THE MISSION

I'm a control freak and I covet the best foolproof recipes.

My interest is baking, so my primary quest is to duplicate my favourite patisserie goods at home, but being a foodie, I also try to replicate restaurant meals at home too.

My Mission: to test recipes in the quest for the best foolproof versions of my favourite patisserie items and anything else that catches my fancy!

In my ongoing quest for the best recipes out there, I'm committing myself to trying a new recipe every month. I'll post the recipe at the beginning of the month and some time during the month I'll try to find the time to make it and post my results (with pictures) regardless of the success or failure of the project.

It seems to me as if I'm always making the same old stuff and yet I have hundreds of cookbooks and magazines--and continue to buy more on a regular basis. What I need to do is challenge myself to try a new recipe every month. This Recipe Challenge thingy would be a great way to share recipes too. This bodes well in the "positive karma" department, I figure. What better way to connect with people?

SEPTEMBER RECIPE CHALLENGE: BANANA CAKE

Okay, I already think I have the best damn banana bread recipe out there. However, I am open to other recipes and possibilities. Besides, I want to ease into this recipe challenge quest and ensure that the first challenge isn't too hard. I might scare off any potential daring bakers.

I've been reading Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot, and find his recipes intriguing. He riffs on traditional French and North American pastries and desserts by adding Asian ingredients. Ong is an American pastry chef who works at the Spice Market. Check Ong's website if you want to know more about him. In his book, Ong declares this recipe to be "the best banana cake. Ever." We'll see about that...

September Challenge: Banana Cake
source: Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot

Chef's Tips: the key to keeping this banana cake light in texture is to avoid overmixing. I make this cake a lot, so I keep containers of mashed banana--measured for this recipe--in my freezer. Note: baby bananas are used here. Also known as lady's finger or finger bananas or Manzanos, are short and stubby, about 5 inches long, with yellow skin and creamy pale yellow flesh. [cakebrain's note: look in Kin's market, Chinatown, Superstore, Asian markets or heck, use regular bananas]

1/3 cup (2 3/4 oz/78 g) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing pan
1 cup (5 1/2 oz/155 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup (3 oz/85 g) honey
1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz/72 g) packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 oz/228 g) roughly mashed baby bananas (about 5 baby bananas)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup (4 5/8 oz/130 g) plain whole-milk yogurt or sour cream
1 cup (5 1/2 oz/155 g) semisweet chocolate chips, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly butter an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda and set aside.
3. Put the butter, honey, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat the mixture on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the bananas and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until the mixture looks "broken," or lumpy, about 1 minute. The bananas should be smashed, with a few small chunks remaining.
4. Turn the speed to medium-low and beat in the egg until incorporated. Turn the speed to low and gradually add the sifted flour mixture, mixing just until no traces of flour remain, about 10 seconds. Add the yogurt and mix until the batter has only a few remaining white streaks, about 5 seconds. Be sure to avoid overmixing. Gently fold in the chocolate chips, if desired.
5. Transfer the batter to the greased pan. Bake in the center of the oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool completely on the rack.

KOON BO SEAFOOD RESTAURANT (TAKEOUT!)

lobster with ginger and green onions on a bed of yee mein

Mmm. Nothing more decadent than lobster takeout. Yup you heard it. Bib's more at ease at home in her exersaucer while I'm chowing down on lobster. This way I have all the time in the world to lick/suck the lobster shells all I want.

oyster hot pot

We ordered Lobster in Ginger and Green Onion sauce with Yee Mein underneath to collect all the delectable juices. As well, we had Oyster Hot pot and Beef and Gai Laan. The total bill was $97. The lobster was $20/lb for a total of $63 and the extra yee mein was $7 on top of that. My favourite dish was actually the Oyster Hot Pot. It was delicious! This is not lobster season, I suspect. Not only was it expensive but it was also not so meaty. However, the yee mein had soaked up whatever lobster flavours there were and it was yummy. The Beef and Gai Laan was very good too.

beef and gai laan

FOOD REVIEW

RESTAURANT: KOON BO SEAFOOD RESTAURANT (TAKEOUT)

ADDRESS: 5682 Fraser Street (at 41st ave), Vancouver

PHONE: (604) 323-1218

PARKING: (not enough) in the parking lot out front

COUPONS: no

FOOD: 10/12

AMBIENCE: 4/6

SERVICE: 4/6

TOTAL POINTS: 18/24

PRICE: $$$-$$$$

FOOD AND EYE CANDY IN CAKEBRAIN'S GARDEN

20th century asian pear...only 7 this year :(

bay tree...almost killed it but it came back this year!

orange blossom...almost killed this plant too. put it outside and it came back to life!

out-of-control thyme bush

rosemary... didn't realize that tiny plant would grow into a huge tree...yikes!

lessons learned in gardening: I have a brown thumb. Leave plants to fend for themselves in mother nature and they will flourish.

