[Archive for 2011]

We Wish You A Merry December

December is a month when many people will gather with their friends and family on various days and celebrate being together. I know the big religious celebrations are the genesis for December being so festive, but it has become a time for everyone, regardless of belief, to get together and celebrate the end of another year. I am 100% behind any reason for getting together and having a good time. I am 110% behind these get-togethers revolving around food and drink. This comes as no surprise, obviously, but a dinner party is my absolute favorite thing in the world to be a part of. Get people at a table around a hunk of meat and a bunch of side dishes and you have a religious experience in the making.

In honour of creating your very own religious experience, I wanted to share with you a few ideas I had for making dinners that are a little different. We will be selling a billion turkeys, hams, and prime ribs this month, but I ‘d like to share a couple of sweet thoughts for alternative meat courses. There are no full recipes here, just the sparks. If you tend to the spark, you can build it into a roaring fire. There are plenty of specific recipes out there for these meats, but my outlines should be enough to get you started.

Maple Smoke-Roasted Pork Rack

So this is a delightful one. A rack of pork is very similar to a rack of lamb in that there is a fat loin of meat with the rib bones running up along one side. Each bone represents a portion with pork (ok, usually a hefty portion, but still…). So count how many people you’re having over and figure out how much of the rack you’ll need. Make a brine (1 part maple syrup, 1 part salt, 1 bunch of sage, 1 bunch of rosemary, 4 parts water). Soak the pork overnight in the brine. The next day, turn ONE SIDE of your BBQ on to high. Get one of those cedar boards they sell in fishmongers or grocery stores, usually around the salmon section. (I know, it truly seems like there IS a whole section devoted to salmon these days, doesn’t it?) Soak the cedar board in water for an hour. Put the board on the hot side of the BBQ and wait until it starts smoking. Put your pork directly on the other, cooler side of the BBQ. Close the lid BUT LEAVE A SMALL CRACK. I perform this feat by propping a pair of tongs in between the BBQ and the lid. While the pork loin is smoking pre-heat your oven to 350˚F. After about thirty minutes, check on the pork. Plenty of smoke should erupt from the BBQ. The pork should start to look browned on the outside and should also start to feel a little firm. At this point, take the pork rack out of the BBQ and put in a roasting dish. Place it in your oven for another half hour or forty-five minutes. You’ll know it’s done when you stick a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the pork and it reads 145˚F. If you don’t have a thermometer, go and get one. They’re like five bucks. Let the pork rest for about 20 minutes before you slice it. Serve with apple sauce and Brussels sprouts cooked in bacon.

Apple Stuffed Capon

This idea came from Tom, a regular who apparently dominates the dinner table with his version of this dish. First, some people may be wondering what a capon is. A capon is a rooster who had been castrated at an early age in order for it to be less aggressive as it ages, therefore increasing the tenderness of the bird when it reaches the table. As a capon is around 7-10 pounds, it is perfect for people who want a bird on the table but not a big turkey and not a tiny chicken. Preheat your oven to 275˚F. Roughly chop two onions, ten cloves of garlic, a bunch of fresh sage, and six peeled and cored apples (you can use any variety, but I like harder, less sweet varieties like spy). Toss the chopped mixture with about five tablespoons of butter and juice from a whole lemon in a bowl. Stuff this mixture into the cavity of a capon. Chop another bunch of sage and 10 garlic cloves, and mix it in a bowl with a cup of soft butter, a handful of salt, plenty of ground pepper, and about two teaspoons of ground allspice. Rub the outside of the capon very well with this mixture. Put the bird in a roasting pan and place in the oven. Slowly cook this beast for about three or four hours, or until the internal temperature is 160˚F. Rest for about half an hour before carving and serving with savoury bread pudding and roasted turnips.

