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2 pc. eggs
3 tbsp. sugar
4.5 sheets gelatine
250 gr. white chocolate
750 ml. whipping cream

1. Set a medium pot of water on the stove and heat, you are creating a double boiler, so an inch or two of water will suffice
2. In a mixer or Kitchenaid, whip the cream to soft peaks, set aside
3. Bloom the gelatine sheets by dissolving in cold water
4. In a bowl, combine the eggs and sugar, whisk together
5. Squeeze the excess liquid out of the gelatine sheets, add to the eggs and sugar and place over the double boiler, whisking constantly, do so until the gelatine is dissolved
6. Now add the white chocolate to the bowl and continue to stir until it is melted and the mixture is homogenous
7. Remove from the heat, and then gently fold ¼ of the cream into the chocolate mixture, using a spatula
8. Now fold the chocolate mixture back into the cream until it is evenly combined
9. The gelatine and cool whipped cream will allow this mixture to begin to set quite quickly, at this point you can fold in some fresh raspberries, cherries, anything of your liking, or simply leave it plain, you can place it in a piping bag to pipe once it sets, or you may immediately put into a serving dish, chocolate mould etc. This mousse is very versatile!

Enjoy!

Makes: 4 lts. (don’t be afraid, it freezes well, and you can easily half the recipe with success!)

Prep Time: 20 min.
Cooking Time: 30 min.

Ingredients
3 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled, rinsed, cubed
3 oz. butter
4 pc. bacon, sliced
2 pc. leeks, sliced, only the hearts
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 cup white wine
2 oz. AP flour
1.75 lt. chicken stock
0.5 lt. heavy cream

1. Heat a medium sized sauce pot to medium-high heat and melt the butter
2. Add the leeks, bacon, and minced garlic to the pot and sweat 3-5 minutes, being careful not to brown
3. Add the potatoes, and sauté another 2-3 minutes
4. Deglaze the pan with white wine, and reduce slightly
5. Add the flour, stirring constantly until combined, then deglaze with the chicken stock
6. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook until the potatoes are tender, 15-20 mins.
7. Finish the soup with the cream, and puree with an immersion blender, season accordingly

Chef’s Tips
* You can keep this soup gluten friendly by reducing the stock by 1 cup
and removing the flour, the starch of the potatoes should thicken it
sufficiently.
* You can easily substitute chicken stock for vegetable stock if you’d rather
*I like to finish this soup off with some truffle oil and fried leeks

Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi
Serves 4
Prep Time: 30-45 minutes
Degree of Difficulty: 3/5

2 lbs. fresh skinless Mahi Mahi fillets, have your fish monger cut them into 6-8 oz. portions
1 cup macadamia nuts
½ cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup AP flour
2 pc. eggs, whisked
½ cup clarified butter, or your preferred cooking oil

Chef”s Tip
If you would rather make this dish celiac friendly simply grind the macadamia nuts and top the fish with after searing it, and before baking it in the oven, that way you can skip the breading process, but still enjoy this tasty dish!

Feeds: 4
Prep time: 45 minutes
Degree of Difficulty:3/5

From Around Town
Fin’s Seafood Distributors–298 Cree Rd Sherwood Park(780) 449-3710
2 lbs. Steelhead Salmon

I recommend making the trip to get all of your seafood from their retail counter, second to none in the city! If you ask nice they will skin the fish and cut it in to four portions for you.

The Italian Centre Shop– either 10878 95 St NW, Edmonton, (780) 424-4869 or 5028 104A Street NW, Edmonton, (780) 989-4869

1 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped medium dice (always in oil, never in dry packs)
½ cup kalamata olives, pitted, chopped medium dice

You can ask for both of these items from behind the deli counter at the Italian Centre because that’s where they keep the best ones!

