December 2014

In Four Beakers

Nomad: New Restaurant on Main Street

December 30, 2014

Nomad Restaurant is located on Main Street and King Edward. Their menu features fresh ingredients from around the Pacific Northwest, all prepared in-house by their team. Their chef – Ryan Reed won an episode of Chopped Canada on the Food Network in late 2013.

The drink list follows the same idea of local fresh ingredients with many bitters, syrups and tinctures created by their bartenders. They also have a Happy Hour specials for select beverages are from $5 – $6:

Weekdays from 5-6PM and 10-Midnight.
Weekends from 3-6PM and 10-Midnight

Macaroni and Cheese ($12) comes with their house made meatballs. It was one of their specials and it sounded really good. It was very creamy and has tons of cheese sauce. They were also kind enough to split it up into 2 bowls for us. The meatball was full of flavour too.

Hanging Beef Tender ($25) has a celeriac purée, crispy potato net, red wine jus, roasted brussel sprouts, and roasted potatoes. The beef was tender. M really loved this dish and kept stealing my meat.

Braised Lamb ($24) has fenugreek ricotta gnocchi, cauliflower, and edible flowers. Lamb was tender and not too salty.

Overall, M and I were quite full from sharing the 3 dishes. The food was great and you could see a good amount of technique in the execution. Presentation was good too. The service was ok, even though the restaurant wasn’t very full, they did seem to forget about us for a while. It took them a long time to get our bill.

Besides that hick up, it’s still a nice place to dine. Tons of seats for small or large parties. Great for after work drinks since they have the happy hour.

We Rate Nomad Restaurant:

Address:
3950 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://nomad-vancouver.ca/

In Casserole

Creamy Bacon Mac and Cheese for Grown-Ups

December 27, 2014

My earliest introduction to Mac and Cheese was the ones from Kraft Dinner. You mix the mysterious yellow packet of ingredients with the macaroni, water, margarine and milk, then instantly you have dinner. I loved it as a kid because I had no idea what I was eating.

M wanted to cook up a grown up version of mac and cheese with real cheese, fragrant herbs and of course BACON.

It’s a great dish for parties and your friends will love the Creamy Bacon Mac and Cheese.

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2 cups dried macaroni pasta
a pack of crisp bacon, chopped
3 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon flour
3 cups half and half
2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano, finely grated
1 teaspoon rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
2 tablespoon basil, chopped
2 tablespoon green onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

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Prep the ingredients – basil, rosemary, thyme, garlic, and green onions.

Pre-shred the different cheeses and set them aside.

In a pot, bring water to a boil and add in pinch of salt. Then add the macaroni. This should take about 7 minutes.

Once the pasta is cooked to al dente, drain the pasta and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. The set it aside for later.

In a pot, heat the butter on medium heat until melted. Whisk in the flour to create a roux and try to remove any lumps in the mixture. Then mix in the half and half.

Then add in the rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic. Keep on whisking until the mixture gets thick enough to cover the whisk.

Mix in the cheddar and parmigiano reggiano cheese. Stir until all of the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix in the macaroni, cheese mixture, green onions, and basil.

Prepare your bacon in a frying pan. You can alternatively use a oven, but I find the grease splatters a bit of a pain to clean up. Cook them until they are nice and crispy. Don’t be afraid to steal a few pieces to snack on. That’s why we prepared a whole pack.

Once the bacon has cooled off a bit, chop them up into little pieces.

Mix them into the macaroni mixture until well combined.

Place the mixture into a casserole pan and sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese on top.

Put the mac and cheese into your oven at 400 degree oven for 30 minutes in the middle rack.

Once it’s ready, let it cool and serve!

In Four Beakers

Invitro: Food Labs and Eatery in Vancouver

December 25, 2014

Tucked away in a house close to Mount Pleasant is Invitro Food Lab and Eatery. The restaurant is owned and operated by Sarah Kashani, who has renovated the house to open her dream restaurant. She must have the best commute to work ever! Just walk downstairs to go to work.

They are currently only open for dinner, but you can call ahead of time to see if they will open for lunch.

