The Waffle

Here we were, in Parking Lot C of Ralph Wilson Stadium, for a quick tailgate before the Patriots-Bills game.

I say quick because it was a 1 PM start, so it reduces the available time before the game, especially considering the night before.

I planned ahead this time, and brought some equipment and supplies, including a propane stove to cook our pre-game meal.  For food, we went to Tops, which usually has everything one can need.

Not this time, though - one having self-imposed vegetarian constraints, we looked for veggie burgers or dogs.  No luck in downtown Buffalo.  But I was already planning a vegetarian chili.

• Butter
• 1 small red onion
• 1 green pepper
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 can of red kidney beans
• 1 can of black kidney beans
• 1 can of corn
• salt
• pepper
• my secret blend of chili spices
• A few drops of Búfalo Jalapeno Hot Sauce  (A good review on Associated Content, not so on Good Hurts)

I used a small hand-powered food processor to chop the onion and the green pepper. I melted the butter (picked up at Jim’s Steakout yesterday), then I lightly browned the onion.  I followed with the green pepper, and a good helping of salt and pepper. After a few minutes,  I threw in the can of tomatoes, heating at low.  Once it was simmering, I added my special blend (garlic powder, onion powder, morrocan paprika, black pepper, and Club House’s Chili Powder), then the beans and the corn.  I let simmer for a while in order for the chili to get denser, et voilà.

This was a pretty good chili, as far as non carne goes.  I usually do not add corn to my chili, but I thought it would be a good substitute for beef and add a nice colour and texture to the dish.  It was not too spicy, but the hot sauce gave it a nice bite.  I’ve got to admit that I did like that sauce - it is great for cooking.  But I can see why some might not like it on its own.  In the chili, however, it worked very nicely.

Steak sandwiches were also on the menu.  I toasted some buns, I quickly pan-fried some minute-steaks, finishing them with some of the Original Dinosaur BBQ sauce  - the Sensuous Slathering sauce - that I had picked up at the joint in Syracuse (More on that soon).  A great BBQ flavour, with smokiness, it has a dark honey colour.  Fairly thick, this sauce needed to be reduced a bit.  Although tomato is the main ingredient, the main flavours comes from the mustard and brown sugar. A little bit of a kick at the finish, a nice cayenne touch.

The sandwiches were a success, as you can see below (left). So much so that even the vegetarian joined in - no worries, he replaced the meat with a healthy helping of vegetarian chili (right).

The Bills however did not do so well, but at least they were in it until the end. But nevermind.

I found that out very slowly though after our night out on Chippewa street following the Sabres-Penguins’ game.

I was hungry. We were in a bar watching the last bit of Sunday Night Football.

I decided to scout out a location for a nice dinner and I left the guys behind . I saw the sign.  Jim’s Steakout.

I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
Life is demanding without understanding
I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
No one’s gonna drag you up to get into the light where you belong…
But where do you belong?

(I saw the sign - I saw the si-i-ign) I saw the sign!
(I saw the sign - I saw the si-ig-i-ign)
(i saw the sign - i saw the si-ign) i saw the sign!

And it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign! (sign, sign,sign)

Except I didn’t open up my eyes, and I walked through the wrong door.
Of course I did - I thought I was walking into a branché steakhouse. Duh.

So I walked into the Crocodile.  Unbeknownst to me.
There were TVs, the closests playing the Oilers vs Capitals game. Bonus, a sign advertising a free Pint of Blue Light with your Sabres’ tickets. Yes, it’s Blue Light, but it’s beer, and it’s free.  I informed the guys of my location.  Come one, come all.

While waiting, I toured the place.  Nobody was eating.  Nobody was watching SNF - the game was not even on.  Perhaps I should have clued in?  Naah.  Free Beer.

They guys showed up. They paid the 5$ cover charge (I didn’t have to pay!) They too didn’t see football on any of the TVs. They asked. “We do not play football here.” Huh??? The sign said the place was the Official Buffalo Bills Tailgate Party! The guys were cursing me - they were missing the last minutes of the 4th quarter of an exciting game. “Free Beer”, I replied, unconcerned.

But it was Blue Light. Draught.  So we drank it fast, and left.  And then we went to the actual Jim’s Steakout, which is obviously a place to take steak out.  As in to go.

