Ling

^I have to disagree with No. 9. The dishes are largely hit-and-miss, with most of them being "misses" for me. I only eat there if I'm drunk and it's 4 a.m. I do like the tendon and noodle bowl, though. The plates of BBQ duck from No. 9 always seem kind of boney to me...

Just wanted to add that West and Blue Water's DOV menus are up on the site now.

^As much as I love caramel sauce and pumpkin ice-cream, I ate the cakes plain. (I pulled the cakes out of the oven half an hour before I had to go to work--no time to make caramel!)

Perhaps, but I think it's the amount of molasses in the first recipe that's a bit lacking! I compared the two recipes before I started baking, and they are not all that different (same amount of flour, 2 eggs, roughly same amount of fat and liquid). The first recipe has 1/4 cup molasses, while the second one has 1 full cup!

When I was in grade 1, I set up a "bakery" in the sandbox. I would form round "chocolate cakes" with the wetter sand, then sprinkle the drier sand (lighter coloured) over my cakes for decoration. Then I added bits of grass and flowers to my pastry case (drawn into the sand with a stick.) The other kids paid me in rocks and pebbles for a cake.

Did a side-by-side comparison of the fresh gingercakes today. First recipe is the one posted by SwissKaese:Fresh gingerbread gingercake Second is the fresh gingercake from Epicurious that I posted on the first page of this thread. Fresh ginger cake The second one was really good...it had FOUR TIMES the amount of molasses, and the black pepper gave it a nice bite. Both cakes were very moist, and I would use both recipes again for different purposes.

sponge cake...I'm going to serve it with candied kumquats after I get off work Also did a side-by-side comparison of two fresh gingercakes today. I liked the second, more intensely flavoured cake better. Fresh gingercake #1 Fresh gingercake #2

No, I mentioned in the reply above yours that I had been waiting for more info about the Libery wine program before deciding....it's between that, and the WSET course at Dubrulle. (And of course I remember who you are! )

I think I'm going to scale the sugar back on the Gramercy Tavern recipe...the one that calls for 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white, and THEN molasses too! Some reviewers suggested cutting back to 1/2 cup white sugar. Just thought I'd point that out. That's the next cake on my list, followed by the fresh ginger cake. The one SwisseKaese posted at the top of this page also looks good!

^Do you taste the gingerbread on the second day? I only had one piece of cake left on the second day, but it was much tastier after it was allowed to ripen overnight.

No, I had been waiting for more info about the Liberty course...perhaps I'll take the Dubrulle course the next time it begins.

I always use lard for my pie crusts. I've tried all vegetable shortening, all butter, and combinations of the three, but I always go back to 100% lard.

I had a lot of dessert today. I had the last of the gingercake with chocolate frosting for breakfast, and then after lunch, I had a caramel-peanut Hedgehog (quite gross). Then a few truffles, followed by a dozen various chocolate cookies. A few bites of apple strudel. A cup of hot chocolate too. After dinner at Sehnor Rooster's, we had blueberry flambeed tableside, with ice-cream, and caramel flan.

