February, 2010

Jamie MacAulay / Olympics — View Comments
26
Feb 10

Lake Placid Friendship Centre – Lift Coffee Company Miso Vinaigrette Recipe

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Lift Coffee
Nearing the end of my day in Whistler, we stumbled upon the Lake Placid Friendship Centre boblsed.
Bobsled
Everyone was so friendly there – we event met John Napier’s mom (US Bobsled team). Everyone there was raving about the healthy fresh and locally sourced food at Lift Coffee Company, their host for the Olympics. So I had to go in and introduce myself to the chef, Jamie MacAulay.

Jamie and everyone at Lift were very friendly and immediately brought out a Proscuitto and Goat Cheese with Fig and Onion Jam with a side of their house salad and special Miso Vinaigrette dressing. The goat cheese is from Kelowna and they try to source as much as they can from local suppliers of produce. YouCook has been posting a lot of calorie rich recipes lately so I welcome a change and love that Jamie has graciously given us a recipe for the Miso Vinaigrette dressing which is ever so popular at Lift.

Summary

Preparation Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 5 min
Servings: 500mL
Meal type: Dressing

Recipe Rating: ★★★★★ 

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp light Miso
  • 2 tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1 Tbsp Water
  • 1.5 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
  • 1/8 cup Grapeseed oil
  • 1 tsp Minced Ginger
  • 1 tsp Soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp Honey
  • 1/8 cup Sesame Oil
  • 1 tsp Siracha Hot Sauce
  • 1 whole lemon juice

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients except grapeseed oil into a blender.
2. Blend on high, slowly adding grapeseed oil.

Results

Salad
The dressing combines a lot of flavourful Asian ingredients makes for a delicious salad dressing. I really enjoyed it at Lift and will be making this to use for my lunches in the weeks to come.

Thank you Chef Jamie MacAulay. I can’t wait to try what else comes out of the kitchen at Lift!

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Dessert / Olympics / Special Event / Timothy Tejuco — View Comments
26
Feb 10

House of Switzerland National Chocolate Contest: Crispy Pecan Chocolate Bars

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“Basically what I love about chocolate is that it brings people together and is an immediate morale booster, whether it is a cup of hot chocolate on a cold night, or a pack of Lindt shared amongst friends. I love cooking with chocolate and I believe it is a versatile product whether in desserts or even in savory dishes.” That’s why Timothy Nathan Tejuco, the winner of the House of Switzerland Canada 2010 – National Chocolate Contest, loves chocolate. I love chocolate too so I was really eager to try Timothy’s award-winning recipe. It actually looked quite simple compared to the 2nd and 3rd place finishers in the contest – the simpler, the better!

However, I found his instructions deceptively simple – it assumes that you have knowledge on how to make “sabayons” and “ganaches” – which is understandable if you’re a chocolatier or baker, but not to me! I’ve modified the recipe in terms of portion size (his original one made A LOT and would’ve cost me about $40 in chocolate), and also have some comments on proportions. Unless Timothy has some secret trick to holding together rice krispies and crushed pecans with a tiny bit of chocolate, I really don’t see how his amount of chocolate for the base would work, so I’ve doubled the amount of chocolate in the base. I even tried both methods – his original proportions, and then with my doubling of the chocolate. His original proportions just didn’t hold the base together and ended up half the base flaking off. I’ve posted the original recipe in case you want to see his original.

This was a great learning experience for me, so I’ve shared my many tips (as a result of my mistakes) so I hope you find this educational and also have a great dessert in your arsenal of recipes! It turned out delicious, despite my trial and error!

Summary

Preparation Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Servings: 30 servings (depends on how big you slice these bars)
Meal type: Dessert
Grocery Cost: $19.39 (~$0.65 per serving)

Recipe Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Ingredients


For the base:

  • 170g Pureed Toasted Pecans ~ $1.99
  • 100g Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate ~ $1.76
  • 100g Lindt White Chocolate ~ $1.76
  • 126g Crushed Rice Crispies ~ $1.77


For the top:

  • 80g Cream ~ $2.69
  • 210g Lindt Excellence 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate ~ $6.98
  • 80g Egg Yolks (about 3 large eggs) ~ $0.62
  • 60g Icing Sugar ~ $0.10
  • 50g Soft Butter ~ $1.71
  • 10g Water

Instructions

For the base:
1. Melt the chocolate, stir in the pecans and the rice crispies.

