Eye of round an ideal choice for Beef Dip

Going to cooking school in Calgary was an amazing experience. Discovering what is ‘local’ in another city is really interesting – no maple syrup or summer sausage to be found! And there are definitely some things that you can count on to be on every menu in town. One of those great Albertan treasures was the Beef Dip Sandwich. My roommate would make this for dinner at least twice a month, featuring, of course, some great local beef.
So I was inspired the other day while deciding what to do with the better half of an eye of round beef roast that was roasted the day before.  The beef is from Taylor Family Farms of Owen Sound, fed on a diet of non-GMO hay and barley – all the makings for really tasty beef.

Eye of round cut, which is a really lean cut of beef that, if over-cooked, can be extremely dry. We rubbed it simply with salt, pepper and a little oil and roasted it plain. The next day the leftover roast was easy to slice thin, heat up, and serve with the appropriate ‘Beef Dip’ staples. The following recipe is based on roasting the beef solely for the purpose of beef dip.
Rub roast well all over with a generous amount of salt, pepper and oil;
Place in roasting pan and roast at 425°F for 20 minutes; reduce oven heat to 375°F and continue to roast for a further 40 minutes. This will produce a roast between medium-rare and medium.  Do not turn oven off;
Remove from roasting pan and let rest on carving board, covered, for about 15 minutes. This will allow the juices to redistribute themselves throughout the roast;
Meanwhile, sauté onions and mushrooms in a little oil in a saucepot. Add beef stock and simmer until reduced slightly;
Slice rolls in half, but not all the way through. Spread lightly with butter and sprinkle a little cheese in each roll; toast in oven for about 5 minutes;
Slice beef thinly: use a sharp knife and make long, even strokes back and forth;
Pile beef into rolls; serve each roll with a ladle of the mushroom-onion beef jus in a small bowl for each person.

Classic Beef Dip (enough for 4-6 sandwiches)

• 2 lb eye of round beef roast
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper,
• Canola oil, as needed
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 lb mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 3 cups beef stock (low, no salt or homemade)
• 6 crusty rolls
• butter, as needed
• 1/2-lb mozzarella cheese, grated

Keep the temperature just right for fried fish

Sometimes you just have a craving for something that tastes familiar, which might have been your first introduction to a type of food. For many people, fried fish is one such introduction to seafood. A staple on many restaurant menus, you can’t go wrong with an order of fish and chips. Unless, of course, it’s soggy, greasy and not fresh.  Here are some tips on frying fish to ensure that if you are going to go through the slightly messy trouble of making deep-fried fish, it’s gonna be great.  First, get yourself some nice, fresh fish. Second: ensure that your fresh canola oil is at the right temperature: If your oil is too hot, then the fish will brown too quickly and not get cooked evenly on the inside. If the oil is too cold, then it will absorb the oil and become soggy.

Finally, try to eat as soon as possible, and don’t allow your pieces to touch together once removed from the fryer or they will steam and become soggy.

Make batter: in a bowl blend together flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and paprika;
Whisk in beer to get a thick, pancake-like consistency;

Cut fish into approximately 4-oz portions (about the size of two thumbs); pat dry;

Fill a wide pot with about 3 inches of canola oil, and set over medium-high heat (or set your deep-fryer to 350°F).  Bring oil up to 350°F: you can test this using a deep-fry thermometer, or, if a cube of bread fried in the oil turns golden brown in about 15 seconds;

To batter fish: dip fish into batter, using tongs or your fingers, immersing the fish. Lift fish out of batter, letting excess batter drip off;

To fry fish, dip one end of the fish into the hot oil, and sway it back and forth, slowly immersing the whole piece in the oil. Gently let go of the piece of fish so that the fish is now floating in the hot oil. Continue with 2-4 pieces, careful not to overcrowd the pot;

Fry on one side until golden, and then flip over and continue to cook on the other side until deep golden in colour. Once fish is done, remove and place on paper-towel-lined baking sheets or on a cooling rack; sprinkle lightly with salt.

 

Beer Battered Fish

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 beer, any kind
• 1-1/4 lb cod, haddock or halibut
• Canola oil, for deep frying
• Lemon wedges, for serving

A variation on the popular spaghetti dinner

This dish is meant to inspire the everyday dinner table. Instead of spaghetti and meatballs, which everybody loves, we’ve take some ingredients from our pantry and market to put together a quick supper. We’ve got so many great local butchers in the area making their own sausage. A quick trip to the market and we found sausage, leeks and mushrooms at this time of year. It’s not the time for a summery-fresh tomato sauce, but one that is rather rich in flavour – we get that by using fresh thyme. San Marzano tomatoes come from Italy and are given the government guarantee stamp of approval.  They are some of the best canned tomatoes to use when our local summer tomatoes are not available.  A bit pricier for one can, but worth it for flavour.

