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.

My Favorite Celebrity Chefs

I thought I would share with you some of my favorite celebrity chefs. Below is the list (in no particularly order) and why I like them.

·    Michael Smith - The biggest reason why I like him is the fact that he is always encouraging to cook without a recipe, or you don’t like ingredients in a recipe to change them for what works for you. I think too many people get stuck on recipe. The only time I don’t change recipe’s is when it comes to baking. I also like the fact that Michael has visited and taught classes at SAIT on numerous occasions.

·    Michael Noble - The only “celebrity” on this list that knows me by name! I was the manager of his son’s hockey team. Michael was the first Canadian chef to appear on Iron Chef (the original) in battle potato. Michael was the chef at Catch as well as the menu designer for Earls Canada. He also competed for Canada in the famous Bocuse d’Or competition. He now owns a very delicious restaurant in the Bowness area called Notables. I always appreciated chatting with him. He always took time at the rink to chat with me about food and what was in season. It is nice to know somebody who has been successful in the restaurant business.

·    Guy Fieri - Guy is probably the chef on this list who I would most like to sit down and have a beer with. I love his energy and his pallet is very good. His ability to identify spices and ingredients is impressive. He has lots of charisma and is fun to watch. Plus DDD is one of my favorite cooking shows.

·    Bobby Flay - I love the fact that Bobby is always trying to heat things up. He is always looking to put his tex mexroots into classic recipes.

·    Mario Batali - I am always leaning something new from Mario. Whenever I watch him cook he makes me feel like I am being transported to the Mediterranean. He also is always calm and never panics.

·    Cat Cora - Cat just has that fun aura around her. Plus she always drinks after every round of Iron Chef America!

·    Masaharu Morimoto - Morimoto has the best knife skills in my opinion. I love watching him as he is so technical. Plus how can you not like a guy who has made a beer with the Rouge brewery.

·    Michael Symon - He is always smiling and having fun. Plus he has the same haircut as me! I also like the fact that he is into sports and loves his Browns, Indians and Cavaliers.

·    Alton Brown - I think of all the chefs on this list I have learned the most from Elton. I love his sense of humor and the fact that he is such a nerd just like me!

·    Ted Allen - Ted is another nerd just like me, I like how sophisticated his presentation is, also I feel like he transports me into the world of fine dining.

·    Chris Cosentino - What’s not to like about a guy that cooks with offal. He is always thinking of new ways to use every ingredient. Plus his salami store and restaurant are delicious.

·    Aaron Sanchez - My Latin brother, he represents the South American side of me. Cooking very traditional Mexican meals. And not afraid to be proud that he is latin.

·     Chuck Hughes - Chuck has so much energy; I like the food that he cooks and the concept of his restaurant. Plus I like the fact that he promotes indie music in his show.

·    Alex Guarnaschelli - Nobody describes food better than Alex; she has the ability to make me instantly hungry.

·    Gordon Ramsay - Gordon gets a bad rap IMO. I always learn some lessons from him and I love the fact that he shares his recipes on twitter!