These High School Kids Can Cook!!!!

             A few days ago, I heard from an old friend, Chef Jay Nutt of the Nuttshell Next Door Cafe in Lakefield , Ontario. Jay and I have known each other since 1998, when we worked together at what was then the Meridien King Edward Hotel in Toronto, under Chef John Higgins. Jay and I have stayed in touch over the years and I'm always interested to hear what he has going on. His restaurant is wonderful and definitely worth checking out if you're in the Peterborough area.

             Jay let me know that he was going to be hosting a pair of dinners being run entirely by high school students. He explained that the culinary team from St. Peter Catholic Secondary School in Peterborough had recently won the Loyalist College Junior Iron Chef 2014 title, and they were going to be doing 2 nights of dinners at the restaurant, serving a menu of their own creation. I was intrigued.

            He explained that there were three goals they were hoping to achieve. First was to raise funds to support what has proven to be an exceptional program at St. Peter. Secondly, he wanted to help give the students an experience in a "real life" cooking situation, which can be far different than the world of culinary classes or  competition. And third, was to provide his guests with an amazing dinner, prepared entirely by these talented high school students. How could I resist??

            As luck would have it, I was able to get Friday off, and Kris and I planned our trip. After settling in the dogs, cats and guinea pig, we hopped in the car, camera in hand and headed for Lakefield.

 After an entertaining ride, with plenty of good music, conversation and amazing scenery, we arrived in the beautiful little town of Lakefield.

As soon as we entered the cafe, you could feel the energy in the air. The students were bustling around everywhere. Some were serving the full dining room while quite a few more could be seen hurrying in the back kitchen area. Jay's lovely wife, Jen took us to our table and dinner began.

           Water was poured and one of the students brought a simple amuse bouche of Crostini with Rhubarb, Brie and Pecans. The tartness of the rhubarb was an excellent foil for the rich brie. A wonderful start to what I hoped would be a delightful meal. Another student came and took our dinner orders. It was fun to watch the students working the front of house. I suspect they will have a much greater appreciation for their waiter the next time they go out to dinner.



           Kris began with the Spinach Salad with Lemon Tarragon Vinaigrette and Paprika Pancetta Crisp. The salad was dressed beautifully and was nicely accented with perfectly cooked egg and cherry tomatoes. I chose the Roasted Mushroom Soup with Creme Fraiche. Simple, yet perfectly executed , the soup was delicious, with a rich mushroom flavour and the faintest undercurrent of tarragon.

         Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin was next on the agenda for Kris. The pork was perfectly cooked and accompanied by a delicious maple fig compote. I had the Oven Baked Cod, which was done to moist perfection, and accompanied by a flavourful mustard emulsion.  Garlic mashed potatoes and beautifully roasted heirloom carrots finished both dishes nicely.

         Our scraped clean plates were cleared and dessert was brought out by 2 more of the students. A delicious Flourless Chocolate cake was layered with a citrus mascarpone cream that cut the richness of the cake beautifully. A fresh mango salsa added a delightful sweet and sour component to the dish.

         All in all, I was very impressed. These high school students were producing food of a caliber that I would expect of graduates from college programs, at the very least. Jay introduced me to Chef Catherine Rose, who trained these exceptional students.

          Chef Rose is clearly passionate about her subject and has succeeded in instilling that passion in her students. She spoke of their challenges and successes with great pride and was quick to pass all the credit on to her pupils. I was inspired by her dedication to her students and I hope that her school recognizes the great asset they have in her. She introduced me to a number of the students, who impressed me with their professionalism and the zest they brought to their efforts. I can only hope that a few of these young men and women will continue on in this field. It would be a pleasure to work with any one of them.

Chef Catherine Rose, Chef Jay Nutt and 2 of the talented students

         After a perfect cup of coffee, it was time to leave. We thanked Jay and Jenn, who had been the perfect hosts, as always. A peek in the kitchen found the students finishing the washing up, getting a taste of one of the less glamorous but still very necessary parts of a cook's job. A last word of congratulations and encouragement and we were off for home.

          Tonight, I saw grade 11 and 12 students serve a meal that I would have never expected  them to be capable of. The confidence and pride in their work showed in every course & every aspect of the service. With Chef Jay's guidance and the training they have received from Chef Rose, they calmly performed as well as any young cooks that I have had the pleasure of working with. My hat is off to all of them.

There is a second dinner scheduled for Saturday, April 5, 2014. If you have the opportunity to go, I would sincerely recommend that you do. Give these talented students the opportunity to show you what they can do.

The Nuttshell Next Door Cafe
33 Queen Street
Lakefield, Ontario 
(705) 652-9721

We're Back Again!!

The last time anyone saw a post from us, it was August of 2012. Hard to believe we've been away from this for that long! BUT NO MORE!!!

With a new title, "Da Local Life", and a new commitment to keeping up to date, the blog is back.

A few things have changed since we were last here.

