Fat Guy Chronicles #1: an Ode to the Banquet Burger

Hi all, Rich here.

Let's assume for a minute that 'Fat Guy Chronicles' is a light hearted look at typically unhealthy food.  Should you eat like this all the time?  No, but if you're looking to indulge in something delicious and high in things that should be low (fat, sodium, cholesterol, bacon, etc.), consider this a bit of a guidebook.

While driving past a favourite greasy spoon the other day - Breezy Corners - it occurred to me that there has been a cultural shift away from the 'Banquet Burger'.  What's your point, you're saying right now.

Well, it's a nostalgia factor.  I grew up in rural Ontario, and most trips to 'town' (doesn't matter which one, but let's say there were maybe 5 options depending on the scarcity and relatively value of whatever necessitated a trip to 'town') involved a stop at a restaurant with my family.  The star of the burger menu at any restaurant / diner / cafe was not a asiago-ranch-swiss burger, or a California burger, or a southwest Tex-Mex Explosion burger, it was always the Banquet Burger.  Having fact-checked this idea on the internet, it turns out it's just a burger with cheese and bacon, but it's the idea of it all, I suppose.

The basics: from bottom to top: bun / burger / cheese / bacon / ketchup / mustard / relish / onion / tomato / lettuce / mayonnaise (sometimes) / dill pickle / bun.  Nothing fancy, not too much of any one topping, just a good, solid burger featuring bacon and cheese.

Any restaurant serving an all-day breakfast and catering to hordes of schoolchildren ordering fries and only fries for lunch has to have a Banquet Burger at the top of the menu.

This lives on in greasy spoons across the country, I'm sure; but the proliferation of 'gourmet' burgers and the overall growth in fast-food markets has certainly cut into the reputation of the banquet burger.

My point - they're delicious.  I don't eat one every day, neither should you, but once in a while, a greasy spoon serving a good Banquet Burger will remind me of trips to 'town' with my family and prove once again that simple can really hit the spot.

Next time you're ordering, skip the white truffle, avocado & dry-cured pork belly burger and venture back in time to the Banquet Burger.

Aside:

Places I know to have served a really, really good Banquet Burger in the past 20 years (may not be open anymore)

Tam's Diner, Pefferlaw, ON
River Valley Restaurant, Uxbridge, ON
Durham Cafe, Lindsay, ON - still open, still amazing - Durham Cafe
Woodville Sale Barn - trust me... - KLCAuction.ca

There are others, but if you're from Uxbridge, and remember the River Valley, you will know what I'm talking about.  If you're not, I probably lost you about 35 words ago, making this totally self-serving and irrelevant.

Carry on with whatever it is that you do.

Rich.

Everyday Granola

Hi all, Sara here, the plant based perspective of this trio. For my first post I'm going to share one of my favourite recipes that is sure to appeal to both veg and non-veg readers alike. This recipe is endlessly  adaptable based on your needs, tastes or simply what you have in the cupboard. I have found that the majority of granola in super markets and even in health food stores is overly sweetened and contains additional oils that I find unnecessary to make a delicious and healthful granola. To begin, assemble your ingredients...

As I said, this recipe is adaptable to suit your unique needs and tastes. I find that each time I make this recipe it's just a leeeetle bit different than the last time largely in part to what ingredients I have on hand. Today I used almonds and sunflower seeds as my mix-ins to the oats. Any mix of seeds and nuts will do. Pecans, walnuts, pepitas, chia, cashew and sesame have all featured in past granolas. Unsweetened coconut is also a nice addition. Make sure that you use regular oats (not the quick cook kind) in this recipe. I have also used steel cut oats in the past which resulted in a crunchier granola but has a longer cook time.

In addition to your oats and nut/seed mixture you will also need cinnamon, vanilla, peanut butter (I prefer to use all natural unsweetened chunky - either PC brand or organic from my local health food store), maple syrup, sea salt and oil. Today I experimented with coconut oil for the first time in this recipe as I've been reading more about its health benefits but really you can use whatever oil you prefer. I have used both olive oil and canola in the past and out of the three I prefer the canola. The coconut oil lends a distinct, although pleasant, flavour to the mix however seems to have a quicker cook time so if you are using coconut oil make sure you keep an eye on the oven. Additionally, coconut oil requires melting prior to mixing with the other ingredients. 

To begin, melt your coconut oil (if using) and then add in the maple syrup, peanut butter, cinnamon, sea salt and vanilla. Mix until well incorporated. 

Add in your oats and nut/seed mixture and stir until mixture is well coated. 

Split the mixture evenly onto two baking sheets - lining your baking sheets with parchment paper will prevent it from sticking to the pan and is helpful with clean up too. The use of parchment paper in this recipe is nice but not a requirement by any means. 

You can either cook both pans at once - rotating halfway through or cook in two separate batches. Cook times may vary depending on your oven and oil used. Regardless, it is nice to stir once or twice during cooking as the edges tend to brown sooner. You may also drizzle with additional maple syrup if you prefer a sweeter/stickier granola. 

Once evenly browned your granola is ready to enjoy. You can either allow your granola to cool and enjoy it that way or if you are like me you'll enjoy some straight out of the pan while it's still warm. 

This granola can be enjoyed multiple ways and is a filling and energy providing treat any time of the day. I often have this as either a pre or post workout snack. Lately I've been adding raisins and eating it like a trail mix - the raisins make it taste just like an oatmeal raisin cookie. One of my favourite ways to eat this granola is to mash up a ripe banana and mix that with the granola in addition to high protein, low fat greek yogurt. Since eliminating dairy from my diet several months ago I haven't been eating as much granola and was really missing the yogurt/banana combo. Soy yogurt just doesn't measure up. I recently discovered this yogurt and it has made my life! This granola is also delicious as a breakfast cereal with fresh fruit and milk of choice. I'm telling you guys....you're going to be hooked. It also makes a nice gift...

