What’s Hot in the Kitchen

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Dan’s Yorkshire Pudding

Written on November 16, 2011 by Rhianna.Robins in Breakfast Club, What's Hot in the Kitchen

We are now into the season of BIG heavy celebratory meals. With Thanksgiving behind us, a multitude of Christmas dinners ahead, Christmas parties and New Years too, our bodies are gearing up for a calorie OVERLOAD over the next few months!

Last weekend we had a big family gathering and what goes better with a nice 4 bone Canada AAA prime rib roast than a big mess of Yorkshire pudding?

The Yorkshire pudding recipe as we know it today goes back to the 1700’s. A women’s circular in 1737 first published a recipe telling housewives how to make use of the drippings from roasts, and to make a “Dripping pudding”. Back then it was common to fill a whole pan with hot fat dripped from roasts, and to pour the batter into the pan, and cut squares of it out of the pan. While some people still use that method, another common method is to make mini Yorkshire puddings in muffin tins. The little round wonders that make a great well to pour gravy into!

You’ll need a good amount of beef fat dripped from a roast. Prime rib is a very well marbled roast and you are guaranteed to get a lot, but if you want Yorkshires to go with a less fatty roast, you can always substitute beef fat for lard.

Mix up your batter at least ½ hour ahead of cooking. You want to try and let the mixture warm up a bit and settle before cooking.

To make the batter for 12 mini yorkshires, you’ll need:

1 2/3 cups of flour
5 eggs (the formula is 1 egg per 1/3 cup of flour)
1 cup of room temperature buttermilk (you can also acidify regular milk by adding 1 tbsp of vinegar to every cup of milk used)
1 tsp baking powder

Mix the batter well. You want the batter to be thin enough so that it drips off of a spoon at a medium speed. It can’t be too thick, and can’t be too runny either. Once you’ve mixed it all up, let it stand for 15 minutes.

When you are ready to cook the Yorkshires, add about two tbsp of fat or lard to each muffin tin and put them into a hot 420F oven. When the oil is nice and hot, remove the pan from the oven, and pour in the batter. Each tin should be about ¾ full. Put back into the oven, and bake until the puddings have risen, and slightly browned. You are looking at approximately 17-19 minutes total bake time.

Serve the puddings immediately! As I said, they make an excellent cup for gravy! If I can find a muffin tin big enough, I think it would be fun to try and make a Yorkshire pudding soup bowl! This is an excellent addition to any Sunday or holiday roast, and when you make them homemade, you will impress your guests to no end!

Enjoy!

- Chef Dan

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Dan’s Easy Cheesy Rotini

Written on November 16, 2011 by Rhianna.Robins in Breakfast Club, What's Hot in the Kitchen

Today’s recipe is one to pull out when you have little time to prepare a meal, but you need something that will be more than boxed fish sticks calibre. I have nothing against boxed fish sticks, but you can’t always pass good cooking for boxed fish sticks, and you can’t always have prime rib either. My easy cheesy rotini takes two pans, and takes 15 minutes or less to make.

What you’ll need:

1 lb of ground beef
1 large onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp basil, or Clubhouse brand Italian pre-mixed seasoning.
2 cups dry rotini cooked

For the cheese sauce:

2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp butter
2 cups milk
1 ½ cup cheddar cheese cubed into ½” cubes
½ brick cream cheese
1 tbsp of honey mustard (if you only have regular mustard that will do too)

Cook the pasta and set it aside. In a skillet, brown the ground beef and drain off the excess fat. Add the onions and green peppers and sauté for another two to three minutes. While that is cooking down, make the cheese sauce. In a small saucepan on low to medium heat, add the butter. Once it has melted down, add the flour and combine with the butter. Add the milk. Slowly bring up the temperature and add the cheddar and the cream cheese. Use a whisk to mix it up really well. Once the sauce has mixed smooth, remove it from the heat and add the mustard. Mix it in and add it into the beef mixture. Slowly combine the cheese with the beef mixture and allow it to stand for 3 minutes before serving.

This dish is a two pan, easy clean up dish that the whole family will be happy about, and it makes for some great leftovers to take to work the next day! So get off the boxed fish sticks and try my easy cheesy rotini tonight!

