Crab Cakes

Z&A gave us a "shopping tour" & cooking lesson (thx Z&A!!)..

my biggest interest is to learn making the crab cakes, as ZA made them last time which tasted very good!! she said she found this recipe from Kraft's website..

let's take a look at the Ingredients..


1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup KRAFT RANCHER'S CHOICE Dressing
2 cans (170 g each) crabmeat, drained, flaked
1 cup coarsley crushed RITZ Crackers (~20 pieces)
1/3 cup KRAFT 4 CHEESE ITALIANO Shredded Cheese
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne) -- optional if u don't like spicy

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Chop the green pepper.. cut off & don't use the "top" part (see pic below) as its taste is too strong..

3. Put the RITZ Crackers into a ziplock bag & then coarsley crush them




4. Mix egg & dressing in large bowl. Add crabmeat; mix well. Gently stir in crackers.

Add in also cheese, onions & pepper; mix well.



This is the mixture of all ingredients. Let mixture stand 3 min.



5. Shape into 24 patties, about 1 Tbsp. each. Place patties on baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray/oil.
*** we made it a bit bigger, so didn't have 24 pieces..

6. Bake 5 to 7 min. on each side or until heated through and golden brown.
*** our CHEF suggested frying instead of baking.. frying will make the crab cakes more crispy.. & i've tried to bake it once & it took us longer than the suggested time in fact..

with the above ingredients, the 6 of us each had ~2-3 pieces.. YUMMY!!

Tundra @ Hilton Toronto

Tundra @ Hilton Toronto
Address: 145 Richmond Street West, Toronto
Phone: 416-860-6800

we 6 people went there for Winterlicious this year..
the table setting looked nice.. with a stone placing over the menu.. & then there were bread & some kind of butternut squash spread..

there were two choices for appetizers..
Tundra Mixed Greens.. "Oven dried cranberries, toasted pistachios & blue cheese crumble, sour cherry emulsion" OR Shrimp Bisque.. "Brandied glazed shellfish & creme fraiche"

four choices for main courses..
most of my friends had the Steak Frites with Mesculin, peppered merlot jus.. & they said it tasted very good.. DC tried Lemon & Thyme Crusted Atlantic Salmon, with Chorizo-fingerling potato confit, Gingered beurre blanc..


i tried the Wild Mushroom risotto.. it came with Caramelized butternut squash, pearl onions, English peas & Smoked tomato jus.. creamy & had a heavy taste of cheese..



none of us tried the Roasted Truffle Scented Breast of Chicken..

desserts were.. Banana Bread Pudding, with Canadian club whisky sauce OR Warm Pear Strudel & liquorice Ice Cream.. seems like the Banana Bread Pudding tasted better..

when we were about to leave the restaurant, we noticed that they put up a regular menu at the front entrance.. then we took a look & found out that the food offered at Winterlicious were actually about the same price as they offer regularly!!! -_-"

Wok on Yonge 玲瓏閣

Wok on Yonge 玲瓏閣
Address: 7771 Yonge Street, Thornhill (Hwy 7 & Yonge)
Phone: (905) 482-8788

spot the ad for their tasting menu for weeks & finally we decided to try it tonite.. the enviroment & atmosphere inside the restaurant was very comfy.. & it said on the menu that they were serving "New Age Fushion Cuisine"..


green tea was served during the courses.. the tea pot set was very neat..




there were 2 tasting menus that they were serving.. & we chose the $29.99 one..

前菜篇
和式大蝦凍豆腐
蟹肉奶酪餃子
XO醬爆肚尖
松子仁荔茸帶子盒

soba sauce came with the tofu.. it's like a Japanese appetizer..
& the dumplings.. there's yogurt inside.. not very "heavy" flavor thou.. very special combination..

the above was 松子仁荔茸帶子盒.. & there were banana slice & scallop inside.. tasted good!

i love XO醬爆肚尖 the most.. a little spicy.. but very 香口!!

after 4 courses, 「奉上石榴功夫香茶 清新口腔提升口感」.. very nice!

