Under the High Wheel {at Roots on Whyte}

My birthday passed a couple Saturdays ago, and although I got spoiled with dinner at Bua Thai and Sunday lunch at Continental Treat (complete with a couple tasty bottles of beer), I wasn't going to turn down Brenna's invitation to a belated birthday brunch. The decision of where to go was easy - she and Catherine live a block or two away from the new Roots on Whyte {Community Building} and I had a meeting nearby that afternoon. So Under the High Wheel it was.

After being seated by the window, both Catherine and I quickly decided on a buckwheat crepe filled with spinach and feta cheese, topped with pumpkin seeds ($12; $2 extra to add a free range egg). There was also a lightly dressed salad served alongside that was full of fresh pea shoots and greens, perfect beside the savoury crepe. Brenna went for a sweeter breakfast option, choosing a waffle topped with fresh berries and chantilly cream (~$10). Finally, we all shared a fruit salad topped with yogurt and hemp seeds (~$5). Between the two different mains on the table, we couldn't choose a favourite; both were perfectly enjoyable in their own right.

To finish things off, Brenna ordered a cappuccino that came in a DaCapo cup, in anticipation of the caffe opening next door. Currently there appears to be a temporary wall dividing the two spaces as construction continues in the new DaCapo space. And although we didn't confirm with any of the staff, we're guessing the two will eventually be connected - DaCapo providing the espresso and Under the High Wheel the food.

Finally, we took a walk through Blush Lane Organic Market, just across the hall. My walk through was pretty brief, but for the most part products looks similar to those found at Planet Organic; however, there's no doubt the new space is impressive. One staff member was even charged with walking around the store, offering up apples to customers as they complete their shopping. I ended up with a pound of Saxby Creamery's butter (which I thought was a pretty good deal at just over $4) and my free Granny Smith apple before heading out.

The few tenants we visited in the building were still figuring things out; understandable since the place just opened a couple weeks ago. Nevertheless our experience at Under the High Wheel was fantastic. We were impressed with the bright space, full of contrasting woods and concrete (and of course I'm in love with the bicycle theme), and although our server had just started the day before, she did a great job fielding our questions and explaining the menu.

I'm sure summer will bring great things for the space. In particular the wide sidewalk near the entrance is calling for excellent patio seating and bicycle parking. But whether or not those things are part of the plan, we'll be back soon for more coffee and casual plates.

Under the High Wheel

at Roots on Whyte

8135 102 Street

780.439.4442

Graham Crackers

I still have a copy of Good to the Grain in my possession and I'm still loving many of Kim Boyce's recipes. A little while ago I picked up Teff and Graham flour, and finally, on Thursday evening, I set aside some time to make Grahams.

After trekking through the snow storm for a half hour to grab milk I was happy to stay inside with all the warm ingredients that make up these crackers - allspice, cinnamon, cloves, butter and milk, honey and molasses, plus the hearty, nutty graham and teff flours. The dough came together quickly and easily, with just a little mixing involved before the discs went into the fridge for an hour or so.

Once the dough chilled, I rolled out one of the discs to the specified 1/8" thickness, before cutting out rectangles and dotting the tops with a fork. Finally, they got a dusting of cinnamon-sugar before heading into the oven for 12 minutes or so.

The result was an incredible midnight snack. Crisp edges and pillowy tops made us swoon, not to mention the aroma the warm crackers lent our apartment. Along with a glass of milk, we gobbled up half a dozen of the slightly sweet treats in no time at all.

*You can find the recipe here.

Eat Alberta 2012

I'm a little late with this, but nonetheless...

I had a great time volunteering at Eat Alberta last year. Fresh pasta, bread and sausage making, cheese tasting, wine and info on Edmonton and Alberta's food community were all wrapped up into a fun, educational day. I can't make it this year, but if you have Saturday, April 14th free, I'd encourage you to check it out. Further information on sessions and registration can be found here.

More eggs, please.

I have been eating a lot of eggs. And I mean a lot. Serben Free Range has a great deal on eggs each week at the City Market - two dozen for $8 - that I've been taking advantage of. Combined with a little spinach, and usually a piece of toast, I'm perfectly happy with poached, fried or scrambled eggs at either breakfast or dinner. For lunch, hard boiled eggs have become a quick standby.

By far the best egg-involved recipe I've come across is on the cover of Nancy Silverton's "A Twist of the Wrist" - Pappardelle with bagna cauda, wilted radicchio and a fried egg.