- Chef Dan

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Dan’s Eggs in a Bag

Written on November 16, 2011 by Rhianna.Robins in Breakfast Club, What's Hot in the Kitchen

This past summer I had tonnes of folks ask me about this recipe and so I thought we’d do an encore presentation of my “Friends and Omelettes” recipe – AKA: Eggs In A Bag! It is a fun and easy way to have breakfast ready fast for the whole family, or even a big gathering! The problem with making omelettes the traditional way is that you might only have one or two pans, everyone wants something different in them, and by the time the last person is served, the first person to eat has long finished. Try this recipe, and it will be a talked about hit for some time!

What you need:

2 Eggs for each person

1 small Ziplock bag for each person

1 large pot of boiling water rolling on the stove

Chopped Omelette Toppings:

Diced ham
Diced bacon
Peppers
Onions
Tomato
Cheese
Whatever you want really

Give each person a ziplock bag. Have them add whatever toppings they want to their bag. Then, crack 2 eggs into each bag, seal, and shake them up.
When everyone is ready, put all of the sealed bags into the boiling water.
In about 7 minutes, everyone’s omelette will be cooked! A light fluffy texture, no burned parts.
Open bag and the cooked omelette will slide right out.
Serve alone, with some classic breakfast sides, or on soft taco shells as an egg taco!

- Chef Dan

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Dan’s Corn and Avocado Salsa

Written on June 1, 2011 by chef.dan in Breakfast Club, What's Hot in the Kitchen

Well, summer hit hard and fast yesterday, mid 30’s or higher humidex, that searing summer heat that we’ve all been waiting for. And while the hydro company was doing up their “thank-you letters” to put in with your monthly bill for all of that air conditioning you used, you can help give them one back by making a tasty lunch side that requires NO cooking. This salsa is not your typical pour out of the jar salsa. You’ll taste every single flavour there is in the dish, its light and very refreshing, and will have everyone raving at your next BBQ cookout.
This recipe calls for two avocados, and when you are in the supermarket, be sure to check the avocado to make sure that you are getting a good one. For this salsa, the avocado should not be under-ripe, meaning stone hard, but it should not be too soft either. If your avocado is over ripe, it will be soft and mushy, and make a big mess of your salsa.
An easy way to know how the avocado should feel is by pressing your finger on to the tip of your nose. That same “give” is how the avocado should fell when you press it the same way. Press on your forehead, this is how an unripe avocado feels, and if you press on your cheek, this is how an over-ripe avocado feels. The nose trick is one of the fastest easiest ways to know that your avocado is a good one.
Here’s what you’ll need:
• 1 cup of cooked corn
• 2 avocados – peeled, pitted, and cubed
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 large ripe tomato diced
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
1. In a bowl, add corn, avocados, red onion, bell pepper, tomato and garlic. Stir it up to combine and add your spices.
2. Mix in vinegar, olive oil, and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.
You can serve this salsa right away, but if you make it ahead of time, and let it sit for a bit, the flavours will really have time to work their magic!

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Easy Gyros

Written on May 26, 2011 by chef.dan in Breakfast Club, What's Hot in the Kitchen

Dan’s “FAST” Gyros
Want to try a fun recipe tonight? Try my “fast” gyros!

True gyros are a delicious sandwich of chicken, beef or lamb with tomatoes, onions cheese and tzatiki sauce wrapped in a fresh pita. Typically the meat is prepared by putting pieces of meat on a spit, and layering in some fat to make it crispy, and then after it has slow roasted, slicing long vertical strips off of it for your gyro sandwich.

But if you want homemade gyros in under an hour, you can “cheat” a little, and make my fast gyros. Instead of roasting meat on a spit, we’re going to make a special meatloaf that will do when time is short.

You’ll need:

1 lb of ground chicken (or pork)
1 lb of ground lamb
2 TBSP of Clubhouse roasted garlic and peppers spice mix
1 tsp black pepper

Diced tomato, onion, lettuce
Grated cheddar cheese
Tzatiki sauce
Pitas

In a bowl, mix the ground meats and spices together. Really work it with your hands well. You want it to almost have a smooth pasty consistency. Form it into a round loaf, and let it stand for 10 minutes in the fridge to let the spices absorb.

Next, in a hot skillet, brown all sides of the meat loaf. Transfer to an oven safe dish and bake until centre temperature is 170F.

Remove and let stand for 10 minutes covered in foil.

