Feeding Winnipeg’s passion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/10/2015 (3616 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeggers cook… with a passion. That’s how they eat, too. People in this city love to spend time in their kitchens and also dine in some of the best restaurants anywhere.

Local food writer Robin Summerfield brings the best of both worlds together in Winnipeg Cooks: Signature Recipes from the City’s Top Chefs (with photos by Ian McCausland), the latest in a series from Figure 1 Publishing (208 pages, $34.95).

The cookbook profiles kitchen pros and 70 of their recipes from some 33 restaurants in the city.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Summerfield has been writing about food since the mid-1990s while she was at the Calgary Herald. She resettled in Winnipeg about nine years ago, after she met and later married actor Mike O’Brien (Corner Gas), who died last spring. She continues writing Peg City Grub for Tourism Winnipeg, freelancing for CBC and others and raising her son, Will, who is five.

“Who doesn’t like food?” says Summerfield. “I know there is a ‘chef culture,’ but food is really accessible; everybody needs it; everybody wants it; everybody eats.”

Summerfield says it was a dream to write a book. She started last fall with her first deadline in February of this year when it went through a rigorous editing process designed to make sure the recipes are workable for home cooks.

“I don’t want people to be afraid of these recipes,” she says.

“I’m a home cook, I am not a chef, and I can’t stress that enough. But I feel like if I can do it, you can do it. And to give you a real-life example of how bad a cook I really am, this just happened recently to me… I was making some stir-fry about three or four weeks ago and I set off our smoke alarm.

“I took out our broom and I was swinging at the smoke alarm, but I didn’t realize at the time that I didn’t turn off the house alarm fast enough…”

As she sorted the mess on the stove, she heard a distant wail getting closer.

“I thought, ‘Oh, dear God, no, no, no.’ This fire truck pulled up and the guy gets out of the truck, and I said, ‘Are you here for me?’ And he said, ‘Yup.’

“So, I was an idiot that day — but if you don’t get fire trucks at your house like I do, you can get through this book.”

Choosing recipes was something contributor chef Sean McKay at the Mitchell Block, took seriously. McKay is kind of a cookbook junkie. (He confessed that just last week he spent $185 on cookbooks and stashed them out of sight in a drawer.)

“If we’re driving in the car, my wife won’t stop at Chapters because she knows what will happen,” he says.

McKay felt a little hesitation when he was first approached by Summerfield to participate.

“I thought it was a great idea, but at the same time, I had been involved with some other cookbooks that didn’t look as crispy and fresh as this one,” he says.

The other books published in the same series were what finally hooked McKay. “I went online to see them and I thought: These are sharp-looking books! Once I understood what she wanted to do with it, I was all over it.”

He says the first consideration was whether the recipes were for home cooks or for chefs.

“I kept in mind that this is for a home cook and I was thinking about what I wanted to do using my mom as the example,” says McKay. “My mom is a horrible cook.

“I grew up on McDonald’s and pizza. I think that’s part of the reason I got into cooking — there was no ‘family dinner’ — that’s something that I got rolling at our house. So when I was coming up with the recipes I thought: what could my mom handle?”

He arrived at two dishes. One of them, a salad (below), was a dish he had been working on and he had prepared it for RAW/Almond Restaurant on the River.

“I wanted to create a book that would be really accessible — so not too posh — not too street,” Summerfield says. “I chose places or chefs that I liked — and these are really good, talented people and they represent Winnipeg in such a fantastic way.”

The book is for sale in the participating restaurants (find the full list at www.facebook.com/WinnipegCooks) and will be widely available Oct. 20.

Here are three recipes from Winnipeg Cooks: Signature Recipes from the City’s Top Chefs:

Tomato, Honeydew Melon and House-Made Burrata Salad

(From chef Sean McKay of the Mitchell Block.)

