Eat Well: #abcsofyyc #namisushi

ABC's of YYC (Week 14: N)

Nami Sushi and Grill
1604 14 St SW

We both had a craving for sushi and we invited Mama Hui along!  Nami is located right off of 17th Ave, which is close to home and we were hungry (Kim was hangry...).  

Deluxe Assorted Sashimi- 7 kinds, 19 pcs

The salmon and tuna were good but the scallop, octopus and the other pieces were the real stars of the plate.  Each piece was had great texture and was full of flavour.  

Salmon Battera- Torched salmon, avocado

Chef's box pressed sushi is an interesting concept that we have yet to experience.  The flavour is amazing and everything just melted in your mouth.  The sweet sauce really complements the smokiness of the Aburi Salmon!  It would have been perfect if they reduced the amount of rice by just a little as it was a bit too filling for us.  

Chopped Scallop- Nigiri

The scallop here is amazingly delicious!  There was a great ratio of scallop to rice, served with a perfect amount of sauce, which provided flavour without overpowering the scallop.  

 

Volcano Roll- spicy tuna with spicy imitation crab, tobiko and sesame dressing on top

Nami Sushi and Grill introduces a very different approach than what is typically served as the sesame dressing provides a wonderful flavour.  Spicy tuna and crab fits perfectly with the other components.  A nice level of heat for Mama Hui but both of us were craving for more.  

Flames Roll- spicy salmon with avocado, torched salmon, bonito and unagi sauce on top

The filling was flavourful and paired perfectly with the toppings. The Aburi Salmon and Bonito flakes added a wonderful smokiness to the roll, while the cucumbers provided a nice crunch.  A very delicious roll!  

Assorted Tataki- 7 pcs; salmon, tuna and scallop

The lightly seared pieces provided a wonderful flavour profile balanced by a delicious citrus sauce. There was a light crunch provided by the fried garlic crumbs.  It was nice to have an array of tataki since most places force you to order one type.

We were delightfully satisfied by the yummy food served at Nami Sushi and Grill.  The friendly service paired with a speedy kitchen was a perfect way to subdue Kim's hanger (hungry + angry).  Their delicious Chef's Special Rolls are well priced at $9.95 so we're definitely coming back for more!

Enjoy!

Eat Well: #abcsofyyc #notable

ABC's of YYC (Week 14: N)

NOtaBLE
4611 Bowness Rd NW

We enjoyed a lovely dinner with Jacob and Erica at NOtaBLE for N week!  We were lucky enough to grab a reservation as this place is VERY VERY busy!  John was quite excited because he has yet to try it out.

Herb Crusted Elk Carpaccio- parmesan aioli, watercress, grilled bread

The strong elk flavour pairs perfectly with the parmesan aioli.  The high quality meat was sliced so thinly that it melts in your mouth and tasted amazing.  The microgreens provided a nice little crunch.  Best carpaccio we have had recently.

Smoked Scallop and Shrimp Bake- wilted arugula, aged cheddar and toast

What an amazing aroma.  The scallop and shrimp were cooked well and tasted delicious.  The flavours were able to shine through the aged cheddar.  The crostini was quite stale, but overall the dish was enjoyable.

Grilled BC Halibut- Fraser Valley asparagus, Bayonne ham, black truffle butter sauce

Delicious!  The fish was cooked and flavoured very well, but the sauce was a bit strong.  John actually enjoyed the fish more without the sauce.  The vegetables were a nice addition as they helped to balance the dish.  Erica also ordered the same thing and she really enjoyed it.  She typically avoids ordering fish as places have a tendency of overcooking it. 

NOtaBLE Half Chicken- seasonal risotto, smoky chicken jus

The chicken had great flavour, but the breast meat was a tad dry.  The dark meat was enjoyable (when is it not :]).  The risotto was really creamy and tangy, which we did not particularly enjoy.  Although the risotto had good flavour, the texture threw us off.

