A Traditional Christmas Breakfast...

There is something about the idea of heritage that really strikes a chord with me. My holidays are very much a celebration of heritage. My fathers mostly, but absolutely a family affair. As my family often liked to do things, it was a big deal. The whole celebration is focused around a huge breakfast of what one might call "old world" flavors. There is crusty bread, pickled onions, olives, hot and sweet Portuguese chorizo, Gin, and then as my aunt Joan calls it "de gyarlic pork". Garlic pork is made for Christmas breakfast at my house and the whole insane process is as follows.

a) chop up 40 or 50 cloves of garlic

b) layer a 3L or 4L jar with garlic, thyme, hot pepper, slices of uncooked pork, vinegar until it is full. seal the jar, leave it for 3 -5 days.

c) wake up at 5am on Christmas morning and boil the pork in the pickling juice, waking up everyone in the house with an equally terrifying and delicious smell of meat boiling in garlic pork juice. its intense.

d) remove the pork from the boiling pickling juice and fry it until golden on both sides.

The taste is briny, sweet, and savory from the thyme. It could be described as an acquired taste.

So all of this food usually makes it on the table for right before 10am, at which point somewhere between 20 to 40 relatives and family friends start pouring into the house. No joking. There were my brothers and sisters, and their families, my uncle Almindo, uncle Burnie, uncle John Vera, sometimes my uncle Joe, and my uncle John (who is the only actual real uncle out of that bunch of dudes). My dad would have a shot of Gin with all the guys and pass out by lunch time. then he would wake up a few hours later to make dinner. which obviously was a whole other affair that is worthy of its own blawg post sometime in the future.

in the theme of heritage, i want to shout out my girls Kat and Michelle who bought me a sweet Opinel knife for Christmas. its a great knife, with a rich 121 year history. goggle it.

The recipe im including is a riff on a classic French salad i saw someone make on a PBS show about 5 or 6 years ago. The original has baby potatoes, mustard, shallots, boiled egg, radicchio. i adapted it to make it a side for big roasts.

Mustard Potato's

Ingredients

1 pound red and yellow baby or fingerling potato's - washed

3 shallots - sliced thin

3 table spoons mustard Pommery or Dijon with the seeds

1/4 of a head of a radicchio, sliced as thin as you can

1 - 1.5 oz Grade A maple syrup

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil for cooking

Method

1. Boil the potato's in heavily salted boiling water for 15 minutes.

2. remove potato's from the water and set aside. they can sit for 20 mins to half an hour, as it should be a warm salad.

3. in a pan cook shallots in the olive oil over a low heat until fully caramelized.

4. add potatos, to the pan with the schallots and and remove from heat. combine all other ingredients and mix until covered.

serve as a side and enjoy!

I can remember a time as a young boy when I was not allowed to cook. That is to say, I wanted to cook at a young age and so my parents had to actively keep me away from the oven and knives. The explanation of this was simple; my brother entered culinary school at the age of 18, at which point I was only 6 years old. Naturally, I wanted to do whatever big brother was doing... there was also the allure of a great deal of danger via the fire and sharp knives. I was instructed by ma dukes that I would be able to start cooking, on my own, at the age of 12. I can clearly remember the first thing I could actually cook in a pan, on the stove. Scrambled eggs. That became my life for a short time. Scrambled eggs for breakfast every day. "Dad, Mom, would you like some scrambled eggs". it was a big deal. Then i tried spaghetti. It took me about 4 or 5 tries of putting pasta into cold water and having it all stick together to get the idea to ask my mom how to do it properly. i put butter and parm cheese from a shaker on that shit and loved it. and thats how I learned how to cook. i started with the basics and fucked up a lot. along the way i learned a few things, watched a lot of the food channel and read some books and articles. now i can say with confidence, im a good cook. I encourage what few readers I have to do the same.

In that vain, I am posting one of the easiest recipes i know. Roasted Chicken and Potatos. this has to be one of the easiest things i know how to make because it involves only a small amount of prep and no stove top cooking at all.

