ElliotNg.com > Mange.Voyage > Food reviews » Toronto

How Apple’s kerfuffle led to Apple Kerfuffle

productionteams — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 05:32:41 +0000

It all started more than a month ago, on a hot Sunday afternoon as my friend Joseph from Seattle was picking Toronto as his first sabbatical destination.

We were sitting at a park and chatting over many things including our philanthropic goals. Then we started talking about Steve Jobs’ recent post on “Thoughts on Flash.” Joseph bursted out laughing when I said “the kerfuffle between Apple and Adobe…” He thought I had made up the word. To my protest, he conveniently pulled out his brand new Kindle from his backpack, and we looked it up. So here I was, a Canadian boy, for whom English is not his first language, teaching an American an English word! I asked him if “conundrum” would be a better choice, but he agreed that “kerfuffle” is the perfect word to describe the situation. I was glad that I managed to expand a friend’s vocabulary!

Another week had gone by, and I found myself at an alumni event where my friends and I debated once again which word to choose between “kerfuffle” or “conundrum”. So I posted a question on Twitter:

productionteams: Which one is bigger “kerfuffle” or “conundrum”? …

Then Y N responded:

ynq25335: … When you modify any noun with Apple or Adobe, it becomes MUCH BIGGER! Apple Kerfuffle sounds like a pastry! Yum?

Lucy said:

Lucers: Mmm, apple kerfuffle sounds good! Could it have cream cheese, raisins & cinnamon in it? Maybe lemon zest. On puff pastry?

My Twitter friend Lucy and I have been swapping recipes and exchanging foodie tips for a while now. She has given me her infamous carbonara recipe and I’ve become her “Toronto food concierge”.

Fast forward a month, this Wednesday Lucy and I met for the first time where we each brought our very own versions of Apple Kerfuffles. We met at a downtown Starbucks and I was nervous as I waited. Having never baked any dessert pastries in my life, I had told her not to judge me by my pastries. Like a blind date, we each brought a friend to make sure the meeting didn’t go weird. Lucy brought Stuart, and they are one of the nicest couples I have ever met.

So we unveiled our creations. Lucy’s on the left and mine on the right. With plastic forks and knives in our hands, four of us sampled the kerfuffles à la Iron Chef.

Lucy’s was delicious and filled with cream cheese and different kinds of apples. I loved the pastry itself and colour of the kerfuffle.

Here’s a closer look at my version, made with granny smith apples and a special topping (Kit Kat).

Recipe (Makes 3):

One peeled, ripe granny smith apple
2 tsp of cinnamon brown sugar
5 tsp of sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp of butter on each kerfuffle
1 tsp of flour
1 bar of Kit Kat
Frozen puff pastry

Thaw puff pastry overnight. Set aside eight sheets of puff pastry and lay them on a flat, dry surface.
Layer three sheets and cut into 3″x3″ squares as the foundation of the pastry.
Layer one sheet and roll them up as a tube. Bent the tube into a 3″x3″ square as the pastry walls.
Fold any excess from (2) to cover the walls. Set aside.
Cut apples into thin slices. Add both kinds of sugar, flour and salt. Mix well.
Gently pour apples into the well. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar. Use a cheese grater and grate Kit Kat on top. Brush butter all over pastries.
Put pastries on cooking sheet and cover with foil. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Take out when pastry turns golden.

Thanks to Twitter, I’ve met a new friend! Lucy and I became so inspired that we decided to start our own food revolution. Next month we will be making Blueberry Brutality, followed by Cherry Conundrum – this is our way of expressing our feelings towards what happened with the recent G20 summit in Toronto. We need a name for our food exchange!

Until then…

Nuit Mange – Food, food and more food

productionteams — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:14:58 +0000

Mary from Toronto had asked me why I haven’t updated my blog for a while. I apologize for not given much attention to this site. I have mainly been Twitter (@productionteams) my food quest.

Updates: I did find some good eats in Toronto:

Good dessert place in Toronto: Sweet Tooth on 50B Danforth

Pain au chocolate: La Thobors Boulangerie on Mount Pleasant

Cheap eat: Student Eatery on Danforth at Greenwood

French bistro: Tati Bistro at 124 Harbord Street west of Spadina

Great, affordable dim sum place: Rol San 323 Spadina Ave

Fancy dim sum place: Pearl Harbourfront

Great Japanese food: Sushi Garden north of Yonge/St. Clair across from Xocava

My favourite Japanese restaurant: Sho Gun at 154 Cumberland St in Yorkville

Home style Italian lunch: Boccone @ 1378 Yonge St

Hungarian family style restaurant: Bacsi Restaurant on Yonge, north of Davisville

