Chef Mike Benninger's "Tasty Bits!"

Boy, these people are BIG !!

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:25:40 PST

Having just returned from a few days away in Florida, I was struck by how overweight a large percentage of the population we saw there is. In full disclosure, I am hardly a "string bean", maybe 15 pounds to spare, but the situation in south Florida looked much more grim.

It's only a "guesstimate", but I would say half the people we saw, young and old, man or woman, were more overweight than me, often significantly so. We were also shocked to learn that you can still smoke cigarettes in many bars and clubs, something unheard of in most of Ontario.

We've all heard the statistics, but to see it in the flesh was a different thing, and as a man nearing 50, (with a father who died young), my overall health is something I pay some attention to, and if this small cross-section is even remotely representative of the general American population, the American health care system, and it's budget, are in for a very bad time.

Why is it like this?? Because calories are cheap, but just how cheap??

18,250 "More" Calories in Tim Hortons Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:41:57 PST

On January 23rd 2012, Canada's most recognizable take-out brand, Tim Hortons, adds an item to their menu, the new 24oz Extra Large Coffee. But Tim Hortons already has an extra large, so is this in fact, an "Extra Extra" Large??

No, that would be too confusing, so instead of that, the new size is now the "Extra Large", the old "Extra Large" is now the "Large", the old "Large" is now the "Medium", old "Medium" is now the "Small" and the old "Small" is now the "Extra Small". Easy right??

And to make things even easier, only the names have changed, not the prices, so my new larger "Double Double" will be the same price. Super huh?!

Menu confusion aside, there is a much bigger issue. Contrary to what most think, the "Large Double Double" that everyone (including me), orders without thinking has 230 calories, 12 grams of fat and 26 grams of sugar. I suspect that old habits will die hard and without thinking, the vast majority of customers will continue to order the "Large Double Double" as they have every morning for years, without recognizing that their hot beverage now has 280 calories, 14 grams of fat and 34 grams of sugar. That's an extra 50 calories, 2 grams of fat and 8 grams of sugar. Doesn't sound like much does it?

We associate excess calories with sodas, not coffee. Assuming that you don't do anything else but order the new "Large Double Double" once a day like always, you'll be introducing an extra 18,250 calories into your body a year, that's an extra 5.2 pounds worth!. Multiply that for the folks who have more than one "Tim's" a day and the impact is dramatic.

Tim Horton's is changing their serving sizes to be in line with their American outlets, and I suspect that the "Extra Small" will disappear over the next year, along with the price freeze. Is this a better deal for customers? On the surface, yes, but these customers are also taxpayers and the medium/long term health care costs of millions more empty calories in the food chain will vastly outweigh the few pennies saved.

Enjoy your coffee, switch to milk from cream, your waistline, and your wallet will thank you...

McDonalds and All Access Moms

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:21:59 PST

By now, you have likely seen at one or more of the new McDonald's All-Access Moms series of TV ads airing usually on CityTV/CTV channels.

This series of ads is a new way to create a new type of "influencer", in this case Canadian "Moms", by having them help other Canadian "Mom's" feel comfortable with McDonald's as a fast food choice, and in fact, making it the preferred choice based on their experiences.

I am not a McDonald's customer beyond once or twice a year, so I don't care how they spend their ad dollars, they're wasted on me, but that being said, it does raise some serious questions about this campaign....

-Are these "Mom's" compensated for their opinions by McDonald's?

-How were they chosen to be the All Access "Mom's", was it by lottery, or are there qualifications or criteria of some sort?

- Who chose what they would see, where they would go and what questions they could ask of the producers?

I don't know about you, but whenever I see a person, not an actor acting a script, but a person providing an endorsement for a good/service, I become suspicious of what they say about that product/service. This is especially true in this case because of the obvious CityTV tie-in and McDonald's aggressive campaign of late to "change the message" about their reputation in the marketplace.

Have you sen the ad series? Does this new style of advertising concern you? Are you likely to feel better about McDonald's because of this series?

A Great Grape

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:57:56 PST

Just finished an Angels Gate Cab-merlot, 2008, $12.95 at the LCBO. A super buy, a great house red if you're looking for one to keep a case of for folks dropping by...

Much harder than it looks...

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 07:32:07 PST

So Tuesday I had an audition for a TV commercial in Toronto, and honestly, I can say that the experience was very unsettling. I have been very lucky to have done a lot of TV in my cooking career, the vast majority of it live or live to tape, and none of that was as challenging as Tuesday was.

For some reason, just standing there in front of the camera, no chefs coat, no table, no knives, no pans, nothing to do but to speak into the lens, was far harder then I thought it would be.

