Maple syrup can add to many a recipe
Living here in Waterloo Region, we’ve almost taken the availability of maple syrup for granted. I have fond memories of my Dad “drinking” it with a spoon from a soup bowl, a fresh bottle just purchased from the market. While going to cooking school in Calgary it occurred to me that it was a luxury item, and that there was actually ‘fake’ maple syrup attempting to pose for the real thing. When I told my dad the price of a bottle of maple syrup in the west he immediately mailed me a one-litre jug (which probably ended up costing him double in shipping!). There’s nothing like getting a bottle of maple syrup in the mail!
The beautiful thing about maple syrup is that it goes with just about everything: sweet, of course, but savoury, spicy and sour flavours benefit immensely with a splash of nature’s gold. Maple syrup balances well with salty flavours such as crispy fried chicken; it can mellow out a sour grapefruit and it can tame the heat from a hot pepper.
The following are two recipes where we feel that maple syrup is an absolute must. Use these Maple Candied Nuts in salads, or just for straight up snacking. The best tuna can be found at T&J Seafoods in Kitchener, and is a great recipe to try as an introduction to rare tuna.
Maple Candied Nuts
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 tbsp canola or grape seed oil
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Place pecans on baking tray and bake @ 400°F, 3-4 minutes, until toasted and fragrant; In a fry-pan heat to bubbling the maple syrup and oil; toss hot nuts into syrup mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes; Place on a parchment lined, or Silpat lined baking sheet; sprinkle with salt and sugar, (and cayenne, if you’re using it);
Turn oven down to 250°F and place nuts back in the oven and roast for 5-10 minutes, or until deep brown in colour; allow to cool before serving – they will crisp up upon cooling.
Bring tuna out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before cooking – this will ensure that your rare tuna is not ice cold in the center;
Blend maple syrup and soy sauce together in a shallow dish;Season lightly both sides of the tuna with the salt and pepper;
Soy-Maple Soaked Rare Tuna
Serves 2
- 1- 12 oz piece of tuna (sushi grade)
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp grape seed oil*
- 4 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
Get a fry-pan nice and hot over medium-high heat; when it is hot drizzle grape seed oil in the pan and quickly place tuna in pan, away from you to avoid any oil splatter; Sear for 1-2 minutes on one side, then carefully flip to the other side; cook a further 1-2 minutes – no more, to ensure that the tuna is still rare in the centre. Cooked more, your tuna will be dry; Immediately place tuna in maple-soy sauce, turning after one minute;
To serve tuna: remove from maple-soy sauce, slice into ½-inch slices and serve atop some steamed rice and sautéed vegetables. Drizzle extra sauce around the plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
*We use grape seed oil because it is neutral in flavor and has a high smoke point.
It’s time – and it’s easy – to get saucy
With these easy sauces for the summer season, you’ll never reach for a bottle ever again! These sauces are made with only fresh ingredients and no preservatives, making them lower in fat and sodium than those in a bottle. The Salsa Verde uses capers and anchovies – if these ingredients are new to you, give them a try. They simply add body and seasoning to the overall dish without at all tasting ‘fishy.’ Anchovy paste, in a tube, can be found refrigerated in grocery stores.
All of the sauces pair fantastically with just about anything coming off of the grill.
Salsa Verde
- 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1/2 bunch chives
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 tsp anchovy paste
- 1 tbsp capers
- 1 clove garlic
- Juice of one lemon
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (or more)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
We hope that you enjoy these tried-and-true recipes from our collection.
Finely chop the herbs, capers and garlic; mix with the lemon juice and enough olive oil to produce a loose sauce; season with salt and pepper;
Refrigerate any leftovers and bring to room temperature before using. This sauce is fantastic on any type of grilled meat, chicken or seafood.
Ginger Scallion Sauce
- 3 green onions, finely sliced
- 1-2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola
- 1 tsp sherry wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp water, if needed to thin out
Mix all ingredients together. This sauce acts as more of a ‘topping’.
