The best Korean dinner we’ve ever had! Charcoal tubes are lowered into their grill and skewers automatically rotate, making a smokeless environment and the juices sealed in. The marination is lighter than most restaurants, so I taste the meat more.  The waiter had our meal timed to perfection, removing the meat from the skewers and cutting, then placing on the grill top to continue cooking if you wanted your beef well done. It was certainly more relaxing than having to be concerned about it yourself.

Dumplings were gone in a NY second. Grilled mackeral was crispy all the way to edges. Eel was tender.

Fried noodles were a little sweeter than I’ve usually had, but was still tastier than most. Still won’t come close to my friend’s mom’s homemade version, but it’ll do nicely. The pancake was loaded with seafood and the texture was light and fluffy.

Seating was very roomy – so much more comfortable and all the better to reach for that last rib! The charcoal takes about 1/2 hour to prepare, so it was a good thing we called ahead and had them start. The “MJG Dinner BBQ Combination B” feeds 4-5 people for $100. In our case, it fed 2 couples and 2 boys, and everything was polished off except for one slice of pancake. It was very filling and extremely satisfying. Even if you don’t have enough mouths to experience the self-rotating charcoal dinner, the flavors and quality of the other dishes alone will have us coming back for more.

Meok Ja Gol: 4992 Newton Street (and Kingsway), Burnaby, BC (604) 436-5005

Martha’s version:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/chocolate-waffle-cookies?autonomy_kw=cookies%20waffle%20iron

Fine Cooking’s version:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-waffle.aspx

I admit I use the word “cute” a bit too often, but just look at how the pink and prussian blue variegation go so well together. This is from Karen’s garden, which we’ve been plucking from and saying “THANKS” to before our meals.

The Galley Patio & Grill

1300 Discovery Street
Vancouver, BC V6R 4L9
(604) 222-1331

Fries are nothing to write home about, but the $10 burger was very tasty with a view we take for granted here.

Book: Pizza Doughs and Crusts

This savory crust has an intriguing light texture that works with almost any topping.

Yields 4 large 8-inch pizzas.

• 1/2 teaspoon date sugar or brown sugar
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 4 cups unbleached bread flour
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, yeast. 1/2 cup of the flour, and 1/2 cup of water. Set aside in a warm place for 20 minutes.
2. With a wooden spoon, beat the oil. salt. and the remaining flour and water into the yeast mixture to form a soft, sticky dough.
3. Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface. With floured hands, knead the dough, adding more flour, a little at a time, until smooth and elastic (8 to 12 minutes). (See Kneading the Dough on page 35.) Form the dough into a ball.
4. Place the dough in a large bow I that has been brushed with oil. Turn the dough to coat all sides with oil. Cover with wax paper and a clean towel, and place in a warm, draft-free place. Let the dough rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour 20 minutes).
5. With a floured fist, punch down the dough. Cover again and allow the dough to rise another 40 minutes.
6. The dough is now ready to be patted, stretched, or rolled according to the recipe.

Book: Pizza Doughs and Crusts

Flavorful garlic and Greek Kasseri cheese lend a tantalizing taste and aroma to this matchless pizza dough. If Kasseri is not available, substitute it with freshly grated Kefalotiri, Bitto, Grana Padano, or Sardo.

• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon date sugar or brown sugar
• 4 ounces (1 cup) grated Kasseri cheese
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 cups bread flour

1. Place the water in a large bown and stir in the yeast and sugar until dissolved. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and set aside until the liquid is foamy (about 10 minutes).
2. With a wooden spoon, beat the Kasseri cheese, garlic, oil, salt, and 2 3/4 cups of flour into the yeast mixture to form a soft, sticky dough.
3. Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface. With floured hands, knead the dough, adding more flour, a little at a  time, until smooth and elastic (8-12 minutes). Form the dough into a ball.
4. Place the dough in a large bowl that has been brushed with oil. Turn the dough to coat all sides with oil. Cover with wax paper and a clean towel, and place in a warm, draft-free place. Let the dough rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
5. With a floured fist, punch down the dough. Cover again and allow the dough to rise another 40 minutes.
6. The dough is now ready to be patted, stretched, or rolled according to the recipe.

Book: Pizza Doughs and Crusts

The fastest of my pizza doughs, Speedy Dough can be prepared from start to finish during the 30 minutes it takes for the oven to preheat. The recipe calls for rapid-rise yeast, and the dough is kneaded for leass than a minute and rises only briefly. The result, surprisingly is a wonderful crisp, light crust.

