to be sunny and 25 degrees. ‘Nuff said.

I still own Topshop items from the ’90s that I picked up in London.

It’s kinda like H&M or Le Chateau. Trendy, but affordable. And you can also find some great basics there too (like the day the buttons on my shirt dress kept bursting open as I was walking down The Strand, and I popped into Topshop to find this great long black tank top that I can also wear as a quick summer dress). Amazing!

Follow them on Twitter @Topshop_Canada

Yay! England! (I’ll take a taste of my second home in any of its forms)

x

Although, as you know, I get my fruits & veg delivered, I just LOVES me a cute farmers market. Especially in downtown Toronto, where the juxtaposition of farm and city makes the earthy goods even more appealing. Trapped in a grey cubicle from 8am to 5pm, getting out at lunch not just to perch on the edge of a cement block and scarf down some sushi, but to leisurely saunter through a public space, perusing local harvests– well, it makes a girl happy.

So, if you are also looking for a bountiful bazaar to provide a fresh break to your workday, here’s a list of where to find farmers’ markets in downtown Toronto:

MONDAY

None that I’m aware of! Comment below if you know of any in the downtown core.

TUESDAY

Trinity-Bellwoods Park (Dundas & Shaw)
Trinity-Bellwoods Farmers Market
3pm-7pm
May 10th – end of Summer

The Hospital for Sick Children
SickKids My Market®
9am-2pm
June 7th – October 25th

Ryerson University
Ryerson University MyMarket®
3:30pm-7:30pm
June 14th – October 25th

Riverdale Farm
Farmers’ Market
3pm-7pm
May 17th – October 25th

WEDNESDAY

Nathan Phillips Square
Fresh Wednesday
12pm-2pm
July 13th – August 31st

Nathan Phillips Square
Farmers’ Market
8am-2:30pm
June 1st – October 19th
*No market September 28th due to Nuit Blanche

Lippincott Green P Parking
Bloor Borden Farmers’ Market
3pm-7pm
June 1st – October 26th

THURSDAY

Arnell Plaza, Bay Adelaide Centre
Bay Adelaide Market
11am-2pm
June 16th – September 15th

Willcocks Common (U of T campus)
University of Toronto Farmer’s Market
2pm-5pm
June 2nd – October 6th

David Pecaut Square (formerly Metro Hall Square)
Indulge
8:30am-2:30pm
May 26th – October 20th

Dufferin Grove Park
Organic Farmers’ Market
3pm-7pm
January 6th – December 29th

FRIDAY

Scadding Court Community Centre (Dundas West & Bathurst)
Live Local Marketplace
6pm-10pm
June 17th – end of Summer

WEEKENDS

St. Lawrence Market
North Farmer’s Market
Saturdays
5am onwards
All year

Evergreen Brick Works
Farmers Market
Saturdays
8am-1pm
All year

Toronto’s Historic Distillery District
The Distillery Sunday Market
Sundays
10am-4pm
May 29th – September 25th

Queen and Coxwell
Leslieville Farmers’ Market
Sundays
9am-2pm
June 5th – October 30th

Atlantic and Hannah
Liberty Village Farmers’ Market
Sundays
9am-2pm
June 5th – October 30th

And, some fun one-time markets too:

St. Lawrence Market
Strawberry Festival
June 18th
9am-1pm

Parkdale Town Square
Parkdale Bazaar
June 25th
11am-5pm

St. Lawrence Market
Corn Roast
August 6th
11am-3pm

For a list of all farmers markets in Toronto, not just downtown, click here.

Buy local, eat better.

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