Season 2 - Episode 1 - Bacon

Having a battle against Bill using bacon was a great deal of fun.  Using the great quality bacon from Dabrowski's meats was even more fun.  Here are my recipes from Episode 1 of season 2.

Episode 1 - Bacon episode 

Bacon wrapped Bacon 

• 1 lb of Dabrowski’s slab bacon 
• 1 lb of Dabrowski’s sliced bacon 
• 3 cups apple cider or apple juice
• 1/4 cup bourbon (I used Forty Creek) 
• 1/2 cup of maple syrup 
• 20 peppercorns 
• 2 bay leaves 

1. Preheat grill to 350 F.   

2. Place slab bacon in a foil pan and cover it with the apple cider, maple syrup, bourbon, peppercorns and bay leaves. 

3. Cover with foil and braise for about 3 hours.  Remove and let cool. 

4. Cut into pieces 1 inch by 1 inch by ½ inch.  Wrap with sliced bacon and grill on indirect heat till sliced bacon is crispy.  You could sprinkle with maple sugar or brush with maple syrup mixed with hot sauce before serving. 

Bacon wrapped pineapple 

• -sliced bacon 
• -pineapple cut in 1 inch chunks 
• -tajin seasoning 

1. Sprinkle tajin on the pineapple 

2. Wrap each piece of pineapple with a slice of Dabrowski’s double smoked bacon 

3. Cook over indirect heat until the bacon is crispy.  Remove and serve 

Bacon Crack 

• 1 lb. bacon 
• 1 pkg Pillsbury crescent rolls 
• ½ cup maple syrup 
• ¾ cup brown sugar 

1. Preheat pellet grill or gas grill to 325 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet (like a 15x10) with foil and liberally grease the foil with cooking spray (or use a silpat). Unroll the crescent rolls into one single plane of dough and pinch any perforations together to seal. Stretch the dough out to fit the size of the pan with your hands so it's even. Prick the dough with a fork all over. Set aside. 

2. Cook your bacon about half way.  It will continue to cook when you bake the crack. 

3. Drizzle half the maple syrup and half the brown sugar on the dough.   Top with bacon and add remaining brown sugar and bacon.   

4. Bake for approx. 25 minutes or until bubbling and caramelized. Remove from the grill and allow the pan to come to room temperature.  Cut and serve.  

Vietnamese Egg Coffee

We just wrapped up season 2 of Backyard BBQ Battle 3 weeks ago.

I used this recipe on the show as a side to my main dish on the East meets West episode and it was well received by the judges.

It has absolutely nothing to do with BBQ, but it was really tasty and will be made often in my house.  Enjoy!

Vietnamese Egg Coffee 

• 1 egg yolk 
• 3 teaspoons of instant espresso powder 
• 2 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk 
• Boiling water 

1. Brew a small cup of espresso. 

2. Crack an egg and discard the whites. 

3. Put the yolk and the sweetened condensed milk in a small, deep bowl and whisk vigorously until you end up with a frothy, fluffy mixture. Add a tablespoon or two of the brewed coffee and whisk it in to temper the egg.   

4. In a clear coffee cup (we’re going for aesthetics here), pour in your brewed coffee, then add the fluffy egg mixture on top.

Great Tastes of Canada

Received an email a few weeks back that the Cooking Web Series I had applied for called Great Tastes of Canada has been put on the back burner indefinitely.

I'm a bit upset due to the amount of work I put into the audition tapes, but I also know that things happen for a reason.  For instance, we are in talks for season 2 of Backyard BBQ Battle.  We need to finalize some details.

The amount of feedback and comments that my co-host Bill Pudim and I have received in regards to the show is staggering.  Eastlink must be pleased too if they are willing to go with a second season.  We think this is a win for everyone.  Eastlink gets some fun programming to air, and we get to do what we love.... cook!

I'll leave you with the out-takes from my Great Tastes of Canada audition video.  Just to put it into context, I made 2 videos.  The first was to be a contestant.  The second was to be a judge as I had been asked to submit for both.  Filming was done mostly alone (camera on a tripod) but Andrea was able to help with some parts as well.  During the filming, both kids were here.  Trying to film with kids in the background being kids was not easy.  It didn't help that I wanted it to be perfect so I did many retakes.  Either way, here are the bloopers.  They are long (5 minutes) but at least fast forward to the last minute and watch Carter steal the show.

