Mint and Rosemary Sponge Candy with Lindt Chocolate Drizzle

This is a twist on the classic sponge candy. The familiar taste of caramelized sugar, complemented by the earthiness of mint and rosemary. A sweet and savory combination brought together by the Lindt milk chocolate.

Ingredients:

-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (picked from sprig)

-2 sprigs of fresh mint (picked from sprig)

-1 cup (250ml) of granulated sugar

-1 cup (250ml) of corn syrup (golden or light)

-1 Tbsp (15ml) baking soda, sifted

-1 Tbsp (15ml) white vinegar

-1/2lb (225gr) of milk chocolate

Equipment:

-Non-stick cooking spray

-Parchment paper

-9-inch square baking pan

-Candy thermometer

-Whisk

-Saucepan

-Metal Mixing bowl

-Bakers rack

-Spatula or fork

Method:

1) Line 9-inch square baking pan (min 2-inch deep) with parchment paper, extend paper 3-4 inches over side to create high walls. Spray with cooking spray.

2) In food processor, pulse mint, rosemary and sugar to make flavored sugar. Mix on high for 1-2 minutes until mint and rosemary are finely chopped and incorporated with sugar.

3) In deep saucepan combine flavored sugar, corn syrup and vinegar. Whisk lightly over medium heat until sugar dissolves.

4) Cook mixture to 310F degrees  (155C), swirl occasionally but do not stir (Be very careful, sugar is close to molten state and will severely burn skin).

5) Remove from heat, add sifted baking soda, stir quickly and carefully. Mixture will foam and rise rapidly. Do not over stir as mixture will deflate.

6) Pour mixture into baking pan, allow to cool minimum 1 hour. Do not touch while cooling or candy will deflate. Once cool, use walls of parchment paper to remove from pan. Peel off parchment paper.  On countertop, use handle of knife break candy into pieces and place on bakers rack.

7) Melt chocolate in mixing bowl  over pot of boiling water. Whisk chocolate gently and bring to 110F (43C). Ensure there are no lumps and the mixture is smooth. Do not let mixture get any hotter or it will become grainy.

Allow chocolate to cool to 85F (29C).

9) Using spatula or fork, drizzle chocolate over broken pieces. Allow chocolate to cool and harden, then serve.

I had the great fortune of having a professional photographer at my dinner party on the weekend. Arcade Orginals took these amazing photos.

Spiced Braised Pork Belly, Celery Root Puree, Micro Greens, Coddled Egg Yolk

Chicken Confit, Celery Root Puree, Quince

Eggless Brownie with Sel Gris, Chipotle Brittle, Raspberry Sorbet, Picked Mint Leaves

Pan-seared foie gras, garlic rubbed grilled ciabatta, balsamic reduction

January is a long month for vancouver caterers, it’s our slow season, the weather is less than perfect and most of us are doing our year end and catching up on paperwork. There is nothing worse for a chef than being chained to their desk instead of creating in the kitchen.

I decided to head down to Granville Island for a change of scenery and inspiration. I got my latte from JJ Bean and wandered over to Armando’s Meats. What was the first thing that caught my eye? A nice little slice of Foie Gras. It was sitting there, evenly sliced, a nice straw color with no visible veins… perfection in cryovac.

I bought my little piece of foie, picked up a still warm ciabatta loaf, and headed to my kitchen. I sliced and grilled the bread while the non-stick pan warmed up and gave the bread a quick rub with a sliced bulb of garlic.

Then I brushed a tablespoon of balsamic reduction (ordinary balsamic reduced in thick bottom pan by 2/3) across my plate. I gently placed the foie in the smoking pan with my offset. It instantly sizzed and the lushious fat started to render. After mere seconds I flipped the foie over and gave it a generous sprinkle of sel gris. A couple more seconds and I placed the foie on my toast.

I had a little chardonnay left in the fridge from a job and poured a little timbal… I mean you can’t have foie without wine right? I think its a law in France….

Though it was only 3 bites, I savoured them and it reminded me of being at an outdoor cafe in Paris, drinking house wine and enjoying a small lobe of foie with friends. My mood was instantly improved and my spirit lifted… aah the power of food.

Spinach and ricotta Ravioli

I think the question I get asked the most often being a chef is “so where is a good place to eat?”

