Product Review: Simple Simon Soups

I was at the Crossroads Farmers Market on August 12. Hadn't been there for a long time, and I missed the weekly farmers market in Airdrie that week so it was a good excuse to go shopping for some fresh fruit and veg. They also have a large indoor portion to this market where they sell meats, prepared foods, and even have a flea market. While we were wandering around inside, my mom spotted a big "GLUTEN FREE" sign, so, of course, I had to investigate.

Now, I remember before my diagnosis, indulging in Simple Simon Pies every now and then. I remember them being quite good. They even offered me a sample of two different kinds of their soup (Mulligatawny and Chicken and Leek) and they were both quite good!

Imagine my surprise when I brought some soup home, and realised they were anything but.

I ended up taking some Mulligatawny, Chicken and Leek, French Onion, and Broccoli and Cheese. So far, I've only tried two of the four (Mulligatawny and Broccoli Cheese) and I'm sincerely hoping the other two fare better than the two I've already had.

I will say the Broccoli Cheese had good flavour, and I'm relatively picky about that. Good consistency, not too incredibly salty or cheesy, but what really put me off was the broccoli.

Usually good broccoli and cheese soup uses mostly the top part of the broccoli, the teeny little green buds. These guys used the whole thing. Somehow, the stems were incredibly numerous, and either very stringy, and very woody. It totally ruined the experience, and made the soup very unpleasant to eat.

I figured it was a fluke, and brought the Mulligatawny with me today for lunch. When I tried it in sample form, it was excellent and the spices weren't overbearing at all. This soup, unfortunately, was even worse than the Broccoli Cheese, which really stumped me because the sample had been to die for! I did nothing to the soup apart from heat it up.

The soup was practically flavourless, with nothing apart from an unpleasant burning aftertaste from whatever curry or spice they used. The texture was the worst part, the "broth" was so think I would nearly border on saying it was thick like paste, but I didn't want to add water to it for fear it would drown out whatever tiny bits of flavour were there. The chicken and vegetables were soft and mushy. I eventually have up, and after a few bites, disposed of the 90% of the soup that was left.

I will update this review when I try the other two soups, but of right now, these soups get two big thumbs down. I enjoy canned soup more than this, and for half the price, so will my wallet!

P.S. Blogger is being a pain, and I cannot upload photos at the moment. Will do so as soon as I am able.

Restaurant Review: The Keg - 73%

I got invited out to supper with my parents, aunt, and grandmother on Saturday which was awesome enough, but when my father informed me he would pick me up driving his ’74 Pontiac GTO convertible I was totally in! It was decided we were going to The Keg, because both my parents and aunt had gift cards.

 Looks pretty much like this, except for a 1974 Alberta plate on the front :)

We ended up going to The Keg on 36^th street, right across from Marlborough Mall. There are a few others in the city as well, I know one just south of McMahon stadium and one on Mcleod trail south of Chinook centre for sure. Check If there is one in your area at their website of www.thekegsteakhouse.ca 

As soon as we were seated, I mention to our hostess I was celiac and she went to get the manager to come out and speak to me. He was very prompt, and mentioned I could have any of the plain steaks, as well as plain seafoo. He recommended the steak or chicken oscar (as the bearnaise sauce they use was gluten free), and said if I had questions about another specific dish to ask my server. Uh, thanks…? 

The restaurant atmosphere was nice, but pretty much the same as any other Keg I’ve been to. Something about Steakhouses that block out all light from the outside world just doesn’t do it for me though.

I hadn’t been to The Keg in a long, long time, probably since I’ve been diagnosed, and figured being a steakhouse there would be a decent selection of items for me to eat. I figured if the Bearnaise sauce was GF, then they would possibly have a lot of other options be GF too. Boy, was I wrong.

 I attempted to order the follow items, only to be told none were GF:

•  Creole Chicken
• BBQ Chicken and Ribs
• Pecan Sirloin

The waiter had to go back and check each time to see if the item was gluten free. Finally, I was so embarrassed with the other people eating with me wait I ordered the plainest steak they had, a regular sirloin. I could have any accompaniment except the rice or fries, so I went with a baked potato. I ordered my steak medium rare.

