Nothing will see more use, help you prepare food faster and safer, and help you create a better final product than good knives.

Have you ever been chopping something with a dull knife, and have the blade slip off the food, possibly even cutting you in the process? (Bell peppers are the worst for these types of slips)

Did you know that some sushi masters can even taste if types of sashimi have been sliced or prepared with a knife that isn’t sharp enough? While most of us aren’t exactly sushi masters, we can all still benefit from a few tips on how to select and buy a good knife, and which types of knives you’ll actually need to own.

Let’s start with what NOT to buy:

• Stay far, far away from any types of knives advertising to “Never need sharpening!” The truth is, there is no such thing. All quality knives benefit from having their edge honed and re-sharpened periodically.
• Do not be lured into buying a knife set with something like 74 different types of knives. Sets that are marketed in this way are generally a sign of poor quality. In other words they are selling quantity over quality. As I’ll explain later, 3 to 4 good knives can handle any kitchen task.
• Don’t buy a knife until you’ve had a chance to hold it. Everyone’s hands and grip are different, so you want to find a knife that feels good for you. My hands are fairly large, so a knife that feels good to me might not feel good to someone else, etc.

People have asked me what type of knives I use before. I have 3 knives that I use every day, which can handle virtually any task. The brand of knives I use is Shun, and while they are fairly pricy, I have never owned a better knife, and can’t recommend them enough.

The workhorse of any knife set is the Chef’s Knife. 8″ is the standard size I own:

The second most used knife is my 6″ boning knife, which I use for meats and fish.

Lastly, a pairing knife for small tasks and detail work:

These three knives account for 95% of the prep work I do every day. I do also own a bread knife that sees a little face time when needed.

Some good brands to get you started on your search:

• Shun
• Wustof
• Global
• J.A. Henckels

While there are other quality knife makers, you really can’t go wrong with any of the brands listed above.

Try a couple out and see which feels best for you!

Thankfully, there are few things harder to screw up than a standing beef rib roast, our old familiar friend prime rib. Now, a cut of meat that delicious and foolproof usually means it’s expensive, and this is no exception. However, there are steps you can take to make this cut of meat even more over the top delicious.

Dry aging beef is a technique that’s been around for a long time. By allowing some of the moisture in the meat to disappear, a more concentrated and richer flavor is developed. For a long time this has been something thought to be only possible in a butcher shop or dry aging facility. Not true. With certain steps, you can do this right in your own home fridge, and take that expensive rib roast to the next level.

You’ll need:

1. A standing rib roast, at least 4 or 5lbs, however the larger the better.
2. A fridge
3. A baking sheet with a wire rack
4. Clean kitchen towels
5. A sharp knife

For starters, remove any paper or plastic wrapping on your roast and dry it thoroughly. Place the roast on the wire rack, and wrap it in a clean kitchen towel. Place the rack in the dryest and coldest part of your fridge, normally near the back corner close to the fan.

Change the towel every day for 5-6 days. By this time you should notice the exterior of the meat has dried out significantly, giving a dark colour to the exterior of the meat. You may notice a slight funky odor as well, but this is what you want! The smell of success! This can be easily remedied by placing a box of baking soda near the roast.

Your roast at this point should looking something like this:

Now, take a sharp knife, and carefully trim the dark and dried eges of the meat, revealing a beautifully aged piece of meat underneath. You’ll notice the meat has darkened slightly to almost a maroon color from the bright red you saw originally. Again, this is what you want! Something like this:

Now you’re all set, cook that bad boy, or slice it into amazingly flavorful rib eye steaks. I guarantee you’ll notice a difference, and so will your guests!

Since we were young, turnips are just one of those vegetables that’s gotten a bad rap. It seems almost everyone comes around to enjoy the usual “gross” vegetables from their childhood like broccoli, cauliflower, or green beans, but the lowly turnips, brussel sprouts and beets seem to be the bottom dwellers of the vegetable popularity chart.

Well, why should you even bother with them? For starters, in this low-carb, eating healthy day and age, turnips are one of the tastiest and best low carb potato substitutes out there. Forget mashed cauliflower, hot mashed turnips have the texture and a similar flavour to everyone’s favorite side dish. They are cheap, available all year round, and as you’ll see, can be much more than a potato stand-in.

