Food By Bram turns 3 today!

Today is a special milestone. It was 3 years ago today that I published the first post on this blog. It has been quite a journey. I'm so thankful for the support, feedback and following that I've received from people like you. It really makes it all so worth it. I look forward to keeping this blog alive, informative and inspiring for years more to come. I think back to how much my own skills and ability to create a recipe have grown and evolved over the last 3 years. Writing this blog is one of the best decisions I've ever made. It was an idea that I played with for months before finally executing it. Little did I know how many opportunities and important relationships it would create in my life. I'm sure there are many more that have yet to unfold. 

Hey, are you on Facebook? You should like the blog's Facebook page, Food By Bram, and you can also follow my Instagram @foodbybram. That way you can see even more of my dishes and interact with me and others who enjoy the blog.

A big, heartfelt thank you to all of everyone who makes this blog possible! That means you too. 

I have a few upcoming projects planned for the blog this spring so stay tuned for that. I love hearing from you guys so please don't be shy. 

All the best and see you again soon! You all are the best.

B  

Barbecued Cauliflower and Jalapeño-Cheddar Sauce

Every now and then I get a weird craving for this. It doesn't make a very balanced meal but it's quite filling and is made up mostly of vegetables. Not to mention it's delicious! Ever since I was a kid I've loved cooked broccoli or cauliflower with a creamy cheese sauce. This is a bit of a grown up version, but very easy to make kid friendly. It's dead simple.

Over the past year and a bit I have rediscovered my appreciation for cauliflower. It really is one of my favourite vegetables. I love it raw as well as cooked. It's phenomenal roasted, grilled, fried, puréed, in curries like aloo gobi, processed into small pieces and eaten as a grain substitute (great in tabbouleh), baked with exotic spice blends like ras el hanout or za'atar and even raw with a little hummus or dressing. It's powerfully rich in vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B6, dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and is even a decent source of protein. It's filling and depending how you cook it can take on a nutty, meaty flavour. Barbecuing is the perfect method to cook cauliflower for this technique. Roasting in the oven is still a very good alternative. All you would need to do is preheat your oven to 400 degrees F/204 degrees C and roast it for about 35-40 minutes or until browned to your taste. The bonus of the barbecue is that it's much easier to get a slight char on the cauliflower and add a natural smoky flavour. 

Last year I had a great cauliflower dish at a restaurant called Fat Pasha where we ordered half a head of roasted cauliflower topped with sauces, fried halloumi cheese, pomegranate and toasted pine nuts. It looked so bizarre but really haunted my palate afterward. It was so delicious. I first made this as a roasted version some time after that. It's just a play on cauliflower with a cheddar sauce and jalapeños. I loved the experience of eating the cauliflower whole with a knife and fork rather than broken into bite-sized florets. It really gave me a main course feel. The weather in Toronto has been the best so far this year over the passed week and I had another craving for this so I figured I'd try barbecuing it instead. It was so good I had to write about it.

How many servings you can get depends on the size of the cauliflower. The cauliflower I used in this demo was kinda small so I used it as one serving. A large cauliflower will generously feed 2-4 people. I reckon most people would rather enjoy this as a side dish, so in that case you could quarter a large cauliflower for 4 generous sides. It's all up to you. Part of the allure is the minimal amount of breaking down the vegetable. 


Ingredients

1 cauliflower, halved or quartered
2 fresh jalapeño peppers, sliced diagonally
2 cups of milk, warm or very cold
1 cup aged, sharp cheddar, grated
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
4 tbsps olive oil
A pinch nutmeg, freshly grated preferred
Salt
Pepper



The first thing you want to do after prepping your ingredients is preheat your grill. If you have a gas barbecue, use a high heat. 

For the cheese sauce you need to make a béchamel. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat then add the flour. Whisk together for about a minute. A paste will form while you cook out the raw flour flavour. Then add a few tbsps of milk. If you want perfect results, gently warm the milk on the stove. For a slightly less perfect but still very passable result, use very cold milk straight out of the fridge. Any temperature in between will cause lumps in your sauce. I was just making this for myself so I used cold milk. 

Continue whisking while you gradually add the rest of the milk, a few tbsps at a time and whisking constantly in between. The flour and butter paste will dissolve into the milk and make a thin sauce. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg (bear in mind that you will be adding cheddar to this sauce which is salty, so don't overdo it). Bring the sauce up to a simmer then lower the heat. The sauce will thicken up during this process. 