I don’t usually get nervous, even in front of crowds, classrooms or live TV audiences. But for some reason, just looking at those 4 people sitting there, with nothing but bare walls and a single camera, had me stuttering and stammering like I was 10 years old again, not a media savvy adult.

Despite that, it was a great experience, I never knew how different the 2 methods are, live and scripted. I always thought live was harder, after all, there are no second takes. Little did I know that the second (and third and fourth) takes don’t always make it easier…

Luckily, I know I‘ll get better…

A hot time at the Millcroft LCBO

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:55:28 PST

Yesterday we attended our first class at the Millcroft LBCO store, in anticipation of my teaching a class there in April 2012. The class was "Chinese Appetizers, Part II", the first part of the class being taught the day before.

The kitchen room is much smaller than we thought it was, seating perhaps 20, and with the doors closed, boy was it ever cold in there!! If it's that cold in there now, imagine when it's -10C outside? They were working on the HVAC when we were there and hopefully they will have it fixed before it gets too cold.

The class itself was fun, if a bit chaotic. Suzi our chef is highly skilled, but since she didn't do anything ahead of time, she had to fill time while she made either 18 or 36 of everything (either 1 or 2 of each item per person). As you can imagine, that really slowed things down a lot, to the point where our final item that takes 20 minutes to cook only went into the oven and the class time was over.

Overall it was a good experience, and an opportunity to see the kitchen itself and the LCBO staff working during a real class. I'm not sure if I'll ever make any of the items we shown by Suzi, but still a positive experience.

VG Meats...maybe

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:25:12 PST

So yesterday I went to visit VG Meats in Stoney Creek (www.VGMeats.ca), their second location after their flagship store in Simcoe.

VG Meats specializes in "package pricing", where you purchase different packages that contain an assortment of different proteins, in their case priced from $65.30 to $268.37 per package. This is not unlike when I was a kid and my parents used to "order a 1/4 of beef" once or twice a year in the 1970's, only on a smaller scale for today's smaller families and condo lifestyles.

Overall, the prices looked very competitive and I think that for the right consumer, VG Meats would be an excellent option, especially in the summer as their packages tend to have lots of sausages, patties, hot dogs and ground meats that would be excellent on the BBQ. They also have counter sales as well, where you can get other fresh cuts and again the prices looked very competitive.

All meats sold at VG Meats are inspected, but the beef is not graded (such as A, AA, AAA, PRIME), instead grading it where needed in-house. Is this a problem? I don't really think so, as long as it is inspected properly. Having your beef graded is voluntary and is subjective (see method here), but as long as it is inspected safe and tastes good, I really have no concerns.

I have one of their pork roasts brining for our dinner tonight, and I have every confidence it will be great, but that being said, their packages aren't for me, but there are still lots of good things to say about VG Meats.

Yet Another Cooking Game Show !!

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:26:53 PDT

So there I was, setting up my new PVR to record some things, and what do I see, but yet ANOTHER cooking game show, this one called "Recipe to Riches" described as..."a new competitive reality series where each week, Canadian home cooks battle to have their original recipes become a President’s Choice product, win $25,000 and become eligible for a grand prize of $250,000"

Really??? Are there no original ideas left?? They even recycled failed NFL quarterback, failed "Bachelor" Jesse Palmer to host this thing...please stop watching this stuff, it only encourages them to make more of it.

Watch Anne travel through Spain, watch Anthony Bourdain go where ever he goes, watch Chuck Hughes actually cook, watch Alton Brown do anything or find Americas Test Kitchen on PBS, your brain will thank you for it...

The LCBO versus the Beer Store

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:30:01 PDT

I used to a be a regular "Beer Store" shopper, as opposed to shopping at the LCBO. I was a bigger beer drinker than a wine/liquor drinker at the time, so the Beer Store made sense, but now that has all changed.

I never shop at the Beer Store anymore, except to return "empties", and the reason why is quite easy.

The Beer Store and the LCBO charge me the same price for the same products I purchase, and are interchangeable. The difference for me is that the Beer Store is a privately owned company, owned by the beer companies, and they take their profits offshore, but the LCBO is owned by the Ontario government, and their profits stay in the province.

In 2009, the "dividend" the LCBO returned to provincial coffers (it doesn't make profit, just ask Dalton...) "to pay for programs and services" was over $1 Billion dollars.

I think the tax load consumers pay in Ontario for products at the LCBO is beyond excessive, usually more than 6o% of the purchase price. That being said, if I have to pay the excessive taxes to their monopoly, I might as well pay them to the province I live in, in effect, pay them to myself.

