Jul 2009
BBQ and Grill Spice Rubs
31/07/09 08:42 Filed in: Recipe
Summertime is for grilling, and while I most often just sprinkle salt and pepper on my meat before grilling - I do like a spice rub for certain cuts. The problem I have with commercial preparations (you know the ones at the supermarket) is that I find them too salty, and maybe a little lacking in some of the other flavours. Not to mention that the price is a little high for what you get...
So at the beginning of the season we mix up our own rubs, and spice mixtures. Really easy to do, and it gives total flexibility in the flavour profile and saltiness. The mixtures just need to be kept in an airtight sealable container, I use plastic ziploc© tubs but you could use mason jars, or pickle jars, and you can keep them in the cupboard for about 3 months. They don’t go ‘bad’ after that time, but they do start to loose their flavour and effectiveness.
Another great reason to make your own - the right to tell everyone about your signature spice rub. Once you modify these recipes, no-one else will have the same mixture it’ll be all yours. Nothing better than friends and family begging for the ‘secret recipe’!
So over the next few weeks we’ll roll out all the spice rub recipes. We’ll they are more ratios, and just suggested starting points really. The ones that we’re posting are small tasting versions, you can mix them up and try them out; then make the changes you need to make them your own. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
Rib and Chicken spice rub recipe
Cajun BBQ and Grill spice rub
Montreal steak spice recipe
Hot and Spicy BBQ and grill rub recipe
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Steamed Mussels
26/07/09 11:37 Filed in: Recipe
Sometimes you end up with a couple bottles of wine that when you taste the first one, you know exactly what you should cook to go with the second. The pairing is so obvious, and so great that you can’t resist.
This happened recently when I came across two bottles of Maso Canali ’07 Pinot Grigio from Trentino. Immediately all I could think about was a simple dish of mussels steamed in the wine.
Unlike other times when I’ve steamed mussels in wine, I didn’t add a lot to the pan; half an onion wine and mussels. Simple and clean!
Once the mussels were cooked I pulled them out of the pan, added a knob of butter and gently reduced the sauce that I poured over the mussels for service.
Served the platter with bread for dunking and sopping up the sauce, plus glasses of the pinot...
We were not disappointed!
Our Steamed mussels in Pinot Grigio recipe with video directions.
Approachable Wine
21/07/09 07:43 Filed in: wine
Wine can be so confusing.
As I’ve said in the past, one of the reasons for embarking on this project was to learn more about food, cooking, whisky, and wine.
I kind of knew that I liked wine, but I didn’t know why I liked certain wines or how to read a label or anything about growing regions etc. In short I was (still am) like 95%+ of the population - totally clueless when it comes to choosing wine. I find myself constantly looking back at the interviews with wine experts we’ve done over the last couple of years, to try and glean some new info that maybe I’ve missed.
One thing that I have discovered is that I like wines from pretty much the whole spectrum; giant complex mouth filling reds, to subtle whites - in all price ranges, from all regions. So when I’m asked by friends or family about what wine they should buy for an upcoming event / party / dinner, I’m usually at a loss. I really don’t know, I’m still struggling myself; but they think I know something they don’t... seems I’m the closest person to an ‘expert’ that they know.
Well, I now have a go-to suggestion for all my friends:
OPEN Wines.
This is a range of three VQA Ontario wines, with a fairly low price point ($11.95 at the LCBO) they show exceptional quality and value. I’ve tried two; the Cab2 Merlot (which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot), and the Riesling‐Gewürztraminer blend. Gotta say that these were approachable, and easy drinking wines. Great for people who just want to kick back with some friends on the deck and enjoy a glass of wine without food. If you do want dinner... well they are easy to pair with a wide range of foods; pizza to BBQ, burgers to something maybe a little more sophisticated, they are that good.
In fact I have some friends coming over tonight for dinner, and these will be on the table.
