The Ex - Food Heaven or Hell?

The Ex not a great place to look for healthy food.

I have been feeling sick for the past few days so I haven't been in the mood to do any cooking or other heavy duty household duties.   But I was getting stir crazy at home and wanted to go down to the Ex today because it was the last day of the Food Truck Frenzy and the same day that my favourite Food Network Chef Chuck Hughes (Chuck's Day/Week Off) was doing a food demo... well more like chatting while his restaurant chef was doing some cooking.  I am starting to feel like I am stalking him at this point since I was sitting in the audience and listening to him talk and then all of a sudden he says "Hi" and looks in my direction.  I didn't even realize he was talking to me... so out of it still from being sick and just kind of didn't expect him to stop mid sentence and say hi.  So I had a 30 second delayed reaction and then all I did was wave... still out of it... he says "she doesn't look happy to see me"...  of course I was...   he was my diversion for the day so that I didn't sit at home being sick and feeling miserable.   Going to see Chuck is more like going to see a stand up comedian lately.   He spends the whole time telling stories, cracking jokes and answering questions.    I have been trying to arrange an interview with him for my documentary and finally met his publicist face to face.   I always find it weird to email someone you haven't met and ask for something when they have no clue who you are and if you are legit or not.   So now she knows who she has been emailing so that made the trip down to the Ex worth it.    I had to think about going today because it is getting really expensive to go to the EX these days unless you go after 5 which I have been doing the past couple of years.   But since it was the last food truck day and only day for Chuck Hughes I forked out the $16 admission price and because I wasn't feeling 100% I drove down and then had to dish out another $25 for parking.   Paying for parking was well worth it when I finally left and didn't have to wait for a packed bus to the station because by that time I had just left the FOOD Building Oven and was so hot I just wanted to drive up the parkway with the windows open.

I went into the Food Building to see what Bacon Nation was all about.  Bacon on a stick, bacon wrapped hot dogs and some other concoction with Nutella which just thinking about it makes you want to toss your cookies.

I was also on the lookout for other weird foods new to the Ex this year.  I walked by this booth and saw this picture of a hot dog in a chocolate eclair.  I used to love chocolate eclairs when I was a kid but this one I don't think so.

Then I spot this food vendor selling food in a cone.  I suppose this makes sense since there isn't really enough seats to sit down and eat your food properly in the Food Building and since it's a million degrees in there anyway it's always better to hand hold your food while walking out of the building.  They had Sheppard's Pie in a cone and some chicken thing and a few others savoury things I can't even remember now.

So it made me wonder if this was Foodie Heaven or Hell?  Most things were either stuffed in a bun, deep fried, with bacon,  sweet and savoury mix or all of the above as in the case of the krispy kreme hamburger or the eclair dog.   All I kept thinking about is all the people with The Ex Food hangover that had to go and buy some pepto bismol or tums to get through their day.   All the sick little kids hurling all over the place and the parents saying "never again" but then doing it again the next year.

What about the people who are Vegan, Vegetarian, eat only Kosher or Halal or Raw food diets.   I guess the Ex would be Hell for them.
Is it Heaven or Hell for a foodie or food blogger?  It was kind of a mix of both for me.

The Heaven this year was the lineup of Food Truck Frenzy where I picked up some Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos from the Gourmet Gringos food truck.  Even though the fish was fried it had a nice light fresh batter with some crunchy slaw to balance the hot/cold/greasy/fresh taco.   One of my other favourite food trucks Buster's Sea Cove who had their Lobster Roll and Shrimp and Fish Tacos had a huge lineup.  I would have gone for that but decided to try one of the other trucks to see how it compares.  It was good but Buster's is still my fav.

A couple of hours later I went back to the food trucks but wasn't in the mood for the mostly brisket and pulled pork and taco options that the trucks had so I ventured into the Food building to see what I could get.

I managed to find a baked potato vendor and had a mexican baked potato.  There you go... something not deep fried.   Only one person in the line ahead of me.   The big lineups were for all the deep fried, greasy, heart stopping foods you could find at the Ex.  So I suppose it's like a license to eat whatever you wouldn't normally eat when you  go to the Ex.




One of my All Time favourite things I almost always get when I go to the Ex is the Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich.   The Hot Waffle sandwiched between the cold ice cream hits all the sensory spots.  Cool and refreshing and also warm and comforting.   A friend of mine just went to the Ex and had almost the same things to eat as I did.   So there is food for everyone there.   You just have to do a little searching to find it.

The Food at the Ex.. Heaven or Hell?  
You Decide.

Toronto has the World's Best Food Market - St. Lawrence Market

I went to St. Lawrence Market today for lunch and to pick up a few things and everywhere I went I saw cameras because it was voted the best market in the world which I didn't know until I got home and saw it on the news.

I stopped by Buster's Cove for a spicy Halibut Fish Sandwich and couldn't believe the lineup today.  Everyone must have been in the mood for fish today.

Today was Fish Day for me.  I was told once that a lot of the fish deliveries were on Wednesday so I believe a lot of people also know this fact so maybe instead of Fish Friday it should be changed to Fishy Wednesday.    My Fish Day started with the Halibut Fish Sandwich and then continued to my Seared Scallops dinner.

I have been trying to expand my culinary skills and tastes by cooking things that I didn't have growing up.   So today I picked up some fresh Scallops at the St. Lawrence Market to make for my dinner.  I also paired it with sauteed Mustard Greens which I have never cooked before.  I think I have only made Scallops once or twice before and still working on the taste of it.  It's not my fish of preference.  I love Tuna, Salmon and Shrimp.  I picked up some shrimp also and that will be for tomorrow's meal.

I tried to just cook the Scallops and Mustard Greens simply.   I seared the Scallops in a hot cast iron pan with oil and then added garlic butter and some tarragon herbs and then added a squeeze of lemon once it was cooked.   I sauteed the mustard greens in the garlic butter sauce that was left from the Scallops and then added a splash of Sherry vinegar and Salt and Pepper.

It was pretty good but I think Scallops are still low on my fish list but the mustard greens were pretty tasty and both things took only a couple of minutes to cook so really great for a weeknight meal when you don't want to spend a lot of time prepping and cooking dinner.

This is what it looked like:

Now as far as the St. Lawrence Market being the Best Market in the World I have to say that they do have a great variety of things that you won't see anywhere else in one place in the city.  With the addition of the weekend farmer's market you get great fresh selection.

My shopping list today included:

A rectangular tart pan

2 spice bottles

a ring mold

a vinegar bottle

Shrimp

Scallops

Rum Balls from future bakery

Organic Lemons, 

Organic Potatoes

Organic Limes

and my Fish lunch.

I could have kept going but my hands were already full.   

A lot of chefs in the city go to the Market to get inspired or to pick up ingredients that are hard to find.  A lot of George Brown College students go there because it's close to the school and they can get whatever their hearts desire to create.    Bread, cheese, Fish, meat, produce, desserts, and even Caviar, foie gras and kitchen tools.    FRESH, FRESH, FRESH.   That's why people keep going.  

The St.Lawrence Market is an institution in the city.  I remember my parents going there when I was young and picking up things like Mussels and great cheeses.

I wish I lived closer to it so that I could shop there more often.     I have been in the area in the past couple of weeks so I have been able to pop in and pick up a few things.

It has a great vibe in there and feels like the kind of place that food markets should return to.

My favourite Markets are:

St. Lawrence Market

The Big Carrot

Organic Garage

Whole Foods 

Kensington Market

I like markets that you can explore and find new things that you have never seen before or markets that are of the highest quality of food.    Sometimes you do get what you pay for.