Guest Post: Spicy Peanut Chicken and Cucumber Cold Noodles

Mattster Chef is back on the blog! Tonight, Matt will be writing about one of our easy weeknight meals.

It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything for Our Happy Jar, and April wanted me to post this recipe because it’s one of our favourite cold noodle dishes and also super easy to make.

Spicy Peanut Chicken and Cucumber Cold Noodles

It tastes better than it looks!

 Ingredients (Makes 4 servings)

• 1 package of spaghetti or noodles
• 2 pieces of chicken breast (cut into small pieces)
• 1 English cucumber (julienned)
• 4 tablespoons of natural peanut butter (crunchy)
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce + ½ tablespoon to marinate chicken
• ½ tablespoon of dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil (split into halves)
• Chili oil to taste
• Water (varies)

Directions

1. The first thing to do is cut up your chicken into small pieces. I try to cut mine into long, narrow pieces to give it a shredded chicken feel.
2. Once your chicken has been cut up, marinate it with the minced garlic, ½ tablespoon of soy sauce, and ½ of the sesame oil, and mix it up. Once mixed, let the chicken marinate for as long or as little as you would like. Obvious rules apply: the longer you marinate, the more taste the chicken will have.
3. While the chicken is marinating, start to julienne the cucumber and make the peanut sauce.
4. For the peanut sauce: in a large bowl, add the peanut butter, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, ½ tablespoon of dark soy sauce, ½ sesame oil, and chili oil. Once all the ingredients are added, stir them together. The mixture will be thick, which is where the water comes in; slowly add water little-by-little and stir it into the peanut sauce.  This will gradually reduce its thickness, and you can stop adding water when it has enough of a saucy consistency (basically, you need it to be able to easily coat your noodles).
5. When the chicken is done marinating, boil the water for the pasta and heat a pan for the chicken. The chicken can be cooked and set aside while you’re making the pasta. Once the pasta is done, run it under cold water to cool (if you have time, you can also let it cool naturally).
6. After the pasta is cooled, get a large mixing bowl, and throw the pasta, cucumbers, and chicken together. Pour the peanut sauce over everything and toss thoroughly so everything is mixed well.

And then you’re done! This is a quick and easy meal that practically anyone can to make during the week, which is a requirement for us because we both work all day.

Chatime Opens Shop in the Annex!

Last Friday, Mary from Mary’s Happy Belly was kind enough to invite me to join her at Chatime Annex’s media launch. We not only got to tour the newest location—which is stellar given its close proximity to UT, residential buildings, and offices—but we also got to learn a little bit more about the company and its philosophy.

At the heart of it, it’s about making good tea (one part of their slogan of “Good Tea, Good Time”). At all the locations, they brew each kind of tea according to unique times and temperatures, and the tea leaves are imported from Taiwan. The toppings, like pudding and grass jelly, are also made fresh in-house!

One of the things I have always liked Chatime is the customization aspect of their drinks. Matt and I like ours with less ice, 50% sweet, and it’s awesome that they do that for their customers.

During our visit, we sampled their most popular drinks, as well as some of their more unique offerings!

Most Popular Drinks

• Chatime Milk Tea with Tapioca
• Taro Milk Tea with Pudding
• Roasted Milk Tea with Grass Jelly

The Roasted Milk Tea with Grass Jelly is actually my favourite drink from Chatime, and ever since Matt got me hooked on it, I crave it all the time. The Chatime owners also explained something that I had lamented about in an earlier post: I thought that the taro milk tea seemed powdery. It’s actually because they use real taro, which has that grainy texture, whereas I had mistaken it for powder! It’s good to know that it was because it was fresh taro!

Unique Offerings

• Chatime Red Bean Milk Tea
• Hazelnut Chocolate Milk Tea
• Brown Rice Green Milk Tea
• Japanese Sakura Sencha
• Chocolate Mousse
• Wintermelon Mousse
• Taiwan Alishan JinShyuan Tea

*The adorable bubbletea cake in the middle is a chocolate cake with green tea mousse from Kelly’s Baked Goods!

