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Pork sirloin is an interesting cut. It is the muscle that lives between the loin and the leg, right above the behind of the hog. Due to its location on the animal, it tends to be lean, but not as tender as the rest of the loin. This makes it a little tricky to work with, because it can easily dry out and seem tough if over-cooked. We cut the sirloin in a few different ways, depending on what season it is and what we think our customers would enjoy cooking. Boneless chops (called “buckeye”) are a great easy weeknight meal, but most commonly we tie the sirloin up into small roasts that can feed 2-4 people. As I mentioned, if overcooked this cut can come off as dry, but this is easily fixed with a nice brine or marinade. While most times I will brine meat with a salt-sugar-water blend, for the pork sirloin I like to use milk. The natural sweetness and acidity help add that necessary moisture to the roast, and it’s a pretty simple technique. This type of brine works very well with all cuts of pork, especially a shoulder roast. Pro-Tip: Here at Sanagan’s we have started jarring some of our most popular marinades for the barbecue season. You can slather your chicken with our jerk marinade and your beef short ribs with our teriyaki sauce. Or, as in this recipe, add a couple of spoons of our souvlaki marinade to your favorite meal. It’s a flavour boost that you will definitely want more of! Serves 2 to 4 people Ingredients: 1.5 lbs pork sirloin 2 cups milk, 2% or homogenized 1 tsp salt 1 tsp freshly ground pepper 3 tbsp Sanagan’s souvlaki marinade Method: Two days in advance of your meal, whisk together the milk, salt, pepper, and souvlaki marinade. Place the sirloin in a glass or stainless-steel bowl and cover it with the brine. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge to marinate for two days, turning the pork over a couple of times to ensure the whole thing gets covered with the brine. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Take the pork out of the brine and place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan, fat side up. Discard the brine. Put the pan in the center of the oven and cook for 1.5 hours, or until an internal thermometer stuck into the center of the roast reads 170°F. Take the roast out of the oven. Turn the broiler on high and let the oven get hot. Place the roast back in the oven and cook for an additional 5-8 minutes, or until the top of the roast is a deep golden brown. Remove and rest for ten minutes before slicing thinly and serving.

For your Easter feasting pleasure, Chef Anne is happy to share her Quiche Lorraine recipe. It adheres to the classic format; bacon, eggs, cream, buttery pastry and lots of cheese. This example is adapted from Anne’s experience at Viva Tastings, which in turn, was inspired by Thomas Keller’s version. That’s a quiche with pedigree.

Quiche Lorraine

In addition to some pastry you will need a deep-dish 10 inch pie plate. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and lightly press it into the pie plate, making sure to crimp the edges. Cover and let dough chill for 30 minutes in the fridge. Letting it rest will ensure that your pastry won't shrink when cooking.

Preheat your oven to 325F.

While your dough is chilling prepare the filling. It is best to use an inch or so of slab bacon, cut into ¾ inch lardons, and cooked slowly over medium-low heat so that the fat renders and the bacon turns golden. Let bacon drain on paper towels before using. One could also use left over ham (about 1 cup), cut in small pieces or thick cut rashers of bacon, crumbled into chunks or a bit of both.

Then, grate 1 - 1 1/2 cups of cheese - using an old cheddar or gruyere.

Sprinkle some cheese over the bottom of the raw pie dough and then sprinkle with the bacon or ham. Top with remaining cheese. Place pie plate on a parchment lined baking sheet (this will help guard against spills and make it easier to retrieve the hot quiche out of the oven.)

In a bowl, crack 3 eggs. While whisking, add 1 cup of whole milk and 1 cup of whipping cream. Add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper and a good pinch of grated nutmeg. Whisk to incorporate. Pour mixture into the pie plate.

Bake for 1 hour or until quiche is puffed and golden on top.

Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Speaking of Easter and quiche, lets talk about eggs. Our eggs come from Ontario producers that specialize in “floor birds”, that being hens which are allowed to roam free in their barns without cages and have open access to food and water. If you really want to up your egg game this Easter please have a look at our eggs from Murray’s Farm. That’s the same place that produces some of our prized heritage pork. Each dozen of Murray’s eggs is a beautiful mix of dark browns, light browns and even usually a green one. These beautiful eggs come from an equally attractive mixed flock of chickens. These birds lead an idyllic life that’s as close as you can get to just having a few chickens clucking around out in the barnyard; full outdoor access and all the pecking and bug eating Henrietta could ask for. All of which results in a glorious creamy fresh egg.

