New Year's Eve Meal

Here is the final menu for New Year's Eve. Appetizer: Shrimp in Pernod Sauce Salad: Mixed Greens with Maple Balsamic Dressing, Straw Potatoes, Feta and Roasted Pecans, Main Course: Beef Croustades with Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce, and Roasted Red Potatoes with Garlic served with Pinot Noir Sauce. Dessert: Chocolate Crepes filled with Bananas and Nutella topped with Grand Marnier Chocolate Sauce and Whipped Cream.


Pictures to follow soon.

Nacho Pizza

I love nachos and I love pizza. This recipe combines the both.

Sauce


1 tbsp (15 mL) canola oil
1 lb (500 g) extra-lean ground beef
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tsp (10 mL) chili powder
1 tsp (5 mL) ground cumin
2 cups (500 mL) thick chunky-tomato salsa



Toppings

1 small green pepper
1 small red pepper
Kraft Tex Mex cheese mix
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup (250 mL) thinly sliced red onions
1 medium bag tortilla chips


Directions:

To make sauce, heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Crumble in beef and sauté, stirring often for 5 to 8 minutes or until browned. Drain off any accumulated fat. Add garlic, chili powder and cumin and sauté 1 minute. Stir in salsa then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Seed and thinly slice green pepper. Arrange oven racks with 1 on lowest level and 1 just above oven centre.

Preheat oven to 500F

Spread dough with beef sauce. Scatter top with cheese; top with tomatoes, onions and green pepper.

Place pizza on lowest rack. Bake 5 to 10 minutes. Use a spatula to turn up 1 corner of the dough to check for browning. When nicely browned, move pizza to top rack for 5 to 8 minutes or until top is golden.

Remove pizza from the oven and top with nacho chips.

Winter Cooking Season

Well with a fine dusting of snow and the temperature at -8 Celcius, the Winter cooking season is officially upon us. I have always associated cooking with the change of seasons. Spaghetti in the summer? Never!!! Pasta salads or lobster rolls in the winter? I don't think so. Winter is time for comfort food, red wine, pasta, and hearty soups. Some of my favourites are Farm House Soup, Beef Croustades, Chowders and Bisques with crusty rolls, Chilis, and of course my all time favourite The Arrogant Chef's Spaghetti. It is time to take out the slow cooker. Time to experiment with pizza and wine pairings on a Friday night after driving home from work in a snow storm. (I must say though that pizza really does transcend the seasons.)

Tonight I will be making Bistro Turkey Baguettes. I will post pictures and the recipe later this week. These baguettes are perfect for sitting in front of the TV and watching your favourite sport. Great served with frites, and homemade coleslaw with a nice Pinot Noir or premium ale.

Truffles Burger Bar

If you are ever in Cornwall ON try out this gourmet burger restaurant. This is my review.

Truffles Burger Bar

Cornwall ON

Truffles Burger Bar is a new gourmet burger bar in Cornwall, Ontario. A gourmet burger bar is somewhat of a novel idea for a city like Cornwall, but judging from my first visit, a novel idea that will no doubt catch on in the city.

Truffles is a rather small restaurant with a warm, intimate, inviting atmosphere. The service at Truffles is excellent. We were seated quickly and our drink order was taken by Melanie who made sure to let us know she was a hamburger expert should we have any questions about the menu.

The menu has a great selection of hamburgers and sides with the option of garden or Caesar salad. Since this was our first visit I chose the 800 Burger. A burger stuffed with goat cheese and red peppers. My better half had the Cajun burger. For our sides I chose the onion rings and Sue had the sweet potato fries.

The presentation of the hamburgers was excellent. And the taste was even better. I am a lover of stuffed burgers and the 800 burger (although not quite as good as my own homemade burgers stuffed with cream cheese, jalapeno peppers and mushrooms) was juicy and prepared to perfection. The Cajun burger, with a good Cajun bite, was also excellent.

The sweet potato fries were some of the best I have had. I was however disappointed with the onion rings. I was hoping for something a little more gourmet. They were similar to onion rings that I have had at many a fast food restaurant.

Also on the downside was the quality of the olives in my vodka martini. Hey guys get some really good olives!

I would rate the overall experience 4.5 out of 5.

This is a really good restaurant in the heart of downtown Cornwall. Hopefully this is a beginning of a movement to make downtown Cornwall the destination of choice.

