Review: The Pear Tree (Burnaby, BC)

We celebrated Valentines Day a week later to avoid the hectic rush. Who wanted to run around town like crazy people for sub-standard service? Not us.

M took the reins this year and booked a reservation at The Pear Tree in Burnaby for a romantic night out. I've heard many good things about The Pear Tree, but I'd also heard stories of disappointment. Fortunately, our night was of the former instead of the latter.




The small menu is elegantly laid out, and the first page is a seasonal "fresh sheet" of a daily set menu. On the day we visited The Pear Tree, it consisted of tuna tataki with a chicory and cress salad, a main of pork belly, spot prawn rigatoni, celeriac puree, steamed veggies, and hon shimigi mushrooms. Guess what I ordered. :)

We started out with the scallop and risotto starter. The scallops were a little on the small side considering the price tag, but the dish was delicious! M commented that he loved the way the risotto tasted and the creamy texture. Although the dish was fragrant and smooth from the addition of cheese, the grains of the arborio rice were still distinctly (and pleasantly!) noticeable.



As you might have guessed, I ordered the Berkshire Pork Belly. It appeared to be braised in a pressure cooker and the thick ribbons of pork fat just melted in your mouth, typical to how Chinese "cou yuk" is braised until tender. I really loved the celeriac puree and the steamed vegetables - I just wished there were more! The spot prawn rigatoni had lots of flavour as well, and I loved how the chef kept the vegetables and the rigatoni "naked" as to balance out the richness of the pork belly.



M ordered the braised lamb shank, which was tender and and succulent. You could have literally eaten either of our meals with a spoon, the meat was just that tender. He was also extremely pleased to find that the same risotto accompanied his lamb shank. I had to agree - the risotto was a pleasant background to the meaty lamb. The staff also brought over a complimentary pea shoot and apple salad which went really well with the lamb shank.



For dessert, we had a choice between a chocolate ganache, creme brulee, a poached pear, cheese plate, or a lemon tart. Since M is not a dessert person, we shared a chocolate ganache, which was enough for both of us. It came with a streak of salted caramel and chocolate orange sorbet. The dessert portion was perfect, since the ganache was deliciously, sinfully rich. Although that was great on its own, I loved the canelle of orange-chocolate sorbet, which was garnished with candied orange peel.



We really enjoyed our dinner at The Pear Tree. The dining room is a little cozy, with a beautiful wine cabinet and pear tree art adorning the walls. Along with our bill, the maitre'd offered us bite-sized hazelnut macarons sandwiched together with a mascarpone filling. It was a great way to end the meal!




The Pear Tree
4120 East Hastings Street [map]
Burnaby BC
604-299-2772 Reservations Strongly Recommended




Photos can be found at my flickr photo set.

Industry Event: BCFT 2009 Suppliers Night

The annual BCFT (British Columbia Food Technologist) Suppliers Night was held at the Coast Hotel and Convention Center in Langley, BC this year.

Although the weather detered some, the event was a success with a number of students, consultants, suppliers, processors, and industry representatives present.



I attended a free seminar put on my Kerry Flavours & Ingredients where they presented several of their products, and allowed us to sample yogurts that had stevia added to them. It was a good presentation, and since we were sponsored by Kerry, we were allowed admission into suppliers night free!

I bumped into many old friends and colleagues and it was good to see old faces, and meet newer ones as well. It was also reassuring to see some of the suppliers still working for the same companies. The Ajimoto (sp?) guy was still permatanned, and friendly staff at Bakers International were still offering delicious baked goodies and their infamous serrated knives.


The Langley Coast Hotel & Convention Center prepared a nice spread of fresh veggies, sandwiches, and hot and cold hors d'oevres. My personal favourites were the zucchini sticks, the roast beef, and the vegetables samosas. Yum!





Near the end of the night, Peter Taylor of Cantest Labs Ltd. represented BCFT and drew attendees names for door prizes.



My former classmate, Ganga, was fortunate enough to have her name drawn by Peter. She won a garlic press, offered by Sensient flavours for the draw.



Of course, last but not least, let us get down to the good stuff: swag!



Apparently, good things come in twos - where I liked a sample or company product, I managed to get two... like the squishy chef cows from Butterbuds! My sister loves cows, so I picked one up for her...and one for myself. :) Other things I picked up, clockwise from the cows:

- a sample bag of infused dehydrated blueberries from the US Highbush Blueberry Council
- The Virginia Dare representative offered me some vanilla extract when I hopefully asked for a bag to carry some pamphlets, so, of course I grabbed a couple.
- two sample packes of honey roasted sunflower kernels from the National Sunflower Council
- a International Bakers Services serrated knife - perfect for camping and general use! I have one in my kitchen and someone can pry it from my cold dead hands if they want it because seems to last a lifetime.
- Sonic Rocks from Caravan Ingredients
- a bottle-shaped pad of post-its, a pen and a bag from a flavour company I hadn't heard of before, Abelei. They specialize in fruit, citrus and other flavours for beverage, confectionary, and seasoning companies, and have a new wasabi flavour out. The guy was nice, but unfortunately he was a little lonely, with two empty supplier tables on either side of him.



