Brussels Sprout and Pancetta Salad w/Citrus Ginger Beer Vinaigrette

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes     brussels sprouts, pancetta, recipes, salad, salad dressing, spring, vinaigrette

What you’ll need…

Vinaigrette:

4 cloves roasted garlic (minced)

1 orange (zest and juice)

1/4 cup Steam Whistle Pilsner

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP freshly grated ginger

2 TSP brown sugar

1 TSP sriracha

ground black pepper

Salad:

1/2 cup pancetta (loosely chopped)

1/2 cup walnuts

1 TBSP white sugar

1TBSP water

3 cups brussels sprouts (trimmed and leaves separated)

2 Belgian endives (trimmed, halved and thinly sliced)

1 orange (segmented and halved)

I seem to be on a weird salad kick lately. Well, nothing like being deliciously healthy I suppose. This salad is perfect for any brussels sprouts haters out there. Long gone are the days of microwaving previously frozen b-sprouts and smothering them in processed cheese. Sometimes it’s alright to allow these little green guys to get a sorta fancy once in awhile.

For the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. If you have any mason jars kicking around, just place the dressing ingredients in there and give ‘er a good shake…with the lid on, of course. Season with a bit of ground black pepper and set aside for now.

Place the chopped pancetta in a small pan and cook on medium-high heat until nice and crispy. Remove the pancetta from the pan and onto some paper towel to a soak up any excess grease. Next, add the walnuts, sugar and water into the same pan, tossing a few times to coat. Let the walnuts cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Blanch the brussels sprout leaves for one minute in a medium-sized pot of liberally salted, boiling water. Remove from pot and bring into an ice bath or rinse with cold tap water. Pat dry with some paper towel, or salad spinner if you have one.

When it’s time to eat, combine all salad ingredients in a large serving bowl, pour in approximately 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette and toss gently with hands or tongs until the salad is dressed.

Serve with a cold beer! You deserve it!

Serves 4

Total prep time…20 min

Roasted Kale and Radicchio Salad with Blueberry Green Tea Vinaigrette

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes     gluten-free, green tea, kale, recipes, salad, salad dressing, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

Vinaigrette:

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 lemon (juiced, reserve zest for salad)

2 TBSP dried blueberries

2 TSP sugar

2 TSP grainy mustard

1/4 cup steeped green tea (cooled)

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Salad:

1 bunch green kale (stem removed, loosely chopped)

1 head raddichio (chopped)

1 lemon (zested, sliced into thin strips)

1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)

5 radishes (thinly sliced)

1 orange (sliced, then quartered)

1/2 cup green pumpkin seeds

2/3 cup ricotta cheese

Now that it’s finally spring, my love of salads has finally returned. Not that it ever disappeared, it just takes a back seat to comfort food and beer in the colder months of the year. As well, as a result of my increased intake of comfort food and beer during the winter, I will obligated to keep on the lighter side for awhile, diet-wise. Kale is a superhero green with it’s hearty and almost meaty kind of flavour. Makes for a wicked salad. Roasting it will bring out a more vibrant green colour and give it a bit of a crunch as well. This is spring on a plate people! Eat it up!

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Top Chef Canada: Taking The Challenge Home, Week Four

Dan    Recipes, Top Chef Canada: Taking The Challenge Home     calgary, CHARCUT, duck liver, Food Network Canada, ice cream, recipes, Top Chef Canada

After watching last week’s episode of Top Chef Canada, with all the offal applications, I was unsure if I could stomach this challenge. That being said, after the disaster that was last week’s macaron attempt, I was also surprisingly relieved to have to cook with some organs this time around.

Typically, there has been a clear leader in the polls to determine which dish I will be assigned, but this week it was neck and neck (or tongue and liver I guess?) between the Beef Tongue Poutine and the Duck Liver Ice Cream. By a small margin of three percent, the ice cream took it. Well, time to make some duck liver ice cream. Um… yum?

The base for ice cream is quite simple: egg yolks, sugar, and cream. So, I just had to track down some good-quality duck livers and an ice cream machine and I’d be on my way. My friend,Spooning and Forking food radio show host, Naddine, lent me her ice cream machine/maker (what’s the proper name?) for the challenge. All she asked for in return was one scoop of liver ice cream. She’s adventurous like that! Now, some duck livers were all I needed.

