barry + breakfast + deutschland!

(it has fruit in it so it must be healthy, right?!)

guten tag!

breakfasts were so varied in germany, that i've broken this down into 2 posts. today, we're looking at a traditional bavarian brunch, with some cake thrown in for good measure. perhaps you'll be inspired for your own sunday get-together? it's easy enough to head down whyte, pick up some weisswurst, weissbier and have a family wurst showdown. ;)

i tried to tie this in with edmonton dining week menus, but the closest germanic influence i found was cafe lacombe doing a saskatoon berry strudel for their dessert. really? come on guys.

(how is it that almost one year later i can still tell you that here we have an egg nog, bavarian fruit bombe, austrian sachetorte, champagne and spanish vanilla selection?)

(for anyone headed over to bavaria, make a special stop in freising to naschwerk for some truly awesome cake.)

(apparently one way to eat weisswurst is to suck the meat out of the casing. oddly enough, none of the guys wanted to demonstrate this.)

also, please note the BASKET of pretzels. one basket is not enough.

(this is meatloaf. i don't even know what to say to that.)

barry's breakfast series continued...

(so. much. cod.)

take 2: lisbon, portugal

breakfasts i wish i was eating now continues in portugal where they have a massive obsession with salted cod...sure.

BUT fried cod fritters, egg tarts and cherry liquor totally work for me. you can find some wicked egg tarts right here in edmonton (including at the italian centre) to start your own breakfast foods journey.

if you're following along with edmonton dining week, might i suggest pairing your portugese breakfast stylings with sabor divino for lunch: they're serving cod!

(belem egg tarts and cod fritters: a winning combination.)

sweet and savoury,
with a depth of flavour.
my love of fried things :)

(a ginjinha liquor. very lisboan.)

a 10am start
could only be completed
with cherry liquor.

(seriously? even in the graffiti?)

barry's breakfast series.

first off: thank you all for the wonderful comments you've been leaving - glad you're enjoying the recipes, pictures and anecdotes here on the site. it's been quite a while since i've posted anything, so i thought i'd spring back by doing a series this week: mostly pictures, maybe a few haikus, but above all, a focus on deliciousness.

second: welcome to edmonton dining week. though it may not be as classy as new york fashion week, or as planned out as emergency preparedness week, i can promise it will be both tastier and fattier than both - and who doesn't love that?

i've started my dining week experiences by hitting up cafe select last night. and though i enjoyed both excellent service and an absolutely tasty entree, i realized that this week was missing something: breakfast. so here i am, encouraging you to go out and get inspired for lunch, dinner and dessert at any number of amazing edmonton restaurants this week, and to keep posted here for some inspiring international breakfast ideas for you to try at home.

breakfast from granada, spain:

memories of warmth,
decadent and comforting.
churros are a must.

but what else to have?
hot chocolate so thick:
a dip for churros.

slathered on baguette:
tomatoes, garlic, oil.
true tastes of summer.

barry has a suggestion for what to make for dinner tomorrow.

pizza. but not just any pizza: pear and cambozola cheese pizza. inspired by the original recipe from the chefs at the best of bridge, i updated this delight with a new crust and a few additions of my own. i've been looking for some super simple, quick and easy dishes to prepare for guests coming over, and this recipe definitely fits the bill. of course, i did have to try it out for myself first - to make sure it's edible and all that. right....

enjoy !

the dough

1 c. warm water
1 pkg yeast

sugar

1. combine and let activate - ~10 minutes.

2 1/2 - 3 c. flour
2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

chopped fresh or ground dry rosemary (optional)

2. add to yeast. knead into dough and continue to add flour until dough doesn't stick to bowl or hands. cover and let stand for 10 - 30 minutes to rise.

3. stretch dough onto pizza pan.

the toppings

olive oil
4. brush crust with olive oil.

cambozola or, if like me you can't get your hands on it, brie/camembert and blue cheeses
1 can pears, drained and sliced
toasted pine nuts
pomegranate seeds
more rosemary
5. top with pears, pine nuts, pomegranate, rosemary and cheeses.
6. throw into the oven at 375Fish for 10 - 30 minutes, or until cheese melts and crust browns.

black pepper
7. top with fresh black pepper.

barry shares some inspiration.

with the leaves gone, and snow coming, i thought i'd share a few dishes i've had over the past little bit to inspire some delicious and warming fall creations of your own.

start the night (or day - i don't judge) off right with a ginger saketini, complete with pickled ginger garnish. spicy, slightly sweet and a wee bit salty, it's a fantastic balance to whip up when the temperature drops.

i made this! i'm so proud of this fresh fig salad. lots of prosciutto, goat cheese, aged balsamic and fleur de sel, this stuff was ridiculously good. head over asap to the italian centre to get the last of the fresh figs.

i had this beet risotto this past summer at dine kalyna in vegreville. not only does it look beautiful, but add some onions and maybe a hint of dill, and it is absolutely delicious.

barry continues to explore the mercato, and goes beyond the cheese...

...only to come back to it because, after all, what's life without cheese?

so the fantastic thing about il mercato is that you can get almost any kind of food here. not all of my pics turned out, but imagine heaps of pomegranates, mounds of spinach, oodles of noodles, barrels of oils, and porcini mushrooms as far as the eye can see. this place is a kind of mecca for foodies everywhere; a pilgrimage that needs to be undertaken at least once in a food lover's life to achieve enlightenment.

or, at the very least, a very full stomach.

for a truly authentic experience, join the florentine locals for lunch at nerbone's, located on the main floor of il mercato. go for their traditional panino con bollito (boiled meat sandwich dipped in meat drippings), or their trippa alla fiorentina (florentine style tripe).

of course, a trip to florence would not be complete without a traditional steak. take note: if you're looking for the authentic, go for a cut similar to the below picture. anything else, while WE might consider it a steak, is just a piece of beef for florentines.

...or there's cow testicles. your call.

the homemade pasta we saw looked out of this world! and for those of you who've never tried it, gnudi is the ravioli filling, minus the ravioli. it's delicious, especially with a fresh pomodoro sauce.

look at your cheese in the fridge. now look at these cheeses. look again at your cheese, and back to these! your cheese isn't any of these delicious european concoctions, but it could smell like them if you let it sit on the counter for a few weeks. or, as a healthier more delicious alternative, you could book your plane ticket now.

i think i'll have to have a separate post dedicated solely to cheeses i found in europe. many of them can't be found in edmonton (maybe in montreal), but just imagine if they were! for starters, i'd be 400 pounds and have diabetes, but i would be in heaven so it wouldn't matter!