The prize for the coolest swag goes to Caravan Ingredients for their Sonic Rocks. Honestly, M tossed them around for a good fifteen minutes before I could wrangle them away from him (all the while he was proclaiming them "his") for a photo. They are strong shiny magnets that are oblong but with rounded edges. When you throw them in the air at each other, they make a neat squealing / whirring / buzzing sound. If you didn't manage to grab a pair of these, tough luck. Seems I've lost mine to M!



The *tastiest* swag of the night goes to Kerry Ingredients for their delicious chocolate covered cheesecake pop! I wished I had adhered to my "good thing comes in twos" (or fours, or tens) with this one. It was silky, creamy, and fragrant tasting. Now I understand the allure of the cheesecake pop!

Recipe: Chocolate Bread Pudding

When I purchased a birthday cake from Harvest Moon Bakery Boutique in Richmond for my sister last week, I also purchased a trio of "Chocolate Croissants" for a snack in the car. Unfortunately, they were nothing like the chocolate croissants I was expecting - I was expecting a luscious, sinful bar of chocolate rolled into the middle of the croissant like the Vancouver Croissant company does. (Note: Vancouver Croissant is an commercial bakery and not a retail one - you can purchase their delicious, fluffy croissants at retail bakeries like Uprising Breads on Venables. And if you do, buy a bag of their Ginger cookies too - they are SO GOOD!!!)

However, Harvest Moon Bakerys' chocolate croissant was disappointing. It was basically a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) croissant. There was only the (fake) chocolate topping on the outside to satiate my sweet tooth. Boo. (The Strawberry Napoleon birthday cake that I bought for my sister was delicious though! Everyone asked me where I had purchased it.)

So, I ate one croissant in the car on the way to the restaurant (I was famished!) and another croissant in the car on the way home one day (it was a busy week). Meanwhile, the last, final and lonely chocolate croissant sat on my kitchen island for couple days. M asked me what I was doing with it - "It's getting a little hard," he said, poking it.

When SNBM (SuperNice Boss Man) gave me a day off on Monday, I decided to make Chocolate Bread Pudding with the lonely little croissant! I developed this recipe when I worked for a food consultant a number of years ago.

Ingredients - Custard
2/3 cup half and half cream
2 squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 t butter, unsalted
1 t cocoa powder
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup sugar

Method - Custard
In a medium heat-proof bowl, combine chocolate, butter, and cocoa powder.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the half and half over medium low heat until small bubbles start to form. Temper the chocolate by adding a couple spoonfuls of the hot cream into the bowl of chocolate, and mixing until the cream cools slightly and the chocolate melts. Add the remaining cream in a find stream, mixing the chocolate until the mixture is uniform.

In a small bowl, beat together egg and egg yolk. Add in sugar and beat quickly to incorporate.

Ensure that the cream mixture has cooled slightly, then beat in egg mixture. Cover with film and refrigerate for at least six hours, or overnight to allow custard to thicken.

Ingredients - Bread
1/3 cup half and half cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 T cocoa powder
1-2 stale croissants, slices of broiche, challah, or other loose-grained pastry/bread, cut or sliced into rounds or ~1" dice

Method - Bread
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat and stir half and half cream, sugar, and cocoa powder over medium low heat until cream is just beginning to bubble, and sugar and cocoa have been incorporated.

Place croissants slices or bread cubes into a shallow dish. Pour hot cream mixture over the bread, and turn the bread so that the cream has a chance to be absorbed. Allow the cream to cool and the bread to soak while the oven preheats to 350ºF.

Method - Assembly
Prepare 3 ramekins in a round cake pan or other 2-4" deep vessel.

Spoon a layer of thickened custard into the bottom of each ramekin. Top with a layer of drained bread. Repeat the layers, ending with a spoonful (or three) of custard.

Bake in a bain marie for approximately 30-35 minutes, until the custard is cooked all the way through. Cool immediately in an ice bath.

Enjoy warm or cold!



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Miss 604 has a Wine Fest Contest!

Rebecca at Miss 604 has two tickets ($60 value!) for the California Wine Fair coming up in March!

The California Wine Fair is presented by the Arts Club Theater, who brings Vancouver productions like Les Miserables, and the Altar Boyz.

Comment at her site with the answer to her question to win!

Bento of the Day: Meatballs & Chocolate Bread Pudding

I arrived home last night to find that M had made meatballs! Not just any meatballs, but giagantuan (sp?) meatballs the size of a small orange! ...ok, not quite that big but when I saw the huge suckers I was like, "whoa!"



They were so big and so many in number that I could only have two at dinner, and we packed some for lunch today.

Above we have a ramekin of chocolate bread pudding that I prepared on my honourary day off (bossman was supernice and gave me a day off for working a couple hours on the weekend - sweet!). We also have one and a half meatballs topped with a mushroom and corn gravy, on a bed of steamed rice. I also added some cucumber and avocado for a healthy veggie side.

Recipe for the bread pudding later!