Foodie Friday: Cafe & Bakery Tour, II

The second stop on the 2012 Cafe & Bakery Tour took T and I to Rise & Shine Bagel Co. - a gem I'd heard of several years ago when bagel joints in K-W began to grow in popularity. Local Foodie, Andrew Coppolino, wrote an article about the various styles of baking bagels - Montreal, New York, woodfire, whatever the opposite of woodfire is (non-woodfire?) and as a bagel lover, I made a mental note of the places he visited, Rise & Shine being one of them.

From the outside, this bakery is nothing special. In fact, if you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't know it was there. I knew it was there and if it weren't for the giant bagel sign by the road, I'm not sure I would have found it as the bakery is simply a door propped open on the side of a hideous red painted building along a strip of other various businesses.

But sometimes it's not about what the place looks like, and it's a good thing, because the inside is just as stark with the bakery off to the right (and the friendly baker greeting customers as they walk in) and simple baskets of bagels to the left with paper bags to put them in. That's it. Oh, and there's a counter with a make-your-own coffee machine and a cash register tray for making your own change.

Sometimes simple is better, though, and when it comes to my Saturday morning bagel, I don't need bells and whistles, I just need it to be good. And these were!

In comparison to our first stop at City Cafe, Rise & Shine has more bagel variety with what seems to be weekly features (June 7 is slated to offer a cranberry and wheat bagel that I may need to return for). Last weekend when we visited, the offerings were sesame seed, poppy seed, plain, garlic, and cheddar cheese. If you take a paper bag, you're obligated to buy half a dozen (at $5), so we got 2 sesame, 2 garlic and 2 cheddar.

Rise & Shine is most definitely a take home type of place, and since it was a lovely Saturday morning and this bakery is much closer to our home than the former, we made our caramel lattes and enjoyed our bagels in the sunshine on our deck.

I started with the garlic. The consistency was perfect - a tad chewy (the way I like it) but not too hard or too dense. I always eat the bottom half first because everyone knows that the top half, with its sprinkling of flavour, is best saved for last. I couldn't taste much garlic in the bottom and would have liked more garlic flavour spread throughout; but, the crispy garlic pieces on top were so tasty so I suppose it balanced out.

Garlic bagel

T had one of the cheddar cheese bagels and said the same of the consistency and that the cheese flavour was perfect. We both agreed that the woodfire flavour you get from the bagels at City Cafe is so much tastier than these, but it's hardly a fair comparison and I still dig these freshly baked bagels over any frozen variety that I can get at the grocery store.

Cheddar cheese bagel

Baked good: 3.5/5 spatulas
Overall: 4/5 - much better location, not nearly as busy, love the laid back way of paying and the better variety of bagels. Some more beverage options to go with the bagel might make driving there slightly more worth it.

Monday's Musings

Hey, remember how last weekend I was relaxing at a cottage and last Monday I posted a photo from a lookout that you can go to along the Brucal Trail? Well, I don't know if I was foreshadowing or having a premonition or what (because I actually wrote and scheduled that blog prior to going away for the weekend since I wouldn't have access to the interwebs), but that very weekend at that very lookout, T proposed to me! (And I said "yes!" in case you were wondering.)


So, I apologize that I have no musings this week other than overzealous (possibly even nauseating?) girly excitement, because that's pretty much all that the last week has consisted of. I regret nothing.

I'm sure eventually the novelty will wear off and I'll return to "normal", creative thoughts. Until then... eeeeeeee!!

~C

Foodie Friday: Sangria

Me (left), my travel companion (right), and
our massive sangrias in Barcelona

I'd heard of sangria before going to Spain in 2007, but it was while there that I truly discovered how delicious (and dangerous!) this wine beverage can be - especially since it's often served in one litre glasses and the weather is always hot in Spain, so it's hard to resist a cold, refreshing drink.

The jist of the history behind sangria is that it's what becomes of "bad" or "old" wine instead of wasting it. Instead, if a wine isn't great to enjoy on its own, you pour the bottle in a pitcher with chopped fruit, some sort of fizz, and a small amount of brandy. There is also an option to add a sweetener - like sugar or honey - but I've found that part unnecessary. It's up to your personal preference of sweetness level, but I often find that the wine is sweet enough.

The wine can be red, white or pink, but is typically the former. You usually want the chopped fruit to complement the wine, so if you're using a sweeter strawberry zinfandel, you may want to use some strawberries, but also some citrust fruits (like lemons and limes) to balance out the sweet. But really, you can use anything you have on hand. Eating the booze soaked fruit at the end of the glass is one of the best parts. The fizz can be anything from Club Soda to 7up. And you can either leave the brandy out (which you may want to if the alcohol content of your wine is already up there), or sub it with anything from rum to gin to vodka.

I've made sangria with red wine, lemons, limes, oranges and raspberries, carbonated water and brandy and it was delicious. I've made sangria with strawberry zinfandel, lemons and a medley or frozen fruits (strawberries, peaches, melons and pineapple), Tonic Water and gin and it was delicious. There are endless combinations that are delicious as long as you have the basics.