Carve thin strips of meat off of the meatloaf for your gyro. Warm up your pita, spread on some tzatiki sauce, top with the meat and veggies and wrap it all up.
You can also use the same recipe minus the tzatiki sauce and make traditional Halifax donairs. Everything is the same, with the exception of the sweet sauce. An easy and good donair sauce can be made by mixing up 1 cup of canned evaporated milk, 1 cup of white sugar, 1/3 cup of white vinegar, and 1 tbsp of garlic powder. Add the vinegar last, and don’t stir it too much. Make it at least an hour in advance as you’ll need to let it sit in the fridge for a bit to let the sauce “do its magic”.

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Dan’s Bison Stew

Written on May 18, 2011 by chef.dan in Breakfast Club, What's Hot in the Kitchen

Ok, we’re going to mix it up a bit this week, and a recipe that you can either do in a pot on the stovetop, or in your slow cooker. And if you are feeling a little bit adventurous, then you can try my bison stew.
You may not find a lot of bison meat in the counter at your local supermarket. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to believe that some supermarkets even had the bison code programmed into the sticker machine that they label the weighed meat with. BUT, if after speaking to the meat manager at your local supermarket and you still can’t get it, you can visit your local tried and true butcher, and there is an excellent chance that if they don’t have some, they could get it for you.
Bison meat is very lean. It is a low fat meat that is quite dense and it has a sweetness to it that you’ll only understand once you eat it. Bison is not a wild animal and thus does not taste wild. Because there is very little marbling of this meat, it needs to be cooked low and slow, or it will be tough and dry. This makes for a great stew meat. Bison is also is rich in vitamins and nutrients, and because of the very low fat, and low cholesterol nature of bison meat, it is becoming more and more of a popular choice for diabetics.
To make the stew, you’ll need:
2lbs of bison meat (cubed)
½ cup of white wine
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 potatoes cubed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 ribs of celery chopped
½ of a rutabaga cubed
1 jalepeno pepper diced
1 bay leaf
Dredge Mix (1 cup flour, 1 tsp seasoned salt, 1 tsp oregano)
Salt and pepper to taste

Dredge meat in seasoned flour and brown in a frying pan with a little oil. Transfer the meat to a large pot or slow cooker, and add the rest of the ingredients with enough water to cover everything. Simmer for 2 hours on low or 10 hours in the slow cooker. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve with a nice loaf of crusty bread or some delicious warm baking powder biscuits. And if you simply can’t find any bison at your local butcher, or you don’t have the nerve for it, you can do the exact same recipe with some nice, safe stewing beef that will absolutely be available in the counter, neatly wrapped and labelled at your local supermarket!

Enjoy!

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Dan’s World Famous Nacho Dip!

Written on May 12, 2011 by chef.dan in Breakfast Club, What's Hot in the Kitchen

Dan’s World Famous Nacho Dip

Ok. The big game is hours away, you’ve got a house full of people, or at least a few friends coming over, and you need to put on the ULTIMATE spread. Chicken wings are a go, chilli, pulled pork on a bun, and finally, NACHO DIP!
My nacho dip has taken on a life of its own over the years. It is one of my most requested dishes when we go places, and I rarely ever leave with anything left of it. It’s very easy to make, and can be made in large volumes for an extra big or extra hungry crowd.

What you need to make a 9 X 13 glass pan of dip:
• 2 packages of cream cheese
• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup taco sauce
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 jar of your favourite salsa (I use PACE brand mild salsa)
• 4 or 5 green onions
• 1 green pepper
• 1 tomato
• Grated Cheddar cheese
In a bowl, mix together cream cheese, sour cream, taco sauce and 1/3 package of taco seasoning. Use an electric beater or stand mixer to blend until you have a nice light, whipped blend of all of the ingredients. Using a spatula, spread mixture evenly on the bottom of the 9 X 13 glass pan. Top the mixture with the whole jar of salsa. Add diced green onion, green pepper and tomato. Be sure to dice up all of the ingredients nice and small. Finally, top the dish off with grated cheddar cheese. Store the dip in the fridge until you are ready to serve it. **NOTE** This dish is best served on the same day it is made. It doesn’t store well beyond 24-36 hours.
Serve it with your favourite brand of tortilla chips! I suggest a nice heavy chip as this is a thick dip, and those thin, light tortilla chips won’t stand a chance of scooping this stuff up!
Enjoy the game!

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