GINGERI: IS IT WHAT IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE?

sticky rice in fresh banana leaves


deep fried silver rolls...note the neat layers inside!

I've been to Gingeri on more than one occasion for dim sum. It's located in Lansdowne Mall and usually has hordes of Chinese families waiting out in the mall, in line to get in. I learned from Stomach that the waiter informed him of a smokin' deal if you eat and pay before 11:45a.m. You get 20% off your bill. Fortunately, we were here at 10:30 a.m. with a reservation!

Now, that explains the hordes of Chinese people out there. The food too has to be good. It was voted by Vancouver Magazine a "Silver" for best dim sum. Today I came to see if it's all that it's cracked up to be.
deep fried wonton with sweet and sour sauce

One thing that's outstanding is the unique dimsum available. We ended up ordering 9 dishes because I accidentally left a stray pencil mark on the computerized "scantron" bubble sheets. Oh well. The stray mark landed on deep fried wonton. It could have been worse. At least it's deep fried and Bebe and I always like that.

People fed up with the same old stuff on the dim sum menus can find some really unique dishes here. We had a seafood salad, decorated with a wisp of real gold leaf, in a deep-fried mini taro cup that was very good. Stomach didn't think their Har Gow ($4.20) was anything to brag about. He's had better and said this one was standard. The steamed spareribs were good as was the steamed beef balls with bean curd sheets ($3.75). I didn't like the strong orange peel flavour in the beef, but Stomach thought it was assertive but good. Of course, the deep fried wonton was excellent: crispy with a deliciously succulent shrimp paste filling and a well-balanced sweet and sour dip.

The unique deep fried silver rolls ($3.00) served with a condensed milk dip was yummy but I find restaurants never give you enough dip! We also ordered a particularly fine sticky rice wrap which was elevated to another level with its use of fresh banana leaves, which impart a much more fragrant aroma to the steamed sticky rice. To conclude, we ordered the coconut pudding ($3.30) which was light, coconuty (what else?) and refreshing.

You know what? Now that I've tabulated all our dishes, I noticed we didn't receive our lo bak goh (panfried turnip cake), which I know I ordered for Bebe--her favourite. I had also checked our list of dishes and counted nine; they're all written in Chinese so I wouldn't know how to read them anyway. I think we paid for 9 dishes (total bill was $32) and left without getting the last dish. Oh, man! Well, there goes the 20% smokin' deal down the tubes.

Stomach thought the food was pretty good and I agree. But next time I'm going to make sure we get all our dishes before we leave.

FOOD REVIEW

RESTAURANT: GINGERI, Chinese Cuisine

ADDRESS: Unit 323 Lansdowne Centre

PHONE: (604) 278-6006

PARKING: in the mall's parking lot

COUPONS: 20% off dimsum before 11:45a.m.; 20% off takeout menu; set banquet menus for large parties ($428, $528,$628,or $888/10 persons)

FOOD: 10/12

AMBIENCE: 5/6

SERVICE: 5/6

TOTAL POINTS: 20/24

PRICE: $$-$$$

SUPPORT THE CAMBIE ST. MERCHANTS! "Kreation Artisan Cakes"

Well, we're crossing our fingers that "Brown's Social House" will move in to the deserted "Om" restaurant on Cambie. Mom decided to check it out and went to the Kits restaurant to see if their food is up to snuff...though we suspect that their premise is booze primarily and food second. Mom ordered the $13.00 double-pattied hamburger for me (takeout) with a salad. She had the single patty with fries. The fries were dry and chewy by the time they got home. So I can't say if they'd be better in the restaurant. The burger was very good. But you are paying big bucks for it. My salad was interesting: with chopped dates, candied walnuts, mesclun, crumbled goat cheese and a creamy dressing.

* * * * *

I decided to visit the old store where "Homeworks" studio used to be: 3357 Cambie Street. There is a new patisserie, Kreation, located here and operated by a Japanese lady. Fortunately, I know that there's parking in the back lot because with the Canada Line Construction there isn't any parking out front. When Bebe and I entered through the kitchen, the pastry chef was apparently very busy.

