Dine Out 2009!

Yesterday marked the 4th day of Dine Out Vancouver 2009, an event where many Vancouver restaurants come together to offer a prix fixe three course meal in the ranges of $18, $28 or $38.

Unfortunately, this year's Dine Out brought along a lot of controversy as they raised their prices in all categories by $3. Although it is understandable due to price inflation and all that, many people thought that it was unnecessary to have increased the same dollar amount in all ranges. This way, the people that can afford paying $38 dollars only saw a 15% increase, whereas the poorer folk who used to enjoy the $15 dollar mark suffered a 20% increase. Doesn't seem fair, right?

Anyway, my friends and ZZ and I went to Hell's Kitchen (a pizzeria) for the $18 Dine Out. This was not on purpose, by the way. We tried to go to 6 other places but they would not take us because they were either full or they would not allow our friends' 6 month baby in because they were pubs. We were finally left with reservations in hand for Hell's Kitchen. We were a bit apprehensive because all they offered for the entree selection were pizzas! Pizza for $18 hardly seemed like a deal but we had nowhere else to go.

So, for our appetizers:

I started off with the Hell's Poutine - Hand-cut Kennebec potatoes, crispy capers, prosciutto, aged quebec white cheddar, peppercorn tenderloin gravy. I am not a huge fan of hand-cut steak fries, I prefer my fries of the shoestring variety. Super crispy fries are the way to go as my sister, GJ, would confirm. This appetizer was still delicious, though, I never would have thought of adding capers to poutine but they added a wonderful saltiness. Mmm...salt....

ZZ's appy (I use the term 'appy' purposefully here, as it is one of ZZ's pet peeves) was the Hell's Chowder - Local BC salmon, albacore tuna, shellfish, seasonal vegetables, lemon grass, lobster cream. He said it was good although he mentioned that the potatoes were a bit undercooked.

And for my entree, it was a pizza called The Soprano - Spicy capicolla, prosciutto ham, fresh basil, chorizo sausage and provolone cheese.

Delicious with a thin crust and lots of cheese. Some bites were a bit spicy for my tastes but it was good and HUGE! None of us could finish our pizzas, bringing home at least three slices or more.

There was another pizza available that GJ would have laughed at for me: the Aphrodite - Pesto (which was made with walnuts), smoked chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted almonds and asiago. Why would GJ laugh? This pizza is death on a plate for me as I am severly allergic to nuts and peanuts. No Aphrodite for this CC!

Last but not least, our desserts. ZZ had the TiraMisu - whipped mascarpone, sabayon marsala, espresso-soaked ladyfingers, cocoa and whip cream. It was as it sounds - awesome!

As for my dessert, I had the creme brulee with Madagascar vanilla bean. I would have preferred it a bit more burnt on top and the custard could have been warmer but it was still delicious. I was most impressed with the bottom of the ramekin where I saw a layer of actual vanilla beans that had sunk! That was nice, they could have easily gotten away with supermarket bought vanilla extract but they really did use real vanilla beans.

Overall a very enjoyable meal for $18! Oh and I forgot to mention my double lychee Mojito that I got to compliment my dinner. Cool, minty and lychee-ey, it was great. Unfortunately, I sipped it slowly throughout dinner and therefore escaped any buzz it may have produced. Oh well, next time!

Roasts galore

Tonight I decided to try a new roast - pork loin roast. I'd been thinking of trying to roast pork since my usual repertoire for pork is pork chops. Metta grew up eating pork chops and it's one of his comfort foods especially if I can make it nice and crispy. Unfortunately, it doesn't agree with my favourite way of eating pork which is just cooked through and still moist and tender. I find that crispifying pork chops usually renders it well done and therefore dry and stringy. A roast seems to fulfill Metta's desire for crispy and my desire for moist.

I started with a 2 1/2 pound pork loin roast that was pretty much trimmed of all fat. I decided to purchase a roast because I was looking for some meat for a chinese herbal soup and for a chow fun stir fry. Also, it seemed a lot better deal than chops at a full dollar cheaper per pound. However, I fell out of schedule with our meal plan when a craving for Pho overpowered the effort to cook one night. The next night, I had forgotten we were supposed to meet friends for dinner. This left me with a roast that was begging to be cooked.

Wanting to be kind to my vegetarian roommates, I waited until they went out and then I yanked that roast out of the fridge. I heated up some organic olive oil in my wok, seared the salt and peppered roast on all sides til golden, then put it in the oven at 425 for 20 minutes and 350 for 35 minutes more. It was beautifully done. Juicy, tender and crisp on the outside. Metta swooned when he saw it. He'd never had pork roast before and is now a convert. Booboo and Nunu begged for seconds. We used it as a bargaining chip - eat your veggies and you can have more.

