Toronto Wing Night!

     If you like wings and you're cheap like me then you'll love this list that was posted on BlogTO! The list breaks down the wing deals in Toronto by day of the week. Hungry for wings on a Monday? Try The Dizzy! Hungry for wings on a Thursday? You can check out The Dog & Bear!

Check out the complete list of wing specials here!

Mill St. Brewery Seasonal Sampler

     I was out looking to pick up some beer when I saw the Seasonal Sampler (I'm assuming the summer season) from Mill St. sitting on the shelf at the LCBO. I was familiar with all the beer in the six pack except for the Walker's Blueberry Wheat and the Ambre De La Chaudiere. Two new beers? I had to buy it.

     The Seasonal Sampler six pack was made up of Tankhouse Ale, Stock Ale, Original Organic Lager, Lemon Tea Beer and the previously mentioned Blueberry Wheat and Ambre De La Chaudiere. For the sake of brevity I'll just review the two new beers.

     Walker's Blueberry Wheat was decidedly un-blueberry flavoured. I had to really use my imagination to taste any blueberries. Other than the misleading name the 5% beer was light to medium bodied with a dry finish. I give this wheaty beer a 6.5/10

     The Mill St. Ambre De La Chaudiere is a fairly potent beer at 7%. The medium carbonated Biere De Garde was somewhat hazy and had a nice medium body. It had a malty, bready favour with some fruit taste at the end. I enjoyed the beer quite a bit and it's unfortunate that it is no longer available from the brewery. I give the beer a 8/10

Yanjing Beer

     I was in the LCBO the other day looking for some new beer to try and I wound up buying a six pack of First Draft Lager which I will review in the future and a single 500ml can of Yanjing beer.

     The can proudly proclaims that it is the "No.1 Beer From China". I don't know how true that statement is but I can't think of any other Chinese beers off the top of my head so it might as well read "Only Beer From China".

     The beer was clean, crisp and refreshing. It was easy to drink and I think it would make a great choice to bring along to a party. You'd probably be the only person there with a six pack of Yanjing so there would be no confusion in the fridge. While obviously not the best beer in the world (I'm still looking for that one), it is quite drinkable and I give it a 8/10.

Brunch Review - The Drake Hotel

     This morning I met with some friends for brunch at The Drake Hotel. Brunch starts at 9:00AM and we lined up at about 10:00. The place was almost full but we got a table on the inside of the diner.

     The menu is short but everything sounds good. One of my friends and I ordered the Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles (herb waffle, maple syrup, creme fraiche, fried chicken and Niagara cherry jam) and my other friend ordered the Drake Breakfast (3 eggs, Perth bacon and Cumbrae's sausage, home fries and marble rye toast).

     As we waited for our food we could see plates being delivered to the other tables and everything looked delicious. The Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles were great. I was expecting the chicken to be on the bone but instead I received 3 moist, breaded and crispy fried chicken breast strips. The waffle was absolutely huge and took up most of the plate. A reasonable amount of maple syrup (not too much or too little) covered the entire dish and it was all topped with the Niagara cherry jam and creme fraiche.

     After eating the dish I was completely stuffed so I didn't feel like any desert but that was fine because the meal was both savoury and sweet so I got my sugar for the morning. My friend and I were very happy with our chicken and waffles and my other friend said that he also enjoyed his Drake Breakfast. I would totally go back to The Drake Hotel for brunch again. Next time I might consider ordering the Eggs Caleb (2 poached eggs, smoked salmon, arugula, toasted english muffin, hollandaise sauce and home fries) but the Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles were so good it would be hard not to order them again. After we left the hotel we noticed that Julianne Moore was waiting in the brunch lineup. Not only do you get a delicious meal at The Drake Hotel but you may also see a celebrity! I give brunch at The Drake Hotel a 9/10.

Smash That Burger!

     For years I have been making my hamburgers by mixing in bread crumbs, egg, seasoning and some vegetables (onion, jalapeno...) into my meat before forming it into a patty and frying in a pan. Today I decided to try out the smash method. I bought some regular ground beef from the local butcher and simply scooped a handfull into a hot frying pan. I then flattened the meat out with a spatula and let it cook. Once it was ready I flipped it over and let it cook some more. That's it! Done! The burger was awesome and reminded me of The Burger's Priest which is my favourite burger place in the city. This will now be my burger cooking method of choice. I would have taken pictures but I ate all three burgers before I could get my camera out. Here's a video of Wimpy from Popeye making a smash burger in 1933! I would probably cook it a little longer than he does though.

Bud Light Lime Mojito

     Last weekend while walking downtown my girlfriend and I were stopped by some people offering samples of the new Bud Light Lime Mojito. Being a lover of beer, we each accepted the two 355ml cans that they were handing out. When I got home later that evening I put the cans in the fridge to cool. I opened a can of the beer that night to have with my home made pesto pizza and I must say that it is one of the worst drinks I've had in a long while! The taste is an unfortunate combination of watered down beer and teenage party cooler. I was never a fan of the regular Bud Light Lime (although my girlfriend and mother were), but the addition of a fake tasting mint hasn't helped the cause at all. In fact, we still have one can remaining in the fridge and it is RARE for a cold  beer to last for more than a day. We'll probably move out of our current apartment in a couple of years and find the can sitting in the back of the fridge like a failed experiment. -Gazillion/10

     Speaking of Budweiser... Almost exactly two years ago I was in St. Louis for a friend's wedding. While in St. Louis I attended a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery. If you love beer and happen to be in that area the tour is a must see. The sheer scope of their operation is monumental and it's amazing to watch a large brewery at work. Check it out!