I made these for family and coworkers as Christmas gifts and with Valentines Day coming up you might consider doing this. Ok here's the recipe - feel free to mix it up as you see fit...you really can't go wrong :)


6 cups oats - The old fashioned kind, not quick cook - can purchase gluten free oats too 
2 cups nuts/seeds - any combo will do
1/3 cup oil - again whatever floats your boat here
1/3 cup maple syrup - I would imagine that you could use any liquid sweetener here - honey, agave - I haven't experimented preferring to use local/vegan ingredients if possible
1 T cinnamon
1 (heaping) T all natural chunky peanut butter
1 T good quality vanilla
1 t sea salt


Mix all ingredients together except oats/nuts/seeds and stir until well combined. Add nut/seed/oats and stir until evenly coated. Spread evenly onto two cookie sheets and bake at 325 F for 25 minutes or so stirring once or twice until lightly browned. Enjoy!

What’s in the fridge…?

I find myself coming home from work these days with no plan of what I am going to make for dinner. This situation invariably leads to me playing a little game we’ll call “What’s in the Fridge?” Premise of the game is easy: open up the fridge/cupboard, see what you have, come up with something on the spot. To be honest, I prefer cooking this way; I’m forced to come up with something drawing inspiration from that recipe I read, that meal someone told me about, that style I saw on TV… you get the picture.

Now, with a full fridge the game can take you a lot of different places. Today wasn’t one of those days.

Fridge contents:
- 2 chicken breasts
- a couple of bell peppers
- a couple of jalapeños
- 1 slice of monterrey jack cheese

That’s it. Ok, let’s check the cupboard. Cupboard contents:
- brown rice

Again, that’s it. It’s the end of the grocery week; I haven’t had time to replenish. So now my mind springs to action, what am I going to do? Stir fry? No. Too easy, not enough vegetables, had it two days ago. Well what if… bingo. Roasted red pepper stuffed chicken breasts over brown rice. The process goes as follows:

1. Put together a quick marinade (chicken and marinade just go together… more on this another time). Marinade ingredients:

· ½ cup of lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best, bottled had to suffice this time)
· ¼ cup of cider vinegar
· a couple splashes of hot sauce (ok, it was more than that)
· ½ tbsp. each of red pepper flakes, paprika, cumin, kosher salt
· splash of olive oil
· 1 jalapeno roughly chopped

2. While the chicken is marinating and the BBQ is heating up roast 1 red bell pepper. Roasting peppers is as easy as it sounds: rub a thin layer of olive oil all over the pepper, put it on the grill, burn. Yes, burn it. When the skin is black all over put the pepper in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put the bowl in the freezer. In 5 minutes the flesh of the pepper will have pulled back from the burnt skin making it easy to separate. Remove the burnt skin and seeds in the pepper. Roasting the pepper adds a whole new dimension of flavour to the pepper.

3. After about 20 minutes soaking remove the chicken from the marinade and butterfly. Place a thick slice (or 2) of the roasted pepper in the chicken breast along with half a slice (full slice if you have the supply) of cheese. Fold the breast back over. You now have a stuffed chicken breast.

4. Toss on a preheated grill around 450-500° F. Flip every 3-4 minutes for your grill marks. The breasts should take around 12 minutes to finish at this temperature, depending on thickness. (The chicken should have no pink left in it. If you’re uncomfortable going by time, use a meat thermometer – 165° F is done for a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Ensure you are measuring the temperature of the meat, not the cheese stuffed in it.)

5. Serve over a bed of prepared rice. Enjoy!

Try opening your fridge and playing the game sometime (hopefully with more options than I was faced with); you’ll be surprised how quickly no plan can turn into gourmet with a little imagination.

Cheers!

G-Kel

@G2Kel

About BBQ Sauce (From BBQRich)

Recently, I have been experimenting with making my own pulled pork on the Broil King Keg.  It's a trial and error process to get it just right.  (See Pulled Pork: A tale of failure and redemption)  With pulled pork, it's important to have the right amounts of smoke and seasoning, but if that doesn't quite work out, you can mask nearly anything with enough barbecue sauce.  (Not that you want to... but you can)

To a Canadian child of the 80's, barbecue sauce was (and to a degree, is) sugary, ketchup based glop that you slather on hamburgers on the grill.  Explain this to someone in the Carolinas, Alabama, Texas, Kansas City, St. Louis, Memphis, or any other barbecue mecca, and you will soon be talking about pistols at dawn.  There are many regional variations (something I will explore in more detail later), but in brief, Texas barbecue is beef, with hearty dry-rub seasonings, and minimal sauce.  Kansas City and St. Louis offer unadulterated versions of the aforementioned ketchup based sauce, but a good North Carolina style sauce has become my weapon of choice for any pulled pork at the moment.  Heavily vinegar based, these sauces are much lighter than the viscous syrups you might find at the grocery store.

An example, adapted from Peace, Love, & Barbecue, a fantastic starter for southern BBQ by Mike and Amy Mills - Mike is known in barbecue circles as "The Legend" - if you have to ask why, you're not cut out for the BBQ scene my friend.

