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Not all Christmases are full of Joy, as Graham has had to learn the hard way. He wanted to share his stories with you all this year, when we're all feeling a little less than jolly due to the pandemic, and getting used to the idea of smaller gatherings. It's a good reminder that, in the face of great adversity, life still goes on. Life has a fun way of toying with us, we just have to be okay with rolling with it.

- Peter

by Graham Duncan

Christmas 2020 is probably going to be a bummer. I should know. I’m an expert on difficult Christmases. Don’t believe me? Feel free to join me on a bumpy ride down my broken candy cane memory lane of Recent Christmases Past. It ain’t pretty. But here’s a holiday thought for you; when you get a lot of coal in your stocking — light it up and watch it burn. 

Ice Storm Christmas 2013

Toronto freezes up and there’s a blackout. I venture out into the wilds of Eastern Scarborough to care for my aging father who lives in a 9th floor apartment. It’s flashlights, blankets and a lot of stairs. After cooking meals on the balcony on a camp stove and sleeping on the floor, on Christmas Eve day, Emergency Services carry him all the way down. We retreat to my West End apartment which now has power. He immediately falls on the floor. Then on Christmas Day, stressed and exhausted, when I tell my brother that it is physically impossible to get my dad to the family Christmas dinner, a giant argument ensues. But at least we had a Sanagan’s Tourtiere in the freezer.  

Stroke Christmas 2014

My brother — recurring theme alert — has had a stroke and is temporarily residing at Bridgepoint rehab centre. So, we transport the entire family Christmas — there’s nine of us, many brandishing canes or walkers — to the facility. I guess it sounds kind of heart-warming but, as the person in charge of cooking and transporting the entire Christmas dinner, it feels more like Operation Giblet Storm. And Bridgepoint had all the festive atmosphere of a Cold War bunker. 

Stroke Christmas Part 2 2015

To the canes and walkers, now add a wheelchair. The only place that is accessible to all of us is my brother’s industrial workshop where he builds synthesizers. Nothing says Christmas like a rack of diodes. Also, my wife is out of town caring for her ailing mother. And then when dinner is all over I have to drive my dad back to Scarborough through a blizzard. Boxing Day, it’s me and the cat. Put a little eggnog in that rum. 

Cancer Christmas 2017

After having my cancerous kidney removed in November, I remember almost nothing of this holiday season except I managed to go back to work just before the Holidays, gingerly hefting turkeys and inflicting scar viewings on my unsuspecting co-workers. 

Care Home Christmas 2018

We’ve now unloaded dad into institutional care. The care home workers, bless them, provide some touching hospitality but there’s no avoiding the fact that the turkey is pressed, dad’s has been in the blender and we’re all in a “special” room, made festive with institutional fluorescent lighting and the loud hum of an adjacent transformer. 

Christmas 2020

As I write this, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is laying it on with a trowel: Santa’s in lockdown but Walmart isn’t; I’m awaiting a date for my third cancer surgery; and we all wear masks all day at work. But you know what? Peter and company now feel so sorry for me, they’re giving me Christmas week off. Thank you Santa-gan’s! 

The funny thing is, after all of this, I still look forward to Christmas morning.  So remember, just when it looks like it’s going to be All Grinch and no Cindy Lou Who, keep on Christmasing and Happy Holidays. 

photos and words by Graham Duncan

This holiday season, if you’re planning on visiting people, most likely those visits will be occurring outside. The last thing you’ll want is a frosty beer. For al fresco revellers, hot booze is good news. I’ve been knocking back the Hot Toddies since October and they’re a lifesaver.

Here’s a practical list of easy-to-make, yummy, cockle-warmers that will see you through the holidays and beyond. 

Practical note — ditch the glassware. Mugs keep things warm, including your hands, and they will not crack due to extreme temperatures. Small mugs are best; this is no time for dilution! (See photo.) Pre-heating the mugs with a little hot water extends their precious life-giving warmth. 