Parmiggiano reggiano is good quality parmesan cheese. Romano or asiago are great cheese to use as well.

By drizzling the whole dish with extra virgin olive oil after it is cooked, you get the flavour and aroma of the olive oil, plus the pasta dish as a whole becomes moister.  Slice sausage into rounds;
In a large skillet, heat a little canola oil over medium-high heat;
When pan is nice and hot, add sausage and brown well on both sides;
Remove sausage and set aside; remove excess fat from pan, but leave a good coating on the bottom of the pan;
Add all the mushrooms along with about 3-4 tablespoons of water. Cook, over medium heat, undisturbed for about 6-7 minutes, or until water is evaporated;
Stir in leeks and garlic and cook a few minutes;
Crush tomatoes lightly with your hand  and then add to pan; return sausage to pan and simmer for about 10 minutes;
Meanwhile cook pasta until al dente (still has a bit of a bite to it);
Once pasta is cooked, strain and toss immediately with sauce (do not rinse – rinsing pasta removes all of the starch and doesn’t allow the sauce to stick to it);
Serve immediately with parmesan cheese to sprinkle at the table, and extra virgin olive oil to drizzle atop the pasta.

Penne with Local Sausage, Leek and Crispy Mushroom and San Marzano Tomato Sauce

• 1 lb, or about 4 sausages
• Canola oil, as needed
• 1 lb, or about 3 cups mushrooms, sliced
• Water, as needed
• 2 leeks, light green and white parts only, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme, stem removed and chopped
• 1 can San Marzano tomatoes, or other good quality canned tomatoes
• 500g package of penne pasta
• Extra virgin olive oil and parmiggiano reggiano, to serve

Olive oil gives you options in the kitchen

How and what we cook with often begins with where we live and what lessons have been passed down to us from generations previous. Now, however, we also have to contend with global influences from around the world, whether they be good or bad.

Growing up, our mothers never used things like olive oil, sea salt and other Mediterranean products that we see in recipes so often today.

We have, like most people, embraced the use of global products, but with that comes some confusion.  Olive oil, for instance. When and where should you use it? In Canada we have so many choices for fats, everything from lard to canola oil to butter to different types of oil. Here’s where we use olive oil, and when we say olive oil, we mean extra virgin.
Olive oil has more flavour and character than other cooking oils.  So therefore we use it when that matters, and adds to our recipes. It is often added at the beginning, and at the end. A final drizzle of olive oil on any dish (soup, pasta, roast chicken) adds flavour, shine, mouth-feel and some good-for-you unsaturated heart healthy fat.

Sauté the onion with the oil and 2 tbsp of the butter over medium-high heat until golden;

Add celery and carrot and cook for 2-3 minutes;

Add the pancetta and sauté for one minute;

Add the tomatoes, lower the heat and cook slowly for 25 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally;

Add the lentils, stir to coat, add the broth and salt and pepper;

Cover, and cook at a steady simmer or until the lentils are tender, about 45 minutes, but this can vary from lentil to lentil;

Let the soup out with more broth or water if it becomes too thick;

When the lentils are cooked, correct the seasoning, then, off of the heat, swirl in the remaining butter and the grated cheese. Serve with more cheese and olive oil.

Lentil Soup

• 1/2 a yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 small carrots, diced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 celery rib, finely chopped
• 2 small carrots, finely chopped
• 1/3-cup diced pancetta
• 1 cup canned Italian tomatoes, with their juice
• 1/2 lb of green or brown lentils, washed and drained
• 4 cups homemade broth (chicken or beef)
• Salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, about 8 twists
• 3 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
• More olive oil, for drizzling.

 

Plain & simple, good combo for comfort food

At The Culinary Studio we always try to look at ingredients in their most basic form, keeping their integrity by not manipulating them too much so that they lose their original purpose. Bread and garlic, condiments such as capers and vinegar, and even simple ingredients like pure, unsalted butter can be used really simply, without compromising flavour.

In the cold winter months I think that we crave simple, warm dishes. I know I could eat potato soup at least twice a week. The following cooking tips (which they are, rather than exact recipes) work with some of your favourite comfort food recipes to make them feel new again.

