December 2008 Archives

One of my favorite butchers in Toronto, Vince Gasparro's decided to join this century, and got themselves a website! I've been enjoying the sausages they make for years, my fav being the lamb sausages. I've even done the "pepsi challenge" with their $10 strip loin against a $30 strip loin from a popular "gourmet" shop, with thier $10 steak winning on both taste and flavor.
http://mybutcher.ca/
857 Bloor Street West, at Ossington (South side, East of Ossington)
Toronto, Ontario M6G 1M3

Every year sometime around Christmas I'm guaranteed to get a few phone calls from friends and family asking "how to brine"  Why brine your birds some of you may be asking? Think of it as extra insurance for a juicy juicy bird, a properly brined and cooked bird will not need to be smothered in gravy, it will be juicy, and buttery with lots of flavour. If you've opted to bbq/smoke your bird this year, cooking it slow and low it's very important to brine your bird, you don't want your breast meat turning into sawdust do you?

Here's Some key points, Start off with a fully defrosted or fresh bird, Stay away from kosher birds as they already have a brothy salt mixture added to them, and your bird will end up to salty.  Remove all the offal parts (giblets) before brining.

Recipe after the jump

Did you know that the beer store in Ontario is 100% owned by offshore companies? Heck even "Molson Canadian" is owned by Coors, an American company. I've been boycotting the beer store for the most part for years now as many of my loyal readers know I fancy myself somewhat of a locavore so i generally shop at the LCBO, which has a greater variety of beer, and will carry the Ontario Craft Beers  that the Beer Store will not.  With the recent turn in the economy I cant think of a better reason to boycott sending your hard earned dollars for beer out of the country, and check out the latest Ontario Craft beers from the LCBO, and support your local economy!  For more info on the travesty that is the beer store in Ontario check out  http://freeourbeer.org/