Kick The KD: So Far, So Good!

Dan    Start From Scratch, The Progress     calgary, cooking, Kick The KD, learning, participants, update

Well, we’re two weeks into our program and things have been going pretty well so far. There is a great dynamic between all of the participants, and the hands-on cooking, for the most part, has yielded some tasty results.

For the first week of lessons, we focused on making three pasta sauces: a tomato-based sauce, an alfredo sauce, and a pesto. Two were adapted from www.foodnetwork.ca and one from www.dansgoodside.com.

Everyone split up into groups to tackle their sauce recipes and reconvened after to assemble a lasagna together. All fared well, with the exception of the pesto, which ended up being a little bit too oily, but I attribute that to the blender not being quite up to the task. (Sorry Blender, if you’re reading this, but the true hurts…)

Homework for the first week consisted of taking one of the recipes we used and putting your own twist on it. Stacey and Ellen already posted last week about their homework success. Others, like Rand,experimented with dried mint in the tomato-parmesan sauce: ‘We use a lot of dried mint in family dishes…it added a nice touch.’ Ramez also tried the tomato-parmesan sauce, adding some bell peppers, but under-cooked the pasta…so…tasty? Not so much…Oh well, we live and we learn, right?

Moving on to week two, we set our focus to grains and cooked up some dishes with quinoa, millet, bulgur wheat, and couscous. As fun as boiling grains are, the participants had something much more exciting to look forward to this week: a knife skills lesson from Kevin Kent of Knifewear in Inglewood.

Kevin enthusiastically taught everyone (like Laura and Haley on the right there…) to chop potatoes, carrots, and oranges like pros. Meanwhile, the other groups watched grains boil away…How. exciting. Actually, most had never experienced some of the grains before (especially the millet and bulgur wheat), and were impressed by the ease in preparation, and the recipes’ final results!

All three recipes from this class were adapted from www.foodnetwork.ca, and were all hits. The couscous dessert recipe, in particular, was exceptional. This recipe, was originally featured on David Rocco’s Dolce Vita. Basically, it consists of couscous, nuts, raisins, and butter. We topped it with some brown sugar and butter sauce (we reasoned that the relative ‘healthiness’ of the base dessert could deal with some calories on top…) before devouring it. In my opinion, it was a tastier, simpler version of rice pudding, but, hey, that’s just me. The picture below doesn’t really do it justice, so you’ll just have to take my word on this one, but I feel as though a variation is going to show up on this site very soon!

After dessert, we wrapped up class number two. Homework for the week? Take one of the grains we used in class and incorporate it into a dish that normally calls for rice. Since it’s currently reading break, we decided to take a week off from Kick The KD so the students could, well, read? We’ll be back next Thursday with a focus on breakfast. You know, the meal that most students sleep through.

Check back soon for more Kick The KD updates!

Stacey: Thoughts on Week 2

Dan    Stacey, Start From Scratch, The Participants, The Progress     calgary, cooking, Kick The KD, learning, Stacey, thoughts

Fresh from the second class of Kick The KD I am feeling super excited.  I have long wanted to try grains other than typical wheat, but as aforementioned, I am the most unadventurous eater and couldn’t take the plunge on my own.  Dan introduced us to Quinoa, Millet, Couscous and Bulgur Wheat.

I mentioned to him in class that I suffer from a never ending pang of hunger, which I think is induced by caffeine, and have been looking for something to curb this without consuming endless amounts of calories in carbohydrate-products (i.e. toast, sandwiches, pastas etc).  The Quinoa salad just might be what I have long been searching for.  The fibre, protein and carbohydrates in the grain should be ‘filling’ while being relatively difficult for your body to break down, thereby keeping you sated for a longer time than junk carbs (i.e. muffins, donuts, etc).  Additionally, mixing it with vegetables (or even an additional protein product) is delicious and perfect for taking as lunch.

In between this lesson and the dessert lesson, my group and I attended a knife tutorial by the energetic Kevin Kent from Knifewear.  His passion for a quality product and proper maintenance/use was infectious.

We were taught how to prepare a ‘Posh Orange’ (absolutely no peel or membrane) as is how the Queen enjoys her orange which I was thrilled about!

Who doesn’t want to be posh at every conceivable moment? Plus it tasted fabulous!  Additionally, he made sure we knew how to properly hold the knife and how to cut so as to save our fingers. Thanks, Kevin!

Homework for the week is to prepare a meal that typically calls for rice and substitute it with our new grains.  I searched Tastes Better With Friends but didn’t see a rice recipe I wanted to try out for this particular project. However, in our house one of the staples is stir fried chicken and vegetables with rice.  Thus I chose this meal to serve with couscous instead.  Additionally, I have to admit I was a little disappointed we didn’t get the same assignment as last week because I was so looking forward to sharing the recipes we learned with my family! So I decided to incorporate them with the stir fried chicken (and sans chicken for my Vegetarian sister) meal.

