Eggs Benny a Its Best

I was too busy eating the whole time that I was in Vancouver that I have once again neglected to post anything up.

I feel bad ... and even worst now that my SD card has decided on its own to erase a chunk of my food photos. Now i have no memory of that couple of weeks of my life. Sad. And I am sorry that I can't share with you some of the glorious places and dishes that I have tried.

Lunch dates with myself is my thing in Vancouver. Table for one, with my book. A chance for me to sample any dishes I want - and I do splurge once in awhile. Is therapeutic. Is lunch uninterrupted.

Locus Restaurant & Lounge on 4121 Main Street.

Cool logo on menu cover

A very rustic joint with a hypie vibe. I sat by the window looking out onto Main street at 3pm. I ordered a Caesar - Happy hour started early everyday when I was in yvr.

That's the bar. owner behind making my Caesar

Vancouver - Food Paradise

Stay tuned for upcoming posts on all the hot eating spots in YVR!! There are so many new places to try, the VanMag is my guide for this trip.

Restaurants that did not disappoint so far:

Pied-a-Terre

Bearfoot Bistro (Whistler)

xoxo!

Char

Easter Sunday

I was supposed to cook brunch and theme was of course, eggs. Obviously I did not wake up early enough to cook brunch for my parents. We went out for a late lunch and my dad and I played tic tac toe.

After a lazy afternoon with the 'rents, I decided to cook a dinner for them. Haven't done that in awhile and I wanted to see if I can create something new for them to try.

On the menu:

Potato hash with tomato ragu, chorizo and poached egg
First time ever making this. Thank goodness I had some left over tomato sauce from last time when Jim & friends were here for an ad hoc dinner. The egg wasn't really poached but rather brought to room temperature and bathed in hot water (i changed the water at least 3 times and I still didn't get the coagulation of the whites I wanted. But it was still good) for at least 20mins. Serve with breadsticks.

couldn't place the egg on top of the hash and the tomato sauce. but it was nonetheless very tasty!

Pan-fried Atlantic Salmon in Fennel & Coriander infused oil with broad bean puree & toasted pine nuts. Served with tomato salad.

Not a bad main course. The sweetness of the puree went really well with the richness of the salmon. The tomato salad was refreshing and lightened up the whole dish. Definitely can entertain with this dish.

Salmon cooked perfectly - still pink in the center

Also made mom's favourite - Angel hair with clams, which I totally forgot to take a picture of. 

Wine - Cloudy Bay, Chardonnay 2002

Champagne still in fridge, but I intend to drink it after I am done with this post.

Hope you all are having a great Easter break! :)

Maple Oatmeal Cranberries Muffins

Muffin cravings!!

Dislike that it is totally unexpected and out of the blue. Caught me completely off guard and I needed to fix it with this.

I had to abandon my saffron creations so that I can have a quick fix of this moist, doughy sugary treat. Is considered healthy since I put oatmeal in them. 

I wasn't patient enough to sit and think for 45 minutes to decide what to put into saffron muffin. That's life. It doesn't always go as planned . 

And the unplanned always seems to be better. See these muffins? I think they are better than what I have planned ... which was work. 

The Saffron Challenge #4 - Poached Pear with Dark Chocolate Ganache and Saffron Crumbs

My dear friend Allan has brought to my attention that saffron is the new aphrodisiac. And why wouldn't it be? Is lush in colour, sensual in scent and addictive in taste. Here is the article that explains it all. It also stated that there are no merits/data supporting chocolate to be an aphrodisiac. This I refuse to believe as I heart chocolates. The darker the better. And I think a little chocolate will always help, regardless.

Anyways, in the article, 3 things stayed with me - saffron, chocolate and alcohol. This calls for a little dessert making.

A lovely chocolate brandy saffron truffle would be nice (truffle was suggested by Victor a few posts back). But I've never succeeded in making truffles. They always turned into a glob of delicious mess instead of perfectly shaped rounds of velvety smooth goodness.

I love my friends for giving me ideas. Thank you. I heart you like I heart chocolates. And that's a lot of hearts.

The Saffron Challenge #3 - Vanilla Poppyseed Cupcakes with Saffron Lemon Curd

Cupcakes! Who doesn't like them? They have special effects on everyone ... even more so than cookies.

They are tiny, cute and when you look at them, perfectly lined in the cupcake pans with individual colourful 'wrappers' (i don't know what those things are called), how could you resist?!

