Gordon Ramsay Steak

Gordon Ramsay Steak

3655 Las Vegas Boulevard South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

(877) 346-4642

To celebrate the end of the conference, a bunch of colleagues and us went to have dinner at Gordon Ramsay Steak. (A few of us were also adding on a few extra days in Vegas since we didn't have that much time to explore the city during work hours.)

The hostess pointed items out in the restaurant as she led us to our table upstairs. The room upstairs was quite different from the main dining room on the main floor. It was quiet, dark, and conversations at a hushed tone in the wood-paneled room.

Since we were at a steakhouse, we were introduced to all the different cuts of meat they carried. Yup, a steak trolley.

Bread platter, probably the most excited shared dish we had!

Howard and I shared the fried Blue Point oysters in herb breadcrumbs, served with a crème fraîche tartar sauce. Sadly, nothing to be impressed by as the breaded portion overpowered everything, so it was pretty one note in flavor.

We had our steak with spinach sautéed with parmesan cream and fingerling potatoes with parmesan and truffle. This was delicious, so we recommend that you stick to the entrées and avoid the fried oyster appetizers.

All-Clad's Open House

During a summer afternoon in June, I was invited to the St. Lawrence Market Kitchen for All-Clad's preview and cooking demo. Being someone who loves to browse cookware and look at shiny things, I went to the media release.

I was warmly received and given a nice welcome, drinks and snacks were laid out by the entrance. I could see that the group before me was still lingering near the demo, so I went to check out the products.

Placed around the room were new All-Clad pieces that were coming out this fall for the holiday market. Above, a 6-piece gadget set. I wasn't sure that the pair of oven mitts and kitchen towel counted as "gadgets" but the set also included a can opener, garlic press, peeler, and pizza wheel. No doubt it would make for a nice housewarming or holiday gift!

A waffle maker has been on my wish list for the longest time. So I'm not surprised that I gravitated towards it. I seriously think my weekends would be better if I started the mornings with waffles. Howard may or may not agree.

Again, more in line with my love for weekend brunch, the electric griddle!

In our new home, we don't own a slow cooker, but I met Cynthia from DelectablyChic! who told me that she roasted a whole chicken in one before. Looking at the slow cooker with renewed interest, I'm thinking that I might have to look into this.

Sitting all pretty on the island was the d7 stainless steel slow cooker, meant to preform like Dutch ovens and other slow cookers. It was explained to me that d7 represented their 7 layers of metal, alternating between stainless steel and aluminum. Some of the perks of this cooker compared to the cast iron/ceramic/clay Dutch ovens is that it's lighter in weight, heats up faster, and doesn't have an enamel layer that chips.

I don't own a slow cooker or Dutch oven, but there appears to be lots of competition now as other well-known brands that produce these are also coming out with their own stainless steel editions.

The All-Clad lineup of 8-inch stainless steel, d5, and Copper Core pans.

As for the food demo utilizing All-Clad products, Chef Tony Cammalleri from Pusateri's was on hand to showcase a few fresh ingredients and how to cook them.

Searing scallops looked like a breeze.

A delicious sample of seared scallops with Peruvian Ají sauce and salsa.

Next up, assembling the Chimichurri flank steak with peppers and asparagus.

Just a little seasoning before serving. This was rather large for a bite-size sample, but had great flavours.

When I first saw TK, I thought of our publishing industry shorthand, to come. So I was curious as to what was to come. Then it was revealed to me as the All-Clad TK collection. A collection inspired by Chef Thomas Keller. If you have a large budget for cookware, this is probably the set for you! To make it even more exclusive, there will be 100 limited edition All-Clad TK sets available in Canada.

The TK lid that raised the spirits of the chefs in the room.

TK lid in action. Probably not a huge concern for home cooks, but lids seem to be the talk of the professional cook. A few cooks raised the point that they rarely use the designated lids, in the rush of the moment, they grab pans to cover their cookware. And this lid allows for stacking because of it's flat top. The TK lid comes in three sizes to fit and cover the cookware in this line. So one of the practical reasons is storage, you might just need the two lids instead of five.

The discreet copper trim detail that distinguishes the TK editions from the others. I obviously won't be able to gather round a set to use at home, so I look forward to reading reviews of those who are getting one!

Disclaimer: I was invited to the media preview and was gifted with an All-Clad d5 stainless steel reduction pan with measuring tool. I have used it a few times, mostly for making caramel, pudding, and creams - can you tell I'm a baker? Thank you to Brittney from Butter Public Relations Inc. for the invitation!

Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery

Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery

380 Lafayette Street

New York City, NY 10003

(212) 533-3000

As one of the most talked about restaurants this year, we made reservations to eat at Lafayette on our second day of vacation. This place was pretty grand for New York standards, the restaurant was large with ample seating on the main floor and up by the windows. The patio was open and filled with guests as it was such a lovely day.

There's a beautiful bar...

and a spacious dining room. No elbow to elbow sitting with the people at the next table! We were seated in the banquettes by the large windows.

I ordered the East Coast Halibut with sweet corn and sauce poivrée. I liked the corn, mushrooms, and tomatoes more than the fish itself, but can say that while the halibut was nicely cooked, there just wasn't a lot of flavours.

Howard tried the Dry-Aged Strip Steak Frites with béarnaise butter. I was more interested in his shoestring fries, yum! The steak was medium rare as ordered and satisfied his craving.

One of the main reasons I wanted to eat here was the accompanying bakery.

Right near the entrance of the restaurant, you can come grab-and-go or quickly eat at the limited seating in this area.

Have a look at those tarts! Fresh Fruit, Honey-Spiced Custard, Raspberry and Pistachio, Double Chocolate and Caramel Pear, and Passion Fruit Cheesecake.

