It is really inspiring to talk to a fellow foodie and realize that what you thought was a little bit of gluttony mixed with being spoiled rotten by really good food, turns out to be a lifestyle choice!

Food is fuel, agreed. And while I should be watching how much of that fuel I put into my body, I also like to dabble in the premium unleaded type.

Neil and I share a common interest. Good food. Not like mainstream chain restaurant good (although we have some favourites there too) but higher end, really thoughtful, continually changing menu sort of restaurants.

One thing we love and covet is foie gras! Ok, so it has a bazillion calories but it is also full of iron and let’s face it, it’s delicious!

We’ve had the opportunity to experience foie gras and other amazing dishes in both Calgary and London (England) and I feel so lucky to have tasted the food we have so far. As a good friend recently told me, “I am going to die anyway so I may as well enjoy what I eat!”

Ok, so that COULD be a little extreme in the everyday sense but when I am going out for a romantic dinner with my fiancé, I am all about the luxury food!

To make this a little more fun, my commentary is in black text and Neil’s comments are in blue with [square brackets].

The outcome of the doctor appointment turned out to be a recommendation to try two restaurants in Calgary that somehow escaped our foodie adventures. Blink and Capo. Capo was new to us…  I hadn’t heard of it. We don’t tend to venture into Inglewood much (even though I love it!) but Blink was not completely unfamiliar. After taking in a sausage-making class at Williams Sonoma, we had the pleasure of sampling some of Chef Andrew Richardson’s amazing food.  We tried his freshly made mushroom soup and the foie gras pate. Oh my God YUM! [Absolutely ditto on what Pia just said both the foie gras and mushroom soup were absolutely devine]

So naturally, since we actually needed to have a meal out of the house that night, I called Blink and booked a table for two. I regret forgetting that my Doctor recommended booking the two-seater table located in the front window of the restaurant. It has a lot more privacy and a little extra romance. I completely forgot because I was so thrilled that Blink was listed with Open Table and had available seats at exactly the time I requested. [We can use this as an excuse to go back, not that we need an excuse as I would go back there anytime!!]

Neil and I arrived at Blink with high expectations. We have eaten at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant in London and we have become fans of Rouge, Muse, The Chef’s Table and Teatro in Calgary. [Yep all were fabulous]

We were seated in the restaurant side-by-side along the banquette. We quickly pounced on the menu and it wasn’t long until we had a plan for our culinary adventure. Now, keeping in mind that we have enjoyed many nice restaurants and with our expectations being so high, I was initially disappointed by the time that lapsed between our arrival and an offer of water or request for a drink order. I think part of the problem was, we were so anxious to begin tasting the food that sounded so appetizing, that the delay seemed even longer. [We had multiple people serving us throughout the night which was a little discombobulating]

After the drinks arrived, we placed our order. Foie gras pate with sweet and sour rhubarb, twice baked cheese soufflé, flat iron steak bordelaise with fries and kale, and the local farmer pekin duck with cabbage and hash browns.  We added-on a side of the sautéed wild mushrooms.

In some cases, we have visited a restaurant where the starters were so good that the main fell flat. It could have been that the starter was just too good, but more likely the starter was just better tasting. [Muriettas was a classic example of this the starters were divine but the mains were very disappointing]

When the first bite of soufflé crossed my lips, I was so happy. I was in awe. Never have I experienced a starter with so much flavour that I instantly wished I had ordered it for all three courses. I was immediately second guessing my choices and nearly called the waiter over to get two more of the same. [The best parts were the more well done crusty bits that were stuck to the cast iron pan that the soufflé came in]

Worse yet, I had to share it with Neil!!! [yeah you did wohoooooo] Then, I scooped up a knife-full of his foie gras pate with a little dollop of the rhubarb. Wow, wow, wow! So delicious! I was just shocked that two starters side by side, both equally delicious could be sitting in front of us to enjoy without any restriction (other than an eventual empty plate) [It’s so  upsetting when you get to the end of a course and wish you could start over again].

Naturally my first thought was, “Hmm now the mains will probably be mediocre and yet again we will be let down by a restaurant that we will only go back to if we only plan to order appies”. Thankfully, I was wrong. [Yep I feared the same thing thank goodness we were both wrong!]

