Recipe: Halibut Update

I love to try new rubs, so last night I came up with a new recipe for halibut. The last halibut recipe I posted is my classic go-to rub, but this new rub plays off the halibut`s ability to take on a sweet flavour but balances it with a little heat and salt. Switch out the rub ingredients in my crusted halibut recipe with the following but remember to keep the flour.

Halibut Rub Recipe:
1 tbsp brown sugar
Pinch of Cayenne
1 tsp salt
1 tsp basil

Finish with a wedge of lemon and you`ve got perfection!
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Recipe: Balsamic Dijon Salmon

Keeping with the summer theme and the upcoming long weekend, below is one of my favorite Salmon recipes and one that is great (with a little planning) for a gourmet meal at the campsite.

Recipe: Balsamic Dijon Salmon

Ingredients:
1 Pd Salmon (preferably fresh wild sockeye)
1 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1-2 cloves of Garlic
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
Pinch of Sea Salt and Pepper
1 Lemon (or as much as needed to cover fish) cut in slices (not wedges)

Cut Salmon into two equal pieces. Mix together butter, balsamic, garlic, Dijon, salt and pepper and pour over salmon, be generous. Place lemon slices on top of Salmon. Place salmon in a tin foil bag (instructions on making a foil bag sealed off so no air can escape. Cook in oven or on BBQ at 500F for about 12-18 minutes depending on thickness of fillet, e.g. tails a little less.

The foil bag should expand from the increased pressure inside, hence to serve simply take a knife and cut a slit down the center of the bag. Take the juices in the foil bag and serve over top of the fish.

Campfire Related Posts:
- Campfire Cooking: Building the Perfect Fire
- Campfire Cooking: The Making of a Foil Bag
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Recipe: Triple Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Anything that includes cheese, butter and bread is going to be great, but a few simple tips and techniques can take a great sandwich to the perfect grilled cheese!

Recipe:Perfect Grilled Cheese

2 Pieces of French or Italian loaf (substitute your favorite bread if desired).
3 Slices of Mozzarella
2 Slices of Cheddar
2 Slices of Gouda
2 Slices of Swiss
Butter

Preheat a pan to med-low heat. Add cheese to one side of the bread and cover with the other piece. Butter the outside of the piece of bread on top. Place in pan butter side down, you should not have any smoke or your pan is too hot, turn it down if you do. Butter the outside of the piece of bread now on top. Cover with a lid to ensure the cheese melts and let cook for about 2-3 minutes. After about 2 minutes check the bottom to determine colour. Once the bread has a nice golden brown crust flip the sandwich. Careful as the cheese may not be melted at this point, hence the sandwich may fall apart. Let cook for another 1-2 minutes covered, checking the bottom to determine when it is ready. Again it should have a nice golden brown colour to it. Dip in ketchup and Enjoy!!
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Recipe: French Toast with Sauteed Apples & Mimosas

In honour of the final day of Tour de France on the Champs D'Elysees and the fact that it is a great excuse to cook something we chose to make some French Toast and Mimosas for Breakfast/Brunch. The following is the recipe for French Toast with an apple syrup. Serves 3 to 4. Enjoy!

Recipe: French Toast with Sauteed Apples

The Apple Syrup: Ingredients
3 yellow delicious apples (or other baking apple that will hold their share when heated, but of course we need "Yellow" delicious for the maillot jaune)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt

French Toast: Ingredients
1 small French baguette
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp of vanilla
1 tbsp of butter
1 Kiwi

Peel apples and cut into small wedges, each apple should produce about 12-16 wedges. Combine apples, sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter in a skillet and cook on high heat until sugar and butter are melted. Stir frequently, careful not break the apples. Turn down heat to low and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the apples are nice and soft. You should be left with caramelized apples and some syrup at the bottom of the pan. If you do not have enough syrup or just want more, you can add additional sugar and butter in the same ratio. In a casserole dish combine the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Whip the mixture with a fork until everything is blended. Slice the baguette on an angle to produce longer pieces, slices should be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch think. Place bread in casserole and let soak for about 10 minutes. This is great recipe for bread that is few days old! Heat a large skillet on medium low heat for about 3 minutes. Add butter and let melt, note if the butter browns almost immediately the pan is too hot, the butter should melt right away, but not burn. Once melted add the pieces of bread to the pan. If you pan is not big enough you may have to do a couple of batches. Pour any excess egg mixture over top of the bread once in the pan. Cook for about 3-5 minutes checking the bottom periodically for colour. They are ready to flip when they start to turn a slight brown. Cook for about 2 minutes on the other side and check colour (slight brown) to determine when they are ready. Plate the French toast and add a couple spoons of the apple syrup. Slice the kiwi into small pieces and place on top. The kiwi or other fresh fruit will add a nice tang and balance to the sweet apples. Vive le France!

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Introducing Babies to Foods: Our Approach

As a food lover and a new parent, introducing foods and cooking for my kids has been the focus of my attention over the last few years especially in a world of ADD, diabetes and obesity. I cannot begin to say I am expert, having only raised my oldest to 3 and my youngest is not eating real meals yet, but I think we are doing pretty good. As this always seems to be struggle with parents trying to get their children to eat well I thought would share our experiences. The 3 year old is very active and has only had a few colds, never been to a doctor for illness and never needed any pharmas. He didn't have his first cold until he was over one and half and that was only after we starting giving him grains. My youngest has not had a cold yet and he turns 1 in August. So as parents we are quite proud of our track record.