All the mixers were going full speed and she was churning out a lot of stuff. She specializes in French pastries with unique flavour combinations...many of them not traditionally French. Out front, they have imported from France some simply beautiful long baton-shaped marshmallows flavoured with things like anise and violets in a glass vase. Adding to the eye candy are samples of wedding favours and a beautiful display case with miniature cakes--"kreations", ready for purchasing and scarfing down immediately.

tiramisu square

Though the Passion Fruit White Chocolate Glazed Chocolate Cheesecake looked enticing to Bebe, she couldn't have more than one bite because it was way too rich. Her fruit desserts were much better and not so cloying. Her cakes tend to be assembled with a myriad of elements. Often she uses 2 or more different cake base types in one "kreation", and she has an arsenal of liqueurs and flavoured syrups with which she flavours her cake bases. Her cakes tend towards complexity. For example: Passion Fruit Milk Chocolate is a passion fruit cream and diced mango in milk chocolate ganache between layers of dense chocolate sponge and spiked Italian meringue on top. Quite a mouthful, huh? Sometimes the combinations work well and sometimes it's too much. Simple is best. My tiramisu square was excellent and looked beautiful too. These little gems are expensive. I paid $23.00 for 5 pieces and a tiny cupcake. Whole cakes can be ordered too but I would advise you to try a miniature version in the display case first to see if you like the flavour combinations. Though very good, I'm still partial to the more traditional flavours of the patisserie, La Petite France, on 2655 Arbutus (near 12th).

fruit tart, just before i scarfed it down

CONGEE NOODLE HOUSE

This is our old standby when we feel like having a nice bowl of congee. They have the best congee in Vancouver. My mother says they also have the best beef brisket. I think she's probably right. However, we had takeout the other day and ordered "Singing Chicken Hot Pot" which interestingly enough had tender pork liver slices in it as well. I thought the chicken, smothered in onions and scallions was excellent. Though I don't eat innards, Stomach and my mother do and they really liked the liver. Apparently it's the chef's specialty (in congee) and since it's his signature ingredient, he's added some here. It looked tender; not dry and was cooked to perfection...if you like liver. The other dish we ordered was Beef with Gai Laan and this was done well too. I don't have any complaints. The restaurant's not the nicest place to eat in, but it's cheap and they have some really good dishes with excellent flavours.

When we eat at the restaurant, we usually order congee of some sort, the chinese donut and the roast duck . We are never disappointed when we order these standbys. If you like duck, their roast duck is great as are their other barbecued items. (However, I still think No.9 in Richmond does the BEST bbq duck in Metro Vancouver.) Congee Noodle House is however, the best congee noodle restaurant in the City of Vancouver. They do a brisk business selling bbq meats at the front of the store in addition to their restaurant.

FOOD REVIEW

RESTAURANT: Congee Noodle House

ADDRESS: 141 E Broadway, Vancouver

PHONE: (604) 879-8221

PARKING: tight parking lot in back; street parking

COUPONS: no

FOOD: 10/12

AMBIENCE: 4/6

SERVICE: 4/6

TOTAL POINTS: 18/24

PRICE: $-$$

CHINESE SOUPS--A PANACEA?

If you're Chinese, most likely you grew up with soup on the dinner table. The brothy concoction had little twigs and indistinguishable ingredients floating about and though you questioned what they were, you never got a straight answer.

Well, I have figured out what some of those herbs are and have some of the recipes right here if you feel like making them. Most of these herbs have mild medicinal value and need to be ingested everyday on a longterm basis in order for you to receive any benefit. However, older Chinese people swear by them and for some reason these soups make you feel good. This is most likely due to the chicken soup effect. You know someone took the time to wash the ingredients, prep them, slowly simmer them an (hopefully) skim the fat off the top! This process can take a couple of hours up to 4 hours depending on the type of soup. All this work for broth! Most people do not eat the the herbs and other ingredients because all the flavour has been sapped out of them and has instead been infused into the broth.

This is a decadent form of hydration. I asked my doctor about the medicinal benefits of drinking Chinese soup and he replied that if it made you feel better, that's great. He says that all soup does is hydrate you. Look at it as part of the 8 glasses of water you're supposed to be drinking in a day.

All of these dried herbal ingredients can be found readily in the multitudinous Chinese Herbal shops that you see in Chinatown and Asian malls and markets.

