Boosted Iced Tea

I recently met the folks from Prince Edward Distillery, as we shared an exhibitor's table at a Sydney food show. They were really friendly and fun to be around. They also make very tasty gin. I bought a couple of bottles, and soon came up with the perfect summer nerve-soother. Boosted iced tea.

The first homemade iced tea I ever drank was in Austin, Texas. It`s really popular out there. I guess the weather is so warm that a lot people want their caffeine cold. In a couple of Austin restaurants, I was given a choice between water and iced tea. I can't think of an easier decision. Enjoy!

Boosted Iced Tea

• 4 cups water • 2 Yorkshire tea bags • 2 tablespoon sugar • 3-4 oz gin • couple slices lemon • ice

Bring the water to almost a boil. Pour in a pot, add tea bags and sugar. Mix. After 3-4 minutes, remove the tea bags, transfer tea to pitcher, and chill in the fridge. Once cooled, add the gin and serve with 4-5 ice cubes in each glass and and some lemon slices.

Baked Trout with Chervil and Creamy Mustard Sauce

Another herb growing back from last year's garden is chervil. I use Chervil to give a dose of light liquorice flavor to poultry and fish. For this recipe, I paired it with trout and added another one of my favorite ingredients, mustard. I kept it simple. The sauce takes only a few minutes to throw together and the fish takes ten minutes to cook. A short note on overcooking salmon or trout: don't. Fish are much better on the medium-rare side. When overcooked they tend to dry out and lose a lot of flavor. The same rule applies to meats also. Less juice, less taste. I had steelhead trout, but rainbow or speckled will do just fine. For a side, I sautéed mustard greens to give the mustard back its leaves.

This recipe will serve 2-4 depending on how much trout you want to eat.

Ingredients

• 300-600g trout fillet(s) • 1/3 cup heavy cream • 1 shallot, finely chopped • 1 tablespoon butter • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard • 1 tablespoon maple syrup • 1 tablespoon chervil, chopped • juice of half a lemon • salt + ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place your trout on a oiled baking pan and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the lemon juice on top of the fish. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes. While the trout is in the oven, make the sauce. In a small pan melt the butter and sweat the shallot for 2 minutes. Whisk in the mustard and maple syrup. Then add the cream and the chervil, simmer for 2-3 minutes and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve and garnish with chopped chervil.

Oysters with Chive Butter and Aïoli

Raw oysters on the half shell are quite the thing, but I also relish mine cooked. For this recipe, I filled the opened shells with chive butter (chives were the first to come up in the garden) and aïoli. The aïoli once heated becomes something between a holandaise and a creamy cheese. But you can also skip the baking and serve the oysters raw with the same ingredients. Either way, the flavours are terrific, so it's up to you!

 Aïoli recipe here.

You'll need:

• 12 oysters • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter • 2 tablespoons chive, chopped • 2 tablespoons aïoli

Preheat the oven to 450°F. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, add the chives, simmer on low for a minute, and remove from heat. Shuck the oysters and lay them on a pan or baking sheet. Put a bit of the chive butter in each oyster and top with some aioli. Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes, until the aioli is golden brown. Serve right away.

Simple Poppy Seed Buns

Fresh bread gets people excited before a meal, especially when they know it was made from scratch. Here is a recipe for quick bread that's very similar to the one I use for flatbreads and pizza doughs. When making buns, the important thing is to let your dough rise properly; only that creates the soft, moist texture we all want in a bun. Sugar is added to give the bread that definitive "roll" taste. While everything is out of the cupboard, you might want to make a couple of extra batches. Freeze them just after they've cooled, and next time all you will have to do is pop them into a hot oven for 5 minutes.

The dough should be sticky, but not enough to stick to the bowl when you move it around. Because every flour is different, your dough might need more or less water. Use your judgement.