Makes 4 large 8-inch pizzas.

• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 package active rapid-rise dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon date sugar or brown sugar
• 1 large beaten egg
• 1 cup warm water

1. In a large bowl combine the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. With a wooden spoon, beat in the egg and as much of the warm water as necessary to form a soft but not sticky dough.
2. turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands, knead the dough 10 times. Cover the dough with a clean towel and let it rest about 3o minutes.
3. The dough is now ready to be patted, sretched or rolled according to the recipe.

You can now achieve at home the same great pizza you enjoy at your favorite pizzeria. The Roscan pizza baking stone is made of natural stoneware providing even heat distribution and moisture absorption to make lighter, crispier crust on your pizza.

Use

It is safest to place the pizza baking stone in a cold oven as extreme temperature changes may cause cracking. This also applies when recipes call for preheating the pizza baking stone. Dust stone with cornmeal if desired. Make your pizza on a flat surface and transfer to the pizza baking stone with a pizza paddle, bake per the recip instructions. The pizza baking stone can be used in the regular oven or the microwave oven. You can bake or reheat a variety of food on the piza baking stone including: pizza, bread, rolls, cookies, biscuits, bagels, tortillas, pastries. Take your pizza baking stone from the oven to the table and serve. It will keep the pizza hot. Make sure to use a hot plate holder as the stone will be very hot. Do not use over open flame.

Cleaning

Just scrape off any crumbs wth knife or spatula. Never put hot stone into cold water, as the sudden temperature change may crack it. Never use soap, as the pizza baking stone is absorbent, it will leave a soapy taste even after a good rinsing. Please note that the stone will darken naturally with time and use.

Pizza Recipe

• 1 package of active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Mix the flour, sugar and salt together. Dissolve yeast in water, let stand a few minutes then add to flour mixture. Mix well, then knead on floured board for 8 to 10 minutes.

Place dough ball in greased bowl, cover, and let rise in warm place until double insifze. Punch down, knead again, allow to rise for 20 minutes.

Roll dough out into a circle to fit the pizza stone. Pinch enge of circle into raised rim to hold sauce on. Top wth your favorite sauce, 16 oz of grated mozzarella cheese, 8 oz of grated parmesan or romano cheese, and any other favoirte toppings.

Note: I’ve cracked my first stone because I used thawed prawns and their melted liquid ran over the edge of my pizza. So make sure everything is either room temperature, keep cold items away from the edge, or blot your defrosted prawns! – Cecelia

Bake at 450˚ F for 25 mintues or until crust is golden brown.

Book: Pizza Doughs and Crusts

Adding olive oil to pizza dough, creates a thick, hard crust with a cake-like texture. This dough is ideal/or toppings that are very moist.Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon date sugar or brown sugar
• 3 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

Place the crushed garlic cloves on a work surface and mash, crush, or chop them a second time until well pulverized. Place the mashed garlic in a small bowl along with the olive oil and set aside.

In another small bowl, combine the warm water, yeast and sugar, and stir until dissolved. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and set aside until the liquid is foamy (about 10 minutes).

In a large bowl, combine 3% cups of the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the yeast mixture and garlic oil. With a wooden spoon, beat the ingredients together to form a soft, sticky dough. Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface. With floured hands, knead the dough,~ddingm ore flour, a little at a time, until smooth and elastic (8 to 12 minutes). Form the dough into a ball.

Place the dough in a large bowl that has been brushed with oil. Turn the dough to coat all sides with oil. Cover with wax paper and a clean towel, and place in a warm, draft-free place. Let the dough rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).

With a floured fist, punch down the dough. Cover again and allow the dough to rise another 40 minutes. The dough is now ready to be patted, stretched, or rolled according to the recipe.

If you like super thick yogurt (almost sour cream consistency), this one is awesome. I first tried the Black Cherry flavour and it reminded me of ice cream. It’s not super sweet, but super creamy.

Liberte Mediterranee (greek style thick yogurt)

Available at Whole Foods and IGA. I recently discovered coconut flavour (has bits of shredded coconut in it) as well as hazelnut (which I haven’t tried yet). Aprox $4.50 at Whole Foods (sometimes on sale for $3.69) (Cdn) 500 g.