4 FLAVOURS SOUP
1/4 cup nut of lily , slivered (lily bulb/ bai he)
1/4 cup lotus seeds
1/4 cup seed of sui sut (fox nuts/qian shi)
1/4 cup dried sliced chinese yam
1-2 lb pork soup bones

• Bring a large pot of water to boil and dump in the pork soup bones. Bring the water to a boil again. You do not have to cook the bones well. You are simply cleaning the pork bones of the blood and gunk that initially comes out. Bring the pot of water and bones to the sink and dump the contents into a colander in the sink. Wash the bones well in cold water (picking away any gristly,fatty yucky stuff that comes out) and wash the pot out very well with soap and hot water. This process is always the first step in creating a clean broth.


• Fill the clean pot with enough fresh water to cover the soup bones and other ingredients. I usually eyeball it and ensure I have a few inches of water above the ingredients.


• Bring water to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours.

GINSENG SOUP
1/4 cup American Wild Ginseng (Xi Yang Shen)
1/4 cup small dried red dates, Chinese Wolfberry (Gou Qi Zi)
2 lbs pork soup bones
Clean and prepare soup bones and stock as above

• Bring all ingredients in the water to a boil again; reduce to a simmer, covered for 1 1/2 hours

FRESH LOTUS ROOT SOUP

2 fresh lotus root
1 cup raw, shelled peanuts
2 lbs pork bones
optional: 1/4 cup Chinese Wolfberries

• Clean and prepare soup bones and broth as usual, skimming and removing any scum



• Peel and clean lotus, chop diagonally in 1 cm thick slices



• add washed peanuts to soup



• Add lotus to the soup



• Stir in wolfberries; bring to a boil; reduce to simmer, covered for 2 to 3 hours
  

WATERCRESS SOUP
one large bunch of watercress
1 piece dried orange peel, (tangerine peel/chen pi)
3 sweet dates, (chinese jujube/hong zao/da zao)
1/4 cup dried bitter apricot, (chinese almond/xing ren)
2 lbs pork soup bones

• Clean and prepare soup bones and broth as described above


• Add washed, peel, dates and chinese almonds


• Bring to boil; reduce to simmer, covered for 1 hour


• Add washed chopped watercress and simmer for 1/2 hour to 1 hour

3 CARROTS SOUP
1 large carrot
1 daikon radish (lo bak)
1 green daikon radish
1 T chinese almonds
3-4 dried dates or chinese jujubes
2 lb pork bones

• Clean and prepare pork bones for the broth.



• Clean and peel all the radishes and carrot; cut into large 1 1/2 inch chunks.



• Wash almonds and dates and place all the ingredients into the pot.



• Bring to boil; reduce to simmer, covered for 3-4 hours

SINGAPORE RIBS

These ribs are super easy. I buy my ribs at Costco and prep them myself by cutting through the meat to create individual ribs. Marinate the meat in a ziploc bag and this will save time and energy because you won't have to wash another bowl. Just dump everything into the bag, zip it and put it in the fridge to marinate for 4 hours minimum. I would prep everything overnight so the next day all I would have to do is pop the ribs in the oven. These ribs are tender-succulent and savory--perfect with a bowl of rice or as a finger food at parties.

singapore ribs

2 t sesame oil
1 t finely chopped fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T soy sauce [for GF, sub in gf soy sauce or tamari]
2 T Chinese rice wine
1/2 t five spice powder
2 T honey
1 t sambal oelek (or chili sauce of some sort)
1/2 t salt
1.5 kg (3 lb) pork spare ribs, cut into individual ribs
1 T chopped green onions or garlic chives
2 lemons, cut into wedges, optional

• In a large glass bowl (or ziploc bag) combine the sesame oil, ginger, garlic, soy, rice wine, five spice powder, honey, sambal oelek and salt. Mix well. Add pork ribs and stir until the ribs are totally coated in the marinade. Cover (or zip) and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours so they absorb the flavour of the marinade


• Preheat oven to 350F. Place ribs and marinade into oiled baking dish and cook for 50 minutes, turning and basting with pan juices every 15 minutes. If the marinade begins to burn, add a few tablespoon of warm water to the pan during cooking.


• Scatter the garlic chives or green onions over the spare ribs and serve with wedges of lemon and steamed rice.


• Note: line the baking dish with thick foil to make washing up easier.

