My Food Pictures

Qualicum Scallops stuffed with Wild Boar Prossuito, with a corn & sundried tomato pesto



Chocolate Porter Battered Prawns with a Mint Tartar



Blackberry & Merlot Poached Halibut with Pattypan Squash and Gnoochi



Coffee Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Baby Nugget Potatoes & Organic Glazed Baby Beets, with a Red-Eye Gravy



Braised Pork Belly with a White Bean Cassoulette & Organic Tri-Color Beans, with a Coffee, Maple, & Rum Infused Jus.



Oyster Shooters with a White Wine Chili & Lime Reduction



Coq Au Vin with Organic Bacon, Cornish Game Hens, & Lobster Mushrooms



Maple Infused White Cheddar Cheese & Strawberry Strudel with an Orange Marscapone Whip Cream

Peppered Bison Tenderloin - With Duchesse Potatoes & Madera Jus

This Dish is a little more technical than some, requires alot of prep(especially if you make your own stock). Also requires some butcherery, on recipes like this is when I suggest you buddy up to your butcher, if they arent to busy then they might clean up the tenderloin for you, removing the silver skin, and the fat. You are looking for a clean loin.


Bison Tenderloin – 3kg trimmed and cleaned
1/3C – Pink, Black, White, & Green Peppercorns – all crushed
1/4C Salt – Course Sea Salt

5lbs Potatoes – Peeled & Cubed
1/2C Heavy Cream – 33%
1/2C Butter - Melted
2 Bulbs Roasted Garlic
S&P to Taste (Course Sea Salt & White Peppercorns)
2 Eggs – Beaten

10 Cherry Tomatoes
10 Garlic Cloves
1C Brunoised Carrots
1.5C Cold Pressed Olive Oil ( Oro Di Sicilia)
1tbsp Lemon Peel
2 Rosemary Sprigs

2C Beef Demi-Glace
1C Beef Stock
1/2C Madera
2Tbsp Shallots – Finely Diced
1Tbsp Garlic – Minced and Pureed

2C Fresh Basil
1.5C Olive Oil (or other type of oil, Using Cold Pressed Oils from Sicily are my preference, as they pack the most amounts of fruitful flavours.).

Clean & Portion Bison Tenderloin into 10 Equal Portions. In a Coffee or Spice Grinder (Or Mortar and Pestle) grind up peppercorns & salt till a rough texture & thoroughly mix. Coat Tenderloin Portions in salt and pepper mix till all 10 portions are equally coated. In a hot Cast Iron or High quality Pan (NOT NON-STICK) Sear all 10 steaks on both sides. Do not finish cooking steaks as they will be finished in an Oven @ Later time.

Once steaks are all done searing, add shallots and garlic to pan, and sauté till the garlic and shallots have fully caramelized, be careful at this stage as the garlic will easily go from a sweet flavour to bitter VERY quickly if you overcook the garlic. Deglaze pan with Madera and be sure to get all the “crusty’s” off the bottom of the pan, as those are all flavour and remove the need to season the sauce. Once you have removed all the bits off the bottom of the pan, transfer the Madera/Shallot Mixture into a sauce pan, add your stock & Demi-Glace and allow boiling. Once it has begun to boil, turn down to a light simmer and carefully watch. Reduce the sauce till just under the thickness of coating the back of a spoon. Place into a squeeze bottle and reserve for later (keep bottle warm in a Bain maire).


In a small saucepan add Olive Oil, Lemon & Rosemary; allow the rosemary and lemon to infuse into the oil by bringing the oil up to about 165F. Once Oil is infused with rosemary and lemon essence, remove both the lemon peel and rosemary sprigs. Maintain oil heat @ 165F, if you go much above it you will burn the Olive Oil and once again risk bitter flavour. Place the Garlic Cloves & Tomatoes in the 165F Oil, and let stand for 3-4 Minutes. Remove from oil and place on paper-towel lined bowls.

In a saucepan combine roasted garlic, heavy cream, & butter. Allow to fully release all flavours and hold at temp. In a separate pot boil & cook potatoes in salted water. Once potatoes are fully cooked place in a bowl, add salt, white pepper & butter/cream mixture to the cooked potatoes. Mix thoroughly till a whipped consistency. Taste and adjust flavour accordingly. Allow to cool only slightly and add in beaten eggs and mix thoroughly. Quenelle potatoes into 20 portions, or as many as you can get out of it (min 20). Place on lined Baking sheet and wait. Prepare Egg Wash.

Pick off larger basil leaves and leave the tips with duel small leaves on them for presentation later. In a blender or tall insert with Immersion Blender (hand Held blender). Do this the day before, once you have blended the basil leaves with the oil, allow to hang for 24 hours, to be careful not to get any sediment from the basil.

