Ottawa Food and Wine Show

On Friday, November 5th, I was invited to the Ottawa Food and Wine Show with the crew from bv02 for some tastings of local restaurants and all sorts of beer, wine and booze. Thankfully we arrived pretty early and avoided  getting stuck in huge coat check lines and got straight to business. Unfortunately, due to technologically related issues, all the photos taken are temporarily unavailable, so I'll keep this short and sweet, and mostly point form from here on.

• TAG Vodka: I wouldn't consider myself a fan of vodka, but this stuff was great, and its from Ontario. Go local brands!! I have to say, I found it much more drinkable, mixable and shootable than some of the premium brands like Grey Goose, yet it costs a couple dollars more than a bottle of Smirnoff. And the bottle looks pretty rad, with a cork top! Definitely check this out at the LCBO.

• Petit Bill's: Lobster Poutine is to die for. Definitely made me want to go check this Westboro restaurant out. Plus the staff were super friendly.

• Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co: Goat, sheep and cow's milk cheese, all made in Prince Edward County, Ontario. Had an awesome little sample plate and went back for another. Their cheese is amazing and can be found all throughout Ottawa. You can pick some up at Farm Boy, La Bottega NiCastro, Il Negozio NiCastro, NiCastros, Piggy Market, Jacobson's Gourmet and Grace in the Kitchen.

• Microbrews: I do enjoy a nice glass of wine, but I have to say I enjoy beer much more. Thankfully there was a great selection of local microbreweries from Ontario and Quebec. Beau's Organic was sampling their amazing Lug Tread Lagered Ale, and their seasonal Night Marzen. Mill Street was in the house, and I tried some of their Lemon Tea Beer. Interesting to say the least, could be quite enjoyable on a 30+ day on a patio, but wasn't really feeling it this time of year. Brasserie McAuslan from Quebec has a great Oatmeal Stout, and I sampled the light and refreshing Apricot Wheat Ale. Finally, the Clocktower Brew Pub was sampling some of their finely crafted beers. I already am a huge fan of their Kolsch beer, so I sampled some ByTown Brown, and the Pumpkin Ale. The Brown was excellent, and although I'm not usually a huge fan of pumpkin spiced beers, this particular brew was easy to drink and not overpowering. If you like a good beer and tasty food, definitely check out one of their three locations throughout Ottawa.

• Sliders: Apparently they're all the rage right now, as several different restaurants were serving them up. Tiny sized food is always fun isn't it?

• The Wakefield Mill: I had the Bison Tartare, which was quite delicious and flavourful. I'd love to get some recipes going with Bison meat as it is super tasty and surprisingly healthy. The staff at the Mill were quite friendly as well, so I'm looking forward to making the trek out to Wakefield to check this place out.
• Silk gloves and cocktail dresses: I feel as though this comment should actually be up on Miss Jones' blog. Why were their so many women adorned with long gloves and dresses? I feel as though I missed some sort of memo, or otherwise I would have worn my tux... Seriously though, its a food and wine show, not a formal art gala. Maybe I'm just a hater.

Anyway, I wish I had some photos to post, but computer malfunctions are to blame for that one and not my lack of diligence in taking them. I definitely got a little shutter happy, and hopefully the photos will be recovered soon and maybe I'll have them up before this is completely out-dated. Check out Dot Dot Dot for another perspective and some pics.

Short and Slow: It's Not The Size That Matters, As Long As You Take The Time

Last night the temperature dropped below zero and the smell of wood smoke from chimneys filled the air which means only one thing. Summer is officially gone. After a year of an endless summer, my tan has faded and I'm having to accept the fact that fall has arrived. As much as I try to remain in denial of this conclusion, I have begun to look forward to the many things I missed out on over the last year. With the absence of autumn and winter, I didn't get to enjoy the foods that come along with the seasons. I had been void of good cooking and quality food all together, so I've been heavily indulging in the freshness and abundance that the Byward Market has been offering lately. I found amongst the local vendors some colourful heirloom carrots, tiny brussel sprouts, fragrant leeks, and new potatoes that would be perfect for a seasonally inspired meal. The butcher in the market had some incredibly marbled beef short ribs that I couldn't say no to, so I picked up two gorgeous slabs that would be the center of the meal.

