Dream as if you'll live forever...

And as though your pockets weren't empty. Apparently.

My kitchen is pretty cool. It's massive, has too many cupboards to fill, a great dining space, and ample room to shake it a little bit (or a lot) while I make whatever culinary creation I spring to in any given moment. It's got greenery. A large stainless steel utility shelf filled with cookbooks, cute serving bowls, fondue sets, precisely folded tea towels, all my small appliances, a tea pot, and amazing kitchen gifts from wonderful friends... among other things. My table is red, and retro and funky. There is a ton of light. Even more counter surfaces. And my fridge is littered with feminist food magnets. I love my kitchen.

However, there are elements that may lead one to dream... I have a 35 year old stove that may blow up any day. My fridge doesn't stand up straight on it's own so it's got particle board underneath to level it. There are permanent marks on the hardwood from previous tenants. And of course, you can hear the crazy lady shouting across the street if the windows are open... And often even when they're shut. Oh! And there's some random guy that uses the greenhouse (c/o my landlord) who does woodwork - if you're in the kitchen you can see him (and he, you) through the glass sliding door that leads to the backyard... Yup.

In light of this, I bring you my dream kitchens.... Some are functional. Some, not so much. But they're all beautiful. Peaceful. And awe-fully inspiring to me for their own individual reasons.

I love the barn-esqe feel of this room. The light. The rustic cozy charm. The wine. 

So very, very pretty.

A great space for entertaining... And is that a wood burning oven in that brick?? Um, yes please!

I love the splashes of red. The chalkboard! The island. The light. 

I don't know what it is about this one. Something about the sterility and organization of it excites me!

Colourful inspiration for a colourful dish! I also adore the tile on the floor.

A Red Room. With a chandelier, obviously.

The back-splash. Salivate over the back-splash. 

Absolute Perfection. 

Filo Berry Cheesecake with a Boozy Berry Orange Sauce

I love cheese. I could eat the stuff all day long. Cow's cheese. Goat's cheese. Sheep's cheese. Any cheese! Not too long ago my friends and I had a cheese and whine wine party where everyone brought a brick of cheese and some wine... We gorged ourselves. Yeah, that wasn't such a great idea.... I'm pretty sure we all woke up with fairly upset tummys that night.

Photo courtesy of cathou-cathare

But I still love cheese! Any cheese! Except cream cheese.... I've never liked it much. Actually, I despised it for most of the last 30 years. I just didn't dig cream cheese. However, after a brief run-in with some cheesecake that was pretty much an entity onto itself, I changed my mind.

Now, cream cheese is my life and cheesecake is the planet which the cream cheese orbits around. Okay, that might be a little over-zealous. It's not really my life. At all.

But it is delicious and when I was making dinner for my friend Krista the other night, I came up with this brilliant idea to make individual cheesecakes with the oven proof ramekins John got me for Christmas. But instead of a traditional cookie crust, I had some filo dough in the freezer. And we also still had some frozen berries via our Saanich Organics box from a couple weeks back. I thought, "filo berry cheesecake with a boozy berry orange sauce!"

Yes!

So, I dialed my momma and got her cheesecake recipe - which is pretty much the same as any other cheese cake recipe except she introduces a whole other dimension to it: sour cream on top! Sour cream is pretty much good on anything so I went with it. And the results, were spectacular! The KEY to making a good cheesecake (in my opinion - and John's .... and Krista's) is making it fluffy light so you don't end up with a big clump of cheese in your stomach at the end. Make sure to whip your mixture well before you fold in the berries or you'll end up with a rock of a cake... Some people like that, I prefer mine fluffy... Anyway, you'll see:

Filo Berry Cheesecake with a Boozy Berry Orange Sauce

Ingredients:

16 Sheets Filo Pastry, thawed + more for mistakes.

1/2 C Unsalted Butter, melted.

500 g Cream Cheese (don't use the no-name brands, most don't have much flavor), at room temperature.

3 Eggs, lightly beaten and at room temperature.

1 +1 Tsp Vanilla.

3/4 C + 2 Tbsp + 2 Tbsp White Sugar

1 Lemon for juice and zest.

2 Tbsp Orange Liquor (I used Triple Sec).

250 ml Sour Cream.

1 C + 1 C Mixed Berries (Strawberries, Blueberries, Black Berries, etc...).

What to Do:



Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees F.

