pissaladiere

There is a really good recipe in Baking with Julia for a French strawberry cake. It uses a genoise layered with macerated strawberries and creme fraiche. Not exactly what you're looking for, but absolutely wonderful. We had a fraisier (french strawberry cake) for my daughter's birthday last May while we were staying in France. Strawberries were in season, and it was the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. I am going to try and recreate it this May. I may try tweaking the Baking with Julia recipe to get more of a pastry cream, rather than creme fraiche. Let us know what you decide on.

Thanks Cheryl. I tried the cake again. This time I whipped the eggs and sugar for 2 or 3 minutes longer. I was able to make a figure 8 in the batter. I also refrained from opening the oven door. The result is a lovely, light, beautifully risen Genoise. Thank you so much. I'm making it for my mum's birthday tonight and I think it's going to be delicious. Your advice was very helpful, Andrea

I made the recipe for "The Perfect Genoise" from baking with Julia. My plan was to cut it into three layers, brush each layer with a hazelnut liqueur syrup, fill with nutella mousse and top with a chocolate ganache. This is my first time ever making a genoise. I followed the directions precisely, but it seems that my cake has hardly risen. It would be impossible to cut into three layers. How much should a genoise rise? What could I have done wrong? Were my eggs not warm enough. I left them at room temperature for about 2 hours. Did I not whip the egg/sugar mixture enough. It appeared to be at ribbon stage. Any help would be appreciated. I guess I could make another cake and see what happens. Thanks, Andrea

Based on the rave reviews on this sight I sent my mother to Senhor Rooster's for lunch (it's in her neighbourhood). I, unfortunately, have yet to try it. I mentioned some of the dishes recommended here (cornish game hens, rack of lamb, bbqed mushrooms). She and a friend ordered some ribs and a half a cornish game hen. While they enjoyed their meal, they both thought the meat was every so slightly dry and lacking in seasoning or "sauce". I was very surpised as I had mentioned to her that Daniel was known for his sauces and that she should try the piri piri. She said that both meals came without sauce and that there were no bottles of sauce on the table. I was very surprised. She says she did not ask for any sauces. (She is one of those annoyingly polite customers who thinks they are being difficult by asking for anything once there meal is served) She did mention that there appeared to be just one woman running the whole show. This was on Friday at lunch. Is the experience at Senhor Rooster very different when the infamous Daniel is not around? Anyway, she is willing to give it another try, and I think the whole family will go for an upcoming birthday. I will be able to report my own experiences then.

I've only been to the Pink Pearl twice. Once for a post funeral luncheon and once on the night I went into labour with my son. I swear it was the sight of a scurrying rodent in the bathroom that brought on my labour pains. Unless it were life or death, I wouldn't go back.

I tried the Gingerbread pudding posted on dining out guide for a Christmas Eve dessert. It was very well received and yummy. Spicy, caramelly goodness. I served it with a pistachio ice cream. I must admit that I've yet to try the one at the Hamilton Street Grill. I don't know if it was the pan that I prepared it in, but in the end it seemed that I didn't have quite enough custard for the amount of cake. Did you find that one cup of milk or cream was enough custard?

Ling, Thanks for the beautiful pictures and description. We are going to Diva next week. I love being able to think about and visualize the meal before I go. (ok, like the rest of you food obsessed, my daydreams are often about rich sauces, juicy meats and perfect souffles)I'm already salivating thinking about the veal cheeks. I'm torn between the stilton cheese cake and the upside down chocolate souffle. Anyway, I'll report back after my meal next week.

We had our first DOV experience of the year last night. We had an 8:00 reservation at Feenie's. The room was buzzing even more than usual. We had a good experience and some of the dishes were amazing. We began with the mussels and the truffle scented white bean ravioli. We really enjoyed both dishes. The mussels were plump and had a traditionally flavoured sauce. The white bean ravioli were deliciously unctuous. Feenie really know his ravioli! For the main course we had the Mission trout with beurre blanc, capers and raisins. It was accompanied by a cauliflour puree. This entree was incredibly complex and delicious. A lot of different flavours going on, but it really worked well. We also had the lamb shank with risotto and pearl onions. This was good. I like my lamb shank really saucy and falling off the bone (like they do at Chambar). This one you actually had to fight with a bit to get the meat off the bone. The braising liquid was rich and savoury and made the risotto delicous. They also had a vegetarian entree with chick peas (Sorry I can't give more details, I often eat vegetarian at home, but when I go out I almost always want meat or seafood) For dessert we ordered the winter fruit tart and the trio of sorbets. The winter tart came in a little triangular parcel. It was full of nuts, raisins and apples. I liked it, although the pastry was a little "solid" for me. Also, I felt as though it needed a little more juiciness (either a sauce or more fruit). My friend had the sorbets with biscotti. She had a mango, grapefruit and pineapple sorbet. These were a delicous end to a rich meal, sweet, tart and so smooth. It was an incredibly generous portion of sorbets too. There was also a chocolate, cherry bread pudding on the menu which looked good. The waitress, however, said that she wouldn't recommend it unless you were "into bread pudding". I was surprised that they didn't have VQA wine pairings for each entree. We ended up ordering a glass of Mission Hill Pinot Grigio and a Stump Jump (?) red (sorry, my friend ordered this so I don't have any more details except that she and the waitress kept raving about how delicious it was). All in all, it was a good meal. I found the 90 minute time limit a little restrictive. I like to linger over a meal. We didn't even have time for a cup of coffee at the end. We are going to Aurora tonight and Diva at the Met next week. I almost look forward to the grey, rainy days of late January knowing that DOV is coming.

