Recently in Recipes Category

Most of us have never tasted "real" egg nog, current food handling laws prevent us from buying uncooked eggs for consumption in a beverage. There is a way to get eggs that have a very low risk of salmonella, they are eggs that have been fertilized, the only way I know to find these types of eggs are at a farmers market where the farmer actually has a clue on what they are doing.. So with that in mind here's my recipe for "real" egg nog 

This past saturday I decided to enter/attend Latkapaoloza, a Chanukah celebration at Caplansky's delicatessen.   I had met Zane Caplansky the previous weekend at a dinner party at chateau DivaQ where he had offered an invitation to Latkepaloza. Zane makes some of the best smoked meat I've ever had, and any excuse to visit Caplansky's is good with me. I highly suggest you check out Caplansky's.  I've only made Latkes a few times before, clearly I was going to need help, which I managed to find - I bought in a "stunt jew" (my friend Jenny) to help with my latkes.. We had an idea to turn latkes on their head.. so we found some fun ingredients, duck fat, bacon, purple potatoes, creme fraise, smoked salmon green onion and caviar. We had such an great evening drinking, enjoying each other's company and frying up our latkes we almost didnt make it to the contest! I clearly should have been paying attention to the rules to latkepaloza, We did manage to get honorable mention for our latkes, but we arrived too late, with to few latkes to be considered for grand champion of the latkes. We did manage to make it into the local media, here and I get the impression we may have had a good chance at winning if we had just arrive a bit earlier and with more latkes.. 

If your panties are always in a bunch about how much salt and corn syrup is in your everyday food, why don't you cowboy up and make your own ketchup? It's really not that hard, and if you have an excess of tomatoes this season, making your own ketchup would be a nice conversation piece next winter when you are eating mac and cheese. 

DIY Ketchup

Last week I was at the Cameron's cask night, and made a delicious bbq sauce to pair with their Dark266 lager blueberry cask, and some  delicious grilled organic beef from Vibrant Farms 
Recipe After the jump.

I know that many of you already have a few marinades that you love and stick to, here's a great guide if you feel like getting creative and and creating a few new recipes. Even if you are a seasoned marinader, you'll learn something from this great guide.

Marinade Chemistry

It's my favorite winter dinner of the year! Once a year it's fun to get a few friends together, and instead of spending what could be a month's rent in a restaurant, we buy out own ingredients and fantastic wine and cook at home... here's what on deck this year.

Course 1: (the wacky martini munchie course)
charcuterie, cheese, crackers, spicy hummus.
Paired with:  beer/cocktails -- try my garlic and herb de provence infused martini

Course 2: ( the soup and salad course )
Grilled butternut squash soup, mixed green salad, and my home made candied pork belly bacon bits
Paired with: Bollanger Champagne 

Course 3: (the i get an excuse to use my truffle slicer course)
cheese soufflé with shaved truffle, brioche with foi gras.
Paired with: 2002 vintage veuve clicot

Course 4: (the celebration of eating things with parents course)
treo of meaty: farmed venison loin chop, lamb loin chop, cherry smoked sliced duck breast  on a bed of cranberry wild rice topped with red wine reduction.
Paired with: 2007 pinot noir reserve - ontario

Dessert: (the blow you out of the water with the best ice cream ever course)
home made baked goods, 2007 Double Chocolate Cherry Stout Ice Cream.
Paired with:   double chocolate cherry stout, Peche mortal, creme brule stout, coffee, open territory on my liquor cabinet.

I've been playing with beer based ice creams for a few years now, my first attempt was Double Chocolate Cherry Stout Ice Cream back in 2007. Making beer ice cream is pretty simple using stout beers, so this one was an interesting challenge as i decided to use Cameron's Cream Ale. After a few tries and a fair amount of experiments that went down the sink, I Think I've got a winner here. Recipe after the jump.

Here's a quick a dirty recipe for brine similar to my Turkey Brine recipe using Cameron's Auburn Ale. This is the brine I used to make BBQ chicken wings at the Royal Ontario Fair. Recipe after the Jump.