me HUNGRY!

Movember Mustache Cake

2011-11-30T14:34:00.010-05:00

Have you noticed a lot of mustaches this month? Today is the last day of Movember, an annual event where men grow out their 'staches to raise money for prostate cancer and men's health. Congrats to our friends Joe and Jim for not shaving for the entire month of November and raising lots of money!

In lieu of growing a mustache, I baked a Chocolate Guinness Cake. The cake has one full cup of Guinness stout baked into it. It doesn't end up tasting like beer, however the Guinness adds a rich depth of flavor which pairs very nicely with chocolate.

Here are the recipes I used:

Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness Cake (I split the batter into two 9 inch round cake pans and baked them for 30-35 minutes, I also swapped out the cream cheese icing for a chocolate frosting, recipe below)

Joy The Baker's The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (contains a secret malty ingredient, Ovaltine!)

HAPPY MOVEMBER!

Stone Barns and Blue Hill Cafe

2010-08-25T13:24:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, while driving home from a family wedding in New York's Hudson Valley, we decided to take a short detour to Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. It was a bit of a struggle to get there, battling heavy rains and low visibility on the Taconic State Parkway, but as we pulled up to the farm, the rain magically stopped and we even saw a hint of blue skies.

Stone Barns is a non-profit farm, an education center, and home to Blue Hill Restaurant and Cafe (the farm's biggest customer). Through public programs, the education center seeks to increase awareness of sustainable agriculture and to teach us where our food actually comes from.

We arrived in time to sign up for a livestock tour ($10 per adult), an hour-long walking tour through the pastures and barns, allowing you to get up close with the farm's animals. As we were waiting for our tour to begin, we watched the young participants from the morning's egg gathering program skip happily on by, their guide holding an enormous basket of freshly collected brown eggs.

Our livestock tour began with a visit to the laying hens. Did you know that you can tell what color their eggs will be from looking at their earlobes? This breed of chicken lays brown eggs:

A group of naughty hens had escaped the fenced-in area (now that's what you call 'free range') and uncharacteristically followed us for part of our tour:

A flock of teenage Bourbon Red turkeys (known for their juicy rich-tasting meat and their fondness for roosting in trees):

A proud Broad-Breasted White turkey:

A 600 lb Berkshire pig rooting around in the woods:

Grazing lambs:

We also saw geese, rams, wild turkeys, and some beehives.

According to Stone Barn's philosophy, their animals live humane lives on the farm. And though I'm not an expert in animal psychology, all the animals we met that day seemed genuinely happy, healthy, and good-natured.

From the egg mobiles to the oxygenated compost pile (which didn't smell bad at all), Stone Barns was everything I'd imagined after reading about the symbiosis of pasture-based farming in The Omnivore's Dilemma (specifically the chapters on Polyface Farm). It was pretty amazing, actually.

After our tour we stopped at the farmer's market at the Dooryard Garden:

And checked out the 2 old silos:

Cleverly converted on the inside to a lounge and coat room:

We also snuck upstairs to for a peak at the Hayloft (an old haybarn converted to a gorgeous catering hall).

And as we were walking through the silo lobby, we unexpectedly ran into Chef Dan Barber (turning me into a stuttering starstruck fool, of course). Unphased by my ridiculous behavior, Chef Barber graciously invited us into the kitchen to take a photo with him:

As this was an impromptu visit, we tried not to lament too much about the fact that we were dressed far too casually in our t-shirts and shorts to dine in the main restaurant (never mind that we didn't have a reservation either), and instead enjoyed a light lunch at the Blue Hill Cafe:

Vegetarian quiche:

A sampling of salads (heirloom tomato, green bean, and couscous):

Open-faced tomato and goat cheese sandwich:

The food was simply prepared but delicious, featuring quality ingredients from the farm. We especially loved the different varieties of sweet heirloom tomatoes.

After lunch, we walked through their impressive half-acre greenhouse:

The hi-tech roof automatically opens to cool the greenhouse when it reaches a certain temperature:

We plan on taking the greenhouse tour on our next visit, especially after spotting several seedlings we'd never heard of before:

All in all, a fabulous afternoon at Stone Barns. We're already planning a trip back to dine in the main restaurant (and next time, we'll be dressed to the nines). Highly recommended for foodies, families, and anyone interested in learning more about sustainable agriculture.

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
630 Bedford Road
Pocantico Hills, NY 10591
(914) 366-6200
http://www.stonebarnscenter.org/

Blue Hill at Stone Barns
630 Bedford Road
Pocantico Hills, NY 10591
(914) 366-9600
http://bluehillfarm.com/food/blue-hill-stone-barns

The Best Blueberry Pie EVER

2010-08-04T09:23:00.004-04:00

Tired of fruit pies with overcooked jam-y fillings? Try this recipe for fresh blueberry pie, overflowing with juicy blueberries, bursting in your mouth with every delicious bite.

Kris and I tend to go overboard with blueberry picking every summer, requiring me to freeze several pounds of blueberries, which ends up destroying their flavor and consistency.

This year, I was determined to use up every single one of those gorgeous fresh berries, so I made three generously-filled fresh blueberry pies (2 for us and 1 for my in-laws).

Serve with a dollop of freshly whipped cream and you have the perfect summer dessert.

And don't you dare try to use frozen blueberries in this recipe! There's still time to head out to your local farm and pick your own berries before the season's over. Enjoy!

FRESH AND EASY BLUEBERRY PIE
Printable Version

Crust:
1 prepared 9” deep dish pie shell, baked and ready to fill
(or use your favorite homemade pie crust recipe)

Filling:
5 cups fresh blueberries, divided
1 cup cold water
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice (1 – 2 teaspoons)
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

In a medium saucepan combine water, cornstarch, sugar, salt, lemon juice and 1 cup of blueberries. Stir until cornstarch dissolves. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture starts to come to a boil. Lower heat and continue to stir, mashing blueberries with a wooden spoon. Cook until mixture has thickened and turned a dark glossy purple. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes. When mixture is cool enough to the touch, carefully stir in remaining 4 cups of blueberries. Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Chill for several hours or overnight until filling has set. Dollop or pipe swirls of sweetened whipped cream (recipe follows) on top to serve.

Sweetened Fresh Whipped Cream:
1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Combine heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. With a handheld electric mixer, beat at medium-low speed for 2 minutes, adding 1/2 of the powdered sugar in gradually. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes, adding the remaining powdered sugar gradually, until soft peaks start to form. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 30 seconds until firm peaks form. Spoon whipped cream on top of blueberry pie slices, or if you want to get fancy, use a pastry bag fitted with a large tip to pipe swirls (or use a heavy duty gallon-sized freezer bag with a corner snipped off).

Gluttony on the High Seas: Our Alaskan Cruise

2010-07-25T10:40:00.007-04:00

Never say never.

I swore I'd never go on a boat again after a disastrous cruise in 2003 (13 nights on the stormy Mediterranean sea, most of them spent in bed, violently seasick ). That is, until my parents invited Kris and I to join them on an upcoming family trip. My dad sounded so hopeful and excited that I couldn't say no, and that's when I found myself agreeing to go on a 5 night Alaskan cruise. Omigod, what had I done?! I'm the type of person that gets seasick in a swimming pool!

Well, thank goodness for seabands and non-drowsy dramamine. And I made sure to book a balcony room so I could see outside my cabin (very important when your inner ear gets confused rather easily). Check out the gorgeous views from our balcony:

I ended up feeling pretty good during my time onboard the ship, but that didn't save me from hours of boredom during 2 seemlingly endless days at sea. How much bingo and afternoon trivia can a person take? What else was there to do but eat? (and eat...and eat some more...)

But even I was shocked at our gluttony when I finally uploaded our cruise photos - on our last day at sea, we ate a total of 8 times in 12 hours!

9:30am sit-down breakfast:

12:05pm pastry extravanganza buffet:

1:08pm pizza poolside:

2:16pm hot dog at the grill:

2:44pm pavlova at the buffet (somehow I'd missed this during our first pass thru the pastry extravaganza):

3:45pm afternoon tea:

7:00pm sit-down dinner:

10:05pm soft serve ice cream on deck:

The worse part of it was that the food wasn't even that good (typical of cruises) and did not feature any local Alaskan fare, but we obviously have a hard time saying no to free food, especially when it's staring us in the face at every turn.

On most nights, dinner took almost 3 hours from start to finish but I'm realizing now that it was probably our table causing the kitchen backup (with the crazy number of dishes we ordered). And forget about after-dinner entertainment, poor hubby had to practically carry me (half-conscious from a food-induced coma) from the dining room straight to our cabin every night.

Mid-cruise, after getting bored of the same dining room night after night, we opted to have dinner in one of the specialty restaurants, a Cajun-themed steakhouse (my dad had become fixated on the broiled lobster tail he'd seen on the menu) and that's where I tried alligator for the first time. Unfortunately, the gator rib I received was full of cartilage, fat and a ton of miniature bones. I spit it out after one bite. Upon seeing my disappointment (and beginnings of a food tantrum), Kris quickly gave me a bite of his portion and you know what? Alligator tastes just like dark meat chicken!

At our 2 port-of-calls, we found even more opportunities to stuff our faces:

Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau:

King crab roll...with a heaping portion of sweet succulent crab:

As longtime fans of the Deadliest Catch, we were excited to find out that some of their king crab is caught by the Time Bandit!

Fish & chips on the pier in Ketchikan (pricey and a bit of a tourist trap, but I never say no to fish & chips!):

Sam McGee's on Creek Street in Ketchikan to load up on foodie souvenirs:

Spruce Tip Jelly

Made from the delicate tips of a spruce tree.

Yes, it really does taste like a tree, a little funky but refreshing all the same. It smells like a walk through a fragrant pine forest.

Salmonberry Jelly

Salmonberry grows wild in Alaska and we spotted some as we were walking around Ketchikan.

The taste is milder than a raspberry (a close cousin) and its slightly floral scent reminded me of honey.

Birch Caramel

For some reason I was expecting this to taste sickly sweet (like molasses) but its deep caramelly flavor was truly sublime, with the perfect amount of sweetness. Can't wait to try some over ice cream (but I could honestly eat it straight from the jar).

Kelp Marmalade

This doesn't taste much different from citrus marmalades, but as a lover of all things seaweed, I bought a jar for the novelty factor. While we were at Sam McGee's, we also tried donut-shaped kelp pickles (forgot to take a photo, oops!) which were also tasty, similar to bread and butter pickles.

A sticker of a mother polar bear with her cub designates that all our souvenirs were actually 'Made in Alaska':

We'd also pre-booked the Alaskan Chef's Table excursion in Ketchikan but it was cancelled last minute because hubby and I were the ONLY 2 people on a ship of two thousand passengers that were willing to pay extra to taste local delicacies. This tasting menu was meant to be one of the highlights of our trip, so of course we were disappointed, but it's not like my rapidly expanding waistline really needed another 5 course meal.

We did, however, go on a whale watching expedition in Juneau. Yes, I'm not only a glutton, but a glutton for punishment, braving yet another boat, this time a waterjet-propelled catamaran heading out to Auke Bay during inclemental weather (our early May cruise was the first sailing of the season so it was still chilly up north). I guess we could have stayed inside the heated cabin with the other passengers, sipping hot cocoa and happily munching donut holes, but instead, we held on for dear life while being tossed around on deck, getting pelted with freezing rain. My teeth were chattering and my knuckles had turned white from the death grip I had on the rails but I refused to leave my vantage point, determined to spot a humpback whale. Fortunately for us, the local whales were loving the lousy weather that day and we encountered no less than 6 humpbacks within a couple hours! One of them came so close to our boat that it scared the crap out of our pilot. As the humpback surfaced alongside the boat, Kris snapped a shot of its massive blowhole:

Here's a video we took of a humpback on a feeding dive, including the tail coming up and flipping over (aka 'the money shot'):

We also saw several bald eagles (their white heads made them easy to spot):

And some lazy sea lions:

After that extraordinary whale watching experience, stopping at the Mendenhall Glacier on the way back to our cruiseship was a bit anti-climactic. But it was definitely pretty:

Icebergs that have recently broken off from the glacier are blue (the color has something to do with the way light refracts through the dense glacier ice):

Some more of our vacation pics...

Downtown Juneau, on a typical day of 'liquid sunshine':

Ketchikan, on a rare sunny day, taken from the bow of our cruiseship:

A masterfully carved totem pole in Ketchikan:

A horse-drawn trolley ride in Ketchikan (loving the haircut on the blond horse):

One of Ketchikan's famous Stair Streets, wooden stairways designated as public streets (houses are situated several flights up, can you imagine the nightmare of moving day?!):

Downtown Vancouver, taken from our cabin's balcony right before we disembarked:

I've now had a couple months to reflect on my first Alaskan cruise and even though I'm still not a fan of cruising, I had a great time overall. The locals we met on shore in Juneau and Ketchikan were fabulous ambassadors for Southeast Alaska. We got to experience an extraordinary whale-watching tour and visited our first glacier. We indulged in delicious Alaskan king crab in Juneau and encountered bizarre tree-flavored jelly in Ketchikan. And I finally grew my sea legs (thank you, SeaBands). However, the next time I head to the 49th state, I'll definitely be doing a land tour so I have more time to try local delicacies and extreme cuisine (akutaq ice cream here I come).

Vancouver Poutine Chronicles 2010: Brado's Poutine Pizza, La Belle Patate, Refuel & Costco(?!)

2010-06-09T12:00:00.007-04:00

After gaining 5lbs from last year's poutine marathon (can you say 'muffin-top'?), I swore that I would cut back on the poutine action during my visit to Vancouver this year. That is, until I started to hear murmurings about a new authentic poutine shop opening up on Davie...and then saw Brado's new over-the-top poutine pizza getting national attention on Serious Eats...

BRADO PIZZA

Brado was the winner of last year's poutine roundup so I was really anxious to try his newest creation. But I wasn't going to attempt eating an entire pizza by myself, so I called in some backup...Vancouver food bloggers Jessica and Mark from Yum-O-Rama: Where I Live to Eat!, Kim Ho from I'm Only Here for the Food, and Sherman from Sherman's Food Adventures.

We met up at Brado Pizza on a Saturday afternoon and placed our order at the counter with Brado himself. Fifteen minutes later, a steaming extra-large poutine pizza, smothered in french fries, gravy and cheese curds was set down in front of us.

And then came a flurry of photo-taking. My tiny point-and-shoot camera was feeling rather insignificant among the all the serious hardware:

The notorious 'upskirt' shot:

While the poutine pizza was undeniably tasty, I still prefer eating poutine on it's own. French fries on top of a doughy crust made it way too carbolicious (even for this carb-addict). I also prefer my crust a little crispier and some char on the edges (you can tell by the 'upskirt' shot that it needed more browning).

Sherman suggested we get some poutine by itself (for comparison sake) and proceeded to order a giant smoked meat poutine:

This was my first time trying poutine with Montreal-style smoked meat and I was pleasantly surprised. I've always stuck with classic poutine because I assumed the addition of smoked meat would make the entire dish too salty. On the contrary, the tender pieces of meat added welcome little bursts of smokey flavor throughout.

I also noticed that Brado's poutine gravy was darker and more intense than I'd remembered, so I asked Brado whether he had changed his formula from last year? Yes, he was now making his gravy deeper in both flavor and color after succumbing to local pressure; according to Brado, the locals expect gravy to be dark and beefy (unlike the milder velouté typical to Quebec-style poutine). I was a bit disappointed as Brado's gravy was near perfect (IMHO) when I tasted it last year. Well, at least the fries were still super crispy on the outside, but then someone pointed out that there was much to be desired when it came to the insides. Our batch of fries, comprised mostly of crispy 'shells', was lacking potato-y goodness on the inside. Last year I remember eating meatier fries that were delicious both inside and out. Brado, if you're reading this, please change your gravy back to the way it was! And use some thicker cut fries.

