Ling

*raises hand* (I don't mind eating scrambled eggs and bread for a few days to save up enough to splurge on good sashimi.) DaFonz has eaten there three times now, and each time he's spent well over $100 on himself for food (before drinks, tax, and tip.) I think that's what you're looking at for a good meal at Sushikan. It is pricey, but worth it. The fish is jetted in to most of the high-end Japanese restaurants in Vancouver on Tuesday, which means the best days to go for sashimi are Wednesday and Thursday. I don't know how much fresher the local stuff is though...anyone know? Also, I'm pretty sure the waitress told me the middle piece of jelly was a lighter ponzu, but it tasted nothing like ponzu. I wonder if I misheard...

filipe: I had been using the recipe from Leite's Culinaria which specifies cream and yolks, no wheat flour and no milk. What do you think of that recipe? (The recipe you posted is similar to my recipe for Chinese egg tarts...although mine doesn't have wheat flour and is a ligher custard since it uses milk and water.)

Anyone eaten a Costco birthday cake recently? The last one I had was probably a good eight years ago. I don't remember it being much different from any grocery store cake--lots of thick, Crisco icing and cake mix, right?

That reminds me of the time my hairdresser and I were talking and I told her I loved trying new restaurants, cooking, and baking. She said to me, "OH! Have you ever been to The Olive Garden?" and I said no, and I think she interpreted my answer as if I had never heard of th restaurant before. She told me it was a "super classy Italian restaurant" where she and her boyfriend recently celebrated their anniversary. I just nodded weakly and smiled while she waxed poetic about the "incredible breadsticks", the soup, and never-ending salads... The vast majority of my friends don't cook, but some of them are beginning to appreciate quality ingredients and good food. I'm going to a potluck on Saturday and I've seen what some people are bringing...KFC, chips, pop...*sigh*

^Yeah, I prefer to spit them out in the comfort and privacy of my kitchen, but I would eat them whole if they were part of a salad at a restaurant. Not that I ever eat salad--ESPECIALLY at a restaurant, when there are things like foie gras and short ribs on the menu! Today I had the levelled top of an almost flourless chocolate cake (very good, very dense). It's the base for a chocolate mousse cake I'll be making tomorrow morning. And OK, the cake didn't really need to be levelled since it rose really evenly. I just wanted some cake. After dinner, I toasted some raisin bread and covered it with that same goat milk caramel I was eating yesterday. Damn. I'm in heaven. Now I'm eating a Coffee Crisp. (It's my favourite chocolate bar.)

Where is Golden Szechuan located in Richmond? The ginger beef looks particularly good! I also took my parents and my grandma out for dim sum at Shiang Garden awhile ago (like any good, dutiful Chinese daughter ) and we enjoyed it quite a bit. I remember some sort of ha gow made with scallops? I don't know if these are still on the menu. I also really liked their lotus-wrapped glutinous rice dish...don't know if anything's changed though. So bad...!

The nori scone! I think we had this at the C Sustainability luncheon and I remember it being wonderfully tender--not at all like those bricks being passed off as scones at many coffee houses.

^Another aside, I have a review on Aurora posted on Eat Vancouver right now. My friend had the bison shortribs recently and told me they were fantastic! I'll have to try them next time I'm in.

I have do four hours of cardio a week. I should start lifting weights too (says she, who is currently shovelling a huge spoon of cajeta quemada in her mouth.) That is some soup! I wish I had the recipe!

No, they are very small seeds with more juicy flesh than seed. When I was a kid, I used to put a whole bunch of pomegranate seeds in my mouth at once, chew and shallow the delicous juice, then spit the seeds and tough bits into the garbage...but I've since learned that it's ALL edible! They are often used in salads as well as desserts.

^No, this was made with goat's milk!

Today it's a toss-up between the goose liver and black truffle terrine, or the cajeta quemada. (It was my first time having this sweet...how did I live the past 23 years without it!!!! )

^It's a Japanese citrus fruit that is often compared to lemon, but its fragrance and juice is different...much more potent. I actually don't know too much about yuzu; I just like a bit of the zest/juice on my sashimi. It's also great in vinaigrette. I was flipping through the Nobu cookbook today and he has a bunch of recipes using yuzu.

Yeah..it's $10 for a small bottle!

^That looks awesome, Klaary! Dessert tonight: Cajeta Quemada (goat milk caramel) and a spoon. SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!

I'm a huge fan of the Peninsula Grill coconut cake, but I added more coconut and more sour cream to the filling. Also, I used unsweetened dessicated coconut b/c it was finer. I also reduce the sugar in the frosting. It's a great cake!

I am soooooooo hungry after looking at those pastry pictures. I wish I was there. I would've eaten a whole tray of desserts!! (Gotta get a snack now.)

I'm a bad driver. Send me one through the mail. Today--fresh ginger cake. I can't stop making these. I like David Lebovitz's recipe, and this other recipe I've adapted from Karen Barnaby the best. Ginger cake...mmmmmmmmmm

I think really horrible table manners would kill the relationship for me. Or as many others have mentioned, being rude to the waitstaff. Other than that, I don't think I'm too nitpicky with guys when it comes to what they like to eat. I don't mind if they can't cook--one of the guys I dated this summer subsists wholly on Subway sandwiches--as long as they appreciate good food. (Which he does. Oh, and he's the hottest guy I'd ever met, so perhaps I'm biased.) Another guy I dated in the summer that made me think twice was when he pulled out a coupon book on a date. I have nothing against using coupons...but I didn't think that was the most polite thing to do on a date. (Money was not an issue with him either--he bought a $700 000 condo and was planning on installing a jacuzzi and a LCD TV in his new bathroom.) I think the only deal-breaker for me would be a guy who was really calorie-conscious. That would not work. He would probably be disgusted by my eating habits anyway.

