There it is Vancouver! The scorching long weekend that we’ve been waiting to come along for quite some time while enduring our longer than normal winter this year.

If spending time in front of a hot stove on a 30C degree day is not your idea of a good time, check out this unbelievably refreshing chilled summer soup and this great cocktail to serve to your sun-parched guests:

Chilled Avocado and Citrus Soup

Ingredients:

- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 large ripe avocados
- 1 quart fresh orange juice (or fresh from 12 oranges if you’re feeling particularly ambitious)
- 1 cup fresh lime juice (about 6 limes)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 lb small diced plum tomatoes
- 1 cup small diced radishes
- 1 cup finely sliced mushrooms (optional)
- Garnish: fresh chopped cilantro

Rinse chopped onions under cold water and drain thoroughly. Pit and peel avocados and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Whisk together the orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, sugar, salt and black pepper until sugar is dissolved. Gently stir in onions, avocados, tomatoes, radishes and mushrooms.

Chill covered, for 1 hour before serving cold with chopped cilantro as a garnish.

Now, with our beautiful local strawberries just hitting the stores, cool off with one of my favorite cocktails:

Strawberry Tequila Mojito

- 1.5 ounces good quality white tequila ( I know mojitos are usually made with rum, but trust me on this)
- Dash of triple sec
- juice from 1/4 of a lime
- Two local BC strawberries
- 10 mint leaves
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 ounces club soda

Pour tequila in a shaker glass filled with ice. Muddle the strawberries, mint, sugar and lime juice in a glass and add to the shaker. Shake vigorously and pour into a cocktail glass, then top it up with the club soda.

There you have it, and of course, remember, when all else fails in summer time, throw a few thick bone-in ribeyes on the grill and have at ‘em!

Like many of you, I watch Iron Chef America. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine. I love how over-dramatic it is (though not quite as much so as the arguably more awesome Japanese version), I love the unveiling of the secret ingredient, and I love watching the more creative challengers freeze things with liquid nitrogen, make ice-cream out of everything imaginable, and still end up creating delicious food.

The other day Mario Batali created a beautiful dish with some perfectly seared sea scallops. Most people aren’t a huge fan of regular judge Jeffrey Steingarten, but normally I both respect him and like the digs he gives the other judges. Hey, makes for good tv right?

Not today. His comment after eating Mario’s dish was, “Aren’t seared scallops kind of over?”

What? Sure, everyone uses them, including me, but he spoke of them as if they were Nike Pumps or “No Fear” clothing (don’t pretend like you don’t remember). There is a reason everyone uses them, they are succulent and delicious, best enjoyed simply like most good food is.

I figured Mario might be a little baffled by this, but like the clogged genius he is, his response was, “I prefer to not think of certain food as trends, but as classic preparations that can be enjoyed and very rarely be improved upon.”

Put that in your pipe and smoke it Steingarten!

“Collected varietal cuts, usable trim, scraps, and bones.”

That is how Chef Anthony Bourdain describes the collection of articles and stories that make up his book, “The Nasty Bits”.

I recently finished reading this after loving his first and hugely successful book, “Kitchen Confidential”. Now, Anthony has officially cemented his place as my favorite culinary author. You won’t find any recipes, tips to wow your next dinner party or get the most out of your home garden in here. It’s a gritty and often hilariously accurate gathering of industry stories, traveling tales and surreal dining experiences.

He makes no effort to hold back his opinions on fusion cooking, steakhouse chain restaurants, Jamie Oliver and even Sting.

My favorite sections of the book are him describing his dining experiences with his trademark acerbic tongue. Describing the nature and style of his sweating, as well as the intestinal warfare to follow, while eating in an area of China renowned for their powerful chilis. Choking on carrot foam while eating an uber modern multi-course meal, or the very first chapter of the book which details his participation in a seal hunt with inuit guides in such a way that the gory, PETA-nightmare details, sound almost warm, beautiful and above all necessary.

With or without a cooking background, you can appreciate that Bourdain’s passion for food is infectious and his writing style is engaging.

Despite his couple light jabs at Sting, I’m still going to rock out to The Police.

Mark Twain once said, “Twas a brave man indeed, who first ate an oyster.”

True, maybe, but aren’t we all glad he (or she, I suppose) did? With most people, oysters are a love ‘em or hate ‘em type of food. The reasonings behind the latter I’ve heard over the years are nearly all to do with their texture, though my personal favorite was “Um, I don’t eat things out of their homes.” Touche.

Personally? I can’t get enough of them.

As a chef there is something so intriguing about an ingredient as “pure” as an oyster. You can gather them from the ocean, shuck them open and shoot them down and they taste fantastic and exactly as you would expect, ice cold, salty, and depending on your oyster of choice, varying levels of sweetness and other subtle flavours.

For inexperienced oyster shoppers, shuckers or tasters, I encourage you to visit your local seafood and fish monger and buy some fresh ones to experience the art (aka the frustration) of learning to shuck oysters. Here is a great youtube video with a demonstration:

Oysters are great on their own or with a simple squirt of lemon, but here are a couple nice mignonette recipes. A mignonette is a classic french accompaniment for oysters, but here are a couple of my favorite variations:

Blood Orange Mignonette

1/4 cup blood orange juice

1/4 cup champagne vinegar (white wine vinegar or even rice wine vinegar works as well)

1 tablespoon finely diced shallots

1 tsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Pinch of salt and pepper

Sweet Chili Mignonette

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons white wine or champage vinegar

2 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce

1 tablespoon finely diced shallots

Pinch of salt and pepper

Simply shuck your oysters and top each with about 1 tsp of the mignonette. Shoot ‘em down like normal!

Yesterday I went to two of my favorite places ever. It all started with a hankering for cheese.

When you want great cheese in Vancouver, sure, you have some options, but many agree the best of the best is Les Amis du Fromage

With 300-400 cheeses from BC and around the world I could spend days in there trying cheeses before either passing out in a cheese-coma or being dragged away by the authorities. I can never resist trying the local cheese, so the owner Alice (with a borderline frightening amount of cheese knowledge) helped me pick out a nice chunk of Tomme D’or and Feta, both from farms in Salt Spring Island.

And since I was now only a couple blocks from Granville Island Market, how could I say no?

Browsing the usual stocks of amazing products, I overheard such things as a man giving a passionate presentation on corned beef. It was like on the Daily Show when Jon Stewart asked Barack Obama to “hope-up” some common everyday phrases like “Are you happy with your cell phone service?”

I also stumbled across some of this stuff :

Hickory Smoked Salt.

Now flavored salts are nothing new, they are easy to make and can add great flavor, but I was just amazed at the intense amount of smoke flavor these little babies had. I have actually tried to make my own smoked salt with semi-decent results, but this salt smelled and tasted like it had been living in the woods near a campfire for years like a wild man. You could seriously sprinkle this on a cucumber slice and it would smell and taste like Texas BBQ.

Go pick some up and see for yourself, and grab some cheese while you’re at it.