I recently purchased Karen Barnaby's book and am really enjoying it. She has a lot of traditional, comfort foods that use great ingredients and techniques. I've really liked her braised lamb shanks, meatloaf, shepherd's pie. Her coconut cream pie, is like the classic homespun dessert, rich, creamy and, so comforting. I made the orange and semolina cake last week along with the lamb shanks. It was a perfect, rainy day dinner. Still lots of recipes to try.

Hi Patrick, I must confess that I look at this thread often just to see what you've made. Your desserts always look fabulous. I love the sound of the nutella, pastry cream napoleon. Only a perfectionist would comment that his souffles (absolutely beautiful, btw) have risen too much! Anyway, I look forward to your posts, and, perhaps, one day I'll have something worthy of posting.

Hi, Given my on-line name, I can say that I have made a few of these. Although somewhat daunting it really is hard to go wrong with Pissaladiere. I have had fine, although not that authentic, results using a puff pastry crust. I like a yeast dough that is shaped into a thin crust. I have had great results with the recipe on the America's Test Kitchen website. (it uses rapid rise yeast) In fact, I liked the crust so much, that I use it for all my pizzas now. The sweetness of perfectly caramelized onions, salty anchovies, briny olives, and a crispy crust that holds it altogether. Sounds perfect to me.

I tried Ling's lime meltaways that she posted in recipe gullet. I think they may be my new favourite cookie. The lime flavour is intense and they do have a lovely, melt in your mouth texture. I, like many of you, am a notorious cookie batter taster and I wasn't impressed with the batter - it just wasn't sweet enough. I, then, tried one of the cookies straight out of the oven, and again, wasn't impressed. However, once doused in icing sugar, they were the perfect combination of sweet and sour, citrussy. The texture improves with time too. I highly recommend these

A new restaurant has recently opened up in Tsawwassen. It is called Illuminate. The owner is supposedly a former chef from one of Umberto's places. He has spent a lot of money on renovating a spot in a mini mall and has created a slick, upscale looking room with a great bar and semi-open kitchen. We had a very good meal there (excellent New York Steak, gnocchi, salmon appetizer). The menu is Italian influenced and offers a variety of good choices. The night we went the service was spotty, and we've heard stories from neighbours of exceptionally bad service. I think they wanted a soft opening as they didn't advertise at all. Tsawwassen, however, is in such dire need of good dining choices that they have been busy right from the start. I hope the glitches in the service work themselves out, because it looks like it has a lot of potential.

I don't know anything about this particular biscotti recipe, but I bought a bottle of Godiva liqueur on a whim and it is amazing. My favourite thing to do is to pour it over homemade ice cream. Delicious. It's also great in hot chocolate, coffees etc. I'd splurge on the bottle. Andrea

Joni, Here is the recipe. I use a chai spice blend from a specialty store and grind it in a spice grinder. You could use any chai spice as long as you like the flavour of it. 2 1/2 cups ap flour 1/2 tsp sea salt 1 Tbsp ground chai spice blend (chai masala or chai spice without tea leaves) 1 cup unsalted butter 1/4 cup icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract icing sugar for rolling preheat oven to 400F Combine flour, salt and tea. Cream butter and icing sugar, add vanilla and continue creaming until fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix only until combined. Roll into balls. Bake for 10 minutes, until only slightly golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, then roll in icing sugar. When fully cooled, roll in icing sugar again. Andrea

I've already started my Christmas baking, as I was preparing a basket to be auctioned off. I made lemon bars (essentially my favourite shortbread recipe combined with my favourite lemon curd recipe), Chai Tea spice butter balls (very yummy and wintery), Toblerone shortbread and Thomas Haas Chocolate Sparkle Cookies (the recipe is on e-gullet). The Thomas Haas cookies got a lot of press a few years ago (and sell for a small fortune at his lovely bakery in my city). I made them two Christmases ago and thought that they weren't worth all the hype. I made them again this weekend and everyone in my family agreed that they were amazing. Flourless, rich as a chocolate truffle, soft on the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside. Outstanding! I did use the Valhrona 70% this time. I don't remember, but probably didn't use it last time. Anyway, I would definitely recommend them. Looking forward to more Christmas cookie ideas. Andrea

Hi Ling, My birthday's on the 30th too and I am inspired by you to start thinking about my own birthday cake. I usually end up making one as I am the official and only cake maker in the family. I was following your post in the pastry thread (come to think of it I should look over there) with much interest. What recipe did you end up using for the chocolate layers?

