Three Fondues

I'm always up for over-the-top food. And if an idea is a good one, why not triple it?

Having received a chocolate fondue set for Christmas, we were eager to try it out. It seemed appropriate to plan a multiple fondue feast - Cheese, Broth, and the Chocolate for dessert. It also seemed like a good opportunity to return the hospitality of Chris and Coral for their mid-December feast. (Thanks go to Coral for the pictures of the broth fondue and the chocolate fondue treats!)The cheese fondue was composed of McEwan's Scotch Ale, two cheddars (one smoked), some mustard and some cayenne.
The McEwans was a great choice for these cheeses - the strong and sweet ale paired really nicely with the slightly smoky cheddar. I probably should have paid more attention when warming it all up - it curdled quite quickly but a bit of lime juice smoothed it out a bit. We eventually enjoyed it with roasted potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, kielbassa rounds, bread cubes, and cherry tomatoes.Considering the heaviness of the cheese fondue, I opted for a broth fondue rather than oil for cooking meat. I had planned on getting some wonderful scallops from Mariner Neptune and thought a nice gingery broth would work really well. Unfortunately, the scallops were way too huge to cook properly in the over-crowded fondue pot! The beef, chicken and prawns worked really nicely though (and left me with some tasty broth at the end of the night!)
We had a couple of very nasty fire flare-ups as a result of the old lamp oil that we used for fuel. Both pots got charred black and the metal pot had a 1/2 centimetre of ash covering its base. (Note for future reference: buy Sterno for next fondue).



And to end off the evening, we had strawberries, bananas, marzipan cubes, marshmellows, and peanut butter balls for dipping in chocolate.
The chocolate that came with the fondue set didn't last long though, and I had about as much success with melting more chocolate that I had with the cheese earlier. I brilliantly thought it would be clever to mix in some plain yogurt to melted chocolate, forgetting how easily this stuff seizes up... But thank goodness that you only need a bit of chocolate to make the sweetness of a strawberry sing!

January Eating

The More With Less cookbood is my bible for simple, cheap eating. Rich food has its place, but after days and days of non-stop seafood and donairs last December, I started craving simpler food. And this soup recipe is one of the simplest.These are the basic ingredients: lentils, onions, garlic and lemon juice. Here's what you do: Boil lentils with cumin. Fry onions and garlic in olive oil. Add a tablespoon of flour to coat onions. When lentils are cooked, add the fried onions and lemon juice.

Garnish with yogurt, and you got yourself some damn fine soup. Lentils rule!

Xmas in Halifax - Seafood Heaven

These lovely clams and chips come courtesy of Cousin's Snack Bar on Agricola Street in Halifax. Most Haligonians swear by John's Lunch in Dartmouth for fried clams, and don't get me wrong - they are amazing! But Cousin's has always been Jeff's favourite.Cousin's Snack Bar used to be a convenience store with a couple of stools in back, but the racks of potato chips are gone and now tables fill the place. On their sign outside they proudly advertise their Homestyle Cooking and then in smaller letters it says: Breakfast and Seafood. Gotta love a place that specializes in fried fish and fried bacon.

By the way, their clams are soft, succulent and sweet. YUMMMMMMM.

Onward to Clam Harbour. Not pictured here are the mounds of Willie Krauch's hot-smoked salmon that we had for lunch. Alas. But we did manage to get this shot of the amazing fish chowder that Jeff's dad made us for supper.

Check out the huge, twonie-sized scallops. Check out the chunks of lobster claw meat. And check out the glistening, shining layer of melted butter floating on the top. (The soup was actually a creamy colour underneath the butter). When I sipped my first spoonful, my tastebuds quivered with joy. The second spoonful of soup was gently savoured, and the flavours were quietly contemplated. On the third spoonful of soup my body started to rebel. I tried to will my body to submit to the pleasure, but the fourth spoonful of soup brought on nausea. I was defeated. (But Fluffy the cat won out BIG TIME.)

This soup did me in. This was the 2nd last day of the trip. I had already been dreaming of cleansing kale and lentils for awhile at this point due to the overload of amazing food being offered up from every direction. Two turkey dinners, three donair meals, corned beef and cabbage, clams and chips - all in the same week! It was too much!!! NO MORE EATING!

But then I slept on it, and woke up feeling great and ready to eat again. We brought home the rest of the chowder, and we ate it New Year's eve for lunch. At this point I only had to last one more meal. One more glorious meal before heading back home to the land of potatoes and sauerkraut. I'll let the rest of the photos speak for themselves.

The remains.

Xmas in Halifax - Donairs

The seafood in Halifax is wonderful, and there will soom be a post detailing our feasts upon the crustaceans and molluscs of Nova Scotia... but let's start with Donairs, shall we?



Halifax Donairs are the stuff of legends. There is something about that spicy meat and creamy sweet sauce that can't be duplicated outside of Metro Halifax. The night we flew into town, Jeff insisted on stopping for donairs on the way home from the airport. His loving mother dutifully drove in circles in Dartmouth and Cole Harbour until we found a suburban shop still open at 1:30 am. Dino's two for one, I believe.


So what constitutes a Halifax Donair? This is what Wikipedia says:

The meat in this version of the döner kebab (Halifax donair, as it is sometimes referred to) is sliced from a loaf cooked on a vertical spit, made from a combination of ground beef, flour or bread crumbs, and various spices, while
the sauce is made from evaporated milk, sugar, vinegar, and sometimes garlic.
The meat and sauce are served rolled in pita bread with diced tomato and onion. This version is generally so packed with ingredients, that the pita is almost there for ceremonial purposes; the pita of any true Haligonian donair will be so soaked in sauce that attempts to pick it up will be fruitless.

They're not kidding about the 'don' t pick it up' part. This particular donair comes to us courtesy of Robert's Pizza and Donairs on Windmill Road in Dartmouth. They're kind of known for their over-the-top huge donairs. (Put it this way - Jeff could only eat about 1/2 of the large donair).

An offshoot of the donair is the donair pizza. You get your donair meat, your onions and tomatoes, your cheese - and then you smother donair sauce all over it. Kinda gross, but kinda yummy, especially after a few beers at the Seahorse Tavern...

(This pie comes courtesy of Alexandria's Pizza on Queen.)

Next post: Seafood heaven.