Admittedly, the steak was WAY better than I was expecting it to be, but it could have been my sour mood after being told three things I wanted couldn’t have. It was cooked perfectly, and made my mouth water with every bite. Beautiful grill marks on the outside, giving a nice crust to the meat. The potato was excellent, big with lots of toppings, and I’m always happy to have asparagus with a meal!

All in all I was pleased, but I would definitely recommend contacting The Keg head office or call the restaurant directly to figure out what kind of things to have before hand, especially if you are dining with people that are impatient or non-celiac and you don’t want to hold them up.

Atmosphere 7/10

Service 7.5/10

Presentation 7.5/10

Taste 8.5/10

Variety of Gluten Free Dishes 6/10

Value 7.5/10

Fid Friday

Peek A Boo!

Fid Friday

Not exactly one of my birds, but defiantely something any parrot person can relate to.

Credit for pic goes to: http://starkeeper153.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=ichew#/d4655pa

Product Review: Tim's Gourmet Pizza

The German and I have made the decision to try and buy more of our food at the local farmers' maket during the summer. They have lots of wonderful vendors there, I have to get my weekly supply of BC cherries, and this week we came upon a new vendor that sells gourmet pizzas. Gluten free gourmet pizzas!

Tim's Gourmet Pizza can be found at numerous farmers makets in the Calgary area, and a full list of locations, as well as an online menu. They offer three sizes, however, gluten free crusts only come in the middle size, which does me two moderate sized portions. A guy with a hearty appetite, though, it would just barely do one.

At $15 a pop, they aren't cheap by any means, but as a once and a while treat, I think these are well worth it.

I forgot to take a picture before I started chowing down.

I chose the Spolumbo Sausage pizza, which, along with sausage, also has proscuitto ham, and cranberries. Mine also ended up having a few pieces of onion on it, which was probably just a mistake, but I hope they are more diligent when it comes to assuring cross contamination is avoided with the crust. I enquire more abut this the next time I see the gentleman at the farmers' market, and report here as an add on to the post.

The crust itself was the shining feature of this pizza, I've never had anything like it before and it was almost surreal. Buttery, and slightly crumbly, the crust almost melted into the pizza. It was wonderful, but I found it very rich, and it probably wouldn't replace thin crust pizza totally. Even if I wasn't gluten free, I think this crust would be a nice change of pace.

If you are curious about the very dark colouring on the bottom of the crust, Tim advises his pizzas can be cooked in one of two way: oven or bbq. It had been so incredibly hot here lately I opted for the bqq, and towards the end, I cranked up the heat because I got impatient. Follow the directions, and you should be fine!

Not a whole lot to say about the choice of toppings, except I didn't even notice there was proscuitto until I re-read the menu. The cranberries were a nice addition, and I appriciated the sweet pop every once and a while.

I would say a definate thumbs up for this one. A wonderful treat that beats any other frozen gluten free pizza I've had by leaps and bounds.

Fid Friday

This week's snapshot is Jazz and Lillith sharing broccoli.

Calgary Stampede 2012

Hey guys!

Yesterday, I went to the Stampede and while I forgot to take pictures of most things (I’m still new to the concept of taking pictures of all my food) I thought I might as well give you a quick recap of what I saw and experienced.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of awareness there seemed to be about the importance of gluten free and lactose free options this year.

The German and I split a MASSIVE smoked Turkey leg. Every year that I go to the Stampede I have seen these, and every year they are sold out of every size except “Cave Man” (really, I think it’s “extra large” but that sounds so much less dramatic) so I’m beginning to think this is the only size they offer. It was ok, the meat was nice, smoky, and tender, but it was very, very salty; we downed three bottles of water between the two of us. They may seem expensive at $15 a pop, but divide that by two people and it’s a decent deal for a filling meal on the grounds where a crappy cheeseburger will run you upwards of $6. There are a few stands that sell them on the grounds, but the good stand is in the same place every year; across the Corral about halfway in between the Coke Stage and the Saddledome. It’s hard to miss with its large cast iron smokers right next to it.

