West End Epicure

Crepes! It's About Time!

2012-02-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

Where have you been, West End Epicure?

And more importantly, where have you been, crepes?

Crepes

That's right. Those sneaky little french pancakes you pay $8 for at the farmer's market. I'm going to show you how to make them. Not only are these little things easy to make, there are few things as tasty, or as versatile.

Equipment

That little wooden rake / smoother thing you've seen used to spread the crepe mixture into a perfect circle? The wide, flat surface the "crepier" cooks the crepe on? Please. All you need is that non-stick frying pan already sitting in your drawer.

Batter

If you can't manage to make this batter from ingredients already in your kitchen, there is something wrong.

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup flour
2 tbsp butter - melted

This recipe is shamelessly reproduced verbatim from my copy of the Fannie Farmer cookbook. If you don't own a copy, there is also something wrong.

Blend the above ingredients until smooth. Then refrigerate for 30 mins.

That was difficult.

Cooking the Crepe

Heat your pan to medium heat and add some butter to film it. Then pour in about a quarter cup or so of the batter, and tip the pan to spread "evenly".

I say "evenly" because you will come to learn it is a little tricky to get a nice, round, circular crepe. But don't worry, no matter the shape they are still delicious. You want it thin, but don't worry if it seems a little thick. They somehow always turn out.

Except the first one, which inevitably screws up. Feed it to the dog or stuff it in your mouth when no one is looking. Take a learn from it and try again.

You only want to cook them a few minutes each side. I read somewhere that once they start becoming translucent, it's time to flip. I find it's flip-time when the edges start to curl up.

Err on the side caution - do not brown too much or you won't be able to fold or roll them around your delicious crepe filling. By the time you pour your last one, you should have it down.

As you make them, hold them in an oven at 200F to keep warm.

Here are my finished crepes. The above recipe yielded 8 this size.

Assembling the Crepe

The greatest thing about crepes is that they are so unbelievably versatile. In this case, I had a bunch of mushrooms in the fridge. So I browned the mushrooms in butter with some onion and garlic to make a savoury crepe filling.

Leftovers, anything you've got in the fridge. If it tastes good, it tastes better inside a warm fresh crepe.

Here are my assembled mushroom and onion crepes. Don't get too fussed about how they look. They might not make the cover of Crepe Monthly, but once you take that first bite you will forget all about how they weren't quite round.

Leftovers

"But what am I to do with all these leftover crepes?"

Are you crazy? For one thing, they freeze really well, stacked and wrapped in foil or plastic. Or, you can do what I did.

Dig some chocolate ice cream out of the freezer and serve with some raspberry jam and maraschino cherries.

You can put damn near anything inside a crepe and you will be eating like a king. Like I said, if it tastes good, it tastes better inside a fresh, warm crepe. And all this while your neighbour is taking a Lean Cuisine out of the microwave.

Enjoy!

Editor's note:

The following night for dinner I warmed the remaining crepes in the oven and wrapped them around sauteed wild atlantic salmon, a little tzatziki, sliced red onion, capers and some shredded nori.

Canada Day Ribs!

2011-07-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

For Canada Day I decided to make some ribs.

The first challenge in making great ribs is finding great pork, which is sadly becoming near impossible. Pig farming has evolved (or devolved) from a livelihood into business into big business. Today's commercial, commodity market pig is bred to be as lean as possible and is raised on a farm that operates like a factory, probably never even seeing the light of day or a bit of mud to root around in.

Sure, you can buy a nice looking rack of ribs from the supermarket. Take them out of that styrofoam tray, slather them in a store-bought barbeque sauce and grill 'em up; they will probably taste okay. Not much different than what you might get at your local TGI Friday's or Outback Grill. Of course, you have no idea what age the pig was slaughtered at. Or what breed the pig was. Or what it was fed. Are you eating ribs from a single animal, or were there a couple different pigs in that tray? Where is the pork from? Did it travel across the country in a transport container from Alberta? Is this pork from one of those farms you hear about, where the animals are jacked up on antibiotics to prevent them from getting ill from the squalid, festering conditions they live in? Maybe that rack of ribs on your plate starts to look a little different. Or the ribs on your children's plates.

It wasn't always this way. And thankfully it doesn't have to be today. There are plenty of farmers around producing natural, healthy food. Food you could feel good about serving to your family.

Heritage Breed Pigs

You may be astonished to learn there used to exist different, distinct breeds of pigs (I know I was). They were bred over generations for various qualities. Hardiness. Grazing ability. Mothering ability. They looked different, sometimes very different, from the pink stereotypical "commercial" pig of today. Some were black. Some were spotted. Some were really hairy. All of these traits, of course, are of no use to a "big business" commodity farmer. He wants an animal that is disease tolerant, grows fast on minimal feed, and it extremely lean (the pork industry thinks everyone wants lean pork, for some deluded reason). The unique characteristics of those old breeds have been bred out of today's commodity pig.

Thankfully, the bloodlines of those old breeds have not been entirely lost. Known today as "heritage breeds", small scale farmers continue to raise the traditional breeds. Tamworth (a descendent of the wild boar). Berkshire. Large Black. British Saddleback.

Grass Roots Farm

One such farm that raises heritage breed pork is Grass Roots Farm. Located in Mt. Uniake, they raise Tamworth, Large Black and Berkshire pigs. The pigs are free range pasture raised and feed on natural green pastures.

They are able to roam freely, root up grasses and farrow naturally. Basically living like pigs are supposed to. These pigs are free of drugs, with no antibiotics or growth hormones used. The pastures the pigs graze are are free of synthetic inputs of any kind.