For all recipes, feel free to substitute one brown liquor for another (i.e. substitute brandy for whisky, rum for brandy etc.). Scotch in any of these recipes contributes a likeable peaty element.  For “hot water” please use freshly boiled water from the kettle. All recipes make one cocktail, except for Kingsley Amis’ Hot Wine Punch, which makes enough for a longer outdoor hangout session.

Hot Buttered Rum (Esquire’s Handbook for Hosts)

scant tsp                            sugar
1 tbsp                                 butter
2 oz                                    amber or dark rum
as required                         hot water
pinch                                  ground spices: nutmeg, clove, and/or cinnamon

Method

1. Dissolve sugar with a tbsp of hot water in mug.
2. Add butter and rum.
3. Fill mug with hot water and stir.
4. Dust with ground spices.

Irish Coffee (Mr. Boston Guide)

1 1/2oz                               Irish whiskey
as required                         hot coffee
to taste                               sugar
one serving                        whipped cream

Method

1. Combine whiskey, coffee and sugar in mug.
2. Top with dollop of whipped cream

Rum Flip (Esquire’s Handbook for Hosts)

1                                            egg
1/2                                         tbsp sugar
2 oz                                       amber or dark rum
pinch                                     nutmeg

Method

1. Beat together egg and sugar.
2. Combine with rum in small saucepan and heat, stirring constantly. Do not boil.
3. If you wish to obtain a frothy texture, like an old-time flip heated and stirred with a hot poker, pour your mixture back and forth from mug to mug until frothy.
4. Dust with nutmeg.

Hot Toddy (Pierre Burton’s Centennial Food Guide)

2 oz                                      brown liquor (whisky, brandy, rum)
1 tsp                                     maple syrup or honey
1 tsp                                     butter (very optional)
as required                           hot water
pinch                                    mixed ground spices: nutmeg, clove, cinnamon and/or ginger

Method

1. Combine ingredients in mug with tbsp of hot water and stir together.
2. Fill with hot water and stir.
3. Dust with ground spices.

Hot Wine Punch (Kingsley Amis, Everyday Drinking)

750ml                                   low-priced red wine
5 or 6 oz                               brown liquor, preferably brandy
1                                           lemon
1                                           orange 
to taste (optional)                 sugar
1 tbsp                                   mixed ground spice; nutmeg, clove, cinnamon and/or ginger
as required                           hot water

Method

1. Slice fruit into sections.
2. Heat all ingredients in saucepan, stirring occasionally, until the mix steams but does not boil.
3. Transfer punch to any heat-proof vessel with a pouring spout. Fill mugs 2/3 full of punch and top with 1/3 of hot water.

One of our meathawkers, Ian, has been delighting us in the shop recently with his amazing baked treats, made using some of the new grocery products we carry at Sanagan’s! I’ve been lucky enough to get a taste of these treats before they’re gone, and they are delicious. Ian shared three of his recipes with us, I hope you all get to enjoy them as well this holiday season!

- Peter

All recipes and photos by Ian Hoffam

Classic Shortbread

This classic shortbread is as easy as 1, 2, 4 (1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, 4 parts flour)! All you have to do is whisk the sugar and flour together, then cut in the butter using either a pastry cutter or a food processor (try not to use your hands, you want to keep the butter as cold as you can). Roll small handfuls quickly into 3/4-inch sized balls, pressing each down with a fork twice to create a classic cross-hatch pattern (They might look overly crumbly, but they’ll bake up just fine). Top with flaky sea salt. Bake 30 minutes at 300°F.

Walnut and Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk

These cookies are a fast favourite all year round! Start by browning the butter in a pan with tall sides, melting over low heat and swirling around to prevent burning/uneven browning. The butter will foam; continue swirling until foam subsides, the butter smells like toasted nuts, and the solids have turned a golden brown. 