They were all very good, but for me, the most interesting were the wintermelon mousse (kind of savoury-sweet) and the Japanese Sakura Sencha (very refreshing!) I also enjoyed the red bean milk tea, which you can’t go wrong with!

Two of Chatime Ontario’s Owners, Kenton and Thomas

Overall, it’s cool to see that Chatime has done so well in Ontario and in Canada, which is truly a job well done on the part of owners Kenton, Vincent, and Thomas. I think I value predictability and stability too much to ever be an entrepreneur, but it’s fascinating to hear the stories behind those who are!

Where We Ate: Portland Variety

More than ever, Instagram has become a source of new restaurants to try. Portland Variety was one of these finds! Conveniently located at Portland and King (former home of the now-closed KiWe Kitchen), the restaurant offers both indoor and outdoor seating. The drink menu is pretty interesting (they have a proper mixologist and all), and there are plenty of shareables to choose from. We liked pretty much everything we tried!

What We Ate

• Housemade ricotta with honey, hazelnuts, and pears (soooo good!)
• Salt cod brandade (loved it!)
• Roasted bone marrow (the crispy top was a nice touch)
• Grilled octopus
• Eggplant confit
• Beef tenderloin carpacio with Parmesan shavings
• Patatas Bravas
• Bite-sized beignets with chocolate sauce (airy, vanilla cream-filled goodness)

Housemade Ricotta

Salt Cod Brandade

Roasted Bone Marrow

Grilled Octopus

Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio

Eggplant Confit

Mini Beignets

Favourite Spots: Chicken Rice at Doner Kebab House

This post is going to be a short but very necessary post. When Matt and his friends first started raving about the chicken rice from Doner Kebab House, I was pretty skeptical about it, but now I’m a believer: honestly, that stuff is like crack. Chicken? Goood. Rice? Goood. Housemade garlic hot sauce? Extra gooood.

It’s right by Ryerson and a short walk away from Yonge-Dundas Square, so if you’re in the area, get yourself some chicken rice (or don’t, because then you’ll be like me and crave it all the time). Even if you don’t love it, you really can’t go wrong with a good, filling meal for $8.50!

Chicken Rice!

Look for this sign!

Favourite Spots: Treadwell Farm-to-Table Cuisine (Niagara-on-the-Lake)

The first time I went to Treadwell was in 2009 (Matt and I were celebrating 4 years together… how time flies!), and it was love at first bite. The food was delicious, innovative, and well-executed, which was only made better by the fact that the service was on point. Ever since then, Treadwell has been on the list of our favourite restaurants!

The last few times we’ve been, the restaurant was still in its old Port Dalhousie location, but last year, it relocated to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The dining room is smaller but the restaurant now features bar seating by the kitchen, a large patio space, and a wine bar. I also love that it’s nestled among all of the little shops and restaurants in NOTL, but still tucked away in a nice, cozy space.

A couple of weekends ago, my girlfriends and I decided to take a somewhat spontaneous wine country getaway to celebrate my good friend J’s birthday, which was the perfect opportunity for another meal at Treadwell. As usual, it didn’t disappoint!

True to the name of the restaurant, all of the ingredients used are in season, fresh, and locally sourced. I don’t think I’ve had the same thing twice at Treadwell, but the food is always delicious. My parents are coming to town next week, so we’ll definitely be making a trip to take them there!

Treadwell’s former location at Port Dalhousie

On the patio at Treadwell’s new location in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Station Cold Brew Coffee Co. Launches at Brunch TUM!

Last week, fellow blogger Mary from Mary’s Happy Belly (who also happens to be a colleague and foodie friend) forwarded me an email about Station Cold Brew Coffee Co.’s official launch at the August TUM event. After contacting Mitchell Stern, the Marketing Director at Station Cold Brew, we were extended an invite to their debut! In my opinion, the brunch-themed TUM event was a big disappointment (more about that later), but we really enjoyed the cold brew coffee!