These are some happy looking Tamworths on Grass Roots Farm. Tamworths are on the Canadian Endangered Species "Critical" List. Farms like Grass Roots are helping to save the breed from extinction.

The black & white pig above is a Berkshire on Grass Roots Farm.

Pork

Kelly and I recently bought our second pig from Grass Roots Farm. Our first was a Tamworth, and we really enjoyed it. The meat is quite dark and has a distinctive flavour, different from any pork we were used to. For our second pig we chose a Berkshire. As they had not been slaughtered yet we were able to have the animal butchered to our specifications. Among other cuts I was able to get some "double-cut" chops and fresh pork belly, both unavailable at your local supermarket.

Ribs

Getting back to my ribs. These are two racks, halved, of Berkshire spare ribs. The animal was a little on the smallish side when it was slaughtered, but they typically dress at a smaller size anyways.

Berkshire has a wonderful marbling of fat and is prized in Japan, where is known as "Kurobuta" (black pig). The fat, I hope I don't have to remind you, is where the flavour is. Why does bacon taste so good? Fat. Why are your porkchops always dry and flavourless? Commercial pork producers have bred their pigs to be extremely lean. Berkshire is interlaced with beautiful, snowy, tasty fat. Berkshire, incidently, is crossed with commercial "commodity" pork bloodlines when they get a little too lean even for the mass market.

Canada Day Ribs

Canada Day in Halifax, 2011 was a beautiful day and I decided around noon that I would smoke these ribs over apple wood for the afternoon, as I had done with great success a couple weeks ago. However, the weather meant that everyone on the block had their clotheslines out. While I personally have no objection to bed sheets redolent of smokey pork (and Whistler actually prefers it) I don't think the neighbours share my enthusiasm for slow smoked barbeque. There is, however, no chance these ribs aren't going be slow-cooked, so that means the oven.

Despite what you may think, you can make some fantastic ribs in the oven.

Oven "Smoked" Ribs

I started by slicing up a Nova Scotia apple and put that with some sage leaves from the garden into a shallow pan. I filled the pan with the water that had been soaking my apple wood chips, which had turned the water a tea-like colour.

Over top of that I placed my four demi-racks of pasture raised Berkshire ribs, that had been seasoned with kosher salt and pepper. The oven smelled incredible as these slow cooked for about 3.5 hours.

The finished product. These went over the neighbour's to be warmed on the barbeque with a little homemade BBQ sauce as part of a neighbourhood Canada Day potluck, to be served with copious amounts of craft beer. Happy 142 years Canada! And what better way to enjoy it than with friends and some natural, ethically raised, local, top quality pork.

Homemade Butter

2011-03-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

Do you fall on the butter or the margarine side of the debate? There's no question where I stand, butter is the better option as it's natural, saturated fats that one's body needs. The French are well known for their diets high in fats, yet they have very low incidence of heart disease. Or perhaps you are a margarine user believing what the marketers have filled your head with, that margarine is healthy for your heart. If that's the case, do a little experiment: place a tub of Becel in a garage and let it sit there for an entire year. You'll be astounded with what you find. Looks the same as the day you put it there. Is that something you really want to consume? If you are a margarine consumer you may want to do some research and reconsider your choice. Trans fats, polyunsaturated fats, hydrogenated oils, not exactly something that you could make yourself at home.

Butter, on the other hand, is something you can easily make in your own kitchen within minutes. Have you ever whipped whipping cream in a mixer for a dessert or perhaps an Irish coffee and over whipped the cream? If you have, than you've already started the butter making process. That simple!

To make your own at home all that is required is whipping cream at room temperature, a mixer, salt, cheese cloth and cold water. Pour the cream into a chilled sterilized bowl and begin to whip.

The cream will become light and fluffy. Continue to whip until the cream starts to resemble scrambled eggs.

The buttermilk will begin to separate from the butter and if you're not watching closely you'll also find yourself having to clean up a big mess.

Once the cream has taken on a solid form, strain off the whey using cheese cloth and submerge in ice cold water and knead your butter squeezing out any excess buttermilk.

Continue this process, kneading and changing the water with fresh water as needed. Using butter pats or your hands shape the butter. You can add salt at this point; we opted for no salt and placed the extra butter wrapped in wax paper in the freezer.

We enjoyed our homemade butter on a baguette with a little sprinkle of salt. The bread was merely a hold device for the butter. Heaven!

"It is a slow roasted pork...

2011-03-03T16:06:00.000-08:00

"It is a slow roasted pork, nothing fancy, just happens to be my favorite."

Those were the words spoken by Johnny Depp playing Agent Sands in the movie "Once Upon a Time in Mexico". One night I decided to check out the DVD Special Features and found a short where the director (Robert Rodriguez) shows you how to make the dish. I was hooked.

Puerco Pebil

I have made this dish many, many times. Every time, I am asked for the recipe, so here it is. One should exercise caution when approaching this dish as in the movie a chef is killed (whacked) for making this dish too well. Consider yourself warned. I have very slightly modified this recipe from the one Rodriguez provides on the DVD.

Spices

You will need to make a trip to a specialty grocer as I know you don't have annatto seeds in the pantry.

You can find them at Pete's Frootique. All the other spices are standard issue.

You should use whole spices, and grind them in a coffee grinder. As Rodriguez points out, you'll need one dedicated for spices otherwise your coffee will start to taste like spices.