Add in the grated cheddar and whisk until all of it melts into the sauce. I say 1 cup in the ingredient list but that's a vague guideline. Feel free to add a little more.

      
 

Add the sliced jalapeños to the sauce and stir. For a milder version, you can remove some or all of the seeds and membrane. I quite enjoy spicy food so I left all the seeds in. That's a personal judgement call.

        
Next step is to barbecue the cauliflower which will take about 15-20 minutes. Keep the sauce warm on a low heat while you barbecue the cauliflower. During that time the jalapeño will steep in the cheesy sauce, infusing it with its flavour. Try to stir it every minute or so to prevent a skin from forming. 

Lightly rub the cauliflower in olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Brush the grill clean while it's hot. Place the lightly oiled and seasoned cauliflower on the hot grill. 

Every 3-4 minutes turn the cauliflower. Try your best to get an even browning as possible and cook to your desired doneness. How long it will take depends on the size of your pieces of cauliflower and your barbecue so let your eyes be your guide. 

I like my cauliflower with a fair amount of charred, gnarly bits. It took me about 20 minutes. 

Then all you have to do is serve, smothered in your jalapeño cheese sauce and you're done. 

The cauliflower I used was on the smaller side of the scale so this batch of sauce ended up being twice as much as I needed. 

This is definitely a cauliflower lover's dish. Alternatively, you could slice the cauliflower into one-inch steaks and barbecue them. They would take less time to cook and you would have more surface area to get all caramelized and smoky. Personally, there's something about digging into a head of cauliflower with a knife and fork. It's almost like going at a big piece of meat only - it's not. It's dense in nutrients while hitting you with a balance of crunchy, smoky, gooey, spicy, nutty and earthy. Cauliflower goes so well with cheddar and cheddar goes so well with jalapeños that the three together make an unforgettable combination. This is a basic recipe that you could add so many other things to. You could top it with toasted nuts, fresh herbs, lemon juice, crispy bacon, browned sausage, sautéed onions, you name it!

I hope this has sparked your interest and inspired you to try it yourself. 

Until next time,

B

Brining & Grilling Pork Chops

A good barbecued pork chop is juicy, smoky and full of flavour. Unfortunately, pork chops usually dry out on the barbecue because they're quite lean. Similar to skinless, boneless chicken breasts there's not much fat to keep the meat moist while it cooks. Luckily there is a trick you can do at home to keep them plump and juicy off the grill. That is by keeping the pork chops in a brine before cooking them. A brine is a solution of water, salt and usually other flavourings. The high salt content encourages the meat to absorb more liquid and flavour. This past Christmas we brined our turkey for the same effect. 

In this post I'm going to share a basic recipe for the brine plus a great technique for cooking pork chops on the grill. The cooking process uses indirect heat. I have a gas barbecue (which rightfully is my roommate's). If you have a charcoal barbecue (which in my opinion is the better option anyway) all you need to do is gather the hot coals on one side of the grill. At first the pork chop will be seared briefly on the hot side and then gently cook through on the cooler side. 

After you've brined your pork chops there's nothing stopping you from grilling the chop as is. If you really want some nice flavour though, I recommend a dry spice rub. You could brush some barbecue sauce on the pork chops near the end of the cooking process and that would be great too. I don't recommend a wet marinade after the initial brine though. The seasoning in a marinade could actually extract some of the liquid which the brine worked so hard at putting in. Whatever you do, do not add any additional salt. Brining requires quite a bit of salt to work effectively. This process seasons the meat throughout. This creates a beautiful flavour, but it takes care of all the salt required. If you add any salt to your spice mix you're probably going to overseason your pork chops. If you're using a store brought mix, make sure there isn't any salt added.


Basic Ingredients for the brine

2-4 bone-in pork chops
4 cups colder water
4 tbsps coarse kosher salt
*This is a sugar-free version, but you could add 2 tbsps of sugar for sweetness


Get yourself 2-4 pork chops. Bone-in is preferred because it looks nice, cooks more evenly and gives the meat flavour. Your best option is a thick cut (at least an inch) rib chop.  

In a shallow dish or container, add 4 cups of cold water and 4 tbsps of coarse kosher salt. Whisk to dissolve.

Add whatever additional flavourings you wish. Here I've added a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper, crushed garlic, dried habanero peppers and bay leaves. Other ideas that you could use are fresh chilies, lemon, ginger, whole spices, woody herbs or slices of onion. 

