My Top 10 "Secret" Ingredients

We all have them: our secret ingredients that transform recipes into one-of-a-kind creations that are to die for. This is what keeps food exciting at the dinner table and makes it unique to us. Although these

top 10 of mine officially won’t be a “secret” anymore, I am happy to share them with you.

Blueberry Jam – Beef or other red meats such as lamb or various game meats will always benefit from a little something bold & sweet. Blueberry jam is my “go to” ingredient for burger patties, chilli, stew, etc. It will not only compliment in flavour, but also the sweetness will help counteract any acidity in the recipe. Blackberry jam is good too, but the seeds aren’t pleasant.

Peanut Butter – Although with the increasing number of peanut allergies in our society, peanut butter should never be secretive. However, it is wonderful for using as a base for any peanut dressings, dips (like for chicken satay for example), or stir-fry sauces. A dollop of peanut butter in a pot of chilli is great too.

Sambal Oelek – Every Chef knows about the “sambal”. This is a liquid/paste crushed chilli pepper product that can be purchased in small jars from the imported foods aisle of almost any major grocery store. Dried chillis always need time for rehydration, so this product is a perfect replacement as it is instant heat. I add a little (about 1/2 teaspoon or so) to spaghetti sauces, soups, and stews… not to make them spicy; just extra dimension of flavour. If you want your food spicy, then add more.

Soy Sauce – If a dish requires extra seasoning, try adding soy sauce instead of salt. It will not only season your finished dish, but also provide extra flavour and colour.

Canned Anchovies – We all know this ingredient from Caesar dressings, but this is another salty ingredient that will do wonders for seasoning and bringing out flavours in many of your recipes. Add a couple of small filets to the beginning of the cooking process so that they break down into more of a paste. They will add such a different dimension of flavour that it will keep your dinner guests guessing.

Wine, Beer, Juice, or Broth – Water has no flavour or colour. When a recipe calls for a small amount of water to be added, I always replace with a different liquid that will be appropriate in flavour & colour to the dish I am making.

Whipping Cream – Not “whipped” cream, but “whipping” cream from a carton. This high fat content cream (usually 33% to 35% milk fat) is great to have on hand to add a little richness. Plus because it is so high in milk fat, it will not split when reducing down in a sauce, even if the sauce is acidic.

Butter – Obviously for health reasons both cream and butter should be used in moderation, but a small pat of butter to finish a sauce is wonderfully delicious. Simply pull your finished sauce off the heat and just before serving, stir in a small amount until melted. Melting a pat of butter over a grilled steak is also great. Oh, and for the record, I always use salted butter.

Fennel Seed – Not from the same plant as the fennel bulb we see in the produce department, these do have a similar taste of black licorice. Fennel seed is a traditional ingredient in Italian sausage, but I always throw in a couple teaspoons of these seeds to my tomato pasta sauces.

Charcoal – Although not an ingredient like the others listed here, cooking with this natural fuel of carbonized wood adds such a depth of flavour to everything from burgers to desserts. We even cook sauces, soups, stews over charcoal as well as many baked goods, and of course traditional barbecue. I am not talking manufactured square-shaped “briquettes” here; I am talking about lump charcoal: chunks of wood that have been heated with very little to no oxygen, so they naturally carbonize. According to archeological expeditions, we as humans have been cooking with this fuel for thousands of years, so this is the oldest known form of fuel to humankind.

Until next time... Happy Cooking!

Herbs - Fresh or Dried?

            Many consumers, without herb gardens of their own, will choose to purchase dried herbs more frequently than fresh due to cost and convenience. Dried herbs are suitable for certain recipe applications, however there are just as many recipes that would benefit from fresh. Consequently, other than listening to your wallet, how should one discriminate choosing between them?

            Although fresh herbs seem to offer the most flavour, they are not a necessity for all recipes. Dried herbs need time and moisture to release their flavours, and therefore are adequate in dishes that require a certain amount of cooking time to allow for this re-hydration. Examples of these recipes

would be ones such as pasta sauce, chili, soups, or other stewed dishes. Fresh herbs can be used in these applications, but are better suited being added at the end of the cooking process, as they can lose their potency if cooked for too long. Fresh herbs benefit from the fresh essential oils being released and heightens the eating experience, and thus fresh delicate herbs should be added in the last 30 seconds of cooking time or less. Obviously fresh herbs that are more hearty, like rosemary for example, can withstand (and also need) a longer cooking process.

