Ling

THANK-YOU for showing us the entire process, Klary! The stroopwafel guy looks really friendly. I would probably eat stroopwafels every morning if I lived over there!

^ No marathons for me. I'm not exactly athletic. I just found out that the pork cheek special is on THIS week, not next. Oh well. Get the sandwich while you can, you lucky Seattlites!

^The risk of mad cow disease lies in the brain and spine of an infected cow, not the meat, isn't that correct? So if I were eating cow brain and scrambled eggs at a diner in the States (I don't think they serve that up here), then I could be at risk.

Hey, if he's worth keeping, he won't bat an eyelid. Cheesecake for me. At breakfast, no less. ← He's worth keeping. A dessert tasting at Mistral followed by desserts from the Barking Frog on our first date? WORTH KEEPING. Cheesecake for breakfast! You do me proud! I had prime rib (leftovers) and peanut butter cookie dough for breakfast.

Yay, you're one of my favourite posters, Klary! I've learned so much about Dutch cooking from you. I would love to see stroopwafels in your blog somewhere. I once read that the recipe is a closely guarded secret, and it's not to be found in cookbooks! Is this true? Do bakeries sell stroopwafels, or do they come packaged from cookie manufacturers? ETA: I just found some stroopwafel recipes. I guess they're not a closely guarded secret after all. Do you make them at home, Klary?

^ I answered your questions in a PM. I think it's wonderful that you're showing initiative in making sure your staff is cooking the patties to your specifications. My (very brief, one or two paragraph) review of Vera's isn't out yet, but the gist of it is: -good Kaiser bun (fresh) -fresh toppings -burger held together well when I was eating it -not too much bun for the amount of meat (good ratio) -patty cooked all the way through, dry ETA: And also, like I said in my PM--no apologizes necessary. I paid for a burger, and got one. It's not your fault it wasn't cooked the way I prefer it to be cooked. I mentioned in my review that I thought about ordering the burger "medium" or "medium rare", but thought I'd just let the cook do it without my request, so I'd get what I'd assume is the "typical doneness" at Vera's.

Omigosh! The pork cheek sandwich is at Salumi next week? It just so happens that I'll be in town!

That's really too bad. Could I request to have my burger done medium or medium-rare at Vera's? I had a burger at the Davie location last week and it was cooked all the way through, and dry.

I like Vogue. Have you been to the Taiwanese restaurant next to it? Apparently the food served there is more authentic. I'll have to try Golden Szechuan. I don't know much about Szechuan food.

Has anyone been to Sha Lin Noodle House recently? Or anyone know of any other place in Vancouver or Richmond who does hand-pulled noodles (besides Shanghai River?)

A double batch of Korova dough. One of the batches is supposed to be for my bf.

I've never been remarkably impressed with the fare at Notte's Bon Ton. Mediocre at best, at least according to my palate. ← Ditto. I've only had a selection of Notte's Bon Ton pastries once, but nothing was particularly good. Some things were better than others, but all very average. You get what you pay for.

I was watching America's Test Kitchen today, and they pre-cooked the apples a bit to get some of the juice out and keep the bottom crust crusty... ← Yes, I always pre-cook my apple pie filling and reduce the juice that cooks out, and I also use cornstarch (more thickening power).

Look at the marbling on that porterhouse!! Thanks for all the pictures and the write-ups! Bouchon and Fresno both sound like great places. I can't imagine how Bouchon can do sweetbreads, veal, and a rather nice tart for $35. That's an incredible bargain.

^I look forward to trying those places if we go to Orcas sometime soon, Abra!

Here's a link to the Wegman's Patisserie page. I found it very interesting that they use French butter and dried wild strawberries in their PH-inspired items!

The macaroons around the base of the chocolate dome is pretty classic PH, isn't it? We don't have a Wegman's up here...how are the quality of the desserts? Certainly looks fancier than most of the items in my local upscale grocery store...

A bar of Scharffen Berger 68% Cacao "Kumasi Sambirano". I bought it from the factory in San Fran...haven't seen it in Vancouver.

This week, I ate at Vera's (cheeseburger). Also, spent the day on Orcas Island, and had lunch at Rose's and dinner at Christina's. Lots of pics here.

