recipe

Southern Dinner 2014

The nature/nurture debate ends right here. I’ve had a full-on obsession with Southern cuisine as far back as I can remember. It is my favourite food. If I ever have the misfortune of being on death row, my last meal request will be Leah Chase’s Fried Chicken, Patti LaBelle’s Over-The-Rainbow Mac ‘N Cheese, Lee Bros. Fried Green Tomatoes, James Villas’ Candied Sweet Potatoes, Mrs. Wilkes’ Boardinghouse-style Biscuits and some sweet tea with bourbon. I could then die in peace.

But where did I develop my admiration for Southern food? I mean, it’s a reasonable question and one that’s often asked. I’m a French-Canadian dude who lives far north of the Mason-Dixon line. I didn’t grow up under a cypress tree in Charleston nor did I visit any relatives in Augusta during summer break. I was raised squarely on escargots, soupe à l’oignon and Coquilles St-Jacques. Not a biscuit to be found for kilometers. So really, there is no explanation other than I’ve coveted fried okra and peach cobbler since my beginnings. I’ve long ago surrendered to the fact that I was just born with smothered chicken gravy running through my veins. And why should I fight it? There are worse fates than having an innate ability to cook fried chicken and shrimp & grits. When it comes down to it, I am drawn by the cuisine’s hallowed traditions and unique cooking styles, its use of fresh ingredients, but mostly to its ability to provide feel-good old-fashioned comfort.

It is for this reason that every year I play host to a group of friends who indulge me in my zeal to create a Southern tradition north of the border. And I’m more than happy to be their comfort food ambassador. Here are some pics from this year’s “Southern Dinner.”

Bon Appétit Skillet-Fried Chicken
Light, crispy, juicy, tender and delicious. This best describes Bon Appétit Skillet-Fried Chicken or as the magazine describes it, “the only fried chicken recipe you’ll ever need.”

Lee Bros. Fried Green Tomatoes

Tart and brimming with brisk flavour and apple-like crunch, these fried tomatoes are topped with a refreshingly creamy butter-milk lime herb dressing. This dish is unusual and one that my friends clamor for every year.

Lee Bros. Cherry Tomato and Soybean Salad
Soybeans are married with sweet cherry tomatoes and tossed with a buttermilk-basil dressing. A good, fresh-tasting complement to any Southern meal.

Lemon Meringue Pots de Crème
Light, airy and tangy with a delicate lemony flavour, these pots de crèmes were the perfect ending to the feast.

The World is your Cornmeal Crusted Oyster with Mango Vinaigrette and Red Chile Horseradish

He has held nearly every marker of success by which today’s popular chefs are measured with umpteen restaurants, cookbooks and TV shows. His charisma and single-minded devotion to the art of southwestern cuisine have led to his enduring presence in our food obsessed culture. Yup, I’m talking about Chef Bobby Flay.

Beneath Bobby’s amiable “Every-guy” demeanor is a trained chef with talents of staggering proportions and make-your-head-spin skills. I’ve yet to have the opportunity to visit Chef Flay’s Mesa Grill but I’ve been lucky enough to cook my way though the cookbook. His recipes are accessible yet challenging. At a recent dinner I hosted, I served his Cornmeal Crusted Oysters with Mango Vinaigrette and Red Chile Horseradish. The saltiness of the oysters combined with the crunch of the cornmeal, blended with the sweetness of the mangoes and tang of the horseradish made for a dish that was dance-on-your-tongue pleasurable yet showed remarkable subtlety and depth.

To note that Bobby’s cuisine has had a profound effect on me is not mere hyperbole. I’ve been a dedicated fanboy since the beginning (Remember Hot off the Grill with Bobby Flay? I do). His well-worn cookbooks adorn my shelves and I turn to them ofttimes to WOW my guests. He’s had an unshakable influence on my cooking.

Although I have never met him, he lives in my world through his recipes. They awaken in me a mix of curiosity and willpower and push me to attempt dishes that I’ve never dreamed of doing before. His recipes make my dinner parties hugely triumphant and the kudos I receive from my guests are in large part due to his shrewd vision and creative abilities. He epitomizes the very ideals that I espouse to attain in my cooking. Delectable, artful, comforting and soul satisfying food.

I frequently invoke his spirit while preparing for a dinner and feel as if I am one of his kitchen underlings, striving to do his dishes, and in turn him, justice. It’s a little weird, I know, but there is some inexplicable and subconscious comfort in knowing that Bobby is always by my side. Even if it’s only in print!

Cornmeal Crusted Oysters with Mango Vinaigrette and Red Chile Horseradish

Recipe: Breadbox Smoked Mackerel with Roasted Celery Chutney

Food has the ability to create a memory, to nourish and to enthrall. Every time I hold a dinner party, I’m acutely aware of the responsibilities that behooves each individual course. Will the dish fly and be a delectable mindblast? Will it be infamous and exhibit an ability to teleport guests to the land of taste bud ecstasy? Or will the dish be a bombastic flop and conjure up a torturous chorus of “…it’s not bad?”

I have found a recipe that can elevate you to the level of super-famous superhero. There will be fans and they will roar and they will bow. Monuments will be built in your likeness. But I’m not going to front. This recipe is strenuous, laborious and even toilsome. You have to remember that fame costs. And right here’s where you start paying…in sweat. Although it’s kitchen sweat, so it’s a clean sweat!

