Cooking with bravery

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Jeff the Chef Derraugh (front) with Robert Campbell (from left), Tom Bilous and Darrel Maynard. (MIKE.APORIUS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

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My pad Thai (MIKE.APORIUS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

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Caribbean couscous (MIKE.APORIUS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

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So Damn Salad (JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

When last we met Winnipeg firefighter Jeff Derraugh, our intrepid local hero had just released his first cook book, Fire Hall Cooking With Jeff the Chef. Now, just over two years have passed and Derraugh has released a second cookbook, Where There's Food There's Firefighters: More Surefire Recipes to Feed Your Crew (Touchwood Editions, $19.95).

This husband and father of five and grandfather of two attributes the popularity of the first book to good old-fashioned word-of-mouth. Six months after the first printing, a second was ordered.

"I wrote it to have it be conversational, so that the book is kind of 'talking' to you," says Derraugh, "I think it should read like a conversation, like you're there and you're kibitzing in the kitchen. It seemed to be what people liked about the first book."

Derraugh is clear that he feels these books are not about him, but everyone who cooks with them, and it's a reflection of the same kind of attitude you'd find in the fire hall.

"A lot of those recipes are from firefighters and friends. The book really is about firefighters. It's about us, so I just see myself more as a conduit; the recipes come, we share recipes, we share stories at work. I happen to be the one that writes them down."

Cooks will find more funny stories and conversation in Derraugh's second book. It also has a few more slightly advanced recipes, some with an Asian flair.

"There is a little bit more of a progression from the first cookbook. But don't be intimidated. These ingredients are readily available in most grocery stores and are inexpensive. If you've cooked from the first cookbook you should be able to make these. But even if you haven't, it's the slogan from the book: Make the gourmet easy."

The expectations for fire hall meals have changed.

"Twenty years ago, suppers were meat and potatoes and a bag of frozen vegetables. Now it's all changed. Maybe the ethnicity of firefighters has changed, or food trends, but now you get into the curries and stir fries. And a lot of healthy ingredients. People are more health-conscious."

Go Meet Jeff or Find Him Online

This follow-up to Derraugh's first book just hit the shelves yesterday. McNally Robinson will be hosting a book launch at the Grant Park store on Tuesday, Sept. 29 starting at 8 p.m. As an added bonus, McNally's is going to feature four recipe items from the new book in their Prairie Ink Restaurants from Sept. 23 to Oct. 6.

You can also find Derraugh's cookbook at all the other usual outlets. Find the man himself on-line at www.jeffthechef.ca

Try These on for Size

Jeff's recipes are written in his inimitable conversational style, but I've shortened them here for space. These dishes will generally feed 4 up to 6 people.

So Damn Salad

After we shot the photo for this recipe, I went to see Jeff at the fire hall. When I got home and looked in the fridge, there it was completely untouched -- the feta cheese that was supposed to go in the salad. Sigh. It tasted great anyway. Just imagine white cheese in our photo.

For the salad

1 long English cucumber in chunky cubes

1 red onion in 1-inch chunks

1 each orange and/or yellow pepper in 1-inch chunks

1 19-oz can of lentils (drained)

140 g (5 oz) feta cheese, crumbled

2 -3 tomatoes, cut in large chunks or 454 g (1 lb) grape tomatoes

For the dressing

125 ml (1/2 cup) extra-virgin olive oil

125 ml (1/2 cup) red wine vinegar

60 ml (1/4 cup) Dijon mustard

60 ml (1/4 cup) chopped fresh dill

10 ml (2 tsp) sugar

5 ml (1 tsp) kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Toss the chunked vegetables together along with the cheese. Mix the dressing (using a blender will make this easier) and toss into salad. For extra flavour, prepare and toss the salad (leave the tomatoes out) and the dressing, refrigerate for one hour. Add tomatoes just before serving.

Caribbean couscous

This is slightly sweet and delicious. It would make a great side for pork or chicken.

