We generally connect salsa as something red, something spicy and something Mexican that comes in a
jug or a jar and is poured on top of rock hard tortilla chips when you’re desperate for something to eat.
The word salsa actually means “sauce”, being derived from the Latin for “salt”. Most Spanish influenced
countries will refer to any sauce or topping, no matter sweet or sour, how thick or runny, or whatever
color, as salsa.

In addition to the very common chopped tomato relish-like mixture we use on chips and tacos, well
known salsas also include mango salsas and corn salsas. I tend to give these two a bit of a sideways
glance as I consider them more like salads or side dishes than an actual sauce. Guacamole is also
considered a salsa although we primarily use it as a dip or a spread. In the same vein, molé with its
sweet, spicy and smoky flavours is well recognized as a defining sauce of Mexican cuisine. But king of all
the South American salsas is my personal favourite, chimichurri.

Chimichurri is made famous by Argentina and Uruguay, two famously meat crazy nations. Needless to
say chimichurri is a great sauce for any cut of beef, but works especially well on grilled hangar and flank
steaks. The sauce is a surprisingly light mixture infusing the nuttiness of the oil, the fresh of the parsley,
the acid in the vinegars and tomatoes, the pungent garlic and the heat of the chilies. A drizzle on top of a
sliced steak gives it a beautiful complexity.

There is no wrong way to use chimichurri. Chicken can benefit from it as well, pork chops, grilled
vegetables, even potato salad can be made using the mixture. Marinating with chimichurri is also a great
option to be able to further infuse the meat with all those flavours. It has the added bonus of utilizing
the acidity to break down some of the tougher connective tissues, resulting in a tender steak. Just don’t

try to re-use the marinade as drizzle once you’ve cooked the meat.

Since summer is almost here, it is a good time to head out, get some fresh parsley, some good quality
olive oil, a lot of garlic, and some nice juicy steaks for grilling. Enjoy the sun, and enjoy your salsas with
it.

Gabriel Hall is a business and technology strategist, a freelance writer, a world traveler, a seeker of
gastronomic experiences, and a lover of all things hedonistic. His site, Le Voyage Gourmand and twitter
@voyagegourmand is a catalogue of his global experiences and thoughts.

LVG’s Chimichurri
makes approximately 7 cups

• 3 medium onions
• 14 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups of finely chopped parsley
• 3 ripe tomatoes
• 1 hot chilies or peppers
• 1 tablespoons of dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons of dried oregano
• ½ tablespoon of ground cumin
• ½ tablespoon of paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 1 tablespoon of pepper
• 1 lemon
• 100 ml sherry
• 150 ml white wine vinegar
• 400 ml olive oil
• 100 ml sunflower oil
• 100 ml water

De-seed the chilies and finely chop them along with the onions and garlic. Dice the tomatoes and place
everything into a sauce pot.

Add the herbs and spices, mix lightly in the pot. Grate in lemon zest and then juice the lemon into the
pot. Add in the oil, vinegar and water and turn heat on to low before adding the bay leaves on top.

You want to slightly warm the oil to start releasing and infusing the nuttiness of the olive oil with all the
other sour, sweet and savoury flavours. You don’t want to get the oil too hot because it will degrade the
parsley too much when you put it in.

Once the oil is warm, turn the heat off and take it off the stove. Remove the bay leaves and throw in the

chopped parsley and mix well. Let the sauce naturally cool. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well or put
in a jar or bottle to shake before serving.

You can either use it immediately or let it age a few days. It only gets better if you leave it overnight as it
gets more time to infuse all the flavours into the oil. Alternatively, you can put everything in a blender,
or use an immersion blender to get a better emulsion with the oil, vinegars, and water. This of course
has the effect of turning everything into a paste like consistency instead of being fluid and chunky.

This sauce will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge and 4 months if you freeze it.

by Jay del Corro

Today, we’re making a Thai style spicy mango salad. To go with it, I’m cooking up a mouth-watering pan-fried halibut from my friends at Dor-Bel Fine Foods. Dor-Bel is the only retailer in Alberta that sells sustainable seafood carrying the Oceanwise brand. This mango salad is very simple to prepare and is a prime example of the flavours that are typical to Thai cuisine.

