Steak with Parmesan Butter, Balsamic Glaze, and Arugula

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese plus Parmesan cheese shavings
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 12-ounce rib-eye steak
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 teaspoon (packed) dark brown sugar
4 cups (lightly packed) arugula
2 large lemon wedges

***

Mmm. This was the Chef's first attempt at a pan-fried steak. He had seen several episodes of Michael Smith on Foodtv.ca cooking a steak on a frying pan, so CJ decided it was best to give it the ol' college try.

This recipe comes from Bon Appetit (pardon the lack of accents today), and it is one of their "quick meal" entries. CJ would have to wholeheartedly agree with their assessment. It was a very quick and easy meal to make, and tasty enough to please your baby momma. Maybe only 20 minutes prep time, and not even 10 minutes cooking time.

The steak was still rare enough, but not too rare, no, sir! The balsamic reduction adds a nice complexity to the dish, and get some strong parmesan, for Halabuza's sake!

The proof:

The grade: 8.1 out of 10.0

Lemon & Herb Rubber Canadian Pork Tenderloin - Gingered Noodle Salad with Mango and Cucumber

Lemon & Herb Rubbed Canadian Pork Tenderloin

1 Canadian pork tenderloin, well trimmed, approx. 12 oz / 0.375 kg

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp / 15 mL lemon zest
4 sprigs fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped

1 sprig fresh rosemary, finely chopped

2 Tbsp / 25 mL canola oil

0.5 tsp / 2 mL sea salt

0.5 tsp / 2 mL chili pepper flakes


Gingered Noodle Salad with Mango and Cucumber
(dressing and salad separated as per Lou's preference...)


Vinaigrette:
6 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil (Chef Jebediah used canola oil)

1.5 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 teaspoon minced jalapeño or serrano chile (including seeds), or to taste

1 garlic clove, chopped

Salad:

0.5 pound bean thread (cellophane) noodles

1 seedless cucumber (usually plastic wrapped), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced diagonally 

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced diagonally (1 cup)

1 firm but ripe mango, peeled. pitted. and thinly sliced

2 thin carrots, very thinly sliced diagonally

1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs (CJ went a little light here, too)

***

Well, CJ had the good fortune to visit Calgary during the Stampede a few weekends ago. Between the rain and watching the Working Cow Horse Classic, CJ visited the agri-dome(?) where they showed city-folk where milk comes from, what's canola, eggs, chickens, etc... and pork, of course. CANADIAN pork, to be more precise, and they all had various recipes to (honestly, the recipe read "CANADIAN" pork tenderloin...)

So CJ picked up the postcard-sized recipe (along with my I (heart) Alberta Beef) tattoos, and decided it was time for another pork tenderloin dish.

The writeup on the card mentioned that it would be well suited with "...rice or pasta and your favourite fresh vegetables or a salad with citrus fruits and pine nuts". Wham! So a salad was found (maybe not the well-suited) to accompany the pork.

The rub was incredibly easy, and left overnight. Pork was popped into the oven, for about 10 minutes longer than suggested, and it was still moist and tasty! Good seasoning, not too overbearing. CJ was a little tight with the lemon zest, so a second or third lemon is recommended.

The Gingered Noodle Salad with Mango and Cucumber was up next. CJ has always had a soft spot for soba noodles, so this salad seemed like a good fit.

The vinaigrette wasn't processed in a blender, unless you consider CJ's powerful wrists and biceps as heavy machinery. A nice flavour, with little to no aftertaste. Refreshing, if you will.

As for the salad, not a lot of cilantro was used, probably less than 0.25 cup. Use more, next time, CJ will. And it was a little disappointing that the noodles didn't toss well enough with the fruit and vegetables. Why didn't it mix well enough? Were the noodles a little too well cooked? Still too wet?

Regardless, my little sous chefs are probably foaming at the mouth in anticipation of a photo of the latest culinary wonder ...

 Well, there you have it!

The Grade: Pork Tenderloin: 8.1 out of 10.0. Salad: 7.0 out of 10.0.

Arugula Salad

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound arugula or watercress, coarse stems discarded (4 cups) Le Grand Chef used about 1/2 bag of 5-leaf lettuce. Or whatever. Some bag of mixed greens.
8 cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons shredded carrot

***

This is one quick salad. Honestly, shredding the carrot was the most time intensive portion of this dish.

You basically just make the dressing, then throw all the greens and tomatoes and carrots in an toss. Bam. Done.

I should note that I didn't quite have enough salad/arugula mix that it called for, so maybe the dressing was a little too much. And, as much as I love olives, I just found the olive oil a tad bit intense - (like your first game of Call of Duty: Black Ops. Man, I still get destroyed in that game) . Maybe some vegetable or canola oil next time?

The proof:

The grade: 7.0 out of 10.0.