1 cup white vinegar (or cider, or rice vinegar, or a combination)
1/2 cup ketchup (I'm a Heinz guy, but hey, don't discriminate)
1 to 2 tbsp BBQ rub (Being shameless, I used a batch of Magic Dust, also from Peace, Love, & Barbecue - Link)

Shake this together in a sealed jar or bottle.  A plastic sauce bottle works beautifully for loading up a sandwich with some great vinegar sauce.  You can vary the flavour with more or less rub, add some honey to sweeten and thicken the sauce a bit.  The sky's the limit here.

Why does the vinegar sauce really work? Pulled pork can be heavy, and all the fat and connective tissue that breaks down during the cooking process is mixed in with the meat, making it tender, flavourful, and delicious; but, that can make it heavy and greasy too.  The vinegar cuts through any heavy, greasy flavours that you might encounter, and provides a tangy, fresh counterpoint.

Try it, you won't be disappointed!

@BBQRich

Big Beats Salad

I've spent a lot of time over the past few months trying to live well, eat well and generally build the best me. The more time I spend on it the more I realize that this is just the tip of the iceberg; but as with all research projects, if you never get the chance to present your findings, what was the point in doing the research in the first place.


The Good Stuff. 
Try adding the following items into your diet, they're jam packed with good stuff and make much better ingredients/snacks than the usual bag-o chips or chocolate bar.

Chia Seed: 
I love chia for a lot of reasons, it's a very versatile ingredient, has relatively no distinct taste and is loaded with things that are good for you. I add it to both fruit smoothies and salads, it's in my granola and pretty much anything else I can add it to. Here's the down and dirty on chia.

Quinoa:
I know I've gone on about quinoa in the past but it truly is one of the best alternatives to pasta and rice; quinoa doesn't come with all of the starchy regret and is loaded with protein. The recipe I've presented below includes many of my favorites in one place and is yet another quinoa recipe on this site.

Beets: 
Sure beets aren't new or unique but they're good for you and very easy to prepare. They're sweet, delicious, great hot or cold and can be purchased at any grocery store.

Pecans:
Not only do pecans taste delicious, they're also very good for you. Read up here (Pecan Nutrition).

Try putting all of the above, and more, together here.

Big Beats Salad: 

4 large beets
1 cup of quinoa, red, black, whatever... it doesn't matter.
3 green onions
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons chia seed
1/4 cup small swiss cheese cubes
1/4 cup dried cranberries


1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup apple cider / white wine vinegar, either works
good splash of white wine
1 tablespoon ground pepper

Boil your beets until they are thoroughly cooked through, cook times vary depending on size, if you can spear them on a fork and they EASILY slide off then they're done. I usually take the beets and cut them down into quarters to help them boil faster. No need to remove the skin before boiling, it's actually easier to do after they're cooked and after they've cooled. Skin your cooked beets, cut into small cubes.

Mix 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups water, cook until the quinoa starts to become translucent, remove from heat once cooked, leave the lid on and let cool.

Let rest, refrigerate the warm beets and quinoa, if you add in the other ingredients when these two are hot your cheese will melt and string, dried fruits will plump, world as we know it will end. If that's what you want then giv'er, it's not always fun to follow the directions...

Chop up your onions, pecans, cube the cheese. Mix everything in a large bowl then add your wet dressing ingredients, if it needs more bitter add more vinegar, if it's to dry more olive oil and of course more pepper means more peppery spice. Super simple, super good for you, super easy.

Enjoy.

Ultimate Backyard Barbecue with Broil King Ben!

I may or may not have spent the month of August... and most of September enjoying rather than writing about enjoying the wonders of summer. Luckily I've been keeping notes with the hope of putting up some new and interesting recipes and findings here. 

I had the opportunity to be the chef for the Ultimate Backyard Barbecue event presented by Molson, Shoeless Joe's and oh yeah Broil King, that grill company I work for. A challenging and fun way to show off some of the things you can cook on the grill. Here's the menu and how you go about cooking these dishes. It may seem lengthy, it is, but it’s not as hard to cook as it seems. Try breaking it into pieces. 

Ultimate Rickard’s Backyard Barbecue Menu 

Appetizers 

Rickard’s Dark soy maple glazed cedar plank salmon 

A truly Canadian start, Jail Island Atlantic salmon lightly glazed with a mixture of Rickard’s Dark, Ontario maple syrup and soy, aromatically grilled on Canadian red cedar. Served with French bread crisps, cream cheese, and capers. 

Buy: 

Salmon, portions or a whole side, portions cook faster; don't buy cheap fish because it tastes like cheap fish. Discount stickers may indicate a deal on lamb or beef but you can't cut corners with fish. 

Soy Sauce - Kikkoman 

Maple Syrup - The real stuff 

Rickard's Dark beer 

Sesame seeds 

Ground pepper 

1 cedar plank 

Soak the Cedar plank in water for up to 20 minutes, it's not an exact science, the goal is to create wet wood because wet wood doesn't burst into flames! Once your plank is soaked pat the outside dry with a towel and lightly coat one side in olive oil. Place your salmon portion(s) on the plank without letting them overhang, trim if necessary, most sides of salmon are larger than the available planks. Preheat your grill to 250°F - 300°F. Mix 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup soy sauce, and 1/4 cup Rickard's Dark beer in a saucepan or pot and put it on high to bring it to a boil. Reduce the liquid until it thickens enough to stick to the salmon as you baste it on. Put your planked salmon on the grill and baste a little of the maple soy glaze atop. As the salmon cooks over the following 20 to 30 minutes baste it a few more times then sprinkle on some sesame seeds and give it a grind of fresh pepper. Good salmon is edible raw, if you don’t like it raw cook it until the white ribbons of fat start to melt and it flakes easily with a fork.