I had some “Sea Salt and Honey Peanuts” from a stand inside the BMO center called “Billy Dee’s” (apparently they are based in Ontario, even though I couldn’t find a website). These were actually really, really good. The bold salty and sweet juxtaposition was absolutely addicting, although at $6 for a fairly small portion I couldn’t justify seconds to take home.

The German got some french fries from a nondescript stand along the main midway section. Ok, but nothing special. Gluten free fries are actually not too hard to find on the grounds, just be sure to ask the staff inside if the coat the fries in anything, and what else they cook in the same oil.

After the concert I was attending got out, my sister and her boyfriend went to have a smoke, while my mother and I sought out the perennial favourite: the pineapple whip. In case you are unfortunate enough not to have ever tried one of these before, it’s basically a soft serve sherbet made of pineapple juice. Incredibly smooth, and not too tart, it’s a wonderful fat free alternative to ice cream.

Although I didn’t partake in any of the following items, they were available GF at the grounds at various stands throughout the park:

• Pizza
• Tacos
• Numerous types of Ice Cream
• Fudge
• Taffy
• Popcorn and Kettle Corn
• Smoothies

I'm still rooting for GF corn dogs some day! Cross your fingers for Stampede 2013!!

Fid Friday

Today's picture is Mr. Fry, innocently cannibalizing a piece of white meat chicken breast. I kid, this is actually normal and healthy for parrots to have small portions of lean meat. The protein is good for them!

Restaurant Review: Dantessa Italian Restaurant and Bar - 86%

The German and I took a week’s vacation at the beginning of July, and were in Ottawa for Canada Day. As the gentleman at the front desk of our hotel said “It’s something every Canadian should do in their life time.”

We were very fortunate to be right downtown, only a 10 minute walk away from the Parliament Buildings. I had attempted to scope out some gluten free eats close to where we would be sightseeing (as we were not renting a car) and only succeeding in finding one place with purposefully gluten free dishes. Coincidentally, it was located directly across from our hotel!

Both the German and I were so impressed by Dantessa, we opted to eat their twice during our two day stay (and it had nothing to do with the proximity to our hotel, as being downtown there were numerous other restaurants in close proximity).

The restaurant interior

We stopped by for a late lunch on Day 1, and we both ended up ordering pasta. Nearly all their pasta can be made gluten free (stuffed pastas are the exception) and are corn based, which I prefer as I find the texture is much closer to traditional pasta. I chose the Spazia pasta; fettuccine in a cream sauce with shrimp, chicken, pancetta, asparagus, and asiago cheese. It was the first dish in a long time that had everything I loved in it, and I settled on it pretty much right away (which entertained the German, as I usually take a fairly long time to decide). He decided on the Gorgonzola; angel hair pasta with gorgonzola cheese, green onion, and sundried tomatoes.

The Spazia

The Gorgonzola

The server was very knowledgeable about Celiac disease and its gluten free requirements; he also mentioned that their thin crust pizza can also be made gluten free. He assured us he had personally tried most of their gluten free food himself, and with the degree of accuracy he was explaining things, I would have been inclined to believe him.

The sauce was wonderfully cheesy and creamy, and the chicken had a nice smoky taste and clear marks from being char-broiled. There were four large shrimps in the dish, cooked to a perfect firmness, and they didn’t skimp on the pancetta at all. I personally would have liked more asparagus in the dish (it’s one of my favorites!), but I know to a lot of people it can be overpowering, so I think they left it at a reasonable amount. The German seemed to enjoy his pasta equally, and I would have loved to try it, except he didn’t order his gluten free.

The second time we ate here, it was for dinner the next day. I was very intent on trying the pizza, but the pasta special seemed to call my name. It was a special, so not found on the menu; Fettuccine again with a cheesy cream sauce (I can’t remember the cheese they used, but it didn’t have the bite of the asiago, it was pretty mellow) with sun dried tomatoes, green onions, shrimp, scallops, and squid. This time, since it was dinner, we were provided bread (although, alas, it was not gluten free, so the German was more than happy to eat my portion).