Burrata

5 L (20 cups) cold water, divided

500 g (1 lb) cheese curds

250 g (1/2 lb) mascarpone

Salad

500 g (1 lb) fresh tomatoes, diced into 1-inch pieces

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

500 g (1 lb) ripe honeydew melon, melon-balled

1 bunch fresh basil leaves, gently torn

50 ml (1/4 cup) plus 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

30 ml (1/8 cup) balsamic vinegar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large stockpot filled with 3 litres (12 cups) of cold water, temper cheese curds: warm over medium heat, gently stirring continuously so curds don’t come into direct contact with bottom of pot, until water reaches 57 C (135 F). Use a thermometer.

Immediately remove from heat.

2. Using a slotted spoon, carefully scoop out about 70 grams (2� ounces) of tempered curds and place in a large bowl. Wearing clean rubber gloves, carefully knead and stretch hot cheese (it will quickly start to firm up and become glossy). Once a uniform mass has formed, quickly dip the ball back into the warm water to soften up again.

3. Remove ball from water and, using your thumbs, make a small divot in the centre. Place 37 grams (1º ounces) of mascarpone in the divot. Fold curd up and around mascarpone to form a ball around mascarpone centre. Gently crimp closed. Using the palm of your hands, form a smooth ball.

4. Place the remaining 2 litres (8 cups) of water in a bowl. Add ball and let cool. Repeat process until you’ve used all of your warm curds and mascarpone.

Salad

1. In a large serving bowl, toss together all of the ingredients except the burrata and 15 ml (1 Tbsp) oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

2. Gently cut burrata pieces into halves and arrange on top of salad. Drizzle with remaining oil. Serves 6.

Paella

(From chef Randy Khounnoraj and his team at Bonfire Bistro.)

15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil

1/2 red onion, diced

1 litre plus 50 ml (4º cups) Arborio rice

375 ml (1� cups) dry white wine

15 ml (1 tbsp) Sriracha sauce

45 ml (3 tbsp) smoked paprika

15 ml (1 tbsp) saffron threads

60 ml (4 tbsp) puréed garlic

2 L plus 125 ml (8� cups) chicken stock, divided and heated to a low simmer

20 P.E.I. mussels, cleaned and de-bearded

20 clams, rinsed well

5 Alaskan scallops

30 large shrimp, de-veined

1 L plus 50 ml (4º cups) sliced skinless, boneless chicken breast

250 ml (1 cup) sliced dried chorizo sausage

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large, deep skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions and sauté until golden brown, about 1 minute. Add rice and sauté until rice has absorbed oil and has a nutty aroma, about 1 minute.

2. Add wine and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up any browned bits, and cook until wine is reduced by half, about 4 minutes.

3. Stir in Sriracha, paprika, saffron, and garlic. Add 250 ml (1 cup) of stock and bring to a boil. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

4. Add seafood, chicken, and sausage and cook, stirring often, for 8 to 10 minutes.

5. Add remaining stock 250 ml (1 cup) at a time, stirring frequently after each addition and cooking until liquid is absorbed. Repeat until all stock is added, meat and seafood is cooked through, and rice is al dente, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 8 to 10.

Crab and Scallop Cakes

(From chef Michael Dacquisto of Food Evolution.)

500 g (1 lb) scallops

500 g (1 lb) crab meat

30 ml (2 tbsp) chopped fresh cilantro

1 egg

250 ml (1 cup) fresh bread crumbs

45 ml (3 tbsp) grainy mustard

5 ml (1 tsp) minced garlic

10 ml (2 tsp) Sriracha sauce

15 ml (1 tbsp) mayonnaise

30 ml (2 tbsp) chopped green onion, white and green parts

30 ml (2 tbsp) chopped red bell pepper

30 ml (2 tbsp) chopped green bell pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Using a sharp knife, coarsely chop about one-fifth of the scallops. Set aside.

2. Using a food processor, purée remaining scallops.

3. In a large bowl, combine scallop purée with remaining ingredients. Fold in reserved chopped scallops. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Using your hands, scoop about 1 cup of the mixture and form 1-inch-thick patties. Set aside.

5. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, cook cakes for about 3 minutes per side, until browned (add a little butter to pan if desired). Makes 4-6 cakes.