Catered a dinner for 45

This week, I had the opportunity with my Northern Ontario BBQ Society and TV co-host Bill Pudim, to cook a dinner for 45 locals.  Instead of competing against each other, we joined forces and cooked together.

I have to admit that Bill did most of the heavy lifting, getting all the long cooked meats done the night before (Brisket and pork shoulder).

I arrived shortly after lunch at the scenic Airport hotel in South Porcupine, Ontario to help him with the final prep, take care of ribs and some sides and serve the dinner.

We served a typical BBQ platter..... 4 meats (brisket, sausage, pork and ribs) as well as sides (pickles, kaiser, mac & cheese, caesar salad and coleslaw).

We served huge plates of food on cafeteria trays on butcher paper.  It cut down on dishes for sure.  Most of the trays came back to the kitchen empty so that was a sign that our cooking must have been up-to-par.

our tray looked similar to this one.

We received some really good comments about the food.  It was a lot of work and I slept like baby but we had a blast.

Thanks to some friends who helped out with prep and service (Andy Rochon, Alain Bélanger and Pierre Carbonneau).

Great tastes of Canada

Ok... time to let the cat out of the bag.

I've applied for a cooking web series that is produced by the makers of Top Chef Canada and Amazing Race Canada.

I had to send an email and sell myself as a possible candidate.  They've asked me to go to the second step of preparing and audition video as well as filling out a 50 question form.

Here is my audition video.  I have yet to hear back.  Would be great if you could put some supportive comments under the youtube video.. maybe the producers will see them.

Episode 12 recipes - Chef's choice

Well Bill and I tied everything up in the final episode.  Here are my recipes from this episode.

Chef’s Choice

Grilled Rib-Eye

• 3 large ribeye steaks
• 3 tbsp of paprika
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp dry mustard
• 2 tsp of ground fennel seeds
• 2 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 tsp of ground pepper

Mix all ingredients.  Brush steak with olive oil and crust it with the dry rub.  Cook over direct heat till medium rare.    

Sherry Vinegar Steak Sauce

• 2 red bell peppers, grilled, peeled, seeded
• ½ cup of sherry vinegar
• 3 tbsp of Dijon
• 2 tbsp of horseradish
• 2 tbsp of honey
• 1 tbsp of molasses
• 2 tbps of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 tsp of black pepper

Blend all ingredients until smooth and serve with the steak.

Roasted potatoes with tomato aioli

• ½ small red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• ¾ cup of mayonnaise
• 1 large tomato, fire-roasted, seeded
• Dash of hot sauce
• Splash of sherry vinegar

Blend all ingredients and serve with roasted potatoes

Almost BBQ Season

The sunny weather makes me dream of BBQ season.  Even though the windchill was -20 this afternoon, I went out and cleaned up the grills.

I fired up my Broil King Keg and will be cooking a porketta, hot and fast, for dinner tonight.

I purchased the porketta at Tarini Bros Meats in Sudbury.  Great place to visit.  Check out my page on getting to know your local butcher.

What is your favorite butcher?  Let me know in the comments below.

Episode 11 - Kid's episode

We had a great time cooking for kids.  Even though I'm a school principal, I went in thinking I had a pretty good grasp of what kids like to eat.  Bill has a teenage daughter so he had the advantage on me for this one.

Thanks to my helper Spencer Corbeil for cooking some bacon for me over the wonderful fire pit donated by my friends Eliz and Pascal from Muskoka Fire Pits.

Kids Episode

Quesadilla

• Large flower tortillas
• Cheese curds
• Beef – marinated and grilled
• Peppers (red and yellow) chopped
• Salsa and sour cream

For marinade

• soya sauce
• Brown sugar
• Red pepper flakes
• Olive oil

Grill off the beef in the marinade.  Slice into strips and assemble quesadilla (meat, cheese, peppers).  Grill quesadilla till toasted and slice and serve with salsa and sour cream.  Top with a sprig of cilantro

Bacon Mac and Cheese

• Cooked macaroni
• 12 slices of cooked bacon
• Flour
• Cheddar cheese
• Monterey Jack Cheese
• Milk
• butter

Make a roux by combining butter and flour.  And milk to make a béchamel and then add cheese till melted.  Add Chopped bacon.  Place in oven safe dishes and put on grill for 30 minutes.  Add bread crumbs on top for last 15 minutes. 

Pigs in a blanket

• Hotdogs
• Pillsbury crescent rolls

Wrap hotdog in cresent roll and cook on grill till golden.