After we received our pasta, ate a bit and noticed that they had forgotten the squid! It was quite busy that night, and there seemed to be only one waiter, so I wasn’t able to flag him down, resulting to have to go physically get him. He was very apologetic, and took my pasta, and with no time at all it came back with a double portion of squid, on the house! It was a wonderfully nice gesture, although that amount of squid was a little much for my taste. The shrimp and scallops were wonderful, sweet and tender as they should be. The squid itself was a little gummy and tough, but I think that was just the speed it was cooked and sent out of the kitchen. The pasta itself was perfect, and I would definitely order the dish again.

If you are sightseeing in Ottawa, and are anywhere near the downtown area, I would highly recommend this little gem for delicious quality Italian cuisine and good service. Celiac or not, this is well worth 100% of the 10 minute walk from Parliament Hill.

Atmosphere 7.5/10

Service 9 /10

Presentation 8/10

Taste 9/10

Variety of Gluten Free Dishes 9.5/10

Value 8.5/10

Fid Friday

Every Friday I'm going to post a picture of one of my birds. Why? Because I love them, and want to share them with everyone.

This week is Jazz thoroughly enjoying some carrots, broccolini, and sweet potato "cookies" I made for him.

Restaurant Review: East Lake Pho - 77%

As you may, or may not, know, I live and work in Airdrie. There isn’t much variety available here in terms of a quick lunch, so most of the time I take my own food from home. The German and I are heading to Ontario on Saturday, however, so we've been trying to run down the fridge which doesn’t really fit well with my diet.

So, unless I wanted to skip lunch (which I do frequently, not healthy, do as I say not as I do please!) I needed to go out. One of the places I hadn’t been to in a while is a handy little Vietnamese place about a 5 minute drive away, East Lake Pho.

I used to love the subs here, until my diagnosis. I was tickled pink when the staff knew right away what “celiac” meant, and were happy to check on whatever items I wanted. Ever since, the service has been pretty close to impeccable and I have never had a request to check on ingredients turned down or shrugged off as annoying.

Today, I ordered an A0, Beef Salad Rolls with sate peanut sauce, and a C49, Charbroiled Pork with Lemon Grass and Spring Rolls on Rice Vermicelli. They have a great deal where 99% of their Bun (Vermicelli) dishes are on for $6.95 Sunday through Tuesday. The only one not included is C44, Special Rainbow Combo (several different types of meat + spring roll).

Speaking from experience, the shrimp and chicken are not gluten free due to the marinade they use. I know the Pork Chop used for the rice dishes (or as an add on) isn’t either, even though the lemon grass pork is. I am not 100% sure about other thing, so please ask your server when you order. They are very friendly and knowledgeable.

Now, the peanut sauce, sadly, is not gluten free here so I had fish sauce substituted, and I passed on having the spring rolls with my vermicelli for the same reason. Often if I am dining with someone else, I ask for the spring rolls to be packaged separately (so my companion can eat them) and this is never an issue. They add cilantro to a lot of stuff here, and I personally can’t stand the stuff, so I always order my food without it.

As of right now, VH sauces (Teriyaki excluded) in Canada are gluten free, so I keep a bottle of both Soy and Hoisin at home/work. Not just for Vietnamese; because I like Asian flavors and use soy sauce on nearly everything.

The beef salad rolls were pretty average, they don’t flavour the beef beforehand but that doesn’t bother me so much as I just dunk it in sauce anyway. I like they add julienned cucumber to their rolls, along with the standard vermicelli and lettuce. They aren’t anything special, to be honest, but they are rolled nice and tight and the wrappers are nice and squishy, like they should be.

The vermicelli wasn’t too bad. There was a good amount of pork, and it was well seasoned, but a little dry. Lettuce, carrots, and cucumber were a little in short supply, although extremely fresh and crunchy. I’d say 60% of the entire dish was the vermicelli noodles, which I was very tired off by the end.

