Eat Well: #abcsofyyc #kimusushi

ABC's of YYC (Week 11: K)

Kimu Sushi (Sushi Kimu)
6522 4 St NE

A delightful new(ish?) sushi joint we wanted to try!  The decor was worth mentioning!  The intricacies of the wall really caught our eyes.  Anyway, without further ado, the food! 

Beef Sashimi- thin slices of lightly seared AB beef served with garlic chips, green onions and ponzu sauce

Delicious thick cuts of beef!  The sauce was sweet and a little bit of lemon juice helped cut the sweetness so it did not overwhelm the beef.  Even though we loved the thick slices, a couple pieces required some serious chewing. 

Deluxe Sashimi- Chef's choice of six types of eighteen slices of sashimi

The pieces of sashimi were huge and delicious as well!  The tunas melted in your mouth and the salmon was just as impressive.  The star of this platter was the lightly seared scallop.  This created a hint of smokiness and also made the texture more appealing.

Veracruz Roll- chopped scallop, masago, green onion, cucumber, crab meat and prawn tempura topped with spicy mayo and unagi tonkatsu sauce

Crunchy deliciousness.  A great combination of ingredients resulted in this wonderful roll.  The sauces provided sweet notes with a hint of heat.  The favourite roll of the night.

Vancouver Roll- avocado, mango, and salmon topped with fresh tuna

The roll was good, but it was underwhelming.  The flavour of the mango did not come through which could have definitely improved the roll.

Calgary Special Roll- avocado, cucumber, crab, masago wrapped with deep fried marinated squid, green onions, masago and sichime (Japanese spices) topped with steak and mayonnaise sauce

The crunchy squid was so flavourful and sadly better then the roll itself.  The sweet crab flavour was able to shine through all the various components of the roll.  On the menu, it said it was topped with beef, but we didn't get any.  Thankfully we had left over slices of the beef sashimi and put it on top ourselves.  It enhanced both the flavour and texture of the roll. 

  

That rice to filling ratio >=]

Overall, the restaurant was pretty good and the food came out super quick.  With the exception of the Velacruz Roll, we both enjoyed the sashimi more than the rolls.  They have a diverse menu so we would love to return and try some of the other dishes.

Enjoy!

Eat Well, Feel Well, Learn Well: #quinoainmybrownies

Chocolate Cranberry Quinoa Oat Bars

Sorry for the lack of posts beautiful people, just finishing up my second semester.  Almost done them finals!  Any who, I made these lovely bars about a week ago and I finally had a chance to post this!

I was definitely pleasantly surprised by these!  Only correction for myself is to cook the quinoa longer and also use leftovers so it's cold and not boiling hot.  Yeah, I cooked the quinoa fresh and I was pretty impatient; I did stir it and let the steam dissipate and stick it in the fridge for a little bit.

Recipe is from Diary of An Ex Sloth

I love how she just added quinoa because she was curious :).

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 cup cooked quinoa

3 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp ground flax

pinch of salt

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup dairy free milk

2 tbsp dairy-free chocolate chips

3 tbsp dried cranberries

Preheat your oven to 350F; line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper

Add your dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix it together well until incorporated

Add peanut butter, maple syrup and milk; mix well

Fold in the chocolate chips and dried cranberries

Pour the mixture into the baking pan and spread the batter evenly

Bake for 20-25 minutes; be patient and allow to cool before cutting

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days (I put them in the fridge after 3 days and they lasted about a week!)

Grind up them flax seeds!

 

The dry ingredients

 

It's Peanut Butter time!!!

Them wet ingredients.

   

Nom nom nom.  Give them a try!  Try something new... I dare ya ;) 

Enjoy!

Eat Well: #abcsofyyc #jimmysaandadeli

ABC's of YYC (Week 10: J)

Jimmy's A&A Mediterranean Deli
1401 20 Ave NW

We decided to stop by for a quick dinner before watching Furious 7!!!  It's been a while since we've been here so we were excited for donairs.

Beef Donair/Lamb Donair-  fresh pita, sweet sauce and your choice of lettuce, tomato and onion with slow roasted beef/lamb

SO MUCH MEAT!  The donair literally burst when we opened it and we had a hard time holding it all together.  The roasted meats were both really tender and flavourful.  The veggies and sauce were overpowered by the incredible amount of meat, which was a tad depressing.  Nonetheless, the donair was still enjoyable and just how we had remembered it.