And so we walked in.  The place was busy with a fairly young and inebriated crowd.  Music was loud.  Cooks were working away in the open kitchen, trying to keep up with the orders.

Jim’s Steakout is a Buffalo-owned chain of sandwich shops, with 9 locations.  It’s menu mostly focuses on sandwiches, and those sandwiches feature beef quite heavily.

The place claims to have the best hoagie in town.  What is a hoagie? It’s basically a submarine sandwich on an Italian roll, usually made with Italian ham, prosciutto, salami, and provolone cheese.  Why is it call a hoagie?  What’s cooking America explains.

Jim’s Steakout features 7 hoagies (6 with beef); 18 submarines (4 with beef); 14 other types of sandwiches (9 with beef).  Even 2 out of the 5 salads have beef in them!

The vegetarian options are limited to the Cheese Cold Sub, the Veggie burger, the Chef Salad or the Veggie tacos.  No problem for Rick to make a choice.

I had to steak it out.

I ordered the Diavlo hoagie : steak chopped on the grill, topped with fried onions, fried hot peppers, melted cheese and Jim’s Secret sauce.

Now, isn’t this a marvel or what? Jim claims the beef is 100% premium sirloin steak.  Not sure how premium it is, but it may explain why it was still tender despite being grilled on the hot plaque. Of course, it was chopped very thinly, and smothered in a pretty good sauce which was only adding to the beef flavour without distracting from it.  By grilling the hot peppers, they got rid of the acidity and kept most of the heat - nicely done.  There could have been more cheese though  - it was a little light.

Nevertheless, this was a very good sandwich before going back to our base for some poker - ready to go all-in!

Remember my pledge not to eat red meat for the month of September?

I was a last-minute addition at the Canadian Press annual golf tournament, a call-up if you will, to replace someone who was a late-scratch due to illness. 

I won’t talk to much about the performance of my team or the number of balls we lost on this beautiful day at the Mont Cascades golf course.  It was for a good cause, as the Tournament was a fundraiser for the Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award in memory of the late CP photographer.  You can give here.

The chef at the Mont Cascades golf course grilling the meat

However, unbeknownst to me, the meal during the award ceremony after the tournament was going to be grilled steak.  I realized this was going to be the case when they started to grill some thick pieces of meat on the patio, as we were all enjoying cold beverages as the sun was setting over the Gatineau river.  I knew I would be tempted hard, and was hoping for other options in order not to fall off the wagon. 

I looked carefully.  Oh, sure, there was a couple of salads, some steamed fall vegetables, some vegetarian pasta, potatoes…  But the last station at the buffet table was the grilled steaks, dripping with flavour.  I could not stop myself as I saw, horrified, my hand present my plate to the friendly meat-provider.  Damn Canadian Press! Forcing me to eat red meat against my will!!!

Shame, I thought.

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One of the great things about our trip to Malta was our apartment.  Located in Valletta on Old Theatre Lane, it had a great view of the Marsamxett harbour and a well equipped kitchen.  So we were able to save money while having romantic dinners, relaxing and enjoying the views that were offered to us.

Mel loves pasta, and I was happy to oblige. Here, I made Spaghetti with a very simple tomato-basil sauce. On the side, bread with a cheddar gratin. To accompany our meal, we had a bottle of Corvo Vendemmia 2006, a very nice wine from Sicily, smooth and light in tanin.

In the background, Manoel Island and its Fort, which was built in the XVIII century and was a strong defensive position all the way to World War II, when anti-aircraft guns were deployed in and around the fort.

Another Spaghetti dish, this time I decided to be more creative. I first roasted some garlic in olive oil, then added some lardon. When everything was nicely golden, I tossed in some oregano and bits of Ġbejniet. Ġbejniet is a cheese, originating from Gozo. When you buy it, it looks like a ball of Mozzarella. Made from sheep milk, but originally from goat milk, it has a smooth texture and a subtle, creamy flavour. I was hoping it would melt a little like Mozzarella, but it remained much firmer. A bottle of Medina Sangiovese was the wine du jour. Very soft tannins, but a little acidic. It did worked with the dish, however.