To go with that lovely roast, I put some cut up organic russet potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper into a cast iron frypan for the same amount of time as the pork roast. I heated up some wild rice pilaf and stirfried veggies as sides. Yesterday, a hectic trip to Costco yielded way to much organic applesauce which rounded out the meal. No need for a late night snack tonight for the girls. They ate their fill (for once!).

Mange Lasagne!

Aaaaaaah... breathe in deep when there's a lasagne baking in the oven. The smell is homey and filling. I only make lasgane when it's been requested by one of two people - my Mom or Metta. Now, I can understand why Metta loves lasagne - he's part Italian - but my Mom? She's full blooded chinese albeit with an adventurous soul and palate. I guess Pluto is into lasgane too - thanks to little Miss Nunu.

Lasagne is a great meal for a gathering since it's rich and filling. It takes time to make with all the steps that are involved. For an everyday meal, I tend to opt for spaghetti and sauce before I'll go to the trouble of a lasagne. But when I do get into it, then the results are most satisfying.

I'll make this lasagne for birthdays, homecomings, and family celebrations. It's great for the kids because it's chock full of veggies and they never even know about em. It's not for a vegan or anyone avoiding dairy. Layers of yielding pasta, gooey cheese, hidden veggies, and that savoury tomatoey aroma. Mmmmmm.

I start the tomato sauce the night before to cut down on work on the day of and to give the sauce extra depth by allowing the flavours to mingle overnight. The next day, I boil the lasagne sheets - I use dried, whole wheat sheets - and prepare the spinach layer if I'm making a classical lasagne. If not, the layer is usually parmesan cauliflower. I've also made a great lasagne using thinly sliced butternut squash instead of lasagne sheets. I was testing out CC's brand new Wustoff Santoku knife that was truly amazing.

Shredding cheese is usually delegated to CC or anyone I can convince to do it. CC seems to like it as thieving a few scoops of grated cheese is a nice tax. Then you merely have to assemble the layers and pop it in the oven. Don't forget the scoop of sauce on the bottom or you'll be scraping the pan for hours. 45 minutes at 350 degrees, then let it sit for 15 minutes (this helps it become more sliceable). Then call the gathering to the table!

A decadent appetizer

Hello all! So this is CC, the Vancouver branch of the Pleasant Peasants. As my sister said, we have "Champagne tastes on a beer budget", well, I sometimes seem to tend towards the Champagne taste end of things.

Tonight, after staggering home from work through the snow since Vancouver got an unusually large dumping this winter, I peeked in my fridge to put together a snack. I ended up cutting up some cukes, wrapped in proscuitto with some Red Hawaiian Alea Sea Salt and cracked black pepper and decided to amp it up a notch by drizzling some white truffle olive oil. Now, let me rave about my truffle oil. For the better part of a year, I've been tempted by the itsy bitsy bottles of truffle oil found at your local gourmet foodie boutiques but the prices of over $20 for a 10ml bottle always thwarted me. Before Christmas, a friend and I went to the Circle Craft fair in Vancouver, which is an eclectic collection of independent Canadian and American artisans selling absolutely beautiful jewelry, clothes and foodie items (amongst other things). There, I found my shining truffle oil, standing proudly on the shelf at a whopping $20 for 200ml!!! Canadian dollars to boot! To say the least, I was thrilled and snapped up a bottle. Oh, what a treat. High quality olive oil scented with the mesmerizing aroma of earthy white truffles. Amazing how just one ingredient completely changes a dish.

Crown Roast of Lamb

I'm on a pretty interesting diet where I cannot eat many proteins. However, I've recently discovered I can eat lamb again. After many years of not eating lamb, I am no longer allergic to it. YAY! I've been indulging in lamb curries, lamb souvlaki, lamb chops... While digging in my parents freezer the other day, I discovered not 1 but 2 racks of lamb! When you've got at least 2 racks, you may as well make crown roast since it looks really impressive but isn't hard to make. Especially when the frozen packs of lamb are already frenched and marinated... Too bad, I'd been wanting to try a new technique to (supposedly) easily french lamb racks using dental floss. It can be fiddly business to french a rack since that means you need to remove all the membranes and meat surrouding the rib bones of the lamb rack so they appear clean and tidy. Personally, I don't mind a non-frenched rack since I can find a million uses for bones if not simply to kick back and suck them clean.