It doesn't make their monopoly or their tax rates any more palatable, but since we use the services, we get some value at the LCBO that we don't at the Beer Store.

The value of Meatless Mondays

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:20:39 PDT

People often ask me for easy tips on eating healthier, but since I'm a chef and not a nutritionist or dietitian, I like to stick to very general advice, and the first thing I like to suggest is that everyone should adopt "Meatless Mondays" as part of their lifestyle.

Why?? What makes "Meatless Mondays" a good idea??

First is personal health. I am an unashamed omnivore, but there is real science that proves that a diet lower in (or without) animal protein is a healthier one. Its also true that this is not a dietary choice that everyone is prepared to make, so how about just 1 day a week to start?

Second, is the environment. There is no question that there is a higher environmental cost (feed, effluent run-off, greenhouse gases etc.) to create an equal amount of animal mass than to grow an equal amount of vegetable mass. The reality, is that reducing your animal protein consumption, primarily beef, will be the easiest "green" choice that the average person can make in their home.

Third, is cost, and despite the fact that we in North America enjoy the cheapest food costs in the industrialized world, meat products, especially the more desirable cuts, usually cost significantly more than any vegetables available, a useful way to save some money in these difficult economic times.

Another, more graphic reason for re-thinking our meat consumption are the animal factories used to process the huge numbers of animals we consume. Have no doubt what these places are, factories where thousands of animals a day are slaughtered and dismembered, places where trimming 2% off the processing cost or adding 3% more to the yield outweighs any and all concerns for the animals comfort, welfare or health.

My last and somewhat nebulous reason is the notion of food fairness. Is it fair that that we in North America, who make up under 10% of the world's population, are somehow "entitled" to eat a third of the worlds supply of meat??. That's what do and we have done for years, just saying that out loud makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Give it some thought, and then give it a try, "Meatless Mondays" can do a lot of good, and for lots of reasons, and who knows you might even like it...

A small start, but a start...

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:21:54 PDT

Recently McDonald's has changed their Happy Meal to include apple slices and made the portion size of the french fries smaller, thus lowering the fat and calorie content of the meal.

To describe the food blogosphere as unimpressed would be a drastic understatement. This move has been pilloried as nothing more than a shameless ploy by an obesity causing fast food giant to distract our attention from the real facts about their menu and to lure in a new crop of future customers.

Me, I'm not disappointed about it at all...

When it comes to these multinational food companies, I have VERY low expectations, they are after all, driven purely by profit margins and share price. To them, if their customers eat their unhealthy food products and it makes them obese and diabetic, then it's their own customers fault for not making better food choices and eating better.

Against that very cynical backdrop, if McDonald's (for example) does even the slightest thing to make fresh apples and other fruit look cool on their letterhead, it's fine with me. Is it a ploy to make us ignore the true damages their menus are causing to consumers? More than likely, but some change, even tiny change at the multinational corporate level, is better than none at all.

It's sad that McDonald's is making fruits look cool, not kid's parents, but that's a topic for another post. Never forget that you, the consumer, hold the ultimate hammer, that being where you spend. Reward companies that do good, punish those that don't, after all, isn't that the American way??

Vegetarian arrogance??

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:28:32 PDT

I was chatting with some chef friends and we started talking about tough clients, and surprisingly, all of them had a nasty vegetarian/vegan client story to tell.

I've never found vegetarian/vegan that hard to cook for personally, mostly because my wife is lactose intolerant and we cut almost all dairy out of our lives years ago, and since we both like pasta and seafood, "Meatless Monday" is easy.

Many other chefs don't share my view, often describing vegetarian clients as hyper-demanding, some expecting new cutting boards and knives, separate utensils, one even demanding separate prep rooms and service staff. Trust me, they weren't impressed...

Bad-boy chef Anthony Bourdain has repeatedly expressed his dislike of vegetarians. To him, starvation and hunger are real dangers to billions on this world that few of us will ever see, and to choose to not eat something with animal protein that could literally be the difference between life or death for others is the very height of arrogance and selfishness.

I come down somewhere in-between. While I know there is zero chance of that declined chicken leg ever making it to a hungry kid in a Bogota slum, I also know that we are blessed with affluence and choice beyond imagining for those same billions. Maybe we too easily forget that we choose what we eat, that we eat for pleasure or for recreation, while the other 90% of the world eats what they can find to survive for one more day.

Do you think vegetarianism is a form of arrogance?

The Good and the Bad of PEC

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:09:31 PDT

We have just returned from our annual house-sitting getaway to our friends place near Brighton, just a few miles from the wineries and shoppes of Prince Edward County. 5 days of the freshest eggs possible, literally less than an hour from coop to pan, absolutely fantastic stuff.

