Scent of Rain: October 2010

Deokbokki!!

Click to see my favorite Korean food!!!

Some years ago I had friends whose mothers taught them how to make this delicious dish of spicy rice noodles! They're actually more of a noodle shaped rice cake that's cooked with gochuchang hot sauce along with green and white onions and sometimes fish patties! I really love Maangchi's website, I hope you all enjoy it too!

Coming of Age Birthday Cake

Yes I realize there are only ten candles on a cake meant for a nineteen year old. So I added liquor filled chocolates on top, which made for an interesting reaction.

Perfect Cheesecake Method

1. Use a spring form pan with greased sides
2. Bake in a BAIN - MARIE (water bath) of about 1 1/2 - 2 inches of hot water
3. DO NOT GET BEATER HAPPY. Don't over mix or over soften because that causes unwanted air bubbles, your cheesecake may rise.. we don't want that to happen because it'll be kinda ugly.
4. Bake at 325 - 350 F for 45minutes to 1 hour. Let the cake cool with oven door ajar. Let it just chill there first!
5. Place baking pan on the lowest rack in oven.
6. Don't over bake. The jiggly centre may worry people but do not fear, just refrigerate for 2 hours.
7. What I learned, cover the top of your pan with aluminum foil to prevent the top from browning or going hard.

Soft and white, did not rise, did not form top crust through baking. Just simple yet delicious. Top it with fruit.

The Shuswap Country

This is a 5 hour road trip to Sorrento which is in the interior of B.C, not yet into the Okanagan but close! My good friend Caroline and I were visiting Crannóg Ales, an organic Irish style brewery somewhere in the Shuswap. It was a beautiful drive there and back, time sure passed as we listened to Brandon Flower's new CD Flamingo!

So cute!

But they were ready for the butchers :'(

Beer Production

Barley

My favorite part of this tour - beer tasting! Each had their own distinctive taste, especially the stout which is dark beer, coffee mmm.

Caroline bought us a a nice 10th anniversary jug of the India Pale Ale.

This beautiful mural depicted everyone and everything you could find on the farm.

Hops is used to make the IPA.

There were grasshoppers everywhere!

All the hard horticulture for a gram of yellow powder that is named after the plant itself. Hops is boiled with the beer and then strained.

Thought this was clever and sort of funny.

The only standing business in the area it seemed

On the way home we stopped at the Adams River for the Salmon run!

From what we heard, the salmon have not spawned in such numbers for a hundred years!

Once in a lifetime opportunity.

First Tee Pee experience!

It seriously smelt like my dog's breath, not even the fresh fish market kinda scent, more like salted fish

Beautiful British Columbia.

Sitch's Egg Sangwich

I've become a Jersey Shore fanatic! In a couple second season episodes, the gang eats egg sandwiches on the daily! The "model" from Canadia got to eat egg sangwich with MVP!

Two eggs, flipped it without a spatula, oh well it's just an egg after all.

I like my egg edges to be crispy

Slice of cheese on top and turn the heat off.

One slice of bread has margarine, the other is hot mustard.

One egg per sangwich in my case.

Thats looking good already.

I topped it with banana peppers.

Squirt of catsup.

IT AIN'T DONE YET!

Pickles!!

AWH YEAH EGG SANGWICH YEAA

Quick Coq au Vin

I opened a bottle of wine last week but unable to finish it...

Ingredients: 2 chicken breast halves (skin on would be nice!), handful of mushrooms (only had white button), 1 shallot, couple leaves of cilantro, 2 cups of chicken broth (used a bouillon cube), 1 cup of red wine.