For the mango salad, you will need:

• 1 green mango (firm, not ripe)
• a slice of watermelon
• 2-5 thai chilies (adjust to your tolerance)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons palm sugar (or brown)
• the juice of 1 lime
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• ¼ cup green onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped

For the halibut:

• 2 (8 oz) portions halibut fillet
• 1 thai chili, finely minced
• Extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt, to season

Start by drizzling some extra virgin olive oil on both sides of the watermelon. Put on a grill on high heat and grill them til they have those nice marks. Watermelon tastes incredible when grilled. The surface sugars caramelize and take on a honey flavour that will complement the other flavours in the salad. When the watermelon is done, cut into cubes and set aside.

Peel the mango and cut it into julienne. No fancy tools needed, just make parallel cuts into the fruit by hacking it with a knife and shave the strips off into a large mixing bowl. If you have a mortar and pestle, pound the Thai chilies to release the oils and fragrance. Alternatively, you can use a knife handle, mallet or a rolling pin. Add the chilies to the mango, then add the fish sauce. Toss lightly to combine then the sugar. The sugar will balance out the flavour of the fish sauce and chili. To that, add the shallot, cilantro and green onion. Finally, add the juice of 1 lime and the watermelon and toss everything together until combined. Set aside in the fridge and let’s cook the halibut.

On a cutting board, evenly sprinkle on 1 or 2 chopped chilies then drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil. Add a touch of kosher salt, then put the halibut on the board. Flip them over to get the seasoning all over both sides.

From here, you can either pop them on the grill or panfry in a hot skillet with a couple tablespoons of oil (I prefer pan-frying because I like to get that nice crust). Fish takes very little time to cook, so you’ll only need to cook until the meat is golden brown.

To finish, simply plate the fish and put the mango salad right on top. Serve right away and enjoy!

If you don’t have halibut, you can use any kind of meaty fish that’s not too fatty like catfish or red snapper. My halibut today was donated by the fine folks at Dor-Bel Fine Foods, who are partners with the Oceanwise organization. Oceanwise is a non-profit organization that researches and compiles information on fish and shellfish stocks in an effort to educate retailers and restaurants on what seafood to buy or avoid.

This simple fried fish goes well with the spicy, sour and sweet Thai flavours of the mango salad. Take this recipe, make it yours and have fun in the kitchen.

Do you like seafood? If so, what is your favourite kind?

By nature, I am a planner so when it comes to cooking, I always plan for leftovers. I work full
time in an office downtown and bringing in my own lunch helps me avoid eating questionable
food court fare, saves me some money and allows me to make the healthiest choices. I often like
to have breakfast ready to go as well. Simply heating something up saves me time in the morning
so I don’t have to do much thinking at 6:00 am before I’ve had coffee! Preparing a frittata on
Sunday morning is a perfect solution.

A frittata is similar to an omelette. The cooking process starts on the stovetop but then it’s baked
in the oven until set. It is completely customizable; you can add as much vegetables or cheese as
you want. You can even add fruits, like apples or berries, beans, lentils, meat or chopped nuts.
It’s an easy dish that lends itself to experimentation. Frittatas are good any time of the day…
breakfast, lunch or dinner!

For this week’s frittata, I used a few shortcuts to make my morning prep a little bit easier. I
purchased a delicious black olive tapenade from Angela’s Olives. I was able to sample the
chunky paste at their booth and thought the simple mixture of black olives, sundried tomatoes
and garlic created such a huge flavour. The savoury saltiness would pair perfectly with eggs. I
could have taken the time to roast my own artichokes & red peppers but instead, I used jarred red
peppers and bought some freshly roasted artichokes from Community Natural Foods’ Chinook
Station location. The artichokes are simply roasted in olive oil and sprinkled with fresh parsley.
The goat cheese is optional here but its creamy texture is a nice complement to the vegetables.
I used Noble Meadows goat cheese, available at the Broxburn booth, because it is one of my
absolute favourites.

On to the recipe! This frittata would be a great addition to a Sunday brunch but works well as a
quick weeknight dinner. It heats up wonderfully and its Mediterranean flavour will be enjoyed
by all.