Yields 10-12 buns

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups whole white flour • 1 1/2 cup lukewarm water • 2 teaspoons salt • 2 teaspoons instant dry yeast • 2 tablespoons sugar • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds

In large bowl mix the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, and salt. Stir together the yeast and water and let sit for a couple of minutes. Add the water to the flour and mix with your hands until smooth. If too dry add a couple drops of water. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place (in the oven with the light on is a good spot) for 1-2 hours or until it has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Take the dough out on a floured surface and cut it in 12 equal buns. Work them gently to give them a round shape. Place them on a floured baking tray and let sit for 10 minutes. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until golden brown on the suface. Serve hot.

Watercress Pesto

The peppery flavor of watercress and its juicy leaves are terrific in pesto. Think peppery, lemony, garlicy goodness together with toasted nuts and punchy parmesan. If you want a quick, crowd-pleasing appetizer or a spread for that grilled tomato sandwich, give watercress pesto a try. You even have the option of drizzling some with added oil on your meat or fish. Pesto is versatile, and since the greens and the garlic remain uncooked, it's also very healthy. Enjoy! Yields about 3 cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup pecans (or walnuts) • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds • 2 cups packed watercress • 1 1/2 cup grated parmesan • 3/4 cup olive oil • juice of one lemon • 3 garlic cloves • salt + ground black pepper

Dry toast the nuts and seeds in a pan, shaking, until they're ready. In a food processor, whizz the nuts and seeds until finely shredded. Add all the other ingredients, and whizz again. Season with salt and pepper and adjust to desired consistency with olive oil. Serve with fresh bread.

Watercress and Roasted Potato Soup

Soup days are not over here on Cape Breton Island. We've had a week of rainy-windy weather, interrupted here and there by brief periods of sun. Cook-outs are just around the corner, but there's no rush. Just fill me up another bowl of that watercress soup. You can eat watercress raw as a salad leaf, or you can cook it. I made a soup with watercress and some roasted potatoes. I roasted the potatoes with herbs simply to give them (and the soup) a greater depth of flavor. You could also use any form of leftover potatoes--a rare sort, but hey, that's us. To make a good soup you need a good stock. That said, I really encourage you to make your own. Once you do, you won't want to go back.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 3 medium potatoes, roughly cut in 1/2" slices • 2 medium onions, chopped • 5-6 cups vegetable stock • 2 cups watercress, roughly chopped • 1 tablespoon sunflower oil • 1 teaspoon dried thyme • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary • a few crushed red chili flakes • 2 tablespoon cream • salt + ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450°F. In a bowl, mix the potatoes with oil, thyme, rosemary, chili, salt and pepper. Lay them on a pan and roast them in the oven for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. In a medium pot, sweat the onions in a bit of oil until translucent. Add the roasted potatoes and watercress, give it a stir and add the stock. Simmer for 30 minutes. Blend the soup roughly with a hand mixer for a couple of seconds. You still want some potato chunks in there. Add the cream, season with salt and pepper. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

Bean Salad with Honey and Cumin Seeds

In the same vein as my other salads, it's simple, because I think salads are better left alone. I usually add just a few selected seasonings to give them a boost. Here the sweetness of the honey and the toasty cumin seeds take care of that. If you want a quick and filling lunch, just toss all the ingredients together and serve the salad on a couple of crispy leaves or greens. Since this salad is mostly beans, it's a great source of fibre and protein. Worry not, it's very good. Even if you're not into the beans, give this combo a try. It might change your mind. You can also make this salad with chickpeas, red kidney, or any other bean really.

Soak beans overnight and cook or use canned.

Enjoy!

