Im Back! And I can skin a bird!

After a long hiatus I thought I would return to this to keep myself engaged with the blogosphere- as well as the fact that I have tonnes of new food experiences to share.

The most recent of which was learning, without interlude, how to head-gut-and feather a recently shot partridge.
I have always been a proponent of nose to tail eating as well as the importance of knowing where your food comes from but this was something of a graphic introduction to the reality of this philosophy.

A colleague of mine is an avid hunter and asked if I wanted a partridge as he was out hunting them. I of course said I would, with the assumption that I would receive a well hung feathered bird ready for a lovely meal. I was wrong. Still in his hunting gear my friend arrived with a brace of skinned and feathered birds in his car and one that he had left whole for me as a challenge.

With pocket knife in tow he lead me through the skinning process as my bar manager and jr. sous-chef looked on. Behead the poor fowl, cut quickly through the chest and gut/ skin the bird of all its feathers. Suffice it to say the job was done with myself wearing suit jacket and tie pictures to follow!) and the bird now rests comfortably in my freezer (I am a little wary of bacterial remnants and assumed freezing will kill any nasties). I plan to cook the bird for the next post with a combination of bacon and tarragon reduction. I will post the recipe assuming I don't die of the bird flu.

Man Meal

As my wedding date draws ever closer it became apparent that I needed to get the groomsmen together and inform them of their responsibilities. Inevitably this took the form of a bbq. I had decided early on that if I was going to cook for the boys it would be a meal for men. (Read: all protein, no starch or vegetable and all grilled.)

So the menu..

Protein #1: Quail.
My mafioso overlords recently shot, or in some way "murdered up" some wild quail. The chefs offered it up to me and I couldnt resist. The key with this was to let it marinade for upwards of 3 days in a (very!) potent combination of chiles, red wine, balsamic, garlic and fresh herbs. Grill them up gently and baste with a honey/chipotle glaze.

Protein #2: Shrimp
Simple: marinade for 20 minutes in garlic, honey, tequila, smoked paprika, lemon and lime juice and grill quickly.

Protein #3 Merguez Sausage
A morrocan/ spanish style lamb sausage it has a great flavour of cumin, garlic and just a hit of smoke. Grilled quick they develop a great crusty skin while maintaining a moist interior. A perfect snacking sausage.

Protein #4 Sirloin Steak
Can't have a manly bbq without steak. These were restaurant quality, 36 day dry ages sirloins marinated over 5 days in garlic, chile and herb oil. There was very little I could screw up here.

Sauces:

Chimmichuri: Great all purpose condiment.

3/4 cup chopped parsley.
2 garlic cloves
2 chile peppers
1 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano

Macerate all in a mortar and pestle and let sit for 24 hours to allow flavours to come together. (good on the steak, and anything else grilled)

Honey Chipotle Glaze

2 gloves minced garlic
1 chile pepper
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp butter

Cook the garlic off in the butter and deglaze with the white wine, mix in the honey, salt and pepper. Reduce by half and cool. This is perfect with the quail!

Mint Sauce

Macerate 3/4 cup of mint, 1 tsp sugar, 3 tsp white balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp garlic, salt and pepper to taste and chill in refrigerator for as long as possible--perfect with the sausage.

All in all a succesful event. The fact that this was bbq'ed in an outrageous thunderstorm, after copious beers and prior to the korean loading my dishwasher with hand soap....made the food quality irrelevant- but according to sober sources everything was enjoyable.

As a side note: the case of beer left by my groomsmen had no bottom to it, so when I attempted to move it 28 bottles of beer exploded all over the floor, leaked into the basment and flooded the cat. It was awesome.

Limes: not just for margarita's anymore

I love limes, they are an incredibly diverse fruit that can really span menu's from starters to desserts. Aside from that they are a great decor item (apparently?).

Yesterday I had the chance to cook a dinner for my cousin and her hubby and I thought that limes would be a great central theme, in tandem with a mexican/latino idea. So heres the menu:

Apps:
Tequila Lime Shrimp with Garlic & Honey

Uncooked 16-20 shrimp, marinated in 2 tsps garlic, 2 tsps honey, 1 tbsp lime zest, 1 tbsb lemon zest, 2 tbsb olive oil, 2 oz tequila, 1 lime juiced, 1 lemon juiced, 1 tbsb chopped coriander. Let marinade for 20 minutes and grill over med high heat for 2 minutes or until cooked.

