Cliff's Antigonish Pie Crust Recipe

This is my father's pie crust recipe. It takes a little practice to get it right but it is really tasty.

Pie Crust

First you sift 5 cups of flour into the bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of baking powder,  ½  a teaspoon of salt, ½ a teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1 pound of Crisco. Then you mix one egg, 1/3 cup of vinegar and one cup of water in a bowl and add it to the other ingredients. Do not overwork the dough. This makes enough dough for four pies. Enjoy.

 

Summer Pasta Revisted

My wife asked me to make my summer pasta recipe. This time I made it a little differently. I decide to use a few more ingredients. This was very tasty. The truffle oil and salt give the pasta a wonderful earthy taste.

Ingredients:

4 zucchini sliced
3 cloves of garlic minced
7 good sized mushrooms sliced
2 large tomatoes chopped
3 tablespoons of fresh chives chopped
7 basil leaves
1 onion chopped
1 teaspoon of thyme
black pepper to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons of truffle salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of truffle oil
1/2 package of linguine ***(bring the water to a boil in a large pot before proceeding to step one)

1. First sautee the zucchini, garlic, onions and mushrooms for about 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, half of the chives, the basil leaves, thyme, black pepper and the truffle salt. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook to al dente about 7 minutes.

2. Once the pasta is ready drain and return to the pot. Mix in the truffle oil. You can taste it to see if you have added enough. Truffle oil is quite pungent so you may want to add just a little at a time. Then mix in the vegetable. Serve and garnish with remaining chives.

This goes quite nicely with a nice cold glass of white wine.

The Arrogant Chef's Spicy Chicken Wraps

Here is the recipe for my spicy chicken wraps. These were good and spicy. This is an easy to make week night meal. Next time I am going to use large tortillas and I will try adding a cheese blend.

The Arrogant Chef’s Spicy Chicken Wraps

 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning or to taste (I use Club House Canjun)

1 tablespoon Slap Ya Mama Canjun seasoning or to taste. (This is really good seasoning.)
2 red peppers sliced
1 green pepper sliced
One red onion chopped
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into long thin strips (Tip: Cut into strips while still slightly frozen.)
Flour tortillas
Sour cream
Tomato salsa
2 tablespoons of olive oil

 Panfry chicken strips in olive oil for 2 minutes, the add the peppers and the spices and stir fry until chicken until it is cooked through.

 Warm the flour tortillas stacked on top of each other in the microwave. This keeps them nice and soft and warm and moist. The time will depend on how many tortillas you have. For four tortillas I usually go about 15 seconds. Just feel them when they come out of the microwave.

 Spread sour cream and salsa and red onion and add chicken and peppers.

Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

Tried roasting red peppers for the first time. They came out really well and added a great taste to the pizzas. Used my latest dough recipe. I start these on the stove top in a cast iron pan and just lightly brown the crust. I then put it into a 500F oven in the cast iron pan until the cheese is nicely melted and a little brown. You get a nice crispy crust. Give it a try.

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/2  cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1.In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar or you can try using honey (1 tablespoon) in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.

2.Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

3.Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Roll out the dough. I use a knuckle technique.

4.Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.  If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it. I start mine out on the stove top in a cast iron pan. So far this has been the most successful. I then finish it off in the oven.

5.Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes

Spaghetti Season

I recently posted a photo of one of my spaghetti meals and mentioned that it was still spaghetti season. Yes there is a season for spaghetti. Spaghetti season ends on the first day of summer and begins on the first day of fall. To me it is a cool weather comfort meal. In the summer for the most part I BBQ. I know that some of you eat spaghetti out of season but you really shouldn't. You wait all summer and then on that first day of fall....it's spaghetti time. Trust me it will make you love spaghetti even more. Here is one last photo of last night's meal and the recipe I use. I know it is not conventional but it is terrific and I am The Arrogant Chef.

 

 

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.

Fish and Chips

Made some fish and chips last night. Instead of using pastry flour (I ran out) I used regular flour. It came out quite good. I also thinned the batter with a little more beer. Of course the fries were made with duck fat.