I (Steve)(DaLocalChef)(@DaLocalChef on twitter) have taken a new job. I'm currently the sous chef at the Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto. After a few years running the kitchen at The Summit Golf & Country Club, I decided it was time for a change. Returning to the King Edward was a great opportunity and the past few months have been amazing.

Kris (DaLocalWife) has been very active both with her crochet work and her furniture refinishing. Her creativity knows no bounds, as you will soon see.

We've also relocated to Newmarket, Ontario. It's a beautiful town, and we're lucky enough to live close to plenty of green space for the dogs. Our household has grown by one as well. We're lucky to have "Da Local Niece" staying with us as well. Her quilting and sewing exploits are sure to show up on these pages soon.

So sit back, relax and give the blog a read. We're happy to have you along for the ride!

Time To Try Something New

I've been cooking in professional kitchens since I was 14 years old. That's 27 years cooking just about anything and everything that I can get my hands on. But there is a short list of things I've always wanted to do in a kitchen but never have. With a few days off from the golf course, it was time to tackle a couple of them.


The first is to cook pork belly. This beautiful cut, also known as "unsmoked bacon" is famous for it's rich and unctuous mouth-feel. A mainstay in Asian cuisine, I have always found the idea  of cooking pork belly to be daunting. It is completely outside of my experience, but it is a challenge whose time has come.


The second is to use a pressure cooker.When I was a kid, my mom had a great big one in the cupboard, but I don't ever remember seeing her use it. I've always thought of pressure cookers as a little dangerous and maybe a bit outdated. No longer really needed in the modern kitchen. But when a good friend passed along a brand new beautiful Kuhn Rikon to me, I knew it was only a matter of time before it would get used. (This of course, is much to my Dalocalwife's chagrin. I think she was expecting explosions, structural damage to the house and 3rd degree steam burns.)


I headed down to T & T Supermarket in Richmond Hill and picked up a beautiful 2 lb piece of pork belly and some lovely vegetables, as well as a little snack of steamed pork buns and shrimp dumplings. Needless to say, the dim sum didn't make it home.

I had hunted for recipes for cooking pork belly in a pressure cooker, but didn't find any that I liked. They were wildly different in times and technique, so I decided to just wing it.


I skinned the pork and rubbed it down with a mixture of salt, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne pepper and Chinese 5-Spice powder. I then set to browning the belly over medium heat, in hopes of rendering out some of the fat and giving it a richer flavour. As it cooked, I started on the rest of the prep.


Green onions, garlic cloves and ginger were the aromatics of choice. Nothing too finely cut, since I would be straining them out later.

 A quick search through my cupboards turned up my broth ingredients: vegetable stock, 5-spice powder, oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, demerara sugar and last but not least some Sweet & Spicy Tabasco for a bit of kick.

I got the ginger, garlic and green onion sauteing in the pressure cooker. Once they were softened and fragrant, I added the pieces of browned pork belly and then the broth ingredients. I brought it all to a boil and then slapped on the lid. Once the cooker had come up to pressure I turned the burner down to medium-low heat and sat back and waited for an hour to pass. (Keeping a close eye and ear out for explosions and the like.)

After an exciting hour watching the valve, I pulled the pressure cooker off the heat and gave it a good 20 minutes to cool down. When I opened it up, after releasing the last of the pressure, the smell was exquisite. Sweet and spicy at the same time. I checked for tenderness, using the handle of a teaspoon. It went straight through, without the slightest resistance. (I have to admit, I might have giggled.) I transferred the bacon to a container and then strained the cooking liquid over top. I transferred it straight into the fridge to give the pork a chance to firm up overnight. I closed the fridge door and reluctantly headed for bed.

After a restless night, which included 2 trips to the fridge to peek at the cooling pork belly, I was ready to get started.

First, I transferred the cooking liquid to a pot (discarding the fat on the surface) and began reducing it to make my sauce. I sliced the pork and laid it on a rack on a baking sheet. It went into the oven under a low temperature broiler to further render out some fat. A pot of plain rice went on the stove and I prepped the vegetables to go alongside.


As my vegetables started to cook, I brushed the slices of pork belly with the reduced cooking liquid and returned them to the oven. I would do this 5 times, each one giving more shine and stickiness to the slices.

All that was left was to assemble the dish. After mounding the rice on one side and the vegetables on the other, I gently laid the glazed slices of pork belly on top. The remaining sauce went into a side dish and it was time to eat.

The meat was incredible. It had that beautiful texture that you only find in certain very special cuts, like lamb shanks and beef short ribs. The vegetables and rice made a perfect foil for the sweet, sticky pork. So fatty and rich, it was exactly as I had hoped. The resulting sauce was sweet and fragrant, tying the whole dish together.

Without a doubt, I will be cooking more pork belly. And as for the pressure cooker, I now understand. It is a unique piece of equipment that is going to see a lot more use in my kitchen at home.

Projects Finished This Month (DaLocalWife)

It's been a weird month.  For someone who doesn't generally wear shawls and wraps, I sure have been churning them out.