We’ve written about paleron, a.k.a. blade steak, before. Peter has a great recipe here (http://www.sanagansmeatlocker.com/blog/paleron-steak-in-red-wine) for braised Paleron in what is essentially a beef bourguignon. In that article he says that “Paleron is not the best grilling steak. Sure it will do in a pinch when you want to save a few bucks and you don’t mind eating around the tough bits.” At $9.99 a pound for paleron, I don’t mind eating around the tough bits at all. I find a well-chosen paleron, if you know what to do with it, can rival strip loin for mouth-watering tenderness and juicy delectability for around $5 a steak. The paleron is essentially an untrimmed piece of flat iron. If you look at the raw photo below you can clearly see the fascia (fancy word for gristle) that runs through the middle of the cut. That’s the main “tough bit” Peter’s talking about. Don’t eat that. What you can also see is fine-grained, nicely marbled beef. Eat that. The other great thing about paleron is that — unlike a flat iron, where the grain runs lengthwise, similar to a flank steak — the grain in the paleron runs up and down like a rib-eye, strip loin or tenderloin. That means, once you avoid the gristle, you’ve got a Lexus steak at Hyundai pricing. The cooked piece in the photo below was cut to 1 ½ inch thick and was sautéed/oven-finished to a very juicy medium/medium rare. This was achieved very simply: Remove steak from the refrigerator ½ hour before cooking. Fry in a hot oven-proof pan for four minutes. Transfer pan to 350F. oven for eight minutes. Rest steak on warm plate for 4 minutes. Then start enjoying that tender, juicy, full-flavoured paleron. And if you get some gristle caught between your teeth, use that $10 bill you saved as dental floss.

With spring quickly approaching (ok, I know it is officially spring but until I see some leaves budding, I’m reserving judgement…), lamb is the protein on a lot of people’s minds. And with Easter dinner on the agenda, many people look towards lamb as the celebratory meal. Lamb rack is a special cut, usually reserved for dinner parties with friends you want to impress. The rack is basically the “prime rib” of lamb; it has very tender meat, a lovely bit of fat, and is an all-around excellent cut. It can be cut into individual chops and grilled, or roasted whole, as in the following recipe. Serves four Ingredients 2 lamb racks, 1.5-2 lbs each, bones frenched 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 tbsp molasses 4 pc garlic cloves, peeled and crushed with the side of a knife 4 pc fresh rosemary branches ½ cup shelled pistachios, toasted 3 tbsp mint, leaves picked and chopped 2 tbsp Italian parsley, leaves picked, washed, and chopped 1 tsp lemon zest, minced 2 small anchovies 4 tbsp olive oil to taste salt and pepper Method In a small bowl, mix together the balsamic and molasses, then season with salt and pepper. Brush the marinade all over the loin of the lamb rack, and then place the rack in a bowl with the garlic and rosemary to marinate. Cover and refrigerate for six hours. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Pour 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan over a high heat. Take one lamb rack out of the marinade, then place it in the pan, fat side down. Sear for 4 minutes, or until golden brown on one side. Turn the rack over and repeat the sear on the other side, before transferring to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Wipe the pan clean, then repeat with the second rack of lamb. Take a sheet of tin foil, and fold it around the lamb rib bones. This will prevent them from scorching while being cooked. Place the lamb racks bone side down on the baking sheet. Take the rosemary and garlic out of the marinade, then chop them finely. You’ll have to pick the leaves off the rosemary first. Add back to the marinade bowl. Mix together, then spoon the mixture over the lamb loin. Place the racks in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes, or an internal thermometer plunged into the thickest part of the lamb loin reads the desired temperature. Take out of the oven, rest for ten minutes, then remove the foil. Carve in between each bone and serve. To make the pesto, place the pistachios, parsley, mint, lemon zest, anchovies, and 2 tbsp of olive oil into a blender. Pureed the mixture until smooth, adding more olive oil if needed. Season with salt and pepper and serve on the side of the lamb rack.

Everyone reading this newsletter knows that Peter Sanagan runs two butcher shops in Toronto. But, like any other reasonable, well-rounded person, he had a life before the meat business and continues to have a life in spite of it — a very busy ambitious life. Here are some excerpts from an interview I conducted with the boss regarding the latest installment in the life of Peter.

Graham: So Peter, how would you describe this new project.

