Not only am I a fooddude, I am sort of a technodude. I have my RSS feed set-up to go into my BlackBerry via Viigo. So I can read all the new Smitten Kitchen, Joe Pastry and Elements of Cooking blogs on the go, riding the train or hanging at the swimming pool while the young’uns are in swimming lessons. When I found out I can make my dinner reservations through my same BB reader, it made my day… not really… but it is pretty cool. Give the video a watch and then get it set-up for yourself to satisfy those foody/techy urges!
Baker Tweet
I have to say, I never really forsaw (is that a word?) the worlds of social media and pastry/baking meeting like this. But you have to love this! Looking forward to Rise Bakery in downtown Calgary getting in on the Twitter/Baking action!
BakerTweet from BakerTweet on Vimeo.
Posted in General.
Boy’s Weekend Food Pics Day 3 – Superbowl Wind-up
**Just realized I never posted the last pics/story of the our boy’s weekend. Oh boy, that is the price you pay for starting a new job right in the middle of a bunch of other foodie activities. Well, never fear… I added a tag to each one so you can go look at the entire series if you so desire. Just click on “super bowl” in the tag list on the right and you will be right in there for the full experience. And without further ado…**
Well, this is it! Day three of the boys weekend and you would think we would be fat, happy and contented to just lounge around and not eat a thing. But no, much to our bulging belly’s chagrin, we load up at last on a RED MEAT FRENZY! A beautiful, mustard, garlic and thyme crusted beef striploin, beautifully marbled, juicy, succulent…. on garlic ciabatta bread, roasted veggies… I think there was more but I was feeling too satiated to shoot anymore pics. Oh yeah, Werther’s for Dessert:)
Enjoy the pics and as always, if you want recipe’s, send me an e-mail and I will oblige (eventually!)
Garlic, Mustard & Thyme crusted Striploin
DESSERT!
Wertther's - the perfect end to a weekend of indulgence!
Posted in Photos.
Culinary Coaching Craziness – Vegetarian Style – “The Main” and Dessert
Whoa! This series of blog posts has gone on too long. Meaning, I have learned to never try to post an entire dinner party at one shot! Better to do individual dishes than to linger on and on and on and on and …. DOHHHH!
The main course here comes from a lingering obsession of mine to create a veggie burger that actually has decent flavor AND texture, that you can throw on the BBQ next to the steaks and not feel like the “98 lb weakling”. The obsession spawned this creation which can easily be turned into “meat-loaf”, burgers or as I did here, steaks (truly just meatloaf sliced and grilled…) It has gotten universal rave reviews by carnivores and herbivores alike. Enjoy!
Wild Rice and Portobello Mushroom “steak” with Basil Pesto and Kalamata Olive Tapenade
Wild Rice and Portobella mushroom "steak"
1 cup rice, seven grain
3 cups mushrooms, quartered
1 cup cheese, fruliano, grated
1 egg
1 cup bread crumbs (I like Panko)
1 garlic clove
1 small onion
olive oil, sea salt/pepper, basil pesto, ”olive” oil to taste and to garnish
- Cook rice according to directions
- Saute or roast mushrooms, tossed in olive oil and sea salt/fresh pepper
- Food process 1/2 cup of rice, 1/2 cup mushrooms and egg
- Mix all the rest of the ingredients together with the processed mushroom and rice mixture
- Press mixture into a parchment lined 9×9 pan (or make into burgers)
- Bake until firm. Chill and slice into whatever shape you wish. Re-heat under broiler or on BBQ until hot and golden brown
- Serve with basil pesto or oil and olives food processed with olive oil till smooth
Course 4 – dessert… FINALLY!
Wild Turkey Bourbon Creme Brulee
So this uses the remainder of the Wild Turkey that almost de-railed this cooking class right off the bat. And while this recipe is not a “tjthefooddude” original, it does come from my days as a pastry chef at Savoir Fare, but is one of my favorite creme brulee recipe’s EVER!
Wild Turkey Creme Brulee
4 extra large egg yolks
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup half n half cream
1 1/2 oz bourbon
1/4 cup sugar
- Place sugar, cream and half n half in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat
- Slowly add hot cream to the egg yolks, whisking constantly to temper yolks. Once it is all combined, add bourbon
- Pour mixture into creme brulee ramekins set into a baking pan. Put warm water into pan (creating a water bath) and place into a 350 degree oven
- begin to check after 18 minutes or so. Creme Brulee is done when the middle centimetre only still jiggles
- Remove and chill
- To serve, sprinkle sugar on top and caramelize under broiler or with a propane/butane torch
- Serve with caramel sauce and a WICKED ESPRESSO!
Espresso time!