And it gets even better. You get to do all sorts of things to it ... frost them, sprinkle them, dip them or just simply bite into them. Mmmmmm good! Satisfying. 

They make me feel like a girlie girl again. 

I've decided to pair the very simple yet classic Vanilla Poppyseed Cupcakes with a tart lemon curd, spiked up with saffron. Gorgeous, don't you think?

I tried to do the 'artsy' thing here. Focus at the back and blur at the front.

I am trying!!! ;)

Rainy Phuket

4 days in rainy (more like stormy) phuket had me ended up with no tan lines, only 45mins of beach time and an additional 5lbs plus 2 inches around my waist. 

Just a few pics for you all to look at. Will resume my cooking and dessert making soon! Have a good weekend!

Pool in our villa that I only got to use on the last 2 days of the trip. Very beautiful though.



First meal. A late lunch at the villa. Tong Yum Gong, Phad Thai, Spring Rolls,
Yum Beef Salad and Seared Tuna Salad.


I believe this restaurant is called Joe Louis



 Appetizer Platter @ Joe Louis


O-so-good Curry Crab!!


Whole steamed seabass with lime & garlic. Served with spicy calamensi sauce. 
Couldn't get enough of this. So fresh. 

The Saffron Challenge #2 - Orange Saffron & Hazelnut Pull Apart Bread

I was feeling so guilty for not doing my saffron challenge for the past couple of days that today I gave myself a double challenge ...

a saffron dessert and bread making.

I've never made bread before. But everyone keeps telling me that making bread is totally easy and there is something therapeutic about the whole process. Both parts are true. It was easy (just time consuming) and kneading the dough made me felt like I was in my own little world. 

Half way through it, the construction workers decided to drill the heck out of the exterior wall of my building. I was so annoyed that I tweeted about it (yes, I wanted everyone to know about my bread making experience). Thankfully, my lovely bread dough wasn't affected by the noise and raised beautifully. And I, while kneading, was totally consumed in the whole thing that it drowned out the 'diiizzzzz diiiiizzzzzz ... silence ... silence... diiizzz diiiizzzz diiiiiiiiiizzzzzzzzzzzzzz ... and so on'.

I am done making the bread, ate half of it and the dizzzzz dizzzzzz is STILL going on. Thank goodness for sugary bread dough to get me through the day. 

Today's flavour combo: Saffron, Orange, Hazelnut and Brown Sugar. YUM! All combined into a soft, warm and yeasty bread. Quadruple YUM!

I took it a step further. This is not your regular loaf of bread. Is made in a way that you can pull the bread apart in sheets!! Thanks to the JoyTheBaker! She is such a genius and is THE baking queen. I LOVE her blog! 

The bread turned out oh-so-good! I couldn't resist and had to eat a slice right away. The top was very crunchy, with bits of nuts sticking out and crumbly brown sugar bits all caramelized & gooood. The bread was so soft and moist and when I pulled it apart, I got hit by the sweet citrusy smell of the orange zests and the warm aroma of the saffron.

MMmmmmmMMMMmmmmm. 

The Saffron Challenge #1

I've been around saffron quite a bit these days and realized that not a lot of people use it in desserts or maybe i just haven't came across them. So I am giving myself a little challenge until the end of this month - come up with 6 desserts using saffron. (Though I just realized while typing this that I only have until next Monday as I will be going on a short trip until April 1st). emmmm ...

Saffron is the world's most highly priced spice. Totally in a league of its own, saffron has a very unique aroma and taste. Just a couple of these thin golden strands will give any dish a deep and vibrant orangey-yellow colour. Is an amazing spice and I love it.

Okay, so back to desserts ... guess there isn't any rule in this challenge. As long as I use saffron in my dessert recipes, it counts. :) I am sure there are plenty of good flavour combos out there.

Creamy, velvety, smooth and heavenly ... some words that you usually associate with cheesecakes. My first saffron dessert is going to be ....

Neglected

What happened to the fully committed relationship to my blog? I have been an awful partner ... I know. And I am sorry. 

To make up for my week's of absence, I am giving myself a challenge until the end of the month. 

Stay tuned  .... is gonna be good. I promise. 

Mirror, The Restaurant

Quite a few things going on these days and I apologize to my blog for not posting as regularly as I should ... my apologies to those who actually read my blog too. I love you.

Since I have been busy these days and renovation of the building that I am living in has started, I am sorry to say that I probably won't be able to post as much cooking related posts for awhile. Is hard to concentrate when there is constant drilling and knowing there are sweaty old men right outside your windows.

