Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer

1 500ml bottle of Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer - $4.49 (CAD)

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I think what really captured my interest in ginger beer was a conversation I had earlier this year with my mother after I had read an article in what I think was the Edmonton Journal. It was basically a "how-to" instructional guide on how to make your own ginger beer (I think I have misplaced the article, unfortunately). After I commented on the article to my mother, she noted that either her dad or her paternal grandfather used to make their own ginger beer, and that sometimes you would hear a big "pop" under the stairs, as the bottles would lose their corks during the aging process. I somehow doubt that Ukrainians were big on ginger beer, but that matters not, it is clear that my love of ginger beer came from my forefathers.

The net result is that sometime later I had a conversation about ginger beer with my friend Allison, and she recommended that I go to one of the Liquor Depot stores in Edmonton and try a bottle of Crabbie's ginger beer. So that's exactly what I did this past weekend.

The bottle is cool - there are even pictures of elephants on it. So that must mean that Thais approve.

Supposedly it's best served chilled over ice with a slice of lemon or lime. In my case I used a wedge of lime.

It was fresh, sharp and fantastic! Basically a fancy Canada Dry ginger ale - but infused with the sweet taste of booze! It's pretty sweet, too. I don't think you could make a night of pounding these back - I think this is much more of a "dessert" beer that you enjoy while your minions clean the dishes...

The photographic evidence:

The grade: a solid if unspectacular 7.6 out of 10.0.

And what could be better than a bottle of Crabbie's ginger beer? A FREE second bottle of ginger beer. Many thanks to the sous chef Sean for leaving his beer Chef Jeremiah's car ;)

Broccoli, Red Pepper, and Cheddar Chowder

1 small bunch broccoli (1/2 pound)
1 large boiling potato (1/2 pound)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated sharp Cheddar (about 6 ounces) (CJ used Old Cheddar - is Sharp cheddar an American term?)

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Well ladies and gentlemen, I've found my new favourite soup. I'm just going to throw out the grade right now: 9.0 out of 10.0. Yes, it's THAT good. It looks great, easy to make, creamy and that cheddar just adds a new level of flavour to it. Noooooo, I didn't add any Essence of Pure Flavour - I didn't have to.

I highly recommend you try out this recipe if you are into something simple (it will require 2 pots) and delicious.

Here's the photographic evidence: (notice the chunks o' broccoli?)

Michelada

1 Sol Beer
Juice from 1/4 lime
Sea Salt
Ice
Cold, frosty mug (purchased at Canadian tire for about $4.99, as both WalMart and Safeway had none)

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I saw an episode of "Mexican Made Easy" on the Food Network a few months ago, and the hostess (Marcela Vallodolid - she looks like a younger, latina version of Mariah Carey) was preparing all these treats to watch the big game. I'm not sure if the big game was "soccer" or "football", but she prepared some tasty treats, including some Micheladas.

I don't know if I was supposed to use sea salt, but I thought it would be cool. So some lime juice on the rim, some sea salt, ice in the mug, some lime juice in the mug then follow it up with some beer! Wow. And before you can say "Bob's your uncle" you have yourself a Michelada!

Hmmm. It was okay. It wasn't as refreshing as I was expecting it to be. She basically said you had to drink it fast before the ice melts. I don't know, I might as well just have had a Sol or Corona by themself(ves). It was interesting, and I'll probably give it a second chance.

The photographic evidence:

The grade: about a 6.4 out of 10.0.

Food Don't Lie - Contest Winner

Winner, winner chicken dinner!!
1 Alabama Calaboose

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Indeed, miracles do happen. While Alabama did not correctly guess the #1-viewed page on Food Don't Lie (he guessed Phuket Prawns, which was the 3rd most-viewed) he was the only one to submit a guess... The correct response was:

http://fooddontlie.blogspot.com/2011/02/blog-post.html

Yes - fish sauce is the winner!

Below, you can see a photo of |the self-coronated "Prince of Montague" when he found out that he had won the Chef Jebediah Culinary Challenge, Part Un:

Notice the Yorkton-esque haircut? And the denim made from the finest tailors in White City? And the gnarled hands stuck inside the front (to obviously make up for a lack of "bulge" in his pants) of the aforementioned "jeans"? Indeed, Alabama is riding high on life. He gets a free meal from Chef Jebediah...

280 Barbeque - 85-3001-8 (G20718) Propane

1 280 Barbeque - 85-3001-8 (G20718) Propane
4.5 months
5 episodes of "Criminal Minds"
1 episode of "The Glades"
4 Kirin Ichiban beer (CJ must admit, he's a big fan of Japanese (and most Asian) beer)
1 Fuller 160-piece Tool set



***

Well, my sincerest apologies for the very late post. A thousand pardons. I tell you what, if you come to visit, I'll make the most delicious dessert you've ever had - it'll make you weak in the knees...

Seriously, I had to get a replacement laptop, as my last one met with an unfortunate accident...

And, lo and behold - CJ FINALLY got his birthday barbeque set up. You can see up above that it took a purchase of a tool set and a lot of time to get things organized, but the BBQ is finally ready to roll. I'll have a test steak tomorrow night to ensure things are how they should be, then I'm sure I'll have my Guiness burgers, and another type of burger in short order.

The assembly wasn't overly complicated - you just need a ratchet and some screwdrivers, and it would have helped to have had a sous-chef assisting you. So, that's why it took me about as long as the "Criminal Minds" marathon on Sunday. I have to admit, that's not a bad show. There's no fembots, of course, but the profiling of serial killers was intriguing...

As always, see below for your viewing pleasure.

Unpacked and before assembly on my living room floor:

And, assembled and ready to roast on my balcony:

A grade? Well, for mere timing alone I'd give it an F+, complexity wasn't difficult at all (A-) but I'd have to wait until I test it with real food before I can note whether it passed or not...

PS: I checked the stats on my blog today: Guess which post is the most highly-viewed? I'll buy/make dinner for the first person who guesses correctly. To count as a legitimate guess, you must leave your guess on the comments section of this post. 3 guesses max per person. I'll give you all until the end of the month to get your entries in.

Chocolate Banana-Stuffed French Toast

1/3 cup chocolate-hazelnut sandwich spread
8 slices D'Italiano Whole Wheat Thick Slice Italian Style Bread
2 large firm ripe bananas
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter

Chef's note: Recipe was halved

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Isn't it amazing where we get our inspiration? For instance, I was shopping in the bakery section of our local Superstore, where I happened upon some decent-looking bread. Something a little different than what I'd usually get, and I picked up this Italiano whole wheat bread, and lo and behold: A recipe! Well, shit. I had to get it. And the recipe above is the recipe contained on the bottom of the bread bag.

I know I mentioned just a short while ago that I wasn't too thrilled with egg-dipped sandwiches, but I had to give this a try. I've only had Nutella once or twice in my life, and for this recipe I got the President's Choice proxy for it. It's alright. It's not good enough to put in ice cream or anything, but I figured it would do the trick.

The dish is very quick to make. No problems with assembly or preparing the ingredients at all.

As far as taste, it was okay. I had it for supper a few nights ago. It seems more like a breakfast dish, but honestly, I'd rather just have regular French Toast with some sexy Grand Marnier berry compote. It tastes decent. If there's a next time, maybe a little more chocolate spread on the bread?

The photograph:

No. No pickles here.

The grade: 6.8 out of 10.0. The grade in honour of the jersey number of his holy hockey mulletness.... god, is that jersey for real? That's worse than the Yorkton Pylon's bantam jersey from back in 1985. DREADFUL. Downright embarrassing. No wonder he's hiding in Omsk...

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

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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.