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) water (or chicken broth)

30 ml (2 tbsp) butter

250 ml (1 cup) uncooked couscous

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 sweet red or orange pepper, diced

2 McIntosh or Spartan apples, peeled, cored and diced

1 small banana, sliced in half, lengthwise, then sliced up

30 ml (2 tbsp) curry paste (Jeff uses Patak's mild, available at most grocery stores)

60 ml (1/4 cup) orange juice

250 ml (1 cup) chicken broth

Chopped cilantro, (to your taste)

1. Bring first amount of water to a boil, add butter and then stir in the couscous. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 5 minutes.

2. Heat a 10-inch frying pan over medium heat. Melt 15 ml (1 tbsp) butter and then add onion. Sauté until lightly browned.

3. Add 15 ml (1 tbsp) of butter to pan. Add garlic, pepper and apples. Fry until apples start to become tender.

4. Add banana slices and fry briefly (do not overcook).

5. Add curry paste and combine with fruit and onions.

6. Add orange juice to mix and stir it through. Cook for two minutes.

7. Add 250 ml (1 cup) chicken broth, stir through.

8. Stir couscous into fruit and broth and let sit until liquid is absorbed. Serve immediately.

My Pad Thai

We shot this dish at the fire hall in Charleswood, where a group of firefighters were waiting with forks in hand and drool on chin...

45 ml (3 tbsp) fish sauce

45 ml (3 tbsp) white sugar

45 ml (3 tbsp) ketchup

22 ml (1 1/2 tbsp) Worcestershire sauce

15 ml (1 tbsp) chili-garlic sauce (or more to your taste)

250 g (1/2 lb) thick white rice noodles (Asian section of grocery store)

30 ml (2 tbsp) peanut oil

6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

500 g (1 lb) peeled, uncooked shrimp, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 red, yellow or orange pepper, cut into thin strips

3 beaten eggs

500 ml (2 cups) bean sprouts, washed

1 bunch green onions, green parts only, sliced

About 250 ml (1 cup) coarsely chopped cilantro

60 ml (1/4 cup) coarsely chopped dry-roasted peanuts

2 limes, cut into wedges

1. Prepare and organize vegetables and other ingredients into separate bowls. Combine the fish sauce, sugar, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and chili-garlic sauce in a small bowl.

2. Boil a large pot of water. Place the rice noodles in a lasagna dish or flat roaster and cover with boiling water. When the noodles are al dente, drain into a colander and set aside.

3. Heat up a large wok on high and add peanut oil. Add the garlic and fry briefly. Add the chicken and the shrimp and fry until the chicken is just cooked through and the shrimp are pink.

4. Add the peppers and fry lightly. Add the sauce to the pan and stir through for about 2 minutes.

5. Turn heat down to medium and add the eggs. Toss for 1 minute. Add the noodles and stir until well-coated. Add bean sprouts, green onions and half the cilantro. Continue stirring until all are heated through.

6. Top with the remaining cilantro and the peanuts and serve. Garnish each plate with lime to squeeze over the pad Thai.

Memorial meals

Manitoba is a leader in creating compensation legislation recognizing the debilitating and often deadly, long-term occupational health hazards of fighting fires, beyond the immediate physical dangers of walking into a burning building.

Compensation chairman and United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg executive board member Tom Bilous is part of a larger movement organizing a provincial memorial to our firefighters.

"Fallen firefighters are given the same respect and dignity, whether it is one fire that kills them or the cumulative effect of fighting many fires over a career," says Bilous.

"We want to properly recognize the sacrifice firefighters make doing the profession we love."

To that end, the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg have secured some of Jeff Derraugh's books as a means of raising funds for the construction of a provincial memorial to honour the firefighters and their loved ones who have given so much. Those copies are available at the office at 303-83 Garry St. All profits from those copies will go to the memorial.

Land has been set aside at the Legislative Building grounds and plans are under development.

At this stage, the best way to get on board to support the Manitoba Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial is to go to www.uffw.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 16, 2009 D1