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Mediterranean Quiche

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Baking Time: 35-45 minutes

Feeds: 3-4, with a salad

1 cup chopped ham

½ cup creamy goat cheese

½ cup kalamata olives

½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

4 eggs

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

These are just the ingredients that I have chosen to use to fill my quiche. Feel free to add some of your favorites, like mushrooms, peppers, onions, etc, or take out items that you don’t have.

Preheat the oven to 375F

In the bottom of your pie shell scatter the crumbled goat cheese

Place spinach throughout the bottom of the shell, followed by the ham, olives, and cherry tomatoes

In a bowl, combine eggs and heavy cream, season and whisk to combine

Pour the egg mixture over the filling until it reaches just shy of the top of the pie crust

If necessary, add an additional egg and ¼ cup of cream

Place the pie on a baking sheet and place in the middle of the oven

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the pastry has browned and the eggs have set firm

Remove from oven and let rest 3-4 minutes, then slice and serve, or you can cool down and reheat again later

Serve with a delicious salad and you have a wonderful meal that uses up your leftovers in a unique and delicious way

Who’s hungry?

 

Pan Seared Lamb Loin, Vanilla Parsnip Puree, Red Currant Reduction

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Feeds: 4

4 lamb loin

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 bulbs garlic, peeled, smashed

8-10 fresh sage leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1.5 lbs.parsnips

4 Tbsp. raw butter

¼ cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste

1 Tbsp. honey

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup red wine

½ cup red currant jelly

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Smash the garlic, lightly tear the sage leaves with your hands, place all in a bowl with olive oil

Toss the lamb loins in the marinade and cover evenly, then cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes

Meanwhile, peel the parsnips, remove stems, chop into large chunks

Place in salted water and bring to a boil, cook until soft but not overcooked

Meanwhile, place the red wine in a small pot and bring to a simmer, slowly reducing, add the red currant jelly, and the red wine vinegar

Once cooked drain all excess water from the parsnips and place in the food processor, or back in the pot to hand mash (I prefer the processor for this recipe because I like it very smooth)

Add the cream, butter, honey and vanilla, and puree until smooth, or mash until smooth, set aside

Now place a medium pan on high heat

Removing excess leaves from the lamb, place the loins in the hot pan

Sear on all sides, allowing it to brown evenly, about 7-8 minutes for medium rare

Remove from the pan and allow the loins to rest for 5-6 minutes

Meanwhile, stir the red currant reduction to ensure it is smooth and the jelly has dissolved, the consistency should be a light syrup

Lay a generous spoonful of the parsnip puree on the plate, then slice the lamb loin on the biase and place it on the parsnip puree

Top with the red currant reduction and serve

I serve this with roasted potatoes. It makes a crispy contrast to the soft puree. Enjoy this with a big glass of red wine. Who’s hungry?

 

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Special Tools: Deep fryer

2 whole chickens OR 16 piece chicken

2 cups buttermilk

2 cups flour

1 tsp. paprika

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. onion powder

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tbsp. salt

1 tsp. thyme

2 litres canola or peanut oil for frying

2 tbsp. honey (optional)

2 tbsp. sriracha (optional)

* To make this fried chicken a little extra special I made a trip to the Old Strathcona Farmer’s Market to pick up some premium ingredients. After all, I was throwing away the discipline for a day to indulge in some “junk” food, but it didn’t mean the food I ate had to be junk.

* I started by grabbing myself a couple of beautiful whole chickens from the great folks at Four Whistle Farm. Their chickens are free range and hormone and antibiotic free, leaving me assured that I am working with some of the best.

* If you have any butchery skills at all I recommend buying your chicken whole. You can break down the chicken into eight pieces for frying, remove the wings and drumsticks for a tasty snack and use the carcass to prepare a chicken stock if you like. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes tops to do so, and it can save you a little money. If you aren’t that comfortable with your knife skills don’t sweat it, you can still buy good quality chicken that is already cut for you. Just try to ensure you are buying pieces with the bone in. I find it ends in a moister and more flavourful fried chicken when all is said and done.

* While at the market I decided to grab a bag of flour from Gold Forest Grains. I figured if I wanted to try to use the best ingredients I might as well try to keep the trend going. Their grains are of heritage varieties, grown on organic land, giving the piece of mind to know that they are free of pesticides and are not GMOs.

