I was in “The Good Egg” at the market the other day picking out a Japanese Cookbook for a birthday gift for Mr. Duess. Of course, the lovely young lady at the cash knew him and knew of our bacon exploits (Mr. Duess works in the neighbourhood and his tales of our bacon making have… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Mr Stephenson
Corso Italia and Pici
Well spring has sprung and I, for one, am excited about the summer cooking season. Mrs. Stephenson and I are moving to a new part of the city – Corso Italia, or Old Little Italy in our fair city of Toronto. One of the main reasons we love the neighborhood is the food. The restaurants… Continue Reading
The hand of meat
Knowing that I love all things meat, Mrs. Stephenson graciously passed this link on to me. Not technically about heritage cooking techniques unless one considers cannibalism as a heritage food tradition. Gruesome, yes, but likely very tasty. Check out the aptly named “not martha” post and very thorough documentation.… Continue Reading
Pre Spring Pancetta
We’ve been a touch neglectful in our reports this winter. Meh, winter. The time changed today and that signals that spring is around the corner. What better way to celebrate than to get a little pancetta action going on. Here’s a lovely Berkshire belly that Mr. Duess sourced from his new neighbourhood butcher in Kensington… Continue Reading
Chris and Hiroko’s Yakiniku Extraveganza
Chris and Hiroko’s wedding was lovely and a lot of fun. We had the pleasure of spending a bunch of time with them and a group of their close friends. It was a quick but excellent trip. We arrived in Vancouver on Thursday and spent Friday and Saturday afternoon prepping for the reception meal. We… Continue Reading
Soy Based Dipping Sauces Overview
This is a summary of japanese soy based dipping sauces. I’m summarizing from Makkiko’s most excellent justhungry.com japanese food blog. Go there…its phenomenal and much more indepth. Qasabi Jo-yu: Wasabi and soy sauce – raw fish, sushi Sho-ga Jo-yu: Ginger and soy sauce – used for oily raw fish like mackerel, and bonito. Ninniku Jo-yu:… Continue Reading
Yakiniku Sauce Recipes
These are the Yakiniku sauce recipes I used for Chris and Hiroko’s Yakiniku extravaganza. The apple miso sauce is not at all a trad Yakiniku sauce but we used it on chicken and as a dipping sauce. It was very good. You really want to vary the ingredients to taste so use these just as… Continue Reading
Soy Based Dipping Sauce Recipes
These are the dipping sauce recipes used for Chris and Hiroko’s Yakiniku extravaganza. You really want to vary the ingredients to taste so use this just as a guide. Ponzu Sauce 1/3 Cup Soy Sauce 3 tbsp Yuzu Crush (or use lemon juice) 3 tbsp Lemon Juice 1/3 cup Dashi 2 tbsp mirin Chili vinegar… Continue Reading
Kombu and Katsuo Dashi Recipe
This is the Dashi recipe used for Chris and Hiroko’s Yakiniku extravaganza. Kombu and Katsuo Dashi 8 inch kombu (dried kelp) 2/3 oz. (I just used a small handful) katsuobushi (dried bonito) flakes 4 and cups water Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and use as a soup base or sauce… Continue Reading
Yakiniku
Mr. Duess will love this one, its all about cooking things quickly…again as a way of emphasizing the freshness and quality of the ingredient. I have been invited to cook the dinner for my brother, Chris’s, wedding. It’s a casual affair with 30 or so people attending. He requested that the meal be relaxed and… Continue Reading
The bacon fry
Last night, after a delicious mushroom risotto, Mr. Stephenson and myself decided that it was time for some bacon. Our wives chose ice cream for desert instead, but we fired up a small cast iron pan and started frying. The bacon was from the first trial run of the cold smoker, and whilst slightly over-smoked… Continue Reading
Bacon Craze
I think that the bacon craze is a good thing. Who could not benefit from the pleasure of a nice slice of homemade or artesian made bacon? I do, however, think that it gets quite ridiculous at times. A colleague brought me in a bacon chocolate bar the other day. It was adorned with the… Continue Reading
International Bacon Day!
Mark your calendars and lock up your pigs! This is a new Stephenson and Duess favorite. It’s International Bacon Day! http://internationalbaconday.blogspot.com/ Its like a birthday or Christmas or Thanksgiving…or Valentine’s day for that special smoky salty bacon sweety… Saturday, September 7th. We are proud to say that we were planning a bbq that day and… Continue Reading
Home Cured Bacon and a Harley Davidson
Like Mr. Duess, I grew up in the country. Unlike Mr. Duess I grew up in the woods in northern northern northern Canada: The Yukon to be exact. I grew up with a secret swimming hole, fishing and hunting trips, a nice big dog, lots of motorcycles and fixing motorcycles. I would say, however, that… Continue Reading
Review – The Professional Chef, The Culinary Institute of America
As a great man once said: Holy calamity, great insanity, all you ever gonna be is another great fan of me! We here are Stephenson and Duess have to start somewhere with our book reviews and what better place to start than on a book that we are great fans of – it’s a monolithic… Continue Reading
Makin’ Bacon. The movie. Part 2.
This is the video companion to the second part of our posting on Makin’ Bacon - Makin’ Bacon – Part 2. The Big Smoke. As food-wunder-geek Alton Brown said, “Until you’ve made your own bacon, you haven’t eaten bacon”. So kick back, light up a nice blow torch (don’t ask…just watch), and check out the… Continue Reading
Makin’ Bacon – Part 2 The Big Smoke
Alright. Where were we. Oh yes. Home made or artisan made bacon is simply the best thing ever. Once you’ve had it, it is not an easy thing to forget! We cannot say enough good things about the transformation that the humble pork belly makes when it is cured and then either smoked or simply… Continue Reading
The Other Bacon. Not a Pretty Sight.
Mr. Duess will love this one. While I was looking about on the internet to make certain that our very recently and most excellently produced instructional bacon video was the best bacon video ever made by a human being ever, I discovered a monstrosity of epic proportion and singular pertubation. Just to be clear, what… Continue Reading
Dinners at the food source
Here’s an article on eating at the source – in a field, on a farm, where the food came from. Check out the article here. A couple of questions developed in my mind as I read this. Does this event lead to a more direct connection to the food or is it a piece of… Continue Reading
Cooking Methodology – Making it your own
Home made pizza is one of those things that I think is difficult to master. There’s the 500+ degree oven and the whole pizza stone thing. There’s also the question of the dough. I just perused a very interesting methodology for making pizza dough that dives deep into all of the variables. If one was… Continue Reading