Pulled Pork Sandwich Saskatchewan style

This pulled pork sandwich is awesome made by sous chef brett from Hotel saskatchewan. it was made from premium quality pork shoulder slow cooked until they get very tender and so juicy with lots of spices like local mustard, garlic, shallots mixed in Homemade Barbecue sauce.. You must try this one.

Lamb sliders

Lamb Sliders

Sweet Potato souffle'

Sweet potato souffle'

My Chef told me if you want pretty dessert that would delight our guest, it should be soufflé. Because it puffed nice, straight and with elegance. Some people think souffle is too complicated to make which  for me is not. Its just merengue, pastry cream and flavouring folded together and bake in the oven for several minutes. I don't think that's difficult.

 Here is my own recipe of Souffle.
Serves 4 ramekin

Ingredients are:
2 large  Yam potato, Boiled until tender
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup milk, warmed
5 Tblsp Caster sugar
1 Tblsp  Plain flour

*When yam is soft, sieve it to get 170 grams of pureed' yam. set aside and cool to room temperature
*In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk 4 egg yolks and sugar  together until thick and pale yellow colour and sprinkle flour, whisk again to avoid lump. Now add half cup of warmed milk. Whisk vigorously to prevent lump and scorching from the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining milk bit by bit , whisk until the mixture becomes thick. Fold the yam puree'. Cool to room temperature.

For Mirengue

2 egg whites
4 Tblp white sugar
2 pinch cream of tartar (optional)

*Whisk egg whites until bubbly,Add cream of tartar, add sugar 1 tablespoon one at a time. make sure sugar is dissolve before you make an addition. whisk until mirengue is hard peak.

 Assemble:
 Preheat oven to 180C

Butter 4 ramekins cover each with caster sugar- Set this aside

Carefully fold 1/3 of the mirengue mixture to yam pastry cream. Blend well. Now work quickly as meringue is easy to deplete, add the remaining meringue and fold gently until just blended. do not over mix. Spoon mixture into prepared ramekins. Smooth the top with spatula, run your thumb tip around the edge of ramekins Set them in prepared tray. Give each enough space so they won't stick together when they are cooking. Bake in Pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes until it puffed nicely and has a golden crust on top.  Take them out of the oven,sprinkle with icing sugar. Serve immediately

Lunch at Chili's East Regina

I just had Lunch at Chili's on ordinary weekend and look what i got.

Chili's Quesadilla explosion salad

Its a crunchy romaine and iceberg lettuce with diced tomato.cooked chicken (Grilled), Shredded tortilla chips,Black olives topped with Marble cheese with House dressing(Balsamico) Served with 6 pieces cheese quesadilla. Not so good and not so bad for thirteen bucks for lunch on hungry tummy.

Good Asian stuff

Have you heard about japanese sandwich? or have you tasted moss sandwich?? You won't believe what i've found at Asian supermarket at the North east- TnT supermarket. ( i have separate post for this wonderful supermarket so stay tuned ) Its a Nori moss sandwich.

Introducing Japanese moss sandwich wrapped in nori sheet. This sandwich has a very soft bun not crusty seasoned with japanese mayonnaise and highly season black moss. Moss is a fine seaweeds that has thin and thread like texture, The color takes on yellow to deep brown that resembles ground pork when it cooked. It cost only a $1.00 per piece. Not so bad for a better sandwich like this!! hahahahahha!!

Taro bun is  made from soft dough with yucca paste creamy fillings with some sea salt.So soft  and mild root flavor. It so easy to cook. just throw them in your basket steamer and gently steam for 10 minutes and you'll have a good snack on the mid day. A roughly $3.00 you'll get a 6 pieces in a bag. Pretty cheap!.

You can get them at the TNT Asian supermarket bakery section...