Start working with your filo. Make sure you unroll it gently and lay it on a flat surface on the counter on top of some parchment paper. Lay another sheet of parchment over it and then cover the works with a damp towel or it will dry out and be unusable. Make sure your butter and 2 tbsp of the sugar are close by.

Take one sheet of filo and gently brush it with the butter. Sprinkle lightly with the sugar and top with another filo pastry. Repeat the process until you have 4 sheets of filo, finishing the top sheet with more butter.

Take a bowl and lay flat over the filo surface. Using a sharp knife, cut around the edge of the bowl, producing a round "crust" cut-out.
** You may need to experiment with different sizes depending on the size of your ramekins - thus, make sure you have some extra filo on hand. Also, use a bowl significantly bigger than you think you'll need. Trust me. I wasted a lot of filo figuring this out. **

Gently tuck this cut-out into your ramekin, folding over the sides. You want some extra filo to drape over the sides.

While you work, cover the completed crusts in their ramekins with a damp towel to keep from drying out.

Once you're finished the filo crusts, make the cream cheese batter. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, eggs, 1 Tsp vanilla, 3/4 C sugar, and the lemon zest with a hand mixer on medium-high until creamy and light (approx. 3-5 minutes).

Gently fold in 1 C of the berries with a spatula.

Using a ladle, scoop the mixture into the ramekins to about 3/4 full. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes.

While that bakes, mix together the sour cream, 1 Tbsp of sugar, and 1 Tsp of vanilla.

Then, make the sauce. In a food processor, emulsify the other C of berries, 1 Tbsp of sugar, liquor, and lemon juice. Set aside.

Remove the cakes from the oven and turn up the heat to 375 F. Top with the sour cream mixture. Bake another 10 minutes and remove to cool on racks.

Serve individually with some of the sauce and if you like, some mint.

Eat.

Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill

Now, last but certainly not least on the list of Toronto Restaurants Reviews...

Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill

Photo Courtesy of Pure Spirits

This place we actually found by default. It was the day of the wedding - which, of course, was amazing! The wedding, I mean. Outside it was pouring rain. I mean torrential downpour, hurricanesque, tsunami rain. And windy!! Being in the distillery district of Toronto we knew there were restaurants near by... But where? We practically swam across the ally (called Distillery Lane), between the buildings, and washed up on the door of Pure Spirits. Dashing in from the rain, we were greeted ever so warmly by the host and seated very promptly. The room was effortlessly cool. Very debonair. Red Brick. Black tables with chrome chairs. A 28 seat long bar. Cozy booths. Suave lighting. I can dig a room like this!

To drink we stared with a glass of Prosecco and a sleeve of Blanche de Chambly. Of course, I didn't write the names of my wine down - stupid girl. NOTE TO SELF: Don't assume that menus will always be listed online after the fact!!

For lunch this day we split two items - we didn't want to be too full for the reception! Plus they brought the most amazing warm bread to the table! It's a sure sign that if a restaurant takes pride in it's bread (not just viewing it as a filler before the "real" meal arrives), it's gonna be good!

We started with grilled calamari salad with confit calamari, roasted vegetables, baby tomatoes and a balsamic reduction ($15). The calamari was not rubbery at all and had a delicate smokey flavor to it while the veggies performed a complex and elaborate texture contrast. It was gorgeous.

Next we had the sesame crusted ahi tuna entree with wasabi and pea potato puree, seasonal vegetables (including gloriously flavorful beets and spaghetti squash), and a sweet soy vinaigrette ($29). Holy man this was delicious! I try really hard not to eat too much Tuna - big massive, mercury laden fish! But in this moment, it was a treat. Interestingly, while the tuna was excellently seared and very very tasty, the wasabi and pea potato puree was the star of the dish for me. It wasn't really spicy so much as it was a wasabi aromatic. The wasabi "burn" meditated in your mouth oh so gently while the sweetness of the peas coaxed you into another bite. It was to die for.

The food here was so good that we actually went back the next night for dinner. To start this night we opened our palates with the Hawaiian ahi tuna tartar with sesame seeds, grilled pineapple, red onions, and rice crisps ($15) - I know, I know, more tuna. But I was on vacation!... It was subtle yet bursting with flavor and the tuna just melted in my mouth while the rice crisps (um, more please!), provided a salty texture explosion on my tongue. 