This place is charming and cozy. I love hidden restaurants like these. Once you get here, you’ll fall in love.

Even the utensils are unique and awesome.

The menu looks pretty good and the prices are very good! Nothing is over $20.

They offer a variety of cocktails that taste really good! They only use fresh juices in the cocktails.

Dageraad Blonde is local and brewed in Burnaby. I never knew there was a brewery in Burnaby; so close to my house too!

It’s citrus and spicy flavours compliment salads and desserts, while its tartness and effervescence cut through fat and refresh the palate, making it a good counterpoint to heavier dishes. Dageraad Blonde is also excellent paired with semi-soft ripened cheeses and charcuterie.

The Typical Caprese ($11) has Buffalo Bocconcini, pesto, smoked prosciutto, oven-dried tomato, balsamic reduction, olive oil and basil. This dish is bursting with flavour, I highly recommend it.

The Payoff ($15) has baked brie with roasted garlic, olive oil, and crostini served with local fruit preserves. This is a fun sharable plate. You can’t deny the amazing taste of creamy brie, with the sweet preserves and the aromatic garlic.

Bolognese ($18) has home-made egg noodles served with veal, sausage, beef, & lardons, garnished with parmesan cheese and fresh herbs. Hand making noodles is really a labour of love and you can taste how fresh the pasta really is. There is bountiful amounts of meat in this dish. Really good!

Leeks & Cream ($18) has home-made egg noodles served with cream, parmesan cheese, butter, leeks and white wine. It’s creamy and the leeks really shine in this dish, a great combination.

Steak ($18) is a filet mignon and it’s best cooked a bit under medium rare to really let the flavour shine. It also has a salad and mushrooms. The price is really great for a filet mignon. Once you have filet mignon, its can’t compare to any other cut. It’s so smooth and buttery. Yum!

Time for dessert since that’s the part where everyone’s inner child just jumps for joy.

Chocolate Brownie with rosemary toffee, bourbon whipped cream, and berries.

Pavlova is meringue with whipped vanilla cream, nuts and fresh fruit. This portion is twice as big as normal since FoodQueen and I were sharing. The pavlova was like a big fluffy marshmallow.

Overall, the food was really good. I’ve recommended this place to a few friends and they all loved it.

We Rate Invitro Food Labs and Eatery:

Address:
2211 Manitoba St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://invitrorestaurant.com/

In chicken

Asian Marinated Chicken Thighs with Roasted Vegetables

December 24, 2014

I really love chicken especially when you find the perfect combination of ingredients to make your marinade. For this particular day, I wanted chicken and vegetables, so I thought roasting some vegetables and marinating chicken thighs would make for a simple meal.

The hard part is to figure out what should I add into it. I have a pretty limited amount of spices lying around the kitchen, so I added them all in.

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Marinade Chicken

8 chicken thighs, deboned
1 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Honey
1/2 cup Mirin
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoonGarlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cayanne Pepper
1/4 tablespoon Salt
1/4 tablespoon Pepper

Roasted Vegetables

2 tomatoes
1 bunch of Asparagus
olive oil
salt
pepper

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Debone your chicken thighs with a pair of kitchen scissors and cut the bone away. Some people don’t like deboning but I just imagine it as biology class where you need to retrieve some item out of the carcass. Clearly I was an ace in High School biology.

In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, mirin, honey, cayanne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Mix it all together until its well combined. Then, if you have time, leave it covered in the fridge for about an hour to marinate.

Prepare the vegetables to be roasted. Wash it and remove the woody ends by bending it until it snaps. Drizzle olive oil over then and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350F and it will need about 15 minutes to be roasted.

Take the chicken into a pan and heat it up to medium heat.

I left it covered so it could retain more of the heat.

You will need 5 – 7 minutes on the first side, then 3 to 5 minutes on the second side, or until browned and cooked through.

Chicken and vegetables all ready for dinner. The chicken would go really well with rice or quinoa, but I really felt like roasted vegetables today.