A little about cold brew coffee…

Cold brewing coffee (which, coincidentally, my friend J was talking to me and Matt about it a couple of weeks ago) involves steeping coffee grinds in cold/room temperature water for about 12 to 24 hours. Eliminating the heating process also results in coffee with lower acidity and a subtly sweet flavour.

Station Cold Brew Coffee Co.: Thumbs Up

The crew at Station Cold Brew was very nice, especially Mitchell, who introduced himself to us. We learned that in addition to BOOM Breakfast & Co. and Cheesewerks, their coffee will soon be available at the various Fresh locations in Toronto. I was super excited to hear that because I’ve been wanting to bring Matt to Fresh ever since I went last time… now we can go for the food and cold brew coffee!

We bought a cup of their coffee, which was really cold and refreshing, especially given how hot it was outside today! We had it with a little bit of milk and agave. And as their guests, we each also got to take home a cute, little personalized 8 oz. stubby of coffee (they’re currently chilling in the fridge as I write, but Matt and I each took a sip before I started this post!) Definitely a must try!

Personalized Stubbies of Coffee

Brunch TUM: Thumbs Down

We’ve been to TUM events, and I definitely stand by the idea of supporting local eateries and chefs, but this brunch event was a big disappointment for us. As a brunch-themed event (and marketed extensively that way), you’d think that there would be actual brunch food. One vendor had eggs, but that was the closest it came to brunch! There were also only about 8 food vendors, which doesn’t offer much variety. Not worth it, in my opinion.

What We Ate

All of these vendors were hard at work at the event and the food was good, so I definitely want to give credit where credit is due, but at the same time, nothing we tried really blew us away.

• Babi & Co.’s Babi on a Bun (braised pork belly on fried buns with pickled cucumbers): These were nice and crispy—very good!
• Good Pho U’s Banh Mi: These were okay, but I still really like the ones from Nguyen Huong in Scarborough best!
• Empanada House’s Empanadas (fried with chipotle shrimp and cheese inside): I wish there was a bit more filling! The chimichurri was good though.
• Bombay Street Food’s Spicy Beef and Spicy Veggie Pate (served on a bun with a side salad): This was good, as was the side salad, but unfortunately, it made the bun very soggy.

It was a gorgeous summer day in Toronto though, so it was hard not to be happy just being out and about in the city! Hope you all had a happy weekend 🙂

Bring on the Ice Cream! Bang Bang Ice Cream & Bakery and Sweet Olenka’s

Just like cupcakes, froyo, and macarons were popping up everywhere just a while back, ice cream sandwiches have been the biggest thing lately! So far, we’ve tried them from 3 different places: Moo Milk Bar (see this post), and more recently, Bang Bang Ice Cream & Bakery and Sweet Olenka’s. Let the ice cream sammie adventures begin!

Bang Bang Ice Cream & Bakery

Ginger Cookie + Bellwoods Stout Ice Cream; Birthday Cake Cookie + PB&J Ice Cream

Bang Bang has become really popular as of late, so Matt and I had to wait in line with the many others hoping to try their ice cream sandwiches. Luckily it was a nice night and the line moved fairly quickly. They make all the ice cream sandwiches on the spot and there are various options to choose from. In addition to picking between a half sandwich (1 cookie) or a full sandwich (2 cookies), you can also opt for a macaron ice cream sandwich or an ice cream puff. There are also a variety of ice cream flavours and cookies to choose from! Matt had the PB&J ice cream with a birthday cake cookie, while I went with the Bellwoods Stout ice cream and a ginger cookie. We also got an Everything cookie (chocolate, peanut butter, pretzels, and oats) to go, which we had with some vanilla frozen yogurt the night after. Delish! 🙂

