Love for the Locals: Barb and Ernie's

Barb and Ernie's German Country Inn (9906-72 Ave) is a place you'll pass by so many times. That's what happened for my family and I for so long, until one day, I asked my dad if he wanted to go with me. I get all of the gluttony from my dad, so he is always totally gung ho for eggs benedict if I ask him. Now, I've been here for a total of 10 times, and vow to return.

Today, I grabbed breakfast with P, who hadn't yet been to Barb and Ernie's. And honestly, what would be a better start to reading week than that? They open pretty early at 8:00am on the weekends, and get a pretty constantly packed house by 10:00am until about 2:00pm, but even so, the wait isn't that long. But...as always, it's nicer to beat the rush. They're also open Tuesday through Friday starting bright and early from 7:00am. Surprisingly (or not), Barb and Ernie's seems to be pretty popular among university students rather than just older folk and the German community, which is awesome.  

Pretty well across the street from Ecole J. H. Picard, the location is kind of weird, and so is the miniscule parking space, but it is definitely an Edmonton gem. As always, I am a big fan of authentic local businesses in Edmonton, so be sure to start at least one of your days with a full breakfast at Barb and Ernie's! (They also do take-out~)  

The staff and owners are all so hardworking and friendly and clearly enjoy what they do! 

It's not something a university student would be able to afford for breakfast every day as they are priced at around $11-19 per plate depending on what you get, but you shouldn't be having eggs benedict/pancakes/Belgian waffles/bratwurst/etc. every day anyways. Also, toppings for their eggs benedict range from their original ham to smoked salmon to a 7 oz. steak. My bacon eggs benedict was $10.95, I believe. I've tried the bacon, original ham, and smoked salmon eggs benedicts at Barb and Ernie's but bacon is still my favourite. First of all, it's BACON. Second of all, the ham and smoked salmon are tend to be a bit much for my limited tolerance of salt. Portion-wise, they give you a whackload of whatever you order, so all is good. Quality is always consistently delicious.

All eggs benedict orders come with half a plateful of homemade fluffy shredded hashbrowns, 2 perfectly poached eggs on an English muffin, topped with a delicious white wine Hollandaise sauce, and some pieces of fresh, seasonal fruit. I have yet to try anything aside from eggs benedict, but I wouldn't go anywhere else for it.

Barb and Ernie's - Self-proclaimed best eggs benedict in town.  I think I could second that.

The sign and the outside of Barb and Ernie's. Apparently there's a German buffet every Tuesday. I've only ever been here for the eggs benedict though. 

My go-to egg's benny in Edmonton - Bacon Eggs Benedict.

P opted for the Bratwurst Eggs Benedict. I forgot to take a picture of it, but Barb and Ernie's has their own homemade mustard which apparently goes very well with bratwurst among other things.

If you want a good eggs benedict that isn't sky high like in Hotel Macdonald, give Barb and Ernie's a try and let me know what you think!

-M

Cravings: Quick-Fix "Lattes"

Yeah yeah yeah. I know, I'm probably going to be coldly rejected by the barista community. To hopefully keep the peace, "latte" is in quotation marks. I'm sorry, but sometimes I can't afford the $4-5 for a decent latte, so this is what I do.

Things I have learned today about "lattes":
- They are not even half as good as real lattes.
- Like lattes, you can use coffee or any kind of tea. If you're using coffee, I say go with the cheap instant stuff so you won't look back on it being all sad about how you wasted some fine coffee.
- As with your typical tea brewing, it is best not to use a particularly acidic tea or the milk will curdle.
- It sort of justifies the idea of making a mug cake...sort of. You know, those cakes you make by microwaving cake stuff in a mug in the microwave.
- It only takes about 2-3 minutes.

Quick-fix "latte": Jasmine Soy Latte from my microwave.

Legit latte: Earl Grey Soy Latte from Three Bananas Cafe.

Essentially, here's how it goes...

Quick-Fix "Lattes"

1 mug milk (any kind of your choice)

1 tea bag (any kind of your choice)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp raw sugar

1. Microwave the mug of milk on high for 1 minute. Take out to stir, and put in for 1 more minute.

2. Dissolve the sugar and vanilla into the hot milk.

3. Add your one tea bag into the mug and "brew" for a few minutes.

4. Stir lightly with a spoon and enjoy. 

Chyup...Thaaat's about it. You can't have high standards for this kind of latte though. It will definitely not taste as good as those properly baristed by baristas :P

-M

Budget-Friendly Bites: On Campus, Episode 4

This morning, I enjoyed a very cozy breakfast in HUB to start my day, and opted for a panini from La Pasta and tea from Bar Teca. I like the tea from Bar Teca, as well as their frozen yogurt. It's so smooth, and they top it with a dark chocolate squiggly thing that I usually give to someone else, but it's cute. I've heard that they have bubble tea, but I haven't given it a try just yet.

From La Pasta, I got the Italian Breakfast panini. It has a thin slice of soppressatta (a type of Italian sausage), a slice of tomato, some artichoke, and a slice of provolone cheese. I believe that they get most of their ingredients from Spinelli's Italian Centre. From Bar Teca, I got the Mango Black Tea. I ordered a small, but she gave me a large by accident. No complaints here!