I now give you a taste of Mirror - a private kitchen opened by the ex Sous Chef of Robouchon - Chef Jeremy Biasiol. I waited for 3 months for this table, so I think this is worth to blog about it. I went with my cousin Pat and we ordered 2 tasting menus - one 5 courses and one 8 courses. We shared everything. Another great thing about this is that they allow you to bring your own wine.

This Champagne, Joseph Pierre Perrier, is my new love. J'adore! Is fruity with the perfect amount of bubbles. The Chateau La Mouleyre 2005 I got from my dad (thank you very much). It was a wonderful red wine with complex aromas of vanilla, sandalwood and soft spices. Very good texture in the mouth with elegant oaky tints.

A very generous bread basket with great French style breads - Olive bread, herb focaccia, mini french baguette and bacon twisty bread sticks. Served with your choice of sweet french butter sprinkled with sea salt or syrupy balsamic vinegar with fruity extra virgin olive oil. They even give you refills. 

Scallop mousse with cream sauce, caviar and lemon oil - delicious! 

I absolutely loved this flavour combo and the lemon oil just brought out all the freshness of the ingredients. 4 stars.

The Food Blogging World

I blog because I want to have something to keep me going and occupied since I am jobless. I have been jobless for awhile, money is running low, so blogging seems to be a good option since there is no set up cost involved, thanks to blogger in my case.

But having started doing this for a month, I realize blogging is a hard core business. The blogs that I've been following are bloggers who have started writing for 7 to 8 (or more) years ago. What started out to be online diaries (that's what they used to call it back in the days) have turned into years worth of well written stories, with creative recipes and gorgeous photos. And you know what this leads to - cookbook deals, jobs as food writers/critics for magazines, awards and honorable mentions in NY Times/Food & Wine for best blogs of the year.

If you have a niche and you do it right and do it well, your blog can change your life.

Food blogging is such a big deal these days that they even have a Food Blogger Camp! (http://foodblogcamp.com/)

For USD1,200 you will get to spend 5 days with a talented bunch at a sunny and beachy place, with seminars to teach you about better blogging, food styling, photography, branding; cooking demonstrations by world renowned chefs; and for the rest of they day, you get to sip on mojitos by the pool and discuss about what makes a good blog, share recipes and cooking techniques, predict upcoming trends in the culinary world and so forth.

Now this is some dedication to food blogging.

Adela's Paella

I spent about 10 days in Madrid last October and was blessed to have been able to stay at my aunt's friend's place, an adorable couple who has been leaving in Spain for over 25 years. Adela is Spanish while Carlos is Chinese, who grew up in Spain.

That was my Euro foodie trip and it was meant to be when I found out that Adela is a fantastic cook. She loves hosting parties and cooking for people. The whole time I was in Madrid, I didn't do much sightseeing at all. I stayed in the kitchen with Adela, making her tell me the secrets of what authentic Spanish cuisine is all about. I went to markets with her to buy unbelievably fresh produce, meats and seafood for Adela to turn into omgosh good dishes.

It was simple and homey Spanish cooking and it was exactly what I had hoped for. When the ingredients are this fresh, you don't need to do much to them. They speak for themselves.

Adela is the type of cook who just goes with the flow. She throws in a bit of this, a bit of that and the concoction just magically comes together. Is fun watching her cook. She would rummage her fridge for inspirations, but more so for using up leftovers and soon-to-be over riped fruits and vegetables.

Is Good to Know the Chef

Here's a preview of what's to come from Liberty Exchange and the soon to be reopened Liberty Private Workshop. I apologize for the poor quality of the images. My iphone sucks.

A 6-course tasting menu by Chef Vicky Cheng.

First course: Escargo with bacon and potato gnocci, accompanied with mini grilled chesse crostini & roasted garlic

Second course: Steak tartare with fries & onion ring with truffle mayo

Third course: Oyster and bacon slider with clam chowder

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant

Some people love it. Some loath the thought of it. There's really no in betweens. I just finished reading this book, which is a collection of essays/articles by 26 authors confessing when they cook for one or dine alone.

An extremely delightful read that will inspire you, make you laugh and make you think back to the times when you were alone and had to think of "what's for dinner?". The way the book was put together was witty and quirky and it caught my attention right away:

"Dinner alone is one of life's pleasure. Certainly cooking for oneself reveals man at his weirdest. People like when you ask them what they eat when they are alone. A salad, they tell you. But when you persist, they confess to peanut butter and bacon sandwiches deep fried and eaten with hot sauce, or spaghetti with butter and grape jam." - Laurie Colwin.