Sweet Olenka’s

Pear Caramel Ice Cream; Salted Caramel Ice Cream Sandwich

The Queen West location of Sweet Olenka’s is literally around the corner from Bang Bang, so there’s plenty of ice cream goodness in the area! We went today, and the decisions were endless—they have handmade ice cream, ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches, chocolates, and baked goods! While their ice cream sandwiches are also handmade, they aren’t made-to-order. To be honest though, that really didn’t matter because their salted caramel ice cream sandwich is absolutely AMAZING! We shared that and the pear caramel ice cream, which was also really good (think refreshing and sweet at the same time). We’ll definitely have to go back!

Where We Ate: Taste of Toronto

Me and a group of my friends from Western have been taking turns planning monthly outings. For the month of July, my friend A organized a trip to the Taste of Toronto food festival.

The 4-day event, held at the Fort York National Historic Site, gave visitors an opportunity to try various dishes from a number of Toronto restaurants, shop and sample from different vendors, participate in cooking classes and wine tastings, and listen to live music.

We went on Saturday during the day, which turned out to be pretty good because it wasn’t too crowded and the lines were manageable. The weather also held up, which is awesome because it was almost all outdoors!

What We Ate

• Splendido: Fresh oysters with apple and jalapeño
• Khao San Road: Crispy rice salad (rice, ginger, cilantro, sour pork sausage, lime leaf, and roasted peanuts)
• El Caballito: Pollo con mole (cemita bread, mole poblano, pulled chicken, white onion, and avocado)
• Rose & Sons: Rose and Sons BLT (Dr. Pepper bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, feta, and herb mayo)
• The McEwan Group: Bymark’s lobster poutine
• Richmond Station: Charcuterie with pickles
• Weslodge: Wagyu hot dog (house bun, beet mustard, and beef cheek marmalade)
• Hopgood’s Foodliner: Smoked mackerel on oatcakes

What We Bought

• Philip’s Ice Pops: I had to  buy a homemade lemon-ginger rosemary popsicle!
• Nutra Fruit: The vendors were from Québec and super nice. The chocolate-covered cranberries and the cranberry-based vinaigrettes were to die for!
• A $5 wine tasting: We spent 20 minutes learning about and tasting 2 reds and 2 whites from California and New Zealand—not bad for $5!

The Good

• It was pretty well-organized for a first-time event! I guess it helps that it’s been held in other cities and that major sponsors were involved.
• The number of vendors/restaurants: There were quite a few food & drink vendors and restaurants, which meant that there was lots to see and that we had a good selection of eats to choose from!
• The free food samples: Highlights include the butter chicken bison from Carmen Creek Gourmet Bison, which was melt-in-your-mouth good, and Woolwich Dairy’s lemon & lime goat cheese.
• The free drinks: 1L bottles of Bloo juice, Nespresso coffees, San Pellegrino‘s sparkling clementine drinks, and Pure Leaf teas.

The Bad

• Crowns: Like many food & beverage festivals, they had their own currency, cards that you could load with Crowns (1 CAD  = 1 Crown). I guess it’s easier to manage than change/credit/debit, but it’s a hassle for patrons!
• The prices were still a bit steep—not unlike events from Toronto Underground Market, SLURP Noodlefest, the Food & Wine Expo, and the like. We paid for $50 for 2 people (which included 2 general admission tickets plus $12 worth of Crowns), but dishes ranged from $6 to $8 each, which is pretty pricey!
• While we were fine during the day, I heard from others who went to the night events that the lines were very long!
• Port-a-potties: Fortunately, they weren’t too bad during the day, but they definitely aren’t my favourite!

Overall though, it was good food with good friends, so I can’t complain too much! 🙂

Where We Ate: Jacobs & Co. Steakhouse

To celebrate Matt’s birthday a couple of weeks ago, I treated him to dinner at Jacobs & Co. The restaurant is housed in a very large and sleek space, but I personally found the atmosphere to be a bit pretentious. The drinks were also really expensive, which was expected, but there were beers we normally get for half the price elsewhere, which is ROBBERY to me!