Slow-Cooked Lamb Shoulder

So most people associate lamb with springtime, but it is just as delicious at this time of year when it has been eating fall grasses and getting fat on the occasional apple or two. I like all of the lamb cuts, and a roasted leg can be a delicious centerpiece at any table – but you already knew that. How about trying a shoulder roast instead? Slowly cooked in liquid so it is super succulent and tender, this is a roast that can blow your expectations of what a pot roast is out of the water. Ask your butcher to bone out a whole lamb shoulder, leaving it in one piece. Butterfly the meat so it is fairly even. It should kind of look rectangular except for a flap where the neck was. Cut that off (so that it won’t be flopping on the side of the roast when you roll it up) and place it on the middle of the butterflied meat. Make a marinade like this: zest of three lemons; one bunch each of parsley, chives, thyme, and rosemary – chopped; a teaspoon of anchovy paste (you can get this in a tube-looks like fishy toothpaste); three tablespoons of chopped capers; three tablespoons of chopped garlic; three tablespoons of olive oil; one tablespoon of red wine vinegar; and two tablespoons of Dijon mustard. Season the lamb shoulder with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Spread half of the marinade all over the inside of the lamb, then roll it and tie the roll in place with twine. Get good twine from your butcher – not the crap you can get at grocery stores that cuts your fingers when you try to tighten anything. Spread the rest of your marinade all over the outside of your roast. Leave in the fridge overnight. The next day sear the outside of the roast in a heavy-bottomed pot that is deep enough to hold the roast. Once the lamb is seared, remove it, and in the same pot sauté chopped onion, garlic, carrots, parsnips, turnips, and celery until browned. Season with salt and pepper. Add two tablespoons of tomato paste, and then deglaze the pot with lots of good red wine – like half a bottle. Nestle the lamb down in the pot and top it up with chicken stock until it covers the roast. Add a herb bundle made of bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, and parsley stems. Make sure the bundle is tied so you can easily remove it afterwards. Bring the liquid to a simmer, then put a lid on the pot and place the pot in an oven pre-heated to 325˚F. Cook for about three hours or until the roast is fork tender. This means if you stick a fork in the center of the roast it will come out cleanly and easily and the meat will feel very soft. Let the roast cool in the liquid for about half an hour before removing it. Using a blender, puree the braising liquid (remember to take out the herb bundle first!) and strain it into a clean pot. Reduce it until it is sauce consistency – it should coat the back of a spoon gracefully. Before serving, whisk some cold butter into the hot sauce; this will enrich the sauce and make it all shiny. Slice the roast and serve some of the sauce on top and some in a side boat. I like to serve this with a delicious herb risotto maybe, or poached carrots in warm vinaigrette.

Now these are but three alternatives to the traditional roast meal, but they serve the same purpose and still feel pretty festive. We all want to sit at a table this time of year and break bread with loved ones. There is nothing better out there. From Sanagan’s Meat Locker to your table, we wish you nothing but full bellies, warm cheeks, and light hearts this December.

Posted in Cooking, General

Quick’n Chicken (aka Fake’n Bake)

A regular customer came into the shop recently looking for something to cook for dinner. An easy enough chore, I figured, because there were one million cuts of meat on offer, all of which could be cooked in at least two million ways. I took a cursory glance through my display window and immediately ten things jumped out at me. Braised oxtail; pan-fried smoked pork chops and cabbage; chicken and dumplings; the list went on. She didn’t see it that way.

“I’ll take two smoked pork hocks and a chicken,” she said, seeming defeated. She looked at me. “You know, I’m really sick of the dishes I cook. I want more ideas.” I didn’t know what to say. ”You know, I need a class or something where I could learn new dishes. Like a cooking class.”

I looked at her and thought, ‘what kind of person buys smoked pork hocks and thinks her cooking is boring?’ And then I thought, ‘hey, I wonder if Mika at The Good Egg is teaching any classes on that topic?’ And THEN I thought, ‘hey, it’s bloggin’ time!’

I remember going to my sister’s house six or so years ago for dinner. It was an easy meal; she was just fixing something up casually, an after work thing. We had pasta with sausage and peppers. It was very tasty, but what got me was that she introduced it by saying it was one of “her dishes”. As in, a dish she had in her repertoire. I was a snobby little shit of a restaurant cook and scoffed at the idea of not being able to cook with intuition, knowing what’s in season and riffing on what’s available in the cupboard. I probably said something like, “hey you should really expand your culinary horizons.”