Spicy Rib-Eyes,

*Measurements per steak*. In a mortar and pestle grind 1 tsb lime zest, 1/4 tsp dried chile's (ideally thai bird chiles). 1/4 tsp fleur de sel, 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp white balsamic. Rub each steak with this and let sit for up to 5 hours. Grill to your preferred done-ness and finish with a rough grind salt.

Jack'ed potatoes.

(1 potato per person) Using yukon gold potatoes (or another higher starch potato) slice into typical scalloped potato slices and par boil until just tender. Cook off 4-5 strips of smoked bacon, and using 1/4 of bacon fat sautee 1/2 of an onion until caramalized. In a casserole dish layer the potatoes, (seasoned with cajun seasoning, salt, pepper and dried coriander) bacon, onions, diced jalepeno's and shredded jack cheese alternately. Bake in a 350 degree oven until cheese crisps up on top.

Tri-Colored Salad.

So there may be more then three colors but what the hey..

Sautee 1/2 a red onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 jalapeno. Add 1 can of (CANNED!!!) corn...i know--canned right? With olive oil pan fry for 3-5 minutes and then de-glaze with white wine. Remove from heat and let cool. Slice up 10-12 cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cup coriander, 2 avacadoes. Mix all together while cool. Dress with olive oil (1/4 cup) white wine vinegar ( 3 tbsp) salt, pepper & 1/6 tsp chipotle powder.

"Key Lime Pie"

So I don't regularly have access to key limes so I did some changes, and it was great!

Whisk 3 egg yolks until light and fluffy (3 -5 mins). Add 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 2 tsps of lime zest, 1/2 cup lime juice and beat until smooth. In a PRE MADE! Graham Cracker pie crust pour in the mixture and bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Allow to cool and top with vanilla whipped cream.

I am pretty sure I used about 15 limes in making all this stuff because they were so dry so some key points in using limes:

1) Feel em before you buy em, - checking for juice content is key! but if you know you are going to zest a lime, dig you fingernail into one to see how far you get before you hit the white pith.

2) If you cant make key limes..ADD ORANGE JUICE! Seriously, when north americans in the know make thai food they add orange juice (fresh) to cut the acid of Persian limes (mexican and persian limes are your typical variety here)

3) Once you zest, DICE!. Stringly bits of lime


If all else fails, open a corona add lime and enjoy.

In Search of Chicken

As many of you know, my primary meat focus is Pork, with beef running a very close second. However both of these can run a fairly high price, and are not regularly available in take out format. So chicken oftern becomes a fixture...but I dont quite have the metabolism to process KFC on a regular basis.

My friend the chef always talks about grabbing take out on the way home. Actually, as far as I know he does not cook at home but rather lives exclusively by eating out (specifically I figure he is financially supporting the Rushton. But other then that he talks about the local portuguese chicken joint that he stops in at on a regular basis.

Growing up where I did it is shocking that there was never a regular "Portuguese Chicken Joint" aka churrasqueira that was busy. Most of the ones in town were fly by night operations that never lasted for more then a few years (except this one dodgy one that I never actually saw anyone leave with food from.) My significant other suggested the reason for this is that likely everyone was just doing it in their own style at home, which would explain the regular good smell of charcoal grilling that would drift around the neighborhood on a weekend evening.

So I felt the need to find my own "chicken place" and I will tell you it was not easy, the first two we looked to go to were both closed down...and then the other one we drove by didnt have a turning lane. But eventually we found one in Aurora that had a good reputation--it is no solidly our go to take out place. For a price comparable to two 1/4 chicken dinners at Swiss Chalet we got a whole bbq chicken (portioned) with a great piri piri sauce, sauteed veg, browned parisien potatoes and a killer caesar salad with what was clearly a home made dressing FULL of anchovies and garlic. All and all a great meal for what we paid.

I am planning on grilling my portuguese associates in the next day or two to find the home made "moms" recipe for piri piri sauce and will report back asap.

Duck

I realize it has been some time since my last post--purely technical issues I assure you.. ( a combination of the failure of our household computers as well as the fact that my IT department frowns on blogging on company time...)

I'll get right into it. I love duck, I love its byproducts (foie gras, duck fat etc) but I will be honest I still havent mastered the ability to cook it to my liking. I tend to think of duck cooked in two culinary traditions--both of which require fairly technical skillsets.

The first is the french style (as with most foods..) Duck A'lorange: that behemoth of french gastronomie--surprisingly, still good. The french style tends towards an oven roasting style, using surrounding heat to bring the duck to a tender ending with a still crisp (though not crackling) exterior.

