peppyre

No, she really means building up her tolerance. Wait till you see the pictures from last night.

Personally, I don't even think that you can compare a flank or flatiron to a hanger steak. The hanger has more depth of flavour and the texture is very different. When I was trimming the one I had for dinner on Sat, I noticed that even the smell of this steak is different. It smells like meat. The colour raw is also quite dark, you can see that there is significantly more blood in the muscle, which adds to the flavour. This website has pictures. Hanger, Flank, and Flatiron ARE NOT the same thing and are not interchangeable. (I had the same rant with my butcher when he handed me a skirt steak and told me it was hanger. I think not

Wow! First they grow pot in Flin Flon and now Lobsters in Winnipeg. I guess if the family ranch goes under they can convert to a lobster farm.

Last night was certainly a feast. I spent the day doing girly things with my mom after she rescued me from a transit hell (Vancouver has the worst transit system) We went to a craft fair and since we were starving ended up grabbing something to eat. We both had Grilled Ham and Cheese on WONDERBREAD! It was wonderful. something neither of us had had in oh, 20 years, but so good. Then it was off to her place to start cooking. Her husband just fixed my car and as a thank you dinner, I brought a hanger steak that I had in my freezer. It was marinated in some olive oil, red wine and 4 cloves of smashed garlic. Left to sit for about 2 hours. With this we had roasted butternut squash and carrots, and mashed potatoes with feta, sour cream and milk, no butter. The steak was grilled until blue rare and finished on the plate with a green peppercorn sauce. It was so unbelievable good. But, no pictures. Batteries were dead on her camera.

I ended up letting my mom make the sauce since she neglected to inform me that she wanted to make it with almost no fat. Her husband has recently lost about 50lbs just by changing his diet and she didn't want to put excess butter in the dinner. Much to my dismay. Anyhow, she sweated the shallots in a little bit of lemon juice, added beef stock and basically made a traditional gravy, then I added the red wine and juices from the marinated steak, and added about 1/4 cup crushed green peppercorns. It was really tasty and had a huge bite to it. At the very end, we stirred in about a tsp of sour cream. Very low in fat and honestly, i didn't miss the butter.

I can personally attest that Chef Fowke can cook a hanger very blue. Witnessed it myself and that was the very first rare piece of meat I had ever had, and well....now I can't eat it any other way! Thanks Brian!!!

Well, as they say, great minds think alike. My mom and I are just going to throw a bunch of stuff together and see how it turns out.

I'm grilling a hanger steak tonight and would like to have a green peppercorn sauce with it, but, seeing as I have never made one and don't have a clue where to begin....help. What do I need for this. I have canned green peppercorns, shallots, garlic, etc...

This is a recipe that my mom found in an English gardening mag last week. Of course we had to try it. Take equal amounts (weight) rhubard and sweet potatoe and bake with fresh savory, salt and pepper. I think my mom added a squeeze of lemon too. We baked it for about an hour and it was fabulous. So very different but so very very good.

I would phone some of the local bakeries, especially La Baquette at Granville Island. I think you would have more luck there than at a grocery store.

My last few meals that were worth photographing. First, I've been having some issues with my very old rental apartment fridge. This is what happens to mushrooms when the freeze: They shrank to half their size You learn something new everyday. So, my egg-white omlette with carmelized onions and mushrooms suddenly changed. It became onion, red pepper and oven roasted tomatoes with morbier cheese. It turned out very well. Tuesday night I made a thai red curry with prawns and scallops: Wednesday night I made a pasta with various things in the fridge and freezer. The pasta contained fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, fried shallots, fried capers, pancetta, the last of the prawns and scallops, and red wine. Of course it was finished with a little bit of butter and parmesan. (Of course in this photo you can see my wax mangled tablecloth...the hazards of having a beeswax business I think it may be time to buy a new one) Tonight I picked up some frozen dim sum. Nothing that exciting.

And if you can't find Brioche, the Challah from Solly's is fantastic.