You know that feeling you have when you remember something stupid you once said and wished you could take it back? Yeah, well…

This post will be the first in a series of recipes you can make after work easily, quickly, and deliciously. If you have kids, these are recipes that should appeal to them. If you don’t have kids, you should go out and enjoy yourself. Or make one of these recipes and invite people over. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up making a family with someone you invited over for dinner!

A quick note: I don’t apologize for the fancy plating. You should know that’s how I roll, so just deal.

Quick’n Chicken…aka Fake’n Bake

Okay, so as far as easy recipes go, this is pretty much super basic. Everyone likes Shake’n Bake™, and anyone who says different is either a liar or an alien from Planet Bad Stuff (also known as Uranus). I just prefer making my own seasoned breadcrumbs. Also, I have found that a packet of Shake’n Bake™ usually doesn’t go the distance. As it turns out, I prefer a lot of breadcrumbs on my chicken. You can use a different hot sauce in this recipe, or if you have wussy kids you can use ketchup or BBQ sauce, but let’s face it, Frank’s Red Hot is the best. In the words of that old lady on the commercial, I put that s#!t on everything. Okay, maybe not everything, but as hot sauces go it’s one of my tops.

So first off: the ingredients for the chicken.

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless (butchers LOOOVE taking the skin and bones off of chicken breasts. As the shop’s good friend James says, “it shows off the butcher’s skill.” Uh huh.)

2 good dashes of hot sauce (as mentioned earlier, I like Frank’s. So what.)

2 cups or so of breadcrumbs (you could make your own with stale bread, or buy some from a decent bakery)

3 or 4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

3 or so tbsp of sliced green onions

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with a piece of aluminum foil. Mix the garlic, green onion, and hot sauce with the chicken breast until well coated. Season the breadcrumbs with salt and pepper. Toss the chicken in the breadcrumbs until well coated. Place the chicken breasts on the baking sheet and roast in the oven for thirty minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165˚F.

Now on its own, this chicken is delicious. Of course, I like to add a little sauce or something to it just because, so here is a delicious sauce made from ingredients I just had in my fridge. I should point out that when I made this dish we hardly had anything in the fridge…pretty piss poor actually, but I do always try to make the best out of a little.

So for the sauce you’ll need:

4 tbsp of cottage cheese (or sour cream or plain yogurt, or something similar that might be in your fridge)

3 or four gherkins, chopped up

1 tbsp of capers, chopped up

2 dashes of Worcestershire

2 green olives, pitted and chopped

1 good squeeze of lemon juice

1 tbsp of green onions, chopped up

Mix all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. You’ll notice it is kind of thick, just add a tbsp or two of tap water to thin it out a little.

Of course you can’t serve just protein and sauce…you’ll need a little sump’n sump’n to go along side of this deliciousness. As I said, my cupboards were kind of bare, so I improvised with what little I had and made a slaw out of it.

I took these things:

4 carrots

1 apple

half a green pepper

2 tbsp toasted hazelnuts

1 squeeze of lemon juice

And, by using a mandolin I got in Chinatown, I made this.

Obviously, I seasoned it with salt and pepper.

And then I put it all together on a plate like this:

So pretty.

Now, there are obvious variations on this basic recipe. I like to do a classic breading a lot of the time (first dredging the chicken in flour, then an egg wash, before the seasoned hot sauce and breadcrumbs). This will give the chicken an even crispier crust. I also like to cut the chicken into strips and eat it as fingers or in a wrap. Instead of this type of sauce I’ll puree the cottage cheese with blue cheese for a classic wing dip-style sauce. I also like warm sautéed mushrooms with this, or at least some mashed potatoes. So many options. So many variations. So much deliciousness.

