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.