So, shall we say next Friday night after drinks at Wing Nuts? I think there are people that would pay to see Lorna with deep fried wing gook smeared all over her face It's close to my place if you want to crash again.

I have only ordered Lobster once in a restaurant here and that was for a very special occassion. It was just a whole lobster that I think had either been boiled or steamed. It was good, but the ones I do at home are much much better. I also think that letting the cat play with them for a little bit enhances the flavour i know, I'm twisted.

Wing Nuts is pretty good. I haven't been in a while but the hot wings are just Frank's Red Hot tossed on deep fried wings. It's a deep fried heaven.

Fine!

I personally don't think this is out of the blue. Anyone born and raised in Vancouver has fond memories of White Spot, good and bad, so for a local chef, raised in Vancouver, to support them seems perfectly logical. It seems as though advertising agencies here in Vancouver are starting to follow the trend of using Celeb Chefs in ad campaigns. The same thing is happening in the States. Hey, if it works, go for it. I personally still enjoy White Spot, especially with a hangover.

Scary....I remember that commercial! The 50 Foot Fred was always my Granpa's favorite stop whenever we went camping on the Vedder. By about 1980 or 81, I was so sick of it, I told him i didn't want to go anymore. Bit of nostalgia here, but I remember catching fish in the Vedder (Salmon, I think, this is going back over 20 yearsjavascript:add_smilie(%22:shock:%22)) and I remember the taste of it vividly, whatever it was. I don't the fishing on the Vedder is the same as it once was. Badiane, can you tell us a bit more about the local artisans and farmers that you get some of your supplies from? I would love to know if they would sell to some of us city folk. Chilliwack is really only an hour away.

I may live close by, but alas, I own no BBQ's I'm really good at making big bonfires though. OOOHHH...Flame grilled Hanger steak on the lawn of City Hall.....

Not a bad idea Jane! There is that beautiful lawn area that would make a great picnic spot. I'm sure there is someone that lives close enough to roll a BBQ over. And we would definitely need a couple of umbrella's. One that has the Corona logo and a plain elegant one. hmmmm...something to think about...

Only here would it seem normal to have a "Boy's Night Out" at Pastis

Pumpkin Lover, I feel for you. I think we've all been there at one time or another and it always sucks. Well, for my last big break up, I spent a night at my dad's eating and eating and eating and consuming more wine than one liver can handle in an evening. That was the week before the end. The first night it was over I went over to my mom's for her comfort, which again was wine, a pack of cigarettes and I think she had a steak waiting for me (it's all kind of a blur). The next night I was home and feeling great. (surprisingly) He was still in the house and I think I came in and cooked some really elaborate meal just for myself while he was packing. It was my last jab of "you're never getting this again! Haha!" Felt so good. He didn't drink and he couldn't stand seafood. I bought a lot of wine and various liquers after he moved out and I also had fresh lobster again. It was all about treating myself and doing things and eating things that made me feel good. Some nights all I wanted to do (and did do) was sit on the couch, smoke and drink. I hope you feel better soon.

I saw the Rob Feenie ad last night. It's not that bad and it's not like he's blatantly shilling. It's a spoof of his Iron Chef gig which is fine. The focus is more of Chuck and the new menu. Exactly what I suspected it would be. It does seem that everyone has jumped on the "Celeb Chef" band wagon for their advertising. Teresen has just started a campaign for natural gas and last night featured Pino Posteraro and Karen McSherry making burgers. This is obviously the new trend and it's not going away anytime soon. Oh and can I say that I am tired of all the elitist and judgemental comments. Enough already.

Use a beeswax based balm that is completely natural. The beeswax actually forms a protective barrier on your hands that will not wash off. If it's a well made balm, it should soak into your skin quite quickly and not leave it feeling greasy. The best part, it's edible. The balm that I make I also use on my lips and depending on the essential oils that I have used, it tastes pretty good too.

Chuck has actually been with White Spot for a while now, so this isn't new. I think what is new is another menu launch. They did the same thing last year they just didn't have big name chefs behind them. It will be interesting to see where this goes.