I spent the perfect day on Orcas Island with hhlodesign on Friday. The weather was perfect He did a bit of research online and chose Rose's for lunch. There's a wine shop and bakery attached to this popular spot. On the drive to Anacortes, he told me about Leonetti wine and we found a few bottles there! It was 2:30pm by the time we got to Rose's, so we just ordered a couple of things as we had dinner reservations at 5:30pm. We had the cranberry bean and lamb soup, with bread (baked in-house, quite good). The soup was hearty and also rather good, but not good enough that I'd order it again. The butter--called Cremerie Classique--that was served along with the bread, however, was amazing. The man who works in the bakery told me it's similar to Plugra in terms of it's higher fat content, but I liked it so much more than Plugra. Cremerie Classique has such a fresh, sweet taste that I associate with milk, rather than cream. I need to get my hands on some of this stuff! Next, we had the spicy salami (from Salumi) pizza. The crust was appropriately thin, and crisp around the edges. There was not a lot of char on the crust though, so while it was good enough, it wasn't excellent. We took a lot of beautiful scenery shots, including this one of Cascade Falls. After a quick jaunt up Mount Constitution, we went to Christina's for dinner. Cocktails before dinner...half-drunk at this point (sorry! The one of the left is the pear-flavoured Fabutini and the one of the right is the Momotini with Gran Marnier. Both were great!) Lots of variety in the bread basket: rosemary/olive oil flatbread (good), fennel breadsticks (slightly underbaked), molasses/flax/whole wheat bread (dense, a bit sweet...this is our server's favourite), and EXCELLENT in-house baked baguette (better than some of the baguettes from top-rated bakeries). We started with the seafood sampler. The oysters were served with a red wine vinaigrette with cassis ice (very nice). The ahi poke was my least favourite on the platter--too salty, and the marinade was really overwhelming. Everything else--the prawns, the octopus, halibut ceviche, the seaweed salad, and their own cocktail sauce--was lovely. Cute baby octopus... We then moved on to some delicious lamb riblets with beans and chard. The portion of the beans was huge! The lamb couldn't have been more tender, and the whole dish was deeply flavoured. We both loved the amount of fat on the lamb...can't help but love a place that's not afraid to serve you the fat! The lamb was the best part of the meal. We had different opinions about the halibut dish (served with apricot mint couscous...that is Israeli couscous, is it not?) We agreed that the fish was perfectly cooked--actually, I can't even remember when I've had a piece of halibut so luciously moist! hhlodesign felt that the dish was a little bland, but I think it's more subtle than bland. The fish was so fresh and sweet that bolder flavours would've overpowered its delicate sweetness. The portion was very large...almost too much! I enjoyed splitting it, but would imagine I would have tired of it quickly if I had the whole thing to myself. Desserts were a disappointment. I had the flourless chocolate torte as it was made with Schokinag, and I have been meaning to try that particular brand of chocolate. It was dry. I don't know if they were going for the "molten" cake thing, but there was only a tiny portion of the middle that was underbaked and it wasn't particularly gooey either. I had most of my date's dessert too...not that it was that great. The shortbread was good. The flavours of the sorbets--chocolate (too much booze), orange (horrid! Like orange-flavoured ice crystals!), and the apple-pear cider (the best of the three, but still icy) didn't work together. I expect a little better at $7.50US per dessert (well...not that I paid, but you know what I mean! ) Although the desserts were forgettable, my day at Orcas was anything but.

^I love your ideas for both desserts, gfron1! On Thursday night, I got this from the pastry chef at Mistral in Seattle! (Plating job by hhlodesign ) I loved the idea of using the oven-dried carrot strip as a crispy element/garnish. The fennel brittle was so good, and the carrot cake was moist and delicious! I had two rather forgettable desserts at Christina's on Orcas Island, which is a bit disappointing considering the meal and the waterfront view were both lovely. Here's their flourless chocolate torte (I got this because I've heard good things about Schokinag, but don't remember trying it before.) The cake was overbaked and rather dry...not sure if this is supposed to be "molten" chocolate cake as there was only a tiny bite of underbaked cake in the center... I had most of my date's dessert too...not that it was that great. The shortbread was good. The flavours of the sorbets--chocolate (too much booze), orange (horrid! Like orange-flavoured ice crystals!), and the apple-pear cider (the best of the three, but still icy) didn't work together. I expect a little better at $7.50US per dessert.

They also have eclairs and napoleons at La Baguette on Granville Island, just outside the GI market.

I can't wait!

Wow, that spread looks so good! Did you make the panna cotta hearts yourself, and then just put them on the chocolate? Could you describe the other desserts you were offering? Lucky guests!

Yes! C Restaurant I love the name "Crust & Crumb" for a bakery. Croquette? ("La Petite Croquette" instead of the more popular "coquette" would be such a cute name for a restaurant.) or Croquant? Croquembouche? Crepinette? (Mistral in Vancouver does this pate en crepine...oh yeah...caul fat!) Or what about "Cracklings", a restaurant that serves those crunchy piggy morsels in different forms. Like chopped cracklings instead of croutons in your salad. Or instead of a pork loin sandwich, you could get a nice hunk of crackling in between some soft potato bread...with some tangy slaw. ...drooling