Perch

Perch is quite possibly my favorite restaurant in all of Vancouver. The menu is quite simple really - appetizers, pizzas, sandwiches and burgers - but the combination of ingredients and flavor make this place unique.

The main reason I go to perch is for the pizzas. All the pizzas are gluten-free, made with fresh ingredients and offer the option of vegan cheese. My favorite is the #2 - spinach, brie, portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions and pesto. But, really, any one of the pizzas on the menu is delicious. Seriously, I probably daydream about these pizzas on an every-few-days basis, they're that good!

The other reason I love this place is the yam salad. Arugula, cooked yams and cashews, with a pesto-hummus dressing. Perfecto!

Also, did I mention that they have free two-player tetris?

Perch up until this weekend was located at 1701 Powell Street (at the foot of Commercial Drive), but will be opening at a new location on East Hastings street in the middle of September.

Jars and Jars and Jars!

This summer I went a tad bit canning/preserving/jarring crazy!

I just love the feeling of opening up a cupboard or pantry and finding a row of beautiful and colorful jars of jams, sauces, pickles and yes, even granola, to look at!

Next on the list - pickles, pickles and more pickles!

Peach and Raspberry Galette

One of my favorite parts of summer is the berry desserts! I had never tried to make a galette before, but was always drawn to the idea of them. This one is a peach and raspberry galette, but you can use any combination of fresh berries and stone fruits - whatever's in season and local!

Peach and Raspberry Galette
Pate Brisee
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into inch cubes
1/4 cup cold water

Filling
1 pint fresh raspberries
3-4 fresh peaches, pitted and sliced
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch

1 egg, lightly beaten
white sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Make the dough and let chill thirty minutes before rolling out into a flat circle.
3. Mix the fruit with the sugar and cornstarch. Place the fruit in the center of the dough and fold edges over fruit. Brush edges with egg and sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour in the oven, until golden brown and fruit is bubbling. If the crust starts to brown too quickly, cover with tin foil and reduce heat to 375 degrees F.

Cherry Pie

This was my first time making and eating cherry pie (ever!). The pie was easy to make, although i would recommend using a cherry pitter if you own one. I do not own one and consequently had to use a chopstick to poke through 2-3lbs of cherries, which ended up leaving my hands quite sore and my kitchen looking like a crime scene (red cherry juice everywhere!). 

I used a recipe from joyofbaking.com, which I made some adjustments to. (See the recipe here: http://www.joyofbaking.com/CherryPie.html). 


Cherry Pie
Pate Brisee: 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water


For the dough, mix the flour and salt together. Mix in the butter using your hands, until the butter resembles a pea-like consistency. Add water and mix gently until the dough has just come together. Split the dough in two. Roll out the bottom and fit into pie plate, then place in fridge to chill until filling is made. Roll out the top and cut into long strips to make a lattice topping. 


Filling: 
4 cups pitted fresh cherries
3/4 cup white sugar
2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsalted butter 


Once cherries have been washed, stemmed and pitted, mix in a bowl with the sugar and cornstarch. Add the salt and vanilla extract. Place in chilled pie plate and add dabs of butter overtop filling before weaving lattice dough overtop. 


Glaze: 
egg yolk
white sugar


Brush with beat egg yolk and sprinkle with white sugar. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees C, then lower to 350 degrees C and bake for another 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and the fruit filling is bubbling. 


Enjoy! 

England + Scotland + Ireland

My boyfriend and I recently took a trip to the UK - England, Scotland and Ireland. In the two weeks we were there, we traveled from London to Liverpool to York to Edinburgh, then across the water to Dublin and the West coast of Ireland. The UK is a lovely place to visit - lots of lively music, beautiful landscapes, and of course, delicious food and beer!

Here are some highlights of our trip:

Sunday Afternoon roast dinner at Toby Carvery in South Croydon (outside of London). Yorkshire pudding, ham, gambon, turkey, roast beef, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, broccoli, swede, stuffing, cauliflower, turnips... all washed down with a pint of London's Pride.

Thai food at the Travel Joy Hostel in London.

