The perfect chutney for chicken, beef or fish!

Title: Ginger-Tomato Chutney
Yield: 4 Servings
Ingredients
1/4 c rice vinegar
1/4 c golden brown sugar
2 tsp pickled ginger; minced
1 diced red onion
14 oz tomatoes in juice; diced
1 stick cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Combine vinegar, sugar, and ginger in small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add tomatoes and onions with juices and cinnamon. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered until shutney is slightly thickened,stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes or until it reaches the required constincey.

Getting ready for Germany 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!

Over the past few months a couple of us have started to start the planning stage of putting together a culinary team for the 2012 Culinary olympics in Erfurt Germany, From Left to Right we have Bill King, Scott Douglas, Brian Piercy, Jillian Lake, Angie Ryan and of course myself taking the picture. This is a project that we do on our own and will need to fundraise to get there.

keep your eye out for more nfo on this event, we will be doing a lot of fundraising to get there and represent our province!

Twisted Beet's!!!!!!!!

Roasted beet and corn salad
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients:
1 lb ounces of corn kernels
14 ounces of diced cooked beets
6 ounces of fresh chopped pineapple
3 tablespoons of fresh mint
1 diced red pepper
1 diced yellow pepper
1 \2 sliced red onion
1\2 a cup of plain yogurt
1\2 1 cup of low fat sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Zest and juice from 2 limes
Method:
For the pineapple cut it length wise with the stock attached, scoop out the useable flesh and chop. Then take all ingredients and place in a bowl except for 1\2 of the mint, toss together and check for seasoning. Place the salad back into the empty pineapple shell and sprinkle the rest of the mint on top for garnish.
This salad should be mixed just before serving, because if it is mixed too long a lot of liquid will come out of the pineapple and make the dressing watery.

Drunken Pork!!!!!!!

Screech glazed Pork
Yield : 8
Ingredients:
1\4 cup low sodium soya sauce
1 juiced lime
1\4 cup Screech
2 tablespoons brown sugar
8 cloves roasted garlic
1 tablespoon seed mustard
3 lbs of boneless pork loin
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Mix soya , lime juice, Screech, brown sugar, garlic, mustard and sage. Place
Pork loin in a bowl and cover with the mixture , place in the fridge for 3 hours . Turn the pork every half and hour .
Preheat oven to 350 F. remove the pork from the marinade and place in a shallow roasting pan and roast for about 45 minutes or until the meat thermometer reaches 160 F.

Then take it out and let it rest for 1\2 an hour , great served with coleslaw, or on a bun with some mayo.

What motivates me!!

Last night myself, Angie Ryan , Morris barnes and Dwayne Stratton did a VIP function at Quidi Vidi brewery, here are the plate presentations .

Red Ahi tuna on pickled cucumber

Scallop bisque Latte

Strawberry and Feta Salad

Cod Saltimbocca

Petit medallions of beef tenderloin

Angies dessert trio

What it took to get to Germany!!!

I have decided to share this story with you due to a request from a co-worker.

In early 2007 I made a decision to attend the culinary olympics in Erfurt Germany. It was going to be a trip to see logistically I would need to bring a team . Anyway after I had decided to enter a platter I asked Angie Ryan to come along as my assistant. Her husband was already going to be there so I thought she would be a perfect choice.

So we fundraise and make it to Germany. Now we did not have the resources that most regional and national teams had. We did our work out of a small hotel room and we purchased a hotplate at the local grocery store. So 24 hours later our platter was ready to go , so we loaded up the cab abd began our 20 mile drive to the convention center , hitting evry bump along the way.

We get to the convention center and arrive at the gate and see a long prossesion of cars, trucks , trailers and buses.

We get out of the cab and begin to walk all the way to the hall that we were putting our showpiece together in . We were around 1 hour early, standing outside, in the freezing cold , holding my platter with the plastic wrap blowing all over the place.

About10 minutes later I see all the trucks and buses coming and these were the other teams and competitiors. A lot had team buses with portablke kitchens. Some had full commerical kitchen trailors , and here we were , looking like the true newfie joke with the the platter in hand and feeling quite out of place in the freezing cold with wet snow falling . Anyway we did win a bronze medal, and it was one of the most exciting things that I have taken part in .

Even if we had not placed that day we were winners anyway.

Company's coming!!

Here is what I do when company is coming, I do a load of prep in advance . Normally I do not bake very often, but yestserday I made ginger snap cookies, chocolate chip cookies, fig and date loaf and cranberry and raisin scones . Placed then all in zip lock bags to maintain freshness and now they are all ready for our guests when they are. Also I made a large batch of pea souop( with salt beef , have to have it) and turkey soup.

Fig and date loaf
Ingredients
1 cup dates , pitted and chopped
1 cup figs, dried and chopped
*If figs are not available to you
1/4 cup butter , at room temperature
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup walnuts chopped
2 eggs
1 1\2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
How to make it
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Lightly grease an 8 x 4 inch loaf dish.
In a medium bowl, combine the dates, figs, butter and baking soda.
Pour in the boiling water, stir well and let stand for 15 minutes.
Beat the sugar, walnuts and eggs into the date mixture.
Combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt.
Stir into date mixture until just blended.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.


Homemde scones and gingersnap cookies .

Here is my pea soup, I use salt meat and also you will see the tip of a huge ham hock. I also add cabbage to mine as well, it adds a great flavor to the soup.