Onion soup tonight!

Over the weekend, the FAB Whitby kitchen had a visit from the Sweetie Girl Racing gang on their way home from a weekend at the track. We knew they were coming, but we didn’t know exactly how many people we might have, so in advance I made 8 pounds of burger mix. That is one big ball of meaty goodness.

I’ve seen a few pictures online of bacon wrapped meat loaf, so I decided to use the remaining meat mixture to try my own version. As with many dishes I create, the recipe for this one is pretty loose and open to interpretation. Also, I’m going to give you the full batch recipe for 8 pounds of meat. You can make burgers for a party or prep for the future. I always like to have great quality burgers in the freezer for when the teenagers friends descend upon our deck.

Ingredients
8 pounds good quality lean ground beef. I used the fantastic grind from Halenda’s Meats here in Whitby.
3 large sweet onions, finely diced
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1/8 cup worcestershire sauce
2 tbs of your favourite seasoning salt. I used Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Salt Free Seasoning.
Splash of olive oil

For the Meat Log
1 pound of bacon
BBQ sauce of your choice. In this case, I used Ole Ray’s Kentucky Gold Bourbon sauce that I picked up a couple of weeks ago at Chilly Chiles.

Method
Heat a thick bottomed pan, with that splash of oil.
Add 2/3 of the onions and saute for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, turn the heat to low and let onions cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until they caramelize nicely. You want them to take on a nice brown hue, without burning. Then, turn up the heat and add the white wine and the worcestershire. When the wine has reduced to a syrup, add in the chicken stock and do the same. Remove pan from heat and allow it to cool completely.

Once cooled, combine fully with ground beef and seasoning in a large bowl. Depending on the chicken stock you’ve used, you may want to add salt. I used Campbell’s chicken stock in a box and don’t feel the need to add any extra salt. Wrap bowl tightly with plastic wrap and chill up to 2 days, but at least a few hours. This allows the flavours to combine nicely and makes it easier to form patties or meat logs.

The Meat Log
Once the meat mixture is chilled, it is easy to break off a chunk that is 2 pounds or so, and form it into a cylinder shape. Then, wrap the log with bacon. If possible, create lots of overlap to account for shrinkage. Of the bacon. Get your mind out of the gutter. Put the log back in the fridge to chill again. This will help the log hold its shape while you are transferring it to the grill.

Heat the BBQ to high. Once hot, gently place the meat log on one side of the grill. It may be easier to transport it to the grill on tin foil and roll it onto the grill. Turn the heat off on the burner beneath the meat and close the lid. Using indirect heat will prevent the bacon fat from causing a fire. Cook until a meat thermometer shows about 150 degrees. The time this takes will vary depending on your BBQ, but expect 30-40 minutes. I say two beers is about right. Then, liberally pour your BBQ sauce over top of the meat log and close the lid again, cooking until the meat log reaches about 165 degrees. This should just take a few minutes.

Once it comes off the grill, be sure to take a pic and share it on instagram!

I normally do not partake of the pre-made, bottled cocktail, but when the cooler is almost empty on a travel bus and the beer is gone, I’m not proud. I’ll drink whatever is there. What a pleasant surprise on last week’s trip to Texas, when the last thing in the ice was a Jose Cuervo Classic Lime Margarita. This ice cold ‘Rita was just perfect for a 98 degree afternoon in the Lone Star State!

Now this is a tipple I could get behind!

From the Middle Ages Brewing Company.

Photo bomb aside, look closely at this photo. That massive mass of leaves is rhubarb and the oniony looking things are garlic. In the first week of May. In Ontario.

Crazy!

Yesterday I posted an Instagram pic of a mound of dry rubbed wings, before they headed into the smoker. The almost finished result is above.

Years ago, I worked in a restaurant that was known for its great chicken wings. The secret was that they were dry rubbed and then roasts at 275 degrees for an hour. Then, when it was time to serve to a customer, they were finished off on the grill or in the deep fryer and then tossed with sauce. I’ve been making wings the same way for years, until I got the smoker. Using smoke changed everything.

The absolute BEST way to pre-cook wings it to smoke the already dry rubbed wings for an hour, as cool as you can get your smoker. This ensures the wings pick up the smoke and all of the juices are kept in the meat. Then, set them aside and chill until they are needed. Finish them on a hot BBQ grill and then toss them in your fave sauce. Your family will eat them like never before. Your friends will bow down to your mad BBQ skills.

A half pound of Halenda’s awesome bacon bits cooking in cast iron, the way they should be.

The dry rub has been applied and into the smoker they go!

Until recently, Sandy had little to no interest in any sort of fruity cocktail, with the exception of a good Gin & Tonic. Her Mom overly adventurous, preferring a drop of Dubonnet with a twist of lemon. So when the two of them are together I like to try to make a drink that they’ll both approve of. I think I hit the nail on the head with Black & Tonic.

Lifted from the Spring issue of Food & Drink, this nicely tart chiller has a touch of fruity flavour from the classic Ribena concentrate. Naturally, Mumsie said “oh, I used to have Ribena every day, it is full of vitamins”. In other words, this one is a keeper!

In a highball or your glass of choice that is full of ice, add the following:
1 1/2 oz good quality gin – we prefer Tanqueray here in the FAB Whitby kitchen
The juice of a 1/4 of a lime
1/2 oz Ribena
Top off with 4-5 oz of tonic
Garnish with a wee skewer with a blackberry and a bit of lime.

Absolutely yummy fish tacos are a new item on the menu at Kelly’s Landing in Manotic, Ontario.