I know this is hoping for too much but it would be great if in addition to the gourmet burgers we could someday in the future include gourmet pizza – another one of my food weaknesses. I am looking forward to my next visit to Truffles.

Rating 4.5 / 5
Cost: 2 burgers, two sides, two pints of Stella one Martini 15% gratuity around $60.00.
Steve Perry
The Arrogant Chef
info@thearrogantchef.com

Pinot Noir Sauce

This is a great sauce for any kind of steak. I will be making this sauce on New Year's Eve to be served with Beef Croustades (recipe to follow).

Pinot Noir Sauce


1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 ¼ cup Pinot Noir wine
1 can of beef broth
1 can of chicken broth
2 tablespoons of butter softened
1 tablespoon of flour
¼ teaspoon of pepper

Directions:

In a frying pan, sauté onions, carrots and celery in 1 tablespoon of butter until tender. Stir in tomato paste and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Add Pinot Noir and boil until reduced by about half. Add beef broth and chicken broth and boil until mixture is reduced to 1 ½ cups. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve. Discard solids (Actually I kept the solids and used them in a wild rice mixture) Return strained liquid to frying pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Combine softened butter with flour and whisk into simmering liquid. Cook, stirring frequently until thickened. Serve with tenderloin.

Comfort Food

It is Friday. It is cold. It is raining. Our high school football team has just won the S.D.&G championships. I have spent two hours standing in the rain watching our team fight its way to victory. Now it is time for some comfort food. Wings and pizza. Not just any wings and pizza but the Arrogant Chef's wings and pizza. The recipes for both can be found on this site.

French Onion Soup

The weather here is cool and rainy. A perfect time for a great French Onion Soup. This is a great recipe. Original recipe from the Jersey Tomato on Allrecipes.com One thing you can try is to use sherry instead of the red wine. I have tried this with very good results. This recipe makes 2 servings. Original recipe was for four. Thanks to Jersey Tomato for such a great recipe. If you have time the other thing you can do to make this outstanding is to make your own broth.



2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large red onions, thinly sliced
1 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
24 fluid ounces of chicken broth
7 ounces beef broth
1/4 cup red wine1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 sprig fresh parsley
1/2 sprig fresh thyme leaves
1/2 bay leaf
1-1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 thick slices French or Italian bread
4 slices Gruyere or Swiss cheese slices, room temperature
1/4 cup shredded Asiago or mozzarella cheese, room temperature
2 pinches paprika

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in salt, red onions and sweet onions. Cook 35 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized and almost syrupy.
2. Mix chicken broth, beef broth, red wine and Worcestershire sauce into pot. Bundle the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf with twine and place in pot. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the herbs. Reduce the heat to low, mix in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep over low heat to stay hot while you prepare the bread.

3. Preheat oven broiler. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet and broil 3 minutes, turning once, until well toasted on both sides. Remove from heat; do not turn off broiler.

4. Arrange 2 large oven safe bowls or crocks on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill each bowl 2/3 full with hot soup. Top each bowl with 1 slice toasted bread, 2 slice Gruyere cheese and 1/4 of the Asiago or mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a little bit of paprika over the top of each one.

5. Broil 5 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown.

The Arrogant Chef's Lobster Bisque

I wanted to try to make a lobster bisque. I searched the Internet and came up with 3 or 4 recipes that looked quite good. I then sat down and combined the four by adding and leaving out certain ingredients. The result...amazing. This takes awhile to make but the results are worth it.



Step 1 Ingredients

1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
The shell and bodies for 2 cooked lobsters (reserve the meat from the claws and tails)
1 stalk of celery chopped
2 large carrots diced
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic
2 ounces of brandy
½ cup of white wine
2 litres of water

Directions:

In a large pot melt the butter and add the vegetable oil

Add the vegetables, cooking until caramelized, about 8-10 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute more before adding the lobster shells and brandy.

Add the white wine, stirring until almost completely reduced.

Add water and simmer for 2-3 hours

Strain reserving only the liquid.

Step 2 Ingredients

4 cups of stock
the lobster meat from the claws and tails of the 2 cooked lobsters
1 ½ cups of heavy cream
½ teaspoon of salt
1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of cayenne
1 medium shallot finely chopped
¼ cup of white wine
2 tablespoons of flour
1 ounce of brandy

Directions:

In a medium size pot over medium heat melt the butter. Slowly whisk in flour. Whisk until a creamy mixture is created.