Here's my version of "Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant".

A Lost Chinese Delicacy

A relaxing dinner at home can really bring out the eater in me. And when it is a dinner filled with surprises, that's even better.

It was what I thought a casual hot pot dinner at a family friend's place. These are people who know their food and would go the mile to get the best and freshest ingredients dinner. I have already up my expectations and was expecting a flavourful soup base with a table full of tender and thin slices of meats, fresh seafood and vibrant green veggies.

We were greeted with a bottle of Château Haut-Bages-Avérous Pauillac 2001, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux that has the scent of spicy fruits. A medium bodied wine that needs only 15 minutes out of the bottle, it is quite tannic and you can taste blackberries and cedar. I don't know much about wines, but it was very well balanced and I couldn't stop drinking it.

A very strong yet pleasant aroma started to drift out from the kitchen. It wasn't a familiar scent but I know it was from something savory and my mouth started to water. I couldn't figure out what it was but finally, the dish was brought out and I saw medium sized golden brown nuggets on a plate.

A Feast in the Making - Part III

The day of the dinner party. I was stressed, nervous and pumped!

But let me just say that my respect for chefs and caterers has tripled! I cooked dinner for 15pax, spent 2 full days in the kitchen and I was utterly exhausted by the end of it. I was so tired I wanted to puke and I couldn't feel my legs. You smell like the kitchen for at least a week, and that's only if you don't cook afterwards; else the smells will just linger around you. Your hands, your hair and just the entire you. And no matter how many showers you take you still smell like garlic, onions and stews. THUMBS UP to those who dedicated their lives to this sport! Yes, cooking is a very complicated sport ... that I still love very much despite of all the muscle pains. I love feeding people.

Anyways, I woke up to a gorgeous sunny morning. Though I woke up to construction workers chit chatting outside my window while they were building the 'pang' with the bamboos. Yes, is unfortunate. The tenants at the building have decided to revamp and renovate, starting with the exterior walls of the building. An 8-month project, which my parents and I totally feel played by our landlord for not letting us know while we signed the lease. Anyways, I will save this story for another time.

I set my alarm for 9:00am. Still lots to do even though I cooked all day the day before. I'd say I've made 50% of the meal - beef stew, duck, soup, parmesan crackers and fillings for my quiches. So I started my day with a big cup of coffee and a good breakfast. I sat down and enjoyed my brekkie because I didn't want to feel burned out in the middle of cooking. I've done that before. My relatives came for dinner (20+) and for whatever reason, I got really fed up cooking and I just stopped. I let my aunt cooked the rest of it that day. I was just so tired and whatever I was making just didn't taste good. I was not going to let this happen again today! I began cooking at 10am.

Having a sharp knife makes your life much easier in the kitchen.

I started assembling my quiches and baking them off since quiches can be served at room temperature or you can quickly pop them back in the oven to reheat just before serving.

I know, is not very pretty.

Here's my basic quiche recipe:

Prepare your pie dough, either get the store bought short crust pastry or make your own Pate Brisee. Blind bake them first in a 220C/425F oven for 5-7mins. Remove the pie weights or whatever you are using to weigh the dough down. Brush with egg wash and continue to bake for about 7minss. Let cool slightly.



Filling:
3 large eggs
175ml heavy cream
2-3 handfuls of grated cheese of your choice - Gruyere, Swiss, Gouda are common in quiches
salt and pepper to taste
Any kind of herbs that match the main ingredients of your quiche
*stir everything together + whatever else you chooses to put into your quiche.

Quiches are like pizzas. Is a very forgiving dish and you can put whatever you want into your quiche (let's you clear out your fridge). Here are some suggestions: asparagus, ham, sun dried tomatoes, olives, artichokes, mushroom, spinach ... and the list goes on and on.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust and bake for 20mins in oven. Turn down the heat to about 180C/375F and bake for another 15-20mins until firm, golden brown and a bit puffy.

Cut up quiches to bite size pieces

A Feast in the Making - Part II

I have finalized my menu for my up coming buffet dinner for this Saturday. I think I've overestimated my ability to cook for a crowd with my original plan - 4 starters, 6 mains, 2 dessert. So I've scaled it down a little but will increase the portion of each dish. Also, this meal is to let my friends taste what I've learned and tasted during my Europe trip.