Instead of saving this knowledge for family and friends, I figured I would share reviews of where I eat with everyone. Welcome to the first of many restaurant reviews. My goal is to give my readers a review from “an industry insider”. Having the ability and knowledge to cook almost anything on most places menu, going out for dinner or even appetizers and drinks can be a challenge and sometimes a let down.

I will look at various aspects of my visits to the establishment, such as menu choices, wine/beer lists, price point, service and decor/atmosphere.

The first reviewable visit was to Red Card Sports Bar & Eatery (http://www.redcardsportsbar.ca/) on Smithe in between Richards and Seymour. Red Card is the latest offering from the Moda Hotel, Uva Wine Bar and Cibo restaurant group.

Service:  Upon arrival we were pleasantly greeted by a hostess and sat at an impressive 8 person booth with high backs and padded leather. I found our server (Leila) to be very knowledgeable about both the wine/beer list, as well as the menu. She made great recommendations, including the Bortoli ”Petite Sirah”, which at only $7 a glass offered excellent and complex flavour and easy drinkability.

Menu: The menu at Red Card is carefully crafted and compacted to include a nice variety of primi, insalate, pasta, panini, pizza & secondi but not be too long and verbose. True to form the menu is that of an upscale European Sports Bar. While you find variations on some pub classics, the menu is distincly more thoughtout and upscale.

We shared the arancini (fried risotto balls), bruschetta al funghi (mushroom bruchetta), the prosciutto e funghi pizza and the ravioli con spinaci e ricotta (spinach and ricotta raviolis). While the arancini ($8) had a great crust and the risotto inside was cooked almost to perfection with nicely separated al dente kernels, there was a distinct lack of flavour and seasoning. The chili (version of a salsa) served with it tasted like canned tomatoes, with a strong tin aftertaste. The chive aioli was nice and light with good seasoning and saved the arancini from complete failure. A little salt and pepper and/or stronger stock in the risotto would go a long way.

The second dish was the bruschetta al funghi ($9). The house made bread reminded me of Sunday dinner with my grandma’s homemade potato bread. The crust was nice and crunchy while the inside was tender and well seasoned. The mixed sauteed mushrooms seemed to be only sliced crimini and buttons mushrooms. Again there was a lack of seasoning, and the grana padano was too light of a grating under the mushrooms to really come through. If it wasn’t for the house made bread, we would have sent this bland dish back. I am all for delicate flavours, but the food needs to be able to stand up to drinks, it is in the end a sports bar.

There was a bit of a mix up with the pizza ($14), we originally received  the salsiccia, funghi e asiago (sausage, mushroom and asiago), but this was caught by our server after our first slice without us even mentioning it, she brough out the correct pizza and left the other at no charge. The pizza’s outer crust was nice, flat and light with good texture, but the rest of the dough was a little undercooked or oversauced. Unfortunately the sauce suffered from the same fate as the first two dishes, lack of seasoning. The prosciutto was questionable as to its origin. It definately was not from Parma, it tasted more like deli ham than prosciutto. The texture was too moist and lack the distinctive dry salty taste of prosciutto which would have elevated the dish from pedestrian.

The star of the night was the pasta dough for the ravioli. It was definitely hand made, by someone who has seen a sheet or two of pasta in their day. The attached photo shows the ravioli dish as presented by the server. Both the texture of the dough and the light creamy filling of the raviolis stood out. The sage butter finish was nice, but could use some slight improvement. While the use of black pepper would ruin or improve (depending on preference) the bland white-out look of the dish, its peppery bite was needed to cut through the richness of this dish. A further consideration of using browned butter to not only add color and flavor depth but to bring out the oils in the sage leaves would elevate this dish to a level more consistent with Uva and Cibo’s offerings and skill level.

Drink Menu: Red Card boasts a well selected 3 page beer menu and compact but varied wine list with offerings ranging from $6 and up. The mixed cocktails were playful in name and mixed with an experienced hand with the flavors in balance. I had the Murphy’s stout ale, a kettle one martini (extra dirty) and a grey goose martini. All well mixed, executed and great temperature.

Decor/Atmosphere: This area is one that definitely needs to be addressed, as all 6 of us at the table commented on the same things without prompting from me. The lighting was distracting and atmosphere stifling. With the great high ceilings, open kitchen, splashes of red and the mix of old and new construction, Red Card has a great base to build on. However the lights were quite bright throughout most of the night, when combined with the over 15foot ceilings it made the room seem too large over bright and killed any potential mood or quaintness. The bigger issue was three lights pointing directly at our booth. These lights would go from full bright and dim to dark at set intervals; the other issue was their placement, right at the dinner’s eyes. We would be in mid conversation then the “interrogation” light would flare up, slightly blinding us, then fade out, followed by the other two doing the same but at different angles.

