Breakfast for Lunch

May 5th the day after the birthday dinner found us trying out another eatery in downtown.  This one is really new and already has a line up with a bit of a wait time to get in.  We thought trying JAM on a Saturday for lunch would mean skipping the breakfast crowd, but we still had a wait of 25 minutes for our party of two.  We willingly sat at the bar in the corner.  I was impressed with John's patience -- possibly it was my puppy dog eyes that made him give in rather than going for Plan B -- QV Bakery.  

The interior of JAM is an interesting mix of reclaimed wood from the former Thrifty Foods warehouse, window frames made into shelving, old maps as artwork and a large traffic light hanging in the entrance to the kitchen.  

We were lucky to be waited on by the owner who was filling in for missing staff.  I like when an owner has an invested interest in his business and works to ensure everything flows well.  And from what I saw on Saturday May 5th, JAM is a great addition to the breakfast eateries of Victoria. Especially as JAM offers the all day breakfast.  I've seen a review of JAM that wanted more of a lunch menu, but the reviewer obviously never has had breakfast for lunch or even breakfast for dinner!  

We both had the two eggs, sugar bacon (yummy!!) and toast.  John had the sourdough and I had marbled rye with peanut butter and jam on the side.  The hash browns were shredded and not a huge portion, just a nice side which was perfect.  John gave me his grilled tomato -- delicious!!  I have to learn to do tomatoes like that.

Two of the couples sitting next to us had the Three Little Pigs and raved about them and the Charlie Bowl got a thumbs up too.  

Our waitress let us know service was slow due to the crowd, which I don't mind as long as I know.  Even with the crowd our waitress kept on top of checking in with everyone, and had my teapot refilled with hot water the minute it was empty.  Our meal was served by the owner. Good working arrangement between our waitress and the owner to check on the 8 of us sitting at the bar.  Service may have been slow but looking at the decor and talking with John was enjoyable that I didn't mind sitting there drinking my tea.  There are benefits to slowing life down and waiting.

Have seen great reviews online for JAM.  Would like to go back again.  Of course, like all breakfast places, there is a line up so it's up early to beat the crowds or try it later before closing for a late lunch.  

Birthday Dinner

We've been thinking about trying Smoking Bones in the trendy downtown Hudson building for a few months now since they moved from Langford.  Since there was discussion on where to go for my birthday dinner after having a lovely dinner at El Greco's for John's birthday in April, we decided Smokin' Bones would be the place to finally try.  http://www.smokenbones.ca/

For an appy we had the homemade potato chips and hush puppies shared around the table.  Both were delicious.  I've never had a hush puppy but it was an interesting bite sized appy and tasted fine to me.  

I was impressed that the menu offered a lot of gluten free options.  I see this more and more which is nice for those who wish to avoid gluten or are off wheat.  I did want the Sloppy Joe but alas as with so many restaurants dairy allergies are not accommodated as well as gluten.  The Sloppy Joe was prepared with cheese and I had to scan the menu for something else.  It teaches me to again ensure I have two or more options so that I am not disappointed.  I went with the burger, yup a plain burger, yes it was beef which I don't eat but I wasn't keen on pork and I eat chicken at home all the time.  All meals come with a wide selection of sides, one with the meal and more for $2.50 each.  I had the baked beans and shared some of Paula's coleslaw.  The beans were nice, not over done with sauce and the coleslaw wasn't smothered in mayo.  The beef had no filler which I could taste -- real beef and the smoked tomato relish with the bayou swamp sauce added a nice touch. Not too much of either to cover the taste of the burger and the bun was ok too.  

John enjoyed the Sloppy Joe, Paula had a burger with smoked cheddar cheese which she said was really good,  Karl had a bucket of chicken wings along with a Caesar salad, Stephanie seemed to enjoy her ribs which she had with seasonal vegetables of Chinese greens and a second side of candied carrots and Bernie had a pulled pork sandwich that was piled high.  I think all of us were very satisfied with our meals and were just stuffed enough to decline dessert.