What do I do with them?

a summer wrap in black and turquoise

A Victorian wool shawl in greens, reds and orange

A Victorian shawl in heathered pinks and grays

oh

LOOK!

Something more me, to cheer things up!

A summer hat in red and white cotton

A green cotton market bag, using filet crochet

And on the hook(s) right now are 2 blankets, a hat, a summer top, a poncho and a cat sweater.

We'll see how that goes...they will most likely be put on hold.  I found this sweet pattern I wish to adapt because I have these luscious skeins or orange lace weight sock yarn...

It's of a beautiful shawl.  ;)

Forgotten (DaLocalWife)

  DalocalChef and I walk the pups on a regular basis, strolling through these here suburbs.  As is often the case with me, I slow down automatically when I see the outline of a furniture-like object skulking in the distance.  It's amazing what you can find at the end of a driveway. Unwanted, forgotten.  And I hear my husband sigh.  "I'll get the van, k?"

This is what we found yesterday morning

Rustic and primitive but solid wood goodness.  I cleaned it up this morning, before the summer heat made it uncomfortable to work outside. 
I think it will be my crochet table.  To store unfinished objects.  To store work projects in progress.  To hold my coffee cup.

I was going to move it in place and set it up but my crochet corner was taken.

I don't mind being on Fleazel time.


Here is an afterthought, although I hate to preach.  This society would benefit from a greater appreciation of the old.  Furniture.  Pets.  PEOPLE. 
Old doesn't mean useless. 

It presents an ability to learn. 

To appreciate. 

To be human(e).

The Reluctant Suburbanite (DaLocalWife)

So...how have you been?  Long time, eh?  I had to have surgery and the recovery was a little more involved than I originally gave it credit for and also?...I joked with my FB peeps that I was glad the uterus left when it did because I don't like threats of any kind and it was threatening my health, but did it really have to take my brain with it?  I pictured them walking, hand in hand, into the sunset not un-Far Side-like.  But I digress.

I had a complaint (or inquiry, if you insist on being polite) about my lack of bloggage.  Well, there ya go, I had no brain with which to blog!  But I was thinking today (a first in 9 weeks, I swear!) about how much I miss living in the country.  We moved to the burbs eight months ago and I'm still kind of jeebed-out by this place.  Everyone knows everything and all stuff that goes on.  I no longer smoke but if I were to sit on my make-shift porch and suck on a coffin nail?  They'd be talking about it at the playground, for sure!  I balk at the feeling of being under a microscope.

And what about this need to be dressed appropriately at all times!  It's not meeeeeeeee!  I admit to an inner drag queen that I can shut up with the occasional sparkly or vulgar colour combination but to always get dressed in suburban-mom-approved clothing?  I think not.  My Dad would shake his head in disgust if he saw me walking my kids to school in my pj's.  But hey!  For years I popped the kids down the driveway just so and I see no need to change a time-honoured (and let's face it, lazy) tradition. 

And my dogs.  See, nobody really likes them.  They are German Shepherds and they bring all things German Shepherd to the table.  They bark.  A lot.  They charge first, ask questions later.  They are sure all who approach are a possible threat to their people and give the hairy eyeball to all.  But they are pretty.  Drako is the finest in German engineering, physically. And such a dope.  For us.  In private.  I've given up trying to explain.  I feel for them, they aren't suburbanites either.

Also not sure that my neighbours approve of my musical choices, both in the car and in the house...with my windows open.  Did I mention I am partially deaf and kind of like my music enthusiastic (loud)?

So what, so move, you say?  Can't.  Did this for the kids and they are loving their friends and ability to roam and play and the park and...and...I love it enough to see them happy and so I adjust.

Well, sort of.  I only bend so far, you know?

Chef the Mime (DaLocalWife)

Although married for less than 2 years, I actually fell in love with the chef well over 20 years ago.  Before he was a tax-paying adult.  A father.  A chef.

In my OAC English class, I noticed a boy who was argumentative but somehow came across as almost shy.  Exactly the kind of dichotomy that would get my attention. He did his Hamlet soliloquy and  I was hooked.  We dated for two weeks at the end of the summer leading into university.  He was so intense, he scared me and I let him go off to Ottawa without so much as a "see you soon".  My biggest regret in life, by far.

Fast forward 17 years and through the wonder of Facebook, we got a second chance.
Why am I digging all of this up?

Due to health problems, I wasn't able to accompany the chef to a gala at the ROM. With a circus theme.  How much fun THAT would be?
He went with a long-time friend who is a wonderful photographer and her efforts more than matched his in both costume and flair.  She took a picture of the chef at the gala which made me fall in love with him just that little bit more.  Hard to do when you are as head-over-heels as I am.

 No one gets to see this playful, theatrical side of DaLocalChef anymore.  But I do, every day.

And I count my lucky stars.

picture taken by the incomparable Michelle Kauntz