Restaurant Review - The mongrillian

Only part way through the work week but last night we decided to go out for dinner. We have been here before but the last couple times we tried it has been closed (we were either too late in the evening, or on a Sunday).

While The Mongrillian is a fairly new venture, the restaurant has been on and off for several years (used to be called the Thunder Grill). Located at Berkeys Corners, right across from Bob’s Restaurant, it is on the site of the original Berkey’s Garage. A Totem (I believe) gas bar still stands but The Mongrillian has now shut down the pumps and expanding their restaurant business.

The atmosphere is quaint and friendly. Asian decorations are a little kitsch, with plastic plants and paper lanterns but I can easily overlook that, hell I have eaten in some of the tackiest tiki lounges in Hawaii. The owners are wonderful people, coming out front to greet old and new friends alike.

The first time we went here I was blown away by the “Garlic Pork Salad Rolls” $7.25 and I had to have it again last night. The menu describes this as Garlic pork sliced up, lettuce, cucumber and crispy pastry wrap rolled up in thin rice paper served with fish sauce.

The Garlic pork was the best I have ever had, enough garlic to last a couple hours, maybe longer. The addition of crispy wonton wrapper to the inside of the rice paper roll is brilliant and the fish sauce is probably the perfect accompaniment to this wrap.

As a main course I had the Combination A . It consisted of Almond Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork, Chop Suey and Chow Mein Noodles.

The value was there at $10.95. The serving was huge and if I hadn’t been such a pig there would have been enough left for lunch today, instead I am stuck with a leftover pork chop sandwich with homemade mustard ;)

The almond chicken was all while breast meat, pounded very thing. The batter had the perfect crispiness to it, but unfortunately I didn’t get that almond taste I was craving. The Sweet and Sour Pork was good but I found it just a touch gummy. I would recommend a little less cornstarch in the sauce and maybe just a touch less vinegar as well. The Chop Suey was as good as any I have had before and the chow mein noodles were cooked perfectly.

My wife had the signature meal which is the Mongolian Stir Fry. I cannot comment on the taste as I didn’t try it, I am not a big fan of stir fry but I will comment on the items and price.

The price is reasonable at $2.49 per 100 grams. My wife had a huge stir fry and it was around $16. What you do is go to the counter with your own bowl and fill it with the proteins and vegetables you want (all raw). You then decide on a sauce and noodles or rice. The chef cooks it all for you to order. Some of the items to choose from included:

Chicken meat (white or dark), Prawns, Beef, Pork

Clery, Onion, Peas, Cabbage, Sprouts,Carrot

Sauces: Garlic, Teryaki, Black Bean, Oyster

And lots lots more. I will definitely be back. Score : 7.5/10

http://mongrillian.com/index.html

The Ultimate Pasta Sauce

I eat way too much pasta. I can’t help it, it’s a love I developed as a small child. I spent years though trying to find the perfect red sauce for pasta and I now have it. This is the standard sauce I use for lasagne, spaghetti, rigatoni etc etc. I make big batches and can it. This is so much better than any store bought sauce. Any vegetarians can leave the meat out I suppose, I have never tried that….I am a meatitarian.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound meaty pork bones or loin chops
1 pound veal, veal chops or beef
1 pound Italian sausage (whatever you prefer, I like sweet fennel)

4 cloves garlic

1 Large onion (optional)
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 cans (28- to 35 ounce size) Italian tomatoes
2 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste
6 fresh basil leaves

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Pat the meat dry and put the pieces in the pot. Cook, turning occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until nicely browned on all sides. Transfer the meat to a plate.

Drain off most of the fat from the pot. Add the garlic and onion (if using) and cook for about two minutes or until golden. Remove and discard the garlic (if you like, I leave it in). Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes, with their juice, into the pot. Add the water and salt and pepper to taste. Return the meat to the sauce and basil and bring the sauce to a simmer. Partially cover the pot and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a little more water.

After 2 hours remove the sausage, leave the rest of the meat in the sauce (remove any bones). Take a stick blender (Braun etc) and blend all the meat and sauce together until you get the consistancy/chunkiness factor you like. Your sauce is now done.

I take the sausage out for the sole reason of making sausage sandwiches. If you want to blend the sausage into your sauce as well, go for it.

Kitchen Product Review - Banana Bag

In my experience most guys are gadget guys. I am no different, I love gadgets, it's just that most of mine are kitchen gadgets. Most end up in a drawer or closet but this one is a MUST have item.

My mother-in-law bought me this item a few months ago and I love it. It couldn't be any simpler. All it appears to be is a nylon bag with a layer of bubble wrap between the nylon walls and a drawstring to keep it closed.