Most of the below dishes can be made a day in advanced and some can be prepared up to a certain stage and you can assemble it the day of the party. I will provide the recipes once I have some photos.

Now let's talk portion control cause really, when you are serving a crowd, the hardest thing is figuring out how much of each dish do you make - you don't want to be over ambitious and cook a crap load of food with a lot of leftovers; but you don't want to leave your guests only 50% satisfied. Some factors that affect how much food you make for a party: time of day (ex. afternoon tea or dinner), style of your party (ex. cocktail party or baby shower) type of food served (ex. all finger food or 5-course dinner), the people you will be feeding (ex. teenagers with unbelievably high metabolism or ladies who are watching their diets).

My party is going to be: housewarming dinner, buffet style, 15 grown ups - guy girl ratio 50:50.

Now, onto planning the menu and the rest of the game plan. This is usually how I figure out how much food to make. Think of a one-person portion of a 5-course meal at a restaurant. You often will get:

1) On-the-house canapes, say 1-2 pieces. And/or you get a fancy bread basket, filled with gourmet breads which you always can never stop eating.

2) Appetizer (around 6 - 8 bites. why so specific you ask? think about it, you get a tuna tartare with a few toasts on the side. I am pretty sure you can only get max. of 8 bites of that dish. OR if when you order mussels in white wine sauce to share, i really doubt you will eat more than 8 mussels with or without bread to mop up the sauce).

3) Soup (3/4 to 1 of a cup) / Salad (a little more than a handful of salad greens, lightly dressed).

A Pleasant Surprise

You hear quite a few wine pairings with Chinese/Asian cuisine these days. And just a few days ago, I received an email from Lifestyle Asia saying that they will be having a new biweekly column on Asian food pairing with new world wines called "The Flavours of Asia". Tastings and pairings will be done by local experts with the finest palates invited by Moët Hennessy Asia Pacific.

I've actually done a few at KEE where we hosted dim sum lunch and paired with various different wines, with wine makers explaining why it works and with the chefs commenting on how he got his inspirations on matching spring rolls with a glass of light pinot gris.

Anyways, before I get too far off topic, this post is about an awesome discovery for me, one of the few posts about chinese food & wine pairing. Apparently, the Chinese Thousand Year Old Egg (皮蛋 / Pidan) with pickled ginger pair rather well with red wines (and sweet whites too). This is of course not a new discovery/delicacy as Yung Kee (famous for their thousand year old eggs as well as roast goose) has been serving their guests this combo for awhile.

But is an 'omgosh' moment for me. Reaction was "@*$#&(#_)*^&%@&$)@!".

Red wine & pidan wor. Dim duk ga. cannot la! But if Yung Kee is serving this proudly, there's gotta be some truth behind this.

I finally had a chance to try it tonight and it was indeed a very pleasant surprise. Why I think the flavours work together is because of science. Through preserving, the thousand year old egg has a higher alkaline level (higher pH balance makes this a 'base'). And that's why when you eat it with the pickled ginger, which has a low pH balance and is a 'acid', the base and the acid neutralize each other, creating a very well-balanced taste. The wine in this case is the acid.

For this combo, you should drink midrange red wines, with medium to full bodied. Don't go break you bank and buy yourself a pricey red wine. I have a bottle of Spanish wine from the Rioja region - LAN, Gran Reserva, 2003. I first took a bite of the egg without the pickled ginger and then took a sip of wine. The wine took away the very pungent and sharp taste of the thousand year old egg. You know sometimes these Pidan can leave your throat kinda dryish? The wine took away that sensation. And what did the egg do to the wine? Well, it decreased the tannin of the wine and so I didn't have that funny coating in my mouth. I guess you can compare it to wine and cheese. The 2nd bite I added the pickled ginger which was so much better! An explosion of very complex flavours in your mouth, swirling around. The pickled ginger brought out more flavor from the Pidan, and then you have the flavor of the wine ... that was my confirmed 'omgosh' moment! The pickled ginger is equivalent to the quince jelly or the grapes that come with the cheese platter. Pidan is the Chinese cheese in this case.

Try it. Is quite tasty!

I apologize for not being able to give you a better description on this flavor combo. I just don't have the words to describe it!! JUST TRY IT.

But taking a bite of the pidan and then quickly take a sip of wine isn't a very classy thing to do. You get that mucky lip print around the rim of your glass and you can't slurp your wine with food in your mouth. The whole thing can get messy.