            Many people also use dried herbs in marinades and compound butters. Compound butters are combinations of herbs, seasonings, and flavourings combined with butter to create finishing touches to certain dishes. Garlic butter, for example, is probably the most recognizable compound butter.

            A large misconception with dried herbs, however, is that they last forever. They don’t. There are steps one can take to inhibit their deterioration like storing them in a cool dark place, but eventually they will lose their pungency.

Typically, I would suggest replacing dried herbs every year or so if stored properly. I have found that the bulk foods sections at the grocery stores are the best option for doing this economically. Get in the habit of only purchasing slightly more than what you need for a recipe. This will keep your home inventory low and your recipes tasting better. The other thing you can do to keep your dry herbs more up to date, is to cook more often and eat out less - this will ultimately save you more money too.

Since the moisture (water content) has been removed from dried herbs, they are more potent (per measure) than fresh herbs. This is an important consideration when changing a recipe to accommodate the herbs you have on hand. The only herb, that this rule is not applicable to, is tarragon – it is more potent (per measure) in its fresh form. Keep in mind however, that dry herbs do not have the essential oils being released, and thus may taste different than fresh - even though dried has more concentrated flavour per measure than fresh.

Given the choice to be stranded on a dessert island with either herb form, I would obviously pick fresh for its versatility, nutrients, and fresh flavour. However, it is important to understand that dried herbs, when used and stored correctly, can play a vital role in our kitchens.

Until next time... Happy Cooking!

You're Cooking Eggs Wrong... most likely.

            One of the many reasons I write a food column is to inspire you to get into the kitchen; to embrace the opportunity to unleash gastronomic adventures in your home. One other reason of great importance is to hopefully make things easier for you through different tricks, tips, and time saving ideas… but not this time. This time I am going to take one of the easiest things you do so quickly and make you do it longer with more finesse. This is a staple dish for almost any breakfast that you think

you have mastered ever since you started cooking, and now I am going to reteach you everything you thought you knew about this dish. Yes, in our homes it’s time to revolutionize the art of making scrambled eggs.

            Wait. Hold on here. Scrambled eggs? Isn’t this as simple as mixing some eggs in a bowl, pouring into a hot pan, and moving them around until they’re done? Not quite. Yes, the mixing is still the same; and moving them around in the pan is kind of the same, but the cooking temperature needs to change… thus the time it takes to make them will be longer. However, the results are worth it.

The main rule I have learned about egg cookery is to always avoid high heat and do not overcook. High heat and overcooking will make eggs rubbery, discoloured and affect their flavour. Eggs are mostly made up of delicate proteins, and like all proteins they coagulate when cooked. Coagulation is the process of the protein strands connecting with each other, becoming firmer, shrinking, and releasing moisture. Exposing any proteins to extreme heat will toughen them and make them dry; especially eggs.

            The excessive heat could also cause discolouration. Have you ever cooked a hard-boiled egg and the egg yolk had a green ring around it? This is caused by the sulphur in the egg whites reacting with the iron in the yolk and forming iron sulfide. This reaction causes not only that familiar green colour, but also a strong odor and flavour. Now in the case of the hard-boiled egg, this only shows up at the area where the egg white meet with the yolk, but with scrambled eggs the two are combined into a homogenous mixture and the results could be unappealing if not cooked properly. This is where low heat plays such an important role.

            I always scramble my eggs with a bit of added moisture: about 1 tablespoon of water, milk, or cream for every 2 Large sized eggs – do this in a bowl with some salt and pepper until the eggs are thoroughly combined. Heat a pan over medium heat and melt a small pat of butter in the pan. When the butter starts to foam, add the egg mixture and reduce the heat to low. Occasionally stir gently while cooking over the low heat as the eggs coagulate: basically, you are lifting portions of the coagulated eggs up so that uncooked parts can run underneath. Try not to stir too much as this will cause the eggs to be broken up into very small particles. When the eggs are set, but still soft and moist, remove from the heat and serve immediately. The results will be fluffy, succulent, and nothing like the hard, rubbery, bits of eggs you get when doing this over high heat.

