Nanaimo Bars

Nearly every Canadian has made Nanaimo Bars, either from scratch or from the (actually quite reasonable) boxed version made by Robin Hood. The base is a rich graham mixture with the nutty undertones of coconut. It's balanced out by an sweet filling, and topped all off with a layer of chocolate. We recently had friends over for dinner and served these as dessert - especially since we knew the guest of honour had never had the opportunity to try them before as he is from Israel. The look on his face was pure awe & astonishment. "These are perfect," he exclaimed.

Nanaimo Bars were named after the British Columbia town Nanaimo. It is rumoured that in the 50s, a magazine had a recipe contest and a local housewife came up with this recipe and submitted it. Having no name for her concoction, she named it after the town in which she lived. She won the contest, and this delicious little treat has become a Canadian culinary staple.

Nanaimo Bars
(Recipe from Joy of Baking.com)

Bottom Layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Dutch-processed)
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup coconut (either sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped

Filling:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 - 3 tablespoons milk or cream
2 tablespoons vanilla custard powder (Bird's) or vanilla pudding powder
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups (230 grams) powdered sugar (confectioners or icing) sugar

Topping:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Butter (or use a cooking spray) a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) pan.

BOTTOM LAYER: In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder and then gradually whisk in the beaten egg. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (1 - 2 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and chopped nuts. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate until firm (about an hour).

FILLING: In your electric mixer cream the butter. Beat in the remaining ingredients. If the mixture is too thick to spread, add a little more milk. Spread the filling over the bottom layer, cover, and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).

TOP LAYER: In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Spread over the filling and refrigerate.

TO SERVE: To prevent the chocolate from cracking, using a sharp knife, bring the squares to room temperature before cutting.

Yield: Makes about 25 squares

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Deep Dish Squash Pie

Today is (Canadian) Thanksgiving. This year I'm thankful for many things, some more than others. This time of year always makes me so reflective on my life and my childhood. Perhaps it's because the cycle of nature is taking certain things and closing up shop for the winter: leaves are changing colour, birds are preparing for flights south and plants offer up their yearly bounty to help see us through the long, harsh cold. I love everything about this time of year and this holiday is one of my favourites. (Photo shows the goods we've acquired R-L: a [very large] pumpkin, buttercup squash, acorn squash, and a cute little gourd I've named Herman.)

My father never liked squash and still won't eat it. My grandparents always grew it and they'd serve it with our holiday meal, but my dad never partook. It must've been something about orange vegetables as we never had cooked carrots as a child either. In any case, my grandmother always had pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dessert. Oh, my dad did love pumpkin pie. But it was a well known secret for years that the pumpkin pie he was eating was actually made with buttercup squash. I thought the wool had been pulled over his eyes for years - eventually it slipped out but he already knew. And as I'm older now, and a tad more experienced in the kitchen, I realise that squash and pumpkin aren't that far off in texture and flavour - and if you go to my husband's part of the world, they're all called pumpkin anyway.

That being said, he's never had one done up in a pie. Understandably though, as Thanksgiving isn't a recognised Australian holiday, and the date does fall into the warmer season. But he's only ever had pumpkin or squash in savoury dishes. This was the first time he had squash pie and he did like it (coming from the man who doesn't like sweets).

This particular pie is less dense than those of my mother & grandmother, but it still slices cleanly and has a delicately sweet flavour. I used an entire buttercup squash (in the picture at top) and it was just enough. Using a deep dish pie plate, the filling came about a centimetre below the rim of the pie, but fluffed up and filled it in perfectly while baking.

Deep Dish Squash Pie

1-9" pie shell
1-2lb squash (buttercup or butternut)
3 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom
2 large eggs

Prepare pie shell & keep refrigerated until required. Peel & steam squash until tender. Remove from heat and mash in bowl. Preheat oven to 350°F. On low setting of mixer, add evaporated milk, whole milk, butter, sugar & maple syrup. Add salt & spices, mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, being careful to ensure they are thoroughly incorporated. Pour mixture into prepared pie shell. Bake 40-55 minutes, or until set when toothpick inserted comes out clean.