To serve to company, a crown rack of lamb is a gem tho. I simply thawed the racks, tied the end ribs together, wrapped a few rounds of twine around the roast to keep a circular shape and popped them into a 400 degree oven for 1/2 an hour. A quick pinch test of the meat in the centre of the roast yielded too easily, telling me it was very rare. Another 6 minutes in the oven and it was nicely pinchable - meaning a nice medium rare roast. I prefer rare but I suppose the polite thing to do is to cook to guest and parental tastes.

I'm making myself sound like I love kicking back with rare and bloody meat to chew on and suck on the bones. Well, I am a pleasant peasant. Actually, I have eaten "crude" goat in India as part of a village goat sacrificial ceremony. Only, Metta and I thought they said cured. We were handed handfuls of raw and bloody goat bits.

Back to the roast lamb dinner. I made a mushroom mint dressing by sauteeing onions, garlic, and button mushrooms with salt and pepper. Then I mixed in home made bread cubes and chopped organic mint. A little cranberry jelly left over from Christmas turkey dinner for a touch of sweetness. Then 3 or 4 ladlefuls of delicious broth made at our New Year's "Foa Wao" or Chinese hot pot/fondue. I put it in an oven proof bowl and popped it in alongside the roast.

I try to economize whenever I can so turning on the oven means opportunity to bake as much as can fit in the oven. Potatoes went on the top rack and a very interesting green and white striped spaghetti squash went on the bottom rack. After an hour and a half this squash was still not cooked. Some internet research revealed this was a Chinese spaghetti squash or more commonly known as Shark's Fin Melon (Yu Chi Gwa). Our Polish guest, Fabio, loved the spaghetti squash with butter and parmesan but us Asians decided to use up the melon a few days later as Shark's Fin Melon Soup - delicious. Also, Polish Fabio, is a unabashed meat eater; so, my parents did not think a mere 3 ribs of lamb would be enough for him. Therefore, I was pressed into cooking some Italian sausages as a side. Well, I had been toying with the idea of trying to make Toad in the Hole. It was a success and really easy to make. Brown the sausages for 10 minutes in the oven, pour in the batter which is a mixture of flour, milk, eggs, salt and pepper, bake for 30 more minutes. It turns out that my Mom, Popo, loved it the most.

Ahhh- food with family is divine.

First Bento ever!

Alright, alright, alright. I have a confession to make. I have an addiction that has been festering and brewing until this past trip to Vancouver. BENTOS!!! I love em, they're so pretty and cute. And if you ever meet me, you'd know I'm not the pretty and cute kinda girl. But all the posters on flickr got me intrigued and now I check several Bento blogs regularly.
So the highlight of my trip to Vancouver was my shopping foray into Daiso - $2 mecca for all things Japanese. I loaded my basket with cute pink bento boxes (I have little daughters), animal shaped sauce holders, soooo cute reusable food picks, and craft cutters to use on seaweed.
The next day, we had a family dinner where a mushroom mint stuffed crown roast of lamb was featured. That was completely devoured but here are some leftovers in my very first bento!
My sister, CC, was the lucky recipient. Actually, she bounced with glee when I offered to make her a bento. But first, we had to plead our case to my 3 year old dd to get her to lend CC her francais birdie bento. Belle agreed as long as CC promised to return the bento box.
The top layer features a layer of mushroom mint stuffing topped with sliced italian sausage a la angel and garlic broccoli and cauliflower sautee which was deconstructed for colour effect. A sweet pink and purple swirly pick was poked into a sausage. Made a nice colour focal point if I may say so.
The bottom layer contains thawed fresh blueberries that miraculously resembled fresh blueberries in texture, "tong gut" or sugar mandarins that are teeny tiny and delicious, apple bunnies, and a fresh baked blueberry muffin that was a 3 generation family effort. I didn't have any lemon juice so I dipped the apple bunnies into tonic water to stop discolouring. It worked great.
Not pictured was some chunked baked potates, shredded parmesan in a blue strawberry container, kewpie mayonnaise in a monkey mayo container, and dried cranberries in a green birdie container.
CC said the bento was thoroughly anticipated and enjoyed the next day. It truly did bring a smile to her lips when she opened the lid. I can't wait til my kids go to school so I can make bento for them!

Dinner Thwarted

We had been planning a family dinner at one our favourite restaurants in Vancouver - "Jook Mein Gwoon" or Congee Noodle House. After bundling the kids into the car and fighting traffic for the better part of an hour we pulled into a disconcertingly empty parking lot. Closed for the holidays? Newp - closed for renovations on Oct 6, to reopen on Dec 6. It was January 9th...
I called CC to let her know dinner plans were changed by telling her "Jook Mein Gwoon" was shuttered. Screams came through the phone begging me to tell her I was just kidding. I described the situation to no avail so instead I told her I was just kidding but to meet us at Shanghai City instead. Luckily, it's another family favourite.