Note: If you can’t find crushed toasted pecans, you can buy whole pecans and roast and crush them yourself, which is what I did. This added a good 15 minutes to my prep time. To toast, I laid out my pecans in a single layer, brushed them with oil, and baked them in the oven at 350F for 4.5 minutes on both sides. Season with salt. See the following link for the method I used.

To crush them, place the roasted pecans in a ziplock bag and close it tightly. Use a rolling pin to roll over the pecans to crush them. If you don’t have a rolling pin, like me, you can use any round glass bottle (i.e.soy sauce bottle).

To melt the chocolate, use a double boiler. You can make-shift a double boiler like I did using a metal bowl over the top of a pot of boiling water.

2. Place this on the base of a non-stick sheet pan. Chill in fridge for 1 hour.

For the top (ganache):
3. Whisk the egg yolk and sugar in a double boiler over very low heat to create a sabayon.


Note: A sabayon is a dessert sauce usually made with whipping eggs with sugar and alcohol. In this case, we are only using egg yolk and icing sugar. See the following link on more details on the technique of how to make a sabayon.

4. Melt the chocolate and combine with cream to form a ganache.

Note:This was the hardest part of the recipe. A ganache is pretty complex – pay careful attention to the temperature of the ganache and how hard you’re beating it (don’t overbeat!). See my notes in the “Quick Notes” section below on more detailed steps on how to make a ganache and how to avoid my mistakes and how I fixed them.

5. Slowly add butter and water to the mixture until fully incorporated.

6. Place the mixture on top of the base and spread evenly.

7. Chill in fridge for about 4 hours.
8. Slice into 1 inch, by 2 cm bars and serve just under room temperature! Enjoy!

Quick Notes

My first attempt at ganache was an absolute mess. Every mistake you can make – I made it! My ganache turned grainy and it separated. Luckily, the fix for both is to add a teaspoon of cold cream and stir. This helped a bit but it was still grainy and a bit oily. In the end, I just gave up and scraping off the oil and spread my grainy ganache over the base. It actually turned out well, and no one seemed to notice my grainy, separated ganache. Imagine how much BETTER it would’ve tasted if I had made it properly! I will definitely try this recipe again to perfect my ganache.

I recommend reading up on ganache techniques before attempting to make this. Making a ganache is VERY precise because it is an emulsion. Emulsifying is the process of mixing 2 ingredients that typically do not combine (i.e. a liquid and a fat) into a stable homogenous mixture. The ingredients are forced together and held in suspension through the manual or mechanical action of beating, whisking, or mixing. In a chocolate emulsion, the cocoa butter is the fat and the cream is the liquid. Thus, they are very prone to separation. The 2 most common mistakes are: (a) the improper ratio of cocoa butter to cream or too much sugar; and (b) incorrect temperature. The temperature should be, at all times during the process, above 35C, ideally between 35C to 40C. Another suggestion I read is to use an immersion blender instead of mixing. Check out Elaine’s post on L’Ephemeres Chocolate aux Poires for her tips and simple method on making ganache.

As I bake more, I find a lot of recipes use weight. I do have a scale, but it’s not very accurate. If you plan on baking a lot, I would recommend investing in a good scale – it makes for much more consistent results. I had to estimate a lot, especially with the lighter ingredients, so that may have contributed to me having to adjust the proportions as I went along, or my mess with the ganache!

Variations

The recipe calls for Lindt chocolate because it was for a Lindt chocolate recipe. I found the cost of this recipe to be quite a lot, so to save on costs, you can use baking chocolate instead. Just remember to keep it to the same mix of dark, milk and white chocolate.

Results




Despite my many mistakes with the ganache, the Crispy Pecan Chocolate Bars turned out really well! I really love the mix of roasted pecans with the rice krispies. I brought these bars to work and they were a hit, with many coming back for seconds. I think that is a true sign of what’s good. I will definitely add this to my arsenal of desserts, and it is great for taking to a party. Enjoy and thanks to Timothy Nathan Tejuco and the House of Switzerland for providing this recipe!

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Appetizer / Olympics — View Comments
25
Feb 10

Atlantic Canada House Recipe: Smoked Salmon Spheres with Cream Cheese and Carmelized Apples.

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After enjoying the Smoked Salmon Spheres at the Atlantic House, YouCook made it at home. This finger food will surely impress at any gathering and is relatively simple to make. We learned how to caramelize apples and how much sugar to put in. The apple cream cheese will also go well on bagels and crackers.

