Sunday, April 5th - Grav Lox and BBQ'd Halibut and Asparagus

Breakfast was pancakes with unbleached flour. I think I over beat them cuz they were fairly chewy. Had them with maple syrup and Mango and Dragon fruit on the side. D didn't want pancakes. He made eggs and fried cherry tomatoes on a bagel with cheddar.

As a side note, we have a VERMI-COMPOSTER or worm composter here. So all the trimmings of all our cooking are gobbled up by a hungry gang of worms. You can get one at a subsidized price in Vancouver if you sit through a seminar. D went one evening a few months ago listening to how much to feed them, what not to feed them like meat or cooked food. Actually the latter is because of the smell of rotting that will emanate from the container which is roughly the size of a large storage tupperware. I remember in University a friend of mine had one in her apartment. I mean this was over ten years ago. The practice was still nascent for urban living so there were no air holes or hay, or restrictions. It was just a plastic bin. At Christmas holiday, Peggy's worms died while escaping across her kitchen floor. We found them in the new year as dried brown strips in lines on the linoleum. We all assumed it was because they were hungry and they had escaped her bin in search of food. Well, I've since learned that they can go for some time with new scraps. They likely escaped due to high acid levels in the food mixture. Too many tomatos or citrus can result in upset worm stomachs. We feed them pretty well. They started just eating 1 litre a week to 4 times that now. One of the grosser bits is that the container, which is lidded also has a tray. One other by product is 'worm juice'. You have to syphon it off. D bought a turkey baster and keeps an empty cranberry juice jar nearby. It's apparently really nutrious for houseplants. blech.

I started Course Salt Grav Lox Yesterday . They've sit for the required 24 hours. So I took the pyrex dish out of the fridge and took the weight off. I tossed the plastic wrap but now that I think about it, should have kept it for the wrapping.

I stared with the back side of a knife but moved to a flat head spatula to scrap off the salt and dill. Be thorough. The salt has done it's job. Make sure to drain off any liquid completely.

Keep going until you have a naked fish. But don't muck up the flesh. So be reasonable.

Slice thinly as possible across the filet (short side). D prepared a wasabi mayo from some dried wasabi powder which he believes is more autentico. I don't entirely agree. The mayo didn't sit right with me so I tried grain mustard and then finally some horeradish, which D readily pointed out is the same thing as wasabi :0D. The horseradish was the best.

We bough some whole grain rye that comes thinly sliced in blocks. Cut those into fourths and thinly sliced some red onion. Serve as you like. I spread some horseradish add some red onion and add a slice of the salmon. MMMMMM D broke out a yummy jar of cornichon in vinegar from Beaufor. Perfect. Add some chopped dill if you still have some. Don't DON'T re use or eat the dill used in the recipe.

Dinner will be some halibut filets we bought yesterday with some asparagus I picked up at Kin's Market on the way home from Ultimate frisbee practice. But I'm so full right now, I can't even think about it.

We had the BBQ halibut with the Dean and Deluca chipotle rub. The asparagus was lightly tossed with lemon olive oil. It was a very light meal but with the salmon and Oh, my earlier snacking on blue corn chips with Trader Joe's organic all natural Black Bean dip. The meal was the perfect size. No bread and no rice. Fantastic.

Saturday, April 4th - Cypress and Grilled Wild Salmon with Yellow Beets

We hit Cypress this morning so breakfast was on the run. I had the last croissant with Adams all natural Peanutbutter. I hate that stuff. Really. I hate that it separates and you have to stir it. D says the trick is to stir it when you buy and keep it in the fridge. He is the only person I know who keeps peanutbutter in the fridge. It won't spread cuz it's cold and hard. So my toasted croissant had small islands of peanutbutter strategically placed on it. The croissant was warm so I daren't try to spread or I'd tear it up. It taste alright, Adams' but while it's cold, it doesn't. It's like icecream, it has an optimal temperature for flavour. The 4 degrees of the fridge is not it.

It was the last of it so I was really hoping that meant we could try something new like Almond butter or Sunflower seed butter. My sister O is up on this new book called 'You are what you eat.' and apparently peanutbutter is not the optimal choice. I am not like some people and will largely take that sort of advice at face value, therefore, I cannot tell you why. Not for now. I realise that's not very responsible of me as a blogger. I had some of her almond butter and sunflower seed butter when I was visiting San Francisco earlier this year. It's very tasty. D wouldn't hear of it while we were in Choices yesterday. Even though the Almond butter was right there. He did at least concede a bit and chose a new all natural peanut butter that doesn't require stirring. I'll tell you the brand once I've tried it.