La Pasta, on the other hand, is one of my favourite go-tos for something quick, but not necessarily drenched in grease. The staff (like Stan, the guy with a receding hair line and dark curlyish hair!) are so friendly and welcoming, and the food is pretty decent too. Prices vary, but they do have some good deals to offer!

The upper/main level is where you can get your coffee/tea fixes, cookies, biscottis, banana bread, and the like, as well as your paninis. Typically, paninis are priced at $5-6, but there are some at La Pasta that are less than $5. I like the Italian Breakfast panini, and not necessarily just for breakfast. To me, it is the best deal for a panini priced at $3.50. Today, they had these hazelnut toffee cookies, which Stan said were going like hotcakes!

La Pasta!

La Pasta also has a lower level down the stairs. There was a guy delivering bread and buns whose cart was in the way, but there's a small set of stairs that lead down to the area where they serve pasta and such. I forgot to take a picture of the whiteboard, but it's normally on the main level to the left side, and features their specials of the day as well as their combos. 

La Pasta (feat. bread delivery man).

They have something called "The Combo" which consists of essentially salad and pasta. First, you choose between house dressing (which is like a runny ranch) or a homemade vinaigrette. Next, your choice of pasta. It varies daily, but usually some sort of noodle, some sort of dumpling type, some small type, and the baked one. The baked pasta is a mass of layers of cheese, tomato sauce, and random pastas. Lastly, you get to choose what sauce goes on top of the pasta - alfredo, tomato, or meat. Parmesan cheese and chili flakes are also available for your final topping. The Combo is now $6, but for student groups such as the Chinese Students Club, you can get $1 off a $6 purchase. Fresh white or whole wheat buns are also available for $0.50 each, I believe, but usually if you order pasta, it's free of charge.

For whatever reason, I haven't been able to find the rest of my photos from past visits to La Pasta (and it frustrates me to no end). But here is an example of "The Combo". Here, I opted for the vinaigrette dressing on my salad, fettuccine noodles, tomato sauce, and a whole wheat bun. This was from last summer, when La Pasta only charged $5 for The Combo. Still, not a bad deal for wholesome food found among a line of fast food chains. :)

The Combo!

If I ever find my missing photos, I will be sure to put them up here :)

Long story short, go to La Pasta in HUB!

-M

Love for the Locals: Hung Phat Vietnamese Noodle House

On a crazy cold day in Edmonton like today, something warm for the throat and stomach is a pretty good go-to. Something like...oh, I don't know...pho? Upon my 5th or 6th visit to the place, I decided to actually take pictures and do this post on Hung Phat, a Vietnamese noodle place in a strip mall across from the CN Rail stuff on 99th Street.

Since my first visit, I have to say that Hung Phat is probably my favourite place for Vietnamese noodles now. The only disappointment for me would be that they don't have any pho with tripe :( I like tripe a lot.

They open at 11 every day of the week, and it's advisable to arrive around then,  because by noon, the place is packed! I guess word has gotten around. We got there at about 12:30, and there were only two small tables for 2 left.

Contrary to what I just said, I opted for a bowl of vermicelli when my dad took me for lunch. He got a bowl of pho with medium rare beef and meatballs. I've had pho at Hung Phat before and it's pretty good! The texture of the noodles is perfectly cooked, and the mix of spices in the broth is slightly different from your average Vietnamese noodle soup, and in a good way!

This is #46, Grilled Beef on Vermicelli. The Sriracha was my doing, but I only put a little bit for the purpose of the picture. There were 2 more layers of Sriracha in the consumption process :P

I wanted to take a picture of how full it was, so you guys could see, but there were two people right next to us, and this lady kept looking at me all funny, so I had to wait until she left. Unfortunately, more people had finished already as well.

After the 12-1 rush, the buzz is totally different.

I've been to Pagolac, Pho Hoa, and a few other Vietnamese places in Edmonton, but I really appreciate the atmosphere and service as well as the food here a bit more. I don't know what it is, but I think that Hung Phat is worth a try :)



-M

B-b-b-baking: Chinese Cocktail Buns

Sooo...I gave "Chinese baking" a shot last night. I originally wanted to make the Chinese red bean buns, because red bean is amaaazing, but a) I didn't have red beans, and b) you'd have to soak them overnight and whatnot before using them. Then I thought, "wait a minute...I have coconut!!" Up until last year, I legitimately disliked coconut, but somehow, the flavour grew on me. P (who happens to also have a food blog~) said he wanted to try my baking, and I had time, so there you have it!

Things I have learned yesterday about Chinese cocktail buns:

- You only need a maximum of 3 hours to make these things, and only half of that time is actually doing stuff. 1 hour is just rising, and you can do laundry and homework. Then, about 20 minutes is baking, and you can do more laundry and homework.

- The weird sugar paste stuff the bakeries put on top of these buns is only made of flour, sugar, and butter. I'd always wondered what the heck it was.

- You can make buns into whatever shape you want! (I made them kind of dinner roll sized. I wonder what it'd look like if you just made one ginormous bun...)