Cut a French bread stick into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick slices, drizzle on a little olive oil and a grind of pepper. Toast them right on the grill around the salmon, the bread crisps will cook fast and nobody likes burnt toast so don’t leave them unattended. Serve it up with a side dish of capers and cream cheese.

Roasted brie cheese with Rickard’s White marmalade 

Creamy brie with an orange marmalade Rickard’s white reduction accompanied by whole roasted garlic cloves, French bread crisps and spicy salami. 

Take a wheel of Brie and scrape the waxy coating from the outside, don’t cut it off it wastes a lot of cheese unnecessarily. Place the brie in a brie baker or equivalent small baking dish, bake in the grill until the cheese is melted, not too much heat otherwise you’ll end up with greasy pools in your cheese. Take an entire bulb of garlic and cut the top off, you want to expose the tops of each bud, drizzle with a little olive oil and wrap in tin foil, toss it on the grill to bake, depending on the temperature this could take a while. The garlic is cooked when it’s soft to the squeeze. In a pot add a good portion of orange marmalade and a generous pour of Rickard’s White beer. Stir the combination until the marmalade completely dissolves then reduce for 15 minutes. Pour into a ramekin and let stand, it will go back to being a jelly very quickly. Toast more of the same bread crisps as above and serve with a spicy salami, perhaps some slices of parmesan cheese.

Ultimate Backyard barbecue - Mains

Rickard’s Perfect Steak 

Juicy 10 oz. Perfect Steak 28 day aged New York Strips marinated in The Perfect Steak marinade and Rickard’s Red topped with grilled button mushrooms. 

10 oz. New York Strips, or my favourite 6 oz. top sirloin 

Perfect Steak Marinade 

Rickard’s Red beer 

Button mushrooms 

Garlic 

Soy Sauce 

Olive Oil 

Black Pepper 

Toss the mushrooms in a roasting pan with a splash of soy sauce, olive oil, a couple minced garlic cloves, and Rickard’s red beer. Put the pan right on the main grill surface and cook the mushrooms down until they are soft. Separate the mushrooms and their liquids. Keeps the mushrooms in the roasting pan to brown them, put the liquid in a sauce pan and reduce it into a glaze for the steak and mushrooms, aka heat it until there is very little and it’s very rich and thick, season as necessary. Marinade the steaks, defrosted, for 30 minutes at room temperature in a mixture of Perfect Steak Marinade and Rickard’s Red, equal parts. Grill following the Perfect Steak Grilling Guide. Serve mushrooms atop steak, with a drizzle of the glaze reduction. Possibly with a blue cheese butter medallion instead of glaze. 

A what? Partially melt butter so that you can work with it, add blue cheese and mix them together. Spread it onto wax paper and roll into a tube, put it in the freezer for a few minutes then take it out and cut into medallions. Butter loves steak, so does blue cheese, mmmmm steak love. 

Rickard’s White lemon chicken 

Seasoned boneless chicken breasts grilled then braised in Rickard’s White accompanied by grilled lemons, arugula and cranberries. 

Boneless Chicken breasts 

Lemons 

Rickard’s White beer 

Arugula 

Cranberries 

Pecans 

Honey 

Apple cider vinegar 

Olive oil 

Garlic 

Course pepper 

Coriander 

Caraway 

Cumin 

Paprika 

Cayenne pepper 

Course salt 

Take a generous amount of salt and some caraway seeds and heat them in a pan essentially infusing the caraway taste into the salt. Add water, 8 parts water to 1 part salt, dissolve the salt into the water, let cool. This first part is the brine, you’ll want to do this several hours before or even the night before you cook this meal. Once the brine has cooled add it to a re-sealable container with your chicken breasts. It will tenderize and moisturize your chicken, that’s good! 

Next day, remove your chicken breasts from the brine and pat dry. Lightly coat them with olive oil then season with the following spice mix: 

2 tablespoons cumin 

2 tablespoons paprika 

1 tablespoon coriander 

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 

1 teaspoon caraway 

1 teaspoon pepper 

1 teaspoon salt 

2 cloves of minced garlic 

Rub the chicken thoroughly and generously with this spice mix. Grill the chicken breasts so that you have the perfect sear marks on them then like braising in the oven add the chicken breasts to a roasting pan in your grill with a little Rickard’s White that you’ve already pre heated. 

Take your pecans and coat them in honey then a little of the same spice as above, toast them in a pan, set aside, or not, I just like seasoned nuts. Cut your lemons in half and grill them for ten minutes face down. 

Finish cooking the chicken breasts in beer, total cook time between grilling and braising should be at max 30 minutes, use a thermometer if you are unsure. Take the braising liquid and reduce it in a pan to a thick glaze. If you’re pressed for time the chicken can spend some time on the warming rack while you prepare the glaze. Make the following vinaigrette: 

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar 

2 tablespoons of olive oil 

A squeeze of honey 

Grind of pepper 

Toss the arugula, cranberries, and pecans in the vinaigrette and place it as the base for your chicken. Slice the chicken breasts and serve a few slices atop the arugula with a drizzle of the glaze on the chicken, serve a grilled lemon half on the side. Give the lemon a squeeze over everything above. Enjoy. 

Ultimate Backyard Barbecue - Sides

Roasted rustic red potatoes with fresh Rosemary and thyme. 

Course pepper 

Course salt 

Fresh Rosemary 

Fresh Thyme 

Simply cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces, toss them in a roasting pan, coat them with a generous drizzle of olive oil, diced fresh rosemary, thyme, lots of course pepper and some course salt. Cover over with aluminum foil and roast them on the warming rack for up to an hour, taste test for doneness. Don’t be afraid of salt or rosemary in this recipe. 