Malta is a very Catholic country, and they take their Saints very seriously. Our stay began a few days before the Feast of St. Julian. So every night in the leadup to the feast, there were fireworks, from two, sometimes three different locations. Every night. And on the Saturday before the feast, the spectacle lasted for well over two hours.

For this meal, even though I decided to stick with pasta, I mixed it up a bit, going for penne this time.  The sauce is a tomato-chili base, with garlic and oregano.  I topped the dish with lardons and fresh green peppers.  Vegetables were easy to find in Valletta, and all kinds of little outlets were offering them in fairly wide varieties.

We enjoyed our penne with a bottle of Cape Quarter, a Shiraz Pinotage from South Africa, as the sun was setting on the islands and numerous boats were coming back to  the harbour. I had never had a South African wine before, and this one was quite pleasant, lots of dark berry flavours including blackcurrant.

Right in front of the Grand Master’s Palace is Valletta’s covered market, the Is-Suq, which has various stands and stalls where you will find fresh vegetables, fish, groceries, meat, herbs and spices.  It is quite busy in the morning, as is the rest of merchant street.  However, the longer you wait, the less merchants there are .  We wandered there a few times, especially when we were craving meat. We got two huge steaks - the Suq’s butcher basically had half a cow on the counter, and asked us how thick.

I cooked the meat in olive oil, adding just a few spices as I wanted to maximize the pure meat flavour.  Then, I reserved it, and caramalized some shallots and garlic in the jus. When that was done, I deglazed with some red wine.  The meat was not the most tender I have ever eaten, but the meat was oh! so fresh.  Obviously, they had not aged it 30 days here, and the taste was very powerful.  On the side, we have yellow courgettes, baked with fresh tomatoes, herbs, and finished with a blend of fresh cheese.

The view at night was spectacular.  The lights from the more modern buildings and hotels from Sliema were reflecting on the water, making our dinner even more enjoyable.  The wine, a Bacchus Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, was bold enough to go well with our meat, but again, this Maltese Winery can only improve with time.

One could think we would have gotten tired of pasta, but the atmosphere just was right for more and more.  With cheese bread on the side, it was simple enough not to take too much time, but I could find a twist everyday to make every meal very different.   This time, I picked three fresh maltese sausages.  Maltese sausage are made from minced pork, mixed with spices and herbs. They are air cured and are often served and eaten raw. Melissa was unpleasantly surprised when she was served some with a platter of Maltese Antipasto at Giannni - but I personally didn’t mind it, though the texture is somewhat strange. So I fried them slowly, sliced them, and served them with penne and a spicy tomato sauce.  Fried like that, they were quite tasty, but gone was the mushy raw meat texture.  And Mel was happy, so much so that she didn’t realize they were the same.  In fact she stated that this was the best pasta meal I made in Malta, and thankfully I made them before our escapade to Sicily.

We had a bottle of Rosso di Puglia with this meal, a solid, full bodied Italian wine. We finished it under one of the most spectacular sunsets yet, where pink and red colours were brought out by the clouds, which were present more than normal. Just spectacular.

We usually had lunch away from home, but from time to time we would have a light lunch at the appartment. Or sometimes, we would come back early from an afternoon of touristing, and we would put together a nice snack platter.  Cured meats and cheese are easily available in Malta, lots of varieties, some local made, some imported, but everything very fresh.  Add to that a fresh bunch of grapes, a cool bottle of white wine, (and, quite frankly, very cool AC!!) and there you have it! A Maltese snack at its best. We would eat slowly, enjoying the different flavours, the spices, the aromas, the textures, while looking at the ferry go back and forth in the harbour…

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So our Honeymoon was set for Malta.

Why Malta, you may ask?

Well, we wanted something different, with nice weather and historic things to visit.  Located in the middle of the Meditaranean Sea, Malta seemed perfect. And it was relatively easy to get to, Ottawa-Frankfurt-Malta and hop!

Food in Malta is not renowned as gourmet cuisine, but it is reasonably priced and there are plenty of locations to choose from. Foreign influences still play a major role in the local cuisine. The islands’ proximity to Sicily leads inevitably to many pasta dishes and pizzerias; the Brits also left their mark - fish and chips, obviously.  The Mediterranean stamp is there, with olive oil being omnipresent, and fresh vegetables, such as tomatoes and green peppers, are commonly used. Fresh fish is easily found and proudly offered.  Abundant, it comes poached, steamed, braised or grilled.

