Glazed Cottage Ham Roll

  I was thinking about my mom and some of the meals she would throw together impromptu when needing to feed unexpected company. My dad being a chef was usually at the hotel cooking which made for a long day for him and he took over if needed when he got home. My mom or grandmother would do most the home cooking. It was here that I was shown how to put a farm family hearty meager meal together. A good pork cottage roll was always available and would hang in our cold storage getting tastier with age. It’s hard these days to find a good brined and smoked shoulder cut...

Gazpacho Elixir

Gazpacho Elixir Working as an Executive Chef means that you must possess decorum, accountability and the ability to speak in front of a group of people besides being a humble cook. Over the years I have had to lecture on the proper methods and procedures of cooking too many teams of staff. I also had to converse to guests and diners about my style of cuisine. I gave many presentations at dinner parties and seminars as well as a lot of cooking demonstrations. One of these venues I liked to do was the International Ploughing Match because of my connection to farmers and...

Christmas Prime Rib of Beef

Christmas Prime Rib of Beef Here is the prime rib and Yorkshire pudding recipe that has been requested. Makes me hungry for a good feed. For the beef to qualify it has to be free of bruises, evenly marbled steer meat, dry aged for at least 29 days and a one inch thick fat cap is also required. Start by rubbing a spice mixture which contains equal amounts of kosher salt, garlic powder, beef base, ground black pepper, keens mustard powder and mild paprika. The spice rub is most important to making a tender roast. Massage this mixture all over the room temperature beef until...

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....

Finding Seafood Nirvana

Finding Seafood Nirvana Shopping for some quality fresh seafood has become more detective work tracking down where it where and when and who caught it. Most of the my best recipes start with a good selection of fresh wild caught and prepared shellfish. Lots of chemicals used for fish preservation, especially from foreign companies using forced labour and under the radar practise of over fishing and protected species. Even today I still have not found a seafood purveyor like the fish surgeons at One Fish Two Fish in Langley BC or at the Satellite Fish Company Sidney BC and...