From the Pantry
4 tbsp. panko bread crumbs (regular bread crumbs can be substituted)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. fresh chopped basil
1.5 lbs. baby potatoes
½ pc. red pepper, small diced
½ pc. red onion, small dice
½ pc. lemon, zest and juice
1 cup baby arugula
½ cup olive oil

Some Advice for Cooking This Fish

1. You don’t need to use Steelhead, you could easily substitute Atlantic Salmon, Wild Sockeye, or even Arctic Char
2. I prefer to eat my salmon without the skin, but you certainly can prepare this dish with the skin on, just make sure that you make the skin nice and crispy
3. It’s important that the pan is nice and hot and that you start with cold oil, and gently move the fish back and forth at first, to avoid it sticking to the pan. If you’re intimidated to cook this, feel free to use a non-stick pan, I won’t judge!
4. If you are preparing this for a larger group, you can purchase a whole side of salmon, and bake it in the oven whole for about 8-10 minutes, then top it with the crust and bake another 6-7 minutes. Serve it family style on a platter

1. Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water, salt, bring to a simmer, and cook until about 80% cooked, firm, yet tender.
2. Drain the water, and allow the potatoes to cool on a tray or plate
3. In a bowl, combine sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, minced garlic, fresh basil, and the bread crumbs, mix until combined, and then season accordingly. Watch the salt, as the tomatoes and olives can be salty
4. Once the potatoes are cool enough to touch, slice them into coins about ½” thick
5. Preheat the oven to 450F
6. Season the steelhead salmon with salt and pepper
7. Heat two large sauté pans to medium high heat
8. In the first pan, place half of the olive oil, and place the fish in the pan, gently sliding the fish back and forth initially to avoid it from sticking
9. Once the fish has browned on the bottom side, flip over gently, using a spatula. Top the fish with the 3-4 generous tablespoons of the crust
10. Place in the oven, and bake for 6-7 minutes
11. While the fish is baking, place the remaining oil in the other pan, and then add the sliced potatoes
12. Sauté the potatoes until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes, then add the peppers and onions, allow to sauté another 2-3 minutes
13. Place the chopped arugula in the pan, zest the lemon into the pan, and then squeeze the lemon juice
14. Toss the potato mixture until the arugula is wilted
15. Place the potatoes on the plate, and then top it with the salmon

Enjoy this dish with some steamed asparagus, and feel good about a tasty dish that actually tastes great!

1 turkey carcass, most skin removed
1 cup carrots chopped
1 cup celery chopped
2 cups onion chopped
6 lt. of water
2 sprigs rosemary
2 sprigs sage
2 sprigs thyme
1 tsp. black peppercorns
3 bay leafs
1 cup white wine
1 cup orzo pasta (or your personal favourite)
2 cups leftover turkey meat, chopped

Rinse the turkey carcass to remove any impurities
Place in a soup pot and cover with cold water
Bring to a simmer and skim the surface of the water to further remove any impurities
Allow to simmer slowly for at least one hour, continuing to skim periodically
Add the bay leaves, peppercorns, herbs and white wine
Allow to simmer one more hour, at which point you should have a well flavoured stock
In a separate pot, cook your orzo pasta in well salted water, cook it to Al Dente, strain and cool
Now, remove your stock from the heat and strain through a cheese cloth, or even a coffee filter, preserving the rich stock you have created
Return the stock to a clean pot and bring to a simmer, adding your chopped vegetables, allow them to cook, 12-15 minutes.
Complete the soup by adding the cooked turkey and orzo pasta, and season to your liking, and serve!

Ingredients
Heavy Cream- 225mL
Dark Chocolate, finely chopped- 110g
Gelatin Sheets- 1
Cold Water- 75mL
Eggs- 45g
Egg Yolks- 25g Sugar- 25g

Procedure

• Whip the cream to stiff peaks and set to the side.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over slightly simmering water and bring the chocolate to 120° F.
• Bloom gelatin sheet in the cold water.
• Combine eggs, egg yolks, and sugar in a bowl and heat over simmering water, whisking constantly until the mixture has reached 135° F.
• Pour egg mixture into a mixer and whip on high speed until the mixture reaches room temp, or 75° F.
• Combine egg mixture into chocolate and whisk vigorously.
• Fold in the whip cream until the mixture is all one color.
• Immediately portion into 6 – 4 oz. molds, cover the top with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 ½ hours.
• Unmold onto a parchment lined bake sheet and place in the fridge for 1 hour

White Chocolate Raspberry Crème Brulee

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 45-60 minutes

For this dish you will require some special tools, you may have some of them already, but if not, I recommend visiting Hotel & Equipment Supply Company (HESCO for short) located at 13421 St. Albert Trail. (780) 429.2727. Ask for Adam, and tell him that Paul sent you. He will be glad to take care of you! While you’re there, shop for all of your culinary needs, as they have a fantastic showroom, and all of the tools that we chefs require.

