Daddy-A

A collection from last weekend: Vichyssoise from Les Halles Smoked Eggplant that eventually became Babba Ghannouj Smoked Chicken - brined with Soy, Ginger & Shiso The shiso inspiration came from nothing more than the fact that we have this HUGE shiso plant in our patio garden ... and only so many uses for shiso. Need to find some more ... A.

Andie, that basket is awesome! I won't be suing it to smoke as I use a Weber Bullet ... but my grill on the other hand would benefit from such a device. Thanks for the tips! A.

I first heard of Outstanding in the Field last year. Thanks to David Hawksworth, I was made aware of their dinner at the UBC Farm. As it happened, my 40th birthday was on the same day, so this was a no brainer. The evening began at 4, with a glass of wine, some farm-grown radishes with sea salt and olive oil, and a chance to meet with some of the other guests (about 100 in total). Part of the OIF tradition is that each guest brings his/her own plate, as they feel this helps enhance the "family-style" nature of the meal. This is another, more recent tradition: Their 1953 FLXible bus "Outstanding" David & crew preparing to roast chickens! OIF Founder Jim Denevan (the tall dude) and OIF Director, Katy Oursler The other fella in the middle is from UBC Farm ... Karole? Stephen? Anyone remember his name? Here's one for Karole: Greg Rekken - Production Coordinator at UBC Farm Farmer Greg (ain't he adorable Karole?) took us on a tour of the farm before dinner: Yes, that bee-hive is actually a wood burning oven. No, the chickens were not the same we had for dinner. First Course - (Top) Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette, Pesto, Artisan Bread (Terra Breads), (Bottom) Saltspring Island Goat Cheese Tart Second Course (l to r): Queen Charlotte Smoked Sablefish & Grilled Sardines (Finest at Sea)), Roasted tomatoes, potatoes, beans, eggs, etc, Chef Hawksworth plating the course (theres some spicey aioli in there somewhere) ... The Finished Dish - Salade Nicoise That was my favorite dish of the evening, and not just becasue that was me David was serving. The sablefish was smoked to absolute perfection by this man: The guy in the fish shirt (left) is Ian Angus of Finest at Sea. He, like all the other producers of the food for the evening's meal were with us at the table, sharing their passion for what they did. I'll be visiting Ian in September to learn how to add sablefish to my smoking repetoire. Showing off the spit roasted chicken ... Third course (l to r) - Roasted potatoes, roasted garlic, English Peas / Spit Roasted Chicken with Saskatchewan Chantrelles The chantrelles were incredible ... "Canadian Truffles" is how Chef Hawksworth referred to them. Not quite as earty, but very meaty in texture. Let them soak up a little of the jus de poulet and they're a meal in themselves. Also served, but not photographed were some deliscious Summer Squash Ravioli. UBC Farm Honey, to accompany ... Cheese Course - A selection of cheeses from Farmhouse Cheese It was too dark for a good photo of the dessert, which was a Strawberry Jelly served with Lemon Shortbread. Wines for the evening: Suman Ridge Sauvignon Blanc (Starters), Gray Monk Pinot Gris (First & Second Course), Mission Hill 5 Vineyards Merlot (Third Course), Qualis Gate Optima Late Harvest (Cheese & Dessert). While the food at this event was as wonderful as I've enjoyed anywhere, the highlight of the evening has to be the sense of community it fostered. Not only getting to meet the producers, but dining with people who until that evening were total strangers (eGulleters aside ) and truly enjoying their company was very rewarding. I truly hope Outstanding in the Field will return next year. If not, I may have to start my own. I've always wanted a bus. A.

Okay, break out the Pillsbury crescent roll can! ← No we're talking! My favorite was the cheese flavoured dough ... in Canada I seem to remeber the product (from Pilsbury I think) being made specifically to wrap hot dogs in. Now if I could just find some Squeeze-A-Snack! A.

Welcome to eGullet! Sounds like Ling has a rival! A.

Ummm ... FAMERS' MARKETS???? Remember those? Jeesh! A.

We were there in May ... they could have used A/C iirc. My report is HERE. About 1/2 way down the post (pictures!). A.