Posted in Desserts, Main Course, Recipes.
Culinary Coaching Craziness – Vegetarian Style! The Appy Round
So it all started innocently enough at a Christmas open house…nice people, great food, delicious wine. Of course, very easy for the conversation to turn to all things food and drink. But who would have thought that 3 weeks later and a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon (a couple ounces went into the creme brulee) split three ways and we would have one of the most fantastic vegetarian meals going? Especially after the third triple bourbon…at that point ordering out for the rest of the meal was looking pretty darn good!
But my compadres, Darren and Rohit, weathered through the haze and after bravely working through the bourbon induced fog, the meal which came out was awesome…and yielded at least 3 unique and new recipes which I am glad to share over a few separate posts.
First the appy course… One of the requests from the dudes was for some sort of pepper dish, maybe stuffed; some sort of eggplant dish and please use feta and cilantro in some way, shape or form. Well, I decided to tackle the peppers and eggplants in the appy section. Now, let me say, I have NEVER had a stuffed pepper I liked and Eggplant to me was filler when you had run out of everything else. Needless to say, I felt a bit challenged to come up with something I would eat AND that would be loved by all. Well, I did it, with a little inspiration from D and R… So, here it is, the appy of appies!
Coconut and Panko Crusted Sweet Pepper Rings, served with an Eggplant Thai Chili Oil “salsa”
This one started out as vegetarian “calamari”. And even though that was the inspiration, I have this issue with duplicating meat dishes with vegetables. But oh well, it tasted AWESOME! So it is what it is!
Sweet Bell Pepper Rings in Coconut Milk
3-4 Sweet Bell Peppers, seeded, sliced into 1/4 inch rings
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup medium, unsweetened coconut
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
Oil for deep frying
Sea Salt to taste
- Toss the pepper rings in the coconut milk and let soak for an hour or longer. Drain
- Set-up a breading station, flour, egg with water for egg wash and panko/coconut mixture. Bread the pepper rings and place on a sheet pan
- Heat oil to 375 in a sufficiently large pot or deep fryer and fry in batches till golden
- Serve with Eggplant Thai Chili Oil “salsa”
EggPlant Thai Chili Oil “salsa”
A little side note – have have hated eggplant for most of my life. When discussing the dinner, one of the items on the “coaching” agenda was eggplant. Oh lord! Generally I have just not purchased it in the first place. Well, this recipe I created has made me an eggplant lover…well, I tolerate it anyways:)
Coconut & Panko crusted Sweet Pepper Rings with Thai Eggplant Dip
1 small Eggplant, enough for 2 cups diced
1 medium white onion
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cognac
1/4 cup tomato sauce
Thai chili oil to taste
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
- Peel eggplant, cut into 1/4 inch slices and lightly sprinkle with sea salt. Place in a colander to drain for 1-3 hours
- Dice eggplant into 1/4 inch cubes and sautee over medium high heat in olive oil until starting to caramelize
- Slice onion into 1/8 inch slices and add to eggplant mixture. Once the onions begin to caramelize add sugar
- Deglaze with cognac
- Add tomato sauce and cook until thickened
- Season with sea salt, pepper and Thai Chili oil. If desired, food process slightly to a consistency you like
- Serve with pepper rings
Hope you enjoyed the appy round! See you on course 2 in a couple of days!
Posted in Appetizers, Recipes.
Culinary Coaching Craziness! Vegetarian Style – Soup and Salad Courses
Course 2
Butternut Squash Soup
I first published this recipe at the beginning of January. You can link to it here… http://www.tjthefooddude.com/recipes/soup/butternut-squash-soup/ The addition of the feta cheese and cilantro was something I tasted at the Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. in Canmore, Alberta. Wicked little restaurant and their garnish on this soup was fantastic. I loved it. And it just happened to include two of the items my buddies wanted in the menu, cilantro and feta.
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
1 medium Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded, rough chopped
1 medium onion, rough chopped
1/4 cup oil or clarified butter
1/4 cup sugar, white or golden
1/2 cup dry white wine
6-8 cups chicken stock
1/4 – 1/2 cup unsalted butter
Sea salt and fresh black or white pepper and more sugar to taste
Garnish Choices – thai chili oil and coconut cream OR cilantro oil/pesto and feta cheese OR your choice?
