Ling

^This isn't the same recipe, but it sound similar. Very impressive too, with all the layers. It's been on my "to-do" list for a long time! Thankful Butterscotch cake

^Certainly! It's my own recipe! Ling's favourite brownies I just do a basic ganache on top. I just eyeball everything for that.

Awww wow! I'm glad you like the caramel apple pie!

The beef cheeks at Rare One are great. Does anyone know where I can find beef cheeks readily in Vancouver? Do I have to order them from a butcher?

Wow, of course I will have to do it after all the information you kindly posted--and that recipe sounds amazing! I don't have a 50 cm round pan, but I guess it is possible to make this in a Pyrex? Or a few 9" round pans? Also, just to clarify--I am rolling the phyllo with the nut mixture AND the dowel together, then removing the dowel so there's room for the nut mixture to expand with it's baking. Is this correct? (Thanks SO much for posting all that... !! I see better baklava in my future!!) ******* Today's dessert was a big slice of coffee crumb cake, some blueberry pound cake, and hazelnut chocolate cigarette cookies.

Oops, the link I had no longer works, as it's now linked to Tuesday's issue. But J has the actual file and he's hosting it at http://www.sfu.ca/~jhsiehb/cover.pdf for you all.

Has anyone read the write-up in 24 Hr. magazine yet? Some of my friends saw a picture of me and J in there... I hope it's a decent picture. I haven't seen it yet.

I can cross off Le Crocodile, Villa del Lupo, C, and Diva. The Rosemeade is pretty much at the top of my list right now, but that would be a day's adventure to get there.

^I have an unabashed love for Rice Krispie treats (especially hot out of the pan, extra butter and marshmallows.) I'm looking forward to doing the rice krispie dessert out of the Chocolate Desserts book! Friday's dessert: gingerbread pudding at Hamilton Street Grill, served with ginger ice-cream and pumpkin ice-cream Saturday: panna cotta foam with candied pistachios, blood orange (no picture, sorry!) manchego with apple/pear confit, spiced butter baguette Sunday champagne sorbet Poire William sorbet with peanut/chocolate biscotti. (This was so incredible! Lots of body for a sorbet...so fresh tasting, it was like eating the most delicious pear ever.) Also ate some of my friend's lavendar creme brulee...very good.

Friday Collingwood Neighbourhood House This week, J and I taught the kids how to make shepherd's pie. For dessert, I taught them how to do "ice-cream cone" cupcakes--essentially cake batter that's baked inside a cone, then frosted with icing and decorated with sprinkles to resemble a scoop of ice-cream. The kids loved it! ...after that, we stopped by HSG for wine and gingerbread pudding. It's been awhile since I've had the real deal. As good as I remember. Best comfort dessert ever! J liked it a lot too. Saturday Opening soon dinner at Rare One Photos of the incredible dinner HERE. To summarize, J's favourite dish was the duo of beef--striploin on leeks, and braised beef cheeks on puy lentils. My favourite dish was the seared scallop with pheasant rillettes, and caramelized sherry vinegar . Sunday Feenie's I drank two glasses of the Mission Hill pinot noir Reserve tonight, and it was really good. I'm not usually a fan of Mission Hill, but this was great--lots of fruit, long finish. The chef sent out this amuse of navy bean ravioli and truffle beurre blanc for my table. I had the tuna tartare with black and white sesame seeds and avocado. There was a thin layer of tiny white fish roe on the top which provided a bit of a nice, briny crunch. This was really good, fresh tuna--I'd definitely order it again. I had my usual mission trout with the cauliflower/lemon puree, wild rice, browned butter, raisins and capers. (Really great, as usual. The presentation was especially attractive tonight.) We shared this as an appetizer...the navy bean ravioli with beurre blanc and bacon. Special of the day--braised lamb shank with polenta. Three of my friends ordered this, and they all exclaimed over how tender the meat was.) Someone had the shepherd's pie and two of my friends had the burger. I'll just post a pic of the burger since I've posted a pic of the shepherd's pie before. The patty was a perfect medium-rare. The chef sent out a scoop of sorbet for all my friends...this is a champagne sorbet that's no longer on the menu. Very refreshing, very light. (Sorry about the pic--white on white + flash is not a good combo!) I had the poire william (pear liqueur) sorbet--richer mouthfeel, more body, less sweet than the champagne. There must have been fresh pear in this--the flavour was incredible! I loved this! One of the best sorbets I've ever had. Served with peanut/chocolate biscotti.