And so, this calls for brainstorming a dish that would incorporate red wine, pidan and pickled ginger.

Think, think, think.

You can't cook the pidan because you need the gooey, creamy yolk for this to work. I don't know if you make a thick red wine reduction sauce and drizzle it onto the pidan will have the same effect as drinking the wine since cooking takes away the alcohol in the wine and I don't know if this will change the pH level of the wine. You can't just reduce the wine half way and still have the 'sauce' very watery. You don't want your dish to look like as if the pidan is drowning in watery grape juice. Presentation counts. I also thought about soaking the pidan in red wine for days just like the traditional 'tea leaves eggs'. I could give this a go.

But if I can think of a dish that can preserve the original state of these 3 ingredients, that would be great, wouldn't it? And THANK YOU to watching way too many episodes of Heston's Feast, having eaten at Bo Innovation and having been around Chef B while working at KEE ... I've got it. I present to you ...

Thousand Year Old Egg with Red Wine Caviar and Pickled Ginger Crisp

I coloured it cause it looks nicer. This is my food diary btw.

Basically, you use the molecular cuisine techniques and turn the red wine into 'caviar' - which I do know how to make, but I just don't have the ingredients to do it. So when you bite into them, breaking the very thin layer of 'skin' encapsulating the liquid, you get a burst of red wine in your mouth, along with the pidan and pickled ginger. Present this on a tiny little Chinese soup spoon. Is like that Xiaolongbao @ Bo Innovation by Alvin. This little drawing of mine doesn't show how you can turn pickled ginger into pickled ginger crisp because I don't know how!! But I am pretty sure you can turn anything into crisp by extracting the flavor and just do some molecular thingy to it.

People, get me a molecular gastronomy cooking kit please!!!

p.s. I wonder if cheese would go well with Chinese Xiao Shing wine or Wu Liang Yi.

A Feast in the Making

Occasion:
Housewarming (a VERY belated one)

Date:
Saturday, 26 February

Time:
4pm onwards

Place:
My Home

No. of Guests:
15

Mission:
To whip up a buffet dinner that will feed 15 big eaters along with ample amounts of wines, entertainment and be a collected and calm cook & hostess for the evening

Game Plan:
* Four appetizers/snacks + Six mains + 2 side dishes + 2 desserts (tentative)
* Think of dishes that can be made a day ahead and those that freeze well
* Cook things that I have made before - now is not the time to experiment
* Dishes must be filling
* Dietary requirements: No mushrooms, no Chinese parsley & chives, 2 guests don't eat beef and 2 guests don't eat lamb, nothing too fishy

Note to self:
Don't Freak Out

Stay tuned for the menu. Hopefully I will remember to take pictures of the dishes before sending them out the kitchen. With for sure chaos, I can't guarantee anything.

At the Table with Elizabeth David

Elizabeth David, who I think is the Julia Child of Britain, was an inspirational writer who brought French and Italian cooking into the British home. She discovered her taste for good food and wine when she lived with a French family while studying history and literature at the Sorbonne.

Most of her early food journeys and experiences in the culinary world were during the onset of the second world war. From fleeing the German occupation of France; leaving Antibes for Corsica and then onto Italy; eventually being deported to Greece; living on the Greek island of Syros; fled to Crete when the Germans invaded Greece; rescued by the British and evacuated to Egypt, where she lived firstly in Alexandria and later in Cairo. Elizabeth David had travelled all around the Mediterranean and she even went to India for awhile.

Living what can only be described as an extraordinary life, Elizabeth David discovered the joy and pleasure of cooking. Her encounters with food were sensual, exciting and honest. These were included in her first book 'Mediterranean Cooking', published in 1950, a time when rationing was still going on in Britain and essential ingredients for a good meal were pretty much unattainable. Reading David's book was a way to free the British from the frustration of not being able to get what they wanted. It brought them warmth & comfort thinking about real food cooked with butter, olive oil, eggs and dishes flavored with all kinds of herbs, spices, garlic and onions.

Browsing through Hager Books in Kerrisdale (Vancouver) last summer, I was very lucky to have found the second revised edition (1965) of this book, now called 'A Book of Mediterranean Food'. After only reading the first chapter of this book on 'Soups', I knew right away that Elizabeth David is going to give me the true essence of Mediterranean cooking - unpolished, authentic and striped to its core. Every chapter begins with a quote, an excerpt from an article or a letter to a friend, giving you a taste of what's to come next.