And now for the big reveal. The recipe comes courtesy of LCBO’s Food & Drink Magazine 2013 Winter Issue. [As a side-note, can I get an Amen for this awe-inspiring publication? Every two months LCBO churns out a magazine worthy of the highest awards in the land. And they give it away for free. Unbelievable! Everyone I know loves this magazine. I hope it continues to be produced for all of eternity.] Ok NOW for the big reveal. Behold Breadbox Smoked Mackerel with Roasted Celery Chutney . It’s as delectable as it sounds. Toasty bread serves as a container for crème fraiche, mackerel (or in this case, smoked salmon) and celery chutney. Sweet, salty and with wonderful texture and creaminess. To my horror, the guests dismantled the bread box that I spent what seemed like weeks building, to dip and to scoop and to devour. I had thought that the box would function as a mere vessel. In the end, I suppose it was best that it be edible rather than serve as a simple prop.

This dish is utterly magnificent and could not have been possible without the genius that is Food & Drink Magazine. I hope that I have have done it justice. My guests certainly enjoyed it!

Check out the recipe for Breadbox Smoked Mackerel with Roasted Celery Chutney on LCBO’s Food & Drink Magazine website .

I am Thomas Keller (or at least I like to pretend that I am)

Once a year I like to feign that I am a real chef. Maybe Thomas Keller or possibly David Chang or perhaps even Daniel Humm. I spend a solitary night in this make believe world channeling their talent and artistry. Although I unabashedly admit that I do possess one minor ability. I have no fear in the kitchen. I am absent of any anxiety or worry of failing. While other areas of my life leave me hiding under the covers, I see the kitchen ripe for trial and experimentation. Not certain why I exude such culinary confidence but I don’t question it much. No thinking allowed, just doing. So with the help of some cookbooks to guide me and some close friends to come along for the ride, I attempt an annual fancy dinner party with the goal of honouring some of the great chefs and restaurants of our time.

First up, Duck Confit Croustades. This dish is from the Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon Cookbook. A baguette smeared with dijon, topped with duck confit, fleur de sel, olive oil and parsley. Simple and delicious.

Croustades with duck confit

The next course was foie gras with a maple balsamic reduction. This recipe is by Daniel LaGarde, Chef
Instructor at Le Cordon Bleu. Foie gras (with black truffles) set on sautéed apples, strawberries, shallots and basil and served with a maple balsamic reduction. This was my favourite dish of the night.

Seared foie gras with black truffles and maple balsamic reduction

The third course was from the Eleven Madison Park cookbook. This restaurant currently sits at #10 on Restaurant Magazine’s list of best restaurants in the world. The recipe of Beet Salad with Chèvre Frais and Caraway was by far the most challenging dish of the night. It took a while to bring together the roasted beets, the goat cheese mousse, the caraway tuiles, the beet raspberry vinaigrette and the rye crumble, but it was certainly well worth the effort as my guests raved about this creation. The variety of textures and tastes made this dish unique and memorable.

Beet salad with chèvre frais and caraway

A side view of the beet salad

My second favourite chef of all time is Thomas Keller, he of French Laundry and Per Se fame (Julia Child is my favourite). I’ve turned to the The French Laundry Cookbook on numerous occasions and it has never let me down. For the the main course, the recipe I chose was the Butter-Poached Lobster with Creamy Lobster Broth and Mascarpone-Enriched Orzo. Some of the interesting features of this recipe included the lobster broth (made form scratch), the beurre monté (emulsified butter), the coral oil (canola oil infused with lobster roe) and the parmesan crisp (mine were a bit oversized but I have trouble resisting their appeal). I do hope that I was able to bring some French Laundry justice to this dish. My guests were rather pleased with the results.

Butter-poached lobster with creamy lobster broth and mascarpone-enriched orzo

A top view of the lobster

Dessert is my favourite part of the meal to eat but my least favourite to cook. Finding something to complement such a rich repast was not easy. I went with a recipe from LCBO’s Food & Drink magazine, Coconut Lime Mousse with Berries. It was a good counterpart to the other dishes and a bang-up way to end the meal.

Food & Drink’s Coconut Lime Mousse with Berries

Another year passes, another fancy dinner party is now under my belt. I am forever grateful to have friends that endure my culinary experiments. It could all go horribly wrong and yet they are forever willing to weather the gastronomic storm with me. The great chefs of our time are my inspiration. But the people in my life are truly what drive me to do better and be better.

{Guest Blog} Stuffed Banana Peppers. Why Not?

I seem to be surrounded with people who are obsessed with food. Everywhere I go that’s pretty much what folks want to talk about. For a while now my friends and family have hinted around about getting in on the blogging action. So why not let them? Here is a guest post courtesy of my friend Ebie. Enjoy!

Well, this was unexpected. As I watched much of my veggie garden turn crispy during our drought this summer, only the pepper plants didn’t succumb. In fact, they thrived. Who knew those spindly stems and delicate leaves were such hot weather warriors?

So now what to do with this single crop bounty? Yeah, yeah, I know. Freeze them, can them for winter—I’ll do that too. But incorporating “just picked yummy goodness” into meals this time of year is the point of little backyard gardens. Besides, the plants worked so hard that I felt I owed the pepper-plenty some starring roles, and yet another pepper-based salad just wasn’t cutting it anymore.

I decided a main course of stuffed peppers would give them the distinction they deserved. Never mind that recipes for stuffed peppers normally call for sturdy Bell peppers, it was time to improvise. These smaller, thin-skinned rebels don’t stand up obediently for stuffing and cooking, so a little creativity was in order.

Seeding the skinny peppers needed some deft coaxing, but their more subtle flavour was worth the effort.

The faster and easier part was preparing the stuffing. No, I didn’t actually measure anything. I used some ground beef, onions, garlic, rice, seasoning and an egg for binding so all the ingredients would be compelled to feel the love.

I soon discovered it was a good idea to snip the pointy ends to prevent the peppers from splitting like little balloons as I stuffed them. A dab in flour helped to keep the stuffing from escaping during cooking.