Summary

Preparation Time: 15 + 15 mins. (15 mins for cutting apples and then 15 mins for wrapping salmon balls)
Cook Time: 10 mins.
Servings: 20 balls
Meal type: Appetizer
Grocery Cost: $30.20 ($1.51 per ball)

Recipe Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Ingredients

  • 5 apples, preferably crisp tart cooking apples like granny smith or crispin, peeled and cut to a 1/4″ dice ($4.00)
  • 1 cup (250g) cream cheese ($3.20)
  • 1 cup sugar ($2.00)
  • 1 tbsp shallots, finely diced ($1.00)
  • 1 tsp ginger, finely diced ($0.50)
  • 1 tsp garlic, finely diced ($0.50)
  • 3 tbsp butter ($3.00)
  • 2 packs (300g) smoked salmon ($16.00)
  • Five spice to taste

Procedure to Caramelize Apples

1. Peel and cut apples to a 1/4″ dice

The best way I found to chop the apples quickly was to cut slices off one side, then the opposite side, then the other two sides until you’re left with just the core in the middle. Cut the slices into strips (like french fries) and then dice up the strips until you get this:

2. Heat butter on medium heat. When butter turns light brown, add in apples. Cook until tender crisp, approx 5-6 mins.
3. Add sugar to apples. Here is my tender crisp apples with a bit of sugar sprinkled on top:

I actually only used about 3 tbsp of sugar but if you like sweet stuff, you’ll get better caramelization if you use the whole cup.
4. Cook for another few minutes until apples and sugar start to turn brown and caramelize.

5. Remove from heat and set aside and allow to cool.

Procedure for Assembly

1. Finely dice shallots, ginger, and garlic.
2. Mix together cream cheese, apples, shallots, ginger, garlic, and add five spice to taste.
3. Lay salmon flat on plastic wrap.
4. Spoon cream cheese mixture onto salmon and use plastic wrap to form a ball.


Tips:

  • For a colourful contrast, add some green stuff for garnish, like pea shoots or something else mild tasting.
  • I ended up with a lot of extra filling left, possible because the apples I used were huge. I think this recipe would work just as well with three large or four medium sized apples instead. The leftover cream cheese mixture tastes great on toasted bagels too, so it wasn’t so bad to have extra for breakfast the next morning.

Results

Variations

  • The apples taste great with the smoked salmon no matter how you do them – caramelized, lightly cooked, raw (although be careful, raw apples will brown if left exposed to air, and will release water if you let them sit with sugar on them). Cooking the apples less will result in a crispier texture which is interesting and still delicious.
  • Also, as I mentioned, I didn’t want to use too much sugar so I cut it down to about 3 tbsp. I find it’s entirely a matter of taste, because I got reviews from my guinea pigs…I mean, friends…ranging from too sweet to not sweet enough. The more sugar you use the easier it is to get the apples to caramelize.
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Brad Smoliak / Olympics — View Comments
25
Feb 10

Alberta House with Executive Chef Brad Smoliak

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Alberta
I’m rather impressed with how beautifully renovated Alberta turned Atlantic Trap and Gill at the corner of Robson and Beatty Street into their home for two weeks.

YouCook was invited to a media event at Alberta House to taste the creations of Brad Smoliak.
Brad Smoliak
Brad does Food Product Development all over Canada and came up with a very well executed menu to serve 20,000 people at the Alberta house (plus more on the Alberta Train but more on that later). We had four special tastings which were dishes created by Brad incorporating ingredients from all regions of Alberta.

Ministry

Along with Brad we met Cindy Ady, the Alberta Minister of Tourism and Jack Hayden, Minister of Agriculture.

Wild Boar Bacon Vodka Caesar

We started the tasting at 10:30am, yes just in time for a Caesar. I didn’t realize this but the Caesar was invented in Calgary, Alberta in 1969 – 41 years ago at Calgary’s Westin Hotel.
Caesar
As a twist on this classic drink, Brad infused vodka with bacon. Instead of celery, he included a thin strip of Wild Boar Bacon. Wild Boar Bacon has an amazing sweet taste (and if you can believe it, it tasted lighter than regular bacon). The combination of the sweet fatty boar with the caesar was sooooo good. Words don’t do this justice, you’ve got to try this or make it at home.

