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BBQ Brian

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Everything posted by BBQ Brian

  1. Hey Nan, I hope your mother enjoyed her trip to the North... it has a warm place in my heart. There are two general ways to smoke fish (or other things at that) - cold smoke and hot smoke. Hot smoke is where the temperature is usually above 100 or so F thus in most instances the food is definately smoked however not necessarily cooked - i.e., sometimes a kolbassa or farmer sausage. Fish or seafood doesn't need to be cooked to the same temperatures as meat products such as 165 F for poultry and thus the cold smoked salmon that you might be referring to is soft, pink in color and somewhat has a texture of raw fish. Hot smoke on the other hand thoroughly cooks the product thus giving the fish a "tougher" texture or probably better described as a cooked texture. Something I speculate you can relate to. If the vacuum package you had was clearly sealed and didn't have any leaks in it thus giving it air, it has, believe it or not, a shelf-life without refridgeration of around a year. The product will be fine. Worst case scenario, trust your own judgement - if it doesn't seem right, recycle it so to speak. Hope that helps, Brian
  2. I had the opportunity to have pumpkin fritters a while ago and I remember them dearly. Nice treat and a certainly a deviation from I had solidified in my mind about pumpkin. Sorry no recipe however your creativity with a fritter recipe should get you in the right direction. Have fun!
  3. I just booked into a class here in Vancouver. It is 8 evenings at about 3 hours each night. Number of recipes - I don't know - we just started. Class cost - $600 - all supplies included.
  4. The info might be buried in some other posts but I wanted to see if any e-Gulleters have been to the Richmond Market this year? Anything different from past years? Same food vendors with same food? Or anything notable? What's your favorite? Any tips or hints for a newbie? (we went once last year) Brian
  5. Mike, I think Pam has added a good comment... that is, Ukrainian food is "home food" and associating it with finer dining or at the most casual fine dining (CFD) would be at most it could support. For linen service restaurants genre's like Italian, French et al suit much better. Ukrainian food for many Ukrainian's like me is getting together with family at moms house or grandmas and not necessarily out on the town. (I'd hate to imagine a wine pairing list for perogies...) I do recall a Russian restaurant that had great perogies and cabbage rolls that was on 4th near the river (at Elbow) in the late 90's. Reasonable location, parking was nasty for that area, good walking/street traffic - however it only lasted a year or two... Hope that helps. Brian
  6. Superstore had them on sale for the past month or so... 500 ml jars were $5.88/case. I bought 15 or so cases for bbq sauce. There are jar distributors around Vancouver however they are usually specialty jars rather than for canning... I'd be interested to see if you find anything else. Brian
  7. Best thread I've read - wonderful job and thanks for the road report!!
  8. I gotta throw in another dimension into the dialogue here... What are peoples comments about organic beef? I understand and appreciate the concept of raising, farming, growing something organic however in the case of beef, I think it tastes frankly, horrible. There seems to be extremely health conscious consumers who are requesting organic products to be available however in the case of beef, I'm not understanding the desire for tasteless, cardboard-like meat that maybe is simply in micro-development rather than the "free-range" beef that I am used to... Thoughts? Brian
  9. Interesting thread to be resurfaced! I, like Chef Fowke, was rasied on the Canadian prairies and have had the opportunity to travel all over the world and somehow and for whatever reason desire to test the beef where ever I have gone. With the question of grain or grass fed there is indeed a difference but I need to point out a clarification... Some small farmers will raise their cattle with grass however will leave them in a 100 foot pen. Compare that to a cow that meanders 1000 grass acres and the quality of meat in strikingly in favor of the one with room to roam. When I am choosing briskets to smoke I sway away from corn fed - I don't like the color of the fat cap - don't like the texture and well, don't like the flavor compared to a whole, grass-fed packer. My thoughts... Brian
  10. Our office decided to have a lunch gathering and O'Douls on Robson was our destination (1300 block). I had been there a number of times for lunch however wanted to finally post a comment about our experience. There were a couple of dishes that really caught my attention - the mixed west coast seafood salad which came with clams, scallops and salmon all on a nice bed of mixed greens. What was notable was the collective stares from the whole table as the dish was presented to the person who ordered it - a clear indication how truly it looked! All smiles from that patron. The second notable dish, which isn't necessarily a culinary stretch, was a smoked chicken quesadilla. The large tortilla was filled with chicken, folded in half, grilled and then cut into thirds. The sour cream, guacamole and salsa served on the side added wonderful color and flavor. Again, all smiles from those patrons that ordered the quesadilla. I ordered the seafood chowder as a starter which had clams, halibut and salmon. The carrots, onion and herbs rounded out the flavors for this nicely prepared dish. A nice starter indeed. For the main course, I had was a Dungenous crab stuffed sockeye salmon filet, served on rice with mixed griled veggies on the side. All wonderfully prepared and presented. No discredits for this dish either other than the rice was bland compared to the other elements on the plate but then again, it really wasn't the focus. All in all, no concerns in recomending O'Douls for a lunch gig. The food is presented in a wonderful fashion and all the flavors are definately taken into account when the dishes were created.
  11. A referral from NOLA for OR? Hmm... Um, a gracious thank you but I was looking to stay with local Vancouver companies for now. Glenys - other than the firm name, she might be a good resource to know pitfalls and things to avoid. Any lessons learned to share? Thanks Brian
  12. I'm looking to find a co-packer in the Vancouver area and for those not sure of the term, a co-packer is a company that takes your recipe and produces your product for you - such as a sauce, syrup, jam etc. I've come across a few companies however I wanted to see if the e-Gullet community is knowledgable about this topic, has resources to share or even tips/hints on what to look for. Can you help? Thanks! Brian
  13. BBQ Brian