In Bakery

2% Jazz Coffee: Coffee Roaster in Victoria

December 23, 2014

2jazz-cup

2% Jazz Coffee has been serving coffee in Victoria since 1996. They offer a unique coffee experience with an open space concept where coffee roaster and cafe culture collide. The Roastery and Cafe is outside the historic Hudson building. Right by the Victoria Public Market and block away from Chinatown. I got a bit lost finding the place, but as long as you walk around the outside of The Hudson, you will find it.

Some of their coffee cups even have cool stamps on it. I want to say this one is of Star Wars.

2jazz-cookies

They even have some yummy baked goods.

2jazz-cappuccino

Dry Cappuccino (16oz) is one of my favourite drinks. I always find a regular cappuccino and latte very similar depending on how the barista makes it. So, I always ask for it as a dry cappuccino to add more frothy foam so I can taste more of the espresso.

2jazz-coffee

Black Coffee (16oz) was what my coworker ordered. She liked it.

2jazz-beans

I also bought a few gifts for friends while I was here. Their Bourbon Sumatra Beans are heavenly! Perfect for those who like bourbon and coffee. 1lb is $24 and 1/5 lb is $12.

Overall, great coffee. If you are near the Victoria Farmers Market in the Hudson, definitely check them out for coffee.

We Rate 2% Jazz Coffee:

Address:
1701 Douglas Street
Victoria BC

Website:
http://2percentjazz.com/

In Brunch

John’s Place: Breakfast Place in Victoria

December 22, 2014

John’s Place has been serving breakfast, lunch and dinner for the past 30 years in Victoria, BC. They make all their dishes from scratch. They were also featured on Food Network’s You Gotta Eat Here.

They are best known for the fair prices and huge portions. I was here for a work trip with a few coworkers and someone suggested we should have breakfast here. It’s located right in the heart of downtown Victoria.

They have tons of pictures covering all their walls, so you will have tons to look at. There are posters, pictures and celebrity messages on the walls.

There’s a good amount of seats for small group and larger groups.

Caffe Mocha ($4.25) comes in a big mug and there is a lot of foam.

Hot Jasmine Tea ($1.95) came in a teapot and the servers do come by and refill the pot with hot water with no additional charge.

The Blackstone Benny (1/2 order – $9.95) is topped with grilled tomatoes, bacon, soft poached egg and hollandaise sauce. I had it served with a side of fruit. The regular ordered seemed pretty big for breakfast.

The butter hollandaise is quite rich and you can really taste the butter.

The 222 Headache ($10.95) with a belgian waffle, scrambled eggs, 2 chorizo patties. We also ordered a side of their cream cheese sauce, which is amazing on everything.

Overall, it’s a cool place to go to if love breakfast. We came here around 8:30am on a Saturday, so we didn’t run into any lineups.

We Rate John’s Place:

Address:
723 Pandora Ave
Victoria, BC

Website:
http://johnsplace.ca/

In Bakery

Patisserie Daniel: Bakery in Victoria

December 21, 2014

Patisserie Daniel is a little shop in Victoria that makes a crazy amount of baked goods, plus they are best known for their wedding cakes. In 2014, they were named as having Canada’s Prettiest Wedding Cakes by Wedding Bells.

The store has a lot of baked goods especially during the holidays. Floor to ceiling basically. The store is small, so there is no seating inside. Most people buy the baked goods and then take it home.

Chocolate candy cane bark

Candy Cane Biscotti was cute and goes great with coffee.

More Candy Cane Biscotti

A lot of great items for gifts if you are going over to a friends for the holiday.

They do have their other savoury treats

More sweet treats that aren’t holiday related. They have really yummy treats that keep patrons coming back.

Chocolate Tart was delicious. It has a bit of raspberry on the bottom with a bit of cake, them topped with chocolate mousse and strands of white chocolate. M and I gobbled these up.

You will want to come here early when they open when they have their full stock, within a few hours, most of the stock is all gone.

