BLOGS

Just got back from a trip to Quebec where I entreated the locals to suffer my butchered French. They were very kind and only gagged me once. Highlight of the trip: A culinary focused jaunt from Montreal to Quebec City with my lovely Francophone buddies, Marco & Eliane. We tasted at every cider house and cheese shop that we could rustle up from Ile d’Orleans to Rougemont. Don’t know if you can find any of their cider or brandy out here, but Cidrerie Michel Jodoin is tha bomb. Their brandy was like boozy liquid gold. Best cheeses included; The hard to find…Le Bleu d’Elizabeth, Le Baluchon, L’anceire 3 year, Fritz Vielilli, Louis D’Or (bit like a nutty Gruyere) and a few you can get in Vancouver; Bleu Benedictine (made by monks), Savagine, find them at Benton Brothers. If you are…

BBQ Spot Prawns with cilantro salt and green papaya salad at the supper club. Tip: Buy them at T&T; Market live if you want to save a buck $8.99/lb right now. It’s spot prawn season in Vancouver and they are bloody tasty. Last year, I made a video (link below) on how to properly prep live spot prawns. This year, I’ve been shelling hundreds for various catering jobs and, by God, they are so lively. I’ve never experienced the jumping craziness before. What is in the Ocean this year, ephedrine? I had 10 of them actually jump out of the sink. It usually doesn’t freak me out, but I had to put gloves on to steel my nerves and behead them all. If you are experiencing a similar squeamishness, I just want to tell you, “You are NOT alone!” Here’s…

Buying “Money’s Mushrooms” at Costco is akin to putting margarine on toast. It’s not going to kill you, but it is so boring. Head out into BC’s backyard to find the real treasures. A handful of them you may know and see on occation in the high end grocery stores in Fall; yellow chanterelle, matsutake (pine), lobster, king bolete (porcini) or oyster mushrooms. These will run you about $27/lb for chanterelle or pine. Ouch! It’s far more fun to find them on your own, plus to gain access to hundreds of other edible and delicious mushooms at the same time (here’s my shameless plug for Mushroom Hunting Trips in Vancouver). Above is a shot of seaweed risotto with wild califlower and porcini mushrooms by Chef Ted of Refuel at our last supper club. This is a puffball – edible and…

Seems simple, and it is. It’s all about the quality of the ingredients. Venturi-Schulze aged balsamic (Vancouver Island), Portuguese olive oil(Bom Dia), barrata -unripe cows cheese (Bosa Foods), fire roasted bread(homemade), the best in season heirloom tomatoes from the Vancouver Farmers Market, oven dried black olives and the most fragrant basil leaves that you can find.

The Urban Forager – Wild herb walk in Vancouver – book it while the sun still shines and the mushrooms are still peaking out.

You thought they were so sweet and nice, but really they’re pure EVIL! Ingredients:Ripe Summer Strawberries400 grams Bitter Chocolate, ONLY Callebaut or another high quality brandOptional Port Directions:Take a little bit of love (the strawberries) and a little bit of pure, evil, dark chocolate from Callebaut. Dip the love in the evil. Serve to friends and fiends alike. Melting the chocolate:I usually melt it in the microwave, slowly, 20 sec at a time making sure you don’t overheat it (stir lots). Take it out and temper the chocolate with 2 Tbs of chocolate shavings, mix in well. Chocolate is ready for dipping now. Optional Booze filling:You can also take an apple peeler and cut a small hole in the strawberry, fill it with goodness like sherry or port! Dry the strawberry off if it’s moist. Then, cover the strawberry with…

I’ve been stumbling about the forest, lately, here are a handful of my tasty finds near Vancouver…Oyster Mushroom Log – Eureka! Red Leg Frog – Blue listed species, okayyyy… I won’t eat it. Anyone eaten any frogs in the wilds of Vancouver? I’ve eaten frogs legs before in Cambodia, they were delectable. Chanterelles! Good eats… Come on a hunt with me if you have an interest in Urban Foraging and fine food.

Elder flowersMiner’s Lettuce Cleavers Sweet Cicely Watercress Spring has pounced upon us, even though the warmth seems to have left us, lately. All sorts of tasty snacks are growing out of the ground. Wandering the forests and meadows of the Lower Mainland there are a few rules you should follow if you are interested in some unusual eats. Take note of the water sources surrounding your planty prey. Watercress, for example, is very nutritious and grows near running water. It also absorbs toxins quite readily. So, if a stream has pollutants in it (near a non-organic farm for example) the plants may not be safe to eat. Unless you’d welcome the growth of a third eye. Take plant cuttings, try not to disturb the roots, that way the crop will be replenished. Be sure of what you are eating. Buy…

I’m always on the hunt for new and unusual food sources that you can pick in British Columbia. Apparently, edible cattails are yummy; the female (non flowering) head can be cooked and eaten like corn (it doesn’t taste like corn) and the young shoots can be cooked like asparagus. I’m going to forage for some today and will report back! Anyone tried them before and have a good recipe? I would love to hear from you. Okay, I’m off to get my boots wet… chat soon. I’m back from a successful hunt, found some cleavers and lemon balm too. I pulled some of the inner shoots (stalk core) of cattails (Typha latifolia) out to do a recipe test with. Sauteed them up with green onion, olive oil and garlic. Very exciting. And….. they were tasteless and kind of slimy. Damn….

I’m always on the hunt for new and unusual food sources that you can pick in British Columbia. Apparently, cattails can be eaten two ways; the female (non flowering) head can be cooked and eaten like corn (it doesn’t taste like corn) and the young shoots can be cooked like asparagus.I’m going to pick and try this out today, I will report back! Anyone tried them before and have a good recipe? I would love to hear from you.Okay, I’m off to get my boots wet… chat soon.

Seats 20

http://www.youtube.com/get_player Swallow Tail secret Supper Club invites you to go crabbing in Vancouver with a local Chef. Private tours are available with a 3 course lunch – $149 each.