Potato Salad

Warm Potato Salad

Warm Potato Salad excerpted from Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches: A Cookbook by Matty Matheson. Photography by Quentin Bacon.

Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches: A Cookbook by Matty Matheson is available at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Indigo.ca.

Chances are you’ve eaten a soup, salad, or sandwich in the past day (or maybe all three). This trio makes up so many of our meals but is rarely given the attention it deserves–until now. Matty Matheson, known for his bold, innovative flavours, has created a cookbook that will revolutionize how you think of these kitchen basics. This book is for anyone and everyone, offering up Matty’s signature twists on the classics, delivered with minimal effort for maximum flavour.

Find your favourite combination by mixing and matching dishes like:

• Soups: Giant Meatball Soup; Crab Congee; Creamy Sausage Soup with Rapini and Tortellini; Caldo de Pollo

• Salads: Everyone’s Mom’s Macaroni and Tuna Salad; Griddled Salami Panzanella Salad; Peaches with Goat Cheese, Mint, Honeycomb, Olive Oil, and Espellete

• Sandwiches: Cubano; Italian Combo; Sun Warmed Tomato Sandwich; Banana Bread French; Toast with Fried Egg, Peameal Bacon, and Maple Syrup

Packed with character, personal stories, scrumptious recipes, and vivid photographs of a day-in-the-life with Matty and his family, Soups, Salads, Sandwiches will have you fearlessly whipping up your own combinations in the kitchen.

Matty Matheson is a New York Times bestselling author as well as an executive producer and actor on the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning show The Bear. Matty owns Cassoulet Palace Inc. and is a partner in Our House H.C., Blue Goose Farm, Rosa Rugosa, Matheson Cookware, and Matheson Food Company. He lives in Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada with his wife and three children. (more…)

Interview with a Chef: Ottawa Ribfest’s Matt Smith of Gator BBQ

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Nick Smith, left, and his father Matt, of Gator BBQ.
Photo credit: MORGAN MODJESKI / THE STARPHOENIX

For over 30 years, Gator BBQ has been delivering mouth-watering chicken, pulled pork and ribs to the hungry crowds of Rib Fests all across North America. Touring Canada and the Northern United States, the Smith family of Port Dover continue to win countless awards and events with their signature southern BBQ cuisine. On the eve of Ottawa Ribfest, I caught up with Matt Smith to discuss his humble BBQ beginnings, his secret for achieving great tasting barbecue and if he ever gets tired of being around so much BBQ!

How did you get involved in the BBQ business?
By accident mostly. I used to be part of the carnival circuit for Conklin Shows and eventually crossed paths with a fella who ran these Ribfests. I started my own team and its grown from there—must be 20 years at least. We were there at the very start!

Tell me about the BBQ process. Boil or bake? Smoker? Hardwood or gas?
Always smoked. Ribs, pork and chicken are done in our smoker (Southern Pride) for various times depending on the meat. Although the fuel is propane, there’s a wood oven that heats the smoker and pumps the heated smoke throughout. (more…)

Book Review: Cooking Up a Storm 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

After Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans in 2005, Cooking Up a Storm was published to tell the story—recipe by recipe—of one of the great food cities of the world and the determination of its citizens to preserve and safeguard their culinary legacy.

In a town obsessed with food, that meant discovering years of collected recipes—many ripped from the newspaper and tucked into cookbooks—were gone. As residents started to rebuild their lives in the aftermath, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans became a post-hurricane swapping place for old recipes that were washed away in the storm.

Marcelle Bienvenu and Judy Walker have compiled 250 of these delicious, authentic recipes along with the stories of how they came to be and what they mean to those who have searched so hard to find them again. (more…)