Ling

^Looking forward to reading your thoughts. Our vinegar (though white) had slivered ginger.

Today: banana cake, hazelnut shortbread, raspberry almond coffee cake, 3 bowls of homemade mango pudding, and chocolate graham cookies...and this was after a huge BBQ meat fest

Went to Top Shanghai Cuisine today and it's definitely worth visiting. My favourite dish was the Hainanese chicken--it was really well seasoned and just delicious. A close second was the xiao long bao--thicker skin than SR, but the broth is really rich and the meatball is moist and not tough (as it would be if the meat had been overhandled.) The other dim sum items we tried were good (green onion pancake, and pan-fried pork buns) but I'll probably try something else next time. The pan-fried pork buns had a good amount of soup in them (almost as much as the xiao long bao, surprisingly, and my bf really liked them, but I felt there was a bit too much dough for the amount of meat inside.

Today's lunch was at Top Shanghai Cuisine. We ordered some standard stuff--Hainanese chicken, soup dumplings, pan-fried pork buns, and green onion pancakes. The chicken was great, and almost every table was getting one. The soup dumplings aren't quite as good as the ones at SR and SW, but they are very, very good and definitely worth getting. Really long wait for a table--this place was packed to the gills. Yesterday's dinner was at Sea Harbour with canucklehead. We got the crab and kabocha hot pot, fish maw and crab soup, prawns with soy, sweet and sour pork, hand-shredded chicken, and mini bbq pork buns. We were stuffed. The crab, the soup, and the prawns were excellent but everything was good. We'll definitely be back to try the rest of the menu. Lunch yesterday was at Seto in Richmond. I got a sashimi platter with ika, blue fin akami, and wild hirame, and also shared some of Henry's tonkatsu. The pork had a nice balance of meat and fat and the curried rice was really tasty.

I saw a recipe for date butter tarts recently when browsing through cookbook store. I don't remember the exact proportions, but I think it called for a 9" tart crust, 35-40 deglet noor dates (put these on top of the tart crust. Then you combine 9 tbsp of browned butter, 2/3 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of flour, and 2 eggs together and pour it over the dates. Sprinkle with 1 more tbsp of sugar, and bake until golden. (The only measurement I'm not 100% sure about is the 9 tbsp of browned butter...but the proportions above seems like it would fit. Sorry about the ambiguity. The recipe was in the Lucques cookbook.)

There are a few recipes on Epicurious, but here is one that I like: coconut cream pie I use 1.5-2 tbsp of cornstarch (mixed with a tiny bit of the cream) instead of the flour listed, and substitute the milk for half and half (light cream). I also decrease the sugar.

I think it would depend more on your skill level, but I would recommend Baking with Julia for a beginning/average home baker, and The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef for the more serious baker. I have both, but I use Baking with Julia more often as I think it's very accessible. The Flo Braker book is great, but the pictures and plating (as another poster noted) screams 1980, even though this is the updated version. I also enjoy Michel Roux's Finest Desserts. It's not a new book (published in 1995) but the desserts look classic, not dated.

Noah, will all the future classes be scheduled on Sundays? (I wish I could attend a class, but I have to work on Sundays.)

^I didn't walk by the other fish store in Steveston, sorry! I agree about the produce at City Fresh. I never get my produce there. Yes, the crabs are live. There seems to be perhaps 2 weeks in the summer where all the Chinese grocery stores have live Dungenous crab for $2.99, so the deal might be going on at T&T, Empire, etc. as well. (BTW: the fishmonger will kill the crabs for you for $3.99/lb, but I'm assuming we don't have any wusses on this food board. )

Thanks for jumping in, Pam. I didn't think to skim the fat off the soup! Char, I cook it on the stovetop in a big pan on medium heat. So in essence, it is the same as Pam's oven method. I like to fish out the cracklings and season them as chicken fat "chips"...that way, you get to eat some skin AND have a big cup of schmaltz when you're done! I don't know how long the schmaltz is good for but I just keep it in the fridge in a covered container and use it within the week.

^You'll see plenty of "real" pics when I do a blog...

Gaaahhh...that is too perfect, Patrick! We're not worthy!!!!

^Thanks. I tried to plate something decent for the picture. I actually ate the other crab standing next to the sink, with melted butter. No pic of that, obviously.

I also like the PH recipe, 22tango. The only thing is you have to be patient and wait for it to chill...if you eat it hot right after you make it, it tastes like weird lemon butter. The PH lemon cream recipe also freezes well (and is also good straight out of the freezer, yum yum!)

^I just read yesterday that duck fat and pork fat have less saturated fat than butter. Personally, I love animal fat. I love making schmaltz and using it for roasted fingerling potatos. Mmm...makes the whole house smell heavenly.