Tip for Picking Turnips:

Look for turnips that are very firm. Turnips are a root vegetable and can have a very slight horseradish/mustard tone to them which some people dislike. However the flavour is not as strong in the very firm turnips as opposed to the softer ones.

Turnip Recipes You’ll Love:

In my opinion, these are can’t miss recipes even for self-proclaimed turnip haters. 2 ways to prepare them you may not have thought of, including my favorite recipe for the classic mashed turnips.

Bacon Wrapped Turnip Hors D’oeuvres

Ingredients: (Makes 32 hors d’oeuvres)

- 16 thin pieces of smoked bacon, cut in half
- 3-4 large turnips, cut into 1″ wedges
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup panko (regular breadcrumbs work fine)
- Vegetable oil, salt and pepper

In a medium sauce pan, boil turnips in salted water for 6-7 minutes, until slightly softened but not yet fork tender. Remove from water and let cool slightly. Wrap each wedge with a half-slice of bacon. Whisk eggs in a bowl and place panko breadcrumbs in a separate bowl. Meanwhile, heat a heavy-bottomed saute pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil on medium/high and pre-heat the oven to 350F

Dip the bacon wrapped turnips in the egg first, then in the bread crumbs, and place in saute pan. Once bacon is browned, transfer each to a lined baking sheet, and transfer to the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until turnips are tender.

Drain on a paper towel and wait for people to ask you what’s in them!

Best Mashed Turnips

Ingredients: (serves 4)

- 4 large turnips, roughly chopped
- 1 head garlic, roasted
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp parmiggiano reggiano cheese
- 1 tsp horseradish
- 2 tbsp fresh snipped chives
- salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Preparation:

To roast the garlic: Cut the top off the head of garlic, drizzle it with olive oil and place in a 300F oven for 45-50 minutes until soft.

Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot and place in the chopped turnips. Boil for 15-20 minutes or until very tender. Drain turnips and immediately mash in the butter and milk, being careful not to add too much milk. (Turnips will not absorb the milk and butter like potatoes will and you’ll end up with turnip soup)

Stir in the horseradish and the roasted garlic, blending well. Just before serving, mix in the chives, parmiggiano reggiano and salt and pepper to taste. The horseradish plays off the turnips natural root flavour, and the cheese and chives balance the flavour with the richness of mashed potatoes, without the carbs. Enjoy and surprise your next guests!

The exhibit was entitled “Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City”, and is in the process of traveling to major cities across North America. Here is some information from their website about the exhibit itself:

Guided by MSF aid workers, visitors are asked to imagine that they are among the millions of people fleeing violence and persecution in, for example, Somalia, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, or Sudan.

The exhibit is made up of materials used by MSF in its emergency medical work around the world, including emergency refugee housing, a food distribution tent, water pump, health clinic, vaccination tent, therapeutic feeding center, and a cholera treatment center. It addresses questions such as:

• Will I be safe?
• What will I eat?
• How do I find water?
• Can I get medical care?
• Where will I live?

Today, 42 million people around the world have fled armed conflicts and are searching for safety (see Refugee/IDP Snapshots). They are children, women, and men living in temporary shelters, camps, or shanty towns, struggling to survive in new and often hostile environments. Those who have sought refuge in another country are refugees, a status which entitles them to certain rights under international law.

Those who are seeking refuge within their own countries are officially called internally displaced persons (IDPs). They have fewer rights than refugees, yet make up almost two-thirds of the people around the world today who are seeking safety from armed conflict and violence.

It was a pleasure cooking for the hard-working staff and volunteers each day, who braved the Vancouver rainfall and October chill to give tours to hundreds and hundreds of visitors over the week.

Here are a few pictures of both the event and the staff involved in putting this together:

Thank you to all at MSF/Doctor’s without Borders for your hard work in bringing this display to Vancouver!

Photos courtesy of Kevin Hooi

A long-time foodie favorite, many, many people still have not tried them, or even know what they are. To be honest I can’t say I blame them with a name like sweetbreads. I mean, they are neither sweet, nor are they anything resembling bread.