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Butter Tarts & Lemon Custard Tarts

It was a special day at work today. Instead of cookies, I made two kinds of tarts. Of all the requests, lemon was the overall winner. Me, personally, I adore a good butter tart. Butter Tarts are about as Canadian as maple syrup and hockey (despite that our official national game is LaCrosse). I don't know anyone in my family who doesn't have at least one recipe for Butter Tarts. Originally thought to be derived from the American Pecan Pie, butter tarts have two schools of adorers: those that like them gooey, and those that like them custardy. I prefer the gooey. With (most commonly) walnuts, seedless Thompson raisins or without, gooey Butter Tarts make me purr. These ones I made in a muffin tin, so they were definitely more than two bites and they were definitely delicious!

Feel free to omit the dough and use your own favourite. I use the recipe my mum gave me that she adopted when she worked at an Irving Big Stop restaurant (also very Canadian, at least in the Maritimes anyway). The dough, which uses an egg and baking powder, never gets tough - you can roll it and roll it and roll it and it's still as pliable as when it's freshly made. It always turns out crispy and flaky and melt in your mouth and I don't think I'll ever switch!

Festive Butter Tarts

1-1/4 cup flour
3 Tbsp icing sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup raisins (optional)
3 eggs
1 cup corn syrup or honey
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
pinch salt

Combine flour & sugar. Cut in softened butter until mixture is crumbly. Divide dough among 12-3" fluted tart pans or 3" muffin tins. Press dough evenly over bottom & up sides. Place pans on baking sheet. Sprinkle raisins evenly over bottom of each tart shell. In separate bowl, combine eggs, corn syrup or honey, brown sugar, melted butter and salt. Pour into tart shells, filling each 2/3 full. Bake in preheated 375°F for 20-25 minutes or until set. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely. Makes one dozen.

Lemon Custard Tarts
(Recipe from Food Network Canada's Christine Cushing Live)

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
grated rind of one lemon
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1-1/2 cup whole milk
1 egg yolk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk together half the sugar with the 1 yolk, 2 whole eggs, lemon juice, lemon rind and vanilla in a medium bowl. Whisk the cornstarch, remaining sugar and milk in a bowl or measuring cup. Bring milk to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until slightly thickened. Slowly, whisk into egg mixture. Return to sauce pan and bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. Transfer to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, sealing plastic wrap directly over the custard so that no skin forms on the custard. Put in refrigerator and thoroughly chill before using, about 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out the puff pastry to 1/8-inch thick. Cut the pastry into twelve 4-inch circles with a cookie cutter or top of a cup or glass. Press pastry circles into muffin cups. Prick the bottoms with a fork. Line each puff cup with aluminum foil. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove foil and pie weights. Cool pastry for 5 to 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spoon the cooled custard into the baked puff pastry cups. Bake until golden and skin forms, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let tarts cool to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or chilled. The custard will be a little loose.

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Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Sometimes you need a cookie that isn't superficial, or chocolately. Sometimes you need a cookie that is hearty and sweet and reminds you of all the goods things. Weekends in your grandmother's kitchen... the bounty nature provides... things like that.

This cookie was made for my coworkers (they are a lucky lot, aren't they?). I try to make sure everyone gets a request. This one came from an Ocean Spray calendar that one of my co-workers had and it proved to be a big hit - despite that it wasn't full of cocoa!

Oatmeal Cranberry Oatmeal White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
(Courtesy of Ocean Spray Recipes)

2/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 6-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® Original Sweetened Dried Cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in sweetened dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Makes approximately 2-1/2 dozen cookies.

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Why I love the Farmer's Market

Every Saturday morning, the husband and I go to our local farmer's market on our weekly grocery trek. We've made it a habit to stop there because, thanks much to Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall & Jamie Oliver, I will now not eat chicken purchased from the supermarkets. I've been wanting for sometime to go as organic & natural as possible in terms of the food I put into my body & what sort of carbon footprint I leave with the chemicals I deposit into the environment. Besides, going to the farmer's market and purchasing the goods there puts money back into the local economy.

I stop at a booth run by Stephen Taylor's Farm to buy my eggs ($2.35 for a dozen, extra large, brown eggs - you can't beat that!). I will also buy my beef there. We stop at a place called Armstrong Cheese to purchase any cheese we may be craving. While not all organic, the family who runs this stall really take pride in their work. Cheese can be a smelly business, but they certainly enjoy it - and each time I go, I like to try something new. "Give me something... old & European," or, "zingy & French!" My favourite is old, English cheddar. There's a distinct flavour variation between English & Canadian cheddars. I find the English one just a bit more... zippy!

