Cookies Of Course

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Sean

Cookies are one of my favorite sweet treats. I found myself in Harbor Center Mall having lunch and when I was leaving I smelled the aroma of fresh-baked cookies. This is how I was introduced to Cookies Of Course. Unlike other cookie retailers they sell cookies by weight instead of price/cookie so I picked up 3 fresh out of the oven treats.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk cookies. With that perfect mix of peanut butter and chocolate this would satisfy any cookie lover. The chocolate chunks were oozy and gooey and the center of the cookie was nice and soft.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies. With a mix of milk and dark chocolate chunks these were what a chocolate chunk cookie should be. With a crisp outer and soft and chewy inside this was just what I love in a cookie.

I think Cookies Of Course is perfect for a mid afternoon cookie break, they make a perfect cookie if you’re a soft and chewy cookie lover. For my 3 cookies the total came to just over $3 so I could see how these sweet treats could get expensive if you were buying by the dozen.

Soirette Macarons and Tea

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Sean

Soirette Macarons and Tea has opened its door’s in Vancouver and Pastry Chef and Owner Shobna Kannusamy is putting out some of the best macarons that I have ever had!

I made sure I visited in the early afternoon when there would be a good selection of flavors still available~because of the labor intensive process and the fact it takes a couple of days to make a macaron properly so once the flavor is gone that day its gone. I was greeted warmly by a server and the owner herself is in the shop on a daily basis in the back making great creations.

The temperature controlled case is like a kaleidoscope of color!. The toughest decisions that you will have to make are A) how many do you wanna get and B) what flavors might you indulge in~the quality isn’t something you have to worry about so you can focus really on your favorite or interesting flavor that might catch your fancy. Some of the more exotic flavors are based on whats in season and what inspires the owner~the mandarin orange is an example of that and inspired by the Chinese New Year and Shobna is soon coning up with a blood orange macaron to fill the place of the mandarin orange.

I went with a dozen for $22 and decided to eat 6 in store and had a Americano to wash them down with. For my eat-in choices I went with the rocher, pistachio, cappuccino, mandarin orange and 2 caramel fleur de sel.

Like a good macaron should it was like cracking an egg shell when biting in and the inside was soft and airy~a definite pleasure to eat. The stand out flavors that I had in-house were the mandarin orange and the caramel fleur de sel which had a chocolate ganache outside with a caramel in the middle and I got the salt hit when I first bit into it and then it quickly dissipated and the caramel flavor came through.

The packaging here is first class, the box keeps your precious little treats safe from bouncing around and breaking. The flavors I took home with me were raspberry, malibu, chocolat chocolat, pink peppercorn, passion fruit and matcha.

Pink Peppercorn, with a chocolate ganache filling the pink peppercorn isn’t that strong and works well with the filling, I haven’t had many chocolate/pepper combinations before so I was intrigued by this one.

Malibu, it’s like being on the beach!, the top is sprinkled with coconut and has a white chocolate ganache, the coconut flavor for me came at the end and wasn’t too strong.

Matcha with a white chocolate matcha ganache filling, this was a bit subtle in flavor for me and could have used a bit more matcha in the filling.

Passion Fruit, this one has an intense tart chocolate ganache filling, I’d say it was the strongest flavor out of all I tried~it was really good!

Raspberry, with a butter cream filling this was a slightly tart and creamy combination.

Chocolat Chocolat, with a chocolate outside and a chocolate ganache filling this is appropriately named, it’s a must try for any chocoholic.

I loved my first visit to Soirette and I’m going to definitely make it a usual spot for me seeing it’s close by and has the best macarons I’ve had so far in the city.

The person that turned me on to macarons is Follow Me Foodie, she takes her macarons seriously and has even gone to the trouble of making these herself~it’s a 2 day process so the price that is charged for these baby’s is worth it when you take labor cost in to account, you can read Mijune’s post here about Soirette and if your new to macarons and would like to know what to look for or would just like a great read please check out Mijune’s post “The Perfect Parisian Macarons” please click here.

Another BC Winner on Recipe To Riches

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Sean

The winner for week 5 of Food Network Canada’s show Recipe To Riches and in the sweet or savoury treat category we have another $25,000 winner from British Columbia!