BBQ Sauce
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup bourbon or whiskey
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup tomato puree
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1 tsp chili garlic sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp turmeric
In a small pot, brown onions in a little canola oil over medium high heat;
Add garlic and cook 2 minutes, stirring often;
Add the brown sugar and stir until it is all melty and caramelized, about 2 minutes;
Add bourbon, vinegar, ketchup, mustard, chili garlic sauce, bay leaf and turmeric;
Cook for about 15 minutes, or until thickened.
A chicken dish that’s easy to pull together
This is a dish that can be enjoyed year-round. With some of the damper weather we’ve been having, this ‘quick-braised’ dish can be made indoors, on the stovetop or in the oven. Its summery flavours though, are fantastic on buns, in pasta or even as a nacho topping for a fun gathering. Using inexpensive chicken leg quarters is a must for this dish, as chicken breasts would dry out and not ‘pull’ as this dish should.
Smoked paprika has an amazingly intense smoky (not spicy) flavour and aroma. It can be found at specialty stores like Vincenzo’s, and adds a really fantastic barbecue flavour to the whole dish.
In a shallow dish mix together pepper, paprika and cayenne; season chicken with this mixture;
Heat a heavy, oven-proof Dutch oven pot over medium-high heat;
Add enough canola oil to cover bottom of the pan;
Carefully lay chicken into pan, skin-side down;
Fry until golden brown, flip and cook 2 minutes;
Remove chicken from pan, add shallots and garlic and fry for a few minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan;
Add chicken stock, sherry wine vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and tomato paste; return chicken to pan and cover ;
Bake in a 350°F oven for 20-25 minutes;
Remove chicken from sauce and reduce sauce over high heat, skimming excess fat;
Meanwhile, using tongs, ‘pull’ meat off of bones;
When sauce has thickened, return meat to sauce.
Sticky, Pulled Chicken
Serves 4
- 4 (2lb) bone-IN, skin-ON chicken leg quarters
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- Canola oil, as needed
- 1 shallot, small dice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 tbsp sherry wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
Mustards are just the thing to spice it up
It’s time to break out the mustard! There are all kinds of fantastic and unique and new mustard-based products out on the market, and we may even be a little apprehensive to stray from the classic ‘yellow’ mustard, but we’ve been doing some experimenting lately, and with great results. Mustard is a condiment consisting naturally of the mustard seed (whether it be yellow, black or brown) simply mixed with vinegar, water, or other liquids and then flavoured with an endless repertoire of herbs, spices and interesting blends.
Kozliks, a Canadian company, has come up with some interesting combinations in their product line. I found out from their website that Canada grows more than 90 per cent of the world’s mustard. There are all kinds of interesting mustard facts, too numerous to list here, so check out their website if mustard is your condiment of choice: ww.mustardmaker.com.
So while you’re on the go this summer, and need a quick, pre-game meal, or want to jazz up a Saturday night barbecued pork chop, experiment with a different type of mustard and break out the flavour. While doing just that, Jody’s husband created this fantastic quick Shrimp Sandwich, using Kozlik’s Creole flavoured mustard. You can find these and a ton of other flavoured mustards at any specialty or grocery store. You can find ‘garlic scapes,’ the curly top to new garlic, at the market now, usually sold in bags for just a few bucks.Heat your oven to 400 degrees;
Cut rolls in half, but not all the way through, open them up slightly, butter them and just toast lightly, about 5 minutes;
In a sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and then add onion and garlic scapes; sauté about 4-5 minutes;
Add shrimp and cook only 2 minutes per side, until just opaque; stir in mustard and cook for 1 more minute;
turn off heat, squeeze lemon juice over the entire dish;
Place a little shredded cabbage in each roll, and then stuff 6 shrimp into each roll; serve immediately.