When you're throwing sangria together, you want to put everything except the fizz part in a jug and chill it for at least one hour to let the fruit flavours blend in. I like to use citrus flavours, but I typically keep those ones in cheese cloth or some sort of strainer so the seeds and pulp don't mix in. Plus, they're not as fun to eat at the end. But if you do this, still make sure you add other types of fruits that can be served in the glass, too. I've come to enjoy using frozen fruit as it negates the need for ice, and thus, doesn't water the punch down either.

When you're ready to serve, pour the sangria in a wine glass over ice (if you didn't use frozen fruit), about half to three-quarters full, and top it off with the fizzy drink of your choice. It pairs well with good friends and a patio.

In 2009, T and I made a batch of Chianti in our basement and bottled sangria with half of the batch to give to our friends at Christmas. It went over well and people have since asked for the recipe. I used to keep it a secret, wanting it to be my trademark or something; but, something this tasty should be enjoyed by all. I created this recipe with a combination of other recipes to make it my own. Enjoy!

Carlita's Sangria

Ingredients

• 1 bottle of red wine - the experts suggest Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja, or Shiraz, but I used Chianti and it was still delicious so I don't really think it matters.
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• 1 orange, cut into wedges
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 1 cup sliced strawberries or raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 2 cups sugar (optional)
• 1 shot brandy (or 2 shots gin. I prefer the latter.)
• 4 cups gingerale

Preparation 

1. Pour wine into pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine (I find it's best to do this in a tied cheese cloth so the seeds and fruit bits don't get in the sangria). Toss in the fruit wedges. Then add sugar and brandy. Stir and chill at least one hour (but overnight is best to really get the flavours of the fruit).
2. Before serving, remove cheesecloth fruit and strain out any leftovers. Cut a fresh lemon, orange and lime and add to the sangria. Add gingerale, berries and ice just before serving. Enjoy!

Monday's Musings

Happy Victoria Day to my fellow Canadians! Or, as we like to informally call it, May 2-4, which has a double meaning of occurring at least by May 24th and of being synonymous with drinking lots of beer (which coincidentally comes in packs of 24).

Formally, today is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday before May 25th in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday. Informally, the Victoria Day long weeks often marks the beginning of summer for Canadians (even though I can recall many of them during which it has still be snowing).

Personally, I just love having an extra day to relax, and am doing so at my friend’s cottage on the beautiful Georgian Bay – an annual tradition among my friends and I.

A view of Georgian Bay from a lookout point on the Bruce Trail

(You see why I love this place?!)

Hope you had a great weekend, too!
~C

Foodie (Pizza) Friday: Calzone

Continuing my exploration with homemade pizza, last (pizza) Friday I turned the pizza inside out and made a calzone. Remember pizza pockets? That's essentially what a calzone is, only so much tastier and pretty looking because you braid the dough to keep all of the cheesy pizza goodness on the inside.

I also learned that the braiding technique you use with calzones can be used for sweet pastries as well. Noting for future baking adventures! Like a pizza, a calzone can be filled with any of your favourite pizza toppings. I particularly liked the recipe I found because I didn't have to pre-cook the toppings like I often have to do with regular pizza.

And trust me, the calzone looks much fancier and more difficult than it actually is. I highly recommend this for a dinner party and think that your guests would be impressed with how cool the calzone looks. I'm thinking you could even divide the dough up and turn it into a make-your-own-calzone party with each person filling their own mini calzone with their own fillings. Fun!

My advice to you, though, is to roll the dough out more than I did. I ended up having to stretch it more than I would have liked. It still worked fine, but was a bit annoying. I also would not recommend using whole wheat flour, despite what the recipe says, unless you want really crispy dough. I prefer soft and chewy, so I think I'd use my preferred pizza dough recipe next time. But that's my only complaint. I and the gentlemen who ate this with me all thought it was amazing how well the fillings stayed inside, even though I jam packed it full. And T said it was even better the next day once the ingredients had melded together more and softened the dough a little bit.

Calzone Dough

2 1/2 to 3 cups flour (I used a combination of white and whole wheat)

1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 cup very warm water

Combine yeast, sugar, 1 cup of the flour, and salt in a large bowl. Add the warm water and oil, then mix. Stir in remaining flour slowly until dough is soft but not sticky. Knead dough until smooth. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes before making the calzone.

After 30 minutes is up and you've had a cocktail, roll the pizza dough onto your baking sheet in the same shape as the sheet but a bit wider because you will be folding the sides in.

Making the calzone...
1. Put sauce in the center of the dough.

2. Add your meat and veggie toppings and seasoning (I used onions, red peppers, pepperoni, sundried tomatoes, and pesto tomato sauce). Then top it all with cheese (mozzarella cheese in my case).

3. Cut the dough on the sides at about 3/4 inch intervals without cutting all the way to the filling.

Pre-bake

4. Braid the dough by starting at the bottom and alternating sides, overlapping strips of dough onto the filling in a lattice-like pattern. You can stretch the pieces to fit all the way over the filling if needed.

5. Bake the calzone at 375°F for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden.

6. When the calzone is ready, pour yourself a glass of red (I had a glass of something called Legitimo Joven, a Spanish wine that someone left at my house after a wine & cheese party. I drank one glass and put the rest of it in my fridge to make sangria out of. Because that's what you do with bad red wine), remove the calzone from the oven and cool it slightly on a wire rack.

7. Once the calzone is cool, cut it into slices and enjoy!

Post-bake