Dropped into Senhor Rooster as planned, and ran into quattroporte and her lovely family tonight! (BTW--this is the third time I've been recognized by someone on Egullet while in the company of my friend K; he is beginning to think I am some sort of celebrity. ) The food was as good as reported elsewhere in this thread, so I thought I'd post a few pictures to go along with a few comments. Here are the much lauded sauces--from L-R, we have Mango-Ginger, Jalapeno, Piri-Piri, Extra-Hot, Tangi-Fruit, and BBQ. The sauces were phenomenal--complex, with quite a bit of heat. My favourite was definitely the Piri-Piri, followed by the Tangi-fruit (contains pineapple, apple, and banana.) K and the chef both like the Piri-Piri best, and the chef told me his gf eats the Jalapeno sauce by the spoonful! The Jalapeno was surprisingly the most mild of the sauces as its heat is tempered by the buttery avocado. Both K and I apparenly had really big, late lunches, but we had no trouble polishing off two generously-sized mains and two desserts. Here's the lamb rack. Vancouver mentioned in his first post that it's the best lamb dish that he's had in the city, and I'll have to second that opinion. The flavour was remarkable, and the meat incredibly tender. This dish blows any lamb dish I've had in recent memory clear out of the water. It was, however, a little pricier than the other items on the menu (which avg $10-15). The lamb rack was $35. It came with pressed potatoes, braised red cabbage, and grilled vegetables. Here's a half order of the cornish game hen. The meat was juicy, and the skin crisp and seasoned. The taste of the chicken on its own came through--this was no bland-tasting, supermarket chicken. The entrees came with a richly flavoured coconut rice. Blueberries and ice-cream! The chef prepared the blueberry flambe (butter in the pan, then sugar, a tiny dash of black pepper, and a liqueur he makes himself containing Portuguese brandy, caramel, orange, and lemon juice. Another squeeze of fresh citrus finishes the sauce, and then it's poured over the ice-cream.) My friend really liked this dessert. Here's the caramel flan. The flan was fine...but perhaps not as smooth as I would've liked. I also prefer a darker caramel on my caramel flan--this caramel was a bit one-dimensional for me. I tasted a bit of citrus used to brighten up the caramel, though. I think Senhor Rooster is offering excellent food at prices that are cheaper than your average chain restaurant. From this visit, I think their strength lies in the piquant sauces and the meats. The desserts were OK, but I could've done without. I enjoyed the little taste of the liqueur he offered us at the end of the meal a lot--it was the same liqueur he uses in the blueberry ice-cream dish. After our meal, the chef came by our table and we talked about food for over half an hour. He clearly loves what he's doing, and kept us laughing with a bunch of stories about escaping wild boars, a suckling pig that incinerated in an oven in only a few minutes, Portuguese pastries (I told him I love to bake), and his own difficulties with his oven right now. (The oven is to be repaired by Tuesday, and then he's going to do another suckling pig!) I'll definitely go back. I'm eager to try the more traditional dishes on the menu, like the pork and clams! ETA: The chef also mentioned that he does his creme brulee on the stovetop. I do mine the regular way--bain marie, in the oven. I have no idea how the custard sets on the stovetop (he was making the whisking motion?), but I'll have to try the creme brulee at Senhor's next time b/c he likes it better when it's done with this method.

I don't know if there's a Save-on-Foods out by where you live, but that's where I buy my goat yogurt (from Happy Goats Farm).

I did post on another board that out of all the Winterlicious menus, the Bymark one stood out for me. That is indeed a great deal! It's too bad that I won't be able to partake, but I'll pass it along to my aunt and uncle in TO...hopefully, there are still spots available. (The North 44 menu also appeals to me too, btw.)

I had take-out dimsum, the last of the goat cheese, a few truffles, a caramel peanut Hedgehog (pretty gross...so sweet, I started coughing), and a bunch of chocolate covered cookies.

My equally gluttonous friend and I want to have an entire Peking duck (with mini crepe things, and then the meat with the lettuce wraps) for ourselves at dinner. Which restaurant in Richmond or Vancouver do you all think serves the best? And what can we expect to pay? (Being "kids", our parents have always taken care of the bill.)

That's pretty much been my impression of DOV as a whole. Chances are if I'm going to visit a restaurant during DOV, I'd be going at some point anyway. And most places offer their DOV menu through to the end of February or so. Then again, I'm probably not the type of person DOV is trying to reach. A. ← I've looked at all the menus...there are definitely some great deals, I think! I compared Vancouver's Dine Out menu with TO's Winterlicious menu too, and I think we're getting the better end of the bargain, by far!

I just ate a huge container of take-out dimsum and a plate of cookies. I'm soooo full! I'll see how I feel when 7pm rolls around. Maybe I'll just make my friend order dessert and I'll taste it.

This morning, I had the last big slice of my gingerbread cake with chocolate cream cheese icing. I posted the picture in the "What's for dessert?" thread last night.

I really envy all the time (and presumably, money!) you have to make all these desserts, Patrick! (Ingredients are pretty pricey for me, anyhow! ) Can you give us all a quick recap of your favourites...I know you're a fan of PH's macaroons, PH's lemon cream (I didn't like it at first, but it was much better after it sits in the fridge for a bit), the chocolate cake from the "Best of" thread...

^Are you serious? Thanks for the insider's tip! I'll call now.

I figured that out too.

I'm heading there for dinner tomorrow night...can't wait!!! Any last minute recommendations--I gather the cornish hen is a winner, and I hope they have rack of lamb on the menu too...