on a Quest

Chef Que Vinh Dang invited us to the soft launch of his new restaurant Quest. We were excited as we missed his private kitchen TBLS.

Our culinary treat kicked off with Hamachi sashimi, cherry tomato jelly and sea grapes.

Fresh Alaskan King crab with avocado, enveloped in a rice paper roll.

Beef tartar had flavours reminiscent of Vietnamese beef pho.

A perfectly seared Hokkaido scallop served with sweet corn.

A lovely piece of seared Alaskan Black Cod, served on a bed of sugar snap peas.

Charred pork belly with taro and brussel sprouts rounded out our mains.

And to complete our delicious and indulgent meal, a moist almond cake topped with grilled pineapple and homemade salted caramel ice cream.

favourite holiday

Our favourite holiday is here! We love everything about Thanksgiving from the chilly weather and all the cooking, to the smell of pumpkin pie and overeating. It's just simply about being with your loved ones, being thankful for one another and of course, being together to share a great meal.

This year we're doing some Mary's Heritage and Free Range Turkeys.

Roasted - 4 hours.

Deep Fried - 30 minutes.

A large fat separator makes the best pan gravy.

Check out this giant can of pumpkin. It makes 8 pies!

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

makes one 9 inch pie

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs

1 can 15 oz 100% pure pumpkin puree
1 can 12 fl oz evaporated milk (1½ cups)

1  unbaked 9-10” pie crust (Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee)

METHOD:

1. Place oven rack to lower third and preheat to 425F (220C).

2. Mix sugar and spices and beat in eggs.

3. Stir in pumpkin and then gradually evaporated milk. Don’t vigorously beat or over mix. This will create air bubbles which will cause the filling to rise like a soufflé in the oven.

4. Let mixture rest 20 minutes or overnight in the fridge.

5. Take pie shell out of freezer and brush the bottom with egg white (to prevent a soggy crust). Brush the edges with egg wash (yolk + cream).

6. Pour the rested pumpkin mixture into pie shell and cover edge of crust with pie shield. Place pie plate on a baking sheet.

7. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes. Reduce to 350F (180C) and bake for 40 minutes. Remove pie when the centre is still a little wobbly to prevent the filling from over baking and cracking.

8. Garnish with pie cutouts. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours and then refrigerate.

9. Serve cold with freshly whipped cream.

Thanksgiving is not complete without all the sides.

 And the feast (and overeating) begins!