Samosas- vegetarian or beef

They had run out of samosas the night before, so we returned the following afternoon.  We munched on these bad boys while waiting for a table for lunch.  The crust looked thick but it was actually thin and provided a great crunch.  Both of the fillings were abundant and packed with flavour.  Surprisingly, John favoured the vegetarian samosa over the beef.  We brought some home and microwaved it for dinner and they were still just as crunchy and delicious.  My mama enjoyed them as well.

The staff were friendly and the food was great; definitely bang for your buck.  The lamb was actually a new addition to the menu and both of us preferred it over the beef.  

Enjoy!

Eat Well: #abcsofyyc #japanesenoodlehouse

ABC's of YYC (Week 10: J)

Japanese Noodle House
1120 13 St SW

We heard great things about this place and we finally got to try it out for J week!  It is very homely and the owners are very hospitable.  We tried to order a little bit of everything since there were just so many delicious things to try. 

Salmon Tataki

Nice light sear on the super fresh salmon with a ton of flavour packed into the dish.  The tataki was presented in a rustic manner which differentiates itself from other restaurants.  The spicy sauce has a lovely kick with a perfect amount of acidity.  Kim really enjoyed the salad as well.  

Assorted Sashimi

The plating is so simple yet elegant and every piece of sashimi was fresh and flavourful.  The salmon was yummy but the tuna was delicious!  John was able to enjoy everything without wasabi which was awesome.  The shrimp was really good as well but there was only one so we had to share :(. 

Nabeyaki

A fresh aroma enveloped our table as the Nabeyaki was served.  The broth was light and clean which made it easy to enjoy.  The Nabeyaki had so many components hiding in the soup that it was surprise after surprise.  One spoon you get oyster, next you get octopus, then you randomly find a boiled egg.  There was an endless supply of vegetables which was perfect for Kim. 

Spicy Pork Ramen

Wow, the broth was packed full of flavour without being over seasoned.  The pork was tender and spicy with the noodles being at a perfect consistency.  The boiled bean sprouts provided a nice refreshing crunch to this amazing bowl of ramen.  

Spicy Special Scallop Roll and Saba (Mackerel) Nigiri

The roll was yummy and spicy, however the amount of mayo and scallop together made it feel kind of soggy.  Nevertheless, it was fine because of how delicious the spicy mayo was.  The strong savoury flavour of the mackerel was balanced by ginger and citrus notes.  John always tries the Saba when we visit new sushi restaurants and he finally found some good mackerel.  

It felt like we were eating in a little Japanese home and you could definitely tell there was a lot of love put into each dish.  The plating was beautiful and the food was delicious.  There are still so many things we want to try so we're definitely paying another visit soon.

Enjoy!

Eat Well: #abcsofyyc #jalapeno

ABC's of YYC (Week 10: J)

Jalapeno
821 4 Ave SW

Taco Tues......Thursday at Jalapeno!  Joining us tonight is Ryan!  This lovely little restaurant was very welcoming.  The owners are so kind and the music playing in the background totally set the mood.  Made me want to go back to Mexico.

Tacos- 4 soft corn tortillas with choice of meat, tomato, onion, cilantro or pico de gallo

With the tacos, you can mix it up and order different meats.  This time we got BBQ Beef Tongue (Barbacoa de Lengua), Marinated Pork (Pastor) and Marinated Chicken (Adobado!).  So we were informed by the owner that the Pastor is traditionally served with pineapple.  Therefore we put everything that we could on our tacos cause we're adventurous like that ;) (we just like to eat...).  They were delightful little tacos!  The flavours of the beef tongue and marinated pork really stood out compared to the chicken.  The meats were juicy and tender and were also seasoned quite well.

Quesadilla- a twelve inch flour tortilla filled with your choice of meat and melted cheese.  Served with lettuce, pico de gallo, Mexican cream and sauce

Ryan decided on the Seasoned Steak (Bistec) Quesadilla, which made John and I jelly.  After our tacos, John and I shared the Pastor Quesadilla.  Melted cheesy deliciousness with sweet and juicy pineaples.  The lettuce, pico de gallo, Mexican cream and sauce were quite delightful as well.  It was sweet but also light!

Overall, we all enjoyed our food with mine and John's favourite meat being the Marinated Pork and Ryan's favourite being the Seasoned Steak.  It was nice being able to catch up with these two after a long week of finals.  It was a comforting environment to be in just chatting away.  John and I definitely want to try their massive burritos next time.  They're HUMONGOUS!

Enjoy! (ENHOY ;)...just say it how you would jalapeno..)