Next we get our fruits & veggies from a number of vendors. Arimosa is an organic farm just on the outskirts of the city. Hope Farms is another. Between the two of them, you can get just about anything. Carrots, an assortment of radish (including one that is black all the way though), lemon cucumbers, and this week I bought us some Italian beans. Long, thick & purple! But, when you cook them, they turn green. Very tasty too, slightly nutty. We've gotten in the habit of bringing back the containers the fruits & veg comes in. From the wooden boxes that held berries, to the cardboard ones with the handle on the top that carries apples & plums... we don't throw them out, we take them back for them to use again. And they do. And some days, if you have enough brought back, they give you a discount on your purchase. :)

Lastly, we stop at one of our favourite places, Springbank Farm. We get our pork & chicken there. And in two week's time we should be able to get some lamb. Now, this place, aside from great prices and grain fed livestock, is pretty amazing. The guys that work the stall there (and at the Dieppe Farmer's Market) are pretty darned amazing. We go in and they routinely knock a buck or two off of the price. Last time they gave me an extra packet of home-smoked bacon. The time before that they gave us two chicken carcasses for making broth (see picture). These two carcasses were roasted with some fresh herbs, salt, pepper & some olive oil (not too much, just enough for the herbs to stick). They were boiled with your basics - a large onions, a large carrot and a stalk of celery cut in two. The broth it made was decadent. And the best part, there was enough meat on the bones to tear off and use for making a soup, stew, or even sandwiches. And it was free. That's practically an entire meal, free, that we got from the Farmer's Market.

Free food. Organic livestock. Infusing the local economy. Making the indent of my carbon footprint a little shallower. Overall, superior quality & pride. These are the reasons why I love going to the Farmer's Market.

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Earl Grey Tea Shortbread

So, it was cookie-time at work again and one of my co-workers requested shortbread cookies - the kind with a dollop of icing on the top. I decided that this was time for me to try out a new recipe. I adore tea, Earl Grey in particular. When I found this recipe, I was beyond giddy since I also adore that melt-in-your-mouth texture of shortbread. Now, I'm also particular about my shortbread - I like it crumbly and very dry. If a recipe calls for just flour, I will always substitute, at least a portion of, that flour for cornstarch. That is what I ended up doing with this recipe - and given that they were dry and crumbly to begin with, I don't think that much more than the 1/2 cup substitution would've been a good idea.

Earl Grey Tea Shortbread Cookies
(Original recipe published in the special issue Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies 2005 - though the icing is my own concoction.)

Cookie
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 Tbsp finely ground Earl Grey tea leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 confectioner's sugar
1 Tbsp finely grated orange zest
Earl Grey Icing
2/3 cup confectioner's sugar
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 Tbsp brewed Earl Grey tea, cooled
1/4 tsp orange extract
silver dragees for decoration (optional)


Whisk flour, cornstarch & salt in small bowl; set aside. Put butter, sugar & orange zest in bowl of electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until pale & fluffy (about 3 minutes). Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture until just combined. Divide dough in half; transfer each half to a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Shape into logs 1-1/4" in diameter. Transfer inside paper towel tubes to freezer - freeze until firm (at least 1 hour). Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut logs into 1/4" slices. Space 1" apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake cookies, rotating sheets half way through until edges are golden (13-15 minutes). Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to five days.

Mix icing ingredients in small bowl. The icing should be able to form peaks, but should smooth out within a few seconds without being runny, giving it the appearance of a smoothed ganache when cooled. If too runny, add more sugar; if too thick, add more tea. Decorate with dragees if desired.

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Rhubarb Tart

I love rhubarb. One reason being the tart, eye-wincing flavour it imparts. The second - it is one of the few harvests that is not imported from Portugal or Guatemala. It grows in our back yards and reminds us of simpler times. Days spent with grandmothers in frilly aprons, boiling it on the stove or making a pie with plump, fresh strawberries.

Hot, sticky summer days deserve a good dose of nostalgia and a tasty rhubarb treat. This tart has a nice, buttery pastry and the rhubarb is made extra zippy with the added lemon peel. I don't know about y'all, but this ain't my grandma's rhubarb! This one's got zing!

