It seems as though I took June off, from posting that is. T and I have both been very busy on the work front, but now it’s time to get back to serious business: Eating, Drinking and Playing with my Dog. We went to a friend’s house for a little Canada Day Celebration. It was a great time to relax and partake. Addy and Irene have two beautiful kids and two beautiful dogs. Ads also has the classic Weber charcoal BBQ. It was the perfect time for me to test out my new BBQ Rub on someone else besides my wife. I brought along some chicken thighs and let the taste-test begin. At this point I only have a propane BBQ and it’s only got one good year left in it. The master plan is that next spring I’m getting a new Weber Propane Grill and a new Weber Charcoal Grill. So this was a great chance to test drive Addy’s BBQ. There is nothing like cooking with real coals. But for speed and heat accuracy (when I’m spinning a pork shoulder on the rotisserie for 6 hours) I still like the propane with a little help from a smoker-box. So, obviously, I need both.
One last quick note: The pic above is part of the grub we got elbow deep in at Addy and Irene’s. He did the prawns (shell-on) tossed in just a little olive oil and minced garlic and we whipped up a little Basil Aioli (1/4 cup mayo, 1/2 garlic clove minced, 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil). De-Lish!
Here is the Rub Recipe. Don’t be shy when working it into you meat. It works great with Chicken and Pork. It should last you a few trips to the BBQ. I’ve done 2 dozen thighs 4 pork loin chops and I still have enough for the 8 pound aforementioned shoulder that I’m going to spin this Saturday. I need a drool-cup already and it’s only Wednesday. Happy BBQing!!
My friend Andy turned me on to Amarone wines when he took me out for dinner to a great Italian restaurant in Yaletown called Amarcord. We had the Tommasi Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico. Wow, what a beautiful, full bodied, smooth red. But at $59.98, I’m not cracking a new bottle seven nights a week so I did some hunting and found the Grandarella.
It’s not a true Amarone; it’s a Super-Venetian, but the grapes are semi-dried in their skins on wood racks like an Amarone. It is delicious, although not in the same league as the Tommasi. The Grandarella is half the price but I wouldn’t say the Tommasi is twice as good. The Grandarella drinks bigger than its price tag at $29.99 from B.C. Liquor Stores.
Tasting Notes from Web:
A dry, round and structured wine. A Supervenetian from semi-dried indigenous grapes (Refosco and Carmenère) produced in Friuli at Castions di Strada by Masi, a specialist in the production of wines from semi-dried grapes, such as Amarone. Grandarella is ideal for red meats, game and cheeses.
A little bit of pancetta adds a lot of flavor to a recipe. You can lay it over your roast turkey or baked chicken breast. If you’re barbequing beef tenderloin (filet mignon) sit it on top of your steak instead of wrapping it in traditional bacon. I fry pancetta in olive oil before browning a roast like in my Braised Beef with Tripolina Lunga recipe. It’s also great to fry up with onion, garlic and celery when making a soup stock.
But if you really want to O.D. on this beautiful smoky Italian bacon, I’ve got the recipe for you. This appetizer cannot be eaten without a glass of red wine. It’s T’s creation. If you like goat cheese you’ll love it. It’s delicious and simple to make. A warning though, it is very rich. You may want to have the defibrillator paddles within arms reach. Enjoy.
Goat Cheese & Pancetta Quesadillas
Ingredients:
200 g
pancetta, sliced
1 tbsp
butter
1
white onion, sliced
4
large tortilla shells
(indianlife brand from Dan d Pak is great for this)
1
ripe avocado
1-1/2 cups
mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 lb
goat cheese, room temperature
sour cream
Directions:
1
Spread pancetta on parchment paper over a cookie sheet.
Bake at 400F until crispy. Remove & set side.Set oven to 350F.
2
Melt butter in frying pan.Add onions & sauté until tender.
Remove & set aside.
3
Set out two tortilla shells.Peel & pit avocado.Slice & place
half on each shell.Mash with a fork and spread over entire
surface.
4
Sprinkle mozzarella, half over each shell.
5
Spread pancetta & onions, half on each shell.
6
Set out remaining two tortilla shells.Spread half of goat
cheese on each. Place goat cheese shells over the other
loaded shells (cheese side down).Press lightly.
7
Place quesadillas on cookie sheets.Wet top slightly with
water & bake 15 minutes. Flip quesadillas, wet other side &
This recipe is a combination from a couple of Mexican cookbooks and the Cuisinart cookbook. You won’t be satisfied with the grocery store stuff once you try this! Mmmmmmmm….nachos.