The booth as mentioned was a great size to fit a larger group, comfortable, the only complaint was that when the exterior door opened, a draft would come down from atop the booth.

There were plenty of TVs, which were very tastefully hung and sized throughout the eatery, all showing various games and sports.

Final Thoughts: Red Card has a great beer list a compact but quality wine list, lots of TVs, plenty of seating, good location and friendly/knowledgeable staff. If you are going thinking it will be like dinning at UVA with the hockey game on, you will be disappointed, if you are simply looking for better food than most pubs in town have to offer and a bit more upscale atmosphere, Red Card will not let you down.

In the first segment I am teaching the host Kyle to make a Wild Boar Bacon Bruchetta with Garlic Rubbed Baguette. In the second we are making a Hankerchief Pesto Pasta and a quick dessert called Gelato Affugato.

Segment 1: Wild Boar Bacon Bruchetta

Segment 2: Hankerchief Pesto Pasta, Gelato Affugato

The following is what I will be preparing for both my Christmas Dinner Drop-Off Packages (Starting at $200) and for my own family. I didn’t want to get away from the classics but wanted to add more flavour and infuse some local flair

Local turkey with veal stock demi-glaze & cranberry gastrique

Starches: 

smoked mozzarella & crispy shallot mashed potatoes

maple candied yams

chestnut & sage stuffing

Vegetables:  

truffled corn kernels

crisp snap peas

roasted Brussel sprouts & almond shavings

mixed vegetables in tarragon beurre blanc

This has been a chef’s help on Christmas Dinner.

The event was well attended, it was held at the Richmond Olympic Oval. For those of you that have yet to see it, it is spectacular. The roof is reclaimed wood and the whole building is engineered to very high green energy standards.

The menu consisted of

-Ahi Tuna Tartare spoons

-Signature Smoked Tomato Soup with Bombay Gin (Served by the Virgin Radio Flight Attendants)

-Cucumber Caprese Cups with Pesto

-Pulled Pork on Cajun Wonton Crisps

-Chicken Liver Pate with Sourdough Crustini

-Antipasto Platter

-Crudites Platter

-Cajun Tofu Endive Cups

-Stuffed Mushroom Caps

-Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

-Smoked Salmon on pumpernickel

During the event we gave away a corporate lunch for 10 people, Virgin gave away tickets to Canucks and Giants games.

Listen in the new year for Culinary Ink radio advertisements on Virgin Radio FM 95.3

I came up with a few ideas, did some research and ended up having a blast. The following are a couple of the hits from the party.

Fogging witches brew punch:

For this I used sheets of gelatin to partially set a mixture of San Pelligrino and Kool-Aid… I added some gummy worms and chunks of fieldberries for effect. We set the punch bowl inside the cauldren, then poured hot water around the punch and dropped in some dry ice. The rollling fog was a great effect and as the punch warmed and cooled it’s viscosity changed from runny to sloppy and back. For further effect, I rinsed a latex glove, filled it with water and a little purple food coloring and froze overnight to create a frost bitten severed hand.

Witches Brew Cauldren

Goat Cheese Eyeballs:

Second on the menu were goat cheese eyeballs… I simply rolled some chevre, flattened and topped with a slive of pimento stuffed olive. This creates the white of the eyes with a green iris and red pupil.

Goat Cheese Eyeballs

Bat Wings:

Moving on to one of my favourites, bat wings. I went to Cioffi’s italian market and butcher on Hastings and got really nice chicken wings with the joint attached. I boiled them in a mixture of squid ink and dry rub to both impart a cajun spiciness and some colour. I then tossed them with black food coloring and more dry rub. They were later baked in the oven to get crispy and served with guano dip (blue cheese ranch).

Bat Wings

Putrid-Nesca – Squid Ink Linguine Puttanesca:

My final dish and I think the grossest and tastiest of all was “Putrid-nesca”. Squid ink linguine puttanesca topped with marinated squid chunks. The key to this dish was getting pre-made squid-ink (actually cuddlefish ink) linguine noodles and cooking them in squid ink infused water. I added 6 tbsp of the ink to the water to intensify the colour and flavour. I cut all of the ingredients large and chunky to create an entrail effect. The dish was a hit and one of the best puttanesca’s I ever made. If you wanted to take the look to the next level, use whole anchovy fillets as garnish instead of using anchovy paste in the sauce.