Grind the following into powder, as fine as you can get it:

2 tbsp annatto seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorn
8 allspice
1/2 tsp cloves

The Secret Sauce

In a blender, mix:

1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp salt
8 cloves of garlic
Couple habanero peppers (seeds removed)

Then add:

Juice of five lemons
A splash of the finest tequila you can find

Add the ground spices to the mixture on the blender.

Puerco

Cut up a good sized pork roast into cubes. Shoulder, butt, whatever you can find. This dish, incidentally, is also really nice with beef. And could also be made with chicken, although I've never done that. Put the pork into a large ziploc bag, and pour the liquid mixture over it and coat it well.

Line an overproof pan with banana leaves.

Pour in the pork, then top with more banana leaves. Use tinfoil on top of that to seal it.

You want the seal to be as tight as possible, so no moisture escapes.

Cook at 325 F for 4 hours.

Serve on a bed of white or Spanish rice. I've also used a fork to pull it apart and served it on tortilla chips. I've also served it in soft tortilla's with guacamole, salsa and cheese. I've also served it on top of a cornbread biscuit topped with a poached egg and guacamole (a fall out of your chair good eggs benedict). This stuff is durable, versatile and very, very good.

A dish so good, you might get whacked just for making it. Enjoy!

A Bloody Valentine to Local Eating

2011-02-16T14:41:00.000-08:00

This Valentine's Day dinner included a rack of Bill Wood's lamb. Bill Wood, of Wood 'N Hart Farm in Tatamagouche, needs no introduction. His is the lamb on the menus of the best restaurants in the region. But this isn't a story about Wood 'N Hart Farms. It's my Valentine's Card to Nova Scotia food.

The preparation of this lamb couldn't be simpler. I seasoned it with salt & pepper. I browned it quickly with butter in a saute pan, sprinkled it with rosemary & thyme from the window box, then finished it in the oven.

That's it. When I carved the rack, the lamb was a beautiful, blushing shade of pink (I like my lamb rare, in the British tradition of my family). A glorious juice which reminded me of pinot noir spilled out onto the cutting board. I served it with mint sauce made from my grandmother's recipe.

I'm not a proponent of local eating per se. I'm a proponent of eating the best quality food I can find. It just so happens that the best you can find, in Nova Scotia, is what is produced right here. Cooking this rack of Nova Scotia lamb and making it part of a special family meal was my way to send a Valentine's Card to all of the Nova Scotia food producers out there. Keep up the great work!

The Best Beef in Nova Scotia

2011-01-30T11:14:00.000-08:00

A lot of people have been asking me where I buy my beef from. So I'm going to tell you, along with the story of how I found it.

Kelly and I are steadfast Halifax Farmer's Market shoppers. Relocating to Nova Scotia in 2008 forced us to seek out new purveyors for all the things we love, and one of my "loves" is steak. Over the course of a summer I purchased the same cut of steak (rib-eye), at the same thickness, from every supplier of beef I could find. This included all of the Farmer's Market vendors, the local grocery chains (high-end and low-end), little butcher shops tucked away in corners, farm outlets, anyone selling cow. Some were really disappointing, most were decent, some were great. But there was a clear winner.

Highview Farms

LeRoy Little of Highview Farms is one of the many vendors at the Halifax Farmer's Market that Kelly and I have developed a relationship with. LeRoy and his wonderful wife Kathy raise Highland cattle on a beautiful farm in the Annapolis Valley, overlooking the Minas Basin. Highland cattle are an ancient, hardy breed developed in the Scottish Highlands. The royal family maintains a fold of Highland's at Balmoral Castle, and it is considered the royal beef of choice. And LeRoy can well attest to that, as he provided beef for "her majesty" when she was visiting Halifax in July 2010.

Farm Visit

Kelly and I visited Highview Farm in October 2009. The cattle live outdoors year round and feed on natural grass and hay.

Many of the cows have names and they are treated on the farm like pets. Here Kelly is getting to know "Ruby" the cow.

The cattle receive no growth hormones, steroids or antibiotics. These are happy cows enjoying a comfortable, healthy, natural life.

LeRoy giving one of the bulls some scratches on the chin.

Beef

A result of their natural diet and typical of the breed, Highview Farms Highland cattle are slow to reach a size suitable for processing. Once finished, the resulting beef has a beautiful marbling of fat. It should also be mentioned that Highland beef has some incredible nutritional benefits as well, such as being a third lower in fat and cholesterol than other breeds.

The beef has a wonderful grassy aroma. Above is a Highview Farms rib-eye that I requested have the bone left in.

Custom and obscure cuts are no problem here.

Dry Aging

Highview Farms beef is dry aged for between 21 to 30 days, which concentrates the flavour. You can only dry age the best cuts of beef to begin with, plus it adds additional cost as you lose some beef during the aging process. So if you're wondering why you don't see dry aged beef at the Sobey's or Costco, now you know. It's typically only available at steakhouses or high-end butchers.

A Highview Farm Steak

I usually grill my steaks on the BBQ, but a recent post on the Brooklyn Warehouse chef's blog led me to try pan grilling in butter, and I've found the recents fantastic.

In his 2010 book "Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef", Mark Schatzker rates a grass-fed Highland steak (sampled in Scotland) as A+.

I carved this steak up into slices and heaped it onto a plate, reserving the bone for gnawing on once the beef was all gone.

Highview Farms beef has a beautiful, rich flavour, and a juicy, meaty texture. In my continual search for the finest beef available, it's the best I've found.