We Rate Patisserie Daniel:

Address:
1729 Cook Street,
Victoria, BC V8T 1C8

Website:
http://www.patisseriedaniel.com/

In Brunch

Jam Cafe: Long Lines for Brunch in Victoria

December 20, 2014

Jam Cafe is one of Victoria’s busiest brunch spots. Long lines can be seen at 9am, but the trick is to come when the turnover begins. Usually that is about 8:45am. You will be most successful if you come in pairs as those seats open up more quickly. We had a group of 4, so that was more tricky to seat us.

They don’t take reservations and its on a first come, first serve basis. They serve all day breakfast and lunch.

I usually don’t like lines, but I really wanted to see why Jam Cafe is so unique and attracts people from all parts. They have been features on You Gotta Eat Here, so maybe that adds to the hype too.

They are only open 8am until 3pm.

Once you are finally inside, they have some pretty cool vintage items on their walls. Lots to look at.

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice ($3.50) is very fresh and has a little bit of pulp. We also ordered their apple juice and it was pretty good too! Can’t beat the taste of real juice rather than the simulated stuff.

On the table, you will find hot sauce, ketchup on the table to add a little extra kick to your food.

Blueberry Triple Stack Pancakes ($13.95) were massive!! The three layers of extra thick pancakes is way too much for one person. You definitely will want some help devouring this. It is also served plain with maple butter.

You can also choose from different sauces like banana walnut, spiced double chocolate or cinnamon cream cheese swirl instead of the blueberries.

The size was so astounding that people sitting at nearby tables wanted to take a picture of it.

Old Town Breakfast ($11.95) has two eggs any style with hash browns and toast with your choice of sugar-cured bacon, sausage, ham steak or avocado. For your toast, you get a choice of sourdough, multigrain, rye or cranberry flax. This is a good choice for simple breakfast, plus those hashbrowns are crispy and oh so delicious.

The one above is with bacon and an over easy egg.

This is also the Old Town Breakfast with the scrambled eggs, bacon and an extra side of sausage.

The Little Charlie ($11.95) is their version of a hash with crumbled biscuit, hash browns, diced ham, green onions, cheddar and sausage gravy topped with two sunny side eggs. This is the half order and it is still quite massive. I can’t imagine how the regular Carlie Bowl would look like.

I found that there was definitely a lot of carbs from the crumbled biscuit and hash browns. They just soaked up all the gravy and didn’t leave enough sauce around.

Sugar Cured Bacon ($4) was thick and a tad sweet. It’s a nice change to the salty bacon.

At the end of the meal, you get Dum Dums. A fun treat for little kids….or big kids. It was a fun time at Jam Cafe, the food is good but their massive portions will be leaving you full for the day, plus you will have leftovers for later.

We Rate Jam Cafe:

Address:
542 Herald Street,
Victoria, BC V8W 1S5

Website:
http://www.jamcafevictoria.com/

In Farm to Table

Ulla: Top Restaurant in Victoria

December 19, 2014

ulla-sign

After a long day at work, the coworkers and I wanted to go out and celebrate Js Birthday at Ulla in Victoria. Whenever I come to Victoria, all the popular restaurants don’t take reservations, so you have to wait in line.

I’m glad Ulla takes reservations and if you’re not in town, they take email reservations so yo don’t have to waste long distance minutes.

ulla-lamp

Their interior is beautiful from their tables all the way to their light fixtures.

ulla-map

What I find so amazing about Victoria and their restaurant is how there is an increasing trend towards sourcing food that is hyper-local. They even show you on a map, where exactly on the island they source their food from.

ulla-bread

Complimentary bread arrives at the table with a dish of olive oil. It’s soft and fluffy on the inside with a hard crust on the outside.

ulla-pilsner

Hoyner Pilsner comes in a big bottle. It’s a nice light and crisp beer.

ulla-drink

They also make some good cocktails.

ulla-whippedtuna

Whipped Albacore Tuna Belly ($6) with sriracha and squid ink crisps. It only comes with 3 pieces on the plate but the different texture really worked well. The crispiness of the squid ink crisps and the soft and fluffy albacore tuna belly. It’s one of my favourite items.

ulla-canolli

Chicken and Morel Mushroom Cannelloni ($14) with bacon, parmesan crumb with veloute sauce. It comes with 3 pieces.