Here's a glimpse of the introduction to get you started:

"It is honest cooking, too; none of the sham Grande Cuisine of the International Palace Hotel. ...The ever recurring elements in the food throughout these countries are the oil, the saffron, the garlic, the pungent local wines; the aromatic perfume of rosemary, wild marjoram, and basil drying in the kitchens; the brilliance of the market stalls piled high with pimentos, aubergines, tomatoes, olives, melons, figs and limes; the great heaps of shiny fish ... the butchers' stalls are festooned with every imaginable portion of the inside of every edible animal (anyone who has lived for long in Greece will be familiar with the sound of air gruesomely whistling through sheep's lungs frying in oil)."

The book is divided into 11 sections, filled with delightful dishes. The recipes are delivered in a way that is informal and very approachable even when Elizabeth David is talking about how to tackle and stuff an entire sheep. Some recipes were left untranslated, such as Gigot a la Provencale - left in its original French. Since each chapter is filled with a repertoire of recipes from all over the Mediterranean, you can easily see the difference between an Italian beef stew (Boeuf a l'Italienne) and a Greek ragout/stew (Stiphado). Sometimes the difference is just whether lard was used in place of olive oil or whether the recipe called for thyme or marjoram.

For more classic dishes, such as the Bouillabaisse, Elizabeth David took the time to detailedly explain the origins of the dish and what the traditional ingredients were, as she said, "We have rather prolonged this article but this demonstration was necessary; out of ten cookery books nine will give it incorrectly".

One of my favourite recipes in this book is the Cassoulet Toulousain, in the 'Substantial Dishes' chapter. This is a great dish which French regional cookery has produced and Elizabeth David has eloquently told the story behind it. It is perhaps the most typical of true country food, the genuine, abundant, earthy, richly flavoured and patently simmered dish of the ideal farmhouse kitchen. This is a dish that I don't think I will be able to make as "tinned beans and sausages served in an earthenware casserole do not, alas, constitute a cassoulet". But just reading about it makes me happy in this cold and rainy day.

I can go on and on about this wonderful book and can't wait to read the rest of her works. With a total of 9 published books, Elizabeth David has changed the outlook of English cooks forever.

I've Got No Game

"Look around you ... you are the only one in the group without a boyfriend". I repeated this line to myself as Victor continued to type on skype, giving me his two cents on why I am still single. "You are not active enough and you have no game".

Brutal.

Ouch.

But I appreciate the honesty.

I thought about it long and hard after my late night convo with him and I don't disagree with him. The problem, he said, is I blend into to the background very easily and I am just not that memorable. He suggested showing a little bit more passion towards the things I love. Talk about it, make a story out of what I love - food. My blog. With all that said, I still think why would anyone want to hear me blab about my blog? That's just being totally self absorbed.

I pondered some more over the idea of how "I've Got No Game" and thought back to the times on how I made my exs fall for me - all of 2 exs and random dates here and there. I've been told that a girl is totally charming and irresistible when she gets really excited talking about the things that she is passionate about. The enthusiasm shines through, her eyes sparkle and that big smile on her face, my friend, is the 'hook'. You tell your stories with confidence (in my case, a glass of wine or 2 helps), throw in a little humour, and that is sexy to a man.

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

I am not sure if I am supposed to take this quote metaphorically or what. But I am taking it literally. That's my game. It worked before, it should still work now.

1. Baking cookies makes me friends. Once I've given them cookies, they will have to call or email or the very least whatsapp me to thank me for the treats.

2. Talk about recent Europe foodie trip. He will be fascinated and in awe (and secretly impressed) that I went alone because it shows that I can take care of myself. Guys like girls who can do things by themselves - being independent wor.

3. No.2 will then lead to "you must let me try your cooking sometime" - if the guy is interested, the next date is secured.

4. Talk about food that men in general love to eat and drop hints that you know how to make them. Men love their meat & beer. Tell him about a time you made killer ribs for a friend's birthday and brought along 6 different kinds of beer/lager/ale as his birthday present. Your date will adore you.

5. Do not talk about the fancy meals that you know how to make or that you are planning to make for him if is only date no.2. Be humble. Guys scare easy. If they realize that you are going to put so much effort into making him a gourmet meal when is only date no.3, they wont't know how to handle it and will flee.