Beyond Restaurant Quality

I recently had a steak at a Halifax high-end steakhouse. The appetizer was incredible, the side dish great, the cocktails delicious. But the steak was a disappointment. It was cooked to a turn but flavourless.

A typical large scale beef producer will sell their finest quality beef to restaurants at a premium cost, rendering this product largely unavailable to the retail consumer. Because of the low production at Highview Farms (they process one animal every couple of months), they can't supply restaurants as they don't produce the volumes. What this means for you is that all of their beef is available for sale, not just the leftovers after the commercial customers have picked them over. And when Highview Farms does sell to a professional chef (which they often do), they are selling them the same product they would sell to you.

You can find LeRoy Little selling his beef at the Halifax Historic Farmer's Market, and his wife Kathy at the Wolfville Farmer's Market, every Saturday morning.

Lamb Bellies with Mint Stuffing

2011-01-16T13:06:00.000-08:00

I love the challenge of turning something that others might not consider ever eating, let alone cooking, into a regular household favourite. Lamb bellies has been one of those discoveries that we look forward to having and like to introduce to others.

Being a fan, no make that a lover of pork belly, I was intrigued the first time I saw lamb bellies at Wood n Hart Farms at the Halifax Farmer's Market. My inquires led to the discovery that the lamb belly cut was the result of an American chef's request and Bill thought he would introduce it to his Halifax clientele to see if there was any interest. I was keen to try it using Bill's recommendation of an apricot stuffing. The first attempt involved a stuffing made of bread crumbs, apricots, onions, herbs, butter and salt and pepper. It was good! Since that first attempt I continue to seek out the perfect lamb belly stuffing and after close to 10 variations, I've found our household favorite. The stuffing...mint, lots of it from the garden or indoor herb pot, stale bread crumbs, finely chopped onion, butter, egg and salt & pepper.

As mentioned, for those that you that live in Halifax, you can find lamb bellies at the old historic Halifax market at Wood n Hart, provided I've not been there before you and purchased the lot. Should you not be fortunate enough to live in this city, check with your local butcher who might be able to obtain this unappreciated cut.

Remove some of the fat and most the membrane from the bellies. Mix up the bread crumbs, mint, onion, butter, egg salt and pepper. You'll need butcher's string, 2 pieces per belly to keep the belly together. Roll the stuffed lamb bellies, membrane side out. Slice a clove of garlic and place a few pieces of garlic in your lamb belly roll.

Add a little oil and butter to a cast iron pan, brown the bellies and place in the oven to finish cooking for about a half hour.

Serve with braised leeks, celeriac or any side vegetable that you have available.

Bon appetit!

World's Greatest Fried Chicken

2010-12-12T12:43:00.000-08:00

We recently purchased a deep fryer, breaking down after years of healthy-eating objections. I've used it a couple of times so far and I must say it really is handy. It's great to have so much more control over the oil temperature, along with the added benefit of being inherintly safer than a pot of scorching hot oil on the stovetop. I've made some terrific french fries and potato chips with it, but I felt it was time to try something a little more complicated. I settled on Buttermilk Fried Chicken, from Thomas Keller's "Ad Hoc" cookbook. According to Keller, if there is a better recipe for fried chicken he hasn't tried it, which is good enough for me.

First to find a suitable chicken. I've been buying whole chickens from Maple and Ewe Farm for a little over a year and I'm convinced it's the best chicken in Nova Scotia. The chickens are lovingly raised outdoors in the Annapolis Valley, foraging for their food and eating a chicken's natural diet of grubs, worms and seeds. I buy them from LeRoy Little of Highview Farms, who sells his product at the old Halifax Farmer's Market.

The first step is to cut the bird into it's 10 pieces (two backs, two drumsticks, four half breasts and two wings). This was the first time I had ever cut up a whole chicken, and it made me feel pretty dumb for buying just breasts or drumsticks for all those years. Teach yourself to cut up a whole chicken and you'll save yourself a lot of money over the years by not paying someone else to do it for you.

The next step is to brine the chicken.

Even the recipes from this cookbook, which are intended to be informal, casual cooking, are still more complicated than most. This chicken brine, for instance; simply salt and water isn't good enough, this one calls for lemons, bay leaves, honey, garlic, peppercorns, thyme and parsley. I guess my definition of casual differs from Thomas Keller's.

Once the chicken is brined, it's time for the buttermilk batter.

The chicken pieces are first dredged in seasoned flour, then dipped in buttermilk, then dredged a second time in the seasoned flour, then into the deep fryer.

The recipe says to fry the chicken 11 to 12 minutes, but I found it very subject to the size of the pieces. My instant read thermometer came in handy, since it's really tricky to gauge whether the chicken is fully cooked in this preparation. I ended up frying my chicken more like 16 minutes per piece.

The finished product, Thomas Keller's Buttermilk Fried Chicken.

The verdict? Unbelievably good. Having only eaten the Colonel's fried chicken up to this point, I had no idea that fried chicken could be so delicious. You'd better buy a deep fryer.

Leek Potato Oyster Soup

2010-12-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

During the fall and winter I often find myself craving homey foods like stews and soups. Or perhaps the reason we eat this way is more predicated on the fact that during this time of the year vegetable options are limited and much of what we can find locally are root vegetables. I prefer to think that it is something that I long for and we'll stick with that. So back to it, there is something very comforting in such foods, but this mid December I wanted something a little different and Fergus Henderson had just that something...leek potato oyster soup.

Off to the Halifax historic farmer's market on Saturday morning with my list. Hutten's Family Farms for leeks, potatoes and onions and Indian Point Mussels for the briny juicy oysters. This dish was extremely simple to prepare, using very basic ingredients that when combined together resulted in a delicious and very filling soup.