    ground pork

    It also depends on what you wanna make... ground pork butt is often used for sausages - it provides a real nice blend of fat to lean meat ratio. For a more lean gind, use a shoulder cut.
  14. I drove through the parking lot going to Save-On in Coquitlam and drove by the old Popeye's Chicken hut - the one which is "under renovation" with all the windows papered up - and immediately smelled deep fryer exhaust. I spun my head around faster than a top looking to see if it reopened and sorry folks, it's still papered up and under renovation. You talk about association by fried chicken smell. Man those renovations take long heh?
  15. Good Job Arne! Ribs look great. With the turning you did of the racks, did you feel you impacted the bark (the crusting of the rub) - sometimes "regular" movement will remove the rub. For competitions, we usually don't even move the racks - where they started is where they finished. Cheers,
  16. Sara, Where to start... um, brisket - cool! I'm sure you'll enjoy. A great resource that shows you step by step the preparation of a brisket and the temperatures and a recipe is from the Virtual Weber Bullet: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brisket2.html Even if you don't have a vertical water smoker like a Weber, the recipe and technique is very useful and relatively the same for any smoker. There is also a preparation method posted there on how to smoke on a smoker then finish in an oven. Other resources: Paul Kirk cook books - a master at spices, rubs and bbq or Ray Basso - aka Dr. BBQ. I hope that gets you going. My other tidbit from my experience at competitions is to be patient and really get into the concept of you can't really cook it too long - normally its around 90 minutes to 2 hours per pound of meat for smoking at a temperature of 225 - 240 F. Good luck! Brian
  17. I can probably point out more bars that eateries... Drummheller, Hanna, Oyen... Oops, food, right.
  18. Harry, I love etouffee as well and one question for you... I learnt to cook the vegggies first then add the flour for the roux. However you did it the other way around. The key thing here for etouffee is letting the roux turn brown in color - did you notice any difference - veggies first or second? Brian
  19. The last (?) Popeyes in the lower mainland (in Coquitlam) has the often posted restaurant sign "closed for renovations"... I'm holding my breath for the reopening with the new paint and cleaned floors with exactly the same menu - I'm sure. Or maybe it will be yet another Korean BBQ place which seem to be abundant in that area.
  20. I'd guess spotted prawn - tis the season, maybe a bit late but... do you know the origin?
  21. That is exactly the question we asked John Gerum of West Coast Wine Education a sommelier (www.wcwed.com). The general direction for ribs was to Cabernet Sauvignon or real California Zinfandel (the red kind not blush) but in either case, the lighter the oak, the better. If you can find it in your area, an Australian Shiraz is good direction for beef brisket or any beef steaks. Good luck and enjoy! Brian
  22. BBQ Brian

    Smoking a Turkey

    Great looking birds! How did the raw weight of the bird(s) work out for number of guests and how much leftover did you have? Thanks Brian
  23. BBQ Brian

    Smoking a Turkey

    The trouble with those big birds is getting an even cook... the thighs and legs get done, then overdone while the breast is still needing more time. Ugh. The two-smaller-bird plan is a good one. I am not sure you will yield more meat but you will have likely more consistently cooked meat. Good luck! Brian
  24. BBQ Brian

    BBQ's

    In a nutshell the BTU rating indicates how much fuel you will use... more BTU's = more fuel. You get to decide if that is a good criteria for you to use when selecting a grill. There's better things to help you decide grill choice in my opinion. Look for solid, quality constructed grills - forget about the crimped, flimsy materials that with one seasons regular use it all falls apart or you need to replace parts. This is often the case in the low dollar range for grills that are available (blue light special?). Another aspect that I get asked all the time is how to get good grate marks on whatever you are cooking... the trick is to have a material that will hold the heat such as cast iron (or porcelan coated cast iron - doesn't stick as much). The searing marks are from the grate being at a higher temperature than the "ambiant" temperature in the grill area. Forget about the nice and shiny stainless steal things - they just look pretty for the most part - they don't retain the heat that a cast iron grate would. Another element to look for is temperature control. Look for 2, 3 or even more "zones" that you can change the temperature such as turning one area completely off for indirect cooking. It seems though that you are in a good direction. Good luck and good grilling! Brian
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