I think I actually like vegetarian burgers more than real meat burgers themselves (except for that time I bought that bison burger from Aubrey’s Meats..that was really freakin’ good).
Since I began Hilary Makes almost two years ago (!!), I’ve made several alternatives to the traditional beef-lovers burger. It’s not that I don’t like the succulent meatiness of the original, it’s more that I’m not not fond of the lengthy “buy the ground beef, freeze it because you’re too busy with school to use it at the moment, defrost it for a whole day (who can wait that long?!), and cook it in a pan for 20 minutes until it’s not pink anymore” process.
And so, because I really just want to take a stroll down memory lane, here are all the non-meat burgers that I’ve made over time…
Last week I decided to go one step forward and turn what is traditionally a burger side into a burger itself. The birth of the sweet potato burger hath cometh!
And, because I am of the firm belief that you can never eat too many potatoes (must be the Irish gene in me), I made a simple side of red potatoes fried in…wait for it…duck fat! Don’t worry, I’m not turning into Paula Deen or anything, I just heard that this was a killer combination, and needed to try it out for myself. Sure enough, my house spelled like roasted duck (and more importantly, my potatoes tasted like it). Deliciousness that was off the hizzle.
PS: I realize that you are all going to think I’m addicted to avocado. This is an accurate diagnoses and, though I see no reason to try and justify my love in any way, I do apologize for the non-creative dish toppings. I just think they’re fantastic (and were on sale this week!).
Run out of proper forks. Use a knork instead (there’s also a spoon at the base of the handle…now that’s practical!)
If you’re a student, your best food friend should be the half roast chickens you can buy over the deli counter at the grocery store. They cost $5.99 and can be tossed into just about anything. They’re also a steaming plastic container of temptation. After my chicken almost exploded in my bicycle’s saddlebag, I took it out, cradled it in my arms, dropped it on the kitchen counter…and attacked.
I don’t eat meat very often (too cheap, too lazy), so this chicken is like a tiny, pre-prepared miracle.
I start cutting the chicken…then, my behaviour transforms into that of a five-year-old while picking strawberries: “cut one piece of chicken, eat the other, cut, eat, repeat.” My half chicken dinner rapidly turns into a third-of-a-chicken dinner. The dark meat that melts off the bones is just so fatty and warm and delicious…
But enough of my half chicken love affair. Lets not embarrass ourselves, shall we?
My soup, complete with a beautiful yard sale-purchased platter that I forgot I owned and strawberry iced tea
This soup was earlier this week in very non-soup-friendly weather. We’ve had a warm streak in Ottawa, meaning that I’ve been biking around in my little short shorts and lying on the roof until I almost fall asleep. When the temperature is 20 degrees +, soup isn’t normally first on people’s lists of things to make. BUT THIS WAS ACTUALLY A GOOD SUMMER/SPRING soup and it turned out really, really well. The fresh ingredients meant that the flavours were still crisp and lively enough to be refreshing, even in the balmiest of freak weather days.
And, as Ottawa temperatures go back to being more seasonal this week, I implore you to make this. No excuse.
Ah yes, and I’m still continuing with Operation Clear Cupboard in preparation for my end-of-April move. This meal used up: one can of white beans and one box of chicken stock.
It has been a busy week at school. Wait, let me rephrase that. It has been a busy, third-last week at school. Holy cow. Where has March gone? WHERE HAVE MY FOUR YEARS OF UNIVERSITY GONE? I am now appreciating my days off more than ever before.. my sleeping in until 9:15 a.m. and late, leisurely lunches. My student life is coming to an abrupt end, and I intend to pump the remaining month-and-a-half for all it’s worth.
I had a free morning on Friday, and decided to get up early and bike to the grocery store. It had been too long since I last did groceries, and I relied far too heavily on eating out/Tim Horton’s bagels this past week. Bad Hilary. The week before was so good, too, blogging and eating wise… After carting my bounty home in my purple backpack and handy dandy saddle bags (a half-roast chicken almost exploded in one of the bags: spring-on-bike, take one), I could hardly wait to start cooking. I made this salad for supper. It was healthy and delicious.
It also helped me start doing one very important thing, that being the clearing of my Ottawa cupboard.
Since I’m moving away from my beautiful home in this beautiful city at the end of April, I need to start using up my dry pantry goods. And woah, there’s lots of them. Three different varieties of cute pasta, a couple of cartons of beef stock (must have been on sale), an IKEA storage container filled with quinoa… It all must go. And so begins Operation Clear Cupboard. Over the next few weeks, I will slowly utilize all my random leftover goods, in hopes that nothing will go to waste.
First up was my black rice. I keep trying (and failing) to remember what meal I bought this for in the first place. It is really perplexing me, and I am frustrated that it appears to be a dinner that I never blogged about. Regardless, this salad will be its Hilary Makes claim to fame.
So check it out: we’re now 1/94538459 re: cupboard clearance. More to come.
Aren’t radish slices gorgeous?
PS: It is FINALLY outdoor food photography season again! Thank you, extra hour of sunlight and non-frigid temperatures.