Kim also surprised us by bringing desserts all the way from Cake-Ya, a Japanese bakery in Port Moody, BC. I was quick to grab one of the milk tea flavored purin (Japanese pudding):

Mmmmm....creamy silken custard with a touch of sweetness and subtle hint of black tea. A thin caramel sauce (from the bottom of the container) enhanced every quivering bite. If you like the luxurious mouthfeel of flan, creme caramel or creme brulee, this is your kind of dessert!

I also grabbed some matcha shortbread cookies for later. The consistency was softer/moister than a traditional shortbread and each cookie was surprisingly filling. But I did enjoy the mild matcha flavor with the occasional crunch of sugar crystals.

This was my first real blogger meetup and everyone couldn't have been nicer. A big thank you to Jessica for organizing the meetup, to Kim for the Cake-Ya treats, and Sherman for treating us to smoked meat poutine. Be sure to head over to their excellent blogs to see what they thought about our Brado meetup!

http://imonlyhereforthefood.com/2010/06/brado-restaurant-revisit-and-cake-ya/
http://www.shermansfoodadventures.com/2010/06/brado.html
http://yumorama.blogspot.com/

Brado Pizza
1399 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
(604) 251-7251

Cake-Ya
2415 Clarke Street
Port Moody, BC
(604) 931-9005

LA BELLE PATATE

Vancouver's newest kid on the block, serving up authentic Quebecois poutine in the West End. La Belle Patate opened about 6 months too late for me to include it in last year's poutine tasting marathon, but it's been getting rave reviews so far. I was really anxious to check it out, especially since Kim had given it a decent review. The excitement was building, could La Belle Patate edge out Brado as my new go-to place in Vancouver? Would the poutine be as authentic as everyone claimed? I should note that since last year's poutine binge, I finally made a pilgrimmage to Quebec for truly authentic poutine, with stops in Montreal (where I sampled a 1/2 dozen popular poutine establishments) and at Drummondville's Festival de la Poutine (which I wrote about here) which included a visit to one of the original inventors of poutine, Le Roy Jucep. So while don't consider myself a poutine 'expert', I have tasted the real deal.

Kris and I stopped at La Belle Patate on a quiet Sunday afternoon, armed with extremely high expectations. Immediately I noticed Poutine Galvaude (w/chicken and peas) and Poutine Choux (coleslaw on top) on the menu (both are popular variations in Montreal). And I felt my heart flutter (and my stomach jolt awake) when I saw the all-you-can-eat poutine for $25. "Don't even go there", warned Kris, so we ended up ordered a small traditional poutine to share.

Overall, I was a little disappointed after all the buildup. First of all there was way too much gravy, drowning out all the fries and making them too soggy to evaluate them fairly. The gravy itself was quite tasty, but it had a slightly bitter aftertaste with a hint of an unidentified spice that reminded me of something in BBQ sauce, maybe ground cloves (?). In Montreal and Drummondville, I encountered a couple places that added BBQ sauce to their poutine gravy, and although I was not a fan of bbq spices in poutine, maybe the weird clove-y aftertaste helps raise the authenticity factor of La Belle Patate's gravy? As for the cheese curds, we did get a bit of squeaking, which is as good as you're going to find in Vancouver as it's probably difficult to get really fresh cheese curds on the West Coast. I learned from the owner of Le Roy Jucep last year that the freshest, squeakiest cheese curds have never been refrigerated so this limits how far they can be transported. Overall, I think I would have enjoyed this poutine a lot more if they weren't so heavy handed with the gravy that day. So definitely worth another visit the next time I'm in town.

La Belle Patate
1215 Davie St
Vancouver, BC
(604) 569-1215

REFUEL

Before every trip to Vancouver, I spend countless hours researching restaurants, reading food blogs/reviews, and making lists of all the places I want to eat. And then I never get to any of them because my trip is really about spending quality time with family and friends. One of the restaurants that's been on my list since it opened was Fuel (now Refuel), and it's honestly taken me 3 years to finally get there.

So on the only unscheduled day of our trip, Kris and I stopped at Refuel for some afternoon snacks. We arrived during the mid-afternoon lull so the dining room was empty except for one other table, giving us the opportunity to chat at length about the menu with our wonderful host, co-owner and sommelier Tom Doughty. We ordered 4 appetizers to share, including poutine...

Vegetarians beware, there is nothing vegetarian-friendly about Refuel's decadent poutine. First off, the fries are cooked in beef tallow (which happens to be my fat of choice when it comes to french fries, duck fat coming in a close 2nd). Refuel also butchers all their meats in-house and the bones are simmered down to create brodo, the base of their flavorful poutine gravy. However, I didn't get much squeaking from the cheese curds. My only other criticism is that the gravy was bit salty for my taste, but that didn't stop us from devouring the entire dish.

Wild leek risotto with smoked provolone:

I was excited to discover that the wild leeks were actually ramps (especially since I'd just reluctantly left the Northeast during the height of the short ramp season). The ramps are pureed, so you really taste the distinct onion-y flavor in every bite. A melted slice of smoked provolone was a good complement to the sweet ramps, while crunchy provolone bits provided textural contrast.

Seared Qualicum bay scallop with foie gras croquette, and English peas:

This dish typically comes with only one foie gras croquette, but Tom asked the kitchen to give us two so Kris and I wouldn't have to fight over them. We'd had foie gras croquettes/cromesquis only once before at Au Pied De Cochon in Montreal and they were a truly ethereal experience, a molten foie gras explosion that made our tastebuds do a happy dance. I was anxious to see how Refuel's croquettes would measure up but it was hard to compare because we ate them in a totally different way. Unlike Au Pied de Cochon, where we were instructed to place the entire crosmesquis in our mouth, Tom recommended we cut these open on the plate, allowing the luscious foie gras to ooze out and intermingle with the scallop, fresh peas and lomo ham. The sweet Qualicum scallop was perfectly seared and the freshly shelled English peas were a delight. We licked this plate clean, scraping up every luscious bit of that foie gras sauce.

Roasted Bone Marrow with green apple and pickled red onion:

If you'd never had roasted bone marrow I suggest you go out and try it! It's one of my absolute favorite indulgences, I may even like it better than foie gras. While the idea of scooping marrow from a femur bone may freak you out, but it helps to remember that marrow is what makes homemade stocks and dishes like osso bucco tastes so darn good. The texture reminds me of foie gras, but more delicate as the marrow just melts away in your mouth. You can spread it on toast like butter. And the flavor is rich, beefy and luxurious. At first I thought it was strange that the dish only came with one piece of bread until I had my first spoonful of marrow. It was roasted and seasoned so perfectly that I quickly forgot about the bread. The refreshing green apple slaw helped cut through the fatty richness of the marrow.

Horse Bresola (yes, HORSE! It's Weird Food Wednesday, afterall):

Tom brought us 2 complimentary slices of horse bresola to try (please note that these pieces are slightly thicker than normal because Tom sliced them for us himself). Despite being a weird food enthusiast, I actually got a bit nervous before trying horse for the first time. But it definitely helped that my first equine encounter was in the form of charcuterie and not sashimi! Actually, the bresola was quite delicious, very similar in taste to beef, with hint of sweetness.

Refuel
1944 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC
(604) 288-7905
http://www.refuelrestaurant.com/

COSTCO

After eating 12 local poutines in 12 days last year, several locals asked me why I hadn't included Costco in my roundup. So during our last day in Vancouver we stopped by the Costco food court in downtown Vancouver (across from GM Place) in order to satisfy our curiosity. This also marked the first time I've ever eaten anything at Costco (and perhaps the last?).

The cheese had the flavor and consistency of mozzarella so there was obviously no squeaking to be had, the fries were standard foodcourt fare, and the gravy, while tasty, had a slight 'mix' aftertaste. But I thought the fry/gravy/cheese curd ratio was pretty good. Overall, not too shabby. I could see this easily satisfying a late night craving (but I don't think Costco stays open that late).

Costco Warehouse, Downtown Vancouver
605 Expo Blvd
Vancouver, BC
(604) 622-5050
http://www.costco.ca/

FINAL RANKING

After trying poutines at 15 different local establishments between May 2009 and May 2010, here are my current top five Vancouver poutine stops:

1. Salade de Fruits
2. Brado Pizza
3. Crave on Main (short rib poutine)
4. La Belle Patate
5. Refuel

For the other restaurants we've already tried, including detailed reviews, see last year's poutine roundup.

Places still left to try in Greater Vancouver:

Anny's Dairy Barn (serious cheese curds from Quebec)
La Brasserie (truffled poutine)
Chambar (poutine à la belge)
db bistro moderne (duck poutine Lyonnaise)
Chill Winston (poutine with truffle demi-jus)
Boneta (fresh Okanagan cheese curds)

Did I leave out your favorite? Please leave me a comment below :)

Pancake Bites from Dunkin' Donuts

2010-06-06T16:29:00.009-04:00

Hubby returned from Dunkin' Donuts this morning with some 'Pancake Bites' (3 for $1.49):

They remind me of mini-corndogs... pancake batter wrapped around breakfast sausage. The shell was slightly crisp on the outside with a sweet hint of maple flavor.

I haven't seen these anywhere else online so perhaps someone just got creative with some batter and breakfast links at my local Dunkin' Donuts!

Pretzel M&M's

2010-06-02T15:22:00.001-04:00

Pretzel M&M's, the newest offering in the M&M lineup!

Kris managed to snag some free samples as he was walking through Herald Square yesterday.

Inside you'll find a cute little pretzel nugget:

Crunchy, salty, sweet... me likey!

"Please step away from the peanut butter, Ma'am"

2010-05-25T14:03:00.003-04:00

Have you ever had food souvenirs taken away from you at the airport by customs or the TSA?

After having customs officers confiscate several items over the years (including meat-flavored instant noodles from Singapore which contained no meat whatsoever), I'm really careful about what I bring back from vacation because I honestly can't bear the thought of someone taking away my food.

Kris and I just got back from our annual visit to Vancouver (and an Alaskan cruise... more on that later) and the one thing I always bring home is a jar of Kraft Smooth Light Peanut Butter. Kraft peanut butter just tastes way better than anything I can get stateside (and who can resist those cute little bears on the label?) so my parents always remember to buy me a jar before I leave.

During the voyage home, this precious jar of peanut butter always stays with me in my carry-on bag and in the past, I've never had a problem with getting it on the flight. But this was before security was significantly beefed up at the Vancouver airport (courtesy of a recent bomb scare). The recently implemented TSA screening process includes a full body scan and a complete search of carry-on baggage, during which every item is removed from your bag and examined closely. Everything was fine until the TSA agent pulled out my jar of peanut butter and said I couldn't take it on the plane because it exceeded 100 ml! Since when is peanut butter considered a liquid?! Normally, I try to maintain my composure when in public (and especially when dealing with airport security) but when someone tries to come between me and my food, all bets are off! I uttered a string of profanities before I could stop myself. Kris said I was lucky I didn't get tasered.

But this story has a happy ending. Rather than watch his wife get locked up and detained over a jar of peanut butter, Kris suggested we go back to the check-in counter and pay an extra $30 for an additional checked bag (containing my Kraft peanut butter, lovingly wrapped in layers of newspaper). $30 for a jar of peanut butter - money well spent in my opinion!

What would you have done?

p.s. Now that I'm thinking rationally again, I guess I could have easily purchased another jar of Kraft peanut butter at one of the many online Canadian grocers (ie. Canada Only, Canada Grocer, Canadian Favourites, Canadian Delicacies ) where you can also find Coffee Crisp, Old Dutch potato chips, Shreddies, and St. Hubert poutine sauce.

4th Annual Spot Prawn Festival, Vancouver BC

2010-05-09T09:30:00.008-04:00

Spot Prawn FEVER!!

The 4th Annual Spot Prawn Festival kicked off yesterday during a gorgeous afternoon at Vancouver's False Creek Fishermen's Wharf.

Spot prawns are the sweetest prawn you'll ever eat, sustainably harvested from local British Columbia waters, available for only a short 6-8 week season every year.

I was introduced to these prized local delicacies during my visit last year and loved them so much I ate them at least a dozen times! This year, I made sure to time my visit to coincide with the lively season opener.

We arrived 15 minutes before the event began and quickly got in line for the spot prawn tastings:

$10 per plate for 4 spot prawns with 'accompaniments' and a piece of bread:

The food was dished out rather efficiently via assembly line, expertly manned by students from the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. The spot prawns were prepared very simply this year to showcase their natural sweetness (in prior years, local restaurants set up individual tasting stations which offered more elaborate spot prawn dishes).

Spot prawns simply boiled in saltwater:

Chilled spot prawns, poached in a court boullion:

3 saucy accompaniments, nam jim Thai sauce, cocktail sauce, and mango salsa:

And delicious pizza bianca bread from Terra Breads:

YUM! And don't forget to suck the heads!

Afterwards we sampled wines from the Okanagan's Prospect Winery:

Microbrew tastings from Granville Island Brewing:

Live entertainment from local blues-rock band, Terminal Station:

A loud horn announced the much anticipated arrival of the first catch of the season:

Our favorite spot prawn fishermen, Steve Johansen and Frank Keitsch from Organic Ocean:

For more interesting facts about spot prawns, check out my post from last season which includes an interview with Steve and Frank and features a 6 course spot prawn tasting menu I had at C Restaurant.

WHERE TO BUY
You can purchase live spot prawns from Organic Ocean at False Creek Fishermen's Wharf after 1pm daily for $12/lb for the duration of spot prawn season.

LEARN TO COOK
Every Wednesday during the month of May, the Dirty Apron Cooking School is offering spot prawn classes featuring Chef Nico Schuermans of Chambar/Cafe Medina. Dishes will include a spot prawn ceviche, spot prawn bisque and spiced butter poached spot prawns.
$145 per person

WHERE TO EAT
Dozens of local restaurants will be featuring spot prawns on their menus throughout the season including:

REFUEL
BC Spot Prawn Boil
Every Saturday this month starting May 8th
Early seating: 6 - 8pm
Late seating: 8:30 -10:30pm

$65 per person

MAENAM
Menu will feature 8 Thai-influenced spot prawn dishes throughout the season.

C RESTAURANT
5 course spot prawn tasting menu for one week only! Now thru Sat May 15th.

For the remainder of spot prawn season, a tasting menu may be available on special request (ask when booking your reservation).

VIJ'S
Spot prawns featured on the menu all year round.

GO FISH!
Spot prawn daily specials throughout the season.

PROVENCE MARINASIDE
Chef's menu featuring spot prawns

DB BISTRO MODERNE
Bouillabaisse Provencal featuring BC spot prawns

Home Sweet Home

2010-05-07T23:46:00.004-04:00

I'm back in my hometown of Vancouver for a couple days before embarking on a cruise to Alaska with my family. Feeling slightly jet-lagged but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying some Chinese 'comfort food' with my parents.

Nancy Wonton House

Yesterday I tried 'shui kau' dumplings for the first time at Nancy Wonton House. Shui Kau (or sui kau) are like 'wonton on steroids', stuffed with shrimp, pork, mushrooms, water chestnuts in a golden-hued wrapper:

We also ordered some chow mein (fried egg noodles) with beef & broccoli. I always try to eat chow mein (thin Cantonese egg noodles, not the 'East meets West' rice dish that masquerades as chicken chow mein in certain areas of the US) whenever I'm in Vancouver because it's impossible to find in New Jersey where 'lo mein' dominates Chinese-American take-out menus. There was an slight upcharge for substituting broccoli for the generic vegetable (ie. bok choy) that normally comes with it, but my dad likes to know exactly what vegetable he's getting:

Lean pork with century egg congee (Kris' favorite):

The congee was accompanied by Chinese donuts - warm, slightly crispy, but tender inside:

Finally, braised bean curd on rice (a bargain at $5.95):

Well, I know I'm back in Vancouver when 'assorted beef guts' is a regular menu item:

And I totally know I'm back in Canada when I hear Gowan playing on the radio (those darn Canadian content rules) but I digress... my mom enjoyed the food so much she said she wanted to go back for Mother's Day.

