More from New York

Okay, so where did I leave off last time? Ahh...yes. Dinner at Craft, by Tom Colicchio. I was considering going to Craftbar, his slightly lower-end restaurant, but When I saw that he had monkfish on the menu at Craft, I just had to try it. I didn't take many pictures of the food here 'cause the lighting was very dim (though they did have very cool lighting as you can see) and the plates weren't really presented that nicely except for the dessert. Their menu was a little confusing as they had a column for entrees, sides, and starches so I assumed that one would have to order one from each column and it would be plated on the same plate. I was wrong however and our table of three ended up with a lot of leftovers (as hard as we tried to finish them). I ordered the monkfish, of course, and it was delicious. Firm but not overcooked and the sauce it was braising in was amazing. I had it with sauteed pea tendrils and some potato gratin, which was superb by the way, and saved a little room for dessert.

This was the milk chocolate gianduja panna cotta with a cherry sauce and fresh cherries:
This was the smoothest and silkiest panna cotta that I've ever tried. It wasn't rubbery at all and melted straight away in your mouth. I love gianduja chocolate which is a hazelnut milk chocolate so this was heaven. The cherries also balanced out the richness of the panna cotta as well.

We also visited the Chelsea markets which is a long strip of really unique stores and bakeries. They had an Italian market there where I gazed at the truffle oils and boxes of saffron and also picked up some pink Himalayan sea salts which were surprisingly only $5.99 for a large jar.

One of the bakeries near the entrance of the market was Eleni's, where the smell of cupcakes baking really draws you in. They had many flavours of cupcake decorated with swirls of icing and Amazingly cute sugar cookies decorated in royal icing. They were pretty pricey though at $65 for a themed box of cookies.
Another bakery we passed by was Ruthy's. They had really cute cupcakes: Cookie Monster cupcakes anyone?. On the top, they displayed these amazing wedding cakes. I love the bridal gown one.
Next comes my favourite shop in New York: Payard. This patisserie is the epitome of French pastries, in my opinion and everything was just so spot on and clean. I have been to many pastry shops in Vancouver and passed by many in New York that had a good concept and I'm sure the cakes tasted good but were done sloppily and I think it just ruins it. All the cakes were just so perfectly finished. Until now, I had never seen Isomalt decor on cakes for display before and it looks amazing.
And all of these small cakes just made me drool:


They also had all these wonderful and colourful macarons:
My mom and I enjoyed their The Royale, which was their high tea menu with caviar on buckwheat blini and an assortment of mini sandwiches and desserts.


Their mini eclairs were especially cute and the chocolate mousse tartlette was topped with a beautiful scalloped chocolate disc.



Stay tuned for more food coming up!

Finally back from New York!

The past week, I went to New York in search of some relaxation, kitchen goodies, new pantry items, and of course, good food. The relaxation was I think maybe half-achieved; I was away from work which was good, but all the walking I did left my feet sore every night and I couldn't get that much sleep throughout the trip either.

If you live in Vancouver, you know how hard it is to find new kitchen gadgets, and specialty baking items such as molds and frames without paying crazy shipping and brokerage fees over the internet and driving to the suburbs only to find jacked up prices on items you know they could sell you at half the price but they won't because they know that they're the only ones that carry it in the area. Finding the JB Prince store (big restaurant and bakery wholesaler) in New York that sold retail as well was like finding a gold mine. I was a bit wary at first and wondered if I had gotten the wrong address as it was on the 11th floor of an apartment-like building but once I walked in, I was like a kid in a candy store. They have a large variety of gourmet books and magazines, silpats at $14.95, molds of all shapes and sizes, cake pans, mixers, mandolins, everything a baker or chef could ever want!

For the new pantry items, I picked myself up some pink himalayan sea salts, freeze dried strawberries (I had been looking for these for a while now), cheap pistachio nuts, chestnut puree, and a variety of chocolates to try; among them being the bacon chocolate from Vosges! I also visited the Jacques Torres store where you could see them making the delectable chocolates and cookies through the glass. Of the many varieties of truffles, I tried the Earl Grey which was heavenly. I also bought some champagne truffles which I have yet to try.

Alrighty, down to the best part, the good food. This I am going to have to split up or else it's going to be a huge post (if it isn't already) so I'll start with Bouchon Bakery where I had the raspberry macaron with yogurt sorbet, fresh fruits, and blackberry coulis.
Next is Maze by Gordon Ramsay where I tried the six course chef's menu. There was the eggplant carpaccio with pickled chanterelles and fresh figs:
A pickled radish dish with asparagus veloute:

Cumin dusted diver scallops with cauliflower beignets and a golden raisin puree which was divine as well as a marinated beetroot with ricotta, pine nuts, and cabernet sauvignon dressing:
The highlight of the night, the filet of Brandt beef so tender you could pull it apart with a fork. It came with braised morels:

Then for dessert, a cherry jam and peanut butter sandwich with cherry sorbet and salted nut brittle (I was a bit skeptical at first but it turned out very well. The saltiness of the brittle accentuated the subtle sweetness and creaminess of the peanut butter:
Last was the green apple and caramel trifle. This was exceptional and very refreshing. The bottom was the green apple gelee, the middle was the caramel custard sauce, and to top it all off, the cider granita served with a cinnamon beignet:

Okay, that's it for now. I'll post more once I finish unpacking!

