Doesn't TaZte Like Chicken

Location: H’s Place

Author: My Husband

I met H many moons ago, when the world felt like a different place. “Offshoring” wasn’t in the general lexicon, risk management in the financial markets was a lot more effective, and the world was seemingly at peace with itself. H and I were both interns at a technology company then, and because we were seated next to each other, ended up becoming fast friends. Back in those days, I learnt two things about H very quickly – he was a brilliant engineer, and he was also quite the enthusiastic cook and gourmand.

Fast forward to the present and these characteristics still hold true for H. He still is a brilliant engineer, and if anything, has developed into an even more superb cook and foodie. Over the years, Christina and I have been lucky enough to be beneficiaries of H’s considerable culinary skills, and when the summers roll around, we’ve always looked forward to BBQs at his place. After viewing the following photos, gentle readers, you will understand why…

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This past weekend, we were at H’s place for the last BBQ of this season. Being the engineer that he is, H had all the mise en place done, all the meats & veggies marinated, and the grill pre-fired before we got to his place. When we arrived, the cooking went like clockwork and the food didn’t stop coming until we were fully sated.

As usual, H showcased his culinary skills to great effect by putting out the following dishes.

Two squabs on the BBQ, slowly grilled over indirect heat.

A beautiful slab of babyback ribs that were tender and flavourful. In fact, Christina liked it so much she asked for the marinade recipe and went out and bought all the ingredients to make it herself.

Grilled chicken skewers – these were awesome.

The finished squabs. Beautiful, don’t you think? These were really tasty – much better than my main course at Gastropod, imho. And no, they don’t taste like chicken.

The grilled veggies look and taste great. It’s always good to balance all the meats with some greens – the one allowance we make for healthy eating…

To finish the meal, home-made strawberry trifle. By this time, Christina was stuffed, so I ate my trifle as well as the half that she couldn’t finish.

We washed the meal down with a Crios de Susana Balbo Malbec. It was a youngish, fruit forward wine with loads of black fruit and a hint of spice. Rounded tannins made it quite quaffable, and it was great accompaniment for the meat dishes. However, I feel there is a little too much alcohol on the finish, and I wonder if it would be better if it had some time to breathe…

All in all, it was a really enjoyable and satisfying meal. Good food, good drink, and good company. H, our good friend – brilliant engineer, great cook, talented painter, Wii master, fellow car enthusiast, and all round great guy – what else can we ask for? Thanks for your generosity and hospitality dude; Christina and I are already looking forward to our next meal with you guys!!

Location: my tiny kitchen

I have always been a fillet mignon type of girl. When my friends and I have dinner at the Keg, I would toss the menu aside without giving it even a glance while my friends consider the pros and cons of getting the Keg’s classic prime rib. I know I would order the fillet mignon wrapped with bacon from the menu, which is what I have ordered in my last ten visits. “The tenderloin is always the safest choice”, I would reassure myself. The meat is tender even if it is slightly overdone. Finding no flaw in this tenderest part of the cow, I was absolutely loyal to it.

My simple life changed when one day my friend asked me to try his New York striploin. Based on my past experience, I was expecting to bite into a tough and chewy piece of meat. I was very wrong. The steak was tender and juicy. To be fair, it wasn’t as tender as a fillet mignon, but it tasted better than a fillet. I was puzzled for a moment. “What is happening?”, I asked myself. The striploin had a much stronger flavour. It had more flavour than two, perhaps three pieces of fillet eaten together. After this encounter, I was never the same beef lover. I know I can’t go back to being a simple fillet girl.

This recipe is my attempt to recreate my friend’s striploin. The taste might not be exact, but the striploin turned out tender, juicy and flavourful. Lime is the special ingredient in this recipe. It tenderized the meat and in addition, its tangy taste perfectly complimented the fatty flavour of the beef.

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I always get my steaks from the butcher counter at Safeway. They sell triple A beef and the quality has always been consistent. I always choose the piece with the most amount of marble. Onto two striploins put:

- 2 tbsp of kosher salt
- 2 tbsp of onion powder
- 2 tbsp of red chili pepper flakes
- juice from 1/2 lime
- generous amount of freshly ground pepper

Message the seasonings into both sides of each steak. Let the steaks marinate for at least 6 hours but no more than 8 hours.

Heat a stainless steel skillet until it becomes very hot. Put 2 tbsp of vegetable oil into the pan. Put the steaks into the pan. Let one side of the steaks to sear until it turns golden brown, which takes about 2 minutes. Turn the steaks over and sear the other side for another 2 minutes. If the steak starts to burn, turn the heat to medium.

When both sides of the steaks are golden brown, turn the heat to medium and cover the pan. Cook the steaks for 1.5 minute. For steaks that are one inch thick, the cook time stated here will cook the steaks to medium-rare. If you like your steaks to be more cooked, let them cooked longer in the covered pan. My cooking was done with a gas stove.

The jicama salad turned out to be disastrous. It was served as a side dish at Bin941 and my husband loved it. I tried to recreate it but I didn’t succeed. The salad tasted like a pile of shredded cucumber with a bitter and slimy after-taste. Yuck.

