Category: General

One cocktail hack that I have rarely seen talked about is aromatizing a cocktail with bitter. In a normal cocktail, especially one that is chilled, the aroma coming from the bitters is very muted since the scent chemicals haven’t vaporized. One neat trick I have been doing is putting bitters into small atomizing bottles and then “spraying” a bit of bitters over a finished cocktail. This ensures that on that first sip you get a beautiful aroma right as you taste the cocktail. This can be done with commercial bitters, homemade bitters and even flavored alcohol extracts.

I got my hands on some gold leaf recently and so I started playing around a bit. One thing I wanted to tray was a “Golden” old fashioned where I would wrap the maraschino cherry in the gold leaf giving an elevated touch. This looks great with clear ice but I did mess up the tilt a bit :(.

This has become a bit of a comfort dish over the last half year especially with a crispy fried rise. Whenever I get a chance to get a well priced duck I always split it myself so I can confit the thighs but then the breasts are always leftover. Lately I have been just roasting this to render the fat and then thin slicing it over leftover fried rice. I try to mix in the rendered duck fat back into the fried rice which I think adds some beautiful flavor.

I had an interesting idea for a fall amuse bouche for an upcoming menu. I start with tart granny smith apples and cut them into slices and dehydrate them. During dehydration they go limp which is when I put them into a round mould to get their shape. Once I have the crisps I cube up the remaining apples and soak them in a Armagnac sugar mix for ~6hrs. I found that longer infusions extract bitterness from the peel leading to off tastes. I then plate the Armagnac soaked apples over whipped cream on the apple crisp making a playful treat.

Ever since I saw the butterfly-pea flower infused gin “Empress” (and the price tag that went with it), I wanted to try to make my own pea flower infused gin and have some fun with how it changes with acidity. For those that aren’t aware the pea flower is a pH indicator which means that it changes color with pH. IT starts of with a deep blue at neutral pH and goes pink in acidic conditions ~pH 3. This allows for a beautful presentation where you start with a peaflower infused gin that is blue and as you mix in the tonic (built in glass) the drink progressively goes pinker and pinker with a nice ephemeral hue.

I recently had the opportunity to make some Japanese A5 waygu for a celebration. I cooked these on a cast iron plate over a wood fired grill. In total it was 3 ribeye and 2 strips all of which were to die for. Textually the meet was practically falling apart and the flavour was out of the world. A phenomenal experience and recommended for everyone to try once.

A fall/winter classic that warms you up on a cold day and is a perfect dish for this time of the year. No real variations on the recipe a slow braised cut of beef pairs perfectly with polenta and then a light salad to balance it out.

I was able to get my hands on a couple bushels of home grown Ontario Pears 😉 and decided to try my hand at fruit wines. I juiced all the pears through my kitchenaid and then adjusted the juice with pectinase to clean it up and reduce cloudiness. I let this ferment in plastic jugs up to 10% abv which still had a bit of sweetness and was refreshingly tart.

Following my trip to Italy I have been craving Aperol spritz as it truly is a perfect drink for a hot summer day. The recipe is not overly complex but I do like a particular variation with a sugar cube placed at the bottom of the glass as it both adds flavor and provides a nucleation point for the Prosecco.