I did the grocery shopping this week since it is Reading Week and I have a little more time than usual.  An interesting (annoying) note is that couscous and quinoa is extremely expensive at Safeway.  So much so that I did what I absolutely hate doing, going to more than one location.  Normally, I pay ‘convenience fees’ if it means I only have to go to one store.  I am happy to report that it was worth going to Superstore (which I knew specializes in carrying more ‘exotic’ foods).

I prepared the Quinoa Salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing and the Couscous Dessert.  I manipulated the salad by adding green grapes and strawberries because we had them and I thought they would be yummy and I added the left over arugula from last week, I omitted the red peppers as I didn’t think they would mix well with the other fruit. It turned out wonderfully and got rave reviews from my family members!  The stir fried chicken and couscous worked easily.  Again, I had my mom cook the chicken.  I guess the magic of throwing together a delicious sauce without a recipe comes with experience.

The dessert was changed (but this was the same in class) by using macadamia nuts instead of hazelnuts, as I also could not find them in the bulk aisle.  My family thought the dessert was yummy and in class we thought it was fabulous!  Who knew couscous could be served as a dessert?!

The couscous was a nice change from rice however three courses of grains was a little much by the end.  I’d recommend having each of these dishes during separate meals and that would be perfect!

We resume our lessons after a week break (Reading Week) to try our hands at breakfast foods. I can’t wait!  Breakfast is easily my most favourite meal (which I think applies for all 3 meals really).  I look forward to more opportunities with Dan as he shows us how truly easy and fun it is to Kick The KD!

–Stacey

Hangover Mac ‘n Cheese

Dan    Mains, Recipes     bacon, baked, cheesy, delicious, pasta, recipes

What you’ll need…

8 strips bacon (chopped, 1″ pieces)

1 yellow onion (chopped)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1 cup beer (preferably Steam Whistle Pilsner)

2 1/2 cups homogenized milk

1 cup parmesan cheese (shredded)

1 cup romano cheese (shredded)

1/2 cup smoked gouda (shredded)

2 TSP chili powder

2 TSP hot sauce

1 TBSP chipotle paste

salt and pepper

corn starch

5 cups macaroni pasta (cooked)

baked with bread crumb topping… (optional)

1 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)

1 cup bread crumbs

Sometimes, even a food blogger can have a bit too much to drink. A few too many beers at karaoke, over-indulging in martinis, birthday celebrations… Yes, it does/can happen. Waking up the morning after is never all that pleasant. Let’s assume that the cooking breakfast ‘deadline’ has passed. Now, what to do? Nothing helps soothe a sore head more than some greasy, cheesy food. This recipe calls for one cup of beer because, if you’re anything like me, there’s still a half-full bottle on your counter…

Place the chopped bacon into a large pan. Cook on medium-high heat until the bacon starts to crisp up, about 6-8 minutes. Then, add-in the onion and garlic. Stir, and cook until the onions soften. Now, pour in the cup of beer. Once the mixture starts to simmer, reduce to low heat, and let bubble away for 10 minutes.

Once the beer and co. mixture has thickened, you can add all remaining sauce ingredients, aside from the cooked pasta (also preheat your oven to low broil if you’re going to bake the pasta). Turn up to medium heat and stir regularly until the cheese has melted completely, about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. If the sauce is a bit thin, add some corn starch to thicken it up.

Add the cooked pasta to the pan and gently stir until the macaroni is completely covered in the sauce. Dish out and let the healing cheese and bacon work their magic.

*If you’re not too hurtin’ to bake the pasta, place the combined macaroni and sauce into a prepared 8″ square baking dish. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and mozzarella cheese evenly over the top of the pasta and bake until the cheese is bubbly and starting to turn golden brown, approximately 10 minutes.*

Serves 4-5

Total cook time… 25 minutes (35 minutes if baked!)

There’s No Place Like Home Tasting Room

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     awesome, calgary, eating out, local, sharing, tapas

I may not be quite as lucky to be able to click my heels (and, let’s be clear, by heels I mean the back part of my feet, not ladies’ heels…) to make my way to Home Tasting Room on Stephen Ave, Calgary, Alberta, but I’ll settle for having to walk a few blocks. I was invited out for dinner last week by a couple of ladies with impeccable taste to try out this restaurant for the first time.

We were warmly greeted by the general manager and sat down in view of their open kitchen. Perfect. The place definitely has a nice ambiance, so it gets a thumbs up for a great date spot! Executive Chef Geoff Rogers hits a home-run with just about every dish that we order. In a group of 4, we were all about sharing tonight, so we opted to order off of their Tastings Menu.

We went for their ricotta gnocchi, bay scallops, bison tartar, roasted beet salad and some oysters (always a nice start to an evening).

