10 Things I Need To Eat Again Before The World Ends Today

Dan    Thoughts     Anju, Cheezy Bizness, Cucina, Dan Clapson, dining out, end of the world, fable, Home Tasting Room, mayans, Model Milk, secret location

Well, did the world end today? No, it did not…not yet anyway…If it does, I would actually be slightly relieved. Finally, all of those deadlines I’ve been stressing over, all of those marriage proposals I’ve been putting off, all of it. Gone in a flash. Ah, finally that feeling of serenity I’ve been searching for all year.

So, in no particular order, here are ten things (list restrained to Calgary and Vancouver due to travel limitations should we only have a few more hours left on earth) I would make sure to eat before the world exploded today, or became overridden with zombies, or whatever…

1. Model Milk’s Rabbit Mortadella

There is a whole ton of things I can’t get enough on Justin Laboe’s menu at Model Milk, but the shaved rabbit mortadella with pistachios is a little slice of tasty, bunny heaven.

2. Cucina’s Chicken Liver Parfait

Honestly, I’m pretty surprised that a liver dish snuck onto this list, but, nonetheless, this beauty of an appetizer, created by chef John Michael Macneil, served with a sour cherry preserve could make any liver naysayer change their minds.

3. Secret Location’s 7 Layer Cheesecake

This new restaurant in Gastown, Vancouver stole away one of Calgary’s most talented pastry chefs, Kira Desmond, to lead the dessert team in their kitchen. She makes some of the most beautiful desserts I’ve ever seen, but this cheesecake takes the, uh, cake (for lack of a better word). If it really is the end of the world then I’ll take two plates please!

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The First Annual Start From Scratch Summer Social

Dan    Thoughts     Anju, Blue Star Diner, calgary, Cassis Bistro, Catch, Home Tasting Room, Jelly Modern Doughnuts, Mount Royal University, Start From Scratch, University of Calgary

I’m beyond stoked to spread the word that my local cooking initiative, Start From Scratch, is having its inaugural fundraiser in late June. My program partner, Jacinthe Koddo, and I have been working hard improving the cooking course and getting ready for an exciting expansion happening this fall.

To help us with that, we’ve partnered up with Casel Marche, six amazing chefs and six talented food writers/bloggers to create a fundraiser full of delicious food and wine. To stay in-line with our Start From Scratch philosophy, we’ve paired up each chef with a local food writer/blogger to come up with six special dishes for the evening. There will even be take home recipe cards so that each attendee can go home and recreate the dishes themselves! Needless to say, we’re all about cooking from scratch!

Here are the six pairs of foodies coming together for our first ever Start From Scratch Summer Social:

Kyle Groves (Catch) and Stephanie Eddy (Globe and Mail columnist, Clockwork Lemon author)

Geoff Rogers (Home Tasting Room) and Gwendolyn Richards (Calgary Herald writer, Patent and the Pantry author)

Roy Oh (Anju) and Vincci Tsui (food writer, Ceci N’est Pas Un Food Blog author)

Drew Masterman (Blue Star Diner/Dairy Lane Cafe) and Lori Andrews (photographer, The Ten Cent Designer author)

Grayson Sherman (Jelly Modern Doughnuts) and Stephanie Arsenault (food writer, Global Dish author)

Dominique Moussu (Cassis Bistro) and Michelle Maingat (food blogger, Yum Yum Yummers author)

I’m beyond thankful that all of these talented people have donated their time to our cause. As I previously mentioned above, the fundraiser will take place at Casel Marche on June 21st, starting at 8 p.m.

In addition to six unique dishes, J. Webb Wine Merchant will pair a perfect beverage with each offerings. The evening will also feature some live music, silent auction and a very special guest (will reveal who very soon once the details are confirmed)!

Tickets for the Start From Scratch Summer Social are available now (click here to purchase). For only $50, you get to try six awesome dishes, complete with wine/cocktail pairings and get to mingle with some of Calgary’s top chefs and foodies. What better way to kick off summer than with some amazing food and great people?

I hope to see you there! Tell your friends!

Kick The KD: Veggies and Gnocchi with Chef Geoff Rogers

Dan    Thoughts     calgary, cooking, Home Tasting Room, Kick The KD, learning, thoughts

As an introduction into the world of vegetarian/vegan cuisine, I thought I would prep some bite-size caprese salads for the class. Typically made with bocconncini cheese (a really mild mozzarella), tomato, fresh basil, and some good quality olive oil, I subbed half of the servings with a firm tofu. Tricky, I know…What was the result? Well, most of the class enjoyed their two bite ‘salads’ and only one girl figured out that she was eating tofu. Moral of the story? Tofu isn’t as odd and unappetizing as you think it is. Needless to say, this definitely set a great tone for our vegetarian/vegan-focused class.

While delving into this unfamiliar area of cooking, we sampled some tempeh (fermented soy bean cakes) and nutritional yeast (vegan equivalent to parmesan cheese, give or take…) as well as prepared a vegan ceasar salad, surprisingly tasty if I do say so myself…We used the nutritional yeast in a recipe for a vegan sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce to top some home-made gnocchi that our special guest was going to teach us how to make…

The special guest in question? None other than Geoff Rogers, executive chef of Home Tasting Room. I have to mention, I was really excited when Geoff wanted to come down to one of our Kick The KD classes, if you haven’t been to Home Tasting Room yet, I would definitely recommend checking it out…immediately. His bison tartar is amazing, as is his gnocchi and most dishes on the menu. Seeing as this was a veggie-themed class, we, unfortunately, could not make tartar with him, but he was more than happy to share his gnocchi recipe with the class.

Being a man of honour (of course), I will not divulge the recipe Chef Rogers uses at his restaurant, but I will reaffirm to you that it is a delicious one. As well, I made every participant in attendance take a blood oath of secrecy, so don’t even think about trying to pry them for any information!

After everyone had a hand at mixing, rolling, and cutting, we cooked up the pasta a couple different ways: boiling and pan-frying. If you’re anything like me, you probably love a good plate of gnocchi. Hopefully you’re feeling a bit jealous while reading this because we had multiple plates of amazing gnocchi.

Yes, jealous…you should be…

Admittedly, we did spend a decent portion of time in class talking to Geoff about how to butcher an animal (obviously some what of a tangent, but I enjoy the irony considering the class theme), but hey, inquiring minds want to know these types of things!

All-in-all, it was a fantastic class. With the hands-on cooking approach we take in this program, it’s always great to see everyone get involved, but it’s just that much more exciting when there’s a chef cooking alongside you. Geoff was great with all of the participants. Kick The KD is all about inspiration and creating a love of cooking; he both inspired and displayed that passion, which was soaked up by everyone!

Thank you Chef Rogers!