Prosciutto wrapped asparagus spears with a creamy Rickard’s White sauce. 

Prosciutto 

Asparagus 

Mayonnaise 

1 Orange 

Rickard’s White 

Paprika 

Wrap the asparagus, bundles of 3 or 4 in prosciutto, grill the asparagus, if it starts to wrinkle and wilt you’ve grilled it too long. The sauce whisk ¼ cup of mayonnaise, orange zest, 2 tablespoons of Rickard’s White, 1 tablespoon of juice from the orange, 1 tablespoon of paprika, it should be slightly bitter but accompanies the asparagus well, serve atop like a glaze in other words sparingly. 

Ultimate Backyard Barbecue - Dessert

Grilled pineapple with white wine soaked raisins atop vanilla ice cream rolled in toasted coconut served with a special ingredient. 

EASY ALERT: Take raisins, soak them in white wine overnight in the fridge in a re-sealable container, don’t go crazy on the wine you just want to saturate them. The next day take some unsweetened coconut and toast it in a pan, let cool in the fridge. Cut a pineapple into spears and grill them with a little maple syrup and paprika until they are soft. Cut them into pieces but present them beside the ice cream like a spear. Take your very cold super creamy vanilla ice cream from the freezer, using a good ice cream scoop form it into balls and roll them in your coconut. Sprinkle on some wine soaked raisins… Oh yeah and pour in some Rickard’s Dark beer, like a float, of beer, a beer float. It’s crazy but people do like it because it’s great.

Titles change the destiny of your posts

July 21, 2011:

Well that post has been sitting on my PlayBook for a while, it would be nice if I could blog from the PlayBook but it’s yet another thing it can’t do, like allow me to copy text from an e-mail I've received, or create more than one playlist at a time…

Happy Thursday sports-fans! What a week, found some cool things!!!

Little City Farm – CHECK IT OUT, really want to check out what they do first hand-ish!

Salt Your Weeds! Don’t Spray… I told this to my neighbour the other day and then realized that I’m a history geek, salting the earth isn’t new to me but if you haven’t read about it then it’s new to you. Believe me it’s effective… The best way to kill weeds (and grasses, basically everything green) on a walkway or driveway.

BIXI is coming to Waterloo region… or so I’ve read from the Record, something about RIM already having a few operational stands. Don't know what it is? Check out BIXI here.

I made garlic scape pesto the other day, it was okay but it needs tweaking, and more lemon.  

Anyway, more video for our growing library of grilling video’s around barbecue headquarters. GrillPro and Broil King. We were shooting footage to illustrate the wonderful grilling lifestyle Wednesday and I was charged with the menu but also an acting role. I love skewered foods for quickly feeding a lot of people without plates. I read recently that the more time a meal takes to consume the less you’ll actually eat, the better and more full you’ll feel. In other words if you scarf a dinner in 20 minutes you’re going to crash soon thereafter and you’ve probably ploughed back more than you would have say if you paced yourself / had small portions over a couple hours. Try these stick foods at your next get together, cook a few at a time, make your guest talk rather than inject food into their traps:

Chicken Satays:

Cut 4 large chicken breasts into long thin strips

Cut up ¼ of a bag of frozen mangos into small cubes

Julienne 4 green onions also into long thin strips

Zig zag the chicken, onions, and mangos up a wooden bamboo skewer so that each item, apart from the little mango cubes is skewered several times along its length. Should look like a chicken snake on the skewer. That’s right, CHICKEN SLITHERING SNAKE. Put these into a dish that they can marinade in…

Marinade:

2 tablespoons fresh ginger minced

2 shallots diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 minced red chili peppers or 1 tablespoon dried or chili flake

2 tablespoons peanut oil

2 tablespoons soya sauce

Drizzle of honey

Mix the marinade up and pour over the chicken, let stand for 20 minutes at room temperature.

Grill, they cook quickly but they are chicken so don’t rush!

Heat up a nice satay sauce and serve away.

Grilled Parmesan Corn

Simple, get two aluminum foil trays... Put melted butter in one and Parmesan cheese in the other, lightly pepper your cheese. Shuck your corn cobs and cut they in half so that you have two small cobs. Skewer them completely through if you can and roll them first in the butter, then in the parm. To the grill! Grill your corn like steak, you want nice golden sear marks in more than one place and their going to take between ten and fifteen minutes to cook.

Enjoy!

Mmmmmm Pic-in-ic Basket

Picnic baskets are outstanding, you can build up a simple collage of your favorite things and mix and match your flavours. I love cured meats, cheeses, olives, and crackers; try some of these next time your want something savory.

Raincoast Crisps – I haven’t found a flavour that I don’t like, they’re the best.

Almond, blue cheese, or jalapeno stuffed olives – all so good and a great way to accent a martini too!

Cured meats, salami, supressata, shinker mager, etc.

Applewood smoked cheddar – My favorite cheddar, I’m going to make some soon

La Sauvagine – eat your heart out brie cheese

Blue Haze – so blue so good

Fresh cherries – thanks fruitland!

Enjoy

…the Jazz Festival far exceeded my expectations and involved an act-of-too-nice-edness story. We were new, never been to one of these before but excited nonetheless. We got lawn seats, nobody told us that you would need to get there super early and sit inches from another listener sprawled out with lawn chairs and coolers of? So when we showed up late without chairs the abbreviated letters S.O.L. were the only thing that came to mind. I explained it as clearly as that to one person working there, then their boss, then her boss and then I was shown to my new seats, in the Trius Red lounge where we’d have our own chair, a waitress, and an umbrella, now we’re talkin’. They mentioned it would be on the house and I was touched. The jazz was amazing and wine complimented it well. FUN AND 1/2, highly recommended and I shall return!