Creole Mustard Shrimp Sandwich
- 4 soft rolls
- A little soft butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup chopped garlic scapes
- 24 large shrimp, peeled, de-veined and tails removed
- Juice of half a lemon
- 2 tbsp Creole Mustard (or your favourite whole-grain mustard)
- 1 cup finely shredded cabbage
Classic dessert ready to go
This summer, have a dessert on-hand, ready to bake, and ready to pair with just about any seasonal fruit that is beginning to pop up at the markets. This traditional all-butter shortcake is the traditional accompaniment to fresh strawberries and cream. However, we’re pairing it with some rhubarb cooked with brown sugar, and then folded into some whipped cream (called a ‘fool’), as we bought an abundance of rhubarb from ‘Nauman’s Raspberries and More’ last Thursday at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market.
It’s better (and quicker!) than a boxed Bisquick, as it takes less than 10 minutes to put together.
When you are bringing the dough together, be sure to do it quickly, and not to over mix or work the dough too much. By gently bringing it together you will get very tender, flaky dough. Cut the dough into circles or triangles and then freeze right away if you are not going to bake them straight away. Then bake from frozen, increasing the baking time by about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt;
Grate in butter to flour mixture;
Stir together milk and cream;
Use a wooden spoon to mix in milk and cream until dough comes together;
Turn out dough onto a floured surface and form a rectangle; cut into 8 triangles, or use a cutter for circles;
Transfer to parchment lined baking sheet and chill for 20 minutes;
Pre-heat oven to 400°F;
Brush tops with cream and dust with icing sugar. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
In a small saucepot, cook rhubarb and sugar until rhubarb is broken down and thickened; cool completely;
Gently fold in rhubarb to whipped cream and serve with shortcakes that have been sliced in half.
Shortcake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled
- 1/2 cup cold milk
- 3/4 cup 35% cream plus a little extra for brushing cakes
- Icing sugar for dusting
Rhubarb Fool
- 2 cups chopped rhubarb
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup 35% cream, whipped to soft peaks
Coming in handy for this asparagus soup
There are a couple handy things that you need in a kitchen in order to produce the best results possible. Our top three kitchen tools begin with a good, sharp and well-balanced chef’s knife. We use this for 90 per cent of our everyday jobs, from chopping garlic to dicing vegetables and herbs to de-boning a whole chicken. Second, we need a good pair of tongs to turn food in the pan, the oven and the barbecue, and to artistically arrange our food on plates. Read more
Time to bring a salad, but not just any salad
Just bring a salad” is what we hear all summer long, isn’t it? Going to this barbecue or that, we’re constantly challenged to show up with something interesting to share with family and friends. This salad has some classic Southwest inspirations, but uses Orzo pasta, a Greek-style, rice-shaped pasta. Ground turmeric is that bright yellow spice, often an ingredient in mustard. Read more
One way to deal with those ripening bananas
We get a lot of requests to learn how to cook ‘healthier’ and to incorporate more ‘whole grains’ into recipes. Generally, our philosophies revolve around cooking food that is made from scratch, without a ton of preservatives and sodium, as well as eating in moderation. And sometimes with busy schedules, finding time to eat at all is a challenge. These muffins were inspired by our busy schedule. With the opening of The Culinary Studio, Read more
Some of her favourites for Mother’s Day
When I think about what I’m going to make my mom for a gourmet Mother’s Day lunch, a few things come to mind. For some reason, when it comes to mom I don’t worry about putting a large platter of ribs in front of her – let’s save that for dad! I know she loves a well-prepared salad along with a perfectly balanced vinaigrette. She also treats herself – as most moms do – to a chocolate bar every once in a while. Read more
A different take on steak on the BBQ
Looking for a new twist for steak and baked potatoes this grilling season? Try some fabulous local steak and pair it up with these two sides: cornbread and salsa verde. I devised the cornbread to use up some corn relish preserves that a friend had given to me, and the salsa verde to use up a bunch of herbs growing in the indoor herb garden we have at The Culinary Studio. If you don’t have corn relish, try substituting some chopped green chilies, some frozen corn or even some regular green relish. Bake the bread in a cast iron pan either in the oven or even on the BBQ. Read more