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 cups romano beans • 2 cups black beans • 2 cups lima beans • 4 tablespoons olive oil • 4 tablespoons honey • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds • small handful parsley, chopped • salt + black pepper

Dry-toast the cumin seeds in a pan for a couple of minutes. Set aside. Mix the oil, honey, vinegar, cumin seeds, and parsley together. Gently mix the beans and stir in the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with a couple leaves of romaine lettuce or crispy greens. Will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

The Cutting Edge

We drove down to Halifax this weekend for the Taste of Nova Scotia Cutting Edge Chef Competition, a part of the Saltscapes Expo. What was I expecting to find? A lot of people, great food and wine, and a chance to cook. Ten chefs from around Nova Scotia were competing in the event. Each of us was given a black box containing secret ingredients, and we had 45 minutes to make something awesome. Well, everything went pretty well--yesterday I found out that I won!

My black box ingredients were pork tenderloins, honey, apples and quark cheese. I decided to keep it simple, as usual, so I made an apple-fennel slaw with a couple of greens, drizzled on a quark cheese and white balsamic vinaigrette, threw on a few pieces of crispy double-smoked bacon, seared off that pork, finished it with some honey and cream, and topped it all with a red wine onion confit.

Now, I could never have done it without my fantastic sous-chef who was assigned to me from the crowd. She made a point of telling me that she was not much of a cook, but Jee-whiz was she ever a wizard with the knife! We were both in good spirits and had a lot of fun cooking together. It's always nice to work with people who enjoy food as much as I do. So Jill, wherever you are, thank you!

Also, a big thanks to Alain Bossé and to Christine and all the team from Taste of Nova Scotia for putting together the Cutting Edge Competition and for making it so much fun. Local Food is the best! I owe a huge thanks to Earlene Busch of the Chanterelle Inn, who has been throwing me opportunities left and right. Oh yeah, and thank you Grohmann knives. I now have all top-notch tools!

And here I am, giving a demo; Wild Mushroom and Cheddar Risotto

A couple of people asked me for the recipe of the slaw that I made during the competition, so here it is. Enjoy!

Apple-Fennel Slaw

• 2 small apples, julienned • 1 fennel bulb, julienned • 1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped • 4 tablespoons almonds, roughly chopped • 2 tablespoons lemon juice • 1 tablespoons olive oil • pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients together and let sit for at least 30 minutes, stiring once or twice. Taste, and add more lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve on top of some greens or salad.

Slow-Braised Cajun Spiced Leg of Lamb

I made a feast for Easter. We ate garlic-parmesan potatoes, honey-whiskey carrots, barbecue-grilled veggies, homemade bread, a fall-apart leg of lamb, and a couple of salads. I barbecued the lamb on very high heat, mainly to brown the surfaces but also to give it a smoky taste. I did this a day in advance, and I would recommend giving yourself a similar head start. If you're the last minute type, just start early morning on serving day. The size of the leg does not really matter, but you'll have to reduce the cooking time a bit if you don't have a whole leg to, say, 6-7 hours. You'll know it's finished when it comes straight off the bone. You can use this Cajun Spice Mix.

Ingredients

• 1 leg of lamb • 1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika • 2 onions, roughly chopped • 2 cups tomatoes, crushed • 2 cups red wine • couple pinches of salt • 3 tablespoons dijon mustard

Spice Rub

• 2 tablespoons oil • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped • 4 sprigs thyme, leaves only • 1 tablespoon cajun spices • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 225°F. Rub your leg of lamb with some oil, salt and paprika. Grill it on the barbecue on all surfaces (or in a pan if you have one large enough), and make sure the grill is really hot. Put the wine, onions, and tomatoes in a large roasting pan. Add the leg of lamb. Mix all of the spice rub ingredients together. Brush the lamb with the mustard, and rub the spices on the surface. Cover and cook in the oven for 7 to 8 hours. Take it out a couple of times and baste it with the juices so that it doesn't dry out. Reserve the meat. For the sauce, strain the liquid and reduce it by half on medium-high heat. Skim away the fat during reduction. Serve.