Good lord! How could I have forgotten Virtual Bullet??!! Awesome lcdm! Thanks ... that site is like a bible for me. Guess I need to read the bible more Well, they're green right now. And just to confirm my ignorance of all thinks plant-like ... will the green ones turn red, or is it another kind of jalapeno?Regardless, I'll be using the peppers we have at hand ... jalapenos and anchos. I'll try to get this done before vacation at the end of the month, otherwise y'all will just have to wait until September! A.

Beautiful! But can the creativity at the infant stage truly be compared with the creativity of later years. I agree that true creativity requires an absence or at least ignorance of influence ... but doesn't it also require a context? At infancy, I would term this an awakening rather than creativity. But we're not here to talk semantics are we? Sounds like a university pub to me ... especially if one was waiting for the ladies room! How does this translate to cuisine?? A.

hmmm.... Come on Sam! Surely someone with your vocabulary can elaborate more than this! A.

Just got back from dinner ... and as corney as it might sound, the evening was truly magical. I'll post pictures and a full report tomorrow, but David and his team worked wonders under very spur-of-the-moment conditions! The nicest surprise for me was the family style dining with a group of total strangers and how we quickly were chatting like long lost friends. Time to go sleep of another meal ... A.

We have a bumper crop of jalapenos and anchos from the patio garden this year (yes, we can grow peppers in the Great White North ). My hope is to take the majority of them and smoke/dry them in the Weber Bullet, and of course document the procedure on eGullet. Any thoughts on how to go about this? A.

Too bad you aren't in Vancouver. I have 2 companies that do stainless steel for me. But they're not cheap! About $100 per square foot! Granted, that includes welded seams and the plywood substrate and installation. But it's still freakin' expensive. Your comment on looks is important with stainless, because after using it for a while, stainless looks pretty beat up. It scratches very easily. But restaurants don't use stainless for looks. It aboslutely will not hold onto bacteria so its a perfect surface for commercial food prep where such things are important. I've never worked in a restaurant so I can't comment on whether or not this happens up here. Wouldn't granite be a risky choice on the cleanliness front? I'm thinking of the restaurant in florida that had an outbreak of salminella that developed in the granite countertops. Don't misunderstand me ... I LOVE granite. I probably would have used it in my kitchen if the Corian colour I found wasn't so perfect (and the deal I got was pretty good too). Quartz surfaces like Silestone seem to address the shortcomings of granite quite nicely, while still retaining some of the aesthetic. A.

Truth be told, you're budget is pretty close to mine ... I'm maybe just over $500 if I include coffee and the occaisional Mars Bar. Don't assume that because I'm writing about a lot of meals that I eat out all the time. I probably eat out for lunch 3-4 days out of 5 during the work week. That's the nature of my job. I'm on the road a lot, so taking leftovers isn't possible, and I really really hate doing sandwiches every day. Dinners out? Maybe 1-2 a month, not including vacations (when you have to dine out.) For my wife & I, dining out is a hobby. It's a chance to try something new and experience the service and personality of a given restaurant, and often a chance to get together with friends. Personally, I prefer cooking at home, but with both of us working and wanting to spend time with my kids, the convenience of it also factors in. As far as the "Outstanding in the Field" dinner goes ... we splurged. Plain and simple. This dinner would not normally be on our radar. But it's my 40th birthday today and the chance to dine al fresco on food prepared by David Hawksworth was too good to pass up. For some, questions pertaining to money are personal and frankly, nobody's business but their own. A.

TFA, Have you tried the ribs at Memphis Blue? If you're looking for a cultural experience with ribs, that'd be the place. A.

Nobody decided to use granite as a countertop because it performs well. It's all about looks. Concrete (if done properly) is a) expensive, b) can take a long time to fabricate, c) stains (or if you prefer, "develops a patina", and d) will crack, no matter what is mixed in with it. Designer Fu-Tung Cheng (Website HERE) uses a lot of concrete in his design. Stunning? Yes. Practical? Depends on you. Yep, same stuff. Consider all the Inuit carvings in the gift shops that could have become countertops! Soapstone is a good countertop surface because it is so dense. A little mineral oil and you have a work surface that is virtually inpenitrable. Soapstone is used in chemistry labs for its durability & stain resitence, so that gives you some idea as to its performance. Will it scratch? Yes, but a little steel wool takes care of that. Can you carve it? Yep. So use a cutting board! It's also only available in a couple colours. More info HERE. A.

