Ling

I didn't upload all my old food pictures until now, but here are some pictures of my usual breakfasts. brownies...(here is a "small" serving I cut just to photograph.) chocolate cake: one more pic, because chocolate cakes are just so damn beautiful (that's not a rack in the background...that's my nifty little wire cake leveller!) wrapped and ready for the freezer! I always have a couple of these babies on hand

OK so I made the Fine Cooking lemon curd and Pierre Herme's lemon cream (I know, that was fast, wasn't it? ) Here are the pics. I followed the directions exactly as written for each recipe. All the pictures were taken prior to refrigeration. 1. side by side comparison, so you can see the differences in colour. The FC one is on the left, and the PH one is on the right. 2. FC curd...hopefully you can see how thick it is. It was not runny at all, and firmed up even at room temperature. You can see some brown specks in the curd--that's because even though I followed the directions and had the heat on medium, a little bit of the curd browned as soon as I poured it into the saucepan. Though the recipe says to cook it on medium, I cooked it on low heat. It thickened in the time specified--about 15 minutes (well, more like 13 minutes). 3. the PH lemon cream...this was looser than the lemon curd, but not runny I must say, I was really disappointed with the lemon cream. I followed the instructions exactly, and was really carefully in weighing out the butter. I thought the lemon cream tasted really strange--more like lemony butter. I thought it was delicious when I was cooking it over the double boiler--nice and tart. The butter mellowed it out too much, in my opinion. I'm going to have to use this as a filling for a lemon pound cake or something. I thought it was very average....even taking into consideration that it shouldn't be as tart as lemon curd. I don't think I'll make this again. The Fine Cooking recipe, on the other hand, was excellent. I actually was looking for something similar to the curd I had in a lemon tart from Dahlia Bakery a few days ago, and this was it! Sharp and tangy, with just the right amount of sweetness. I LOVED THIS! I ate most of the batch already...damn, this was so addictive!

I've used cornstarch in my fallback recipe, and I don't taste it in the finished product. I'm going to try the Fine Cooking recipe and Pierre Herme's lemon cream this week. Will report back!

Yes, that's the place I was thinking about--Piroshky Piroshky. Not familiar with Russian baked goods, but they sure looked good in the window. That's on my list for my next visit.

Both the croissants frm Sen5es and Dahlia are buttery and flaky, but the ones at Dahlia are a deeper brown (which I really like). I hope I get to meet you next time I'm down! There's so much that I still want to try in Seattle--Le Pichet has been on my list for awhile, and I didn't get to spend nearly enough time at Pike Market! There were a number of bakeries at Pike Market with delicious-looking baked goods. How is Three Girls Bakery? The things at a Polish (?) bakery looked good too...they had a lot of savoury items in the window.

^I'm guessing this is the Caramel-Chocolat (chocolate mousse covered in caramel?) If so, this is my favourite item from Ganache.

I've done eggs with cream cheese and mushrooms, but never garlic and ginger! That sounds really interesting...I will have that for breakfast sometime this week. Do you add the minced aromatics to the egg mixture, or to the oil in the pan before pouring in the eggs?

-pork ribs in black bean sauce -abalone, chicken, and pork soup

I don't see why this wouldn't work. Just run the puree through a sieve if it's not as smooth as you'd like.

I have to try this out. I'm making a formal dinner for this guy soon, and I was stuck on dessert. Looks like it'll be profiteroles! These look much, much better than my choux pastry normally does. Thanks!

^Yes, the lemon tarts at Provence are pretty good. Will have to try the ones at Patisserie LeBeau and Ganache soon! (BTW: pastry pics from Seattle are uploaded.)

I had a hearty lunch at Salumi yesterday with some Seattle Egulleters. This is what I had: Meat plate: Porchetta (not the prettiest sandwich I've had, but DAMN it was the TASTIEST!! ) I don't think I could ever get past the porchetta if I lived in Seattle and had access to Salumi all the time. It was that good.

How are the croissants at Cafe Besalu different? I thought the croissant from Dahlia was good, but fully intend on going to Cafe Besalu on my next Seattle trip.

I was going to suggest using balloons a few days ago when I saw this thread, but I couldn't remember where I'd seen that technique demonstrated and I thought I was going crazy. Thanks for the link! I'm re-reading it now.

Actually, your prize is a flash of Margaret Cho's breasts.

