Ingredients

Shallot & Garlic Confit – See Recipe

-Olive Oil
-Jalepeno – 2 pepper
-Green Onion – 1/2 bunch
-Parsley – 1/2 bunch
-1 pkg (28g) each of Basil, Cilantro
-Lemon – 1 each

-100% Canadian Steaks – Your favourite cut
-Old Chicago steak spice
-Butter & Garlic
-Rosemary & Thyme
-Fleur de Sel

*Take your steaks out of their packaging and pat dry. After 10 min, once they have lost their chill, they will cook much more evenly.

Directions

SHALLOT & GARLIC CONFIT, 1 HOUR

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Place 2 large shallots, 4 cloves of garlic, a sprig of thyme and rosemary in foil and drizzle with olive oil.

2. Fold foil into a pouch and place into the oven for approximately 1 hour until the largest garlic clove is spreadable.

3. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, discard thyme and rosemary.

4. This confit tastes amazing when spread on a steak or bread and will also be used in your chimichurri sauce.

CHIMICHURRI, 15 MIN

1. Set your oven to broil. Blister your jalapeno and char the green onion until soft.

2. Remove the stems, skins and seeds from your jalapeno and place into a blender with the charred green onion.

3. Add 1/4 cup of Olive Oil, the Shallot & Garlic confit and a pinch of salt & pepper.

4. Pick the parsley, basil and cilantro and discard the stems.

5. Roughly chop these into 1/2” pieces. Add to the blender.

6. Start your blender on the lowest setting and slowly increase to full speed.

7. The Chimichurri should blend freely and result in a smooth puree after 1 minute. Add olive oil if needed.

8. Finish with lemon juice right before serving.

STEAK, 4-10 MIN

1. Brush the cast iron pan with oil until it is shiny and put on medium-high.

2. Season steaks liberally on both sides with our signature Old Chicago steak spice.

3. Once the pan is hot, place the steak on your cast iron pan. Sear all of the sides until they are brown. The cast iron pan method most closely matches the technique that we use at Chop because this will give your steaks an even sear on the outside of the steak and caramelizes the juices.

4. For medium rare, cook 1 more minute per side for a total of 2 minutes. Cook 1 minute longer per side for every additional degree of doneness.

5. Add butter, garlic, and fresh thyme or rosemary to the pan in the last minute and baste your steak to add even more flavour.

6. As steaks are ready, remove from the pan and rest for 5 min on a wire rack so that the juices can redistribute. Don’t forget to pour any extra butter from the pan on top of the steak.

7. Sprinkle with a pinch of Fleur de Sel right before serving.

The post Steak With Chimichurri From Chop Steakhouse And Bar appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Spring Chicken Pasta – Serves 2

Ingredients

– 2 chicken breast
– 1 large shallot
– 6 garlic cloves
– 1/4 lemon zest
– 1 cup torn kalamata olive
– 1/5 stick butter
– 350 grams farfalle pasta
– 1/4 cup chicken jus
– 1 1/2 cups white wine
– salt/pepper/cayenne/ chili flake
– goat cheese
– pea shoots
– 15 cherry tomatoes
– basil
– canola/vegetable oil

Directions

1. First finely dice your shallot and minced garlic. Add this to a medium heated pan with a splash of vegetable or canola oil along with your rustic torn kalamata olives.

2. Slowly heat the mixture up while adding just a pinch of salt and few cracks of black pepper.

3. Once the shallots and garlic start to become transparent add in the lemon zest and cook down for an additional minute or so.

4. Place the mixture in a bowl being sure to get all the remnants out of the pan. Turn up the heat to medium high while adding just enough oil to coat the pan in a thin layer.

5. Once the oil is hot, add the two chicken breasts that have been dusted in salt, pepper, and cayenne. The more spice you like the more cayenne you can add. After searing the chicken on all sides through in a 350 degree oven until internal temp is at 165 F.

6. Depending on the size of the chicken breast it could be anywhere from 5 to 10 min. While that is cooking start your pasta water. Salting the water once it has reached a rolling boil.

7. After the pasta is added it should take 10-12 minutes for it to be done. After the chicken has finished cooking remove it from the pan and add your white wine to the pan. Making sure to get the fond (bits of flavour stuck to the pan) off with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula.