Ingredients

½ cup                    brown butter (see note above)
½ cup                    walnut oil
1 cup                     brown sugar (packed)
1/3 cup                  granulated sugar
2                            eggs
2 tsp                      vanilla
2 cups                   all purpose flour
1 tsp                      baking soda
¾ tsp                     kosher salt
200 gr                   dark chocolate, broken into small chunks
100 gr                   toasted walnuts, broken or left whole
to taste                  flaked sea salt

Method

1. In a work bowl, combine the brown butter with the walnut oil, then add the brown sugar and the granulated sugar. Then mix in 2 eggs, one at a time, followed by 2 tsp of vanilla.
2. Add the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and kosher salt, and mix well to form a dough. Finally, the most important part: fold in the dark chocolate, broken into small chunks, and the toasted walnuts (I like to leave them whole, but you can chop them or break them up). Let the dough rest at room temperature for at least 1/2 hour, or longer in the fridge.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
4. Cut a small piece of the dough, and shape into balls about the size of a ping pong ball. Gently press the cookie dough down on the baking sheet, just enough to form a flat surface. Sprinkle flaky sea salt on cookies, and bake 9-10 minutes in the hot oven. You should let them cool 15-20 minutes before eating, if they last that long!

Chocolate-Orange Pinwheels

These are a revived version of an old family favourite! Using lard as well as butter produces a cookie with a lighter, crumblier texture than you’d otherwise get. The chocolate dough gets its intense colour from both melted dark chocolate and black cocoa powder, available at your favourite bulk retailer. It gives them a slight Oreo flavour!

Orange Dough

Ingredients

2 ½ cups               all purpose flour
¾ cup                    granulated sugar
½ tsp                     baking powder
¼ tsp                     salt
¼ lb                       lard
¼ lb                       butter, cut into large cubes
1                            navel orange, zest only
4 tsp                      orange liqueur

Method

1. In a work bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Put the dry mix in a food processor, then add the lard and butter. Mix together using the pulse function, until a crumbly dough is formed. Add the orange zest and liqueur, and pulse until mixed. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly until a smooth dough is formed. Push down to create a disk, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. 

Chocolate Dough

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups               all purpose flour
¼ cup                    black cocoa
1 cup                     sugar
½ tsp                     baking powder
¼ tsp                     salt
¼ lb                       lard
¼ lb                       butter, cut into large cubes
60 gr (2 oz)           bittersweet chocolate, melted

Method

1. In a work bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Put the dry mix in a food processor, then add the lard and butter. Mix together using the pulse function, until a crumbly dough is formed. Add the melted chocolate and pulse until mixed. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly until a smooth dough is formed. Push down to create a disk, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. 

To Assemble

1. Roll each disk of dough between sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper into a 9x13 inch rectangle.
2. Remove top layer of plastic/parchment from each sheet of dough. Place chocolate dough rectangle directly in front of you on the countertop, with the orange dough rectangle behind it. In one fluid motion, grasp the sheet beneath the orange dough and pull toward yourself to flip the rectangle over onto the chocolate dough. Roll away from yourself, jelly roll style, then refrigerate another 20-30 minutes. 
3. Preheat oven to 375°F.
4. Slice dough log into cookies about 1cm thick, then bake on parchment paper for 11 minutes.

This is a great dish to serve on a cold winter’s night. The combination of chicken, cashew nut, and garam masala brings to mind a curry, but I’m not well-versed enough in Indian cuisine to claim it as such. The spices with the nuts are a lovely flavour combo that you will savour long after the meal is over. I like to serve this with steamed basmati rice and some stewed greens.

Serves four (with leftovers)

Ingredients

2 tbsp                   garlic, minced
2 tbsp                   ginger, minced
1 tbsp                   garam masala
pinch                    chili powder
1 tbsp                   salt
2 lbs                     chicken thighs, boneless and skinless (about 10-12 pieces)
2 tbsp                   vegetable oil
1 cup                    cashew nut
½ cup                   almond milk (or regular skim or homogenized milk will do)