Place the pork chops in your flavoured brine solution. The brine should completely cover the chops. Place them in the fridge. The chops need to sit in the brine for about 4 hours. If you like, you can take the chops out of the fridge for the last hour or two. The closer the meat is to room temperature before you grill it, the better.   

  

Remove the chops from the brine and dry them thoroughly with paper towel. This will remove excess salt as well as moisture which would prevent the chop from getting a good sear. You'll notice at this stage that the chops will feel heavier than they were before the brine. That's because the chops are full of flavourful juices.

 
    

If your chop has a cap of fat on the side, score it with opposing diagonal lines. Make sure to do this just to the fat and not the meat. This will help to render while grilling, adding flavour and keeping the chop moist as it cooks. 

Lightly oil the pork chops and apply the dry rub of your choice. I toasted up some cumin and fennel seeds in a dry pan then ground them up with paprika, dried thyme and cayenne pepper. Cajun, Chinese 5-spice or jerk seasoning also works very nice. Whatever you like so long as it has no salt. 

Heat up your barbecue on one side. If you're using a gas grill turn the heat to high. Leave the lid down for a few minutes while it preheats. Then brush the grill and place the chops over the heated side. Close the lid and let them sear for one minute.

Then flip the pork chops and close the lid for another minute to sear the other side.

Then transfer the pork chops to the cooler side of the grill. Close the lid and leave them for about 3 or 4 minutes.

Flip the pork chops and close the lid for an additional 3 or 4 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on your barbecue and your pork, so rather than focusing on cooking time, aim for an internal temperature of 160 F/71 C. A pork chop doesn't cook like a steak. Only a slightly rosy center is perfect and safe to eat. If you overcook it, the meat will be a grey colour throughout. 

Remove the pork chops from the grill. Let them rest at room temperature for at least 5 minutes. This will ensure an even juicier result. 

This next step is optional but I recommend cutting off the scored fat. Now that the cooking is over, it has done it's job. Unless you consider it a delicacy, you don't need extra hog fat in your diet anyway.

Serve up your pork chops while they're still warm. Pork chops are great with roasted potatoes, fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, mac and cheese or wilted greens to name a few. Here I just plated it alongside a green salad. 

  
There's only so much a photo can do, but can you see how beautifully tender and juicy this pork chop is? You won't even need a sauce. Banish the thought of dried out, chewy, barbecued pork chops. This brining technique is the best way to get maximum flavour and juiciness. 

Spring is finally here which means sunny, barbecue weather is just around the corner. This is a great grilling experiment you can try at home. Very simple to do and there aren't even that many ingredients either. This is the most effective way to get delicious, restaurant-quality pork chops. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and hopefully learned a thing or two. Lots of exciting new techniques and dishes are in store for the blog, so be sure to check back soon!

Until next time,


B

Toronto's R&D

Last night was the grand opening of R&D, the restaurant project by MasterChef Canada season one winner, Eric Chong, and MasterChef Canada judge, Alvin Leung. After the show, Eric accompanied Alvin to Hong Kong where he was mentored at Alvin's Michelin-star restaurant, Bo Innovation. Lots of preparation has since gone into their own restaurant in the heart of Toronto's Chinatown. R&D represents Eric (the Rebel) and Alvin (the Demon). The restaurant serves elevated Chinese cuisine with a modernized Canadian flair. Danny Raposo from season one's top 13 gathered a few of us together for the opening. There were a couple of last minute cancellations but of the top 50, only Danny, Carmela Campolargo and myself were able to make it. We got to see Eric and Alvin, which was pretty cool for me since I hadn't seen either of them since we were all on set together. 

The restaurant has a very vibrant atmosphere. There are elements of sophistication in the form of reclaimed wood and contemporary lighting.  It's a somewhat narrow space with the restaurant bar at the entrance before opening up at the back with casual seating, colourful decor and kitchen in full view.

Eric was working for the opening and managed to step out for a quick photo op with Danny. 

Alvin Leung was also there expediting the kitchen, greeting tables and charming food critics. 

Alvin stopped to catch up with us and take a photo with Carmela and myself. 

Here's one of my fave photos of the night: Danny, Carmela and me hamming it up. 

 


We were also joined by Danny's son, Carmela's husband, our friend Denise and Mathieu Beausoleil, who made it to the final stage of auditions for both seasons of MasterChef so far, but yet to be selected. It was a great group so we got a chance to try many of the dishes. The concept of the restaurant is mainly tapas portions, perfect for sharing. 
 