Black Olive, Artichoke and Roasted Red Pepper Frittata
Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 leek, chopped (white & light green parts only)
• ¼ c black olive tapenade + more for serving
• ½ c roasted artichoke hearts
• ½ c jarred roasted red peppers, chopped
• ¼ c soft goat cheese
• 6 large eggs
• ½ cup egg whites (or 2 additional whole eggs)
• Black pepper, to taste
• Arugula & cherry tomatoes, for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Heat olive oil in an oven proof skillet on medium heat (I use a cast iron skillet for frittatas).
Swirl the oil to coat the bottom and sides. Sauté the leek for 4 minutes, until lightly browned and
softened. Add the artichoke hearts and sauté for 1 more minute. Turn heat to medium-low.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, ¼ cup of tapenade and roasted red pepper. Pour the egg
mixture into the skillet. Mix it with the leek & artichokes using a rubber spatula, then dollop the
goat cheese around. Allow the eggs to set on the bottom (1-2 minutes) then transfer to the oven.

Bake for 12 minutes, and then finish the frittata under the broiler for 4 minutes. Test, using a
fork or toothpick, to ensure there are no liquid portions remaining. Allow the frittata to cool for
at least 10 minutes before cutting it into four or six equal pieces. Top each piece with ~1 tbsp of
tapenade and a few grinds of fresh black pepper.

Serve with a simple arugula salad, dressed with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper and
cherry tomatoes.

Enjoy!

This week at Kingsland Farmers Market was a busy one with the grand opening weekend of Hold the Mustard, Calgary’s newest destination for gourmet hot dogs. With 8 kinds of hot dogs and sausages and 37 different toppings, the combinations are endless.

Congratulations, Margaret!

If you’ve been following Kingsland’s own Aimless Cook, you’ll have noticed that its Mexico’s Cinco de Mayo based on the many yummy suggestions that you can make this weekend.  But, it’s also BEERFEST in Calgary, where you can try a heck of a lot of interesting brews this weekend, especially some of the most robust new microbrews that have been bursting out all over Alberta.  It was with both in mind that I decided to try out a Mexican-style recipe, but with beer!

I’ve always been a fan of both Mexico and beer (of course).  When the opportunity came to explore both down the east coast of Mexico, I didn’t hesitate for a second (though I believe my partner would have liked me to proceed with a bit more moderation admittedly).  But, what I had found from those voyages were something a bit more interesting… a greater appreciation for Mexican cuisine.

The problem though is that while Calgary is developing to be a wonderful place to explore ethnic cuisine, true Mexican food that isn’t introduced by a Chihuahua in a sombrero with a side of fries is few and far between.  There’s the old traveller’s adage, if you really want to know what the food is like, you have to get away from the main strip.  So, throwing caution to the wind at each port, I skipped some of the sights and went deep into the towns looking for their local cantinas and cafes where I was introduced to proper mole, tamales, and pozole.  It was definitely a night and day discovery in taste.  Simple but clean flavours, they were absolutely yummy and I think fondly of those places.  Oh, a word to the wise, brush up on basic Spanish when you can.  There were times that I had absolutely no idea if I was pronouncing my orders right, but considering how hard the waitress at one place was giggling, I would guess that I was probably ordering dish soap or something else instead by accident.

So, that’s the origin of where this dish emerged.  I hardly ever cook with beer as most of the dishes I like tend to lean towards red wine.  In fact, as I was experimenting with the recipe this week, my gal ordered me to never ever do it again as I don’t seem to have much of a tolerance for beer as I was getting redder and redder while cooking.  Of course, it could have been that the proportion of beer for food to beer for me ratio slowly went from 2/3 for food to ½ for food may have something to do with it.  Jay, the Aimless Cook, had suggested I work with Bohemia, but my local store didn’t carry it, so I settled for the ever popular Corona.  Tasting it this time with the intention to cook with it, the clean smooth taste was actually quite subtle and not overpowering under any sense.  That influenced my choice in protein, as I originally intended to make a beef or pork dish, but it would have been overwhelmed by the strong flavours of the meat.  That meant it had to be something less intense in flavour, whereas chicken was perfect for the job.

But chicken alone needs something to punch it up a little.  So here come the traditional poultry herb favorites, and some other flavour that would complement the chicken and the beer, without being too strong.  And hence, I used my gal’s method of reducing fresh tomatoes into a tomato paste so as to work with the beer as opposed to clash with it.  So here’s my take on Pollo a la Cerveza with white rice!  Happy Cinco de Mayo & have fun at the Beerfest everyone!

Pollo a la Cerveza

It’s not fancy, but a simple tasty dish; using a beer-based spicy tomato sauce.  It’ll take a bit more time than most recipes I’ve done in the past.  Traditional Mexican Pollo dishes are usually made with brandy, but it is Beerfest after all…    This dish takes about 2 ½ hours to cook, but about 10 minutes of actual work.

