Louisiana Jambalaya Creole’

LOUISIANA JAMBALAYA CREOLE’ One of my favourite jobs back in the early eighties was chef for a turn of the century musical called One Mo Time. I took on this position because it gave me a chance to be in New York and it was something I wanted to add to my repertoire. While there I was to be mentored by Sara Waxman and introduced to Chef Paul Prudhomme well known for his avant-garde approach to Creole Cuisine and the art of blackened grilling Louisiana style. The producers of this musical wanted to have an authentic Creole style menu that would compliment this dinner...

Waterloo County Mennonite Summer Sausage...

Waterloo County Mennonite Summer Sausage. One of my main objectives was to get a good sampling of some Waterloo County Mennonite summer sausage directly from the source. I have tried several of the farmers market varieties like; original Recipe Schneider’s Summer Sausage in a cloth sock is still produced in small batches, Original recipe KW Fiedlermeat. Noah Martins, Kitchen Kutting’s, Heidelberg Foods, Stemmler’s and many more across the Canadian prairies still using original ingredients and seasoned smokers with …old age. Some of the sausage meisters use the...

Browns Social House Restaurant

Thekitchenman was privileged to meet the two passionate chefs from Vancouvers Browns Social House Restaurant Group. Director of Kitchens Operations Chef Brian Everett to the far right and Culinary Development Chef Jeffery Young. Opening a new location this summer on Hespeler Road. I know from my many visits to their other eateries that this will be very much appreciated here in Cambridge. If you have not been to a local Browns Social House restaurant in your part of the hood, then may I suggest that you visit one soon in Waterloo on Northfield Drive. These two young Chefs...

Pioineer Beef BBq on a Bun

Beef BBQ on a Bun Back when my dad worked at the Iroquois Hotel during the 50’s, it was a very busy hotel and known for its good food. A lot of kitchen help was needed and a lot of the area mom’s filled the many positions as cooks and restaurant help. As the decades changed a lot of the ladies were trained to be good cooks and carried on cooking in other Galt/Preston/Hespeler restaurant kitchens. They were the one’s responsible for cooking up good fare in places like The Knotty Pine, Preston Pioneer BBQ, Moffatt’s, Breslau and numerous other dinning establishments...

Pass Over The Perogy’s

  Perogy’s are Little Pillows of Joy! A large solid wood table sat in the kitchen with my grandmother’s hand crafted homestead chair and well hued benches which could easily sit a dozen people. This vast table was used as the main preparation table that all my aunts and us kids sat at while hand prepping the many perogy’s, cabbage rolls, and other cultural delicacies from early homestead recipes. The different yearly holidays meant lots of company to feed. My Ukrainian mother and Romanian father had 21 siblings between them and about half of my aunts and uncles...

The Great Easter Egg Hunt

The Great Easter Egg Hunt Easter is just around the corner and time for that age old tradition of dying Easter Eggs. The ethnic origins are boundless with ornate decorations with spiritual meaning or humble designs and down right folk artistic. The best thing is to get the children involved in an Easter Egg hunt. Boiling eggs and then using flower petals, rose, daffodils, tulips and fruit dies such as blueberry, cranberry, pomegranate, lemon, lime and orange zest in warm water over a short period will make a good natural colouring agent. Just boil the eggs till hard...