Here's a link to what I ate in Seattle yesterday. I'll save you all the trouble with the "Ling-ing" jokes. I out-Linged myself yesterday...haha Is there a bakery in Vancouver that does fantastic lemon tarts? I am sadly missing the one I had at Dahlia already.

Big boobs, no? Cheers! ← ding ding ding! We have a winner!

Totally agree. I was hoping someone else would mention it. ← Oh right, I forgot to mention that I also tried Dilletante's at a coffee shop in West Lake mall. The girl behind the counter gave me some samples. They were OK.

Thanks for all the recommendations! Here are the pictures and some comments. Enjoy! This is what I had yesterday: From Dahlia Bakery First bite!! -chocolate eclair, pastry cream flecked with vanilla seeds -a slice of their famous coconut cream pie (what an amazing crust! Buttery and incredibly flaky!) (the whole pie) (they also sell "bites" of the pie...2-3 bite servings) -their cheesecake (didn't enjoy this so much...I think they use some cinnamon and a lot of nutmeg) -the most perfect lemon tart with Italian meringue -a croissant (much better than anything we can get in Vancouver, unfortunately) -a fruit tart with pastry cream, sponge cake and strawberry jam in a tart crust (glazed sliced plum, blueberries, and strawberry) Dahlia Bakery was definitely the highlight of my day. I have pictures of all their pastries, and closeups of each of the pastries I ate and listed above. I had all my pastries laid out in front of me on the table outside the bakery. I bet everyone who walked by and stared thought I was a glutton but I didn't care. Inside pics of Dahlia: The first thing I tasted was the croissant. My benchmark for comparison is the croissant from Sen5es in Vancouver, which I like very much. I have to say though that the ones they make at Dahlia are even flakier (pretty amazing, especially considering I bought the croissant around 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon--do they bake their croissants throughout the day?) I admit I can be quite picky when it comes to desserts in general--the ones I buy from the better bakeries here in Vancouver are good, but I've never had something that really blew me away. I'm picky about the things I bake, and I'm picky with the desserts I get at restaurants. But the lemon tart with the Italian meringue--I think this is the best pastry I've ever eaten in my life! The lemon curd had such a fresh tartness, and the pillow of burnished meringue was so thick, creamy, and provided just the right amount of sweetness to counteract the tangy curd. The shortcrust was good too...but my heart was won over by the flakiest of the pie crust on that coconut cream pie. The only thing that could possibly make that lemon tart better, in my mind, is to have the curd and meringue on that pie crust. The coconut cream pie was also very tasty. I'm not a huge fan of coconut though, so it wasn't my favourite...but I can imagine why so many people enjoy this pie. (I don't really enjoy the texture of coconut...but I still had to order this since it's a signature item and came so highly recommended by all of you. ) And that pie crust--I could just cry to think my pie crust pales so poorly in comparison! I've not tasted a better crust than the one on that coconut pie. It was thick, slightly sweet, crisp and browned all the way through The fruit tart and the eclair were good. I preferred the eclair, but that's probably just b/c I generally find fruit tarts kind of boring. It was stuffed with the rich pastry cream and the choux pastry was so delicate. The fruit in the tart was very fresh, and I liked how there was sponge cake and a jam layer under the pastry cream. My least favourite was the cheesecake--I didn't enjoy the nutmeg so much in this dessert. Aside from the nutmeg, it was like any other cheesecake I've made--similar density, similar level of sweetness. The crust was a bit soft, which I don't like. From Rose's... -an 8 piece selection of chocolates, a milk chocolate square, and some chocolate-covered candied ginger (sorry, I ate these before I remembered to take a picture!) My favourites were the Mexican one with cinnamon, the dark chocolate with sea salt, and the beet-flavoured chocolate. The beet brought a sweet earthiness to the chocolate. My least favourite was TAMARIND...I thought it would be interesting to see how the sourness played with the chocolate, but my palate was not happy with the combination... Other than that, the chocolates were good--shells had a nice snap to the tooth, and the chocolates had a long finish. Rose prefers chocolates made from cocoa beans grown in Madagascar, with the undertones of fruit--just like me! I stayed in her store for about 15 minutes after they closed for the day, talking about chocolate and chocolate desserts. My friend thought it was super geeky. He bought a selection of the tamer chocolates for his gf...chocolate bourbon, chocolate caramel, chocolate marzipan, chocolate hazelnut, etc. (I walked around Pike Market for at least 45 minutes asking everyone where I could find Fran's chocolates--I had forgotten where they were sold! The lady at the Information booth thought that perhaps Rose's carried Fran's chocolates, but Rose did not. So instead, I walked away with a selection of Rose's chocolates. I later found out that a few higher-end grocery stores sell Fran's...I'll get those chocolate caramels next time!) From Macrina Bakery: - a very big apricot, espresso, and chocolate cookie (Unfortunately, I got there around 4:15pm and by then, there wasn't much left in the pastry case. There was a Budapest coffeecake, a tart with yogurt and berries, some cookies, brownies, and chocolate peanut butter cupcakes...I chose the cookie b/c the flavours sounded interesting. It was a good and chewy homestyle treat.) Inside Macrina: From the Cheesecake Factory (my friend wanted to go...so, you know... ) -an extremely sweet slice of Toberlone cheesecake with a rosette of chocolate frosting that tastes like the stuff from the Betty Crocker jar *shudder* This was disgusting..... And over $7 US for this atrocity! I had an amazing food-filled day in Seattle! (Lunch at Salumi--the porchetta lived up to the hype, definitely. Next time I'm in Salumi, I wouldn't hesitate to order another. Sizable sandwich stuffed with tender pork, onions, and green peppers. And I loved the bread after the porky juice seeps into it. The meat plate was a nice way to try their salumi. (for pics, click here: porchetta and meat plate Drinks and more food at Zig Zag's later on in the evening rounded out our whirlwind eating extravaganza )