• Chicken drumsticks (about 2-3 per serving)
• 1 Small Onion
• 1 Green Bell Pepper
• 2 Jalapenos (or any other type of hot pepper) and chopped
• 1 Cup of Mexican Beer (I used Corona for this one, but was recommended Bohemia by the Aimless Cook)
• 3 Tomatoes (I grabbed some of the great vine-ripened tomatoes from the Big Tomato for this one… have a great flavour and I find superior than something from a typical supermarket)
• ½ Lemon (for the juice)
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced finely
• 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• Oil
• salt and pepper (to taste, you’ll want to add here during the cooking)
• rosemary, sage, thyme,
• 2 tbsp. Flour or corn starch
• (optional) 1/2 cup of green peas
• 2 cups of White Rice

First, dice the tomatoes and put in a pot under low heat to reduce…. A LOT.  After about 2 hours, the tomatoes will have completely broken down (including the skin!) into a paste.

In the meantime, cook the chicken drumsticks a little on a pan, but only for a few minutes.

Just prior to the 2 hours when the tomatoes have been reduced to a paste, [our some oil into a bowl and add the lemon juice, some salt, the balsamic vinegar, and ½ of the diced garlic.  Chop the herbs and mix with salt and pepper.

Remove the skin from the chicken and dip it into the lemon balsamic vinaigrette mix.  Put the herbs and salt mix onto a plate and roll the dipped chicken in the spices.  Place the chicken in the pot with the reduced tomatoes.   Add the green peppers, the hot peppers, chopped onion and then the beer.  Mix it up a little and then cover and cook on low heat for a ½ hour to 45 min.

Every so often, mix the tomato beer sauce to ensure the chicken gets cooked.  Add salt to the sauce according to taste.  Mix the flour with a little cold water, and add to the sauce.  As it cooks, it’ll thicken the sauce.  Cook the white rice in the meantime, and if you want to add some simple colour and a little sweetness, toss in some green peas into the rice while cooking.

Once done, the chicken meat will literally be falling off the bone, so I let it break off into the sauce (or you can leave it intact).  Put the chicken and sauce onto a plate or bowl, and serve with the rice.

And there you have it, a simple beer chicken dish, with the 3 colours of the Mexican flag!

Terrence is many things, an amateur detective, a traveller in search of new adventures, a dedicated fantasy sci-fi geek, a student of history and politics, and a fervent advocate of dragon boating, medieval sword combat and modern chivalry.  But throughout all that, he’s a foodie seeking new cultures, flavours, the perfect Montreal smoked meat sandwich in Calgary and the best place to hide some of his favorite KFM snack finds into his home before his partner catches him.  He welcomes any input, questions or suggestions through his email: spyterry@shaw.ca, on his Yelp page: http://terrencelo.yelp.ca (check out the Montreal smoked meat list!) or via Twitter @terrylo_calgary 

• 250 g of beef, sliced skirt steak or ground
• 1 red chili, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 cup of fresh basil leaves
• 1 large chili sliced
• 1 handful of green beans
• canola oil for cooking

Start by pounding up a roughly chopped red chili pepper and 3 cloves of garlic in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of kosher salt til they release their oils and fragrance. The coarse grain of the salt will help season as well as provide some texture while you pound the chile and garlic.

Next, in a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce. Mix well and set aside.

In a wok or frying pan heat up 1 tablespoon of oil on high til it starts to smoke, then add the chilli garlic mix. Stir well for about a minute until it starts to smell really fragrant. Add 250g of sliced skirt steak and keep everything moving as you continue cooking for another minute. Next, add the sauce mixture and combine.

Next, stir in a handful of green beans (or long beans) and a sliced chili pepper. Finish off with adding 1 cup of fresh basil leaves. Mix to combine, then give a final taste. You shouldn’t need salt since you have fish sauce, but if it’s a little too spicy, balance it out with a touch of palm or brown sugar. When it’s tasting perfect, plate up on a fresh bed of steamed rice and top with a crisp fried egg if you have them.