The service, however, was impeccable. All levels of staff were attentive and knowledgeable, especially our main server. We were definitely well attended to, which made it a good experience!

What We Ate

• Oysters: We opted for a mixed selection of east coast oysters, but we liked the Lucky Limes from PEI best!
• Jacobs Caesar Salad with White Anchovy: This was prepared (perfectly) tableside—so much fun to watch and absolutely delicious. A must!
• Duck Fat French Fried Potatoes + Potato Gratin: The sides come in half portions, which is great because you can try a couple of things. I really wanted their Brussels sprouts, but they were out that day!
• USDA Prime Black Angus T-Bone Steak, Dry-Aged 125 days: 25 oz. of melt-in-your-mouth goodness! The server noted that the 125-day dry-aged steaks weren’t for everyone because it has a mushroom, Parmesan-like quality to it, but we loved it! Bonus: if you want, they can carve it up for you. Makes for easy sharing!

We even had a bit of surprise at the end! In another post about Auberge, I had mentioned how the restaurant had paid attention to a note I’d added in the Special Requests box of my Open Table reservation. This time, I included a request for a table in a quieter spot (if possible) because we were celebrating my husband’s birthday. Not only was this request granted, but they also came out with a little birthday dessert at the end of our meal! Very nice touch.

The overall verdict? The steak was perfection, and the service was on point, so we’ll definitely be back again!

Where We Ate: Nashville Edition!

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit Nashville for work, so Matt flew in a couple of days later for a mini vacation. I got a few incredulous reactions to this—and to be fair, I guess it’s not the most conventional vacay spot for 2 Asians—but why not explore a new city? And like all good trips, wherever Our Happy Jar goes, good food follows…

Where We Ate

Etch

Our experience at Etch was great. Impeccable service and really delicious food! The restaurant is also right across from the Country Music Hall of Fame 🙂

What We Ate: 

• Butter tasting (prosciutto truffle, smoked parmesan black pepper, ginger cashew, and malt vinegar butter): It’s really just bread and butter, but the butter is amazing! Mixing them together was even more awesome!
• Tempura catfish with watermelon and blueberries: Yummy, but the least memorable.
• Roasted cauliflower with truffled pea pesto, almonds, and feta crema: Delish!
• Pork chop with gnocchi, trio of mushrooms, asparagus, basil, frisee, smoked ham jus potato, and chorizo: The pork was really tender… to die for!
• Orange creamsicle (white chocolate vanilla bean ganache, orange sorbet, white chocolate crumble, mango orange sauce, lemon macarons): This was really light and so yummy, which was a perfect way to end the meal!

The Pharmacy Burger Parlour and Beer Garden

The Pharmacy was really out of the way for us and hard to get to without a car, but it was definitely worth the trip. I know burgers are a dime a dozen, but the burgers at this place are out of this world (the photo below doesn’t do them justice)! I would go back again just for those burgers… the large selection of beers doesn’t hurt either! It was also like eating in someone’s large backyard—plants, picnic tables, strings of lights—which I absolutely loved. What We Ate

• Farm burger: Tennessee beef, country ham, applewood-smoked bacon, egg, and maple mustard
• Stroganoff burger: Tennessee beef, mushroom stroganoff bechamel, sour cream, caramelized onion, and swiss cheese
• Black bean and corn salad and hand-cut sweet potato fries

Husk

Husk was also a little out of the way, but not too far of a walk from downtown. It was a really cute restaurant set up in a house, with a herb and veggie garden out front. What We Ate

• Deviled eggs with pickled ramps
• Ember “grilled” pimento cheese sandwich
• Shrimp and grits with mushrooms, ham, and egg: This was one of the best parts of the meal!
• Buttermilk chess pie with Georgia peaches and cream: SO good… it reminded me of the basque cake from Bar Isabel!