Nothing about the meal that resulted was difficult. In fact, it is unbelievably simple, yet yields such an impressive and delicious result. Short ribs are a well marbled and particularly tough cut of beef (not very expensive either), so it definitely wants to be slowly cooked so the fat melts away and the meat becomes tender and rich. The beer braised short ribs and the roasted vegetables took minimal effort, while the accompanying mashed brown butter mashed potatoes are unlike any potato I've ever eaten, but also extremely unpretentious. I found the recipe for the potatoes in Michael Smith's cook book, Chef at Home, and I am glad I did.

I broke this into a few different parts for organization, but you will need:


Meat:
- Nicely marbled beef short ribs, enough to feed however many people you wanna feed... (usually a butcher will trim them into 4 rib sections, which will feed two ladies or one hungry man)
- Case of dark ale, or stout
- Sea Salt and Pepper
- Couple tablespoons of butter/olive oil
- Couple tablespoons of flour
Veggie:
- Bunch of heirloom carrots, sliced in half lengthwise
- Handful or two of leeks, sliced
- Handful or two of brussel sprouts
- Bunch of fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary
- A couple cloves of garlic, smashed with the side of a knife, skins removed
Potatoes:
- A pound of potatoes
- Stick of butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- Nutmeg (ground or whole seeds)
- Sea Salt and Black Pepper

To get the beef prepared poke little holes in both sides with the tip of your knife. Pour the ale or stout over the short ribs, massaging it into the meat. Grind or sprinkle salt generously over the meat, and keep massaging the beer into the meat so it gets a good coating of beer. Crack some pepper all over the short ribs then place all the short ribs in dish or wrap them in foil, give them a very generous splash of beer, and tightly wrap the top of the dish with foil/ wrap the top of the meat up and place on a baking sheet. 

Let the ribs mellow for a bit in their beer bath, while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and get your veggies ready to party. Take all your leeks, carrots and sprouts, and pile them on a large section of foil. Throw the garlic and herbs on top, give it a good drizzle of olive oil, wrap the foil into a packet so the top and ends are folded over a couple times. When the oven is preheated, place both the meat and the veggie packet in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then decrease the temperature to 275 and let them do their thang for 3 hours. After the 3 hours are done, remove the foil from the meat, reserve the juices, and open up the veggie foil packet, return to the oven, and crank the heat to 400 degrees. Let the meat and veggies roast under high heat for 20 more minutes.

When the meat and veggies have about 10 minutes left of its 3 hours, boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain the water and set the potatoes aside. Then over medium/medium-low heat, melt the stick of butter. Keep a close eye on the butter as it begins to foam. You are trying to caramelize the milk solids in the butter, so you need to watch for the butter to physically start to brown. As it browns the scent wafting up towards you will be slightly nutty and fragrant. When the butter browns, immediately add the milk to cool the butter down as you definitely don't want to burn it. Reduce the heat, simmer the milk for a couple minutes, then add the potatoes, skins and all, and give them a good mash. Season with salt and a few good pinches nutmeg (if you've got big nutmeg seeds, use a microplane to grate it right into the potatoes) and mash a little more to distribute.

I thought this meal could really use a nice rich sauce slathered over top, so I whipped up a drool worth gravy. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt about 2 tablespoons of butter, or add good sized splash of olive oil. When the butter is melted, sprinkle in some flour and stir with a spoon. Keep adding a little more flour until it is a thick and smooth paste. Again, we are making a roux, which I talked about in the mac and cheese recipe. Toast the roux up in the pan a bit, then slow start adding the reserved juices from the meat, stirring ferociously to incorporate the roux, or bust out a whisk to make life easier. You should have a nice thick sauce now. Add a good splash of the beer you used on the meat, throw in some of the herbs you used for the vegetables, and a couple hits of nutmeg, and simmer till the gravy thickens back up a bit. Season with some cracked black pepper, and sea salt if necessary.

Throw some mash in the middle of a plate, scatter about with veggies, stick a two-rib portion of meat on the potatoes, and pour that gravy over top, then devour. Then tell me that WASN'T the tastiest yet simplest piece of beef you've ever cooked and eaten.