Western Lake Chinese Seafood Restaurant

This morning, we made an effort to arrive bright and early at Western Lake for dim sum and still found it mobbed at 10 am. We tried going there yesterday around noon but left after waiting for almost half an hour. Normally, you'll find my parents at Golden Harvest for dim sum, but we were determined to find out whether Western Lake was worth all the hype. My mom says you have to be aggressive when trying to get a table, otherwise you'll just be ignored and other guests who arrive after you will be seated before you. If you happen to have a Cantonese-speaking person in your party, have them get the number from the hostess, otherwise they might give you an imaginary number that never gets called (like the number they gave my non-Asian husband yesterday). Today, I had my tough-as-nails Chinese mother harass the hostess every few minutes and she managed to get us seated after only 10 minutes.

At Western Lake, you mark what items you want on a checklist (rather than waiting for old-school steam carts to come around). All dim sum dishes ranged from $2.75 - $4.95.

#2 Steamed Prawn Dumplings (har gow):

#3 Steamed Shui Mai Dumplings:

#11 Steamed Beef Tripe & Beef Tendons:

#18 Steamed Mini Sticky Rice Wraps with Dried Scallops:

#31 Pan Fried Chive Dumplings:

#32 Deep Fried Prawn Spring Rolls:

#34 Pan Fried Eggplant with Shrimp Paste:

#39 Baked B.B.Q. Pork Pastries

We found all the dim sum at Western Lake to be of high quality and everything was served piping hot. The shui mai were some of the biggest and juiciest I've had. Kris was mighty impressed with the size of the stuffed eggplant but a little disappointed that they didn't have wu gok (deep fried taro turnovers). Despite a good experience overall, I highly doubt Western Lake will replace Golden Harvest as my parent's standard dim sum restaurant. My mom said that she doesn't feel like fighting with crowds whenever she wants to have dim sum, plus my dad enjoys the preferential treatment and the quieter environment of Golden Harvest. But it's always fun to change things up once in a while.

Nancy Wonton House
5257 Victoria Dr
Vancouver, BC V5P 3V4
Tel: (604) 327-1862

Western Lake Chinese Seafood Restaurant
4989 Victoria Dr
Vancouver, BC V5P 3T7
Tel: (604) 321-6862

Golden Harvest
4818 Main Street
Vancouver, BC V5V 3R8

Tel: (604) 321-4448

Tomorrow, we're headed to the 4th Annual Spot Prawn Festival kickoff, from 12 - 3pm at False Creek Fisherman's Wharf. See you there!

Ramps 101

2010-05-03T16:31:00.001-04:00

Y-A-Y for RAMPS!

Found some at my local Wegmans yesterday for $12.99/lb! I'd been searching for them locally in New Jersey this year instead of making the 60+ mile trip to NYC's Union Square Greenmarket (increasing my carbon footprint by travelling so far would defeat the purpose of trying to 'eat local') and was stunned to find them at my regular supermarket for such a good price.

I'd also asked my mother-in-law Barbara to be on the lookout for ramps - she'd been scanning her local farmers markets and grocery stores in Bucks County, PA for the last couple weeks. And she too found wild ramps at her local Wegmans for $12.99/lb. But when she called me to report her exciting find, she sheepishly admitted that she didn't buy any because she didn't have the faintest idea what to do with them. So I thought I'd do a quick primer for her so she can go back and get some before the short season is over.

How to Prepare Ramps

1. Give them a good rinse to get off all the dirt:

2. Cut off the bulb and roots:

3. Peel off the slimy membrane from the stem:

4. Rinse them again to remove any leftover dirt and membrane on the stems:

5. Give them a spin in a salad spinner (or towel them off):

Clean, dry and ready to use!

Ramps have a distinctive odor when raw but don't let that scare you off, they are surprisingly mild when cooked, possessing a sweet scallion-y flavor with a hint of garlic (similar to garlic chives). Try substituting ramps in recipes that call for leeks, scallions, or onions.

The easiest and best way to enjoy ramps is grilled. Simply toss whole ramps in some extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill until lightly charred. Grilling brings out their natural sweetness and makes them utterly irresistible.

Another easy way to enjoy ramps is in scrambled eggs. Lightly sauté chopped ramps (stems and leaves) in butter over medium heat for 2 minutes. Lower the heat to low and add beaten eggs. Cook over low heat, pushing eggs around gently with a spatula to form 'curds'. Right before the curds are set, stir in some shredded gruyere or fontina cheese.

Or if you are watching your cholesterol, try an egg white 'scramble' with ramps and asiago cheese (my breakfast this morning):

For more ideas on how to enjoy this seasonal delight, check out my ramp cooking marathon from last year.

Now go get your ramp on, Barbara!

Organic Biscotti for Earth Day

2010-04-22T09:45:00.001-04:00

Long before organic was trendy, or 'slow food' even existed, my friend Val was extolling the virtues of organic and whole unprocessed foods to anyone who cared to listen. She was environmentally conscious in every way, the only person I knew back then who made the effort to recycle kitchen waste into a large compost pile in the backyard (and yes, it was often smelly). Many of my earliest taste memories were experienced at Val's house, where I spent many afternoons with her daughter Palma (still one of my best friends to this day). It's where I first tried organic yogurt (so rich and flavorful it didn't even need the 'fruit on the bottom'), learned what REAL cheese tasted like (no, it doesn't come in individually wrapped orange squares), tasted caraway seed for the first time (is this why I'm so obsessed with Irish soda bread?), was fooled into thinking carob was chocolate (pretty cool to a nine year old), and where I would ruin my dinner filling up on rye crispbread slathered with sweet local butter (a revelation, especially when you were used to margarine from a tub and wonderbread). They also had their milk delivered - creamy local organic milk, housed in smooth glass bottles, lined up neatly on their doorstep. It was a brand new world every time I stepped foot into their house and I often found myself overstaying my visit, hoping that if I hung around long enough, they'd agree to adopt me.

I can't even begin to thank Val and her family for all those happy memories. Those experiences shaped my life in so many positive ways (not only foodwise, though it's probably why I became a foodie...did I mention that they also introduced me to sushi?) Through example, Val's family taught me to always to respect the earth, never to be wasteful or take things for granted, and that ultimately, life is not about material possessions, but rather, the people you love and hold dear.

Many years have past since those childhood afternoons, but I still keep in close touch with Val and her family. Decades later, I still get that feeling of wonderment whenever I visit Val's home (different house, but same magical aura). And she's still introducing me to new taste experiences. On our last visit to Vancouver we met up for an early dinner at Aphrodite's Cafe, a neighborhood eatery/pie shop that specializes in organic, seasonal, and eco-friendly comfort food.

Clockwise from top left: 'Portobello Belle' thin crust pizza; vegetable pot pie; spinach, apple & pecan salad; apple & cheddar sandwich with meadow side salad; ricotta cheesecake with fruit coulis; strawberry rhubarb pie.

When I told Val that I blog about food, she generously offered to share her recipe for organic Biscotti all'Anice (Anise Biscuits). Val swears her biscotti are virtually identical to her Italian mother-in-law's secret recipe from Abruzzo. I should warn you that these are not the giant biscotti 'on steriods' you would typically find in coffee shops. These petit old-world Italian biscotti are completely unadorned (no chocolate coatings or crazy ingredients) allowing you to appreciate the simple flavor and tender buttery crumb. A hint of sweet licoricey anise makes these truly addictive!

I've been saving Val's delicious organic recipe for Earth Day, but trust me, you'll want to make these more than once a year. Enjoy!

VAL'S BISCOTTI ALL'ANICE
(makes 24 big ones or 36 smaller ones)

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar (organic)
1/2 cup butter (organic unsalted)
2 large eggs (organic, free range)
1 egg, separated (organic, free range)
1 Tbsp anise seeds, lightly crushed with a mortar & pestle
1 Tbsp baking powder (organic)
3 cups unbleached flour (organic)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp milk (organic)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream sugar and butter till fluffy; beat in the 2 whole eggs, 1 egg white and anise seeds till blended.
Stir together flour, baking powder and salt.
Blend flour mixture into egg mixture.
On floured surface (or in a large bowl), knead dough 1 minute or till smooth.
Divide dough in half.
On greased baking sheets, form dough into 2 long, flat loaves, 3/4" thick, 2" wide and 14" long.
Beat egg yolk with milk; brush over top and sides of loaves.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or till pick comes out clean.
Cool slightly. Cut loaf diagonally into 3/4" wide slices. Lay slices on sides on a baking sheet and bake 5 - 10 minutes, turning over once, till golden and lightly toasted.
Cool on racks.

Serve with coffee (great for dunking) or tea.

Phyllis' Notes:
I have dark coated non-stick baking sheets so I lined them with greased parchment paper so the bottoms wouldn't burn. Since I couldn't cut directly on the baking sheet, I used the parchment paper to gently transfer the loaves to a wooden cutting board. I cut the loaves when they were still warm into 5/8" vertical slices (totally forgetting to slice diagonally!) resulting in approximately 36 petit biscotti (minus the two I ate before the second baking). During the second bake, I toasted the slices for about 5-7 minutes on each side but they didn't get much darker in color, resulting in an emergency phonecall to Val. She said the recipe is pretty forgiving and to "play around with them to find the size you like, and the level of doneness". Toast them for a few minutes longer if you want them extra hard for dunking.

How are you celebrating Earth Day 2010? For more ways to get involved, check out: http://www.earthday.org/

First Time Tiramisu

2010-04-20T17:15:00.005-04:00

The first tiramisu I ever made. Looks yummy, right?

I brought it over for Easter dinner at my in-laws' house a couple weeks ago (and of course I forgot my camera that day so I had to get my brother-in-law Kevin to email me his photos - thanks Kev!)

Also a big thank you to our friend Bob for recommending his favorite tiramisu recipe (from Cooks Illustrated). I found the same recipe online, Tiramisu Without Raw Eggs, at America's Test Kitchen (requires free registration). There's also a version with the traditional raw eggs, but I chose the cooked egg version since I was feeding it to a crowd.

Making the tiramisu was very straightforward but required me to finally take my brand new KitchenAid mixer out of the box after 9 long years (I know, the SHAME). I also experienced some sticker shock when shopping for ingredients - 1 1/2 pounds of mascarpone cheese is expensive! But this recipe feeds a huge crowd, making 10-12 generous servings. I also followed Bob's advice and substituted Kahlua for the rum (but you might want to stick with the rum if you prefer more of an alcoholic 'kick'). And I topped it off with both cocoa powder and chocolate shavings (you can never have too much chocolate).

I probably could have divided the mascarpone filling a little more evenly to get perfect-looking layers, but the tiramisu sliced up beautifully, with very clean-looking edges, just like what you would get at an Italian restaurant. The end result garnered a lot of 'oohs' and 'ahhs'. And the taste? A-MA-ZING! Not too shabby for my first time.

Friday foodie news...

2010-04-16T12:22:00.002-04:00

The 2010 International Food Blogger Conference is taking place in Seattle from August 27th - 29th. This year's keynote speaker is James Oseland, editor-in-chief of Saveur Magazine (Top Chef fans also know him as a judge on Top Chef Masters). Registration will be open to the public starting this Monday, August 19th. The $350 ticket price sounds steep but apparently the generous goodie bag will make it worthwhile. There's also a special room rate being offered by the host hotel, Hotel Monaco.

And for all you poutine fans out there, Smoke's Poutinerie and Major League Eating are hosting the first World Poutine Eating Championship in Toronto on Saturday, May 22nd. Despite the recent controversy about the contest being closed to Quebec participants (Quebec is the birthplace of poutine, afterall) I think it'll still be a fun time. I met Ryan Smolkin (owner of Smoke's Poutinerie) in Drummondville, QC last year (we were both there to attend the Festival de la Poutine) and he seems to take his poutine very seriously, taking the trouble to import authentic squeaky cheese curds from Quebec for his 20 varieties of poutine.

Professional registration for the championship is now closed but they are still accepting entries for amateurs. Just submit your "I once ate..." or "I love poutine so much..." story here and Smoke's Poutinerie will select 3 amateurs to compete with the pros. You have till May 15th to enter and you must be 18 years old and a resident of Canada (excluding Quebec). Pity I'll be in Vancouver on May 22nd, I think I'd be a shoe-in for this contest (see my posts for 12 poutine in 12 days & Poutine-Palooza: Festival de la Poutine). I guess there's always next year :)

Minestrone For Allergy Sufferers...

2010-04-14T16:45:00.004-04:00

Strange that I'm making a hearty soup during the springtime. But while most people are outdoors enjoying the warmer weather, I'm stuck inside, battling seasonal allergies (just call me the 'bubble girl'). I was craving something warm, comforting, and soul-satisfying...and minestrone fit the bill. Chock-full of vegetables, beans and pasta, it would definitely satisfy my voracious appetite (could sneezing a thousand times a day be burning a ton of calories?)

Once upon a time I wouldn't have dreamed of making soup from scratch. Flashback to my 9 year old self... as a latchkey kid, I would often heat up a can of Campbell's chunky soup when I got home from school. On rainy weekends indoors, I watched cooking shows on PBS, scoffing at the chefs (notably Julia Child) who would go through the trouble of making soup from scratch. I wondered whether Julia knew about my beloved chunky soup in a can.

Obviously a lot has changed since then. I finally realized that you can't get that homemade slow- simmered taste from canned soup. So despite my itchy eyes, runny nose, and labored breathing, I happily peeled, diced, stirred, caramelized, and simmered ingredients for hours last night. And you know what? It was all worth it.

MINESTRONE FOR ALL SEASONS
(adapted from Winter Minestrone, Gourmet Magazine Jan 2009)
printable version
Serves 4-6
Time required: 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients:
2 oz chopped pancetta
1 1/2 red onions, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 15 oz can of Italian style diced tomatoes (w/ basil, garlic, oregano)
6 cups of low sodium chicken broth
1 lb of escarole, washed thoroughly and roughly chopped
1 15 oz can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 piece parmesan rind
8 oz (1/2 box) of ditalini pasta (or similar sized pasta)
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine pancetta, red onions, celery, and carrots in extra virgin olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Season with salt and black pepper. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in garlic. Continue to cook over medium heat for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables start to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the saucepan.

In the meantime, cook ditalini pasta according to instructions on the box. Drain and toss with some olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking together. Set aside.

Push softened vegetables to the side of the saucepan and add tomato paste. Cook for 3-4 minutes, letting tomato paste slightly caramelize (be careful not to let it burn). Stir tomato paste into vegetables and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add canned tomatoes and chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the saucepan. Bring to a boil, add in 1/2 of escarole and parmegianno reggiano rind and reduce to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.

Add remaining escarole and cannellini beans, cook for another 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adding additional salt and pepper as needed. Remove parmesan rind. Stir in cooked ditalini right before serving.

Serve with a crusty piece of bread. Enjoy!

p.s. Looks like I'm not the only one making soup this week - for more springtime soup inspiration, check out Justin's curried lentil soup at Justcook nyc.

FOOD FACE

2010-04-11T09:40:00.002-04:00

Got a picky eater at home? Or someone who likes to play with their food?

FOOD FACE was too cute to pass up, just bought two of them for my nieces.

You can find it online here.

Durian for Dummies

2010-03-31T18:22:00.015-04:00

First off, let me clarify that it's us (Kris and I) who are the 'dummies' here. Although this isn't the first time we've tried durian, it's the first whole durian that we've ever brought home (which is nothing short of a miracle given that a few years ago Kris wouldn't even let me come near him after I ate durian flavor ice cream). And though I'm no stranger to consuming weird food, I've always been intimidated by the durian's seemingly impenetrable shell. So what made Kris finally welcome this notoriously stinky fruit into our house? His highly competitive nature, of course!

