About this time of year my heart really starts yearning for a walk along the beach of Lake Winnipeg.  People that know me really well, can see that I am lying here.  I am yearning for a walk along the beach of the Is la Mujeres but this year that is not to be.  As I am a practicalist,  I just switch up a couple of details in my head-Lake Winnipeg it is.

ahh Isla

If you’ve never tasted Winnipeg Goldeye-you deserve to give yourself the treat.  It is a oilier and more solid fish than salmon and is fabulous in your favourite smoke salmon appetizer recipes.  We’ve also started enjoying White Bass from the lake.  It is easier to catch seems more plentiful these days.  Dusted in flour and fried in butter-we eat it by the basketful on the deck with ice cold beer.  There’s usually a horseshoe or boccie tournament going on.

But the prize catch of Lake Winnipeg is Pickerel. Just caught pickerel actually comes alive and dances in your mouth.  I kid you not-that is the most accurate way that I can describe it.  My family loves it very simply prepared but I’ve enjoyed many other versions over the years including fried in crumbled Old Dutch potato chips!

The Lobby's Pickerel and Chips

There are a number of Grand Beach area restaurants that do pickerel very well.  One of our favourites is the Idyl Thyme where we often celebrate our September wedding anniversary.  In Winnipeg, I’ve loved nut crusted pickerel at Restaurant Dubrovnik’s and panko crusted at The Lobby on York.

Fishing Lake Winnipeg at Sunset

The best place to buy just caught pickerel is from a local bootlegger but because I will try not to promote any illicit activities, I will not sketch any details here.  There are also multiple Gimli Fish locations in Winnipeg.  Our favourite is the heart of Winnipeg’s North End at Dufferin and McGregor which we always include when we a do a North End Shopping Spree.  I’ll include all of our stops in another entry.  The NE Gimli Fish shop is a corner store-literally.  When you walk in you are struck by the aroma of fish in a very pleasant way.  Perhaps it is made more pleasant by all of the helpful faces of the females behind the counter.  We buy our Panko flakes here as well as mixed seafood for “fruita de mare” recipes and everyone once in a while a treat of pickerel cheeks.  Also the only Winnipeg store that I know of that sells frog legs.  Neechi Foods is another great place to experience and pick up pickerel.

On this night ever cast produced a catch

The cheek is the little nugget of flesh that can be popped out when your are filletting a pickerel (demonstrated in this U tube link).  I have personally never had this honour but I understand it to be so.  We sautee them in lemon and butter and fresh dill.  They are the close to a small scallop in texture and the taste is totoally unique.  If you don’t live in Winnipeg-come visit us in the summer.  If you do-eat lots of pickerel…it is excellent for your health and the hard working fishermen of Lake Winnipeg will thank you.

Sister # 2 is the most organized cook I have ever known.  She menu plans, grocery shops from that plan, batch cooks to leave in the freezer for her family when she travels and also portions out meals for extended family members.  Her kitchen is exquisite and well suited for our big family gatherings and is a place where her children’s friends are always welcome.

I have heard from her daughter’s friends that the dinner party that she puts on to celebrate her daughter’s birthday is perfection.  I promise to get pics and menus.

On this particular night, we were gathering to celebrate a number of family milestones-her daughter and boyfriend’s return from Mexico, the upcoming family wedding and the departure of our daughter on her mission trip.  Supper was Sweet and Spicy Cashew Chicken from the Best of Bridge and here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
Sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
4 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth

The Rest
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/4 cup oil
2-3 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 red peppers, cut in strips
2 carrots, thinly sliced on diagonal
2 cups snow peas
1 1/2 cups cashews
sprinkling of sesame seeds, toasted

Instructions:
Combine sauce ingredients and set aside. In a bowl, combine cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add chicken and toss. Heat wok or frying pan to highest heat. Add oil. Heat to hot, not smoking. Add chicken, ginger, garlic and onion. Stir until chicken is opaque (about 1 minute). Add peppers and carrots. Stir 2-3 minutes. Add peas and sauce. Cook until sauce comes to a boil. Add cashews and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immediately. Serves 6.

She prepared a chocolate fondue for dessert.  It reminded us of the time she made the same dish to top off our New Year’s Eve dinner when we traveled together to Isla Mujeres.  We assembled on the 3rd floor roof of Glady’s Apartments for a feast of chili barbecued shrimp (fresh from the dock), roasted potatoes and veggies, pork tacos and a chicken baked in lime mayonnaise.

There were our two extended families and American girls who were also staying in the apartment building.  They invited friends they had met in the hostel and were in sore need of a meal.  My son was the bartender and we lugged three blenders to the roof for a choice of margaritas.  It was a night I will forever remember.