Prairie Chowder

Happily intoxicated, we moved on to the Prairie Chowder.
Prairie Chowder
All my life, I’ve associate chowder with seafood. To my surprise, this dish was completely vegetarian. Brad is truly an amazing chef and food product developer. He combined ingredients from all the growing regions in Alberta: honey from the North (Peace country), potatoes from the South, three types of mushrooms from the Northeast, prarie barley from the Northwest, cream from the Central, and beans and potatoes from Southern Alberta. It was a delicious blend of flavours making this one of the best vegetarian soups I’ve ever had. I’ve asked for this recipe so stay tuned after YouCook learns how to cook this. I will never make clam chowder again after I get this recipe!



By this point, I could’ve gone home happy to blog about the food experience at the Alberta House. However, two more courses to go!

Cowboy Trail Chili

Cowboy Chili
Brad created this dish to represent the hard working people that work on the ranches along the The Cowboy Trail is a 700km route along Highway 22 between the Rocky Mountains and the Canadian prairies. The first cattle was brought into the province in 1876 and now Alberta is the largest cattle producing province in Canada. Alberta Beef is quite famous and tasty because of it’s high quality feed grain. The chili had both ground beef plus chunks of Alberta beef along with beans, carrots and other vegetables. I’m not sure which herbs and spices were in this chili but the combination was flavourful and a little spicy. The beef chunks were tender and delicious. This definitely wasn’t just a regular chili and again showed me how creative and skilled Brad and his team is.

Homestead Gingerbread Cake

Gingerbread Cake
Finally to finish it off, we had a Gingerbread cake with hot caramel sauce and Saskatoon berries. The ingredients for this dish represents the historical Indian House Trade Store in Fort Edmonton where Aboriginals would barter for European goods, which included molasses and spices such as ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Alberta has the last sugar beet refinery in Canada which is what molasses is made of. At first instinct, I thought this was a carrot cake. However, it was the cinnamon, nutmeg and molasses that threw me off into that thought. Nope, no carrot in this cake. Again, the combination of flavours, sauce and berries really bring out this dish.


Alberta House was one of the final hospitality houses on my Olympic food coverage and I think I did save the best for last. During the tasting, I was informed that there are a few media seats on the much sought after Alberta Train to Whistler the next morning departing at 6am-9pm. The Rocky Mountaineer train is a luxurious train with 6 full size kitchens. Best of all, Brad Smoliak created the menu for the train as well ! It was sincerely my dream come true and you’ll hear more about it in the next post.

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Bob Blumer / David Bowes / Ken Nakano / Olympics — View Comments
24
Feb 10

A Taste of Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast

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Seafood Table
A day before the Opening Ceremonies, I was invited to attend a Taste of Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast hosted by Bob Blumer (of the Surreal Chef – yeah the guy who lives in the toaster!)

When I walked into Showcase BC at Robson Square, it was instantly one of the best two hours I have always dreamed about.
Robson Square

1. Free flowing wines and ciders from Vancouver Island
Wine
2. A giant display of Pacific Kissed Oysters and Seafood
Pacific Kissed
3. Cooking demonstrations with awesome chefs
Oyster Demo
4. A chance to talk to Bob Blumer
Bob Blumer
5. Seafood tastings
Hollaindaise

6. All the Kusshi oysters I could eat.
Geoduck
How did the Vancouver Island Tourism and the Sunshine Coast Tourism board read my mind? (Thank you soo much Deirdre, this night reassured me that YouCook’s decision to be based in Vancouver was a great idea!)

The Pacific Kiss stamp authenticates this is a World Class, top quality BC oyster, mussel, clam or scallop that is a delicious and nutritious option that has been grown at an environmentally sustainable farm by a registered member of The British Columbia Shellfish Association. It is recognized by the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program and SeaChoice for adhering to responsible environmental codes of practice and providing consumers with a best option for seafood selection.

Pacific Kiss has a good page that describes each kind of oysters and when they are available. They also have a special platter of 12 of BC’s special oysters from each growing region. This is being served at Monk McQueen’s or Joe Fortes in Vancouver.

How to Shuck an Oyster

I have a confession to make. If I were to pick only ONE favourite food, it would have to be oysters. I’ve eaten Oysters of all shapes and sizes all over the world. Most recently in PEI, in Point Reyes, and of course, Vancouver. I was delighted that Stafford Lumley would be personally shucking all the oysters for the night! He’s the former owner of Rodney’s Oyster House and now spends his time at Gibson’s at Smitty’s Oyster House. Stafford demonstrated how to properly shuck an oyster.