Chop 4 potatoes, slice one onion, 6 or 7 leeks and 5 cloves of garlic. Toss all but the potatoes into a heavy bottomed pot with 7 tablespoons of butter and allow them to sweat on a low heat.

I love using Henderson's recipes for a number of reasons, the challenge and sometimes great results, but also for his style of writing. He writes of food with such respect, giving it life, no other cookbook we have in our home is written in this manner and it always leaves me feeling grateful. In Henderson's words, once the leeks, onions and garlic start 'giving' add potatoes and cook for 8 minutes and then add stock and bring to a gentil boil.

I used fish stock as we have plenty in the freezer from our fall and winter shares in Off the Hook. Tossing all those fish heads was not something I could bring myself to do, it just seemed wrong, wasteful and disrespectful when we could turn it into something that we could later use. Making stock is effortless and a good way to use those food scrapes that may not have any other use. For those of you that think it's too much effort, bullocks....more effort is required in going to the grocery store and waiting in line to buy it. If you don't have fish stock, chicken stock is a great second option.

While the vegetable mixture fills your kitchen with a wonderful aroma, it's time to start shucking those oysters. This is by far the most challenging aspect of the dish. Rinse the oysters and use a tea towel to protect your hand while opening. Do be careful with that oyster shucker, otherwise you may NOT be enjoying your soup, but off to the doctor's office for stitches muttering a few choice words.

Reserve the briny juices from the oysters to add to the soup.

Once the potatoes are soft, toss the mixture into a blender and puree. Return pureed mixture to the pot and add salt and pepper to taste, mix in the oyster brine, plate (or in this case bowl) and top with a couple of fresh juicy oysters.

Enjoy!

Lamb Tongues

2010-10-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

That's right. Lamb tongues. But first, a bit of background.

It was the spring of 2009 and Kelly and I were spending a couple of days in London en route to Wales. It's impossible to pick a restaurant in a city like London, but there was one chef's cooking I really wanted to try, based initially (and entirely) on a 2006 episode of Anthony Bourdain's "A Cook's Tour". Bourdain would go on to state, in his introduction to this chef's 2004 cookbook, that this is his favorite chef and his favorite restaurant in the world. The place? St. John. And needing no introduction, the chef in question is Fergus Henderson. Any time you see something other than chicken breast, scallops or filet mignon on a menu (the beef cheeks at the Brooklyn Warehouse, for instance), you can thank Fergus Henderson. The champion of using all parts of an animal, not just what is (usually incorrectly) considered the choicest cuts. Nose to Tail eating.

Our lunch that day at St. John was an inspiration. We ate pigeon. Gulls eggs. Eel scratchin's. And none other than Fergus Henderson himself was seated at the table next to ours!

Fast forward to today. Among the many farmer's market purveyors we have established relationships with, one of our favorites is Bill Wood of Wood 'N Hart Farm. The lamb that Bill sells is (in my opinion) the best there is. Considering the province's best chef's serve his lamb in their restaurants means I'm not alone in my assessment. I once prepared a rack of lamb from Wood 'N Hart that approached perfection. It was cooked to a beautiful, blushing rare (more luck than skill) and served with a homemade mint sauce with mint from the garden, following a recipe from my Grandmother in Wales. Where they know a thing or two about lamb. The entire dish was prepared with only six ingredients, and that includes the salt & pepper. The dish was all about the lamb, and the lamb was incredible.

Lamb Tongues

We enjoy the challenge and the respect for the animal inherit in "nose to tail" cooking, and regularly buy lamb heart and kidney from Bill. One morning he handed us a small plastic bag filled with lamb tongues. Having no clue on how to prepare lamb tongue, I turned to the only cookbook in the house I could count on for a preparation: Fergus Henderson's "The Whole Beast".

Here are the lamb tongues, washed and ready.

The first step is to gently simmer the tongues in chicken stock with some garlic and aromatic herbs for about 2 hours.

Next, remove the tongues from the stock, allow to cool slightly, then peel.

Once that's done, the tongues are halfed and added to some shallots (sauteed in duck fat), some beets (cooked in the same stock as the tongue), and some bacon.

The dish is finished with a sprinkle of a little sherry vinegar. I served it on top of mashed potato.

The tongue was really quite easy to prepare. The texture is a little like liver, but more firm. This dish was absolutely delicious and will definitely be made again. And to think that lamb tongues are usually thrown in the garbage!

Off the Hook - Pt. II

2010-09-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

With the first season of Off the Hook officially over, I thought I would share what I found to be my favorite haddock preparation after weeks of trying different recipes. What follows is deceptively simple, fast and fiendishly good.

Sherwood St. Haddock

Ultra-fresh haddock
Butter (unsalted)
More butter
Capers
Kosher salt & pepper (throw that table salt out already!)
White flour

Wash & dry the haddock fillets. Season both sides with salt, and let stand for about 5 mins or so to let the salt penetrate into the flesh. Over medium heat, melt a couple tablespoons of the butter until it foams. Dredge the fillets in the flour, shaking off the excess, and place in the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, until the bottom is starting to brown. Flip and cook the other side for a couple of minutes. Give the fish your undivided attention because it is really, really easy to overcook the fish. Keep checking the inside by gently separating the flesh, the moment it's cooked through take it out. Remove the fish and cover while you prepare the sauce. Add a couple more tablespoons of butter to the pan and melt, scraping up all of the nice brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Continually stir while you let the butter cook until it just starts to brown (this won't take long). Add a tablespoon of capers to the pan, along with another tablespoon of the caper brine. Wisk it in to combine and then serve the fish, topping the fillets with the sauce (this sauce, in case you were wondering, is buerre noisette, or brown butter).