L'epicerie French Delicatessen

I was in my seasonal photowalk when i accidentally discover this French deli at the first street near in Victoria Stampede area downtown. A few months back, i was freak looking for a Fantastic french cuisine here in Calgary but i always failed to find one. Thank god i found L'epicerie French deli. A small deli where you can dine or eat in a snap or get the food on the go.Tiny place with one to three sets of tables and chairs inside and you could see other tables also set  just outside the shop. This deli is quite simple with small kitchen where you can actually see at the dining. No paintings hanging on the wall, no colorful vases, no unique designs, no fancy at all. There were two shelves near the doorway lined everything french goodies like homemade bottled sauces, preserves oils, some spices, dried herbs, cookies and a sack of fleur de sel that sold per pounds. On the other side there were also placed two display chillers. The first chiller is used to be for holding cold cooked foods like marinated olives, scandinavian gravlax, cassoulet,  Ratatouille and bread fillings. The second chiller is for raw foods and processed meats like Pate,bulk hams, confit, Foie gras, duck meats and steaks. They are ready to cook once you order it. There's no menu book offered during my visit.But you will notice huge menu board  hanging just on top of preparation table. This brilliant deli is owned by Chef Dominique Mousuu- French chef from the town of Lyon west of France. He showed me of his great food from his town and he said all of them are freshly made an hour before i arrive. Here are his proud dishes

Salmon gravlax- a scandinavian cured salmon marinated in salt and sugar mixture with dill,mustard,crashed black pepper and a little brandy, Usually this succulent dish soaked with the mixture for 3 days up to a week. Paper thin sliced when serve. Best to serve with dill sauce but chef dominique gave me dill vinaigrette which turned out perfect.

 Ratatouille has been the french staple when it comes to vegetable. This was great and very tasty,no overpowering of the herb that chef may put into, well balanced and its perfect with chip croutons. The vegetables are very well cooked but not mushy to my taste. Tomatoes are very dominant with this dish. 
Taste very fresh and sweet,,

 
Duck rillete is a creamy base bread fillings made of minced duck meat, cornichons, shallots and some grainy mustard with fine herbs,All ingredients are minced equally and the portions of the ingredients are just enough. No overpowering. Buns are not over toasted, Crusty outside but very soft inside This was very superb sandwich with slices of fresh cucumber. A fantastic sandwich.

Pork and cranberry pate'is chef dominiques magnificent creation. It is homemade pork with fresh cranberry pate that really taste good and have a heavy dense because it was made very compact. It was tasted sweet and a little sticky but wasn't hard to chew. I've tasted some pistachio nuts inside and gives some salty taste with the pate as well as the fruits gave the pork very flavorful, They were combined well balanced, smooth texture and perfecto.

Don't be confused with the price. This duck confit only sold per piece,. So probably it would cost only at around four dollar for a piece of leg, not bad for the best confit in town. Confit processing is time consuming process which duckmeat or other part of the duck are soaked in its own fat together with some herb,salt and spices place in a claypot and kept for a week and then braise slowly on the fat where they had been marinated.obviously this duck was fatty but flavorful. I would have eat this with sauteed veggies or a bunch of salad  mesclun the next time i visit this deli. I barely ate this with nothing,, weirdo!!!!

For the dessert, i had this tarty quite simple Apple Tart. I'm so overwhelmed with this nice crunchy apple dessert. Apple slices were baked in a paper cut rustic dough that when cooked make the tart fluffy and crunchy. Chef Dominique doesn't use any tart molder on this. He just use rolling pin and the touch of his hand to make this wonderful tart. Amazing isn't it??It taste so good that i was surprise with the tart has less sweet and not over baked. The fruit unbelievably maintained its juiciness,very  tender and so delicious. Would you believe that chef dominique gave me this for free??


If you wanna taste good french food in a very fresh ingredients, Visit them at the 1st street between 14th and 13th avenue beside the chocolate shop. Chef dominique sell some of the very fine oils, vinegar and spices from his town Lyon. L'epiceri also sell domesticated meats like duck magret, Ham, and foie gras, terrines and pate. And for special occasions and events, l'epicerie will do it for you. They do caterings 

Tropika- Thai malaysian cuisine

At last after roaming around Edmonton and having a mini shopping at the huge Edmonton mall, we are all feel tired and hungry. So i asked them where we will going to have our dinner? Each of them have their own  suggestions which is kinda confusing. Well for me since we are in different place why don't we find something different. Something delightful and not the usual eatery we seen all the time. I am tired of same usual fried potatoes and burger,

