CATS ‘N CHEESE

Cats ‘n Cheese:  Caramelized onions, sundried tomatoes, creamy cheese sauce and toasty breadcrumbs with Cats Ears.



What? you thought this was going to be a recipe for something else?


Besides, I’m allergic to cats.


meow.


CAKEBRAIN’S CATS ‘N CHEESE RECIPE


Actually, I'm just pulling your leg...this isn’t really a recipe--just a bunch of general instructions.  You're smart.  You can figure it out.  I made up this sophisticated version of Mac 'n Cheese along the way.  Add whatever else you want…sauteed mushrooms, asparagus, artichokes.  MMMM.   Grab a bag of orecchiette; cook according to package instructions and drain.  Make a Bechamel (white sauce) and stir in 4 cups of grated cheddar cheese (I used half white and half orange).   In a saute pan, add 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (packed in olive oil) and 1  finely chopped onion.  Saute gently until the onions are transparent.  Buzz up a slice of good white sandwich bread in your handy dandy food processor; drizzle crumbs with EVOO and toss to mix thoroughly.  Pour the pasta, the onions & sundried tomatoes mixture and sauce into a large shallow casserole.  Sprinkle the crumbs over the surface.  Bake for 30 minutes  at 350 degrees F. or until crumbs are golden and sauce  is bubbly.

CREPES

Crepes remind me of my trip to France in 2001.  Ahhh.  I lived with my penpal of over 27 years, V. and travelled throughout France with her and her now-husband, P.  I had the time of my life.  We lived for awhile in P’s brother’s home in Annecy for a while.  There, we made homemade crepes on a brand new specialty T-Fal pan that V. purchased at the T-Fal factory. 

You don’t know the pain I suffered as a foodie in France, visiting all those wonderful shops around France; woefully conscious of the lack of space in my luggage that I would have to drag up and down those imposing Metro stairs (no elevators!)  on my own on the way back home.  I had already purchased a huge copper pan from our travels and handmade bowls made by nuns in a convent we passed by.  I had no more room for T-Fal products, but I wanted wanted wanted!  The T-Fal nonstick crepe pan had a larger surface area than what we would find in North America.    It was also way shallower.   It even came with a handy wooden dowel to smooth the crepe batter.  The pan was a cinch to hold as it was light…and you could also flip the crepes easily this way.  In Vancouver, I looked high and low for these pans but alas, there were none. 

Here are some pics from France, of me trying my hand with the T-Fal pan.  The dowel allowed you to make a super thin crepe that wasn’t bumpy.

Here I am deftly flippy the huge crepe. 

In Vancouver, I purchased a similarly large crepe pan but it was made of cast iron and covered with an enamel surface.  There’s no flipping this baby.  It’s so heavy…but I think that’s designed to distribute the heat more evenly.

In France, my favourite filling for sweet crepes was Nutella, of course.   My favourite savoury crepe was ham and cheese.  My daughters, being allergic to nuts (too bad!) love crepes with jam.    Anything goes in my opinion. 

Interestingly, V. & P.  never used recipes when they cooked.   However, I have included one if you are inclined to try your hand at it.  Do use a nonstick pan and your life will be a lot easier.


CREPES

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 2/3 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1/3 cup water
• butter, oil or nonstick spray for frying

1. Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl and make a well in the centre.  Mix the liquid ingredients together with 1/3 cup water and pour slowly into the well, whisking all the time to incorporate the flour until you have a smooth batter.  Stir in the melted butter.  Cover and refrigerate 20 minutes or overnight.
2. Heat a crepe pan or a nonstick frying pan and grease with butter, oil or nonstick spray.  Pour in enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan in a thin even layer and pour out any excess.  Cook over moderate heat until the top of the crepe is dry and the crepe starts to come away from the side of the pan.  Turn the crepe on a plate with pieces of waxed paper between them and cover with aluminum foil while you cook the rest of the batter.
3. Serve with preserves, Nutella, butter/sugar/cinnamon, fruit & whipped cream, ham & cheese or whatever your heart desires.
4. Remaining crepes can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

DERA INDIAN RESTAURANT

Veggie Samosas from Dera Indian Restaurant.  2 pieces for $1.50.  Cakebrain's rating: 2/6…my bar is high and these didn’t make it over the bar. 