We've been having so much fun coming up with entries for Tangled Noodle and Savor the Thyme's Eating Your Words Challenge that we decided to enter AGAIN. Yeah, I know...obnoxious, right? But you have to understand how big a fan I am of the celebrity guest judge, Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods! I mean he's like my IDOL (hey, did I mention that it's Weird Food Wednesday?!) Plus there are no restrictions (at least not currently) as to how many times we can enter. And like any other competition, Kris really wants to win (remember when we ate a record breaking amount of ice cream for the Ice Cream Social last year because Kris thought it was an all-you-can-eat competition?) Maybe they'll be a prize for the person who submits the most entries (LOL).

I wanted to tailor this submission specificially for Zimmern, so I started brainstorming about what I could make with bizarre foods...
maybe spell C-R-U-N-C-H-Y with crickets? Write A-W-F-U-L with offal? But I didn't necessarily want it to be a gross-out kind of thing. Once again, my brilliant hubby came to the rescue - "Let's do something with durian!" Ah...the durian, otherwise known as the 'King of Fruit'. How apropros...it's the one thing Andrew Zimmern has not been able to stomach (this from the guy who's eaten moose nose jelly and giant beetle larvae with relative ease). An entry showcasing durian, Zimmern's evil archnemesis, is bound to get his attention!

After several rounds of hi-fiving my husband, reality set in. I've never made anything with durian before, let alone even know how to open one! Kris suggested we hit it with an ax and if that doesn't work he'll take out the chainsaw. Luckily my parents, lifelong durian enthusiasts, were only a phone call away. My mom was pretty excited at the prospect of her only daughter buying her very first durian (awww...) but said to call back after we'd purchased a frozen one. "Frozen?! How many days does it take to thaw?" "Only a couple," replied my mom," but make sure you put it by the heater." Hmmm... this posed yet another problem - the thought of keeping a smelly durian inside the house while it thaws is Kris' worst nightmare. Luckily the spirit of competition prevailed and we set out to get a frozen durian from the local Asian food market.

When we got to the market, I didn't know the first thing about picking a durian so I chose a medium size specimen that had a tiny little crack in it. I figure that the split would be a good starting point for opening it.

Here's our 6 lb baby, thawing out in our sunroom (oh man, will my sunroom forever smell like durian?):

There are several varieties of durian but according to my dad, most of the ones you'll find in North America have been imported from Thailand, and have been bred to produce a smaller seed-to-flesh ratio. This durian is the Morn Thong (a.k.a. golden pillow or butter almond) variety from Thailand:

When I called my parents to give them a progress report, my dad immediately asked about the shape of the durian. He says that when selecting a durian, he ignores the symmetrical-looking specimens and always picks one that is bulging out on one side (a sign that there's a large pod of durian meat inside). My durian was clearly protruding out in one area - woohoo! My dad said that section will undoubtedly contain the largest pod with the sweetest meat (he was right). He also asked whether the durian still looked 'fresh' - was there still a slight tinge of green on the shell? Were the spikes and stem intact and in good condition? Yes and yes (although you'll notice some busted spikes in my photo but those injuries were sustained while rolling around in our trunk during the drive home). Then my mom got on the phone to ask whether the skin had "any visible cracks in it?" Yes again! (I guess this means I'm a 'natural' at selecting durian). My mom says you should always look for one with a small crack because it means the durian ripened successfully before it was frozen, but never pick one that has splits all over because it means it's probably past its prime.

Over the next couple days, the skin between the spikes became more supple and the odor intensified. This is a good sign according to my father - a durian that doesn't stink is most certainly a dud. To me, the ripening durian smelled wonderfully sweet and tropical, reminding me of Malaysia. To Kris, it smelled like rotting fruit but at least he wasn't disgusted about it (yet).

By the second day, hairline cracks were beginning to appear in the shell, so I gently helped them along by applying gentle pressure with my fingernail from the stem to the base. See how the cracks have formed a star-like pattern on the base?

And I couldn't resist prying open one of the cracks and deeply inhaling the fragrance within (Kris referred to it as the 'evil within', saying it looked like some kind of alien creature inside):

OPENING TIME!!

Kris in his durian protective wear:

Gently pulling the sections apart with his bare hands:

The durian flesh easily fell out of the pods, but Kris used a spoon because he didn't want to touch the 'alien babies' with his bare hands:

Here's that sweet luscious piece my dad was talking about:

The seed separates easily from the soft creamy pulp:

As I was rolling up my sleeves to dig in, Kris quickly disappeared to another part of the house to hide out. The odor had reached an unbearable level for him so he was steering clear of the kitchen until I was done with my experimentation.

After polishing off that choice piece of durian (buttery, creamy, uber-sweet...how could anyone not enjoy something known as the 'butter almond'?), I set a few fleshy segments aside for my contest entry, but the remainder went into a plastic storage container, which I then sealed inside 2 heavy-duty freezer bags before placing it inside another storage container. For some additional insurance, I surrounded the container with several boxes of baking soda before placing it inside my basement mini-fridge.

To dispose of the durian shell, I wrapped it up in newspaper, tied it up in several layers of plastic grocery bags and put it outside in a tightly covered garbage can. Odor contained!

My next challenge was to make something palatable enough to convince Mr. Zimmern to give durian another try. In Vancouver last year, I tried a delicious durian sticky rice from Phnom Penh (a local Cambodian restaurant and popular foodie destination). Sticky rice was mixed with tiny pieces of durian, topped with quivering spoonfuls of luscious durian pudding and then smothered in rich coconut milk. Even Kris admited that the taste was "tolerable".

So with that dessert as my inspiration...this is what I came up with...

Black Sticky Rice Pudding with Durian Custard & Durian Cookie Letters:
A dessert for durian haters (and the uninitiated)

Every component of this dessert has some form of durian in it. The rice pudding and the custard contain pureed fresh durian. The cookies have been flavored with ground durian chips and durian extract. Coconut milk and pandan essence are perfect complements, calming the intense flavor of durian. And the unmilled black glutinous rice provides a chewy and colorful contrast to the golden pillowy custard, while the cookies add a nice crunch. You can find all of the specialty ingredients (including the durian) at your local Asian food market. I hope you'll try it :)

Durian Custard

Ingredients:
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup canned coconut milk (stir can to mix the heavier cream with the thinner liquid underneath)
3/4 cup fresh durian pulp
1 egg
3 egg yolks
2 1/2 Tbsps superfine sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Boil water for the bain-marie/water bath.

Puree durian pulp with coconut milk in a food processor. Set aside, reserving 1/4 cup of the resulting puree for the black sticky rice pudding.

Beat egg yolks and egg. Add in evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, sugar, and durian puree. Whisk till blended. Strain custard mixture by pouring through a fine-mesh sieve into another bowl.

Set up water bath - I placed a 1 quart-sized oval Corningware dish inside a rectangular 9 x 13 glass casserole. Pour custard into the inner baking dish. Cover custard tightly with aluminum foil. Carefully pour hot water into the outer casserole until it reaches halfway up the inner baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45- 50 minutes until the middle is set (will still wiggle slightly). Let cool.

To serve, use a large serving spoon to carefully scoop up generous slices of custard. Serve over black sticky rice pudding or enjoy on its own!

Black Sticky Rice Pudding

Ingredients:
1 cup black glutinous rice*
1 3/4 cups water, plus water for soaking rice
1 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp pandan extract
pinch of salt
1/4 cup of reserved durian/coconut milk puree (from custard recipe above)

Directions:
Pick through rice to remove any tiny pebbles. Wash rice a couple times to remove grit and loose husks. Soak rice for 8 hours (helps to plump it up).

Drain rice and add to a saucepan with 1 3/4 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cover. Cook for 35-45 minutes until water is absorbed and rice is cooked through (will retain a chewy texture). Alternatively you can use a rice cooker with the same proportion of rice to water.

In another saucepan, combine light coconut milk, white sugar, brown sugar, pandan extract, salt and durian/coconut milk puree. Bring to a boil and reduce heat immediately. Stir in cooked sticky rice. Simmer at low heat, stirring frequently until most of the liquid has been absorbed. The sticky rice pudding can be served warm or cold.

*Note: make sure you use black glutinous rice and not 'forbidden rice' or black Chinese rice (neither are glutinous)

Durian Letter Cookies

I was initially planning on making durian icing to write my letters. But Kris came across a bag of durian chips at the Asian food market and suggested I grind them up and make cookies out of them.

Imagine our surprise when we tasted them - no smell or durian flavor whatsoever and they weren't even sweet!

The bag listed only 3 ingredients - durian (97.5%), salt and vegetable oil, so despite the lack of pungency, these chips were legit. Don't get me wrong, the durian chips were quite delicious, even addictive, reminding us of taro or cassava chips. But to make up for the lack of flavor, I threw in some durian extract. And yes, I cheated a bit with packaged cookie dough - I just didn't see the point in making an entire batch of dough and wasting a ton of flour and butter to make a few letters.

Ingredients:
5 oz of refrigerated sugar cookie dough (about 1/3rd of a package)
1 oz (a large handful) of durian chips
1/2 tsp of durian extract
1 -2 Tbsp water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Process durian chips in a food processor till finely ground.

Knead the ground durian chips into the sugar cookie dough until well incorporated. Add in durian extract and knead some more till evenly distributed. The dough should be getting soft at this point. Transfer dough to a small bowl and add in 1-2 tablespoons of water, continuing to knead until it becomes soft enough for piping.

Place dough into a quart sized storage bag (use a good quality freezer bag so the sides don't burst when piping). Snip a tiny hole in the corner (no icing tip needed, just a steady hand) and pipe thin letters on to the parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 3-4 minutes until done (watch them carefully, they go from being uncooked to being burnt very quickly).

Use letters to decorate your sticky rice. Alternatively, you could bake these up as tuiles (thin crisp cookies) and tuck them into your dessert.

So after all of this, has Kris finally become a durian convert?

Sadly, no.

He claims that he's too emotionally scarred from his first few encounters to ever enjoy it. The smell alone psychs him out and he can't seem to get past it.

However, I still consider this a personal victory because Kris was able to eat a few spoonfuls of the dessert without retching. He says this dessert is a good place to start for beginners ("start with the cookie..then try the sticky rice, and finally the custard"). And the next thing you know, you'll graduate to eating the real fruit. So Mr. Zimmern, won't you give durian another try?

And just in case anyone was wondering, 5 baking soda boxes were no match for the formidable durian. Over a 24 hour period, the smell inevitably crept out, layer by layer, until it had completely commandeered my poor little mini-fridge!

4/08/10 Update: Well, we didn't win (no regrets, I'm still glad we opened our first durian), but our other entry, Spelling with Sushi, got an honorable mention! Be sure to check out Part I and Part II of the challenge roundup, as well as the winning entry here.

Spelling with Sushi

2010-03-29T09:06:00.007-04:00

A couple days after I made my chocolate swirl bark for Tangled Noodle & Savor the Thyme's Eating Your Words 2010 Challenge, I found out that Andrew Zimmern was judging (!!!!!) and decided to increase my chances of becoming a finalist by submitting another entry.

I also wanted to raise the level of difficulty because I had a feeling there was going to be some serious competition this year. Kris actually came up with the idea for "spelling with sushi", but of course he was leaving 100% of the execution up to his darling wife (which is the only reason he's willing to share the credit with me).

Over the years I've become quite proficient at making sushi at home (came out of necessity when I first moved to a small town and the only place to get sushi was Mr.China, a local Chinese take-out place), but spelling with sushi? The pressure was definitely on.

I decided the easiest way to do this was to stick with sushi that I was already comfortable making - california rolls, tamago, inari, and vegetable rolls (no raw fish because hubby gets squeamish around it and it's difficult to find sushi-grade fish where I live).

For the rice, I use this no fail recipe to make perfectly seasoned sushi rice (but I use my trusty rice cooker instead of a pot, and I don't always use the kelp). The recipe will make a large quantity of rice, enough to make around 8 maki rolls. I alternate between Nishiki and Kokuho Rose brands of sushi rice, depending what I can find in the supermarket, but for this challenge I used Nishiki. And any decent brand of nori will do (today I used Takaokaya yakinori). You will need a bamboo sushi mat, which I always wrap tightly with plastic wrap so nothing sticks to it (and for easy cleanup). You'll need to moisten your fingers while working with the rice (the rice gets sticky) so fill a small bowl with water and add in a splash of rice vinegar. And use a moistened sharp knife for making clean cuts. Here is a good video for making a basic maki roll. Give yourself lots of time to prepare the rice and ingredients and to practice your rolling technique, especially if you are serving the sushi to guests. Rolling sushi takes practice but don't give up - if I can do it, anyone can!

For the first 'letter' I made an oshinko maki roll with julienned takuan (neon yellow pickled daikon) as the primary filling. I supersized the filling to ensure I would have a large enough area to 'write' my letter. After cutting up the rolls and selecting the prettiest and roundest piece, I individually inserted pieces of julienned red bell pepper to form an "S" (using a wooden skewer to wiggle in 'entry points' for the bell pepper).

Next I stuffed an inari pouch with sushi rice (careful, the pouch is fragile and could break if overstuffed) and used slivers of shiitake mushrooms to spell a "U" on top. You can find canned inari pouches at Asian supermarkets or the ethnic aisle of a well-stocked supermarket.

The next roll is an 'inside-out California roll' (seaweed on the inside, rice on the outside). It looks fancy but is not difficult to do - check out this video for direction. The primary filling is shredded imitation crab stick and the 'S' is spelled with thin slivers of strategically placed seedless cucumber (utilizing my wooden skewer 'wiggle technique' again). I sprinkled the rice with black sesame seeds for added flavor and crunch and topped the roll with thin slices of buttery avocado.

I also wanted to include some nigiri sushi but since I wasn't using raw fish, I thought I'd make some crowd-pleasing tamago (sweet egg omelette). Normally when I make tamago at home I don't worry too much about the aesthetics because only hubby and I will see it. But this time I had to make it look as pretty as the restaurant versions. Here is the old standy recipe I use (time-saving tip: use instant dashi granules to make the dashi stock instead of making it from scratch). And you don't need a special tamago pan, only took me a couple tries to get an unblistered omelette using a regular non-stick frying pan. With a small knife I freehand cut an 'H' out of the tamago and placed it on top of some hand formed seasoned rice, securing it with a thin strip of nori.

Was super relieved to get to the last letter, which only required cutting an "I" out of some kani (imitation crab stick) and placing it on top of some rice secured with nori.

Lastly, I assembled the sushi letters on a pretty platter, added some pickled ginger and wasabi and voilà...SPELLING WITH SUSHI!

4/08/10 Update: Well, we didn't win, but our Spelling with Sushi got an honorable mention! Be sure to check out Part I and Part II of the challenge roundup, as well as the winning entry here.

Chocolate that speaks to you...

2010-03-26T09:10:00.003-04:00

Fellow food bloggers Tangled Noodle and Savor the Thyme are once again hosting the much anticipated Eating Your Words Challenge.

You have until March 31st to enter and the prize for this year's challenge is an aebleskiver pan! Now if the promise of warm aebleskivers for breakfast hasn't already got you playing with your food, perhaps the thought of a celebrity judge (Andrew Zimmern!!!) gazing upon your creation will get those creative juices flowing.

I wanted to come up with an entry that used ingredients I already had in the pantry. Then I remembered the chocolate mint bark that Justin from Justcook nyc recently made. Perfect - I always seem to have leftover chocolate chips around, plus chocolate bark is so easy that you don't even need a recipe.

Just melt some white and dark chocolate chips separately, pour the dark chocolate on some parchment paper and before it begins to dry, pour the melted white chocolate on top, using a wooden skewer to swirl the colors together (or in my case, write a word).