Cathy, one of our companion who lives there for several years suggest that she knows Thai Malay cuisine close to our hotel. Can be reach within 5 minutes drive from our pad. She had a lot of suggestions of known and reputable restaurant at the area from East to West cuisine. There's Japanese, Mediterranean, Mid-east, American, and some Asian Delicacies. Plenty choices.I wish i could have that much food in just one dinner time but i guess its impossible. The group was craving for spicy food which I'd agreed quickly. Oh i love spicy food. It would be lovable by this time of the meal. Perfect with cold weather we having been, Basically, spicy food will definitely keep our body warm.
After a long discussion and arguments on what were gonna eat and kept everybody annoyed for a while, Cathy decided to take us at the Tropika
TROPIKA is a Restaurant specialized in Thailand and Malaysian cuisine. The house for asian people like us so i think this would suit for everybody's taste. Basically, when you heard tropika, come to our mind first is tropikal or tropical living which means sunny weather,island living, Flora and fauna, fresh sea catch and Fresh foods as well. An ideal way of living. Like in this establishment,  you'll feel all of that at the Tropika. Homey and comfy. As we look towards the menu,some of them are quite interesting and inviting. Because some of the foods are new to my ears and senses while others were easily take in many Asian restos.Delicacies are properly taken from provinces and by the regions of the two countries. But unfortunately, some of their winning fare was not available that time. (at least 3 of the well Provencal items was placed on 86 as early as 4 in the afternoon- rendang crab,Rasa sayang seafood assortment and the Daulat Tuanku special were among not available)It wasn't bad at all, we still have lot of  choices though. Let me share you guys what we had devoured

Roti Canai- Malay thin bread served with curry canai sauce. This is made in bread flour, self rised yeast, some sugar and a dash of salt then soak in vegetable oil. Flattened  to thin blanket  and fry in the little oil, We order this first as our appy. A very warm bread with crisp skin yet soft inside.Smells plain and a bit salty and chewy when eaten. The deep brown color curry sauce was thin but flavorful
As far as i know roti canai was originally come from India and sell  to the street all year round or  eat as the the starter of their meal

Rice-The first of the few entrees. We had the two of the best selling rice they have. Pineapple rice with ham and chicken tasted so good with lots of Chinese cubed cut ham, green peas, carrots, crispy shallots, Hibe or dried shrimp  and  pineapple.I would say this was seasoned with chili garlic and 
indonesian sweet soy sauce.The chili garlic role here is to give some spicy to the rice and keep to balance saltiness between dried shrimp and kecap manis
The second winning rice was Penang's Fried rice with salted fish and chicken. I've had tasted this already when i was in the Philippines long time ago. The BANANA LEAF, Located at the southern part manila. I don't know if this small malay hangout are still existing up to now??Does anybody know??
Well as I recall the taste of penang rice, the rice was so fragrant and brittle free, plenty of vegetable had been added to the rice to neutralize the salty flavor of salted fish and the soy sauce. Scrambled egg was also added to the dish to give more vibrant color to the rice. This dish is definitely winner.

On the second entree, we got PAD THAI. Thailand has been recognized well by this dish. It is made of medium thick stir-fried noodles withe prawns, chicken and tofu. extended by the bean sprout and crushed peanut on top.Thai  Sauce they put on this dish was excellente', but the sauce was obviously intensified by i think the Belachan ( Malaysian shrimp paste) Prawns flavor was perfectly dominated this dish

Next up was Acar fish.A whole Pan-fried tilapia with acar awar, a special home made pickles seasoned with variety of Malaysian herbs and spices. The server said the fish were marinated in the said seasoning for a couple of minutes and let the flavour permeate through, giving the fish a very unique taste. The sauce was quite good made of somewhat curry or yellow curry but it was done by heavy and very thick texture. The fish were not smelly  and tasted very well.

Next feast was Sambal Bunchies. This was awesome greens beans resembles Filipino dish called Baguio Beans sauteed in Shrimp paste. And it taste the same too, The only difference is Thailand's version was too spicy  with some coconut than Filipino style. Beans were so crunchy and prawns weren't  cooked overdone. Shrimp flavorings are not too salty.

Tropika's Home style chicken with special marination and homestyle spices, Honestly. I don't know if this chicken was properly done or overdone.It looked burnt and unpalatable. tasted dry and  taste like used oil. This was so horrible for us. It could have been better when complimented by sauce but they serve this with nothing,  Sauce can cover the bad taste of it. we just use catsup instead. The group were not able to finish the whole plate,, A total waste of food,,,,

The final main course for the group was the  Thai style green curry chicken served piping hot in two medium boat platter.This was a job well done for me as i love green curry paste on my Asian dishes. Its so mild and has an earthy flavor. Chicken strips was tender and the vegetable was cooked just right, soft yet crispy. This  dish is truly great.  A must trying. its worth.

