Springy Flower Salad

Springy Flower Salad. Back when I was learning about the many edible and medicinal herbs and flowers with Rachel MacLeod at the Kiln Farm. I was being shown all the varieties which we would pick as they were growing and then turn into the salad of the day. It was a lot of fun and very neat as each week I would be introduced to a new flavour. Chocolate Curry Flower, Opal Basil, Dandelions and Clover. Nothing makes a food plate jump out at you more then one presented with some eye dazzling edible flowers. I like lavender, thyme, dill, cilantro, day lily, zucchini squash...

The Classic Chateau Briand

The Classic Chateau Briand. Working at Hotel Vancouver during my apprenticeship The Timber Room and the Panorama Dinning Rooms steak nights were popular on a regular bases. For those having a special dinner out the Classic Chateau Briand for two was beautiful aged beef tenderloin done to perfection. If you were a capable cook the sous chef would give you the privilege to work one of the cooking stations during these orchestrated periods of chaos. When the lunch or dinner hour was in full swing you had to be ready to produce your part of the menu at least 40 or 50 times....

K-Paul’s Shrimp Creole. 1

K-Paul’s Shrimp Creole. 1 When you have friends coming for dinner, it’s a nice change to make a recipe that is actually simple to do and can be done with very little prep and cooking time. Your guests mouth’s will water when they start to smell the aromas coming from the kitchen. Ingredients 1 ½ pounds medium shrimp peeled and deveined 1 tablespoon Louisiana Cajun seasoning 1 tablespoon clarified butter oil ⅓ cup churned unsalted clarified full fat butter ⅓ cup all purpose flour 1 cooking onion chopped ½ bell pepper chopped 2 ribs celery chopped ¼...

Ground Chicken Ginger Garlic Lettuce Wra...

Ground Chicken Ginger Garlic Lettuce Wraps. Say that three times fast! That’s how fast this can be assembled. The fresh ground chicken can be the centre of any good recipe. I like to mince fresh thigh meat with a sharp knife adding small chunks of peeled ginger at the same time. Garlic, pepper, fennel bulb and onion added as you mince all the ingredients together. Leave little chunks and add potato or daikon radish to the mixture for more filler. Fresh ground sea salt, cayenne pepper, cumin, coriander seeds with a dash of allspice. On high heat Sauté all the...

Lake Erie Perch and White Fish

Chatting with a chef friend in Ohio we got talking about the Lake Erie perch quality. My friend was living across Lake Erie Ohio state and returned back to his home town in Sandusky Ohio to retire just like myself returning back home from BC. We both were resort chefs and I met him on Peelee Island years back. Checking out all the eateries he’s retraced upon returning found that most have lost that loving feeling of cooking from scratch. We were comparing Lake Erie fish and chips mostly. The one thing we both found is that so many restaurants today are not cutting...