Barb and I happened to be driving home and so that I could start preparing the Lamb Stew that night. We just happened to see this place called Stepping Stones Bakery Cafe and pulled over.

What we ended up buying from Stepping Stones was the something that we had not anticipated but was to become one of the best tasting loaves of Irish Soda Bread that I had ever eaten.

Irish soda bread is typically made on a flat baking pan so it doesn’t have the defined form that other types of breads will typically have. This really adds to the rustic nature of the bread as each piece that you slice off has a slightly different shape.

All this aside, the taste of Stepping Stone’s soda bread was really quite extraordinary and we couldn’t have planned it better to accompany the lamb stew that I made.

If you’re panning on picking up a loaf of soda bread, we were told by the woman at Stepping Stones that they only make them on Fridays and Saturdays. Calling ahead in advance to reserve one is highly recommended.

Take my word on this one, it’s definitely worth making this call to get one of these loaves of bread.

Baden

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Stepping Stones Bakery Cafe
5679 Main St., Vancouver
604-327-2566

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I had happened to buy a nice lamb shoulder for a completely different meal but for a variety of reasons I decided to change things at the last minute and make a lamb stew.

The lamb flavour is front and centre in this stew and the combination of the lima beans and potatoes with the thick broth offer an unbeatable combination. Without overstating the case, this dish is truly the best one ever.

You can see the recipe for my Best Ever Lamb Stew here.

Baden

The place that we had decided to go for breakfast was a cafe in Kitsilano called Aphrodite’s Organic Cafe. We didn’t really know much about it and only had the address of where it was located but it ended up taking over 30 minutes driving across town to get there. However at the end of it all, we’ve decided that we would have driven twice as far to get there.

I’m not overstating the case by saying that we had one of the best breakfasts ever at Aphrodite’s.

As the name implies, Aphrodite’s speciality is serving organic food. This in itself does not necessarily guarantee any better dining experience (in my opinion) but it was one of the things that drew our attention to this restaurant when we were deciding on where to eat that morning.

The ambiance at Aphrodite’s is fairly unique and really adds to the overall flavour of the restaurant. Try thinking country rustic meets hippie commune and you’ll get a pretty good idea of what it’s like.

Ambiance aside, it’s the food that is what we loved at Aphrodite’s. My meal started with a delicious roasted tomato soup which had quinoa* in it which added a nice texture to the soup. It was a cold Saturday morning and a warm soup starter just hit the spot.

* Don’t feel bad if you have never heard of quinoa. I had to look it up on the Internet as soon as I got home.

After finishing the tomato soup I started on the best part of the meal which was the Spanish Banks Burrito. Filled with a perfect blend of scrambled eggs, spinach, cheese and other small vegetables and served with a side salad and potatoes it was just a completely satisfying meal.

Since our first visit to Aphrodite’s Organic Cafe last weekend, we had made another trip out there yesterday for breakfast along with Barb’s mother. Something tells me that there are many more visits to Aphrodite’s in the future.

Before I forget, don’t forget to check out the pie shop next door to the cafe and pickup one of their fantastic home made pies (small or large or single pieces).

Baden

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Aphrodite’s Organic Cafe
3598 W. 4th Ave., Vancouver
604-738-5879

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The other day I was sitting around thinking about how I could modify a perfectly good recipe and make it better. I should point out that this kind of thing happens in my kitchen all the time and I consider it part of the normal cooking process. Perhaps more than that, I like to think that there is always a better way of cooking something.

As a general rule, I often feel that recipes that have a number of what I consider to be shortcuts need the most changes. Whenever possible, I like to use fresh herbs and techniques that maximize the flavour – not necessarily convenience or time.

So I happened to be in the planning stages of making a batch of my friend Angie’s split pea soup (see the original article on this from almost two years ago) and was thinking that I wanted to try and make some changes to this recipe. While there were not any particular problems with this recipe (in fact, to the contrary, it was one of our favourite soups) I wanted to try a few changes to it.

Two of the changes that I wanted to do involved infusing some fresh herb flavour. The other change was really just a question of timing when some ingredients were added into the soup.

Since the herbs in the original recipe was comprised completely of dried herbs, this was the first thing that I wanted to address.