- If you mess up rolling a bun, just twist it. Then it magically becomes a coconut twisty bun thing... :D

- How do bakeries get their buns all nicely browned and shiny? Egg wash!

- Sesame seeds make buns look even more Asian.

- As always, they taste the best when just freshly out of the oven...

They look kind of weird before being baked. My screwups also look more screwed up before being baked >.>;; Also, notice how I tried to make little spirals with the topping stuff. It did not look like that anymore after done baking...

My lovelies rising and baking in the oven :3 The little white dot things on the door's window are there to make sure that people like me who sit and study in front of the oven don't get cancer.

Should have put a bit more egg wash, but they turned out pretty well, don't you think? :)

Bun #13 got to have the taste test. Since it was nighttime already, I split it between my mom, brother, and I. Sorry for not taking a picture of the inside...I blame the coconut filling.

Chinese Cocktail Buns (adapted from Jun's Blog)

*Makes ~15 dinner roll sized cocktail buns if you don't screw up the rolling and sealing like I did...*

Yeast Mixture

1 package Fleischmann's instant yeast (it says it's something like 2 1/4 tsp)

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1 tsp white granulated sugar

Bun Dough

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup white granulated sugar

1 tsp table salt

1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

1/2 cup olive oil

2 eggs

1 yeast mixture (see above)

Filling

1 cup shredded coconut (I bought Safeway brand medium unsweetened shredded. Smaller shreds are good for the paste.)

6 tbsp unprocessed honey

6 tbsp olive oil

1 egg yolk (I saved the egg white and used it in something else.)

Topping

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tbsp white granulated sugar

2 tbsp shortening/softened butter

1 tbsp water

1 egg

2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1. Prepare the yeast mixture by dissolving the instant yeast in a small bowl with the lukewarm water. (I use a bamboo chopstick to stir so that the temperature won't decrease as quickly.) Add the tsp of sugar, stir, and set aside for 10 minutes at room temperature to activate. The air is colder and drier here, so I put it in the microwave TURNED OFF to sit, but DO NOT turn on the microwave, or it will kill the yeast. (The yeast mixture will expand and become foamy.)

2. Add 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, and salt into a large bowl, and stir to distribute evenly.

3. In a medium bowl, add milk, oil, eggs, and yeast mixture. Stir to combine.

4. Add the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and use a spatula to incorporate. Knead with your hands for at least 10 minutes. (The mixture will be very sticky, but then becomes elastic and comes off easily from your hands.)

5. Briefly remove the dough from the large bowl, and lightly oil the inside of the bowl. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. I put it in the microwave TURNED OFF with a mug of hot water.

6. While the dough is rising, prepare a deep dish baking pan by lightly greasing it with oil or butter. You can also use this time to make your filling, egg wash, and topping.

7. Add all "filling" ingredients into a bowl and mix until evenly distributed. Wrap with plastic wrap and set aside. (Note: You may not need to use as much oil or honey. I may have added more than 1 cup of shredded coconut, and like I said before, it's drier here.)

8. Add "topping" flour, sugar, and shortening into a small bowl, and combine into a pale paste. Place mixture into one corner of a ziploc bag, seal, and set aside.

9. Add 1 tbsp water and 1 egg into a small bowl, and beat lightly with a pastry brush. Wrap with plastic wrap and set aside.

10. Remove the bowl from the microwave, and remove the plastic wrap. Slowly punch down the dough for about a minute to release some of the air.

11. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

12. Using the remaining 1/2 cup, flour the back of a cookie sheet, unless you have a countertop or suitable surface for rolling and stuff.

13. Split the dough into desired bun portions. I just divided it into 15 equal blobs.

14. For each dough blob, flatten into a circle a bit less than 1 mm thick.

15. Add about 1 tbsp of filling on the center of the dough circle. Fold one side of the circle to just overlap the filling, and do the same to the opposite side. Take the other two ends, pinch together, and twist. This is the bottom of the bun, so flip it over, and place it into the pan. Repeat for all 15 buns. If you mess up the rolling/folding thing, just twist it lightly until you can see some of the filling on the outside, and some of the bun.

16. Using a pastry brush or teaspoon, add egg wash on the surface of each bun.  

17. Lightly squeeze the topping mixture closer to the corner of the ziploc bag, and cut a small hole in the corner. Pipe whatever design you want on the top of the buns. I tried doing spirals. Keep in mind that it spreads out a lot, and might not look like what you drew.

18. Finish by sprinkling sesame seeds over the tops.

19. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

20. Remove from oven and pan, and enjoy right away, or set on a sheet of parchment paper on top of a cooling rack, and store for up to a few days.

I brought them to badminton with me this morning for my friends :) Since P was the one who first requested them, I separately wrapped one in my snazzy craftsy wrapping stuff from the Daiso (I really want more Q_Q...I'm so addicted to that place...). Here are some photos that P (who also has a photography blog~) took of his!

I regret not buying more of these little wrapping bags :( They came in packages of 10, and I only bought 2...

Yay! I didn't take a picture of the inside, but P was smart and did! Thank you, P! :D

I know this one is a long post, but it was super fun, and I haven't posted for over a week! Look forward to more baking this term :)

-M