Morel Mushroom And Roasted Califlower Bistyeeya

This was a pie that I made for a vegetarian pot luck upon my arrival in Golden B.C. Very tasty. As was all the food that was there. The pie consisted of roasted cauliflower, caramelized onions, roasted almonds, turmeric, garlic, cilantro and morel mushrooms. Topped with a sprinkle of sugar, Cinnamon and more roasted almonds.

If I were to do it again I think I will try it with a layer of waxy potato's at the base for a little more savory goodness. Overall a success though.

Birch Syrup

A while back a friend of mine decided that he was going to start producing birch syrup in the Klondike river valley. Im glad he did! Berwyn has been sugaring off every spring just south of Dawson city for a number of years now producing high quality birch syrup. Birch syrup is full of minerals and vitamins and packed with good flavor.

There are now many more producers of birch syrup further south. Quesnel b.c. as well as thunder bay Ontario is home to producers of quality birch syrup. Pick some up and fall in love with this earthy wild treat! Below is one the recipes I made for berwyn for his website.

Birch Pecan Pie (for one 9”pie)(from yukonbirch.ca)

2 eggs (Slightly beaten)

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp good vanilla

½ cup corn syrup

½ cup birch syrup

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tbsp flour

1 cup pecans

1 (9”pie shell)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Place pecans in your favourite pie crust. (9”)

Pour filling over pecans and bake @375 for 35-40 mins or until set and crust golden.

Pick up your birch syrup here!

Sweet Tree http://www.sweettreeventures.com/products.html

Berwyn Birch Syrup http://www.yukonbirch.ca/

Birch Place Farm http://www.birchplacefarm.com/

Boreal Birch Syrup http://www.birchsyrup.ca/Home.html

Moose Meadows Farm http://www.moosemeadowsfarm.ca/

Alaska Wild Harvest http://alaskabirchsyrup.com/

Its been a good two week push in the kichen and now its time for a trip out west and its time to go to Chicago. Alberta>B.C.>Illinois>ontario.

Im looking forward to meeting some new peeps, some old peeps and seeing my fam dam ly.

Baggage includes

10lb Elk

2lb Caribou

5x Guinea fowl legs stuffed with game and wild mushrooms

4x Foie gras and prune stuffed quail

1x 15lb bone in country style Tamworth ham

4x Venison flanks (think tacos here)

Smoked Arctic Char

Candied Salmon bellys

Dry cured chorizo

Various terrines

Various condiments... Mustarda, ruhbarb ketchup, persimmon chutney etc..

Dried morel mushrooms, chilli pasillas, anchos, pequins, chipotle, naga jolokias and new mexicos.

Cheese

1x block of Le marmirolle

1x wheel triple creme brie

400g bleu Benedictin

Must be November

Salmon and potato pie

Clockwise from top left

Ontario smoked trout terrine

Candied salmon belly

Pacific halibut terrine

Gravlax

Smoked mackerel mousse

Center… Smoked sprats

Clockwise from top left

Wild boar and rabbit terrine with prunes and pistachios.

Heritage breed prosciutto

Rays pork liver pate

Dried boar sausage and Mennonite summer sausage

Stone ground mustard

Foie Gras mousse with black pepper and parsley

Tasso ham with smoked cherries

And in the middle persimmon chutney

Wild boar and rabbit terrine

Wild Boar And Rabbit Terrine With Prunes And Pistachios



The Meat

1lb Rabbit (deboned)

1lb 8oz Wild Boar shoulder

8oz Pork or boar liver (add the rabbit liver as well)



Seasonings

2 cloves garlic (minced)

100g sweet onion (Vidalia or Texas sweets) (finely diced)

Cook onions and garlic till soft and cool. Combine with below and add to meat ready to be ground.

30g salt

5g Tinted Curing Mix

1 tbsp mixed spice (get creative here) Or Google "pate spice"

1g white pepper
Garnish

200g prunes, sliced

250g pistachios (roasted)

Panada

120ml heavy cream

2 eggs (preferable farm eggs)

30ml brandy

70g flour



1 Grind the rabbit, livers and seasonings through the fine plate of your grinder. Switch to coarse blade and grind boar meat.

2 Place combined meats in a chilled kitchen aid mixing bowl.

3 Combine Panada in a bowl, mix well and add to your meats.( you can sub different types of booze if you want)

4 Place meat in kitchen aid and mix on low speed with a paddle for about a minute or till you feel its mixed really well. Turn to med speed till mixture gets sticky to touch, about 5-10 seconds.