At first I was a little confused by this book. Really, most of Silverton's shortcuts are things I already do everyday; the majority of our pasta comes from a bag or box, our mayo from a jar and our tomatoes from cans. But what I think she's asking people to do is meet her halfway. To pick up a great can of tomatoes, or a really great pasta, and go from there, instead of heading toward frozen entrees or take out. Her combinations are quick and easy, and most importantly, tasty. Plus, they're introducing tinned/jarred items that I wouldn't normally keep stocked at home, like anchovies.

I've tried to make bagna cauda - a combo of butter, olive oil, anchovies, garlic, lemon and parsley - in the past and it didn't go well. The oil must have been too hot and the anchovies too cold, because they spattered everywhere and were burnt far before melting into the olive oil like they were supposed to. So this time I turned down the heat and pulled the anchovies out of the fridge and tin about an hour before I needed them, and everything went beautifully. In just five minutes the sauce was done. No jarred bagna cauda required.

Instead of pappardelle I used some tagliatelle we had in the pantry, and instead of radicchio, I braised some kale the night before and warmed it in the sauce before adding the pasta, pasta water and parmesan and topping everything off with the fried egg.

For such a quick meal this one is beautifully rounded. Salty and savoury from the sauce, silky smooth thanks to the egg and pasta. The kale cut through the richness well, as I imagine the radicchio would too. What I love most about this recipe is that it can be scaled up or down quite easily. I quartered it and had enough for yesterday's dinner with a little leftover for today's lunch. If you need something a little more hardy, it's easy enough to add that extra egg.

Finding "craft beer" at The Public House

I read in a couple different spots that The Public House, the newest venture from Oil City Hospitality, was making some sort of effort beer wise (a reader of OnBeer.org commented that they had some Tree Brewing on their list, and Sharon mentioned Mack's stopover a few weeks ago). So, after a long Friday last week, we stopped in our way home.

There was a hockey game that evening, but even with seven televisions around the room (and those are just the ones I counted from my seat), the place wasn't overly busy, and in the end we found it a bit cold and impersonal. Serious effort has been made decor wise to make the place feel "homey". A floor to ceiling bookshelf is featured on the west wall, and opposite is a chalkboard that features daily 'specials' (ie. $4 shots and the like). But in the end it felt empty and more ready for late night crowds than anything else. We grabbed a table next to the giant bookshelf and checked out the beer menu.

After glancing over the list, we decided fairly quickly on Tree Brewing's Hop Head IPA, a relatively hoppy brew from Kelowna. Overall, we were certainly impressed that they made the effort to add Yellowhead Brewing and Aprikat to the menu, along with a couple well selected brews like Blanche de Chambly and Affligem. We were disappointed, however, that their "Feature Craft" was simply a beer pulled from the regular menu for weeknight price specials, which means no rotating tap(s) or bottles.

What we wish they would change, is the way the brews are listed. I don't think it's fair to call brews like Rolling Rock, Bud, Stella Artois and others "craft beer", because they're not. Many of the brands on The Public House's list are owned and brewed by Anheuser-Busch/InBev, which means there's little substance to most of them beyond marketing ploys. Just like AB-InBev's marketing, we found parts of the beer menu misleading, implying diversity where there isn't much to be found.

In a pinch, we would certainly return to The Public House. It's great to see a chain that focuses so much on night life including some flavourful beer on their list. That said, I'd love for them to move beyond big brews and feature more real craft beer, and maybe even make Yellowhead's or Alley Kat's brew(s) their house beer, instead of Bud and Bud Light. With Mercer Tavern opening in the spring (I'm clearly expecting/hoping for great things), here's hoping The Public House will step it up.

*I wanted to mention that I did a quick post-work stopover at Transcend a few weeks ago. While they may not have a giant selection, Transcend Jasper has a tidy group of well selected bottles and a couple taps that change fairly frequently. Last time I was there it was Brewmaster's super hoppy Roughneck IPA, and more recently they had Pike Brewing's roasty, bitter XXXXX Stout ($7.5 per pint). Best of all, they're open until 9pm on Thursdays and Fridays for evening enjoyment.

We've also hit up the Jasper Ave. Remedy a few times for casual, late evening drinks. They've got a good selection of bottles (I've been sticking with Brooklyn Brewery's Brown Ale for the most part) and they've just installed some taps. Plus, they're open until midnight seven days per week.

