Five cool things that came out of July. ...Everything else is at about 34C....

1) Kushi Oyster Sampling

Granny-Smith Apple/Champagne Mignonette

Purdy's Caviar

White Truffle, Pink Peppercorn Vinaigrette

*This plate is all Chef Ryan Gustafson's creation. It was made as a mid-course for VIP's, and frankly Bi-Valves are the fastest way to my own interior Quad-Valves.

2) Seared Foie Gras, Basil/Port Brine Cherries

Braised Cipollinis, Northern Woods King Mushroom, Brioche Toast

*I have learnt you can never really go wrong taking pictures of a foie dish. They always seem to come out so naturally. Ironically, if only foie where as natural...

I was really excited to see this plate go out because it currently is cherry season, and there is very few things I love more then a Cherry/Basil/Foie combo. I was all to happy to turn this year's latest harvest into a delicious preserve which will be used well into the fall/winter season.

3) Roasted Thyme British Columbia Halibut
Fingerlings, Guanciale, Oceanwise Clam Chowder
Heirloom Tomato Vierge

*Okay, a plate you would typically see on a menu starting with the first frost, however, looks are deceiving. The vierge, being completely seasonal allows for less chowder and creates this lighter dish perfect for a mid-summer evening.


4) Saffron/White Chocolate, Candy Apple Confit


*More importantly, Chocolate and flavour infusions. I often check out Francisco Migoya's Blog to see what the very latest trends in pastry are(http://www.thequenelle.com/). Recently he suggested Sous-Viding White Chocolate with Saffron @ 35C for 3 hours and to create a modern twist to Candy Apples. Working with Vanessa Fiorini, we were successful into creating a limited edition Petit Four (shown above). Cool concept, which I feel would be much more applicable towards truffles or praline.


5) Classic Brunch with a Brother.

Poached Eggs, Garden Asparagus, Family-Cured Prosciutto
French Bread, Truffle/Mushroom Saute, Parmesan Reggiano
-Served with my awesome Espresso on my awesome Espresso Machine


*I love cooking at home, but I really love cooking at home for visiting foodies. Recently, a brother who happens to work F.O.H. came by for a meal and I was all to happy to pump out this meal which was inspired by Thomas Keller's latest book "Ad Hoc". Remember, no idea in the kitchen is original, but copying those you highly respect is the greatest form of flattery.




-Jerek

Summerlicious, Linguini Vongole, and "Bill"

Linguini Vongole.

Easily my favorite pasta dish of all time. I first had it in a random back street piazza in the outskirts of Rome. I learnt two things that night. First, this pasta would be the defining dish to take home with me. Second, if I wished to make it back to the hotel with my body as one whole unit, I better vet my Rome taxi drivers more carefully in the future. In fact, it's safe to generalize here. When in Rome, walk.

Barry "The Blur" Mooney (Now CWC!)

Stuck in the middle of a typical summerlicious service; which can be exceptionally fun as long as you and your fellow cooks share a self-deprecating dark, dry sense of humor. We here at Epic do just fine.

Wild B.C. Salmon

Stewed Ham Hock/Navy Bean Ragout, Sugar Snap Peas, Meyer Lemon Sauce.


When life hands you a lemon...

A rabbit. More specifically, a rabbit with a huge chunk of my perfectly manicured lawn stuffed in its mouth....



Make lemonade.

Hot and Dry Smoked Spiced Rabbit,
Garden Chimichurri Sauce


Full Disclosure; I did not kill the bunny from my backyard(who my wife refers to as "Bill") to make the tasty kebobs shown above.
It did however take some concentrated effort on my behalf to save its little furry skin from my Italian classically raised, now retired, old-school father-in-law who was all to eager to handle this "situation" I was having with "Bill".
In the end, Darwin was on its side, as I am sure it could sense the impending exhaustion of my wife's father patience and simply disappeared one day last week when the whole family was up.

huh,...uh oh...

Anyways, summerlicious is in full swing at Epic. The menu is awesome, and we have been busier then average this year thus far with it. I was really happy to hear from Chef Ryan that the Vongole would be on the menu.

So, here is my take on the dish, just the way I love it.

Linguini Vongole

Ingredients

Linguini (100gr. per person)
Clams (I love Varache, and 6 per order)
2 oz. Pancetta (Diced)
1 Shallot (Brunoise)
Garlic (1 Peeled Clove)
Chilies (tt)
Italian Parsley Chopped
125ml. Dry White Wine
1 tbs. Olive Oil
1 knob. Butter
Salt and Pepper (tt, and you toasted the pepper before using a coffee grinder to break it down right?)
Parm (the good stuff, optional, purest will hate me though)

Method (to the madness)

1) Cook the linguini al dente. Reserve the salty pasta water in case you need to loosen the final dish. However I am serious about the al dente bit. That pasta better have perfect structure there or I am walking away...
2) In a heated skillet, Add a hint of olive oil. Cook off the pancetta until brown. Add the shallots and garlic and sweat for 1 minute.
3) Deglaze with white wine, add the clams and chilies.
4) Cook off until the clams open up. Remove the garlic.
5) Check for sauce consistency, add a knob of butter and set an emulsion. Add pasta water if needed. Finally, add the linguini, and toss in the parsley, and season to perfection.

Serve on a mid-summer night, around 10pm, preferably in a Rome piazza court yard with your favorite person next to you. ...assuming they are into Bi-valves as well. Drink a healthy amount of wine if you plan to taxi it back to the hotel.