8. After the wine has reduced by half add in your garlic mixture, halved cherry tomatoes, chicken and and chicken jus (reduced chicken stock). Let that come together for about a minute then add in your 1/5 stick of butter.

9. At this point I like to add a couple of table spoons of pasta water to my sauce. Strain the pasta. Add it to the rest of the ingredients in the pan. Plate the pasta first. Then the chicken sliced on a bias on top.

10. Next I like to put more sauce on top and finally garnish with basil, pea shoots, and goat cheese. A filling meal that doesn’t leave ya feeling slow!

Bon appetite!

Here’s where you can find more by Chef Tyler Daniel!

https://www.instagram.com/chefboytdhittas/

https://www.instagram.com/boucherieto/

The post A Spring Pasta With Chicken By Chef/Butcher Tyler “Chefboy” Daniel appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

What is your business called and what does it do?

CoMMO, short for Community of Menus and Meals Online, is a true one-stop food and beverage experience offering chef-made frozen meals, hot takeout menus, a mix of domestic, import and hyper-local craft beer and a diverse selection of restaurant-exclusive wines. CoMMO allows customers to conveniently enjoy restaurant-quality meals at home without the planning, preparation, clean up or restaurant prices.

What made you want to do this work?

Being in the hospitality industry since I was 15 years old, I’ve always had a passion for simple, high-quality food and drink and been interested in the evolution of Toronto’s food scene. This project/concept has been in the works for over a year now, but has become even more relevant and necessary since the pandemic. By partnering with Betty’s and local suppliers, we’ve been able to bring this vision to life at a time when people need it most.

What problem did you want to solve with the business?

After taking a step back from the business, we realized there was a hole in the takeout market for better at-home dining experiences. Most takeout is limited to items that will travel well and is often underwhelming and overpriced because of the high fees delivery platforms charge restaurants. Meal kits assist with a lot of the prep, however, still require some cooking skill and equipment and store-bought frozen meals often lack in quality and nutrients.

We wanted to make it easy for our community to enjoy a wider variety of restaurant-quality food and beverage experiences at home any time they want without the work and at a price that makes sense, so you can feel good about what you’re eating and get back time for other important things.

Who are your clientele/demographics?

Our demographic is essentially anyone downtown Toronto (specifically focussed on King & Parliament and St. Lawrence/Distillery neighbourhoods until delivery is up and running), 25 to 65 year old singles, couples or families, looking for more variety, convenience and better quality at home meal solutions to solve the daily “what’s for dinner?” dilemma.

How does your business make money? How does it work?

By partnering with an existing restaurant space and operating with a small team, low overhead costs allow high-quality food items to be well priced ($9 to $12 per person for a meal) while also offering a wide selection of impressive wines and craft beer for varying preferences and price points. Customers can order hot takeout for tonight, restaurant-quality frozen meals for later in the week and drinks for any time, in person or online at commo.ca.

Because our margins are very low, it’s a volume-based business. By having multiple revenue streams, we’re able to keep our prices low while creating more demand.

Where in Toronto can we find your profession?

Our first storefront is located in the east room of Betty’s at 242 King Street East, near Sherbourne and King in Toronto.

What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.

Q: What differentiates CoMMO from other takeout/bottle shops?

A: At CoMMO, customers can mix-and-match favourite takeout items for dinner tonight, stock up on restaurant-quality frozen meals for the rest of the week, and add drinks for any time all in one order. All of our frozen meals are less than $25 and feed 2 to 4 people with new items being added weekly.

What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?

The best part of operating CoMMO is being able to partner/support our friends and neighbours in the industry. We love being able to work with hyper-local craft breweries in Toronto’s east-end and local suppliers who have supported the hospitality industry for years.

The worst part is seeing our community struggle and the industry we love change so rapidly through no fault of our own. It’s been an extremely difficult year for most industries, but it’s clear that Toronto’s independent restaurants and bars have been one of the hardest hit.

What is your favourite joke about your own profession?

One of my favourite sayings: “We’re not saving lives, we’re selling food.”
It’s common for people to tend to get stressed in the hospitality industry due to the high volume and fast-paced environment. I often think we shouldn’t be taking ourselves so seriously. We’re providing a service that people want and need, so do it well and you’ll be rewarded for it.

PAY IT FORWARD: What is another Toronto business that you love?

The Queen & Beaver Pie Co.

