a chocolate tour- with Tasty Tours!

So very excited to be joining Tasty Tours on a chocolate tour in about 30 minutes time! These tours are great little snippets to find out more information about chocolate, visit shops and taste some treats! I'll be tweeting (@beyondumami) about all the various places I visit and do a blog post shortly after the tour. Tasty Tours also has a sweets tour, if sweet candy & sugary treats are more your thing! Click on over to Tasty Tours for more info! 

Taste of Edmonton - July 19-28, 2012! (A preview)

The Taste of Edmonton (ToE) is a huge event for businesses and restaurants that occurs every year in Edmonton in July. This year, I along with other food bloggers from Edmonton (Michelle from The Tiffin Box, Diane from Argenplath, Sharon from Only Here for the Food and more) were invited to the ToE 2012 media launch party! It was certainly an exciting opportunity to meet some of the chefs and owners from participating restaurants, and of course to get a sneak peak and taste of the food! 

Now, Edmonton is known for being Canada's festival city! With Race Week Edmonton and  Edmonton's Capital Ex all coinciding together, July will be packed with festivities for Edmontonians to participate in. 

This year's ToE 2012 will include new participating restaurants including TZin, Guru, Share (at the Westin), Caffe Sorrentino, Irie Foods on Whyte and more! Now, for those of you that have been to this event over the years and found that menu items are repetitive, have no fear! 65% of the menu being offered at ToE 2012 will be new! So with that being said, here are some of the dishes that we sampled during the lunch hour at the Schoctor Lobby of the Citadel Theater. 

Caprese Salad from Lit Italian Wine Bar (new item)

Maple Bacon Poutine from Hudson's Canadian Tap House

Chickpea Salad from Caffe Sorrentino 

Panzanella Salad from TZiN Wine & Tapas

Prawns on skewers from Zinc 

Prawn Pita from Zinc

Food Truck Fare from Smokehouse BBQ (@smokehousebb)

Prime Rib Stuffed Mini Yorkshire Puddings from On the Rocks

             

Whiskey and Dark Chocolate Ribs

from the Share Restaurant (Westin Edmonton)

MAC Scone Sundae from Fairmount Hotel Macdonald

The Hat Signature cupcake (red velvet filled w/ chocolate ganache)
only available at The Hat made by Delish Custom Cakes and Sweets

Mocha Cannoli (there will be assorted available)
from the Italian Bakery Edmonton.

yummy desserts from the media launch including
Nutella Cornetto from Caffe Sorrentino

GF cookies from Molly's Eats Food Truck (@MollysEats)

There were a couple more items that we sampled that day, which I unfortunately was not able to capture. However, you can certainly catch a glimpse of other dishes on Michelle's, Diane's, or Sharon's post of ToE 2012! The real standouts for me were the whiskey and dark chocolate ribs, the prawn pita and each dessert available that day (I'm a lover of all things sweet!). Echoing Sharon's thoughts, I'm hoping that dishes such as the maple bacon poutine or the yorkshire pudding would be more fresh on the days of the event given that these dishes, as well as others that needed to be served hot, had been prepped for some time before we had a chance to taste them. 

In my haste to finish this post (as it has been sitting in my drafts for some time), I almost forgot to mention the two food competitions occurring on July 22 and July 23. On July 22, three local food bloggers (Michelle, Phil and Teresa)  will be creating an original food truck entree to be judged by 3 chefs. On July 23, three different food bloggers will be paired off with a chef in a "Cooking with the Stars" BBQ cook-off event. It will likely be a black box competition, mirroring that of Chopped. Cupboards will be stocked with common necessities and it will be an exciting event! So, remember to check it out on July 22 and July 23 starting at 11:30am at Churchill Square. Taste of Edmonton (@TasteofEdm) will also be hosting a draw to win front row seats to either of these cook off events! Follow them on twitter and answer those 3 questions correctly for a chance to win! Drawing occurs this Friday @ 1pm.  

Tickets for food items can be purchased from Tix on the Square in advance or in the square on the days of the event. If you purchase them before the event begins than you can enjoy a 10% discount. One sheet is $30 at original price. 

Taste of Edmonton starts this Thursday July 19! Hope to see you all there!

An amazing crepe recipe

Now that summer is finally here alternative dinner options are welcomed! Crepes are nice light fare and are perfect for summer! What I love about crepes is that they can actually be eaten savoury or, what we often see, sweet.  The crepe recipe that we have gotten lots of mileage from in our household is the one from Jacques Pepin.

Ingredients

• 2 large egg
• 3/4 cup All purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter + more for pan (we actually do not put butter in our batter but use it for cooking on the pan instead)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, flour, milk, salt and sugar until smooth. The batter will be thick.
2. Whisk in the water, oil and melted butter (the butter can be skipped if you want)
3. Heat a 6-inch pan (or any flat pan- we use a stainless steel one) or a non stick skillet and rub with a bit of butter. Tilt the skillet to distribute the butter evenly.
4. Add about 2 tbsp of batter (we use a ladle to put in how much we need; as long as it thinly covers the entire pan). Tilt the skillet to distribute the batter evenly. Pour away any excess batter back into the bowl.
5. Cook over moderately high heat until the edges of the crepe curl up and start to brown. approx. 45 sec.
6. Flip the crepe and cook for another 10 seconds, until a few brown spots appear on the bottom.
7. Tap the crepe out onto a baking sheet (or parchment paper)
8. Repeat with remaining batter to make up to 12 crepes. You may need to butter the skillet a few times as time progresses.

*note* heat low to medium heat first since you don't want to burn the crepe too fast.  Once you see the edges turn then it is ready to be flipped. You can make a whole stack of crepes by stacking one on the other. Cover with a towel/plate to keep them warm. 

This recipe can be used to make savoury crepes by skipping the sugar and filling the crepes with slices of cheese, sandwich meat, spinach leaves, tomatoes, mushrooms and more!

For dessert crepes you can put chocolate, strawberry/better compote (made with frozen fruit, butter & sugar in pot on stove top), or any types of fruit. Enjoy!!