5 Test seasoning by cooking a little paddy.

6 Place garnish ingredients in bowl and gently fold in.

7 Place mix into a terrine and place in a vacuum bag and seal at high pressure. Leave in fridge overnight or up to 3 days to cure.

8 Place terrine in a water bath and poach in 177F water in a 300f oven till cooked, about 2 hours. (or sous vide with thermal circulator) Meat will pull back slightly from the sides of the mold.

9 Place terrine in the fridge put a weight on it and leave for 2 days. (the hardest part of the recipe is waiting!)

10 Slice it, eat it! Enjoy!

Fresh Black Truffles And Cold Milk

After preparing my truffle preserves, truffle butter and whipped pork fat with truffles I had more than my fill of "nibbles" as I was slicing them up. It was fairly early in the morning so I was having a coffee with cream when I suddenly noticed that the cream in my coffee was starting to taste like truffles! I did not want to eat anything because I wanted to preserve the flavour of truffle on my palette. I then tried a glass of milk and it also taste like truffles. This lasted about 30 minutes after a good feed of fresh truffle slices! Truly awesome!

Today was also terrine production
Wild boar and dried fruit x3
Wild boar, rabbit, prune and pistachio x1
Wild boar, tasso ham and dried cranberry x1

Photos to come!

Some New books,

The Early Canadian Gault Cookbook

Momofuku

The Fat Duck Cookbook

Some New Music

Shotgun Jimmie "still Jimmie"

Tommy Sparda "Specie Differenti"

Joel Plaskett "three"

Bassnector "cozza frenzy"

Dj Decibel "smack my glitch up"

Mmmmm Truffle goodness
Is there such thing as to many webers?

Ham I am with green eggs and ham?

How do you make a great ham?

Well you will need.......

half a bone in locally farmed pork leg or shoulder (about 5-8kg)

(I prefer using rare breed or heritage breed pork such as large blacks, Berkshire, Duroc etc..)

For the cure

• 2kg salt
• 80g curing salt #1 (optional)
• 1 litre good apple juice or pear juice or apricot juice etc....
• 1 litre cider (I use a nice cider from Quebec)
• 6 litres water
• 1kg golden brown sugar
• 1kg dark brown sugar or molasses
• 20-30 juniper berries (I pick mine myself and use them fresh)
• 30g black peppercorns, crushed
• 10 bay leaves, crushed
• 10 cloves

To cook the ham

• 1 large onion, peeled and rough chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and rough chopped
• 2 celery sticks, rough chopped
• 10 black peppercorns
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 5-6 sprigs fresh thyme or you can do like me and add 10-15 sprigs of thyme!
• 1 small bunch parsley stalks

For the glaze

• 1 generous tbsp grainy mustard
• 250g light brown sugar
• 8 cloves powdered

Okay how do we do this?

Mix the cure together in a pot. Bring to the boil. Cool completely to 3-4 Celsius. Pour brine into a none metallic tube (plastic or wood). Weight your ham. Its needs to be left in the cure for 2 days/kg. So for a 5kg piece of pork leg it will be in the brine for 10 days. Place ham in brine and place a weight on top to keep it submerged at all times.(get creative with this, I will give you no hints here on how to accomplish this!)

After the time is up in the cure, it needs to be hung in a cool place 2-8 Celsius for 1-2 days to form a pellical for the smoke to stick too. If you are not smoking the ham leave it to hang for about a week then proceed to the cooking part. If your smoking your ham, you will need a gentle fire and a cold day to to maintain a constant cold smoke. Cold smoke for about 8-12 hours with your favorite hardwood (maple and apple are nice) or until nicely coloured. Leave to hang for at least a week. If you don't have a cold smoker you can use a upright water smoker or bradley smoker and smoke it over several days a couple hours a day.

To cook your ham. If you have had it in the bring for longer than expected, you may need to soak it in cold water overnight to draw out excess salt. The following day place it in a pot, cover it with water and cook for a hour at a low temperature around 180-190f. Taste the water. If its still quite salty pour it out and cover with fresh water. After a hour if the water is not overly salty add all veg and aromatics cook till tender on a low simmer about 3-5 hours. Or instant read thermometer reads 150-160f

Pull it out, mix the glaze together. Pull of skin, rub with glaze and bake for about 30 minutes in a 350-400f oven. Enjoy!!!

Served with mash spuds, creamy peppery cabbage and roasted or glazed carrots.

DONT FOR GET TO KEEP THE STOCK AND BONE FOR THE BEST SPLIT PEAS SOUP OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!