Thanks for the inspiration, Justin! I'll make you some aebleskivers or takoyaki if I win :)

Vegan Irish Soda Scones

2010-03-15T14:25:00.004-04:00

Last year around this time, after I baked a whopping 9 loaves of Irish soda bread, my friend Heather asked me whether I could help her fix a recipe for vegan Irish soda scones she had gotten from one of her vegetarian magazines. She'd been looking forward to finally trying a vegan version of Irish soda bread, only to be disappointed by the dense hockey pucks made by that recipe.

Rather than try to doctor a crappy recipe, I thought a better starting point would be the winning recipe from last year's baking marathon, Irene Sullivan's Irish Soda Bread. To make it vegan, I followed online instructions to make a vegan version of buttermilk by curdling soy milk with vinegar, replaced the stick of butter with vegan buttery spread, and substituted the eggs with some Ener-G egg replacer. Instead of making one loaf of bread, I formed the dough into 8 healthy-sized 'scones' per Heather's request. And no, these babies weren't made using the traditional scone technique, where cold butter is painstakingly cut into the flour until the mixture resembles course crumbs. When it comes to baking, I prefer to use the 'throw everything in the bowl and mix' method!

But how good could these taste without real buttermilk, eggs or butter?

"Pretty darn good!" says hubby Kris.

Vegan Irish Soda Scones (adapted from Irene Sullivan’s Irish Soda Bread)
Printable Version

Servings: 8 healthy-sized scones

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder (double acting)
1 cup vanilla soy milk
2 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
4 oz or 1 stick of vegan butter (ie. Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
3 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
4 Tablespoons warm water
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon caraway seeds
1 cup (about 5 oz) of currants

Equipment: Baking sheet pan or cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Position rack in the center of the oven.

Make vegan buttermilk by mixing soy milk with vinegar. Let mixture stand for a few minutes until it curdles.

Soften vegan butter by microwaving for 8-10 seconds. Don’t over microwave; you want it softened, not melted. Set aside.

Combine all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder) in a large mixing bowl. Stir with a fork to quickly distribute ingredients. Set aside.

Prepare Ener-G egg replacer by mixing with warm water (equivalent to 2 eggs).

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add vegan buttermilk, softened vegan butter, Ener-G egg replacer, vegetable oil, caraway seeds and currants. Mix everything with your hands until ingredients are evenly distributed and moistened (about 2-3 minutes). Do not over mix. Batter will be slightly wet. Drop 8 rounded portions of the batter on to prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees F. Don’t worry if some of the scones expand while baking and merge with each other, they will break apart easily later on. Test doneness by inserting a toothpick – it should come out clean.

Serve warm with strawberry preserves and vegan buttery spread.

Happy St. Patrick's Day :)
ps. This is my submission to The Daily Spud's Paddy's Day Food Parade

It's Shamrock Shake time!

2010-03-09T13:31:00.002-05:00

Get 'em while they're still here!

Or perhaps you'd prefer a Guinness shamrock? ;)

Guest Post: Fleur de Sel Brownie

2010-02-24T10:00:00.005-05:00

My first guest post ever. And what an honor that it's for my good friend Kenny from Chic Eats, on his birthday :)

I'll keep it short and sweet...having recently determined that Kenny likes a good brownie, I thought I'd share my favorite treat from the past year, 'Le brownie Fleur de Sel' from Montreal's juliette & chocolat.

Mmmmm...moist chocolatey decadence dripping with creamy buttery caramel sauce.

Kenny, I hope your birthday is every bit as sweet and indulgent as this brownie!

xoxo
Phyllis

Chinese New Year in NYC's Chinatown...

2010-02-21T16:30:00.006-05:00

Kris and I stopped by NYC's Chinatown for some dim sum yesterday and on our way to the restaurant we encountered over a dozen colorful lion dances performed by local kung fu clubs.

Shop owners hang lettuce and red envelopes above their storefront so the good luck lions will visit and perform the traditional 'eating of the greens' ceremony.

This lion got a mouthful (handful?) of lettuce and oranges before spitting them out:

Watch out for flying fruit! I almost got nailed by a wayward orange, but apparently that's good luck.

We also saw a few dragons wind their way down the streets of Chinatown:

A short clip of the lion and dragon dances we saw yesterday:

And although we missed the firecracker ceremony last weekend, we easily made our own mischief with a couple of boxes of party snap noisemakers (yes we have the maturity of 5 year olds):

I cracked up over the warning label on the box (who would actually put these in their mouth?!):

We eventually made it to Dim Sum Go Go for lunch and both ordered the dim sum platter, 10 pieces of assorted steamed dumplings:

The duck dumplings were our favorite, with the crabmeat dumplings coming in a close second.

Kris always gets an order of the turnip cakes (crispy crust, creamy interior):

We also tried the pumpkin cakes (sweet and custard-like, with a unique flavor and fragrance that reminded us of pandan essence):

Later on we stopped at Joe's Ginger for some crabmeat and pork steamed buns (a.k.a xiao long bao/ soup dumplings):

I also had a sudden craving for jellyfish (What? Like you've never had a jellyfish craving before...lol)

Served cold, tossed in a delicate sesame marinade...not much to look at but delicious and very refreshing.

For dessert, we followed our noses down the street to the egg ball waffle cart and got a bag of 15 little cakes for a $1.

GUNG HEI FAT CHOY! Happy Year of the Tiger :)

I ♥ VANCOUVER

2010-02-14T12:21:00.016-05:00

The 2010 Olympic Winter Games are now underway in Vancouver, so I thought I'd pay tribute to my beautiful hometown by sharing some of my favorite places, activities and things to eat...

GRANVILLE ISLAND PUBLIC MARKET
FOODIE HEAVEN. Pick up a warm honey dip donut from Lee's Donuts. Indulge in some chocolate walnut rugolach from Siegel's Bagels. Build-your-own picnic with charcuterie from artisanal sausage-maker Oyama Sausage. Grab a piece of blueberry white chocolate foccacia at Terra Breads. And lastly, stop in at Edible BC's retail store for locally made gourmet souvenirs to take home (super friendly staff too).

ZIPTREK ECOTOURS
During our last trip to Whistler, I somehow managed to convince Kris to go ziplining with me on Ziptrek's Bear Tour ("It's totally safe, honey!")

But I may have neglected to mention that the longest zipline we'd be doing was 1100 feet long. Or that the last zipline was done hanging upside down! And I might have forgotten to tell him that there was a tiny possibility that you could get stuck while ziplining. Sure enough, poor Kris actually got stuck on the zipline and had to hang suspended 100 feet in the air for several minutes while waiting for rescue! And yes, we got it all on video (Kris getting stuck at 1:10, Phyllis zipping upside down at 3:21):

Mixed in with the adventure is also a educational component - during the 3 hour tour, guides discuss sustainability and minimizing our environmental impact. We also got a exciting sneak peak of the Whistler Sliding Centre (bobsled/skeleton/luge) during the ride up to the old growth forest. If you haven't tried ziplining before, the Ziptrek Bear tour is a great beginner experience. And despite getting stuck, Kris has agreed to do the more exciting (and steeper) Eagle tour with me the next time around!

For a limited time (during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games) zipline for FREE in Robson Square!

NANAIMO BAR
This popular Canadian no-bake dessert hails from Nanaimo, BC (approx 2 hr ferry ride from Vancouver). Basically layers of butter upon butter, what's not to like? I made these for Thanksgiving last year, recipe here.

ALL DRESSED POTATO CHIPS
Why is this flavor only available in Canada? Tangy, savory blend of spices, with a hint of sweetness, my favorite potato chip flavor of all time. I pack as many bags as I can fit in my carry-on whenever I visit Canada!

VANILLA FUDGE CLODHOPPERS
They're not kidding when they say these vanilla fudge graham wafer clusters are 'highly addictive'. Before I found out they carry them at Dylan's Candy Bar in NYC, I actually thought about ordering a giant case from Canada.

POUTINE
How much do I love poutine? Enough to eat 12 poutines in 12 days last year. And although the cheese curds aren't as squeaky and fresh as what you'd find in Quebec, you can still find some decent versions of poutine in Vancouver. My favorite last year was from Brado Pizza:

QUEEN ELIZABETH PARK
Amazing views, gorgeous 'sunken' Quarry Gardens, the Bloedel Floral Conservatory, and years of family picnics and wonderful memories at Queen Elizabeth Park.

Can you believe it took me over 25 years to finally go inside the Bloedel Conservatory? But it's become one of my favorite places to visit when I'm in town. The conservatory is home to exotic plants and tropical flowers...

and a hundred species of colorful birds...

Worth the $5 admission just to see long-time resident Charlie the cockatoo ham it up for the camera:

Sadly, the Bloedel Conservatory is currently facing closure due to budget cuts. Visit while you still can. You can also help save the conservatory at www.friendsofthebloedel.ca

TROUT LAKE FARMERS MARKET
A weekly farmer's market located at pretty Trout Lake, where you'll find local organic produce (gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, chive flowers, stinging nettle, exotic mushrooms, fresh herbs etc), freshly baked goods, specialty foods, local honey and cheese, fresh seafood, seedlings/bulbs from herb farms and nurseries, local artisans, and a psychadelic purple crepe truck.

We loved the honey almond nougat from local candymaker Kalley Kandy:

JAPADOG
Kurobuta pork terimayo dog!

RICHMOND SUMMER NIGHT MARKET
Late night nibbles at this Asian night market, running from May thru Oct annually. Read more here.

POLENTA FRIES AT CASCADE
A big thanks to our friend Ly for introducing us to Cascade and these fabulous polenta fries - crispy perfection on the outside, creamy deliciousness inside, served with an addictive curry mayo dip.

THOMAS HAAS CHOCOLATES
Best chocolates EVER. Read more about truffles, almond croissants and chocolate sparkle cookies here.

STANLEY PARK
Vancouver’s first and most famous park, bordering downtown Vancouver, a thousand acres of evergreen parkland surrounded by a 5.5 mile circular seawall where you can walk, bike, or rollerblade to your heart’s content.

I was lucky enough to live a block away from this lush urban oasis and would jog the seawall every Saturday morning. In 2006, my heart ached when I heard about the devastating windstorm that knocked down thousands of trees, some of them hundreds of years old. A massive restoration effort (funded by donations) resulted in the planting of 16,000 trees in the damaged areas over the next 2 years. We visit Stanley Park every time we're in town. Don't miss it.

VANCOUVER AQUARIUM
Adorable otters and smiley beluga whales :)

SPOT PRAWNS
Sustainably harvested from BC waters, spot prawns are the sweetest prawns you'll ever eat. We timed our visit last year to coincide with Vancouver's 3rd Annual Spot Prawn Festival, allowing us to indulge in spot prawns over a dozen times!

Freshly caught beauties from fisherman Steve Johansen (Organic Ocean at False Creek Fisherman's Wharf):

GO FISH!
A fish shack located in False Creek Fisherman's Wharf, only steps from Granville Island.

Selection changes daily based on what's fresh. Best fish 'n' chips in town (fish tacones aren't bad either). Expect a huge line-up!

ENGLISH BAY

YUCCA FRIES FROM RINCONCITO SALVADORENA
I came here for pupusas after seeing them featured in Vancouver Magazine's Best Things to Eat & Drink 2008 but ended up falling in love with the yucca fries (served with crispy pork bits):

JERICHO BEACH

SAUSAGE ROLL
When I first moved to New York, I assumed that sausage rolls would be as ubiquitous as they were in Vancouver. Well I was wrong. Now I almost get heart palpitations whenever I spot one.

BANH MI (VIETNAMESE SANDWICHES)
I grew up eating sandwiches from Ba Le, but found a new favorite at Tung Hing during last year's banh mi roundup.

CARMELITAS FROM CHOCOLATE ARTS
My thoughtful friend Liz always gives me a box of Chocolate Arts whenever we see each other. My favorite is the carmelita, soft buttery caramel oozing from a dark chocolate shell:

Hungry for more? Checkout Vancouver Magazine's annual feature, Best Things to Eat & Drink in Vancouver.

Heart Shaped Boston Cream Donut...

2010-02-14T09:51:00.006-05:00

...from Dunkin' Donuts!

♥♥♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥♥♥

Mitsuwa Marketplace, Edgewater NJ

2010-02-08T18:18:00.002-05:00

I have a new favorite specialty market... Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater NJ.

This Japanese superstore is your one-stop shop for produce, prepared foods (sushi, bento meals, Japanese pickles), fresh bread, sake, thinly sliced meats for shabu-shabu (Berkshire pork and wagyu beef!), Japanese confectionery, sushi-grade raw fish; the place for hard-to-find Japanese specialty ingredients and to purchase the high-tech rice cooker of your dreams.

Also a great place for a quick lunch - we found ourselves overwhelmed by all the choices at the food court. A warming bowl of ramen at Santouka? Perhaps some Berkshire pork katsu from Katsuhana? Or maybe some cold zaru soba at Kayaba?

After carefully weighing all my options (and inspecting the numerous plastic food displays), I settled on the spicy cod roe spaghetti from Italian Tomato:

Mmmmmm... salty/briney flavor of the creamy cod roe sauce reminded me a little of sea urchin, spaghetti was perfectly al dente.

Kris made a beeline towards Katsuhana for the pork tenderloin combo meal - two small Berkshire pork tenderloins, 2 tempura prawns, 1 potato croquette filled with 'crab cream). Here's the plastic display:

...compared to the real food:

The Berkshire pork katsu was really tender and not greasy. The combo also came with rice, potato salad, and a small bowl of soup (pork broth with veggies).

For dessert, Ito En's green tea soft serve ice cream (really addictive, good matcha flavor):

The purplish gray hue of the black sesame soft serve can look intimidating but the taste is actually quite mild, tasting almost like peanut butter:

We also grabbed some doughy treats from Oishinbo (from left to right: taiyaki, creamyaki, obanyaki):

Taiyaki and obanyaki are filled with red bean paste; creamyaki is filled with a vanilla custard:

Couldn't resist picking up a couple of Kobe-Injinkan maki (thin crepes filled with chestnut paste and red bean paste) from Japanese confectioner Kobe Fugetsudo:

And a slice of 'kase tarte' (souffle cake with made with cheese) from Italian Tomato:

Tasted like a cross between cheesecake and spongecake with a mild, creamy, slightly egg-y flavor.

But the weirdest thing we encountered that day was a limited edition azuki-flavored Pepsi imported from Japan (and yes, it really does taste like azuki red bean!):

Three hours later, we finally left Mitsuwa carrying $75 of groceries we didn't really need (thank goodness we live over 60 miles away, otherwise I'd be here everyday):

Mitsuwa Marketplace (New Jersey location)
595 River Road
Edgewater, NJ 07020
(201) 941-9113
http://www.mitsuwanj.com/

Dim Sum at Sunny Palace, East Brunswick NJ

2010-02-04T16:30:00.011-05:00

As Chinese New Year approaches, I start getting mad cravings for Asian food.

Last weekend I was DESPERATE for dim sum. YEARNING for yum-cha. And willing to drive 40 miles for it.

I started grabbing items off dim sum carts before Kris could even sit down.

har gow (shrimp dumpling):

siu mai (pork dumpling):

scallion cakes:

shrimp spring rolls:

lo bak goh (pan fried radish cake):

bible tripe:

lo mai gai (sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf):

stewed beef tripe:

congee w/ pork & century egg:

stuffed eggplant:

Yes, 10 dishes is a lot for 2 people. But I kinda lost control (this is what happens when I don't have dim sum for over 6 months). Thank goodness the dishes were reasonably priced from $2.50 - $4.

Despite being a dim sum 'snob' from Vancouver, I found the quality of the food at Sunny Palace fairly decent. Hubby was also impressed with the restaurant's cleanliness and ample parking. We'll definitely be back.