Here’s a bit about Sonya, a self-confessed ski bum Sonya Walosis a bar manager at one of Whistler’s most famous pubs. But it’s just not about day’s spent on the snowy slopes and late night’s behind the bar for this good-natured girl. She also loves to bake, and-don’t kid yourself-Sonya is one smart cookie. Being gluten intolerant. she realized that it was simply impossible for her to buy a good cookie that she could indulge in,,, so she created one. Her masterpiece, “The Smart Cookie”, says Sonya, is the best there is.

“The Smart Cookie”, as it’s creator Sonya lovingly calls it, is an extraordinarily delicious gluten-free treat. Her one-of-a-kind recipe includes milk chocolate chips, coconut, puffed corn, quinoa and crisp brown rice. The result is a delectably sweet indulgence that the whole family can and is sure to enjoy. You can check out Sonya’s original recipe here if you want to bake up a homemade batch and you can see her full episode here .

Sonya won with a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie that has been dubbed “The Smart Cookie”. She was up against mini s’mores called s’morsele’s and a cookie that tasted like the classic breakfast-pancakes, syrup and bacon-it even had pieces of bacon in the cookie that was called “The Stampedier”! but the judges in the end went with Sonja’s gluten-free treat.

Normally wouldn’t buy this product because I’m not gluten intolerant and also because gluten-free products are not any healthier than the regular version and in some cases can be higher in sugar-so now that I have that out of the way lets check out some the product and see if it tastes just like my favorite kind of cookie.

You get in a box as you can see above and they cost $3.99 and taste wise their great, they taste just like any other chocolate chip cookie and the crisp brown rice, quinoa and puffed rice cereal added a nice extra texture. For people with gluten issues I can see this as a welcomed product that is available where ever President’s Choice products are sold.

An update from the show:

Congratulations to Sonya Walos the winner of last night’s Recipe to Riches! Sonya’s Gluten Free Cookies will hit grocery store shelves THIS weekend.

However Sonya will NOT be participating in the grand prize finale. After the episode was filmed, it was discovered that Sonya has an immediate family member who works for one of the entities involved with Recipe to Riches, which makes her ineligible to participate in the contest. This is a common eligibility rule in Canadian contests which aims to make contests fair for all participants.

Lunch At The Acme Cafe

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Sean

The Acme Cafe is a favorite of mine when I’m looking for a new take on diner classics so on this visit I tried their take on the chicken club sandwich.

I started with one of their solid milkshakes, in this case I chose the espresso milkshake for $5.25 and I must say the make a great one that has a couple fresh shots in every shake.

This is the star of the show, the Acme’s $12 take on the chicken club contains the following ingredients: multi-grain or white bread, chicken, bacon, aged cheddar, tomato, arugula, sun-dried tomato mayo and grainy mustard. The sun-dried tomato mayo and grainy mustard add a totally unique taste and flavor to the sandwich and the fresh roasted chicken is moist and tender. Sandwiches here come with broccoli almond slaw and potato chips-I went with all slaw and I must say they have really good dill pickle spears here.

One thing that’s not to be missed here is the dessert case by the front door. It’s stocked fresh daily with homemade cakes, pies, cookies and other yummy pastry’s by Peggy and the amazing pasty chef they have in-house.

Presidents Choice Insider’s Report Product Taste Test 2011

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Sean

With the new edition of the Presidents Choice Insiders report out just in time for the holiday season it’s time to start trying whats new and whats good. Recently I have been checking out the Recipe To Riches products and had the winner of the appetizer category’s product the other night and so I chose to try some of the Presidents Choice Puff Pastry hors d’ oeuvre’s selection as well so I wouldn’t be full of chicken grenades.

First up is the hors d’oeuvre’s, at $10 for 40 pieces-10 of each kind is a great little selection that is great bang for your buck. Cooking is dead simple-400 for 22-25 minutes of your making 1/2 of the box and if your making the whole box split them up on 2 baking sheets and use the bottom and middle racks switching 1/2 way through and cooking for a total of 27-30 minutes.

You get a different take on traditional sausage rolls-a chicken sausage roll filling wrapped in puff pastry. These are a traditional sausage roll done with chicken instead, the filling is nicely seasoned and flavored well. The puff pastry adds a great buttery taste to these sausage rolls.