I know this was pretty simple, but I have to say, now that I work days and need to have food on the table within a certain amount of time (you know, before Law and Order: SVU comes on) I love to make stuff that doesn’t take a lot of effort. I apologize to everyone, including my sister, whom I may have patronized for their simple, reliable recipes back in my pretentious cook days. I’m too old and tired for that now. Viva la Easy!

Posted in General, Recipes

Ch Ch Ch Ch Choices (In that way Bowie sings Changes)

Who do you like more: Madonna or Bob Dylan? It  should be a simple question, and most people will be able to answer straight up – easily and quickly. It’s not a hard question, but I understand why someone would have pause before answering. I mean, yes, yes…Bob Dylan is the easy answer for music geeks – he can be summed up as possibly the most influential singer songwriter of the last fifty years. It is not always easy, and sometimes downright impossible, to listen to his music and his voice. But he can create a beautiful novel within a five-minute song when it takes some writers a lifetime to crank out one meaningful, well-written story. Madonna, on the other hand, is super easy to listen to. It can be argued that she is just as influential as Bob Dylan, if perhaps not in the singer-songwriter way. Her style and swagger has cemented her place in history as a dance-pop icon. Any one of her songs can go down like a Caramilk on Hallowe’en. Smooth and delicious, with only a hint of remorse afterwards. Now, no one can listen to one artist all the time (unless you’re 15 and just discovered the Smiths of course), and I truly believe variety is the spice of life. Bob Dylan is one type of artist and Madonna is another. I enjoy them both. They both make me happy when I hear them, and  hey, isn’t that the point of music?

You know what else makes me happy? Beef. Everything about it, really; I love how young cows are affectionate to their owners; I love the smell of manure wafting through the air as I drive along county roads in late July; I love lifting a forkful of well cooked, juicy steak to my eager mouth. Recently at a staff party we did a round table questionnaire of what you would eat if it were your last meal on earth. My choice was a big ole steak and a bottle of red wine. My mouth is watering now just thinking about it. I am blessed to own a shop that allows me to indulge in my love for beef, and also allows me to taste not only different cuts of beef, but differently fed beef. In my shop, customers can find examples of beef fed in three different ways – grain, corn, and grass. I always find it strange that they sell corn-fed and grain-fed beef as such, as ALL beef is raised on pasture for most of their lives. The cattle will receive corn and/or grain as a “finishing” diet for three months or so before slaughter to fatten up the animals. A purely grass-fed (also referred to as “grass-finished” to distinguish itself from pastured animals that are finished with some grain) diet results in a less fatty animal, and in North America we LOVE our fatty beef. In fact, the whole grading system here is built on how well marbled beef is. I can totally understand why, as fat carries flavourn and therefore well marbled beef is going to be juicy and flavourful in your mouth. Think of Hansel and Gretel. That witch TOTALLY knew what she was doing when she was fattening Hansel up with candy. A tasty Hansel steak is what she was after. Too bad she was dumb enough to be fooled by scared little children – but that’s another story. I love eating beef that was finished on grain and/or corn. I love searing a corn-fed steak until it is super caramelized on each side and the sweet fat just explodes in my mouth. The phrase “dribbling down the corner of my mouth” comes to mind. Ah! Delicious!

Eating grass-fed beef is a little different. I have yet to find a flavour comparison to eating a nice bit of grass-fed steak. I mean, corn fed beef is awesome in the same way a juicy pork chop is awesome. Juicy, salty, properly cooked meat is just the top. A grass-fed steak, on the other hand, is UNIQUE. And INTERESTING. And downright FANTASTIC. I uppercased those adjectives because I want them to stick in your minds. Grass-fed beef can actually taste kind of like what the animal ate. I find the meat to be herbaceous, almost floral. While it is true the animal isn’t as fatty or well marbled as corn/grain fed beef, the fat it does have is perfumed with the grass and herbs the beast grazed on before its time was up. The only time I make pre-formed hamburger patties at the shop is when we have this grass-fed beef available. I find hamburgers made from this beef to be the most delicious I’ve ever had. And this is from a guy who thinks Whoppers are underrated. (Which they totally are, by the way.)