I went to Steveston today...no ships. I usually buy salmon and shrimp there during the summer, though. Do the ships only come on the weekends? So I went to Steveston Fish, right by Timothy's Frozen Yogurt. The shop smelled...fishy. The fish looked tired. Just thought I'd save someone a trip. So I went to City Fresh (on No. 3 Road, in the same complex as Chapters) and they had Dungenous crab on sale for $2.99/lb. I also picked up some fresh (in the shell) scallops. Made this for dinner: scallop ceviche crab dressed with sesame oil and Chinese black vinegar, shaved asparagus, and roasted beets with a lime vinagrette

Has anyone come across sheep's milk ricotta in Vancouver (or Seattle?) (Or does anyone know of a place where I can get sheep's milk...I don't mind turning it into ricotta by myself.)

^Tripe and filet mignon were merely examples...I didn't mean that everyone must enjoy offal for me to think they like good food. I regard filet mignon to be relatively flavourless compared to other cuts of meat, and it's expensive to boot. My example was more to illustrate someone who orders something that is expensive, regardless of flavour. (Of course, as you suspect, I do very much enjoy elaborate tasting meals, but I equally enjoy a good $2 carnitas taco. )

I've always thought the term "foodie" referred to pretentious people who collect Michelin stars, but don't necessarily know much about food/cooking. Maybe it's the air-quotes thing...I dunno. I really hate the term. In my own experience--present company excluded, of course--people who refer to themselves as foodies are those who actually know the least about food. They are the kind of people who will rave about a mediocre meal at a top restaurant because the restaurant has a reputation, and is expensive. They can't see past the price tag, the ambience, and the polished service and realize that the food itself is not that great. They are ones who wrinkle their noses at things like tripe or tendon, and instead order the $70 filet mignon.

About a year ago, I had a fantastic lemon tart at Dahlia Bakery. What sets it apart is that they do a real Italian meringue on top...I really prefer that to the regular, foamy-tasting meringue. link to pictures and report That being said, I love making my own lemon tarts at home as well. I usually use some ground macadamia in the crust to make it even more tender and rich. I like two lemon curd recipes, the one from Fine Cooking (here) and The French Laundry cookbook also has a good recipe for a lemon sabayon tart with pinenut crust. Here's a picture of the lemon sabayon tart. (This was Henry's first baking project, btw. I helped him a little bit and he did a great job!) ETA: The only problem with the Fine Cooking recipe is that it is a bit loose for a tart, unless you're doing tiny tarts with a thin layer of curd. But if you were to use it for a 8" or 9" tart, the curd would be too loose and wouldn't slice nicely.

WOW! I can't wait to see your pictures and read your report! 14 BBQ joints--your wife is one lucky woman!!

Thank you! I didn't use a recipe for the galette, but I sent a rough recipe to a fellow admirer of said galette so here's the copy and paste from the email. (Yes, the brown flecks are ground hazelnuts.) I used (approx): 1 cup, 2 tbsp AP flour 2 tbsp cornstarch (or sub everything for 1 1/4 cup pastry or cake flour...I'm out of that at the moment) about half a cup of butter, cold 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt 1 egg yolk mixed with about 3 tbsp ice water Combine everything until butter is cut into flour in pea-sized amounts. Let the dough rest in the fridge for half an hour, and roll it out with some bench flour on your counter. filling: I cut up 2 white nectarines (or white peaches) and 1 large plum, about 3 or 4 tbsp of sugar (depending on how sweet your fruit is), a heaping tablespoon of ground hazelnuts (or whatever ground nuts you have on hand), a tablespoon of cornstarch...(you could, of course, add a bit of ground black pepper or some cinnamon if you wish) Roll out the dough in a rough circle, pile the fruit in the middle, and fold the edges over the top. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and ground nuts around the edge of the fold. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees (or 375 convection) for about 45-55 minutes (as long as the crust is a nice shade of brown, it's done!)

Just out of curiousity, how are you paying for all this food? Friends chipping in? Rich parents? Are you a drug dealer? Or maybe you're just incredibly generous.

The white peaches and white nectarines I've been getting are kind of flavourless too...actually, that's the reason why I made the galette, to get rid of some fruit that is frankly quite boring to eat as is.

I'll have to try one again when I'm back in SoCal. So I'll have to stand by my old favorite In-N-Out as the best fast food burger I've had. Although a Carl's Jr. Western Bacon Cheeseburger comes in a close second! ← Hey FoodieGirl, you have to keep in mind that it's been YEAAAAAAAAARS since he's eaten at In-N-Out. So take his recommendation with a grain of salt. Personally, I've only eaten at Fatburger once or twice a few years ago (in Issaquah, when it was cool to drive all the way down from Vancouver just to hit up Krispy Kreme ) I thought the burger was decent, but nothing really special.