The Wooden Spoon Brunch & Bistro Co.

We decided to check out The Wooden Spoon for breakfast and then the White Rock Farmer’s Market. I needed something a little lighter and healthier so I choose the granola with spicy sausage bangers. The fruit was fresh, but the parfait was pretty average. The sausage had kick, but was a little dry. I liked the coffee, served in a french press. Hubby enjoyed his Wooden Spoon poutine. I had a taste and found the flavours satisfying, but a tad on the greasy side.  Service was really attentive to start, but faded as they got busier and when we tried to get the bill. They are definitely creative with their brunch items, if I am in town again. I might return.

Granola Parfait  House roasted granola served over Greek yogurt topped with Fraser Valley honey, and fresh fruit Spicy sausage bangers
Granola Parfait
House roasted granola served over Greek yogurt topped with Fraser Valley honey, and fresh fruit
Spicy sausage bangers
Wooden Spoon Poutine Spicy house ground sausage, sauteed sweet peppers, caramelized onions, cheese curds, topped with two poached eggs and hollandaise
Wooden Spoon Poutine
Spicy house ground sausage, sauteed sweet peppers, caramelized onions, cheese curds, topped with two poached eggs and hollandaise

The Wooden Spoon Brunch and Bistro Co. on Urbanspoon

Five Corners Cafe

I was in White Rock a couple of weekends ago, visiting friends. We were looking for breakfast and decided to try Five Corners Cafe. I loved it. This is a fifties style diner which hasn’t changed. They had old cameras (I mean really old), photos and other knick knacks on display.

The food is traditional diner food. I had to try the full Irish breakfast. I’ve had a real full English breakfast, but not an Irish one. It was so big that I shared it with my friend. You know their portions are generous when there are half servings available for some menu items.

My Irish breakfast from L-R: baked beans, scrambled eggs, tomato, white pudding, ham, black pudding, sausage, potato cake and soda bread. It was delicious. The black pudding is pork blood and oatmeal. White pudding is oatmeal and suet. Both tasted pretty good. The service was friendly and the place is popular on a Saturday morning.

Full Irish Breakfast
Full Irish Breakfast

Five Corners Café on Urbanspoon

 

Tandoori Chicken Pizza

I’ve always wanted to try making pizza on the grill. I just needed an excuse to do it.  Today is the day, a beautiful bluebird 27C day and a preference not to turn on the oven.

I defrosted the leftovers from my last pizza party – one piece of dough, caramelized onions and tandoori chicken. Prep the chicken, onions, and mayo before grilling.

Tandoori Chicken

This recipe is adapted from the book Simply More Indian by Tahera Rawji. It is actually part of the butter chicken recipe, but I omitted the sauce ingredients and adapted the instructions.

2 lb boneless chicken pieces
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp tumeric
1 tbs tandoori powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbs ghee or oil
1/4 C crispy fried onions (buy at an Indian grocer)
1 C warm water

Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Combine the ginger and garlic pastes, chili powder, tumeric, tandoori powder and salt. Toss this mixture with the chicken in a plastic bag and let sit for 30 minutes in the fridge.

In a large, deep, saucepan (dutch oven works well), melt the ghee over medium high heat. Add the crispy fried onions and the chicken. Saute the chicken until browned, about 5-8 minutes. Add the warm water and simmer for 15 minutes, until the chicken is tender. Let the chicken cool, and pour into a strainer to remove any excess liquid. This will make more than enough for one pizza. I suggest freezing the remainder.

Caramelized Onions

I love caramelized onions and usually double or triple the recipe to save for other uses.

Slice a large yellow onion into 1/2 inch rings. In a heavy bottomed pan, (Dutch oven is great), heat 1/4C oil suitable for high heat such as ghee or grapeseed oil.  Saute the onions on medium until they turn golden brown. This may take at least 20 minutes. Take off heat and cool.

Mango Chutney

I cheated and used some store bough Patak’s chutney. I used about 1/2 the 250 ml jar.

Curry Mayo

2 tbs plain yogurt
1 tbs mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder, to taste

Mix all three ingredients together. The colour should be a slight tinge of yellow. Add more curry powder to taste.

Pizza Dough

Use whichever pizza dough recipe suits your fancy. I froze my dough before proofing, so I let it sit on the counter in a large zipper bag for an hour.

I stretched it out, and it was round when it hit the cookie sheet. I basted olive oil on the top and tried to pick it up and put it on the grill. Unfortunately, it stretched and turned into sort of an oval. The temp was less than 500F but I had to reduce the cooking time as it was already starting to brown. The olive oil and the grill marks make for a satisfyingly crisp crust. Next time I will just do flatbreads using the pizza crust. So good! Or maybe naan…

Back to the recipe. After the first flip, I slathered on the chutney, followed by the chicken, and then the caramelized onions. Do not put on the mayo!

I followed the instructions from The Kitchn for grilling.

After taking it off the grill and cutting for serving, top off with the curry mayo to your own taste. Delicious!

Tandoori chicken pizza on the grill
Tandoori chicken pizza on the grill
Served with curry mayo
Served with curry mayo

 

 

 

 

CSA Delivery #1

It’s that time of year again, fresh veggies from the farm. I’ve signed up with Eagle Creek Farms going on three years now. I never tire of freshly picked vegetables. This week we have: arugula, mixed greens, spinach, parsley, pea shoots, green garlic, strawberries and some kohlrabi plants. I am a reluctant gardener; I still have a basil plant from a couple years ago that’s going strong. Last year’s Thai basil had to be thrown out due to insect infestation. 🙁

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