Bold Street Coffee in Liverpool. http://www.boldstreetcoffee.co.uk/

Lunch at the Bistro Franc in Liverpool. http://www.bistrofranc.com/

Dinner at the Egg in Liverpool - an all vegetarian restaurant! http://www.eggcafe.co.uk/

Cornish Pasty! They have pasty shops at all the train stations in the UK - it's hard to walk by one and resist the temptation.... if only they had pie shops here in Canada!

 High Tea the the Earl Grey Tea Rooms in York. http://www.earlgreytearooms.co.uk/

We each got a three tier assortment of cucumber sandwiches, cranberry scones with clotted cream and raspberry jam, and cake! All accompaigned with a hot cup of black tea.

Rekorderlig Cider in Edinburgh.

Lovecrumbs in Edinburgh. http://www.lovecrumbs.co.uk/ I absolutely loved this cafe - everything about it is perfectly dainty and sweet. The decor is very antique, with a beautiful old wood wardrobe that holds the cakes, and old vintage tables and chairs (they even have a piano that they use as a table for customers as well!). This cafe is owned by two women - one does all the barista-ing and one does all the baking. The baking is fantastic - I tried out one of the cheese scones, while Thomas had a brownie and a slice of cake!

 

Raspberry White Chocolate Cake at Lovecrumbs.

Homemade dinner at our Dublin hostel - mushroom pot pie with mashed carrots and swede, and a salad.



Lombardo's Pizzeria

My sister and I have started a new weekly dinner date every Wednesday night, in which we try out a new restaurant in Vancouver. Last night, we tried out Lombardo's Pizzeria on Commercial Drive. I had heard a lot about Lombardo's from one of my coworkers, who explained the whole Lombardo's vs. Marcello's longwinded family fued to me. My coworker has always sided with Lombardo's saying that the food (and owners for that matter) are better, and claiming that this place has the best pizza on the drive!

First of all, the restaurant is located inside a “kind-of” shopping center (I use the “ “ marks because there are only about four or five stores/restaurants in the whole center). This location gives the restaurant a more casual feel, which may or may not be advantageous depending on their clientele.

My sister and I ordered two medium pizzas to share – one margherita (tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil) and a vegetariana (tomato sauce, mozzarella, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, artichoke hearts). The pizza was just ok – the margherita didn’t have buffalo mozzarella, which in my opinion is a necessity, and there was only one lonely basil leaf on top. The vegetariana was a bit bland, but that’s understandable – i can't imagine that many of their clientele are veggie-lovers.

All and all, there are other places along the drive that have better pizza (such as perch http://www.eatdrinkperch.com/ or firestone pizza http://firepizza.ca/), but pizza is pizza and we almost finished both pies nonetheless!

To see Lombardo's website, go here: http://lombardos.ca/.

Black Bean and Mushrooms Tacos with Purple Cabbage, Carrot and Yam Salad

This is one of my favorite meals in the whole universe! It's very very easy to make! And it's vegan! Ever since I read the book "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer, I have become a full vegetarian (no more seafood) and I am attempting to substitute more and more vegan meals.

For the tacos, I use a very basic recipe and top them with a mild store-bought salsa (el-paso) and my own homemade fresh salsa.
All you need is:
1 can of black beans
white mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
package of corn tortillas
Heat the black beans in a pot atop the stove until they start to boil and thicken. I like to use a potato masher and mash the beans so that it creates a paste-like texture. Add salt and pepper to season. 
Saute the mushrooms in a pan with butter over medium heat until they are browned and delicious.
Heat the tortillas one at a time in a pan until warm.

For the salsa, you need: 
1 avocado
1 tomato
1/4 white onion
garlic
cilantro
lime juice
salt and pepper
Chop the avocado, tomato, onion, garlic and cilantro, and mix together. Add a teaspoon or two of freshly squeezed lime juice and mix. Season with salt and pepper. 

I like to serve the tacos with a cabbage, yam and carrot salad, which I call my "rainbow salad." It's very crunchy and delicious!

For the salad, you need: 
red cabbage, chopped into thin slices
1 yam, boiled and chopped
2-3 carrots, sliced into thin slivers
pumpkin seeds
craisins
balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
Mix the cabbage, yam and carrots together. Add the pumpkin seeds and craisins. Top with the vinaigrette, and mix!