Kris had to literally drag me out of the restaurant, as I couldn't get enough of the giant aquarium located in the main entrance, especially this cutie-patootie puffer fish:

Sunny Palace
1069 Route 18
South East Brunswick, NJ 08816
(732) 651-8668
http://www.sunnypalace.com/

Visiting the Cake Boss: Carlo's Bakery, Hoboken NJ

2010-01-25T15:11:00.009-05:00

Over the weekend, we thought we'd take a drive up to Hoboken (our old neighborhood) and see what the Cake Boss was up to.

The massive line up outside Carlo's Bakery at 5:30 pm on Saturday evening:

More chaos inside:

Apparently it could have been much worse, Kris' coworker Pete says that sometimes the line up gets so long it wraps around the entire block. Crowds can also get riotous during the occasional Buddy-sighting.

Despite a TLC disclaimer posted on the front door, we didn't see any cameras around during our visit. Once inside, a bakery employee hands you a number, followed by 25 minutes of standing uncomfortably crammed shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers. At least there were some pretty cakes to stare at during our wait:

I couldn't help recalling how different it was 8 years ago, when we used to walk by Carlo's everyday during our commute to NYC. Very quiet, no crowds, just a non-descript Italian bakery. We occasionally stopped by after dinner for some tiramisu, and even contemplated ordering our wedding cake from there after noticing the cake displays in the window.

During our visit on Saturday, the bakery staff were suprisingly unphased by the crazy crowds, super friendly and very efficient. And though we didn't get to see Buddy (he was in a meeting, according to his sister Mary), we still left happily carrying $25 worth of goodies.

chocolate and raspberry rugelach (buttery creamy deliciousness):

mini cannolis (filling was perfection - with a hint of vanilla/cinnamon/citron and the occasional chocolate chip, shells stayed really crisp even after 2 hours), small 'lobster tail' (flaky, crunchy pastry shell filled with a thick custard whipped cream), & chocolate hazelnut biscotti (chocolaty, packed with hazelnuts):

linzer tart (crumbly buttery cookie, generously filled with raspberry jam):

rainbow cookies (raspberry jam between layers, frosted with chocolate on both top and bottom):

Have to admit we were a little disappointed in the rainbow cookies - at $18.95/lb, the cake layers were a bit dry and didn't contain enough almond flavor. I also prefer versions that contain both apricot and raspberry jam (Carlo's only uses raspberry). But they get major bonus points for actually doing a labor-intensive 7-layer version (5 layers of cake, 2 layers of chocolate), as most bakeries only do 3 layers of cake and a layer of chocolate on top.

Overall, a fun and delicious experience at Carlo's Bakery, totally worth the 'designer' prices and the wait (and the $10 we spent for parking after being at the bakery for over an hour).

Carlo's Bakery
95 Washington Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
(201) 659-3671
http://www.carlosbakery.com/

Santa got run over by a reindeer?!

2009-12-29T13:44:00.006-05:00

No. But he did encounter some unexpected turbulence on his long flight from Vancouver.

This chocolate art sculpture by Thomas Haas (my favorite chocolatier!) was a belated Christmas gift from my good friend Liz. Despite a valiant effort from Liz to keep Santa safe during his flight, he still sustained several injuries along the way.

Poor Santa. But nothing I couldn't fix with some melted chocolate and a tube of white icing.

Well, I'm happy to say that Santa and his chocolate house have been restored to their former glory :)

Happy New Year!

The best kind of gifts are the ones you can eat...

2009-12-21T10:29:00.005-05:00

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail last week, a container of homemade fudge, sent by my friend Erin and lovingly made by her mother-in-law, Lois:

I have to admit I was skeptical at first when Erin told me about her mother-in-law's famous fudge. I'd never really been a fan of fudge before, all the varieties I've tried have either been too sweet or artificial tasting. But Lois' fudge, which she's been making for the last 30 years, was melt-in-your-mouth AMAZING, especially the white almond flavor. So good in fact that I was forced to ration out the remaining pieces so we wouldn't devour it all in one sitting (and so hubby and I wouldn't fight over it).

The next day I called Erin and pleaded her to get the recipe from her mother-in-law...

Lois' Famous White Almond Fudge
(makes 3 lbs)
Ingredients
3 cups sugar
3/4 cups butter (margarine will also work but butter is better, see note*)
2/3 cup or 6oz evaporated milk
1 12oz package of white (vanilla) chips
1 7oz jar marshmallow cream
1 cup sliced almonds, crushed (see note**)
1 scant Tbsp almond extract

Directions
Combine sugar, butter and evaporated milk in 2 ½ qt saucepan. Bring to a FULL ROLLING BOIL stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring for a full 5 minutes over medium heat. Use a timer, don’t guess. Remove from heat and stir in chips until completely melted. Add marshmallow cream, nuts and almond extract. Pour into a buttered 9x13 pan (I like to use glass pans). Cool at room temperature. I like to cut the pieces just before they are completely cooled but don’t try to remove them until they are completely cooled.

Phyllis' notes:
*I detected a hint of salt in Lois' fudge so I used salted butter
**I substituted chopped slivered almonds because they were all I could find in our local supermarket (try shopping for baking supplies the day before a blizzard hits the Northeast). But I really loved the results using the skinless almonds, it gave the fudge a lovely milky white color throughout:

Perfect for the holidays...

Thank you to Erin and her husband Dan for sending us the fudge (and for not eating it all before it could make it to the post office).

And a special thanks to Lois for sharing her easy and fabulous recipe.
Thank you so much for thinking of us :)

It's Raining Bulgogi

2009-12-04T11:35:00.001-05:00

Have you seen Ninja Assassin yet? This movie is NOT for the faint of heart, possibly the most violent movie I've ever seen, with buckets of blood and severed body parts flying everywhere. Gratuitous violence is not typically my thing, but I owed hubby Kris a movie after I forced him to watch New Moon (the 2nd movie in the Twilight series) with me last week.

While the plot kinda sucked and the supporting actors were really annoying, I found myself completely captivated by the lead actor, Korean R&B/pop mega-star Rain (in his first starring role in an American movie). Although his lines were minimal and consisted mostly of 5-words-or-less sentences, I couldn't ignore his magnetic on-screen presence, although hubby would argue that I was just mesmerized by his sexy abs (hubba hubba). Seriously, Rain's body is SICK in this movie (I'm talkin' zero percent body fat, people!)

I guess I must've been living under a rock or something because prior to watching Ninja Assassin, I'd never even heard of Rain, who apparently is one of the biggest stars in Asia. He's also a frequent player on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world - currently ranked #9, right below the Pope!

Over the past few years, Rain's been involved in a heated 'rivalry' with his Time 100 arch-nemesis, political satirist/comedian Stephen Colbert. Check out the Colbert/Rain rivalry in this hilarious video from Comedy Central (be sure to stick around till the end of the clip for a dramatic 'Dance Off' between Rain and Colbert):

The Colbert Report

Stephen vs. Rain

http://www.colbertnation.com/

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

So wait a minute, isn't this blog normally about food? Hold on, I'm getting to it...

A couple days ago I had a sudden craving for bulgogi so I decided to make it for dinner that night. I haven't made bulgogi at home in a very long time, so of course hubby got a little suspicious and accused me of craving Korean food only because I had "Rain on the brain". LOL! Guilty as charged :)

MeHUNGRY BULGOGI*
(Ninja Assassin-style, inspired by Rain)

Ingredients

Marinade
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/3rd cup soy sauce
3 Tbsp brown sugar
Juice from 1/2 of an Asian pear, grated
2 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp dark sesame oil
1/2 red onion**, roughly chopped

1 - 1 1/2 lbs thinly sliced ribeye steak***
2 tsp vegetable oil
splash of Coca-cola****
cornstarch slurry, 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbsp of cold water (optional)*****

Directions

Puree marinade ingredients till smooth in a food processor or blender.******

Place sliced ribeye into a gallon-sized ziploc bag and pour marinade over. Tighly seal bag and lightly 'massage' the marinade into the meat. Marinate for at least 4 hours, refrigerated, flipping the bag over half way through the marinating time.

Drain excess marinade from ribeye. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet/frying pan over medium-high heat. Stir fry for 3- 5 minutes till meat is is almost cooked through and edges start to caramelize a bit (if your pan isn't large enough, fry in two batches to avoid over crowding, you don't want to end up boiling the meat).

When meat is almost cooked, throw in a splash of coca-cola for some extra sweetness and flavor and let simmer for a minute.

If using the cornstarch slurry, add now and simmer for another minute.

Serve immediately, over white rice. Or make a bulgogi lettuce wrap with Boston lettuce, white rice, and a dab of Asian chili sauce (kochujang, sriracha, or chili garlic sauce).

Enjoy!

Notes
*this is not meant to be an authentic version of bulgogi, just a yummy one :)
**traditional bulgogi recipes usually use green onions/scallions but I find sometimes that gives the bulgogi an grassy unappetizing flavor so I use red onions instead
***I buy razor-thin frozen slices of ribeye at my Asian food market, if you can't find it pre-sliced, freeze your steak for 10 minutes to make it easier to slice thinly
****I just happened to have coca-cola around so I thought "Why not?!" Actually this isn't really that strange because I've seen people marinate their meat in 7-up or cola before!
*****totally non-traditional, but I like to thicken and shine up my sauce a bit with cornstarch, but you can leave the sauce thin and it'll still be delicious
******I puree the marinade because I hate having garlic or onion chunks in the finished product

NYC: The High Line & The New Amsterdam Market

2009-10-26T20:30:00.006-04:00

The High Line

Have you checked out the High Line yet? This cool elevated city park (30 feet above ground), located in NYC between 10th & 11 Avenues, was formerly used as a freight railroad till 1980.

Section one (b/t Gansevoort & 20th streets) has been open to the public since June 2009, with plans to extend the park all the way up to 34th street.

You can still view the train tracks in between the plants and the wildflowers:

10th Avenue Square, a wooden amphitheater with a view of 10th Avenue traffic (and a giant billboard of Posh & Becks in their skivvies):

"The River That Flows Both Ways" by artist Spencer Finch, 700 colored glass panes inspired by the Hudson River (located in the Chelsea Market Passage, where the High Line cuts through a building in Chelsea Market):

But my real reason for visiting that day was to try the cinnamon sugar donuts at the newly opened Craft Sweets on the Highline, located in Chelsea Market Passage (do I ever go anywhere unless it's food related?!):

"It tastes a little dry", grumbled hubby Kris. "Sorry, honey, did you say something?" Wasn't going to let grumpy gus ruin my mood as I stared out at the Hudson River on a gorgeous fall day, perfectly content while sipping my hot apple cider and munching my donut...

The High Line
http://www.thehighline.org/
Section 1 (Gansevoort Street to 20th Street)
Open from 7am to 10pm daily
Street access from:
Gansevoort Street
14th Street (Elevator under construction - not yet open.)
16th Street (elevator access)
18th Street
20th Street

New Amsterdam Market (Oct 25th 2009)

"Reinvented for our present time and needs, New Amsterdam Market will incubate a new and growing business sector: purveyors who source food directly from farmers and producers whom they trust to be good stewards of our land and waters. Centered in this Region - once called New Netherland - New Amsterdam Market will foster a renewed appreciation for our natural environment and its ongoing potential to nourish. And as true of public markets, New Amsterdam Market will be accessible to all, striving to diminish the economic, social, and educational impediments to sound nutrition."

- from the New Amsterdam Market website

The New Amsterdam market is currently operating as a monthly outdoor event in South Street Seaport, next to the old Fulton Fish Market. Yesterday's event ran from 11am to 4pm and we arrived around noon to a crazy jam-packed market. While I tend to enjoy the energy of a bustling market, hubby found it way too chaotic. Luckily, I convinced him to stay by bribing him with some gelato from The Bent Spoon:
Roasted pumpkin cocoa nib ice cream (YUM!):

Next up, a sandwich from Porchetta, filled with roasted pork (complete with crackling pork skin):
We loved the flavor and tenderness of the meat, you could really taste the seasoning and herbs. However, hubby didn't love the overly crusty bread and the hardness of the pork skin (Kris said he almost broke his teeth when he inadvertently bit down too hard; but as a pork skin lover, I actually enjoyed gnawing the heck out of it).

After the sandwich we found ourselves craving something sweet, but instead came across some tempting savory pastries at Saltie:
We just couldn't resist the visual appeal of the potato, leek & cheese pie, especially the vibrant contrast between the pickled onions and the yellow mustard:
Tasty and filling but I probably would have enjoyed it more if it was warmed up. Kris disagreed, saying it was perfect at room temperature.

We also stopped to chat with the friendly folks of Stone Barns after noticing that they sell hard-to-find leaf lard:

Leaf lard, rendered from the fat which surrounds a pig's kidney, is considered the finest lard for baking because of its neutral taste. Stone Barn's product is made from their pasture-grazed Berkshire pigs. I was really tempted to buy some and bake the perfect pie crust with it, but ended up walking away empty handed (didn't want to carry around a pound of lard in my purse during a unseasonably warm day).

And check out the line up for lobster rolls at Luke's Lobster:

New Amsterdam Market
http://www.newamsterdammarket.org/
South Street, between Beekman Street and Peck Slip
On the East River waterfront in Lower Manhattan
11:00am to 4:00pm
Future 2009 market dates:
Nov 22nd, Dec 20th

You Wanna Pisa Me? Wise Guy Burger at Red Robin

2009-09-24T15:26:00.015-04:00

The limited time only Wise Guy Burger at Red Robin. Savory seasoned burger, spicy pepperoni, zesty marinara, cheesy mozzarella sticks, and tangy banana peppers…how could I resist?

Hubby Kris tried the limited time only Chicken Caprese burger, charbroiled chicken breast, balsamic-marinated tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, romaine lettuce, and pesto aioli on ciabatta bread:

My parents split a Sauteed 'Shroom Burger (mushrooms, swiss cheese, garlic parmesan butter):

Signature ‘bottomless' steak fries accompanied every burger. Check out this giant mutant fry:

And a visit to Red Robin is not complete without an order of Towering Onion Rings (oink!):

You wanna pisa this? The Wise Guy Burger and the Chicken Caprese Burger are available at all U.S. Red Robin locations until November 8, 2009. (Canadian locations are not offering these specialty burgers at this time)

Chocolate Honey Cakes from Bee Desserts!

2009-09-13T15:30:00.001-04:00

A couple weeks ago, Heavenly Housewife sent me a link about these tempting chocolate covered honey cakes. So I swung by Bee Desserts (located inside La Palette restaurant in NYC's Greenwich Village) before meeting friends for dinner on Friday night.

Bee Desserts' chocolate honey cakes are handmade from a family recipe, contain no preservatives and are baked with honey instead of white sugar - YUM!

So lovingly packaged:

The smell of sweet honey seduces you as carefully unwrap the golden parcel:

Moist, cakey, with a mild honey flavor (and literally gone in two bites):

Hubby Kris says they're like a gourmet Ring Ding (or Ding Dong) with the flavor of a Honeymaid graham cracker. Can't wait to try the marshmallow and liqueur versions :)

Bee Desserts
94 Greenwich Ave
New York, NY 10001
http://www.beedesserts.com/

Poutine-Palooza Part 1: Festival de la Poutine 2009, Drummondville QC

2009-09-08T16:00:00.010-04:00

"Fact: Poutine is from Drummondville, a pee stop town just between Montreal and Quebec City. - http://www.festivaldelapoutine.com/"

This comment was left a couple months ago by an anonymous reader on my post on 12 Poutines in 12 Days (Vancouver Poutine Showdown).

A festival devoted entirely to poutine?! Where can I sign up?

The 2nd annual Festival de la Poutine was taking place on September 4th & 5th in Drummondville, Quebec and would be featuring 6 different 'poutiniers' (4 local restaurants, 1 invited guest chef from Sherbrooke, and 1 famous poutinier from Montreal).

