Portugal 2017

I never knew how picturesque Portugal was before my visit. It was hard to take a bad photo, which made it even more unfortunate that I lost my camera halfway through my trip. (Cue the sad violins.)

Photos from my phone will have to do and the beauty of Portugal shines right through. I started up north in Porto, a city known for port wines. As a huge Harry Potter nerd, I had to make the pilgrimage to Livrario Lello, which was where J.K Rowling wrote part of her books. The beautiful staircase in the bookstore was the inspiration for the staircase at Hogwarts. I also did a day trip out to the Douro Valley, one of the oldest wine regions in the world, and drank my fill of wine. Lots of wine was consumed on this trip.

I stopped in Coimbra to visit Portugal's oldest university but my sole target was the Joanina Library, which was stunning. It's a must visit for bibliophiles. Fun fact: university students in Portugal wear capes, just like the students in Harry Potter.

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Sneak Peak: Portugal

I spent the last two weeks in Portugal, a land for seafood lovers. Meat and potato eaters are also welcomed. Vegetarians - maybe not so much.

More details to come.

Creamy Corn Pasta with Basil

I have an infatuation with corn. Once summer hits, I wait in anticipation for the appearance of corn trucks that dots the city. It's the only place I buy my corn from.

Corn trucks, you ask? More specifically, I look for corn trucks from Sweet Ridge Farm, the last commercial farm to exist in Toronto. They produce the sweetest corn that I have ever tasted. Because the corn is picked the same day that it is sold, it's super fresh and juicy.

I came across this pasta recipe and was intrigued, as the corn is thrown into a blender to make a creamy pasta sauce without the use of cream. Each piece of pasta is coated with sweet, corn-y goodness.

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Ratatouille

The end of summer means an abundance of ripe tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplant and zucchini. These vibrant, multicoloured vegetables go beautifully together, both visually and gastronomically.

Ratatouille is an easy dish to throw together - a one pot meal, which is my favourite kind of meal. I've seen recipes where you roast each vegetable separately (!) before they are combined, which seems like an unnecessary amount of dishes and time. Perhaps the flavours are more concentrated when you roast the vegetables separately, though I find this recipe makes a scrumptious stew using seasonal, ripe vegetables.

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Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake

It's been firmly established that chocolate is my kryptonite, but do you know what makes chocolate even better? Raspberries. I love the flavour of dark chocolate mixed with the tartness of raspberries, so much that I've made a rugelach with this combination.

I first discovered this complementary flavour when I was gifted a chocolate mousse cake filled with a mixed berry coulis, finished with a dark chocolate glaze. It instantly became my favourite cake and in "treat yo' self" mode, purchased it for myself on my birthdays.

I then discovered this recipe and it was like the universe knew exactly what I wanted in a cake. Moist, flavourful chocolate cake? Raspberry filling? Chocolate ganache frosting? Check, check and check. I've made this cake several times and it has never disappointed me.

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Hong Kong 2017

I had two goals for Hong Kong: to eat as much as I can, and to do some hiking.

When people think of Hong Kong, they think of a large, cosmopolitan city filled with skyscrapers. While this is all true, Hong Kong also has a lot of green space with great hiking trails and amazing views. I managed to squeeze in two hikes despite it being ridiculously hot and humid: Dragon's Back and Lion Rock.

I also spent a day in Sai Kung visiting my grandfather's grave and could not believe the view. I can't imagine a more beautiful or peaceful resting place.

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Here are some other memorable things that I ate:

Roast Goose Lai Fun Noodle Soup from Yat Lok

I've eaten a lot of roast duck in my life but not goose so I don't have a lot to compare it to; however, the skin and meat on the goose at Yat Lok was tasty. Get the goose over rice if you don't want the skin to become soggy, though noodle soup is my jam, as you can tell from this list...

Wonton Egg Noodle Soup from Mak's Noodle

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Top Five Desserts in Hong Kong

I just got back from Asia, the majority of it spent in Hong Kong visiting family, and honestly, there was not enough time to eat everything that I wanted to. Food was everywhere in Hong Kong and everything looked scrumptious. I could not stop stuffing my face.

As someone with a sweet tooth, dessert was consumed daily. Here are my top five favourite sweets I ate in Hong Kong:

Steamed Egg Cake (Ma Lai Gao) from Tim Ho Wan

Possibly the best steamed egg cake I've ever had. The brown sugar gave the cake a depth of caramelized flavour, and the cake came out piping hot but perfectly moist and spongey. If only all dim sum places served steamed egg cake like this...!

Double Skin Milk (Shuang Pi Nai) from Yee Shun Milk Company

I've been ambivalent about steamed milk pudding my whole life but this completely changed my mind. The pudding had a clean, smooth milk flavour, so light that it melted on your tongue. Get the original "steamed milk with two films" and you won't regret it.

Hong Kong-Style French Toast (Sai Do Si) from a cha chaan teng in Sha Tin

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Spaghetti alle Vongole

I'm jetting off to Asia for several weeks but wanted to share this before I go:

I made spaghetti alle vongole for the first time. It's one of my favourite pasta dishes and while it wasn't as good as the one I had in Italy (I still dream of it), it was pretty darn close.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

As spring slowly makes its appearance (we're so close to actual spring weather!), I start to crave for lighter meals.

I had a bunch of parsley in the fridge that needed to be used up and tabbouleh sprang into my mind. Instead of the traditional bulgur, I used quinoa as the grain, though I have also used couscous in the past.

I've never been a fan of raw onion because I found it to be too peppery. Recently, I learned the trick where if you soak your cut onion in cold water for 10 minutes, it tames the flavour and makes the onion crispier.

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Perfect Brownies

A confession: I'm a chocolate fiend. I cannot resist anything made out of chocolate no matter how hard I try. If someone were to ask what my favourite dessert is, chocolate would be at the top of the list.

I don't need a large portion of a chocolate treat – just something dark and rich to hit the spot. A square or two of dark chocolate usually satisfies my cravings.

Brownies are the perfect chocolate dessert, but sometimes they can go oh-so-wrong. I don't like my brownie to be overly sweet or cakey; if I wanted cake, I would eat cake. My perfect brownie is dense, chewy and bittersweet. If that is the description of your ideal brownie, this recipe is for you.

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Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

While it's been a relatively warm winter, I'm still deep in my phase of soups and stews. To me, there's nothing more comforting than a piping hot bowl of soup to warm you up.

Red lentils are perfect for soup-making – they cook up quickly and add bulk and protein to your soup.

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Vegetarian Chili

We're in the depths of winter and I'm constantly craving for soups and stews. Chili falls into that latter category - warm, hearty and tasty.

There is a lot of debate about what makes a chili. Some frown upon beans in their chili, though I can't imagine the dish without it. In fact, I fall into the opposite group and say chili is delicious even without the beef.

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