All in all, I would say these guys don’t serve bad food at all. The standard Vietnamese fare although what they do put out, I feel is quite freshly made. I don’t come here specifically for taste, I come for the awesome service and the high degree of knowledge they exhibit regarding wheat allergies and celiac disease.

Atmosphere 6.5/10

Service 9.5 /10

Presentation 6.5/10

Taste 7/10

Variety of Gluten Free Dishes 7.5/10

Value 9/10

Restraunt Review: Silver Inn Resturant - 75%

I have had a serious jonsing for ginger beef lately, which is odd, since it is one of the Chinese dishes I've never really been fond of, even before my celiac diagnosis. The usual Chinese restaurant I've went to since learning I'm celiac doesn't office gluten free ginger beef, so that wasn't an option.

Enter Google, a celiac's best friend.

I actually live in Airdrie, so it was nice the apparent "Home of Ginger Beef" was on Centre Street North. The German is always up for anything battered, deep fried, or salty, so he was in.

From the outside, it looks like the typical old neighborhood Chinese place. A little run down, but that usually leads me to hope that they spend more time on the food, and less time on appearances. We were seated very quickly and had our drink orders taken right away; Coke for him and water for me.

Now, at the other gluten free Chinese place I've been to, items that can be made gluten free are clearly marked on the menu. At Silver Inn Restauraunt, however, they are not, which was slightly disappointing. We ordered ginger beef, sweet and sour pork, and the crunchy chicken filet in sweet corn sauce. I was trying to find some dish with a little bit of greenery in it, but after naming two or three different veggie dishes, and being told they couldn't make them gluten free without omitting the sauce, we gave up and just stuck with our three dishes and steamed rice.

I asked for gluten free soy sauce to go with my steamed rice, but the waitress told me they only had regular soy sauce and told me to bring my own from home next time. I was really surprised and disappointed by this. Gluten free soy sauce isn't hard to find (VH is GF for goodness sakes).

Our beef and pork dishes arrived fairly fast, along with our rice, but the chicken was a fair bit delayed for an unexplained reason.

First and foremost, the ginger beef was - literally - out of this world. If I hadn't been with my boyfriend and surrounded by strangers, I might have just started shoving handfuls of it into my mouth. We were told the batter is made with cornstarch, and I'm wondering if that is the secret. Very light, crunchy even when covered with sauce, it doesn't remind me one bit of the incredibly chewy and tough ginger beef I remember from Chinese smorgs past. The sauce was perfect, not overpowering at all, with just the right amount of chili. If you come to this restaurant and don't order the ginger beef, I pity you!

A-MAZE-ING Ginger Beef!

The sweet and sour pork was pretty good too, although the coating on it wasn't nearly as good as that on the ginger beef. The sauce was nice though, not too vinegary like I remember a lot of places being. Nice chunks of onion, carrot, and green pepper (so I guess I got a little vegetable in me by the end of the meal) but no pineapple! That wouldn't stop me from ordering it again though! 

Pork on my fork, please!

Our crunchy chicken filet in sweet corn sauce was strangely good, a combination I never would have thought of before, but otherwise unimpressive. It was basically breaded chicken covered in creamed corn. My boyfriend was quite impressed by it (he also eats frozen pizza and beefaroni several times a week) but it was just too starchy and heavy for me to be anything else than a novelty.

Is there such a thing as the "starch sweats"?

All things considered, it was not a bad meal at all for $50 including tip, and I would like to head back some time in the future and try a different variety of dishes to hopefully find a new favorite. As good as the ginger beef was, I would be hard pressed to drive 40 kilometers for one dish unless I was having a helluva craving.

But hey, that's how I got here in the first place!!

Overall, I'm rating the Silver Inn Restaurant as follows:

Atmosphere 8/10
Service 8 /10
Presentation 6.5/10
Taste 8.5/10
Variety of Gluten Free Dishes 7/10
Value 7/10