ulla-oup

Broccoli soup ($12) with cauliflower, carrot and ‘cheddar’ egg with a brioche crouton. The egg isn’t an egg, it looks like an egg with the cauliflower on the outside and the carrot on the inside making it look like an egg.

ulla-salad

Autumn Vegetable Salad ($12) has sunflower seed and yogurt ‘cheese’, kasha crisps and cider dressing.

ulla-scallop

Scallop boudin blanc ($15) with winter squash, pine mushroom, potato purée and pumpkin seeds. The scallops were pureed and made into a new shape. It had a neat texture and tasted really great.

ulla-steak

Bavette, heritage angus beef ($27) is served with potto roesti and puree, mushrooms, onions, creamed greens and a pepper sauce. The beef was cooked to medium and it was very tender.

ulla-loin

Still Meadows Farm Pork ($27), cheddar perogies, cabbage, celery root, apple cider jus The pork loin definitely had a lot of fat on of the ends, but it was still very delicious.

ulla-pear

Poached Pear ($9) with calvados sabayon, autumn spices, buttermilk sorbet, and almond streusel. A nice light dessert to end the meal.

Overall, it was another fantastic dinner at Ulla. Although it can be a bit pricey for the portions, it’s not an everyday restaurant. It’s great for special occasions.

We Rate Ulla Restaurant:

Address:
509 Fisgard St
Victoria BC

Website:
http://ulla.ca/

In Four Beakers

Roast: Meat and Sandwich Shop

December 17, 2014

Roast Meat and Sandwich Shop at the Victoria Public Market at The Hudson serves up delicious sandwiches that rivals Meat and Bread. They are commitment to providing delicious, natural, and humane meat you can feel good about buying and eating.

While I was in Victoria for a work trip, I had to stop here to get a porchetta sandwich.

There’s something about watching a man carve meat that compels you to stop what you’re doing and consume immediately. This is quite true and so many people at the market just stopped, smelled the meat, and then lined up to get a piece of it.

It smells really good with the aroma of roasted chicken, beef and pork in the air.

They sell a variety of sandwiches and even whole roasts.

Oh man, look at their carving station with long strips of chicharron.

You can’t deny how amazing that prime rib looks.

All that porchetta staring at you. Delicious crust of crackling.

Porchetta Sandwich ($9.50) has naturally raised pork, provolone, broccolini, and salsa verde in the Portuguese Bun.

I love the broccolini and the slab of salsa verde, it helps cut the grease from the pork and balance out the flavours.

Beef and Pork Sausage Rolls sell out fast! We came here on a Saturday at 2pm and all of them were sold out, so we kindly asked them to save us a few for Sunday to pick up before our ferry ride back to Vancouver. I was super excited to devour these.

The sausage roll had lots of filling! It was packed full of meat and the crust was crispy. It’s really good and perfect for kids to eat.

They also sell chicharron by the weight so I got a piece to go for a late night snack in the hotel. Mmmm Mmmmm. You probably want to drink this with beer or some soda since it has a very smokey flavour.

Overall, Roast is very good and offers a variety of sandwiches, roasts, and salads. I would definitely come back again for my next trip to Victoria. The prices are a tad high, but you won’t walk away disappointed.

We rate Roast Meat and Sandwich Shop:

Address:
1701 Douglas Street
Victoria, BC

Website:
http://roastsandwichshop.com/

In Kid Friendly

Inn at Laurel Point: Canada’s National Gingerbread Showcase

December 15, 2014

The Inn at Laurel Point is hosting Canada’s National Gingerbread Showcase from November 22nd till January 4th. It is open daily from 9am till 9pm. A lot of local companies and residents of Victoria participated in this challenge to create beautiful sculptures.

I spent a weekend in Victoria with my coworkers and since we were staying at the Inn at Laurel Point, we decided to check out all the Gingerbread sculptures. It wasn’t all just houses.

You can vote for your favourite gingerbread creation and make a donation to Habitat for Humanity Victoria.

The theme for 2014 focused on ‘Where Things Live’. Imagination ran wild, inviting bakers to dream up visions of building what a snowman’s home would look like, the inside of an elf’s den, or even the pasture for Santa’s reindeer.