To follow I yet again got the previous night's tuna entree - I needed the wasabi pea puree!!! This night though the spaghetti squash was absent and in it's place was a red cabbage side. Also, very good. 

John had the Ontario pork chop schnitzel with porcini breading, butternut squash risotto, and hunter's sauce ($29). It was surprisingly good! Schnitzel isn't something I would ordinarily think of as a dish to be served in such an elegant restaurant but it was crunchy, smooth, sweet, and melt in your mouth tender. Very well done.

As for service, the first afternoon was incredible. Our server was polite and present, yet not at all in-your-face. He was humorous and kind and even offered for us to come back for dessert on him! (Unfortunately, the wine got the better of us at the wedding and I didn't think it appropriate to bust in all corked).

Our second visit, however, was not nearly as gracious. Our reservation was for 2-4 people. As a server, I know the frustration of trying to accommodate parties who don't know their number of guests. It's aggravating and really, a little bit obnoxious. But, circumstances arise and as servers we should do our best to make everyone feel welcome - even the annoying patrons. When I made the reservation, the woman on the phone made stressed how little a deal it was, even though I wasn't sure if the other two were coming. She was lovely. Upon arrival however, we were left standing at the front, feeling stupid and unwelcome as the two women deliberated on where and how they would seat us. It was generally very uncomfortable. To top it off, our server was fairly absent and I found myself in want of a glass of wine more than once. He may have been busy, but it did seem like he spent a lot of time waiting at the bar when he could have been coming by the table. The food runner was kind though and he remembered us from the day before - greeting us with a welcoming smile and "hello, again".

I'm not sure which is the "true"  Pure Spirits, but I hope it was the first one. The food was amazing both times, I just wish I could say the same for the service. Next time we're in town, maybe we'll try it again. I'd like to find out.

Enoteca Sociale

As I mentioned in the Luma Post, we decided to go to this venue even though we didn't have a reservation. On a Friday night. And luckily, we got in...

Enoteca Sociale

Oh yum. Yum Yum Yum. By far, the best Italian I've ever had. We arrived at 1288 Dundas St W, also known as Enoteca Sociale, about 6:30pm hoping to beat the dinner rush. Unfortunately, all the smaller tables were booked up for the night, however they had spots open at the bar and at the communal high tops. How cool is that? But instead, we opted for the bar. John was shocked at how "Italy" it felt - he thought we stepped through some sort of worm hole that transported us half way around the world! (I don't really know what a worm hole is, and he might laugh at my misuse of the term - but there it is). It was quaint, funky, casual, fun, and vibrant. In essence, it was everything an Italian eatery should be.

Let's start with the food. Holy crap! Perfectly cooked pastas, bodacious flavors, and absolute creative genius. I started with a glass of the NV Prosecco Brut DOC, Terre Gaie, Veneto ($9), while John took what they had on tap - what else in an Italian joint but Moretti?

Upon ordering, we were presented with bread and olive oil. But not just any olive oil. Incredible, fruity, flowery, olively olive oil!!!! I could have drank that stuff straight from the bottle! I can't even come up with words for the tastiness of it. GO. Have some. Your mouth will thank you!

We started with the Ontario Buffalo Mozzarella in carozza, with anchovies, pickled shallots & parsley ($12)  - essentially, a fancy grilled cheese sandwich. Love it! John found the anchovies a little over powering but I thought they made the dish really pop. I followed the somelier's wine suggestions on the menu - for this course it was the Pecorino Offida 2009 DOC, Salandini Pilastri, Le Marche ($4/$9) - all of which offer a mini-half glass and a full one! How brilliant is that??? That way you can have an individual glass of wine with each course without getting shmamered!!

Next we had the special of local Beef Carpacio with Parmesan and other stuff (including wine) that obviously I should have written down - but didn't. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Delicate, perfectly sliced, and fresh gorgeous flavors.

And for our dinner course: I had the house made squash ravioli, sage brown butter & candied pecans ($16), paired with the Tawse 2009 VQA Riesling from Niagra ($4/$10), while John had the house made pappardelle with Ontario goat ragu ($16). Never had goat before! Both were perfectly, perfectly cooked and flavorful and delicious. I really liked that their serving sizes weren't ridiculous either. I'm trying to think of something bad to say about this restaurant but I really can't!