The national  dish of Malta is fried rabbit. But you can also find rabbit in stews and in pasta. Interestingly enough, we failed to see any rabbits around the islands. Another regional meat dish is bragioli. It is made with thin slices of beef wrapped round a minced meat, egg and bacon stuffing.

Other local delicacies include Gbejna, a sheep’s milk cheese, served either fresh or half-dried. It comes from Gozo, it looks like boccocinni, but it is much more firm. Also, the Maltese bread, called Hobz, is very crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, and is heavily consumed on the islands. Ftira is another bread, higher end, denser.

After visiting Malta’s National War Museum and walking around the city, it was time for lunch.  We picked Cocopazzo, a small place, located on Triq Nofs in-Nhar, which was recommended in our guidebooks. We were not disappointed.  We were hungry early, so the place was not really busy.  Colourful, cozy, unpretentious, with great service and great food.

From left to right:  Cocopazzo’s cozy atmosphere; complimentary bread pieces, oven-toasted with herbs and olive oil; we shared some delicious rabbit stuffed ravioli to start; I went for the mixed fish grill (red snapper filet, tuna filet, swordfish, shrimp - quite dense) served with fresh vegetables, 20€ ; Melissa went for the fried calamari on a bed of greens, fresh and tender, 13€; and it all came with a side of steamed vegetables, more food than we could consume.  The total bill was 56€, before tip.

Our second meal out, the next day, was after a 10 km walk, from Sliema’s waterfront back to Valletta, through Gzira, Ta’ Xbiex, Msida, Pieta’, Hamrun and Floriana.  It was a long walk under the baking sun of Malta, and we were ready for something civilized. We just happened to end up in front of Valetta’s 5 star hotel, the Phoenicia, so we went in to enjoy lunch on The Phoenix’s terrace, which had a nice view of  some of Valletta’s fortification system.

I went for the classic Maltese Ftira, left, another local bread. Totally mediterranean,  with tuna, onions, capers, tomatoes and black olives.  Plenty of olive oil to bring everything together.  It came with a little basket of potato chips and a mini-salad, for 7€.  Melissa picked the Chicken Baguette, garnished with bacon and smoked cheddar.  It was served with a mediterranean salad for 8.50€.  Despite the 5 stars, and sharing the terrace with Ladies and Gentleman directly out of Falcon Crest, this was a nice lunch and not too pricey.

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Malta being very close to Sicily, we had to take the opporunity to visit the Italian island.  It was easy enough to do, since Virtu Ferries Ltd. is offering a regular route from Valletta to Pozzallo or Catania.  We decided to take a package which included transport from Pozzallo to Taormina to Mount Etna before coming back to Pozzallo for our return to Valletta, for a little over 100€.

The Maria Dolores departed from Valletta around 7 am. It takes about 90 minutes to sail on the Mediterranean Sea all the way to Sicily. The sea was calm, the Catamaran was fast. Impressive. Not so impressive was the movie they played en route…

Our first stop was in Pozzallo, a major port in Sicily with magnificient beaches.  As it was still early, the whole group went for breakfast at La Perla, a Pasticceria on Via Dell’ Arno.

What a pleasure for the eyes first, then for the nose, as soon as we walked in. Sweet delicacies, fresh pastries, all kinds of specialties were on offering.   Melissa picked something that looked like a “pain au chocolat”, which she described as being closer to a brioche filled with a Nutella like filling,    With it, the obligatory coffee, a cappucino that almost looked appetizing to me.   As for me, I settled on a pastry stuffed with rice, cheese and a spicy tomato sauce. Deliciozo!

After breakfast, we set of in the direction of Taormina, going through the Sicilian landscape and admiring the agriculture, the rich architecture and the amazing incapacity for Italians to drive properly.  Taormina is a very popular touristic destination, with over a 100 hotels for about 10 000 citizens.  Built vertically, going up a very steep hill, it offers spectacular views of the beaches on the Ionian Sea, beaches that you can access via a funicular.

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