-Jerek

If you can't take the heat, ...save your energy and stay in the kitchen. It's just as hot outside.

Do you want to know the secret to a great Iced Tea?

...booze, friends, and a reflective Carafe.

1lt. Water

2 bags Organic Green Tea

2 Sprigs of Pepper Mint

Simple Syrup TT

4 tbs. White Rum

Steep, Chill, Serve, Run around a stationary baseball bat held to your forehead and do laps around the house. Last part optional if wife is home.

Gazpacho Soup

Avocado, Serrano Ham, Seared Diver Scallop.

1lt Tomato Juice

1 Red Pepper (seeded, rough chopped)

2 Heirloom Tomatoes (concasse)

2 Shallots chopped

2 Cloves Garlic

1 English Cucumber (peeled, seeded, chopped)

1 Sm. Bunch Genovese Basil

1 Sm. Chili

2 tbs. Extra Awesome Olive Oil

Salt, Pepper TT

Marinate everything minus the last three ingredients for a day. Using a vita-mix, blend to smooth and slowly add the Oil. Season to taste.

Garnish with the Avocado, Ham, and Scallop.

Sun-dried Cherry, White Callebaut Chocolate Gelato
Amerena Cherries

28 Egg Yolks
750gr. Granulated Sugar
2.5 lt Whole Milk (as suppose to "hole" milk ...haha..ha)
850gr. Plain Organic Yogurt
150gr. Sun-dried Cherries ($16.99 lb. so be cheap like the budgie)
200gr. Cherry Puree
250gr. White Chocolate Chopped (350gr. if you need to taste first)

Method;

Steep the milk with half the sugar.
At the same time, Whip the eggs with the other half of sugar.
Slowly temper the milk into the yolks. Strain. Chill. Add the rest of the ingredients. Again, Chill. 24 Hours later, churn. Eat within two days for the smoothest results.

*fyi Vanessa "living-in-the-pastry-freezer" Fiorini was nice enough to develop and execute this gelato. ...Very nice touch on the yogurt.


Important Vegetable Garden Update!
I am currently using the "Forth of July" Tomatoes, Thyme, and Curly Parsley in my kitchen. Drastic action will soon be needed as the cucumber patch is eyeballing both the basil on the left, and the spanish onions to the right. Weeds seem to be conspiring against my leeks as well. Might need to incorporate violence to bring them down. Will keep everyone posted.


Me. Royal York Rooftop. Chocolate Covered Strawberries.
...thinking I should change me profile shot to this one actually...

Okay, it's hot out. Like a grill station at my front door. I am stuck inside, and on my desktop I have about a half dozen potential blog postings I am floating around...However, I cannot even think about writing anything we have done on the hot line lately with any exuberance of passion. So, I am picking things particularly close to my heart this week. I settled for three recipes finessed in the past few days to combat against this global-warming-is-real temperatures.

I intend to get into a raw diet if this uncivilized sunniness continues.

-Jerek "Frosty Pants" Bowman.

Barry Mooney, Vanessa Fiorini; two cooks I want on my side in an Iron Chef fight.

2010 CWC National Exam

Barry with his head tucked in. It was a little weird being on this side of the lense one year later.

Barry's practice run before the exam. Vanessa actually helped out with this recipe so it's only proper I post it here.

Chocolate Raspberry Terrine
Cinnamon Tuile
Hazelnut Teardrop

Zero Hour
One of those moments where the silence is deafening.

Potential CWC's. 3 Hours to cook a blackbox 3-course meal.
Special note to how well beer tastes after that three hours in particular is over...


The only decent shot of Vanessa I have on file.
...her going through the loops of preparing a baguette with me last fall.

Vanessa's little hobby on the side... ....seriously.

So I should apologize for the inexcusable delay in writing a blog entry. June was a good month. Nuttier then brown butter, but well, well worth the experience. July is here. The garden is a rockstar. I have begun to use the herbs, and if I wanted too, I could at this point use the baby leeks, however I have bigger plans for them. Vichyssoise is after all my choice as a final meal, (That cold soup, paired with Malpaque Oyster, Caviar and Creme Fraiche).

Two people aside from me are the focus today.

First, Second Cook, Epic Chef Tournant Barry "do-no-wrong" Mooney very recently completed the national CWC practical black box exam at Humber College. I managed to make it on time for the final plate presentations and to try make him feel uncomfortable; not that already having 4 CMC's looking intently at you as you try to turn 7 perfect sides of a potato is exactly relaxing....

In my humble CWC opinion I felt Barry did awesome. Tight and controlled, he utilized every given opportunity to make the most of his plates and it came out looking sharp. A good day for a really good cook.

Next on the block is a long talked about Pastry Second Cook here at BOHK (Should I make this an initialism or an anagram?) who in my again, humble CWC (with honors) opinion is far gifted beyond her younger age (ahhhh to be not-so-late twenties again...).
Vanessa 'anything can be a cake' Fiorini finally has gotten her act together and formulated a website to showcase her talents. It's unreal what this girl does on her time away from the Royal York. Check it out here;

http://www.vanessafiorinicakes.weebly.com/

Currently, I am helping Chef Ryan and the Epic Crew engage in a lot of product changes/finessing that will make it's way onto the blog. Heads up!

-Jerek "GO GERMANY!" Bowman.