We all have our favourite neighbourhood breakfast retreats. Mine is Carmen’s Veranda, an eclectic little cafe nestled between a maternity shop and a photography studio. In the rush of Bank Street traffic, you’d miss it unless you knew where to look.
Well, I am here to tell you that you should look. Or don’t, so I never have to wait in line for a table.
Carmen’s falls under the category of “I will never be able to write a restaurant review about it because it is a sacred food space.” The heart-of-Old-Ottawa-South cafe is kept cozy in that category by my belovedArt-Is-In Bakery, Stella Luna Gelato Cafe and the Scone Witch. I would be substantially more wealthy and less happy without these four local loves.
My last trip to Carmen’s was this past weekend, on the Sunday morning after my birthday (no, I was not hungover, mom). I went with my two roommates, Freya and Shannon, Shannon’s sister Erin, and my other good friend Tara. They are all lovely people and wonderful brunch mates.
Shannon, Tara and Freya at my surprise birthday dinner (which they made!) the night before
Now, not only is the food at Carmen’s great (more on that later), but the look of the place is spot-on, Hilary-appealing.
There’s colour everywhere, and the tables (the kind like my gramps had, with the opening drawers and winged extensions) have been retrofitted with fun studs (not of the male variety) and patterned tops. Beautiful artist displays adorn the wall, colourful dishes scatter our table, and the front window where we sit fogs up in accordance with our steaming plates of brunch. A piece of plastic mounted in between the two windows is printed with a yellow “8” – something that I just realized meant the number of year’s the restaurant has been open. Happy eighth birthday, Carmen’s!
The brunch menu at Carmen’s remains generally the same, with omelette and quiche ingredients switching up every so often based on the seasonal readiness of items. My favourite item is the poached eggs, which are perfectly cooked and ooze onto the English Muffin beneath and mingle with my potatoes.
Speaking of the potatoes… they are the best. I don’t know what it is about them, but I need them everytime I visit.
Story: about a year ago I went to Carmen’s late in the morning with Freya and my then-roommate, now Paris explorer extraordinaire, Brittany. I ordered my usual poached eggs, my mouth watering in anticipation of that oh-so necessary yolk-potato tango. My conversation with the waitress (indicated as “W”) went something like this:
W: What would you like today?
H (in a sing-songy voice): I’ll have the poached eggs, please! I’m so excited for my potatoes! Carmen makes them soooooooo well!
W: Oh no, we’re actually out of potatoes this morning…
H (GASP GASP GASP): Oh my GOD! But..but.. I know, can I run down to the grocery store and buy you some more? …
I continued to beg, plead and drool until finally the waitress told me that there was, in fact, enough potatoes left for one breakfast serving. She probably just wanted to shut me up, to be honest. Regardless, the potatoes and I were united again. I went back to Carmen’s a few months later and the waitress remembered me: “Oh you’re the one who offered to buy us potatoes that one time!” she said. Guilty as charged.
This past Sunday I ordered the same thing, as did Freya, Tara and Shannon. Hey, it’s just that good, okay? Enjoyable as always.
Step 1: morning cappuccino. Eat a brown sugar cube like you're a horse.Step 2: order the poached eggs, the best thing everStep 3: dessert. Yes, even after brunch. We got a lemongrass crème brûlée and a slice of apple berry pie.A job well done
Two days later, Freya, her cousin Madé, and I recreated this brunch at home. This was after I had already eaten my usual two pieces of toast with peanut butter and apple sauce. I couldn’t resist.
There’s no recipe with this post, so I encourage you to go to Carmen’s Veranda and try the brunch for yourself. I swear on my love of potatoes that you won’t regret the visit.
You’ve seen it before on this blog. I have a thing for organization. I have a thing for geometrics. I have a thing for bacon. This dinner combined all three.
This semester Freya and I have gotten a new subletter, Shannon. Shannon was away in Chile for a year on exchange for her international business program. All you need to know is that she makes a lot of Mexican-inspired meals. Fajitas, tacos, everything delicious, fragrant and Tex-Mex-y. When it comes to food, I’m very impressionable. And so, a Hilary Makes Tex-Mex night was in order. Shannon’s weekday taco night was enough to push me off the edge. I needed it.
So what are these small spherical items, you ask? Only your future favourite thing ever.
The first are mini salsa-stuff meatloaves, a recipe found in March’s issue of Canadian Living (which is now splashed with bacon grease). The second were bacon smashed potatoes, something that I’ve been wanting to make for at least a year-and-a-half.
Partial smashed potato filling
This was just what the doctor ordered. The two dishes were easy, filling and made my entire house smell like delicious cooked things. Normally I hate when my clothes absorb the smell of my kitchen, but I made an exception for this meal. I actually made an effort to open some of my dresser drawers so my clothes could flirt with the wafted aromas. Bacon-scented pajamas? Yes please.
Not the most photographic meal, but a solid dinner, lunch, lunch for someone else, dinner again, and late morning snack. Perfect.
Hilary Makes 