Method

1. In a bowl, mix the garlic, ginger, garam masala, chili, and salt with the chicken thighs. Cover and marinate for at least four hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
3. On a baking tray, spread out the cashews. Roast in the oven until golden brown (about 10-15 minutes).
4. Reserve 2 tbsp of nuts to use as garnish, and the rest place in a blender with the almond milk. Puree until creamy. Set aside.
5. Add the vegetable oil to a large sauce pot over a high heat. When the oil is hot, sear the boneless chicken thighs until brown on both sides. Don't overcrowd the pan, as it could cause the meat to steam, when you want it to brown. Repeat until all the thighs are browned. Reduce the heat to a medium low, and add all of the legs back to the pot. Stir in the pureed cashew. If the cashew is very thick, add more almond milk to the pot until it is slightly saucy. Stir well, cover, and place in the oven to braise for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is almost falling apart.
6. Stir in the whole roasted cashew pieces and serve.

Duck confit is a very easy dish that seems very difficult. This is a great time of year to make it, with holidays around the corner and all. “Confit” means to slowly cook a piece of meat, generally duck, goose, or pork, in its own fat until the muscles have tenderized. Basically, braising in fat. Which sounds rich, but because you are slowly cooking the meat, you are actually rendering out additional fat that is stored in the muscle, so the resulting dish isn’t unhealthy for you at all!

The ease of this dish comes from the fact that there is very little prep to do. You simply cure the legs overnight, then submerge the legs in melted fat and throw in the oven. Once cooked, the legs can keep for weeks in your fridge, as long as they are stored in the same fat they were cooked in. This recipe calls for ten legs, which will serve for at least two meals. Serve with sautéed potatoes and a vinegary salad.

Serves four (see recipe note)

Ingredients

¾ cup                    sugar
¾ cup                    salt
6                            garlic cloves, roughly chopped
6                            bay leaves
2 tbsp                    peppercorns
8                            thyme branches, torn
10                          duck legs
600 gr                    duck fat

Method

1. In a bowl, mix together the salt, sugar, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and thyme branches. Add the duck legs to the mixture and mix well. Cover and place in the fridge to cure for at least 12 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 250°F.
3. In a sauce pot over a medium low heat, melt the rendered duck fat. Brush the excess cure off of the legs. Arrange the legs in a deep casserole or pot so they are snug. Pour the melted duck fat over the legs, ensuring they are all submerged. Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 2.5 to 3 hours or until cooked***.
4. Once cooked, cool the pot on the counter for a couple of hours. It can now be stored in the fridge, or finished.
5. To finish, preheat the oven to 500°F.
6. Line a large frying pan or skillet with parchment paper. Remove four legs from the fat (if taking from the fridge, do this carefully as the fat may make the leg hard to remove). Lay each leg, skin side down, on the parchment paper with a little of the cooking fat. Place the pan in the oven and roast until the skin is golden brown and crispy (about 10 to 15 minutes). Remove the legs from the pan and dry them on paper towel before serving.

***Note: To test if the legs are fully cooked after the confit process, remove a leg from the pot. Holding the drumstick at the knuckle, lightly press the thigh bone and the drumstick together. When the leg is fully cooked, the joint between the two bones will give slightly. If the joint is tough, cook the confit for a bit longer. If the leg falls apart, it is overcooked (which isn’t a problem at all, other than it looking a little messy).

By Graham Duncan

Photos by Graham Duncan

Does anyone remember Nouvelle Cuisine? Originating with a number of chefs in 1970’s France, it influenced restaurants throughout the industry. Nouvelle Cuisine emphasized fresh, quality ingredients, ornate presentation and lighter fare. It made for clean, distinct flavours, al dente vegetables, and occasionally finishing your dinner in need of a snack.  

I asked Peter about Nouvelle Cuisine and he was, not surprisingly, well-versed. He brought in a massive stack of cookbooks and we decided I should get my Nouvelle on. 

Nouvelle Quest Guided By Inspiring But Sometimes Vague Cookbook

From Peter’s library, Michel Bras’ Essential Cuisine seemed the most Nouvelle-y and ambitious. While published in 2002, it embodies many of the movement’s themes and exacting imperatives, as to be expected of a Three-Star chef. I decided to attempt two recipes from Essential Cuisine which combined the weird and the familiar.  

