Brinner Time!

One of the great things about adulthood is bending the mealtime rules. Pie for breakfast? Sure! Brownie and a glass of wine as a full meal? Definitely. In my mind the best of these is brinner. There is something exhilarating about making eggs and bacon at 8 pm. Add waffles to the mix and it borders on the risqué. And here I am on a Friday night making myself some delicious brinner and then sharing it with the blogosphere. Everyone should break the rules a little, just for the sake of adventure.They say that you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy bacon, which is pretty damn close.

Lime-a-licious

While visiting my family, I started to think about recipes that people assume are complicated, but are really as easy as pie. And then because my brain works in simple ways, I started to think about pie. To be specific, key lime pie, which is truly one of the greatest simple pies to make.  The actual filling of key lime pie has only three ingredients: egg yolks, key lime juice, and sweetened condensed milk. The tart sweetness of key limes is amazing and mildly addicting. For this pie I used fresh key limes, but bottled juice works just as well and comes without hundreds of pesky seeds.  Traditional key lime pie is not cooked and aficionados will say that it should never be cooked, but I like to cook mine for about fifteen minutes in order to set it and cook the eggs.

Key Lime Pie

Crust:

• Graham cracker crumbs from 9 full crackers
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl with a fork, then press mixture into 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Filling:

• 4 egg yolks
• 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup key lime juice

Whisk together condensed milk and egg yolks. Add lime juice and whisk until well combined. Pour into crust and bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely and refrigerate covered for at least five hours.

Serve with whipped cream and enjoy!

 

Food Groups

In Los Alamos, NM there is a huge sense of community. It is nearly impossible to go grocery shopping without seeing a friend or coworker. Neighborhood dinners and parties happened often, whether it was Betty’s holiday party or Mary’s Halloween margarita bash. I am still trying to find a community like that in Vancouver, but whenever I visit my parents on Salt Spring Island, I feel right at home. 

This past weekend, a wonderful collection of foodie neighbors got together to celebrate my dad’s birthday. My mom provided the traditional French cassoulet, which she had labored over for three days, one neighbor brought a delectable salad with candied pecans and orange slices, a second treated us to tasty hors d’oeuvres, a third brought fresh home-baked bread that completed the meal. All things considered, it was a hugely successful meal where the conversation was as good as the food. It made me realize what I miss from Los Alamos. Perhaps I should put an ad in the paper along the lines of “Aspiring chef seeks group of friends to enjoy good food and wine. Big Mac lovers need not apply.” In the meantime, I will continue to visit my family and enjoy all the community that Salt Spring has to offer.

Yeasty Goodness

One of the troublesome things about the Pacific Northwest is the crazy amount of rain. Luckily this winter has been fairly dry and the past week has been absolutely gorgeous and sun-filled. It has been warm and dry and I have been spending as much time as possible outside in the sun. Unfortunately this means that my apartment is less than clean, my dishes are stacking up, and I haven’t baked in a while. All I needed was one rainy day to accomplish all my indoor goals.

There is nothing homier than the smell of freshly baked bread. In my family the true bread baker is my dad, and he is always trying new recipes like blue cheese walnut bread and six-seed loafs. I tend to stay with more traditional recipes, but I always love to bake with my dad. Today is his birthday and I thought that I might brighten the weather with a little bread baking. People always think I am odd when I say that I love to knead. There is nothing more therapeutic than kneading the dough and punching it down. The feeling of satisfaction that comes from seeing the finished product is better than any exercise induced endorphin rush. The warm and yeasty smell that comes when you cut open a fresh loaf of bread is the best kind of air freshener and should be bottled and sold as perfume. The frustrations and disappointments of the past few weeks have completely melted away and I can spend my evening relaxing. 

Happy birthday dad!

A Love Letter to Cho Pain

One of my favorite places in Vancouver is the Boulangerie Cho Pain. It is a small bakery on Davie St. where the service is friendly, the coffee is delicious, and the pastries are fresh. I first visited Cho Pain the week I moved to Vancouver. Visiting this bakery was the first time I felt at home in this new city. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the choices, I simply bought a loaf of sourdough to take home. One loaf of bread and I was hooked. 

