Moving On...

Two weeks from today, I move to midtown.

At the end of January I bought my first place -- a condo in the lovely Yonge and Davisville area. At the time, Moving Day seemed ages away but here we are, mid-April, and by the end of the month I'll be there.

I've lived in the historic St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood of downtown Toronto for the past six years or so (in two different apartments), and I love it so much I had my real estate agent show me just about every building in the area before expanding my search northward. The reason being, as an avid cook and baker, having the Market at my doorstep was just too perfect. There was no ingredient I couldn't find there -- from pomegranate molasses, to black truffle salt, to tamarind paste. In fact I'd sometimes look for recipes that had offbeat ingredients just to see if I could find them at SLM -- invariably, I could.

My market

My memories of Toronto's St. Lawrence Market stretch back to childhood. My parents would get my sister and me out of bed early on Saturdays, and we'd make the 45 minute trip from our house in the 'burbs (Oakville, Ont.) to the hustle and bustle of downtown.


Everything seems larger than life when you're a kid and to me the Market was a magical, somewhat overwhelming, place to be. I remember the smells - fresh fish, stinky cheese, cooking peameal bacon - and the crowds.

My dad would often buy fresh baked date oatmeal cookies from one of the bakeries and I recall how delicious those were. We'd stop for lunch at the Market Grill (which no longer exists), and really make a day of it. And though my sister and I often grumbled at the time about having to get out of bed early for the occasion, we enjoyed it once we were there.


I've been living back in Toronto for pretty much my entire adult life after moving downtown for school 14 years ago. But it's only recently - the last three years or so - that I've lived close to the St. Lawrence Market and its bounty of fresh produce, cheeses, breads, seafood, and meats.

I'm proud to say I now know the 206-year-old building like the back of my hand - from the dry goods shops downstairs that sell my favourite olive oil, to the rice stand where I can get everything from arborio and basmati to jasmine and black Thai rice.


I've bought chicken scraps for stock from one of the butchers I frequent, fresh pizza dough and homemade pizza sauce from a stand that sells fresh pasta in the back corner, and of course Montreal-style bagels fresh out of the oven at St. Urbain.

Stonemill is where I get my Saturday morning pastry, which alongside a coffee forms my ultimate breakfast. Although I have had one of the peameal sandwiches on a bun that the Market is famous for. And if you're looking for a hangover breakfast, you could do far worse than the one at Paddington's Pump.


The sushi stand makes wicked avocado rolls, and when I'm feeling naughtier I'll get a takeout container of BBQ pork from the Chinese food counter.

And of course there's Kozlik's mustard - my favourite for cooking with and using on sandwiches.


The St. Lawrence Market is a gift to the city, and I consider myself lucky to live close enough to shop there. Next time you're in Toronto, consider visiting. And bring a shopping bag, because I wager you won't go home empty-handed!

Salut!

Suzanne

Questions, comments? Email suzannekathrynellis@gmail.com.

Boeuf Bourguignon - a two-person job but so worth it

My sister Barb came downtown to visit today - we'd planned a day around cooking a fantastic dinner so she arrived late morning so we could decide what to make and shop for the ingredients at the nearby St. Lawrence Market.

Over pastries and coffee we pored over cookbooks looking for something challenging that neither of us had tried before. We decided on the classic French dish Boeuf Bourguignon - a delicious stew of beef, bacon, pearl onions, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, and of course lots of red wine and Cognac to make it even more decadent. For a side we thought mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and crispy leeks would do nicely. And a couple of bottles of Bordeaux wine, naturally.

After a full day of grocery shopping and hanging around the city we started on dinner, which we knew was going to take a good three hours (two hours of which was simply letting the beef braise in the oven). If you ever decide to make Boeuf Bourguignon, be aware of the time commitment and that between all the chopping and stages of cooking it's helpful to have two people involved in the process. Barb and I had never cooked a meal together before but we did quite well in my admittedly small kitchen. As I fried the bacon, she washed and sliced mushrooms, then she took over sauteing the beef chunks as I measured out beef stock and flour. We decided not to flambe the Cognac - visions of my condo going up in flames - but we added it anyway knowing that most of the alcohol would cook off anyway.



Three hours after we started, after having already polished off a bottle of wine, dinner was served, and I have to say, it was excellent. The boeuf bourguignon was hearty, stick-to-the-ribs good, and the creamy mashed potatoes with leeks were divine. I'd never made mashed potatoes with leeks before but the combination is fantastic.

We finished it all off with a sinfully rich chocolate raspberry cake from one of the Market bakeries.

Now that is what I call a perfect meal.



Salut!

Suzanne

Suggestions, tips, advice, recipes to share? Comment below or email suzannekathrynellis@gmail.com.