Gradually pour in stock, whisking constantly. Whisk in cream, salt, shallot, lobster meat, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper. Heat the soup. Serve the soup and for a little extra, drizzle some brandy and heavy cream into the soup. Serve with French bread.

The Arrogant Chef’s Watercress Salad with Maple Balsamic Dressing, Straw Potatoes, and Feta

This is a work in progress. I have tried about 4 variations on the salad dressing. This one is very close to the way I would like it to taste. If I change anything I will re-post it.

Dressing:

1/3 cup virgin olive oil plus 2 tablespoons
1 small shallot finely diced
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
¼ cup or more of Pure Maple Syrup or more to taste (I add a little more because I like a little more sweetness to the dressing.

Salad:

Straw potatoes (finely julienned potatoes deep fried for about 2-3 minutes at 375F)
Watercress
Pecans (lightly roasted)
Crumbled Feta

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the dry dressing ingredients.  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while you whisk to emulsify the dressing.  Then add the maple syrup to taste and adjust the seasonings.

Finely julienne the potato and soak in cold water for 30 minutes. Dry the julienned potato on paper towels and deep fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Lightly toast the pecans.

To assemble the salad clean the watercress, put the straw potatoes on the plate followed by the watercress, and pecans and drizzle the dressing over the salad. Finish by sprinkling crumbled feta onto the salad.

Haddock with Fennel, Red Pepper, Egg Plant and Tomato.

This is a very healthy, relatively low carb, delicious meal. I am not quite sure where I got this recipe. I came across it while looking for the health benefits of fennel.

This recipe makes more than enough for two people:

extra-virgin olive oil
2  fennel bulbs, sliced thinly
1 small red pepper, chopped
small eggplant, chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole (more if you like!)
1/3 cup white wine
1 can chopped tomatoes in juice (410g/14.5oz)
handful or two of black olives, left whole
1-2 teaspoons dried or 1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
salt and pepper
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 filets of haddock or any other mild white fish
fennel fronds (if you have them from the fennel bulbs) and fresh basil for garnish

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan oven over medium heat. Add the sliced fennel and sauté until it starts to brown and soften, about 10 minutes. Remove the fennel, then sauté the pepper until it starts to soften (again, about 10 minutes). Remove the pepper and sauté the eggplant until it starts to soften (yes, about 10 minutes), then remove the eggplant as well.

Add more olive oil to the pot in between each batch of vegetables if you need to. Cooking each vegetable separately ensures that they do not stew in their own juices and that they are nicely sauteed.
Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, then add the garlic and sauté 2-3 minutes, until fragrant. Pour in the wine and simmer until it’s slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, olives, oregano and salt and pepper to taste and simmer, covered, about 15-20 minutes, in order to soften the garlic and let the flavors meld. Then add all the vegetables and balsamic vinegar and heat through.

While the sauce is cooking on the stove, preheat the oven to 200C (390F). When the oven’s ready, season the fish filets with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and put the vegetables in a casserole dish and lay the fillets on top.Cover with tin foil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until fish is cooked through.

Remove from the oven and plate with garnish of fennel frond.

The Arrogant Chef's Chicken Stir Fry

Most of my stir fry recipes have noodles in the recipe. Now because I am low carb, noodles are out of the question. I looked at several recipes for chicken stir fries and combined about 4 of them into this recipe. This is really a first attempt and I may have lost track of all the steps as I made it. Basically this would be fairly low carb according to my calculation. I try to stay under about 75grams of carb per day. Anyhow I will take pictures next time and will adjust the recipe if needed. I thought the taste was great. My wife felt there may have been a little to much salt. Not sure about that. I loved it and had a couple of glasses of wine to go with this. Quite yummy!!!!

The Arrogant Chef’s Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp of olive oil
2 carrots thinly sliced
2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
3 green onions thinly sliced
1 onion cut into wedges
3 cups of snow peas halved
2 cups of broccoli florets
4 tablespoons of cornstarch
4 tablespoons of soy sauce
½ teaspoon of ground ginger
½ teaspoon of garlic powder
½ teaspoon of hot sauce
3 tsp of sesame oil
Bean sprouts

Preparation 1

Cut chicken across the grain into thin strips and place in a resealable plastic bag. Add the 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and toss to coat. Combine 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, ½ teaspoon of ground ginger, ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, add to bag and shake well. Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes.