Then Chef David Bowes, from Laughing Oyster in Lund, demonstrates how to pair them with Hollandaise sauce. I’m guilty of having at least 10 Kusshi oysters that night.

How to Prepare Geoduck

Geoduck
Geoduck, pronounced Gooeyduck, quite frankly looks like a male reproductive organ. It’s a much sought after Chinese delicacy costing about $30 per pound or upwards. It’s essentially a gigantic clam and has a life expectancy of 146 years.



Here you can see what it starts out as, and what it turns out to be.
Geoduck
The texture is chewy and crunchy and slimy which makes it not a taste accepted by everyone. It’s typically in Chinese hotpot or served as sashimi. The high price has made this a an $80 million industry, with harvesting occurring in both Washington state and the province of British Columbia. This is probably the most expensive aphrodisiac in the shell fish family, and oh my was I in love when Chef Ken Nakano demonstrated how to prepare one a geoduck.
Geoduck
It tasted delicious! Actually, having tastings of Geoduck prepared by someone as skilled as Chef Ken Nakano might kickstart the demand for Geoduck. I heard a lot of hesitation around the room as the skewers came around but heard very good feedback after people tried it. As for me, I’d have it again at an affordable price.
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Dessert / Matthias Groschupf / Olympics — View Comments
23
Feb 10

Saxony House – Potato Patties with Wild Berry and Apple Puree

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Potato Patties
I had the pleasure of talking to Chef Matthias Groschupf at the German Saxony House in Stanley Park. The Saxony House is located at the Vancouver Rowing Club in Stanley Park. The location itself is beautiful, with an amazing view of coal harbour.
Saxle
Saxony is a region in Germany where many of the athletes are from, hence they have their own house to promote the Saxony region, as well as supporting their athletes. At the time of my visit, Tatjana Hüfner from Saxony had just won gold in the Luge event.

After tasting Thuringian bratwurst, I had to try the Saxony bratwurst too. Sure enough, the chef informed me that it was a SECRET recipe of local herbs and spices that is not known and cannot be revealed. I find it intriguing how closely guarded this formula to marinating sausages is.
Saxony Bratwurst
The taste of the Saxony Bratwurst was distinct and different from the Thuringian bratwurst. It was spicier and had no garlic. But more importantly it was very delicious. I am now very tempted to go get some bratwurst and experiment with the spices. I asked if there was a competition of who has the best bratwurst in Germany. To this, the chef answered no – Saxony and Thuringia already both have one of the best tasting sausages of the country.

I asked about the Saxony menu and they do reflect typical Saxony Winter cuisine – lots of sauerkraut and potatoes. He mentioned that roast pork is a favourite home cooked meal. Pork, in general, is the most popular meat. As a side dish to the meat, families usually make jelly or jam out of the various wildberries found in the country – blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, and blackberries. While looking through the menu, I saw Potato Patties listed as a dessert. I was intrigued since I’m not used to savoury desserts and imagined that I’d like it!

Chef Groschupf went into the kitchen and returned with dessert!
Potato Patties
He has also given us the recipe which we’re sharing with you in this post. As the Chef went through the ingredients and steps, I just imagined a hashbrown and wondered how well it’d go with the sweet jelly. It wasn’t as salty, oily or deep fried as I had imagined and actually did work well as a dessert.

When asked on what advice Chef Matthias Groschupf would give our readers who are just starting out their culinary adventures at home, he responded, Cook with love. If you’re passionate about what you’re doing and love it, you have fun in the process and want to keep cooking. Thank you Chef Groschupf! Check out the Saxony House this week if you are in Vancouver – the food is delicious and made with love.

Summary

Preparation Time: 15 min prep
Cook Time: 10 min
Servings: 4
Meal type: Dessert

Recipe Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Ingredients

  • 400g Grated potatoes
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 50g onion
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Wash and grate potatoes.
2. Cut and grate onion.
3. Mix egg yolk with the potatoes and onions.
4. Add in salt and pepper to taste. (We’re aiming for a sweet dish, so very little salt, just a pinch)
5. Make patties that are about 10cm in diameter and 1cm thick.
6. Fry the patties on a pan.
7. Serve with an apple puree or wildberry jelly.