Bottle Brew Conclusion

     My beers are brewed! They were actually done at the beginning of last week but I didn't feel like drinking 2 litres of beer by myself on a week night. I opened the bottle of Cerveza on Saturday night while I rolled my sushi dinner. As you can see in this picture the beer is once again clear (it's very murky while fermenting in the bottle) and there is a layer of yeast sitting at the bottom of the bottle. Try not to disturb the yeast layer while pouring the bottle. It's not bad for you, it will just alter the flavour of the beer and give you some extra B group vitamins.

     I have been told by some friends and family who have previously brewed their own beer at home that it will taste like crap but I was very pleased with this beer. When I opened the bottle it let off a satisfying hiss and it's easily just as good as the majority of bottled beers available at the LCBO or Beer Store.

     The Cerveza has a smooth and refreshing taste and had more carbonation than I was expecting. However, the carbonation will eventually disappear after the bottle is opened and will probably last less than three days. I managed to finish most of the bottle in an evening with a glass remaining to have with lunch the next day.

     Based on this bottle I plan on buying more of these beers in the near future. For the month of April Bottlebrew is holding a promotion called the MB24 special. You get 24 2 litre bottles of beer for $89 including taxes and you can select any combination of flavours that you want. That comes out to just over 60 cents per glass of beer! Get the MB24 Special coupon HERE.



Vanilla Kipferl Recipe

     These cookies are from Austria but are also commonly made in Germany and Switzerland. They take a bit of work but the end result is delicious so it's worth the effort.

Ingredients

4-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 pinches salt

1-3/4 cups butter

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 egg

2 tablespoons vanilla sugar

2-1/2 cups ground almonds/almond flour

Directions

To Make Your Own Vanilla Sugar: Place 1 1/2 to 2 cups of sugar and place in pint jar. Put a clean vanilla bean in the jar, cover and shake well. Let stand for a few days, shaking the jar occasionally, before using the sugar. As you use the sugar, replace with fresh sugar. I did not do this because it sounded like a pain in the ass so I just used some vanilla extract.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the salt and the flour. Cut in the butter or margarine, and mix in with your hands.

Add the confectioners' sugar, the egg, the vanilla sugar, and the ground almonds to the flour mixture. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into several parts. Make rolls that are approximately 1 inch thick. Cut the rolls into 1 inch pieces, and bend the pieces into the shape of a semicircle ( just like a croissant). This step takes a while so for my second batch I just made circles. I went back to the curved shape for the the last batch. Place the kipferl on a baking tray, and leave them in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 10 to 15 minutes (I did 15 minutes because my oven is weak).

When done, remove kipferl carefully from the tray.

While still warm, dip the kipferl in a mixture of confectioners' sugar and vanilla sugar.

     Here's what the completed cookies look like!

Bottle Brew Update

     I purchased 3 2L bottles from Mr Beer in Scarborough today so I could give them a try.

     The fermenting instructions are printed right on the label so there's no confusion. You just remove the cap on the bottle, place a pill they give you into the bottle (the Blonde Ale and Pilsner came with a second, optional lime flavor pill that I did no use) and seal the bottle back up with a pressure release cap that is also provided.

     Now the hard part will be waiting the 10-14 days until the beer is ready to be consumed. The bottles just need to be stored somewhere room temperature while you wait. Mine are sitting near some of my guitars. Expect a review when the beer is ready!

Mister Beer Bottle Brew

     I just found out about this place called Bottle Brew yesterday afternoon. The company states:

"Mister Beer Bottle Brew is craft-brewed using only the finest Canadian Barley Malt, with no additives or preservatives used in our brewing process.

Stefan Riedelsheimer, our German born brew-master, studied his trade in Munich, Germany, before moving to Canada in the 1990's. His passion and dedication to great beer is reflected in the quality and flavour of our products.

The traditional German Hefe-Weizen style of beer, which is partially fermented and aged in bottles, is where the initial idea of BottleBrew was born.

Unlike commercial breweries, fermentation is completed under pressure in the bottle, similar to Champagne. The result is a fresher, smoother tasting, unfiltered beer with a natural fine carbonation, similar to Champagne."
    
     I will be purchasing an 8 pack of 2L bottles (equal to about 48 regular glass bottles) sometime tomorrow and I'll be sure to document and rate the results. It takes 10 days to complete the fermentation process so stay tuned....

Easy Pineapple Cake

     I got this recipe from my Oma. I love it because you throw everything into one big bowl, mix it up, pour it into a pan, bake it and you're done. Easy as pie... er... I mean cake!

Ingredients:
- 20oz can of crushed pineapple in juice
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup walnuts
- 2 eggs
- 2tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp vanilla

    Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Ice immediately!

Icing:
Ingredients:
- 1 8oz package cream cheese
- 1 stick butter
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla

     Mix it up! I don't use the stick of butter... instead I prefer to use the juice of a couple of limes and it still makes a great icing.