Preparation 2

Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a deep skillet or wok and stir fry marinated chicken until no longer pink and set aside on a plate.

Add remaining oil to the skillet and add carrots, green onions, sliced mushrooms, broccoli, snow peas, and add ¼ water cover and steam until vegetables are tender-crisp.

Meanwhile in a bowl combine:

2 tbsp soy sauce
½ cup chicken stock
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp sesame oil
½ teaspoon hot sauce

Pour this into the middle of the wok or skillet and stir until thickened. Return chicken to the pan and stir fry until sauce is thickened. Serve by itself or on a bed of bean sprouts and sprinkle with green onions.

The Arrogant Chef's Super Marinade

This is so simple but gives steak a great flavour and certainly makes cheaper cuts quite tender.

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Mix ingredients. Poke steaks with fork, pour in marinade, cover and refrigerate for 8 hours.

Kabobs and Endive Lobster Salad

Well as summer quickly comes to an end, we need to take advantage of perfect BBQ days. Today was such a day. Sunny and about 21 celsius, I just had to BBQ. Decided to make kabobs. Thick sirloin steak marinated in The Arrogant Chef's Super Marinade. (recipe to follow). Also served with endive and lobster salad. The meal was great.

The Arrogant Chef's Super Marinade


This is so simple but gives steak a great flavour and certainly makes cheaper cuts quite tender.

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Mix ingredients. Poke steaks with fork, pour in marinade, cover and refrigerate for 8 hours.

End of Summer

Well today marked the end of my summer holidays. Back to work and back to my primal diet. But Fridays are cheat days. During the week I try to maintain my carb intake to under 100 grams a day. Not too hard to do and I have vegetables and fruits and protein: steak, chicken, pork, fish. On Friday however I eat what I want. This is my chance for pasta, sandwiches, pizza, wraps, and my favourite toast with my sunny side up eggs. Fridays are kind of a glimpse of what I expect heaven to be. Basically I usually go off my diet for the month of August, Christmas Holidays, my birthday of course and also my anniversary. Since I have been on my diet I have lost 30 pounds bringing me down to a respectable 170. I did gain 4 pounds in August but that should be gone in no time now that I am back to  work. For those of you on a restricted carb diet, I will try to post some of my daily menus. They are far from perfect yet, but I am working on it.

The Arrogant Chef's Amazing Ribs

I know that everyone has their favourite rib recipe. This is mine. It consists of a two step process, a special rub, and a special BBQ sauce. The ribs are fall off the bone tender and the rub and sauce give the ribs a very distinctive flavour. You can experiment using different types of beer. I have tried larger, light beer, Guiness, and other dark beers. They all give a somewhat different taste to the ribs. If you try these out give me a shout and let me know what you think. And just a note, be sure to remove the silverskin from the underside of the ribs. This really allows the beer and spices to permeate the meat and makes the ribs much more tender.

THE ARROGANT CHEF’S AMAZING RIBS

4 pounds pork back ribs
2 bottles of STEAM WHISTLE beer or the beer of your choice. (Try a dark beer for a different taste.)

Sauce

2 cups barbecue sauce (Diane’s Regular Sauce)
½ cup of water
2 tablespoons packed golden brown sugar
4 teaspoons of instant coffee granules

Rub

2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon of pepper

Directions:

Rub: Combine chilli powder, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Spread rub over both sides of ribs. Place ribs in roasting pan. Let stand for 15 minutes. Pour beer around ribs. Pre-heat oven to 250F. Cover pan and cook ribs in the oven for about 3 hours. Check the ribs for tenderness. It should be almost falling off the bone.

Sauce: Combine barbecue sauce, water, brown sugar and coffee in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Reserve half of sauce to serve with ribs; use remainder to baste ribs

Remove ribs from pan; discard beer. Place ribs directly on grill. Grill ribs over low heat turning occasionally and basting with sauce for about 20 minutes or until ribs are richly glazed. Serve with dipping sauce left over.