Lunch was ramen noodles up at Cypress. It was just so empty. Surprising. Sunny and warm as well. We started bringing our ramen to Cypress two trips ago after checking out the disappointing fayre at the new lodge at the start of the season. The Cypress regulars are still stuck in their old habit of following one continuous line around the whole of the food area instead of just walking over to to the counter you want so the whole experience is just annoying. Also, there were meant to be two other counters, mexican or something which were closed so it was just a newly lit version of the old menu, burgers in foil paper, fatty pizza, hotdogs and giant cookies. So we bring our big ass ramen bowls from TNT or HMart and use the tea station to brew them up. I have a photo. Filling, has some 'water' to replenish and it's comforting warm is just what you need. Also, it's a darn sight better than spending 15 dollars on junk food.
We bought some wild sockeye salmon fillets at Choices on Richards on the way home. D got it into his head after I mentioned that I like the sound of a gravlax recipe in the Taste Magazine we get for free at the BC Liquor store. But this was a previously frozen variety and I expressed my doubt that it would serve the purpose. He didn't seem worried.

Wild Sockeye Kosher Salt and Pepper GravLax (Altered by me)

1.5 lbs of sockeye
1 cup chopped FRESH DILL. no subs here allowed. it has to be fresh. Go fresh or go home.
1.5 cups of course kosher salt
(this is where I stray from the recipe out of necessity than choice. we couldn't find course salt in Choices and D was too tired to hit more than one grocery. Choices did have some course sea salt but it was like 10 bucks. for SALT? no thanks)
2 Tablespoon sugar, berry sugar (fructose) if you have it. D does. How random.
1/2 T water
1/2 T vodka (I alter here too cuz I saw this on TV once following a Norwegian recipie and I liked the sound of it.)
1 T black peppercorns from Bali. You could smell how spicy they were from the first slice of the pouch.

Clean the salmon. I had to scale the fish. I was rather surprised that a fillet from a market would still have scales but it did. You simply need to run blade against the grain of the skin as if you're scraping it. You'll know immediately which way is 'against' the grain. You'll see scales start to fly. You might want to do this outside. I asked D if he cared and he hemmed and hawed which I took to mean he did. In the end he didn't cuz he didn't know what I meant which surprised me. I guess he assumed as well that a cleaned filet wouldn't have scales. Rinse with water and pat dry with a paper towel. Make sure it's not a linty variety which will leave bits of paper on the fish.

Check for any bones left in an remove them with your fingers or fish tweezers.

Lay the fish out skin side down in a non reactive baking dish. That means, baking tray or glass pan not aluminum or copper. Steel, non stick, glass or pyrex are best. If you have two trays of the same size that's great cuz you can use the other one for weighting later.

Cover the fish with the chopped dill. Pat it down.

In a food processor or mini blitzer combine the salt, pepper and sugar and water/vodka. Blitz until you have a uniform sort of moist sand. Spread over the whole of the fish. Push it down and spread evenly. Use all the mixture. Cover the fish with plastic wrap. I used two pieces which over lapped in the middle because you want it to cover the fish not the dish. Push down over the fish.

Place your second baking tray or other dish that will fit into your dish and weigh it down with a few cans. You may want to drain off some water once or twice. The original didn't say to do this but I remember this from the other TV recipe.

Refridgerate for at least 24 hours.

I'll finish the recipe tomorrow when it's done.

Dinner was BBQ. We bought nearly just over 2lbs of salmon. We BBQ some for dinner. I cut two filets for dinner. Sprinkled with some pepper and soy. Simple this time. I was kinda tired of the Dean and Deluca rub we use so often.

D made a great sauce for the side.

Dill and Mustard sauce.

2 T Grain mustard
2 T fresh chopped dill
1 T olive oil
1/4 c cream
salt and pepper.

Easy peasy. Simply wisk together and set aside in frigo and serve on top or aside your salmon.

Our sides were a Yam and Golden Beets. Scrub and wash both of these well. They're root veg and sit in the dirt so you want to be sure they're clean. Now if you're doing red beets, careful trimming off the greens or you'll have red hands for days.

We par cook our Yam for 4 minutes, poked, in the microwave.

D has never cooked fresh beets so he wasn't sure about the timing and micro'd them for 6 minutes and was worried it wasn't enough. But really, they don't get soft like potatoes. They're meant to be firmer so I wouldn't recommend microwaving them for more than 4 minutes if at all.

Slice the Beets 1/4-1/2 inch slices. If you're using red beets, you might want to leave them whole. Or at the very least wear gloves when you're slicing. Toss with olive oil. Enought to coat and make it all shiny. The yam can stay whole.

Put the beet slices directly over the heat. The whole of the dinner should be done about the same time. The beets may require a bit more time. 15-20 minutes.

