Taste the Local Difference

We held our menu launch a week or so a go. I would count it as a success. We had a number of people come and enjoy the sampler menu we produced and it was very well received. Thanks everyone who joined us and all our suppliers for the great products. You can find the full menu online here

Strange Search Terms and Stuff

I was looking at the stats analysis on the blog and came across the page that gives you the search terms that people use to find a site. In the case of this site its no surprise that "Country Encounters" was the number one search term. Now there was some terms that are not so unusual. Things like "Alberta Chef's Blog" and " Crowsnest Pass Blog"  seem reasonable. Then come the off the wall ones "bed and breakfast recipes "scalloped potatoes" ,
" Who makes wedding cakes in the crow's nest pass" and

my all time favourite  "how do you pronounce the christmas
 bread - panettone"

To all that have searched and found us: Thank You

To the person looking for Scallop Potatoes: I hope they worked out

To  the wedding cake people: Yes we do make cakes ... sometimes 

and finally to the person wanting to know
 how to say the name of the Italian Christmas Bread: 
I was told it was pronounced pan - a-  toni 

And on a slightly different topic: referring sites. 

Still the number one site to refer people to here is :John Prince's blog 
followed closely by CNPLive .  

Thank you Guys for the links  

Holiday Cards and Travel Alberta

I just posted some Holiday Card offers on the Travel Alberta site.See them here  and hereNow this could have been quite a harrowing experience if not for a nice fellow named Christopher out of Travel Alberta's Edmonton office.

Christopher spotted my submission quickly after I sent it and was on the phone to me. He had all kinds of helpful advise and pointers on how to make the promotion better and then after discussing it I made some changes. This was at 5 pm yesterday. I sent him an email fully knowing that he wouldn't see it till morning. Then over night I tried to add another offer but was having no luck with their system. This morning I tried again and got the submission to enter. Less than 5 minutes later Christopher was back on the phone helping me get this new one in ship shape. Now we have special offers on the Travel Alberta site and things are good.
Many thanks to Christopher for all his help and hats off to Travel Alberta for helping get the word out for all us small operaters.

Taste the Local Difference

On March 18 and 19 Mark and I going to launch our new sourced local menu -"Taste the Local Difference"
This menu has been many months in the making. We have reached out to regional suppliers for ingredients with a local flair to come up with some unique dishes. Producers like Rose Creek Ranch and Sunset Colony have met the challenges and we are set to go. 75% of the ingredients come from producers in Southern Alberta. Mostly small operations from our area.  All are farm fresh and delicious.

For the two nights we have put together a sampling of dishes off the new menu and are offering it to the general public at our place in Coleman.

Selected hors d'œuvre and Wine reception to start
Wild Mushroom Chowder
Heirloom Tomato and "Fairwinds" goat cheese salad
Wild Saskatoon Chicken Breast
"Rose Creek" Fillet Medallions with Wild Mushroom Sauce
Cherry Balsamic  Pork
Dessert sampler

You can see the full banquet menu here .

So come out for a great evening of good food and wine.

Place: Country Encounters Accommodations
          7701 17 ave Coleman
Time: 7: 00 pm Friday March 18 or Saturday March 19
Cost: $35 per person including wine with hors d'œuvre 
By reservation only  space is limited  Call Dawn @ 403-563-5299

Roast Beef

We were serving a banquet last night. Our standard roast beef buffet, nothing outrageous, in fact pretty easy in the scheme of things.  I was carving on the buffet line and a lady comes up and asks for a piece of "prime beef" or something like that. The first thing I thought was uggg another one that really doesn't know what she is eating.
On our way home Mark and I discussed the situation. The guest had been influenced by marketing practices of grocery stores and restaurant chains without a doubt. Now the question is: " what" did she think she was eating?
Was it Prime Rib or just "prime" meaning "good" beef ?  Well in an effort to help sort out the differences in beef cuts served by commercial operations such as mine I thought I would give you a little information on the topic.

First off; restaurant cuts and retail cuts are two different beasts. The retail outlets of the country have thought up niffty names in an attempt to make their products more sell able and so they can charge more . The likes of "standing rib roast" and "sirloin tip roast" don't exist in my world. We buy beef in much lager cuts, in fact primal cuts are what I purchase. They have no fancy adjectives to describe them or their tenderness. They just tell me what part of the beasties they come from.

What does all this mean you ask? Well it means that on my menu I have 3 types of what would be considered "Roast Beef" and with a little help you can tell which one you are being served just by looking at it on my cutting board.

1. Roast Beef -  I use round roasts - now that does not mean that the roast is round like a ball. It is the primal cut from the leg of the animal - it may be an inside round or an outside round - depends on what is the best price that week. If they had a bone the inside would be one side ,the outside would be another and the whole thiing with the bone would be a hip of beef. Like all our roasts we season them and then roast them slow ( about 275 F and no lid on it please- if you put a lid on it you are steam or braising it not roasting it)  It is an irregular shape and has grain running in several directions. The round is not a particular tender cut of beef but if you treat it well it will treat you well. Two most important things - Cook it slow and do not  over cook it.  When you carve it always carve across the grain and in thin slices.

It looks something like this. 

or cooked 

its tasty and lean and what 80% of our roast beef banquets are. (We used 77 cases last year- thats 144 roasts)

2. Roast Striploin : The second type we roast is the striploin sometimes called New York Striploin.  This is the same piece that a New York steak is cut from but we roast them whole. If you think of a T bone steak  one side of the bone is the tenderloin or fillet the other is the New York. The grain is fine and runs all the same direction making it really easy to carve. Again we roast it slow and never cooking past medium rare. ( those that must have well done can get it from the end cuts)  Its by far my favorite form of roast beef . You can spot it on a buffet line by its uniform rectangular shape and the thin fat cap on it. It looks like this

 

3. The Prime Rib- What many consider the King of roast beef.  No its not a standing rib roast ( although that is what retailers sell pieces of prime rib as) it's not a cross rib roast ( thats just a messy thing and a way for retailers to get more for a piece of meat than its worth) It's an 8 bone ( although you rarely see the bones on the buffet) primal cut that is a wonder all it's own. This is the one we done for the Teck coal Christmas parties. Boarder Lumber had it this year and what I would recommend to anyone that wants to impress there guests. It does cost more but its worth it.  We roast it slow ( see the pattern here) with the bones and the fat cap on then remove them for service.  It has a fine grain that runs all the same way and can be carved as thick as you like which makes it really easy to serve and the one that I train new carvers on.  On the buffet it is the easiest to spot ( it just lies there with its flat bottom, thats the side the bones were on, and its rounded top tapering to its little tail.)  Don't ask for it with no fat ( it doesn't come that way, and thats why it has sooooo much flavour) but do take it done anywhere up to medium. ( this helps to melt the fat and make it taste better) It looks like this:

raw

cooked

and on your plate

Well I hope this dispelled some of the confusion around the mighty "Alberta Roast Beef"

Culinary Tourism

In early February Mark and I attended a workshop hosted at the Gualt Museum. It was one of those things that set us to work. It was the spur for our new sourced local menu, really got us going. The following is a short video all about the movement and the workshop.