I’ve acquired a taste for kale over the past year. I bought a bag of baked kale chips from Spud last week. It was good, but seemed heavy on the seasoning and calories. I wondered if I could make a lighter version. So here it is.
Baked Kale Chips
1 bunch kale
2 tsp olive oil
sea salt
Preheat oven to 275F. Wash kale. Be sure to dry thoroughly. Remove centre rib from the kale and rip into pieces. Season with olive oil and sea salt. I used some Eurasian black salt which has a bit of a sulphur odour; I couldn’t tell after it came out of the oven. I baked it for 30 minutes as it was still slightly damp when I put it in. It tasted really good, so good that I ate the whole bunch. Well, I saved the ribs for stir fry.
Organic Lacinato KaleBaked Organic Kale Chips with olive oil and Eurasian sea salt
The Big Taste is on this week; the former Downtown Dine Out week. Tonight I decided to try downtownfood. It’s been on my hit list for a while. I suspect Mondays are generally slow, as we were the third party in the restaurant. Most of us ordered from the prix fixe menu.
I started off with the beet tartare. Some of my party thought it was beef tartare and were perhaps a little disappointed. I quite enjoyed it. I tried topping the cumin crisp with the beet, but the crisp was so delicate that it fell apart. It was tasty any way it went down.
Beet Tartare Roasted yellow, pink and red spiced beets, garlic aioli, mustard greens, and cumin crisps
Next up, the trio of pork. The pork shank reminded me of crispy pork belly. Yum. The pork loin satisfied my hunger for something substantial. The crispy skin was quite a treat, as it sat on top of some sriracha sauce which made that and the loin beneath suddenly spicy. Perhaps a bit too spicy. The BBQ sauce was perfect for my sweet tooth. I should have mixed the hot sauce with the sweet and it might have been the perfect balance.
Broek Acres Pork Trio Braised pork shank, pork loin, crispy pork rinds, kohlrabi puree, shmeji mushrooms, and asian BBQ sauce
I enjoyed the grapefruit sorbet. It was light and refreshing; it paired well with the lemon tart. The pastry is shaped “dtf” although looking at the one served to my dining companion it looked like something else. It resembled a woman kneeling in a dress holding up a cross. Sort of like the Virgin Mary on French toast.
Heath Lemon Tart Crème brulee’d lemon in a shortcrust pastry with grapefruit sorbet
At the beginning, I thought the portion sizes were a bit small, but I was corrected as the meal went on. It is perfectly portioned to satisfy and not so much that you leave overly full. It speaks to portion sizes at other restaurants which are probably too large. The service was generally good, except for a few times where our server was slow to refill the drinks. I really liked the atmosphere and there were fewer people so it was not so loud. The pictures of Calgary on the walls were quite nice.
We had quite the snowstorm today. Stayed in until it was over. Cooked up a storm as well. This weekend, I made: sayur lemak, bok choy and pineapple salad, spicy Korean pork and meyer lemon curd tart.
Sayur lemak is a Malaysian dish. Specifically, it is vegetables cooked in coconut gravy. I fell in love with this dish when there was a Tropica in Calgary. I found that this version is a bit watery, not like gravy should be. Next time, I will add some cornstarch.
Sayur Lemak with steamed tiger shrimp and tilapia on rice vermicelli
Looking around the web for some inspiration, I found a bok choy and pineapple salad. It is similar to gado gado, but the veggies are not cooked. I quite liked this dish. I added some fresh mango and it was tasty.
I felt like making a Korean dish to go with this, but didn’t feel like spending a lot of time. This spicy version of pork bulgogi was perfect. I served it on top of roasted spaghetti squash. I’m trying a mostly veg and meat dinners this week (and last). Starchy carbs make me hungry and fat.
Bok choy and pineapple salad, and spicy Korean pork
The Meyer lemon curd was delish, but unfortunately did not set. So it was not picture worthy. Will try cooking it on a pot directly on the stove rather than the double boiler method, next time.
We went with a good sized group, (20+ people) for dinner. Considering there were staggered arrivals, some more than an hour late, I thought the server did rather well. We had a private room booked. It was nice, as the curtains hanging above seemed to help absorb the noise so we could actually hear the conversation. We didn’t mind paying the 15% mandatory gratuity.
Onto the food. I had a taste of hubby’s Malaysian Blazin’ Noodles. It was a bit spicy with interesting flavors. I made my own stir fry. The veggies at the bar were fresh and the portions filling. I’ve always passed this place by when we are in the area, next time I think I will return.