6. Not the perfect first date if your guy brings you to Dem Bones (a restaurant in yvr, famous for ribs and food that needs no utensils and you'll be wearing a bib. Sadly, it no longer exists). But if you can carry yourself throughout the date with grace while eating with your bare hands and licking your fingers and not complain, you've scored.

7. Eat real food. Enjoy that plate of food in front of you. Eat those strips of bacon. Don't pat the grease off your slice of pizza. Don't eat chicken wings with a knife and a fork. I find that if you eat what they eat, the guy will know that you feel comfortable around him. That's important.

How about that, I came up with 7 ideas to start with. Not a bad day after all.

Confidence Restored

After last week's baking disasters, I finally redeemed myself with some peanut butter & chocolate chips cookies and oatmeal cranberries cookies.

You know sometimes you just have this big craving for some Reese's peanut butter cups? Well since I am in HK and they don't sell them here (how could they!) I had to look for alternatives that would stop this specific, intense sugar fix. Luckily, I came across this wonderful recipe that uses a cup's worth of peanut butter. *evil grin*

I followed the recipe exactly the first time around and found the cookies a bit too sweet for my taste and the peanut butter flavor a bit too strong. But nonetheless, these cookies were still as sinful as ever. You will totally forget your calorie count once you tasted these.

Anyways, I changed the quantities of the ingredients slightly this time, and they came out perfect (at least to me).

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chips Cookies
(recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

*Makes about 24 cookies
1 1/4C all purpose flour
3/4t baking soda
1/2t baking powder
1/4t salt
1/2C butter, room temperature
3/4C smooth or chunky peanut butter
1/2C white sugar
1/2C brown sugar
1 large egg
1T milk
1t vanilla
1/2C chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven to 350F / 175C.
2. Cream butter until light and pale yellow. Add sugars and peanut butter and mix together until well incorporated and smooth.
3. Lightly whisk together egg, milk and vanilla. Stir into butter mixture.
4. Measure dry ingredients and gradually add to butter mixture. Stir until well mixed. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Line baking trays with parchment paper. Scoop a spoonful of dough and roll them into 3/4" balls. Place on prepared trays and press down slightly.
6. Bake for 12-15mins. Let cook on tray for 3mins before transferring to cooling racks to cool completely.

EAT and store the rest in an airtight container. But I promise you that these cookies won't last the week.

Here are my oatmeal cranberries in the making and in the oven.

I had my yahoo radio on while baking and an AWESOME song to bake along to is Cee-lo Green's Forget You. Totally can move to the beat while you cream butter. I was holding onto the big bowl of butter with my spatula, dancing around the kitchen. Can you picture it?






(image from bluebeat.com)

What brings you comfort?

'Comfort food' - I never knew what it was. Is relatively new to me, meaning that by the time I came across this term, I have been westernized. For the longest time, I thought comfort food was a good beef stew, chicken noodle soup, spaghetti with meatballs, mac n' cheese (which btw I never really liked when I was a kid), anything that's greasy or super sweet. Of course, they are all absolutely delicious, but I didn't grow up with them. These are my 'recent' discoveries. Hence, I never really understood (and questioned) why eating cookie dough is 'heavenly' (you are putting flour and raw eggs in your mouth), or why licking the bowl of left over icing is 'divine'.

By the time I started to appreciate food and the art of cooking, I have been living in Canada for 10+ years. It seems like I have been brainwashed into thinking that bread puddings, grilled cheese sandwiches, big bowls of chillies and bacon & hash are my comfort food. I really did believe they would make me feel better. But in reality, I never really eat them and they are not the first things that come to mind when I need a little warmth & joy.

I recently discovered that no matter how much you think your taste in food has changed over the years (I have been telling people that I would pick western food over Chinese food any day for many years now!), you will always go back to the basics, to your roots because you grew up with them. You feel happy, satisfied and a bit nostalgic when you eat them .. but most of all, you feel comforted and safe.


When I am not feeling well, I thought I would be happy with a really good burger or a bowl of chicken noodle soup; but all I really want is a bowl of rice noodles in soup with fish balls or beef brisket, macaroni in Swanson chicken broth and luncheon meat, carrot & fish soup (Chinese style), fried rice and even congee (which I only eat when I am sick - cos that was what my mom and nanny fed me when I was young and when I was sick). I don't want any fuss, I just want something familiar. It wasn't a taste-bud change for me after what happened, I was merely going back to something that I truly know and found comfort in.

*image from ifood.tv