From Perch Rolls to Lobster Rolls

You have to give these a try. A perfect meal for a warm summer night. Do not heat lobster. It should be cold. For best results only use the meat from claws and tails. Really good with a very cold white sparkling wine or if you are feeling rich a decent champagne. The fennel is a very interesting ingredient. Gives the rolls a nice crunch. Next time I make them I will post some pictures.

Lobster Rolls


1 tablespoon butter, softened

4 sub buns

4 lettuce leaves

1 1/2 pounds cooked and cubed lobster meat

½ cup mayonnaise

2 tbsp olive oil

*1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1 dash hot pepper sauce

2 green onions, chopped

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pinch dried chives, parsley or tarragon ,chervil

½ cup chopped fennel

Instructions:

Remove lobster meat

Combine mayonnaise, mustard, green onions, celery, lime juice, hot sauce, parsley, chervil and chives. Stir in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Combine lobster meat and fennel and toss with enough mayonnaise to moisten.

Place lettuce leaves in the rolls and heap with lobster mixture.

How to make the perfect Perch Roll sauce

Perch rolls are famous in these parts. The best perch is from the St. Lawrence River. You can get St. Lawrence River Perch for The Yellow Perch Company in Cornwall, ON. Just watch the video for complete instructions.

The Arrogant Chef's Tomato Sauce

Well the sauce is made and it is wonderful. You will find the recipe below. It is quite a bit of work for about 2 large cans of tomato sauce. When I make this again I am going to at least triple the recipe and make a really large batch that I will freeze in smaller portions. I am looking forward to trying this for my pizza sauce on my homemade pizzas.

The Arrogant Chef’s Tomato Sauce


10 large ripe tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 carrots, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp of thyme

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 cup red wine

2 stalks celery chopped

5 tablespoons tomato paste



Directions:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have a large bowl of ice water ready. Plunge the tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel. Remove and place in an ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, and then remove the peel. Puree in a food processor and set aside.

2. In the food processor (or by hand if you wish) chop the onion, green pepper, cloves of garlic, celery, and carrot. In a large pot add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and two tablespoons of butter. Sauté the vegetables until the onions start to soften. Pour in pureed tomatoes and add basil, salt, oregano, thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 2 hours.

3. After 2 hours stir in tomato paste and adjust seasonings to taste.



This sauce is a great as a gourmet pizza sauce, a sauce for ziti, or seafood fettuccini. It is also great included in our spaghetti meat sauce recipe.

Tomato Sauce

Well picked about 25 tomatoes from the garden this morning. They are huge. I will be making some tomato sauce later today. If it turns out I will post the recipe later.

The Arrogant Chef's Ultimate Spaghetti Sauce

This is one of the best spaghetti sauces you will ever make. Always better the day after.
Spaghetti Meat Sauce


Spaghetti Meat Sauce


4 tablespoons of salad oil

2 lbs of beef

2 large onions chopped

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 cup of celery chopped

1 large green pepper diced
1 tablespoon of salt

2  6oz. Cans of tomato paste

 ½ can of V8 juice (need to adjust to get the right sauce consistency just make sure the sauce is not to runny)

3 tsp chilli powder (or more to taste)

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

1/2tsp curry powder (or more to taste)

Brown beef in large pan; add onions garlic, celery, pepper and salt. Simmer 3-5 minutes. Combine tomato paste and juice chilli powder, cayenne, curry. Add to meat and vegetables. Simmer gently for 1-2 hours.

A Great Side Dish

This is truly an outstanding side dish. It is a little labour intensive but trust me the time is worth it. Not sure where I got this recipe but it is wonderful especially at this time of the year when we have fresh local corn.

Corn Saute with Canadian Bacon Potatoes and Peppers


2 Tbs. Unsalted butter

2 tbs. Extra virgin olive oil

½ cup small diced bacon

1 cup small diced red onion

1 cup small-diced red potato (from about a 5-oz. potato)

½ cup small diced green pepper

1 tsp of kosher salt

2 slightly heaping cups fresh corn kernels from about 4 medium ears

2 tsp. Minced garlic

2 Tbs chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

2 Tbs sliced fresh chives

½ tsp green Tabasco

Fresh ground black pepper

One-half lemon

Melt 1 TBS of the butter and TBS of the olive oil in a 10 inch straight sided sauté pan, add the bacon and cook until the bacon is brown around the edges, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Add the remaining Tbs butter and 1 Tbs olive oil to the pan. Add the onion, potato, bell pepper and ½ tsp of the salt. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook stirring frequently, until the onions and peppers are well softened and the potatoes are barely tender 5-7 minutes.