The skirt steak is much like the flank, but with a coarser fibre. When you slice it thinly across the grain, you will get a really tender stirfry meat that cooks very quickly. As for the basil, the purists will insist on using Holy basil which is a Thai variety. Since I live in Canada and there are so many great places here that make some incredibly fresh and fragrant basil, I’m using it. With simple dishes, the freshness of the ingredients is crucial. Go out to your local Farmers Market or community garden and make good use of the bounty that’s available for you. It’s simply a waste if you don’t. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

So my question of the day for you is: What are your favourite fresh herbs to cook with?

Beer is often maligned as a drink for blue collars, poor students and bar flies. A stereotypical portrait of the average beer drinker will paint them at a dive bar in a mesh trucker hat and a stained wife beater with a can of cheap generic brew in-hand. Far from this truth, beer is one of the most diverse drinks in the world enjoyed worldwide by a wide range of people.

A number of years ago I had the pleasure of attending the Osaka International Beer Summit, which was at that time, the second largest beer summit in the world. Dozens of different countries were represented including all the big hitters: Belgium, Germany, Czech and Palestine… Why yes, Palentine! Even a country with a predominantly Muslim population has a single brewery; although I wouldn’t say it their beer was very good.

Canada ranks 21^st in the world with each person in the country drinking an average of 68 litres of beer each year while our friends to the south ranks 13^th with 82 liters per person. That’s not bad, although we’re relative lightweights when compared with the Czechs who pound back an average of 158 litres per person per year.

Having high consumption allows an environment where a wide range of imports and local breweries to thrive. The number of beer variations that are available to us is absolutely staggering. We’re familiar with ales, lagers, pilsners and stouts but the ever increasing amount of microbrews introduces fruity and floral weissbiers, rich nutty dunkels and sweet-sour lambics.

Not only are beers great for drinking they’re great for cooking as well. Beer can impart complex qualities into foods. Sweet lambics can be great for flavouring pork and reducing a nutty brown ale can produce great sauces. Not only does it help with flavours, the carbonation within the beer helps to lighten up batters and the acidic components help break down tough proteins and tenderize meats.

I’ve come across a number of beer related dishes, but none as simple as choucroute. Choucroute is from the Alsace region of France, a region that shares a border with Germany, so naturally there will be significant Germanic influences. Authentic choucroute is slow stewed white wine, black peppercorns, cloves, garlic, juniper berries, onions, and potatoes cooked with three different types of sausages, some salted or cured pork, bacon, and a whole heap of picked cabbage. Less expensive and more modern recipes substitute a light beer instead of wine changing the complexity of the dish, but not the structure.

One of my inspirators once rightly said, “A big steaming plate of boiled meat and cabbage; a salve for the soul since time immemorial”. Simple dishes like this have a place in all our hearts no matter if it was part of our childhood or not. Honest flavours using the most basic of ingredients reminds us of a time where a child-like straightforward view of the world was possible.

Beer is not just for getting drunk. Make sauces, put it in marinades, even make dessert out of it; use beer as you would a nice wine and you’ll find some surprises in store for your pallet.

My Top Recommended Beers:

• St. Benardus Abt 12
• Rogue Imperial Red Ale
• Hoegaarden Grand Cru
• Innis & Gunn Rum Cask
• Yebisu Black

LVG Style Choucroute for Two

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of pork belly, ideally smoked (approx 4 inches x ½ inch thick)
• 6 random sausages (Traditionally 2 frankfruters, 2 strasbourg, 2 montbeliard, but I like blood, bratwurst, and salami)
• 2 smoked pork chops
• 1 moderate size brined or salt cured ham hock or pork knuckle
• A large clump of sauerkraut
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 black peppercorns
• 6 juniper berries (optional)
• 2 cloves or a pinch of ground cloves
• 2 medium onions
• 700 ml of beer, ideally a pilsner or light lager
• ¼ cup butter
• 10 new potatoes, halved or 4 large potatoes cut into bite sized pieces

If any of the meat is raw (i.e. the sausages or pork knuckle) give it a quick fry on high heat in a pot with a bit of oil. Fry until the outside is nicely browned. Don’t overcook. Leave any fond at the bottom of the pot as it will add to the flavour when you deglaze with the beer later.

Start cooking the vegetables by melting the butter in a (the same) pot and sautéing chopped onions, minced garlic, juniper berries, peppercorns, and cloves until the onions are almost translucent. Add the beer and deglaze the pot, then add the sauerkraut.