Still waiting for some member of the flight crew to arrive so that we can fly to Minneapolis (ps. Travelling to Minneapolis really helped me type Minneapolis much more quickly, practice makes perfect.). Tangent over… time to fly!

Ever in Eau Claire??? Eat at the Green Mill, better yet stay at the Holiday Inn next door too because the food is soo good and soo cheap! Some of the better pizzas I’ve had.

CHeers!

Turkey Bolognese

Okay, so this recipe isn't actually bolognese but it does sound better to call it one. The ingredients make it a nice cousin with a killer twist!

(Recipe serves 4)
You'll need:

1 lb. ground turkey
1 heaping tablespoon green curry paste
1 tablespoon of Cumin
Black pepper
2 cloves of fresh garlic
1/2 dozen tomatoes chopped
2 or 3 green onions chopped
1 cup Parmesan cheese

and are you ready for this one...
100 g of Lachsschinken cured pork loin. Genießen Freunden!

and your favorite family size box of pasta or make it fresh, but make it for 4!

Brown you ground turkey in a large sauce pan, as it's cooking slice your Lachsschinken into long thin strips and add it in too. Season with pepper, cumin, and the green curry paste. As it's browning add the green onions and garlic continue to brown everything in the pan. Deglaze with white wine, I used tequila as I'm injured and all out of white wine, and beer... Now add your tomatoes, simmer everything down; I like my sauce saucy so I cook it pretty far down so that the tomatoes start to break but you could just hit it with some heat and have juicy chunks of tomatoes if that's what tickles your fancy. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and serve generously over a heap of pasta.
Serve alongside a spinach salad with strips of Lachsschinken, edamame beans, bean sprouts, paprika and honey dusted walnuts (Glass lock container, ingredients, shake), and Feige's Gourmet Oil and Vinegar Dressing which my mom lovingly brings from Listowel from time to time, it's such a sweet small town find. 2 part meals are always boring so have a nice warm loaf of bread to tear apart and try different dipping plates like red chili flake olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

liebe es zu kochen !

Zoup's up!

Fast food and chain food seem to have the same problem; their food is horrible for you because they're too busy worrying about a business model that can work everywhere with the same caliber of under qualified staff... No offense McDonald's employees but most of you don't have any business in the restaurant business. They make the jobs specific enough and simple enough that anyone can do it with little to no training, effort, or pay, and yet the "quality" is consistent and nobody get's food poisoning, that's really the bottom line for mass food.

However, there are a few chains that I like; had mentioned a few month's back that I'm a sucker for Chick-Fil-A. They just opened up a can 'o Zoup in Waterloo Town Square and I gotta say, I like it... They have a huge soup assortment and although most are loaded with salt and everything else that isn't that great for you in large quantities, their menu is attractive. Their double baked potato soup is great and I'm surprised that they make a lobster bisque, haven't had enough lobster bisque's to say how it is but I like it. Anyway, it's something different which is always nice, it's the first Canadian location also cool, and they have creative salads and sandwiches on their menu which is ingeniously displayed on TV screens behind the counter... Finally someone used TV screens for the menu, I thought McD would do it first but I'm glad it's done, if only tablet menu's were more practical we could do away with print all together...

I'm rambling, I may get onto my theories on print media and Canada Post later... Anywho, remember that every Zoup comes with a big 'ol bun (because it's an American chain and bread is cheap and fills you up!). Although they have lots of soup and cool other menu items, every drink is a fountain Coke product, sweet high fructose corn syrup!.. That's okay you can buy a bottle of Coke water... Most of their locations are in the Northeastern United States; and you can order online to make sure your lunch order is warm and waiting for you when you arrive. Grab a big 'ol bowl of Zoup today!

I've seen some of the early GrillPro YouTube video's, they're pretty good. I love teaching people, so hopefully this can be a nice way to teach people about all of the great grilling products out there... Manufactured by GrillPro... Who I work for... Well, you gotta eat!

Flat Tire

Friday,

I'm thrilled to announce that I sprained my ankle last night; in other words, this is day one of being a one wheeled man... PS. having one wheel sucks. I have a short attention span and not being able to come and go and ride, and run, and jump as I please is really my idea of hell. I use time off work to work on projects that I didn't have time to work on while I was working, relaxation is not my forte.
I'm sitting in my backyard watching the world go by because right now I'm too slow to catch it, I can hobble about with my crutches but it's no set of working legs. Side note, how do I get my dog to work with me in regards to lawn care? He pees on my grass and the patch he pees on dies while everything around it grows greener than the rest of the lawn. I have a chain of green islands running throughout my backyard... There must be a solution... More to come?

Days later
It's now Monday, I'm doing a poor job at staying down and keeping my foot up... I've been to the beach, a father's day get together and now back to work, aka doing more than I should be. The swelling in my foot tells me I'm doing something wrong and all of the muscles that are pulling the weight for one dead limb are exhausted.
Oh well, I'm coming up with a way that I can cook an entire meal in the kitchen without my whole foot filling with fluid. Good things to come! Dog note, apart from watering each dog urine spot in my backyard immediately after it's created there really isn't a great remedy for dog spotting on my lawn. Some people suggested training him to pee in a specific graveled or pebbled spot but that's not something I'm interested in doing, it's his yard too. I'm not giving the dog pills and the rest of the remedies are too weird to mention... Well he's lucky he's cute...   

