THOUP!!!! Potato and Leek with Prosciutto

I have to admit, I've never been a huge fan of soup. I couldn't even tell you why. I had a relatively normal childhood that frequently included eating classics like tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle with soda crackers. As I got older, Moms switched it up to more grown up tastes with a very memorable homemade beef and barley soup, and turkey soup always after holidays. Somewhere along the way though, I just sort of gave up on soup. I never ordered the soup du jour at restaurants, you couldn't find me buying cans of Campbell's at the grocery store, and I'd be hard-pressed to make a soup from scratch at home.

I do recall a time in university when one of my bests came down with a terrible bout of the "itis", and I decided to make some homemade chicken noodle from a whole bird we had in the fridge. At the time it seemed like an appropriate remedy to help a brotha out. It turned out to be the best damn soup any of us had experienced up until that point. Even after that, I still wasn't too stoked on soup for some reason. Until a few weeks ago, it had been a long time since soup hit my lips. Miss Jones whipped up a concoction from some fresh market veggies while I was at work. She just cooked up some onions and garlic, threw in chopped up veggies, some chicken broth, a bold dash of chili powder, and a scoop quinoa, simmered, and then POW! She had fashioned some goodness and inspiration in the form of a warm, spicy, simple and flavourful bowl party. But seriously, what is there not to like about soup? There are so many different varieties and people have been eating it before history remembers. I bet the cavemen made some pretty badass saber-tooth consommé.

I encourage you to shift your view of soup from a condensed liquid in a can to a medium for culinary creativity. Start with some classics, then add your personal twists, throwing in whatever ingredients you love or might have kicking around the fridge. I made some simple Potato and Leek soup, and threw in some prosciutto that needed some love. You could easily use bacon or pancetta, which might even pack even more flavour when it is cooked up then simmered.

You will need:
- A few strips of bacon or prosciutto, sliced, or a handful or two of cubed pancetta
- 2 large leeks, sliced thinly
- About a pound of potatoes, cubed (about two big handfuls of baby potatoes or 2-3 large potatoes like yukon golds)
- 2 cups of chicken stock
- 1/2 cup milk

- Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

- 1/2 cup sharp/extra old cheddar cheese, crumbled or grated

Throw the cut up bacon-like meat in a cold stock pot (big ass sauce pan, usually has two handles), turn your burner to medium heat. Get your bacon cooking so the meat starts to brown and the fat starts to render and melt away.

Once, your bacon is looking sexy and starting to crisp, throw the cleaned and sliced leeks right into the pan. You want to get the leeks softened a bit and to mingle with tasty bacon flavour. Don't drain the fat, much of the flavour is derived from the drippings.

Once the leeks are starting to smell real nice, throw in the potatoes and give them a good stir, let those cook for a few more minutes. Then stir in the stock, throw in a few pinches of sea salt, and a couple grinds of fresh pepper. Put a lid on that shit, turn the heat down to a simmer and let the flavours party together for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are nice and tender. Mix in the milk and turn the heat back up if you'd like, but don't bring it to a boil!. 

If you want a smooth, creamy soup, blend it for a few seconds with a hand blender or rock it old-school with a chunky steeze. Obviously, as it is a soup, serve it in bowls, with a dollop or swirl of sour cream if you got it, and a generous amount of cheese on top. Throw some fresh chives or parsley on top for a little extra sumfin-sumfin. Makes for a good starter in a small portion, or a hearty meal with a chunk of nice bread. Note that I don't have a pic of the finished product as I was too hungry to take photos and the soup too delicious. Make it for yourself, it's super simple, and very delectable. If you're of the vegetarian variety, omit the bacon and saute the leeks in a hunk of butter for flavour, also use vegetable stock. Or make an exception in your ethical choices for things as tasty as bacon. F'real.

