Bruschetta, baby

I bought a bag of pesto flavoured pita crisps today but had nothing to eat it with as they were pretty bland on their own.
I looked into the fridge and found a container of canned plum tomatoes.
At first, I was going to make salsa but personally, I feel that Italian food > Mexican food. Thus, I decided to make bruschetta. I didn't know how to make bruschetta so I had to look up the ingredients online. I didn't really follow it (as usual) but I learned that it requires olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I'm really shocked at just how EASY it is to make this delicious Italian appetizer. This is going to be a staple in my kitchen from now on. I will eat bruschetta as a snack or a meal. I loves it.

Here is my recipe for my version of bruschetta:

Serves 1-2 people (In my case, one. I ate the entire bowl of tomato goodness.)
Ingredients:
1 cup of canned plum tomatoes with liquid in tact
1/4 cup of finely chopped red onion (the finer the better to avoid bad breath)
salt and pepper to taste
a handful of finely chopped basil
3 tsp. of olive oil
2 tsp. of balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Put everything into a bowl and mix!!!

Can be used to top crusty bread, or in my case, pesto pitas. I like that the flavour of the pesto complements nicely with the bruschetta.

Sorry, no photos today. It was that good.

Pret a Manger

While we're on the topic of London...
There's a chain of cafe-like cafes called "Pret a Manger" which translates from French into "ready to eat." It's a place where you can grab n' go, or stay a while to enjoy the scenery (people watching to the max!). I would say that they appeal to the health concious yuppy, in a hurry to feed themselves so they can get on with making more money. I'm defintely in favour of their health concious ways even though I don't consider myself a yuppy by any means (that's a whole other battle).

Pret a Manger is home to fresh squeezed orange juice (my favourite!), flavoured fruit teas, gourmet sandwiches, soups, wraps, yogourt, salads, muffins, just to name a few.
I tried to eat at Pret as many times as I could because I knew that I wouldn't be able to find anything as good here in Toronto (Sorry, Hogtown). My favourite item by far was the "Hoisin Duck Wrap." This was a tortilla wrapped with slivers of Chinese BBQ duck meat (skin on) doused with hoisin (a thick and sweet Chinese sauce), red onions, cucumbers, leaf spinach. There was some mayonaise on it as well, but I wasn't such a fan of that. This is because I consider mayonaise to be my antithesis. You know how kryptonite is to Superman? Well, that's what mayonaise is to me.

Here is the link to this particular wrap: http://www.pret.com/menu/baguettes_wraps/1765.shtm

I've been reading up on their food philosophies and I can't agree more! If there was a Pret in Canada, I would eat there everyday.

For further knowledge on this wonderful establishment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pret_a_Manger
http://www.pret.com/our_food/eat_with_your_head/

British food: Yay or Nay?

This is a picture taken at an Irish pub when I was in London last summer (July '06). All I've ever heard about British food was that it was bland and rather boring. Just how boring could it be? I had to give it a try to find out for myself.

In the picture, we've got steak and kidney pie to the left, Guiness beef stew in the far back, and good ol' fish n' chips to the right. Oh, and you can't forget the Mexican beer (Corona)!

The verdict: It tastes like how it looks. There are certainly no surprises here. I suppose it is decent and certainly edible, but I'd choose me some bibimbap or a hamburger any day. I just find British food to be rather heavy and fattening. If I were a full-time vegetarian, it would be hard to find something in a pub. I guess British food isn't really for the health concious. Goodness, they serve so much meat, even in the morning! So many things are made out of lard, but I have to admit, lard makes things taste so much better.

I think my favourite thing to eat in England are the pastries. I love the flaky dough of the Cornish pasties and sausage rolls. Pastries to England are like hotdogs to Toronto. The first thing I ate when I stepped off the plane was a Cornish pasty filled with something so good that I can't remember. If I lived in London, I would probably live off these things. So filling and cheap! I would probably also resemble Bridget Jones in the weight department too.


What are your thoughts on British food?

Did you know?:

In 1762, the sandwich was invented in England.
There is a town named Sandwich in the south of England. John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich invented a small meal that could be eaten with one hand while he continued his nonstop gambling.