Mango Mousse Cheesecake

Mango mousse cakes are a favourite among Asian pastry shops and cheesecakes are a favourite among dessert lovers, so why not combine the two?

The exterior of this cake is the mango mousse part and the interior is a light cheesecake mousse enveloped in thinly sliced mangoes. The lightness of the cheesecake doesn't weight down the texture or taste of the mousse on the outside and the mango slices lend a freshness to the cake.

Cape Gooseberry Tart with Raspberry Sorbet

A little bit of research gave me the reason as to why these Cape Gooseberries were on sale at the local market. They're normally in season from March-July but I haven't really seen them in stores till just recently. Most of the ones I could find were without the papery husk which I find so beautiful. I did, however manage to find some with the husks that weren't at an outrageous price so I picked up two boxes.

Inside the husk is a golden-coloured berry that's slightly tart and sweet at the same time. I've always wanted to try out a variety of tarts so a gooseberry tart was the way to go this time.

I filled the tart shell with some fresh raspberries that I just mashed up with a fork and some icing sugar, piped in some orange pastry cream, and topped it all off with a gooseberry compote. I paired it with some raspberry sorbet to match the fresh raspberries in the tart. If you were to make the raspberry sorbet though, I strongly urge you not to buy the frozen raspberries in syrup as I did because it turned out way too sweet and yet the flavour wasn't that strong. Fresh would be best, and if not, frozen whole raspberries are the way to go! The sweet dough tart recipe, by the way, is really easy to work with and doesn't shrink at all.

Sweet Dough Tart

83 g icing sugar
167 g butter, soft
vanilla, lemon zest to taste
250 g pastry flour
1 egg yolk

-Beat the sugar and butter till combined and add the flavourings. Add the yolk and mix. Add the flour last and mix till combined. Line tart shells and blind bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit till golden. Cool.

Orange Pastry Cream

5 egg yolks
15 g cornstarch
50 g sugar
250 ml milk
zest of 1/2 an orange

-whisk together the yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Bring the milk and zest to a boil and slowly pour in the egg mixture while whisking. Pour back in the pot and whisk over medium heat till thickened and whisk, cooking for one minute more. Pour into a bowl and chill.

Cape Gooseberry Compote

1 pint husked cape gooseberries, quartered
100 ml simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, boiled)
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
zest of 1/2 an orange
1 tsp cornstarch

-Bring the syrup to a boil with the vanilla and orange zest. Dissolve the cornstarch in some cold water and add to the mixture. Bring to a boil till thickened and add the gooseberries. Simmer for 5-6 minutes and drain. Cool down.

Raspberry Sorbet

500 g raspberries, pureed and strained
500 ml simple syrup
500 ml water

-Mix all and put in ice cream maker.

Smiley Cookies!

These are probably the happiest cookies ever! Don't you think? This is Martha Stewart's recipe for lemon cornmeal cookies and they've got an excellent texture and crunch to them due to the cornmeal. The lemon zest adds a fresh flavour and I just added some chocolate piping 'cause it looked so damn cute! You can't really tell in these pictures but they do look quite yellow after baking so they almost look like cute little suns.

And here's the whole lot of them:

Lemon Cornmeal Cookies
by Martha Stewart

12 tbsp butter
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 egg
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

-Beat the butter, sugar, salt, and zest. Add the egg and beat till combined. Add cornmeal and flour and mix till just combined. Roll into 3/4" balls and flatten on baking sheet. bake at 325 degrees fahrenheit till bottoms are golden (8-10 mins). Cool and decorate as desired. I got about 50 cookies out of this recipe.

Mini Bluebird Cupcakes

Really fluffy chocolate cupcakes filled with Nutella and topped with a cute little bluebird sitting atop some chocolate frosting? Now who wouldn't want that.

These are mini cupcakes and I used Sherry Yard's recipe for the cupcakes which results in a very sponge-y cake. After baking them I filled a small piping bag with Nutella and piped in enough into each cupcake so that it was almost squirting out. Topped it off with some chocolate frosting which was just butter, icing sugar, and melted chocolate, though I'm sure just using whipped ganache would be excellent too! The birds took me a while to figure out how to pipe them but just one teardrop shape as the body, a small round head on top of that, and small, flat, teardrop-shaped wings did the trick.
Aww...look at nest of them.....so adorable!