Rump Roast Pan-fried with Crispy Fatback, Buckwheat Jus and Swiss Chard

The Rump Roast

The recipe describes a rump roast cut up into servings. We call these top sirloin steaks. If I’m going to cook a fancy steak dinner, admirable as a top sirloin may be, I’d opt for a more deluxe cut, like an Artisan Farms AAA strip loin (cut into two servings). And the pan-frying part? The grill was already going to be hot (see onions), so I cooked the steaks there as well. Hard to go wrong. 

The Crispy Fatback

Steak — no problem. Crispy fatback, as portrayed in the cookbook photo, looked like playing cards, “standing on end so they catch the light”? I followed Bras’ scant instructions and ended up with delicious, stumpy pieces of crackling that were no more going to “catch the light” than they were going to catch a pop fly in centre field. I ate most of them while preparing the rest of dinner. 

The Buckwheat Jus

This is a sauce to accompany the steak. In the recipe photo it appears as a luminous drizzle. After simmering the buckwheat, you sieve it, presumably to eliminate husks, resulting in a smooth base. Have you ever sieved porridge? This is why kitchens have apprentices. Combined with stock, onions and garlic, it tasted like health food stores smell. Even after trying to enliven it with concentrated stock it was about as luminous as burlap. Jus can’t always get what you want. 

The Swiss Chard

Other than: separating the leaves from the stems; removing the fibres; splitting the stems; cooking them separately; chilling in ice water; and sautéing, again separately, with butter and shallots, this was a breeze. And delicious! But that may have had something to do with the rather un-Nouvelle-like half pound of butter. 

The Result 

The Swiss chard was delectable. The fatback can probably be mastered but the buckwheat jus and I will never see eye to eye. Oh, and the steak was excellent. Whadya expect? It’s from Sanagan’s.

Roasted Sweet Onions with “Licorice Powder” and Vinaigrette au Jus

The Onions

You’re supposed to roast the onions nestled in a pan of rock salt but that’s a lot of rock salt for just one dish. So, I slow roasted our beautiful Cookstown organic sweet onions on the gas grill; a successful adaptation.  

Licorice Powder

Dry black olives overnight in the oven. Chop into a powder. Combine with demerara sugar and almond powder and you’ve got a wonderful licorice-y garnish. Dusted over top of the roasted onions, this is the sort of infatuating culinary alchemy I was hoping for.  

Vinaigrette Au Jus

Red wine vinegar, grape seed oil (exceedingly clean and mild) and “short pigeon jus”. What is short pigeon jus, you may ask? A short jus is a concentrated, almost demi-glace-like reduction of regular stock a.k.a. long jus. Now, the long and short of it is, that even at Sanagan’s we don’t have that much pigeon carcass laying around for stock. So, at Peter’s suggestion, I made 2 litres of long duck jus, which was enriched and reduced into less than a cup of short duck jus, two tablespoons of which were added to the vinaigrette. Crazy! But the result was worth it. You know when you’re at some great restaurant and you say, happily, “We’d never have this at home”? That’s where we were with the vinaigrette au jus. 

The Result

The disappointments of the fatback and the buckwheat jus were overcome by this dish. It’s definitely the most original thing I’ve cooked and one of the most delicious.  

The Nouvelle Takeaway 

You stand up, you walk, you fall, you stand up and walk again. My Nouvelle adventure taught me a few new tricks and re-awakened my appetite for experimenting in the kitchen. Now, if you see me out in Bellevue Park with a net, you’ll know that I’m working on my short pigeon jus. 

By Jason Browne. Photography Jason Browne.

A seat on Ossington’s Bellwoods Brewery patio has always been a coveted culinary perch. But the winter of 2020 is making that night out a bit of a challenge. Luckily, you can recreate dinner and drinks at the Brewery thanks to this delicious contribution by Sanagan’s good friend, and Bellwoods Brewery’s head chef Jason Browne. Here Jason shares some insights on cooking and work: 

I’m a pretty traditional chef. I love the classics and we always try to utilize the best Ontario and Canadian ingredients when at all possible and I think that comes through in our food. We’ve used Sanagan’s as a supplier in one way or another since day one at Bellwood’s, and I remember using them since their inception in the tiny little shop when they first opened. You could tell it was a very special butcher shop right from the beginning.