I yearn for Indian food quite often.  As you can see from my Twitter feed where I “Foodspot” pictures of the restaurants we have been eating at around Vancouver, the rest of my family likes Asian food.  I’m outnumbered.  Stomach and Bib love all Chinese regional dishes, especially Cantonese and Shanghai.  Bebe, at 8 years old, prefers Italian and Greek.  Her favourite Greek dish is Spanakopita. 

PEARL CASTLE, RICHMOND CENTRE

Pearl Milk Tea.  Rating:  5/6

I found the presentation in this honking big glass very nice.  I thought the milk tea was a bit too much on the “milky” side and would have wished for a stronger brew of tea.  Tapioca Bubbles were pretty good.

NING TU RESTAURANT (Shanghai)

Ning Tu’s Beef Roll:  5/6  I would order this again.  I would have liked more scallion and hoisin, but I liked the texture of the wrapping and the meat was thinly sliced and quite delicious.

Peking Duck: 2 courses.  I’ve broken down the elements of the dish… 1st course:  The Peking crepe skins were soft:  5/6

Duck skin was very good: 5/6.  You place a piece of skin, a piece of scallion and hoisin sauce on the Peking crepe.  Wrap it up and eat.  It is a delicious combination of flavours.  Decadent too.

GOLDEN HARVEST RESTAURANT FOR DIM SUM

Golden Harvest’s Salt and Pepper Squid Tentacles



Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow) were okay.  The skin was good and the filling was full of shrimp.  4.5/6

The Squid Tentacles were the highlight of the meal for me.   All tentacles! No rings!  If you’re a tentacle fiend, this is the dish for you.  They’re crispy dry with garlic and fresh chilies.  5/6


The Siu Mai were meaty-plump and juicy.    5/6


This Mango Pudding was the disappointment of the meal.  I don’t think I’ve assigned a mark any lower than this one dish.   It was Blah. Someone used too much gelatine. The pudding was hard and the kids didn't like it.   They even had a difficult time cutting through it with a spoon.  1/6


You can’t go wrong with fresh bean sprouts!  The rice rolls held together well, they were nicely “wok-fired” and not gummy at all.  5/6


We also had the Steamed Chicken Feet which a certain someone in our family absolutely loves.   It uses fresh red and green peppers and is nicely spicy, juicy and soft as butter. 5.5/6


Good, but rice noodles fell apart.  Not as silky as it could ideally be.  Tender meat filling.  5/6


Just stems!  Where are the leaves?  They were prepped considerately…cut in lengths easy to eat with chopsticks.   I just hate it when you  have a 6 inch long tree of GaiLan sliding around the tips of your plastic chopsticks.  Yes, it is a way to show off your chopstick-prowess, but it can get awkward.  These veggies were crunchy and cooked to perfection.  Not heavy on garlic but very good.  5.5/6


Egg Tarts are my kids’ favourite dim sum dessert.  Bebe likes the centres and Bib likes the puff pastry crust.  Everybody’s happy if both components are so well made that each girl eats all of both components.  As you can see, the pastry was flaky.  These were also piping hot; freshly made.  The custard was jiggly soft.   Perhaps because of the fact that they were still piping hot, the flavour of the custard didn’t come through as well.  They would have rated higher perhaps if  the custard was set a tad more.  4.5/6


Here’s a pic of the dim sum menu.  We were given a discount because we had a cramped table.  I’m not going to question a discount, so I was happy.  Service was good but the place was quite busy so perhaps if you’re looking for a quiet place with lots of elbow room, you won’t be happy.  There seem to be plenty of “regulars” frequenting the restaurant at this time. 


There’s a dinky little parking lot in the mini plaza out front.  I would rather park far away from all the crazy drivers…on the street.

NORTHERN DELICACY

Orange Peel Beef with steamed buns:  5/6. 

I think this is an impressive dish.  The beef was very tender.  The dish is hot and spicy with dried red chili peppers and the numbing Szechuan Peppercorns. It also is sweet but the dried orange peel is barely detectable.  I would have liked more orange to come out.  There was plenty of sauce so that if you had buns you could sop them up.  Unfortunately, my girls ate all the buns.  They said they were good!  I suppose this would go really well with lots of rice. 

The Bean Sauce with Pork on Handmade Noodles was excellent.   6/6!

APPLE CAKE SMACKDOWN!

Beranbaum’s Apple Cake with Crumble Topping.

What are the elements of a good apple cake? Simplicity? Apple-ness?  Do you prefer a crumbly topping? Nuts? Chunky apples? More apple or more cake?