My flat iron steak arrived and the bordelaise sauce alone was worth the price of the entree. I honestly didn’t care for the kale (I normally love kale) but it was a little tough. I often order a meal based on the sides offered with it. I guess that is one bonus for most mainstream restaurants… the sides are usually anything you want in the list at the bottom of the page! It is kind of interesting actually because I also didn’t much care for the fries. the flavour was delicious however without anything to dip them in, I found them to be a little blah. I am all about condiments and sauce and I was half expecting an aioli or some sort of gourmet ketchup. I ate a lot of them though, because I used them to sop up all of that delicious bordelaise! [I tried all of Pia’s dish and I thought it was all good, but totally agree that the fries need something to dip in!]

Neil’s duck arrived in a somewhat unusual fashion compared to what I am used to. I originally thought the pieces of meat were cubes of pork belly. I didn’t have much of Neil’s duck because I was too busy enjoying my own meal. The one piece I sampled had skin on it which could have been crisped up but the flavour was really rich. The duck was tender and the cabbage and hash brown sides were really tasty. Had we combined Neil’s side dishes with my protein, I think we would have had the perfect meal. The meal I would request as my last. [It was such a shame because the duck was soo tender and delicious it would have been perfect with some crispy skin]

While we waited for dinner to settle a bit, we had a chat with both the restaurant director Leslie Echino and our waiter about the history of Chef Andrew [both were really nice and good to have a chat with]. For dessert, the lemon tart was recommended and although I had contemplated it, I nearly abandoned it for my usual go-to indulgence, the crème brulè. My saving grace was the fact that I was nearly stuffed to capacity and Neil and I decided to share the tart. It was a great compromise. Not too long ago, I had a somewhat negative experience with a lemon tart at another restaurant so I was a bit sceptical. I was expecting a flavourless crust and overly sour lemon curd. I was also anticipating a heavy dusting of icing sugar. Instead, I was thrilled to see that the wonderfully silky, perfectly refreshing, not-sour lemon tart before me was brulèed on top! [It again like everything else we had was delicious not too sour but with a perfect flavour of lemon]

The puddle of blackberry coulis to the side, although reminiscent of a crime scene, was flavourful and not syrupy sweet. Together, the creamy lemon and thin crisp crust, combined with the slight sugary crunch of the brulè was perfectly matched with the earthy eggplant coloured sauce.

 My overall experience at Blink was amazing. Sure, there were some things that at the time didn’t thrill me but none of those things would prevent me from going back again and again. The food tasted delicious and based on what I have seen of the menu, I can’t wait to go back! As a matter of fact, I believe that it is possible that I was a little unreasonable initially.

My final word on the matter is that this gourmet bistro is a must-try in Calgary! Plus, you can actually get a reservation and not be expected to wait 45-90 minutes for a table! [Believe me/us it is definitely worth it I can’t wait to go back!]

Flying Wedge Texas Pull Pizza

So we decided to give Flying Wedge a try..  we went to Quarry Park and ordered 2 pizzas in-person for take-out.

First of all, it seemed to take forever!  We left and went to Co-op to kill some time and it still took at least 15 minutes longer than promised to cook our pizzas.

We decided to go with the thin crust which is more like regular crust at most other pizza places.. it also had flax seed in it which was intriguing!

We tried the Texas Pull, B & T, Sicilian Express and Classic Pepperoni.  We had them in 1/2 and 1/2 pizzas so we were able to try 4 varieties but they also offer the ability to have 4 types where you can build your pizza from the ready made slices.

Flying Wedge - Sicillian Express (Left) and Classic Pepperoni (right)

All in all I think it was a decent pizza but it didn’t leave me dying to go back..

The ratings are as follows (out of 5 - 20 possible points):

Crust: 3 (not crispy, not thin enough)

Sauce: 4 (needed more sauce)   Toppings: 4 (Options for toppings were more limited than I am used to but the actual toppings were high quality).

Flying Wedge B and T pizza

Cheese: 3 (nothing special but overall good)

Total points: 14 out of 20.

We realize there are a wide variety of pizzas so I will do my best to describe what we consider the best overall pizza but I have no problem rating and judging other types of pizzas!

Our perfect pizza pie…

Crust: Thin, crisp with a slightly chewy edge – not cracker crispy

Sauce: Tangy, smooth & rich tomato flavour, thick &  hint of herbs

Toppings: Anything goes but not too many – makes the crust soggy!

Cheese: Mozzarella is a must but any combination works!  Fresh mozzarella only for margarita pizza

Cooking style: Pizza stone is preferred (for the crispy bottom) but wood-oven is good too!