I can't wait to try this restaurant. I had one of my most memorable dining experiences at their old digs, Emotion in West Van. I checked out their menu on-line and it is so similar to many of the excellent bistros that we dined at in the South of France. Pissaladiere, brandade de morue, duck confit, daube de boeuf-sounds like heaven to me. I love the name too. Mistral is a very strong wind that blows through Provence. I have a birthday coming up and had already made lunch reservations at Bacchus Bistro at Domaine de Chaberton in Langley. Now, I'm tempted to change our plans and try Mistral.

Hi, I live in Tsawwassen where there is a serious lack of good dining out options. There is a space in a mini mall being renovated and rumour on the street has it that it is going to be a upscale casual restaurant. I've heard the owner has some connection to Umberto's. I'm really hoping that this will be a glimmer of light in our culinary wasteland. Does anyone know anything else about this?

Hi, You know, it doesn't really matter what kind of coconut you use. I use whatever I have in the cupboard and it always turns out well. Personally, I like things less sweet so unsweetened coconut works well. Andrea

I did a very brief (due to the fact that I love food too much) stint as a vegan. I, however, continue to make this chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe. It is one of my favourites. I often keep a log in the freezer and bake them when I have unexpected company for tea. It is adapted from a book called "Salt Spring Island Cooking" 1 cup dairy free margarine (I think lactantia makes one) 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 cup boiling water 1 tsp vanilla 1 3/4 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups quick cooking oats 1/2 cup coconut 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chunks or chocolate chips Cream butter and sugar Dissolve baking soda in boiling waterand add to margarine/sugar. Add vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir in chocolate chips. Chill dough. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Give this a try. They are really good. Andrea

Stella's on Commercial-Saturday night before Springsteen concert We really liked this place. I had a Bellevue Kriek and my husband had a Hoegarden. We were hoping that they had some Belgian Triples (Westmalle, Leffe Triple, Duval), but were pleased with the selection of beers on tap. We shared some beautifully plump muscles with chorizo and jalapenos and a bucket of frites. Frites were ok. We also had the tacos with rare beef and horseradish creme fraiche. These were very tasty. Finally, an order of scallops crusted in schezuan pepper on a bed of spaghetti squash. I liked this dish the least. The scallops were slightly burned and the squash didn't add anything to the dish. All in all, a very good meal. We will certainly try this place again. Whitespot on Georgia-Friday afternoon We were with the kids. Usually, when we are downtown (We live in Tsawwassen, which has very few interesting dining choices) I insist that we eat somewhere more interesting, but as everyone was starving and they had waited over an hour for me to get out of the hairdresser, I gave in. Had a tasty Monty Mushroom burger. Two weeks ago-Seasons in the Park I had no choice about going here and had low expectations that were met. This is a beautiful setting, but the food was very average and very expensive. Just not good value. I had steamed muscles and clams which were briny, puny and just not tasty. After that I had a salad nicoise that had a nicely grilled piece of tuna, but was covered in a mayonnaisey dressing. Without a high quality evoo it just isn't salad nicoise, imho. No one else was thrilled with their meal. Uninspired tuna, slighly overcooked salmon, flavourless steak. The only burst of flavour during the meal was a lemon tart with a creme brulee topping. Very yummy! Overall, there are so many superior choices for the same or less money. Andrea

It`s also comforting to know that the middle ground and budget dinning in Tell me , did you take the kids along to the above or not ? ←

Hi there, I've been lurking on this thread for a while and have finally decided to post. As I write I am imagining many of you at Outstanding in the Field enjoying your amazing $145 meal and wine in the idyllic setting of UBC Farm. I am so jealous. It is my blatant envy of some of you regulars (Ling, Daddy-A, Deborah etc.) that has motivated me. I am a mom living in the outskirts of Vancouver who is somewhat food obsessed. My somewhat less of a foodie husband and I try to have one nice meal out per month (in the last while we've been to Chambar, West, Feenie's, Parkside, Hamilton Street Grill) and one inexpensive, family friendly meal per week (like take out from Rangoli, fish 'n chips at the beach, White Spot, casual chinese, sushi). In addition, the kids and I probably go for coffee and cookies and a casual lunch once per week. This rather limited dining out (compared to some of you) adds up to somewhere between $400 and $500 per month (mind you this is for a family of 4). So 'fess up guys, how much do you spend eating out per month (include coffee, take-out etc.)?

What I liked about the Korova cookies was that they didn't have any eggs, therefore I had no guilt about eating them raw and didn't worry about giving spoonfuls of dough to my kids (ok, ok I only gave them a spoonful each as I wanted to save most of it for myself) That being said I've been eating raw dough with and without eggs all my life and have never got sick from it.