Barley Sushi Salad with Nori

3/4 cup pearl barley
5 shiitake-mushroom caps, cut into strips
1/2 cup sliced smoked salmon
1/2 English cucumber, seeded and sliced into half moons (I used a non-English cucumber - I forget which type)
3 tbsp pickled ginger, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp dark sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 sheet nori seaweed
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

***

Well, here is the Chatelaine recipe, Part Deux.

If I had to describe this salad in as few words as possible, while still maintaining it's "character" I would say: "Virgin Sushi Salad". Those three words is all it takes.

"Virgin": because it's close to raw fish, but not really, and the barley is a proxy to the rice

"Sushi": because it's still fish and there's the pickled ginger you will find accompanying said sushi.

"Salad": because it is indeed a salad.

In fact, I might even suggest this dish to someone who hasn't had the pleasure of tantalizing their palate with sushi before - a good "Virgin Sushi" dish... Like for that uncultured friend/relative of yours who has trouble trying something new. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.


I spent quite some time at my not-so-local Asian market to find the ingredients. My suggestion - find the Japanese section, and you'll find most of the necessary reagents there and not have to waste your time wading through the other sections.

In terms or preparation, this bad boy only takes about 30 minutes, most of which is spent waiting for the barley to cook.

Taste was pretty fresh. Not too overpowering, but I do like the combo between the pickled ginger and sesame oil/rice vinegar. It just reminds me of sushi.

Evidence:

It doesn't look fancy. I really should have spent more time separating the salmon, but, proper food presentation is a harsh mistress. I have yet to learn all she has to teach... Additionally, maybe a bit more barley to salmon/ginger ratio would be suggested too.

Overall, a solid if unspectacular grade of 7.6 out of 10.

Grilled 5-spice Octopus Salad with Spicy Tangerine Vinaigrette & Rendang Beef Asian Po'Boy - The Wild Tangerine

Grilled 5-spice Octopus Salad with Spicy Tangerine Vinaigrette  $9.00 CAD
Rendang Beef Asian Po'Boy                                                      $14.00 CAD

***

Three people who contributed a lot to society to come from Saskatchewan: Gordie Howe, Leslie Nielsen, and Felix. No, not this Felix but my ex-coworker. He (on a moment's notice) decided that we were to meet at "The Wild Tangerine" for lunch today (10383 112Street NW, Edmonton). It's on the South side of 104th Ave., right beside the Starbucks. I didn't even know this place existed, but well Felix opened my eyes to some pretty good food...

I ordered the Octopus salad and the beef Po'Boy. I've never had a Po'Boy before, so I was licking my chops in anticipation of that. And well, I order the Octopus salad because it had 5-spices and octopus.

The salad came first:

You really can't see the tentacles or the suckers very well. In fact, the Octopus plays a very minor part of the salad. The best way I can describe this salad is like a Thai mango/papaya salad. It was simply scrumptious. Crunchy vegetables and fruit combined with a slightly spicy and sweet dressing, it was very superb. The octopus wasn't really required - it was really 3rd wheelin' it like nobody's business.

The Po'Boy didn't disappoint:

Yeah, you only see half of the sandwich here. One of my ex-coworker's, "Kim" with her voracious appetite stole half my sandwich before it even got placed in front of me. It kinda went down like this. (Is that Captain Picard's voice?). Anyway, the sandwich was quite good - a slight curry taste to the beef. Hmm. Maybe that's what "Rendang Beef" is? The bread was soft, and the roasted red peppers and onions added some nice flavour.

Overall, a very good lunch surprise. The dinner menu looks great too, and the potato and lavender soup they served to the other table smelled divine. A little pricey, but a score of 8 out of 10.

Insalate - Giuggiolosa

Mixed Greens
Cambozola
Roasted Red Peppers
Black Olives
Pinenuts
Honey
Extra-virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar

***

Well, I obtained this recipe from a restaurant in (mid-town?) Toronto a few years ago. I had located their menu online, printed it off and added it to my recipe/menu collection.

Unfortunately, menus don't always (actually, rarely) explain how they prepare their dishes in terms of proportions/measurements of their ingredients, so I just played around with it. You guys (my little 'sous chefs') will just have to experiment and find the right mix for yourselves.

Here's the photo:

The cambozola, pinenuts, olives all end up on the bottom, and the red peppers stuck together a little too much. Also, the olives were WAY too strong (Unico brand) - in fact, their taste was just too overpowering. I had to pull them out after my first serving of salad. I don't know if I picked the wrong olives or what - but it just didn't compare to the restaurant's dish. On the positive side of the ledger, I did manage to get my proportion of the dressing correct - honey, balsamic vinegar and olive oil - this left me pleased.

No need to worry - I didn't let the salad sit in the dressing while I prepared the other dish (risotto - see below). I added the dressing just before dinner. No soggy salad for my team. Without a doubt, this was the TSN turning point of the meal...


Final Score:
Chef Jeremiah 1
Soggy Salad 0