I’m not sure if it’s just me, but when I watch shows such as Survivor, I get a little jealous.
Not in the, I’d-love-to-be-on-a-tropical-island-in-the-middle-of-winter kinds of thing, but more when the cameras zooms in on the fish they’re grilling over the open fire.
Drool.
Yes friends, that is the source of my envy.
Well, a shot at a million bucks would also be nice but still, every time they show a fish being pulled out of the water and then grilled over the flames, I wish I could be there to taste it.
Or one of the chickens they won in a challenge. How good would that be freshly butchered then cooked over an open flame?
I mean, does it get any fresher than that?
Plus, the fire’s flames and smoke would make that taste so good, I’m having a tough time typing and wiping away the drool forming at both sides of my mouth as I think about it.
Same thing for The Game of Thrones tv show.
I’m reading the books along with watching the show on HBO and again, the feasts they show on TV and the detail they go into as I read the books, makes me hunger for what they’re having.
There are entire pages devoted to listing the extravagant ingredients and meals being served at these events.
It makes me wish a restaurant in the city existed that catered to the old recipes and drinks.
How cool would it be to hoist a tankard sloshing with delicious mead as you tear into a roasted goose with chestnut and apple stuffing?
Oh yeah–sign me up. Heck, I’d invest in the darn thing!
But alas–none exist and that type of cooking, apparently, can’t make it in this day and age.
That makes me a little sad.
Few people these days realize or care that the chicken they pick up at the store was once a living, breathing animal.
And as we lose sight of that connection, we’re also losing access to an entire world of cooking too.
To keep it alive just a little longer, make something tonight, this week or this month, that uses the same principles cooks from 100′s of years ago took to heart.
Find an ingredient as fresh as possible and cook it over a fire.
Serve it to friends along with a few mugs of beer while music plays in the background.
And that my friends, I promise, is a meal worth remembering.

When we bought our current house, one of the features about it we liked the most was the expansive dining room.
The kitchen was pretty good (still small by my standards though) but with the adjoining great room that would become the dining room, that sold us.
Now that I think about it, going this route may have been a bad idea.
You see, with enough space in there to sit 10 people and a few kids comfortably, our home has become the de facto place for all manners of birthday parties, celebrations and holiday gatherings.
I, as you know, love to cook, so with all of my pots and pans at my fingertips, it also makes it a great deal easier to kick out a meal for large groups of people.
Which brings me back to the whole ‘bad idea’ thing.
With the space and the cooking skills, we always host.
Always.
Seriously though, I don’t mind it that much as I’d rather have these meals here instead of being squished into a much smaller space where you don’t get to sit and enjoy the meal with all participants.
So, if given the choice, I pick our house too (plus, I get to raid my red wine cellar while I’m at it too.)
We recently held one of these big meals just the other day.
My lovely wife’s older sister was in town with her six, yes, count ‘em, six kids and we wanted to have them over for dinner.
Once you throw in the hubby, other siblings and parents, the head count gives pretty big, pretty fast.
As I thought about all the things I could make that would be both delicious and appealing to a wide range of ages, I settled on a favourite family standby–spaghetti marinara and meatballs.
The homemade kind of course.
That would be rounded out with sautéed garlic and Monterey Jack baked cheese bread, Caesar salad with (eggless) dressing over baby romaine and honey & balsamic macerated strawberries with Angel food cake.
Kids would like it–so would Mom and Dad.
That, my friends, is the ticket too–when preparing anything for a large group, the key is going with what you know.
Don’t even think about trying a brand new recipe for a ton of people–if you’re running though the steps for the first time, you won’t know how scalable the recipe really is.
You see, most are for 4 to 6 people–not 14 like my group.
Sure, if it calls for 2 garlic cloves, doubling to 4 sounds easy enough, but what about when you get to 8 or even 16?
You may get not enough of the flavour or way too much.
Knowing how to prepare a dish and what its supposed to look and taste like at the end will save you all kinds of headaches.
Also look at your timing
How do you plan on keeping the meatballs warm if the oven is tied up with the cake.
How many pots will you need on the stove at once to make the marinara and cook the pasta.
Timing, almost every chef will tell you, is crucial.
So before you dive in to start working on your meal, make a quick game plan of what needs done at what time.
Having several pots and pans needing the same real estate space at the same time is not good for your mental health, so avoid it at all costs.
That my friends, are a couple of tips for succeeding at preparing large meals.
I’ll leave you with a recipe too–here’s the strawberry topping I used on the Angel food cake
2 lbs ripe, red strawberries
2 tbsp (30 mL) honey
2 tbsp (30 mL) superfine or berry sugar
1 tbsp (15 mL) white balsamic vinegar
Pinch of kosher salt

DIRECTIONS:
Wash, hull and half the strawberries. Place in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Place strawberries in a bowl and combine with remaining ingredients, stirring to mix. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Stir before scooping onto your dessert of choice.
Yum!