Red Chard and Oyster Mushroom Toast with Shaved Parmesan

I love toast for lunch. It takes under 10 minutes to make and you can top it with any satisfying combination of handy ingredients. Choose your flavors; anything you have in mind will probably work if you don't over do it. For this toast, I went with garlicky chards, oyster mushrooms, and parmesan. You can also substitute the chard for spinach and the oyster for a different mushroom. I can't wait to make toast with chanterelles this summer...

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 large slices of bread, toasted • 6 leaves red chard, roughly chopped • 150g oyster oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped • 2 tablespoons butter • 1 tablespoon sunflower oil • 1 tablespoon heavy cream • shaved parmesan • salt + black pepper

Sauté the chard in two tablespoons of butter for about 2 minutes or until it's soft. Near the very end, add the garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside in a bowl.

In the same pan, heat the oil and sauté the mushrooms on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper while cooking. Remove from heat, add the cream, and give it a stir.

Put the chard and mushrooms on your toasted bread, top with shaved parmesan and a drizzle with olive oil.

Maple, Apple, and Pecan Turnovers

It's maple syrup season. Time to enjoy some local sweetness. Time to get sappy by surprising your loved ones with turnovers for dessert--or breakfast. It's also time to make more of your own pastry. Practice makes better! I usually make my dough/pastry a day in advance, refrigerate it, and then take it out an hour before using. Also, prepare your sauce while the turnovers are in the oven. You'll have just enough time. Enjoy! Yields 8 turnovers

Puff Pastry

• 250g white flour • 250g unsalted butter • ~100ml cold water • 2 tablespoons sugar • pinch of salt

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the salt and rub in the butter with your hands. Not too much, though--you still want clumps of butter. Add the water and work until you have a smooth dough. Add more water if it’s too stiff. Chill for 30 minutes.

Flour your work surface. Now the trick is to have nice layers of pastry. To do that you just have to roll the dough into a rectangle, about half an inch thick. Fold the left end towards the middle, and then fold the right end on top of it. Rotate the dough a quarter turn, roll again and repeat the folding. Do that 4-5 times. Then chill the dough for another 30 minutes or more.

Filling

• 4 medium apples, sliced • 2 tablespoons butter • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon • 1/2 cup maple syrup

Melt the butter in a pan and cook the apples with the cinnamon on medium heat for 7-8 minutes. Add the maple syrup and simmer for another 2 minutes. Set aside and leave to cool.

Putting it together

• You'll need 1 egg

Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Roll out your dough to a 1/4" thick rectangle and then cut into 8 equal squares. Roll each to about 4" diameter square. Fill each with a heaped tablespoon of the filling. Bring the dough back over and seal with your fingers. Brush the top with the beaten egg and cut up holes on top. Put the turnovers on a pan and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until crispy. Make sure to keep the juice that's left from the apples.

Maple-Pecan Caramel

• 1 cup pecans • 1 cup maple syrup • leftover juice from the apples • 2 tablespoons heavy cream

You can choose to chop the pecans a bit if you like. Toast them in a pan for a couple of minutes then add the maple syrup and juice. Simmer for 10 minutes. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes before serving.

Port and Thyme Chicken Liver Pâté

While food shopping, I came across some quality chicken livers perfect for making pâté.What's nice about this kind of recipe is that you can experiment with it; swap the port for a different liquid or switch the thyme for another herb or spice. Don`t be scared. Making pâté is easier than it looks, and it can be done in under 30 minutes*. Enjoy it with crackers, on toasted bread, or in a sandwich.

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken livers • 2 shallots, chopped • 1/2 cup port wine • 4 sprigs of thyme, leaves only • 1 garlic clove, chopped • 2 tablespoons butter • 2 tablespoons duck fat or butter • salt + black pepper

In a sauté pan, sweat the shallots in 2 tablespoons of butter on medium heat until soft--about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. In the same pan, heat up a tablespoon of oil and once the oil is sizzling, sauté the chicken livers. Cook on each side for about 4 minutes. Add the shallot mixture, stir, and add the port. Let it reduce until you have a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Transfer everything to a food processor and add the duck fat (or butter). Whizz until smooth. Line a mold with plastic wrap and pour the mixture in. Seal it with the plastic. *Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.