- Sauté Butternut Squash in oil or clarified butter in a minimum 8 litre, heavy bottomed stock pot on medium high heat until it begins to carmelize
- Add the onions, lightly season with sea salt and continue to sauté until beginning to brown
- Add sugar and continue to sauté until dissolved and beginning to get syrupy
- Add 1/2 cup dry white wine to deglaze the pan
- Add chicken stock, reduce heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the squash is tender
- Blend/purèe soup in a blender or food processor in small batches, adding a bit of the butter with each addition. Pass through a fine mesh strainer back into a clean pot
- Keep over low heat and season to taste
- Serve with your garnish of choice
- Serves 4-6 as an appetizer, 2-4 as a main course
Course 3
Grilled Romaine Salad with oven-dried tomatoes and roasted capers
This was a new one for me in that the dressing is something that was perfected by Rohit, one of the people who was in on the culinary coaching fun. The unique twist to this is that being vegetarian, the pungent tang in the dressing comes not from anchovies, but from roasted capers! AWESOME! I had never done this and was blown away by the flavor!
Grilled Romaine Salad
Dressing
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, or to taste
1 heaping tbs stoneground mustard or to taste
3 drops tabasco
2 tablespoons capers
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
- Drain and roast capers on a parchment lined baking sheet at 350 degrees F until dry and crispy
- Combine all of the ingredients and process with a hand-blender or food processor until to dressing consistency
- Adjust seasonings to taste
Assembling the salad
3 Romaine Hearts, split in half lengthwise, loose bits trimmed
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- Brush romaine hearts with olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper
- Grill over high heat till grill marks are formed and the outside of the romaine begins to wilt
- Place on plate, drizzle with dressing and garnish with extra capers, croutons, lemon and anything else that strikes your fancy
- EAT!
Posted in Appetizers, Recipes.
Boy’s Weekend Food Pics Day 2 – Après-ski!
RIBS, RIBS, RIBS and more RIBS! Oh yes, they got the “royal” treatment too…what would BBQ sauce be without some bourbon, whiskey or rye?
"Official" bevy of the boys winter weekend 2009
Not much according this food dude!
Crown Royal BBQ Ribs
Sides of deep fried Plantains, Balsamic fig and Mandarin Vinaigrette, Lemon Potatoes, not-so-french onion soup (I think the cook is from Winnipeg:) and upside down apple pie! NEW BELTS for ALL!
Lemon Potatoes
Sauteed Plantains
Balsamic Figs and Mandarin Ginger mixed green salad
As always, if you really, really want a recipe, I’ll write one:)
Posted in Photos.
Boy’s Weekend Food Pics – Day 1 – Appie Mayhem
Welcome to the photo spread of the winter session of a semi-annual boys weekend where food is the absolute highlight of the trip! Oh yes, sometimes there is golf, skiing and a few bevies imbibed…but food is king at this event – a truly ethereal experience.
tjthefooddude on a ski break
Day 1 - Appie Mayhem! Paprika Garlic Shrimp, Thai Potstickers, Artichoke and Asiago dip with whole grain pita’s, Pecan Blue Cheese and Honey pepper crackers and a bevy of beverages…
Paprika Garlic Shrimp
Thai Potstickers
Artichoke and Asiago dip
Blue Cheese, Pecans and Honey on a Black Pepper Cracker
"Official" bevy of the boys winter weekend 2009
A WICKED, BELT LOOSENING TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!
Posted in Photos.
Speedy Guacamole – when un-motivation strikes, make this!
So the snow is flying, the kids are sick and I am starved…my urge to cook goes to hell in a handbasket when I am passing out cough syrup, wiping noses and trying to find time to shovel the white stuff so the mailman does not do an impromptu headr’.
While it does not happen very often, there are times when I just lose all motivation to cook ANYTHING. Much less anything that is nutritious, tasty or remotely interesting.
Enter stage left – recipes that are fast, easy, taste awesome, require little to no prep, clean-up or energy AND are somewhat healthy – a few good fats, some protein, a bit of fibre.
Speedy Guacamole - ENJOY! in only 2 minutes!
Guacamole Makings
1 avocado, halved, seeded, flesh scooped out
2 tablespoons of salsa – or to taste
2 tablespoons of lime or lemon juice – or to taste
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise – or to taste
salt and pepper – to taste
- Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mash together with a fork. Taste for seasoning.
- Enjoy with your favourite tortilla chips, on a burger or as a condiment for a breakfast burrito – pretty much great with anything!
Easy Guacamole
And what do you know…the kids are sleeping, the guacamole is made and Guy’s Big Bite is on the telly!
I’m gonna eat alone…Cheers!
More Coffee – Press Pot techniques from Coffeegeek.com
For those of you who are “in” to coffee and like to check out some of the cupping/brewing/tasting techniques, check out this latest from CoffeeGeek.com. This is one of my favourite coffee websites (maybe not the easiest site to navigate but has lots a wicked content). Mark Prince does awesome reviews, entertaining technique videos and coffee articles that are always very thorough and informative.
Have fun!
Posted in Techniques.