TOKYO THYME

Tokyo Thyme’s Red and White Tuna Stack. YUM!  6/6


Assemble the Tuna stack by mixing the tuna stack (quail egg optional/extra).  Then  create a cone of nori, rice and tuna mixture.  This is so fresh tasting and the crispy nori is delicious!

WHO’S GOT BIG BUNS? NEW TOWN BAKERY

Big Bun Identification Guide.  Above is a Pork and Veggie Bun: filling indicated by the circular red stamp on the top.

Ever buy a dozen of these of different varieties only to forget which bun has which filling once you arrived home? Don’t you just hate that?

PHNOM PEHN

Beef on Rice Vermicelli Bowl.  5.5/6

Yum! My favourite vermicelli bowl so far is this Beef and Rice Vermicelli Bowl because it’s chock full of veggies and there are even more under the vermicelli...there’s fresh cucumber, beansprouts and lettuce at the bottom of the bowl.  You mix it all up with the yummy fish sauce/dip that they serve on the side.  The sensations hit all the right spots: sweet, savoury, crunchy-fresh and soft. Umami. MMMM.

CONDENSED MILK LOVE: POUND CAKE AND WHITE RABBIT CANDY

Remember these? I'm waxing nostalgic these days.
 In the good ol’ days when I visited my grandma, I would get to eat these caramel-like candies.  The White Rabbit Candies that I remembered in the 70’s are exactly the same today.  The rice paper wrapper used to bother me and I’d pick it off before popping them in my mouth.  Now, I don’t care.  It doesn’t taste like anything really.  It dissolves into nothingness.

I recently rediscovered these iconic Chinese candies.  As I remembered, they taste exactly like Condensed Milk! I love the flavour of condensed milk.  The texture of the candy is not unlike a caramel.  However it’s not a caramel…it’s sweet and milky.   Surprisingly, the nutritional information at the back indicates that eating one or two isn’t going to damage your waistline too much.  However, I can see eating a whole bag as a problem.

This is a perfect fix when I get my condensed milk cravings and when I don’t have time to make my favourite Condensed Milk Pound Cake.  Do try the Pound Cake recipe if you have time though…it’s a winner!

Just in case you have time on your hands, here’s the recipe for Condensed Milk Pound Cake. 

If you don't have time to make the Condensed Milk Pound Cake recipe, see my post on Condensed Milk Toast!

IDIOT’S GUIDE TO MAKING CONDENSED MILK TOAST

I know.  The title says it all.

BAUHINIA, RICHMOND

Free range chicken (hoi naam gai).  Rating:  5/6

Stomach liked this dish.  I noticed it was plated nicely and had a good portion of the free range chicken and veg.  Stomach still likes Mui Garden’s free range chicken better simply because they have chickens with MORE MEAT.  However, this version was good.


Singapore Rice Vermicelli.  Rating:  5/6. 

Nice golden hue! I don’t like those versions that are only have a dash of curry and a sprinkling of meat and veg.  This version had an abundance of veg, shrimp, and bbq pork.  I don’t think it was hot and spicy enough…and it could have had more “wok fire”.  Very good though and I’d order it again just to make sure I liked it.


Kids’ meal.  Fried chicken wings, potato puffs and Spaghetti bolognaise.  Gee.  How can you go wrong with freshly fried chicken wings and those tater tots?  Bebe liked the kiddie plate.  She gave it a rating of 5/6.


Fish balls and fish cake on wonton noodle soup.  Rating:  3/6. 

Bib, poor thing had the noodle soup and this was the most disappointing dish of all.  She had to ask Bebe for some of her wings and potato puffs.  There was no depth to the broth and do you see the sprinkling of wilted shredded lettuce?  It looked so sad.   It didn’t taste all so good either.  

All in all, Bauhinia was a pretty good visit other than the soup noodle.  The plating was nicer than usual HK cafes, service was efficient and the place was comfortably decorated.  The kids were mesmerized by the big salt water tank full of fish on one wall where they spotted “Nemo”. 

Bauhinia is way off the beaten track for us and I don’t think we ever come this deep into Richmond that often.    If we find ourselves in this neck of Richmond, I think it’s worth another visit to try out some other dishes.

Bauhinia is located in a plaza and there’s parking out front in the lot.

CUTE BUNS: STEAMED CUSTARD-FILLED BUNS SHAPED LIKE PIGS

It’s “Bun Festival” at T and T Supermarket.  I couldn’t resist buying these.  Too cute!