The beets were soooo yum. They're going to be more firm but that's beets. If you like them soft, steaming them is a better alternative.

Friday, April 3rd - Brown Rice Sushi at the Sushi Bar - Kitsilano - Vancouver

The Sushi Bar
1822 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC
V6J 1M3
(604) 737-3999‎

Salmon and Avocado and Spicy Dynamite in the front. Half eaten Rainbow in the back.

Tuna, Yam and California Roll with Brown Rice.

Catepillar Roll with Brown Rice. How cute!
Gooey Chocolate Cake with Maple Liqueur

Dinner we went for sushi before a movie. We hit the Sushi bar just west of Burrard on 4th ave. I think it's called the Sushi Bar. It's a couple of doors down from the vegetarian indian place on the south side. It's a fantastic find. Pictures of the front and our food are coming. It is totally neutral on pricing. Though D and his friends that were visiting from San Francisco in February, who went there TWICE, thought the pricing was great for the quality. They have the typical 'special combo' for 6 bucks with miso soup. BUT, you can have it made with brown or white rice which is very atypical for the quickie combo. The special comes with a California Roll, Tuna roll (but it was chopped) and Tempura Yam roll, which was great! The miso soup was tasty enough. D got a Rainbow Roll, Salmon n Avocado Roll and a Spicy Dynamite and an Asahi. He wanted a spider but they were out. I also got a Catepiller Roll. It was all very tasty.

Rainbow Roll is a crab and avocado roll with Ebi, Salmon,, Tuna and Avocado slices on the outside. Very filling and the tuna and salmon was very fresh.

The Spicy Dynamite is a typical tempura shrimp, crab and avo roll so getting full, I was going to pass on D's offer of a piece but I took it and I have to say, their tempura is yuuuuuM. Light, crispy. And I INSIST, not all tempura's are made the same. Some tend to be pancakey or dough. A good tempura is air light, crispy and melts in your mouth.

The Catepillar Roll was so cute. It's a crab and eel roll served on bbq eel sauce. The outside is covered in thin avocado slices and the roll is pressed into a square mold. The roll was gently pushed into a slight 'S' shape and the top end had two thin carrot splinters for antennae and the back end had one for a tail. It was very yummy. D didn't like the eel sauce too much. It was a bit sweet but bbq eel sauce / ponzu usually is. I really liked the brown rice option. I felt better about all the rice you end up having when you have rolls instead of sashimi which I avoid unless I know know the place because the last thing I want is fishy sashimi.

I will definitely go to this place again and again.

When we got in late. I had a dessert craving. D made me Gooey Lava Chocolate cakes. I'll have to get the recipie.

In honour of the Food Fight movie we saw promoting organic food and small farmers D made it with, Free Range Organic eggs, Green and Black organic chocolate, and Quebecois Terroir Maple liqueur..... Oh and mint from his balcony.

Gooey Chocolate Lava Cakes

Makes 6. You can refridgerate unbaked ones wrapped in cling film for later. Upto a week.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted softened butter, plus extra for buttering molds

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder

4 large eggs 4 large egg yolks

2/3 cup granulated sugar

4 teaspoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting molds 3 tablespoons Frangelico or hazelnut liqueur

1 cup fresh raspberries (if you have them)

1 cup fresh strawberries (if you have them)

Fresh mint, for garnish
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Butter and lightly flour 6 (6-ounce) ramekins. Tap out any excess flour.

In a small saucepan, bring to a boil 2 inches of water. In a large glass bowl, add butter, chocolate and espresso powder. Lower heat and place bowl over the simmering water. Slowly whisk mixture until the chocolate is almost completely melted. Remove bowl from heat and continue to whisk until all chocolate has melted. Allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, add eggs, yolks, and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy (you'll notice the change from a Bigbird yellow to a mayonaisse colour) and pale in color. Reduce speed to medium-low and slowly pour in the chocolate mixture. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Do not overwork the batter.
Divide the batter between the molds. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place chocolate molds onto baking sheet and place in oven for 7 minutes. If not baking immediately, cover chocolate molds with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 8 hours. When ready to bake, place refrigerated chocolate molds onto baking sheet and place in oven for 10 minutes. The top and sides should be cooked and dry and the inside will be runny.
Using oven mitts, carefully invert each mold onto a plate and let it sit for 10 seconds. Then lift 1 corner of the ramekin and the cake should slip out. Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon your favourite liqueur over each cake (Frangelico, Kaluha, Maple). Spoon berries if you have them. We didn't and garnish with mint. Serve warm.

Chef's Note: Tried. Fantastic and easy. Make sure ramekins are well floured to avoid cakes from falling apart when unmolding.