Rhubarb Tart
Recipe courtesy of The Rhubarb Compendium

Crust:
1-2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 tbsp (or more) ice water
3 tbsp apricot jam
Filling:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
3-3x1/2" strips lemon peel (yellow part only)
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
2 lbs fresh rhubarb, trimmed, cut diagonally into 1/2" thick pieces (about 6 cups)

For crust:
Mix flour and salt in large bowl. Add butter and cut in, using pastry cutter or two knives, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add sugar and egg yolks and blend briefly. Add 2 tablespoons water and process just until moist clumps form. If dough is dry, add more water by teaspoonfuls to moisten. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until dough is firm enough to roll, about 30 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough disk on floured surface 12" round. Transfer to 9" tart pan with removable bottom. Trim crust overhang to 1/4". Fold overhang in, creating double-thick sides. Freeze tart crust 15 minutes.

Line crust with foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until sides are set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until crust is golden brown, piercing with fork if bubbles form, about 15 minutes. Brush crust with jam and bake until jam is set, about 5 minutes more. Transfer pan to rack and cool.

For filling:
Combine sugar and water in heavy large skillet over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add lemon peel and cinnamon stick. Increase heat and bring to boil. Add rhubarb and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover pan and simmer until rhubarb is just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Let stand covered until rhubarb is tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover and cool completely.

Using slotted spoon, remove rhubarb from cooking liquid and arrange in concentric circles in crust. Strain cooking liquid into heavy small saucepan. Boil liquid until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Cool syrup completely. Spoon syrup over rhubarb. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

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Sesame Coated Fish & Garlic Curry Cauliflower

Ok. I know, from the surface, it would appear that I have a thing, a craving, a penchant, what-have-you for sesame. I do like it. I like the nuttiness, I like the texture. I just happened to come across a recipe I wanted to try that had sesame seeds. Besides being high in copper, maganese & Vitamin B1 (good gods, who couldn't do with an extra dose of energy, eh?), they also help lower cholesterol. So... what better pairing than sesame seeds & fish?

The Husband and I both came home from work, the weather was hot, humid & sticky, and he was tired. SO much so that he decided to forego making dinner and had a nap. We were just going to pan sear the fish with a little lemon, salt & pepper, but I wanted something different. I'll be honest though, as much as I love to cook, my forté has never been fish. A little while ago I ordered a cookbook from eBay to help remedy that. "365 Ways to Cook Fish & Seafood". Whilst my dear husband slept, I perused the pages, determined not to find something that was going to heat up the entire apartment but something that was also different.

Sesame encrusted fish. How easy! I knew I had a stash of sesame seeds left over from the Sesame Snap Wafers, so why not? Well, holy cannolis, Tony Soprano! It was rinsed in cold water, patted dry with a kitchen towel. You then dredged it in flour, egg & sesame seeds in that order. (Word to the wise: use one hand for dry,one hand for wet. If you don't, the phone will ring whilst your hands are all gummy.) The filets are placed in a hot pan that has two tablespoons of olive oil. Let it toast the seeds and sear on one side, then flip. So bloody simple! But the fish stays moist, and the nuttiness of the seeds that are now toasting as they form a crust on your delicious fish dish, infuses the fish inside. Nice flaky, and if you get a bite without the actual seeds, you can still taste the aroma. The Husband has declared this recipe a keeper.

I also roasted some potato slices with olive oil, salt & rosemary on the barbecue. And as a second side, I prepared a recipe for Garlic Curry Cauliflower. I hated cauliflower when I was a kid. As I've gotten older, my palate has changed, reformed, grown-up. I've been getting a subscription to Natural Solutions magazine (formerly "Alternative Medicine"). In it they have some pretty delicious recipes, but each one has a theme. This one is for 'anti-aging'. Per this article by Lisa Turner, cauliflower is a "cruciferous" vegetable and contains diindolylmethane (aka: DIM) which helps metabolise estrogen and prevent breast cancer. If cancer is already an issue, DIM helps prevent cancerous cells from reproducing. Garlic (who hasn't heard praises of garlic?) contains allicin that helps protect the heart. And Turmeric may help prevent rheumatoid arthritis. Amazing. And what's more amazing is that the food that is good for you, is actually quite tasty. Especially when you roast the cauliflower on the barbecue. Yum. As soon as I'm done posting, I'm having leftover cauliflower for lunch, and I cannot wait for an opportunity to have that fish again... so very scrumadilly.