Amber Ale and Herbs Mussels

 Mussels are probably my all-time favorite seafood. I like to eat them on their own, a bowlful, still steaming, with lots of broth. Cooking mussels is quick, easy, and best done outside in the sunshine, with a cold beer; in our case - Clancy's.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs mussels • 1/2 cup amber ale • 1/2 cup approx. mixed chopped herbs; parlsey, terragon, dill, chives • 1 shallot, finely chopped • salt

Wash and clean the mussels. Pour the beer in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the shallots, half of the herbs, and the mussels. Cover with lid, turn the heat down to medium, and shake the pot. Cook until the mussels open, about 5 minutes. Discard unopened mussels. Season with salt and serve with ale broth. Top with remaining herbs.

Lemon-Almond Cookies

We wanted lemon cookies, so I took my great-grandma's "mabelle" cookie recipe and added lemon. While at it, I rolled them in ground almonds before baking. The result is a soft but zesty cookie. I also included a variation with a maple-almond filling.

Yields 30 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup salted butter • 1 cup brown sugar • 1/4 cup hot water • 1 egg • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1 tablespoon lemon juice • zest of 1 lemon • 3 cups white flour • 1 teaspoon baking soda • 1/2 cup almonds, grounded

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, mix the first 7 ingredients. Add the baking soda to the flour, then add to the other ingredients. Mix well until smooth. If the dough seems to loose, add some flour. Roll balls about 1" in diameter, then roll them in grounded almonds and place them on a baking pan. Tap down each cookie to flatten them a bit. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes.

Maple-Almond Filling

Proceed as above, but mix the leftover grounded almonds with 1/2 cup maple syrup, press a little hole into each cookie, and fill it with the mixture.

Old-Fashioned Mustard and Asparagus Flatbread

Mustard (a blend of mustard seeds, vinegar, and spices) is what we use to crank up the acidity in our food; to send our tastebuds into hyperdrive. In this recipe I spread some old-fashioned mustard (the kind with whole seeds) on a flatbread, top it with asparagus and gouda cheese, and crisp it in the oven. Now that's some quality pub grub, to be enjoyed with drinks among friends. Okay, it's really important to use good mustard. We use and I recommend "Pommery - Moutarde de Meaux." It's a bit pricey but worth every penny. Any good old-fashioned mustard will do, though.

For the flatbreads, you can use this recipe.

Serves 4 as an appetizer

Ingredients

• 2 flatbreads • 12 asparagus • 150 g gouda cheese • 2 tablespoons old-fashioned dijon mustard • 2 tablespoons olive oil • salt + black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 450F.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the asparagus for 1 minute. Cool them in cold water. Lay the flatbreads on a baking pan and spread 1 tablespoon of mustard on each. Add the asparagus and top with big chunks of gouda cheese. Season with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Cook for 15 minutes or until the flatbreads are crispy. Slice and serve hot.

Butternut Squash Potato Cakes

This first recipe makes one killer appetizer while the second goes well with any breakfast. They are both really simple; two ingredients apiece, both grated, squeezed of excess water, and fried in a pan. The ratio is half potatoes, half whatever other vegetable. I made some with zucchini and some others with butternut squash. Feel free to experiment with anything you have in your own veg box and to size your cakes according to your own meal plan. Both of these recipes will make around 8 large or 16 small cakes. Cook for 6 minutes on each side for larger cakes and 4 minutes on each side for smaller ones. For an extra punch throw together a lemon-dill yogurt sauce, which, just so you know, also tastes great with fish. Serves 4-6

Butternut Squash Potato Cakes

• 3 medium potatoes (500g) • 1/2 butternut squash (500g) • salt + black pepper

Grate the potatoes and butternut squash. Put in a large bowl and season with salt. Let sit for about 5 minutes to let the moisture out. Put them in a colander and squeeze them with your hand to get the water out. Do this until there's almost no more water dripping.