The brussels sprouts side with black bean butter and puffed rice. 

I started with the fried sweetbreads in oyster sauce with crispy seaweed, mushrooms and sweet potato purée. I was really impressed with this dish. I loved the plating and it was a convenient combination of things that I like. I first tried sweetbreads earlier this year at Ruby Watchco and was very surprised at how much I enjoyed them. I'm not much of an offal person but sweetbreads don't have that muddy flavour I associated with most of it. They're quite tasty and R&D did them justice. 

Carmela ordered the chop suey which was prepared at table side by our friendly server, Julia. It was a combination of different vegetables and a smoky plum sauce served with bibb lettuce. You have the option of adding seared foie gras to this dish. 

Danny and Mathieu both ordered the chargrilled octopus with choy sum chimichurri and yu heung eggplant. This was probably the most beautifully plated dish of the night. 

One of the dishes I ordered was the crab bibimbap which comes with their house chili sauce, kimchi and an egg. If you're looking at this thinking, "this doesn't look at all like bibimbap!", allow me to explain. Bibimbap is traditionally served in a heated, stone bowl which kind of sears the sticky rice at the bottom and gives it a beautiful caramelized flavour and crisp texture. When the dish came to the table, it looked beautiful but then the server immediately began to mash everything together with a pair of spoons. In doing so he maximized the surface area of the rice against the bowl. Then he advised to let it sit for a minute or so to let the rice get crispy. Was this a good tasting dish? Absolutely. I did get the maximum amount of crispiness out of the rice but overall I wished they hadn't done that. I thought it looked like a mess. They brought me this beautiful dish and then murdered it in front of me. lol! I get the concept but personally I don't think it was worth it. What do you guys think? Really tasty though.  

Another dish I ordered was the lobster chow mein. This was one of Eric's dishes that he presented on the season finale of MasterChef Canada. What can I say? I was intrigued. The cook on the lobster was really good and the natural flavour wasn't compromised by any other element in the dish. Personally I would have preferred a thinner noodle, but that's just my taste. The thickness of the noodle matched his dish on the finale of the show and it helped him win the title. They're made fresh from scratch.  

Mathieu and Danny also ordered the R&D take on the chicken and waffles with sichuan maple syrup and plum sauce. The quality of this photo is especially bad, my apologies. I got to try a drumstick and it was really good. I'm a sucker for fried chicken and unless I'm mistaken I thought I tasted Chinese 5 spice in the crispy breading, which was interesting. Chicken and waffles might seem like an odd concept to some people but it's a classic pairing in soul food with roots in the deep south. It's hard to explain but I quite like it in a cheat-on-your-diet-so-good kinda way. I'd recommend this dish if you get a chance to try it. 

 


Our table also ordered the sweet-n-sour ribs with a hawthorn-lemongrass-ginger slaw and pineapple.

We tried all three of their desserts as well. This the the crispy milk with malt ice cream dish. I'm not so sure how they made these but they were really interesting. The milk was firm custard texture with a smoky, caramelized coating reminiscent of fire-toasted marshmallows. It really gives the impression of a campfire. 

They also have an interesting take on a banana split. Instead of the traditional, strawberry, vanilla, chocolate they give you a scoop each of sour cherry sorbet, tamarind ice cream and a peanut butter-condensed milk ice cream with crispy tempura banana fritters, coconut cream and macerated cherries. This dish was really good and a fun interpretation of a classic. I'm not so sure if I understood the sour cherry and tamarind combination (both sour) with condensed milk and peanut butter. I guess I was expecting three different and contrasting flavours to balance each other out. Each ice cream was really good on their own though. Fried bananas are hard not to love too. 

  


Carmela ordered the crème brûlée with coconut sugar which came with a scoop of their sour cherry ice cream on top. She said she enjoyed it. 

Overall a very successful and enjoyable grand opening. I want to extend a big congratulations to both Eric and Alvin for the fantastic restaurant. I'm looking forward to going back. To be quite honest, there wasn't a single thing on the menu that I didn't want to try. That's always a good sign. We saw another table ordered a peking duck with steamed buns and Asian slaw. It looked amazing! R&D offers some creative and sophisticated dishes which are elevated and yet still hit that comfort food mark that not every cuisine can do. If you get a chance to dine at R&D, please do. 