Roast Chicken and Potato's

Ingredients

1 roasting chicken cut into 8 pieces

2 large or 4 medium potato's cut in 1.5 inch pieces

1 large sweet potato cut in 1.5 inch pieces

1 medium onion sliced thick

2 cloves garlic sliced

4 small sprigs of rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbl spoon olive oil

Method

1. in a casserole dish combine the potato, sweet potato, onion, olive oil, thyme, and some s&p and toss to coat and mix.

2. add a generous amount of salt to the chicken pieces and lay them on top of the potato's skin side up. place rosemary on top of the chicken and cover. if you casserole has no lid, cover tightly with tin foil.

3. place the casserole dish in a 325 degree oven and cook for 1.5 - 2 hours, or until the tops of the chicken turn brown.

4. remove from the oven and let the dish cool down. add some salt and pepper if it needs it.

to serve, remove the herbs and use the liquid at the bottom of the dish as a sauce. it should be savory and slightly sweet from the sweet potato. enjoy

PS. in the pictures, you might notice some sausage. its great as I described above or with a little sausage, like the pics.

I have dinner parties, not pot lucks...

i sometimes have a hard time inviting people over to my house for supper. they want to try to mess up the game. i have people over for dinner a lot and i like to do things a certain way. I dont like help, and i dont want you to bring anything except a bottle of wine or some desert. i also hate when people try to wash my dishes. That's just the way we did it in my family. when you come to my house, you do no work, when i go to your house, I do no work. that was the rule. unless it was some kind of big party with the WHOLE side of my fathers family, in which case no one family could really produce enough food to feed that many people (my dads side of the family was a force of nature. There was soooo many people, and the holiday parties were often held in rented halls). I'm also not a fan of bringing stuff over to peoples houses. and i am mos def not doing your dishes. Dishes are a personal thing. you eat off of them. and everyone has their dishes ritual. some people... i should say, most people dont cut the mustard when it comes to my very specific set of standards that i apply to doing dishes. so if you come over for dinner, follow those two rules: dont bring food, and dont wash my dishes

now that i've gotten that out of the way, i would like to say that i think people like the idea of sharing the cooking tasks because they dont want to cook that much. they dont want to fuck up the sides or its just to much to think about. the best way to do that is to make easy side dishes that you can quickly ready, say, while your roast or steaks are resting. seeing as its summer and this is a quick and awesome side dish to do on the grill, i thought it was fitting.

Grilled Asparagus w. Mustard and Mayo

1 - fist sized bunch of asparagus (stalks removed)

2 - tbl spoons of mayo

1 - tbl spoon of Dijon mustard

1.5 - tsp of maple syrup

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. in a bowl mix mayo, mustard, maple syrup, salt and pepper. ready a very hot bbq grill

2. apply mixture to asparagus, covering all of them completely

3. wait till grill is very hot and lay the asparagus on the grill. you will get a lot of smoke when the mixture starts to drip into the fire.

4. using tongs, turn the asparagus every 1.5 minutes for about 4 minutes or until you have developed a nice color on the asparagus. be careful to use a HOT grill so you dont have to keep the asparagus on the grill too long and end up with over cooked veg.

I'm not a Foodie!

there are 2 words that constantly confound and frustrate me: "Foodie" and "Gourmet". Food is not ment to be put in classes, where only those in the know or with the money get to enjoy the higher end of the spectrum. first of all, it imply's a class system to something that defies class. second, its bullshit - although some impressive dishes are very hard to make, much of the best food (in this authors humble opinion) is derived from simple ingredients and preparation. have we come so far in our obsession of celebrity and attaining that which is out of our grasp that we now seek to only have the latest food trends touch our pallets? food is a basic need for all of us. much of the food we hold dear came from the most humble of backgrounds. eating lobster was considered a sign of poverty until the last 100 years for example.

i guess what i am trying to say is that food should be seen as accessible. making good food should be everyones goal, as it is such an easy one to attain. to eat from the sea is to eat the sea, to eat from the earth is to eat the earth. this is our most basic communion with our planet, and should not be used to classify ourselves as different from one another, but bring us closer to one another.

