I love pastrami and Montreal smoked meat: tender, very tasty beef brisket cured, smoked and steamed to an umptuous pile of goodness. Unfortunately beef brisket is expensive, relatively speaking: the cheapest I could find was $5 a pound. My go-to…
Pork prices rose higher than I ever remember them in 2014, due to issues with pork production and high demand for some cuts like bellies. This in turn caused me to cut back on production myself during the year, only…
Early summer strawberries are upon us in Southern Ontario and a local supermarket had local strawberries on sale so I bought a goodly amount and everyone has been eating them for breakfast. I really wanted to have strawberry shortcake for…
I have waffled on the whole sous vide cooking process for a few years, but decided to give it a try when the Sansaire was on Kickstarter. Sous vide is basically cooking food in a water bath that is kept…
More homemade Christmas gifts: this week I made duck prosciutto. It’s very straightforward and requires two ingredients: boneless duck breasts and kosher salt. I have had this preparation in mind for a few years and even bought a frozen duck…
McDonald’s Canada introduced Poutine this week; at least in Ontario. I was there at lunch and had the opportunity to give it a try. Oddly it’s not “McPoutine” or anything catchy like that; slightly disappointing. Poutine is $3.99 or…
Continuing my production of house made (homemade) gifts for friends and family this week I made vanilla sugar. This one is incredibly easy and allows time to do other things, like the 3o pounds of bacon I’m also making. Vanilla…
Christmas is soon upon us so I gathered ingredients and started preparing my home made gifts. I like to make five or six items that I pass along to friends and family. I’ll feature one a week: first up is…