Ling

I just made the pecan pie from Cook's Illustrated. The filling is slightly sticker/more custardy than Claire's recipe, but it is still very dense (only 2 eggs in the recipe). It's also less sweet than Claire's pie. I think I prefer Claire's recipe....that browned butter really makes the pie special.

I had a bite of my friend's burger today from Feenie's. I know the old Burger Club has already been to Feenie's, but I think this place deserves another visit. This burger was, imo, much better than the one we had at Brown's. The patty is thick and juicy (comes with mushrooms and cheese too!) and the fries are nicely browned (you hear that, Joie? ). The fries were especially delicious with the dill dijonnaise sauce! The burgers seemed to be the most popular item at lunch today. The room was packed by 12:30pm.

Joe Fortes Kumamoto oysters and Alaskan king crab legs (paired with a pinor gris from Pffafenheim) http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...md=si&img=18916 These two appetizers were the highlight of the meal--sweet, plump, briny oysters with fresh horseradish, and the biggest crab legs I've seen. When I finished getting the meat out of my two legs, there was a mountain of crab on my plate! Very fresh...served with a purple cabbage slaw, and a grainy mustard mayo, if I'm not mistaken. The Pffafenheim was on the sweet side, and perhaps paired better with the crab legs than the oysters. Iceberg wedge with blue cheese dressing and bacon http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...md=si&img=18917 I love this classic steakhouse dish, and how can you go wrong with bacon and blue cheese? Delmonico steak (paired with a Burrowing Owl 2002 Meritage) http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...md=si&img=18919 I ordered the steak rare, and it came medium. I would have preferred a thicker cut, but it was charred nicely. The sauce was weak. It tasted like stock that had been thickened with cornstarch--I couldn't taste any wine, or any sweetness from vegetables. I would have preferred the steak alone, without the brown sauce on top. The fries were akin to those served at McDonald's--pale, thin, unremarkable. Chocolate Ganache torte http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...md=si&img=18918 This was a rather disappointing dessert--the cake had no discernible crumb, and dissolved in your mouth like a prepared cake mix. The "ganache" reminded me of chocolate-flavoured vegetable shortening "buttercream". Odd garnish of pomegranate seeds on whipped cream. HSG: Meet and Greet dinner--my favourites of the evening were the lamb burgers, the curry, and the gingerbread pudding (of course!) Feenie's: ate lunch here with a bunch of friends--2 people ordered the shepherd's pie, 1 had the burger (I had a bite--very juicy, thick patty with a hint of pink in the center, very worthy of another Burger Club visit, I think!), 1 had the Peking Duck clubhouse, and 1 had the calamari sandwich (I also had a bite of this--interesting Indian spicing on the coating, and the calamari was very tender). I had the pan-seared halibut served on fennel, mandarin, and pistachio and a beurre blanc. The fish was delicious and moist. I drank a Sauvignon Blanc from Dry Rock, and the rest of the table had various beers. We also ordered a few dishes of the creme brulee (flavour of the day was espresso-chocolate).

I can attest that it was some killer pulled pork. I mounded my plate three times with all that juicy, porky goodness (with lots of caramelized meat bits) and slathered it with the delicious homemade bbq sauce. Wish I had some now! Thanks for going through all that trouble and opening your house to a swarm of meat-hungry Egulleters, Daddy-A!

Wow! Congratulations, and I look forward to reading your reviews!

I agree, the crispy edges were great! The cake tasted a lot better the next day, assembled, and having set in the fridge. It was well received at the BBQ as well, and I have two requests for the recipe. The biggest compliment came from someone who said it was one of the best cakes she's ever tasted.

By "the other recipe", do you mean the Peninsula Grill recipe? I didn't notice a cornbread flavour, but the edges and the top of the cake were quite crisp--kind of reminds me of cornbread in that regard. But taste-wise...it was more like pound cake to me.