I finished with a glass of dessert wine that tasted like pure apple pie (again, should have written it down), and John had a cup of espresso. Which leads me to our ever so gracious bartender....

I'll be honest, he did feel a little awkward at first - but soon after he warmed right up and was clever and charming and very busy! But, we didn't feel ignored or neglected at all. And, when John so timely excused himself to the washroom after receiving his espresso (Hello! It's going to get cold!), Jurgen (our bartender), made him a new one impromptu. He was lovely and I thank him for his wonderful service and for making our night absolutely delectable! Next time, we'll be trying the cheese!

An added plus for those enviro-friendly foodies out there: They don't sell bottled water (YAY!!!!), they use local, seasonal ingredients whenever possible, and their kitchen grease is converted into biodiesel fuel.

PS. They also offer kamut or gluten-free pasta options for those who can't eat wheat. And a ton of options for veggies! What up, Sociale! High five!

PSS. Sorry for the lack of food photos - it was quite dark by the time we were eating and of course, my stupid camera wouldn't take any worthwhile photos.

Luma

 My most favorite part of travelling involves eating. Yes, the sights are interesting. Sure, I wanna check out the tourist hot spots (for a brief period of time). And of course I want to wander the streets and see the "real" (name your destination here). But the real joy for me, when travelling is eating. Usually before I go anywhere I google the city, the restaurants, the reviews... Often I end up with an entire trip of reservations for particular eateries that I absolutely MUST try.

What can I say? I'm a bit of a restaurant slut. I want them all!!!

However, because of the rush of exams and essays before we left for Toronto last week, I didn't have a chance to do any of my usual investigating. And to be honest, the sheer size of the city and the unfamiliarity with it were truly daunting. So, I winged. it. And ultimately, we ate. Boy, did we eat. We ate good! Below are 3 of the restaurants we hit - all of which really deserve their own post for very specific reasons. Actually, if they deserve it, let's give it to em! In order of appearance, here are (in 3 separate posts), Luma , Enoteca Sociale , and Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill!

Luma

Photo courtesy of Luma Restaurant



Located in the TIFF Bell Lightbox at 330 King St W, Luma was downtown Toronto elegance at it's finest. Gracefully casual, sophisticated, beautiful, unpretentious, and clean. It was here that my lovely Kaitlyn (you can visit her here) had her Bachelorette lunch. 

The food incredible and perfectly balanced in flavor and texture. And the presentation was obviously well thought out. And it was generally, very, very good.

For lunch, I had a couple of glasses of the Cristom Pinot Gris, Eola-Amity Hills in Oregon ($15) - um, delicious! - and the Seared Sea Scallops with warm potato salad, double smoked bacon, and sun choke & lemon vinaigrette ($23). The scallops were perfectly cooked and I couldn't get enough of the sunchokes. My only regret on the plate was that I didn't order more of them! Some of the others tried the Seared Tuna Salad with bibb lettuce, green beans, tomato, chickpeas, and tonnato ($16/$22), Ricotta Gnocchi with mushroom, parm-reg and chives ($13/$18), Crispy Fried Pork Torchon ($15),  and the soup of the day ($8). I'll be honest - it's a little pricey, and the menu doesn't really lend itself to non-meat eaters - but if you do eat meat, it's well worth the cost and the visit!

The service was the high point for me (aside from seeing Kaitlyn and meeting her wonderfully glorious friends). Our server was friendly, informative, unobtrusive, honest, efficient, and quite frankly, pretty darn hilarious. He really made the lunch. He also went far above and beyond what I would expect any server to do - he tried to book me in at a completely different restaurant for dinner! As I said earlier, I don't ordinarily travel without looking into restaurants ahead of time. But, because I hadn't, I asked him where we should eat dinner. After conferring with a couple of the servers, they unanimously proclaimed "Enoteca Sociale"! He proceeded to try to get me a reservation for that night (and then refused a tip for his effort). How amazing is he??! I was honestly and truly impressed and absolutely will be back.

Unfortunately, it was too late in the day to make one but we went anyway... and luck was on our side...

Rutabaga Crisps

Have you ever seen a Magnolia tree?? I hadn't before I moved here and I was shocked at the human head-sized flowers that bloom at every intersection!! I think they're beautiful but they're teasing me. They say it's Spring - and it is a beautiful day out! - but I'm still getting rutabagas in my box. 