I immediately started pestering hubby to take me on a road trip to Montreal over Labor Day weekend, with a stop in Drummondville for the Festival de la Poutine, of course!

Would we survive a 7 hour drive each way? And could we eat that many poutines in one day?

FESTIVAL DE LA POUTINE
(Sept 4th and 5th, 2009, Woodyatt Park, Drummondville, QC)

Before we left for our trip, I'd done some research on the regional differences of poutine. Unlike the more savory light brown gravy commonly found in Montreal (and other parts of Canada), poutine sauce in Drummondville is sweeter from the addition of tomato sauce. To get familiarized with this sweeter style gravy, we made a pit stop at the famed Le Roy Jucep restaurant, "L'inventeur de la poutine", to try their signature 'L'authentique' poutine (more details about our visit below).

We arrived at beautiful Woodyatt Park on Friday Sept 4th just after the festival gates opened at 4pm. When we stopped by the press booth to say hello to Amira, the festival's press officer, we were both given press badges to wear :) Hubby and I felt pretty smug as we walked around with our fancy badges, but they really just gave us exclusive access to the VIP concert seating area which we didn't even notice till we were leaving. Most of the locals seemed to be there for the entertainment (concerts starting later in the evening featuring Quebec artists Daniel Bélanger, The Lost Fingers, and many other local bands).

We made a bee line straight for the poutine stands...

1. Restaurant Du Boulevard

small poutine (petit régulière):

The gravy was a reddish orange and kind of looked like ketchup, sweet and super tomato-y, tiny bits of carrot pieces, well seasoned, not too salty. Generous amount of fresh squeaky cheese curds (this is Drummondville, after all). The fries were a little soggy, but overall this was a delicious poutine.

Restaurant Du Boulevard
1645 boulevard Lemire
Drummondville, QC J2C 5A5
(819) 472-2122

2. Restaurant Auguste

reversed poutine (poutine inversée):

Featuring official guest chef of the second annual Festival de la Poutine, Danny St-Pierre, who was introducing his 'reversed poutine', cute little potato croquettes filled with melted cheese curds and gravy. Kris said it reminded him of Burger King's cheesy tots. Tasty, but we still prefer poutine the original way.

Here's a video showing how the poutine inversée is made (featuring Chef Danny St-Pierre):

Restaurant Auguste
82 Wellington North
Sherbrooke, QC J1H 5B8
(819) 565-9559
http://www.auguste-restaurant.com/

3. Fromagerie Lemaire

small poutine (petit régulière):

Fromaerie Lemaire, a family run cheese factory, offers warm freshly made cheese curds (right out of the basin) at their two locations daily. After we got a chance to taste their delicious fresh cheese curds at the St-Cyrille location, we had high expectations for their poutine. And it did not disappoint, crispy fries which tasted so good I could have sworn they were fried in beef fat (nope, they're fried in vegetable oil). The gravy was initially a bit salty but became addictive as I kept eating, especially as the flavor soaked into the fries. Not really sweet, but carrot-y, with a hint of onion and celery (mirapoix flavor). And gigantic fresh squeaky cheese curds! (More on our visit to Fromagerie LeMaire below)

Fromagerie Lemaire
2 locations:
2095 Route 122
St-Cyrille (Quebec) J1Z 1B9
(819) 478-0601

182 Industrial Blvd
(exit 170, Highway 20)
St-Germain (Québec) J0C 1K0
(819) 395-5327

http://www.fromagerie-lemaire.ca/

4. Chez Louis Poulet et Pizza

I was almost tempted to try the poutine aux doigts, the first time I'd seen poutine with chicken fingers on top! You couldn't help but notice the giant banner announcing "Goûtez à notre toute novelle poutine aux doights!" which means "Try our new poutine with fingers!" (notice the actual human fingers with the scissors in the photo):

We ended up sticking with the regular poutine (small poutine/petit régulière). The crinkly fries were a bit dense and not really crispy enough. The sauce was a translucent orange color, reminding me of Roy Rogers barbecue sauce. Interesting flavor but I tend to like the milder poutine sauces sans barbecue spices. Cheese curds were generous and squeaky fresh:

Chez Louis Poulet et Pizza
2815 boulevard Lemire
Drummondville, QC J2B 8E7, Canada
(819) 474-3494
http://www.chezlouispouletetpizza.com/

5. Horace Poutine

small poutine (petit ordinaire):

The staff at Horace Poutine get the prize for the coolest uniforms, complete with tall white chef toques. Unfortunately, my order of fries was slightly undercooked and the gravy had a bit of a strange aftertaste (again with the barbecue spices?) But the cheese curds were still super fresh and squeaky.

Horace Poutine
1000 110e Avenue
Drummondville, QC J2B 7T9
(819) 478-2516
http://www.horacepoutine.com/

6. La Banquise

small poutine (régulière classique):

The self-proclaimed 'la meilleur poutine aux Québec' (the best poutine in Quebec) and the only Montreal poutinier at this year's festival. Have to admit I was a little disappointed. Fries were pretty good, nicely browned and crispy in parts, gravy was decent (savory without tomato), but the cheese curds weren't super squeaky or as fresh as the others we'd tried that day. Perhaps they'd been refrigerated or previously frozen? (gasp!) To be fair, La Banquise did have the disadvantage of having to schlep their stuff 100 km from Montreal, so maybe some of the quality suffered during the trip. I'll definitely give them another shot on my next visit to Montreal, would love to try some of their 25 varieties of poutine.

La Banquise
994 Rue Rachel E
Montreal, QC H2J 2J3
(514) 525-2415
http://restolabanquise.com/

THE VERDICT:
Overall, our favorite poutine of the festival was Fromagerie LeMaire, closely followed by Restaurant Du Boulevard.

But none of them could top the poutine we had at Le Roy Jucep!

Le Roy Jucep

A visit to Drummondville is not complete without stopping at Le Roy Jucep to try their famous poutine and an orange jucep (a frothy orange juice similar to an Orange Julius with less vanilla flavor, described on the menu as 'mousseux et savoureux' or '~~sparkling~~ foamy and tasty'). The original owner of the restaurant, Jean-Paul Roy, claims to be the original inventor of poutine. We realized how proud Drummondville residents are of Le Roy Jucep and Jean-Paul Roy's contribution to Canadian cuisine after we received several appreciative honks from passing cars as we posed for photos in front of the restaurant!

We ordered the L'authentique (the original poutine) and 2 orange juceps. After reading so much about the tomato based gravy, I was surprised to see that their sauce was brown just like the poutines I'd had in the past. But the difference was in the taste - wonderfully sweet amd tomato-y, making me nostalgic for spaghetti-os. Hubby said it reminded him of cream of tomato soup, which he loves. The cheese curds were very fresh and squeaky, with a lovely mild creamy flavor.

After asking our friendly waitress where they sourced their delicious cheese curds, the current owner, Daniel Leblanc, came out carrying a sack of fresh curds to show us. "See the milk inside? That's the sign of freshness!" They get shipments daily from a local fromagerie and keep the curds at room temperature for the ultimate squeakiness. Le Roy Jucep's poutine was better than any of the poutines we had at the festival and one of the best we've ever had! And I couldn't leave without buying a souvenir t-shirt:

Le Roy Jucep
1050 Boulevard St-Joseph
Drummondville, QC J2C 2C6
(819) 478-4848
http://www.jucep.com/

Fromagerie Lemaire

We also were lucky enough to taste some freshly made cheese curds at Fromagerie Lemaire (one of the participants at this year's poutine festival) in nearby St. Cyrille. You can get freshly made cheese curds every afternoon at both locations of this family run cheese factory. Fresh curds, straight from the bin:

We purchased the smallest sized bag of cheese curds to try for $3, but while we were tucked into a booth enjoying the squeaky goodness, we noticed that most customers were buying several bags of the largest size!

Look at the size of this cheese curd compared to my thumb:

Fromagerie Lemaire
2 locations:
2095 Route 122
St-Cyrille (Quebec) J1Z 1B9
(819) 478-0601

182 Industrial Blvd
(exit 170, Highway 20)
St-Germain (Québec) J0C 1K0
(819) 395-5327

http://www.fromagerie-lemaire.ca/

We had a fabulous time in Drummondville and at the 2nd Annual Festival de la Poutine! Thank you all the wonderful people of Drummondville for making us feel so welcome (even when I butchered all my French pronunciations!)

After consuming 7 poutines in one day, you'd think we're finally done with poutine, right?! Au contraire, this was only Part I of Poutine-Palooza. Stay tuned for Part II: Poutine Crawl in Montreal! (Et oui, nous avons mangé le foie gras poutine à APDC!!)

2010 update: After procrastinating for several months (bad blogger, bad!), have decided to save Part II until after our next trip to Montreal .

Weird Food Wednesdays: Tripe

2009-08-26T12:55:00.000-04:00

Beef tripe, one of my top 10 favorite foods! For real.

If tripe is on the menu, I will order it. I have such a weakness for it that my husband has used it to bribe me (usually to get me to spend time with my in-laws).

Yes, it's the stomach of a cow. Get over it. Do I have to remind you what's in a hot dog? There's just something so unique about the flavor of tripe that keeps me coming back for more. So unique, in fact, that I'm kinda at a loss for words on how to describe it (tripe lovers, please help me out here!)

I've seen tripe described as gamey or barnyard-y, but I think those words tend to be overused when referring to offal or leftover cuts of meat and only result in scaring people off. 'Gamey' makes me think of mutton. And 'barnyard-y' is how I might describe a fresh goat cheese, but not tripe. The flavor's actually really mild. Earthy? No, mushrooms and truffles are earthy, not tripe. Grassy? Not really, but I do find something kinda bright and fresh about it. And the texture will vary depending on the cooking method and the kind of tripe used (a cow does have 4 stomachs, afterall) but can range from pleasantly crunchy to melt-in-your mouth tender.

I usually satisfy my craving for tripe at dim sum restaurants or Asian noodle houses, but I've also enjoyed a hearty tripe gratinée at Pastis (NYC) and a tender stewed tripe in marinara sauce at an Italian wedding in Long Island.

Growing up in a Chinese family, I probably ate tripe more often than hamburgers. And from what I can remember, I've always liked tripe and never had to acquire a taste for it. But I couldn't help but wonder whether my fondness for tripe is purely nostalgic.

This is where Hubby Kris comes in handy, he's still an offal 'novice' but always such a good sport when dealing with one of my weird food obsessions. I've made Hubby Kris try beef tripe several times at dim sum, and since he's never objected, I've always assumed he liked it. I managed to get in a quick Q&A session while hubby was getting ready for work this morning:

Phyllis: Tell me how you feel about tripe.

Kris: Good morning to you too. Tripe, well...um...it's just OKAY. I don't hate it or anything. But it's not something I would ever order on my own.

Phyllis: Why not?

Kris: Is this for Weird Food Wednesdays?

Phyllis: Just answer the question!

Kris: Well...cause it doesn't really taste like anything. And it's chewy, like calamari.

Phyllis: But you LOVE calamari!

Kris: Yeah, but that's because it's battered and deep fried. How come no one ever deep fries tripe?

***end of Q&A***

So what I've gathered from this conversation is that my hubby is currently indifferent about tripe but would probably love it if I battered and deep fried it for him (flashback to tempura gefilte fish). Hmmm...maybe my undying love of beef tripe does stem from childhood memories.

Well, perhaps I can entice you with some yummy dim sum photos...

Beef Tripe stewed in a delicate ginger and scallion sauce at The Orient Restaurant, Bethpage NY:

I almost ate the entire dish myself! Fragrant ginger and scallion, crunchy, chewy, and texturally interesting with the tiny bumps of the bible tripe:

Stewed Beef Tendon with Beef Tripes at Golden Harvest Restaurant in Vancouver, BC:

Juicy succulent pieces of honeycomb tripe stewed in a glistening curry garlic sauce (natural nooks and crannies deliver more of the mouthwatering sauce in every bite):

Golden Harvest used to offer this dish with beef tripe only, so I was initially upset that some of my beloved tripe was replaced by tendon. But the tendon was awesome - gelatinous melt-in-your-mouth perfection (and hubby's favorite):

An interesting surprise in the bottom of the dish - french fries to soak up the excess sauce (or what my cousin Francis jokingly referred to as 'Chinese poutine'):

So I bet you're dying to try it now, right?

No?

Seriously, guys...just trust me on this one, it's really GOOD. Yeah, I know, I still haven't given you a good answer about the flavor of tripe. But you know who'd be a good person to ask? The person who developed the simulated tripe flavor for Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean. I mean, there can't actually be ground up tripe in a Jelly Belly, right?

And my darling hubby will be thrilled to learn that people actually do deep-fry tripe:

Here's the recipe: Deep Fried Tripe from UK chef Fergus Henderson

Well, if dim sum and deep fried tripe don't float your boat, check out Wikipedia for an extensive list of international delicacies that feature tripe (menudo, mondongo, and pacalpörkölt are next on my list). So go out and get your tripe on!

p.s. This will be my last weekly installment of Weird Food Wednesdays :(

p.p.s. I'm not retiring WFW for good, I just won't be doing it on a self-imposed weekly deadline anymore :)

Weird Food Wednesdays: Juustoleipä

2009-08-19T14:54:00.002-04:00

Juustoleipä or leipäjuusto translates to "bread cheese" in Finnish and its signature browned exterior comes from being baked during the cheesemaking process!

You're unlikely to find the reindeer version of this cheese outside of Finland or Scandinavia (juustoleipä is traditionally made with reindeer milk), but you can probably find domestically produced cows milk 'bread cheese' from Wisconsin at your local supermarket.

I've been staring at the Carr Valley Cheese version at my local Wegmans for months, and I finally brought some home with me after trying a sample during a cooking demonstration ("It's like grilled cheese without the bread!")

Relatively inexpensive at $11.49/lb, $8 bought me a fairly substantial slab of bread cheese.

With such a large piece of cheese we were able to try it in every way possible to find our favorite preparation.

Plain/ unheated - mild buttery flavor, similar to mozzarella but a bit saltier. There was a rich milky flavor present which reminded me of Indian paneer cheese. Firm chewy texture, mild squeak when you bite into it:

Dipped in coffee - surprisingly good! The bread cheese takes on a sweet profile when dipped in coffee (with milk and sugar). And it hardly melted at all:

Soaked in coffee - took on more of the coffee flavor when soaked for 10 minutes in coffee. Delicious! Melted slightly and produced the squeakiest cheese:

The packaging recommended sautéing the bread cheese in a skillet and topping with jam, honey & walnuts, or syrup. I cut the breadcheese into 3/4 inch cubes and let them brown in a non-stick skillet, flipping them after a few minutes on each side. The outsides get crispy and while the insides don't completely melt, they start to ooze appealingly when warmed.

With lingonberry jam - sweet and slightly tart, flavor reminded me of cranberry cocktail juice:

Cloudberry jam is the more traditional pairing but I couldn't find it so I used lingonberry. But Kenny from Chic Eats says you can probably find it at IKEA (thanks Kenny!)

With warmed honey and toasted walnuts (yum):

With warmed maple syrup (even yummier):

Out of the three sweet toppings, our favorite was the lingonberry jam - the tanginess was a perfect complement to the salty cheese. This trio would make a fun appetizer for company.

I also thought I should try a savory presentation, so I topped one of the pan-fried cubes with roasted peppadew bruschetta topping (from the olive bar at Wegmans but you can substitute your favorite salsa or bruschetta topping). Tasty!

And finally, baked with cream, sugar and cinnamon (a serving suggestion from Wikipedia). I cut the bread cheese into 1/3rd inch slices, layered them in a small casserole dish, drizzled liberally with heavy cream and sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on top. Baked till bubbly (about 15 minutes) at 400 degrees (F).

The easiest dessert ever. And also our favorite way to enjoy bread cheese:

Where to buy:
Outside of Wisconsin, you can probably find bread cheese (aka juusto, juustoleipä, leipäjuusto, fennuusto, brun-uusto, ostbrod, kaffeost) at your local Wegmans.