Heat up 2-3 tablespoons oil in a large pan. Form a patties about 1.5" in diameter and slide them in the hot oil. Put 7-8 at a time. On medium-high heat, cook the cakes about 4-5 minutes on each side. Season with salt and pepper.

Set the cakes on a plate or in a warm oven while you fry the rest. Fry the rest. Eat.

Lemon-Dill Yogurt Sauce

• 1 cup plain yogurt • 1 tablespoon dill, chopped • 1 tablespoon lemon juice • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Mix all ingredients together.

Zucchini Cheddar Potato Cakes

• 3 medium potatoes (500g) • 2 medium zucchini (500g) • 100g cheddar (optional) • salt + black pepper

Grate the potatoes and zucchinis. Put in a large bowl and season with salt. Set aside for about 5 minutes to let the moisture seep out. Put them in a colander and squeeze them with your hand to get even more water out. Do this until there's almost no more water dripping.

Heat up 2-3 tablespoons oil in a large pan. Form patties about 3" in diameter and slide them in the hot oil. Put 4-5 at a time. On medium-high heat, cook the cakes about 6 minutes on each side. Season with salt and pepper. As your flip them, add some grated cheddar on top.

Set the cakes on a plate or in a warm oven while you fry the rest. Fry the rest. Eat.

Leek and Corn Chowder Gratiné

Here's another satisfying soup that's quick, easy, and inexpensive to make. I topped the chowder with croutons and cheese the same way you would an onion soup, but if you're too pressed for time or too exhausted to bother, the chowder alone is tasty and filling enough to cover for you.

Ingredients

• 3 medium onions, chopped • 2 leeks, chopped • 5 medium potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1" cubes • 800 ml creamed corn • 5 cups vegetable stock • 1 bay leaf • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped • salt + black pepper

Toppings

• croutons • gruyère cheese

Sweat the garlic, leeks, and onions on medium heat until soft - for about 10 minutes. Add all the other ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are thoroughly cooked. Set aside and season with salt and pepper.

With a hand blender, blend the soup for about 5 seconds. You just want to roughly mix it and leave some chunks in there. If you don't have a hand blender, you can blend half of the soup with a regular blender for five seconds and then return it to the pot.

Fill an oven-safe bowl with chowder, top with croutons and gruyère and broil for 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden.

Part 5 - Poor Man's Lobster Bisque

This started out as a four-part post, but lobsters just keep giving. So here's another classic - Lobster Bisque. Bisque is the best way to savour every last scrap of your fruits de mer. A lobster's casing is full of flavour. You know what they say - waste not, want not. Next time you prepare crustaceans, remember to put a bisque on the menu too.

The only reason I'm calling this a poor man's version is because I don't put any of the meat back into the broth. It's all carcass and shells, veggies, a dash of cheap white wine, and home-smoked bacon. Part 1 - Cooking the Lobster Part 2 - Lobster Eggs Benedict Part 3 - Flatbread Lobster Roll Part 4 - Lobster Stuffed Shells

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• shells and bodies of 4 lobsters, roughly chopped in pieces • 8 thick slices smoked bacon (optional) • 1 cup white wine • 2 medium onions, chopped • 2 medium carrots, chopped • 2 branches celery, chopped • 1 tablespoon tomato paste • 2 garlic cloves • 2 bay leaves • 2 sprigs of thyme • 1/2 cup butter • 1/2 cup flour

Directions

In a large pot, cook the bacon for 5 minutes. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half. Put the lobster shells in and just cover with water (or, for more flavour, cover with the liquid you used to cook the lobsters). Add bay leaves, thyme and tomato paste.

Simmer for 45 minutes.

Strain and discard the solids.