Serve with your favorite vegetables on the side (I chose braised local cucumber in the picture).

You couldn't prepare a box of kraft dinner in this amount of time.

Off The Hook!

2010-09-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

We are half-share shareholders in the inaugural season of "Off The Hook", Atlantic Canada's first community supported fishery (CSF). Off The Hook is a cooperative that connects it's shareholders directly with several families of fisherman in Digby, Nova Scotia. Their catch is sustainably caught hook and line groundfish, and every week we receive our "share", usually about six pounds of haddock. The quality of the fish is incredible - the boats typically come in on a Wednesday evening or Thursday morning and we pick up the fish Thursday afternoon in downtown Halifax. Bracingly fresh, this is the best quality haddock a retail customer can get their hands on.

Our weekly share.

Being whole forces you to learn how to fillet a fish. How is it we've never done this before?

And being whole also means you get the heads and bones for making stock. Try as you may you can't find fish heads at any of the grocers or fishmongers in the HRM (which makes me wonder if they really are filleting any of that fish you see on ice in the display case?)

Nothing like having loads of homemade stock in the freezer. Makes for an amazing fish chowder.

Having six pounds of fresh fish to deal with every week requires a little creativity. I'm sure on week one of Off The Hook there were plenty of households around Halifax enjoying some beautifully and simply prepared haddock fillets, sauteed in butter with a little salt & pepper. But by week three, you start looking for different and interesting ways to use your fish. Some of the more adventurous preparations to date at our house:

Ceviche

We've made ceviche twice now, and each time it gets better. Marinate the haddock (first seasoned with salt) in enough lime juice to cover it for a couple of hours, then use your imagination and what's on hand. This one was prepared with valley peaches, mango and jalapeno, cherry tomatoes and cilantro from the garden.

Black and White Sesame-Crusted ~~Tuna~~ Haddock with Miso Broth and Noodles

My interpretation of Chef Michael Howell's (Tempest) Black and White Sesame-Crusted Tuna with Miso Broth and Noodles, substituting haddock and pine mushroom as the Asian corner store was out of enoki. This turned out really, really nicely. (Recipe is from Michael Howell's cookbook "atlantic seafood", buy it now! It's fantastic!)

Tom Yum

Several batches of Tom Yum soup have been prepared using the haddock stock and whatever flesh we can pick off the bones after making the stock. Absolutely delicious and ridiculously easy. Make sure you find an authentic recipe and don't omit the kaffir lime leaves (you can get them at Pete's Frootique).

Salt & Vinegar Crusted Haddock

Haddock in a crust of salt and vinegar potato chips, as recommended by a co-worker and fellow foodie. Not as much of that tasty salt and vinegar flavour made it through to the finished dish as I would have liked, but it was still interesting and quite good.

There you have it. In supporting Off The Hook:

you're supporting local fisherman who believe in sustainable fishing practices
the fisherman receive a much better price for their catch as it's not being sold to a middle man for processing
you're paying about the same as what you'd pay for haddock fillets at the grocery store
you're eating fish so fresh you'd have to catch it yourself to be any fresher

The second season of Off The Hook starts Sept 23.

www.offthehookcsf.ca

Rillettes

2010-07-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

In our exploration of cooking and experimenting with food, the one conclusion we repeatedly come to is - dishes that have the simplest preparations are often the best. We've been fortunate to have dined at a number of fine restaurants and the most memorable foods tend to be the one you would least expect. Rob Feenie's pea soup at Lumiere, Thomas Keller's salmon rillettes at Bouchon and Fergus Henderson's gulls eggs at St. John are just a few that come to mind. The next time you dine out and are left with a lasting impression of a wonderful creation, challenge yourself to recreate it at home; you may be patting yourself on the back. I shall pass on what I believe to be an excellent piece of advice from Fergus Henderson, 'do not be afraid of cooking as your ingredients will know and misbehave.' Have fun with experimenting with food!

Another of those unforgettable dishes for me was a pork and duck fat rillettes which I've had the pleasure to enjoy a number of times at Salade de Fruits Cafe in Vancouver. If you haven't been, I do highly recommend should you be living in or visting Vancouver. Cash only! Rillettes, the name itself is intimidating, is an incredible dish that should be anything but. It's definitely old school, in the words of Anthony Bourdain, and I would have to agree. Having no Salade de Fruits Cafe or any other restaurant in Halifax that served this dish, I was pushed to my own devices and can now enjoy rillettes whenever I feel like it, provided I plan 3 to 4 days in advance. Patience for this dish is essential, but oh so worth it!

I turned to our cookbooks and found a recipe in Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles. If you don't own this already, it is recommended. And apparently it wasn't that I didn't look hard enough in this city for rillettes, according to Bourdain, it is tragically hard to find. A true shame!

Rillettes necessities:

2 lbs good quality pork belly

1 lb good quality pork shoulder (do not buy from grocery store, you will be disappointed, speaking from experience)

3 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig of parsley

1 bay leave

4 cups of water

salt and pepper

fat pork

duck fat

Remove the rind from the pork belly without discarding too much of the fat and cut into 2 inch pieces.

Cut the pork shoulder same size as pork belly.

Place all the pork in a heavy bottomed pot.