Luckily, the potato tower was a success. Like the jicama salad, the potato tower was also served as a side dish at Bin941. The potatoes were diced, roasted until crispy and then coated with truffle oil. The diced potatoes were stacked to form a tower. The magic comes from cleverly inserting small drops of blue cheese, chunks of deep fried crispy pancetta and pieces of string beans into the potato tower. Before Bin941, I never knew potato could taste so amazing. I will post this recipe later.

Location: Bin 941 Tapas Parlour   
941 Davie Street,
Vancouver BC
604-683-1246
http://www.bin941.com

Author: My Husband

Bin 941 first came to our attention several years ago, when one of Christina’s foodie colleagues spoke in glowing terms about the place. However, this particular colleague was also very effusive with his praise for quite a few other restaurants, and so we added them all to our LIST of places to try. And over the years, other restaurants were added to the LIST, and for no particular reason, Bin 941 never quite made it to the top.

Fast forward to last weekend and we found ourselves on Robson doing some shopping. As Christina is much more… err… professional (yes, that’s it, professional)…than I at that particular activity, she was doing the looking and I was doing the “following”. Now, my fellow “followers” will attest to the fact that one’s mental faculties aren’t overly taxed during the activity of “following”, and so it is the perfect time for us to let our minds wander and think about… well, just about anything else. So I thought about the LIST and mentally checked off the places that we had been to (and that we haven’t blogged about – boy, it will be a job and a half to catch up with all the writing), and then I remembered Bin 941. We were downtown, we didn’t have dinner plans, it was still early enough to get reservations. Great! I whipped out the BB to look up contact information, and put a call through. ‘Sorry, we don’t take reservations’ came the reply from Bin 941, ‘but if you want to come before 6, seating shouldn’t be a problem.’ So, armed with the perfect excuse, I hijacked Christina from shopping, and off we went for dinner.

We knew that bin 941 wasn’t a big space, but we had no idea just how small it was. In fact, we walked right past it and had to double back after we realized our mistake. First impressions are positive. It is a long space, dominated by an open kitchen and a bar along one wall. The other wall was lined with a waiting area (which is in the back as opposed to the front) and several two-tops that could be reconfigured for larger groups. There are two cozy window nooks that would be perfect for groups of two or four, and those would probably be the most popular tables in the place. We arrived there at 5:30, but the restaurant was already hopping. The nooks and two-tops were occupied, so we were seated at the bar.

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Bin 941 is referred to as a “tapas parlour”. To be honest, the items on the menu are not so much tapas as downsized mains. When I think tapas, I think of finger foods or single-portion servings, and that wasn’t the case here. But this wasn’t a bad thing – quite the opposite – in fact, as we would soon find out.

We order three “tapatisers” to try, along with a side of pomme frites.

The fries were AWESOME. Prepared shoe-string style, piled high on a plate, and then drizzled with reduced balsamico. These were really crispy, with just the right amount of seasoning. The balsamic vinegar gave it that extra oomph. Good till the last fry – literally.

Next up, Yucatan spice rub bison flat iron steak. We haven’t had bison before and were a little concerned it would be overly tough and gamey. But our server told us it was one of the more popular items on the menu, and convinced us to try it. Good thing she did, because it turned out to be beautiful. Doneness was perfect, meat was tender, and the spice rub imparted a nice smoky flavour. Accompaniments included a spicy jicama salad (more chefs should use this ingredient!) and a roasted pearl onion, which went well with the meat. This dish is a winner.

Next up, a crispy-skin duck breast with a potato hash. This was even better than the bison! The duck was expertly cooked, with the crispy skin playing off the succulent meat. The cranberry sauce provided the hint of sugar that rounded off the duck perfectly. The hash is a mix of crusty potato nuggets, crispy pancetta and spices held together by goat cheese. Yes, it is every bit as good as it sounds.

Finally, mussels in a classic white wine sauce. Fresh, plump meat with forward garlic flavours, immediately followed by the tang of the tomato and white wine. Scrumptious. We polished off everything in the bowl. Our server offered us extra toast to absorb every last bit of the sauce, but we were too stuffed to accept.

So…. conclusion? Every dish was better than the one that came before it. These guys could seemingly do no wrong when it came to the food – quite a few follow diners told us their previous meals here were ’sublime’. Certainly, this was one of those rare meals where our expectations were blown out of the water.

Was everything perfect? Foodwise, pretty much. Service wise, for the most part yes. Our server was very friendly, made some excellent recommendations, and took pretty good care of us through the evening. Where “service” could use a little improvement was the speed with which the dishes came. It seemed to take an inordinate amount of time between plates, and while we didn’t mind too much, could certainly use some improvement. Otherwise, Gord Martin – owner and chef – is quite the culinary genius. Bin 941 has a sister restaurant, Bin 942, and that is now on the LIST. I think it is safe to say that Bin 942 is going to make it to the top of said LIST very soon…