Grass-fed beef isn’t the most popular style of raising beef in this province. It can cost more, because you need a lot of land to rotate your animals through different fields. The animals tend to be older so the return on the farmer’s initial investment isn’t quite immediate. And realistically, the beef from a grass-fed animal looks and tastes different than what we are used to. People don’t want to pay more money for something they are unfamiliar with. And I don’t blame them. Really, who’s to say you will prefer grass-fed to corn-fed? You are. You are the only one who will know what will make you the happiest at all times. I won’t preach my beliefs to anyone about this, because hell, I like them both, for different reasons. However, I will always feel it necessary to carry both, so people can decide which they prefer; which will make them happy.

No matter what I do in this short spit of an existence, I want it to be awesome. I want to take everything I can get my hands on and give it a whirl. And when I find out I don’t like it; I’ll leave it for something better. Whether it is music or beef, I’m happy to be able to enjoy whatever I like to enjoy. And being happy is the meaning of life. Ha! Just when you thought it was the number 42.

Posted in General

Respect

I love buying and reading cookbooks. Cookbooks rank fairly high on my “stuff that makes me happy to spend money on” list, much to my bank account’s chagrin. (That list also includes CDs and graphic novels that AREN’T about superheroes, but I’ll talk about those things at another time.) Of all the cookbooks out there, my favourites are books written by chefs chronicling the menus and adventures set inside their restaurants. Obvious masterpieces are books from The French Laundry, Au Pied De Cochon, Tetsuya’s, Charlie Trotter’s….the list goes on. Today I added a new book to that venerable list – Joe Beef. This is a restaurant in Montreal I have not (yet) have the good fortune of tucking into yet, but be sure it’s the second place I’m eating at the next time I visit. (The first will be wherever my good friend Anthony Joyce – a chef in MTL – takes me.) I just picked up Joe Beef’s cookbook (of sorts) and read most of it while drinking afternoon pints. (By the by, as far as recipes for happiness go, none is more satisfying than the simplest – pints, books, and afternoons.) One of the best parts about this book is the loving way in which it is written. The co-owners of the restaurant get to talk about each other in a reverential way, the way a younger sibling talks about the older one. They also get to talk about suppliers in the same way, as well as anyone lucky enough to cross their paths and leave a mark. It made me think about all of the people who influenced me in the past and the people who continue to inspire me today. That particular list is super-long, but I wanted to share a shortened version with a few names of people I am happy to call friends and colleagues.

Massimo Capra – The first day I met Mass, he interviewed me for the entremetier position at Mistura. We sat at the front of the restaurant, near the bar, and he asked me if I could cook volume. ”We’re really busy here, so you can’t be slow”. We both smoked cigarettes back then, back when that was a legal thing to do in restaurants, so we had espresso and smoked cigarettes and he told me how busy I would be. Then we toured the kitchen. A giant stock pot full of chicken carcasses and vegetables was simmering at the back of the range. Massimo took a ladle, dipped it in the pot, and slurped the broth down. ”That is a damn good broth”. This man took an impressionable young cook and turned him into a chef. I owe him the first round of thanks, for sure.

David Haman – Dave and I first met when I was the chef at Mistura. He was helping the chef at Sopra (a bar/nightclub above Mistura), doing pastries. I’ll never forget him glowing after successfully making profiteroles: “I haven’t made choux pastry in forever”. He is a natural talent and we’ve remained in touch through his working with Cookstown Greens and now at Woodlot, where he is operating one of the most honest restaurants in Toronto. I was recently married at the Woodlot, and it was probably the best wedding of all time. Just saying.

Stephen Alexander – A few months after opening the Meat Locker, I got a surprise visit from Stephen, who just came into the shop to say hi and good luck. How effing cool is that? Stephen owns probably the most successful artisanal butcher shop in the biggest city in Canada (sorry Montreal and Vancouver) and popped his head into the Meat Locker just to say what’s up. As a chef, I’ve been lucky to use Cumbrae’s meat from time to time and I’ve always been impressed by the quality. I would be proud if we at the Locker can, at the very least, follow in his footsteps.