Cooper!

F$@#%!

I have a personal policy where I never write anything on a bad day, it's generally negative and not your proverbial best foot forward. Although I'm having a bad day, I had a great time teaching and cooking lunch with some new recruits about barbecue headquarters today. And so here’s how that went, argh!..

Today was a little challenging, we had a few food allergies to contend with and I’m not a big fan of making one thing for the group and another for someone with allergies; we all eat the same thing and work together preparing it. I don’t do all of the cooking in these sessions either, actually I do very little of it. I supervise and instruct as much as possible and then demonstrate where necessary, it’s important for the process and I feel that people take more away from doing rather than watching.

Anyway, we prepared a simple menu: New York strip loin steaks with home made steak spice, a sesame stir fry, butternut squash and roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and grilled pork tenderloin.

Steak!

I’ve grilled a lot of steak, I spent the first two years working at Broil King grilling and steak was on the menu demo after demo store after store. People love steak and grilling it properly is important. Check out The Perfect Steak for grilling instructions and remember the rule of thumb. Before you start, make sure you have defrosted steaks, do not grill frozen steak. Once your steaks are defrosted pat them dry to remove any excess water or blood then make the following rub:

Homemade Steak Spice:

¼ cup course salt or salt flake

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 tablespoon of fresh minced garlic

1 tablespoon of fresh minced rosemary

1 tablespoon course ground pepper

1 teaspoon of fresh thyme, I use lemon thyme; easy to grow in Southern Ontario

Mix your spices, coat your steaks in olive oil and generously rub the steak spice on your steak. Let them sit out at room temperature for about 20 minutes while your grill preheats. Grill! 

Sesame Stir Fry

This one is easy on the grill; all of the work is in the vegetable prep:

You’ll need

A grilling wok, holes or no holes both work

Lots of heat, it’s the most important part of a stir fry

Carrots, julienne them

Green onions, julienne them also

Bean sprouts

Snow peas, clean them properly. Remove the head and tough stringy spine.

Chicken, cut into strips

Sesame seeds

Peanut oil

Sesame oil

Chili flakes

Fresh garlic, minced

Fresh ginger, also minced

Pepper

Coat your chicken generously in peanut oil and toss it in the wok, you want to hear insta-sizzle. The chicken will cook quickly so you’ll want everything else that you’ve prepared before hand nearby. As the chicken is cooking season it with chili flakes and pepper. As you chicken starts to brown add your carrots; wait a few more minutes and add the rest of your vegetables, they all cook at different rates so you’ll want to add them accordingly. For example bean sprouts cook in no time but carrots can take quite a while. As you add the last of you vegetables add your garlic and ginger, a dash of sesame oil and more chili flakes. Don’t over cook your veggies, once the carrots are soft enough to eat you’re pretty much done; nobody likes limp pea pods and dry chicken. Your medley should have a nice golden brown sear on it while maintaining that fresh vegetable crunch.

Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Super easy recipe ahoy!

2 lbs. of red potatoes

1 small butternut squash

1 clove of garlic

1/2 cup of milk or cream it’s your health we all know what tastes better

¼ cup of butter

Pepper

Wash and cut up the red potatoes, leave the skins on they won’t kill you. Put them in a pot completely submerged and boil until they’re soft enough to slide off of a fork after being pierced. While your water is heating peel, core and cube your butternut squash. Lay the cubes out on a baking tray and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375°F turning once at the half. While you're roasting the squash, chop the top off of your garlic clove to expose each bud, then wrap it in aluminum foil and drizzle a little olive oil into the bulb; wrap it up and roast in the oven with the squash. Garlic is roasted when it feels squishy soft. Hold on a minute, Jen just found out what happens when you put hot parsnips in a magic bullet blender, boom!

Alright where was I, everything will probably finish cooking about the same time… Drain and mash your potatoes, mash the squash in also and squeeze the softened roasted garlic into the mix and as you can imagine keep mashing. Side note, Pampered Chef has the coolest potato masher ever! CHECK IT OUT! Add milk and butter, mash mash mash, season with pepper. Done-zo!

Grilled Pork tenderloin

I’ve been using this recipe for quite a few years, nobody complains so I keep using it. Add your defrosted pork tenderloin to a glass locking container or a zipper lock freezer bag. Add a generous amount of sherry, real maple syrup, and the steak spice from above… Steak spice not just for steak. Let this marinade for 30 minutes at room temperature or 1 hour in the fridge. Grill!

At this point you could slice and serve to your guests as a great piece of meat but the following is also fun. Toast some thin slices of French bread, sauté strips of red onion and red pepper in a little olive oil and lemon thyme. Stack it up! Toasted bread on the bottom, slice of pork tenderloin, sautéed vegetables, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze and to top it all off a pinch of alfalfa sprouts. A pretty handy appetizer.

Bon Appetit

Post from: Wednesday June 8, 2011

PS: I'm on YouTube, new line of Broil King Grilling Accessories. Great Stuff, the stone grill set is my favorite!

Mango Lassi?

This recipe is sort of a mango lassi; I say sort of because it's essentially the same ingredients but served more like ice cream less like a milkshake. I love this recipe as it's incredibly easy to make and a nice treat on a hot day. Easily pull this one out as a dessert or simply an afternoon cool down.

Buy:

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup frozen cubed mango's
1/2 cup PC Greek 0% Yogurt with Honey

The yogurt really makes this recipe what it is. The Presidents Choice Greek yogurt is very thick and not overly sweetened; both characteristics are important so if you don't have access to a Loblaw's store look for a thick, lightly or unsweetened Greek style yogurt.