Since its our third year in a year, here's a few thoughts on how we've seen things evolve in the last few years...

The good, is that the quality of the products produced in PEC has risen every year, and this year is no exception. We sampled some excellent wines that clearly show a maturing of both the vines and the winemakers. We also found lots of farmer's markets selling top quality local fruits, vegetables and baked goods, and lots of local grocery stores going "local", carrying PEC raised produce.

A key challenge we saw, exclusively with wines, is their pricing. I know there are real costs to operate on a day by day basis and significant investments that need to be re-payed. That being said, we saw many wineries listing their wines at $35.00 or more on a regular basis. I enjoy supporting smaller producers, but for those prices, I can buy from world famous Italian, Australian and French vintners with decades or even centuries of experience and technique.

From the road traffic we saw, it's clear the island has it's fan's, including us, but I worry that the PEC producers are "trying to run before they walk", demanding super premium prices without any long term history. The LCBO has been aggressive in building up an enormous selection of wines in the $16.00 to $32.00 range giving consumers extensive choice without the drive to PEC.

In this highly competitive landscape in a field with literally a thousand brands to choose from, surprising customers on their first visit seems like a flawed strategy, especially when wine drinkers tend to be very loyal to what they like, purchasing it again and again. Only time will tell who is right...

Dry Aging Beef at Home

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:43:27 PDT

Ever wonder why steak at those super expensive steakhouses taste richer and more robust than home steaks do? There are 2 things, USDA choice cuts of meat, (very hard for the general public to get), and dry aging. We can't do much about but the first thing, but second we can, dry aging. Dry aging is actually very easy to do at home, all you need is a refrigerator that doesn't get opened a lot, some cheesecloth, a baking sheet, paper-towel, a cookie rack or other fine meshed rack and a probe thermometer.

I like to dry-aged AAA bone-in prime-rib roasts, and the easiest place to get those is COSTCO, ideally 5 or 6 bones in size. In fact, if you only do this 3-4 times a year, I am confident that you could justify a Costco membership.

The process is actually very simple, and while I am using the prime rib roast as my example, you can also do this with a whole boneless rib roasts as well as whole trimmed tenderloins as well.

1. Tape the probe to a baking baking sheet and place it on the bottom shelf of your fridge, close the door, attach the thermometer to the door and wait for 3 hours preferably overnight, the ideal temperature is about 35F or 2 C. You may need to tweak your temperature very slightly, but remember 2 small adjustments is better than 1 big one.

2. Unwrap the roast, then rinse under cold water and pat it very dry with paper towels. Do not trim or season in any way. Wrap the roast loosely in a double or triple layer of cheesecloth and set it on your rack over the baking sheet. Avoid opening the fridge if possible as temperature and humidity changes slow the process.

3. Refrigerate for 1 full day. Gently unwrap and then re-wrap the roast with the same cheesecloth (this keeps the cloth fibres from sticking to the meat) and age for at least 2 more days, with tenderloins usually done after 3 full days of again.

4. Refrigerate for up to seven days total, the longer the aging, the better it will taste. Remember to watch the temperature and refrain from opening the door.

5. When you're ready to roast, unwrap the meat and, with a sharp knife, shave off and discard the hard, dried outer surface of the meat, as well as the leathery parts from each end. Shave away any dried areas of fat, too, but leave behind as much of the good fat as possible.

6. Using a big knife, cut along the bone line to give you the biggest steaks you can, about 2" thick. You want the longest cutting stroke you can with least number of strokes to avoid slashing the sides of the meat up. I like to store them in large zip-top style freezer bags with all the air sucked out, usually good for 3 months in the freezer.

7. Grill as you prefer, but remember that you can lose up to 20% of the roasts mass over that week so plan your portions sizes accordingly...

Trust me, once you do this, you'll never look back. The flavour will be more concentrated, the surfaces crispier, the texture softer and there will be less "purge" on the plate. Its not exactly the same as the true steakhouse experience, but at about 1/3 the price and your own wine, i am sure you will be very happy with the results.

More Thoughts on Eating Local

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:42:44 PDT

My last blog post sparked a lot of responses from various people, a few surprised and some even angry that as a reasonably well known chef, I am not leading the “eat local” charge with a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other…

As I said before, paying the farmer directly should be the first thing on your mind when you go out to “buy local”. Doing that is a straight transfer of cash from your pocket, directly to a producer, maximizing his income, keeping your money in your community, hopefully maximizing the quality of your goods and helping to create some biological diversity in the produce markets.

For me, that’s all the reason I need, but locally grown food apparently has other more abstract values, such as a smaller “carbon footprint”, is more environmentally raised, more nutritious, better tasting, better texture and is generally a better product because it was grown closer to where it will be eaten.