^I should apologize about the pictures--I tried to remember not to use flash so I wouldn't disturb the other diners, and so I had to spend a lot of time editing the photos so they would look somewhat decent. The dishes looked much better in person. And I hope you do check it out soon! The chefs are very creative and talented, that's for sure.

I had the incredible opportunity to watch and help a bit with the prep work for the Edible B.C. dinner last night. Chef Brian took me around the kitchen, and we spent some time hoping and praying that the brioche, the sourdough, and the original beignet dough would proof properly (they didn't--too cold in the kitchen) and had to re-do the beignets using a different recipe at the last minute. What really impressed me was how flexible everyone was in the kitchen when something didn't go according to plan, and how unwilling the team was to serve food that they didn't feel was up to the standards set at Rare. So in short--there was no sourdough. There was no brioche. But there will be excellent breads coming soon! The paprika/cayenne beignet that didn't rise enough... ...so we made these instead. Lots of olive oil in the batter. Delicious, especially hot out of the fryer Here we have a shot of the scampi (8 count) being cleaned and deveined. These retail for $8 a piece! An incredible deal, given the $75 price for dinner! Frog leg stock simmering away on the stove...yes, no cutting corners here! Chef Fowke made me some cafe au lait with the new machine... Blood orange and rum seltzers...I really liked this cocktail. It was refreshingly tangy and the polar opposite of a syrupy pre-dinner drink. I grabbed us drinks and talked to a few Egulleters, among them Laura and her husband, and Vancitygirl (Cassandra). Chef Fowke told us about the menu for the evening. (I got the privilege of dining with Eric's group with my guest, on the house!! Is that generosity or what? I'm speechless! ) Frog legs, toasted pine nuts, browned butter on a paprika/cayenne beignet I've only had frog legs a handful of times, and this amuse was delicious. The taste of the meat is pleasantly mild, with a bit of chew. There is a bit of sugar in the fritter batter that offsets the spice that kicks in at the end. Hard-shell scampi with pineapple carpaccio, Vietnamese fish sauce foam and a micro cress salad My guest and I really enjoyed this dish--the flesh was so amazingly sweet, and the texture is very tender and unlike that of lobster meat (although its size is reminiscent of a small lobster tail!) This was my favourite dish of the evening--the seared east coast scallop with pheasant rilette, arugula puree and a caramelized sherry vinegar. I had a chance to taste the vinegar before it was reduced into a sauce, and the vinegar is absolutely delicious...nice apple flavour. The caramelized vinegar was not overly bitter at all, just sweet and piquant. It cut through some of the richness in the rillette. I wish Rare would do a larger plate of this as a main course! Next, the diners were given a shooter of pear juice with all its impurities removed. Very fresh and clean-tasting. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of this as I was getting ready to help plate the main course in the kitchen, but I did get to gulp back a few extra large shooters! The main event--on the left, we have Alberta striploin, seared rare on a bed of confit leeks, with the braised beef cheek and puy lentils on the right. This was my date's favourite dish of the night--in particular, the braised beef cheeks with its soft, unctuous gelatin and rich flavour. The striploin was also very tender. This was sprinkled with a bit of fleur de sel before going out of the kitchen. Speaking of plating, I was back in the kitchen at this time with my chef's whites over my sweater and skirt. This was my first time participating in plating a dish during the dinner rush, and I was really amazed at how efficiently and quickly everyone worked together! We had four stacks of dinner plates and we were each in charge of a few tasks. Mine was to lay the celery stick cut side down on the plate, place a celery leaf at the bottom, and I also did a bit of saucing and spooned some of the leek mixture onto the plates. And I tried to wipe the plates as best I could given we were trying to serve the room as quickly as possible. This was the highlight of my evening! (Well, second to eating. ) Panna cotti foam with roasted, candied pistachios and blood orange segment I took a picture of this, but I can't seem to find it on my camera. If someone could post their picture, I'd be grateful! This was a creative, bite-sized dessert served in a black, Asian-style soup spoon. The foam was sprayed out into a rosette, with the candied nuts underneath adding crunch. Very good. Spanish cheese (manchego, I believe?) toasted baguette with spice butter, and pear/apple confit As much as I love my desserts, this was a nice way to end the meal. The cheese was quite mild and the fruit was quite sweet, and the spices really added dimension to what would've been your standard fruit and cheese. The plate was clean, I assure you. My date and I had arranged our cheese on the fruit and were going to dig in before I screamed, "I FORGOT THE PICTURE!!" so he took apart his portion and snapped a photo for me. The meal ended with mojitos--we were told to hold the mint leaf back while we sipped the drink. I'm pretty sure the tactile element is inspired by Ferran Adria and the other proponents of molecular gastronomy. (We drank three wines with the meal--a Riesling, the Quail's Gate Chenin Blanc, and a red that I'm forgetting...would someone please fill in the blanks?) All in all, it was a great evening and I feel very fortunate to be able to experience both the activity in the kitchen and the wonderful dinner with the rest of the lucky diners! The evening ended with a few more drinks at Urban Well with the staff (young, upbeat, energetic--gives the restaurant a good vibe, I think!) I would like to thank the staff, especially Chef Fowke, Tim, and Chef Quang for letting me tag along for the "Opening Soon" dinner, and for show my friend and me such a good time! (And I will thank you again...with some Plugra puff pastry, if I can find that butter!! ) ETA: My friend who's a bit better with Photoshop edited a few of the blurry pictures for me.

