This last week I was brought to a new restaurant in Kanata called Bin 790. This is a small place right in front of the theatre that seats about 35 ppl. It has a very urban loft feel but with nice rich colors that make you feel very comfortable. We went there at around 6:30 without making a reservation. The host was very accommodating in that we ended up getting a table with 5 minutes even though the place was full. They sat us at the bar but it was right in front of the open kitchen so I was delight to see what was going on in the kitchen. This is also a tapas style restaurant where you can share plates which I enjoy as I can try more things then if it was a typical 3 to 5 course meal.
We started off with the rosemary flat bread. Now this was one of the only disappointing dish from that. night. The rosemary was a buttery past spread on a nan bread and put in the oven to heat up. To me a flat bread is hard and crunchy with roughly chopped Rosemary that you roll out a la minute.
The following dish was a Grilled Portobellos. The marinated was very nice but the mushrooms where a bit over cooked as they where grilled the whole time. It would have been a bit nicer if they where finished in the oven so they could keep there thick fleshy flavor. The following dish that came out was the Sesame seared Ahi Tuna. This was the typical sesame topped tuna that you can get anywhere but I have to say that it was perfectly cooked with just a bit of searing on the side. The wasabi glaze though was not very present. We got some Tenderloin Bites they where very tasty with the foie gras butter but unfortunately over cooked. It was almost well done when I personally never eat it more then medium rare. We also had some pan seared bison. It was very nicely cooked but the potato confit was a bit under done and thus harder then it should have been. The mixed berries went very nicely with the dish.
The last two items where the Spinach Salad Very simple and light just the way it should be on a tapas menu. We also ordered the green curry Mussels. The mussels where very nicely cooked but they where a bit to garlicky and not the green curry was barely present. A thicker sauce and the garlic being sauteed a bit longer would have solved that problem.
All in all it was a very nice experience and I would return in the future. For two ppl with two glasses of wine each be prepared to spend around 70 per person.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Working Food Terms List
Hey guys
This will be an updated post that will include general cooking terms. I will explain what they mean and how to do them. This will facilitate you once the recipes start going up.
Blanching:
This is one of the first things that you are though in cooking school. It is a very simple process of making food last longer sealing in the nutrients and increasing the color of your food item. When you blanch something it is simply bring a pot of water to boil with salt in it. Add whatever vegetable to this boiling water, and once it becomes crisp on the inside and a bit soft on the outside your are finished. Don't forget to run your vegetables under cold water afterwards as to stop the cooking process, otherwise your vegetables will continue to cook from the heat.
Mire Poix:
This is a mixture of Carrots Onions and Celery. It is usually even parts and cut into big cubes. Mire Poix is used from stocks to a base for braising a meat to soups. To give color to your Mire Poix you would roast them in the oven.
Bain Marie:
This is a very simple process of using a pot, water and a bowl to heat things up. Place about an inch of water at the bottom of your pot, place your bowl on top of the pot so that the bottoms aren't touching.
Place on top of the stove top and let the steam heat up your bowl. This is used so that you can melt chocolate without burning it or cooking a sabayon for example.
Clarified Butter:
Butter in it's regular form burns at a relatively low temperature since it contains milk solids. In order to be able to Saute something at a high temperature you must separate the different elements of the butter in a bain marie see above. On a low heat start melting the butter. You will start to notice that the butter separate. Once all melted you can remove the top layer with a spoon this will be much harder then the rest of your butter. The middle layer is what we are after you can start pouring this into a a squeeze bottle but make sure to leave the bottom layer in the bowl. The difference will be in color and consistency as the middle one will be very liquid and the bottom one will be jelly like and white.
This will be an updated post that will include general cooking terms. I will explain what they mean and how to do them. This will facilitate you once the recipes start going up.
Blanching:
This is one of the first things that you are though in cooking school. It is a very simple process of making food last longer sealing in the nutrients and increasing the color of your food item. When you blanch something it is simply bring a pot of water to boil with salt in it. Add whatever vegetable to this boiling water, and once it becomes crisp on the inside and a bit soft on the outside your are finished. Don't forget to run your vegetables under cold water afterwards as to stop the cooking process, otherwise your vegetables will continue to cook from the heat.
Mire Poix:
This is a mixture of Carrots Onions and Celery. It is usually even parts and cut into big cubes. Mire Poix is used from stocks to a base for braising a meat to soups. To give color to your Mire Poix you would roast them in the oven.
Bain Marie:
This is a very simple process of using a pot, water and a bowl to heat things up. Place about an inch of water at the bottom of your pot, place your bowl on top of the pot so that the bottoms aren't touching.
Place on top of the stove top and let the steam heat up your bowl. This is used so that you can melt chocolate without burning it or cooking a sabayon for example.
Clarified Butter:
Butter in it's regular form burns at a relatively low temperature since it contains milk solids. In order to be able to Saute something at a high temperature you must separate the different elements of the butter in a bain marie see above. On a low heat start melting the butter. You will start to notice that the butter separate. Once all melted you can remove the top layer with a spoon this will be much harder then the rest of your butter. The middle layer is what we are after you can start pouring this into a a squeeze bottle but make sure to leave the bottom layer in the bowl. The difference will be in color and consistency as the middle one will be very liquid and the bottom one will be jelly like and white.
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