This is what I had for dessert yesterday: From Dahlia Bakery (in Seattle): -a chocolate eclair, pastry cream flecked with vanilla -a slice of their famous coconut cream pie (what an amazing crust! Buttery and sooo flaky!) -their cheesecake (didn't enjoy this so much...I think they use some cinnamon and a lot of nutmeg) -the most perfect lemon tart with Italian meringue !!!!! -a croissant (much better than anything we can get in Vancouver, unfortunately) -a fruit tart with pastry cream, sponge cake and strawberry jam in a tart crust From Rose's... -an 8 piece selection of chocolates (my favourite was the Mexican one with cinnamon, and the beet flavoured one...my least favourite was TAMARIND), a milk chocolate, and chocolate-covered candied ginger From Macrina Bakery: -a very big apricot, espresso, and chocolate cookie From the Cheesecake Factory (b/c my friend wanted to go) -an extremely sweet slice of Toberlone cheesecake with a rosette of chocolate frosting *shudder* This was disgusting..... I had an amazing food-filled day in Seattle! (Lunch at Salumi, and drinks and food at Zig Zag's rounded out our 1 day eating extravaganza ) For a more long-winded account of the desserts I had, click here: Mmm...pastries

spaghetti and potato salad...(strange, but then again, all my breakfasts are pretty strange)

I drank a lot of bubble tea in high school. Back then, we used to go to this place called Jack's Loft (in Richmond), Bubble World, and Oasis. My favourite was called Pearl Castle (I think?...the logo was of an elephant). Friday and Saturday nights were inevitably spent shooting pool at Hot Shots, and then going to a bubble tea place. After bubble tea, there would be some illegal drag race somewhere out in the boonies, and we would go watch until the police came and gave out VIs. (And as funny as that sounds now, that's what all the "bad" Asian kids did on the weekends.) Anyway, pool and bubble tea was a huge part of Chinese (whether CBC, HK or Taiwanese) Vancouver/Richmond youth culture in the late 90s...not so much anymore. I've had pretty much every flavour...I usually stuck to vanilla, pudding (vanilla flavour with chunks of gelatin "pudding" mixed in), taro, or green tea ice-cream (from Oasis). I didn't like the fruit ones very much (I guess b/c I don't remember drinking ones made with fresh fruit, only powder or strawberry jam) except strawberry with coconut jelly. And I always had the HK style thick toast with condensed milk with my bubble tea, or the spicy/salty cuttlefish snacks. 2 points for anyone who knows why the big tapioca pearls are called "bo ba!"

I've heard about this Chilliwack Pie place and I've always wanted to try it! But if Badiane says hers are better...well, that certainly piques my interest!

I've made this recipe before...I remember buying that issue of Gourmet just because I thought it would be the perfect Christmas dessert. Chocolate Chestnut torte with chocolate cognac mousse

I think I ate like 7 or 8 brownies today. And a bar of chocolate.