Love Love Food.com

Checked out this small local business today. Really interesting. Best of all I could not believe they had Slap Ya Mama seasoning. I have been ordering that on line. Now it is just a 5 minute drive away.  Very nice array of specialty items. If you live in the area be sure to check them out. You can check out their Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/#!/lovelovefood?hc_location=stream or their website here http://lovelovefood.com/
Support local business!

The Arrogant Chef Spicy Burger

Such a beautiful day yesterday that I thought I would try to come up with a new burger recipe to make on my charcoal grill. Here is what I came up with. The Arrogant Chef Spicy Burger. Basically 2 pounds of ground beef, a few healthy shakes of Club House La Grille Montreal Chicken Spice, 5 or 6 good squirts of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, and a few healthy squirts of Worcestershire Sauce. Condiments were duck fat fried mushrooms, tomato, and the usual stuff. Of course no need to ask yes those are duck fat fries. And for you photography types taken with an 85mm f/1.8 Nikon lens. To spruce up the image a friend of mine made me a small barn wood table top. It is about 3 X 3 feet. Now I just need to get more props. This was a great tasting burger.

Spicy Cajun Oriental Shrimp Olive Salad with Wonton Crackers

Have you heard of "37 Cooks"? It is a great blog about cooking with wonderful recipes. I got this recipe from the site. It is from Linda Mire one of the 37 cooks. Just a great little salad. If you can't find Slap Ya Mama seasoning I think any good canjun seasoning would do just fine.

 

Here is the recipe from Linda

 



Spicy Cajun Oriental Shrimp Olive Salad with Wonton Crackers

 Salad:

2 cups shrimp (peeled, boiled and chopped) *

1/2 cup water chestnuts (diced)
1/2 cup bean sprouts (ends removed and diced)
1/2 cup celery (diced)
1/2 cup red bell pepper (diced)
1/2 cup green onions (diced)
1 cup green olives with pimentos (diced)
1 cup black olives (diced)
Handful of bean sprouts (end removed) for garnish
Whole green olives for garnish
Black pepper for garnish

 

Place all ingredients in a large salad bowl (except the garnish items). Cover with plastic wrap and chill for an hour.

 Dressing for Salad:

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoon Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Cajun Seasoning
dash of sea salt and white pepper

 

Combine all ingredients and whisk well. Set aside.

 Wontons:

12 wonton wrappers (cut in half for triangles shape)

Olive oil

Baked Chicken Wings

Normally I like my wings deep fried in duck fat. Tonight I thought I would try a little healthier version of wings so I baked them. Ok the verdict is in. These baked wings are not bad at all. I think I still like the deep fried version better but these were pretty good and with a little tweaking they could be even better. Ingredients corn starch, chili powder, garlic powder, Slap Ya Mama seasoning, salt and brown sugar. Think next time I will cut back on the salt and chili somewhat. I just need to get them a little crispier.

Feiny's Rubs

I am soon going to get a chance to try out some of Chef Feiny's Rubs. The food on his site looks absolutely delicious. I will be posting pics with comments on all of the foods I cook with Chef Feiny's Rubs. Can't wait. Until then visit his website at http://www.feintastingfoods.com/#

Saturday Night Dinner

Sometimes you just want to play around with different ingredients you have in the house. Tonight I felt like having some wings. I had a tub of duck fat in the fridge so I thought I would fry them up in duck fat and then season them with Frank's Hot Sauce and a generous sprinkle of Slap Ya Mama seasoning. My wife bought a loaf of very fresh Italian bread. So I thought I would mix up a dipping oil using Tuyya olive oil. Tuyya is a very smooth, cold filtered olive oil from Morocco. Really nice taste. This was the result. Had this with a nice cold chardonnay. Not a bad way to start off Saturday night.

Tuyya Olive Oil: You Have to Try It.

Experimenting With Pizza and Tuyya Olive Oil

I am by no means an olive oil expert. I use it all the time for cooking but up until now I have just bought the cheaper grocery store versions. Recently I was given a bottle of Tuyya Olive Oil. The specs on the oil are as follows:

 

2011 Vintage - Organic Single Estate Moroccan Extra Virgin Picholine Ollve Oil.

- From olive trees over 100 years old in Fkih Ben Saleh, Morocco.