Special tools required:
Crème brulee dishes or 6 oz. ramekins

Small butane blowtorch

Ingredients:
8 pc. egg yolks
½ cup sugar
750 ml. heavy cream
130 gr. white chocolate
½ pint fresh raspberries (you can certainly substitute 1 cup of frozen raspberries, or any berry of your liking, for this as well)
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (this can be purchased at Qzina Specialty Foods, a fantastic pastry supplier, located at 12547- 129 St., or you can substitute vanilla extract, although the flavor pales by comparison)
Additional sugar for caramelizing the brulees

1. Preheat the oven to 325F
2. Place a pot of water on to heat
3. In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar, whisk until combined
4. Chop the white chocolate coarsely
5. In a sauce pot combine the heavy cream, and chopped white chocolate, and heat to a mild simmer, but be careful not to bring this to a boil, whisking regularly to melt the white chocolate
6. Now, this is the tricky part, and you may require an extra hand for a quick moment, you are going to combine the eggs with the cream mixture. Very slowly pour the cream mixture into the eggs, while whisking constantly. It is vital that you slowly add the hot cream to the cold eggs, if you do this too fast, the eggs will cook and curdle, and your custard will be grainy, or worse still, chunky.
7. Divide your berries evenly throughout the crème brulee dishes and place them in a baking pan. You will need a pan that is 2-3” high. Now, fill the brulee dishes with the custard.

**chef’s tip-take your blowtorch and lightly torch the top of the dishes to pop the bubbles to end up with a smooth surface

8. Place the baking pan on the centre rack of the oven and take the pot of hot water and pour it around the brulee dishes, up to about half an inch from the top of the dishes, creating a baine marie, a water bath. It is the water bath and the moist heat around the dishes that causes the custard to slowly cook rather than bake
9. Bake the crème brulees until the custard starts to firm up, 45-60 minutes, do keep in mind that this particular custard will set a little softer than a classic crème brulee, because when chocolate is hot, it’s soft, and firms up as it cools
10. Remove the crème brulees from the oven and the water bath. Allow to cool for at least an hour
11. Top the custards with about 1-2 tbsp. of sugar and spread out thinly
12. Torch the sugar, moving the torch constantly, to slowly caramelize the sugar, rather than to burn it

Now for the best part. Grab a spoon, crack that crunchy sugar top, and dig in to this tasty treat!

Poutine
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes
Feeds: 4

This dish isn’t about heaps of ingredients, or crazy cooking skills, but it is about the right ingredients, and following the procedures closely, to achieve the best results.

From Around Town
1 lb. fresh curd cheese

I recommend getting these from either Paddy’s International Cheese Market, a fantastic local cheese shop ( 12509-102 ave.) or the source themselves, The Cheese Factory (8943-82 ave.), where they make their very own. Make sure you pick these up last minute, the fresher, the squeakier, and the better!

From the Pantry
4 large russet or kennebec potatoes
1 can French fry or poutine gravy
Salt, or seasoning salt, to your liking
2-3 lt. shortening or vegetable oil ( for your deep fryer, each fryer is different, so fill it the the full line, feel free to use your personal choice of cooking oil for this)

Special Tools Recommended

Household deep fryer

• I highly recommend one that has a temperature control, this will give you much more consistent fries, if you don’t have temperature control and a temp gauge, you can use a high temp thermometer, but be extra cautious to use it properly. I also do not recommend using a pot on the stove, because this can be extremely dangerous

Household French fry press

• I found a French fry press for $34.99 at Bosch Kitchen Centre (9767-51 ave.) This may seem like a little money, but if you buy the right one, and take care of it, it should last forever, and most importantly, your French fries will cook so much more evenly than if you cut them by hand