Pour 4 cups of cold water over the pork pieces and toss in the bouquet garni (thyme, parsley and bay leave) wrapped in cheesecloth if you have, otherwise simply tie with a piece of string. Turn the stove on very low, place lid on pot allowing for moisture to escape and let simmer for 6 hours. Did I mention patience?

After 6 hours, remove pork from pot along with 3 tablespoons of the remaining liquids and let cool. Add 1 tsp of salt and pepper to taste and using 2 forks pull apart into very small stringy pieces.

Mix in 1 heaping tablespoon of duck fat.

Place in jars topped with a piece of salt pork. Cover with lids or plastic wrap and place in fridge for 3 to 4 days. This is by far the most difficult thing in preparing this dish...the waiting.

Patience.

3 to 4 days later enjoy with crosstinis, cornichions and picked onions.

Thanks Anthony Bourdain in helping me find a solution to my rillettes dilema!

Pea Soup

2010-07-10T12:07:00.001-07:00

Before it's decline and eventual demise, we had the good fortune to dine at Vancouver's Lumiere, consistently listed among the country's top restaurants (Editor's note: since leaving Vancouver, Lumiere has re-opened with chef Daniel Boulud at the helm.) We enjoyed the multi-course chef's tasting menu, and one of those courses (I think there were 14 in total) changed the course of my life. It was so incredibly good, that while eating it I couldn't prevent myself from involuntarily smiling. It was mind blowing, a revalation. It left such an impression on me that even now I struggle to put into words it's effect. The dish? Pea soup.

Suffice it to say, this was no ordinary pea soup. But one of the (many) things that stunned me about the dish was that it truly was "ordinary", in the sense that the dish really was just peas. The chef had taken the humble vegetable and prepared it in such a way as to intensify, amplify and heighten it's flavours. That the dish had such a profound impact on my life is a testament to the skill and talent of the chef, Rob Feenie.

Summer being well underway in Nova Scotia, we just picked about a pound of fresh peas from our garden. I knew immediately what I would be doing with them.

The first challenge was to find a receipe. For this I turned to another chef, one who's cooking is, arguably, among the best in the world - Thomas Keller. In his French Laundry cookbook (which you should own, if you don't already), there is a preparation for "Puree of English Pea Soup with White Truffle Oil and Parmesan Crisps", which I knew would be equal to the challenge of creating my homage to Rob Feenie's dish. And it's always fun to cook from the French Laundry cookbook. This is my adaption of the French Laundry dish.

Sherwood St. Pea Soup

1 lb peas (shelled)

4 l water (for blanching), plus more for soup

1/3 c sugar

1/2 c kosher salt

Vegetable stock

Basil oil

Kosher salt and white pepper

Parmesan crisps (recipe follows)

Step 1 - Obtain Product

These were our peas, picked mere hours before cooking. Do not dare prepare this dish with peas from the grocery store. These should be sourced from a farmer's market or (preferrably) a backyard garden (your neighbour's if not your own). If you don't have the freshest, best quality peas you can possibly lay your hands on, don't waste your time.

Step 2 - Big Pot Blanching

Thomas Keller devotes a separate section in his cookbook just to blanching vegetables. I did my best to keep up. The peas were first chilled in ice water, then cooked in the 4 litres of water with the salt and sugar (about 8 to 10 mins), followed by a dunk into ice water. According to the cookbook, this will help the peas retain their colour.

Step 3 - Puree

Not owning a food processor, I used my blender and it worked fine.

The pea puree was a vivid, vibrant green, just like Thomas Keller said it would be. The photo, depressingly, does it no justice.

Stage 4 - Strain, Strain, Strain!

I added some homemade chicken stock (sorry Mr. Keller, no vegetable stock on hand) and water, blended again, then strained through a fine seive. I only strained it once, not the dozen or so times Thomas K would undoubtably strain his. Add enough stock and / or water to achieve the consistency you like.

The final mixture looked a little like this.

Step 5 - Season

Pretty simple. This dish is, after all, all about the peas.

Step 6 - Parmesan Crisps

I love these little bastards. Follow Thomas Keller's advice and make a couple extra, as you will want to eat them.

Finely grated parmesan goes into the oven (preheated to 325F)...

... and 8 mins later delicious crisps come out. Don't try this at home without a silpat sheet.

Step 7 - Basil Oil

The receipe calls for white truffle oil, which I don't have in the pantry and sadly probably couldn't find in Halifax if I tried. So, I picked fresh basil from the garden and made a basil oil instead. I'm not sure that peas and basil is a classic pairing, but they're both in season and what the hell I like basil.

Step 8 - Plate it Up

There you have it. My nod to Rob Feenie's pea soup, made with Nova Scotia ingredients.

Garrison Stout Chocolate Cake

2010-06-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

Dessert is not something we indulge in on a regular basis, but every now and then it's a must! We have our favourites; creme brule and strawberry & rhubarb fool topped with chocolate mint and I'm sure you have yours. Chocolate cake has never been high on my list, that is, until recently. I suspect the reason for not liking this dessert, loved by so many, was simply due to having been deprived of a good chocolate cake made from scratch. Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines...I love you Mom, but I think I'll pass.

This cake is not just a chocolate cake, but rather a chocolate STOUT cake. It came about through love, not of chocolate, but of a Vancouver Island raised lad who loves his beer. His recent quest to sample all the local beers of Halifax and rate them, in a search for the best Canadian microbrewed beer, was the inspiration. I needed a delectable birthday cake; trying to top a cake made by a friend, a trained pastry chef, is no small feat. I had big shoes to fill! The beer diary poured ideas my way and with the aid of the Internet a chocolate cake was taking shape. I found what I thought to be a recipe worthy of undertaking and made my way to the local microbreweries. I needed the perfect secret ingredient!

