Location: Tea at the Castle @ 900 West Lounge 
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
900 West Georgia Street
(604) 684-3131
Having high tea at the Hotel Vancouver is a joy. Their savoury sandwiches are cute and yummy, and their scones are always warm and they melt in the mouth. My friend once said they are the best scones in the world and I have to agree they are the best scones from all high tea places that I have been so far.
Location: My Tiny Kitchen
Besides beef, lamb is probably my favourite non-regular meat. I say non-regular because lamb is not the kind of meat that I can have very often. I love its rich taste and yet I can’t stand its richness when I have a lot of it. Nevertheless, once in awhile I like to pan-sear a rack of lamb that has been has been marinated over night in spices. I have used this recipe again and again and it has always given good results. Cumin is the secret in this recipe; it is the perfect spice for lamb. God probably created cumin right after he created lamb. 
So far I have used only lamb from New Zealand. Usually one rack is a good serving for two people.
The rack always comes untrimmed. Take off the silver skin that sits on top of the meat. The silver skin is a piece of chewy membrane that binds the meat together. The meat is more tender after the silver skin has been removed. Removing the silver skin could be tricky and it takes some practices to master the skill.
Remove most of the fat that sits between the bone and the meat. The gamey smell of lamb comes mostly from the fat. Therefore if you don’t like the gaminess, then take away all the fat.
This is a rack that has been fully trimmed and ready to be marinated.
To allow more spices to get into the meat, I cut the rack into pieces. Each piece has two ribs.
This is my ultimate marinate:
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1/2 tbsp rosemary
- 1/2 tbsp thyme
- 1 tbsp kocher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
1. Rub the spices into the meat and marinate the meat overnight.
2. Because the rack has already been cut into ribs, I can pan-sear the ribs until they have been cooked to the wanted doneness. The following steps cook the lamb to medium well:
- In a heated pan, put in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Place the lamb into the pan, cover the pan and let it cook for high heat for 3 minutes, then medium heat for 2 minutes.
- Turn the lamb to the other side, cover the pan and cook for 3 minutes.
- Turn the lamb again to the last side that hasn’t been seared, cover the pan and cook for 3 minutes.
Location: My tiny kitchen
Lately I have been lucky. I have been able to get some dried porcini mushrooms at a very reasonable price. Yes you know it, my source is Bosa Foods.
You will be able to find dried porcini mushrooms in most “gourmet food stores”: Urban Fare, Bosa Foods, Gourmet Warehouse etc. Top quality porcinis have a very strong and fragrant smell. When I open the jar of mushrooms on the right, I can smell a strong aroma of oyster sauce. Yes, this sounds strange but the mushrooms smell exactly like the Chinese oyster sauce – except the mushrooms’ aroma is natural whereas the oyster sauce is…you know..purely from MSG.
I use 5 eggs for ET and I. For 5 eggs, you will need about 8 to 10 pieces of mushrooms. If you really like porcinis, then you can put in more. This is a personal preference. But even a few slices of mushrooms will give the eggs a lot of flavour.
The porcini mushrooms get rehydrated very fast. Put the mushrooms in a glass bowl, then pour in cold water until the mushrooms are just covered. Soak them for 10 to 15 mins. The liquid will turn dark brown afterwards. Do not throw this liquid away since it is very flavourful. I usually save this liquid to make soup/pastas/risotto later.
Turn the oven on for 350 F. Have a few thick slices of bread ready. When the oven is ready, put the bread in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, or longer if you want like darker toasts.
My preference is the Farmer’s bread from Cob’s bread. I love the cursty top.
In a bowl, crack 5 eggs.
Put in the mushrooms.
Put in 2 tablespoons of chives.
Put in a pinch of salt and some black pepper.
Beat the eggs until everything is thorougly mixed.
Heat a non stick pan until it is hot.
Pour in a small amount of oil.
Pour in the egg mixture.
Immediately, turn the heat to medium low.
Using a wooden spatula, mix the eggs in a circular motion. Scrape the eggs in the outer circumfrence often. This will prevent the eggs on the outside being over-cooked.
I cooked the eggs in about 3 minutes. I like my eggs a little runny and I turn off the heat before the eggs are fully cooked.
For the toast, you will need butter and black truffle sauce. I’m using truffle butter this time but if you have truffle sauce, then regular butter will do.
Spread the butter on the toast.
Spread a good amount of truffle sauce on the toast.
Remember, even a little truffle goes a long way and I’m just being greedy here
The finished product! I can tell you this is the best scrambled eggs for me. The porcini mushrooms accentuate the flavour of the eggs. The mushrooms add a layer of depth to the eggs – they bring out the sweetness in the eggs. It is a kind of sweetness that cannot be easily described by words. If you had Uni or Foie Gras, then this sweetness is similar to the sweetness you can taste in very fresh Uni or perfectly seared Foie Gras.
The world is better with mushrooms!