My Daughter #2 and Sister #2's Daughter #1

Winnipeg has many wonderful Indian restaurants.  Both Taste of India and India Palace have great reputations and I have to admit that for as long as I’ve intended to try them out-I never have.  On the other hand I have enjoyed Ivory, Charisma and East India Company.  On my hit list is Red Fort Tandoor House where I understand they grind their spices daily.

A number of features make the Clay Oven a pleasant choice on a frosty January evening:  it is adjacent to Indigo (where my husband and I spent the rest of our date night), it is next door to a Starbucks where we grabbed a post-dinner coffee and if you have any room left…also next to a Marble Slab Creamery (we did not have any room left).

The decor was surprizingly sleek and comfortable at the same time.  Charcoal walls and fabric dividers (for privacy) set the scene and we nestled into a bench seat lined with tangerine cushions.  We were in a strip mall but you would never know it once inside.

The hospitality was outstanding with many cheerful faces bustling around the open kitchen.  And the food….delicious!  We shared a Maharajah Sizzler which allowed us to sample tiger prawns, pan fried scallops, Chicken Tikka and Saffron Malai Tikka with fresh seared vegetables.  We really enjoyed the mint/yogurt sauce for dipping.  It was likely intended for the fish and chicken but the Naan was also enhanced by the flavour.  This is served with Basmati rice and would have been enough for a shared meal.  We also ordered an assorted Naan basket and now have enough left overs for lunch.  I loved the garlic Naan but especially the Mozzarella Naan.  I appreciate the hoppie taste of a Indian beer and was delighted that they offer Kingfisher at the top of their imported list.

The menu starts with a Spice Primer (the benefits of Indian spices)-who knew!  The place was bustling with an equal number of people stopping in to pick up supper to go.

Here’s a version of the Mint Yogurt Sauce:  In a small bowl or blender, stir together 1/2 c plain yogurt, 2 sprigs of fresh chopped mint, 1 t sugar, 1 t salt and 1/4 t cayenne until well blended. Serve immediately or chill for a while to let the flavors come together.

My friend Laura (honourary sister) is an amazing cook.  Yesterday, she posted on FB that she was cooking for her husband because he had a bad cold.  She sent me the links to what she was preparing.  My goodness recipe use has changed…. when I was little everything that was prepared was made from memory or from a hand-written recipe card.  My Mom had the Madame Benoit Cookbook and that was about it.  When I was married in the 80s a cookbook collection was a must: I started with the Joy of Cooking, then the Best of Bridge Series and then by the time I decided to purge I had two complete Time Life Series that had a dozen volumes each.  Currently on my shelves are cookbooks by Canadian Health experts Anne Lindsey and Bonnie Stern. Jamie Oliver’s Italy, another entitled The Food of Italy-a journey for food lovers, The Soup Bible and a wonderful new one Eat Well from Williams-Sonoma.

But as is my style, I digress… Here are the links to her Mexican treats for her ailing husband:  Chiles Rellenos and Sopa de Lima. 

If the chilies pictured here had a crumbling of a “feta” type cheese on top, they would resemble the most amazing Chiles Relleno in the world!  These are consumed at a little place called La Lomita on Isla Mujeres, Mexico.  Here’s their version entitled Ophelia’s Chiles Releno.

I love the taste of char and anything cooked on an open fire.  I drive my husband crazy when I asked for my wieners and smokies burned on the barbecue in the summer.  This obsession dates back to my childhood when we would celebrate summer birthdays at the “pits” before Bird’s Hill Park was built just north of Winnipeg.  My Dad would choose our sticks and then carve a point to spear the wiener or marshmallow.  The buns also got toasted on the fire and there was always a jug of A&W root beer to wash it all down.

My love of food cooked on an open fire was wonderfully satiated by Pasta la Vista-a favourite but now defunct Winnipeg restaurant.  There is a great place that we go to in the summer at the Manitou Lodge in Pine Falls, which is not far from our cottage.  They cook most of their selections on the open fire, including the bread that is hot, soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside.

So it is quite natural that I would love having lunch at the Bonfire Bistro.  I met with three old friends-one who had just arrived that morning from Toronto. 

This was one of their delicious salad offerings.

And this was one of the half pizza and salad specials of the day.  The salads were oh so garlicky and the pizzas delicious.  The mushroom is illustrated here.  I had a spicy sausage that was even better.

The Bonfire Bistro is owned by the same gentleman who has Cafe Carlo and Burrito del Rio.  This Mexican restaurant in Osborne Village has been on my hit list for a long time and tomorrow is the day!