Next up are Gruyère and smoked ham boats. These are one of my favorite items in the box, the smoked ham really comes through and the Gruyère adds a nice nutty flavor to this delicious flavor boat!

Something that is a nice twist in the box are the roasted sweet potato and goat cheese rolls. I didn’t pick up on the flavor of the sweet potato but the goat cheese really comes through. One thing I really do like are the shape of these little goat cheese bites.

Finally in the box we have the Apple, Smoked Gouda and Caramelized Onion Lattice Rolls. Think these are my favorite items by far, the smoked Gouda adds a nice salty taste that comes off as bacon kind of and the caramelized onion and apple add a nice sweet tone to the roll. I gobbled these up pretty quick.

This is a new item this year to the Presidents Choice line up and is featured in the current TV commercial for the Insiders Report.

They aren’t on the cookie isle so head over to the frozen section to find these bad boys. It’s extra large chocolate chip cookie that is about the size of a small personal pie with a frozen chocolate center. For $6.99 you get 4 cookies in a box.

You can bake these in the oven at 350 for 8-10 minutes and let stand for a minute or you can cook them in the microwave loosely wrapped in a paper towel on HIGH for 45-55 seconds and again let it stand for a minute before diving in.

This was a delicious dessert and great treat that I’ll keep in my freezer for sure. The cookie was soft and chewy and the molten chocolate center was great for dipping the surrounding cookie into. I can definitely see these in different flavors on the shelf and in the Insiders Report next year.

You can view The Presidents Choice Insiders Report here and check out all the new great innovative products Presidents Choice is bringing to the market.

Back To Thierry-This Time With Mary

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Sean

I hit up Thierry again this week for some deserts and this time I took Maryinvancity along with me to try some treats after a Canuck’s preseason home game~what better way to drowned one’s sorrows than with fine deserts!.

When we got there around 9:30 the place was packed but we were lucky and scored a table on the patio, we grabbed a selection of deserts so on to the food!

Chocolate Opera Cake $6.95, a layer of chocolate ganache and chocolate butter cream with coffee type liquor and topped off with a think hard layer of chocolate, for being so small this bad boy packs a punch and is quite rich, I really enjoyed it but Mary found it a bit to rich.

Blueberry Tart $6.55, like the exotic fruit tart I’ve had before but with just blueberry’s and vanilla pastry cream, I like the fruit tarts here and Mary also really enjoyed it, we both commented on how rich the pastry cream is without being heavy. This dish is a total winner.

Chocolate Trio $6.95, layers of white chocolate mousse, milk chocolate mousse and dark chocolate mouse with 2 thin layers of chocolate cake, the mousse’s are really rich and creamy yet are light and airy so it’s actually pretty easy to eat one of these yourself.

Assorted Macaroons $11.95 for 7, by the time we got here a lot of the popular flavors were sold out, in this selection we got a couple of chocolate with hazelnut butter cream, a lemon, a key lime, a cappuccino and a chocolate with pistachio butter cream. A couple of the bigger macaroons were kind of hard to eat but most were soft and tender and the butter cream fillings were really nice, some of the macaroons have a little surprise in the form of a jam or real fruit drop in the butter cream middle~really nice.

Thierry Patisserie

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Sean

Vancouver for the longest time has not had a selection of fine places for dessert and chocolates with the exception of Thomas Haas on W.Broadway the selection has been slim pickings till now.

Vancouver pastry chef extraordinaire Thierry Busset, former pastry chef at Cin Cin and West and Internationally with friend and fellow chef Gordon Ramsey at London’s La Gravoché spent years developing the concept for his new chocolaterie/patisserie. Now open, it’s appropriately named Thierry, part of the Top Table family of restaurants. Thierry is the perfect place to sit down for a coffee or espresso (made with the exclusive Thierry Espresso Blend), beer, cold house-pressed juice, or a glass of wine. Sandwiches are available at lunchtime and dinner as well as out of this world gazpacho and quiche but you’ll probably be ready for something sweet like I was, making the decision of what to have is the hard part, every product was so deliciously presented and is a real feast for the eyes.

