Friday, July 11, 2008

Okay so it's been a while...

Peter - (Kalofagas-Greek Food and Beyond) and I at his secret favorite food spot!

We are currently on vacation as I said in my last post and boy have we been having fun. We spent 4 days with T.'s family in the Pittsburgh area of PA and we are now in Toronto spending some badly needed time with my family. Has it ever been a blast.

Toronto is probably one of the best foodie towns in all of North America!!! Go ahead challenge me on this... I make this incredibly bold statement with authority! Here you don't have to rely on Whole Foods or any other type of chains to get yourself good, healthy and fresh food. We have Markets throughout the whole city. My favorite has always and will always be the St.Lawrence Market but yesterday I had the opportunity to explore another great foodie market that I had not been to in years (probably about 25 but hey who's really counting?) with a fellow foodie that I had the great opportunity to meet up with while I was here.

This is the rear parking lot for the St. Lawrence Market

Some of the deliciuos fresh produce that we got at St. Lawrence Market. I'll post some recipes when I get home.

This was T. buying some Proscuitto and Serano ham to go with the cheese we bought for dinner!

See the delicious ham and the homemade Portuguese sausage that we got from a bakery that I used to go to when I was a little girl?

Nice dinner huh?

Just a small portion of the produce that is for sale at various different vendor's throughout the market!

T.'s favorite thing at the whole market and one of his favorite Canadian foods. Peameal Bacon Sandwiches. Peameal is a sweet pickled pork shoulder rolled in peameal. Fried up and put on a nice tender bun with some mustard...Yummmm!

We got to spend yesterday afternoon with Peter from Kalofagas-Greek Food and Beyond. He very graciously agreed to meet T., myself and the 2 children at one of his favorite food sites in the city. It truly was a hidden gem and someplace that I would probably have walked by a hundred times without ever stopping in. Good thing we were in the know...the food was incredible!!!! We very wisely went with the daily specials that they were offering (on Peter's recommendation!!!). The food was incredible. I am not sure if Peter wants his hidden gem being made public so if you are in the Toronto area and want the name of this place send me and email and I can give it to you.

We are going to be leaving here on Monday so I am not sure if I will have enough time to post between now and then but I have a ton of recipes to post!!!

Peter's lunch of Lamb Shank on a bed of braised lentils!

T's lunch of Osso Bucco with fries and poutine!!!

My lunch of shitake encrusted halibut on a bed of asian noodles!!!

Peter also very kindly took us for a tour of Kensington Market which is in an older area of the city but was incredibly wonderful. He took us to his favorite Greek fish store and we were able to buy 7 nice sized yellow tail snapper to cook up for our dinner tonight!!! Thanks again Peter and Happy Birthday!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

22 comments:

Thistlemoon said...

Wow Judy! Sounds like a blast! All of that food looks amazing. I especially love the cheeses and meats with the beautiful glasses of red wine! WOW, everything looks great! Especially you and Peter! Hi Guys! *waves*

Brittany said...

She lives!

OMG I am insanely jealous, and just announced to my husband I plan to go to Toronto on your orders to eat my brains out!

Cathy - wheresmydamnanswer said...

I have never been to Toronto and that is on my list of places to visit. If you could re create the shitake crusted halibut dish you ate and post that you would a rock star (more than you already are :) )!!!! I am addicted to Peters site as well - what fun the two of you foodies must have had. Happy Travels

Cheers
Cathy
www.wheresmydamnanswer.com

Peter M said...

Judy, T. & the girls...it was my pleasure to meet and spend the afternoon with you.

It had the feeling of meeting up and catching up with old friends...that kinda rocks!

Glad you had a wonderful time, the invite is still open and if not, have a safe trip back home.

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Hi Jenn-Isn't that a nice looking dinner???

Hi Brittany-hurry up and we can hang out this weekend!

Hi Cathy-I might just try to do that. It was delicious!

Hi Peter-It was just like that wasn't it? Thanks so much for the invite! Hope you had a great day!

