Chopped Canada, Season 3, Episode 18: Asparagus Stuffed Guinea Fowl

Ingredients for the main course were as follows:  guinea fowl (gamey poultry), purple mustard seeds, barbecue flavoured rice crackers and green asparagus – pretty simple compared to other weeks.  As soon as I heard about the ingredients, I thought of breaded guinea fowl – stuffed with asparagus, sundried tomatoes and goat cheese.  Why not? The […]

Chopped Canada Season 3, Episode 17: Fresh Horseradish? Elk Ribeye?

Hmmmm….what can you do with those?  And nacho cheese flavoured chips?  And seaweed sheets?  I mean, I could go all pubby, slow cook the elk and  then make nachos with it.  However, that wouldn’t really be a main course.  I would cook the elk, wrapped in seaweed and then serve it with a fresh horseradish, […]

Chopped Canada Season 3, Episode 16: Macaron Crusted Pork Tenderloin Skewers

The appetizer round ingredients for episode 16 consisted of cassis flavoured macaron (one faux pas I heard during the episode – at least ONE contestant (a professional) pronounced it MACAROON.  If you’re in the culinary industry, shouldn’t you KNOW it’s MACARON?  Macaroons are a different species entirely), jalepeno peppers, pork tenderloin and loquats.  The first […]

Chopped Canada, Season 3, Ep 15: Sun Dried Tomatoes and Beetroot Powder Pizza

The appetizer round consisted of the following ingredients: beetroot powder, pepperoni, sun dried tomatoes, and long beans.  Since this is an imaginary meal and I’m also not a contestant on Chopped, I have all the time I have.  Thus, I’m going to make pizza (actually, I’ll probably make some sort of open-faced sandwich if I […]

Chopped Canada, Season 3, Episode 14: Using Sticky Rice to Make Dumplings

Jong – eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival is a tradition in Chinese culture.  Called zongzi (or simply jong in Cantonese), it is often served savoury with ingredients such as duck eggs, sticky glutinous rice and nuts (usually peanuts) and wrapped in bamboo leaves.  It resembles tamales from Mexico.  Since episode 14’s dessert ingredients included […]

Chopped Canada, Season 3, Episode 13: Braised Sweet and Sour Hare and Bok Choy Rice

The ingredients for the main course last week were as follows:  hare, sage, watermelon lollipops and bok choy.   There was, as usual, a time limit, but this post isn’t about that, so I will will take my time and braise the meat in the oven.  It’s a fantasy meal, anyway – something that I will […]

Chopped Canada Season 3, Episode 12: Peppermint Patty Goat Meatball Mole

The main course ingredients for the twelfth episode of the third season were as follows:  mint peppermint patties, capers, ground goat meat and black bean flour.  As soon as I heard there were peppermint patties and meat, the first thing I thought of was something with a mole sauce.  Can’t be that hard, can it?  […]

Chopped Canada Season 3, Episode 11: Spicy Maple Creme Halibut and Fennel Salad

The mandatory ingredients for episode 11 weren’t all that difficult – especially the main course.  Halibut, maple sandwich cookies, baby fennel and aji pepper paste.  I like halibut and I like maple, so why not create a sauce out of cookie filling and paste?  One doesn’t even need a food processor – just a bit […]

Chopped Canada, Season 3, Episode 10: Mountain Tea and Salmon Sausage Pizza?

So the contestants only had 20 minutes to complete the appetizer round on episode 10.  I say screw that.  I’m going to take my time if I were given the following ingredients:  mountain tea, graffiti eggplant, salmon sausage and barbecue sauce.  I’m going to make pizza.  Because I said so.  And because this is a […]

Chopped Canada Season 3, Episode 9: Deviled Eggs and Sprinkles?

Yes, the appetizer round called for the following ingredients:  already-prepped deviled eggs, Canadian smoked cheddar, venison sausages and…get ready for it…rainbow cake decorations.  In other words, rainbow sprinkles.  Why are ingredients this season so…odd?  Anyway… Can you SERIOUSLY incorporate this into a non-dessert? So what can you make with this?  Let’s think OUTSIDE of the […]