Without getting too deep here are the principles of what we have tried to do....
1. Introduced food after 6 months (exclusively nursed up to that point)
2. Started with fruits, including bananas, prunes and blueberries intially (except for strawberries, kiwis and citrus which we wait until 2 yrs to introduce)
3. Tried intoducing egg yolks, but neither child was a big fan
4. Gradually continued to introduced more fruits and some vegetables like squash, avocado and green beans
5. Started chicken after the first year
6. We started introducing small portions of grains at about one and half, but I would probably wait until two for the second child as it is very hard for a young digestive track to deal with grains. Delaying the introduction of grains is very, very, very challenging though, especially because my wife and I are addicted to chocolate chip cookies and love nothing better than bread and butter.
7. Introduced unfiltered juice after one year, but water it down (half & half).
8. Start introducing red meat and other meats after two years
9. Would love to avoid any processed sugar altogether, but reality is we started giving little bits of dessert around one and half (goes with the grains)
10. Dairy is only consumed as a treat, with the exception of cheese (mostly from raw milk), I should caveat for all those dairy lovers out there that both my children still nurse.
11. We have tried to consistently use as much organic and natural foods as possible. The hardest challenge with this is eating out as few restaurants offer organic.

Now that my little guy is almost three years old, he not only eats most things that his mom and dad do and has been incredibly healthy, but he also seems to have a great palette. He'll often turn down treats for some fresh cherries or turn down juice for a glass of water.
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No Garlic and Onions :(

Onions and Garlic have pretty much become staples in most foodies diets and the start to any good protein, but, as I have mentioned in a couple videos, I cant use them!!!! My wife is nursing and my children (both) do not sleep well and are very grumpy when ever I cook with onions and garlic. As sleep is a must for babies and parents, this has meant that they have been eliminated from the diet.

The hardest part is that I cant make caeser salads, but we are surviving. I would actually say that this has made me a better cook because you cant just rely on onions and garlic to flavour your meals. From a health perspective, I actually read once that pilots in the 50s were not allowed to eat garlic and onions 72 hours before any flight, as they are a brain toxin and reduce reaction times by a factor of 2-3.

Okay all this aside, they are a lot of people who cannot handle onions and garlic, but they can add a lot of flavour to a dish. Hence, being a little addicted to their flavours I immediately jumped on an idea I saw watching Heston Blumenthal's "In Search of Perfection". He was making a risotto but did not want onions and garlic to affect the consistency of the risotto, hence he cooked the onions and garlic in butter on low heat in a very small saucepan for awhile. I forget how long, but I do it for about 45 minutes. Once done, I strain the butter through a sieve and add it the dish I am cooking.

The kids seem to have no problem with this method and the taste is great, not to mention adding a couple tablespoons of butter at the end of dish never hurt!

Recipes without Garlic or Onion:
Baked Chicken Wings
BBQ Turkey Thighs and Salad with Blueberry Reduction
Breaded Chicken Breast Stuffed with Mushrooms, Bacon & Gouda Cheese
Turkey & Chicken Burgers
Balsamic Dijon Salmon
Chicken, Mushroom & Bacon Pizza
Chicken & Turkey Tacos in Ezekiel Wraps
Baby Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Mozzarella & Crisps
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Recipe: Chicken, Mushroom, Bacon Pizza from Scratch

Recipe: Chicken Mushroom and Bacon Pizza from Scratch The Dough: ¾ cup of warm water 1 package active yeast 1 tsp honey 2 ½ cups of spelt flour 1 tsp seat salt 1 Tbsp Butter Toppings: Chicken: 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 small chicken breasts cubed (1/2 inch) 1 tsp seat salt 1 tsp fresh group pepper 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce Sauce: 5 medium diced tomatoes ½ cup freshly chopped parsley 3 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp seat salt 1 tsp fresh pepper 1 tbsp dried oregano (fresh if you got it) Mushrooms: 10 small button and/or crimini mushrooms sliced 1 tbsp butter Dash of sea salt and fresh ground pepper Others: 6 pieces of bacon 14 ounces of grated mozzarella

Dough: Combine yeast, honey and ¼ of water. In a food processor with dough hook combine flour, remaining water, olive oil and salt. While processing, add the yeast mixture and wait until the dough forms a ball. Add more water or flour if necessary. Remove from food processor and knead for 2-3 minutes until dough is very smooth. Place in a bowl with damp cloth over top and let rest for 2 hours. Remove from bowl and fold edges under themselves. Place back in bowl let rise for another hour. Remove from Bowl and rollout to the size and thickness you want.

Sauce: Over high heat, add olive oil, tomatoes, salt, pepper, parsley and oregano. Cook for about 10-15 minutes to intensify the flavours and remove some moisture.
Chicken: Preheat pan over high heat and add olive oil. Add chicken and sear all sides, by stirring frequently. Add salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce and continue cooking for about 2 minutes. Do not overcook as the chicken will be cooked in the oven on the pizza again.

Mushrooms: Add butter, salt, pepper and mushrooms to a small pan and cook over high heat until liquid has been reduced.
Bacon: Heat oven to 400F and place bacon on cookie sheet in oven. It should only take about 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the bacon. Remove and place in paper towels to remove excess fat.

The Pizza: Preheat oven to 500F and place pizza stone / clay stone in oven. Place rolled out crust on a pizza peel with bread crumbs or cornmeal on peel to ensure it slides off when transferring to oven (I use a large cutting instead of pizza peel). Place sauce, cheese and toppings on pizza and slide off pizza peel onto pizza stone in oven. Cook for about 8-10 minutes. Remove and Enjoy!
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