Hi Ben-I miss those markets all the time until I get back here!!! I loved meeting Peter and he put up with my whole family!!! Great guy!

glamah16 said...

Isn't Peter great! I see he behaved because children were around:-)

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

As I said to Peter: I'm jalous. What a great time you had. I have to say that Montreal is the Foodie town of Canada. You can find pretty much anything and they have so many markets also.

Gloria Baker said...

Im a ...little envious Judy one of the bloggers I would lo ve to meet is Peter Love so.
Yours pictures are absolutely wonderful, what's nice time, love your blog too.xxGloria

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Hi Glamah-Peter was on his best behavior! My youngest actually threw herself at him for hugs several times!!!

Helene-I used to spend a ton of time in Montreal and I still think TO has you guys beat but whatever...maybe it's just the familiarity!!!

Gloria-Don't be envious...tell him when you are going to be here and he is so incredibly gracious he will probably make some time for you as well!!! Thanks for the comps on my blog!

La Madame Chapeau said...

Hey Judy :)

Thanks for the friendship request on Foodbuzz. It's so nice to meet you.

The only thing I know about Canada (from Micheal Moore's documentary) is that it is such a peaceful country.

And especially dinner piture with cheeses & wine made it all to me!

Happy you that had great time there :)

Cheers!
Banu

Clarity said...

Hi again. I like Toronto and was planning to go there again soon after a gap of a few years.

I will so email you for that restaurant (and herb-encrusted halibut!)

I didn't know of the fresh produce places, please get ready to type a list of all the places to visit as I'm sure many may be asking you soon, moi aussi!

I hope you had a lovely time.

Sam Sotiropoulos said...

Judy, I agree with you 100% about Toronto being a great foodie city! As for your meetup with Peter, he is a gentleman and a pure foodie through and through! I only wish I could have been there as well, if for no other reason than to discover Peter's secret eatery... :) Though I am sure that meeting up with all of you and traipsing about the Toronto market scene would have been reward enough in and of itself.

Dharm said...

You sound like you are having a blast!! What fun to haev been able to meet Peter. Now you need to save up and come to Malaysia!! :)

Proud Italian Cook said...

Wow Judy, You sure do have some great food out there! Everything looks amazingly good! How fun to meet Peter, and for him to kindly share his hidden gem. Glad you and the family are having a great time!

Anonymous said...

What a great time! :D The markets and the restaurant's offerings look delicious.

Heather said...

Oh, how fun! And that plate of meats and cheeses is to die for - when I was single I lived on a diet like that (plus cigarettes and booze, how European I was trying to be!).

Núria said...

Oh, Judy, how lucky you were to meet Peter and Jenn (I've seen at her blog that you were also in St. Augustine). I would love to meet you all too :D

What a wonderful trip. Canada has always been in my mind, I would love to visit it. I've got some family living there but there's no contact (old uncles of my grandfather and sons).

The meal you had looks extraordinary!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh I love a new (new to me) food blogger from Florida!! Will be checking in to see what wonderful food you have to offer. Florida is a really great food state that seems to get lost in the shuffle. What with all the transplants pining for all the good stuff from up north they don't look at what's in front of them HERE!! Yes I am a Florida native.

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

No problem BaL-thanks for the comment!

Hi Clarity-I had the best time!

Hi Sam-Maybe next time I am there we can do a foodie meet up!

Hi Dharm-I will definitely start saving for that Malaysia trip. Wouldn't it be fun to meet up?

Thanks PIC - It was a great time!

Hi Nikki-it was a great time and you can only imagine the abundance of food!

Hi Heather-that was a great meal!

Hi Nuria-Plan a visit. We will keep you busy!

finsbigfan-where are you in Florida?

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Sounds like you are having a foodie adventure and meet up with some great bloggers. Have a wonderful holiday!!!!

Jan said...

WOW! Looks like you all had a great time!
All that lovely food too - Mmmmmm YUM!

Anonymous said...

isn't it so much fun to meet up with the friends we visit and chat so much with over food droolings! very nice post. I enjoyed all the pictures, especially the fish!