CRISPY, CHEWY OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES

This is an oatmeal cookie recipe I have adapted so that we can have fresh-baked cookies whenever we want. I prefer fresh cookies and since our family doesn't eat cookies fast enough to polish off the entire recipe without most of the cookies going stale, I freeze the dough in logs wrapped in parchment paper. When we want cookies, I just slice off as many as we want to eat and bake them in the oven and return the rest of the cookie log to the freezer. No defrosting is necessary. For freezing, I usually double this cookie recipe so that I use up the whole pound of butter.

crispy, chewy oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups Callebaut dark chocolate chunks

• Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions and heat to 350 F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.


• Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together in medium bowl


• Beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.


• Stir dry ingredients into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and chocolate.


• Working with generous 2 T of dough each time, roll dough into 2 inch balls. Place balls on parchment-lined cookie sheet, leaving at least 2 inches between each ball.


• Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes. I like these crispy so bake them until crunchy. Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch them from top to bottom. Slice cookies, on parchment, to cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before peeling cookie from parchment.

MINI CHIFFON

mini chiffon, straight out of the oven

i don't like my chiffons upside-down

This is my adaptation of a chiffon cake for my family. It's half-sized because a full size sits on the counter too long in my opinion! No one has a sweet tooth (except me) in this family and I don't want to have to eat it all (which I've had to do on occasion in the past). Sigh!

This chiffon is pretty much the only type of cake every single person in this household enjoys eating. It is also the only cake that they all request.

MINI CHIFFON
150 g sugar
76 g cake flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
4 eggs (2 separated and 2 whole)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 T almond extract
1/4 t cream of tartar
91 g (3 oz) water

• Preheat oven to 325 F


• Combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix well.


• Beat the 2 egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff peaks form (8 minutes)


• In a separate bowl, mix the oil, 2 whole eggs, yolks, almond extract and water together until smooth. Sift in the flour mixture and mix well.


• Fold the two mixtures together gently and pour into a mini tube pan


• Bake 45 minutes or until done


• Hang upside down to cool completely on a rack


• Unmold using a thin spatula (mine is plastic), running it around the edges and pressing it against the pan walls. Lift out cake and remove from base.

SOMETIMES YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

*2 reviews today!: Matsuyama Japanese Restaurant & Golden Ocean Seafood Restaurant

For lunch today, Bebe got to pick the food. She yelled, "susi, susi"! I didn't feel like it but didn't really care too much and Stomach agreed. Bib doesn't get a say because she's still eating oatmeal baby cereal and MumMums in her carseat.

I wanted to go to Yaohan to pick up some flavoured tempura"seaweed snacks"--yeah these don't sound appetizing but they taste much like chips but are way healthier, I figure; so we headed to Richmond. Stomach decided we should go to Matsuyama, an Asian restaurant that serves primarily Japanese food but dabbles in Vietnamese and Chinese as well. It has been a while since we visited this restaurant. This restaurant has an assortment of lunch combinations, bento boxes and sushi combos. Their regular Nigiri Sushi (chopped scallop, inari, tako, tamago, tuna etc) is only 99 cents! Their higher end Nigiri Sushi (scallop, toro, uni etc.) is $1.99

Bebe wanted "susi, with the little orange balls"--Tobiko sushi; which she totally loves because she enjoys popping the salty fish eggs in her mouth. Nothing like food that plays with you...and hours later, you can enjoy them again as the little fish eggs get caught between your teeth and later dislodge so you can taste their brininess again.

I ordered a Vietnamese lunch combo ($8.95) and two pieces of chopped scallop sushi because I didn't feel like having Japanese food too much today and Stomach ordered the Nabeyaki Udon soup ($7.95) and two pieces of tuna sushi because Bebe also likes udon soup.

I would say my combo, which included pork brochette (a little flavourless and dry without the dipping sauce), steamed rice rolls and spring rolls with vermicelli and salad was good but standard. The sushi was okay but not exceptionally fresh and sweet. Stomach said he was still hungry afterwards (partly because Bebe ate more udon than he thought she would and partly because the portion wasn't that large to begin with). Bebe was happy because she got what she wanted. Stomach complained the broth was blah and there wasn't a good variety of stuff in the soup, while his sushi was mediocre.

I must say that you get what you pay for. If you want to pig out on sushi, this would be a good place to eat; however I am past the university days when we used to go to the all-you-can-eat sushi joints and stuff ourselves crazy until we couldn't move just so we could get our money's worth. Besides, sushi isn't a thing you want to overindulge in. I'd rather have higher quality sushi and less of it than lots of cheap low-grade sushi. You can really taste the difference.

