Brunch at Ricky's Kingsway

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Two eggs, toast, hash browns and a side of perogies. Brunch comfort. #yeg #yegfood #yegeats #yegfoodie #latergram

A post shared by Paula E. Kirman (@livingsanctuary) on Mar 23, 2019 at 2:26pm PDT

Butter Chicken Perogies at Naanolicious

Butter pirogies #yegfood

A post shared by Paula E. Kirman (@livingsanctuary) on Apr 9, 2017 at 5:06pm PDT

One of the few things I have not tried at Naanolicious are the perogies in butter chicken sauce. Talk about fusion - the perogies were fried to perfection, covered in the rich sauce. This is not something I would want every day, but it was delicious.

Festival Food: Interstellar Rodeo

I attended the Interstellar Rodeo music festival for the first time last weekend, as I was covering the event for a couple of publications. Like at most of Edmonton's festivals, food played a role. Food trucks were organized in several areas in the ampitheatre in Hawrelak Park and included some food choices that were new to me in this sort of venue.

The vegetarian chili pot pie with a corn bread crust from The Pie Eatery was the perfect combination of spicy and sweet. The zesty, rich chili was balanced by the sweetness of the crust. There was some cheddar in the crust making it non-vegan. Interesting, The Pie Eatery is operated by the same people who do Smokehouse BBQ.

No festival is complete for me without some kind of fried potato. In this case it was the crisps from Drift. The combination of seasonings on the thin chips was definitely a step up from simple salt. The dipping sauce was also incredible - I could do shooters of it.

Speaking of potatoes, the roasted ones from Kitchen by Brad (Brad being local chef Brad Smoliak) were small, tender, local, and delicious. A great alternative to fries. The generous dollop of sour cream added creamy richness.

The Mercury Room brought vegan fare to the fair (sorry about that - I couldn't resist), and the perogies were a hit. I had the potato-filled ones (mushroom and sauerkraut was the other option), which were served atop a bed of greens and covered in vegan sour cream, fried onions, and sauerkraut. As someone who generally does not like sauerkraut, this was fresh and not overpowering. The "sour cream" was the best part - it definitely did not taste like sour cream. It was more like a non-dairy tzatziki, but it added needed moisture to the dish.

I went back to The Pie Eatery for something sweet. The pecan pie proved they know what they are doing. Pecan pie is not just pecans on top of a butter pie. Here, the pecans were integrated in a filling that included raisins and chocolate. I just wish I had a stronger fork - mine was too flimsy to stand up to the dense filling and hearty crust.

Filistix was offering a variety of rice bowls. I had the green lentil vegetarian bowl, which also featured a variety of vegetables atop rice, with their signature slaw. I had a half portion and it was large enough. The full portions were simply huge (and also rather price at close to $15). The bowl was filling, flavourful but not spicy, and definitely a healthy option. Although I normally love the slaw, I actually did not think it went well with the flavour combination in this case.

For a light supper on the Sunday, I had the chaat papdi from The Spice Rickshaw. Crispy samosa strips covered in yoghurt, red onion, chutney, and seasonings. Very flavourful, and very wet. I thought the serving could have been larger for the price ($7) but it was refreshing.

I ended where I began: The Pie Eatery. Their tarts of mini-versions of their sweet pies, and I had a chocolate peanut butter one. The centre is thick, gooey chocolate, while the peanut butter is baked into the soft crust. A win if you are a fan of this combination.

Perogies at The Canadian Brewhouse

I stopped in to The Canadian Brewhouse for lunch before attending an event at MacEwan University a couple of weeks ago. I happened to have been craving perogies, so ordered them when I saw them on the menu as an appetizer. I thought $12 was a bit steep, but when I received a large serving of extremely cute, bite-sized cheese and potato filled fried dumplings, I was feeling better about the price. The size was very mouth friendly. I just wish the fried onions were, well, fried more. Some were sweet and fried, but most of them were pretty much raw and I had to avoid them. This caused the perogies to be very one-note - they needed the onions, and perhaps a little seasoning.

Marusia's Kitchen at the Ukrainian Petrekivski Folk Art Exhibit

On April 13 I attended the Ukrainian Petrekivski Folk Art Exhibit at the Ukrainian National Federation building on 106 Avenue and 98 Street. The event featured folk art from private collections, a craft sale, dance performances from Ukrainian and Polish youth dance groups, and, of course, food. Upstairs, traditional Easter breads (paska and babka) and treats were on sale, while downstairs, Marusia's Kitchen had a variety of fresh Ukrainian foods for lunch.

I was offered a sampling of some of the food. Of course, I had to try the perogies. Let's just say that they were much better than the frozen variety, from the firm dough to the creamy potato and cheese filling. On the side I had some sauerkraut, something that I don't care for, but again this was very different from the mass-produced stuff. For one, it was not watery. It also had meat in it (probably pork). I still found it very strong, but anyone who likes sauerkraut would have been in foodie heaven with it.

I also had a steaming bowl of borscht. Again, my familiarity with this beet soup is the bottled version I have at Passover. Having it hot was a very different experience. The broth was much richer than what I am used to, and it was jam packed with shredded beets and some beans too. It was absolutely delicious.

After my meal I enjoyed some of the excellent dancing! Many thanks to the organizers for letting me know about the event. Oh, and by the way, Marusia is a real Ukrainian babushka who I had the pleasure of meeting.

From left: Karen Woywitka, Mary Hoshko (Marusia), and Mary Ann Dutka.

Breakfast for Lunch: Another Mixed Plate at Smitty's

Eggs, potato pancakes, perogies, French toast, and trimmings. #yegfood, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

I was dragged (almost literally) back to Smitty's a couple of weeks ago, except this was the location at Kingsway instead of Westmount. I had another build-my-own platter, this time with perogies, a slice of French toast, eggs, and potato pancakes. Our server was very attentive and brought me loads of condiments - I loved the salsa for the eggs (something I don't normally do, but enjoyed). The potato pancakes could have been cooked a little more - I think I am going to stick with hash browns from now on.

Taste of Edmonton 2011 #3 - Perogies

Taste of Edmonton 2011, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

Years ago, I took a tour of the Cheemo perogy factory for an article I was writing about the company. I've never been a huge fan of the mass-produced Ukrainian dish, although when made from scratch can be one of my favourites. Alas, the offering by Taste of Ukraine fell short, not just in taste, but also presentation. The serving was small for the price, and the fried onions were hardly anywhere to be found. This was a disappointment.