Follow Me Foodie to a Fongtabulous BBQ!

Follow Me Foodie’s Sunday Night Dinner Series

Follow Me Foodie to to a Fongtabulous BBQ!

It has been a while since I’ve posted on a Follow Me Foodie Sunday Night Dinner, but don’t think that they’re not still on. Last week I attended my friend Nathan Fong’s casual patio party which ended up more extravagant than the invite let on. I should have known though. I’m really lucky that with my group of friends, they never let you down when it comes to good food and wine. What started out as potato salad, Green salad, Mediterranean salad, cassava or yucca root frites, cheese and crackers, and sushi quickly became a full out feast prepared by some of Vancouver’s favourite chefs.

I should mention the sushi platter was brought by Vancouver’s own master sushi chef Tojo himself. From far away I thought it was a Caprese salad with buffalo mozzarella balls and giant cherry tomatoes. It was actually nigiri, but instead of the traditional rectangular shape the rice took on a round ball. I was expecting a touch of wasabi underneath the fish, but it was actually pickled ginger under the tai (red snapper) nigiri and shiso leaf under the Wild Pacific salmon one.

Albacore tuna with some nice char-grilled marks.

Albacore tuna with fruit salsa was from Chef Quang Dang at West.

 Grilled Salmon

Grilled Steaks prepared by Chef Hamid at Diva at the Met and Chef Jefferson at Fraîche.

Grilled Steaks

Grilled steaks with chimichurri sauce.

Chimichurri Sauce Recipe

Compliments of Chef Jefferson at Fraîche.

Ingredients:

4 red pepper
¼ small onion
2 garlic cloves
½ bunch of parsley
½ cilantro
2 tbsp Dijon
¾ cups white wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp of cumin
1 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Blend ½ of the red peppers with the lime juice, vinegar and Dijon.
2. Once it is blended add the herbs, garlic, onion and cumin. Slowly add the olive oil and mix.
3. Salt to taste. Let the mixture rest for 24 hours in the refrigerator so flavours absorb.

Grilled prawns

Warm Summer Salad (green beans, aspragus, red onions, kale, mushrooms) with vinaigrette by Chef Jen Peters at La Belle Auberge.

Dinner is served.

Assorted cookies and pastries.

Olive Oil Cake

Olive oil cakes and desserts are one of my favourite desserts. The olive oil in three ways dessert at Cioppino’s and the Olive Oil ice cream at La Petite Grocery have been a couple of my favourite olive oil desserts to date.

The Black Forest Cake (cherries + chocolate + light pastry cream+ chocolate sponge) from Pastry Chef Thierry. This took Black Forest Cake to whole new levels and it could easily convert Black Forest Cake haters into lovers. I’m not even a huge fan of Black Forest cake and too many cheap grocery store ones with Maraschino cherries have ruined it for me, but this one made me take another slice. It was very light, moussy and creamy with moist chocolate sponge and good chocolate and it wasn’t too sweet. The cherries were sour cherries and of course not the fake ones, but overall it was a beautiful chocolate cake that I would order.

The CHOCOLATE TRIO (white, milk and dark chocolate mousse + chocolate sponge) from Pastry Chef Thierry. This was another winner and it was even mousier and creamier than the Black Forest Cake. It was very light and airy and it’s perfect for milk chocolate lovers. The layer of dark chocolate mousse was my favourite, but since it was a stronger chocolate it was also a thinner layer. Again, I’m not a huge mousse fan and quite often I find it ordinary, but this one was another hit. Of course when it’s in the hands of one of Vancouver’s multiple award winning pastry chefs it will likely be.

Special thanks to Nathan Fong for hosting, and Chefs Hamid, Quang, Jefferson and Jen for helping prepare and cook the dinner. It’s a short and casual post, but definitely an above average BBQ with some of the city’s favourites chefs providing and making the food.