R&D is located at 241 Spadina Ave in downtown Toronto's Chinatown neighbourhood. Their phone number is 416-586-1241 and you can see their web-site here. 

Well guys, that's it from me!

See you again soon!

B

Mystery Ingredient Challenge 2015

My aunt and I are big time foodies and we usually do a semi-annual event with other family members. Everyone chooses a mystery ingredient for my aunt and I to incorporate into a multiple course meal that we prepare for everybody. In the last few challenges we've also been presented with one or two additional secret ingredients after we've already planned out the menu. It's a lot of fun. It's actually been about a year since our last cook off because of all of the preparations surrounding my cousin's wedding last summer. It kind of got skipped. So we were all very excited for this particular challenge. 

It was a smaller crowd this time around. Other than my aunt and I there was my uncle, his brother and his wife, my cousin and her husband. So we only had five initial ingredients which were:

• Cabbage
• Sausage
• Rhubarb
• Chili pepper
• Tofu

My aunt and I decided on four courses: two appetizers, one main and a dessert. For the first appetizer we decided on marinated tofu and veggie skewers. The second course was a fresh ravioli with a spicy tofu filling, arugula pesto and fresh Parmigiano Reggiano. For the main course we made cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef and sausage with a salad and crusty bread. Then for dessert we decided on a rhubarb crisp with the choice of freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. We incorporated the chili peppers in the tofu marinade for the skewers, the ravioli filling as well as the cabbage roll stuffing. So we had all of our bases covered. One problem that we encountered was that the market was out of rhubarb and we were out in the country with limited options so we had to replace one of our secret ingredients. Rhubarb was chosen by cousin's husband, Steve, who picked apple in its place (so that we could still make a crisp). So instead of rhubarb we used two different kinds of apple, raspberries and blackberries. We called it a rhubarbless rhubarb crisp, lol. Poor Steve. He had chosen rhubarb as his ingredient in a previous cook off but we encountered the same problem. Steve can't seem to catch a break.

After we committed to our menu and finished all of our grocery shopping we were presented with our two additional curve ball ingredients: Kiwi and a novelty Reese's chocolate-peanut butter Easter egg.  

We felt that both ingredients would work best in the dessert course. We decided to add some of the kiwi to the fruit in the crisp and scoop out most of the peanut butter from the Reese's Egg and use the chocolate to melt into a sauce. That way we could fold some of the chocolate sauce into the whipped cream and save the rest for a drizzle over those who prefer ice cream. Then we got the bright idea of adding Chambord (a French, raspberry liqueur) to the chocolate for extra flavour that would tie it in with the raspberries in the crisp. 

Well, the Chambord idea didn't work out so well. We melted the chocolate in a double boiler and then added a bit of Chambord which we reduced slightly to burn off the alcohol. I'm sure there is a simple scientific explanation for this but as soon as we mixed in the Chambord it caused the chocolate to crystallize and turn all grainy. We tried to save it by returning it to the double boiler with a little extra chocolate but it was no use. Never the less, the chocolate was an ingredient we had to include in the course so we used it anyway. The texture wasn't what we planned but at least it tasted fantastic.

Whomp, Whomp...

As usual we printed the official menu and posted it for all to see. We made the chocolate sauce after printing it and of course wasn't anticipating the hiccup in the texture so although it reads "Chambord drizzle" there's no way it could be drizzled as you can gather from the photo above. These challenges have yet to turn out without a single hitch. lol

For the first course we marinated firm tofu in a combination of oil, rice vinegar, fresh garlic, chili pepper, ginger, salt and pepper for a few hours. We tossed some button mushrooms in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and gave them a head start on the barbecue in a perforated pan. Then I added some yellow bell pepper and the tofu and let everything get caramelized and smoky. Then we skewered them with some fresh cherry tomatoes and served them with a Thai peanut sauce. In retrospect, these skewers would have been perfect with a little red onion. Otherwise they were a big hit. My uncle's brother said he'd never eaten tofu before and was surprised at how much he liked it.  



 

  

For the second appetizer we had to make some homemade pasta for the ravioli. If you'd like to learn how to make your own basic pasta, check out my recipe for it. We made a large batch of a slightly different recipe. We used 3 cups of pastry flour, 1/2 cup semolina flour, a dozen egg yolks, 2 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil, a good pinch of salt and few tbsps of cold water as needed. My aunt has an actual pasta machine attachment on her mixer which was a real treat for me. Every other time I've made pasta I've rolled it out on a counter and used a knife to cut it. 