            If you are a stickler for exact temperatures, it is important to note that egg whites and egg yolks each coagulate at different temperatures. This is what allows you to cook an egg (soft boiled or fried, for example) with firm whites and a soft yolk. Egg whites typically coagulate between 140 to 149 degrees Fahrenheit, while egg yolks will coagulate between 144 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit. Combined eggs (as in scrambled eggs) will thus produce a coagulation point of approximately 155 degrees Fahrenheit.

            It is also important to mention that the term “scrambled eggs” comes from the process of mixing the eggs together in advance of cooking, not from overworking them in the pan.

Until next time… Happy Cooking!

Trust the Butcher that is Always There for You

            Whenever I make meatballs or burger patties, an ingredient that I always use is ground chuck. Ground chuck is NOT the ground beef you can easily find at any grocery store - it can only be found at butcher shops. It has a higher fat content and a much beefier flavour; a secret ingredient among Chefs you could say.
            I live in Mission, BC and usually I go to Lepp Farm Market in Abbotsford because they are only 10km away from my house. Recently however, I needed ground chuck and I was in a bit of a hurry so I decided to go to a local butcher shop instead. The first thing I noticed was that there were a lot of empty spots in the refrigerated display case, and thus not a lot of selection. A woman walked out from the back and greeted me.
            I couldn't see any ground chuck in the display case, so I asked "do you have any ground chuck?"
            She looked puzzled. "Ground chuck? What is that?" she replied.
            I was dumbfounded. I didn't know what to say. "Every butcher shop has ground chuck" I answered with the first thing that came to mind.
            She quickly apologized and informed me that she was a new employee there. She then proceeded to get someone else to help me. Another woman appeared from the back only to advise me that they don't have ground chuck. Considering the lack of selection of meats on display, I wasn't surprised, but still disappointed. I left the store muttering to myself "how can a butcher store not have ground chuck?" This has never happened to me before.
            I got in my vehicle and drove the 10km to Lepp Farm Market. As I walked into their store I was immediately greeted with a warm welcome from an employee and the aromas from their on-site

kitchen embraced my senses like a welcoming friend. I proceeded to the butcher display case and not only were they fully stocked with ground chuck, but also every kind of meat and seafood that I could ever imagine getting locally. I smiled and quickly came to the realization that I should have just trusted my instincts and came here in the first place. I was quickly greeted again and my order of ground chuck was fulfilled immediately.
            I think that as consumers, we don't fully realize what it takes to run a successful business, especially one that deals in perishables. There is so much training and ongoing fine tuning of inventory levels to make sure that needs of the consumers are met and at the same time making sure that little is wasted. When you walk into a store and they are fully stocked with whatever you need, there's a level of comfort and value within that. The ease of getting what you want with great selection and feeling welcome is the perfect shopping experience in my mind.
            The one thing I learned from this, more than anything else, is to trust these types of businesses that go the extra mile for the consumer, even if it means traveling 10km to get there. The pleasant experience of shopping at Lepp Farm Market was well worth my time.
            In closing, please support your local butcher (or any other local business) that goes out of their way for you for an amazing shopping experience. Until next time... Happy Cooking!
           

Sauces for Topping Your Pasta

            In previous writings, I have suggested on several occasions that one should try their hand at making fresh pasta instead of always relying on purchasing it dry from a bag or box. Congratulations to you if you took my advice and tried your hand at this wonderful culinary skill. For those of you that did, and for those of you that never will, I want to give you some ideas for sauces to compliment your pasta, be it from fresh or dry.

            The most common is the classic tomato sauce. Although Chefs will consider it sacrilege to any pasta, a number of people still buy canned or jarred premade tomato sauces to don their pasta. Some will at least get creative by adding extra ingredients like onions or garlic, but nothing can take the place of good rustic homemade batch of tomato sauce. This does not have to be the style that simmers for hours on end either. Many great homemade pasta sauces can start out with a little help from canned diced tomatoes and some tomato paste and be done in record time. Reduce it down even further at the end (by simmering some of the water content out) and replenish with some whipping cream and you now have a rosé sauce for those special occasions when calorie counting is not on your priority list.