Rotisserie Vegetable "Pizza"- manchego, white bean hummus

The pizza was great!  It had a mountain of vegetables with a soft pizza dough which reminded me of focaccia bread.  Also, there is a lack of crust which I definitely appreciated since I dislike crust.  The hummus provided a great alternative to the classic tomato/marinara sauce that is usually slathered on pizzas.  It was a large portion, so I ate half of the pizza, the rest of the toppings, and scraped the rest of the hummus off.

The dishes we ordered presented us with a variety of delicious flavours.  However, we found the texture of certain components in some of the dishes were not to our tastes.  Regardless, we all enjoyed our meal and John was happy he was finally able to dine at NOtaBLE. 

Enjoy!

    

Eat Well, Feel Well: #coconutflourcookies

Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yum yum yum cookie time!  It's been such a long time since I've baked and I definitely miss doing it all of the time.  Then again, it's my fault... darn you TV shows...  Anyway, I found a recipe on Detoxinista as per usual these days, and it was a healthier version of chocolate chip cookies and I wanted to see how John would like them.  He's in love with my usual not so healthy chocolate chip cookies.

Recipe from Detoxinista

Made approximately 12 cookies

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup dairy free chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350F and line your baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk the coconut flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and eggs until everything is combined.  The batter will be runny at first, but just be patient, the coconut flour will absorb the moisture.  Add in the chocolate chips and fold them in.

 

Use a scoop or just a heaping table spoon and scoop the dough onto the baking sheet.  Use your hands to flatten the cookies because they will not spread like your conventional cookie. 

Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are golden.  Let them cool on the sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

These cookies were sensational and disappeared immediately, so I made another batch the next day.  The reason why the two pictures above are slightly different was because I wanted to experiment a little and also I made a silly silly mistake in the first batch.

For the first batch, I had melted 1/4 cup of coconut oil and once that had occurred, I ended up with a lot more then 1/4 cup of coconut oil.  In result, I had to eye how much coconut flour I put in and ended up with the left picture.  The taste and texture were great luckily.

For the second batch I followed the recipe to the tee and before the oven smooshed them down just a tad just because I noticed the batter was much more wet then the first.  They did in fact spread and was comparable to my usual cookies in the aesthetics.  

Please give these a try!  These were tasty, grain free and healthier then the usual cookies AND they were John approved :).

Enjoy!

Eat Well, Learn Well, Feel Well: #bakedpancakes

Baked Pumpkin Pancakes

It's Friday!!  It was a beautiful morning and I had the hugest craving for pancakes, not just any pancakes.  Pumpkin!  So I was on Detoxinista's website and found these lovely pancakes that were baked!  I was so intrigued, I had to try them.

Recipe from Detoxinista

Serves 1

1/4 cup almond butter

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice*

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp honey

*I did not have pumpkin pie spice (a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, allsplice, and ginger), so I used a pinch of cinnamon, a pinch of cloves and a pinch of nutmeg.

Preheat your oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix until smooth.  Use a 1/4 cup to scoop the batter on the parchment lined baking sheet.  This made 3 pancakes for me.

Bake for 10-12 minutes (mine were in for 10), until the pancakes are fluffy and golden brown.  The awesome thing about these is that you do not need any excess oil and you don't need to flip them either!

Serve with maple syrup, fruits and peanut butter!

Out of the oven.

All dressed up!

Fluffy, soft and moist.  A taste of Autumn in my mouth on this lovely Spring day.

Enjoy!

Love Well, Learn Well: #aweekwithchubs

Chubs the Pug

Week 2!

Week 2 with this little guy!  Definitely doing better then last week with the nibbling and house training!

We took him for his first walk and been walking him ever since!  Only issue is that it's rather difficult walking him if only one of us goes with him.  So hopefully we can correct that soon.

This week Chubs' other love Tobias passed away :'(.

About to go for a walk..... lazy butt.

Getting the hang out of brushing his teeth haha.

No words; he sleeps in the weirdest positions.

Yet he is so adorable <3.

<3

Took him out for a long walk.  He likes to rest between John's feet.

He loathes bath time, but he gets soooooo stinky!

He has a thing with faces...

Tires us out all of the time.

We also found he's a tad clingy... every time I moved or switched my foot position, he followed and plopped back down again.

Bear pug!

Sweet dreams Chubs <3.