1. Pre-heat your deep fryer to 300F
2. Cut your French fries and allow to soak in cold water for at least 15 minutes
3. Drain French fries and pat dry (be very careful to get nice and dry, or your hot oil will splatter)
4. Using a timer blanch your French fries for 5-6 minutes, this step will cook the potatoes, without browning, remove from oil
5. Turn up your fryer to 340F
6. In a small pot, heat up your gravy
7. Now, return your blanched fries to the hot oil, this time you’re cooking to crisp and brown your French fries. If this step is done right, your fries will taste crispy, not soggy and greasy. Season quickly, as they come out of the hot oil
8. Place your fries in your serving bowls, top with cheese, then finish with gravy!

Enjoy this French Canadian classic! There is a great divide over this, but I love mine with ketchup. Who’s hungry?

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Makes: 6 litres or so, which is lots, but it freezes quite nicely!
1 pumpkin, peeled and cubed, (preserve the seeds) about 12 cups worth of cubes
1 onion, peeled, and sliced
4 oz. butter
½ cup flour
1 tsp. minced garlic
1tbsp. minced ginger
3 lt. chicken stock
½ lt. orange juice
2 heaping tbsp. chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
4 tbsp. brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
½ lt. whipping cream

1. Peel and chop your pumpkin, don’t worry too much about perfectly sized cubes, as the soup will be pureed. Just try to make them fairly consistent in size
2. Heat a large sauce or soup pot (6-8 lt.) over medium high heat, add the butter
3. Melt the butter and add the onions, minced garlic and ginger, cook until translucent
4. Add the pumpkin, and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring periodically
5. Stir in the flour until evenly combined, then quickly add the chicken stock and orange juice

**if you wish to make this gluten free, remove the flour and reduce the amount of stock to 2.5 lt.

6. Add the chipotles, brown sugar, cinnamon stick, and seasoning, allow to simmer until the pumpkin is tender 15-20 minutes
7. Remove the cinnamon stick and puree until smooth with a hand blender, or place in a blender or food processor to puree. Please exercise extreme caution when pureeing hot soup in a blender or food processor, as it can spill over the top when too full and burn you!
8. At this point you want to adjust the balance of flavour to your liking, perhaps more brown sugar if your pumpkin wasn’t naturally that sweet, maybe a little more peppers if you enjoy the spice, etc.
9. Finish the soup with the whipping cream for a real rich creaminess
10. For a real smooth finish, you can pass the soup through a fine china cap, but it isn’t completely necessary

Chai cream
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
¼ tsp. each, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger
Pinch, cardammon & allspice

1. Whip the whipping cream to stiff peaks, fold in the spices and adjust the seasoning to your liking

Prepare this topping just prior to serving, as it will thicken up if left to sit too long. If you don’t have all of these spices, don’t stress too much, you can simply do a cinnamon, or nutmeg cream, but I really like the complexity of this blend.

Toasted Pumpkin seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds, as clean as you can get them, then soak in water 1-2 hours
1 tbsp. chilli powder
1 tsp. salt

1. After soaking the pumpkin seeds for 1-2 hours, strain, remove excess flesh from the seeds, and pat very dry
2. Preheat the oven to 250F
3. Toss the pumpkin seeds in the salt and chilli powder, you can substitute Cajun seasoning if you choose
4. Place on a baking sheet and allow to bake dry, this will take 20-30 minutes, check them periodically
5. Allow to cool

Assembly
Pour the soup in a bowl, top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and toasted pumpkin seeds . Enjoy!

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20-30 minutes
Makes: about a cup

6 slices bacon, julienned
1 pc. large shallot, julienned
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1. In a pan, sauté the bacon slices over medium high heat, until just starting to brown
2. Add the sliced shallots and continue to cook until soft
3. Deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar, then quickly add the brown sugar
4. Allow the brown sugar to dissolve and the liquids to reduce to a light syrup
5. Remove from heat, and puree in a food processor until smooth, and refrigerate

Enjoy this spread on a crostinis with some stinky blue cheese, and you’ll never be the same again!