I'm so glad that your chocolate cakes turned out for you this time, Darcie! The cake you posted upthread with the sour cream ganache looks beautiful! I love Pierre Herme's caramel ganache with that particular chocolate cake. Before we all start throwing out ideas for your birthday cake, (not strange at all how you're doing your own, btw--I did my own this year too!) what are you favourite flavour combinations? Do you have a cake already in mind (like chocolate, or a white cake) and you're looking for filling/frosting ideas? I love blogs that feature a lot of baking...I will be checking your blog daily!

I think they are the beans typically used in cassoleut...? I'm at West on Friday. So excited. I already know what I'm going to order.

I thought the DOV at Feenie's is $25, so it's a pretty good deal. It's the Lumiere Tasting Bar that isn't as much of a deal (priced at $35) isn't it?

Thursday lunch Josephine's Met up with some Egulleters and Abra and her husband at Josephines. (This was my first foray into Filipino cuisine! YAY!) We had a huge variety of dishes..there were long beans, a noodle dish with lots of egg sauce and dried shrimp, a huge pork hock that was deep-fried, a few types of stews (my favourite was a pork stew rich with gelatinous skin and fat, slightly vinegary), a dried fish that was deep-fried, mung bean and lentils in a soup, fish with tamarind in a soup, and lumpia. For dessert, we had casava cake, black sticky rice with caramelized sugar, and a coconut milk based dessert with jackfruit, sweet potato, mochi balls. My favourite was the black sticky rice--it was so fragrant, and that burnt sugar gives it a new dimension. Washed everything down with a Calamansi soda, recommended by our doyenne. Friday A little pre-dinner excursion to Thomas Haas and Goldilocks (details here) whetted my appetite for Diva at the Met, which I've already posted about. Monday Sushikan I met up with my friend, DaFonz--a new member, welcome!--at Sushikan, which opened recently at Aberdeen in Richmond. The restaurant's been on my radar since...well, before it opened, and this is DaFonz's favourite Japanese restaurnant. Here's what we ate: Natto with quail egg assorted nigiri, including hirame engawa, hamachi toro and a special type of prawn that I'm forgetting the name of...I think it started with an "M". There's also another piece of fish (the one with the silver skin) that reminded me of mackerel...I ordered it because I don't think I've had it before. Special assorted sushi sea bream with ponzu jelly, hotate with a lighter ponzu jelly, and amaebi with grapefruit jelly Spider roll uni fried tuna (snacks with our sake) live prawns being killed ..and finally, the roe and the baked prawn heads (so good!) lobster motoyaki horse sashimi with fried garlic, ginger, and green onion I thought the meal was excellent. The chef's eyes lit up when I asked for the hirame engawa and told him that is my favourite--I can tell he really loves his sushi! I tasted some citrus on the hirame and asked him if it was yuzu (I love yuzu and sashimi), but it is actually a green fruit similar to the yuzu that I'd never heard of before. Two quibbles--the hamachi toro wasn't as fatty as some I've had, and the hotate was not as sweet and fresh as it is at some of the other higher-end Japanese places (though I know it's Monday, and I believe fish comes in from Tsujiki on Tuesday, so perhaps I'm expecting too much.) Everything else we ate tonight was top quality, especially the uni, the hirame, and the prawns (they were jumping wildly in the pan while awaiting the chef's knife!) The nigiri with the jelly was one of my favourites, although I do think the ponzu overwhelmed the red sea bream. However, this is DaFonz's favourite, so there you have differing opinions. (My favourite of the trio was the amaebi with the bright grapefruit jelly--the delicate shrimp just coats your mouth with luscious sweet creaminess.) DaFonz's favourite dish at Sushikan is the lobster motoyaki, and it is indeed very good, with the lobster conveniently cut up in chunks under the rich topping so it's easy to eat. The highlight of the meal for me was the baked prawn heads. I've only had fried prawn heads when I order the live prawns (bodies always eaten sashimi-style, of course) but they are even better when they are baked! The heat crisps the outside of the head, and the cool, custardy innards (head goo) bursts in your mouth when you bite. Supremely delicious! The service was attentive, although I did feel "watched" a little too closely at times...I feel kind of uncomfortable when servers hover around you, watching you eat. The servers were all very enthusiastic and helpful though, even apologizing profusely when I asked about monkfish liver and they did not have any (not in season). I'm so glad I don't have to trek out to Vancouver for great sushi now, though my wallet's not going to thank me.

I've watched three episodes, and some of the chefs are definitely better than others. There's been mention of the series on this forum, but no thread on what's happening, so I don't know if this thread will be merged. The chefs on this show (usually young cooks in their early 20s) are given a bit of guidance on the show from their mentor. I felt really bad for the asian girl who followed her mentor's advice about leaving the tuna in the oil she used for poaching...I was pretty sure she should've taken them out when SHE felt they were done, and it turns out her tuna was over-cooked. And I don't know if it was nerves or something...but one of the young cooks didn't know which knife was the filleting knife.

I made the spice cake out of Rob Feenie's Lumiere cookbook today, substituting the cloves for cardamom. I topped it with a quick streusel topping (no recipe, just eyeballed the measurements like I always do. ) (Those...wet spots you see are actually raisins. I take bad photos, sorry!) Click here for the photo!