Mario Pingue – I haven’t spoken with Mario in a while, but he remains one of the most passionate curators of Italian food culture I know. Many people know his Niagara Food Specialties products – his lardo is the stuff of dreams – but I was lucky enough to help him with a catering a few years back. We made porchetta in his parents’ basement. We grilled eggplant for the antipasti on his parents’ barbecue, which incidentally looked over his parents’ HUGE garden. From this garden came bushels of roma tomatoes, which his mom meticulously blanched and peeled for preserving. On quick breaks from cooking, we would drink espresso from – get this – AN ESPRESSO BAR HE BUILT IN HIS PARENTS’ LIVING ROOM. Insane, right? So cool. We sold Mario’s home cured salumi at Mistura back in the day, and Massimo and I would easily eat half of the profits. I have so much respect for that guy and his family.

Neil Vandendool – Neil’s an elk farmer and the owner of Ontario Harvest, a supplier of local, high quality meats to restaurants all over southern Ontario. Anyone who has eaten at any of the “top Toronto restaurants” has probably stuffed their face with Neil’s goods. I started working with Neil soon after I opened, and now I’m honoured to have a substantial amount of my inventory delivered to my door by Mario, Neil’s right hand man, twice a week. (As a side bar, Mario was the one who gave me his grandmother’s creton recipe for our wedding favours.) The quality of meat I get from Neil is unsurpassed, from the squabs and partridge to the elk, venison, and Limousin beef. Definitely one of my favourite people to work with.

Steve Mitton – Steve’s the co-owner and chef of Murray Street and Murray’s Market in Ottawa. Steve and I met when he was in town with his partner Paddy Whelan doing research before opening up the Market. He hung out in the Locker for a day where we bonded over The Smiths and Berkshire pork. We later went out for dinner and proceeded to barhop our way through Toronto, getting lit like we were twenty-two again. When I awoke at seven the next morning I remembered that I wasn’t twenty two anymore. My wife and I visited Ottawa and Murray Street a few weeks later, and a friendship was cemented. We need more big flavour-loving, sarcastic joke-making, insanely creative and able chefs in our lives.

Paul Harding – A one-time roommate of mine, and a damn fine friend, Paul now co-owns The Only On King in London, Ontario. The Only is a gastro-pub turned best restaurant west of Stratford. Paul and his partner Jason share a deep respect for local food and wine which is evident every time I visit. AND we used to stay up all night trying to beat Grand Theft Auto San Andreas whilst knocking back rye and cokes and wondering where we’ll be in five years. Well Paul, apparently we’ll be here. Nice job!

These are but a few names on a long list of peers who make me happy to be working in the food field. I will probably return to this list and expand it, but I want these people to know they’re appreciated for the hard, knuckle-bleeding, hernia-inducing, scar-making work they do. I hope I make it on to your list one day.

Posted in General

Duck Eggs and Musical Theatre

This past weekend I went to Stratford and saw Jesus Christ Superstar. Holy crap, it was amazing. I mean…wow. I went expecting an excellent musical; everyone had said this particular production was superb and I had no reason to doubt the reviews. However, I didn’t expect what happened inside me though. Way deep down in the nether regions of my soul, where I usually hide memories I no longer want to be memorable, I had stored my childhood love for musical theatre. I’m not really sure why that love was hidden, mind you, but it was. Stratford’s Jesus Christ Superstar released it to my conscious, and now I subject my staff to repeated listenings of “One Day More” from Les Misérables. At least three times a day. Now, you might think my staff hates me for this, and you would be partly right, but I truly believe it is of the utmost importance to listen to more than just whatever is popular on the radio. Don’t get me wrong, I also subject my staff (and my customers) to tear-jerking ballads by the likes of Coldplay and Snow Patrol, and I’m no stranger to Jay Z or Kanye, or whatever collaborative effort they’re selling these days, but I do need to shake it up from time to time and listen to something different; something interesting; something that will make me question what I like about music. Which brings me to the subject of today’s post.