* With my key ingredients in tow it was time to put the fried

Prep time: 20 minutes Soaking time: minumum 4 hours Cooking time: 20-25 minutes Feeds: 4-6 people chicken together. Here is how I did it.

* Break down the chickens into eight pieces, removing the legs from the carcass, then cutting in half at the joint, then removing the breasts from the carcass, and then cutting the breast in half. I like to cut the wings and drummettes off to use for an appetizer or snack at some other point, but there is nothing wrong with leaving them on. Keep the remaining carcass to prepare a stock or soup if you wish.

* Once you have the chicken broken down place it in a deep pan or bowl and cover with the buttermilk. Work the chicken around in the buttermilk, coating all sides.

* Cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours, but overnight is preferable.

* With a little time to spare you might want to prepare something to serve with your fried chicken. Coleslaw is always nice, but I really love the southern classic of serving cornbread with it. Head to my website www.chefpaulshufelt. com and look under recipes for a delicious cornbread recipe. It’s easy to make and will taste delicious.

* Once the chicken has soaked turn on the deep fryer to about 300F. You want it hot enough to fry the chicken, but not so hot that it burns the skin before it cooks the chicken, through.

* Using a very large Ziploc bag, combine the flour and spices.

* Drain the

buttermilk from the chicken, then place some chicken in the bag and seal, three-four pieces at a time. I recommend starting with the breast pieces that are thicker and take a little longer to cook.

* Shake it like no one is looking!

* Knock off excess flour and carefully place the chicken in the fryer.

* Cook the chicken on one side until deep brown and crispy, 10-12 minutes, then flip and repeat for 6-8 minutes

* Repeat with the remaining chicken.

* Once the chicken is cooked through, remove from the fat, drain off excess and season with salt and pepper.

* If you would like to spice it up, drizzle it with honey and sriracha to take your fried chicken to a whole other level.

 

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Churning Time: 20-30 minutes

Special Tools: Ice Cream maker- you can pick up a decent home model for

anywhere from $40-300. The Kitchen Aid model is really quite good and can be found for under $100

1 lt. milk

300 ml. heavy cream

10 egg yolks

250 gr. sugar

1 vanilla bean or 1 Tbsp. vanilla paste.

*you can find vanilla bean paste at Qzina, 12547-129 St NW, I do not recommend using vanilla extract, it has nowhere near the same flavour

Place a medium pot with about two inches of water on the stove

In a another pot place milk, cream, and vanilla bean or paste, if using the vanilla bean, split open from end to end, and scrape the seeds out into the milk

Bring a slow simmer

Meanwhile, in a metal or glass bowl big enough to sit over the pot of water, place egg yolks and sugar, whisk to combine

Once your milk mixture is hot remove the bean, leaving the seeds behind, if using the paste, don’t worry, you’re all set.

Now, whisking vigorously, slowly add the hot milk to the egg yolks, this is called tempering, you want to slowly bring up the temperature of the yolks, but if you add the milk too quickly you will scramble the eggs

Once the milk and eggs are combined place the bowl on the pot of hot water, this will create a double boiler, allowing you to heat up the custard without overcooking the eggs or scrambling them. Continue to stir vigorously as the mixture thickens, this will take 3-4 minutes

You will know when it’s ready when the mixture will coat the back of a spoon without running down, it will be thick like a warm pudding

Remove from heat and continue to stir until the mixture begins to cool slightly

Once cooled slightly place in the fridge and allow to cool completely,

this step is important, trying to mix this right away from hot will create large ice crystals and very grainy ice cream

Once cool, plug in your ice cream maker and begin to churn, don’t overfill it either, as that will also slow the process and create grainy ice

cream, do it in batches if necessary.

Once you understand this basic ice cream recipe you can begin to experiment and create virtually any flavour combination. Fold in nuts, candies, chocolate chips, even cookie dough if you choose, as the ice cream is just about set. Enjoy!