I have to admit that I do not really like coffee, but the lattes at Cho Pain are the perfect mix of foam and milk and the espresso is strong without tasting bitter or burnt. The croissants are tender and flaky and my personal favorites have warm chocolate running through the middle. They have lemon tarts, sachertorte, muffins, and more. Today there were over forty different kinds of freshly baked bread on display with everything from baguettes to sunflower seed loaves. If you are having a savory lunch craving, they also serve sandwiches and quiche.

Lately I have had a difficult time relaxing. I always feel like there is something else I need to do, somewhere else I need to be. Even watching a movie while I fold my laundry has felt like a guilty indulgence. This morning I bought my latte and chocolate croissant and was able to sit for over an hour reading a book without anyone bothering me or demanding my time. It was almost as therapeutic as a massage. Eventually I gave up my table and bought a loaf of sourdough to take the relaxation back home with me.

Pan Fried Salmon with Blood Orange Beurre Nantais

One of my joys during the week is coming up with menus and doing grocery shopping. I love planning new recipes, using special ingredients, and seasonal products. Earlier this week I found blood oranges for $1.19/lb at my neighborhood grocery store. I was so excited that I immediately bought some to go into my beurre nantais. The end result was delicious salmon with a buttery sauce that was to die for!

Pan Fried Salmon

Ingredients:

4-6 oz salmon

2 T canola oil

salt

pepper

·      Season both sides of salmon with salt and pepper

·      Heat canola oil in medium pan over high heat

·      Add salmon skin-side down and reduce heat to medium

·      Cook for three minutes before flipping. Cook second side two minutes.

·      Serve with blood orange beurre nantais

Blood Orange Beurre Nantais

Ingredients

1 shallot, chopped

2-3 blood oranges, juiced

¼ cup white wine

¼ cup heavy cream

100 g cold butter, cubed (1/4 lb)

salt

pepper

·      Sauté shallots in small amount of butter over medium heat until lightly browned

·      Deglaze with blood orange juice and white wine, reduce to au sec (almost dry)

·      Whisk in cream and allow to cook for three minutes

·      Whisk in butter, one cube at a time

·      Season with salt and pepper and keep warm; serve with salmon

Bon Appetit! 

The Vancouver Sushi Dilemma

One of the strange dilemmas in Vancouver is sushi.  There are over 400 places to get sushi in this city and they range from $6.95 for a 24-piece combo to $35 per roll. Some have amazing prices, but not the highest quality. Others have great sushi at reasonable prices, but terrible service. Are you willing to sacrifice price, service, or quality? I have yet to find “bad” sushi here. I hope to review a higher-ranking sushi restaurant in a few months, but in the meantime, here is a review of the average Vancouver sushi joint.

Yuko Maki is located on Davie St. next to KFC near the 25-cent peep shows. The sushi is served fresh, albeit slowly and there is unlimited hot tea. My friend L and I ordered four specialty rolls and a seaweed salad. The seaweed salad came out quickly, but then there was at least a ten-minute gap between each of the rolls arriving. Furthermore, L and I were not sharing our sushi, which made it difficult when they first brought my two rolls and then hers. By the time she was eating, I was almost finished.

Despite the mediocre service, the sushi is always delicious. I ordered the golden roll (yam tempura) and the bagel roll. The yam tempura was crispy and warm as always with delicious mayo and cream cheese.  The bagel roll had good quality smoked salmon and was well balanced. It was not the best bagel/Philadelphia roll that I have had, but it still tasted great. Both rolls held together well and the rice was perfect. Overall the food at Yuko Maki is on the higher end of the average Vancouver sushi eatery.

In the end you have to decide if the poor service is worth it at Yuko Maki, given that there are hundreds more sushi places to try. Personally, I will be out trying new places and hoping that good service and good sushi can come together at a reasonable price.