In the same pot, melt the butter and stir in the flour. Then add the liquid back to the pot a bit at a time. This will thicken the bisque. Season with salt and pepper.

Illustration by Kevin Sprouls.

Roast Beef Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I felt like eating a grilled cheese. We had a nice piece of moose and some home-cured, home- smoked bacon. Why not make a roast, slice it, put it in a grilled cheese and top it with barbecue sauce? For the roast I used moose, but grass-fed beef will work just as well. For the cheese, I went with Monterey Jack.

Barbecue Sauce

• 1 cup tomato ketchup • 1/3 cup brown sugar • 1/4 cup water • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar • 2 tablespoons soy sauce • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard • 1 teaspoon sambal oelek • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped • pinch hot smoked paprika

In a small saucepan mix all the ingredients together and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Set aside. Your sauce will keep for up to a week in the fridge.

Yields about 2 cups.

Beef Roast with Thyme and Paprika Rub

• 1.5 kg - 2kg beef roast • 8 slices bacon • 1 tablespoon paprika • 3 sprigs of thyme, leaves only • 1 teaspoon black pepper • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix together the paprika, thyme, salt, and pepper.

Put the roast in a pan and lay the bacon slices on top so they cover the roast and add a small glass of water in the pan. Brush the mustard on top of the bacon and then sprinkle on that the paprika/thym/salt/pepper. Rub the spices into the bacon gently with your hands.

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes then bring down the heat to 350°F cook until the center of the roast reaches 125°F (~52°C). For my 1.5 kg roast it took 25 minutes at 350°F.

Remove from the oven and let rest at least 15 minutes before cutting it. Set the bacon aside.

Putting it all together

Take two slices of bread and butter them. Thinly slice some of the roast beef. Heat up a pan on medium heat. Add one or two slices of bacon from the roast to the pan and one slice of bread. Put the beef and a couple spoonfuls of barbecue sauce on the toasting bread. Once the bacon is crispy, put it on top, add your favorite cheese, and top with the other slice of bread. Flip the sandwich over and let is crisp up on that side for about 3-4 minutes.

Part 4 - Dinner: Lobster Stuffed Shells

This is one cheesy recipe, so try to use quality stuff; aged cheddar and a block of parmesan, not the pre-grated kinds. We usually make stuffed shells with spinach instead of lobster. It's one of those versatile dishes; you can always use the same recipe and just swap the lobster for something else: crab meat, beef, mushrooms, you name it. Serve the shells with a simple tomato sauce. Part 1 - Cooking the Lobster Part 2 - Breakfast: Lobster Eggs Benedict Part 3 - Lunch: Lobster Roll Part 5 - Lobster Bisque

Serves 4

Simple White Wine Tomato Sauce

• 500 ml canned crushed tomatoes • 1/2 cup white wine • 2 cloves garlic • 1 tablespoon tomato paste • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 1 tablespoon cream

On medium heat, sweat the garlic in olive oil. Add the white wine and let reduce for 1 minute. Add all the rest of the ingredients, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Lobster Stuffed Shells

• 24 giant pasta shells • 2 cups lobster meat (4 tails), finely chopped • 1 cup cottage cheese • 1 cup cheddar • 1/2 cup white wine • 1/2 cup cream • 1/2 cup parmesan • salt+ black pepper • chives (optional)

Cook the pasta in boiling water for about 15 minutes, or what the package indicates. They must still be al dente. Set aside.

In a pan reheat the lobster with a dash of olive oil. Add the wine and let it bubble away. Add the cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

In a bowl mix the cottage cheese, cheddar and parmesan. Add the lobster mixture.

In a large deep oven pan pour half of the tomato sauce in the bottom. Stuff each shell with about a tablespoon of the filling and put them in the pan. Pour the rest of the sauce over the shells and top with a bit of parmesan and/or cheddar.

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes at 375F and finish with broil for a couple of minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and eat. Garnish with chopped chives.