And thus I bring you the following:

This recipe was initially supposed to be for Rutabaga chips. However, after realizing the size of our rutabagas - they were about an inch to an inch and a half if diameter! - they ended up being a smaller version of chip: Crisps! It's a bit ridiculous actually, but I figure if I'm gonna share my successes with you, I should only show my failures - or at least my stumblings. If anyone asks, they're Rutabaga Chips - only in mini!!

Rutabaga "Crisps"

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 Lb. Rutabagas.

1 - 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Kosher Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What to Do:

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Meanwhile, peel and very thinly slice the rutabagas. I used a mandolin to get the most uniform size and shape out of the rutabagas.

In a bowl, toss the sliced rutabagas with the olive oil, salt and pepper.

Lay flat as a single layer on a non-stick sprayed baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes (check at about 20 depending on the size of your chips crisps). Once they start gettin some color on em, flip them and return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool. Serve with a variety of sauces like chipotle aioli, BBQ sauce, ketchup, or anything else you wanna dip em in. Or, do as I do, and mow them all on their own. They tend to be pretty sweet so serve accordingly.

Whatever you do though...

Eat.

Spicy Cumin Kale Chips

So I guess we aren't totally out of the winter veg season yet. Once again, in our Saanich Organics box we received some more kale, braising greens, and rutabagas, among other things.. We have had a particularly slow-starting Spring season thus far and I guess it just means that the weather isn't quite ready to give us some of those yummy juicy Summer vegetables yet.... That being said, we DID get some radishes in our box this week! Peppery! Delicious!! Wonderful!!! Of course, I ate them before I could take a photo - but they sure were pretty...

So, in an effort to utilize everything that we get in our box, I decided to throw together some snack type foods from what we got this week. Below is my recipe for Kale Chips. Kale comes from the Brassica family of vegetables (think cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, etc...), and is extremely high in all kinds of nutrients and vitamins like Calcium, Vitamins C and K, and Beta Carotene. It has a somewhat bitter flavor but you can just taste the yummy goodness in this leafy green. I particularly like the Earthy flavor it imparts.

If you want, you can serve these babies with a little lemon flavored yogurt or creme fraiche, or just munch them all by themselves. They're crunchy, salty, and generally very addictive. Luckily they're super easy and quick to make and super healthy!

Spicy Cumin Kale Chips

(printable recipe)

 Ingredients:

1 Bunch Kale, washed and dried very well with the woody ends snapped off.

1 Tsp Ground Cumin.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Kosher Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

1/2 Lemon for juice.

1 Tsp Dried Chili Flakes (optional).

What to Do:

Right, easy-peasy! Pre-heat your broiler. While this heats up, lay the leaves in a single layer on a baking tray or two. Try not to overlap them too much.

Lightly sprinkle with the cumin, chili flakes, salt and pepper.

Squeeze the lemon sparingly over the leaves and drizzle with olive oil.

Place under the broiler in the middle of the oven for about 4 to 5 minutes. Once you start gettin some serious color around the edges of the leaves, turn your broiler to the oven setting at 400 degrees F. Let the moisture be whipped out of the leaves at this heat for another 5 minutes or so and then remove when crispy and let cool.

Eat.

Dear GS,

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry I haven't been posting as often as I would like to. I do miss you very much and I think about you constantly. But you must understand, I have been in Toronto and also am in the process of writing final exams for school. But fret not! I'm back in Victoria and I write my final exam tonight! Just to let you know I am in fact thinking of you and missing you dearly, please allow me to list the entries coming soon:

• Toronto Restaurant Reviews: Luma, Enoteca Sociale, Pure Spirits.
• Kale & Rutabaga Chips - One Woman style!
• Victoria Garden Plot - location my front yard!!!! (Very exciting!).
• Fancy Pants Rejuvinated Caesar Salad.
• Cooking with Kaitlyn and/or Kendra.
• A few free days to come up with new and exciting recipes to enter - still in the works!
• Culinary School Research Edition.
• Finally, a new installment of the "Links" page - Blogger erased mine.

So you see? I have been thinking about you. I have been missing you. And I will see you again, shortly.

XO & With Love,

One Woman...



Moss Street's Back!