 

Rolf and Daughters

Another restaurant that was pretty out of the way for us (are you seeing a theme here?) Also, Rolf and Daughters has been written up extensively, so it was understandably busy. We were told that it’d be an hour wait, but fortunately, it was much shorter, and we got to hang out with drinks outside for a bit. The restaurant is located in an old warehouse, which was cool. What We Ate

• Chicken liver pate with green tomato marmalade and cacao: YUM.
• Dry-aged beef tartare with salsa verde and toast
• Polenta with charred and pickled eggplant and bonito
• Squid ink trofie,with shrimp, squid, pancetta, and lemon: Really, really good, but wasn’t quite like Joso’s squid ink pasta.
• Mixed roast of pork with corn, squash, okra, and bay laurel: This was pretty awesome too.

 

The Southern

Live music, oysters, and blood orange mimosas for brunch? Hell yeah! Matt’s fried chicken and waffles was pretty darn good too.

What We Ate

• Oysters!
• The Highway (fried chicken breast on a waffle with maple syrup): Crunchy, just the right amount of heat, and perfect with the syrup!
• Steak & Biscuit Benedict (grilled beef tenderloin, poached eggs, and hollandaise on a blue cheese biscuit): Meh.

Mason Bar

Mason Bar was located in our hotel, the Loews Vanderbilt. We decided to go for happy hour (4 to 6 pm), which was awesome: $3 for all draught beers and half-priced appetizers! The bar is also really cool… all decked out in mason jars! The theme of the bar is especially cute to me because 1) so many happy jars! and 2) if Matt and I ever have a son, we want to name him Mason 🙂

 

What We Ate

• Crab corn dogs: These were surprisingly good. We expected mini corn dogs, but they were generous portions and stuffed full of crab meat! Definitely worth getting, especially at half the price.
• Truffle fries

Merchants

The restaurant is located in a beautiful building (which has a long history), and it’s right in the middle of Broadway, nestled among all the surrounding honky-tonks. Unfortunately, we were really full, so we only had a bunch of apps.

What We Ate

• Duck fat tater tots with chipotle mayo, bearnaise, ketchup: So bad for you, but they are made perfectly crispy!
• Fried green tomatoes with spicy pepper jam and house pimento cheese: This was only okay.
• Shrimp corn chowder: Nothing special.

Hattie B’s Hot Chicken

This is a good bang-for-your-buck place (their fried chicken plates range from $8.50 to $11.50 and are served with 2 sides), but I didn’t think the chicken was overly amazing. We waited in a long line though, so it’s obviously very popular!

What We Ate

• Small white (breast and wing)
• Large dark (2 thighs and 2 legs)
• French fries, mac and cheese, southern greens, and potato salad

Other Eating and Drinking

Nashville Farmers’ Market and Legato Gelato

We did a lot of walking on this trip, which was probably good because we needed to burn those calories. One of those long walks was to the Nashville Farmers’ Market, which was really fun! We obviously couldn’t buy any fresh produce, but we did get to hit up the Legato Gelato stand.

The guy there was very nice—he let us sample as much as we wanted—and the gelato was so good! We opted to try the donut gelato since that was something different, and it was surprisingly light-tasting but still sufficiently donut-y. I wish we had time to go visit their storefront location!

The Breweries: Yazoo, Jackalope, and Tennessee Brew Works

These were all within walking distance of one another, so Matt and I decided to do a little brewery-hopping before our dinner at Etch. Yazoo had the best selection and a good sampler for us to try, I liked the picnic tables at Jackalope, and Tennessee Brew Works had a big patio, nice indoor space, and live music. Hitting up these breweries was so much fun, and I had a really nice buzz by the end!

 

Phew… looks like we crammed a lot of eating and drinking in during our trip to Nashville! Our next trip is to Boston in September, so we’re looking forward to more good eats (and past favourites)… stay tuned 😉