Once it comes to service time Preheat Oven to 350F and tray up steaks on a lined baking sheet. Egg-wash potatoes and place in oven to cook and warm up for 20 Minutes, or until golden brown. With about 15 minutes to go on the timer for the potatoes add in the Steaks to the oven. In the meantime place one poached garlic clove in the 4oclock position, a small stack of brunoised carrots in the 8oclock position, and finally one poached cherry tomato in the 12oclock position. Circle the plate twice with your basil oil. Once the potatoes and steaks have come out of the oven (and allowed for a 2-5minute rest for the steaks) place 2 duchesse potatoes in the middle of the plate, follow by the steak placed on top of those. Top steak with sauce till it just runs off. Top with basil top

seasonal menu

With the craze of 100mile out now, i decided to write a menu, and soon to cook a menu based soley on 100mile products.(minus oils, salt and pepper, and certian vinegars)

Amisbouche - Chili Infused Goats Cheese Stuffed Baby Bell Peppers with Ranch Vinegrette
[ This is twist on an old Dish of mine, decided to play with it and use a baby bell from Savoury Herb Gardens]

Course 1 - Heirlom Tomatoe Gazpacho with a Basil Creme Fraiche
[Tomato Gazpacho is one of my all time favourite dishes, so many flavours that are able to be infused into the soup. And once again using produce from Savoury Herb Gardens, And the offer of Heirloom Tomatoes just meant that much flavour and it had to go in!]

Course 2 - Dungeness Crab & Chilliwack Corn Croquettes with a Chili Lime Butter
[Being on the westcoast we have ready accsess to corn & Crab in the summer, and the two pair together wonderfully. So figured to add them all together]

Course 3 - "Fisn 'n Chips" - Beer Battered Prawns, with Heirloom Tomato Chips and a Mint Tartar
[This is a fun twist on Fish and Chips, I am not a very large fish fan, but love prawns, so I figured I am going to twist this around. Using a Chocolate Porter for the batter will help bring the mint tartar together with the prawns. The Heirloom Tomato Chips will simply be a great addition.]

Course 4 - Bison Carpaccio with an Arugula Salad & Lavender Infused Balsamic Vinegrette
[Just last year I was introduced to Bison, and since then I have been in love, the flavour from Bison is amazing, and with an organic Bison Farmer just out in Maple Ridge, I knew I will always have mys teady flow of it.]

Course 5 - Pattypan Squash & Goats Cheese Ravioli with a Bacon & Bourbon Reduction

Course 6 - Fraser Valley Duck Breast with 'Potato Salad' [Molasses Bacon Butter vinegrette dressing]

Course 7 - Okanagon Peach Cobbler, & a Peach & Raspberry Struddel with a Marscapone Honey Whipping Cream

Cheeseboard - Local Cheese from "The Village Pasture" & Various Charcutrie

Goat Cheese Cakes with a Mango and Papaya Salsa

½ lb. Goat Cheese
1/4C Heavy Cream (33%)
Flour
Panko
Egg/Water (2 eggs)

1 Mango – Seeded and small dice
1 Papaya – Seeded and small Dice
½ Red Peppers – Small Dice
1 Tbsp. Cilantro – Finely Diced
1 Tbsp. Honey
2 Tsp. Lime Juice
1 Tsp. Lime Zest

1C White Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Pink Peppercorns

Set up breading station prior to starting to form the goat cheese balls. In a bowl combine goat’s cheese with salt and pepper to season. Depending on the moisture on the goats cheese you bought you may have to add the heavy cream to thin the how thick it is to be able to meld it without crumbling on you. Once you have found a good constancy (should be just slightly tacky) either with a small scoop portion out as many as portions as you can, and round them out into ball shapes. If you do not have a small scoop it is easy to do by hand by simply grabbing a small amount and rolling it between your palms until round. After you have made the balls, pass them through the breading station, and place into a Ziploc bag, and freeze. Can be made 5 or 6 days ahead.

For the salsa, combine the mango, papaya, red pepper & Cilantro in a bowl and toss. Season accordingly with honey, lime juice, salt, pepper & lime zest.

In a pot combine White Balsamic Vinegar, & Pink Peppercorns, and bring to boil and reduce to a simmer. Continue to reduce until it is thick enough to cover the back of a spoon without running. Be careful as the sugars in balsamic vinegars can burn very fast, and once they start reducing it will go quickly. Should only take you about 5 minutes once it has come to a boil/simmer, once that finishes, place into a squeeze bottle, and immediately submerge the bottle in a ice bath to stop the cooking process.

To Plate: Preheat Oil (Canola) to 350*, once oil has hit temp place the goat cheese cakes into the fryer till golden Brown. It is very important that your cakes are properly breaded as this will prevent the cakes from leaking cheese out, which could be very dangerous for both the fryer, and yourself, as liquid and oil do not mix. Place the cakes on a paper towel to drain the oil off. In the meantime place your salsa into Chinese dumpling spoons, and place the goat cheese ball on top, drizzle with your white balsamic reduction and serve.