Mac-n-Cheese With Steez

This past Sunday I found myself strolling through the Byward Market, simply captivated by all the fresh and local goodness the vendors had to offer. Mallory can attest to the fact that I seemed like a total space cadet as I was overwhelmed by the colours and quantity of the amazing produce that surrounded me. We picked up a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and dipped into the market's cheesemonger to cop some quality dairy products. We ended up walking away with a nice hunk of canadian cheddar and some top quality cottage cheese with aspirations to make some bad ass, homestyle mac and cheese to warm us up after a day walking about in the cold Ottawa drizzle. 'Twas an excellent idea and this is how it went down.

Hustle up:

- 1 lb box of suitable pasta (choose a tubular pasta that will hold the creamy sauce well, like a penne, macaroni, or cavatappi. I used cavatappi, which is also called scoobi doo)

- 1/2 - Full stick of Butter

- 2 Garlic cloves, chopped

- 1 small onion, chopped super small

- 2/3 cup of all-purpose flour

- Can of delicious beer (or a case of further drinking)

- 4 cups (1 Litre) of milk

- One can (354mL) of unsweetened evaporated milk

- 1 lb of good quality medium aged cheddar cheese, shredded

- A couple tablespoonfuls of your favourite dijon mustard

- Tablespoon of paprika (if you can get or got some smoked paprika, give it a try)

- A few generous pinches of chili powder

- Tub of cottage cheese (find some that is pretty thick)

- Sea Salt and Black Pepper

- 1/2 loaf of some sort of delicious italian bread torn into small pieces, preferably from your local bakery

- Splash of Olive oil

Get the oven heating up to 350 degrees. While the cooking box does its thang, boil some salted water and get your pasta cooked to 'al dente', which means its tender, yet still has a bit of bite or density to it. You really don't wanna over cook the pasta as you're cooking it in the sauce later. Should be about 7-8 minutes in the boiling water.

Time to get saucy. In a large sauce pan, or the pot you boiled the pasta in, melt about 1/2 the stick of butter over medium/medium-low heat. Add the chopped onion, cooking until it starts to soften, smells delicious, and become translucent. Throw in the garlic, and continue to cook until everything starts to get a little bit golden. You may need to add a few hunks of butter as the onion will absorb some and you need the butter to make the 'roux'. Add the flour and stir the mix with a wooden spoon until a thick and smooth paste is formed. If it's too doughy add a few more hunks of butter and incorporate. This paste is the 'roux' and it is frequently used for making sauces, so it is good to become familiar with it. The roux is used for thickening sauces as it has flour in it and by combining the flour with butter, it can be evenly distributed throughout the sauce, and ultimately prevents nasty lumps. Continue to cook the roux for a few minutes so it gets all toasty like, thus developing more flavour. Slowly stir in a few big splashes of the beer until the mixture becomes smooth again.

Gradually stir in both milks, then switch your cooking weapon to a whisk, and start whisking that sauce until it is nice and smooth. Continue to whisk (if you have pansy wrists, switch with a friend) and whisk for several minutes until that sauce is pretty thick.

Now its really time to party. Stir in the cheese, dijon, paprika, chili powder, and a good dash of salt and cracked pepper. 

Add the cooked pasta into the cheesy sauce of goodness, and stir to get everything nice and sloppy. Pour the sauce/pasta party into a big ass casserole dish, something like 9"x13, or a couple smaller dishes, ooor if you're fancy enough to have a individual oven proof ramikans (fancy for bowls), you can use those, too.

Spoon nice dollops of cottage cheese all over the top of the noodle party and crack a little more black pepper over top. Proceed to toss the bread chunks with a splash or two of olive oil, and then spread it out over the pasta. 

Throw it in the cooking box and bake until it is heated through and the top is sexy and golden brown, approximately 30 minutes, but it really depends on the size of the dish used. 

When I cooked this up, I used a mix of a medium aged cheddar, and some extra old cheddar (both Canadian, yay local food!) for nice sharp cheese flavour. You can definitely mix it up with whatever type of cheese you want, and you can even throw in some meat like cooked sausage, ham, BACON!, ground beef, or mix in some small chunks of cauliflower, broccoli, or whatever veges you have on hand. Serve with a nice green salad, and get dedicated.