Add the meat into the liquid and cover with a lid. Turn the heat down to medium and allow everything to simmer and the flavours to meld together. If everything is pre-cooked (or smoked) your cooking time is as little as 10 minutes. If there are raw items or items that need tenderizing, cook for at least 35 minutes refilling with beer and/or water to keep the liquids from drying out. The longer the better with tough meats as you are essentially braising them to tenderness. Add the potatoes about 10-15 minutes before you want to eat to ensure they are still a touch firm when serving.

Plate by taking the vegetable mix out, put it at the bottom of the plate then stack the meat on top of it. Pour some of the liquid over everything and serve with a nice whole grain and/or spicy mustard.

I have a long standing love of great beer. I definitely enjoyed my fair share of Blue Star lager as a university student in St. John’s (it’s a Newfoundland thing!). My interest turned into full blown obsession after visiting the Alexander Keith’s Brewery in Halifax. And then, months after moving to Calgary, I attended my first Beerfest. At this event, you purchase tokens to be traded for samples of beer from all over the world. My mind was blown at the sheer number of varieties of beer in existence! It was so fun to taste all the brews of the beer world. I might even learned a little bit about the beverage while I was at it, including how it can be paired with food in a similar way as wine.

Nowadays, my interest in beer has transferred itself to an obsession with all things culinary. I find myself wanting to experience the difference flavours of food rather than ales but I still have a special fondness for an ice cold beer on a hot Spring or Summer day.

However, beer isn’t just for drinking. You can use it in as an ingredient in many dishes, like stews, chilis or soups, as a braising liquid, baked into bread, cakes or brownies or even as a flavour booster in mustard. Making your own condiments, like mustard, is easier than you think. It’s fun too… You can customize it to your own tastes and cut down on all those sugars and preservatives found in commercial brands. Give it a try… like I did!

My Spicy Beer Mustard was very simple to prepare and most of the ingredients were already in my pantry. I bought the mustard seeds at Silk Road Spices in Inglewood but you can also find them at Cookbooks Co on 11th Ave, just to name a few stores. The mustard itself is rich in mustard-y flavour with a kick of wasabi-like heat. The perfect accompaniment to my beer mustard are soft pretzel buns from Rustic Sourdough Bakery. They taste like one of those hot pretzels from the Saddledome or the Stampede: fresh, soft, chewy, salty & just a little bit sweet – except in bun form. These would be great to use as mini burger/slider buns as well.

A pretzel bun, slightly warmed, with a spread of this spicy mustard is SO good. Beer + Mustard + Pretzels =  Winning combination!

Spicy Beer Mustard with Warm Pretzel Buns

• 4 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp brown or black mustard seeds
• 1/2 c beer (preferably amber or dark ale)
• 1/4 c cider vinegar
• 1 medium shallot, finely diced (~1/3 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• pinch ground cloves

Mix together the mustard seeds, beer and vinegar in a glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Drain the soaking liquid into a saucepan. Set seeds aside. To the saucepan, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring the liquid to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Put the seeds and the liquid in a blender and blend for a minute. This will yield a thicker, grainy mustard.  If you would prefer a smoother mustard, use the food processor instead, processing for 3-4 minutes. You may need to add more beer or water.

Remove the mustard from the blender, put it back in the glass bowl and refrigerate overnight again.

Makes ~1 cup.

To serve: warm the pretzel buns slightly and cut in half. Spread with the mustard and serve with cold cuts, like ham and pastrami, and an ice cold beer. You just MADE your own mustard! You’ve earned it!

Enjoy!

************

My name is Heather Johansen. I used to be a lazy, overweight, TV-dinner-eater with no idea how to prepare healthy, great tasting foods. Tired of the microwave monotony, I took a cooking class and started to experiment in the kitchen (and exercising!). By learning how to cook for myself, I lost weight and kept it off but have also discovered a passion for turning ordinary ingredients into healthy & delicious fare.

I love finding new-to-me ingredients and experiencing their exciting flavours. Kingsland Farmer’s Market is an awesome place to seek out interesting food finds. Not only do they carry a vast amount of uncommon foods but so many of them are locally grown or produced. The options are endless and change with the seasons. Once you think beyond the usual farmer’s market finds, you’d be surprised how creative you can be!

You know it’s Spring in Calgary when the birds are singing and the Sun is shining brightly above. Our awesome Alberta farms are all about to explode with outstanding colours and tasty bounty that’ll soon be at the Kingsland market.  Garages are busy with the seasonal tire changes and all of the winter coats are packed away for another season.  It’s time to take out the baseball bats, the mountain bikes and the golf clubs.  And look!  Our Flames are already out there on the greens.  It’s getting warm and toasty, and oh wait; it’s panic time because Income Tax deadline is just around the corner!