The second, increasingly more prevalent is the Asian style (ubiquitously refered to as "peking" or "cantonese") These are the whole roasted ducks hanging in your neighborhood chinese/korean/cantonese bbq hole in the wall. (for those of you who know where I live I clearly mean YOUR neighborhood joint not mine). Crispy orange skin, heads still on this is the perfection of thousands of years of duck loving culture.

I have yet to be able to replicate either the depth of flavour imparted in the french style, or the smashingly crisp skin of the peking brand. But recently I came as close as I ever have. The trick suggested by my friend Chef was a pre roasting boil. In a large pot put 6 tsp of honey as well as salt, pepper and herbs de provence. Boil for 15 minutes and then remove the duck and allow to dry. Zest 2 large oranges and crush in a mortar and pestle with fleur de sel, cracked black pepper and black garlic. Rub the now dry duck thoroughly- and stuff the cavity with quartered oranges and onions. Turn on one side of the bbq and place the duck on the indirect heat side, glazing with a mixture of garlic, onions, honey, orange juice, and vinegar. Cook for 3 hours at a very low heat until the skin becomes crispy. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT THEN TRY AND PUT THE DUCK OVER DIRECT HEAT TO "CRISP THE SKIN MORE" --that is how I ruined the duck (not totally, just enough to piss me off.)

Also--use any leftover fat to fry anything and everything you have at hand.

The next level of Fusion

Today we went to perhaps what is the most overpriced grocery store in Toronto- Mcewans, even more pricey then Pusateri's (shocking I know).

This place has it's own sous chef- one featured regularly on T.V. It claims to make over 800 of its own products in house, provide butchery services to one of the Cities most expensive catering programs, and generally triple the pricing of even the most expensive grocery stores I have ever encountered.

That being said--seeing what is available inspires an incredible greed in me. Rows upon Rows of 20 year old balsamics, first press olive oil, wagyu beef, and most importantly-Foie Gras!

There are very few places that I inhabit where I can buy my penultimate indulgence (in terrine, rillet, or whole lobe form.) And I am almost totally unable to say no.

So clearly I purchased a few generous portions as my splurge of the month, but then had to find something else to eat for dinner. Wading through their butchery and fresh fish areas I realized that there was very little I would be able to afford. I settled on a cryo-packed boned-out whole chicken 3 days marinaded in traditional jerk spices. (I also folded for duck prosciutto, prosciutto salami, cloth wrapped cheddar from PEI and some gifts). But-Dinner was Set!

Can I tell you that there is no more classic combination in my repetoire now then seared foie gras on brioche with sea salt, followed by dirty rice (short grained rice, caramalized onions, garlic, bacon-slow simmered in white wine and blended with sea salt and cracked pepper) and slow barbequed jerk chicken.

We laughed that this was an incredible mis-match in tastes but we agreed that the simple seared foie, with the basic chicken and rice was a great and hillarious combination.

The only downside was that I lost so much precious duck liver to the high heat searing!

I think I should call Martin Picard, and Rob Rainford..get some sort of collaborative project together....

Anthony Bourdain

I am not going to lie, this guy is one of my culinary heroes. I cant really condone his early life and rampant drug use but I have to admit that my most dog eared books are his Kitchen Confidential, The Nasty Bits & a Cooks Tour.

What I like about the guy is his total sensual indulgence in food, he speaks clearly of his first true foodie moments. His first taste of vichyssoise, his first oyster, his first irreverent glass of vin ordinaire (watered of course, he was 14 or something) Relating to that on my level is easy. My first fondue, my first beef carpaccio, my first foie gras and my first glass of new zealand sauvignon blanc- which unfortunately turned me on to wine.

Total culinary sensualism cant be a bad thing, when you look at Bourdains travels he has literally made an attempt to be killed by food at least 5 times (4 of which ended in gastroenteritis) and you have to admire that. I hope that one day, having established myself I will attempt food induced coma's at every opportunity....

Most of all I appreciate the in depth look at my daily life. The grind of cooks, the shitty side of waiting tables, the importance of working a 60 hour week without a word of complaint. Heed his advice about when to eat seafood in a restaurant, the perils of mussels anywhere, why never to order a steak well done, the true importance of quality knives & heavy bottom cookware and truism that if you ever screw with someones mise en place (their general cooking items from salt & pepper to towels to oil, wine, herbs, chiles etc)you deserve to be shot.

This guy has got me back into cooking many times in the past few years, every time I read his books I want to be better in my industry.