Home Cooking, Island Addition

Every night in Maui someone was on rotation to cook dinner. I decided to do a "tapas" night for my first turn. 

From the left top corner: sea salt asparagus, "lovers" shrimp roasted tomato bruscetta (the two shrimp make a heart), chickpea salad (garbanzo beans, red onion, tomato, cucumber, cilantro, lemon), Hui style lamb (cumin, asian five spice, white pepper, paprika in a dry rub) with homemade mint tzatki, seared scallops with bacon coffee jam (I'll admit I added a bit too much coffee and it was slightly over powering), caramelized onion brie and apple flatbread pizza. 

The chickpea salad and tart are two of my favourite things to make. Fast, easy and fresh tasting.

The next turn I, my partner and his brother made Mama style meat balls in a creamy tomato sauce. We did this as an hors d'eurve for NYE. 

Maui. Wailuku. Plate Lunch.

We decided to go Hawaiian for the day; away from the resorts, into the misty hills and the classic plate lunch diners.We ventured into what looked like a place for regulars, Three Sisters, and were greeted by an excited waitress, eager to share her family's cooking.  I was surprised at the amount of Asian influence and absence of fish in the offerings. Each diner also had access to a salad bar, consisting of green salad, or macaroni and cheese.

Saimen Noodles, with artificial fish strips, pork, egg, bean sprouts and asian greens.

 Karabe ribs. Seriously delicious. A slight coffee note in a rich, brown sugary BBQ sauce.

 Asadong Manok Kare: mild coconut chicken curry with bok choy.

 

We saw it in the fridge and had to ask. Taro, coconut cream pie. The waitress gave us a slice free of charge, likely because she was just so excited we wanted to try it. I normally wouldn't think potato, coconut cream pie - but in it's own way it worked. 

Toronto: Frank's Kitchen

When a server uses truffle shavings like it's fresh ground pepper - you know it's good.

Weekend in Toronto, and a lucky last minute reso got us into Frank's Kitchen on College St. A new "it" restaurant according to Joanne Kates of the Globe and Mail, it didn't fall short of the review by any means.

 Amuse Bouche: Velvety soup shots, served with a cheese croquette atop a salad of cucmber, red onion and tomato.

 The Shrimp cocktail: prawns with crabmeat atop a seaweed filled block of ice with decorative banana leaf. The lemon, wrapped in a porous cloth was a nice touch, ensuring that no seeds entered the dish when squeezed.

 Seared foie gras with Jerusalem artichoke puree, roasted quail breast, kumquat jus and salad.

 Steak, and frite (served in a cone but not pictured). This was red meat heaven. Note the more than generous serving of truffle shavings.

 Elk loin wrapped with foie gras and black truffles, heirloom beets, squash ravioli in a chestnut foir gras jus.

VIJ's/ Rangoli Vancouver

Ok. So everyone said you HAVE to go to Vij's. But lets be frank. It's expensive, and Indian food is not what romance is made of, so it never got placed on the date rotation.
Before my sister left we decided to give Vij's sister restaurant, Rangoli, a try. The idea behind this sister restaurant is that you can have the same great curries at a fraction of the price. The catch? They come in plastic containers with reheat and cooking directions. Not as much fun.
After a bottle of wine or two, the idea of following what really were not complicated directions, seemed a bit daunting to most of the guests. Everyone was assigned a dish, but we lost some along the way. If the water was not measured out precisely, the dish was ruined. That and some of us forgot that styrofoam and microwaves don't get along. Bye bye chutneys.
What we did have:
A rather watery lamb rhogenjosh, naan, chicken korma

 The samosas worked out the best... but required the least tinkering.

 The culprit: Quails Gate Rose.

Salt Spring Island

My sister came to visit and we decided to go camping on Salt Spring Island in the Gulf Islands. Having had too much Salt Spring Island Brewery ales the night before, we forgot to pack away our dinner and smore supplies. After debating to investigate what 'all that noise' outside our tent was, we carefully unzipped the door only to catch a deer less than three feet away with pita coming out of his mouth. His expression said something along the lines "Whadda you gonna do about it?". He must have been an Italian deer.
Having our breakfast pita stolen, we journeyed to Fulford Harbour's Rock Salt Restaurant.

Frothy, summer, hangover mojito.

 Tuk tuk rice bowl with Salt Spring mussels in a tomato coconut masala sauce and asian dressed slaw.

 Rock Salt Club flatbread.