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 4-5 hours
1 pc. Heritage Angus Beef boneless short ribs
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 ea. onion, peeled and chopped large dice
1 ea. carrot, peeled and chopped large dice
2 ea. celery stalks, leaves removed, chopped large dice
1.2 lt. Dad’s root beer
0.6 lt. veal or beef stock
4 cloves garlic
2 pc. bay leaves
TT S&P

• Preheat the oven to 325F
• Peel and chop the vegetables, place in a deep roasting pan large enough to submerge the short rib, but not so long to require excessive braising liquid (stock and root beer)
• Heat the stock and root beer in a medium pot
• Heat a large frying pan on high heat
• Season the boneless short rib thoroughly on both sides
• Add the canola oil to the pan followed by the short rib
• Allow to sear and brown nicely on one side, 2-3 minutes
• Flip the short ribs over and sear the other side until brown, set aside
• Place the short ribs on top of the vegetables in the pan
• Pour the hot braising liquid over the ribs
• Add the remaining ingredients to the pan
• The ribs should be all but completely submerged, if they are not you may add further root beer and stock in the same ratio to submerge them
• Cover with aluminum foil and braise until fork tender, 3-4 hours
• Remove from the oven and cool quickly, keeping the ribs in the braising liquid
• I recommend doing this a day ahead of time. It will make completing the two dishes below much easier

Root Beer BBQ Sauce

1 cup ketchup
175 ml. root beer
½ tbsp. onion powder
½ tbsp. garlic powder
½ tbsp. black pepper
¼ tbsp. cayenne pepper
3 cups brown sugar

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth
• Refrigerate at least one hour, it will continue to get better with age!

 

Root Beer Braised Spirit View Ranch Beef Short Rib & Sylvan Star Grizzly Grilled Cheese Bites

8 oz. braised short ribs, shredded
½ ea. fresh baguette
4 tbsp. root beer BBQ sauce
2 oz. Old Grizzly gouda???
2 tbsp. butter

• In a pan combine the shredded short ribs, BBQ sauce and a splash of cold water, bring to a simmer, stirring to combine and heat through
• Slice the baguette into ½ inch thick rounds, lightly butter one side of each
• In a pan on medium heat place the bread, buttered side down
• Top each slice generously with gouda and place in the oven to melt
• Top the sandwich bites generously with short ribs and close
• Serve with lots of napkins!!!

Prep time: 15 minutes
Makes: 12 oysters
Special tools: oyster shucker, martini shaker (optional)

This dish uses the, always delicious, Malpeque oyster. This little gem from PEI has long been viewed as one of the world’s best. It is flavored with perhaps the most Canadian of drinks, the Bloody Caesar, to create the perfect pairing.

1 dz. Malpeque oysters
1 oz. vodka
8 oz. clamato juice
1 tsp horseradish
1 tsp Tabasco
1 tsp Worcestershire
½ tsp celery salt
TT S&P
12 ea. lemon wedges
12 ea. celery leaves

• Place 4-5 cubes of ice in a martini shaker
• One at a time, carefully shuck the oysters, being careful not to damage the oyster and to preserve the brine
• Place the shucked oysters level onto crushed ice or coarse salt
• Spoon 2 tbsp. of the Bloody Caesar over the oyster
• Garnish with a celery leaf and serve with lemon

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 5-6 minutes
Makes: approx. spring rolls
Special tools: Deep fryer

This dish uses Brome Lake Duck, arguably Canada’s most famous duck and close to my heart, as I grow up mere minutes away from the farm. It also reminds me just how eclectic Canada is. It really uses an ingredient that is truly Canadian, but showcasing it in a classic Chinese preparation

Filling
2 ea. Brome Lake duck confit legs
1 ea. red pepper, cleaned, julienne
3 ea. baby bok choy julienne
½ ea. zucchini, julienne
1 ea. carrot, medium, julienne
½ ea. red onion, julienne
1 tbsp. garlic minced
1 tbsp. ginger minced
4 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. Chinese five spice
1 tsp. sambal oelek
1 tsp. fish sauce
1 pck. 8” TYJ spring roll wrappers
2 tbsp. corn starch
4 tbsp. hot water

