New Digs!

Ive finally arrived at Dalton Trail Lodge, 40km south of Haines Junction, Yukon. This is where I will be spending my summer cooking and foraging. The other veteran chef Mike has been showing me the ropes the over the last couple days before we get busy with the seasons full wrath. The elevation is quite a bit higher here than in Whitehorse, so you can still see tails of winter about. The smoke house needs cleaning and the bbq pit needs some work but its not by any means in bad shape... Just needs some lovin! The Dalton range is in your face and Dezadeash lake is just behind the lodge where this time of year lake trout are all about! Looks like ill have lots to explore and the terrain should prove to be a bumper spot for ceps and boletus mushrooms! More to come.

Ive suddenly become a bit of a baker since arriving!

From top to bottom, View of the lodge & Country style multi grain bread

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Sorry Relocating And Fishing

Have not had any time for blogging with moving in progress. But have had time to get some very nice lake trout! The 6 and 4 pounders were pulled out Moose lake just outside Valemount B.C. only a week after the ice has broke off the lake. Popping them on the webber tonight with some cedar planks and some birch syrup!

I sprinkle the fillets with course sea salt and leave them for 30 minutes to firm up the flesh and push out excess moisture. Rinse the salt off, pat dry, then put them on cedar planks which have been soaked overnight in water. Im using lump charcoal and paper birch for flavor. Finishing it with a glaze of black pepper, coriander and pure 100 Mile birch syrup! Sides will include webber roasted potato gratin and some steamed bok choy on the side.

I'm Yukon bound as of tomorrow! See you in Whitehorse!

Morel Chat On CBC

Here's a short clip of me on CBC radio spouting off about morel mushrooms and having a good chat with Alan Neal on the All In A Day show. The show was aired on April 28th just a few days before the morels started popping in Ottawa.

Morels With Ramps, Nettles And Lemon

This is what may tastes like in the Ottawa river valley! Serves 2 as a starter

• Good olive oil to coat pan (don't cheap out here!)
• 15 Fresh morels
• 5 Ramps finely sliced, tops roughly chopped
• 1 cup fresh nettle leaves
• 1 lemon/zest
• fleur de sel to taste
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• good chunk of bread (baguette, ciabatta, Belgium or crispy sourdough)

1. Clean your Morels!!! Morel pores are perfect homes for many interesting small critters! If morels are big slice so they are all the same size. Don't forget to inspect the insides of the mushrooms for friends as well!
2. Zest and juice only half the lemon. Remove any seeds from juice and add zest to juice. Set aside.
3. Prep your ramps. Clean them. Remove the bulbs from the leafy tops, slice the bulbs fairly thin and rough chop the tops. keep bulbs and tops separate.
4. Prep your nettles. Use gloves to remove the nettle leaves from plant. Select young new plants with tender leaves. Wash as you would regular lettuce and dry. Combine with ramp tops.
5. You should now have one bowl of cleaned morels, one bowl of cleaned nettles/ramp tops, one bowl of lemon juice/zest, one bowl of sliced ramps, fleur de sel, a pepper mill and good olive oil.
6. Get a large frying pan hot on stove. When hot add olive oil to coat pan. Before oil starts smoking add sliced ramps. Cook for 10 secs, to totally infuse the oil with rampy goodness. Add morels and nettle/ramp mix.
7. Leave on high heat so that any liquid that comes out of the mushrooms will evaporate as its being cooked. Cook until morels have shrunk by almost half and all the liquid in the pan is absorbed back into the morels about 3-4 minutes.
8. Add lemon and remove from heat. Season with fleur de sel and a fresh pepper. Serve immediately with crusty bread.

Note: I sometimes add fresh red chili with the ramps at the beginning for a little extra kick!

Epic Morel Memory Flashback!!!!

Question: What was one of the most memorable morel days of your life.....
Answer: Well now let me see.....ah yes.....and it goes a little something like this.....

One Of My Most epic morel days!