Don't ask me the principles behind how this thing works, I don't have a clue, but it DOES work.

You simply let your bananas ripen to the desired ripeness you like, then throw them into the Banana Bag, close the drawstring and store them in your fridge. They will maintain the same level of ripeness for up to 10 days. The skin of the banana does go brown but inside the banana is still perfect. I love this Banana Bag.

A quicky before bed.....

Mustard....so good and simple to make. I will never buy mustard again, god only knows what is in the store bought stuff. Try this instead, once you have the basics down, experiment with different vinegar's and spices:

2 TBSP yellow mustard seed
2 TBSP brown mustard seed
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

mix ingredients together (I use a mason jar) and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight. Next day blend them in a blender or use a stick blender to get the consistency you like. That's all there is to it. You will never get a fine consistency like that neon yellow crap from the store but then I like a bit of texture.

Review - Just Jakes

This review is from a couple months ago. I really hope the food has improved since then. I really don't like giving negative reviews but I call them as I see them.

http://justjakes.ca/index.php?welcome,8

Just Jakes is a restaurant connected to the Craig Street Brew Pub. The kitchen churns out meals for both establishments. Now I will be the first to admit, the beer produced by CSB is top notch. I try the Tool Box sampler every time I go to CSB. The sampler consists of 5 four ounce sample glasses of beer and some peanuts. One of the beer samples is always something a little different and seasonal. For around $10 it is definitely worth a try.

I am a big fan of Curry. The best I ever had was probably fish head curry in Singapore. One night My wife and I went to Just Jakes and I opted for the "Old Style Curry" for $13. The menu boasts:


Chicken, steak or prawns simmered in our house made curry, served on basmati rice with grilled pita.


Disappointing to say the least. It was very clearly evident they cook a big pot of rice and let it stay warm all day. By the time we got there (around 8 pm) the rice was complete mush, the texture almost of tapioca. It was the worst rice I have had in a long long time. The taste of the curry itself was mediocre, a little on the bland side and the chicken strips were rubbery and completely unseasoned. The best part of the meal were the pita breads. Luck me, after complaining about the food the waitress gave me a whole 10% off.......of my curry, not the whole meal, just my portion....drink excluded of course.


Curry is one of those foods where people go in expecting big bold flavours. Just Jakes failed here, sorry to say.


Based on this meal alone:


5/10 (if it wasnt for the beer and pita, it would have been 1/10)

BBQ Burgers

Quiet day on the home front, we decided on BBQ burgers for dinner. After years of experimenting with fillers and seasonings I finally decided a couple years ago to listen to the pros. Nothing should go into a burger patty except the best quality ground meat you can find. No breadcrumbs, no egg, no spices. Just ground meat and a little salt and pepper right before it hits the grill.

Most foodys call for an 80/20 mix (lean to fat). I have no idea what my butcher mixes his at, I should ask one day. Typically, I buy ground chuck as I find the flavour better than regular market trim ground beef. We have dealt with the same butcher family for years:

http://wikimapia.org/10591442/Quist-Farms-Cowichan-Valley-Meat-Market

So today I decided to try a new BBQ sauce. I cant take any credit for it so I will post the link and paste the link contents here as well. The only alteration I made to it was I didnt have 1/4 worchestershire sauce left. I only had about 1/8 cup so I topped it off with HP sauce. The BBQ sauce was excellent, definitely one I will use again. It was sweet and spicey. It made around 2 cups, plenty for todays burgers and several more uses over the next couple weeks.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/absolutely-awesome-bbq-sauce/detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chile sauce
• 1/2 cup rum
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground dry mustard
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a saucepan over low heat, mix the brown sugar, chile sauce, rum, soy sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, dry mustard, and pepper. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Review - Crossroads Pub Colwood BC

I had a luncheon today and was quite excited because I had noticed the truffle fries on the menu last time I was in Crossroads but didn't try them.

From the menu: Fresh cut Kennebec Potato Fries with rosemary, thyme, parsley, truffle oil and Maldon Salt. Hmmm, sounds delicious.

So I had them today after dreaming about them for weeks. The thought of crispy potato covered in truffle oil sent my mind reeling.

I am a little disappointed. The fries were good, not great. I think the chef forgot to take the lid off the bottle of truffle oil, maybe he just waved the bottle in the general vicinity of the fries? Salt? What salt? I  tasted no saltiness at all. The parsley was evident, dried parsley sprinkled on as an afterthought. I expected a full sprig of rosemary and thyme...alas, none :(

Is it really so hard to get good truffle fries? The answer seems to be yes.