Uncover, increase the heat to medium, add the corn, garlic, and the remaining 1 tsp of salt. Saute stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, until the corn is tender but still toothy to bite.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the parsley, chives, Tabasco, a few generous grinds of pepper and a small squeeze of lemon. Stir, let sit 2 minutes and stir again scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Fold the bacon into the dish season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

Poutine Pizza

Well, I gave the poutine pizza a try. I love poutine. I love pizza. But the two just do not go good together. I think it may be the combination of fries with pizza crust that just do not blend well together. The sauce is wonderful and the curds well what can I say. But the flavour combination just does not mix well together. Oh well back to the drawing board.

More Pizza Fun

I have been reading a lot about pizzas with different sauce toppings. So tonight I am trying a couple of quite different pizza recipes. These will be made on the BBQ. The first is the Chicken and Bacon BBQ pizza. I guess you could say it is the pizza version of the ever famous club sandwhich. I will let you know how it turns out. Here is the recipe for now.

Chicken and Bacon BBQ Pizza


6 to 8 slices  bacon, fried

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or chicken tenders fried

1 cup (250 mL) thick ranch salad dressing

3 cheese blend (mozzarella, provolone, cheddar) shredded cheese

Grape tomatoes or whole tomato sliced

¼ cup (50 mL) coarsely chopped fresh parsley

A sprinkle of Italian seasoning.

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Make the dough. I use Peter Reinhart’s recipe for BBQ dough which can be found here on the site. Follow the BBQ instructions.

Cook the bacon, remove from pan and then cook the chicken in the bacon grease.

Put the dough on direct heat as per instructions. Once it is nicely grilled you flip the dough on the BBQ and put the dough on indirect heat, and top with ranch dressing, the cooked bacon, the cheese and then the chicken and tomatoes. Close the lid until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.

The second pizza I will be making is my Montreal Poutine Pizza. Stay tuned for the recipe and the results.

Summer Pasta Revisited

Here are a few changes to a recipe I posted in 2008.  Changes are in bold. Here is my supper pasta supper revisited. I used four zucchini, three tomatoes, (I had to cheat a little here and added just a little clamato juice to add a little more liquid probably about 1/2 cup, about 12 fresh basil leaves chopped, I guess about 2 tablespoons, about a tablespoon and a half of fresh thyme, one onion finely chopped and 3 cloves of garlic minced and one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. About 7 large mushrooms sliced. I started by sautéing the onions and garlic and zucchini and sliced mushrooms and then added the tomatoes and spices. While I was doing this I boiled the linguini.  I then added the sauce to the linguini and served. Overall I would rate the meal a 9/10. The best part was taking this outside to the backyard and enjoying the meal with a well chilled bottle of white wine!

Summer Dinner

Dinner Party Time: Grilled Clams With Garlic Butter Sauce, Marinated Pepper and Tomato Salad, Marinated Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Grilled Tenderloin. This was my first time grilling clams. I think they turned out quite good. The garlic butter sauce was very strong. You have to like garlic to enjoy the sauce. I might cut down a bit from the 12 cloves of garlic next time. The marinated shrimp was really good and the tenderloin was fantastic. My cranberry Margaritas were a hit with some. Some thought they were a little too sweet, some thought they were great. Personally I think it is a good summer drink. The food was great but the company was better. Ricardo, Gail, Lianne, Sylvain always fun having you guys over for some good food and drink!

The Ultimate Burger Recipe

The Arrogant Chef’s Ultimate Burger Recipe

2 lbs of medium ground
½ package of dry onion soup mix
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cloves fresh garlic minced
Worcestershire sauce
one egg beaten
Montreal Chicken Spice
Diane’s Regular BBQ Sauce
3 jalapeno peppers finely chopped
Cream cheese
Mushrooms
Red pepper
Red Onion
Lettuce

Method:

1. Mix the 2 lbs of hamburger with onion soup mix, egg, onion powder, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce (enough to moisten the hamburger)

2. Finely chop mushrooms, chopped red pepper, and fresh garlic minced and sauté until soft.

3. Make one patty, top with about 1 tablespoon cream cheese, and 1 to two tablespoons of sauté mixture and finely chopped jalapeno peppers cover and seal with another patty. These make quite large burgers.