If you are in the Victoria area, definitely check it out.

Of course there were cats, lots of cats!!

Website: http://www.laurelpoint.com/christmas-2014/gingerbread.htm

In Farm to Table

10 Acres Bistro, Bar & Farm: Dining in Victoria

December 14, 2014

10 Acres Bistro, Bar and Farm is located in Victoria, BC and they offers a unique West Coast experience showcasing the freshest foods from the island including meat, cheese, seafood and the finest seasonal produce direct from their farm.

I came here with work colleagues for dinner after coming off the ferry. They suggested 10 Acres would be a great place to go to.

The restaurant is quite large! THey have an inside area, a bar area, and then the outside patio. We were seated in the patio and even thought it was the winter, they have lots of heated lamps to keep this space warm.

They even had a cool heated fire in the centre. It was really hot but I loved it.

Stanley Park Pilsner – Turning Point Brewery (Sleeve – $5) is a beautiful light beer thats won various awards. I really liked it because it was light and fruity.

Sooke Trout ($19) comes from the 10 acres farm. It is served with organic vegetables and herb oil.

Salt Spring Island Mussels ($16) comes with your choices of garlic + white wine, green curry or tomato chorizo sauces. I went with the tomato chorizo because I wanted some meat. It is also served with grilled bread.

The mussels tasted fresh and were flavourful and plump. A good reflection of the West Coast.

Tagliatelle with Rotisserie Chicken ($14 + $3) has wild mushrooms, vegetables, asiago, and a citrus brown butter cream sauce. The chicken was very flavourful.

Overall, it was a decent place to dine for dinner. It is really great to know all the ingredients are from their local farm.

We Rate 10 Acres:

Website:
http://www.10acres.ca/

Address:
611 Courtney St Victoria, BC

In Recipes

Easy Crab Cakes

December 13, 2014

On the West Coast, we are fortunate to be so close to an array of seafood. Going out to get crab cakes can be expensive, so making it at home is cheap and easy. You don’t need to be spending time boiling and extracting the meat from a whole crab. I went to Costco for a container of crab meat. It was about $10, which isn’t too bad.

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2 eggs
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon dried tarragon
2 tablespoon minced green onions
a can of crabmeat
1 cup crushed buttery round crackers
2 tablespoon butter

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Combine the egg, mayonnaise, lemon juice, paprika, garlic powder, tarragon, and green onions.
Whisk until well combined. Then add the crab meat.
Take your round crackers and break them up into tiny crumbs.
Add slowly until you have your desired consistency. I found my mixture to be quite wet, so I kept adding them in until it held more firmly together.
Heat butter in a pan over medium heat.
Form crab cake mixture into 8 small patties.
Cook until golden brown, it might take about 5 minutes on each side.

Very easy to make and these crab cakes were quite filling. M could barely finish 2 patties on his own. I spent about 30 minutes making them.

In Casserole

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

December 11, 2014

M had a lot of ingredients leftover from a previous dinner, so I had to find a dish that uses a fair amount of cheese. So, I thought about making Chicken Broccoli Casserole. I didn’t want to use a roux-based sauce because of all the cream and butter, so thickening chicken broth with flour seemed like the way to go.

It’s a tad healthier and you won’t be beating yourself up the next day for indulging on a lot of fat and dairy.

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1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and Pepper
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar
1 onion, diced
2 crowns of broccoli
3 cups of white rice
1 rotisserie chicken
3/4 cup grated Parmesan

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Prepare your rice in the rice cooker while you prep the other ingredients. Rice takes the longest to prepare, so make sure you do that first.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Wash the broccoli crowns and cut them into smaller bite-size pieces

Take the breast of the rotisserie chicken and shred it all up. You can then save the leftover meat for the next day. If you didn’t want to buy a whole rotisserie chicken, you can alternatively cook some chicken breast. I just find the rotisserie chicken easier and full of flavour.

Grate and prepare all the cheese you need

Then set it aside for use later on.