With Thierry in the kitchen himself with staff at 5am every morning helping make the daily greatness including the puff pastry used in his delicious pastries, croissants and making the fresh bread for sandwiches really shows his commitment to quality. One thing that should be noted~prices here are on the high end~$6.95 on average for most deserts, Thomas Haas on average is $5-$6 each so don’t get sticker shock when you come in for a bite.

Here are a selection of items I’ve had so far:

The Lemon Tart $6.95, the lemon tart here is divine, the filling is tart and rich and the pastry is flaky and not soggy from the filling, if you’re looking for a great lemon tart this would be a definite recommendation. The Americano’s here are really good and the espresso used is nice and full-bodied.

Chocolate Succe Cake $6.95, hazelnut meringue, chocolate mousse and 70% chocolate ganache. The description I just gave is what is on the card at the bakery, this actually to me wasn’t a cake, the meringue was like layers in a coffee crisp texture wise so you don’t get any cake in this one and the mouse is pretty dense inside, it was really hard to eat and my first bite was like this:

the thing practically went flying off the plate because the chocolate was fully hard, it was more like a big candy bar and could be eaten with your hands. I noticed a girl who got this thinking like me it would be cake and she ran into the same issues like I did and looked pretty disappointed. At the end if the day the flavors were great but if I had to do it over again I would have chosen something else.

I grabbed a few items to go for later and here’s the selection I got:

Exotic Fruit Tart $6.95, selection of papaya, lychee, kiwi, strawberries, goose berrys, pineapple and blackberry with pastry cream filling.

This was a nice light tart and the pastry cream in this is really nice and rich, the fruit is fresh and the pastry is buttery and crisp.

Tiramisu $6.95. This is one to check out, it’s nice and creamy yet really light, the chocolate panels on the side are a nice touch. It has 2 layers of creamy mousse and a thin layer of cake on the bottom and in the middle to represent the lady fingers.

If you craving some great dessert check out Thierry on Alberni street in downtown Vancouver.

Finch’s Tea and Coffee House

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Sean

Located at Homer and Pender St is the Vancouver landmark Finch’s Tea and Coffee House. It’s been there for as long as I can remember and busy all the time and I can see what and am kicking myself in the ass for not finding this place sooner.

It’s a mix of shabby worn tables and chairs and antique glass that adds the old world vibe to this place and the mixed crowd of young and old enjoying their sandwiches, tea and coffee

With a selection of sandwiches, salads and drinks there is something for everyone I would think

menu image taken from there website

lots to choose from

One of my favorite sandwiches here is one of the most popular~the pear, prosciutto, blue brie and toasted walnuts $8.75

It has to be one of the best combination of ingredients I’ve ever had in a sandwich and is also offered in a salad form~YUMMO!

This is one of those sandwiches where you are ment to get a bite of everything in each much~all the ingredients work together to give you a balanced bite enjoyable bite, the balsamic vinegar cuts the richness of the meat and cheese and the pear adds a great sweet crispness to the sandwich and all the big ingredients.

The Gipsy Salami baguette $7.50, the other type of meat offered here is salami, this peppered beauty is on the same bread, served with lettuce and fresh tomatoes that are salt and peppered then packed with gipsy salami and pesto mayo is the food lube for the baby.

When I said the sandwich was packed with salami I wasn’t joking!, the meat was folded into triangles which ultimately lead to the meat exploding out after I took my 1st bite so I ended up eating some meat by itself and filling what I had left back into the bread so this one was more pretty looking and tasted great but was a hot mess to eat.

If you’re in the area Finch’s is a great place to check out for a great lunch or brunch on the weekends and all sandwiches can be made to go.

finchteahouse.com

Tacofino Cantina

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Sean

Tacofino is here!!!!!, after seeing Tacofino on the Food Network Canada show Eat St. I really like what I saw and what they were putting out~Mexican inspired Baja Californian cuisine with West Coast influence.

after being located in Tofino British Columbia Tacofina Cantina has brought there seriously delicious eats to the streets of Vancouver!. Located at Denman and Davie street in the late afternoon/evenings and on Howe near Robson street next to the Vancouver Art Gallery usually in the daytime there in a prime locations, I couldn’t wait to try out what they were offering.