Don't beat your meat

Burgers are one of those categories of foods that have entire websites dedicated to their deliciousness, and many arguments have been made over the different ways and best techniques for making burgers. I don't want to stray into this debate just yet, as I can truly appreciate any burger. After 10 months of being on an island free of a fast food chain, I was fiending for a McDonald's cheeseburger. The thin salty patty, the simple arrangement of dressing, and the melty melty cheese has addictive qualities. Yet a thick, juicy, beefy home-grilled patty is amazing and satisfying in a whole different way. I could wax the poetic all day about all the different varieties of delicious that burgers come in, but thus I digress.

The other night, a man-dinner was in order, and to keep things relatively simple Dave and I decided on grilling up some thick beefy burgers, adorned with some flavourful toppings. My philosophy on burgers of the grilling variety is to keep them simple, and let the fiery-beefy flavour shine through. What I mean by this is, don't fuck with the meat. No breadcrumbs, no eggs, no onions, no garlic, no fillers of any sort. Some might disagree, but I want to let the natural beef deliciousness and the accompanying toppings do the talking. This particular night, Dave and I had some ripe avocado, a sexy pound of thick-sliced maple smoked bacon, white onion, aged cheddar, and some leftover chopped tomato that needed some love. Perfect.

First and foremost, I'll start with making the beef patties. We used lean ground beef, but really use whatever you prefer. I personally like medium ground chuck in burgers because more fat equals more deliciousness, but I've obtained a bit of extra marbling from all the cheap Heineken and fried johnny cakes I consumed in the BVI, so I was cutting corners.

Now you really want to be gentle as possible; caress your meat. Form the meat into loose balls, and gently flatten. Make sure to press a dimple into the middle, as it prevents the burger-ball effect. Don't worry about forming them into perfect shaped, smooth patties. More texture equals more flavour, less beating equals more juiciness. Crack a respectable amount of black pepper over these bad boys and throw them in the fridge if you make them ahead of time, or let them rest up to room temp, we'll get back to these in a bit.

This next little part is very versatile and very delicious. Place the bacon in a large, cold skillet, and start the frying at medium heat. Once getting the bacon to desired deliciousness, drain some of the drippings but reserve a significant amount in the pan and tossed in a large white onion, sliced thinly. Keep the onions cooking over medium to medium-low heat, moving around occasionally. The onions should start to become soft, brown, and smell ridiculously amazing. To caramelize the onions, you need to pay some good attention to them, making sure the heat isn't too high, and be patient. The longer and slower you cook these, the more delicious they get.

Meanwhile, as your onions are coming into their final stages of caramelization, rock your grill up to high heat. When it's piping hot, give your burgers a quick sprinkle of sea salt, and throw them on the grill. Adjust your heat down to medium. The hot grill sears the meat and helps form distinctive grill marks and a delicious outer crust. Be very attentive, you want to on top of putting out flare ups, BUT DO NOT BEAT YOUR MEAT. You may be tempted to move your burger around, squish it, flip it prematurely, but just don't. Get a beer, drink it, and just let it cook for 5 minutes. When the burger releases itself from the grill with little effort, it's ready to flip. Gently flip it, and drink your beer. This side should grill a bit quicker, so have your sliced cheese of choice standing by, and your buns if you like them toasted, which I do.

Before your burgers are done, throw the cheese on top and get it all melted like. Remove your burgers to a plate, and toast your buns. By doing this, you're forced to let your burgers rest up. Like any meat, you should rest burgers for 5 minutes after cooking to let the juices redistribute. 

We dressed these babies up with the caramelized onions, bacon, and avocado, chopped tomato, and a little grainy mustard, but burgers are one of those vessels you can really get creative with. Caramelized onions and bacon are pretty hard to fuck with though. Before the summer truly disappears, definitely try these out. And if you can come up with a flavour combination that rivals caramelized onions, bacon, cheddar and avo, we'd love to hear about it.

Eat up. Party down.