Results

This is a quick and easy savoury dessert. I didn’t notice the onion at all. I noticed that it was seasoned very very lightly. It complimented the sweet apple and wild berries very well. Try it at Saxony House or at home!
Final

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Main / Olympics — View Comments
18
Feb 10

German Fan Fest: Recipe for Thüringer Rostbrätl

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cooking
We got a taste of Thuringian cuisine at the German Fan Fest Tent. You can visit the venue located by Steamworks and Waterfront Station during the Olympics. They do charge cover at night and of course, expect a long long lineup. Inside the tent, you’ll find a nice big screen and plenty of beer to drink.
venue
You can also find an autographed car with a beer tap in the trunk to be auctioned off at the end of the olympics!
venue
Here at the German Fan Fest, I tasted the BEST bratwurst I’ve had in my life. Thurignian bratwurst is one of the best in the world and very famous in Germany and I fully understand why.
Bratwurst
I learned that each region in Germany has their own set of spices for sausages and it’s a SECRET. The friendly people at the German Fan Fest as well as the Saxony house refuse to reveal the secret because even they themselves don’t know what the spices are. The sausages for the German Fan Fest are made at local German butcher shops but the spices are sent over from Thuringer so nobody actually knows what the combination is. I did get it out of them that there is salt, pepper, marjoram, mustard seed, cumin and garlic. At least 51% of the ingredients must come from the state of Thuringia. Also there are high standards in cooking the sausages – the fire shouldn’t be so hot such that the skin will break. German Minced Meat Law states that raw sausages must be sold the day of creation or until the closing time of a late night establishment. How cool is that, you always know how fresh your sausage is.

The texture of the sausage is so very smooth and tender. The spices are nicely scattered throughout making it the best $7 sausage I’ve ever eaten in my life (well..until I went to Saxony house…but more on that later). I was told by the chef that it’s a major faux-pas to eat the bratwurst with sauerkraut AND mustard and ketchup. You have to choose – eat it with sauerkraut and potatoes, or eat it with mustard (and ketchup). Don’t mix it like in my picture:
Bratwurst

The chefs at the Fan Fest were so nice!!! Thank you so much! Here’s us enjoying some Bratwurst!
Sausage

Alright so I wasn’t getting anywhere in learning how to make Thüringer Bratwurst for YouCook readers so I moved onto the next menu item: Thüringer Rostbrätl. This is a mustard pork chop which is so tender and delicious. This one was less complicated and not a closely guarded secret in the region of Thuringia so here it is:

Pork Chop

Summary

Preparation Time: 15 min prep (2-24 hour marinade)
Cook Time: 15 min
Servings: Not sure
Meal type: Main

Recipe Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Ingredients

Unfortunately I didn’t get the proper proportions for this marinade. Should be equal portions mustard and beer.

  • Pork neck cutlets (with or without the bone)
  • White Onion
  • Mustard – preferably Thuringer Mustard, spicy mustard
  • German Pilsner beer
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Marjoram

Instructions

1. Tenderize the pork and put salt and pepper and spices to taste.
2. Fill a container with the pork cutlet, a layer of chopped onions, a layer of mustard.
Mixture
3. Pour in beer to fill the rest of the container.
4. Let this marinade sit for at least 2 hours.
5. Make sure the charcoal grill is not heated too strongly.
Pork Chop
6. Cook over light to medium heat, spraying in beer to regulate the temperature.
7. Grill until cooked.

Results

The recipe is so simple if you have the right German mustard and German Beer! They served it in a bun and it was deeeelicious. The pork is so tender and the marinade soaked through evenly making every bite tender and tasty. It’s a steep $9 at the German Fan Fest but you will NOT be disappointed. I’m set on having a YouCook German BBQ this summer!!
Pork Chop

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Olympics — View Comments
18
Feb 10

Atlantic Canada House Free Tastings

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Bread
I get so excited when I hear about free food. When I hear that there’s two tastings a day full of fresh seafood from the Atlantic Canada House it gets me even more excited. Then to top it all off, there are 4 culinary chef instructors from each province (Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland) with their team of student chefs preparing all this food everyday!

The tastings of the day included:
1. Smoked Salmon Spheres with Cream Cheese and Carmelized Apples. (NS)
Salmon
2. Mussel Toast Point with Smoked Tomato Cream (PEI)
Mussel
3. Yellow Split Pea Cake with Salted Beef and Pickled Root Vegetables (NF)
Split Pea
4. Halibut Ceviche (NB)
Ceviche

The venue is popular so come early to lineup for the tastings. The chefs also have these great mobile kitchens set up to prepare all the food:
mobile

Along with sampling some great food, I was able to talk to some chefs from Atlantic Canada.

