run2eat

Cool thanks for that and for your post in the Montreal forum. I'm headed there this weekend and am looking forward to some fine eating! Speaking of Montreal - I spotted some Schwartz seasonings (steak spice!) at Gourmet Warehouse.

We tried to go last Friday (had heard they might have a soft opening), but they weren't yet open. Since then, their website's gone live, so I presume they are now open (and I can't wait to try it! ) but don't know that for a fact. http://www.pied-a-terre-bistro.ca/

Saturday is the last night of Parkside's superb Game and Wild Mushroom menu. http://www.parksiderestaurant.ca/ No specific wine pairings but the experienced servers would set you up with good matches.

Hi, I'm run2eat, and I'm also a durian virgin....and am watching this thread with interest! I might take baby steps with the durian glelato from a local producer...

I (edit->)third the Memphis Blues suggestion. My DH and I can live for a week off the Elvis Platter! A Memphis platter is our usual choice and gets us a couple of days of leftovers. I've always found the portions at Parkside to be very generous (but perhaps not so to a 'big eater'). HSG too - very generous portions. Anywhere with family-style service should fit the bill too - Greek, Chinese, Indian etc, lots of good picks. We've always been happy with Cactus club - of the big box places within walking distance, we tend to go there most (for beers and appies on the patio, mostly).

Wow - I think you've hit upon something brilliant there. I'm going to try that next time I do a roast chicken: brine then air dry :-) Cheers!

Enroute to the valley, the Honeybee Centre is worth a stop. http://www.honeybeecentre.com/

Oh man, this thread has me missing my mom and her wonderful cabbage rolls or sarma! for hers: - sour cabbage was a must (easy to find in Edmonton) - after cooking, the meat-rice ratio in the filling was about 50:50. The meat was either all beef, or a mix of beef and pork, or beef-pork-veal (aka meatloaf mix). Not lamb for some reason (odd given how much lamb we ate). Seasoning was some finely chopped onion, salt and lots of black pepper. - she'd make the rolls fairly large - the big leaves loosely packed (to allow room for the rice to expand) with as much as could be fully contained. She'd overlap smaller leaves to maintain a consistent size. - the sauce involved a little bit of roux, either tomato paste and stock, or tomato juice, and a splash of white wine if some was on hand. - the rolls were placed on end in the casserole pot - for added flavour, she'd poke smoked ribs in between the rolls This was all simmered on the stove and served on boiled potatoes for a superbly comforting meal (. The same filling went into stuffed peppers, or stuffed zucchini (but she'd leave the smoked meat out of the pot for these). My dad carried on with his own version of cabbage rolls - he's taken some liberties : - he often adds shredded carrot or other vegetables in the filling (I'm not so crazy about this as I find the result a bit too sweet - the thought of adding raisins or gingersnaps makes me shudder ) - he's constantly tinkering with the meat mix, bits of smoked meat or bacon often find their way into the filling. Rather than simmering on the stovetop, he uses a slow cooker. I find they come out a bit on the mushy side with this. I've made 'deconstructed sarma' (ground meat, rice, sauerkraut) on occasion in a hopeful attempt to capture the flavour with minimal effort. Not so close but tasty enough for a weekday dinner :-) I haven't made the real deal for ages, but think I will soon!

^ Ooooh, sweetbreads!

I like eatbc's picks above and agree with Speaking of spice, sauce and sablefish. I enjoyed an extraordinary pairing this last summer of unsmoked sablefish in a fennel-cream sauce, paired with a superb dry Vouvray. Yummy but not a BC wine (and I don't think our Chablis comes close to a Vouvray). Depending on the sauce, a fruity, lighter pinot noir may be nice? For aromatic BC whites, I'm really loving the Golden Mile 5th element right now.

