Paella

 My wife tried a new Paella recipe yesterday and it was really good. The peas did a surprisingly amount of brightness.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/238588/quick-and-easy-paella/

Beef Dip

 This was very good. We didn't go full Philly cheesesteak but just a basic but really good beef dip. Jenn used the recipe below which is a keeper.

https://sweetlittlebluebird.com/easy-slow-cooker-french-dip-sandwiches/?fbclid=IwAR0rswtQ3H4gN9PHHjLhjzEMlJ4cFr3feaXKBwbj90lBMajugqneTAEv_vc_aem_AbSuO-ipYD7w0LPFfYyPQ2rbPT1pW7TMlKqTXT3FPF-rNPxK5xSkiCvgtZ2SF1mHwyXuwCOCLD7zJtZJyZ6WcBj5

Creamy Garlic Bacon Chicken Thighs

 My wife successfully tried another recipe this past week. It was good enough to make it to the blog. The flavor that is developed in the sauce had a nice depth. We did not use chicken thighs as they were too expensive shockingly so we used some chicken breast we already had in the freezer.

https://diethood.com/creamy-garlic-bacon-chicken-thighs/

Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup

 I have been wanting to make a minestrone soup all winter long. I finally was organized enough come grocery shopping day to get all the ingredients. I did not use the vegetables that I did not like from the following recipe but it turned out pretty good. I used a few too many crushed tomatoes, otherwise I would use this recipe again: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230298/slow-cooker-vegetarian-minestrone/

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

 My wife has been experimenting with some new recipes to try during the cold Calgary months. This one is a winner! The cremini mushrooms hold up their firm texture in the crockpot and the Greek yogurt gives it an unexpected acidic/sour note that I enjoy. Give this one a try: https://www.wellplated.com/slow-cooker-beef-stroganoff/

Chocolate Mayo Cake

 My moms friend made her a cake for her birthday and while I was shocked it actually tasted pretty good and was really moist. It was good enough that I asked for the recipe

Ingredients

•  2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/2 cup of of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup of mayo
• 1 cup of lukewarm water

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350
2. Grease a 9" X 3" baking pan
3. Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix well
4. Pour batter into backing pan
5. Bake for 30 minutes

Ham and Shell Salad

 I used the following recipe with alterations to the dressing and no cheese or onions. It turned out OK. Next time I would add a herb of some kind and more salt. I only used miracle whip and the juice from a full lemon as my dressing. The amount of miracle whip was to taste as well as to a thickness I was looking for. I also used a ham steak then rendered the fat and let it cool. I wanted bigger ham chunks than deli meat. Looking back on it, this recipe was more of inspiration/guideline than actually following the directions

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/148470/ham-and-shell-salad/

Easy Meatball Recipe

 My wife recently made sweet and sour meatballs on white rice and I really enjoyed the meatballs.

This was the recipe she used and I wanted to capture it on my site: https://lilluna.com/easy-homemade-meatballs/

She did not however share her sweet and sour recipe. If I get that I will edit this post.

Chilean Colo de Mono

 My grandma recently passed away, which left a huge void in so many ways. One of the Christmas traditions we have is to drink Colo de Mono on Christmas eve. Since my grandma was not going to be able to make this drink for me and my family I took upon myself to make sure that we carry on her traditions. My version is a bit different and will never be as good as my grandmas. However I used the recipe found here (Colo de Mono). It turned out pretty good for my first attempt. 

There are a couple of suggestions that I have now that I have made the recipe. Making the cinnamon and clove extract too me closer to 20 minutes to reduce instead of the 30 minutes the recipe suggests. I may have just had a harder rolling simmer. The recipe also calls for one cup of liquor (I used Pisco), which makes a milder finished product which may not be a bad thing. It is easier to add more/adjust for personal preferences. Next time I would add a cup and a half.

I love and miss you very much Tati and I hope I made you proud 💓

G.G.'s Chocolate Sheet Cake

My wife and I were attending a potluck this weekend and we decided to have a dessert off. She made red velvet cupcakes and I made a chocolate cake. I wanted to win naturally. so even though chocolate cake is not at the top of my desserts that I enjoy I found a recipe with lots of great reviews. You can find the recipe here: GG's Chocolate Sheet Cake

It turned out pretty good. As the comments suggested I added an extra tablespoon of cocoa powder in the cake and icing. The pecans did add a nice texture contrast, but this can be achieved with your favourite nut, doesn't have to be pecans. It was pretty easy to make as well, which was a bonus. It was well received and I will be making this again in the future I am sure.