That's the exact Corian we have. ← THIS is what we chose. Your experience is typical Steven ... the darker colours show scratches more. The colour we have is scratched. If I look at it on an angle, I can see them in the reflection. But if you asked a guest in my house, they wouldn't notice a thing. A.

[host] I've relocated the discussion on tipping over in General Food Topics and given it its own thread. HERE. Let's keep the discussion in this thread focussed on Chinese food in Vancouver. Thanks! [/host] A.

[host] Time to re-focus. We're not here to speak of Ms. Gill's credentials, if the word "crap" is appropriate in a restaurant review, or when is it appropriate to review a restaurant after itt opens. All excellent topics, but please start them in General Foods or Food Media. Discussing whether or not Watermark serves "crap" is fair game however [/host] For those interested in reading the full train-wreck, HER YA GO! A.

I would agree that it does look hazy over time, especially with dark colors. You can usually combat this by polishing, but in my experience, it doesn't take long for it to look dull, so break out those biceps! Corian used divided into colour groups for pricing with names like "Magna Series" and "Jewel Series". It was really helpful as I was able to tell my clients to stay away from certain groups as they would show scratches more quickly. Now the price groups are "A" through "G" ... A = Awfully expensive, B=Bloody Expensive, C= CRAP! That's expensive!, and so on Rule of thumb ... although it's available, never do a high-gloss finish on Corian. It isn't hard enough to maintain the shine. The darker the colour and the finer the particulate, the more scratches you will see. So a colour like Graphic Blue (which we have in the showroom) needs to be buffed out quite a bit. On the other hand Mideiterranean does a much better job of hiding marks. A word about buffing out your Corian (as opposed to Pimping your Ride): make sure you do the entire surface, and not just the areas where the scratches are. If you focus on work areas, they will eventually look shinier than the rest of your countertop. A.

Ha ha, classic Talent. This is such a great idea, perhaps I'll make up a button that says "Win one for the Gipper" while I'm at it. ← Actually, I think is starting to repeat himself. Running out of material Keith? Brian ... keep an eye out for me. I'm bringing the lacrosse stick. Good weapon, and an extra place to carry tomatoes! A.

Y'all want a chart???? I'll look into it. With all my spare time it should be up by Christmas! Steven - the "springy-ness" can be easily addressed in its installation. Corian's only 1/2" thick so it will be springy over larger spans. It just needs more support beneath the countertop. Having said that, I use my trusty 1.5" thick end-grain maple butcher block for the more serious pounding and hacking. If I were a pastry chef (wasn't that in Fiddler on the Roof?) I would most definitely have granite or marble. No question. In kitchens I have designed for professional chefs, I use at least 2 different countertop materials. One other point about Corian ... unless things have changed recently, Corian and stainless steel are the only materials that have earned the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) 51 compliance for food contact applications. Well, I'll agree with you 100% on the DuPont front with respect to their pricing. Zodiaq is the same stuff as Silestone, Caesarstone (the machinery used to manufacture all comes from one company) but costs much more, at least in this market. As far as performance goes ....granite is porous until it is sealed. That's no theory, it's fact. The chemical compound used to seal granite breaks down over time, thus leaving granite susceptible to staining and contamination (There was a serious outbreak of salmonella in Florida about 15-20 years ago that was a result of improperly sealed granite. The Corian people still site it today as a reason to go with their product. Silestone has gone so far as to add MicroBan to their material.) Quartz countertops like Silestone are non-porous and look as much like granite as a man-made product can (IMO). Therein lies the difference. Is it worth the cost difference? That's up to the individual. I've had two granite countertops "fail" in my career ... one shattered because the client found his own supplier and went with cheaper "architectural grade" granite (normally used for vertical applications), and the other was a really bad pinot noir stain on a Giallo Santa Cecelia top. Both situations would have been avoided with Corian or Quartz. A.

I think that was me!!! A.

Let's see how many offers you get to drive you up here! I believe are desparately in need of good butchers ... and even more so in terms of charcuterie. Oyama can't handle ALL of us! A.

A. ← Daddy A, do you want to swap a couple of Milan's tomatoes for some custom kitchen work at the restaurant? ← How about some smoked chicken (smoking on Saturday) and some basil and an eggplant from our garden? Kitchen design services will cost you a couple glasses of Alibi ... and that's just MY time. A.