FOOD REVIEW

RESTAURANT: MATSUYAMA JAPANESE RESTAURANT

ADDRESS: 110-5500 Alexandra Rd., Richmond, B.C. V6X 3L4

PHONE: (604)207-9178

PARKING: free plaza parking in front

COUPONS: No

FOOD: 7/12

AMBIENCE: 4/6

SERVICE: 4/6

TOTAL POINTS: 15/24

PRICE: $-$$

Later, for dinner, we went with Stomach's family to a Chinese Restaurant in Kerrisdale called Golden Ocean Seafood Restaurant. This is a place that I've recommended for cheap cart dim sum previously. See BEST DIM SUM IN VANCOUVER post for my thoughts on their dim sum.

The dinner special lists dishes for $9.99. The idea is you order from the $9.99 menu and you pay for the rice, soup and dessert. We ordered Taro Duck, Pea Shoots, Oyster Omelette, Crispy Chicken, Gai-Laan with Beef, Soft Tofu and Yeung Chow Fried Rice. The house special soup was wintermelon and the dessert was a baked tapioca pudding (Bebe's favourite).

Stomach's brother, Little Stomach visited the bathroom and told me it was clean but typical of most Chinese restaurants. I told him it was probably clean because they had probably just cleaned it and it was pretty early in the evening (5:45pm) so no one had used it yet! The crowds generally come later around 7 pm.

Chinese dishes for $9.99 each is cheap and with the complimentary accompaniments to round out the meal, it is no wonder that this place is popular with big groups and families. It's a good deal if you want to feed a crowd. There were 7 adults and Bebe eating and the bill came to about $109

That's not bad a price for dinner. There was a bit of a lull in the meal when the kitchen made half our dishes and seemed to pause longer than is usual before bringing out the rest of the dishes. We had almost finished all the first dishes and the timing wasn't that great. Later, apparently, we learned that the Gai-Laan ($12.99) was forgotten somehow and we had to have it reordered. The dish did come out promptly thereafter though.

Talula, who I learned is a delicate flower and cannot tolerate hot and spicy food--which we feel is an unusual trait for a Korean, will from this point forward be known as Posh Kimchi (because this deserves some ribbing!) Posh Kimchi felt that most of the dishes were okay, giving most dishes an average grade; but she did not think they were particularly excellent. I felt the Taro Duck was okay. It had crispy coated taro on top but the duck underneath was thin, dry and duck-jerky-like. Little Stomach liked the chicken dish more than PoshKimchi, and most of his marks for the dishes were average to above average as well. I concur and believe that most dishes weren't wholly disappointing, but neither were they spectacular.

I guess the thing is, you are paying on average about $9.99 for a pretty good dish and that's not a bad price to pay today. The food is quite consistent and it's quite fresh because of the huge crowds and high turnover. This is a family restaurant. It's a place to just chow down and get full and your pocketbook won't feel so light in the end.

FOOD REVIEW

RESTAURANT: GOLDEN OCEAN SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

ADDRESS: 2046 W. 41st Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6M 1Y8

PHONE: (604) 263-8886

PARKING: street/pay parking; scary underground lot

COUPONS: No; but there are dinner specials & combinations

FOOD: 9/12

AMBIENCE: 4/6

SERVICE: 4.5/6

TOTAL POINTS: 17.5/24

PRICE: $-$$

OH NO! NOT RICE AGAIN!

you need your cruciferous veggies: beef and broccoli with peppers

nasi goreng

Okay. I've had enough of the experimenting with rice and fried rice. In fact, the rice theme is not my bag and I'm getting kind of sick of it. Today I made Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice) and though I know it looks the same as all the others, it tasted totally different. It called for making a spicy onion paste and the flavours were sweet and briny at the same time. Stomach didn't like it as much as the Thai Fried Rice. My mother liked it though. As well, I thought it too persnickety-finicky to make, considering fried rice is meant to be thrown together. It tasted good, but I thought it wasn't worth the effort. Out of all the rice recipes I've tried this past week, I would say the Thai Fried Rice wins hands down and the Chicken Rice is Bebe's favourite. It in fact wins for the all-time family favourite and is oh so easy.

Here's the recipe for Nasi Goreng in any case.