For the Dessert, we chose Banana fritter with vanilla ice cream on the side, They don't serve this on a bunch for the party but they serve this individually instead. We got six plate out of ten people as some of them were full. I included myself of course. Dinner would never be the same without dessert. Banana fritter were tasted good but nothing extravagant. Its just fine and ordinary. There's no special on they say special batter on it.  I would say this just perfect dessert for the tremendous meal we had. 


WE were so amazed by what we had on dinner on this Thai Malaysian restaurant Everything was so special and executed very well. For  home pride chicken, i would have suggest that they should look into a better way of cooking it. For example, it would be nice if they roast rather of frying it. So it 'd be nice when presenting it and in either way to be able to retain the seasonings of the chicken. In general, the food was very very satisfying, tasting and full filling.I would really suggest this shop when you pass by South Edmonton. When you want to have authentic South East cuisine, this is the place to be. A fantastic, truly Asia


TROPIKA MALAYSIAN CUISINE is at
6004-104 street, Edmonton, AB T6H 2K3

Breakfast at leduc/Edmonton

Weeks ago, me and my buddy went to Edmonton to visit the place and to meet our friends as well. On our first night i was daunted where to stay,.Since my first step to the place, i have no idea where to go or what to do first. One of our friend offer her place but since we come in a group we refused the offer and decided to stay in an affordable hotel. We roamed to the place until we come up in a very nice and inviting hotel and they say one of the cheapest hotel in leduc- Hampton inn & suites. The hotel is small and rated as 3 star hotel with complete amenities. So after we got our room and the group were rushed with their rooms i excitedly approach to the front desk to ask if they'd serve breakfast the following morning.  Well, i'm hoping for it because i often eat breakfast as most of the time i'd rather eat breakfast then skip lunch.

 ....And yes they serve BREAKFAST. They serve wide range of western day starter from crunchy cereals to fruit compote and yogurt. Cereals are properly arranged in see-through tube jar and you could see varieties of milk just beside of it, The bread were amazingly place in a two layer warmer dish covered by the glass lid. Plain and flavored yogurt are submerged nicely in a bowl full of ice to maintain freshness,, cool

        Coffee was available during our stay. I could never start my day without firing up my cold stomach with hot coffee like this. Good things they had few to choose from. They have decaf,regular,robust and roast. My friends had their hot choco with their meals which i found very good too, but I'm not fond of chocolate drink either hot or cold. I just chose robust coffee with my meal. You can smell strong aroma of it,loved it with scoop of honey and that's it,no cream,no sugar, I adore coffee so much. Perfect with fall season like it was,,,Freshly squeeze fruit juices and bottled are also available

                                                                                                                                                                      

I had waffles with blueberry jam and orange marmalade. I've tried a lot of waffles in many restaurants and i have my own recipe of pancakes and waffles but I'd like to comment on this. waffles looks nice but,,but when i tasted it turn out like too sour, I don't know what kind of flour they used in the batter???taste bad!! The mixture were heavy and thick but when it cooked, weigh like biscuit, very crusty and light

To ease my disappointment on my waffles- omg that's one of my favorite,,I grabbed on my second plate. Its a bowl of fruit compote and natural made plain yogurt, oh this was good,taste homemade and i guess this was made just few hours ago before it served, well chilled,not too sugary and you could smell the cinnamon bark, cloves and the cardamon pods and some bits of vanilla, The fruits behind the brine mixture was firm and fresh and not over boiled. Plain yogurts combined well with the fruits and tasted so natural.


They have few hot items on display. Set in the square chaffing dish at somehow has three small food pan inside, The hot fare are sausage pate',french toasties, and scrambled eggs. I just had sausage pate'.



As many says, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day' that is absolutely true. For me i eat a lot in my breakfast and its been part of my daily nutrition diet,, i skipped lunch most of the time so i need to energized myself as the day would start. In my overall dining experience in this hotel, i would say that it was very good. Personally satisfied with everything except for the waffles All I've had are nice and perfect to start my day, My friends had their pleasant smile after the meal.

French toast

This dish is made by dipping bread into egg-milk mixture, then frying it until golden brown. Usually served with syrup,jam,and powdered sugar

The French called it "pain perdu" or lost bread because it is the way of reviving french bread which becomes dry after a day or two