Peter: laughs I think you can only describe it as a musical.

Graham: I think it’s safe to say that most people didn’t see that coming.

Peter: Oh, for sure but that’s what’s so fun, and frankly, therapeutic about it; it’s so far away from running two butcher shops.

Graham: So, is it like a traditional singing and dancing musical?

Peter: Yeah, I’m a big fan of the genre: Rodgers and Hammerstein, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Rent — all the greats.

Graham: Is this something you have a background in?

Peter: Well, before I got into food, I was a bit of a stage brat. As a kid I was in the touring version of the Polka Dot Door. I did a few commercials. Google https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz2ARTdaqE0 I was on my way to gaining admittance to the National Theatre School when I got a summer job at Licks, and then that was that. From there it was food all the way. But now I really need something other than work and family.

Graham: What’s it about?

Peter: It’s totally based around my experiences starting up a butcher shop in the market. In a lots of ways it’s about Kensington Market and so therefore about the city itself.

Graham: Wow. So what are some of the numbers?

Peter: Right off the top of my head? Long pause I Can See Myself In That Shop Window; Cows and Pigs and Chickens and Me; Help Wanted - Apply Within; Sing-agan’s…

Graham: That sounds like fun. Are you pitching this to any producers or theatre companies?

Peter: Oh it’s early days for that but The Ontario Cattle Breeders Association is on board.

Graham: Where do you envision staging it?

Peter: Well the truth of the matter is, we’ve got so many talented performers working here at Sanagan’s, that I think I might try doing it in-house. I mean, it’s like the shop is already a stage.

Graham: Does it have a name?

Peter: Oh that was easy. April Fools.

"So, I think I'm buying a butcher shop."

The summer of 2009 was a very different time in our lives, but I still remember the bar we were sitting in (each with our then-girlfriends/now-wives) when Peter told me his next move. He was moving away from restaurants and teaching at George Brown and heading into business for himself at the site of the old 'Max and Sons' butcher shop in Kensington Market. From the beginning Peter saw the opportunity to connect smaller Ontario farmers with consumers in Toronto. It was a risk then, but like the store on Gerrard St. (I'm bringing this all together here...) it pretty quickly became a fixture within the neighbourhood.

Though the move to Gerrard St. had a few parallels (smaller store, window display, more blending of front of house and butchery work), our 'new' space on Gerrard St. couldn't be more different than the original. With the experience we have running the Kensington Market stores, the opening and transition into being a two-location business has been (as far as these things go) pretty smooth. Sure, there were some construction delays and tense moments right before opening, and it's been a lot of work as we get off the ground in a new part of the city, and I probably shouldn't have ordered so much lamb for Easter last year while so few people knew we were even open...but I digress.

We want to use this anniversary as an opportunity to say thank you. Thank you to the tireless efforts of our staff (big shout outs to Cole, Scott, Sophie, Lester and Steven, all of whom were there from day one right through the first Christmas), the support of our neighbours (seriously, go check out Lazy Daisy's, Swag Sisters, The Pantry, Godspeed Brewery, Pizzeria via Mercanti, The Flying Pony, Glory Hole Doughnuts and all the other great neighbourhood shops!) and our incredible and loyal customers (both the group that has shopped with us in Kensington for years, and the group that is discovering us for the first time).

The Gerrard St. store has been a great opportunity for us in a number of ways. The greatest of these opportunities is that this store provides us the means to connect a new neighbourhood with the spectacular Ontario producers we work with. We truly believe that supporting local producers is not only better for our community as a whole, but that Ontario producers have some really kick-ass products, and that should be celebrated.

Please come down to the Gerrard St. store on Sunday, March 17th for some samples and anniversary specials. Thanks for a great first year Gerrard St!

There are many slow-cooking recipes that call for wine or beer to be used in the braising liquid. In this recipe I use Guinness. Its richness and sweetness pairs well with the spices and coffee in this recipe. It truly is a great choice for stews and braises but if you have your own favourite local stout, by all means go with that. Added benefit – you get to drink a couple of pints while the braise is in the oven. Wins all over!

