Lobstahpalooza 2015

Lobstahpalooza 2015 is happening this Sunday! Chef Matt Dean Pettit and Samuel Adams Beer will be hosting the giant Lobster Boil party in Kensington Market, behind El Gordos Food Market on Sept 27, 1-8 pm.  If you haven't met Matt before, he is the big boss at Rock Lobster, Matty's Seafood Brand and also a die hard Blue Jays fan (playoffs here we come)! I had a chance to attend the media preview and it was lobster madness.

Tickets for Lobstahpalooza 2015 are $50 each and guests at Lobstahpalooza 2015 will be enjoying a tasty seafood feast, including oysters at the raw bar and a full East Coast lobster boil, with delicious sides. Rock Lobster Ceasars, Samuel Adams Beer and Thomas Lavers Ginger Beer will be available to wash down all the lobster. Tickets include 2 beer tickets!  There will also be live bands, DJs, and a 50/50 Charity draw to support The Stop Community Food Centre.

The media preview I attended was a small outdoor dinner where we enjoyed a lobsters cooked by Matt himself.  We devoured an entire lobster boil meal that consisted of a whole market lobster, fresh buns from Blackbird Baking Co. and mom's potato salad- possibly the most impressive potato salad I have seen.  We also had a chance to try some retail packaged Lobster Rolls from Matty's Seafood Brand.  These were delicious, especially considering they are ready to serve and readily available at Sobey's Supermarkets. The meal was quite messy, but more than satisfying!  Special thanks to Matt for teaching me how to take apart my lobster- my lobster shucking skills have improved greatly since!

Photo Credits: Rey Pan, EatNMingle.com

Tickets be purchased at: https://lobstahpalooza2015.eventbrite.com

LobstahPalooza 2015 #saminhand 
Sept 27, 2015
1-8PM
214 Augusta Ave, Kensington Market 
Behind El Gordos Market

Introducing: McDonald's Mighty Angus Burger

The first item on the Mcdonald’s menu in 1967 was a hamburger and since then, McDonald’s has served over 300 billion burgers to hungry customers worldwide! I have seen McDonald’s Canada introduce new items in recent years including different wraps and salads, but it’s safe to say that burgers are their “bread and butter.” This year marks the launch of the new Mighty Angus...a big, badass, beefy burger created with beef lovers in mind. 

I was invited to attend the launch of the Mighty Angus at McDonald’s Head Office in Toronto, along with a handful of other bloggers and McDonald’s fans. The party took place at their head office’s in-house McDonald’s restaurant, where new items are created and where staff can grab food at work! A giant version of the Mighty Angus was available for guests to take pictures with and there was even a light box station with a perfectly stylized Mighty Angus for those looking for the perfect Instagram picture. 

The Mighty Angus is McDonald’s Canada’s most recent addition to the permanent menu. It consists of a third-pound 100% Angus beef patty, sourced from Canadian farms. Quality of beef was taken very seriously when creating the Mighty Angus and a Canadian Beef Grading Agency representative is on hand every time McDonald’s makes Angus patties. I had a great time learning about the new burger and jumped at the opportunity to make my own Mighty Angus in their kitchen! I tried to sneak two Angus beef patties into my burger to create the Ultimate Mighty Angus, but unfortunately, it was removed during the quality control stage.

The Mighty Angus sits in between a sesame & poppy seed bun, topped with smoky Angus aioli, smoked bacon pieces, leaf lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese and grilled onions. It’s quite a hefty burger, loaded with the taste of beefiness and smokiness in each bite. It’s one of my current favourites from McDonald’s and I’m happy to see McDonald’s sticking to what they do best...burgers.

#certifiedmighty

Cooking with Graham Elliot and Walmart

Written by Janice Choi aka @bluntfoodreview (Good Food Toronto guest writer)

On May 20^th I had the (probably once in a lifetime) opportunity to cook with chef Graham Elliot! Graham Elliot is a host on Masterchef US and Masterchef Junior, and was awarded two Michelin stars for his restaurant in Chicago – only one of fifteen in the US to have that distinction!

I arrived at Nella Cucina at 4:30pm, a stunning kitchen store with a kitchen and demonstration area in the upper level. I was quickly welcomed with a drink and found a station with 4 other ladies.

The event was hosted by Walmart to promote their fresh food offering. As the event started, we were given an introduction to Walmart and their fresh food department, which has been around for 8 years. They make all their bread in store every day, and are planning to offer fresh sushi at their stores!

Time to start cooking!! On the menu was Striploin Steak with Creamed Spinach, and Pan-Seared Salmon with Cabbage slaw and Whole-Grained Mustard. We were given beautiful Angus steaks and an assortment of pre-measured ingredients.

Graham Elliot was so friendly and down to earth. He came around to every station and chatted with us, gave a quick explanation and some tips on what we should do. Our team members were clearly not the greatest chefs so he came around and actually showed us how to shape and season our steaks.

While my other teammates worked on the creamed spinach (which was a bit of a disaster), I went up to the front to grill the steaks.

Once our steaks were almost done, we brought our creamed spinach up to plate and admired Chef Graham’s steak cutting skills. Cutting the steaks will allow your guests to see the how beautifully it’s cooked… unfortunately ours was slightly overcooked, but still very tasty!

Sadly we were nearing the end of the event and were running out of time for the salmon dish. We quickly mixed the slaw while Chef Graham pan-seared the salmon. In my opinion it was probably better that we didn’t cook this dish, it gave us the opportunity to taste Chef Graham’s cooking first hand.  No doubt it was a perfectly balanced and mouth-watering dish!

Overall a very fun event and one I’ll never forget. I think my cooking skills may have improved just a little bit! Hoping to be able to visit Chicago and pay a visit to Graham Elliot’s restaurant Graham Elliot Bistro sometime in the near future! 

New York Fries Golden Poutine Fork Giveaway

Do you like Bacon?  Do you like Poutine?  Do you like Gold? New York Fries is celebrating International Bacon Day this Saturday (Sept. 5, 2015) with the launch of the Bacon Double Cheese Poutine, their newest specialty poutine. Make sure you cover your poutine/fries with their Cajun seasoning for extra deliciousness.  In addition to adding this new poutine to the menu, New York Fries is also giving away 108, 24-carat gold plated poutine forks to the first person visiting locations across Canada this Saturday who can correctly say “Bacon Double Cheese Poutine” in Pig Latin.  Each gold poutine fork also comes with a free Bacon Double Cheese Poutine!  See below for more info.  If you didn’t know already, Bacon Double Cheese Poutine in Pig Latin is properly pronounced “aconbay oubleday eesechay outinepay.”

How to win a New York Fries 24-carat Golden Poutine Fork on International Bacon Day

To win you must be the first person to visit a participating New York Fries location on September 5, 2015 and correctly say “Bacon Double Cheese Poutine” in Pig Latin. Two chances to correctly say the phrase. If the Pig Latin fails to flow after two attempts the next participant will have the chance to win it. For more info, including participating New York Fries locations, please visit: newyorkfries.com.