I have to work today and then I'm going to Feenie's for dinner, but I'll edit and crop the pictures tonight and hopefully post them before I go to bed.

I love sweetbreads and I've never prepared them at home! I'll have to give it a try sometime. Your dinners--both at Babbo and the one you made--look terrific!!

I had the good fortune of dining at Rare tonight and helping out in the kitchen too! (Did I look sexy in my chef whites and heels during service? ) The food was great; especially the scallop and pheasant rillettes dish. Pics and full report to come tomorrow--I had way too much to drink tonight (extra drinks at Urban Well afterwards with some of the staff ). The staff is awesome...lots of personality. Great food, nice space. Rare will do very well.

Here's the latest version of what most consider "the best" recipe: double Chocolate cake

^I'm sorry, I didn't make it into Chocoatl today! I was stuck on the road leading up to Arthur Laing bridge for AN HOUR today and was going to be late for my cooking class if I went to Yaletown first, as I had planned! I'll make it into Chocoatl on Monday or Tuesday, hopefully! (I assuaged the pain with some gingerbread pudding and a couple glasses of wine after my cooking class though. )

Does Chef Tony use collars for the souffles, or use the tip where you run your knife around the rim of the unbaked souffle before putting it in the oven?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! CHOCOLATE TOUR!!!!!!!!!! !! !! Best. Post. EVER!! Thanks for showing us around, Megan! All the places you went to today looked great. I've read about many of those places, but I'm so happy that I got to see the actual shops through your post! The shots of the raspberry fruit tart and the Balthazar bread are incredible. I'd be 50 pounds heavier if I lived in NY, no doubt!

^I've had roquefort ice-cream and browned butter ice-cream and they were awesome! The pastry chef at Feenie's (whom I've had the honour of assisting) makes amazing ice-creams with really interesting flavours. She also does caramel/fleur de sel and Guiness/dark chocolate, plus many more! I love the idea of the carrot cake ice-cream, and the creamy marscapone idea with the extra eggs (very creative!)...mmm. And chestnut ice-cream! Oh god...dreamy! I would love crunchy shards of pecans encrusted in goat milk caramel with cinnamon and nutmeg. Or hazelnut cardamom. Sweet potato ice-cream with huge chunks of buttery graham crust mixed in. Lemon tart ice-cream--lemon ice-cream with a thick ribbon of lemon curd, and chunks of graham crust or shortbread crust. That would be awesome covered in billowy Italian meringue, and torched. Gingerbread ice-cream with rum-soaked raisins. You know the coconut filling in those Chinese cocktail buns? That would be frickin' amazing in vanilla bean ice-cream. The filling is salty and buttery, and the ice-cream would offer cool, creamy relief.

*sigh* your photos and desserts are PERFECTION, Patrick!!

^ I got a decent shot of my brownies today! 99% unsweetened Valrhona, Valrhona Guanaja, fleur de sel, cocoa nibs ETA: better cropping job?

The deep-fried/caul fat thing is dead sexy.

The cajeta-filled croissant is a great idea. I would do a dark chocolate ganache/cajeta mix. Mmm...what a breakfast! The 2nd idea--you must be able to read minds. I was going to do a tres leches cake next week and replace the dulce de leche with cajeta. I'm going to drop by Chocoatl tomorrow and take some pictures of what they have. My friend told me a few days ago that the pastries should be coming any day now...

I'm back! I had another 2 pieces of the hazelnut butter cake, 5 chocolate truffles (not good--they are truffles my friend bought me 2 weeks ago, and I FORGOT about them, can you believe it? What a waste!), an apple turnover, and a Chinese pineapple bun filled with red bean paste. I also ate half a can of Pringles but that's not a dessert... That was my 3:30 a.m. snack. !!! (I am working hard to uphold my standards, miladyinstanity! )