  


We sautéed onions, garlic, mushrooms, tofu, chili peppers, rosemary, sage and thyme for the ravioli filling. 

 

Then it was just a matter of cutting out little circles with a cookie cutter and placing a small amount of filling on half of them and then sealing them with the other circles using a little egg white as adhesive. 

After sealing the raviolis together we used a fork to crimp the edges, just for appearance.

Since the pasta was so fresh it only took about a minute in simmering, salted water to cook. I made a pesto out of fresh arugula, garlic, toasted pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. We served the ravioli with the pesto and some extra Parmigiano on top. The plating turned out to be a bit of a flop but these were so good! Arguably the best course of the day. 

The star of the main course was the cabbage rolls. I'd never made them before and my aunt had limited experience but they turned out really good. We browned sausage and ground beef and combined it with cooked brown rice, onion, garlic, chili peppers, sage, rosemary and thyme. We parboiled the cabbage just enough to soften the leaves and then we filled them with our meat mixture and and rolled them up. My cousin is a vegetarian so we managed to make one cabbage roll with some of the leftover tofu ravioli filling.

  
We made a basic sauce of canned Marzano tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs and just a little balsamic vinegar to give it a depth of flavour. We topped the rolls with the tomato sauce. In retrospect we should have added a layer of sauce at the bottom, but as I mentioned, neither of us are cabbage roll connoisseurs, lol. 

  


We baked the cabbage rolls at 350 F/177 C for about an hour. They looked about the same coming out as they did going in. 

We put together a nice salad of romaine lettuce, crispy pancetta, red onion and freshly grated Parmigiano cheese.  We tossed the salad in my aunt's homemade Caesar salad dressing.

We also roasted a whole head of garlic and warmed up a multigrain baguette in the oven. Roasting garlic whole causes the cloves to steam and caramelize in their papery casings. This creates a creamy, spreadable product that we used on the bread. Everything was so mouthwateringly tasty and left everybody quite satisfied. 

 


For the dessert we made the "rhubarbless" crumble with a layer of cinnamon and apples, raspberries, blackberries and kiwi with a butter, brown sugar and rolled oat topping.  

For those who preferred fresh whipped cream, we incorporated some of my botched Chambord chocolate but I have to admit it worked pretty well. We managed to give the whipped cream a subtle chocolate-raspberry flavour without completely destroying the texture.

Unfortunately the ice cream variety wasn't quite as successful. We had intended to have an actual chocolate sauce to drizzle over the ice cream, but since we were left with a grainy paste all we could really do was plop some of the chocolate in the middle. The chocolate Easter egg was an ingredient we had to use, so we did. Although the texture wasn't anything to write home about, the flavours were delicious and the colours were beautiful. 

As usual it was heaps of fun we managed to eat some fantastic food in the process. We had some leftovers including cabbage rolls and pesto to enjoy for dinner the following night.

We had so much fun making fresh pasta for the cook off that we decided to do it again the next day. Only this time we made fresh fettuccine. 

We cooked the fettuccine in salted, simmering water and then tossed it with the leftover arugula pesto and a little bit of the starchy pasta water to stretch the pesto and give it a silkier texture. 

We served the fettuccine with extra freshly grated Parmigiano, more salad and the leftover cabbage rolls which we warmed up. It turned out to be a very special and enjoyable dinner too!

Not only was it a lot of fun to get together and pull off several courses of delicious food, but I got a good dosage of dog this past weekend. This is completely non-food related but we are big dog people and this gathering gave me a chance to see my aunt and uncle's dog, Keeva. She's about 14 months old now and even bigger than when I last saw her at Christmas. Keeva's made a few previous appearances on the blog.

Also, Steve and my cousin Megan got a new puppy since I saw them last, Oakley. He's a little over two months old and quite the little scamp, although down for the count in this picture. He is a gold retriever/poodle mix. Who doesn't love puppies? I mean, come on. :)

Well guys, I hope you enjoyed the photos from our latest mystery ingredient challenge cook off. Winter is finally beginning to give up its reign to Spring and that means all kinds of new seasonal produce and new recipes are coming to the site very soon. Spring is my favourite season of the year! This is also the time of year when my busiest season at work starts to die down and I'll have more time and energy to contribute material to the blog. I know that the momentum of posts hasn't been quite the same over the past few months and I'm sorry about that. Big things are coming and all that is about to change.

Until next time foodies,

B