Bua Thai

Bua Thai was the very first Thai restaurant I ever visited. When I first started at Folk Fest five years ago, my boss, who had spent much of the winter in Thailand, took me for lunch. From then on it was difficult to forget the coconut laced sauces and rice, or the perfectly cooked shrimp and sweet noodles. So just before the shop re-opened back in early January, Rachel and I took a break from our errands and walked the couple blocks to Bua Thai for lunch.

When we arrived around 1pm, they were still busy with office workers taking advantage of their lunch specials (there's about eight of them, priced around $13-14) and free parking. Nevertheless we were quickly shown to a two top table close to the kitchen. Ultimately we decided to forgo the lunch menu, opting to share some items from the regular menu - the papaya and carrot salad (Som Tam $10.5), a curry containing shrimp and Thai eggplant (Phat Phed Kung $19.95), and veggie noodles (Phat Thai Jai $13.95).

Our favourite dish of the day ended up being the papaya and carrot salad. It was full of garlic and peanuts, and had a lovely sweet, savoury, spicy balance. We also thoroughly enjoyed the curry, particularly the perfectly cooked shrimp and crunchy eggplant. And the Pad Thai easily satisfied our noodle craving that had started earlier in the day.

While Bua Thai is usually just a summer stop, I'm hoping visits during the rest of the year will be a bit more frequent.

Bua Thai
10049 113 Street
780.482.2277


Rachel and I are slowly (and I mean slowly) working our way around some of the lunch specials/lunch hours in the area on Mondays when the retail portion of the shop is closed. Last week we stopped at Wild Tangerine for 'Asian Po-boys' ($12-15), and a couple weeks ago, we ventured to Gabbana for their $5 Monday/Tuesday lunch special (unfortunately a let down, with super sweet sauces and a server run off her feet). We've also heard rumours of a $10 lunch special at Cibo that we're hoping to take advantage of soon (they're closed on Mondays which is making a visit difficult). Other suggestions in downtown/Oliver would be much appreciated!

More from the kitchen

We haven't been eating out much lately, save a trip to Bua Thai earlier in the month and a late night post chocolate and coffee tasting falafel from La Shish this past weekend. I've got a post on the former soon, but I gobbled up that falafel so quickly that picture taking didn't stand a chance.

But back to the kitchen... I made three recipes recently that I thought were worth mentioning. Slow Cooked Carne Adovada from David Tanis' Heart of the Artichoke, Breton Buckwheat cake with Fleur de Sel from David Lebovitz's Sweet Life in Paris, and Buttermilk Roast Chicken from Smitten Kitchen.

Carne Adovada

The David Tanis recipe certainly needs some work, mostly due to his suggested cooking time and temperature - 350 degrees for 1.5 hours. I'm hoping a lower, slower cooking time will benefit the final tenderness of the pork shoulder. The chile paste/sauce, however, is perfect.

The pork shoulder. On sale earlier in the month from Serben.

We couldn't find the dried New Mexican red chiles at Paraiso Tropical, so we substituted Ancho chiles, as per Chowhound's suggestion. Removing the seeds from 6oz. of dried chiles is a tedious job (and we were finding seeds everywhere afterward), but it was worth it. The resulting sauce was smoky and slightly spicy, and worked beautifully in a taco and in a roll for lunch the next day.

Breton Buckwheat Cake

This past week my mum and Nanny hosted a mid-week lunch, and the Breton Buckwheat Cake was Rachel's answer to my dessert dilemma. Our main ended up being the kale and bean stew from Smitten Kitchen, which worked well for my vegetarian/Coeliac cousin, along with bannock made by my aunt. The super buttery, nutty buckwheat cake turned out to be a lovely finish to the hearty meal (and just in case you're wondering about the above mentioned Coeliac cousin, I brought her a couple peanut butter cups from the shop in lieu).

The final piece.

Buttermilk Roast Chicken

And finally, the buttermilk roast chicken. This recipe comes together in no time, with the chicken simply hanging out in the fridge for 24-48 hours. We ended up brining the chicken for just 24 hours, and the flavour was incredible. We enjoyed our chicken with some rice, spinach and a bottle of Brüton's sparkly Lilith for a quick mid-week meal. At the end of the night, even if you don't choose to use the tin foil to line the baking dish, clean up is easy.

We're still looking forward to checking out some new-to-us restaurants in Oliver, particularly Cibo, Bistro India, the newly located CoCoDi and Café Beirut. Until that happens, I'm happily making my way through some of EPL's cookbook collection and online recipes bookmarked long ago.