- It is unfiltered, first cold pressed on a granite mill and bottled within 7 hours after manual picking and sorting.
-Available in Natural and Thyme and Bay Leaf
-Thyme and Bay Leaf - 80 kg of each per 10000 kg of olives.
-The picholine olive is very high in polyphenols which means a longer shelf life and has a proven antioxidant effect.  (US National Library of Medicine - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20209466)

In addition to the effects of the mono-unsaturated fatty acid oleic acid, olive oil and olive extracts contain polyphenols with remarkable health benefits. Of these, extracts concentrated for oleuropein have been shown to lower blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol levels. Michael T. Murray MD 2013-03-18 http://www.naturalfactors.com/caen/blog/2013/03/18/Olive-Polyphenols-Promote-Heart-Health-by-Affecting-Gene-Expression

So I thought I would try out a new recipe for pizza dough that called for olive oil to see if it would improve the taste of the dough.  An online friend of mine and pizza maker extraordinaire David Cavanagh said that this was kind of a waste of good olive oil. I have not really used olive oil much for pizza dough but this is what I found online about the use of olive oil in pizza dough.

 

Reasons to Use Olive Oil (from http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=864.0

1) it makes the dough easier to stretch (improved extensibility) by lubricating the gluten and starch molecules; 2) it captures and holds the nice flavors released during baking, and also contributes its own flavor components; 4) it helps to provide a better rise to the dough during baking, as it traps gasses; 5) it produces a good mouth feel when the crust is eaten; 6) it contributes to the browning of the crust, through heat transfer (and oxidation) at high temperatures; and 7) when used on top of the dough, it provides a barrier to migration of liquids from the sauce into the dough, thereby preventing or minimizing a gum line (which is a no-no for professional pizza operators).

Here are my observations:

I really don’t think it would have made much of a difference which olive oil I used in the dough making process. The dough did have a nice flavour, and very nice texture and the crust was a beautiful brown. But I probably would have achieved this with a much cheaper olive oil. So why use Tuyya? Well let me tell you. I made up a small dipping sauce using Tuyya,  added some oregano, a little balsamic, a little garlic and salt. I used it to dip the pizza crust. PURE HEAVEN. Maybe the best part of the pizza tonight.

 

I compared it to the grocery store version. First the smell is fantastic. Wonderful smell of fruit. Smooth velvety taste in the mouth. Definitely worth the extra dollars. I do agree with David though that these olive oils should be used in such a way that you can get the full taste. Save the cheaper stuff for the dough and use Tuyya straight up. I guarantee you will love the taste!

 The Arrogant Chef

 

Fettuccini With Ham and Mushrooms

This is a delicious, easy to make recipe that can be made any night of the week.

1lb of fettuccini (homemade is the best if you can make it)

10 ounces of mushrooms (you can try a mix to make things more interesting.)
3 spring onions chopped
4-6 sliced of cooked ham. (great to use ham leftovers) You can also use pancetta.
2 ounces of butter
1 ¼ cups of heavy cream
Chopped fresh parsley to taste

 Instructions:

 Cook the fettuccini in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and return to pan.

 While the fettuccini is cooking slice the mushroom, spring onions, and the ham. Heat the butter and cook the ham, spring onions for about 3 minutes then add the mushrooms and cook for about another five minutes stirring occasionally. Add the cream, half the parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until sauce thickens. Add the sauce to the fettuccini and toss well. Serve immediately and sprinkle with remaining parsley.

Olive Oil

I will be trying out a new olive oil over the weekend. Not sure what I am going to cook with it. I might just use it in a salad dressing or maybe just simply make a great dipping oil with herbs and balsamic. The website for this olive oil is mostly in French so here are the basics. I will post with comments and hopefully some photos.

To visit their website go here: http://www.tuyya.com/epicerie-fine-2/huile-olive-extra-vierge/

 

 

2011 Vintage - Organic Single Estate Moroccan Extra Virgin Picholine Ollve Oil.

- From olive trees over 100 years old in Fkih Ben Saleh, Morocco.
- It is unfiltered, first cold pressed on a granite mill and bottled within 7 hours after manual picking and sorting.
-Available in Natural and Thyme and Bay Leaf
-Thyme and Bay Leaf - 80 kg of each per 10000 kg of olives.