Enjoy!

Chilean Sopaipillas

Being 50 percent Chilean, we try and celebrate The Fiestas Patrias or Chilean independence day annually. My family makes Sopaipillas all the time, but I have never actually made them myself. This year I decided for the party that I would make Sopaipillas. I will admit I was nervous on two fronts; cooking with oil and meeting my families expectations. I found a recipe that sounded familiar to what my family used here: https://www.enmicocinahoy.cl/chilean-sopaipillas/

It was a bit different then the ones that I am used to but I think in a good way. It was a more fluffy or the dough rose more than I am used to but I enjoyed the change. In fact it was so good that my mom asked for the recipe, that must be a good sign.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

I have not been trying out new recipes of late so I apologize for the lack of content in the last three years. With our annual Christmas party held this pas weekend it gave me an excuse to try something new. I have owned a slow cocker for a while, but for what ever reason it does not get a lot of use. I was looking for a hot meal that I could prepair in the slow cooker and came acroos this recipe

https://www.chowhound.com/recipes/easy-slow-cooker-pulled-pork-30356

I added more BBQ sauce than they recommended and also added in some hot sauce to give it a bit more of a bite. Next time I would also use a bit less cumin as that overpowered the rest of the flavours for my pallet anyways.

Enjoy!

A Gathering of Links and recipes #7

Two more interesting recipe's that Gordon Ramsay recently tweeted out.

Meringues with vanilla and autumn berry cream http://twileshare.com/bapu

Sautéed scallops with sweet corn salsa http://twileshare.com/aytb

My colleague at work today brought in a delicious Mexican Bean and Rice Salad for our team pot luck. She used the following recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?recipeID=188444&origin=detail&servings=10&metric=false

With spring just around the corner, all three of these recipe's would be good out on the patio with a cold beer.

Enjoy!

Super Bowl 48 Recipes

I was hosting a Super Bowl party at my house yesterday and decided to try the following recipes from Brow Eyed Baker. I think they turned out very well and won't hesitate to use them again.

Soft Pretzel Recipe: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2013/01/07/soft-pretzels/

Guinness Beef Stew Recipe: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2013/03/13/guinness-beef-stew-recipe/

A Gathering of Links and recipes #6

Gordon Ramsay recently tweeted out two interesting sounding recipes that I thought I would share.

Lemon Meringue Pie http://twl.sh/12GO1ac

Spring Vegetable Risotto http://twitdoc.com/1VOB

Enjoy and if you make either of these please leave a comment and let us know how it went.

Home Made Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake
Ingredients

· 3/4 cups of shortening

· 1 1/2 cups of sugar

· 2 eggs

· 1/2 cup of milk

· 2 cups of flour

· 1/2 cup (6 tablespoons) of cocoa powder

· 2 teaspoons of baking soda

· 1 teaspoons of salt

· 1 teaspoons of vanilla

· 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

· 1 cup of boiling water
Instructions

Blend above ingredients. Next add 1 cup boiling water and mix well. Pour batter into a greased cake
pan (any size or shape including cup cakes). Bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in center of cake
comes out clean (approximately 30 minutes).

Mini Dutch Apple Pies

I recently attended an Around the World party. The concept was quite fun. Every person selects a unique country. You are then responsible for brining a food item and a drink item from your country. On top of that you also have to dress up like that country. Being a quarter Dutch, I selected the Netherlands. I cheated on my costume a bit as I I wore my Dutch #10 SNEIJDER jersey with soccer shorts and socks. I had it pretty easy for my drink as Heineken is from the Netherlands so that was my choice. As for my food item I decided to make Mini Dutch Apple Pies. They were quite tasty and the flavours were a lot different than your traditional North American Apple Pie flavours. Enjoy!

Mini Dutch Apple Pies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 10 1/2 tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 4 green apples, e.g. Granny Smith
• 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
• 3 tbsp sultanas
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 orange, zest and juice

INSTRUCTIONS

Rub the flour, butter and sugar between your thumbs and forefingers until the dough resembles bread crumbs. Add two egg yolks and one whole egg. Set the remaining egg whites aside.

Knead the dough until it forms a ball. If the dough is sticky (it should leave your hands relatively clean) add a little more flour and knead again. Cover in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Peel and core the apples and dice into small cubes. Add to a saucepan, along with the nuts, sultanas, sugar and ground cinnamon. Stir until mixed and keep stirring until the sugar melts and thickens. Add the orange zest and -juice and allow to heat through. Place a lid on the saucepan, take it off the heat and allow to cool slightly while you get on with the rest.

Preheat the oven to 340 degrees F (170 degrees C). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin (or use a silicone muffin tray).

Dust your work surface and hands with flour. Make 12 small apricot-sized balls between your hands and press flat on the work surface (about 1/8"/3 mm thick). Cover the rest of the dough with plastic wrap. Line the muffin cups with the dough, working it up the sides.

Drain the apple & sultana mix in a sieve, reserving the cooking liquid for later. Add the fruit to the pastry-lined muffin cups and fill to the top, tamping down the fruit with the back of a teaspoon. With the remaining dough, shape small balls (about half the size of the previous ones) into flat disks to fit the top of the pies.

Beat the egg whites and brush the tops of the pastry sides with egg white before pressing down the 'lids'. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.

A Gathering of Links and recipes #5

Here are some new recipes that I have tried the last two weeks:

White Chocolate Panna Cottoa with Raspberry coulis. This was a sweet but yummy dessert. I would recommend small servings sizes as it is pretty sweet. This recipe is also very easy to make.

Cream Cheese Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos. These are also very easy to make and super addictive. A tip that my wife learned the hard way is to make sure you use rubber gloves when cleaning and touching the Jalapeños :)

Risotto with Asparagus from the Food Network website

Banana Oat muffins from Gordon Ramsay

Enjoy!

A Gathering of Links and recipes #4

Here is a collections of recipes from Food Network

• Key Lime Pie
• Not a recipe per say but here is the list of the 100 best cooking tips
• Grits and Cheese Soufflé
• Maple French Toast and Bacon Cupckaes
• A list of recipes for making in a slow cooker
• Mini Pork Cheeseburgers
• Apple Crisp
• Chilli Corn Casserole
• Whole Pumpkin Pie Soup that is served in hallowed out pumpkin
• Gumbo
• Pumpkin Bars
• Pork Chops with apples and garlic smashed potatoes
• Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
• Pecan Caramel Spiders
• Pecan Pie

Here is a collection of recipes from Gordon Ramsay

• Chocolate Mousse and Strawberry's
• Speedy Beef Bourguignon
• Sheppard's Pie
• Honey Mustard Pork Chops
• Gazpacho with Parmesan Croutons
• French Toast with Caramelized Peaches
• Bruschetta

Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS

·         1/2 cup of cream cheese at room temperature

·         3/4 cups of sugar powder

·         1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest

INSTRUCTIONS

With an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, sugar powder and lemon zest until smooth and creamy

Chocolate Cake

INGREDIENTS

·         3/4 cups of shortening

·         1 1/2 cups of sugar

·         2 eggs

·         1/2 cup of milk

·         2 cups flour

·         1/2 cup (6 tablespoons) of cocoa poweder 

·         2 teaspoons of baking soda

·         1 teaspoon of salt

·         1 teaspoon of vanilla

·         1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

·         1 cup of boiling water

INSTRUCTIONS

Blend above ingredients. Next add 1 cup boiling water and mix well. Pour batter into a greased cake pan (any size or shape including cup cakes). Bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean (approximately 30 minutes).

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

·         1 1/2 cups flour

·         1/2 teaspoon of salt

·         1 cup sugar

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1 cup pumpkin purée

·         1/2 cup olive oil

·         2 eggs, beaten

·         1/4 cup water

·         1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

·         1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

·         1/2 teaspoon allspice

·         1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

 Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack. Can easily double the recipe.

Chris's Chocolate Chip and Walnut Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 stick (½ cup) butter
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 medium overripe bananas
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup of chocolate chips
• ½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350oF. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in the eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Mix well. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture, stir just to moisten. Pour the batter into meatloaf pan. Bake in preheated oven to 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into centre of the loaf comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for 20 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack

A Gathering of Links and recipes #3

• Chris Cosentino gives a guide to his favourite spots in San Francisco
• Peach and Strawberry Crumble from Giada De Laurentiis
• Capellini Arrabiata, Orrechiette with asparagus,lemon, shrimp and cream, Cream of sweetcorn and Italian Panzanella salad from Gordon Ramsay
• Southern Baked Beans and Peach Cobbler from Paula Deen
• Bacon-Wrapped Splitters from the Food Network Website
• 9 Pickling Recipes for the Amateur Pickler from the Food 2 Website
• Alton Brown shows you how to brew the perfect cup of coffee
• World's 50 Most Delicious Foods according to CNN
• Bobby Flays Spice-Rubbed Chicken Breast Tacos
• Beer Can Grilled Chicken from Pat Neely

Fiasco Gelato Truck

The Calgary Food Truck revolution has hit the streets! There are currently 8 trucks on the streets and the first one that was on my list was Fiasco Gelato. The best way to find out where they are going to be serving their delicious gelato is to follow them on twitter @fiascogelato To see a list of all the food trucks visit the YYC Food Truck website. The first thing that I noticed was how friendly the staff was. We were the only customer at the time, but I got the feeling that these guys loved their job and their enthusiasm was nice. I had the bourbon french vanilla and mambi mango flavours. The mango was very good but it was also average. The french vanilla however was very good. I could tell by tasting as well as by looking at the gelato that they used fresh vanilla beans. The flavour was really good. The prices are a little bit expensive. I got a small for $4.50 which is pictured above. They also have a large for $6. You can get as many as three different flavours in one bowl which I appreciate because I usually have a hard time picking flavours.

My wife and I both think Amato gelato is better in quality but the service at Fiasco is WAY better. I would prefer Fiasco overall is the gelato is still very good.

Hello Stranger

Hey guys sorry for the lack of post this last month. It has been a busy summer and sadly I have not been cooking anything new lately. Nor have a been to many restaurants. I have been saving a whole bunch of twitter links which will be making an appearance in a blog later on tonight. I am on call this weekend which should give me a chance to do some cooking. I need to start cooking my way through James Beard's book.

In other exciting news I get to go to New York city on a business trip. I am not sure how much free time I will have but I hope to eat at at least one really famous high end restaurant. Right now the front runner is Le Bernardin. There tasting menu is only 140$. Check it out http://www.le-bernardin.com/tasting_menu.php

Hopefully you will see some more activity over on this site the next couple of weeks!

The Big Cheese Poutinerie

Address: 738 - 17 Ave SW Calgary, AB T2S 0B7

Website: http://www.mybigcheese.com/

Hours of Operation: N/A

Intro: A restraint that specializes in poutine, YES PLEASE! It is located right next to Melrose bar on 17 ave. It is a small but quaint place with a bench outside to enjoy as well. I discovered this restraint from the Mayor of Calgary who tweeted about how good it was.

The Food:  They have their bases covered; they have the classic poutine dish as well as many twists and options. The menu is basically broken down by protein. You have your classic poutine which is fries, cheese and gravy, and then you have the option to add assortments of Chicken, Pork, Beef and Vegetarian. They also have a custom section where they list all the ingredients that they offer and you can make your own poutine flavour. I sampled the Notorious P.I.G which as you can imagine is all about pork. It has the basic poutine plus they add Carolina pulled pork, double smoked bacon and Italian sausage! Surprisingly it was not overwhelming. I still tasted like poutine but had a nice smoky flavour from the bacon and the combination of gravy and BBQ sauce from the pulled pork was very good. All dishes come in a small and large size. I would recommend always choosing the small as the large is lots of food especially if you are adding lots of protein. They offer pop and water as well as red bull. However they are really missing the mark by not getting licensed and selling beer.

The Price:  The price can range depending on what you order. I would classify it as moderate; with some menu options (especially the custom menu items) can be pricey. The cheapest small is the classic at 5.49 and the most expensive is 7.99 (there are several at this price).

The Service: The service is pretty good. The staff are friendly the food comes quickly and the place was clean. No uniform, as staff are allowed to wear what they want. I got the feeling that all the staff were having a good time and liked their job

Other Items of Note: They music they play is a wide assortment. I am pretty sure staff are allowed to play their IPods’. They have lots of condiments for free for the poutine’s.

Lemonade with Watermelon Ice Cubes

Ingredients

·         1 cup fresh lemon juice, (4-6 medium lemons juiced)

·         1 cup sugar

·         4½ cups of water

·         3 cups cubed seeded watermelon

Instructions

In a blender, add the watermelon and puree.  Strain to remove any bits of seeds that remain. Pour into an ice cube tray.  Freeze until solid. Combine the lemon juice and sugar in a large pitcher.  Stir until sugar is completely dissolved.  Add the water and mix well.  At this point you can refrigerate the lemonade until ready to serve. When you are ready to serve add 2 ice cubes to each serving of lemonade.

Boiled Corned Beef and Cabbage

Success! First recipe of the book complete. Not too surprising since the first chapter is on boiling, but this dinner is really easy to make and taste pretty good. The corned beef turned out pretty well, and the sweetness of the onions was a nice counter balance to the saltiness of the beef. My only real problem was the potatoes needed longer than the 30 minutes the book indicates; however my guess is that my potatoes were bigger. This meal is more of a winter meal as opposed to a summer meal oh well!

 I hope to make it to recipe number 2 this Sunday!

A Gathering of Links and recipes #2

Chocolate Chip Cookie and Brown Butter Bacon Ice Cream Sandwich
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/chocolate-chip-cookie-and-brown-butter-candied-bacon-ice-cream-sandwiches-recipe/index.html

A potato salad recipe from Gordon Ramsay
http://twitdoc.com/view.asp?id=14543&sid=B7Z&ext=DOC&lcl=POTATO-SALAD.doc&usr=GordonRamsay01&doc=59148150&key=key-juqkhn2gf84o9n0779d

BBQ Chicken Leg Recipe from Gordon Ramsay
http://twitdoc.com/view.asp?id=14342&sid=B2E&ext=DOC&lcl=BARBECUED-CHICKEN-LEGS.doc&usr=GordonRamsay01&doc=59016993&key=key-15a2cohvz999frwh9tnq

Homemade vegetable stock from Alex Guarnaschelli
http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2011/06/28/vegetable-stock-recipe/

Chipotle-Mango BBQ Chicken from Guy Fieri
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/chipotle-mango-bbq-chicken-recipe/index.html

Pulled Pork sandwiches from the Nelly's
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/pulled-pork-sandwiches-recipe/index.html

Classic Fried Chicken from food network magazine
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/classic-fried-chicken-recipe/index.html?soc=tw

James Beard's Theory & Practice of Good Cooking

So my book finally arrived last week. Already one chapter in and I have learned something! Apperantly I was chopping garlic incorrectly.

First recipe to tackle is boiled corned beef and cabbage. Not exactly the sexiest pick to start them off. I am hoping to get a chance to cook this Sunday so stay tuned!

Old Picture of Me

This is a picture of me from the Calgary Stampede in 1999. I won the award for employee of the day. Which is pretty impressive since there are thousands of employees. That year I worked as a prep chef in the club house during the day. It was first taste of working in the kitchen and I loved every minute of it.

Spicy Teriyaki Beef Jerky

Ingredients

·         1 kg of top sirloin beef sliced 1/16 of an inch thick

·         2 cans of teriyaki sauce

·         1 tablespoon of garlic salt

·         1 tablespoon of onion salt

·         1 tablespoon of seasoning salt

·         1 teaspoon of chili flakes

Instructions

Put all the ingredients except the beef together in a large bowl. Mix for 3 minutes and then add the sliced beef. Let marinate for 24 hours. Soak approximately 10 shish kabob sticks in water for 10 minutes. Dry the sticks with paper towel. Hold the stick horizontal and then pierce and slide 6 pieces of beef per stick. Place the stick on the top rack of the oven and let the beef hang down between the wires. Do this until there is not more beef. Heat the oven to 180 F. Stick a wooden spoon in the door of the oven so it does not shut all the way. Let the beef cook for 6 hours. If you like your jerky a bit tougher leave it in to your preference.

Coconut Rice

Ingredients

·         2 cups jasmine rice

·         1 1/2 cups water

·         1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

·         1 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Rinse and drain rice in cold water. Place in a saucepan with water, coconut milk, and salt. Place the pot over high heat and, bring the liquid to a boil. Stir and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and cover the pot tightly with the lid. Continue cooking for 15 minutes.Remove the pot from the heat and let stand 10 minutes, covered. Fluff with fork and serve.

Vanilla Panna Cotta

This is a delicious recipe and it is very easy to make. Splurge and get real vanilla beans instead of using vanilla extract. Enjoy!

Ingredients

·         2 cups of heavy cream (Or for a lighter version use 10% cream)

·         1 vanilla bean

·         1/2 cup sugar

·         1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (about 1/2 packet)

·         1/2 cup whole milk (Or for a lighter version use skim milk)

·         1/2 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt (Or for a lighter version use non fat)

·         Sliced berries, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Place the cream in a saucepan. Halve the vanilla bean lengthwise; scrape out the seeds with a knife, then add the seeds and pod to the saucepan. Add the sugar and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Discard the vanilla pod. Sprinkle the gelatin over the milk in a bowl and let stand until the gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Stir the gelatin mixture into the hot cream mixture until dissolved, then stir in the yogurt. Divide among six to eight 4-ounce ramekins, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours or overnight. Garnish each panna cotta with berries, if desired

A Gathering of Links and recipes

Barbecued rib-eye steaks and summer vegetable skewers with a tangy

lemon dipping sauce from Gordon Ramsay

http://twitdoc.com/view.asp?id=11322&sid=8QI&ext=DOC&lcl=Barbecued-beef-.doc&usr=GordonRamsay01&doc=56493156&key=key-2mbg2ttdx3n3yd6hsfkw

Grilled Pizza with Hot Sausage, Grilled Peppers and Onions and Oregano Ricotta from Bobby Flay

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/grilled-pizza-with-hot-sausage-grilled-peppers-and-onions-and-oregano-ricotta-recipe/index.html

Seared Sherry Chicken Breasts with Romesco sauce from Gordon Ramsay

http://twitdoc.com/view.asp?id=12544&sid=9OG&ext=DOC&lcl=Chicken-Romesco.doc&usr=GordonRamsay01&doc=57550834&key=key-3rlxg4h506zwo7e0sxu

BBQ Chicken burgers with slaw from Rachael Ray

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/bbq-chicken-burgers-with-slaw-recipe/index.html

Gazpacho from Alton Brown

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/gazpacho-recipe/index.html

A really cool idea

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/06/salad-dressing-bottle-recipe.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+seriouseatsfeaturesvideos+%28Serious+Eats%29&utm_content=Twitter

Homemade smoky cola beef jerky

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/smoky-cola-jerky-recipe/index.html?soc=tw

BBQ Chicken from the Neely’s

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/down-home-with-the-neelys/barbecue-chicken-recipe/index.html

Chocolate Fondant

http://twitdoc.com/view.asp?id=13054&sid=A2M&ext=DOC&lcl=CHOCOLATE-FONDANT.doc&usr=GordonRamsay01&doc=57958435&key=key-vevj14wndautccercli

Herbed pork meatballs with apple compote and parmesan mash from Gordon Ramsay

http://twitdoc.com/view.asp?id=13148&sid=A58&ext=DOC&lcl=Meatballs-apple-compote.doc&usr=GordonRamsay01&doc=58055018&key=key-29y1heqfzpo89mevbh8s

I have not made any of these recipes so if you do try them let me know how they turn out J

Pineapple Mango Salad

Below is my recipe for a lovely summer salad. This would go great with grilled chicken breast and a cold beer and good friends.

Ingredients

·         2 cups of chopped fresh pineapple, (about half pineapple)

·         1 mango, peeled and chopped

·         1/4 finely chopped red onion

·         The juice from one squeezed orange

·         1 small minced jalapeño pepper

·         1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh mint

·         1 tablespoon of liquid honey

Instructions

In bowl, combine pineapple, mango, onion, orange juice, jalapeño pepper, mint and honey. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.) 

Amato Gelato

Address: 2104 # 7 Kensington Road NW, Calgary, AB
Website: http://www.amatogelato.com/index.html
Hours of Operation: Forgot to capture them sorry!
Intro: This place won the best gelato in Calgary award in the 2011 FFWD magazine contest. I went to junior high right across the street. When I was in school the gelato shop was a Dairy Queen.
The Food:  I love gelato, and this place has really good gelato. The quality was really good. I had the caffe latte flavour and it had nice hints of expresso. There are 72 Flavours to choose from. You can enjoy the gelato in a cone or in a cup. They also have some take home options as well as they serve sorbet. They also have a lunch menu and serve Italian specialty coffees.
The Price:  It is a bit on the pricey side. For one scoop (which was enough for me) it was $3.50 in a bowl, $4 in a cone. For a double scoop it is $6.50 and $7.00 respectively
The Service: The service is what is holding this place back, the employee's seem to all hate their job, they don't smile. Also you need to pay before you can sample any flavours!
Other Items of Note: There is a patio outside for those nice summer days. Also there is a 25 cent charge to pay with credit/debit.

Cinnamon Buns and Caramel Sauce

Well I did not get a chance to make the corn fritters; I will try and get to those this weekend. I did however bake some cinnamon buns and make a caramel sauce, both recipes are below. I did not use as much sugar in the cinnamon buns as I knew I was going to make the caramel sauce. So if you are making both just beware that the caramel sauce is sweet!

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

·          1/2 cup water

·          1 cup sugar

·          1 cup 35% whipping cream (or substitute with 10% Cream)

·          1 tablespoon vanilla

Instructions

Pour the water into a saucepan then pour the sugar in a pile in the middle of the water. Turn the heat to medium-high heat and begin cooking without stirring. The sugar will dissolve in the water and begin to boil. The water will evaporate, leaving behind a pure sugar syrup that will then begin to rise in temperature, past the boiling point of water, and into the flavour zone. When the sugar begins to lightly brown here and there, gently swirl the pan until all of the sugar is a deep golden brown. Carefully pour in the cream and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Cool until thickened or serve hot!

Cinnamon Buns

Dough Ingredients

·         ¼ ounce package yeast

·         1/2 cup warm water

·         1/2 cup boiling milk

·         1/4 cup sugar

·         1/3 cup butter or shortening

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         1 egg

·         3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling Ingredients

·         1/2 cup melted butter

·         3/4 cup sugar

·         2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

·         3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional

Pastry Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Filling Instructions

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned

ChuckWagon Cafe

Address: 105 Sunset Blvd, Turner Valley, AB,

Website: http://www.chuckwagoncafe.ca/

Hours of Operation: Weekdays 8AM – 230PM, Weekends 8AM – 330PM

Intro: This burger won FFWD Magazines best burger in Calgary award, so I thought I would go check it out. When you first see the building outside, you get a pretty good idea of what the place is going to be about. It is a small very homey and has a home cooked meal feel to it.

The Food:  They serve the breakfast menu all day. I did like their menu it was pretty simple, once side is breakfast the other side is lunch. I am course settled on the house burger. It comes with mayo (I did not have any on my burger), romaine lettuce, tomatoes, a homemade relish which was very nice, mustard, pickles, cheese and bacon on a sesame bun. The flavour is really good, the burger is seasoned perfectly, the smokiness of the bacon is nice, and while there are lots of toppings I could taste each one and thought that they each added their own flavour. I usually don’t like toasted buns, but I thought that this was a burger that could have benefited from a toasted bun. While my bun did stay intact the whole way, it was soft and starting to get soggy at the end. I also ordered the fries, and they were good but nothing special. You can also get a salad or soup with the burger. While the burger was good, I wouldn’t say it was the best burger in Calgary.

The Price:  I would classify the burger as expensive, it is $10.95 and to add a side it is $1.50. Not unreasonable but not cheap either. The lunch menu seemed to be more expensive than the breakfast menu.

The Service: The service was average, our waitress was nice, and did come check on us a couple of times.

Other Items of Note: There is a patio outside for those nice summer days.