Kevin Boyce
I have family in PEI and have been there on a few occasions so I know how fresh and abundant and fresh (and delicious) the lobster, oysters, and fish are there. Chef Kevin Boyce mentioned that PEI residents love to eat seafood in a social setting. You can find lobster dinners in Churches with plenty of famous PEI potatoes. You can find plenty of oyster bars with large group tables to sit at and enjoy food together. The small size of PEI does offer a stronger sense of community where you might know the entire food chain from the fishers and farmers, to the markets, to the restaurants and homes.

The growing season is shorter, as PEI gets very cold very quick in the winter. However, in the short summer, there is an abundance of fresh vegetables and farmer markets in town. Most vegetables and fruits have to be brought in the other times of the year. Chef Kevin Boyce teaches at the Holland College in PEI and was offering a tasting of Mussel Toast Point with a Smoked Tomato Cream. He also sent a recipe for Lobster which we still want to cook before posting!

Chef Dave Irving from New Brunswick spent some time telling me about some special foods that is only found in Atlantic Canada. He told me about Fiddleheads.
Fiddleheads
I have NEVER heard or seen Fiddleheads in my life. Fiddleheads are the start of young Fern. They can only be harvested for a few weeks in the spring time and taste like asparagus. They look, indeed, like the head of a violin. I am so curious about these and would love to try them when they are in season!

He also talked about a popular New Brunswick tradition of cooking called hodgepodge. A hodgepodge is a stew of seasonal vegetables. Whatever you can pick off your garden, you can combine it in a slow cooker with butter, flour, milk and water and you’ll get delicious hodgepodge! It’ll vary for each house and each season. We’ll be posting a recipe about this shortly!

Dave Irving
As for his advice for people at home who are just starting out learning how to cook, Chef Dave says, Keep It Simple. I’m a big dork and have heard this advice as it relates to programming (KISS) but it’s great to hear it being applied to the cooking world as well. I fully agree, it’s more enjoyable when there are very few ingredients and the cooking techniques are simple and the whole process is quick. Less time in the kitchen means more time eating and enjoying it with your loved ones. You don’t need to reproduce some of the restaurant recipes right off the bat and get intimidated. Cooking should be fun and keeping it simple will make the introduction to cooking fun.

Anyway, head down to Atlantic Canada House before the Olympics end for their tastings and nightly concerts! I’m going to go back on February 27 for Sturgeon Caviar for sure!

Stay tuned for recipes from the Atlantic Canada House on our blog.

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Karel van Tiel / Olympics — View Comments
17
Feb 10

Exclusive Dutch Recipe from Holland House: Bitterballen

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Bitterballen
Executive Chef Karel van Tiel from the Holland Heineken House spent some time talking to YouCook about food and how to make authentic Dutch food. He was very interested to meet a group of girls that are genuinely passionate about learning how food is made and want to learn more and share it with everyone. He said that generally he has met a lot of people that eat just because they are hungry. Hopefully by following YouCook, you will see how easy and delicious home cooking can be, as you try to replicate some of the best restaurant recipes in Canada and in the world.

Bitterballen can be found in Holland on every pub menu and at Febo, a fast food chain in Holland where they deliver food through vending machines. Bitterballen are deep fried meatballs containing a mixture of roux and beef broth.

Summary

Preparation Time: 30 min (+ refrigerate for 2 days)
Cook Time: 15 min
Servings: 4 servings
Meal type: Main/Snack

Recipe Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Ingredients

  • 250g ground beef
  • 75g butter
  • 100g flour
  • 2 egg white
  • 500ml beef broth
    Choose your own way to make beef broth. Start from scratch with some beef bones, leeks, onions and cloves or buy some broth if time is an issue.
  • breadcrumbs
  • Canola oil for deep frying

Instructions

1. Make a Roux: Melt butter in a pan then add flour (equal butter, equal flour)
2. Cool down the roux.
3. Heat up beef broth and add in ground beef to cook.
4. When roux is cooled, mix in the hot beef broth. (Remember to filter out the vegetables and just use the broth and beef)
5. Mix evenly then cool mixture in fridge for 2 days. This will ensure that it is solid enough to be rolled into balls.
6. Roll out balls or longer hot dog shapes.
7. Dip ball in egg white, then bread crumbs. Then repeat, dip into egg white again then bread crumbs again.
8. Heat up a pot with canola oil and deep fry at 180 degrees.