So what are they? Well, as eloquently as I can put it, sweetbreads are the thymus glands of young veal, pork and lamb. That’s right, today we’ll be learning about eating thymus glands!

“You sit there and eat ALL your thymus glands Billy, or no dessert!”

Now we can get these thymus glands from two places, the first is just below the throat of the animal, and the other is near the heart, which are generally more prized and more expensive as many consider them to have a better flavour. Here’s what they look like:

I have a strange feeling I may have grossed some of you out by now. But let me just say this:

Sweetbreads are delicious.

There is a reason many of the best chefs in the world have had them on their menus for years. If prepared right, you’ll order them everytime you see them on a menu. Alright, alright, well if they’re so good, why doesn’t everyone have them on their menus?

A couple reason:

1. First and foremost, they are extremely perishable, usually having to be prepared and eaten within 24 hours of purchasing. This makes them not very cost-effective for most restaurants.

2. Well, let’s not sugar coat it, thymus glands are a tough sell. I’m not sure why they came to be called sweetbreads, but there’s a good chance it was simply to call them something else other than what they actually were.

But let’s move on now from all the nay-saying and approach this with an open mind. What do they taste like?

They have a very delicate liver flavor with a slightly creamy texture. My favorite way to have them prepared is blanched, lightly battered and fried. I had one dining companion say they tasted like “the best chicken mcnugget ever, just a bit creamier”. Hey, whatever works.

Feeling adventurous enough to try them? Head out to Le Crocodile, the famous mainstay of fine French dining here in Vancouver, as they always have them in some form on their menu.

http://www.lecrocodilerestaurant.com/

The short ribs in all their glory:

You’ll notice these are considerably thicker than the Korean BBQ style. These will be cooking for a longer period of time, so you’ll want to ask your butcher to slice them 3/4″ to 1″ thick for you.

Next slice up some fresh veggies. I’ve got some local garlic, new potatoes, carrots, onions and button mushrooms, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand.

Next, slice the short ribs in half and season them with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, then sprinkle 1 tsp of flour over each short rib. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and 1 tbsp of butter in a large heavy bottomed pan:

Brown the short ribs well over high heat on both sides. Getting a nice sear is important to the flavour of this recipe.

After well browned, remove them from the pot and brown the onions and garlic, then sautee the rest of the vegetables:

Now add the short ribs back to the pot, and add in the demi glace, beef stock, red wine, and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and bring mixture to a boil. (Full recipe posted at the end)

Now, I know not everyone is crazy like me and makes their own demi glace, then freezes it in cubes, so omit this step if you like and thicken the braising liquid with a roux at the end of the braising process instead:

Your pot should look something like this:

Pre-heat the oven to 375F, and once mixture is boiling, place the pot covered in the oven and braise for 1.5-2 hours or until short ribs are ridiculously tender.

Plate simply and garnish with a little flatleaf parsley if you like (I couldn’t wait and started eating mine before this step)

There you have it! Something new and some good eats if I do say so myself. Here’s the ingredients for those keeping score at home.

Braised Beef Short Ribs

2-3 lbs beef short ribs, 3/4″ to 1″ thick
1 lb new potatoes, halved
8-10 small carrots, peeled
3 gloves garic, diced
1 medium onion, sliced
10-12 button mushrooms, quartered
4 cups beef or veal stock
2 cups dry red wine
2 cubes or 2 tbsp demi glace, or the same amount of roux
2 cups whole canned tomatoes
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper

Now, my plans for cooking today started off pretty normal. I was going to head out to the butcher and pick up a nice big bone-in pork butt, smoke it slowly all day and by dinner time, turn it into a huge pile of pulled pork for delicious smoky sandwiches all week long. I also planned on making some cornbread in my trusty cast iron skillet.

Neither of these things ended up happening, as my butcher’s shop was closed (for the holiday of course) and upon starting the cornbread I realized I was fresh out of cornmeal…somewhat of a key ingredient in making cornbread.

Determined to make something tasty and time consuming I ravaged my cupboards and found an old recipe I printed out a long time ago for everyone’s favorite guilty pleasure: brioche.