I just made the Peninsula Grill coconut cake. It's for a BBQ I'm going to tomorrow, but I made extra filling, extra frosting, and ate the scrap pieces of cake when I levelled it, so I have a pretty good idea what it tastes like already. My favourite part of the cake is the filling. Although I made it according to the recipe, I ended up folding in an extra 3/4 cup of coconut (1/2 cup of that extra bit was toasted). I thought the filling was better with the extra coconut, and I added the toasted coconut for colour contrast. I also increased the amount of sour cream from 1/4 cup to almost 1/2 cup--I liked the tanginess against the richness of the cream. The cake itself is quite heavy--I'm not sure I like it too much. It's almost as heavy as pound cake. I measured everything carefully, but it still domed quite a bit in the oven. However, it was easy to split, as the outer edge of the cake is quite crisp--almost cookie-like. I read on Epicurious that some people found the cake dry, but mine turned out quite moist. The frosting is just cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, and vanilla, so I added about 3 tsp. of rum extract to make it more interesting. All in all, I would say it's a good cake, but not my favourite. I'm not a huge fan of coconut cake though, so I'm sure that plays a part in my judgment. However, I think it's a bit better than any other coconut cake I've come across.

And here it is....

I like their carrot cake--very moist with all that pineapple, no coconut (a plus for me).

^That's too bad, maxmillan. The coconut cake we ate was fresh and moist...I guess your piece had been sitting in the pastry case for too long! ****** My addiction to all things chocolate prompts me to ask for brownie recommendations. I like them very thick and fudgy--not cakey. I'm indifferent to whether they contain icing, flavourings, or nuts, as long as the brownie itself is good.

Friday: Dario's--we shared a prosciutto appetizer, and a platter filled with various Italian meats, fish, and grilled vegetables. The pickled white beet was my favourite. For our mains, lunch mafia shared the veal canneloni (my favourite--shredded pieces of veal encased in a tender pasta, and smothered in a creamy, cheesy tomato sauce), veal topped with capers, anchovies, and tomato, chicken breast with mushrooms, and prawns with a white wine sauce. Urban Bites for a quick dinner. This was my first time here, and I thought the food was great and reasonably priced. I had the poached salmon (moist), with came with a grated daikon and fennel salad (yes, I ate vegetables and I enjoyed them ). The salad was dressed with grapefruit vinagrette. I also had their blueberry cheesecake--kind of in-between a dense NY style and the fluffy stuff they have at Cheesecake Etc. Saturday: The Winjjammer Inn for a grease-fest. I had the halibut and onion rings, and 2 of my friend's fried oysters. And then we had the deep-fried Mars bar. Relish: we needed some alcohol after all that grease, so we went drinking...originally, I had wanted to go Ginger 62, but the line-up was I drank a few glasses of the Oysterbay Sauv. Blanc. Friends drank cocktails and beer. Cactus Club take-out. My sister's bf works here and he bought over a huge (maybe 11"?) pecan tart that he bought for only $6. He said that they were getting rid of the tarts b/c they weren't going to be on the dessert menu anymore. So here I was, drunk, faced with the biggest pecan tart I'd ever seen. I grabbed a fork and ate almost half of it. And this is after the fish and chips! I rarely disgust myself with my eating habits, but last night.... (I had 2 more slices of that tart for lunch today, in case anyone's interested. )

I like the mini cheesecake and the mini pain au chocolat ideas. Here are some more: -mini Nutella tarts with a chocolate crust (like the Pierre Herme recipe?) -you could top your lemon tarts with blueberries, or maybe garnish with edible flowers -I love dipping half my shortbread cookies in bittersweet chocolate -maybe pistachio macaroons? I think the pale green colour would look lovely on your tray of sweets. I would probably offer two types...maybe coconut? I also love the look of lavendar sugar...and I think it would look so pretty on your sweets tray. I've seen Claudia Fleming make these chocolate caramel tarts twice now on FoodTV, and they are adorable. I think this is the same recipe that's found in her cookbook. http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?ty...MSL&site=living That being said, I love the more traditional offerings like cream puffs and eclairs too.

You can also pick it up at that Japanese market near Lansdowne....it's similar to a Fujiya...I have to double-check the name for you.

It's been mentioned many times on this forum before, but it's so good I'll just have to repeat it--the fried garlic squid at Phnom Penh (did I spell that right?)

^I find bitter melon pleasantly bitter. It's an acquired taste, I guess...I didn't like it when I was a kid.

I make my own Portuguese custard tarts with this recipe: http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/por...steis_nata.html It's easy, and I like them even better than Chinese egg tarts!