Let’s start by ignoring the implied racism that somehow a (generally white) Canadian farmer is a better guardian of the land, more environmentally responsible and generally “more green” than one from Mexico, Spain or even the Unites States and instead look at facts…

Locovores focus on how far food travels or it’s “food miles”. Any distance traveled can impact the environment to some degree, but the growing cycle is also about land clearing, cultivation, planting, fertilizing, weeding, harvesting, transportation o market and finishing cultivation. Transportation to market is a small part of the whole growing cycle and cannot be extracted in isolation.

As for the taste, texture and nutrition levels, there is real science that supports this. Goods that are picked when ripe for market are clearly different than those picked early to ripen in transport. When you can, you buy local and pay the farmer directly, but we all know you can only do so for a limited number of weeks a year, so you need other options to feed your family fresh fruits and vegetables the rest of the year.

Clearly, there is a huge market for fresh goods out of local season, and with fruits and vegetables such a vital part of a balanced diet, we need other options. Fresh will always be better for you from a taste, texture and nutrition perspective, but sometimes local is just not an option. Don’t deny yourself fresh healthy foods when they are available regardless of their source, always try to buy local first.

Eating local and what it really means to me…

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:38:44 PDT

We have a new word in our language, “locovore”. A locovore is someone who primarily eats foods from their local or regional food area, or within a radius from their home, commonly 100 or 250 miles. In my business as a personal chef, my perspective on the whole locovore/eat local idea is something I’m asked about a lot, so I though I would share a few thoughts.

To be totally honest, I am not as big a proponent to buying local as much as other chefs are, except for one reason: to be sure that the money goes directly into a farmer's pocket, bypassing wholesalers and retailers. I buy local because me putting cash into their pockets can have a real impact on their bottom line, and the rest of the “buy local” arguments I tend to discount to a great degree.

Let’s be clear about one main issue. Canada has, since it’s very first days, been a food trading nation, selling wheat and other grains to the world since the 1860’s. To this very day, we export millions of tonnes of wheat, grains and thousands of other food products 1000X beyond any locovore’s trading radius. If we don’t buy from them, why should they buy from us? We NEED to trade food items, more and more everyday as our manufacturing base moves offshore.

I remember reading a reprint of cookbook called the Maritime Wife (or something close to that), first written in the 1890’s for boarding house operators. There were some recipes close to what we would cook today, but what struck me was the number of recipes that called for lemon and lime juice, mixed peel, sugar, coconut, molasses, salt, coffee, tea, chocolate and different spices like nutmeg, ginger, mace, allspice and cinnamon, none of these remotely "local".

Clearly as a key shipping hub, getting these items from European and the Caribbean ports was likely easier than in most places, but this was more than a century ago.

Please buy local, but when you do, know why you are doing it. When you’re buying local, you’re putting money directly into a farmer’s pocket, hopefully keeping them on the land, making the land viable for them and their children. If you believe it’s “greener” or tastes better or more organic or is just somehow better, that’s fine too, but at its core, it’s money first.

Do you buy local?? Why do you do it??

HomeMade Porchetta My Way...

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:21:20 PDT

So friend Irene was in Toronto a few weeks ago and she brought me home a Porchetta sandwich from this small deli she found in Little Italy. It was fantastic, the best pork thing ever!! I had to learn how to make this, so after a wee bit of research and a bit of grocery shopping, I gave it a try and thought I would share the experience, so here we go...

First thing is to start with a raw pork belly, about 1 KG in size. This particular piece is the top cut of the entire belly, which is usually cured and smoked, then sliced thinly and made into side bacon.

The first step is to score the fatty top in a cross hatching pattern, about 1/2" apart and on a 45 degree angle. It's much easier to do this with the skin off, so I would suggest you skin it first (ask your butcher), or if not fully skinned, at least have the thick leathery bits cut off.

I have found that a box cutter style knife also does a great job with the scoring, even easier then using a chef's knife. Once that's done and it needs to be scored and then butterflied, so you might want to ask your butcher to do these knife intensive things for you. I have been a chef for years and I am very comfortable with a knife, but if you are not, just ask your butcher to do it for you. If you have a good butcher, he'll do it happily, and if he won't, you might want to find another butcher or store to shop at.

Butterflying the pork belly is basically cutting the pork in half across the width, while leaving a thin strip one side so you essentially cut through the inside so it opens like a book. If you Google "butterfly cutting", you will find lots of different instructions and videos on the butterflying method.