A quick scan revealed I had all the necessary ingredients and I went to work (don’t worry, I’ll post the recipe at the end). After some measuring and mixing the dough needed a couple hours to rise, and I was still looking for something tasty to cook up in the meantime. A raid through my spice rack and I found something interesting, some Ethiopian Berbere spice powder I picked up at Gourmet Warehouse awhile back. A fiery blend of spices, this was to be my starting point for a unique dinner, though not necessarily a traditional accompaniment for brioche, to say the least.

After a bit of searching I decided to make a traditional Ethiopian dish called Doro Wat, which is basically a spicy chicken stew garnished with hard boiled eggs. I’ve eaten this before at an Ethiopian restaurant but never prepared it myself.
The aromas in my house as I cooked were amazing, and before I knew it my brioche was in the oven. After a few hours of running around, improvising and cooking, here’s what I ended up with:

I did end up finding some pita bread in my freezer to simulate the traditional inerja bread of ethiopian cuisine, however I’d be lying if I said I didn’t dip a bit of the brioche in it too, and I’d also be lying if I said it wasn’t awesome.

Two complete culinary opposites in classic French cooking and Ethiopian came together in one strange and wonderful day of holiday cooking today.

Oh, and before I forget, here’s the recipes for the brioche and the Doro Wat:

Ethiopian Doro Wat (Chicken Stew)

If you learn anything from this video, learn this:

- DO NOT BOIL RIBS. EVER. Well, that is unless you like eating flavourless gray mush grilled at the last minute and drowning in store bought BBQ sauce. But I guarantee once you try these, you’ll never go back.

Okay, I’ve talked enough, watch this will ya? By the way, I apologize in advance for the questionable video quality and lighting, it’s BBQ, it’s outside, and it’s all about the end product anyways!

Now for recipes and method:

Drew’s BBQ Rub

1 cup Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chinese 5 spice powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients well and store in an airtight container.

Method for Great BBQ Ribs on Any Grill

1. Prep ribs by trimming excess fat, and removing the membrane along the underside. Use a butter knife to lift the corner and a paper towel to help you grip the membrane and pull it off in one piece.
2. Apply a thin coat of yellow mustard to the exterior of the ribs (as stated in the video, there will be no mustard taste left, but if this still freaks you out, use olive oil)
3. Liberally apply the BBQ rub to both sides of the ribs to coat evenly.
4. Heat BBQ on indirect heat (completely off on one side, low on the other side, shoot for an internal temperate between 225 and 275F if you have a gauge)
5. Place ribs on unheated side of the BBQ along with a foil pouch of wood chips and let smoke for 2 hours.
6. Remove ribs from the grill and wrap loosely in heavy duty aluminum foil. Place back on BBQ for approx. 2 more hours
7. Remove ribs from foil place back on BBQ unfoiled for an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until ribs are crispy and tender to the touch

Remove and enjoy with your favorite BBQ sauce! Or try making one of mine

Sweet and Smoky BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1.5 cups ketchup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tsp tobasco

Simmer all ingredients except water for approximately 15 minutes. Add in the water and stir to bring sauce to desire consistency. Pour sauce through a fine strainer into air tight container and refrigerate any unused sauce for up to 2 weeks.

For those who love a tangier sauce with their BBQ (like me), here is a mustard and vinegar based sauce that goes great with ribs and pulled pork especially:

Tangy Mustard Vinegar Sauce

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup Yellow mustard
1/4 cup onion finely minced
2 cloves garlic finely minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Simmer all ingredients together for about 20 minutes over low heat. Strain throw a fine sieve just like the other sauce and enjoy! Refrigerate that leftover sauce (if there is any) for up to 2 weeks.

So there we have it! And lastly, for the BBQ purists, I am well aware that “true” BBQ is cooked over wood or a combination of wood and charcoal and not a tiny propane grill on a rainy patio. My point with this video was simply to show that great tasting ribs with smoke flavour CAN be cooked on a small condo grill, where bylaws often forbid charcoal and wood burning BBQ pits. Hey, anything’s better than boiling right?

Enjoy!

Without further adieu, here is this week’s unique ingredient: The Meyer Lemon

So what? It looks like a regular lemon! Maybe, but it’s not a regular lemon at all, in fact it’s a rare citrus that is a combination of a regular lemon with a sweet mandarin, originating from China and recently becoming popular in Western culture after being used by some very famous chefs.

