Pizza Pies

I was never the biggest fan of pizza until about a year ago.  Weird, I know.  Who doesn't like meat and cheese smothered on dough? Well I do now, and I'm in full PIZZA FORCE! Vancouver has opened up quite a few amazing pizza places in the last year like Nicli Antica, Famoso and Via Tevere.  My favourite little joint though is a little space on Granville and Dunsmuir, you may have heard of it,  it's called... OUR APARTMENT!  The great thing about pizza is that there are no rules.  You can put whatever, however you like on a pie.  We use a multigrain thin crust as a base that you can get at any grocery store.  Last night, I made two different kinds as seen below. One thing I always put on my pizzas are a healthy shaking of chili flakes at the end to give it some heat. Spice is nice!

Pizza Numero Uno                                                      Pizza Numero Due

Hot Capicola                                                                   Proscuitto
Mushrooms                                                                    Blue Cheese
Spinach                                                                          Fresh grated mozzarella
Green Peps                                                                     Pears
Sundried Tomatoes                                                         Spinach
Red Onions                                                                     Red onion
Pineapple                                                                        Roasted Garlic ( as a base instead of marinara )
Fresh Tomatoes
Light Shredded Cheddar
Marinara ( as a base )

Thatsa Tasty Meata Sauca!

I love everything Italian.  Good thing Adam is half ;) I get home from work the other day and he's whipping up a storm in the kitchen! A pot the size of my head was on the stove brewin' up a meaty concoction with beef, pork and lotsa veggies.  I decided to add my own flair to the meal by making my mama's garlicky caeser salad and garlicky bread, basically adding the garlic element and warding off vampires.

Mama's Caeser Salad Dressing

Ingredients

garlic
anchovies
mustard powder
egg
EVOO
pepper
worcestershire
tobasco
parmesan cheese
lemon juice

Directions

1. In a small food mixer blend egg, garlic and anchovies first to assure a smooth dressing.
2. Add all other ingredients after to taste except EVOO.
3.  Finally add EVOO at the end to get the consistency you like.
Don't forget the mints for after!

Dessert was a home run too.  A crisp, cold mug o' brew with a dollop of orange sherbet.  Our apartment was 5000 degrees that evening so this was a delightful way to end the night. 

Note: pop open windows and no balcony = sad & overheated Jess.  

Pot o' Pork

Who doesn't love pulled pork? A veggie I suppose. I had a sudden urge to crock pot something the other day and what better than a big, juicy pork butt! I had the best pork of my life a while back at a rooftop BBQ and got the recipe from my bestie. The great thing about this is that it'll last you a week! I made pulled pork pizza on day 3 that was tasty mctasterson.

Ingredients

Pork Butt
Gingerale
Sliced Pears
Good BBQ Sauce (I used Diane's)
Apple Cider Vinegar

Directions

1. Throw everything in the crock and place sliced pears on top of the butt.
2. Cook on low for 8 hours.
3. Shred pork with a fork (I'm such a poet) and mix the pear in, you may have to drain some of the juice.

I served it on a delicious fresh buns from Terra Breads with sliced red onion and coleslaw.

Noodles Continued....HANOI PHO!

Every other week or so, the girls and I get together to go for some sort of noodle luncheon.  Lately one place has caught our attention with their delicious vegetable pho.  Hanoi pho could not be in a worse area of town located on East Hastings and Dunlevy, which proves tricky when parking while trying to dodge the odd transient on the street, but it's all worth it when that broth hits your lips.  The soup comes in a regular pho broth (below) or a hot and sour (right).  The veggies that overflow this soup are broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, carrots, mushrooms, tofu and to top it all off, a nice dollop of sauteed onions.  Their other dishes are great too but it's known around town for their veggie options.  As long as you don't mind the scenery on the way in, I would highly recommend this place for a comforting bowl of YUM!

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181079/restaurant/Chinatown/Hanoi-Pho-Restaurant-Vancouver

Tuff Town Eats

Next to cheese and noodles, I think my bronze medal winner for the tastebud marathon would be crab.  We were in Tofino last week surf n' turfin', and decided to go down to the docks and pick up 6 feisty crustaceans.  Instead of the same old boring steamer with a side of melted butter, I thought we'd kick it up a knotch (NOT like Emeril circa 2006) and fry the bad boys with garlic and chilis. We called it ... FIRE CRAB!

Ingredients

Crabbies (1 per person is usually a good amount of legs, we used fresh dungenous)

Egg wash mixture:

Garlic

Red or green chilis

eggs

Flour mixture:

rice flour

sugar

salt

pepper

Directions

1. After scrubbing the crab legs thoroughly coat them in the egg wash mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Prepare a large, deep frying pan with vegetable oil coating the bottom of the pan.
3. Toss the legs in the flour mixture and fry them on medium-high heat for 3 minutes per side or until the flour coating turns a golden brown and the shells are pink.  You may have to add more oil to the pan as you go.  Voila, Fire Crab!

My sous chef and partner in crime, Adam and his crab face.

Before

After

On our way home we stopped at the infamous Tacofino truck for lunch.  Since Tofino was the birthplace of this legendary street meat machine, we ordered their tuna and fish tacos as well as a pork and chicken burrito.  All delicious and also available in 3 locations in Vancouver now due to their success. http://tacofino.com/

Arab Adventures

North Vancouver is a great hub for quality middle eastern food.  Last weekend we decided to stray from our downtown bubble and head over the bridge for some serious kebab action.  It was such a nice day that the patio at Zeitoon called to us as we drove by on Lonsdale. Starting with some hummous, tzatziki and baba ghanoush ( my favie ), they served the pita bread with a raw sweet onion which was an authentic bonus.  The boys had Doogh, a plain yogurt and mint drink, thirst quenching? Heck no, but definitely your daily dose of calcium in a cup.  For the main, we had lamb 3 ways, because as my daddy said, "you can have beef or chicken any day! let's live a little" and we did.
From left to right: Lamb Shank and Baghali Polo ( I think the shank was already being passed around during the photo ) Lamb Koobideh and Shishlik Lamb Kebab.

http://www.zeitoonrestaurant.ca/

Sumo Size Sunomono!

Alliteration at its best.
Have you ever gone out for Japanese, and ordered an ebi sunomono, just cuz it's a darn refreshing way to start a meal? But then when you receive your so called palate cleanser, it has a few shreds of carrot, single slice of cucumber and one tiny baby shrimp if you're lucky.  Too many times have I been disappointed by the sunomono gods, so I took it into my own hands and went for a trip down to my local asian supermarket! The bowl I used for my homemade sunomono is the same one I use for ramen, curries and pastas to give you an idea, hence the sumo.

glass noodles ( I used green bean and pea based ones that were tassssttttyyyyy )
dried wakame ( remember to soak in warm water first and drain before putting into the salad )

Salad:
cucumber
baby shrimpies
lemon

Vinaigrette:
rice wine vinegar
soy sauce
sugar
few drops of sesame oil

Cook glass noodles for 5 minutes or until desired tenderness is reached, then drain and rinse under cold water and set aside.  Mix vinaigrette ingredients all together until sugar is disolved.  I added a bit of water to mine as I wanted to get the sting of the vinegar out.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl ( size to your liking, SUMO! ) and put in fridge for flavours to combine and chill for 15 minutes.