Duck Eggs.

Back when I was cooking for a living, I was always trying to think of new dishes to feature–something the server would push as a special, something I could creatively call my own. (This was before I had the epiphany that everything has been done before and all flavour combinations have been combined…but that was a sad day I don’t wish to revisit.) I remember wanting to use duck eggs in one of these specials. I had seen duck eggs in some recipes and on some New York restaurant menus (keep in mind everything new in restaurants starts in New York) and I was really excited to get some and experiment. There was only one problem. It was harder than a Maple Leafs playoff run to find any duck eggs in Toronto. Oh my god I tried to find duck eggs, but to no avail. One person would say they had a source, but by the time I contacted them it had dried up, or worse – it was a lie to begin with. Which is why as a butcher when I found a farmer who could supply me with a steady stream of duck eggs I jumped at the chance. I buy more duck eggs than I know what to do with. My staff (Brian, Paula, and Lisa) are perplexed at my reasoning, but after this post perhaps they, as well as my customers, will understand why I subject them to piles of duck eggs (and Miriam Makeba’s Pata Pata at FULL VOLUME).

After being asked what to do with duck eggs about a million times, I decided to take a dozen home last night and use them in four ways. My thought was to show four simple ways in which you could enrich your culinary life, but as I was cooking my wife eruditely pointed out, “you’re making fancy food again”. Well hell, I can’t help that. So without further ado, here are four dishes a trained chef considers “simple”. I’m sorry if you just want to look at the pictures and not try to make this stuff yourself. That’s your fault, not mine.

Dish Number One: The Canadian Fizz

So this one is not really a dish at all but a damned good cocktail. It’s a fizzy variation of a drink I made myself the other day, when all I had left in the cupboard was rye and maple syrup.

Take a bit of fresh rosemary and muddle it at the bottom of a cocktail shaker.

Add one shot of rye whiskey, a half shot of maple syrup, the zest of half a lemon, the juice of half a lemon, and one duck egg white. Shake the bejeezus out of this mixture for about a minute. After a minute open the shaker, add two ice cubes, close the lid and REALLY shake the hell out of it. Get that hell right outta there. Strain the contents into a highball glass with an ice cube in it. Add sparkling water until the drink reaches the top of the glass. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary. Then drink up, buttercup!

Dish Number Two: The Snack

Seriously, this is worth all the special attention.

You’ll need:

2 duck eggs

a wedge of Sauvagine (or another soft cheese, but if you haven’t had Sauvagine yet do yourself a favour and go get it)

2 tbsp of pine nuts

3 chanterelle mushrooms

a shallot, sliced

some fresh chives and parsley, chopped finely

six slices of baguette

a couple of small spoonfuls of butter

some olive oil for the baguette

So first you’ll need to toast the baguette and pine nuts. Preheat the oven at 350˚F. Lay the bread on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Place the pine nuts next to the bread. Put in the oven for about two minutes until the pine nuts are golden, and remove the toasted nuts. Put the bread back in the oven until it is toasted, about another five minutes.

In a pan over a medium heat, sauté the shallots in a teaspoon of butter until they’re translucent. Meanwhile, tear up the chanterelles into bite sized pieces. Add the mushrooms to the pan with the chopped herbs and season with salt and pepper. When the mushrooms soften, add the toasted pine nuts, mix everything together, and set aside.

For the duck eggs, crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and add a couple of small knobs of butter – about four pea-sized pieces. Whisk this mixture with a dash of salt. Melt more butter in a pan over a medium low heat and add the eggs, stirring constantly until the eggs start to set. At this point, stir in the Sauvagine and continue to stir until the eggs are set and the cheese has been incorporated. Take the eggs off of the heat.

To serve, pile a tablespoon or so of the eggs on the toasted baguette. Add the chanterelle and pine nut mixture on top of the egg. And eat. Eat, eat, eat.

Dish Number Three: The Fake Carbonara

I worked in an Italian restaurant for years where a new version of a classic pasta dish was seriously frowned upon. The idea was, why eff with something so historically right? So now that I don’t work in any restaurant, I figure I can do whatever I want. Wow, so liberating!