Saute onions until golden brown

In a medium sauce pan, whisk the flour and chicken stock over medium heat

After a few minutes, you will see you sauce thickening up. You know it’s thick enough when it starts sticking onto your whisk.

Dump in the chopped broccoli into the sauce until all the broccoli is evenly coated.

In your casserole pan, put your cooked rice, shredded chicken breast, and sautéed onions.

Pour the broccoli and sauce mixture into the pan and mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Once you have it mixed well, top it off with parmesan cheese. Then put it into the oven for 30 minutes.

There you go, chicken and broccoli casserole! All made in under an hour.

In Recipes

Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad

December 10, 2014

My two favourite vegetables are corn and tomatoes. The great debate – are tomatoes really a vegetable? It has seeds so its a fruit. I don’t really care. They taste good and I could eat them all day long. As a snack, in a taco, or in a salad. I wanted to make Corn and Tomato Salad.

I wanted to make a quick salad with a few common ingredients around the kitchen. I don’t like making complicated items for dinner. Nobody has time for that especially when you get off work around 5 and have to scramble to get dinner on the table.

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Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
Drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:

4 cobbs of corn
2 cups of grape tomatoes, halved
Fresh mozzarella
3 teaspoons green onion, thinly sliced
5 basil leaves, chopped

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Boil Corn Cobs in a pot of water until it is tender. Should take about 5 minutes.
Slice off the corn kernels from the cobb into a large bowl.
Mix in the sliced tomatoes, green onions, mozzarella bits and basil into the same large bowl.
Pour the vinaigrette into the large bowl.
Toss ingredients together.

This only took about 15 minutes to prepare. The longest part is really just waiting for the corn to cook. Alternatively, you could use canned corn niblets to make this in a few minutes.

Serve it with anything you like. We made crab cakes to accompany the Corn and Tomato Salad.

In Downtown

Mosaic: 2014 Fall Menu Preview

December 9, 2014

hyatt-mosaic-view

Mosaic is hidden away in the Hyatt Regency Vancouver on Burrard Street. It’s a nice spot to spy on people when you are seated by the window. Clearly, I am a people watcher.

Their menu focuses on locally sourced produce, sustainable seafood and select ingredients with careful and creative preparation. The menu is seasonally inspired with simple and fresh ingredients. You can definitely see it in their menu as it changes every few months.

Mosaic recently switched up their menu to utilize the produce available in the Fall. Sous Chef Jo Ong shared with a me a few of their signature dishes on their new menu.

hyatt-mosaic-inner

I find it’s a nice place for a company dinner or a date. It’s not very crowded and there’s lots of space. Great for a calm and peaceful environment.

hyatt-mosaic-biscuits

Cheddar and chive biscuits are served with butter. A yummy start to the meal with these buttery biscuits.

hyatt-mosaic-drinks

Coal Harbour ‘311’ helles lager is on tap and it’s one of their lighter beers. It also has some fruity notes to it too.

Coke and Disaronno is M’s drink of choice. Disaronno is an almond liqueur and when it’s mixed with coke, it tastes like Doctor Pepper.

hyatt-mosaic-amuse-bouche

Amuse Bouche is a bite-sized appetizer that arrives at the table prior to your meal. We got a taste of their roasted butternut squash bisque. It smelled heavenly with the cinnamon on top.

hyatt-mosaic-tuna

Yellowfin Tuna ($19) is presented on the dish with pickled radish, sea beans, cucumber, black garlic, yuzu dressing. The delicate tuna was really delicious and the dressing paired perfectly.

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Earth Apple Farm Baby Beets ($14) is paired with endive, Okanagan goat cheese and a citrus vinaigrette. I’ve grown to really love beets over the years. Beets do have a natural earthy flavour, but it’s so good! I gobbled this dish right up.

hyatt-mosaic-pate

Foie Gras Torchon ($23) has brioche crisps, quince and grounded up pistachio. Foie Gras is the fatty liver of duck and no matter how many times I’ve tried it, I’ve never seem to be a fan of the dish. Perhaps I’m not sophisticated enough.

