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These carrots make for a sexy, yet healthy, and delicious side dish. We just happen to have some nice carrots growing in our garden this year and this has been my favorite way to cook carrots this season.

Baby carrots are tossed with fresh thyme and  just a touch of olive oil. 

They are grilled on the bbq for about 10 minutes until they are just tender.

To finish, they are tossed with Maldon salt (fleur de sel or another fancy salt would also work nicely. I am just currently re-in-love with Maldon salt. It just feels so great when you crush those beautifully shaped crystals between your fingertips).

If you haven’t yet tried Maldon salt, be sure to give it a try. A box is about $8 but a little goes a long long way.

Here is the full recipe for Grilled Baby Carrots with Fresh Thyme and Maldon Salt (not that you actually need a recipe).

Ciao for now

dawn

[CAVEAT: The following post may appear to be an ad for a particular butcher, but I can assure it is not. We decided to write this review -something that we don't ordinarily do - because it covers a very important topic - meat. When buying meat, you have to get to know your butcher. So we are sharing one of our favorites with you and hopefully leaving you with a few things to think about or perhaps some questions to ask the next time you shop for meat - like do you know the where your meat comes from? Do you know the farmers ?].

Service like no other – that’s what you will find when you go to Greens Organic & Natural Market and talk to their local butcher. Finding a great butcher is more than just finding someone that sells you meat. Finding a good butcher actually makes cooking as a whole more of an experience. There is just something about buying ingredients from people that really know what they are doing and what they are talking about.

Let me introduce you to David (on the right in the picture below) and his apprentice Nick. Can you tell which one of them was happy to have his picture taken and which one wasn’t :-)

I met David a while back while I was shopping for some meat for our Prime Rib Lesson.  I was instantly impressed by how open he was to chatting with his customers about what they were looking for and how he could help them.  One of the biggest things I noticed about David was his demeanor. He was very open and not at all pretentious. I noticed this because it seems that nowadays many people in the “food world” can be a bit snooty. Like they are part of this elite group of people that are more into talking about what they know and who they know rather then just cooking and sharing their knowledge…sorry I digress…back to the meat!

Recently, I spoke with David and asked him a few questions. Here is what he had to say:

Q: What inspired you to become a butcher? A: With all the cooking I do I really wanted to get in touch with where my food/meat was coming from. True butchery is a lost art – the way a real butcher handles a carcass, a knife, and the knowledge he has to share with the customer about his animals. What farm they come from, what they were fed, the overall quality of life is very important. I want to show people that I’m here to help them in any way I can in order to get them cooking.

Q: How does one become a butcher? You would need to find a real butcher, which is difficult these days. Once found, hope they are willing to teach you. Then do whatever you can to spend as much time as possible in the shop, doing any- and everything, from learning the proper way to maintain your knives, mopping the floor, breaking down a chicken, etc…

Q: What would you say to someone that says “oh it’s way too expensive”? A: In my opinion, price should not be the first and only reason to buy something. People will spend $75k + on a car, but when it comes to the food they put in their body, the cheaper the better. I don’t get it.

Q: How is buying meat at a store like this different than in a large grocery store? Isn’t all meat the same? All meat is not the same. Some of the biggest differences are quality, sustainability and service. I only bring in a few animals a week from a very few select farms in B.C. I know what they ate, where they go and who their parents are, which gives me and the customer a better understanding of the quality of the meat. Also, I don’t support the killing of hundreds of animals to fill boxes with only cretin cuts. Once I sell the loin of one animal, that’s it till next week. Finally, service. I am here because I love cooking, and I love meat. I want to provide the customer with anything they need, and, if I don’t have it, I give them some different options about what they could substitute.

Q: Do you plan on offering butchery classes and when? A: Yes, hopefully soon.

Q: What is your best piece of advice for a cook or someone that is just learning to cook? A: Cook, join Rouxbe, ask questions, buy lots of cookbooks, and then cook more.

The fish above I watched Nick skillfully clean and package right in front of me…all in about 3 minutes. I also bought some of their fresh Qualicum Scallops while I was there. They were absolutely fantastic. In fact, we are still talking about them.

This Spatchcock chicken (which means butterflied but lets face it, Spatchcock sounds way cooler) is made with fresh pesto that they make in house. Now, normally, I would say never buy pre-marinated meats, as often the meat that is used for this is meat that is older. The new, fresh meat that comes in is kept plain and the stuff that did not sell becomes the meat that gets marinated. However, this is not always the case, but it’s a good thing to keep this in mind when buying marinated meat. In this case, I would feel quite comfortable buying this from David, as the marinade is not full of preservatives, it’s just basil, garlic, pinenuts, parmesan…and fresh chicken.

Just walking through the store, one feels inspired to eat well (and maybe to be more organized because the vegetables are all so perfectly placed and lined up…but that could have just been me).

To read more about David and how passionate he is about butchery, here is an article that he wrote. Let me warn you though, some could be offended or take issue with some of the things that he says, but I have to say, I would rather my butcher be super passionate and proud of what he is doing, than to have no opinion and treat butchery just like a job. To David, butchery is so much more than just a job, which you can tell the moment you talk to him.

Feel free to email David with any questions: dritzer at greensmarket dot ca

If you want to go into the store, it’s located at 1978 West Broadway in Vancouver B.C. You may also want to mention that you heard about him from Dawn at Rouxbe…who knows maybe he will throw in a piece of free bacon or something…just kidding…but, he will definitely take care of you (even if you don’t mention me or Rouxbe).

Ciao for now and remember “If you don’t eat yer meat, you can’t have any pudding.”

dawn

These prawns are a great way to celebrate backyard barbecuing and the fresh flavors of summer. Quick to make, these prawns are first marinated in garlic, olive oil and crushed chili flakes. They are then skewered in between fresh sage leaves.Before grilling, they are coating in bread crumbs. This gives the prawns a really great texture and coating once cooked. The sauce that goes with these prawns is a refreshing Italian Salsa Verde. Who knew that just parsley, garlic and olive oil could taste so good together. I have used all three a million times before, but somehow I had never made this simple sauce. The secret though is to make sure you use nice, fresh parsley and that the olive oil is a good quality olive oil.

Some might say, “fried sage – what?”, but trust me when I say, “they are delicious!” I say this because Joe picked off the sage the first time I served these prawns. It was only by accident that he ate one and  he said “OMG – these are so delicious!”. Here is the full text recipe for the  Grilled Prawns with Italian Salsa Verde

Or perhaps you might just want to make the Italian Salsa Verde, which goes really well with a plethora of foods, from grilled chicken, lamb, beef to fish or even vegetables. You can also add additional ingredients to give the salsa a little kick, such as lemon zest, chili flakes, capers etc.

Either way, both of these items are a great way to use up some of your fresh summer herbs. For more info on using herbs be sure to check out the latest lesson on How to Use and Cook with Herbs.

Ciao for now. Have a great weekend everyone!

dawn

We are pleased to announce that Rouxbe has partnered with Seattle-based TeachStreet.com.


TeachStreet is a dynamic online community that brings motivated learners and talented teachers together. It is a place where you can find the resources to learn anything – not just cooking. It’s pretty cool.

We figured because our users love to learn online, that you might find TeachStreet.com a useful and fun place to find local and online classes, cooking articles and even cooking classes.

You will also now see Rouxbe on Teachstreet as we extend our reach for new cooking school students into their online community of people that love to learn online.

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