I put the word out via twitter, which led me to Home Tasting Room restaurant where their executive chef, Geoff Rogers, let me borrow a handful of duck livers. He also gave me a few tips regarding the organs, most notably to soak them in some milk that helps to remove any residual blood or odd smells. Interesting!

With all the ingredients on my counter, it was time to roll up my sleeves, crank the Kelly Clarkson tunes and get to work.

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Top Chef Canada: Taking The Challenge Home, Week Three

Dan    Recipes, Top Chef Canada: Taking The Challenge Home     baking, calgary, CHARCUT, Food Network Canada, macarons, recipes, steak, Top Chef Canada

There are few things I hate in life: interpretive jazz music, Jenga and, last but not least, baking. Ok, I don’t actually hate Jenga, I just don’t like losing at Jenga. Today, we need to be most concerned with my dislike of baking. I’m not a patient kind of guy. I don’t like to weigh out ingredients, stir carefully and, above all else, I do not like to use a piping bag.

It’s fairly humorous when the ‘easy’ portion of my assigned Top Chef Canada recreation this week has turned out to be the steak and confit potato dish (pictured). To be honest, I was fairly intimidated by every single option on the Top Chef Canada poll this past week. Between homemade doughnuts, macarons and scallop sausage, I knew I was in for some overtime in the kitchen.

Despite my frequent ‘Don’t vote for the macaron!’ requests, it seemed as though most people were inclined to do the opposite. That’s fine. Karma will find you.

Thankfully, many individuals in Calgary’s culinary community came to my macaron aid. Most notably, pastry chef Kira Desmond, owner of Sweet Provocateur Bakery, lent me an amazing book (Macarons, by Pierre Hermé), which I can only describe as the macaron ‘bible.’ Here I found many helpful tips to ensure the perfect macaron. I was feeling more and more confident by the minute! (Thank you Kira!)

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Top Chef Canada: Taking The Challenge Home, Week Two

Dan    Mains, Recipes, Top Chef Canada: Taking The Challenge Home     barbecue, calgary, CHARCUT, chicken, Food Network Canada, recipes, Top Chef Canada

Mike Holmes is a simple kind of guy and I thank him for that. Mostly because his ‘meat and potatoes’ nature resulted in some great-looking, yet very approachable dishes in the second episode of Top Chef Canada.

Last week, I must admit, I was mildly stressed out making Kunal’s multi-component Indian dish. So, when the poll closed on Wednesday night, I welcomed the barbeque chicken and slaw with open arms!

This week, I headed to the Kingsland Farmers’ Market to pick up my ingredients for the dish recreation process. It’s a great local market, with some great vendors. They even sell duck eggs there, but that story is for another day.

I got most of my produce from the Big Tomato Produce stand and, most notably, some really cool Alberta-grown purple carrots from King’s Orchard that make every other carrot in the world seem lame. Anyway, end tangent…

I found some great, organic chicken from Hoven Farms at the market. I also just happened to notice some nice cuts of bison meat at the stand as well. Hmm, that would be fun to cook with some time in the coming weeks (subtle hint: vote for bison, people!).

With this weekly cooking adventure, I’ve noticed that my friends are becoming more and more willing to help and by help, I of course mean drink wine and converse while I prepare them dinner. Very helpful, indeed!

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Boursin and Braised Kale Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Dan    Mains, Recipes     awesome, boursin, grilled cheese, kale, quick and easy, recipes, sandwiches

What you’ll need…

1 yellow onion (thinly sliced)

1 TBSP butter

3 cups kale (loosely chopped)

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 TBSP grainy dijon mustard

1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/3 cup boursin cheese

12 thin slices mozzarella cheese

12 slices deli turkey meat

6 slices of bread (whichever type tickles your fancy, I used a loaf of ciabatta)

salt and pepper

olive oil

Really, who doesn’t love a good grilled cheese sandwich? There’s not much more of an introduction required here…Personally, I’m a pretty classic grilled cheese kind of a gentleman. My standard go-to is simply some cheddar or mozza tossed in-between two pieces of bread, then grilled on the stove (my top secret, and delicious, twist is slathering some mayo and dijon inside the sandwich before grilling. Try it!), but, when you have company over, you have to kick it up a notch. Consider this an ‘elegantly grilled’ cheese sandwich. Tell your friends they have to dress up for this event. Black tie. Make it happen.

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