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Smoked Venison Carpaccio ($18) is thinly sliced with dehydrated granny smith apple, baby kale and pomegranate. Oh man, this was so delicious! The venison was very full of flavour.

hyatt-mosaic-rissotto

Aquerello Risotto is crazy delicious with wild mushroom , 64° egg and a parmesan crisp. The 64° egg is to die for and just oozes over the risotto screaming for you to eat it. This was my favourite dish of the night. Mmmmmm!

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BC Ling Cod is beautifully cooked with Salt Spring Island mussels, leek saffron nage and baby fennel. The mussels were delicious and plump.

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Sloping Hill Farm 12oz Pork Chop is so flavourful and tender. M couldn’t stop eating it. It is served with broccoli rabe, sweet potato, and calvados jus.

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Valhona Dark Chocolate Mousse with port wine poached pears and cacao nibs. The chocolate was rich and full of chocolaty goodness.

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Chestnut Creme Brulee is served with chestnuts and house-made toasted marshmallows. It’s quite large, so you definitely want to share.

Overall, it was great to see the new dishes on the Mosaic menu featuring the fresh Fall produce.

We Rate Mosaic:

Address:
655 Burrard St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://vancouver.hyatt.com/

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In Brunch

Good Wolf Kitchen and Bar: Weekend Brunch

December 8, 2014

Good Wolfe? Good Wolf? I’m not quite sure which name they are going for. Weird how they have dropped the ‘e’ in their name. It turns out Chef Josh Wolfe, the original owner has left the restaurant earlier this year. Good Wolf has been on my list for a while, but too bad I didn’t come here sooner before he left.

Good Wolf Kitchen and Bar specializes in European food and they try to get most of their ingredients sourced from the West Coast.

I came here for brunch with a few of my friends to catch up over some good food.

Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice ($4) comes from across the street at Chaser’s Fresh Juice & Deli. Its yummy and has a good amount of pulp.

Kale & Potato Hash ($12) has 2 soft poached eggs, chorizo, mushroom, and hollandaise sauce. CanuckGirl and FloRida thought this dish was quite one dimensional and missed the mark. The hash really wasn’t as flavourful as they had imagined.

Signature B.E.L.T ($14) has house cured bacon, fried egg, lettuce and tomato. It is served with home fries on the side. The bun was an interesting surprise because this made it seem more like a burger. With the amount of bun, the ingredients inside really didn’t shine through. Plus, those home fries needs some work.

Breakfast Spaetzle ($12) has 2 soft poached eggs, bacon, chorizo, and maple syrup. The eggs were so soft that the yolk just popped right out. I do like a good soft poached egg. The bacon was really the best part of the dish as it added more flavour. It was quite a large portion and I could barely finish it.

Cinnamon Brioche French Toast ($13) has a blueberry compote, whipped cream, and maple syrup. This was really good! The french toast has a nice crunchy exterior and the blueberry compote was yummy.

Overall, the french toast was a winner, but every other dish we ordered wasn’t as delicious.

We Rate Good Wolf Kitchen and Bar:

Address:
1043 Mainland St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.goodwolfe.ca/home.html

In Downtown

Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

December 7, 2014

If you are in Downtown during the winter holidays, stop by the Hyatt Regency Vancouver to check out their Gingerbread Lane. It’s located right in the heart of Downtown and easily accessible from the Burrard Skytrain.

The gigantic centerpiece of Gingerbread Lane shows a building measuring 11 feet tall and 16 feet wide, using 500 pounds of gingerbread dough, 400 pounds of confectioners’ sugar and 1,400 egg whites. You can also see the Gastown Steam Clock in Gingerbread form.

With the real Gastown Steam Clock under repair at the moment, this is as close as you will get to the real thing.

The display runs in their lobby from Wednesday, December 3, 2014 through Thursday, January 1^st, 2015.

Local schools, culinary professionals and amateurs alike have contributed more than 30 individually crafted gingerbread creations, rounding out the sugary lavish displays.

It’s free to enter and there’s really some outstanding gingerbread buildings. This event supports and raises tens of thousands of dollars for Make-A-Wish Foundation in BC & the Yukon.