I wanted to add a rustic herbed oil to the inside of mine, for flavour, moisture and colour, so i used my mortar and pestle and made up a sage,Rosemary, sea salt, garlic and olive oil filling and mashed it all up until it was smooth and fragrant.

Since I think that modern pork tenderloin is too lean for my likes, I thought that what better way to help with the moisture inside the roll, than to line the whole thing with bacon, that way we would have pork wrapped around pork, all of that wrapped by pork. Assembly of the whole thing is actually quite simple and can be done by anyone who has ever made fajitas or rice paper wraps. Make sure that your pork belly is set up so it is scored side down, away from you.

Start by placing 4-5 strips of bacon overlapping slightly at closest end. On top of the bacon, centre a trimmed pork tenderloin in the middle of pork belly. Generously slather the oil mixture all over the tenderloin, bacon and the pork belly, keeping it 1" from each edge.

Using both hands, roll up the whole thing as as tightly as possible, keeping the roll as round as possible. Using butchers twine, tie up the roll tightly at 1" gaps, but don't tie them so tight as to tear the fat layer, it should take 9-10 wraps. Using a fork, thread a single thread around the lengths,covering both ends to keep the whole roll tight. Oil down the fat layer with more of the herb oil and then chill down the the whole thing for 3-4 hours, or even better, overnight.

Traditionally, this is cooked on a spit for a few hours over an open fire, but a modern BBQ on a rotisserie works just fine. I lined the bottom grill with foil to capture the fat and turned the burner underneath on to its lowest setting. After basting 3-4 times an hour (using the fat off the foil) for 2 hours at 350F, I rested it for 20 minutes uncovered, cut the strings and sliced off portions.

It was FANTASTIC!! It was better as it cooled and the next day, it made the best sandwich's, and actually I think it was far better when it sat overnight. I think the whole thing was maybe $12.00 by the time you bought all the ingredients and the one we made easily fed the 7 adults we had attending. Next time. I will cook it a bit hotter for a bit less time, and it should be perfect...

Picnic Food Safety

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:54:42 PDT

I know that food safety isn't the top concern when picnicking. Truth is, it kinda ruins the romance of the day, but rest assured when I tell you that SALMONELLA ruins the mood much more!!!

Picnic food safety is actually very easy and really only has 4 basic rules. First, keep what's supposed to be cold, cold. If you have cooked meats, salads, dressings, and stuff that came from the fridge, keep it as cold as you can for as long as you can.

Second, if it was hot, keep it hot. This is the same premise as the first rule. Food should never be kept lukewarm for extended periods, say more then an hour. It should be above 130F of below 50F for transport (ideally above 140F and below 40F for longer term storage).

Third, keep raw items from cooked ones, especially with meats. This is especially true if you are doing things like burgers, sausages or other ground meats. Ideally, they should be transported separately, but that’s not always practical, but they should be kept as separate as possible, and as cold as possible until they hit the grill.

The last rule is about clean up. While I know that disposable paper cutlery, plates and Zip Loc bags are not the most environmentally responsible choice, they are the safest and fastest from a food safety perspective. Just bin them properly when you are finished and the danger ends there.

If you are using Tupperware or other LocTop style containers, (either glass or plastic ones), be sure to rinse them out, then close them after use for transport home. Be sure to wash them immediately, preferably in the dishwasher. If you are using a cooler or other carrying bag, be sure to rinse it out thoroughly after use, and give it a quick wipe down with anti-bacterial wipes to make sure you’re good to go for next time.

Food safety is no accident, but it is a lot of common sense, and while I think we go a bit overboard at times, having suffered from salmonella before, I know it's better to be safe than sorry.

Food Safety and Summertime

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 12:42:23 PDT

With summer in full swing and daytime temperatures in the mid 30's, we should take a few minutes and talk about some basic food safety in the summer heat.

First is grocery shopping in the summer heat. Grocery shopping should either be the one thing that you do in that trip, or if doing multiple things, the last thing you do on a trip. If you're not sure what I mean, put an oven thermometer in your car, close it up and walk away for only 10 minutes. I did it yesterday and my car was 50C in a few minutes. Imagine 30 minutes in full sun...not good...

Summer shopping problems can be solved very easily, starting with 2 ice packs and a good quality cooler. When you shop, be sure keep your temperature sensitive things (milk, ice cream, meats, fish etc.) bagged separately so you an place the whole bag straight into the cooler. Follow that with your fruit, vegetables, bread, etc, with the canned and packaged items left out unless you have lots of space. They will be fine for the trip home, but I wouldn't leave them there, even overnight.