Garlic Toast/Croutons

• Half a baguette or other good quality bread, sliced into 3/4-inch slices
• Olive oil, as needed
• Butter, as needed
• 1 good large clove of garlic, peeled and one end sliced off
• Pinch of salt (optional)

A simple side dish or topping, remember that a crusty piece of garlic toast can go well with a soup, stew, chili, or a pot roast.  The toast can be broken up into croutons to give a nice textural contrast to a creamy pasta dish, baked beans, or even tossed in warm to a romaine lettuce salad.

Place bread on a baking sheet; drizzle liberally with olive oil and spread lightly with butter. Yes, the oil/butter combo may sound extreme, but it’s good;
Toast in a 400°F oven until just golden brown, about 7-10 minutes;
As soon as it comes out of the oven, rub with cut side of the garlic clove; sprinkle lightly with salt, if desired, and serve.

Crispy Capers

• 2 tbsp capers, patted dry
• 2 (approx.) tbsp canola oil

Capers are the little green buds of the Caperberry bush. They are harvested, dried and then pickled in brine with vinegar or packed in salt. They have a tart, salty flavour, similar to olives. Less of a snack on their own, they are fabulous in pastas, or as a garnish to a monotonous soup such as potato or squash. By frying them lightly they become a little milder, and pleasantly crispy

In a small frying pan, heat oil;
Carefully add capers (they will splatter a bit);
Fry for a couple minutes until they open up slightly and start to brown;
Drain on paper towels.

Basic Breading Procedure
Try using a fresh, fluffy breadcrumb the next time you want to turn your pork tenderloin, chicken breast or fish into something really special. Soft breadcrumbs become so crispy and flavourful when fried. Here’s just a refresher on basic breading procedure. Enough for about 4 chicken breasts.

In a food processor or a blender, blend about half a loaf of a sourdough bread. Pulse, leaving some larger crumbs. To these crumbs, a couple tablespoons of freshly chopped thyme is really nice;
Breading procedure: in one bowl have about 1 cup flour. In second bowl, 2-3 eggs, beaten well. And in the third bowl, the crumbs. Season each bowl lightly with salt;

Season your product with salt and pepper and then bread, keeping 1 hand ‘dry’ and one hand ‘wet.’ First in the flour, lift out and into the eggs. Lift out with wet hand, and into the crumbs. Lift out with dry hand and onto a baking sheet until ready to fry in medium-hot fat.

Yorkshire pudding rounds out prime rib

It is tempting to look back on the past year as we ate, experimented with different flavours and, as a result, created recipes.  Every week was something new, and reflective of the season. As promised last week, our final recipe of 2011 will be a continuation of our prime rib feast with the accompanying popovers, or Yorkshire puddings.
As well, we have reprinted our favourite recipe of 2011 (Vegetarian Chili), in case you missed it, and need to do some experimenting of your own over the holidays. This will be great to eat after much indulgence! Cheers!

Preheat the oven to 500F;

Combine the flour, salt, eggs, and enough of the milk to make a stiff batter. Smooth out the lumps with a whisk and whisk the rest of the milk and the butter;

Let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes;

Put the popover molds in the oven to preheat for 10 minutes;

Quickly open the oven door and brush 1 tbsp in each cup. Return to oven and give one minute to heat up;

QUICKLY pour in batter – using a pitcher is easiest. The batter should come ¾ of the way up the sides of the molds;

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown, turn down the oven to 300F and bake for 10 minutes more;
Serve immediately.

Notes: Pate a choux, popovers, and Yorkshire pudding contain eggs, but their ability to hold steam comes from gluten.  Essential to success is a heavy pan – the heavier the better. If using regular muffin tins, use two pans stacked inside of each other to retain the heat.
Heat a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat; add canola oil, and then add onion, carrot, celery and pepper; cook for 3-4 minutes or until just starting to brown;

Add garlic and cook a minute or so, then add all of the dried spices; cook to bring out their flavour, about 1 minute;

Add lentils, tomatoes and water, just to cover. Season well with salt and pepper;

Simmer about 20 minutes or until lentils are just cooked through;

Now add zucchini, mushrooms and beans; add more liquid if needed, and season again with a little salt and pepper;

Cook for about 10 minutes or until veggies have reached desired tenderness;

Serve over cooked brown rice.

Popovers
(aka Yorkshire Pudding)
Yields 16 popovers

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 4 eggs
• 2-2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• Canola oil for the muffin tins

Vegetarian Chili with Brown Rice

• 2 small cooking onions, diced
• 2 small carrots, diced
• 2 celery, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1-2 cloves Ontario garlic, chopped
• 1-1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Pinch (or more, depending on your taste) dried chili flakes
• 3/4 cup green lentils
• 1 large can of whole or diced tomatoes
• Water, as needed
• Salt and pepper, as needed
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 2 cups mushrooms, quartered
• 1 can white kidney beans

Prime rib makes a juicy alternative to turkey

Like it or not, prepared or not, the holidays are here. We often talk about different family traditions. Some keep it very traditional, roasting a turkey with all of the fixings. In chatting with our friends, family and clients we have found a number of them are choosing to treat themselves to a prime roast of beef. We receive many questions on how to roast it to perfection.
At our roasting class this week we created a delicious holiday prime rib meal. Please check out next week’s column for Yorkshire puddings.

Here are a few of our tips for that perfect prime rib:

• Temper you roast (allow the meat to come to room temperature) for more even cooking over all.  This takes about 1-2 hours;

• Generously season with salt and pepper and a good handful of your favorite herbs if you would like;

• Allow 1 rib for every 2 people (a standing rib roast is 7 ribs cut from the 7-14 ribs;

• Cook your roast on the natural rack of the ribs, start the oven out high 425F for the first 15 minutes and than turn down the oven to 350F for the remainder;

• It is approximately 15-20 minutes per pound to cook the roast to medium-rare;

• You need to account for carry over cooking, which means your roast will continue to cook and rise in temperature 10-15 degrees once out of the oven. Remove the roast 10 degrees early than the doneness that you are looking for (i.e. if you would like medium rare or 125F, remove the roast when an instant read thermometer reached 115F);

• Cook your roast to medium rare, this will satisfy most the diners, those that prefer a bit more well done will enjoy the end pieces or their slice can be returned to the oven for a minute or two to cook it to medium;

• Allow your roast to rest at least 30 minutes after removing it from the oven. This allows the juice to redistribute and they will be retained in the meat when it is carved rather the drain out onto your cutting board.

Pre-heat oven to 425°F; Sprinkle roast liberally with salt and pepper; Place beef roast on top and roast in oven for 20 minutes; Turn oven down to 350°F and roast a further 20 minutes, per pound, for rare; Insert instant-read thermometer into the center of the roast, avoiding the bone; For rare: 120°F; for medium rare: 125°F and medium: 130F°. It is recommended that a prime rib roast be no more than medium; Transfer roast to carving board and loosely cover; rest at least 15 minutes; Place roasting pan atop stove and add stock; simmer, using a wooden spoon to scrape up and browned bits on the bottom of the pan; Continue to simmer and reduce by half; strain juices through a fine mesh strainer into a small pot; keep hot; Begin to carve roast by slicing the whole roast off of the bones; set bones aside, slice between the bones and offer along with meat slices; Slice the roast, using a long, sharp, carving knife. Slice to desired thickness; Serve meat slices hot, drizzled with a little jus, and served with more jus.

Perfect Prime Rib Roast

• 1 3-4lb prime rib roast
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 2 cups of beef or chicken stock, preferably home-made or no sodium (because it will be reduced, we do not want it to be salty to begin with)

A break from all the Christmas cooking

This time of year is busy for many people, especially those in retail and service, and us chefs, who are happily working over time to feed holiday folk. On a rare night off, the question always comes up: “what’s for dinner?” And after cooking all day, we want something quick and satisfying. That often means taking something that may have been leftover from the day before, and turning it into something new.

Our Polenta ‘Lasagna’ is just that. Polenta is an Italian ‘peasant’s’ dish of cornmeal cooked with water or milk and then finished with cheese and butter. The result is a thick and creamy porridge that is fantastic served in place of rice, potatoes or noodles with a rich stew or pasta sauce. It is quick to prepare if you purchase ‘instant’ polenta or just 30 minutes if you use regular cooking polenta. You can find packages of ‘Cornmeal for Polenta’ at any specialty grocery store, especially Vincenzo’s in Waterloo.

Now the beautiful thing about polenta is that it is almost better the next day. After the polenta is cooked and served, immediately pour the leftovers in a plastic-wrapped lined pan (a loaf pan, for instance).