-The picholine olive is very high in polyphenols which means a longer shelf life and has a proven antioxidant effect.  (US National Library of Medicine - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20209466)

In addition to the effects of the mono-unsaturated fatty acid oleic acid, olive oil and olive extracts contain polyphenols with remarkable health benefits. Of these, extracts concentrated for oleuropein have been shown to lower blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol levels. Michael T. Murray MD 2013-03-18 http://www.naturalfactors.com/caen/blog/2013/03/18/Olive-Polyphenols-Promote-Heart-Health-by-Affecting-Gene-Expression

Pork Chops with Balsamic Sauce

Tried out this new recipe Pork Chops with Balsamic Sauce. It was very good. Oh and just thought I would throw in a photo of my duck fat fries. This batch was particularly good. Recipe  from cbc.ca Best Recipes Ever.

2 tbsp (25 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp (10 mL) dried italian herb seasoning
Pinch salt
4 pork loin centre chops
2 tbsp (25 mL) balsamic vinegar
1 tsp (5 mL) cornstarch
3/4 cup (175 mL) sodium-reduced chicken stock

In small bowl, mix together oil, Italian seasoning and salt ; brush over chops. In a cast iron skillet, fry chops over medium-high heat until browned and just a hint of pink remains inside, about 4 minutes per side.

Transfer to plate; keep warm. Drain off any fat in pan.

Add balsamic vinegar to pan; simmer over medium heat for 30 seconds. Whisk cornstarch into stock; add to pan and bring to boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Return chops and any juices to pan; heat through, turning to coat.

 

 

 

Cast Iron Pan Pizza

 

This was my first attempt at pizza in a cast iron pan. Looks pretty good but the bottom was burned. Started it on the stove top and then transferred to the oven. The crust that was not burned was great. I am going to work on this in the future. The toppings: Prosciutto, hot Genoa salami, onions, green pepper, mushrooms and mozzarella. Once I get it right I will post the process and dough recipe that I use.

Slow Cooker Ribs

 

Had a friend send me this recipe for slow cooker ribs. They turned out super tender and quite tasty. I know it may not appeal to rib purists, but this was easy to make and had great taste. Served duck fat fries on the side. Great game day meal. Oh and of course goes great with your favourite beverage.

Game Day Ribs

Ingredients for the BBQ sauce

 1 cup ketchup or less, add more water for a thinner sauce, (could also try Diane’s Original BBQ sauce instead of the ketchup

5 tablespoons of water
1/4 stick of butter
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed.
1-2 or more tablespoons of Frank’s hot sauce
1/4 cup honey or less
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
 1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon of crushed ginger
1 teaspoon of molasses
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 pinch ground white pepper
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch of onion power

In a large saucepan over medium low heat, mix together all the ingredients and get them well incorporated, and bring to a slight boil and simmer. You could make this ahead of time

 

In the Slow Cooker

1 onion sliced to lay on the bed of the cooker

Put that right in the cooker

It's Chili Time

Well it is just a coincidence that I was making Chili when Tupper decided to make Chili this weeks challenge on the Cooler Page. This one was hot. Very hot. Probably not a Texas original recipe, so I am gonna call it the Cornwall Hot Chili recipe. A Cornwall Original. (Adapted from Boilermaker Tailgate Chili by MIGHTYPURDUE22 ) This goes great with some Italian bread and a cold beer.

2 pounds ground beef chuck

1 pound bulk hot Italian sausage

1 (15 ounce) kidney beans

2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped

4 cubes beef bouillon

1/2 chicken broth

1/4 cup chili powder or more to taste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoons ground cumin

4 tablespoons Frank’s hot pepper sauce or more to taste

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®

1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese



Directions

1.. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into a hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease and transfer to large slow cooker.

2.Into a large slow cooker pour in the kidney beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, bouillon cubes, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and cook on low heat for at least 5 hours, stirring occasionally.

3.After 3 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.

4.To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese