Many, many moons ago, my grade 8 school trip took us from Toronto to Ottawa to learn a bit of Canadian history. For some reason, I’ve never been back until a few weeks ago when the FAB east and west kitchens reunited for a weekend of All BBQ, All the time.

One thing I do remember about that trip so long ago was the teachers making a big deal about Ottawa’s Sparks Street, the only street in Canada to be closed and turned into a pedestrian mall. I suppose that was a big deal back then, but today. Well, who cares?

Just a few blocks away is one of the highlights of downtown Ottawa, the Byward Market. I had expected an enclosed place along the lines of Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market, but what I found was a thriving neighborhood of foodie fun. Outdoor produce stalls, crafts people, flowers, henna tattoos and way way more combine to make the market an exciting place to spend an afternoon. Surrounding the market are literally dozens of hip restaurants, bars and coffee shops, many of which have patios and open air store fronts. This place is a people watchers dream and the perfect playground for a photography hack like me!

Check out the slideshow after the break
(more…)

We’ve all heard it: The parent at the next table demanding that their kid finish the entire adult meal that was brought to them, when they should have had a meal half the size. Recently though, many restaurants have tried a different approach and called it Family Style. Essentially they put out a giant bowl of pasta that cost them squat and the family then scoops out just the right amount for each offspring. It really is food service at it’s simplest, so why not bring it home?

There are so many reasons to feed from a central platter. From the practicality of only having one serving dish to clean to the ability for each kid to choose how much they want of each course. It even teaches them not to be greedy and take only what they need. Perhaps best of all is that a big platter full of food promotes conversation at the table, rather than everyone just tucking into a pre-plated meal. In the same manner, the platter works well with guests of the adult persuasion. Simple, rustic presentation wows guests every time.

Speaking of entertaining, a big platter offers up the chance to grill all sorts of different things. Give your guests some choice, I dare you. I guarantee that a mixed grill, sliced into small portions will disappear in no time with a few guests and a few glasses of wine. Really mix it up. A few gourmet sausages. A chicken breast or two. A striploin cooked no more than medium rare seasoned with nothing more than salt, pepper and olive oil. Add in some steamed broccoli or asparagus spears with some wine vinegar and your guests will go wild. If you must have starch, how about some early harvest mini potatoes that have been blanched and finished on the grill. You can pop them in your mouth like grapes.

On the platter above, we have the simplest meal yet the kids gobbled it up. Grilled chicken sliced and dressed with a chunky BBQ sauce match up perfectly with veggies cooked in a grill basket and topped with creamy goats cheese. A simple, rustic meal that fills the tummy and makes a summer evening feel complete.

Well folks, it has been a long winter and finally warm weather has reached Ontario. Over the past few days, there has been a good bit of discussion over reviving FAB, as it seems to have fallen by the wayside over the winter. What better way to kick start things than with a review of some serious California red wine?

I have to admit that I’m very much a marketers dream in the wine store. Create a funky label with a catchy name and you can pretty much guarantee that I’ll buy your wine at least once. This weekend’s find, Red Horse Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon, caught my eye for something other than a catchy design. The vineyard, Silver Stone, is located in Paso Robles. So what the heck does Paso Robles mean to a guy in Southern Ontario? Well, over in The Garage, our west coast guy, Aaron Von Minden took a bit of a road trip to Paso for an annual show. The road trip photos look like a trip back in time.

I just had to pick up a bottle of this 2005 vintage cab.

We have been drinking big, juicy Aussie Shiraz’s lately so I was pleased to find this Cab stands up to the bold taste we’ve acquired. What starts off as a dry light oak grows in the mouth to a nice jammy fruit. We had just tucked into a new chicken & sausage cacciatore recipe (recipe to follow) and were pleasantly surprised to find that the Paso Robles Cab has just enough acidity to set off the garlicy tomato sauce perfectly. What began as a random pairing turned out to be an absolutely perfect match.

In Ontario, you’ll find the Red Horse Ranch, 2005 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon in the Vintages section of your better stocked local LCBO.

While menu planning for our annual New Year’s eve gathering here in the FAB East kitchen, I came across this very cool site. Free Rice is home to a word game that really tests your knowledge, but has a great purpose: Help feed the hungry. For every word you get right, 20 grains of rice are donated through the United Nations. That’s great, but how do they pay for all of this rice? It’s simple, like millions of web site owners, they generate income with Google’s Adsense. This is very cool, and more than a little bit addictive! A tabbed browser makes it easy to cheat, which is a good thing in this case.

Believe it or not, I found this through Emeril’s blog

When you BBQ steaks for a crowd, it’s not uncommon to have some leftover Grade A slabs of cow. There are tons of ways to use left over steak, but a great steak sammich is probably the most satisfying. When you combine it with some simple, fresh grilled veggies and a spot or two of goats cheese you have an instant winner. Best of all it is simple.

Ingredients
Steak - fresh cooked or left over
Peppers - use any color you like, we prefer nice sweet orange, yellow and red
Onions - Sweet ones like Vidalia
Goats cheese - plain or rolled in pepper or bruschetta stuff
Zucchini
Soft, long rolls
(more…)

Shame about the bad wig!

Source Youtbue via Zentastic

Nothing better than an ice cold keg of Upper Canada Lager!

A while back, One of Seven posted a killer recipe for Grilled Citrus Jalapeno Shrimp. Over the weekend, we modified it somewhat to cook shell on in a basket rather than on skewers. As always, they were awesome and so we just had to share the view!

Next Friday, we’ll likely hit Costco with Jouni & Leigh before we all descend on the FAB East kitchen.

Oh yeah, I actually forgot to order the keg today, so I’ll have to try to do that on Monday.

Need I say more?