Adventures in Slow Cooking

So after living down in SanDiego I grew a possibly unhealthy addiction to Mexican food. Mexican food the likes of which you CAN NOT find in Canada. With the awesome summer weather here I have been craving real mexican food more and more! SOOOOO I decided to take it into my own hands and try my hand at some epic mexican treats.

I found a recipe for slowcooker Barbacoa Beef to use for tacos and burritos. I made the beef yesterday so we could have it for lunch today. WOW was the recipe ever spot on! The meat is delish tender and so flavourful! Here is the recipe I used with my own little changes and suggestions

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef 

(original recipe and link here)

1 jar of Tomatillo salsa (presidents choice has a great one)
1 bunch cilantro, rinsed well and chopped
1 red onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 head garlic, peeled and cloves smashed
5 dry bay leaves
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Juice of 4 limes
1/2 cup cider vinegar
5 to 7 pounds beef brisket
4 to 6 cups beef or chicken stock

Stir together chipotle peppers and sauce, cilantro, red onion, garlic, clove, salt, lime juice, and cider vinegar in the insert of a slow cooker. Place the brisket on top of this mixture.  Add stock to cover the meat and place bay leaves on top. (if meat isn't fully covered cut brisket in half and replace in pot).

Cook on HIGH for 4 hours. Once finished, turn crock pot to WARM and let sit for 6 to 8 hours.

Remove meat from slow cooker and place on rimmed baking sheet. Use two forks to pull the meat apart.

Place shredded beef in large bowl and ladle cooking liquid over the top a few scoops at a time. You want the meat to hold the liquid but not swim in it.

I kept all the cooking liquid and frozer it to make a stew in the fall because it was so rich and seemed like a waste to toss out!

Here is my end results ( I made fresh salsa to go with them HERE is my recipe for salsa fresca)

 They were delish and this is for sure a recipe we will be making again in the future!
Hope everyones week is off to a great start!

Sunday Brunch Adventures: Izikaya Edition

Two of our good friends work at this gorgeous new restaurant on Elgin and asked us to join them there for brunch today. SOOOOOO glad we did!

Izikaya is at 339 Elgin izakayaottawa.com/ brunch is only done there on Sundays and only started on mothers day weekend so the menu isn't listed on the website. Silly me should have taken a picture of the menu for you guys. It is an asian fusian restaurant done right! Ottawa has a bunch who have attempted this kind of menu but I have never felt they got it right the way Izikaya has.

I started with a delicious white wince pineapple sangria. I plan on trying out all their sangrias on my next few trips their cause they all sounded tasty it was hard to make a choice.

We split an order of their asian slaw for the table it was delicious. Your typical coleslaw made with cabage with apple and mango added in along with cilantro and crunchie asian noodles on top and a tangy asian dressing!

I had eggs benedict with a curried hollandaise sauce grilled shirmp on a bed of homefries and steamed asparagus along side house made bread. It was aaaaaamazing.

 Nate always loves his french toast so he went with their french toast, along with double smoked bacon on top of an apple cinnamon puree. I tried some and it was a perfect mix. Not to mention their platting was beautiful and we had great service.

Next time you are in the mood to try a little something different be sure to check this place out. I lurked out the dinner menu well there and my mouth was WATERING. Can't wait to get back there for a dinner service.

On our way out this morning this little guy was on the front steps. Too cute and furry like a cat it was a little strange.

Now i'm relaxing on the couch and have no plans on moving for the rest of the day. Hellooooo Sunday relaxation, I have waited allll week for you.

Ottawa Rib Fest!

Not gonna lie rib fest os probly one of my favorite things that takes place in Ottawa over the summer. Vendors from all over north america set up on a pedestrian street called Sparks Street. Since it is there you don't have to worry about cars or traffic and it is right in the heart of downtown!

We went yesterday with my mom and a couple friends. I ate like a pig but it was well worth it! We tried out 2 places. First was Boss Hogs and it was EPIC! After that we figured we would try an American one too so we tried Uncle Sams because really does it get more american than that? I liked their ribs more but nothing else was as good as the first place.Afterwards we headed for a few drinks. All in all it was a pretty fun afternoon with friends!