Okay fancy pants - time to get your Saturday morning market groove on!! (This includes rubber boots, a plaid shirt, and a basket in which to carry magic and delicious treasures). The Moss Street Market has started up again for the 2011 Spring/Summer season. It's every Saturday 10am - 12 noon until the end of April. Starting on May 7th, it will be usual full days from 10am - 2pm featuring good, whole, local, organic, happy produce, meats and eggs, delicate baked goods, as well as crafts, services, live music, clothing, and delicious and amazing food (check out the Tamale man or the International Woman's Co-op who serve amazing Indian food. Both are absolutely scrumptious!)...

If you wanna see some of what the Market has to offer check out my October Market Post. If you've ever felt confused by all the foodies and food activists telling you to eat "what's in season", simply hit up a farmer's market and see what the vendors have on offer. Talk to them - farmers love to talk shop. Buy stuff. Eat it. You will never want to buy those bland, artificial, fiberous grocery-chain vegetables again. Seriously. Unless you've had farm fresh, local, happy veggies, you don't know what food tastes like.

I can't be there this Saturday since we'll be in Toronto for a friend's wedding but I'll definately be going every Saturday thereafter. Hopefully I'll see you there!!!

Panko Herbed Crusted Halibut with Leek & Onion Ragout

With school coming to an end for the Summer, I have more time to create super delicious (and some super disastrous) culinary masterpieces.... Yes, even the duds are masterpieces. Masterpieces of crap. The following was one of the more delicious ones.... But be warned: halibut, even though it's in season, is very expensive right now. This could be because fish stocks are down....? Maybe we ought to be laying off the big guys for a while and focus more on the little ones. In that case, you could easily substitute any other firm, white fish for this recipe or diver scallops (scallops hand harvested by individual divers, rather than by large bottom trawling nets that obliterate entire ecosystems of diverse Ocean life).

PS. You can use this ragout recipe as a delicious pasta sauce as well! YUM! I paired it with the leftovers from my Basic Polenta Recipe - it was tasty!

Panko Herbed Crusted Halibut with Leek & Onion Ragout

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

4 4-oz Pieces of Fresh, Line-Caught Halibut.

1 1/2 C Panko Crumbs.

2 Eggs, lightly beaten.

1 C All Purpose White Flour.

2 Lemons, for juice and zest.

1 Onion, sliced.

2 Leeks, thinly sliced.

1 Medium Zucchini, thinly sliced into "ribbons" with a mandolin.

4 Slices Thick Cut Smoked Bacon.

Handful of Fresh Parsley, roughly chopped (+ a tablespoon of finely chopped stuff).

1/4 - 1/2 C Heavy Cream.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Lil Butter, unsalted.

Kosher Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What to Do:

In 3 separate bowls, put the flour, eggs, and panko crumbs. Mix the juice of one lemon into the eggs and the zest into the panko crumbs with the finely chopped parsley - season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the bacon and cook until crispy, flipping half way through. Set aside on paper towels to drain but keep the fat in the pan. Once cool, roughly chop and set aside.

As your bacon cooks, trim the skin off your fish (if it came with any). If I wasn't crusting it, I'd leave it on for delicious flavor. But because I am, away with the skin! Simply lay the fish flat on the cutting board, skin side down, and lay your hand on top to hold the fish in place. Now, with a very sharp knife parallel with the skin, gently and carefully saw straight across. You can see from the photo below how nicely it can shave off.

 Next, season your fish with salt and pepper and dredge each piece in the flour, then the eggs/lemon juice, and then the panko/zest/parsley mixture. Set on a plate and put aside for a few minutes.

By now your bacon should be cooked and set aside. In the "bacon pan", over medium heat, toss in the onions, and leeks. After 2-3 minutes, add the zucchini and turn up the heat to medium-high. Cook a further 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the water from the zucchini has cooked out. Squeeze the juice from a lemon in and stir well.

When your veggies are about half way cooked, heat a non-stick (as always, I prefer cast-iron) pan over low-medium heat with a couple tablespoons of peanut, canola or veggie oil (olive oil will burn too quickly), and a knob of butter. Once the butter starts to sizzle, carefully add the fish to the pan.

Cook 4 minutes and until golden brown and then flip. Cook a further 3 to 4 minutes and pull from the heat.

As your fish relaxes, turn the heat down on your veggies to medium-low. Add the cream to the leek and onion mixture, stirring constantly to ensure it doesn't burn or curdle for about 3 minutes. At the last minute, fold in the parsley and the bacon and remove from the heat.

Serve with the Halibut and Basic Polenta .

Eat.