One of the many wonderful things about Halifax is that we are blessed with a great selection of micro-brewed local beer. I scouted the options at Propellor, Granite Brewery and The Garrison and settled on the The Garrison Martello Stout, a heavily roasted malt beer with a big bold flavour. This was the perfect ingredient for the Halifax Stout Chocolate Birthday Cake.

The all important stout...

Cake necessities:

2 cups Garrison Martello Stout (or stout of choice...I may try Pumphouse Scotch Ale next time)

2 cups unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

4 cups all purpose flour

4 cups sugar

1 tbsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 large eggs (free range)

1 1/3 cups sour cream

Icing necessities:

1 L whipping cream

1 package of Jello powder crystals (I opted for vanilla)

Step 1:

Warm beer and butter together and let cool.

Step 2:

After mixing together all other ingredients into cooled butter beer using a Kitchen Aid mixer, I had a whole lot of yummy chocolate cake mix. Do try your best to refrain from dipping your finger in the batter, although if you succumb to the devine chocolate temptation don't worry, you have enough batter for 3 layers...you won't miss a layer if you indulge in multi dipping, but please do wash your hands every time before taking the plunge.

Step 3:

Divide the batter into 3 pans, 2 if you are experiencing a chocolate buzz and realise you don't have enough for 3 pans. Having made this cake several times I now stick with 2 layers and use the extra batter for cup cakes; they freeze well and make for quick easy desserts.

Step 4:

Bake for 40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the centre comes out clean. You know the drill.

One layer of cake.

The cupcake.

Step 5:

Let cool then ice with the mixed whipping cream and vanilla Jello crystals and enjoy.

This chocolate stout cake is extremely moist and will leave you wanting more. I recommend cutting in thin slices to serve. As the cake is rather large for 2 people, I froze the remaining cake in individual slices which makes for a quick yummy dessert without all the hassle.

Dockside Chili Squid

2010-06-12T15:21:00.001-07:00

Since moving from Vancouver, we have been spoiling ourselves on the wonderful seafood that is available in Nova Scotia. There is a brewpub in Vancouver's Granville Island, the Dockside, which serves an incredible appetizer known as "Chili Squid". It was a Sunday summer tradition for many years to head down to the Dockside patio and feast on Chili Squid and their fantastic microbrew beer, just the thing to chase off a Saturday night hangover and get started on a Monday morning one.

I have been toiling for some time now trying to recreate that dish. What I have come up with is a bit of a departure from the original, but I actually prefer it more! I have adapted this recipe from Wandee Young's Simply Thai cookbook, which you should buy if you don't already own it, if only for the Pad Thai recipe. But back to the squid...

SQUID

This is what was left of a couple of nice, fresh squid, after cleaning them and cutting them up.

The best recipes seem always to be the simplest, and this is no exception.

HALIFAX PATIO CHILI SQUID

10 oz squid

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp chopped garlic

2 tbsp fish sauce

3 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tsp chili-garlic sauce

1 tsp chili paste

2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh mint

2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh cilantro

Canola oil for deep frying

Salt and pepper

Flour for dredging

Mix the sugar, lime juice, garlic and everything bottled in a bowl.

Dredge the squid in flour, salt & pepper just before deep frying. Be sure to dry it really well, or you'll end up tossing the squid in glue.

Deep fry the squid, working in small batches if you are using a shallow pan like me. Why does everything seem to be improved upon by deep frying?

Don't cook the squid very long, 60 seconds maybe? Depends on the temperature of your oil. Use your judgement. Once cooked, toss the squid with the sauce in a work bowl.

Then plate it, topping with the fresh herbs.

Simple, easy, and really, really good. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do. And if you find yourself on the patio of the Dockside, be sure to order the Chili Squid and a pint of Jamaican Lager. You just might not return to the maritimes!

Steak Frites

2010-05-16T07:59:00.001-07:00

For the inaugural post, I decided to start with one of my favorite dishes: Steak. Easy to prepare, difficult to master, steak is a good example of how paying attention to detail, quality of ingredients and a few simple techniques are the difference between a steak that makes you reach for the BBQ sauce and a steak that makes your knees weak.

BEEF

You need to start with the best beef you can find. Full stop. Since seeking out (often wily and eclectic) purveyors is a lot of the fun, I leave it to you to research, sample, try, visit, and make your own mistakes as you discover your own preferred beef supplier. You'll be better for it.

This is a custom butchered cote de boeuf. Dry aged 28 days, grass fed Nova Scotian Highland beef from a farmer who individually names his cattle and cares for them like pets. Where are you getting your beef?

Frites

Not to be overlooked is the side. You need something that is worthy of riding shotgun and can bask in the glory of your steak. In this case, pommes frites.

Before you ask, I used a mandoline. Fry 'em twice, letting them cool between fry-ing's.

Plated

After liberal (I mean liberal) seasoning of the steak with kosher salt about an hour before grilling, after grilling to a nice rare, after putting together a garlic/chili/lime salt for the frites, after resting the steak and finishing it with sel gris, it looked something like this.

Tasted

Pretty easy to make, as long as you show your ingredients a little respect. Served with a glass of Garrison Tall Ship Amber Ale, you'd have to travel to Toronto for a better steak.

My knees are weak.

2010-05-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

Test

2010-05-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

Hello World!