If there is one restaurant in Banff that I will come back to, time and time again; it’s The Bison. Well crafted, rustic and hearty food. Suitable for an après-ski dinner.
I was in the mood for some hot soup. The oxtail was fall-off-the-bone and flavorful. The crispy bacon hit the spot. The broth tasted like it was cooking for days.
The bison ribs also tasted like they were stewed for days with the same fall-off-the-bone tenderness. The dish stayed hot throughout the meal thanks to the cast iron. The portion sizes are definitely on the larger size, considering we were hungry skiers and split dessert. I had enough for lunch the next day.
CARMEN CREEK BISON SHORT RIBS baby potatoes, carrots, turnips, mushrooms, bacon
The crème brûlée was heavenly. There were chunks of apple underneath the caramelized topping. The gingersnap twirl was a nice touch.
CREME BRULEE apple cinnamon spiced, gingersnap palmiers
Service was good, although slower towards the end of the meal. Reservations highly recommended, especially on a Saturday night.
I finally have enough ingredients to make a recent favorite of mine, curry ramen noodle soup. I made some Chinese style char siu and medium boiled egg. I also made some pork broth. Originally I wanted to make tonkotsu broth, but I didn’t have the patience to clean the pork bones and boil the broth for eight hours. So I settled for pork broth.
To make the soup for the ramen, I used a piece of the Japanese style Glico curry. I know; next time I will try to make the curry roux from scratch. I dissolved the block into the broth. Also sliced some nori and green onion.
To my surprise, the ramen developed better flavour sitting in the fridge overnight before cooking. It actually tasted like ramen this time.
Pork Broth
2 lbs pork bones with some meat on
3 dried Chinese mushrooms
1 large onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic
several small chunks of ginger
handful of dried wakame seaweed
handful of dried black fungus
Simmer the pork bones and mushrooms in a large pot of water for 2 hours. Transfer to a 6-7 quart slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients and top up with water. Cook on low for 8 hours or high on 4. The longer the better. Cool and strain. Reserve bones with pork for eating.
Credits to Joanne for helping me with the cooking, taste test and the photos.
On this cold Saturday night we didn’t want to venture far for dinner. We went to an old standby, Dairy Lane, but the wait was 2o minutes. Not wanting to wait, we decided to try Vina’s next door.
Vina’s is a family run neighborhood restaurant. It was busy, but we were seated quickly. The menu is pizza and classic favorites. I decided on the Chicken Souvlaki. It came with a side salad and garlic bread. The portions were generous and the food was satisfying. The food came out hot which is always a good thing. The roasted potatoes were nicely done and so was the chicken. The only thing was the vegetables looked like they were from frozen.
The service was friendly and quick and the prices were good value.
I’ve always loved ramen noodles. This was born from my days in elementary school when I would run home for lunch to have Mom serve me gong jai mein, the Doll brand of instant noodles. My tastes are now more refined and I prefer non instant forms of ramen.
I had the urge to make these noodles for myself. I put to good use the pasta roller attachment that I got for Christmas. Also the bottle of Koonchun kansui that has been sitting in my cupboard since summer.
Makes enough noodles for 4 bowls
2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon Koon Chun Potassium Carbonate & Sodium Bi-Carbonate (kansui)
Batch 1:
Needed an additional 2/3 C water for dough to form together, as it was so dry that it crumbled. Also added another ½ tsp of Kansui but it didn’t turn yellow. I live at 3500 ft. I suspect that may have something to do with it. The noodles had some of the expected chewiness, but still were more like spaghetti than ramen. Next time, more Kansui. The noodles were so dry that I didn’t need any additional flour to prevent sticking.
Batch 2:
Used 1.5 C of water to 3 tsp kansui. Also increased flour to 3 cups. The dough colour was a little more yellow than the last batch. I rolled the sheet on 3, but set the last pass to 4 before using the spaghetti cutter. The noodles were a little thinner, I think I could set the sheet to 5 next time. The noodles were also a little more curly. The taste was more like ramen than the last batch, but it could still use some improvement. I needed to douse the pasta sheet with flour before rolling as this batch was more moist than the last. Also, because of the amount of water, the dough separated into chunks rather than crumbs in the mixing phase. Good thing I have a 800W mixer, my Kitchenaid would not stand a chance with this dough. But it’s pretty good for pasta making.
I cooked the ramen the next day after leaving it in the fridge overnight. The taste actually improved with resting. The consistency is still a bit firm, although it might have been due to under cooking.
I’ll leave this as an unfinished post, as I plan to make more batches and tweak the recipe. Half the fun, is playing with the ingredients.
