Winter Fun Food and Adventure Victoria - Return to the Stage · Saturday February 27, 2010 by colin newell
Andrea and I sort of live in Fernwood… inasmuch as we sort of live in Oak Bay…
and Victoria… you might say that we are somewhat itinerant.
Anyway – we first appeared at the door of Stages Small Plates in 2007 – review here .
And we have gone back a couple of times – but tonight we had the pleasure of eating out with our favorite couple – the crazy, sexy cool that is The Engels. Valerie and Mark are the brains behind the Bubby Roses Bakery Cafe machine in Victoria.
There is a reason why Bubby Roses Bakery has more kilowatt buzz per square inch of Cinnamon bun than any other bakery in town – it is because of the Engels and their staff. Honest to God, if the World was going to end in 24 hours, this is where I would send everyone to spend their final moments.
Going out with Valerie and Mark generally involves a couple of glasses of Pinot Noir per person and a whole heck of a lot of great stories – back and forth, back and forth.
Anyway, another advantage of going out with a hungry couple is being able to order just about everything on the menu; Edamame (Japanese twig beans), Mussels, Falafel, Squid, White Fish, and pork belly…
and enjoying every morsel!
Although that was not everything, it was a good cross section.
That and dessert; chocolate pate and a creme brulee…
and a 1/2 gallon of Cafe Fantastico decaf.
Dinner for 4 and lots of wine and great stories… about $180
Fun recipe series chapter one - my Pecan Caramel baked corn candy · Sunday January 31, 2010 by colin newell
I made this on a random whim last night – and I guess all whim’s are unplanned… some not so much.
24 Cups of popped corn (1 cup of your favorite kernels)
1 Cup Butter (margarine for the faint of heart)
2 Cups Brown Sugar – the darker the better – I use Demerara)
1/2 Cup Corn Syrup
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Cup Whole Pecans
Preheat Oven to 250 degrees (F) – In your largest pot melt butter, stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.
Bring to boil stirring constantly. Boil for 5 minutes more without stirring.
Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Then pecans.
Pour in all the popcorn. Stir and stir (with a wooden spoon) til all the popcorn is coated with the sugar-nut mixture.
Put all of this mix onto your largest cookie sheet or roasting pan.
Put it in the oven for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Store in airtight plastic or tin container.
Great with tea, or coffee or single malt scotch.
Insulin not included.
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Summer Fun Food and Drink 2009 - Sooke and Jordan River weekend · Sunday July 26, 2009 by colin newell
When you live on the heaven that is Vancouver Island, you often take for granted the sheer awesomeness of it all.
Except this weekend. I made the mental effort to dig every facet of this wicked place – because it is just not right to neglect a gem like this.
And this weekend we split the urban misery to drive out to our top secret romantic get-away – Point no Point – It is far away from everything – and yet only about an hour and a half from civilization.
Point no Point is a small series of cabins – all with private hot tubs (generally under the stars…) most of them a hundred feet from the ocean at most.
So you are lulled to sleep by the sound of moderately gentle Pacific surf buffered by the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
And if you work as hard as I think I do, Point no Point is ideal for an early get-away on a Friday – escape work at 3:30 or so… and you are in the hot tub by 6 PM!
All the units have full kitchens – but if you want some culinary pampering, check out the victuals (photo above) – and in this meal, I had grilled halibut with a cheese tart and melon sorbet. Andrea has a nice fillet of triple-A beef, on caramelized onions, deep friend carrot strings and a mussel stuffing.
1/2 liter of French wine and we are good to go. For dessert, the chocolate mousse at the Point no Point lookout restaurant is knock-out good!
A discovery in Sooke B.C. on Saturday mid-day was The EdGe restaurant. EdGe is a fusion of foodie personalities Edward and Gemma – and their edible vision of the World. Edward was the executive chef at the Sooke Harbor House for 12 years and his long time sweetie, Gemma handles much of the client flow logistics; hostess, menu interpretation and general inspiration and warmth.
I had the kitchen sink bowl (shown at right) which contained a scrum of homemade chicken sausage, white fish, salmon, shellfish, two kinds of peppers in a hot and sour broth. The price tag a staggering $8.95! Andrea had a linguine in a cream sauce with home made salami and mushrooms. We shared a glass of red wine, a Syrah I believe. Utterly delightful!
Finishing up in Sooke including several Americano and espresso from The Stick in the Mud cafe on Eustace off of Sooke Road. This is an absolute must stop when passing through the village.
We mused while sampling their 2% Jazz coffee: “There was a time when you could drive to Sooke and go back in time 10 years… or more.”
Now Sooke is easily as hip as Victoria.
If not more so.
Summer Food Fun and Drink Chapter 12 Fish and Chips · Saturday July 11, 2009 by colin newell
Vancouver Island has some awesome Fish and Chip joints – but nothing compares to the Rock Cod Cafe in Cowichan Bay, on the Eastern Side of the Island south of Duncan, British Columbia.
We get up to Cow Bay a couple of times a year – and today’s visit was wicked – it was easily 32 degrees © – about 90 (F) in brilliant sunshine. And tucking into a patio table at the Rock Cod with a pint of iced tea in front of Andrea and I was Da Kine.
I rave about Fish and Chips a lot on this Island and most of the places are fair to midland – some are downright extraordinary. Some are merely dead in the water.
The Rock Cod rules because the fish is fresh, the batter crisp and tasty – and the finished product is never greasy tasting.
Today I subbed in Onion rings and they were utterly satisfying.
With a small side of tartar sauce and a tablespoon of slaw, this was lunch perfection.
For those visiting the area, by all means visit the Cowichan Bay website – there are some other gems like the Masthead Restaurant and The Udder Guys Ice cream parlor.
On Vancouver Island, this is the good life!
Summer Food Fun and Drink 2009 Chapter 8 Challah Toast · Monday July 6, 2009 by colin newell
There are moments that redefine comfort – those soothing snapshots in life where everything is simply wonderful, carefree – that fleeting moment we are not troubled by school yard bullies, bees, taxes, looming deadlines, angry relations and unmet expectations…
They come at unpredictable times. That sweet moment of placation when your mother scoops you out of a roll of thorny brambles, and hugs each imagined injury better… the joy of a first unexpected kiss… graduation day… a job offer… the Sunny horizon of retirement.
And the first sip of black coffee on a fragrant Spring morning…
…followed by a anticipatory nibble of a City’s great French toast.
Except it isn’t really French toast at all. It’s Challah toast from the one of my favorite bakeries – Bubby Roses on Cook Street near Meares Ave.
And as much as I would like to quantify the isotopes that make up this place – to return to that place at will and relive that peaceful, easy feeling…
I can’t.
But I have discovered that this particular bakery is as reliable as gravity when it comes to delivering the goods…
whether it’s fresh bread, or a flour-less chocolate torte, a vegan brownie or a cup of Java thick enough to stop time – and it often does…
or the Challah bread: sweet as love, drizzled with Canadian Maple syrup, anointed with organic yogurt and circled with a phalanx of mixed fresh fruits worthy of breakfast plate greatness.
Pucker up Baby, it’s Challah time!