I've decided to give you a recipe for cheesy polenta. its a simple dish, and one that will impress. exactly what food should be.

Cheese Polenta

Ingredients

1 cup course polenta

3 cups water

1 cup whole milk

150 grams Fontina cheese

200 grams old cheddar cheese

2 finely chopped garlic cloves

1 small finely chopped onion

3 fresh cobbs of corn, with kernels removed from stock

Directions

1. in a dutch oven or other heavy bottom pot, add olive oil and heat over medium-low heat. add onion and cook gently for 2 minutes. add garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

2. add water and turn heat up to high. bring water to a boil.

3. slowly wisk in polenta. continue to wisk for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. if the polenta gets too stiff, add a little more water until it is easy to work with. after 5 minutes add the corn. once the polenta is a little tender to the bite, remove from the heat and put the lid on the pot. rest for 10 - 20 minutes (the resting will continue to cook the polenta).

4. re-introduce the pot to a medium-high flame on the burner. add milk and slowly work in as the polenta warms. you might have to add a little more milk if the polenta stays stiff. wait until it is heated through, though because the heat will loosen the polenta. add salt and pepper to taste. add most of the cheese (reserve some for topping) and fold into the polenta. remove from heat.

5. using a soup ladle, poor the polenta into individual sized ramekins and top with leftover fontina and cheddar cheese. add a crack of black pepper, if you like. set the oven to broil and place the ramekins directly under the heat source in your oven for 4 or 5 minutes, or untill the tops are golden brown. serve immediately

this recipe takes a little attention at the beginning but its pretty simple and very tasty.

my last post where i wish it was summer... promise

im just going to stop saying sorry for not posting. i am a busy lad, and it just happens. recently, ive been espically busy. long days, and short sleeps make for a tired brain. and in my moments of lapse, i find my thoughts escaping to the recently ended summer (yes, again). this winter has certainty not kicked into high gear yet. its mostly damp and grey, but not biting cold. but it isnt really the weather that has me in a reminiscing mood. it was specifically my outdoor office. you see, work is much easier when you have an outdoor office, with wi fi internet and bay windows. you might not think this, but it ramped up my productivity. i never daydreamed about better days gone by when i was sitting in my own little piece of paradise (seriously, its that good). i just enjoyed the simple comfort of not having to work in doors, chained to a desk... looking out the window. the simple pleasures enjoyed there extended to other parts of my life, including cooking. i went through a whole phase of "simple is better"... and it really is. nothing could be more simple than 3 ingrediant tomato sauce, served on Cappalini pasta and some rapini on the side. it is truly one of my favorite dishes. and its totally veggie, although it also goes well with a pork loin cutlet simply fried with some salt and pepper.

3 (but kinda 5) ingrediant tomato sauce

Ingrediants

4 or 5 large cloves of garlic finely diced

1 can of good quality italian tomatos

half a cup of high quality italian olive oil

salt and pepper to taste (these two dont count as ingrediants today)

i know the olive oil might seem a bit much, but trust me, the more the better!

Directions

1. add a medium pan to medium-high heat on the oven. when the pan is hot add olive oil and heat through.

2. add the garlic to the oil and give it a quick stir to make srue it is evenly distributed around the pan and cook for one or 2 minutes. you want to just cook the garlic, not letting it get too much colour. add the can of tomato's and mash the whole tomatos with a potato masher until they are broken down. partially cover and let cook for 30 - 40 minutes, stiring ever 10 minutes. when it is done, some of the water should have evaporated and it should have a slightly chunky, but not too thick of a texture. remove from heat, add salt if it needs it, and let sit