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

4-5 lbs beef brisket, preferably from the flat end

Spice Rub
½ tsp celery seed
¼ tsp coriander seed
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch ground clove
1 tbsp salt
½ tbsp ground pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, large, peeled and roughly diced
1 tbsp butter
3 carrots, peeled and roughly diced
3 stalks celery, washed and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tsp instant coffee powder (or 1 shot of espresso)
1 can Guinness
1 L beef stock
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 branches parsley
4 branches thyme
1 branch rosemary
3 bay leaves
to taste salt and pepper

½ tbsp flour
½ tbsp butter
1 tbsp English mustard (or Dijon)

Method

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Mix the spices together for the dry rub, then apply them all over the brisket. Rub the brisket with the oil, then put it on a rack in a roasting pan. Place in the oven and cook until brown all over, about thirty minutes. When browned, remove from oven, and turn the oven down to 325°F.

Meanwhile, in a large pot over a medium heat, sweat the onions in the butter until softened. Add the celery, carrots, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Continue sweating until fragrant and slightly caramelized. Stir in the tomato paste.

Add the instant coffee and Guinness, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the Guinness by half, then add the beef stock. Tie the herbs together in a bundle and drop into the pot. Add the brisket back to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and place in the oven. Cook for three hours, or until the brisket is fork tender.

Remove the brisket from the pot and let it rest on a plate, covered with tin foil. Strain the solids out of the sauce, then place the sauce back on a medium heat and bring to a simmer. Mix the butter and flour together, and whisk the mixture into the sauce to thicken. Whisk in the mustard, then taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary.

Slice the brisket and serve with the sauce on the side.

Pancake Day a.k.a. Shrove Tuesday was one of the highlights of our heathen/Christian childhood calendar. You understood there was some vague religious thing about it but what really mattered was — pancakes for dinner! And pancakes means maple syrup.

Sanagan’s maple and birch syrups are produced by Shady Grove Maple in Woolwich Ontario, just outside of Guelph. There, Heather and Dan Goetz tap their woodlots and undertake the labour intensive process of turning sap into syrup. Now, lest you have visions of maples trees festooned with old metal buckets and a rustic sugar shack out by the beaver pond, understand that Shady Grove is serious operation. Across 15 local woodlots, they have over 30,000 taps operating on a vacuum system. They can process 4000 gallons of sap per hour. This is what allows them to reliably supply us with GRADE A AMBER maple syrup. Out of the four maple syrup grades; golden, amber, dark and very dark, amber is your classic table syrup; the lustrous pour that provides the definitive Canadian breakfast. And if some of that syrup spills over into the bacon pile? Smoke, sweet, salt, fat; it’s like making love to a lumberjack.

Maple syrup is the king but birch syrup is its lesser-known and surprising sibling. The birch sap season is later and shorter and you need almost twice as much sap to make the syrup. The result of this painstaking process is a thick and dark syrup with a revelatory flavour featuring notes of molasses, licorice and a long tangy fruity finish. Its vibrant flavour will enliven your vinaigrettes, marinades and glazes.

Shady Grove syrups are just one of the many Ontario-made sauces, pickles and condiments that make us so much more than just a butcher shop.

You might think that it’s a bit of a stretch for a Toronto butcher to be writing about Mardi Gras but here’s two reasons why March 5th is being celebrated in our newsletter.

1. Sanagan’s makes some of the best andouille sausage in town. So when you shop for your Mardi Gras feast, whether it features a gumbo, jambalaya or an étoufée, make a stop at Sanagan’s Gerrard or Kensington and get your andouille.

2. The establishment of New Orleans and the term Mardi Gras, as it applies Louisiana, are both attributable to the French Canadian and really long-named, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. Yup, it was a Montrealer who made this stuff up while he was representing the Colonial French in what is now the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Ergo, we should claim Mardi Gras as being partially Canadian, like General Motors and The Mamas and the Papas. And the direct link between Nova Scotia’s displaced Acadians and Louisiana’s Cajuns only strengthens our claim on Mardi Gras being as Canadian as broomball.

Old World French and New World Louisiana-style andouille sausage are now only distant cousins but what they still have in common is pork and smoke.

Ours fall into the Louisiana grilling style, featuring ground pork in a natural hog casing, flavoured with the typical Cajun mix of garlic, onion, thyme, black pepper and paprika. Then we kick it up a notch (where is Emeril these days?) with cayenne, marjoram, clove and nutmeg. These additions help it to shine in those classic New Orleans dishes.

If you want to keep things simple for Mardis Gras or you’re just looking a zippy prepared sausage, our Andouille are hot smoked over apple wood and are ready to go. Just throw them on the grill, in the pan or in the oven and heat them through.

Laissez les bons temps rouler, eh.