            Any ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb, etc) cooked up at the beginning of the process will magically transform this rustic tomato or rosé sauce into a hearty meat sauce. Sausage meat can also be utilized in the same manner by removing it from the casings and cooking the same as ground meat. Italian sausage (mild or hot, depending on your tastes) is wonderful for this.

            A béchamel (white sauce) is a very simple sauce. Don’t let the fancy French culinary name scare you – it’s just milk thickened with flour and butter. A little seasoning (salt, pepper, and a pinch of ground nutmeg) and you have an incredible sauce that can be a blank canvas for your favorite cheeses to be melted in or tossed with bits of grilled chicken. Add garlic and parmesan and you will basically have alfredo sauce.

            Oils infused with flavors and seasonings can be the base of a tasty light pasta coating. Heating olive oil over medium to low heat and letting ingredients like crushed garlic, chillies, herbs, etc.

infuse their way into transforming a ordinary oil into a savoury enhancement. These types of sauces are perfect for less filling side dishes or during hot weather when a heavily thickened sauce is not desired.

            A batch of seasoned simmered vegetables can also be transformed into a smooth sauce bursting with flavors with the help of a blender, food processor, or hand immersion blender. We actually do one with ground lamb where it is simmered with a number of vegetables and herbs with some red wine. A few good pulses in a blender, at the end of the cook time, alter it into an amazing pasta sauce.

            One of the quickest pasta sauces you will ever make is a browned-butter sauce. It is exactly what the name states it to be – butter that has been browned. Take a hot pan and place a handful of cold butter cubes into it. Stir, or lift the pan and swirl the melting butter, until the butter foam has just started to brown and then toss with your favorite pasta. Your favorite fresh delicate herb (basil, oregano, sage, etc) can also be added at the time of the cold butter for an incredible infusion of herbal essential oils. Although we have all been taught never to add butter to a hot pan for fear that it will burn, the trick is to stop the cooking process of the “browning” butter before it hits the “burning” stage. Use salted butter to be more complimentary in taste and less seasoning you will have to do afterwards.

            These are merely suggestions as it would be literally impossible to cover every single type of pasta sauce idea here. What I want this column to be is an invitation for you to blow some dust off your cookbook collection or search recipes from the internet. Pasta is probably my favorite thing to eat, but I realize with most people that eating is not the problem; it’s the cooking part that feels like a chore sometimes. Find a way to make it fun. When I was younger, one thing I always insisted on when cooking pasta was to listen to Pavarotti while doing so. I still do on occasion, but now it is not only Pavarotti, but also Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and others... and always with a glass of wine. Until next time, Happy Cooking…

Start with a Blank Canvas

            When was the last time you unleashed your culinary talents? I don't mean cooking from your favourite cookbook; I am talking about making something in the kitchen completely from the ideas in your head and following your taste buds along the way. If your first inclination when reading this makes you cringe with stress, I am here to help.

            Let's face it, we all have kitchens and we need food to stay alive, so why not try to bring your cooking ability to new heights every now and then? These are life skills that will influence your dinner table for years to come. Honing these skills will not only bring some excitement to your regular meal planning, but also increase your confidence in the kitchen.

            The easiest way to approach this, is by beginning with meal ideas that use a blank canvas as a starting point. Being a Chef, people always ask me what my favourite things to cook are, and I usually answer with "pizza and pasta". These bases are perfect lackluster starting points that can be influenced in so many ways with unlimited ingredient and idea combinations.

            The first thing is to keep it simple. If it is beyond your desire, capabilities, or timeframe, I am not expecting you to make the pizza or pasta dough from scratch. Simple pre-made pizza crusts and dried pasta is a good enough start. In a pinch I have even created individual pizzas from pita or naan breads. Again, this is not about producing the canvas, it is about your creativity on the canvas. Making the canvas is something that you can pursue later down the road if desired.

