MikeMac

You can char on induction you are correct it's not as easy as using an open flame use a cast iron pot on full. Usually the max temp allowed by a induction burner is around 500 F so you are right its wimpy. I have a Cooktek unit.

I have both gasand induction. Once you get used to not seeing the flame I am firmly in the induction camp. Only issue is with portable units you are limited to 15 amp 110 V which does the job but takes its time with big pots if you have 220 40 Amp hang on for the rife it's SOO fast you will burn things at first. Only thing induction can not do is light Flambés by just tilting the pan you will need a match.

I have 2 of these units and can only keep one at a time working. The local service guys just cavn not keep them working and the water tray tops crack all the time. But they got me sold on Combi ovens and made me invest in a proper plumbed in a Rational oven. From that point never looked back other than the two units I have sitting in my guarage. If you have good local service and not much room they are OK,

I agree the Chefs Table in Kensington is great !! Wonderful idea well executed that can be enjoyed more than once.

Well the guy who owns it certainly has the money to do it right he developed the area . I personally have not eaten their I have at the previous versions and it was not my favorite I do not like the room. But things change... Calgary is so nice in our short summer maybe checkout Rouge better food or the River Cafe better location IF weather is nice and enjoy our summer.

In 1912 the Stampede was born from the vision of Guy Weadick. Guy was a "working" cowboy and vaudeville entertainer featured in the traveling wild-west shows that were popular world-wide in the early 1900s. Today it's morphed into a two week party celebrating the best of the west. Highlights for me: Cowboys dance hall - opportunity to party with over 5000 of your closest drunken friends. Best but most expensive experience is one of the private suites on the second floor. Easiest thing to order is bottle service. Food and especially wine choices are limited but the staff is friendly and easy to look at. Rodeo - some of the best in the world high dollar prizes so we can attract the top performers both human and livestock Food- basically Beer, BBQ and novelty items from the largest BBQ IN in the world to scorpion pizza many of the novelty food items are not local but travel from fair to fair. Something to try are the free pancake breakfasts all over the city basically show up and get all the free coffee, pancakes and bacon you want. Bigger charity focus- a trend I really like is rather than companies just laying out the food drink and entrainment more and more are asking for a donation to a charity as the price of admission.

Steak done right. TRIB Steakhouse Calgary A big problem in Calgary is the lack of good steak houses. We have the old standbys tired over priced and way over salted that I will not bother naming them. We had a group of twenty in town for Stampede and booked at the TRIB Worked out real well. Juanita was our server, and she is a fantastic, professional and passionate individual, we were are lucky to have her. For wine we did Your wine the Seghesio Zinfandel from Sonoma, CA. The Resturant messed up one steak and a couple of the bottles of wine had something wrong but Juanita and her team not only made things right they did not make a fuss about it. When a Kitchen gets slammed with 20 picky eaters who all want to get served at once mistakes happen Juanita and her team handled thinks really well in fact when the one errant steak came out it was considered by the eater fantastic. I highly recommend the TRIB and further Juanita a lady that really knows her food and wine.

You are right they look like the same product quite tasty but in the Turks and Caicos islands where I eat the large ones nearly every day the only way to make Conch edible to either really pound them or creviche them.The next question is the health qualities of the meat. One school calls it natures wonder food pure lean protein another school says lots of protein but also lots of cholesterol, but does not identify what kind of cholesterol.

This is so cool !! I am a Canadian posting on an American web site learning from someone in CHINA!! I consider Chinese cuisine one of the "mother cuisine's" 3.000 plus years of history in every dish. Its a privilege to learn from you.

Interesting exactly the opposite to the farmed approach where the entire cooking process I used is designed to render most of the fat leaving a very succulent tasty finished product with a crispy skin. How do you cook it? Debone then pan fry?

Our local Asian Superstore has started stocking live baby conch these are maybe 2 inches long I am used to (and love) the big ones. Never eaten the little ones maybe do them up like escargot ? The big conch are tough and need vigorous tenderizing - again no idea how to deal with the little ones.

Interesting how is the wild stuff different than the farm product? Frankly I can not see the farmed product flying around when I cooked them lost 40% by weight and had quite a bit of duck fat. With the wild I would imagine not the same fat content but no "hands on" knowledge.