Rating scale system… total points = 20

Crust = up to 5 points

Sauce = up to 5 points

Toppings = up to 5 points

Cheese = up to 5 points

Total points possible = 20 points

Wish us luck!!! And we would love to hear suggestions from anyone out there reading!!!

In advance, we each chose 10 “mystery” ingredients and we entered them into a database.. we then took turns drawing a total of 4 numbers which corresponded to a secret mystery ingredient. Additionally, we had to select one secret pantry ingredient…

The rules were pretty simple and not that strict… We had to use the 4 ingredients and 1 secret pantry ingredient in the dish of our choosing.  We could prepare as far in advance as necessary but the main cooking was to take place on Feb 14th!   Aside from that, we also had to nicely share the kitchen, cookware and dishes…

For the ingredient list, we ended up choosing the following:

Neil chose:

• Shrimp
• Pita Bread
• Chicken thighs
• Shallots
• Croutons (secret pantry item)

Lauren chose:

• Peppers
• Crab meat
• Bok Choy
• Cabbage
• Melba toast (secret pantry item)

I chose:

• Fresh Tuna
• Chicken Stock
• Ginger
• Corn
• Acini de pepe pasta (secret pantry ingredient)

Now let me first begin by telling you all who didn’t win… and that would be me… I will explain later.  Actually we didn’t choose a “winner”.  It was more of an event to have fun and in the absence of un-biased judges, we were happy with just eating the food.

The cook-off was a blast but utterly exhausting!!!  Neil and I were preparing things the night before.  I made homemade chicken stock and he marinated  meats.  On the day, Lauren started cooking early as she had a ju-jitsu class to attend and Neil and I started cooking around 3pm! We finally sat down to eat at 10pm!!!

I think the biggest challenge we were faced with was that we underestimated the amount of time to prep everything.  Mis en place et al.. I don’t think we realized that on Iron Chef, they have sous chefs and a pantry with unlimited items.  They also have several cooking vessels/methods available.

The actual cooking part was fun!  Most of my food was a last minute assembly sort of thing so I offered to help Neil and Lauren out with their chopping/prep.  Don’t get me wrong, my dishes took a long time as well but during my downtime, they gained a sous chef!

So here are the menu descriptions that we all came up with:

Neil:

• Valentines Day Salad – baby spinach, shallots, beets, cucumbers and tomatoes in a beet vinagrette.
• Chicken and shrimp international skewers - chicken, shrimp, peppers, mushrooms and shallots done 3 ways in tzaziki, sweet and sour & tikka masala marinades.
• Pita chips, crouton crumb crusted shallot rings with tzaziki, sweet and sour & tikka masala dips.

Lauren:

• Crab and cabbage wontons two ways - crab, diced cabbage, roasted red peppers and melba toast. Served with roasted red pepper ponzu sauce.
• Crab stir fry - fresh crab, bok choy, peppers, oyster mushrooms and shallots with ponzu and hoisin sauces.

Me:

• Ahi Tuna Tartare – Fresh Ahi tuna, avocado, black sesame seeds, tomato, green onion and nori in a sweet soy vinagrette.
• Chicken consumme with mushrooms – chicken stock, enoki, oyster and dried chanterelle mushrooms
• Mushroom pate with crispy corn chips – enoki, oyster and dried chanterelle mushrooms blended with butter and chicken stock
• Vodka corn shooter – fresh corn puree, vodka
• Ginger-ale Jelly with candied ginger

The reason for my failure??  I forgot the acini-de-pepe in my dish.  It was supposed to be in my consumme.  Argh!!!

The food was amazing!  Very tasty and creative.  The photos and plating took so long that a lot of it was cold by the time we got to eat but in general, it was a lot of fun.  We were really exhausted at the end of it all and I can guarantee we won’t want to do this more often than annually but we will definitely do it again.  I think we have all agreed to some additional rules…

1. maybe get judges to not only decide on a winner but to also help eat all the food
2. make portions smaller or focus on one main dish
3. fewer secret ingredients
4. perhaps span it all over several days with each of us cooking on a day so we can get more done in less time

I am often told that I am a good cook and should cater or become a chef etc.. and the bottom line is, its too much work…  I think I will stick to entertaining my friends and family.

The one thing I take away from this experience is that cooking with fresh ingredients is really important. Although we all took very different approaches and it seemed to take forever, we all used very fresh ingredients.  The food tasted healthy and delicious and I loved it all!

I invite both Lauren and Neil to post their comments to this blog.  Even though we had a big discussion about the cook-off while we were eating, I think that it would be nice to capture it all here.