Yes, it’s THAT time again, when the calculators, the boxes of receipts and the accountants come out in droves.  A time when households all over are screaming murder about their printers running out of ink as we print out form after form.  And it’s a time of Canadian unity when our voices are one, from the BC coasts to the rocky shores of the Maritimes, in quietly grumbling about paying the taxman.

So, with a calculator running in my mind and something fresh and yummy in my heart, I walked through the Market for a nice easy dinner for 2, with a total ingredient portion cost of about $5 a person (after all, I did just pay my taxes).  Heather, the Wednesday blogger of Hidden Gems, suggested that Prairie Farms just brought in fiddleheads and were in season.  So why not?  It’s a short season, and when done well, is absolutely fantastic (I can’t even begin to describe it with any justice, so check out Gabe’s description in Bachelor Chow last week.)   In order to flesh out the meal a bit, just add a few more root veggies that would roast well, a chicken thigh or two, and voila, something nice and easy and won’t break the bank!  And so the Fiddlehead Chicken with Roast Maple Veggies came to be.

(By the by for all you history buffs, Canada’s income tax was introduced in 1917.  WWI had just finished, and we really needed the money to pay for the whole effort.  After all, sending out an astounding 620,000 Canadian boys and girls to fight was NOT cheap, especially in those days where transportation across oceans took days to weeks.  Still, it was a “temporary” measure, and our forefathers agreed that a few years of penny pinching weren’t such a bad idea.  Of course, almost 100 years later, we’re still paying it. (I always wondered what their definition of temporary was.)  Oh, and if you haven’t gotten it done yet, the deadline is this MONDAY THE 30^th, so chop to it people!

Fiddlehead Chicken with Roast Maple Veggies

Serves 2, takes about 10 minutes of work, 30 minutes to cook

• 2 cups chopped vegetables (I chose veggies that can roast well like carrots, squash, zucchini and onion. Potatoes, diced or cut into wedges is also an option!)
• 2 chicken thighs
• 1 cup fiddleheads (Prairie Farms just got them!)
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 3 tbsp. oil (separate into portions of 2 and 1 tsp., and I prefer Olive Oil)
• 1 pat of butter
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp. maple syrup (if you want to add a little more, it’s ok, but don’t go overboard or else the maple will overwhelm the fiddleheads)
• 2 tsp. rosemary (separate into 2 1tsp. portions)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Cookie Sheet and 2 bowls

Grab a cookie sheet and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Grab the fiddleheads and rinse them well.  Fiddleheads tend to have a lot of hidden dirt, simply by the nature of its shape and way they’re grown.  Besides, it’ll be way better without any grit.

Boil water in a small pot, prepare a bowl with really cold water and spread some paper towels out onto a plate or a flat surface.  Toss the fiddleheads in for 3 minutes.  Drain the boiling water, and toss the fiddleheads into the cold water just long enough to cool it down to handle.  Drain the cold water and dump the fiddleheads onto the paper towels and pat them down to dry them off.   Set aside.

In another bowl, toss the chopped veggies with the 2 tsp. of oil, vinegar, garlic, maple syrup and 1 tsp. of the rosemary. Spread them our evenly onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Season the chicken with 1 tsp. of oil and what’s left of the rosemary. Add the butter to the pan and sauté the fiddleheads for a minute or two. Add the chicken thighs and brown it on both sides.

Go get the cookie sheet with the veggies, and scatter and mix the sautéed fiddleheads with the rest.  Place the chicken thighs on top of the vegetables. Roast for about 20 minutes, and make sure that the chicken isn’t pink inside.

Next Week:  I’m moving to Fridays, just in time for the Calgary BEERFEST at the BMO Centre… so it’s time to cook with Beer!

Terrence is many things, an amateur detective, a traveller in search of new adventures, a dedicated fantasy sci-fi geek, a student of history and politics, and a fervent advocate of dragon boating, medieval sword combat and modern chivalry.  But throughout all that, he’s a foodie seeking new cultures, flavours, the perfect Montreal smoked meat sandwich in Calgary and the best place to hide some of his favorite KFM snack finds into his home before his partner catches him.  He welcomes any input, questions or suggestions through his email: spyterry@shaw.ca, on his Yelp page: http://terrencelo.yelp.ca (check out the Montreal smoked meat list!) or via Twitter @terrylo_calgary 

by Gabriel Hall

One of my rules is, “When you stuff meat with more meat, it can only get better”.