Good prices too for the food we had.  A very nice waitress who was helpful, answered my query on bacon lardons as well pointing out those items with dairy in them and kept our water glasses filled.  

Burger Blitz

Suddenly there is a plethora of burger joints popping up in downtown Victoria.  Ok, I exaggerate!  There have been three new joints that have opened in the last few months.  Opening within a few weeks does seem as if Victoria has been hit by a trend. 

Fat Burger opened across from Chapters on Douglas Street.  A step above MacDonalds, A&W and Burger King, Fat Burger serves beef, chicken, turkey and vegetarian burgers, a selection of toppings to please the palate.  Along with fries -- skinny, poutine, gravy or chili and free refilled drinks, as well as beer, margarites and shakes, there is a varied menu.  So far Fat Burger seems to be doing well, as I've never seen the place empty the times I've eaten there.  The food is certainly as step up if you don't want to go the faster food route.

In early January a group of us tried Bin 4 Burger for an evening meal.  I had the bean burger which was delicious!  The fries come with a selection of sauces. There is a wide selection of burgers from beef, chicken, lamb, vegetarian and tuna.  I did find Bin 4 rather noisy and the table we had was really cramped, up against the waiting area around the door.  Not the place for a cozy dinner, but worth a try.

We also went to Big Wheel in Cook Street.  The beef burger was good, as the beef was organic grass fed beef.  I'm not a big beef eater due to grain fed cattle and the horrible conditions cattle is raised to fatten them for market.  Not a large menu selection here and certainly nothing for vegetarians.  If you want a big juicy burger though, this is it!

Flow Charts

I've just been reading Chatelaine magazine's Top 9 Food Trends for 2012.  Prediction is still back to basics, including cooking without rubs, marinades and sauces.  Personally I've always liked a steak grilled with just salt and pepper.  Vegetables, roasted with some olive oil or steamed and tossed with some vegan spread or butter (the girl can't do dairy so vegan it is).  Black coffee is another trend (French Press and cup is all you need) -- although I've given up coffee and am into tea which I am drinking black/green/herbal and sugarless.

More on the trends at :

 http://www.chatelaine.com/en/blog/post/35004--nine-food-trends-for-2012-what-you-ll-be-eating-more-of-this-year

One trend is flow charts apparently, which lead me to check out this

http://www.eatingrules.com/healthy-breakfast-flowchart.pdf

And the rest of the Eating Rules blog has some interesting posts about eating and food.

Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire...

Sorry no photo is available to add to this post.  We didn't have the open fire either.  I can say Bernie Klassen did a great job of shaking my cast iron frying pan full of chestnuts.  I had mentioned that I'd never had roasted chestnuts.  Roasted chestnuts are often available at two events in town, one the Cadboro Village Christmas event and the other the Oak Bay light up.  I've attended the Oak Bay event when I lived in the area and missed the chestnuts.  So Bernie kindly decided I needed to experience roasted chestnuts and brought over a bag for me to try.

After slicing an X into the bottom of the chestnuts, all of them went into the cast iron frying pan on medium high.  The chestnuts swell and expand, splitting open at the X.  Cooling them a lot and then peeling the shell back is the way to eat them. Or you can try to hold the hot chestnut in your hand and peel to get to the delicious insides. The taste is a slight nutty flavour, although chestnuts are not nuts but seeds.

After a search on the internet I found some interesting sites about chestnuts.  Further cooking instructions can be found at Canadian Living

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/cooking_school/all_about_chestnuts.php

The history of the chestnut is interesting, humans have been consuming them for thousands of years. In areas where cereal grains don't grow the chestnut is used instead. Often ground into flour for bread as well.  Like potatoes, chestnuts can be used in many different recipes and being mild flavoured are a good base for spices and flavouring.

I found an article at The Cambridge World History of Food on chestnuts worth reading

http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/chestnuts.htm

No Fat

I've recently signed up for Saanich's Backyard Newsletter to keep me in the loop of what is going on in Saanich my own neighbourhood.  I don't cook a turkey dinner for Christmas, thankfully my sister in law, Brenda, does the traditional dinner.  I'm sure I'm going to be called upon in the future and knowing this trick for fat disposal will come in handy. 


http://www.saanich.ca/living/environment/pdf/ob/OurbackyardWinter2011FinalWeb.pdf

Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) aren’t good for our sewers or septic systems. This season, 

put FOG where it belongs. You’ll keep your drains clear and our sewers, septic, and 

watersheds clean and healthy.