• Heat a large sauté pan on high, add ginger garlic to pan
• Quickly add the onions, carrots and peppers to the pan, followed by the zucchini and then the bok choy
• Sauté for 2 – 3 minutes until vegetables soften
• Season with salt and pepper, followed by Chinese five spice, sambal oelek, and finally fish sauce
• Remove from heat, set aside to cool and drain any excess liquid
• Remove the skin from the duck legs, then pull the duck meat off, shredding it, set aside the meat, and discard the skin and bones
• Preheat the deep fryer to 350F
• In a bowl, combine the cornstarch and water and whisk together using a fork to create a slurry, this will act as the paste to seal your spring rolls
• At assembly, place one spring roll wrapper diagonally from corner to corner on your work surface
• Lightly brush the far corner with corn starch slurry
• On the center of the spring roll wrapper place 2 tbsp. of cooked vegetables, followed by 1 tbsp. shredded duck confit
• Take corner closest to you and fold over the vegetable mixture and begin to roll until half way
• Tuck in left and right corners of wrapper and continue to roll until completely encased, set aside and repeat until filling is used
• Fry until crispy and golden brown
• Remove from deep fryer and drain excess fat.
• Serve with your choice of spicy or sweet dipping sauce, I enjoy a hoisin peanut sauce, or raspberry mirin

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Feeds: 3-4 as an appetizer
12 oz. Lois Lake steelhead salmon filet, or wild salmon
**ensure that you are using very fresh fish, and that the skin and pin bones are removed, to ensure it’s fresh pick it up at Fins Seafood in Sherwood Park
1 pc. fresh tangerine
1 tbsp. fresh ginger
½ pc. fresh lime, juice and zest
1 tsp. sambal oelek
1 tbsp. cilantro
TT S&P

• Peel the tangerine, place in blender and puree into a pulp, you can use a hand blender or even a magic bullet, set aside
• Coarsely chop the cilantro, removing all stems
• Peel and mince the ginger
• Using a sharp knife, carefully slice, and then, mince the salmon, chopping into small dice, but do not over chop it
• Place the salmon in a small and combine with other ingredients
• Season well!
• Serve with some fresh tortillas or crispy toast points

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 5-6 minutes
Special Tools: wooden skewers, deep fryer (optional)

12 pc. prawns, sized 16-20, peeled and deveined
½ cup flour
2 pc. eggs
¼ cup milk
1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
TT S&P

• Soak wooden skewers in cold water to prevent burning
• Remove the remaining tail shell from the prawns, pinching carefull, not to leave any meat behind
• Curl the prawn into a round and then skewer them, leaving them towards the end of the skewer, like a lollipop
• Now we will set up a breading station
• In a shallow bowl place the flour and season with salt and pepper
• In a second bowl combine the eggs and milk, whisk to combine thoroughly, season
• In a third bowl place the shredded coconut
• Moving from left to right, lightly dredge the prawns in flour, shaking off the excess
• Then, quickly dip the prawns into the egg wash, coating it evenly, but shaking off excess
• Then, place the prawn in the coconut, coating all sides and patting it on
• When it comes time to cook them you can bake them in the oven or you can deep fry them, I prefer them deep fried as they crisp up nicely, but they are also good baked
• If choosing to fry them, I recommend a double breading, meaning that after the first round, you will return the prawn to the egg wash, and then again into the coconut, it will provide a thicker, crispy outer shell
• These can be prepared in advanced up to this point, you can even freeze them and serve them at a later date
• Preheat the oven to 375F or the deep fryer to 350F
• Place on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or fry in the deep fryer 5-6 minutes
• Serve with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Makes: 12 oysters
Special Tools: Oyster shucker

12 pc. fresh oysters
1 oz. Absolut Citron vodka
8 oz. Clamato juice
1 tbsp. horseradish
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. Tabasco
1 tsp. Lea & Perrins
12 pc. celery leaves (garnish)
coarse salt or crushed ice for bed

• In a large glass combine vodka, clamato juice, horseradish, celery salt, Tabasco, Lea & Perrins, and stir. Chill
• When ready to serve, place the crushed ice or coarse on platter to create a bed to place your oysters on
• Using your oyster shucker, carefully open the oysters, gently twisting rather than stabbing, once the shell is loosened, pop the top and carefully separate the muscle from the shell without damaging it
• Keeping the oyster level and preserving as much of the delicious brine, carefully place the oysters on the bed
• Top the oysters with a tablespoon of the Caesar mixture
• Garnish with a small celery leaf and serve