(Shirley temple with Vvodka aka my favorite summer drink)

I gotta go get ready for brunch with some friends. I hope everyone is out enjoying the gorgeous weather this weekend!

Toronto, Tattoos, Pillows and Puppies!

Hey guys!

Me and Nate just got back from Toronto last night we had such a great weekend! We got to see some really great friends and go to the Northern Ink Xposure tattoo convention. I used to work for the convention so it was prety nice to be there and just be able to relax, have time to talk with everyone and actually get tattooed lol.

I got 2 little pieces added to my sleeve by Trevor Taylor from Liberty tattoos in Seattle libertytattooseattle.com

We picked up some really magical prints from some really awesome people there too! One from the lovely Erin Chance (middle print)  www.facebook.com/badtastebetsy one from a lovely lady sharing her booth  ( I am currently having a brain freeze on her  name) and one from Aaron Bell (right print) slavetotheneedle.com/tattoos/aaron-bio.asp

We stayed with my best friend Jen who took us out for an epic brunch our last morning there. This is challah bread french toast stuffed with cheese cake filling and topped with bacon!

My mom watched the pups while we were out of town and snapped some pretty cute shots of the pups. I misssed them so she kept me updated via email with pictures lol.

 When my mom came by to drop off the pups today she suprised me with the pillows for our livingroom being done! They are better then I even imagined so excited to have them they make it all come together. donnarobichaud.blogspot.ca/

Well thats it now I am off to make up for a whole weekend with out puppy cuddles! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Foooooood

Alright so once the nice weather comes I get half lazy with cooking cause we really just end up BBQ'ing almost every night. Here are a few meals we have had in the past little while including my easter egg cookies. It was my first attempt at icing flooding, learned some lessons lol not the best looking but they were so fun to make.

I mostly don't cook alot in the summer cause it is just so humid here. But here are some cool idead I have found for stuff I want to try this summer

Lastly here is a little food adventure post I never posted. Our plan was to go to Hintonburg and try out the new Taco Shack. But it was raining and miserable out so eating tacos in the rain didn't sound temping so instead we went to Hintonburger and indulged in an epic calorie fest! If you have never been you must go!

Holiday Wrap Up!

Alright so I have been insanely busy since the holidays and have slacked on writing you guys an update on how we spent our holidays! So here it goes!

This was the first Christmas with my parents living back East. We have spent holidays together out here but it was never quite the same because we had no central hub that was our own to spend them. So it was so nice to have my parents house to all share the holidays together!

I was up very early on Christmas eve morning hanging out with Dolly in our xmas sweaters!

We spent Christmas eve at my parents best friends house and had an amazing spread of seafood and appatizers! Don't know if I have ever been so full in my life!

They have three dogs of their own, plus Dolly and her daughters bulldog Winston it was like a zoo! The pups were all so pooped out by the end of the night to say the least! SO here aresome pictures from that night.

Dolly and Tilly sniffin out the situation

 

 The Silverii family too full for smiles

Dolly and Tilly at the end of the night ready to go to sleep and wait for Santa!

Once we wrapped up our night there we set out on the hour long drive to my parents place in Perth. Got in around midnight all had a drink or two and got the tree and stockings and last minute wrapping ready for the morning. We started out morning with gifts and mango Belinis ( yes my mom is super cute and made belinis for xmas am).

Then it was on to breakfast!
Poached egg with ham brie and chives and spiced shortbread cookies

We relaxed all afternoon and watched movies while the turkey cooked on the bbq! As always my mom made an epic dinner and set a gorgeous table so here are some pictures of all that.

And lastly here is a picture of where my parents are living, a christmas afternoon walk and Dolly pooped out from all the festivities in her new blanket!

All in all we had an amazing holiday season and it was shared with the people who matter most in our lives. I coulnd't have asked for anything more! We had a skype date with my aunt Leslie and Nates family in California who weren't able to be here so that was really nice too!

I hope everyone had as great a holiday as we did and that 2012 is off to a great start for all of you!