The French gulch burn site summer of 2005. Picking with a good friend chef and local restaurateur Phillip Lamarche of Klondike Kates restaurant in Dawson City Yukon where I was employed at the time. We had a little shroom rivalry going on in the kitchen at work as to who could get the most morels in the shortest amount of time on any giving day. This was the day I was going to change all that. We headed off with a few guys from the kitchen to French gulch for a regular four hour pick. After about 3 hours you can usually find a few people who more or less struck out waiting by the truck for the rest of us lucky ones to finish up picking. Not me though, I was deep in the burn and up to my neck in morels! Forget the Dawson City “Gold Rush” famous in 1898, this was the Dawson City “Mush Rush” of 05! My adrenaline is flowing, arms are flying and the weight on my back is getting heaver. I lost track of time, I lost track of reality. I felt like the guy from fear and loathing when he enters the hotel high on mescaline and everyone turns into dinosaurs! I was completely and utterly in the zone and “the spell of the Yukon” has a whole new meaning to me at this point of time. When I climbed up the 900+ foot embankment I was down I had a trapper nelson full of baskets and four 5 gallon pails full of morel glory! I was completely covered in wood ash, charcoal dust and blood head to toe. I looked as though I just escaped a war zone! When it was all said and done we brought them back to Kates for cleaning grading and scaling. The final weight was 140 pounds of fresh morels, 68 of which came from my buckets in 4 hours of picking. I have since broken that record and know of many mainstream pickers that achieve this regularly. But in that moment… on that day… in French gulch… I’ve never experienced such a out this world experience with mushrooms I have not ingested in my entire life! What a epic day for morels!!

Some of our summer of 05 bounty. Yes those are boxes and garbage bags full of morels from a epic Yukon summer!

Ottawa.....R.I.P.

This party is about to hit the road! Good Bye Ottawa, Hello Yukon....Again. Can't wait to get back up to the mothership! Final prep is in place for the move with only 2 week remaining in O-town.

I will be running a fishing camp for the summer at the edge of Kluane national park on dezadeash lake. Ive contacted farmers and am currently making connections on the coast for seafood/shellfish.

Ottawa its been a slice, but its time to move on. Hoping to get my hands on a few ramps and morels before I leave and finish a few more hams and charcuterie projects I have on the go.
Some of my latest creations. From top left clockwise. Kiebasa, st.canut pork rillettes, dry cured wild boar sausage, heritage breed procuttio, tasso ham, foie gras and heritage breed pork liver terrine

They're coming!!!!!!

LESS THAN A MONTH TILL THE FIRST MORELS ARE POPPING!

Some new stuff! + Habanero Harissa

Got some new stuff these past couple of weeks.



Fresh meals solutions in Toronto has hooked me up with a thermal controller and a a nice cooker for sous vide applications.

Capital appliance and BBQ here in Ottawa hooked me up with a 18.5' Weber smokey mountain cooker to deal with my ongoing addiction to BBQ and outdoor cooking. More pics and recipes with both of these units to come!










Habanero Harissa!!!

I love everything chili! Ive been developing a bunch of chili condiments over the last couple years and thought I would share a few with you. Here is one of my newer ones. I find myself putting a bit of this in everything! Caramelized onions, yogurt, marinates, bbq sauces etc... its so good!

• 250g Red Savina habenero sub other habs if necessary (deseeded)
• Salt to taste (yes you have to taste it! sucker)
• 1 tbsp agave nectar optional
• 1tbsp caraway seeds (toasted and ground)
• 1tbsp cumin seeds (toasted and ground)
• 1 tsp black cumin seeds (toasted and ground)
• 4 garlic cloves (small cloves)
• 100g roasted red pepper
• 1 tbsp tomato puree (I use homemade but store bought is fine)
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• ½ preserved lemon (skin only finely chopped)

Combine everything but olive oil , preserved lemon and paprika in a blender or food processor and run till smooth. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. I needed add a bit more tom puree to make a smooth sauce. When completely smooth, fold in olive oil, preserved lemons and paprika, adjust the seasoning.