Best chocolate drink: Xacava at Yonge/St Clair and SOMA in Distillery

Best dumplings: Mother’s dumplings on Huron Street at Dundas

Best crepe, especially when it’s -20C outside: Crepiere a Go Go on Yorkville and Yonge

Best casual French chain: Pain de quotidien at Yorkville and Yonge

Meanwhile, I have come up with a few cool recipes:

Homemade Korean BBQ

1/4 bottle of Korean Shorts Ribs sauce (can get at TNT). Rinse ribs, massage sauce, roast @ 400F – 1 hour (flip at 30 mins)

Spinach and Smoked Salmon Pastry Balls

Various ways of pastry balls:

– Smoked Salmon, Feta Cheese, and Frozen Spinach

– Prosciutto, Feta Cheese, and mushroom

Merry asked me for the recipe:

Pastry: Frozen phyllo pastry / phyllo dough from your favourite grocer.
Fillings: A box of frozen spinach (thawed and dried), a few pieces of smoked salmon (I usually get it from the St. Lawrence Market (or Granville Island for those in Vancouver) and get the end bits), and feta cheese.
Thaw phyllo pastry. Layer 3 phyllo sheets and glue the sheets with egg whites. Cut into 3″ x 3″ squares. Brush melted butter to the base, then add a mush of spinach, smoked salmon, and a few clumps of feta, then take each side and glue them together with egg whites and twist top to make the package secured. Repeat.
(Can be substituted with phyllo dough, then grab a handful of dough and flatten the dough to fit it on your palm, then add the mush, and glue the package together with egg whites.)
Then baked them at 400F for 15 minutes.
Keep them at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Let me know how did yours go?

Flickr: 2 people count this photo as a favorite

productionteams — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:48:22 +0000

Wo-oh! This is my living room looking out to the dining room. Thanks to my roomie’s choice of the blue. We picked it because it feels like french country, like in the south of france. Paired with our lovely furniture selection. I’m very surprised this picture got 2 favorites on Flickr. Yes, that’s me taking the picture in a lazy summer afternoon.

Clafouti: FOUND in T.O.: a très chic french pastry on Queen West!

productionteams — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 22:54:06 +0000

Clafouti

Amazing French Pastry shop on the Queen West in Toronto.

Remember my previous post calling for my pastry substitute in TO?

Best Pastry Place (so far) – Clafouti on 915 Queen St West
416-603-1935
Closed on Mondays. Cash Only.

I think I have found it! They have my favorite french pastry, the Clafouti! I had the Pomegranate & Raspberry Clafouti and it was as good as the fruit Clafoutis I had in Cannes.

FOUND in T.O.: a Super-duper Organic Food Supermarket!

productionteams — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:32:20 +0000

Today I was doing my excursion on DanForth Street in Toronto. Suprise suprise. Without the help of internet or any referrals, I found a supermarket called “The Big Carrot“. It reminds me of the award winning development of Capers on West 4th. I immediately recognize the close resemblance to the architecture in Vancouver and I know it’s going to be an organic food supermarket!

I had a huge craving for my Miso paste for my seasoning and I found that in Big Carrot! So does my Chai Latte Milk Mix!

Best Organic Food Supermarket (so far) – Big Carrot on Danforth
348 Danforth Avenue
416-466-2129

March 10: WANTED in T.O.: My favorite spots for Coffee Shop, Pastry, Organic Food Supermarket.

After settling into the great vast city of Toronto, I am on the search to fill up the following favorite spots:

Best Coffee Shop in Vancouver – JJ Beans on Main and 16th
Best Pastry Place – Ganache on Homer St
Organic Food Supermarket – Capers on West 4th.

Now calling for the cool hang out places in T.O. Hope to explore the city and have these spots filled up.

Workout. Food. St. Jacobs in Toronto

productionteams — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 20:16:25 +0000

Food tour episode 1:

Walking on a brisk winter morning in Toronto to the Hart House’s gym, my sleepy soul was refreshed by the 30-min cardio I did, as well as the company of the infamous “Rainy Men” song.

Right after the workout, I had a craving for mushroom and my palette was indulged by this little place on Yonge St called “Not just Noodles” cafe. The price is like 70% of Vancouver’s and the food is not very oily and with little MSG.

Food tour episode 2:

Venturing to West of Toronto in the Kitchener/ Waterloo area, passing by with all the blue-chip company’s headquarters on the Highway 401, we arrived to this small town in St. Jacobs. Guess what I saw first? The first Home Hardware store in Canada.

Finished Brooms on display at the Hamel Broom.

This charming little town house the Mennonites people, which is similiar to the Amish people on the Simple Life show. Housed with many local hand crafts and art and craft stores, we came across a store called Hamel Broom just specializing on the old-fashioned brooms. Later on, we routed back to Markham and had dinner at the pretty cool cantonese style congee noodle house called the Congee Wong.