I want to stress that dried herbs in themselves are not necessarily a problem and I use them in many recipes but I just have a preference to using fresh wherever possible if I can find them. Better still, using fresh herbs right from my garden is absolutely the best option and simply cannot be beat.

One of the techniques that I had picked up a few years ago to infuse soups with a fresh herb taste is to use what is called a bouquet garni. A bouquet garni is a small bundle of herbs (typically parsley, thyme, bay leaves, celery leaves all wrapped around the green leek leaves) and tied up with kitchen string.

When making a bouquet garni, make sure that you use a long length of string as you want at least 12 inches of string remaining so that it can lie outside of the pot.

The bouquet garni is added into the pot at the very beginning and is taken out after about 2 hours. By sitting in the simmering soup for these hours, it adds a great fresh herb flavour.

One of the next changes that I made was to use fresh parsley instead of dried. As fresh parsley is available year round, this was a simple change and only added less than 5 minutes to the total preparation time. As with most fresh herbs, I only added the fresh parsley at the very end to maximize the flavour.

The last change that I made was not really for any change to the flavour but more to the texture. In the original recipe the carrots and celery were added at the very beginning of the cooking. In truth, everything is added at the beginning.

What I changed was to add the chopped carrots and celery about 2/3 through the 3 hour simmer. This was a minor change, all things considered, but it allowed these vegetables to retain a little more of their firm texture and not be what I call being “boiled to death”.

I have modified the Easy Palese Split Pea Soup recipe with my new changes. Of course, I’m now considering if I have to change the recipe title to Difficult.

Baden

One such place that I happened to discover a few years ago is called the Gourmet Warehouse.

I first discovered the Gourmet Warehouse almost by accident when they were in their previous location literally in a back alley in an industrial area of Vancouver off Pandora street. It was an understatement to say that they used to be in a bad location – a worse place probably couldn’t have been chosen deliberately. The Gourmet Warehouse has since relocated to a far better location and has a much larger store located on East Hastings at Clarke.

The Gourmet Warehouse stocks a wide selection of all kinds of kitchen gadgets and cookware in addition to a large variety of specialty food items. They even happen to carry that complete chef’s uniform if you happen to be in the market for such a thing.

In all of the times that I have visited the Gourmet Warehouse, I have been impressed by the helpful staff who have always been plentiful and eager to help – but not in an intrusive way.

For those specialty items or just anything that your are looking for to meet your gourmet needs, check out the Gourmet Warehouse.

Baden

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The Gourmet Warehouse
1340 East Hastings, Vancouver
604-253-3022

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Barb and I had gone to a restaurant called Mirchi about 5 or 6 times and it had become our default place to go for good Indian food and their prices are pretty hard to beat with most meals coming in under $15.

However, Barb and I were in the mood to try a new place so we decided to try a restaurant a little closer to us and after a little research, decided to go to a place called Saffron Indian Cuisine which we found located near Metrotown on Kingsway.

As soon as we entered the Saffron restaurant, the aroma of spices and curry became very apparent and the smell alone gave us reason to expect great things from our meal.

Barb ordered her usual Butter Chicken which is one her favourites when we visit Indian restaurants and I ordered the Chicken Korma which came in a curry sauce made from cashews. We also shared a plate of Pulao rice which of course is typical Indian basmati rice with a combination of peas and spices.In addition, we also had a large basket of naan which is a tasty round flat bread – just the thing to get every bit of the tasty curry sauce.

One of the major difference between Saffron and Mirchi restaurants is that the ambiance of Saffron is far more inviting and comfortable. While we love the food at Mirchi, we have found that the stark decor and hit and miss heating system just doesn’t provide an inviting dining experience. Not so at Saffron where we could have stayed there for hours slowly sipping our chai tea and just enjoying ourselves.

No doubt we will return to Saffron again when we feel in the mood for a different kind of Indian dining experience than Mirchi. If we’re in the mood for take-out, Mirchi will likely be our first choice. Either way, the we’re going to having some great Indian food that night.

Baden

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Saffron Indian Cuisine
#5 – 4300 Kingsway, Burnaby
604-436-5000

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