            The next step is to investigate what you have in your refrigerator and pantry and start choosing some base ingredients to work with. Maybe something you have an abundance of, or something you have forgotten about. Have a look in your freezer too while you're at it. You'll be amazed at what you find to work with.

            Although it would be very traditional, with either pizza or pasta, to start with a base tomato sauce and add your selected ingredients to it, I want you to try something different and out of the

ordinary. For example, I have made pizzas with a sauce that consisted of cream cheese, dates, raw garlic and salt; and just last night I made a lamb rigatoni that used no tomatoes at all. If your mind draws a blank, then it is fine to peruse the internet for some ideas to get you started but try not to follow recipes specifically. This is about improving your personal culinary imagination. A wise man once told me "how can you cut any wood, if you don't sharpen the saw every now and then?"

            Trial and error is the best way to learn. Yes, I did say "error". You are going to make some mistakes along the way. The important aspect of this is to be okay with making these blunders. This is all about personal growth in the kitchen. These errors will hopefully help you figure what works, and what doesn't... which in turn will assist you with future escapades in the kitchen.

            If you are still at a loss as to where to begin, then go ahead and find a recipe that represents something completely different than what you would normally cook, and make it. What I want you to do then is make notes on the recipe on how you would recreate it to make it your own. What ingredients could you add, take out, or replace? What do you think will work? Again, there will still be a learning curve to this, but it is a starting point nonetheless. Most importantly: make notes. It may seem tedious to do, but you will want to recreate dishes that work, and try not to make the same mistakes with the ones that don't. We keep a book of blank pages in our kitchen, called our kitchen journal, that we fill with ideas and culinary pathways we have tried. Have fun with it. Everything is perspective.

            The added benefit is that every time you choose to cook at home, instead of eating out, you open the door to: saving money, eating healthier, and family team building. Until next time... Happy Cooking.

Breakfast Ideas

            On many occasions I have mentioned great ways to transform your dinner making experience into a special event, like pouring a glass of wine and putting on some great music, but what about breakfast? Isn’t this the most important meal of the day? Yes, to most health professionals it is, so this column is dedicated to making that pinnacle feast into something extraordinary.

            I understand that a vast percentage of the population have “day jobs” and that making a spectacular breakfast on a your weekday is far from being at the top of your priority list. These ideas are more geared towards your days off or if you work evenings.

            This is the perfect circumstance to forget about the bowl of cold cereal or toast and jam, and blow the dust off some old cookbooks to try something new. One of my wife’s favorite breakfast pastimes is making and perfecting different pancake recipes from around the world. It seems that every walk of life has their own version of what we know as the traditional North American pancake.

Making it a tradition to do a different pancake recipe every Saturday or Sunday morning is a fantastic journey around the culinary world. Our 9-year old daughter recently made her first German pancake for our weekend family breakfast - it was delicious!

            French toast is another common “special” breakfast that many people enjoy, but we prepare it differently on many instances. Instead of the traditional method of dipping bread in batter and frying in a pan, we often will make a large casserole dish of French toast the night before, letting the egg mixture soak in, and then baking it the next morning. Not only is it an extraordinary display at the breakfast table, it also allows us to have more free time in the morning to sip our special coffees and enjoy each other’s company.

            Actually there are many recipes that you can get mostly prepared the night before, like muffins or biscuits for example. Measure and combine all of the dry ingredients and then all you have to do is incorporate the wet ingredients in the morning.

            Incorporating fresh baked breads or unique types of bread will also enhance an ordinary breakfast. One way to make this easy is to prep the loaf the evening before, cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight. The bread might rise slightly in the fridge, but you will need to remove it from the fridge an hour or two before baking. Remove the plastic wrap, let it rise in a warm place until it doubles its original size and bake as usual. On many occasions we will serve fresh baked bread simply topped with butter and honey.

            If all of this seems like “work” however, there is one very quick way to help transform your regular breakfast of cold cereal: top with a handful of fresh in-season berries or some slices of banana. This will take very little time, offer more flavor, nutrition, and make a better presentation. There is a reason why all the photos of cereal on the cereal boxes are like this: better presentation equals more of a chance of you buying it.

            Until next time... Happy Cooking!