Sesame Coated Fish
(from the cookbook, "365 Ways to Cook Fish & Seafood")

2 boneless white-fish steaks, 6oz each (I used halibut as it was all I had)
1/4 cup flour
1 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup untoasted sesame seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

Rinse fish under cold water. Pat dry with paper towel. Have flour, egg & seeds arranged for dipping, in shallow bowls or on plates. Season fish with salt & pepper. Coat each piece of fish with flour, shaking off excess. Dip into egg, then dredge in sesame seeds, turning to coat completely. In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. When oil starts to swirl, oil should be hot enough. Quickly place fish in pan; when fish starts to appear cooked slighly up the side of each piece, turn over. Should be brown & crispy on the outside and just opaque in center, about 7-10 minutes in total. Drain on paper towels & serve at once. (We had a homemade tartar sauce on the side, made of mayo, relish, lemon juice, orange juice & mustard.)


Garlic Curry Cauliflower
(From Natural Solutions magazine)

1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fresh gingerroot, minced
1 cup light coconut milk
1 tbsp curry powder
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 fresh cilantro, minced

Preheat oven to 450°F. In 8" square glass casserole, coat cauliflower with olive oil. Roast 10 minutes. Combine onion, garlic, ginger, coconut milk, curry powder, pepper & salt. Pour coconut mixture over cauliflower; cover loosely with foil and roast for 20-25 minutes, until cauliflower is tender. Remove from oven and stir in cilantro.

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Sesame Snap Wafers

I work at an office of Canada's largest customs brokerage. My team consists of eight people, myself included. There are a lot of ins & outs in getting our jobs done but one of the biggest things we try to strive for is to ensure that all drivers who reach the border are set up without issue and are able to keep going through the border, hassle free, & then home to their families when their job is done without hours of delay. If we can, in any given day, ensure that 95% of the entries we submit to customs are not past their ETA then I bake cookies for the team. That's the standing incentive. I love to bake. My husband doesn't like sweets / pastries. So, unless I eat them all myself I suggested I bring them in to work and use it as an incentive for us to work well.

Last week was hot as all get out. You had to find energy to literally peel yourself from your couch to get to the phone to even order take-away (which we did)! There was no way I was going to turn on the oven when it felt like 40°C+. The folks at work knew I owed them a batch of cookies though, and I promised them that they would be made as soon as the weather turned a little less humid. I took some requests and one of those requests was for some Sesame Snap Wafers that I had made for myself and shared a while back.

When I was a kid I used to get these little packs of "Sesame Snaps". Sesame seeds, coated in some sort of sweet concoction that hardens and you get four of these snaps per package. This cookie reminds me of that, albeit a little chewier. But the taste is similar, with the brown sugar and vanilla, and the unmistakable nuttiness of sesame seeds. It's important to use the full amount of sesame seeds - I tried once making this with just 1 cup instead of 1 1/4 cups that is asks for, and the cookies came out rather limp and you lose a lot of the 'snap'. It is definitely a good cookie when I'm looking for something different.

Sesame Snap Wafers

2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/4 cup sesame seeds, untoasted

Combine flour & baking powder; set aside. Cream sugar, egg & vanilla with butter until creamy. Mix to combine. With wooden spoon, stir in seeds. Drop by small teaspoonfuls, leaving room for spreading, onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned Cool on sheet for two minutes, then remove to rack to cool completely.

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Too Hot to Cook...

It is hot. Too dang hot. So hot that last night, Patrick & I ordered in. We never order in. But the prospect of having to literally peel ourselves off of furniture to prepare food, even if it was bound for the barbecue. We ordered in from a restaurant called, "Vien Dong", a combination Vietnamese / Thai restaurant.

This is what we ordered:

Cold Shrimp Roll (Goi Cuon)
(Fresh rice paper roll with shrimp, vermicelli, lettuce & cucumbers. Served with peanut sauce.)

Pad Thai Noodle
(Stir-fried rice noodle with shrimp, chicken, egg, fresh herbs, bean sprout & lime sauce.)

Spicy Fried Noodles
(Shrimp, chicken and rice noodles with onion, green & red pepper [aka: capsicum], carrots and bean sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli and mushroom.)

Vien Dong Rice
(Lobster meat, shrimp, BBQ pork in fried rice.)


I'm not sure what I was expecting. I really think I'm craving Asian food, but I don't know what it is I want. The Asian food I get here is (for the most part) crap. It's food that's been translated to the North American palate. I do NOT want deep fried, sweet & sour chicken balls. I do NOT want beef & broccoli done in a beef "gravy" mix. I do NOT want deep fried won-tons that make my fingers greasy. What I do want is flavour & freshness. I want something that perhaps I've never tried before. Or perhaps the elements are something I've had before but not in that combination. When I think "Chinese food", I shudder. What passes for Chinese food around here is about as far from China as I am from being a man.