I’ve been at Bellwood’s for about 6 years now. It's by far the longest I’ve ever stayed at a restaurant. I think I was looking for some stability when I started working there, and they were able to provide that for me. My wife was about to have a baby when I got the job and we’ve since had a second. Bellwood’s provides a nice balance between family and work life. 

Top Blade Roast

Ingredients 

2-3 lb               top blade roast
1                      onion, roughly chopped
1                      carrot, roughly chopped
2 stalks            celery, roughly chopped
1 head             garlic, cut in half through the equator
3                      bay leaves
4-5 sprigs        thyme
1 sprig             rosemary
500 ml             red wine or stout beer
1 litre               beef stock
2-3 tbsp           neutral oil, canola or grapeseed
To taste           salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 250-275°F.
2. Place a cast-iron dutch oven (or similar roasting pot) on medium-high heat and allow time to get hot.
3. Place a few tablespoons of oil in the pot. Once the oil starts to shimmer, or just barely smoke, season the roast liberally with salt and pepper and sear on all sides till browned all over. Remove the roast and set aside. 

4. Place the vegetables into the pot and sweat for a few minutes.
5. Add the thyme, rosemary, bay, garlic and deglaze with red wine or stout and reduce till it's almost completely evaporated.
6. Add the beef stock and return the roast into the pot and bring to a simmer. 

7. Cover pot and place in preheated oven for 3-3.5 hours.
8. Once roast is tender, remove meat, strain vegetables from liquid and replace roast back into stock to allow time to cool if not serving right away.

Celeriac Remoulade

Ingredients

1 head                         celeriac, peeled and julienned
½ bunch                      chives, chopped fine
2-3 sprigs                    parsley, chopped fine
2-3 heaping tbsp         mayonnaise
2                                  lemons, juiced
2 tbsp                          cider vinegar
to taste                        honey 
1 tbsp                          grainy mustard
to taste                        salt and pepper

Method

1. Combine julienned celeriac with lemon juice to avoid oxidation. 

2. Combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, honey, herbs and mustard in a bowl and whisk together. Pour over the celeriac and allow to marinate for a couple hours. 
3. Strain a bit of liquid off (if necessary) before seasoning with salt and pepper and serving.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

3 - 4                             russet potatoes (I use 1 per person)
About ½ to 1 cup        35% cream*
About ¼-½ lb              butter, cubed (room temperature) *
2 cloves                       garlic, minced

 * Cream and butter amounts are dependent on how loose you like your mashed potatoes. Start with less, and add more for a looser texture.

 Method

1. Peel and cut the potatoes into 2-inch pieces.
2. Cover potatoes with salted water in a medium sized pot, bring to a simmer and cook until fork tender.  
3. Strain the potatoes and put through a ricer or food mill.
4. In a small pot gently heat the cream and garlic until hot. 
5. Put the potatoes back in the same pot you cooked them in, pour the hot cream garlic mixture over the riced potatoes and scatter the cubed butter over the potato cream mixture. Gently fold with a spatula until all ingredients are mixed well, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Butter-Poached Button Mushrooms

Ingredients

1lb                   button mushrooms
2 sprigs           thyme
1 head             garlic
1.5 lbs             butter
To taste           salt and pepper  

Method

1. In a small pot, gently warm the butter, thyme and garlic until butter has completely melted.  
2. Add mushrooms, making sure they’re completely submerged under the butter mixture. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a very gentle simmer and cover with a lid. You need to cook as low as absolutely possible without browning butter at all, for about 30-45 min or until mushrooms are soft.  

3. Drain and serve when ready to use. Reserve garlic mushroom butter for another application; great on garlic toast or in pastas. 