Using the pasta sheet cutterUsing the spaghetti cutterFirst batchOne bowl would be two servings of the small noodle or one of the largeCooked lo mein style. Plan to refrigerate for tomorrow so soup not an option.
My in-laws took me out for a little post Christmas dinner. We wanted to go to Supply and Demand, but they were booked for a private party. So we decided to visit Juniper, an old standby. The food was very good and richly satisfying. Even after Christmas dinner. The service was attentive and friendly.
Amuse bouche Date with honey and spicesOysters with Juniper spicy kick, gin ice and citric pomegranateSTEELHEAD TROUT cured and smoked with carrot cinnamon purée and orange herb saladInteresting looking foon.Orange Lemon Cardamum Crème BrûléeAmuse bouche for dessert Chocolate brownie
Every year, I venture over to Ottawa to celebrate Christmas with family. This year, no different, well except there were around 27 people this year. A record. We had the luxury of being able to use kitchens of houses right next door to each other. There were two 17 lb turkeys. (to ensure leftovers). Five cooks, over 1.5 days of cooking and prep. Now that’s my kind of gathering. A passion for cooking definitely runs in my family.
Fruit basketNavy beans and weights for baking blindDinner MenuDouble turkey time!Dinner BuffetDinner Buffet
The deli and fruit trays were crafted by yours truly.
When I first heard about this restaurant, I thought they served Newfie food. My mistake, I apologize. This is French Asian fusion cuisine. The Chef and owner is very friendly; he likes to chat with his customers when he is not busy. The restaurant was empty when we arrived for 6pm. Our meals arrived piping hot, and in good time. There was only one server, and as the restaurant got busier, the service slowed. We had to ask for the dessert menu and the bill, but that’s alright.
I’ve been waiting to try this place since they closed and moved in March. It is indeed worth the wait. The food comes in generous portions. Beware, the entrees come with two sides, that would easily serve as an appetizer. We started with the calamari. It was piping hot and crisp. I had the lamb shank with the corn chowder and house salad for an entree. The lamb was fall-off-the-bone fantastic. I liked the crisp potato skins that fell over the top. The sauce was rich and velvety. The corn chowder was smooth and creamy. The salad contained iceberg lettuce but probably would have been livened up with some dark leafy greens. It was served with a dressing that tasted like butter pecan. Yum.
Hubby wanted the prime rib but it was sold out. So he settled for the Muscovy duck. Settled is not the appropriate word. It was apparently delicious. We both followed it up with a homemade tiramisu.
The clientele seems to be mostly Asian on this night. This is upscale food in a casual decor. I suspect that restaurant is family friendly as there were young kids there.
TEMPURA CALAMARI CRISPY CALAMARI BREADED IN TEMPURA FLOUR SERVED WITH THE ROCK TARTAR SAUCEMUSCOVY DUCK BREAST ROASTED 10 OZ DUCK BREAST SERVED WITH SAUTEED SPINACH AND MUSHROOM IN ORANGE BRANDY SAUCESoup of the day Corn ChowderROCKING LAMB SHANK JUMBO LAMB SHANK BRAISED WITH ROSEMARY DEMI JUSTIRAMISU HOUSE MADE
Memories of Baja. Specifically fish tacos. I had a hankering for some this week and crawled the web for something suitable.
I bought some tilapia and pan fried it with salt and pepper. I also bought some haddock and baked it in cornmeal. To serve, I heated corn or flour tortillas with the fish on top in a frying pan. Topped with white sauce, red cabbage slaw and a squeeze of lime.
I used to call it a Christmas Cookie Exchange, but since people starting bringing all sorts of cookies, it’s an excuse for those of us that like to bake to get together during the holidays. I think in terms of numbers, this was the most cookies I’ve had at an exchange. We had everything from traditional holiday shortbread to cheesecake tarts. I baked my famous black sea salt caramel cookies and matcha cookies. I love the variety. Sadly, I end up giving most of it away at work, or to friends. If I ate all that, I would be a blimp!
For snacks, I made some mulled cider (non alcoholic). I also ordered a pumpkin spice cake from Fraiche Desserts. They are local and make wonderful desserts and baked goods. I also found some savoury Indian doughnuts at the Dalbrent Spice Rack. They are gluten free, but are made in a factory with wheat. So, not for celiacs. They went really well with the sweet and spicy chutneys.
Black sea salt caramel, chocolate, red raspberry twirls, s’mores, ginger shortbread, peanut butter sandwich, peanut butter, ginger snap, matcha, shortbread, cheesecake cookie tarts.The spread.Pumpkin spice cake, samosas and savoury lentil doughnuts with spicy mango pickle and homemade chutney.Pumpkin spice cake, samosas and savoury lentil doughnuts with spicy mango pickle and homemade chutney.
