La Sani Grill

Have you checked out our review of La Sani Grill on Halal Foodie?

“The Reshami Kabab’s were moist and bursting with flavour. Again, they were on the mild side and are sure to be a hit with kids and adults alike. They were so good that we would actually describe them as perfect!”

Click here for the full article.

On The Bun: Take Two

Check out latest review of On The Bun on Halal Foodie:

“The masala flavour was not overpowering but it added a kick to the burger, which we enjoyed. Everything about the patty and its seasoning was in perfect harmony. It was delicious, period!”

Click here for full article.

Of Mice and Men – The Cheese Factor

Time and again we frequently hear conversations about certain cheese and cheese related products being impermissible due to the source of rennet. In fact, quite often we hear people labelling products as impermissible to consume because they see rennet on the list of ingredients.

In our humble opinion, prior to labelling a product impermissible (haram), it’s best to at least call or write to the company to find out the source of rennet. Whenever there’s a difference of opinion, we personally prefer to use the term ‘questionable’ or ‘doubtful’ than outrightly labelling it impermissible (haram).

Anyway, we came across a great article by Sheikh Yasir Qadhi and thought we should share it. It talks about what rennet is and different opinions that different schools of thought hold. We understand it’s a lengthy article, but we highly recommend that you read it in it’s entirety.

Of Mice and Men – The Cheese Factor

Source of mono and diglycerides in Dempster’s & Country Harvest breads

We enjoy consuming Dempster’s and Country Harvest’s breads and the topic of mono and diglycerides came up. Hence, we decided to confirm the source of mono and diglycerides in their bread products.

Here’s what we found on Dempster’s website:

Mono and diglycerides are emulsion stabilizers (salad dressing, for example, is an emulsion of water in oil). Therefore, mono and diglycerides are not derived from any animal source; neither are our breads—they are entirely made from plant ingredients.

Source: Maple Leaf Foods – FAQ

We called the following number: 1800-661-7246 for Country Harvest and learned that their source of mono and diglycerides is also vegetable based.

The Burgernator: Revisited

We love The Burgernator. Like, really, truly love! It genuinely makes us happy to know that a Muslim owned burger joint is making waves in the city with their gourmet burgers. It had been awhile since we had visited The Burgernator so we decided to pay a visit after our trip to the Ripleys Aquarium (which you guys should check out).

At our most recent visit, we ordered the Fully Loaded ($10.99) and The Big Bang ($10.99). The Fully Loaded is two beef patties (12 oz total), cheddar cheese, sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions, tomato, lettuce and burgernator sauce. We asked them to remove the fried egg as we were a little nervous about having a fried egg in our burger (although we are sure it tastes awesome). This burger was awesome! The beef patties were so well cooked that they were falling apart as we ate the burger. The burger was messy to eat but totally worth it. We do not recommend eating this in the car! Make sure you have both your hands free to eat it (a third hand might be useful too).

The Big Bang had beef patty, buffalo chicken strips, cheddar cheese, tomato, lettuce with roast garlic rosemary aioli. Om nom nom is definitely the best way to describe it. The crunchy chicken strips definitely are the highlight of this burger. Some people may find the burger a little bit bland, but dip it in the aioli and/or ketchup and you will definitely enjoy it more. The fries were great as well!

The owner, Amer Mokdad, who cooks the burgers himself, took the time to mingle with the customers. He was very nice to bring ice cream for our toddler who was a bit cranky and crying. That is what we call customer service!

We can’t wait to go back and try more of their delicious creations, inshallah! We will leave you with a picture from our trip to the Ripleys Aquarium.

The Burgernator Address: 

269 Augusta Ave

Toronto, ON

M5T 2M1

(647) 748-0990

Deseed a Pomegranate in 10 Seconds Using a Wooden Spoon

We came across this neat technique for deseeding pomegranates. We tried and tested it, and it worked!

Here it is:

In case you don’t have a wooden spoon handy, any other spoon of similar size should work.

Enjoy!

 

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

We used to look forward to going to Red Lobster for their food and especially their complimentary biscuits. Now that we don’t go there anymore, we still reminisce about their biscuits. So couple of months ago, we were craving their biscuits and decided to google up recipes. We came across tons and after much research, we decided to settle on one with the most amount of positive reviews.

We made a batch for ourselves and they turned out great (delicious)! We loved how quickly and easily we were able to bake the biscuits. It doesn’t require using a stand mixer or any other mixer. You literally mix all the ingredients by hand (or fork) and use an ice cream scoop to scoop’em on the cookie tray.

So here’s the recipe we followed:

Ingredients to make 12: 2 ½ cups Bisquick baking mix ¾ cup cold whole milk or buttermilk 4 tablespoons cold butter (1/2 stick) ¼ teaspoon garlic powder 1 heaping cup grated Cheddar cheese Brush on Top: 2 tablespoons butter, melted ¼ teaspoon dried parsley flakes ½ teaspoon garlic powder pinch salt Directions: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a knife and fork or your hands until small chunks of butter the size of peas remain. Add grated Cheddar cheese, milk, and ¼ teaspoon garlic. Mix by hand until combined, but don’t over mix. Drop approximately 1/4 cup sized mounds of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using two large spoons. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown. When you take the biscuits out of the oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter is a small bowl in your microwave. Stir in salt, garlic powder, and the dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Makes one dozen biscuits.

Here’s the URL for the recipe: Cheddar Bay Biscuits Recipe

Please note: 

• We baked our batch for 10 minutes.
• With our ice cream we are able to make about 15 biscuits

We’ve baked these biscuits on a number of occasions for our friends and family and they’ve always been a big hit! Happy Baking!

Big Al’s Flyin’ Phillys: Revisited

Check out our review from our third visit to Big Al’s Flyin’ Phillys:

“The Notorious BBQ Sandwich consists of thinly sliced sautéed ribeye steak, cheese (we picked American cheese), onions and BBQ sauce. It was the most scrumptious cheese steak we ever took a bite of. There was a generous portion of well-cooked, super tender steak, which is the heart and soul of any good cheese steak sandwich.”

Click here for full article.

McWrap – Mediterranean Veggie

We were out running some errands and it was close to lunchtime. We wanted something that is light on the tummy and the wallet, so we went to McDonald’s and decided to order Mediterranean Veggie McWrap. We were fairly skeptical and weren’t sure what to expect. In fact, we weren’t too enthusiastic either.

We took a couple of bites of the McWrap and were amazed by the lightness and freshness of it. We loved the medley of flavours bursting in our mouth. We could taste lemon, hummus, cucumbers, fried onions and feta cheese. Every ingredient seemed perfect and was complimenting each other. There was nothing in there that was overpowering or missing.

One, we were hungry; two, we were pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted! Overall, we loved the Mediterranean Veggie McWrap!

Like many others, we usually order Filet-o-Fish at McDonald’s for lunch or dinner, but Mediterranean Veggie McWrap is certainly a great addition to their menu.

Only surprise/con: this McWrap has more calories, carbs, fat and sodium than a Filet-o-Fish sandwich.