3. heat a pot of water, salted till it tastes like the sea, on the stove top. once at a rigorous boil add your pasta and boil for 2 to 3 minutes. you want to make sure the pasta has slightly more bite than aldente. drain the pasta and put back in the pot. put the pot back on the burner at medium-high and add small amount of the sauce to the pan. cook for 1 minute, or until pasta is aldente. remove from heat and serve the pasta in a big bowl! add a little more sauce to the top, if that is your thing, and grate some of your favorite hard cheese on top. serve with some steamed rapini tossed with olive oil and some flur de sel. this is the perfect quick afternoon meal and is great the next day. enjoy!

ever fry your bread? you should...

i am sorry blog followers, i have neglected you. there is however an old saying that goes "life is like..." wait no, not that one.... ahhh yes, "distance makes the heart grow fonder". so by that logic, you should all be quite fond of me now. this sentiment is possibly most true when the Canadian summer abruptly ends and the cold brisk Canadian fall kicks in. this transformation brings to mind another old colloquialism "holy shit, its cold outside". as soon as that cold snap kicks in i immediately think to the last days of August when the heat and sunlight were so abundant, one couldn't imagine it could possibly end... and as it has for the last 28 years of my life, i am well surprised when the warmth is quickly ushered out by the turning leaves and autumn jackets by mid October. i end up yearning to get on my bike and go to the market whenever i damn well choose, but my brown skin was not made for such weather. oh man... this is not cheering me up at all... I have chosen a recepie that perhaps has more roots in the summer due to his ingredients, but to hell with it... i miss summer and i want to eat fried bread with a tomato and pepper salad. this is where i get to be nerdy about food (yesssssssssssss!!!). most people call this bruschetta, but really burschetta is grilled bread with garlic rubbed into it and a drizzle of olive oil. this version has butter, the bread is fried, and there is no garlic. you can call it what you want - i call it a "holy shit, its cold outside" remedy. the golden brown fried bread is the star here... its what separates this dish from other burchetta... you have to be really mindfull when you are cooking it not to burn it... keep a watchfull eye.

Ingrediants

3 slices of caraway rye bread, cut into halvs

2 diced medimum sized red tomatos (i used hot house, and it worked great... you can use whatever kind you like)

1 half yellow pepper, diced

1 half orange pepper, diced

1/3rd of a red onion in a fine dice

1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, diced

1 squeeze of lemon juice

zest of half a lemon

1.5 tablespoon white wine viniger

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

butter for bread.

Directions

1. put a large pan with a heavy bottom on medium high heat and allow to get hot.

2. in a bowl, mix the tomato, peppers, red onion, lemon juice, white wine viniger, parsley, black pepper, and half the oil. set asside. do not add the salt because it will wilt the veggies.

3. butter your bread on both sides all the way to the edges and cut the bread in half down the middle. it is important to not miss any of the surface of the bread because the butter is what will give it a very nice golden brown color.

4. add the bread to the pan being very mindful no to burn the bread. you might have to adjust your temp down, but you want the bread to hit a nice and hot pan so it starts to cook right away. try to use your best judgement here... like i said, this is the deal breaker in this meal.

5. once the bread is a nice golden brown on one side, flip it. add the remaining oil to the pan. this will give the bread more flavour and some extra crunch, but wont make the bottom of the bread super greasy, so you can still eat it with your hands. once the bread is golden brown on both sides, remove from the pan and put on a plate. add the salt to the veggies, mix, and spoon onto the bread

the warm crunchy bread gives a great contrast to the fresh summery veggies. its a wonderful, and truly easy dish to make. you can eat it on its own for lunch or as an app, or serve with a nice piece of fritatta with mint an picorino

im a bad blogger

ok, so ive been retardo-danardo busy over the past few weeks, and havent posted anything, but here is something that should tide you over. my friend Ryan started his own food blog (i know, right??!!). its not bad (But really, it looks, tastes, and smells, better than mine already. bummer).

i promise i will have some good posts soon. im actually just waiting on some pictures. promise promise. for reals.

peep the saucy coq now: http://thesaucycoq.com/