My favourite of the aforementioned was, hands down, the bison tartar. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good tartar, and it was served in a jar, and that kind of rhymed. Enough said!

The gnocchi was rich and delicious (on a side note, I have not quite mastered the art of home-made gnocchi, so always appreciate those little guys when they’re done well in a restaurant!), and you can’t really go wrong with red swiss chard sauteed, then topped with some parmesan oil now can you?

For dessert, we unanimously decided on their home-made donuts with coffee. They were fresh and filled with chocolate, so, of course, there were no complaints from anyone at the table. After dessert, we finished up our wine (them) and gin martinis (me) then headed out into the cold arms of winter. All-round great experience. Actually, I recommended it for a friend’s birthday dinner, so I’ll be back for another dinner very soon!

When I go here again maybe I’ll consider it my ‘second home’ ?

Ok…bad joke…

Black Tea & Lemon Miso Soup

Dan    Recipes, Soups     Asian-inspired, hot, recipes, soup, tofu, winter

What you’ll need…

4 cups steeped lapsang souchong tea

2 cups beef broth (or veggie to stay vegan)

3 garlic cloves (whole)

1/2 cup miso paste

zest of 1 lemon

1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

1 TBSP freshly grated ginger

2 TSP wasabi paste

1 TSP rice wine vinegar

1 cup fresh oyster mushrooms (chopped)

1 cup soft tofu (1/2″ cubed)

1/2 cup green onions (finely chopped)

ground black pepper

Now, before you say: ‘This sounds weird’, think of the weirdest thing you’ve ever done. See…not so weird anymore, right? Lapsang Souchong is a strong, smokey black tea. It almost has a hickory kind of flavour to it. So, maybe just consider this soup a ‘miso meets west’ kind of combination. It’s my favourite tea, so I’m a tad biased, but, such is life!

Place the steeped tea, broth, and garlic cloves into a medium-sized pot and bring to a simmer on the stove. Reduce to low heat and let bubble away, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Then, add the miso paste and stir until it has dissolved into the broth. Next, add the zest, lemon juice, ginger, wasabi, and vinegar. Let the pot return to a simmer, about 3 minutes, before adding the oyster mushrooms and soft tofu.

Still on low heat, let the soup cook for another 10 minutes so that the oyster mushrooms cook through. Take a quick taste, add some black pepper if needed. The miso paste should be plenty salty enough, so I doubt you’ll need to add any salt. Finally, right before ladling out the soup, toss in the chopped green onions.

This soup totally rocks for anyone with a cold. Great for clearing the sinus’!

Serves 4

Total cook time…20 min

Eat-Harmony: The Perfect Date at Vero Bistro Moderne

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     alberta, calgary, delicious, dinner, first date, lunch, romantic

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking of a place to take that ‘special someone’ for a perfect date because, gentlemen, a box of chocolates and some flowers just don’t cut it any more. Just the other day, while doing ‘ideal date place’ research, I popped into Vero Bistro Moderne. Needless to say, it was love eat at first sight. Vero oozes romance from their decor and colour scheme to item descriptions on the menu. As it was the lunching hour, I looked over their ‘Sexy Lunch Menu‘ and opted for their daily $15 two-course special. The daily offering was an organic greens salad with pumpkin seeds, apple slices, goat feta (from Fairwinds Farm outside of Edmonton), and topped with an apple cider vinaigrette. Fresh and delicious. I’m always a bit worried when the dressing of choice is ‘apple cider vinaigrette’ as my mind wanders to standard issue cider vinegar, olive oil, and garlic, but Chef Jenny used real apple cider and a nice helping of cinnamon. Perfect.

Next up, my main dish, conchiglioni (shell) pasta in a creamy ricotta sauce, topped with a generous helping of beef and veal bolognese. The bolognese was surprisingly sweet, but in a good way, and the two sauces combined were amazing. If only licking the plate was appropriate in restaurants…

Normally, I don’t opt for the dessert during my lunch hour, but who can turn down a passionfruit crème brulée and home-made vanilla gelato? Did I mention that the gelato was served in the form of a snowman? I feel bad for cute-looking, tasty little culinary offerings, as a fork/spoon/knife/bite/chew massacre is always just around the corner. Let’s just say the sweet vanilla snow gelato-man did not even have time to melt. The crème brulée had a sweet hazelnut layer at the base, which played nicely with the tang of the passionfruit.

After lunch, I talked briefly with chef/owner Jenny Chan (not to go unmentioned, she owns/runs Vero with her brother Frankie). Vero Bistro Moderne has been in Calgary since July of 2008 and has been one of Calgary’s most romantic dining spots ever since. I asked her whether with Vero having such a romantic — sexy if you will — atmosphere, she had seen any marriage proposals. The answer was…

To read more about Vero Bistro Moderne, and to check out some more photos, head over to Food Network Canada’s site!

Now, who wants to be my date?