I've made Julia Child's "Best Ever Brownies" with the 99% unsweetened SB twice this week (the recipe calls for 4 ounces of unsweetened, 2 ounces bittersweet--I used 62% SB) and the difference (compared with previous pans made with Baker's and Callebaut) is amazing. Here's the recipe, if you should need it: http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fu...1136/Recipe.cfm

Nice.

I'm so glad he enjoyed the brownie! You have a ridiculously cute research assistant.

I've eaten out way too much in the past week... I had a burger and fries at Brown's with Burger Club. I've had the hainan chicken and beef brisket with curry at Mui Garden (delicious as always, but I wish the curry was heated up longer), the juicy pork dumplings, fried radish cake, pan-fried dumplings, and hot and sour soup at Shanghai Wind (probably my best lunch this week--I think the juicy pork dumplings are better than the ones at Bao Guo Bu Yi, and I could easily have made a meal of a few of those crispy radish (Daikon) cakes! The pan-fried dumplings were just OK, but the hot and sour soup was also very tasty--good balance of heat/sourness, and very hearty with all the tofu and wood ear mushrooms. I had a rather unfortunate dinner at Moxie's...I ordered a steak "as rare as possible, please!" and it came medium... I went to Hapa Izakaya and had way too many drinks. My favourite dishes were the Kobe beef, the fried chicken wings, and the beef tongue (then again, who doesn't like tongue? ). I went to Earl's for wine and dessert--I had the chocolate sticky toffee pudding because I made a sticky toffee pudding this week and I wanted to try a chocolate version (IMO, not as good, because the dates in the cake muddle the chocolate flavour). Yesterday afternoon I dropped by for lunch at Ocean 6 Seventeen and thought the fries I pilfered from Mr. Moosh's plate were particularly good--quite brown, just the way I like them. Also, the steak with chimichurri sauce tasted every bit as delicious as it looks in the pictures Joie posted last week. Last night, I was at the BMW dealership for their open bar and food. It was catered by Glowbal, and my favourites were the dessert trays, particularly the chocolate gingerbread cookies (so moist!) and the risotto (they had a chef preparing risotto constantly, so it always hot and fresh...and the chef recognized me because I had like 5 plates of it! ) It was a mushroom risotto, heavy on the butter and parm, and topped with shaved black truffles. Other highlights were the mushroom strudel and the crab cakes. They also had a raw oyster bar, courtesy of Joe Fortes. I also got incredibly drunk...I think I was pretty much constantly drunk this whole week! Oops, almost forgot....I also had an awesome dinner at Yuji's. My favourite was the grilled beef tongue and the otoro, flounder fin (endgawa?), and the sashimi platter. And let's not forget fried, jumbo prawn heads with a squirt of lemon. I should mention that I ate at Moxie's because a friend wanted to...please don't kick me off Egullet. The food was punishment enough.

My mom uses the Hon's version too. And you can freeze it if you don't use it all at once. BCinBC--I was talking about the glutinous rice balls that are boiled in water and are white on the outside. I don't think I've had deep-fried black sesame balls--just red bean and lotus seed (my favourite!) But the deep-fried black sesame balls sound sooooo good.....

I enjoyed my Hollywood burger as well, but I prefer slightly thicker patties. Mine was cooked all the way through, but the sauce and tomato kept it juicy. The fries were quite good--they are the same as the ones served at Cactus Club. Like Mooshmouse, I would have liked them better if they were salted a bit more. I also prefer my fries on the darker side. I loved how thin and crisp these fries were, though.

appreciator, the black sesame "drink" comes in a bowl, and you eat it with a spoon (like soup, I guess). It's a sweet, Chinese dessert item. It tastes a bit grainy. I really don't know how else to describe it--I think you'll just have to go buy one of those instant packages and see for yourself whether you like it or not. I make the instant pouches with as little water as possible to moisten the black sesame powder. That way, it's thicker and sweeter, and tastes more like the type you get at a restaurant. I also love the black sesame-filled glutinous rice balls!

I would do anything to entertain Joie's cutie-patootie! He gave me a flower, showed me how to make a candle "dance", shared his gummi candies with me, sat on my lap, and told me he wanted me to sleep over at his place. What a hot date.