I think so too! We're going tomorrow night. Yum, I can't wait! (edited to fix tags) ← Our local suppliers have really step up; as have our local wine reps. We have spent all week getting ready for this promotion. It proved to be our busiest 10 days of the year in 2006 (at Rare, hopefully at Metro in 2007). What really works with this promotion is its timing with the natural harvest in Vancouver. The diners who attend this event really get to taste the full spectrum of great BC products at all the participating restaurants. What a naturally great time to be doing this; and a great charity. Ping me if you are coming in, would love to meet you at your table! Otherwise ~ I will be the guy on the grill at Metro; sit at the bar stools looking onto the kitchen. ← Oops - In my rush to post, I didn't specify we were going to Rare tonight. Hopefully we'll get to try Metro's CityDine menu too! :-)

I think so too! We're going tomorrow night. Yum, I can't wait! (edited to fix tags)

Did a quick Google but couldn't find reference to new Lombardo's -- where it be? ←

How about the cafe at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It would be speedy and the patio can be lovely on a nice fall day.

I found it. Page 36. Have you used the basil leaf substitution? And if so, do you stir them into the hot oil as if they were curry leaves? Even though the author frequently says substitute basil for a completely different but equally interesting flavor, I wish I could get my hands on some curry leaves. Until that happy day, I'll be giving the recipes a try with basil leaves. pat w. ← Are there no Indian food stores in your area? I just had a google and found this list on http://www.searchindia.com/search/groc.html

Last 3: La Cocina del Puerco -Bellevue (Wholesome and homey Mexican. The carnitas was mighty fine, bucket (er, shared) of cold cervezas mighty refreshing) Mediterranean Kitchen - Bellevue (Oh, so yummy! Such huge portions though! ) Mi Mexico - Bellingham (Speedy and hit the spot after a long wait at the border).

Depending on when you're here in October, and on whether it's on, Parkside will hopefully repeat its singularly extraordinary game and wild mushroom festival that it debuted last fall. Here's a link to last year's menu: http://www.parksiderestaurant.ca/wildgame.html Festival or not, it's a consistently excellent choice.

UBC farm had some garlic last week. At Trout lake look for Stein Mountain farm (I hope I've got the name right - look for hanging wreaths of garlic and peppers (if it's not too early in the season for those)) - they have wonderful organic garlic, and a great selection of onions. I haven't been out there for a while since we're frequenting UBC farm this year (got in on their box program this year). If UBC farm is handy for anyone this week, it's a good time to go out - there's been quite a bounty! This coming Saturday will have the biggest selection of the season yet!

I spotted hangar steak at So.Cial's butcher shop!

That, and doesn't very lean meat get rather "livery" with overcooking or too high a temperature (due to all the myoglobin or something)? I haven't been to Metro yet, but hope to soon!

Garlic shoots==Garlic Scapes? It's a bit past the season for local supply (UBC farm market had loads at the start of their season, but none last week). Try T&T or H-mart?

Her "World of the East" was one of my first cookbooks, and to this day remains on my "favourites/most used" shelf (and my ~30 year old paperback copy is in pretty rough shape!). It's joined up there by "World Vegetarian" but I tend to open "World of the East" more often, for old favourites (Bitter Melon with Eggs!) If you're a fan of her anecdotes, she's recently published a memoir of her childhood that's well worth reading: (here's hoping the egullet amazon thingy works...) http://www.amazon.com/dp/140004295X/ref=no...ulletsociety-20

re: slugs Copper wire or tape is reported to be an effective barrier: http://www.eartheasy.com/grow_nat_slug_cntrl.htm http://perfectperennials.tripod.com/id7.html

When I was last at the Vintropolis VQA store (~ a week or so ago), they had what looked like ~20 cases stacked at the cash desk. Marquis also had some on hand last weekend for their BC release. Speaking of Rose - I'm thoroughly enamoured with the Township 7 Rose (2006) - summer in a glass! It was superb with a grilled beef lettuce wrap we had tonight.

Eeep! That's a really short walk (er, waddle) from my place. This could be downright dangerous! Thanks for the info!