Or purchase online from the following Wisconsin cheesemakers:

Carr Valley Cheese
Bass Lake Cheese
Pasture Pride Cheese
Seguin's Cheese
Henning's Wisconsin Cheese

References:
Ehlers, Steve, and Jeanette Hurt. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cheeses of the World (Complete Idiot's Guide to). Indianapolis: Alpha, 2008
Weber, Katie. New Speciality "Bread Cheese" Unveiled At The University Of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences website.
"Leipäjuusto." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 Jul 2009, 17:00 UTC. 5 Jul 2009 .

Awards & Thank Yous

2009-08-18T10:10:00.000-04:00

Many moons ago, I was the happy recipient of 2 blog awards, both in the same week! And then I was off to Ireland to watch U2, try black pudding and search for spice burgers. With all these distractions, I almost forgot to thank the two amazing bloggers who gave me these awards.

First up, I'd like to thank my good friend Kenny from Chic Eats, who gave me the One Lovely Blog Award:

I first met Kenny through our shared love for century egg - he left a comment on my blog suggesting I try century egg with coca-cola (a perfect match, much like wine & cheese). And if you think that I eat weird food, check out Kenny's blog for some really crazy stuff, like goose barnacles and pig intestines! But don't get me wrong, Kenny is a lover of all good food, and I must warn you in advance that reading his blog will definitely make you hungry!

Over the last few months, Kenny and I have become great friends. He even sent me 5 cookbooks all the way from Hong Kong (incurring insane shipping charges in the process):

And yes, that is indeed a cookbook from Hungary, Kenny sent that for Hubby Kris, who's proud to be 1/4 Hungarian. I'm waiting for cold weather before I try my hand at Hungarian ghoulash but I've been dying make some of the Chinese home cooking and Taiwanese street food recipes. There's only one problem - sourcing some of the rare Asian ingredients (does anyone happen to know where I can find Taiwanese licorice powder aka 'kam cho' or preserved prune powder?)

But I still wanted to make something from one of these cookbooks to show my gratitude to Kenny, so I started with an easy recipe, a Chocolate Lollipop from "Fine Desserts with Less Sugar" by Fung Wa Ching. At least I thought it would be easy to make cute little heart lollipops from buttered popcorn, white chocolate and macadamia nuts. This is what it was supposed to look like:

And this is what I ended up with, a congealed popcorn mess (major FAIL):

But it still tasted pretty good, like a DIY white chocolate macadamia moose munch.

Thank you Kenny, for the award, the cookbooks, and for always putting a smile on my face :)

I also want to thank Heavenly Housewife, From Donuts to Delirium: My Life as a Housewife, for giving me the Kreativ Blogger award:

I'd like to think that I have a lot in common with Heavenly Housewife, but in reality she is way more FAB-U-LOUS! Yes, we are both completely obsessed with food, but she is the expert I look to for advice in everything posh. Her name says it all - she is ultimate lady of leisure, having mastered the art of spending hubby's hard earned money (every girl needs at least one designer bag, daaaahhling) and Dolce Far Niente. She's also my unofficial travel agent, an endless fountain of suggestions for what to eat in my next destination. If not for her, I probably wouldn't have stopped for afternoon tea at a fancy Dublin hotel to have my first taste of clotted cream (transcendent), nor would I have ever known to try a white chocolate Magnum bar (addictive):

As a tribute to my glamorous friend Heavenly Housewife, I am making one of her delectable recipes, BB's Style Cherry Coconut muffins. Let me just preface this by telling you that I'm not much of a baker. I don't like to measure things and I've learned the hard way that this approach is generally not conducive to baking. And I also tend to substitute ingredients. Even worse, I usually try to cram stuff I have to bake into my toaster oven. The only good news about me baking is that if I can get a recipe to work, then it's virtually dummy proof!

So in true Phyllis fashion, I substituted the glace cherries (hard to find unless it's fruitcake season) with maraschino cherries (no stems, liquid drained, cut in half) and used superfine sugar (all I had in the pantry) instead of regular sugar. But I'm proud to say that I did measure every single ingredient with proper measuring utensils and even sifted all the dry ingredients! However, since I do not own a water sprayer (to spray the sugar top to get it uber crispy), I had to resort to flicking water on to the muffins with my hands (Heavenly Housewife, please forgive me). And yes, I baked them in my toaster oven.

Despite all of this, the muffins came out delicious (dummy approved!), crispy sugar top (thanks to my water flicking technique LOL) with a moist buttery crumb! My muffin-top bows to the muffin queen!

Thank you Heavenly Housewife, for the award and for always inspiring me :)

Oh yeah, as part of this Kreativ Blogger award I'm supposed to disclose 7 facts about myself that other people might find interesting.

1. I love Star Trek. I own a uniform (original series science officer blue) and a fake 'communicator' (TNG). I have forced my husband to endure 8 hours at Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton, including the behind-the-scenes backstage tour. I also own all 178 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD (my birthday present in 2005).

2. I am deathly afraid of sharks (parents, do NOT take your children to see Jaws, Jaws: 3D or Jaws the Revenge). Consequently, I have never swum in the ocean. Despite my fear, I still love and have great respect for sharks and have watched Shark Week on Discovery Channel every year for as long as I can remember. If you care about sharks as much as I do, please sign Ocean Conservancy's petition to end the practice of shark finning. Save the Sharks!

3. I am addicted to karaoke. I have my own karaoke system at home with a library of close to 3000 songs. Whenever I go out for karaoke, I only invite friends that are microphone shy, thus allowing me to be a microphone hog for the entire night. Sometimes I'll even leave hubby behind because not only is he a mike hog, he tends to sing loudly enough to drown out everyone else, even when it's not his turn. And there's no point telling you about this unless I have some embarassing footage right?

4. Country music was the only music I listened to until I was 9 years old. My favorite song was 'Islands in the Stream' by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rodgers. My cousins eventually had to stage an intervention to introduce me to Madonna, Michael Jackson and Wham!

5. I didn't become a decent cook until a few years ago. The first dish I ever made for Hubby Kris was called "peanut butter beef". Disgusting, but he still ate it because he didn't want to hurt my feelings. Now that's true love!

6. I adore Hello Kitty. I have a closet full of Hello Kitty memorabilia and I even decorate my Xmas tree in a Hello Kitty theme. Last year, I made a Hello Kitty diaper cake for a friend's baby shower.

7. Hubby Kris and I were engaged within 3 months of meeting each other. We've been married now for 8 years!

Weird Food Wednesdays: Spice Burger

2009-08-12T00:01:00.016-04:00

Picture this: one extremely jet-lagged American and his equally exhausted Canadian wife, wandering the unfamiliar streets of Dublin at dusk, searching for the elusive spice burger.

The spice burger, invented in the 1950s by Walsh Family Foods, is described on their website as "a delicious blend of Irish beef, onions, cereals and herbs & spices, coated with a traditional outer crumb". But during June of this year, Walsh Family Foods, the sole manufacturer of the spice burger, fell victim to the recession and closed its doors! (thanks to our friend Tom for alerting us about the demise of the spice burger)

Spice burger aficionados immediately began a spirited campaign to bring back their beloved Irish treasure, described on the Save the Spice Burger facebook page as "Ambrosia for the mortal Irish man (and to a lesser extent mortal Irish woman), Walsh's spice burger has proved a satisfying meal to stumble home with after a couple of pints for over 50 years". And after a tremendous outpouring of public support, Walsh Family Foods is back in business and churning out spice burgers once again!

The relaunch of the spice burger was just getting underway when we arrived in Dublin a few weeks ago, making it hard to find, even at the local chippers. We first tried Leo Burdock's, Dublin's oldest chipper, located in the city center near Christ Church Cathedral.

No spice burger, but great cod & chips (gigantic portion for only € 8.90, don't forget the vinegar!):

Later that night at our hotel, we received a tip (from a complete stranger!) that we should "head south to Camden and Wexford and look for the Italian chippers, for sure they'll have spice burgers". After getting hopelessly lost a couple times (Dublin streets are sometimes hard to navigate because the streets change name every couple blocks) we found ourselves on Camden street (by sheer dumb luck) standing under a neon sign at Roma II.

Roma II sounded Italian enough for me, plus it was getting dark, so we hurried inside. And YES, they had spice burgers!

We got 2 orders to go (no salt or vinegar) and rushed back to our hotel.

Each order consisted of 2 spice burger patties and 4 pieces of chips, but they wrapped both orders up together:

Crunchy crust with a savory breadcrumb-y interior flavored with lots of dried herbs/spices. Hubby Kris said it reminded him of falafel but with a oily lingering aftertaste (lard?)

I really couldn't detect any beef, which probably explains why the spice burger is often mistaken as being vegetarian.

So the verdict? Not bad, although I can imagine it probably tastes a lot better at 4am on the way home from the pub.

The spice burger has yet to hit the international scene so here's a recipe you can try at home (from lecraic.com, originally published in the Mirror UK 6.19.09).

But if you're ever in Ireland, make sure you try the real deal - Walsh Family Foods is currently operating with a skeleton crew and a limited production schedule so they still need your support!

Vancouver Banh Mi Roundup

2009-08-07T11:01:00.005-04:00

I’m a little embarrassed to still be writing about our trip to Vancouver in May, but after forcing some friends to eat 5 banh mi sandwiches one afternoon, I feel like I have a duty to blog about it. Just to clarify for any new readers, hubby and I currently live in New Jersey but our main dining town is New York City. We love to travel, so I've been blogging about Vancouver for the last couple months. We also just got back from Ireland so expect to see some Dublin stuff intermingled with my last few Vancouver posts in the upcoming weeks. And you might also see some New Jersey, Manhattan, and Long Island stuff thrown in occasionally. Yup - clear as mud.

Vancouver Banh Mi Roundup

This banh mi roundup took place on May 18th, 2009. Shout-out to fellow food blogger Justin from Justcook nyc who recently conducted his own banh mi roundup (in NYC and in San Francisco). His fun blog post reminded me that I needed to get my act together and finally blog about my own Vancouver banh mi experience.

Banh mi (aka Vietnamese sandwich) is one of my must-have items whenever I'm in Vancouver. Prior to this trip, I'd only tried banh mi from one place in Vancouver, Ba Le. Their sandwiches have always been good and cheap, so I never felt the need to go anywhere else. So what changed? Well, since I started blogging a few months ago, I've been following Vancouver foodie discussions and noticed a few Vietnamese sandwich shops being touted as being better than Ba Le. And just like all of my food obsessions, I just HAD to see which one was best.

So what makes a good banh mi? First of all, the bread (French baguette) should be very fresh. The yummy fillings, consisting of Vietnamese cold cuts, pickled carrots/daikon, fresh cilantro, and a generous schmear of pâté and mayo, should be well balanced and work in harmony with each other.

I recruited hubby Kris and our good friends Joyce and Brian to help 'judge'.

We picked up banh mi from 5 different sandwich shops (4 in Vancouver and 1 in Richmond). Since there are several types of Vietnamese sandwiches offered, we chose to order "the Special" at each location (except for the Richmond location where Brian picked up a ‘Vietnamese sub with pork’). You usually have the option of spicy (with slices of hot green chili peppers) or not spicy, so we chose the spicy version at every location (the hot peppers are easy to remove if you don’t want them). And similar to my other roundups, our scoring method was highly subjective and totally unscientific - we just divided each sandwich into 4 pieces and marked them out of 10 based on overall yumminess.

All sandwich prices are stated in Canadian dollars and are quoted as of May 18th, 2009, although I highly doubt any of the prices have changed - Ba Le's prices have only gone up a dollar or so since I was in high school (a looooong time ago). And we were all impressed that every sandwich we tried that day was made with really fresh bread (the secret is to go early when the bread has been freshly baked).

Au Petit Cafe Special sandwich (or No. 1) $4.50
Au Petit Café’s banh mi have become so popular that they usually sellout by early afternoon. Best to call ahead and reserve a sandwich (don’t be like me, I didn’t call ahead and then had to wait for 25 minutes in a busy restaurant). This was the most expensive sandwich of the bunch so I had high expectations. I was a little concerned that their ‘special’ sandwich (or ‘No.1’ - homemade ham, house meatball, vegetables and hot peppers) didn’t contain one of my favorite banh mi ingredients, pâté. But the house meatballs were so moist and flavorful I didn’t even miss the pâté. High scores across the board, except for Hubby Kris who said he was “starting the scores low so he could leave room for the others” (what is this, a figure skating competition?)

Au Petit Café
4851 Main Street
Vancouver, BC V5V 3R9
Tel: 604-873-3328
website: http://www.aupetitcafe.com/
(closed on Wednesdays)

Ba Le (Kingsway location) Special sandwich $2.75
This was the type of banh mi I was was used to eating – traditional Vietnamese cold cuts, a good balance of pickled veggies vs meat, and the perfect amount of mayo and pâté. Overall, a solid sandwich (Ba Le has never let me down).

Ba Le
701 Kingsway #21
Vancouver, BC V5T 3K6
(604) 875-6322

Kingsway Deli Vietnamese Sub Special (Banh Mi Dac Biet) $3.00
This sandwich was impressive to look at, piled high with meat, pickled veggies and cilantro. Joyce liked the pâté while Brian thought it was way too salty. Hubby and I thought the overall flavor was bland and boring (but I would still eat it if I didn’t have any other options).

Kingsway Deli
1188 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC V5V 3C8
(604) 873-6666

Tung Hing (Tiem Banh Dong Khanh) House Special Sandwich $2.75
Was a bit confused by this place because when you walk in it looks like a traditional Chinese bakery. It’s also conveniently located next door to Kingsway Deli, so I made up some time from having to wait at Au Petit Café for so long. We were a bit thrown off by the giant slice of cucumber on top of the sandwich, but it was well seasoned and complimented the other ingredients nicely. We all really enjoyed this banh mi - it had a good balance of ingredients with a generous amount of tasty cold cuts and delicious pâté.

Tung Hing Bakery
1196 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC V5V 3C8
(604) 875-3394
website: http://tunghingbakery.ca/

An Nam Restaurant
Vietnamese Sub with Pork $3.50

Our friends suggested that we include this Vietnamese restaurant located in nearby Richmond. I’d never heard of it before but I thought it’d be fun to see what Richmond had to offer (Richmond’s known for having great Asian food afterall). The sandwich had too much black pepper, the quantity of pickled veggies overwhelmed the rest of the sandwich, and the pâté had an intense liver flavor (both Brian and I commented on the strange aftertaste). Kris' portion contained a tiny piece of fatty meat. Despite our negative reviews, it’s interesting to note that our friend Joyce loved the strong liver flavor of the pâté and also enjoyed the generous amount of pickled daikon and carrot (this was her favorite sandwich overall).

An Nam Restaurant
8280 Granville Ave
Richmond, BC V6Y 1P3
(604) 279-9097
website: http://www.annamrestaurant.ca/

And the winner of this banh mi battle is...Tung Hing! We celebrated by eating some banana fried buns from Tung Hing’s bakery:

Final Rankings:
1. Tung Hing (good balance of ingredients, yummy cold cuts and pâté)

2. Au Petit Café (delicious house made meat balls)
3. Ba Le, Kingsway location (good traditional banh mi)
4. Kingsway Deli (boring flavor but I would eat it if I had no other options)
5. An Nam (strong flavored pâté, too many pickled veggies)

A big thank you to our friends Joyce and Brian for participating in the banh mi roundup!

And check out this cool site devoted exclusively to banh mi, Battle of the Banh Mi, created by food bloggers White on Rice Couple. You’ll learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about banh mi, including how to make them yourself (vegetarian recipes too!). There’s also a great directory of locations where you can get banh mi throughout the US.

So where’s your favorite place to get banh mi? Leave me a comment below!