Strawberry and Vanilla Cream Cake

My friend's birthday was last week and I know she loves strawberries. Lucky for her, strawberries are getting so much sweeter now unlike the water-tasting ones a few weeks ago. I decided to go against my French-trained instincts and do a more "Asian" style cake. You know, the usual ones with sponge cake, whipped cream, and fresh fruits.

I made a really fluffy sponge cake with some strawberry puree, split into three layers, and filled the inside with vanilla bean whipped cream, strawberry jelly, and fresh, diced strawberries. Topped it off with more whipped cream and some delicious looking strawberries and it was done! The good thing about this cake is that once you have everything prepared, assembling and decorating is a cinch. Though it's not in this picture, I also made some spun caramel sugar to decorate which my friends loved!

Sponge Cake

7 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
vanilla
pinch of salt
3/4 cup puree
1/2 cup oil
2 cups all purpose flour
7 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

- Whip the yolks with the sugar, vanilla, and salt till it forms a ribbon. Add in the oil and puree in a stream, while the machine is running. Turn down the speed and gradually add in the flour. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites and remaining sugar and cream of tartar till it forms stiff peaks. Fold the whites into the previous batter and pour into a pan and bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit till springy. Cool upside-down.

Stir Fried Korean Rice Cake with Enoki Mushrooms, Carrots, and Garlic Stems

This is what I had for lunch the other day. Looks pretty good eh? Garlic stems are in season these days and for those of you who have never tried them before, you really should. They aren't as garlic-y as you'd think they would be and after it's stir-fried, it has a mellow sweetness to it.

I love Korean rice cakes. They come frozen in a small bag so you can just cook as much or as little as you want without worrying about waste. And the big plus in this; no need to defrost! Add in some quick defrosting, and quick peel shrimp and some mixed veggies and sweet chili sauce (my favourite!) and you're good to go.

Stir Fried Korean Rice Cake

Handful of frozen Korean rice cake
1/4 of a bunch of enoki mushrooms
small carrot, julienned
1 clove of garlic, minced
4-5 garlic stems, roughly chopped

2-3 tbsp sweet chili sauce
7 quick peel frozen shrimp, defrosted

- Heat up a small frying pan and add the garlic. Sweat a little till almost golden. Add the frozen rice cake and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the garlic stems and carrot and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add a little water and cover to let it stem for another 2-3 minutes. Add shrimp and fry till cooked through. Add mushrooms at the end and the sweet chili sauce. Stir till combined and sauce is heated through. Remove from heat and serve!

Melon Bread

I've always loved Melon Bread (or "Por Lo Bao" as it's also known in Chinese). It has that sweet, slightly crunchy top, and is soft and fluffy, underneath the crust. The recipe I tried out has a crust that's even more "cookie" and the bun itself is very soft. I made half with some home-made azuki bean filling and sprinkled a little black sesame on top to distinguish it from the plain ones. The plain ones here have the traditional cross-hatch design on the top.

Melon Bread:

175 g bread flour
8 g fresh yeast
115 g water
25 g sugar

-mix above ingredients and leave to proof for 2 hours

50 g bread flour
25 g pastry flour
3 g salt
45 g sugar
12 g milk powder
25 g milk
12 g shortening/lard

- mix all except the shortening into the proofed dough. When mixed, add shortening and knead till elastic. Cover and proof for 30 minutes.




-meanwhile, make the cookie dough crust:

60 g sugar
25 g butter
40 g eggs
3 g rum
10 g milk
120 g pastry flour

- cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and liquids and mix till combined. Add flour last and form dough.



-Take the proofed dough and scale out 50 g each and form into balls. Flatten out a small piece of cookie dough and wrap on the top of the ball. Score a design on the dough and sprinkle with sugar. Proof for 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit till slightly golden, rotating pan halfway.



And here's the finished product:

A Trip to Ganache Patisserie

The other day, my sister and I went to Yaletown and stopped by Ganache Patisserie to see what new items they had. Unfortunately, they were out of the Pave au Moka so I got this: a Chocolat Canneberge. It had thin layers of chocolate sponge cake and feullentine (tiny, crumbled, wafer-thin biscuits) , white chocolate mousse with dried cranberries, and a chocolate mousse on top. I thought it was good but it didn't "wow" me. Not enough cranberry taste I think.

My sister had this which their Opera Noisette. Their layers were thicker than what I've normally seen but still quite good. It has a good mix of hazelnut and pecan flavour and that feuillentine layer as well which gives it a good crunch. The Opera was also in a very generous portion.
If you do end up at Ganache, I highly recommend their Concorde Framboise. That raspberry jelly layer inside is absolute heaven!