Lamb burger topped with mango chutney and cream cheese. I initially was not so keen on the scoop of cream cheese, but the men seemed to love it. Still - not so appetizing.

Our second night in we met a guy who managed an oyster farm. Apparently there is a lot of money in oyster growing and picking, much like tea, tobacco or wine grapes. To grow an oyster they create fields of string that go deep into the ocean. They also have to be aware of the temperature and currents. They place what would be the "seed" onto the string so that it germinates with it's mouth around the string. It sounded a lot more difficult than I had ever imagined. Not that I had honestly spent too much time thinking about oyster fields...
I then learned to shuck the oysters ("motha shucker"), and we experimented with mignette sauces. I generally dislike cooked oysters, but we placed them in their shell on the barbeque and once we heard a "pop" noise removed them from the heat before more easily now, shucking them. They adopted a much more buttery taste.

BIRTHDAY DINNER @ Pair Bistro, Vancouver

Obviously I am posting a bit late. In my moving around it's been difficult to get a chance to post, let alone find my camera cords.
My birthday was in July - 6 months ago - and I still remember this dinner as being one of my favourites in a long while. The service was impeccable, our waiter was able to tell us every detail about the seafood we were ordering, right down to where along the BC coast it was caught. It was also nice as we ordered a variety of things to share, and he orchestrated the meal according, seafood into meats, white wine into red.

The Amuse Bouche was quite interesting, and however it may sound, it actually worked really well. Scallop ceviche served with house made BBQ chips. There was something about the smokey-ness of the chip that paired well with the smoothness of the nearly raw scallop.

 Oysters. We did kushi and an assortment from around BC. They were served with sea asparagus, and the usual accompaniments of lemon, horseradish and mignotte sauce.

 Rock shrimp bisque. We were lucky as this BC delicacy was still on special. Our server told us that each fish has a certain season for which fishing permits are alloted. So it is not that rock shrimp "migrate", more that the government artificially creates "seasons" for sustainability.

 A rustic take on moules or shellfish "bake": Mussels, clams and scallops prepared in a leek and white wine sauce. I recall their being an option between the white wine version and a tomato based version. It was delicious, but perhaps a bit dry. It also would have been nice if it was served with baguette to soak up what there was of the liquid. This was my least favourite of the night, disappointing because I am easily won over by mussels.

Wapiti Elk Medallions with a rosemary pepper crust, chocolate and sour cherry jus. We added a few rock shrimp on the side. It was served atop a vegetable medley of string beans, asparagus and carrots ( a bit '90s, but a nice addition to an otherwise carnivorous meal). 

 As the weekend before we had explored Naramata, we decided to go with a local Narmata wine: Kettle Valley. BC wines are spectacular, and this one was above and beyond.

Et voila, dessert. A chocolate fondant (which I promptly put over my icecream), vanilla ice cream served with a cocoa dusted truffle, and my favourite molten lava cake. I didn't want to share, but as I am getting older, I figured I better put on a big girl face and let my partner order a spoon. 

Naramata

Decided to get away for the long weekend. Boat trip from Kelowna to Naramata BC. We stayed at the Naramata Heritage Inn to indulge in some libations and liberal portions. 

Seared deep sea scallop and kurabuta pork belly confit with gnocchi and greens 

 The Inn bakes their own breads covered in sel de fleur. We had mixed olives, boar proscuitto, duck sausage, baked goat cheese and herbs.

 In BC you can find morels. This is a duck confit flat bread pizza with mushrooms, including morels, pesto and finished with balsamic reduction.

 This is the an Asian take on cod, with a light coconut green curry sauce, Asian greens and morels.

 Double smoked bacon wrapped pork chop with parsnip perogies and swiss chard

 Salmon with pesto atop an heirloom tomato and beet salad.

I was so wrapped up in my dark chocolate trio (creme brule, molten cake and icecream) that I forgot to take pictures of it. I'm pretty sure I was silent for the 20 minutes it took me to consume the whole thing. 

Go Fish!

Found along the boardwalk, away from the hustle and tourists of Granville Market, you'll find Go Fish. It seems there is always a line-up, and you'll have to wait - but good things often require some patience. The fish is unbelievably fresh. Right across from the patio you'll even find people selling their freshly caught prizes off real (no gimmick) fishing boats. And if you scan the open seas while eating your tasty morsels, you're likely to catch sight of seals, popping up their heads, like puppies begging for remains.

Salmon Fish and Chips 

Scallop Po' Boy

Oyster Taco 

THE VIEW