Price $7.49

As far as this meal goes......5/10

Review - Romeo's

Romeo's seems to be one of those old standars that we keep going back to. The menu has enough variation to keep us interested and the food has never let us down. The staff at the Duncan location are knowledgable and friendly. What more can you ask for.

We went here for lunch just the other day and through the course of reviews I will only comment on what I eat, not what my company has, unless there is something major that needs to invoke discussion.

I had the Rueben Sandwich and fries with a cup of green tea.

The sandwich was a little greasy but thats what you have to expect from a grilled sandwich. The meat was good, just enough of a texture to it to make you chew but not so tough you couldnt eat it. The sauerkraught was very mild, you could barely recognize it was in there which was somewhat disappointing. The hot mustard seemed like it was straight out of a jar of Keen's. The pickle slices on top of the sandwich has the perfect balance of salt and sour.

The girl serving us was very friendly and we had most the the restaurant to ourselves as it was a mid-afternoon lunch.

Overall I would rate the meal as 7/10

Summer in the Valley?

Well by the look of it today, summer may be here finally! Here I am stuck at work but at least its a Friday, only a couple more hours and off I go. The weather is a sunny 20 degrees and supposed to climb into the mid 20's for the weeknd. This is the best weather we have had all year....might be time to break out the shorts.

Hmm now what do do, what to eat? If the sun stays out it just might be BBQ Lamb Burgers on the deck. Maybe Nachos and a Tool Box of beer at The Craig Street Bewery? Has anyone tried the new pub at the Silver Bridge? They are under new ownership and I havent been in there yet.

Spaghetti with Puttanesca Sauce

This is a very easy recipe and one of my all time favourites. Don’t let the ingredients turn you away; in combination this dish tastes delicious.

For you vegetarians out there, if you don’t eat fish either, you can remove the anchovy and add either a few more capers or olives.

Spaghetti Puttanesca

*4 garlic cloves, minced fine
*Salt
*1 pound spaghetti (look for the real Italian stuff…100% Semolina
*2 tablespoons olive oil
*1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
*6-8 anchovies chopped
*1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes (again, good Italian ones, check the ingredients and    make sure there are no additional sugars or spices in them)
*3 tablespoons capers (see note), rinsed
*1/2 cup purple or black olives such Kalamata, (usually buy in bulk section of the deli or Safeway etc) pitted and chopped coarse
*1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, minced

Bring a large pot of water and salt to rolling boil in large stockpot. The amount of salt is important somewhat. Most Italians will tell you that the water should be as salty as the Mediterranean Sea. Don’t be shy with the salt, as pasta on its own has no taste. For approximately 4 litres of water I would use about 2 tablespoons of salt.

When water is boiling, add pasta; stir to separate pasta. Turn the heat down to medium to maintain a good simmer.

Immediately heat oil in a large frying pan; cast iron works well here. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and anchovies and cook over medium heat; stirring frequently, until garlic is fragrant but not brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Garlic becomes VERY bitter when burned and will spoil this dish. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes.

Cook pasta until al dente. The literal translation of Al Dente is “to the tooth”. This means that when you taste a piece, it will yield just a little resistance. This is important as well as pasta continues to cook when removed from the water, unless it is immediately cooled.

Drain, the pasta and immediately add it to the sauce you made. Add the capers, olives and parsley. Adjust seasonings with salt if required and serve immediately. Please do not cover this dish with Parmesan cheese…not this one  You may want to experiment with this one. The flavour profile can change depending on the saltiness of the olives used.

Note: Capers are the unopened green flower buds of the Capparis spinosa, a wild and cultivated bush grown mainly in Mediterranean countries (southern France, Italy, and Algeria) and also in California. Manual labor is required to gather capers, for the buds must be picked each morning just as they reach the proper size. After the buds are picked, they are usually sun-dried, then pickled in a vinegar brine. Capers can range in size from that of a tiny peppercorn (the petite variety from southern France, considered the finest) to some as large as the tip of your little finger (from Italy). Capers generally come in brine but can also be found salted and sold in bulk. Either way, rinse before using to flush away as much salt as possible. Capers can lend piquancy to many sauces and condiments; they can also be used as a garnish for meat and vegetable dishes.

I love meat

I am not a huge fan of marinating meat. I prefer to use a good tender cut from the start. New York Strips, Porterhouse and Rib Steaks are my personal favorites. Steak should always be well seasoned. Don’t be afraid of salting your steaks. Don’t use regular iodonized table salt, its bad for you. Pick up a box of kosher salt. You can get a 3 pound box at Safeway for about $3, has no iodine or other chemicals in it and IMO tastes so much better.