4. BBQ the burgers. You can’t flip these so BBQ for about 7 minutes on one side and then flip another 7 minutes or so depending on doneness. Once flipped pour on BBQ sauce and sprinkle with Montreal chicken spice.

5. Lightly toast buns, and top with lettuce, thinly sliced red onion, mustard, thinly sliced tomato. (avoid using ketchup)

6. Dig in and enjoy.

The Ultimate Burger

Continued tonight experimenting with burgers. Used the same basic recipe on this site but this time sauteed chopped mushrooms, garlic, and chopped red peppers and stuffed the burgers with that. Like I said this makes one huge burger but this was truly a taste experience. Topped the burger with BBQ sauce, red onion, and mustard. OUTSTANDING.

Great Meal for Warm Weather

The weather here has been extremely hot. We were treated to a great summer meal by our good friends Sylvain and Lianne. They served lobster rolls with potato salad and of course a variety of tasty drinks. The rolls were huge served in small sub like buns. The basic recipe is as follows:
Ingredients


1 tablespoon butter, softened

4  kaiser rolls, split

leaf lettuce
1 1/2 pounds cooked and cubed lobster meat

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1 dash hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)

2 green onions, chopped

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

fresh basil, parsley or tarragon or any other favourite seasoning
 
1.Lightly butter the insides of the buns or rolls and line with lettuce leaves. Set aside.


2.In a medium bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, lime juice, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper until well blended. Mix in the green onion and celery, then lightly mix in the lobster so it just gets coated without falling apart.

3.Stuff the lobster filling into the buns and sprinkle parsley, basil or tarragon lightly over the filling.
 
These were outstanding rolls and a great treat on a hot summer night. The potato salad was Lianne's and I will have to get the recipe. It was one of the best I have ever had.
 
On the negative side this supper blew my carb count sky high but was well worth it.

The Burger Quest

Started my holidays today and thought I would celebrate with some really good burgers and a few assorted drinks. I used two pounds of hamburger mixed with half a package of onion soup mix, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of onion powder and enough worcestershire sauce to moisten the hamburger. I then mixed the spices into the hamburger. Then I made one patty, spread about two tablespoons of cream cheese on the patty and covered with finely chopped jalapeno pepper. I then made another patty and covered the first patty making sure to seal in the cheese. This makes one very big hamburger. I then grilled the burgers and finished off by topping them with Dianes Regular BBQ sauce and Club House Chicken Spice. Put them on a bun with lettuce, tomatoes. Quite good. I will keep experimenting over the summer. Stay tuned.

Korean Steak Marinade

Got this new marinade recipe from a friend out in California. I will be giving it a try this weekend. Watch for a review sometime this weekend or early next week.

Jalapeno Burgers

Well tried to make Jalapeno burgers last night. They were ok but not outstanding. I think I know what was missing so I will try again sometime next week and if they turn out really well I will post the recipe.

BBQ Pizza Season About to Begin

Well now that the nice weather has arrived, it is time to start making pizzas on the BBQ. I have been doing some research on various sites and look forward to the best pizza quest of 2010. Came across a great pizza website (http://pizzatherapy.com) Be sure to check it out.

Caesar Salad Recipe

Here is the salad recipe
1. 2 cloves of garlic or one teaspoon of garlic powder
2. 1/2 cup of salad oil
3. 3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a container and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Pour dressing over salad, add croutons and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. I realize some people do not like to put raw egg into the recipe but I have been doing this for 25 years with no problem.

Sunday Supper

Just going to make a Caesar Salad and BBQ some rib steaks. Simple but very tasty. I will post my salad recipe later.

New Page Added

Just added a new page to my blog called Step by Step. I will be posting instructions and pictures for various recipes. The first is my gourmet pizza recipes. Just click on Step by Step to view.

Mother's Day Meal

Well it is May 9th and it is snowing. Rather than firing up the BBQ I think I will make a great seafood fettucini. The recipe is posted here and also on http://www.thearrogantchef.com/. I will also make a Caesar Salad and my famous stuffed mushroom caps. I will be posting pictures and letting you know how everything turned out. Happy Mother's Day.