Guacamole
Ingredients:
1/4″ slice
white onion
1
jalapeno pepper, seeded
1
ripe tomato, seeded
3
ripe avocado
1/4 cup
fresh cilantro
1
lime
1/2 tsp
salt
1/4 cup
mayonnaise
black pepper to taste
Directions:
1
In food processor (large blade for Cuisinart), puree onion
Many people who only know Makena from the videos I’ve posted think she only moves in slow-motion to music. That’s not the case. The baby-girl has a brand-new haircut and she is High Speed.
Sunday morning quickie - French toast is easy and almost foolproof. Add crispy bacon and you’ll be saying “What Hangover?” The French bread is better if it’s a day old. If T has made her Caesar Salad the night before, it’s the perfect way to use up the rest of the loaf we had for the croutons. Don’t forget some good Canadian maple syrup. I like a little more vanilla flavour and that’s reflected in the directions below. For the spice, substitute what you like best. We do nutmeg or cinnamon.
French Toast
Ingredients:
2
eggs
1 cup
milk
1 tbsp
vanilla extract
1 tbsp
white sugar
1/4 tsp
salt
6 pieces
day old French bread, cut 3/4″ thick
1/8 tsp
nutmeg or cinnamon
1/2 tsp
vegetable oil
Directions:
1
Beat eggs lightly in a shallow pan.
2
Whisk in milk & vanilla.
3
Add sugar, salt & nutmeg or cinnamon. Whisk until smooth.
4
Soak bread for approx. 30 seconds per side.Remove &
allow excess to drip off.
5
Heat oil in a hot skillet.Add bread and cook until
golden brown, 45-60 seconds per side.
6
Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately with your
We love their wine and we’ve been patiently saving this one. We went back to my hometown of Nelson a couple of years ago and made sure we drove through the Okanagan wine country on the way back. We wheeled into Burrowing Owl Estates Winery and were immediately impressed. It’s a beautiful set-up on a hill right in the middle of the vineyard. Their restaurant, The Sonora Room, is an amazing space with its super-high ceiling and beautiful views. When we were there they were just breaking ground on the Guest House. My good friend, Melodie “The Enabler,” stayed there last fall, loved it, and told me I had to pay a visit. I might just pack up the wife and dog and move there. Not the Okanagan… I mean live right at Burrowing Owl, in the restaurant. Great food, unlimited supply of Burrowing Owl wine.
During our visit, we tasted the four wines available and bought all but one. It’s interesting tasting wine that’s actually too young to drink. You have to project your tastebuds to the future and imagine what that wine will become. When you’re swirling it around in your mouth you can tell that all the deliciousness is there and it’s exciting to think of how good it will actually be in a couple of years.
As always, Burrowing Owl came through with this 2005 Cab-Sauv. To try it yourself, pop into your closest Liberty Wine Merchants.
The last thing I must add is the meal that accompanied our Cab-Sauv. It had been calling my name for a year: Italian Fondue! Please check with your doctor before trying this recipe. I saw Giada De Laurentiis make this on the food channel and talked about it so much that our visiting cousins bought us a super-sweet fondue set. The ingredients to the heart-stopper: Gruyere, Fontina and Pancetta…. yes, I said Pancetta. We made the recipe for just the two of us and had to shut it down about half way through. Absolutely delicious but very rich. Invite a couple of friends over.
2005 burrowing Owl Cabernet Sauvignon awards:
2007 Grand Harvest Awards
Bronze - 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
2007 Okanagan Wine Festival
Silver - 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
2005 Cabernet Sauvignon tasting notes:
Aroma in this wine are an intense, rich expression of varietal primary fruits, including cassis and black berry, interwoven with toasty oak tones, tobacco, cedar and cloves. On the palate, there are soft, luscious tannins with length and balance, and a nice, warm finish. This wine rounds out the reds of 2005 which was an outstanding vintage.
Another Moment of Zen watching dogs play. Makena and Sophie (our good friends Evan and Gaile’s dog) playing at a park just off Chancellor Blvd out by UBC. All set to the Musical stylings of Richard Cheese. Editorially I know theses are all bad cuts. But what could I do, Evan kept throwing the ball the same direction.
YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS! This is definitely one of my signature dishes. As I mentioned in my first posting, this recipe is a perfect example of my obsession and love of food and cooking. Inspiration: It started with braised short ribs at Cioppino’s, then a Wolfgang Puck recipe, and over to a Giada de Laurentiis dish then finally, the braised short ribs at Rob Feenie’s restaurant. My recipe is done with chuck roast, which is the perfect cut for braising, but you could use this same method for short ribs and serve it with garlic mashed potatos and it would kill. Having just written those words, I think I’m going to do that next. You can also use any type of thick cut pasta with this recipe but I think it pairs best with the Tripolina Lunga. The sauce clings perfectly to this pasta as shown in the photo above.
Leftovers: Even when I serve this for four, there are always leftovers and this meat freezes very well in the sauce. And here’s how we make it go so very wrong and so very right all at the same time: Thaw and reheat the meat and sauce. Make some oven fries. Ladle meat and sauce onto fries and top with feta cheese and mozzarella cheese. Voila!! The best fake poutine you’ve ever tasted in your life. Make it all and eat it all.
Wine Braised Beef with Tripolina Lunga
Ingredients:
1
4-5 lb boneless beef chuck-eye roast
salt
freshly ground pepper
5 tbsp
olive oil
100 g
pancetta
3
medium onions, chopped
5
small carrots, chopped
10
garlic cloves, minced
1 bottle
Cabernet-Sauvignon (of drinking quality)
1 litre
low sodium chicken broth
35 g
dried mixed mushrooms (ex. bolets, black fungus, pleurotos,
porcini)
3 sprigs
fresh rosemary
5 sprigs
fresh thyme
2
bay leaves
2 tbsp
dried taragon
1 cup
parsley, chopped
fresh parmigiano-regiano &/or pecorino romano
Directions:
1
Preheat oven to 350F.
2
Pat beef dry with paper towel.
3
Sprinkle beef generously with salt & pepper.
4
Heat 2 tbsp oliveoil in a heavy 6-quart roasting pan over med-hi heat.
5
Add pancetta & cook until crispy. Set aside, leaving drippings in pan.
6
Place roast in pan & brown on all sides, approx. 15 minutes.Transfer to a
large plate.
7
Add onions, carrots &celery to pan & saute until tender, scraping up
brown bits from bottom, approx. 10 minutes.
8
Add garlic & saute 1 minute.
9
Add wine & boil 1 minute.
10
Add broth & mushrooms & stir.
11
Return beef to pan, cover and put in the oven. Braise until beef is
fork-tender, turning beef every half-hour, about 3 hours total.
12
Transfer beef to cutting board.Tent with tin foil & let stand 15 minutes.
13
Turn oven up to 400F.
14
Here’s a trick to skim the excess fat off the juice that’s in the pot:
Spooning it off takes to long for me so I just drop a paper towel flat on
the top. Take it off as soon as it has soaked up the top layer of fat and
discard. Be careful because that liquid is scalding hot. Repeat if necessary.
15
Remove Thyme & Rosemary twigs & bay leafs from the juice.
16
In small batches, blend juice, vegetables and pancetta in blender until
smooth.Pour into a large bowl.Once done, pour puree back into
roasting pan.
17
Cut and pull roast into large (2×2inch) hunks and transfer to puree in pan.
18
Add parsley and stir. Return pan to oven at 400F for 1/2 hour.
19
Cook Tripolina Lunga unitl al dente (according to package), drain &
return to pot.
20
Laddle some roast sauce/gravy onto noodles and toss.
21
Dish noodles onto plates.Ladle on more suace/gravey and roast chunks.
22
Garnish with lots of fresh grated Parmesan Reggiano and/or
Out of all of the Napa Cab-Sauvs we’ve tried in the $20ish dollar range, the Avalon is my new favorite. I really enjoy the Liberty School and the Ravenswood as well, but the Avalon is more of a mouthful. Please give it a try if you haven’t already. It’s $23.78 at the B.C. Liquor Store. If you don’t like it, I’ll drink it for you… No, I didn’t say I’d pay for it. I said I’d drink it.
Regarding the photo above: It’s amazing how good a bottle of wine can look in a dog park.
Avalon Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting Notes (as described by Avalon Winery)
“Deep ruby colored, our 2005 wine shines in the glass. Blueberry and plum nuances from the Syrah complement the dark cherry and black raspberry characteristics of the Cabernet Sauvignon. Supple texture and forward fruit flavors are balanced and enhanced by aging in French and American barrels. Oak aging provides a lingering note of toasted oak and vanilla while giving breadth and depth to the palate. The wine should continue to develop over the next 4-7 years.”
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