主菜篇

日式海鮮湯
蒜香鴕鳥肉
蜜汁燒鰻魚
碧綠珊瑚

there were many ingredients in the soup.. 海帶, 帶子, 青口, 蝦 & 豆腐.. very full after drinking it.. & i haven't had 鴕鳥肉 before.. a bit 爽口 .. it came with 腰果.. & i ate up the「雀巢」too.. very yummy!!

the presentation for each dish was very nice.. & the eel tasted good too..

again after 4 courses,「奉上極品普洱功夫茶 幫助消化清熱去脂」.. we really needed it at that time as we were already very full..

壓軸篇
甘香糯米生菜包
健康菠菜餃
杏仁銀耳無花果
精美甜品


the overall experience was great..
it's like going to a wedding banquet, which u can only have a bite of every dish.. however, we have tried 16 different dishes here & most of them were special & tasted good!!

the staff (i guess he's the manager) there came by several time asking if the food were ok.. chit-chat a bit.. he greeted us by our last name.. (we left our last name when we made reservation).. & seemed like he remembered all the guests' name.. he even came by each table to say bye before he left the restaurant.. & later on a lady (the owner?!) came by after we finished the dessert.. very friendly & nice.. introducing the restaurant a bit..

we think it's definitely worth a try..

Tsukiji Sushi Village 築地

Tsukiji Sushi Village 築地
Address: 58-60 Main Street North, Markham (Hwy 7 & Markham Road)
Phone: (905) 201-6288
Opening Hours: Mon-Thu 11am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 4-10pm

my cousin recommended this restaurant so the 4 of us went there for dinner..
there are sooo many choices on the menu.. 20+ different special sushi rolls.. it really took us some time before we could make up our mind..
the owner (maybe?!) recognized my cousin's bf as he has come several times before, we got the option of ordering the "not-yet-launched" Chinese New Year Special Menu.. it's called 紐西蘭羊架, 活龍蝦刺身, 海膽 賀歲餐 ($88) & it's for 4 people.. since LG wanted to have 羊架, so we decided to pick this one.. here's the menu:

味噌湯
野菜沙律
魚生, 壽司, 卷拼盤 (16 件全魚刺身, 海膽壽司)
火焰龍蝦卷, 加州卷
土佐豆腐
黄金蝦
活龍蝦刺身
鐵板燒紐西蘭羊架
築地炒拉麵
日式雪糕

we ordered half dozen of oysters in additional to the above menu..

這個是黄金蝦.. 圍着蝦的是紅蘿蔔絲和芋頭絲.. 十分有口感!!


龍蝦刺身來到時, 那龍蝦的足鬚還在動呢!

豆腐很好吃! the sauce was good too!

sushi & sashimi were fresh.. & 火焰龍蝦卷很好味!

羊架煮得很好.. 沒有羊羶味..

& using the lobster head, they made us a lobster soup (adding $5 extra)..

by the time the noodle came, we were already very full..
& we still had to leave some room for the dessert.. black sesame ice-cream..
it's the 1st time i saw a sesame ice-cream which was all black in color.. 芝麻味很重!!
it's quite expensive to actually order it (~$3)..
but becoz of my cousin's bf, we could have the sesame ice-cream as dessert!!

we were all very full afterwards.. but i think it's really worth the $$..

Qianlong Restaurant 乾隆食軒

Qianlong Restaurant 乾隆食軒 (Closed!)
Address: 3-3225 Hwy 7 East, Markham (First Markham Place)
Phone: (905) 947-9969

wondering what we should eat in First Markham during a snowing night..
& picking this restaurant as we haven't eat here before..

the owner (we assumed) came over & suggested us having their House Selected Top Sea Cucumber (天下第一參).. the picture looked very attractive.. however, we doubt that we could finish the whole dish by only the 2 of us.. most of the dishes on their menu were more suitable for a big party..

so, here were what we had for dinner..
Steamed Dumplings with Crab (蟹粉小籠包)

Szechuan Dandan Noodle (正宗四川擔擔麵)
it didn't really look like a Dandan Noodle when it first came, as it's covered by veggies.. then after mixing up the sauce & other ingredients.. it looked like this (right below).. it's spicy..

Great Cooked Kan-ssu (大煮干絲)
there were shrimps, tofu & veggies, with a soup base..


all the dishes were not bad, but nothing really stood out..
according our friend, who had tried 20+ different dishes here with a group of people, he said the food here was very good.. i guess we just didn't order the right ones..
we probably will give it another try next time with a group of people, so that we can try their Sea Cucumber!