My friends have an annual wing competition purely for bragging rights. Up to 20 guys compete in an intense game of one-upmanship to see who has the best, the hottest, and the most innovative chicken wing. In brainstorming for an absolutely killer, winning piece of chicken I came across the idea of stuffing a deboned wing with all sorts of meaty goodness before giving it a good roasting on the grill. Since I have only seen this technique on TV and at restaurants, I decided to experiment on something a little bigger and a little easier to work with, a chicken leg.

In deciding upon the stuffing I wanted something that would be a strong contrast to the mild chicken meat. Bacon, sausage meat, and spiced beef would be great choices, but you don’t have to be limited by meat in general. A mixture of nuts, herbs, cheeses, and even fruits would go very well with the relatively neutral chicken. In my case I went with sausage meat and a few cloves of garlic. Nice, simple, and pork related.

Cooking something that is stuffed can be tricky. Being able to put enough heat into something to ensure it is cooked all the way through without burning the outside to a crisp is important, especially with supermarket chicken, where the risk of salmonella is high. If I don’t have access to a grill with a cover, I like to use the pan roasting technique where I can develop a nice crust on the outside of the meat while ensuring an even heat to cook it thoroughly.

You can actually use pan roasting for more than just chicken. I’ve done it with breaded pork chops, steaks, and even roasts. It is especially effective with steaks and can save you from bundling up and standing in front of the grill in a -20C winter chill just because you crave a steak dinner. If you set your oven to 135F the outside will sear beautifully on the stovetop and the interior will never rise above 135F inside the oven giving you a perfect piece of medium rare steak no matter how long you cook it.

It’s too bad I’ve never been formally invited to this competition. Maybe next year I’ll just sneak my wings in and see how they fare.

Sausage Stuffed Chicken Legs

Ingredients:

• 3-4 chicken legs, thigh attached
• 1 pound (1 package) hot Italian sausage meat
• 6-8 cloves of garlic
• Vegetable or canola oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Tools:

• 1 sharp knife
• Toothpicks, small skewers, or butcher twine
• A good pan

The hardest part of stuffing chicken is deboning. Taking out the thigh and optionally, the drumstick bone can be tricky, but the key to this is practice. To take out the thigh bone I made a single slice on the underside of the leg, followed the center of the thigh bone. I slid my fingers in between the meat and bone to disconnect meat from bone and popped the bone out after some work. Continue the cut line down the drumstick part and repeat the process if you want to get the drumstick bone out. I personally like to leave it in as it gives the leg some structure (i.e. still look like a normal leg), and it allows you to pick it up and eat it with hands if you choose to do so.

Once you have the deboned leg splay it out on the cutting board. Take a small bit of sausage meat and form it into a tube. Place it in the center of the deboned chicken. Remember, you don’t need a lot, as the chicken will not close properly and fall apart if you have overstuffed it. Place a few cloves of peeled garlic on top of the sausage meat and then wrap the chicken around it, almost as if the sausage meat was the bone.

You can secure the chicken with toothpicks. I like to use small metal skewers as they have less chance of breaking and leaving bits in your chicken which you have to pick out later. You can also use butcher’s twine to tie the chicken together for cooking. Remember to salt and pepper the outside of the chicken, particularly on the skin. This will give it a nice crust. Don’t overdo it however; as you have to remember that the sausage meat is already salty.

Get a heavy pan, cast iron works well as it retains a lot of heat but I’ve done it with coated non-stick and stainless steel. First, heat your oven to 400F. Second, put your pan on the stove burner to get it nice and hot. Add some oil with a high smoke point like vegetable oil or sunflower oil and proceed to fry the pieces of stuffed chicken skin down. This ensures you will get a nice and crispy skin which is every chicken lover’s favourite part.

Once it’s nice and brown, flip it over so that the skin is up and then place the whole pan in the oven to cook for about 20 minutes. This will vary a bit depending on how much stuffing you have and how big the chicken legs are. If you want to be sure it’s cooked, use a meat thermometer. The interior of the chicken should read 165F for it to be considered cooked.

Remember to remove the toothpick, skewers, or twine before serving. Enjoy!