Serving

Cut roast into four servings. Ladle a pool of stock onto each plate. Layer mashed potatoes on top of stock. Layer meat on top of mashed potatoes. Side with mushrooms and celeriac. 

I love a good “parm”. Normally made with breaded eggplant or a meat cutlet, fried until golden, then topped with tomato sauce and cheese and baked until golden brown, parmigiana is a classic comfort food. This version is a bit different, mainly because I don’t use a breaded cutlet. This is especially good for people who are cutting out gluten for one reason or another, but still want that luscious and zingy “parm” flavour. Enjoy with a salad and a glass of fruity red wine.

Serves 4

Ingredients

4                          pork rib chops
to taste                salt and pepper
2 tbsp                  olive oil
8 tbsp                  tomato sauce (make your own or buy a top-quality brand, like ours)
1-2 cups               grated mozzarella cheese

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Season the pork chops liberally with salt and pepper, then rub them all over with the oil.
3. In a heavy bottomed skillet or sauté pan over a medium-high heat, sear the pork chops until golden on both sides.
4. Line a thick baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the seared chops on the tray and bake until an internal thermometer reads 160°F, about 4-5 minutes.
5. Remove the pork chops from the oven, then turn the broiler to high. Move the oven rack to its highest position.
6. Spoon 2 tbsp of tomato sauce on the top of each pork chop, then liberally sprinkle with the mozzarella. Place on the top oven rack and broil until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown.
7. Cool slightly before serving (that cheese is gonna be ooey-gooey good and hot!).

A ballotine is an excellent dish to cook when you really want to stretch your meat. Made with poultry, game birds, or rabbit, a ballotine is just a boneless piece of the meat (I like the leg), stuffed with a filling (can be whatever you like, including traditional Thanksgiving turkey stuffing), then tied into a neat bundle before roasting. This recipe calls for Chinese Five Spice and brown sugar, which gives the dish a nice baking-spice element that is lovely this time of year. Enjoy with some roasted parsnips and a bright green salad.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup                     short grained sticky rice
1 pc                       mild pork sausage (I like to use the small Chinese sausages found in Asian markets, but any fresh sausage will do. You need about 4-5 oz of sausage meat all together.)
1 pinch                 salt 
2 tbsp                   green onion, sliced thinly
2 tbsp                   Chinese Five Spice powder
1 tbsp                   brown sugar
1 tbsp                   salt 
2                           chicken legs, boneless but with the skin on (ask your butcher to do this, or see my method in Cooking Meat, my book available everywhere good books are sold, including here!)
2 tbsp                   vegetable or olive oil

Method

1. Cook the rice as per the package instructions. Add the raw sausage and the pinch of salt to the pot with the rice before starting to cook.
2. Meanwhile, debone the chicken leg (if you are doing it yourself). Otherwise, mix the Five Spice, brown sugar, and tbsp of salt together on a small bowl and set aside.
3. Once the rice is cooked and steamed, set aside to cool for 45 minutes or so, until it is cool enough to handle. Remove the sausage and chop it up into bite-sized pieces. Fluff the rice with a fork and mix in the green onion and the cut-up sausage.
4. Lay each boneless chicken leg on your work surface, skin side down. Wet your fingers with warm water (this will help prevent rice from sticking to your fingers), then add about 2-3 tbsp of the sticky rice mixture on the chicken meat, and form it into a cylinder. Roll the chicken meat around the rice in tight roll, and secure the ballotine with at least three pieces of twine. Repeat with the second chicken leg.
5. Season the chicken ballotines all over with the Five Spice mixture. Place in a fridge, uncovered, to marinate for one hour before cooking.
6. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
7. Take the ballotines out of the fridge. Place a large oven-proof skillet or sauté pan over a medium high heat. Once hot, add the oil to the pan, then add the ballotines to the hot oil. Brown on all sides (about 1.5-2 minutes per side) before placing the pan in the oven to roast. Cook for about 12-15 minutes, or until an internal thermometer plunged into the center of the ballotines reads 165°F.
8. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before removing the twine, slicing the ballotines, and serving.