I ended up making more food that Mallory and I could gluttonously feast upon, so the next morning I cut the left over short ribs into individual rib sections, threw them in a cast iron frying pan, and fried them back up. In the same pan I threw in some leftover mashed potatoes that I formed into a patty and crisped up each side in the beef fat. In a non-stick I fried up some eggs and served it all with some savoury toasted potato sage bread from Wild Oat on Bank St and the leftover gravy. Legit.

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.

Straight From The Pig's Mouth

A little ways back Dave had a post that was inspired by many of the rib feasts I cook up during our university daze in the Brick'Tangle. Well the local grocery store had baby back ribs on sale and I couldn't resist the meaty goodness. Amazing ribs are extremely easy and actually require minimal effort, a little bit of technique, and a huge amount of passion for deliciousness. This is a very adaptable guideline and you can get super creative with it, but my special rib formula is pretty spectacular if I do say so myself and definitely worth a try.

First order of business in making the best damn ribs you've ever eaten is to remove the membrane. The membrane is a thin, tough skin on the underside of the ribs. The membrane makes for shitty ribs in my opinion so it is best to remove it. To get this son-ofa-bitch off the meat, find a little unattached flap of the membrane near the wide end of the ribs, or make an little slice into the meat near a bone. Try to work the tip of your knife under it by running your knife back and forth in and pulling at the membrane. Once the skin starts to separate, gently yet firmly pull it away from the meat. The pictures below do a pretty good job of illustrating this. Using a paper towel for grip helps if your hands get slippery.

Once the membrane has been removed, it is time to season the meat. I use a dry rub with a variety of spices to build a sweet, savoury, and spicy flavour. These are approximate measurements and should make enough rub to cover both sides of two racks of ribs:

2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp finely ground coffee
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp chili flakes

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees. Yes, that low. Rub that spice mix all over both sides of the racks of ribs and place them in a pan that will accommodate the size of the meat. My racks were especially large and I had to cut them in half to fit into my pans, do the same if need be. I found that cutting them in half made the ribs much easier to handle and move about when they were cooked and super tender. You can be pretty resourceful when choosing a liquid to use for braising. Water would suffice, but thats pretty flavourless. I usually opt for some sort of beer, as it creates a fantastic flavour, especially when accompanied by said beer after the fact. I have also used cola, rootbeer, or Dr. Pepper in the past. This time around I used a mix of beer and cola, and it turned out phenomenally. Don't limit yourself to just beer and soda though, as you can literally use any liquid. For a more savoury flavour, use some wine, for a sweeter flavour, use some sort of fruit juice. Add enough liquid that it covers about a third of the meat. Cover the pan tightly with tin foil, and pop it in the oven for 4 hours. Don't even bother peaking, just let it do its thing and enjoy the aroma that will soon overwhelm you. Once the 4 hours is up, your ribs will be tender as fuck and will be in a very delicate state. Peel back the foil, and let them chill out for a bit. Drain the liquid or carefully transfer the ribs to a cutting board. Essentially your ribs are done now, but there is still another step to making these the best damn ribs ever. 

At this point, I like to let the ribs cool for a little while as it helps keep them from completely falling apart into a heavenly pile of meat. For best results, fire up the grill, but if you don't have a grill, just crank the broiler in the oven to high. These ribs will easily be delicious without any sauce, but frankly I like a sweet, spicy, and sticky crust on my finished ribs. I packed my ribs up and took them over to my friend Craig's place where we hit the grill, and he happened to have an amazing selection of BBQ sauces he picked up at the local ribfest, thus saving me time in making up my own. It is best to sauce up the bottom of the ribs and grill them facing upwards first, then carefully flip, sauce up the top side, and let the sauce begin to caramelize. Be attentive to the ribs and the heat as you don't want to char the sauce. By finishing the grilling process with the meaty top facing up, you have room to fit you tongs or flipper under the ribs when they are hot and reach a delicate, fall-off-the-bone state once again. You can do the same thing under the broiler as you can on the grill, just the grill adds that extra smokey, grilled flavour. 

Remove from grill, let them rest again for a few minutes, and then enjoy with beer and good friends. Goes well with coleslaw, potatoes of some sort (mashed, roasted, salad, etc), and maybe some baked beans if you got the time. 

Sorry pup, there won't be any meat left of these bones.