Putrid-nesca - Squid Ink Linguine Puttanesca

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. Stay tuned for Christmas party dinner ideas.

This has been A Chef’s Help on a ghoulish Halloween menu

The following are what I have learned to be the keys to a perfect cheesecake.

• Ensure the rack is in the center of the oven
• Greased, quality springform pan (do not cheap out, or your crust won’t come out!)
• This may seem like a no brainer, but USE QUALITY ingredients, do not use the cheap vanilla, especially on a plain cheesecake, use the real vanilla not artificial and if you have them, seed a couple of vanilla beans, it will boost the flavour and add nice little specs of black to the cake
• Use room temperature eggs, cream cheese and cream, they mix better when they are not cold
• Mix slowly. I am not a baker by trade and I am a guy, so I am always tempted to just put all the ingredients together, mix and bake, but to get this cake right, mix on a medium-low speed, add each ingredient slowly and add the eggs one at a time and let each mix thoroughly. There is nothing worse than lumps in your cheesecake
• Cook your cake in a waterbath. Similar to creme brulee, fill a pan or tray larger than your cake pan with hot water, put in spring-form pan and ensure water level is at least 1/2 to 3/4 the way up. This will create steam and keep the cake moist
• Cook your cake at two different temperatures – First 15 minutes at 350 degrees, the next 1.5 hours at 250 degrees
• Let the cake cool in the oven. Once the cake middle is only slightly wobbly, and the cooking time is complete, shut off the oven and let the cake cool in the oven (I wrote this twice because it is that important). This will allow the middle to set and avoid cracks due to quick changes in temperature and humidity
• Let the cake sit for at least 12 hours in the fridge, like soup, cheese cake is better the second day

As for a recipe, I tested a couple and found that the old staple, The Joy of Baking, had a great recipe, just ensure you follow my additional steps to ensure perfection

CRUST:

• 2 cups of graham wafer crumbs or finely crushed vanilla wafers or gingersnaps, I prefer graham crackers
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (I don’t mind using salted butter, I find a little salt can really enhance the flavour, especially when paired with sweet things)

METHOD:

Pulse graham crackers or use crumbs, mix with melted butter and sugar. Press firmly into bottom of very well greased springform pan (recommend PAM’s new baking spray). Put in fridge while making the filling.

FILLING:

• 32 ounces (1 kg) cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (or 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, (plus vanilla bean scraping if available)

METHOD:

Using mixer, blend cream cheese, sugar, and flour.  Beat on medium speed until smooth, this takes around 2 minutes, remember, take your time, we do not want any lumps. One at a time, add your room temperature eggs. Let each mix in fully, then repeat. Add the cream, lemon zest, vanilla extract and mix until creamy and smooth with no lumps. Do not mix too fast, use a lower speed for longer time.  Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling.  Place the springform pan in a larger baking pan with the hot water and place in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350, then 1.5hours at 250. Once middle is only slightly wobbly, not completely set, shut off the oven and allow the cake to cool for at least an hour and a half, cool on counter on wire rack for an additional hour, then allow to rest in fridge for at least 12 hours. While this sounds like a long time and a lot of work, this recipe with these little steps will ensure a crack free, fluffy, moist cheese cake.

The topping is up to you. You can use anything from lavendar scented caramel to a simple fruit puree.

This has been “A Chef’s Help” on New York Cheese Cake.

Very few people have enough wine glasses for a dinner party especially if it’s a wine paired meal where three different glasses are needed for wine, plus water glasses, plus pre-dinner cocktail glasses, tables, linens, cutlery, plates for a multi-course dinner and so fourth.

Where do the professionals go for rentals? Where can you go as a regular consumer for great price and service? Culinary Ink – Vancouver Personal Chef & Catering uses A&B Party Rentals. A&B is a family run business that has been keeping parties going and drinks flowing for over 50 years in Vancouver.

If you are looking for friendly, knowledgeable staff, great selection and price, look no further, give Delia (my personal account rep) a call. A&B also has party cad, a computer assisted program to design the layout for your event and outline rental needs.

A&B has helped me out since the start of Culinary Ink and is a valued business partner. Check them out at

www.abpartytime.com or call Delia at 604-879-5281

This has been “A Chef’s Help” on Party Rentals.