Refrigerate immediately for a few hours or overnight. The polenta then firms up and can be sliced. We then fry it to a golden brown in a little butter or oil and then bake it with various sauces and cheese, as you would a lasagana.

Bring the milk, water and salt to a boil in a medium saucepot;

Take a fistful of cornmeal and add it in a fine stream to the liquid (like sifting sand through your fingers) – whisk constantly to avoid lumps;

Continue to add cornmeal this way and whisk until it is all incorporated;

Reduce the heat to low and stir with a wooden spoon frequently, about 20-30 minutes, until it is tender and thickened;

Stir in butter and parmesan and season with salt and pepper;

Enjoy immediately or pour into a plastic wrap lined pan to cool.

Basic Polenta

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup cornmeal for polenta (not instant)
• 1-2 cloves Ontario garlic, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Fried Polenta

• 1 recipe cooked and chilled polenta
• Canola oil

Cookbooks that make great gifts for the foodie on your list

Well it’s that time of year again – cookbook buying season! Every year we compile a list of our newest favourite cookbooks that we use, and find valuable for the everyday home cook to be inspired by.  The cookbook market is extraordinary and highly competitive – there are more cookbooks in bookstores these days than ever before. So we’ve broken it down here with a few of our favourites, from the novice to the advanced cook.

For the more advanced foodie
Larousse Gastronomique (ISBN: 0307464911)
Larousse Gastronomique is an undeniable encyclopedic source for the culinary world since its first publication in 1938. Find everything from cooking techniques, ingredients, and recipes to equipment, food histories, and culinary biographies.  According to Julia Child, “If I were allowed only one reference book in my library, Larousse Gastronomique would be it, without question.”

This book is now updated to include more modern approaches to cooking such as sous-vide and molecular gastronomy.  There are more than 3,800 recipes from around the world to choose from.

Fat by Jennifer McLagan (ISBN: 1580089356)
We like this book for its unapologetic stance on an art form of cooking that has been lost. Methods of cooking that are so delicious: confit and butter-poaching meat and seafood; using butter for old-fashioned classics like shortbread and pies.

McLagan breaks down the good fats and the bad fats, making us all want to enjoy food again and to win us back to a healthy relationship with animal fats.

For the home cook looking for inspiration and staple recipes, there’s Edna Staebler’s More Food that Really Schmecks (0-07-077392-0)
What more can we say about Edna Staebler’s books than that every household in Waterloo Region should have a copy. From her stories that make you chuckle, to her staple, tried and true recipes for everything from bread to bean salad, we use this book often and get hungry just leafing through it.

Edna never apologizes for eating more than one muffin at a sitting. This quote always inspires us: “Bread-making is a grand thing to do. Kneading is a kind of revelling: it makes one feel like a primitive, pioneer woman – unstarvable, self-sustaining and joyful … one of the great satisfactions of a lifetime.”

Dean and Deluca Cookbook (0679770038)
This book has taken us through many basic and then updated recipes of classic dishes. It has great international recipes for those looking to experiment (the Chicken Korma is unbelievable), but also breaks down simple cooking techniques, like how to properly roast a prime rib, for example.

Each recipe is described in perfect detail and we pick it up over and over again as a reference and inspiration.

A great option for healthy snacking

Lately everywhere you turn there are ‘healthy’ versions of our favourite pastime snacks. ‘Baked’ chips as opposed to fried, low-fat cheeses, diet pop and more.  And now the latest snack we’ve seen on the market (selling for very high prices!) is kale chips.  These ‘chips’ are made from the nutrient-dense vegetable that may often be overlooked at the market. We love kale for its sturdy texture and depth of flavour.  The leafy green can be cooked without wilting down to nothing, and can take on many flavours, anything from bacon to lemon to garlic.

We’re getting close to the end of the buying season for this vegetable, so get to the market to find your huge head of kale for under $5.

Once the chips are baked to a crisp they keep well in an airtight container for several days of snacking.

You can experiment with flavours too. Fancy sea salt, sliced garlic or even herbs tossed with the kale before baking are options. We’ve even used the chips as a nice crispy garnish. Try it on top of a creamy potato soup, or in a sandwich in place of lettuce.

Preheat oven to 350;
Tear kale into ‘chip’ size pieces;
Toss with olive oil and salt; kale should be ‘shiny’ looking;
Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 15 minutes.

Kale Chips

• 1 bunch of kale, washed and dried
• A good drizzling of olive oil (about 3 tablespoons)
• 1/4 tsp or more of kosher salt