They have a great bottled drink selection and also offer up blended drinks as well if that’s what you’re in the mood for.

This is there mint and lime freshie blended drink $4.5, it’s blended whole pieces of lime, fresh mint, ice and some sugar and water and blended up all nice~it was cold and refreshing and would be perfect with some rum or tequila mixed in!.

I ordered a couple of things off the menu to get a taste of their signature items you could say and have gone back more than a few times to eat~it’s really one of the best food carts on the streets of Vancouver right now.

the Tuna Ta-Taco $6.5, it’s a blend of tuna tataki and a taco with a seaweed salad, wasabi mayo and a mango salsa verde also, really good and fresh and the shredded cabbage is a great texture contrast and the seaweed salad adds a great slightly salty note to the taco.

The Pork Gringa $4.5, really yummy shredded pork and cheese with salsa and sour cream and then fried on both sides, its kinda like a quesadilla, I could easily eat 3 or 4 of these with some cold beers, it was a bit messy to eat but that’s all good.

The baja style Fish Tacos $4.5 each, tempura battered ling cod with chipotle mayo, hand shredded cabbage and salsa fresca on a toasted flour tortilla. This is one of my favorite tacos they make, the fish batter is nice and light because of the tempura and all the ingredients are a great together, these things go great in pairs so get a couple!.

On my last visit I was walking the seawall and grabbed the special taco of the day~a carne asada or steak taco $5.5 with homemade guacamole, mango salsa fresca and hand shredded cabbage and of course I had to grab a baja fish taco as well, the steak was nicely seasoned tender, its like surf and turf from a food cart!, I really hope they keep the steak taco on the menu or bring it back regularly cuz it kicks ass.

the Diablo Chocolate cookie $2.5, this addictive chocolate cookie is seriously good, its looks are deceiving tho~its laced with cayenne pepper and cinnamon in addition to the chocolate chunks and has fresh ginger juice and salt and sugar on top, on the show people raved about these and I can see why, its sweet, hot and that salt brings out all the flavors in the cookie and the recipe is on the Food Network Canada site under the Eat St area. This also comes in an ice cream sandwich and is a must try.

If you find yourself down in the English Bay area do yourself a favor and check out the Tacofino Cantina food truck and get some good eats, you can find them on the Eat St app for the iPhone and Android platform and on the Street Food App for iPhone.

@tacofinocantina

www.facebook.com/tacofino-vancouver

The East Village Bakery

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Sean

The area known as Hastings Sunrise has been undergoing some what a revitalization in the last couple years. With additions to the neighborhood like The Red Wagon Cafe,El Barrio and now Campagnolo Roma , The East Village Bakery has found its home in the neighborhood and the residents seem to have fallen in love as well as the rest of Vancouver with the delicious baked goods that Lucia Tam and Bobby Chick make with loving care everyday.

Unable to find quality baked goods in the area they opened the East Village Bakery and quite honestly with all the changes in the area it really is like a little village in the area and the residents are very proud of that.The smell of fresh-baked artisan breads and pastries fill the block so you know you in the right place-also the bakery sign hanging is the other give away!. The shelves here are constantly replenished thru the day with different treats so you always have a great selection to choose from, everything is preservative and additive free,on certain day’s of the week they bake spelt and kamut products and take special and custom orders by email and phone and that’s the beauty of dealing with a local owner operated business like this~some of the best customer service I’ve ever received.

The specialty’s of the house are breads, cookies, pies, bunt cakes and some of the best brioche and challah bread in the city, most items are available in large and small sizes if you give them a call. The kalamata olive and cheddar ciabata is always a winner as well as the cheddar fougasse.

The items that really get me salivating are the deserts!, Callebaut chocolate is used in all of their croissants, bunt cakes and lava cookies resulting in AWESOMENESS!!

I’ll be putting up a gallery below of all the treats that I’ve had and managed to get pictures of. The bottom line is Lucia & Bobby are putting out superior handmade baked goods and I’d recommend taking a trip to visit the East Village bakery yourself so you can also indulge in the delicious treats they make, everything is priced as it should be considering the quality of product your getting and the labor involved in producing these delicious treats.

@eastvillagebake
www.eastvillagebakery.com