Friday, February 21, 2014

Blue Acre - Seattle Revisit

The last meal that we had at Blue Acre was phenomenal so we agreed that whenever we went through Seattle, we would stop by again. D and I rarely ever order the same main but this time, we both ordered the ciopinno as poor D, hardly got any the last time.  I was looking forward to the best cioppino I had eaten but alas it was not to be.  I think I should stop building up my expectations and just enjoy the meals as they come.  Nonetheless it was a fun, fast and fussfree meal :)
Deep Fried Calamari
Ciopinno
Blueacre Seafood on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Brunch @ Tour de Feast

7 hour braised beef


Brunch is our favourite weekend treat. Not traveling too far, not having to wait too long for a seat or the food, good parking are a bonus.  We decided to try out Tour de Feast in North Vancouver.  It had recently opened and had good reviews.  Tour de Feast is operated by a husband and wife team, service was great as there weren't too many tables.  The chef is classical french trained and previously from Four Seasons - ok so far so good. When the food came, we were in for a treat :)

Monday, February 10, 2014

The Reef

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Usually when we head to Main St to get our supply of rib eye roast for our roast beef meal from Windsor Quality Meats, we stop by Hawker's Delight to get my fill of local Malaysian food.  However, after watching You've Gotta Eat Here where they featured The Reef, we decided to eat there instead.

The Reef serves Carribean food. It's the first time we're eating Carribean food so we decided on the sharing platter where we got a sampling of a lot of their appetizers and a jerk poutine while D had his usual brunch. We're no experts, the food was tasty but we found it way too salty for our liking.  Between my local noodles and Carribean food -  I'd pick Hawker's Delight anyday but that's just me.
Tasting Platter: Chana salad, plantain chips, jerk wings and coco prawns
Jerk Chicken Poutine
The Reef
4172 Main St
Vancouver, BC V5V3P6
 The Reef on Urbanspoon

Friday, February 7, 2014

Super Easy Roast Beef


After messing with a couple of recipes,   we finally decided this was the keeper.  It's a combination of Thomas Keller's Blow Torch Roast Beef recipe from his cookbook and the recipe from cookingforengineers.

D initially scoffed at using a blowtorch, but now he is won over by this recipe - Ha!  I used a small blow torch, the type you use for creme brulee but having won D over, he promptly headed to Home Depot and got me a serious blow torch that burns hot hot hot!

Super Easy Roast Beef 
  1. Pick a nice cut of beef - we found rib eye roast, organic, hormone or antibiotic free meat the best tasting
  2. Salt 3 days ahead and allow the beef to age in the refrigerator.  You can skip this step and salt it a day ahead instead. 
  3. Add pepper and garlic infused olive oil before searing the outside with a torch.
  4. Set oven to 200F.
  5. Stick meat thermometer into the center of the roast.
  6. Place in the middle of the oven till the thermometer reads 122F for an all round medium rare.  (It takes about 3-3 1/3 hours for a 2.7-3kg roast)
  7. Pull out roast and let rest for 15-20min tented.  The temperature should rise another 2-3F.
  8. Serve with horseradish cream, potatoes and a nice red wine. 








The best part of roast beef is the leftovers for a roast beef sandwich!!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

THE Waffle Recipe


We were craving waffles one day and D did a search on belgian waffles and came up with this recipe found here.  We've chucked the other recipe out - oh wait D doesn't have a recipe, he does it by feel...little bit of self raising flour, 1 egg, little bit of milk till he reaches the right consistency.   Anyways, this is THE waffle recipe, crisp on the outside, yet buttery soft on the inside. Re-creatable every time. Freezes well and bakes up pretty well too.
Waffle wiith whipped cream, mango and strawberries
With mango and strawberries
Goes great with nutella and whipped cream, blueberry sauce and whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, fried chicken... the possibilities are endless

Recipe
  • 7g active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 3/4 cups warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm (170g)
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 egg whites
  1. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm milk.  Let stand until creamy, about 10 min.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, 1/4 cup warm milk and melted butter.
  3. Stir in the yeast mixture, sugar, salt and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the remaining 2 1/2 cups milk alternating with the flour.
  5. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, fold into the batter.
  6. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about an hour.
  7. Preheat waffle iron.  Brush with oil and spoon about 1/2 cup (or as recommended by manufacturer) onto the centre of the iron. Close the lid and bake until it stops steaming and the waffle is golden brown.
  8. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200F oven

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Kiisu


We've walked by Kiisu tons of times but never thought to try it as we had our favourite Japanese places - Hamaei, Hachi Hana and Bene.  Kiisu is a small, cosy place and gets pretty crowded so best to go early.


Chopped Scallop Roll 
We started with the chopped scallop roll which was very fresh.  Then we had the toro stack - I think it was super healthy with black brown rice.  There was also a quail egg under that nori.  With the combination of avocado, tuna, green onion, quail egg and unagi sauce, this was D's favorite dish.
Toro Stack
I liked the crunch crunch roll.  We were greedy and ordered the full size portion of 12 pieces.  In hindsight, 2 of us could have easily been good with just 6 pieces.  The chef arranged it in a heart shape...aw.   Good thing it wasn't the first date.  Crunch Crunch roll was yummy.
Crunch Crunch Roll
We finished off with the spider roll, again very well executed, crispy soft shell crab with creamy avocado.
Spider Roll 
I've defintiely added this place to my list of places to go to when I have a craving for Japanese.

KiIsu
1532 Marine Drive
West Vancouver
Ki-Isu Sushi on Urbanspoon

Monday, May 13, 2013

Alta Bistro - Whistler

Another late post, we were up in Whistler with my cousins last last December.   We started off with a couple of cocktails which we enjoyed immensely.  They infuse their own syrups and alcohol so you'll find that they were all very unique.

We enjoyed the starters more than the mains but all in all a very enjoyable meal.  Make sure you make reservations as this place gets packed.  I also like that they are committed to sustainablity - they support local farms, fair trade coffee, chocolate, organic meats, no antibiotics - you get the idea.
Oysters with Champagne Vinegar Granite
Oysters with Champagne Vinegar Granite
Pate and Charcuterie Board 
Winter Salad
Soup of the Day 
Yarrow Meadows Duck Duo
Housemade duck liver parfait, smoked duck rillettes, rye and molasses
breadcrumbs, lemon balm
Pan fried Octopus and White Prawns
Tender confit of BC Octopus, pan-seared prawns, fennel, prawn-lemon vinagrette
Smoked Tuna
Celeriac remoulade, iceberg lettuce,
picholine olive tapenade, crispy fried leeks, orange and honey
Pork Belly
Slow cooked Sloping Hills Pork Belly
White bean cassoulet, Nita Lake Lodge chorizo, rutabaga, parsley and celery salad
Chorizo persillade 
Braised Heriatage Angus Short Rib
Cippolini onions, savoy cabbage, pearl barley, confit garlic, crispy carrots
BC Mussels
Local BC Mussels
Blue mussels in the shell, Russet potato sour cream mash
smoked sourdough, garlic pistou, black Tuscan kale
Pot du creme
Organic Dark Chocolate Pot Du Creme
Vanilla Mint Frozen Parfait
Alta Bistro
4319 Main St
Whistler BC V0N1B4

(604) 932-2582
http://www.altabistro.com/
Alta Bistro on Urbanspoon

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