In less than two days, I’ll be with my family enjoying the beaches of Mexico.
I know, I lead quite the rough life.
We don’t do this every year mind you, and are fortunate to be able to do it this year, especially now with two daughters under the age of four and one more on the way.
As I was telling a friend of mine about the upcoming trip, he asked how it was possible for someone like me to be talked into dining buffet-style for a week.
Good question.
I think in the spirit of the holiday, I let go of what I normally prefer to eat and instead go with the flow.
I won’t lie, buffet-style food is not my first choice of eats, but when travelling with little ones, being able to offer them a variety of options at meal time is awesome.
So, Daddy takes one for the team.
That said, not all food served in this manner is horrible.
The last time we stayed in Mexico, I had to begrundgingly accept that several times it as actually pretty darn good.
That of course, all depends on the place you’re staying and again, we’ve been lucky to find places where they take pride in the food served.
Hopefully, the place we’re headed will do the same.
If not though, I’ve picked a room at the resort that comes with a full sized kitchen.
And, I’ve already plotted out how to get to the fresh fish market just outside of the resort.
Oh yeah.
To get in the mood for the upcoming trip, I made a batch of quick and easy enchiladas.
To wit, here is the recipe for you to enjoy no matter if you’re getting set to fly off somewhere warm or staying put.

Adobo Chicken & Black Bean Whole-Wheat Enchiladas
6 whole wheat and flax tortillas
1 store-bought rotisserie chicken
1 tbsp canola oil
1 large white onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1 cup chicken stock
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (or more to taste).
1 tbsp adobo sauce
3 tbsp taco seasoning
3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 jar of tomatillo salsa or your favourite salsa verde
1 cup grated aged white cheddar
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Remove skin from chicken and discard, Remove meat from chicken and shred. Heat oil in a skillet set over medium heat. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add peppers and cook for another 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add stock, chipotle, adobo and seasoning; bring to a boil then simmer, stirring often, until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and add beans to mixture, stirring to incorporate. Let cool to room temperature. Spray an ovenproof 10″ x 10″ baking dish with nonstick spray. Place roughly 1/2 cup of mixture (or more) into each tortilla and roll up tightly into a cigar shape. We want to evenly divide the chicken mixture between the six tortillas so you may need to add more or less to each one depending on how much meat you got from the chicken. Place filled tortillas seam side down into prepared baking dish. Cover with salsa and cheese. Bake in a preheated 425 F oven for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is brown and bubbly. Serve immediately with sour cream and additional salsa.
Serves 6 (or 4 depending on how hungry you are)

As a foodie living in Winnipeg, 2011 was a very, very good year.
New restaurants opened and existing ones either relocated or improved their already stellar list of goodies.
So where was I filling my belly the most last year?
Well, without further ado, here’s my favourite top 3 places to eat in the city.
For starters, I have to admit the first place on my list has remained one of my favourite establishments since it opened in south Osborne.
Not only was its opening a godsend to local folks, but the food was an inspired take on french food in a comfortable and approachable manner.
Sure, you could find rilettes, pate and other typical French dishes on the menu, but mussels et frites, pork chops and salmon made choosing a dish for the less than French-food familiar an easy exercise.
If you haven’t guessed, it’s Bistro 7 1/4.
Chef Alex Svenne continues to rock it out, and now, with even more square feet to play in, continues to be one of the best in the city.
As for the movers and shakers, our good friends at Deseo Bistro have settled in nicely to their digs (or should I say, figs?) in south Osborne too.
Nicely decorated with birch wood and muted colour, the space is as inviting as the menu.
I’ve always been one who prefers to make a meal out of smaller bites and if you’re like me, you’ll find the task nearly impossible here.
Impossible in a good way as the choices seem almost endless with each one sounding as good as the previous one.
Be it the spicy sweet chorizo and figs, the unctuous Iberico croquette or the simple yet amazing duck fat fingerling potatoes, you don’t need to look past the first part of the menu to find an amazing dinner.
Alejandro, Scott & staff–you do great work.
Lastly, but certainly not the least, is Elements.
The man behind this massive project is none other than Ben Kramer, a genuine nice guy and champion of local, sustainable and quality food.
I’m not sure what makes me more proud about the opening of Elements–the foodie in me who loves great food or as a Winnipegger seeing someone produce meals for students and the public that don’t arrive in trucks from Sysco.
The menu is ethnically diverse to appeal to all who visit, but since I am an aficionado of smoked pork belly, the first stop is always the spicy bacon caramel popcorn. That salty sweet epiphany is closely followed by the smoked tomato Caesar salad and a toss up between the juniper brined chicken or the sablefish with marinated wakame and warm carrot salad.
So there you have it folks–my top 3 places to eat in 2011 (and soon to be 2012).
There are many other joints I could have named as well, but let’s leave that for another post.
Happy 2012 everyone!