Variations

Different beef broths and cuts of beef used in this ball will make a difference. I wouldn’t stray too far from this recipe or else the Bitterballen won’t remind you of Holland!

Results

I had both the ball of bitterballen and the sandwich at the Heineken House and yes both were delicious. I’ve never tasted anything like it – a deep fried swedish meatball is how I can describe it as. If you are from Holland and dearly miss this snack, do let us know if this recipe reminds you of home.

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Karel van Tiel / Olympics — View Comments
17
Feb 10

Holland Heineken House

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Heineken Entrance
By far, the HHH is the BEST hospitality house for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. It is located in the Richmond O Zone where it took over Minoru Ice Rinks. The venue is large and very well laid out.
Heineken Bar
The lineups are long, the music is great, and the people decked out in orange gear makes the place a sure spot to check out for a good time during the Olympics.
People at Heineken House
It’s by far the most talked about venue in the past week and very well deserved. Their target was 50,000 people during the 2 weeks of the Olympics, but they have already surpassed that number in less than one week. And best of all, what you should come to the Holland Heineken House for is…THE FOOD!

Albron is the caterer for the Holland Heineken House; they are the second largest caterer in Holland and have brought with them mobile crate kitchens directly from Holland. Under the expertise of Chef Karel van Tiel, the 30 person team takes care of the fast food in The Plaza, the brasserie fare in The Lodge, as well as the exclusive Olympic Club for VIPs only. Each restaurant offers a different taste of the Netherlands.

I was fortunate enough to dine at the brasserie on Saturday when Holland won their first gold medal.
Sven Kramer
Congrats to Sven Kramer for the gold medal finish for the 5000m speed skating event. The place was packed with Dutch orange gear and ever flowing ice cold Heineken beer. The menu at the brasserie is Dutch food with a twist, using local Canadian meats such as salmon and game meats.
Salmon Risotto
I had the Salmon Risotto balls which was delicious and very creative.
Dancing
After dinner and several rounds of Heineken, we had the times of our lives partying until closing time.

I returned to the Holland Heineken House last night to see the exclusive Olympic Club before they set up for dinner. It’s amazing what they have done with the venue – you really forget that you’re in an ice rink! Here are some exclusive pictures of the Olympic Club (not open to the public):

Club HouseClub House

Chef Karel talked about various Dutch dishes and how he likes to put a healthy or creative twist on local ingredients. He is very focused on healthy food and this attitude is shared by many in Holland.

Sauerkraut, potatoes and bread are a staple in the Netherlands. The cities by the coast have access to plenty of seafood and fish such as Kibling, which is similar to cod, so they make fish and chips out of Kibling along the north coast. Interestingly enough, the food in Amsterdam is centered around vegetables with meats used as an occasional treat. Because of a big Muslim population, pork is avoided. The Dutch love their cheese too…and bread. Bread is popular as a filler after a night of drinking – perhaps that’s why Amsterdam’s breakfasts are so good – as a cure to hangovers.

Onwards to the tasting, which included:
Tasting
1. Erwtensoep – Split Pea Soup aka Snert
2. Bitterballen – A meat croquette (Kroket)
3. Hodgepodge – A vegetable croquette
4. Egg salad sandwich
5. Mash potatoes and saukraut wrapped in bacon.

YouCook will be providing recipes for Erwtensoep and Bitterballen: one healthy dish and one unhealthy but popular dish that everyone I spoke to misses dearly about Holland.

Bitterballen, currently the top seller at the Plaza at the Holland Heineken House, is served in a bun like a deep fried hot dog. It was originally made famous by Febo, a fast food chain in Holland where they deliver food through vending machines. Bitterballen are deep fried meatballs containing a mixture of roux and beef broth, and appear on all pub menus. I suggested that the next Holland Heineken House should also dispense Bitterballen through a machine similar to Febo.
Bitterballen
Get some Bitterballen while you can – it goes perfectly with the $4.50 Heineken!

Since bitterballen is not very healthy, to balance it out, YouCook is also going to provide the Split Pea Soup recipe.

Thank you very much to Chef Karel van Tiel and the entire Albron staff for taking the time to talk to YouCook and for hosting the best hospitality house party during Vancouver 2010!
Chefs

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