friday night supper

This is the first time in about 4 months that I have posted anything on this blog.  lately, Naomi and I have been having a date night every friday night and last night we made some home made pizza and then went to a movie at the scotiabank theatre in downtown toronto. 

we took some inspiration from pizzas at pizzaria gusto and made a pizza with roasted potatoes, caramelized onions, pesto, proscuitto, goats cheese and roasted red peppers. 

afterwards we jumped on the subway and went and saw the imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, which I thought was a rather odd movie indeed. I had heard that the movie was eclectic to say the least, but I wasn't really prepared for the extremely psychedelic aspect and the fact that heath ledgers character is actually played by himself and three other actors. 

Having been in toronto for a total of four months now, i feel as if i should  be getting to know the city a little bit better and I should be getting out and seeing places and meeting new people. This hasn't been the case so far with my stay in the big city. I am vowing to be more adventurous and I really want to get back in touch with the few people that i know that live here and hopefully make the most out of life and get back into the swing of things.

Moving to a new place has been far more challenging to me than I thought it would  be. It feels like I have been here forever but its only been a few months. things are on the up and up!

Toronto

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Toronto is not as daunting as i was initially expecting it to be. the city is set up in a very organized fashion which makes destinations really easy to find. Case in point, I had a job interview this afternoon way down bloor street east. Bloor actually turns into Dancourt or something at some point, not that that was really confusing or anything. Still, its really fun to go somewhere that you have never been at all. This is something that I'll be doing alot so i should just get used to it.

My job interview went very well, and I am going to go work on friday night to see what the restaurant is like. It is called auld spot pub, and the menu is an upscale pub with some other interesting things thrown in. The online special board featured a tomato and basil rissotto and grilled quail wrapped in proscuitto to name a few. The specials seem to change fairly regularly too which is awesome. very Pizzaria Gusto-like. One of their special things is fresh shucked oysters so I could see alot of shucking in my future. Not that its a bad thing either.

I also got a really bad cold the second day I was here. Thanks alot Toronto..

inhuman rampage

I went to see Dragonforce last night, who were playing at the Garrick. It was probibly one of the more weird shows i've been to. The crowd was pretty odd mostly because i'm sure more than half the people there only knew about the band from guitar hero.
The band itself was more than impressive. They can pull all of their songs off live, which is saying alot because they are technical as fuck.

Pan Roasted, Walnut crusted Pork Tenderloin

Pan Roasted Walnut Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Roasted New Potatoes and corn and peach summer salsa

makes 4 Portions

Ingredients:

Pork:

2 large pork tenderloins, cleaned of silverskin and fat

splash olive oil

50 g crushed, toasted walnuts

tablespoon grainy mustard

s + p

Potatoes:

one bag (or so) New potatoes

olive oil

s + p

season with salt and pepper and olive oil. roast until cooked through and golden brown.

Salsa:

2 corns on the cob

half red onion minced

bunch parsley chopped fine

2 fresh peaches, peeled and small diced

juice of one lime

half a red pepper small dice

s + p

grill off the corn and remove from the cob. combine with the red onion, peaches, parsley, lime juice and red pepper. season with salt and pepper to taste. add some chili flakes if you want too

Finishing:

Heat a pan with olive oil on high heat until smoking. season the pork tenderloin with salt and pepper and sear all sides in the hot pan.

Smear the mustard over the pork and top with the walnuts to make the crust. Make sure your pan is oven proof before you start, otherwise use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. cook the pork to your desired doneness. 6-7 minutes at 450F for medium if your pork tenderloin is of average size.

cook the hell out of it if you like well done pork. (yuck) Rest the meat for a good five minutes before serving. this will allow the juices to redistribute and the pork will be even more delicious.

Sthe tenderloin on the bias and allow for half a tenderloin per person.

Either combine the potatoes with the salsa and serve cold, or reheat potatoes and serve hot, giving the dish a nice contrast temperatures.

Garnish with some nice parsley or something

Contrary to what people think, Pork is ok to eat medium and even medium rare. the meat will be very tender and a great deal more juicy than a well done tenderloin.

1992 Cannondale Track

Very nice!

2009 Fuji Track Pro

sexahh

If I could have a new set of wheels it would be some like this.

last night as i was crossing the osborne street bridge, i drove over a nice piece of curb that had been moved from its usual spot. As in attached to the curb no less. luckily i was not thrown off my bike, but suffered a mere flat tire from the excursion. Nuts to that.