Canadian Food Adventures

A long break from posting, courtesy of working overseas in Canada.  I confess we ate a lot while there but I wasn't able to do too much creative cooking.  That said, we had a couple of really excellent food experiences while in Toronto - both involving meat. 

We were lucky enough to be living next door to one of the most amazing butchers I have ever had the pleasure of patronising.  Should you find yourself in Toronto, make your way forthwith to Medium Rare Butchers http://www.mediumrare.to/.  We bought some bison steaks, kobe beef sliders, free range thick cut bacon annd some of the nicest minced beef ever.  Everything we got was amazing, and for every thing we bought and tried there were ten things we wanted to try. 

From a restaurant point of view, we found a place that serves the best BBQ ribs I have ever eaten.  Ever.  I'm from Kansas City...and this place aced the BBQ I've had there.  So, this is high praise.  The restaurant in question is called "Montana's" and you can check them out at http://www.montanas.ca/.  The ribs were perfectly cooked...tender and meaty, sticky and enormously messy.  We opted (both of the times we ate there!) for their apple butter BBQ sauce on the ribs and I don't think I'd change that.  Amazing.  I can go on at length using all the superlatives at my disposal...suffice to say I am very much looking forward to my next trip to Canada in August.

I will be figuring out how to post pictures, and trying to accompany my recipes with photos from now on.  Apologies for the long break in updating - I will make it up with a super delicious recipe inspired by my time in Canada. 

I love the combination of salty and sweet in these biscuits.  FYI - these are American style biscuits (i.e. sort of like scones).

Maple Bacon Biscuits

Ingredients:

500gr bacon, cut into 1/2 -inch pieces
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
250 gr butter, cut into 1/2 -inch cubes
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup, divided
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 egg yolk
1 egg
1 tablespoon cream
Maldon Sea Salt

Method:

1. In a medium frying pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until cooked but not crispy, 10 to 12 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate or pan, to remove excess fat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Using a pastry cutter cut in the diced butter until it resembles small peas. Stir in the bacon, then one-fourth cup plus 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and the buttermilk until the dough just comes together (it will still be clumpy). Don't overwork the dough.

4. On a lightly floured surface, gently press or roll the dough to 1-inch thickness. Cut the biscuits using a 2-inch round cutter; it should make 24 biscuits. Place 12 biscuits on each of two baking paper lined baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart. Freeze the trays just until the biscuits are chilled, about 10 minutes.

5. Heat the oven to 180C. While the biscuits are chilling, prepare the egg wash. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, egg and cream. Brush the chilled biscuits with egg wash and top each with a pinch of the Maldon sea salt.

6. Bake the biscuits until they just begin to brown, about 25 minutes (you should easily be able to pick the biscuits up off the tray). Remove the tray from the oven. Quickly drizzle 1 teaspoon of the remaining maple syrup over each biscuit, then place the tray back in the oven for 3 minutes more. Serve while still warm.