NASI GORENG (Indonesian Fried Rice)
2 eggs
1/4 t salt
1/3 cup oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 t chili sauce or 2 red chilies, seeded and very finely chopped
1 t shrimp paste
1 t coriander seeds
1/2 t sugar
400 g (12 2/3 oz) raw prawns, peeled and deveined
200 g (6 1/2 oz) rump steak, finely sliced
1 cup (200 g/6 1/2 oz) long-grain rice, cooked and cooled
2 t kecap manis
1 T soy sauce
4 spring onions, finely chopped
*steak and prawns may be substituted with whatever meats and veggies you have on hand

1. Beat eggs and salt until foamy. Scramble until set and put aside.
2. Combine garlic, onion, chili, shrimp paste, coriander and sugar in food processor or mortar and pestle and process or pound until a paste is formed
3. Heat 1 to 2 T of the oil in a wok or large deep frying pan; add the paste and cook over high heat for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the prawns and steak and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they change colour.
4. Add the remaining oil and the cold rice to the wok. Stir-fry, breaking up any lumps, until the rice is heated through. Add the kecap manis, soy sauce, eggs and spring onion and stir-fry for another minute

NEIMAN MARCUS COOKIES

Ever hear the story about a woman who had a Neiman Marcus cookie and then asked for the recipe? She got the recipe, but had to pay $250 for it. Neiman Marcus said that the story is baloney and published their real recipe for FREE. This is why there's 2 versions. So goes the legend. I have the two versions of the recipe. I like the one with the blended oatmeal ($250 version)better. Besides, the story that went with it is better!

NEIMAN MARCUS COOKIES ($250 version)
2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 t soda
2 cups sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder)
24 oz. chocolate chips
2 cups brown sugar
1 t salt
1 8 oz Hershey Bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 t vanilla
2 t baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (optional)

• Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and soda
• Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar and optional nuts
• Roll into balls and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet
• Bake 10 minutes at 350 F
• Makes 112 cookies. (yes, it's for a store apparently!)

FREE NEIMAN MARCUS COOKIES
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3 T granulated sugar
1 egg
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 t instant espresso powder, slightly crushed
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

• Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy
• Beat in the egg and the vanilla
• Combine the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop by large spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 375 F for 8 - 10 minutes

CHICKEN RICE "GAI FAAN"

gai faan

If you don't have a clay pot, you can make this in a rice cooker. My zojirushi has a "mixed rice" setting.

chicken rice, "gai faan"
2 cups long grain rice, washed
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 fresh chicken, about 750 g (1 1/2 lb), cut into small pieces [or 5 chicken thighs, cut in chunks. You can throw the bones in for flavour too. You can use boneless chicken too]
2 chinese sausages, cut in one inch lengths
4 cm ginger, thinly sliced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
Marinade:
2 T oil
3 T oyster sauce [use tamari or gf oyster sauce if you are gluten free]
1 T soya sauce [use tamari or gf soy sauce if you are gluten free]
1 T Chinese wine
1/2 t sesame oil
1 t black soy sauce [use tamari or more gf soy sauce]
1 t sugar
1/2 t white pepper
1 T cornstarch

Claypot method: Marinate the chicken. Put the rice in a clay pot with the chicken stock, cover and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes. While the rice is cooking, sear the marinated chicken and sausages in a nonstick pan or wok. When the rice has cooked for 20 minutes, spread the seared chicken, sausages, and sliced ginger on top. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with spring onions and serve.

chicken rice in my zojirushi rice cooker
Rice cooker method: Marinate chicken. Disregard the liquid measurements and rice measurements in the recipe and use your rice cooker's measuring tools. Measure 3 little "cups" of rice using the cooker's measuring tools. Add stock or plain water according to the number 3 "line" indicated. Sear the marinated chicken and sausages in a nonstick pan. You do not have to cook through. Spread the entire mixture on top of the rice. Select "mixed rice" feature, if there is one; or just press "cook". Sprinkle with spring onions and serve.

"GO BANANAS" BREAD

cakebrain's go bananas bread

Ever have a sickly looking leftover banana or two that was all speckly brown and too mushy to eat? These bananas are perfect for banana bread but usually there aren't enough left over for a recipe, so I freeze them until I collect enough.

I was wondering why I couldn't ram anymore things into my freezer--until I brought out a huge clump of frozen bananas I had forgotten about.

The problem is, I haven't found the perfect banana bread recipe. I have some good ones, but they're not perfect. I like the banana bread at Starbucks and have been looking for a knock-off recipe. I figure there's brown sugar in theirs, so today I'm making a version with brown sugar to come as close as possible to the Starbucks one.