Duck under used product. Duck is amazing I am not talking the wild stuff with no fat which has spent its life running or flying from its natural enemies Instead the carefully raised farm product. True you loose a lot of the product to fat dripping but what is left is great. Tonight I did nothing to season the duck just set it up and roasted it it up right letting the fat drain out. I lost 40% of the duck by weight but the meat left was amazing served it quartered over a bed of celery root roasted in a bit of the duck fat with Kale and lemon salt. I used the tasty part of lemon rind as well as the lemon juice to brighten up taste. All it needed on top of this was a bit of salt and pepper. Really great.

With out a doubt Japanese food is better in Vancouver than Calgary Tojo's is amazing and regular Japanese restaurants especially sushi bars are cheaper and better in Vancouver. But we in Calgary have some pretty good contenders when you toss out the top few in Vancouver We in Calgary have Shikiji Japanese Noodles & Sushi on Center street and a real old timer going into its second generation of ownership Sushi Hero. In fact its interesting both of these are moving from first generation into second generation ownership. If you come to Calgary I hope you will enjoy these fine restaurants.

I am firmly on the side of induction burners. Use both induction is faster more controllable and produces a lot less heat in the kitchen. Only drawbacks are need separate ignition source for Flambés, and due to electronic Saftey switches I can not modify less tempature than t like for blackening. Of course their is the issue with non magnetic pots and pans I love the look and feel of my copper cookware but as I get older it sure gets a lot heavier. Progress.

At work I use a lot of manuals regulations and reference guides. In my travels I used to lug some of this around then I loaded it on my iPad and not only is the material always upto date it's always accessible and searchable. Fantastic Same with cooking I do not like buying cook books unless they come out as ebooks. I am a huge fan of Modernist Cuisine. I like the inking app with Modernist Cuisine at Home. I like the "original" Modernist. Cuisine even better but it's so big and hard to reference I tend to not use it much. In terms of my iPad getting dirty - who cares? Electronics are disposable items use it abuse it the apple warranty is great and when it runs out just buy a new one. The key for me is easy access to the reference material. I am not big into fancy pictures bit I a huge into under sting the SICENCE behind the cooking process and making sure I use it to achieve my desired results. Tonight crispy salmon !!!!

Personally I am not aware of any public outside roof top patio dining experiences. To quote an earlier post under Calgary food trucks "I wondered why the parking stalls in Calgary had plug-in's . Then I found out"... We have excellent dining patios places like Bonterria's but a windy downtown office buildings roof might be comfortable 10? Days a year bring it down near ground level and add heaters and shelter from the wind you might get 90? To 180? Days per year of use. Nice thing is we do not have a bad bug problem. We have a South West Deck on our home we are just starting to use it now and it will be finished by end of September.

I love my SIKA Clogs they are non slip, steel toe and very comfortable in fact they have become my regular day to day shoe

Tojo's is amazing - good as anything I have had in Japan and by far the best in Vancouver

CHARCUT roast house Anchored by co-chefs and co-owners John Jackson and Connie DeSousa, They are a roast house love the quick lunches at either 15 or 25 in and out in under an hour if you want to be. Dinner is another matter start with the CHARCUT BOARD all homemade then move on to the Share Burger Mixture of ground pork and beef and bought by the oz. Everything can be shared family style.

And alley burgers is associated with one of my favorite restaurants in Calgary CHARCUT its anchored by co-chefs and co-owners John Jackson and Connie DeSousa, I now think I will look for a forum on Calgary's best restaurants and post my views on CHARCUT.

Calgary is great in the winter. You just have to pick your days. Locations are more limited and try Sticky Rickies, and of course Jelly Modern or if you can find it the amazing Alley Burger I never have but freinds told me they tried it. In reviewing my posts I do not think I am giving a balanced view of our trucks we have wonderful ethnic food truck operations my problem is getting the names straight. If it smells good and looks good try it.

my favorites are Flank seared really hot and cut across the grain Prime Rib - because theirs some bone and fat somewhat forgiving for Bison Ribs these cook a long time slow I like the big ones but hard to get.

I love Bison great tasting, lower in fat but touchy to cook due to low fat content. I have a couple of Prime Ribs I am going to have a go at and want to do something different. Usually I cook slow to a temp of 125 and it works out great.. Suggestions?

Actually one of my favorites is Rocky's Burgers its one of the original food Trucks its a converted bus that was in one location for years then it moved to Crossroads market. Its still run by Rocky and his family. Go Hungry very hungry Another one I like the look of is Farm Girls have some neat home make things. Also Chef Mario at Burger 320 will get his trucks back on the road soon he used to do pizza's not sure what he will come up with now.