Add 1/2 of the coconut and all of the other ingredients into either a blender a magic bullet and blend until smooth. Pour into two small bowls and top with the rest of the coconut.

Enjoy!

Flavoured Oil

I made a flavoured oil recently to keep about my kitchen and found out the rules about flavored oils after, glad I did. I've only been using this oil for about two weeks, I researched the topic before posting it up here to avoid contracting foot in mouth disease. Despite what you may think flavored oils are not simply created by adding some raw ingredients to olive oil and letting those ingredients slowly infuse their flavors. In fact leaving raw garlic or chili's in oil at room temperature has about the same effect on the vegetables as leaving them out on the counter to rot. The rotting can produce bacteria or mold that you're probably not interested in ingesting.

A restaurant in Stratford ON I recently visited served olive oil with chili flakes in it alongside their gourmet pizzas. It's nice to have a spicy oil to drizzle over a slice of good pizza so I thought I'd do the same thing at home and dumped some chili's about a quarter cup into a small bottle with a pour spout topper and added about a cup or two of olive oil. Flavour wise it worked, after a couple days of infusing the oil took on some of the chili's colour and a lot of the spice; however, safety wise not so much success. What you should do is add the chili flakes and the oil to a pot with a pour lip and heat the oil, not to the point of boiling, you're just trying to kill any bacteria that may be present; give the oil enough time to take on some of the chili's colour. Add your infused oil to a incredibly clean and dry oil bottle with a seal-able pour spout topper. Don't make a huge amount of oil unless you're going to use it quickly, the shelf life should be from 2-4 weeks and I advise you to keep it in your fridge until you're ready to use.

Enjoy!

Back at it

Back from a blogging vacation; one of my favorite analogies about life is also one of my favorite analogies about food. Variety is the flavor of life, too bad I don't have time to try everything. Summer just rolled into town I've been loving my local farmers market, commuting to work on my bicycle and obsessively grooming my work in progress yard; also had a little time to enjoy a little sun and a little beer from time to time to time. Aka, the blog, my guitar and for that matter my house plants go to the bottom of the maintenance pile. Never fear I have been cooking and chasing down more random knowledge and no house plants were harmed in the process...  Irreparably...

Random find #1, the Tank Drum. Somewhat of an odd musical instrument but considering you can make one for free why not give it a shot. I built a tank drum this week; it sounds cool, I know my backyard guests are going to have fun playing around with it and I've already had a blast playing it myself. So, check it out, build something. 

# 2, the Matador. A friend of mine carted over a bottle of tequila, pineapple juice and a bag of limes and mixed up a cocktail he found in a book of old man drinks. Old manish or not this sipper is amazingly refreshing and I've always loved to enjoy tequila rather than punish myself with shots. Also found the DrunkMansGuide's Weblog holy alcohol batman, you could get drunk reading it. Check it out.

# 3 I love wood fired pizza, although this isn't a new revelation. Ran into quite a few restaurants who do wood fired pizza lately and I can't help but order it. I love most of all the idea, of the wood fired pizza and the wonderful ambiance that the fire gives to any restaurant or bar. I love the care that goes into combining creative ingredients like goats cheese, pine nuts, grilled chicken, and fresh pesto, all on a thin crisp crust. If you find yourself in the area, the local City Cafe makes great wood fired pizzas for lunch as well as a slew of other amazing baked goods like croissants and bagels.  Find them here.
However, if you get the chance and are looking for something a cut above please visit the Salty Caper in Lake Norman, NC. This place has two really great, really important aspects. Authentic wood fired pizza and an amazing and thoughtful beer assortment; really they don't even need dining room seating just one big bar lined with taps surrounding a wood oven. I loved this place and will absolutely make it a must stop whenever I'm down there.

Anyway, that's all for now have to put together a menu for tomorrow's meeting. Fun recipes to follow including Ham Bone and split pea soup.

Peanut Butter Balls

Quitting sugar is hard, I would say harder in fact than quitting smoking. I've smoked and never been able to say to myself I need to keep doing this every day of my life, then again cigarettes are gross... Sugar on the other hand I could consume until it kills me; although if cigarettes contained sugar I'm sure big tobacco could kill a lot of smiling people. Side note, I wish I could market a product that is know to kill and be comfortable with the outcome; like poison pops, once you pop... you're dead... Not sure that will get off the ground though... Oh well teens can't spell emphysema anyway so I guess tobacco is the only poison they'll gravitate to for its coolness factor.

Anyway, coming to terms with the reality that I can't shake sugar I've come up with / found some easy ways to get it into my life. Eat fruit, duh... We all know fruit contains sugar, lots of it and it's natural. But for those days when you want a sugary treat, not too big but loaded with sugar try the following. At least you can say to yourself that there are far worse things out there for you.

Peanut Butter Balls,

These aren't your grandmothers peanut butter balls, there is no chocolate or smooth processed peanut butter in here... Steer clear the additional chocolate and sugar added peanut butter, this is a hippy friendly treat...

1 cup of natural peanut butter (the PB ingredients should be as follows: Peanuts.)
1 cup chopped dried dates
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup toasted unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup chopped nuts, toasted almond slivers are nice, cashews are a also nice but more fatty

Mix it all up in a large mixing bowl and then form golf ball sized balls, then place them on a sheet of wax paper and put them in the freezer. Let them sit for a few hours and enjoy. If you're having a swanky hippy dinner party give everyone a peanut butter ball in a Chinese soup spoon, chic!

Check it Out

An old friend of my just put out a wicked EP on iTunes give it a download and check it out!

Melissa Börger - Dear Poet EP