Salt and pepper your steaks. In addition you can use a good quality rub. A rub is just a collection of dry ingredients, herbs, spices for seasoning the meat. Again, these can be found cheaply in any grocery store or use your imagination and grind your own in a mortar or coffee grinder.

Lightly oil your BBQ by pouring a bit of oil onto a paper towel and rubbing it on your grill. Turn your BBQ on high; let it get really hot before you put your steaks on. Once the BBQ is good and hot drop your steaks on. Now don’t start poking at them, walk away, leave them alone.

Depending on the thickness let them cook about 4 minutes. Take a pair of tongs and try to lift them. If they stick, leave them alone; they are not ready to flip yet. When meat is ready to flip it will release itself from the hot grill. Never poke your steak with a fork to turn it, the juices will run out making it dry. To get the cool grill marks you can give it a ½ turn if you like. Once you flip it let is cook another 4 minutes. Now its time to start checking it for desired wellness.

See that fleshy part between your thumb and forefinger? Poke it. See how soft it is? Now make a loose fist and poke it again…see it’s a little firmer? Now clench your fist and give it one last poke, much firmer..yes? Meat is very similar to this…soft like the first poke is rare, closed fist softness is medium and clenched fist is well. This is a good rule of thumb…no pun intended.

If you like to put BBQ sauce on your steak I recommend doing it towards the end so it doesn’t burn. I like Bullseye BBQ best. Mushrooms and onions into a foil pouch and thrown onto the BBQ at the same time as the meat is all the veggies you need. Maybe a green salad too. Baked potato with sour cream and bacon bits rounds it out.

Letting meat rest:

There is a VERY good reason why NOT to cut into meat as soon as you think it is ready to eat. Proteins in meat are affected by the cooking process. Simply, you can look at them as sponges. When the heat is applied to the meat the proteins clench and squeeze juices out into the surrounding muscle tissue. When you remove the meat from the heat these proteins relax and during this process they suck the moisture back in.

If you cut the meat without letting it relax, the juices released from the proteins run out all over your plate making your meat not as juicy as it should be. This is why it is important to let your meat rest about 5 minute before serving. Also keep in mind that meat continues to cook even after it is removed from the heat. Always remove your meat when the internal temperature is approximately 5 degrees lower than the “doneness” you are looking for.

Cooking is VERY simple. Its all about fun and experimenting. Just grab a cookbook and give something a try. If it tastes like crap, throw it out and try something else. I will be posting more recipes and tips soon. I will throw in a vegetarian recipe or two as well.

Just killing time....

Sitting here waiting for the day to be over and start my trek home for the evening and decided to drop a simple little recipe that I really like. I lived in Halifax for a couple years and fell in love with that East Coast favorite, the Donair. We make a version of the Donair every few months but we use chicken breast marinated in the spices. So here you go. Oh yeah and by the way.....I never put Tzatziki sauce on my Donairs, I am a fan of that sticky sweet garlic sauce.

4 Chicken Breast, cut in long strips
2 tsp pepper
1-2 tsp cayenne red pepper
1 1/2 tsp oregano
3 tsp paprika
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix the spices together, put the chicken in a zipper bag and add the spices. Squeeze out the air, seal the bag and let marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, overnight is better.

These are best quick cooked on a really hot BBQ, a smoking hot cast iron pan will suffice, but you do want a little bit of char.

Here is the sauce:

2/3 cup canned evaporated milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Stir the milk, garlic powder and sugar together until the sugar is disolved. Add the vinegar all at once and stir NO MORE than 2 or 3 times. If you stir more the sauce will NOT thicken the way it should. Trust me on this. The less stirring the better.

Now, take some greek style bread, pita whatever and moisten it with water. Then quick fry it to soften it up. Quickly build your Donair. Add some meat, lots of sauce, some diced tomato and onion....VOILA, the perfect Donair.

Welcome to my BLOG

I suppose I should start by letting you know a little about myself. I was born in Hamilton Ontario and left for greener pastures and bluer waters when I was 17. I ended up here on the West Coast on beautiful Vancouver Island. My love of food has been evident from the start. Over the course of my life I have managed to travel all over the world and tasting foods in other countries has been a passion. I have eaten everything from monkey on a stick in South America to shark fin soup in Fiji; Jerk Pork in Montego Bay to Koshari in Cairo. I know food. It is important to try different things, learn about the culture, and embrace the food.


I finally settled in Duncan BC, in 1989. Duncan is the heart of the Cowichan Valley. Its food scene is varied and complex. The Valley can be very self-sufficient and boasts many local artisan bakeries, dairies, local cheese, beef, pork, chicken, honey, seafood, produce and the list goes on and on. I am making it my mission to seek out the best the Valley has to offer and provide my insight to all locals and visitors alike.