It has a balanced tang and sweetness that make it perfect for desserts, dressings, and other applications. The most famous chef to make use of meyer lemons is Charlie Trotter, who used these almost exclusively in place of regular lemons in his recipe collections.

Are they expensive? Well, in a word, yeah. Buying some meyer lemons will cost you about 3x what buying regular lemons will cost. It’s not outrageous considering they are only grown in a couple areas of the US, but enough to make you want to think about what you want to do with these little babies before you buy. So fear not, here’s a couple recipes that will benefit from the unique sweet and citrus flavour of the Meyer lemons, and ones that will help you recognize the flavour difference from using regular lemons:

Meyer Lemon Risotto (my personal favorite)

ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped, about 1 to 1-1/2 cups
1 tender inner celery rib, finely chopped, plus 1/4 cup chopped leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice (10 ounces)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons finely grated Meyer lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons julienned basil leaves
1/2 cup porcini mushrooms (optional)

In a medium sauce pan, bring the stock to a boil. In a separate large sauce pan, melt the butter and saute the onions, garlic, and celery until soft. Add in the rice and stir to coat with the butter, continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add the hot stock to the rice and vegetables, stirring constantly and waiting until each cup is absorbed before adding the next. Continue stirring and ladelling stock for approx. 15-20 minutes or until rice is cooked through, and the mixture is thick and creamy.

Add in the meyer lemon juice and zest, the basil, the parmesan cheese and the mushrooms. Stir and simmer for 2 minutes and then serve in bowls, garnishing with extra parmesan cheese.

And now, for a cocktail to wash it all down:

Meyer Lemon Martini

1.5 oz. Lemon Vodka or premium regular vodka
1/2 oz. cointreau
1 oz simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)
Juice from 1 meyer lemon
Ice
Sugar for glass rim garnish
Meyer Lemon slice for garnish

Method:
Muddle all the ingredients, including rind, in a shaker. Add in the ice and shake until blended. Strain into a sugar-rimmed martini glass and garnish with a meyer lemon slice.

WHERE TO BUY?

Granville Island Market sells them at one of the asian specialty vendors (the one who sells the hard to find peppers and fresh wasabi). They are individually priced but average about $2.50 per lemon.

Is life too short to eat out at chain restaurants?

Let me get this out of the way first, I am not completely anti-chain, stick it to the man, against corporate North America, or whatever you want to call it. Hey, I’ve even worked in more than one chain restaurant over the years. As with anything, there are good ones and there are definitely bad ones.

But at the end of the day, if forced to give an answer, mine would have to be yes. Life IS too short to dine at chain restaurants for all our gatherings, special occasions and those times when we just don’t feel like cooking.

We are creatures of habit, we know we like that 6″ roasted chicken with southwest sauce from Subway on our lunch break, so we don’t want to risk trying that little deli around the corner with the cured meats and cheeses and grilled paninis. Hey, we may not like it. On the flip side, it could be the greatest sandwich we’ve ever eaten and we’ll never go back to boring mass produced subs ever again. At the very least, we may discover an ingredient, a method, a condiment or even a vegetable we never even knew existed, or thought we enjoyed. Wouldn’t that alone make trying a new place worth it?

Wouldn’t you rather give your business to a place where the head chef doesn’t get his new menu items from the “head office” but toils, perfects them and cooks them with passion? Don’t get me wrong, there are some extremely talented head chefs working at chain restaurants, but if you asked them I would bet nearly all would love to have their own little restaurant somewhere, complete control over their ingredients and food and glowing reviews. The reason many don’t do this is simple: it takes a lot of money and it’s hard. Very hard. Putting yourself out there on the chopping block (bad pun alert), going for it, being married to your restaurant for 16 hours a day, trying to turn a profit; like I said before, one thing makes that happen: passion.

This hard work and dedication is exactly the reason why we should visit the little guys instead of the big guys and see what we’re missing. Get a wood fired pizza from Commercial Dr. instead of Panago. Try some West Coast Italian cuisine from Vita Bella Ristorante on Hastings instead of Olive Garden, I could go on for hours.

Vancouver is a restaurant and foodie hot-bed waiting for your empty bellies, so get out there and try something new!