Authentic Food
10/07/09 10:03 Filed in: Recipe
Authenticity in food; what does that mean?
I often get blasted by viewers on this website, and other sites that we distribute to, for not being authentic or not doing a recipe the way it’s supposed to be done.
I live in Toronto, and my family has been in Canada since the late 1700’s; my wife’s family arrived here in the mid 1800’s. Both families arrived from the British Isles, both families have lived and evolved in rural Ontario sharing a common heritage. While they made essentially the same preserves every summer, and the same stews every winter - the recipes are substantially different, and now we make an amalgam at our house. So who is to say that my grandmothers stew is more authentic than Julie’s, or less than yours?
Cooking to me is all about the evolution of a recipe, and borrowing from the cultures around me. Toronto is a very diverse city, great to explore and learn about ingredients that are new to me; and then to work into my existing repertoire. This has happened ever since the first explorers set off by foot or boat to see what they could find.
Irish stew without potatoes? Well potato wasn’t introduced to Europe until the late 1500’s, Ireland didn’t really grab ahold until the late 1700’s. So I guess ‘Authentic Irish stew’ doesn’t contain Potatoes?
Tomato is another example, Italian food to most people is tomato based; but it wasn’t fully accepted until the 1600’s.
So here on our site you will find ‘authentic un-authentic’ recipes that have been inspired and shaped by what I see around me and trips that I’ve taken around the world. I don’t believe in the dogma of recipes, or fret if I’m missing an ingredient, cooking should be about an exploration of flavour.
Does it taste good? Yes.
Here are links to some of our other ‘un-authentic’ recipes with videos:
French Onion Soup Recipe
Korean Inspired Chicken Wing Recipe
French Canadian Pea Soup Recipe
Flemish Stew Recipe
Hope you enjoy these.
Wrapped In Bacon
03/07/09 13:34 Filed in: Recipe
MMMM Bacon.
It really is one of my vices, any time I can add bacon to a recipe; there is a smile on my face. That smokey salty flavour just seems to enhance the other flavours in a dish. Lately we’ve seen a fair number of recipes where we are wrapping bacon around other meats before cooking, sort of a poor man’s ‘Caul fat’.
Take a look at our Bacon and Bacon Wrapped Recipes:
How to make home made bacon
Bacon explosion
Bacon wrapped blue cheese meatloaf
Chicken pork bombs
Honey lager legs
Home Made Ice Cream!
02/07/09 09:26 Filed in: Recipe
Ice Cream!
The half pint has reappeared in our freezer along with a couple of other larger models; one from KitchenAid, and another from Donvier. We’ve given up completely on store bought, now preferring to only make our own.
Our choice in ice cream makers is decidedly low tech. All three require that you freeze a cylinder for 18-24 hours; the cylinder is filled with some sort of fluid that requires extremely cold temps to freeze it. We end up keeping our freezer at the lowest temp possible. After that two require you to hand crank once in a while over a 15-20 minute period, this is oddly relaxing, and the larger model sits out on the dinner table for guests to crank in that period between dinner and when tea is ready for dessert. The KitchenAid cranks continuously for 20-30 minutes, and is usually used at family gatherings.
The first is a cooked custard French vanilla ice cream recipe; excellent mouth feel, and just incredible flavour.
Next in line is a bare bones no-cook vanilla - simple, fast, better taste and mouth feel than 99% of commercial ice cream. You can easily manipulate the flavour on this one, add fruit, or chocolate chips, even coffee flavour.
Then we have a double chocolate ice cream recipe, again uncooked - so prep time is minimal - with an explosion of chocolate flavour.
Yes, yes, yes; calm yourself, two of these recipes contain un-cooked eggs, if that’s a problem for you, make the cooked custard recipe. Personally, doesn’t bother me.
Here are the recipes with video:
Cooked custard French vanilla ice cream
Double chocolate home made ice cream recipe
No-cook Vanilla ice cream recipe