Each year almost one million kilograms of fats, oils and grease (FOG) are poured down 

residential drains. These household cooking oils, salad dressings, and fat or grease 

from meat really clog up our wastewater treatment process and they also impact the 

environment.  The build-up of FOG in sewer or septic lines can cause blockages that 

force sewage back into homes or allow it to spill over into our watersheds.

Clogged or restricted sewer lines aren’t just a messy situation for cleanup crews, 

they’re also expensive to deal with: fat clogged lines can cost you in tax dollars. 

Municipalities are spending up to $10,000 per block to repair and maintain sewer 

lines due to the build-up of FOG. 

If you’re connected to an onsite septic system, FOG can also be hard on your tank and 

drain field. Oils can form a puddle on the surface of your septic tank, preventing septic 

tank bacteria from doing their digesting job. If FOG moves from the septic tank into 

the drainage field, it can cause expensive blockages and contaminate surrounding soil 

and groundwater supplies. 

Even FOG in liquid form (such as olive oil) can cause problems when you pour it down 

the drain; many oils solidify at lower temperatures and can clog further down the 

line. Those that don’t solidify often bind to other forms of fats and grease, creating 

blockages, or they move through the system too quickly, preventing treatment. 

The good news?  The solutions are simple and free! 

For small amounts of grease, sauces, and salad dressings:

Use a paper towel or citrus peels to wipe 

out the container and remove most of the 

oily residue before rinsing in the sink. 

For grease left over from cooking and 

frying:

•Cool fats, then pour or scoop into a 

sealable container.  

•Store the sealed container in the 

refrigerator or freezer until full and 

then dispose of it with your household 

garbage, curbside organics collection 

bin where applicable, or take it to the 

recycling area at Hartland Landfill, no 

charge, to be recycled into industrial 

fuel, soap, among other consumable 

items.

For large residential amounts of deep fryer fat:

•Store in a sealed container and take to Hartland Landfill for recycling.

I finally made it to another Farmers' Market, this one being the last of 2011.  I had a informative chat with Dean at Food Roots Distributors Co-op www.foodroots.ca  It is always interesting to hear about what farmers and others who share my passion on local food are doing. I'm impressed the community is really making an effort to work towards the island being a 95% local food producing community.

I also learnt about Italian desserts from Claudio at Il Forno di Claudio, the hazelnut desserts were delicious and I loved the hazelnut flour taste.  I also learnt about Italian breads.  I passed on having a treat but certainly will visit Claudio again.  Thank you Claudio for the samples and the chat.

I wandered around the market and everything looked wonderful.  I wish I'd had more money to spend as I really wanted to try every booth.  Especially El Guapo Chorizo Grill which was making sausage chipatta buns with the most delicious smelling chorizo.  The hunger pangs kicked in.  I passed on this too as I was saving my hunger for B-Red Bakery where I had a Gibassier - orange and fennel brioche which was a flavour explosion.  The question is where to find B-Red Bakery goodies, well you have to Facebook like them and then they will tell you.  For a start though, try 2% Jazz Coffee 2621 Douglas and soon to be in the Hudson or Caffe Fantastico on King http://caffefantastico.com/contact.php

To complete my food journey today, I tried Organic Fair's dark chocolate bars for the holiday season. Would have bought a few of these for stockings stuffers but never know who enjoys dark chocolate in my family.  Not John for one.  Although he might have gone for the candy cane bar which had a very minty flavour. http://www.organicfair.com/default.asp  Next time we are up island kayaking or day tripping we have been told to phone ahead and drop in to see the farm.

Next market day is January 7th and I will be heading downtown again, by bus with my bags to partake of 2012's first market day.  I might even drag John along for an island food adventure. http://victoriapublicmarket.com