I love what Jamieson and the team is doing over at Q&B Pie Co. Bringing their famous pies people have been enjoying at Queen & Beaver for 11 years to takeout is the kind of innovative shift I’m happy to see and support. Not to mention, the pies are ridiculously delicious.

The post Homegrown Business: CoMMO, online menus and meals! appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Pan-Seared Gnocchi and Caramelized Butternut Squash with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

Ingredients

-2 lbs of Russet Potatoes
-2 tsp salt
-1 cup All-Purpose Flour or Bob Redmill 1 for 1 gluten-free flour
-Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
-4 tbsp Olive Oil
-2 garlic cloves
-2 small or 1 large Red Onion
-4- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
-2 Red Peppers
-1/3 cup Red Wine
-1 cup Coconut Milk
-2 tbsp Coconut Oil
-1 tsp Black Pepper
-1 Small (or half) Butternut Squash
-1/4 cup of Brown Sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. With a fork, poke holes in the potatoes, so they cook evenly and place on a baking sheet with parchment. Bake for 45 mins

2. Place roasted red pepper in the oven and bake for 25 mins. Once fully toasted and soft, peel the skin off, take seeds out and cut into medium dice. Place aside in a small bowl.

3. Cut and peel butternut squash, diced into medium dice. Place in a bowl with three sprigs of thyme, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Bake for 20 mins.

4. Cut the onion into medium dice and mince garlic. In a medium saucepot, sauté onions until translucent on medium heat. Once cooked, place garlic into the pot and stir.

5. Deglaze pan with red wine (add liquid to loosen and dissolve the flavourful food particles stuck to the bottom of the pan) and reduce by half. Add all of the coconut milk and the remaining fresh thyme. Reduce sauce by half and stir in 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to finish the sauce—season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Once potatoes are fully cooked, and are easy to mash with a fork. Place into a stand mixer with paddle attachment and whip until mashed, or use a large fork to mash potatoes in a bowl. Add 2 tsp of salt and one tablespoon of olive oil to the mash and incorporate. Add in flour and kneed until the mixture forms a soft ball.

7. Cut dough into finger-sized strips and then cut strips into three. Once you cut the strips, slice them into thumbnail-sized gnocchi.

8. In a large saucepan, fill 3/4 of water and bring two tablespoons of salt to a simmer. Place gnocchi into the simmering pot and gently stir the water to stick to the bottom. Once the gnocchi floats to the top, take the pieces out using a slotted spoon. Place aside.

9. In a medium frying pan, heat at medium-high heat with one tablespoon of vegetable oil and sear the gnocchi. Toss once the gnocchi is golden brown and lifts easily off the pan.

10. Add the diced roasted red peppers and sauce to the pan with the gnocchi and toss gently. To finish, carefully fold in the butternut squash and serve.

The post Pan-Seared Gnocchi and Caramelized Butternut Squash with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce! appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Syracuse Salt Potatoes

Serving: 4-8
Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

– 1.5 lbs New Potatoes (reds and yellows are my favorite)
– 1 1/2 cups Koshers salt.
– 1/2 lb Unsalted butter
– 1/4 bunch flat parsley
– 3 sticks tarragon
– 1 tsp red chili flakes
– black pepper to taste
– You’ll need a a 8L pot filled 3/4 the way with water

Directions:

1. Add salt and potatoes and bring to boil on high for 35 minutes. Careful not to pierce or tear the skins.

2. Strain the potatoes and let dry on a baking sheet. Be sure not to rinse or pile them as the Salt will not crystallize on skin.

3. As the potatoes are boiling pick the leaves off of stems of parsley and tarragon.

4. Chop semi-fine both herbs and toss the stems away.

5. Melt butter in a small sauce pot on low.

6. Add herbs, chili’s, pepper to butter.

7. Careful not to brown or boil butter, simmer for 10 mins.

Ready to serve!

To plate 8-10 potatoes a serving and drizzle butter over top, or a ramikan of mixed butter on the side for dipping.

Party style:

Pile potatoes in serving bowl with a bowl for dipping on the side, Have dinner picks on the side for dipping potatoes.

By Chef Kip Hendry:

Executive Chef @EmmetRay, @TheDockEllis, @AviaryBrewpub Currently specializing in North American Cuisine and In-House Butchery.

The post Savoury Syracuse Salt Potatoes by Chef Kip Hendry appeared first on Toronto Guardian.