fabulous fare from a lover of food & travel
Our friends’ desire to learn how to make Thai green curry led to an impromptu Thai night, where D and I decided to get a bit ambitious and make two new Thai dishes we’d never made (in addition to the curry). Pad Thai was a particularly daunting prospect, as most of us have had our…
Our recent trip to New England was a whirlwind of culinary delights, and one of the highlights was visiting a fabulous recipe in Boston called Sportello, recommended by an old friend of David’s. Our meals were outstanding, and I particularly enjoyed my dish, which was potato gnocchi with a mushroom ragu, peas and cream. The gnocchi was…
It is well-established that David is a fan of garlic. He will often gleefully double or even triple the amount of garlic called for in a recipe. However, when I came across this recipe, which has long been ear-marked for us to try, he found that his garlic lust had met its match.
David and I have eaten our fair share of animal parts–liver, sweetbreads, ears, etc. Perhaps one of the more pleasant surprises I had in sampling something a little off-the-beaten path was roasted bone marrow. Our love for this dish arises from our favourite Vancouver restaurant, Le Crocodile, where we both had the chance to try bone…
It was to be a relatively quiet Thanksgiving, with just the two of us plus David’s brother. As such, a turkey seemed like overkill, so we decided to consider the smaller birds (e.g. cornish game hen, duck, capon), finally settling on duck. It’s been quite awhile since we’d had duck, and this seemed like the…
We were re-introduced to the Salade Lyonnaise at our delicious anniversary dinner a few weeks ago. I say re-introduced, as David has had more than his fair share of this particular salad at the bakery he used to work at in Portland. He was eager to try his hand at making it himself. It is a brilliant…
There are few dishes that are as iconically French as coq au vin, and we were kind of appalled that we both had not yet tried it (even in a restaurant). The preparation is somewhat involved, as the chicken marinates for at least a day but potentially up to 3 days, but we were game…
In my search for new and interesting recipes, this one caught my eye, if only because of its unusual pairing of cinnamon spice sugar cookies with chicken. It makes use of speculoos, a buttery cinnamon and spice cookies that is a specialty of northern France, Belgium and Holland, traditionally baked in December around Christmas time….
Quiche lorraine was one of the first things we made for Gastrofare back in 2009. There’s something about this classic French dish that is so appealing–simple, fluffy and delicious. I was happy to try my hand at making it, as I’m attempting to expand my week-night meal repertoire (beyond just desserts) to help David out…
There are perhaps few French desserts more iconic than crème brûlée, although apparently the actual origins of this dish (France or Britain) are still disputed. It is one of my favourites–nothing like the sound of a little spoon tapping the top of that caramelized crust, a joy so well-depicted in Amélie. This one is actually a…