You’ll need:

1 small onion, sliced

about 6 slices of bacon, cut into small strips (lardons if you wanna be technical)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 duck egg

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp grated parmagiano reggiano

a little fresh sage, parsley, and chives, chopped up

two bundles of dried tagliatelle (what I used), or a handful of spaghetti, or whatever long pasta you want, really.

Sweat the onions, garlic and bacon in half of the butter until the onions are translucent. Add the herbs to the mix. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in heavily salted boiling water. Whisk the egg with the remaining butter and the cheese. Strain the cooked pasta and add it to the pan with the onions and bacon. It’s good to have a bit of the pasta cooking water in there as well, as the starchy water will help to bind the egg mixture to the pasta. Take the pan off of the heat and add the egg mixture, tossing quickly to mix the egg evenly throughout the pasta. Serve immediately.

Dish Number Three: Oeufs Cocotte (or Duck on Duck Love)

A bit of a job, for sure, but oh-so-fancy and Deeeeeeelicious. Let’s pretend your partner’s boss is coming over tonight, and you weren’t told until four hours before. First, ream out your partner for being such an thoughtless turd, and then make this dish like it ain’t no thang.

You’ll need:

2 duck legs

1 onion, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1 stalk of celery, also finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

the peel of half an orange

the juice of the same half orange

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 bay leaves and 3 leaves of sage, tied up with twine

1 piece of cinnamon

2 cups of red wine

3 cups of chicken stock

1 small pie pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into small dice

about 12 leaves of a cabbage-like leafy vegetable (I used cavolo nero), chopped up

a dash of nutmeg

4 duck eggs

2 tbsp butter

First, make the duck ragout. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Season the duck legs with salt and pepper and brown them on both sides in a heavy bottomed pot. Remove and set aside. Drain half of the rendered duck fat. Add three quarters of the diced onion and half of the garlic and sweat until translucent. Add the carrot and celery and cook until softened. Season with salt and pepper, and then add the tomato paste, orange peel, cinnamon stick, and herb bundle. Deglaze the pan first with the orange juice, then the red wine. Reduce the wine by a third before adding the chicken stock. Put the duck legs back into the pot and bring the stock to a simmer. Put a lid on the pot and put into the oven. Braise the legs for two hours. Add the pumpkin and cook for another hour. After three hours the duck leg meat should separate very easily from the bone. Take the legs out of the pot and using a pair of tongs strip the meat off the bone, chop it into bite sized pieces and add it back to the pot. Simmer everything together on the stovetop until most of the liquid has evaporated. Set aside.

Meanwhile, sweat the rest of the onion and garlic with the nutmeg in butter until softened. Add the chopped leafy greens and cook over a low heat for about twenty minutes, or until the leaves are soft.

Now for the finishing touches. Lightly butter two ramekins or small, oven-proof bowls. Put these bowls on top of a moist towel in a baking dish. Spoon the leafy greens into the bottom of the ramekin. Now spoon the duck ragout on the greens and flatten it with the back of your spoon. Now crack two eggs in each ramekin, right on top of everything. Boil water in a kettle and pour it into the baking dish so the water goes perhaps halfway up the side of the ramekin. Place the baking tray into the oven and bake for about fifteen minutes, or until the eggs are just set. Remove from the oven, put the ramekins on plates, and serve with a little toast.

And finally, place it in front of your douche-lord partner and his/her boss with a big smile on your face. Your partner will get a raise, and you’ll get tickets to see Les Misérables on Broadway. Maybe.

Which brings us full circle to why I started this post. I love new things. I tend to immerse myself in an interesting topic and I get excited about learning about it. I especially like it when something so anomalous in my life becomes something I don’t want to live without. Duck eggs and musical theatre. I might not need them everyday, but I’ll be damned if they aren’t a part of who I am going to be for the rest of my life.

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[Archive for 2011]

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Duck Eggs and Musical Theatre