Always shop in this order: dry and packaged goods, then vegetables, then fruits, then dairy, then meat, then frozen goods. This order means that the most temperature sensitive items are kept cooled until just before you leave with them. Be sure to take your own bags and pre-pack goods to go right into your cooler for the trip home.

As simple as this is, you would be shocked how rarely this is done.

Next, a food safe picnic...

My toolbox, your toolbox

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:09:01 PDT

When I go to jobs, either a dinner for 2 or even a buffet for 40, I only take 1 tool box. Most clients are astonished that so much food can be prepared for so many people with so few tools, and I think there is a lesson in this for home cooks.

My toolbox composition rarely changes. It always contains a Microplaner, a few pens and 4 knives, a paring knife, a chefs knife for me, a second santuko style knife and a bread knife, as well as a sharpener. I always have 3 sets of tongs, a long set for the BBQ, a plastic tipped set for non-stick pans, and a regular metal set). I usually have 3 or 4 silicone spatulas, 2 whisks, 2 heatproof gloves, a few large spoons, 2 silicone pastry brushes, an instant read thermometer, a BBQ igniter, 2 boxes of wooden matches, a few band-aids, a plastic soup ladle and a few black shop towels.

All this fits into my toolbox (I call it my "Tickle Trunk"), a box less then 9" x 9" and under 2' long, and that's all ANYONE, any home chef, ever really needs. Yes, there are some specialized tools for pastry or baking, but for the vast majority of everyday dishes, it can be this simple.

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 09:19:13 PDT

So yesterday, my wife and I went to the Toronto Wine and Cheese Show twice, FIRST AND LAST!!

First, they wanted $18.00 at the door to get in, and then once you're inside, they wanted $1.00 (+HST) per tasting ticket, which of course was not clearly posted on their website (http://www.towineandcheese.com/). Doesn't my $18.00 ticket buy me anything??

If that wasn't bad enough, almost every vendor was charging 2 tickets for a 2oz sample. I wouldn't mind so much if their product was more than $26.00 a bottle, but when they brag their wine is only $14.95, charging me double that to taste it, especially after our $18.00 each at the door?? Really?? Now I'm annoyed you're gouging me and not interested in buying your product again.

The show floor itself was perhaps 60% full of vendors, and foot traffic when we were there was half what it could have been. Large sections of the sides where vendors would have had booths, were instead either empty or had a few tables and chairs stuck it to make it look fuller. They even went so far as to "move" the back wall in by 25M with draperies to make the space look fuller.

I recognize that the organizers and vendors have costs to cover, and some legal issues to deal with, but we left there feeling ripped off and used. For the $60.00+ those 2 hours cost, next year we'll pass on the show and go visit a few wineries. I am certain that experience will be a better one.

What's the Right Cut for the Grill?

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 11:06:14 PST

What makes a beef steak the right kind for the grill? I get asked this quite a lot, so I think a few minutes on this might help.

I prefer a whole bone prime rib steak personally. I think the combination of the fat percentage, the fat distribution, the bone, the thickness of the cut (usually a bit over 2") and its actual size make it the best choice. You can buy a "AAA" grade cut for about $22.00 at most any quality butcher and my wife and I get a full meal, plus left overs from each one, and I think that's good value.

Next would be the T-Bone or Porterhouse steak, and for the same reasons as the prime rib. The price point tends to be a bit higher but this cut also has the advantage of having 2 different cuts, the strip and the loin, on the same steak, so you get two different beef experiences at the same time.

Next would be the tenderloin. I prefer this grilled as a small roast, then rested and sliced as opposed to a steak, but it also makes an excellent steak as long as it is cut at least 1 1/4 thick. The only downsides are price, usually above $20.00 per pound, and also that it is very lean and can dry out very quickly, so never cook it past medium.

Those are my personal favourites, in order, but you can't go wrong with a "AAA" New York Strip, Rib-eye or Top Sirloin either. If you have some grilling experience, you can also use skirt or hanger steak as well as thicker cut blade steaks, but be advised that while they will have a "beefier" flavour, they have a very small window when they are perfect, but will also go tough if over cooked.

All these cuts should be available at any decent butcher or even your local "mega-mart" or Costco, so supply should not be a problem. Just remember to season aggressively a few hours ahead, preheat your grill and let it do the work.

How to Properly Grill a T-Bone

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:36:20 PST

A simple technique for Grilling a T-Bone

Grilling a good t-bone really is nothing more than doing 5 key things in order.

1. start with the right T-bone. A proper T-bone for backyard grilling is at least 1¼” thick, but preferably 1½” thick. Any thinner than that and it will overcook before you get a good crust. Look for lots of marbling and large tenderloin undercut.

