| The Tomato Challenge at the Edmonton Home + Garden Show
Do you love tomatoes? Think yourself pretty handy in the kitchen? Love Italian food? If this sounds like you, enter the Tomato Challenge! Win a gift package worth $250 from the Tomato food & drink & the Italian Centre Shops! The secret to good cooking is a well-stocked pantry. We want to know how handy you can be with the simplest ingredients — a can of tomatoes, a bag of pasta, cheese and coffee — to make a tasty dish. Here’s how: Make an original recipe using at least two of these delicious products from the Italian Centre shops; Pavoncella Tomatoes, Pomodorino Tomato Sauce, Ontario Jumbo Ravioli, Riscossa Pasta, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and Kimbo Coffee. Send your recipe to the Italian Centre or the Tomato’s facebook page by midnight, March 14. Post a photo of your dish on Twitter or Instagram using hashtags #TomatoChallenge #EHGS16 #ItalianCentreShop. Finalists must be able to come to the Tomato Cooking Stage at the Edmonton Home + Garden show at 3pm on March 20 to make their dish. Winning recipes become the property of the Italian Centre Shop.
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| Experience great food at even better prices during Downtown Dining Week March 11-20. A record number of restos (36) are involved in the 13th annual celebration, including newbies Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse, Cavern Cheese shop and wine bar, the Common, Bodega Tapas and Wine Bar, Alberta Hotel Bar and Kitchen along with the Hardware Grill, dedutch, Zinc, The Marc and La Ronde. Make your resos now for set lunch ($15) and dinner menus at $28 and $48. Find the full list of participating restaurants at http://www.edmontondowntown.com/dining-week.php
“ It’s great value for consumers and gives people a chance to experience what’s happening downtown,” says Katherine Hoy, Downtown Business Association.
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| Learn how to make a fabulous brunch at a Kitchen by Brad (10130 105 Street, 780-757-7704 kitchenbybrad.ca) cooking class on March 12 and 19. Eggs bennie, waffles sweet and savoury, quiche, asparagus in a roasted tomato vinaigrette, chocolate mousse with berry compote, $135. Classes sell out quickly, info@kitchenbybrad.ca to book. | ||||
| The Pantree (#550, 220 Lakeland Drive, Sherwood Park, www.thepantree.ca) has a full roster of cooking classes and events. Highlights: Join Bill Marshall from Zwilling Canada and chef Michelle DeLand, for a class on how to get the most out of your enameled cast iron and stainless steel cookware, March 21, 6:30pm, $30. Gluten-free Treats with chefs Jade Wu and Sarah Louise on March 30, 6pm, $90; Pasta Making with chef Stefan Cherwoniak, April 13, 6pm, $85; Vegan Cheese Alternatives with Jade Wu and Sarah Louise, 6pm, April 5, $85. Register: register.thepantree.ca. | ||||
| Strike a pose for Refinery en Vogue, a fashion-inspired late night art party at the AGA, March 19, 9pm–2am, ($45/$39 AGA members). The latest edition of Refinery combines art and fashion into one stylish evening, with a fashion show, textile-based installations by Jenna Turner and Linda Moir and music by fashion-forward DJs GirlsClub. Featured local designers are Malorie Urbanovich; Derek Jagodzinsky of LUXX Ready to Wear and WORKHALL; custom work by iHuman’s Fashion and Art programs along with WEM retailers DKNY Donna Karan New York, Kit and Ace and Simons. For tickets: http://www.youraga.ca/refinery-en-vogue. Gallery admission included.
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| Make your next trip to the wine shop a bit less mystifying; take a Wine Spirit Education Trust (WSET) program, taught in 58 countries. A special one-day Level One Foundation class is offered Saturday, April 9. To book: Call Angela Landon 604-988-8009, 1-888-988-8009 or email alandon@aii.edu. Classes are held on the second floor of Fine Wines by Liquor Select, 8924 149 Street. | ||||
| Vancouver’s Vikram Vij is the 2016 Hokanson Chef in Residence at NAIT from March 7-11. There’s not much chef Vij hasn’t done in the world of food; he operates restaurants, a food truck and a food production facility, has written two cookbooks and is a television personality and competitor. Yet he remains excited, passionate, down to earth and ready to share what he’s learned with the culinary students. “I know how these kids feel. When I left India to go to Austria to learn to be a chef I was anxious; am I going to be ok? Am I going to survive?”
His advice to young cooks? “Travel, see the world. You are going to work your ass off in the future, so have some fun now. “When we opened Vij’s in 1994 no one knew what we were doing. I had a vision to introduce people to how diverse Indian food is; so much more than butter chicken. We worked hard and we focused.” Career highlight for chef Vij? “The honourary degree from UBC. I am very proud of that. It’s an acknowledgement that cuisine is a form of art, not a funky thing you do the side. It’s a legitimate pursuit.”
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| The St. Paddy’s Day Swine & Dine YEG the Royal Glenora Club (11160 River Valley Road, 780-482-2371, http://www.royalglenora.com) offers a four-course Alberta pork-inspired menu paired with craft beers. To book: steve.buzak@royalglenora | ||||
| Bar Bricco’s (10347 Jasper Avenue, 780-424-5588, barbricco.com) moody interior and great music make it a no-brainer as the place to end the night, but it’s also your best bet to experience aperitivo, the classic northern Italian after-work bite and a drink. From 4pm to 5:30pm enjoy pass-around appetizers (spuntini) with your Negroni or Aperol Spriss, or a glass of Barolo for that matter. | ||||
| This is the third year for Winter City Drinks and they keep getting better and better. Points are awarded for taste, how the drink looks and the story, with bonus points for the use of local ingredients. In the non-alcoholic category judges chose the Winter’s Kiss, a sprightly mix of raspberry and apple by Noe Cordeiro; “ because every Edmonton back yard has an apple tree and raspberry bushes.” Daughter Julie read a poem about the drink, which charmed this judge utterly. The runner-up was a healthy mocktail made with ginger, turmeric, milk and honey by Agnieszka Wajda-Plytta.
The top cocktail, The Sure Thing by Chuck Elves is a tasty riff on Irish coffee: Alberta Premium Dark Horse, Alvear’s medium sherry, cold brewed coffee and Vitaly Teas Earl Grey tea, topped with salted caramel foam and Jacek chocolate shavings. Second was the Mulled Gold: Alley Kat Scona ale, mulled with warm spices, honey, ginger and a hit of Eau Claire’s Gin Rummy, also by Agnieszka Wajda-Plytta.. Delish! The contest, held in the Wedgwood Room at the Mac, was hosted by Global TV’s Jennifer Crosby. Congrats to all the drink makers! Visit wintercityedmonton.ca/winter-signature-drink-contest for all the recipes.
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