Stuffed Mushroom Caps

Here is a great recipe for an appetizer. These can be made ahead and kept in the fridge.
Stuffed Mushroom Caps

16 large mushroom caps

Filling

½ cup of fresh white breadcrumbs
½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
250g of ham chopped
½ cup of grated Swiss cheese
1 clove of garlic crushed
salt and pepper
lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil

Carefully remove stalks of mushrooms. Chop stalks and mix them with filling ingredients except for seasoning, lemon juice and oil.

Arrange mushroom caps in a buttered ovenproof dish. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Spoon filling evenly into caps, shaping a little. Sprinkle with olive oil and bake for about 10 minutes at 400F.

More pizza and wings to celebrate the kids coming home from first year university at Queen's. Recipes for the pizza and wings can be found in this blog. The wings are absolutely fantastic.

Well it was pizza night last night. Had a great veggie pizza with a good red wine. Looking forward to making some BBQ pizzas in the near future. Just has to warm up a little.

Amazing Wings

Finally here is the recipe for my amazing wings.

The Arrogant Chef’s Amazing Wings
(Recipe for 30 wings)

As promised here is the recipe for my amazing wings. Wings are not usually considered high end food but these wings are truly gourmet. Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Coating:
1 cup of flour
2 tbsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp paprika
Mix well together and coat wings.

Sauce:
6 tablespoons of Frank’s Hot Sauce
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 tbsp of vinegar
5 tbsp light brown sugar
¼ to ½ teaspoon of Tabasco
Generous pinch of onion powder

Instructions:

Coat the wings in the coating and let sit for 15 minutes. Mix sauce ingredients in sauce pan and heat on low. Deep fry wings at 190C or 374F for approximately 13 minutes or until crispy brown. Remove wings from fryer and serve with sauce on or on the side.



mailto:info@thearrogantchef.com

Great Salad

As promised here is a great salad recipe. I believe it is from one of the issues of Fine Cooking magazine.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Pear Salad with Spiced Pecan Vinaigrette

½ cup pecans coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
½ teaspoon of chilli powder
3 cups peeled and diced butternut squash
1/3 cup virgin olive oil plus 2 tablespoons
salt
¼ cup thinly sliced shallots
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
6 cups mixed salad greens
1 small ripe pear halved, cored, and thinly sliced

Pre-heat oven to 450F
Put the pecans and butter in a square Pyrex dish and toss to coat. Sprinkle with the chilli powder and toss. Bake the nuts until toasted, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Put the squash on a heavy duty rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the oil over the squash and sprinkle with salt. Toss to coat. Roast the squash until browned on the bottom, about 20 minutes. Flip with a metal spatula and continue to roast until the squash is tender and nicely browned about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Put the shallots in a small bowl, cover with hot water and let soak for 15 minutes the drain.

Combine the vinegar, mustard, brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon of salt in a small bowl. While whisking vigorously, slowly pour in the remaining 1/3 cup of olive oil.

Combine the salad greens and shallots in a large bowl; sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt. Drizzle just enough of the dressing over the salad to coat lightly and toss. Divide the greens among plates and scatter the pecans, squash, and pears over the greens. Drizzle a little more dressing if desired and serve.

New Quests and Quests Revisited

As we enjoyed our New Year's Eve supper, our discussion revolved around how many new recipes we had tried in 2009. Probably the most fun we had was experimenting with the various pizza recipes we gleaned from Peter Reinhart's book. We now usually make pizza once a week. It is fun and it is delicious. And then of course was the challenge to find the perfect chili recipe. With a few modifications I think the one posted on this site is one of the best. I have had quite a few friends try it and they loved it. What quest will be pursued in 2010? Well, definitely we will continue on our quest for the perfect pizza. The possibilities are endless. Also as an amateur chef I have never really been into desserts. So I may try my hand at a few sweet treats. I will certainly post my failures and triumphs. Also now that I have this whole blogging thing down pat I also hope to include many more photos and videos of my adventures. The best to everyone in 2010.

New Year's Eve

Well the meal was an unqualified success. The salad was outstanding. Maybe one of the best recipes out there. I will post it soon. And of course how can you go wrong with tenderloin and lobster tails. Absolutely delicious. This was my first attempt at making peach crepes. I was very happy with the outcome. Unfortunately I could not take any pictures since my daughter made off with my camera for her New Year's Eve in Montreal.