I don't like nuts but if you insist on adding textural interest, you can. I would add chocolate chunks or craisins. However, I like this banana bread best plain. If you're a health nut you can add 1/4 cup ground flax.

CAKEBRAIN'S GO BANANAS BREAD
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 sticks salted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups ripe bananas (about 7 medium) mashed
1 t vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease 2 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.

• In a medium bowl combine flour, soda and salt with a wire whisk; set aside.


• In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs, bananas, and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of bowl.


• Add the flour mixture and then blend at low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.


• Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake on center rack of oven for 60 to 70 minutes. A toothpick inserted in center should come out clean, and the bread should pull away from the sides.


• Cool in pan, for 10 minutes. Turn pans on sides; cool to room temperature before removing and slicing.

KIMCHI FRIED RICE

Here's a version of fried rice with KimChi added to it. Yum.

THAI FRIED RICE

There's nothing like fried rice with a bit of kick. I wanted to make some and intentionally cooked extra rice the day before. However, unbeknownst to me, Stomach had packed most of it for lunch. I was looking all over the place for the extra rice but could only find a little container of some in the fridge.

I had to quickly make extra rice, spread it thinly on a cookie sheet and stick it in the freezer to cool before I made my fried rice. Thank goodness it turned out! All I know is it's a bad idea to make fried rice with fresh rice because everything sticks together. I learned that the hard way.

I love making fried rice because you can throw all sorts of stuff from your fridge and get rid of odds and ends of things. Here's a nice hot version I made yesterday. It was great. Of course, use whatever meat and veggies you have on hand in whatever proportions you want. The green curry paste doesn't look hot, but it is!

cakebrain's thai fried rice

CAKEBRAIN'S THAI FRIED RICE
4 cups cooked, cold rice (leftover preferably from night before)
4 eggs, scrambled
3 stalks green onion, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 T green curry paste
2 T fish sauce
1 t sugar
1 t kosher salt
1 cup bbq pork, chopped
1 chinese sausage, chopped
1 cup shrimp
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 T vegetable oil

1. Heat oil in a nonstick pan or wok. Saute onions on medium heat with curry paste until onions are soft. Add sugar and salt and mix well. Add bbq pork, sausage and red pepper and stir fry for 30 seconds.

2. Dump in the cold rice and using 2 spatulas, break up and separate the clumps of rice in the pan while mixing with the sauteed ingredients. This will take a while.

3. Sprinkle the fish sauce over the rice and continue mixing well. Add the scrambled eggs, shrimp (and whatever veggies and meats you want) and green onions and continue mixing until all the rice is heated through.

4. Optional: garnish with extra chopped onion

BLUEBERRY COBBLER

fresh blueberries...they're perfect by themselves

blueberry cobbler, straight out of the oven

Well, today's Wednesday which means there's a whole section on food in the Vancouver Sun. I have a whole package of blueberries from Costco and I thought I should try the Blueberry Cobbler recipe that they had. I personally prefer crisps and cakes, but what the heck.

The recipe is super easy and if you like cooked blueberries, go for it. After tasting it, I decided I prefer apple in my crisps, cobblers and pies. It was okay, considering the itty bitty amount of effort employed in making it. It was a bit on the tart side so I would personally omit the lemon juice if I made it next time.

I thought it a waste of fresh blueberries, but if you have a lot of blueberries and/or they are looking sad and not as fresh, maybe a cobbler is an adequate option for them.

blueberry cobbler

CAKEBRAIN'S RECIPE RATING (out of 5 stars) : ***

BLUEBERRY COBBLER
Filling
5 cups fresh blueberries
2 T fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 T all-purpose flour
1/2 t ground cinnamon
2 T butter, at room temperature
Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
2T granulated sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
3 T milk (2%M.F.)
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Filling: Put blueberries in large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
In small bowl, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over blueberries and stir to mix. Spread blueberry mixture evenly in ungreased 8 inch square baking dish. Dot with butter.

Topping: In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using back of fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
In small bowl, whisk together milk and egg. Add to flour mixture; using fork, stir to mix. Drop dough by 9 equal spoonfuls onto blueberry mixture.
Bake at 375F for about 40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and juices are bubbling in the centre, covering loosely with foil for last 10 minutes of baking time.

Makes 9 servings.

267 cal, 3 g pro, 10 g fat, 43 g carb