As for the éclairs, they had Lemon Meringue, Chocolate, Butterscotch Coffee, and Peaches and Cream that day.

What about the petits gâteaux? Blond Desir, Accro du Caramel, Yoshi, Charlotte Noir, and Dauphine.

To start off our macaron tour this year, I knew we'd have to make the difficult choice of choosing which flavours to eat. They had Blueberry, Passion Fruit Caramel, Birthday Cake, Chocolat, Lafayette, Strawberry and Black Pepper, and Pistachio Cherry.

We went with Lafayette, Passion Fruit Caramel, and Birthday Cake. The Lafayette was chocolate and lemon, we liked the pairing of their namesake macaron. The Passion Fruit Caramel was also delicious, but we were not fans of the Birthday Cake macaron. I don't recall it tasting like confetti cake, it was just unpleasant. Some of the macaron shells were also hollow, so they lost some points for us.

Even though we were full from lunch, we couldn't resist trying the Yoshi since it reminded us of Super Mario. A Jasmine tea mousse with apricot compote and a petit beurre base, this was a very creamy cake, I don't think you could finish it alone in one sitting, so I'm glad we shared it.

We might return to try some of the other items on their lunch or dinner menu, but we wouldn't return for the macarons.

Backyard Season

Once Labour Day passes, I start feeling wistful. Where did the summer go? What did I do this summer? 

This morning at my bus stop, a father and son was waiting there. I'm assuming it was the boy's first time taking the bus to school. His dad stepped back when the bus arrived and headed home, I guess they knew not to embarrass each other. The boy stepped up and politely asked the bus driver to call out his stop, not knowing that stop announcements were automatic now. Thank goodness I don't have children, watching this big milestone made me want to cry. I miss those first-day-of-school new starts!

We had a great end of August week. My aunts, uncles, and cousins came to visit and we ate. We ate a lot. Chinese food. Vietnamese food. Seafood. Brunch.

We feasted at home, spread out around the house and in the backyard. Howard impressed us all by grilling some steaks.

My brother did the seasoning, grinding the pepper mill with grace (ha ha).

My dad, the backyard farmer, supplies us with so many healthy vegetables to cook with. He grows barrels of Taiwanese lettuce, also known as A-choi.

Not my favourite, but we have plenty of bitter melon hanging about. Check out what's also hanging on the top left corner of the net. *Shudder*

This grassy looking one is a favourite of mine, gau choy or Chinese chives. Chop it up and mix it in egg, dough batter, or in a dumpling and I'm a happy camper.

The bitter melons aren't the only ones hanging out in our backyard. We have sing gua or silk squash too.

Howard loves pickled sher li hon or mustard greens. I always pick this out of my beef noodle soups.

Finally, tomatoes! We don't ever need to buy tomatoes during the fall. We simply can't keep up with them. So now that the cooler weather's creeping in, we'll harvest our vegetables and reminiscence about the good old summer times.

Korean Steak Tacos and Guacamole

We're trying to switch from Where should we eat lunch? to What are we making for lunch? these weekends. We found that we ate out for almost every meal starting on Friday night to Sunday evening. And it's not like we were eating lots of unhealthy fried foods, but it was getting expensive! So we're trying to limit our weekend meal allowance, starting to think ahead during the weekdays, shopping for minimal ingredients, and stay cooking at home. At least for lunch, because we do like trying new restaurants with our friends for dinner.

Last Monday, I flagged a recipe in Curtis Stone's new cookbook, What's for Dinner? (I know how this looks as I'm using his recipes for lunch). Korean Steak Tacos. Perfect as we've been trying different Mexican restaurants in the city and still haven't gotten enough of tacos.

Around midnight, I started making the marinade by whisking 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro; 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar; 3 tablespoons of canola oil; 3 tablespoons of soy sauce (I had dark and light soy sauce at home and opted for the light one); 1 tablespoon of sesame oil; 2 garlic cloves, chopped; 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped; 1 teaspoon of freshly grounded black pepper; and 1 teaspoon of coriander powder. Pour out 1/4 of the marinade, cover and refrigerate. Then place the steak in the dish, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Woke up and gave the steak (about 2 pounds and 1.5 inches thick) a flip to the other side. Mmm this marinate smells so good!

While the other side of the steak is soaking, you can prep the veggies for the taco. It's pretty easy, shred some napa cabbage, cut 1 large carrot into matchstick-size strips, and clean some fresh cilantro sprigs.

Don't forget to make guacamole! We used 3 ripe avocados; 1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped; 1 garlic clove, finely chopped; cilantro; juice from 1 lemon (oops, forgot to pick up lime); and a pinch of sea salt. Mix well!

Remove the steak from the marinade (discard the marinade) and grill for a total of about 5 minutes on each side (for a total of 10 minutes). Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let it sit for 5 minutes.

While the steak is resting, pop your tortillas into the oven for a light toast. Take out the marinade you saved.

Cut the steak into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Pour the reserved marinade over. Assemble the tacos by spreading guacamole on the tortilla, throwing on some cabbages, carrots, and steak. Garnish with cilantro. Or you can fill the tacos with everything and have the guacamole on the side. Up to you!

Enjoy! How do you go about planning weekend meals? Do you plan for the whole week? Play it by ear?

Disclaimer: An ambassador and account manager for Avocados from Mexico contacted us about featuring their products. A #LuvMexAvocado Blogger Pack was sent to us for the campaign. We received recipes featuring avocados from Mexico, a $25 gift card for the purchase of recipe ingredients, and fact sheets about Mexico and avocados from Mexico. We were not required to use the recipes provided or produce a positive feature. All opinions are our own.