2. Season it aggressively on both sides with salt and pepper about 4 hours before you want to grill. If you want it very rare, keep it in the fridge until the last minute, but if you want it medium or more, let it warm on the counter for the last hour.

3. A very hot BBQ, and by hot, I mean at least 600F or more. This usually takes at least 10 minutes of warm up time. If you want an extra boost, put an old cookie sheet over the grill for the last 5 minutes of warm up to super heat it. Oil it lightly just before putting the steak on.

4. Put your steak on the grill, close the lid and step back for 3 minutes. Lift the lid, lift the steak with tongs (never stab it!!) rotate it 45 degrees and slide it to a new hot part of the grill.

5. After 3 more minutes, lift the lid, lift the steak, flip it over and put it back where you started grilling it. After 3 more minutes, lift the lid, lift the steak and rotate it 45 degrees and slide it to a new hot part of the grill again.

That’s it…really…honest…that’s all there is to it.

If you pull that steak off the grill after 12 minutes cooking time and rest it on a warm platter for 5-6 minutes, it will be lovely and rare. That’s how my wife likes it, but you will have to adjust the timing by adding 30 seconds per cycle, even up to a minute more per cycle for medium well…

Believe it or not, that’s really all there is to it…enjoy!!

How to get out of your own way when you grill...

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:34:44 PST

One of my most asked questions as a personal chef has to do with proper grilling methods, so I thought we should do a quick primer on some grilling basics.

I find most people complicate grilling much more than they need to, so I like to use a little mantra I call “heat, meat and feet” to keep it simple. Following this little rule helps stay out of your own way when you grill.

The first thing is the proper HEAT setting for what you are cooking, so lets use beef steak as am example. My family and most of my clients prefer their food to be cooked to rare or medium rare. So, using a very high heat to both sear the outside and create a flavourful crust, all without cooking the inside too far, gives the best results. You can use this approach for most items like beef, pork chops, fish portions, lamb chops and the like.

Next is MEAT. It's important to choose the right cuts of meat. For example, let's talk about beef. There are 5-6 cuts of beef that lend themselves to grilling. Commonly used grilling steaks are prime rib, t-bone, porterhouse, flank, skirt (or hanger), tenderloin, sirloin and strip loin. There are many other cuts available, but usually their combination of muscle mass, fat content and structure makes them better choices for slower cooking methods like soups, stews and in crock pots.

A second issue with meat is its size and its source. If you prefer your steaks fairly rare, you need to have your steaks cut at least 1” thick. Any thinner than that and most home grills will not be able to create a tasty, crispy crust and keep it rare enough to be moist and tender. Almost every butcher shop and the majority of the bigger grocery stores will happily cut steaks to any thickness you want, so just ask. But if they refuse or charge you extra, you might want to re-think buying your meat there.

The last thing is FEET... STEP AWAY!!! No, seriously…

Most people toss their food on the grill without any thought to spacing and grill heat. After you paid good money for a high quality grill, let it do the work!! Put your steaks on with room to rotate or flip them as needed. The more well-done ones should go on a few minutes ahead of the others, then close the lid and STOP TOUCHING THEM!!!

You want the tasty crust, so stopping opening the lid and letting the heat out! You want professional looking grill marks, so stop opening the lid and moving them around! You want them tender and moist, so don’t cut into them to see how well done they are. And never use a fork to stab a piece of meat to move it!

If you have a decent quality propane grill, set to high that has warmed up for 10 minutes, a 1” thick t-bone of decent quality should grill for about 12 minutes to rare, plus 3 minutes of resting time. That’s a total of 15 minutes from start to finish. This is not a hard and fast rule, but a good guideline to start with.

Heat, meat and feet. Following this simple mantra will set you on the path to enjoying tasty grilled foods.

Next time, more on the actual technique of grilling a t-bone…

What egg labels really mean...

noreply@blogger.com (Chef Mike Benninger) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:38:17 PDT

Once again, I have to thank my good friend Hemi at Fooducate for doing a fantasic job in simplifying and explaining the most common egg labels that we see in our supermarkets.

I was lucky to spend a few days at a small egg farm this past summer, and I can say that no egg ever has tasted as good as the true free range ones we used to collect every morning after the 25 chickens left their coop to wander around their yard for the day.

In Burlington, we are lucky enough to have John Rowe products including his free run eggs. Even though "free run" can mean anything to anyone, I am confident that his hens are treated well and their superior flavour reflects that. I would prefer to go directly to the farmer and buy them there, but in the meantime, Rowe Farms are an excellent alternative.

As I have said before, BUY BETTER EGGS!! They taste better, the hens are treated better, they are better to cook with, and you will be doing a small part to motivate others to adopt more humane practices.