Vien Dong didn't taste like your sub-standard Chinese take-away. Though, not really having any Vietnamese or Thai restaurants around here to compare, I have to go by what my taste buds told me.

I liked it. I don't now if I'd claw my way back through a mob of animals though, but it was good. The veggies were still crisp. The rice had real egg in it and big chunks of meat (and that includes the lobster!). I actually quite enjoyed the rice. You could tell when you ate it that it wasn't 'Minute Rice'. It wasn't overly soggy to the point the grains start to burst. It was a bit salty, but I did enjoy it - mostly because of the lobster and the egg. You could taste the flavour of the egg throughout - subtle. I didn't realise how such a subtle flavour could enhance the dish!

I wasn't as impressed with the the shrimp roll. I could've easily made that. The peanut sauce though, was quite yummy. I haven't been able to get a good peanut sauce going. Either too sweet or too spicy.

I had the Pad Thai. It was very flavourful, but I'm not sure if it's the flavour I was looking for last night. I know their menu (which we found in the phone book) said lime sauce, it was quite reddish/orange in colour and tasted mildly barbecue-y. Not completely though, I could taste some citrus in there but that was NOT what I was expecting. Not altogether bad though - for what it is, it's alright. Big, big pieces of chicken. And the carrots are sliced the same width & length of the noodles so I think that's a neat-o selling point.

The best dish of all I think, was Patrick's Spicy Fried Noodles. Lots of good, yummy, crisp veg and noodles. Simple. Fresh. No pretences.

And there is enough for leftovers to that we can eat quickly and go see Wall-E tomorrow! :) No dinner making, wheee!

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Grilling season...

The other day, DH and I went for our usual grocery shopping jaunt. First to the farmer's market (where we were very excited to learn fresh lamb would soon be available) then to the supermarket to pick up the rest of our needs, and items not available at our Farmer's Market.

While at the grocery store, we picked up a nifty little find - thin sheets of maple, with twine, ready to be soaked and used for fish on a grill or in the oven. We (given the blazing / humid temperature outside) chose the grill. The packet with the wood listed a recommended recipe, so we decided to follow that rather loosely. We could've let the salmon marinate a bit longer if we had bothered to start it early enough. The wood however, soaked longer than the 20 minutes in a nice combination of water and chardonnay. :p


The fish laid skin-side down & we layered a little thyme & tarragon and we tied it nice and cute. :)

Patrick decided that with it we would have roasted (in this case, grilled) anise with blue cheese. I decided I wanted a carrot slaw, to which I added some zucchini. Something about a nice, acidic salad on a really hot day... I don't know what made me want a carrot slaw - I was thinking coleslaw in all honesty, but I really am not too keen on cabbage which means we didn't have any around. So it was just carrots & zucchini with a sauce that consisted of dijon, some reeeeeeeally lip-smackin' good local honey, vinegar, lemon juice, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, olive oil & sesame oil. Yum.

The rest was a garden salad consisting of greens picked off the balcony that we grew ourselves. I get such a feeling of pride going out there, picking fresh herbs, picking lettuce, picking mustard greens... I faithfully water all our plants in the morning before the sun gets too hot. And we have this fluffy pot of leaf lettuce that just won't end! I can only imagine the things we could grow and will grow when we get a house.

In the end, dinner was fab! And it was cooked outside... which was good because we were poaching as it was inside the apartment!

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First Post...

And thus "Belly Rules" has begun! Tweaking and editing to come.

Belly Rule Number # 1 - Respect your food, respect where it comes from and how you prepare it. Respect your food and it will do more than just nourish you.

Today I watched a show on PBS about food travelling. They were in China and for a part of the episode, they were with a well-known Chinese food writer. Chinese cooking isn't so much about just the food but it's about the experience. The name of the food, the taste, the freshness and the culture all play a part in the enjoyment of a good meal. Emperors have been asked where to find the best food, and they've said that it could be in the poorest house in the country. But, if it's been prepared well, and makes you happy, then that is good food.

I really do want to go on a food tour at some point. I would love to start it in China. I love the history and culture behind food so that that seems, to me, a great place to start.

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