Recipe 35- Steakhouse Salad with BBQ Blue Cheese Dressing

Recipe 35- Steakhouse Salad with BBQ Blue Cheese Dressing 

Good Morning everyone! 

I hope that your day is started off well. I finally got some time to sit down and finish off my blog posting from last week. I had a very busy weekend in the BIG city of Toronto.

I hadn't announced the exciting news through any social media, but this past weekend I auditioned for MASTERCHEF CANADA! 

As many of you heard earlier this year I also auditioned for "Come Dine with Me Canada" I had an on camera audition done here in my home. Unfortunately the network cancelled the show a few weeks later! 

The producer that came to my house was just an awesome person and we really hit it off. About a month ago his name popped up in my email inbox. He was inviting me to audition for MasterChef Canada as he was a producer of the show. I sent in my written application and within a couple days I got a phone call from the producer and did the over the phone interview. 

Another week or so passed and in my inbox came an official VIP guest invite! 

This past Sunday was the audition day for me. I was required to bring one dish along with me to be tasted and judged. YIKES

I chose my all time favourite peanut butter cheesecake. This time instead of store bough Peanut Butter cups, I made my own along with homemade hot fudge. It turned out excellent and did quite well at the audition. 

My test kitchen in full swing. Masterchef Canada crew member Dean couldn't help but sneak a bite.. and then spread the word. Can you tell how much the crew enjoyed it?

The day was a very early one, 4 AM to be exact. I got up and ready and we left our house at 5AM. I had no idea what to think, I had never imagined myself auditioning for a competitive cooking show. I figured since I was invited, I would take whatever comes and just live the experience. 

Upon arrival, we encountered some nasty rainy weather. We lined up and waited for Masterchef crew to come out and give instructions. The line behind me got longer and longer. I could not believe the amount of people that showed up, coolers and bags in hand ready for the day. 

At 7am we received coloured wrist bands and told we would be heading into the building soon. 

My nerves kicked in for the first time. 

My husband came along, but upon entry to the building we were told we had to go it alone. 

NO SUPPORT person allowed. 

If things couldn't get more stressful, I received my "gold card" and I was LITERALLY the first audition of the day... of 400+people! 

The morning was truly amazing, the crew and other participants all were great fun. It was nice to see the efforts of everyone that came out. 

In the end, I did not move through to the second stage of the audition, but it was still fun! 

I never would of pictured myself in 100 years ever being in Toronto doing this, but it was something I will never forget! I snapped a few pics along the way to share with everyone! 

Who knows... maybe next year I will try out again.. what the heck ;) 

The BIG day! Wonderful people I met and I hope to see some of them on Season 2 of MasterChef Canada! Good luck to all of you! 

Anyways... back to the recipe. I actually made this recipe last week, but was busy in my kitchen working on the cheesecake and didn't have time to sit and blog this dish. 

I was very excited to try another salad from the book. I can't tell you how many times I have re made the salads that I have blogged. My new all time fav is the " Green Apple Salad" 

This salad sounded very unique and I was excited for something new! 

I gathered my ingredients, which most of which I had on hand. Something new in this recipe was a head of "Radicchio"

I started off by pre heating my BBQ. 

After it was nice and hot, on went the steak. Cooked to a medium rare, it was left to rest while I prepped the rest of the salad. And if I do say so myself, this was one the best steaks I have ever cooked! It feels awesome when you start noticing that you are really learning throughout the process. The recipes may not be complicated, but Chef Michael gives some excellent tips and really gets your brain working! 

Then we started on the salad dressing.

This time my kitchen had a guest, my dear husband observed as I concocted this dressing.

I am not going to lie, as I put these ingredients into the blender... My face was kind of confused looking. One thing I have learned though, Michael Smith knows his stuff! Never question the recipe! 

Into my blender went Red wine vinegar, BBQ sauce, Buttermilk, Honey, Blue Cheese and some Salt and pepper.

OK..... Lets blend! 

I ended up with a nice creamy dressing that actually tasted amazing! I kind of felt like a chemist throwing in all these obscure ingredients together, but it turned out great! 

DONT DOUBT THE CHEF! 

Next I chopped up some lettuce, the Radicchio, onion and cherry tomatoes.

Now here comes the "good, the bad, and the ugly" When I started this blog I wanted to share my TRUE experiences along the way. 

Let me say this... I HATE RADICCHIO! 

While slicing this up, I had a nibble and OH MY, wow that was gross! 

I tried another piece and yup... DONT like that! 

My husband had a good giggle as I repeatedly ate a piece and made that scrunched up gross face.

Its a very bitter and unique vegetable let me tell you that.

I mentioned it to my Chef friend Craig and he said its really not great to eat alone, it needs the rest of the salad and dressing to make it palatable! Well..... It never made it to the salad, so when I make this again..It will go in and I will give it a second chance. 

One other tidbit of fun with this recipe, You will notice that my onion is not red. The recipe called for a red onion and I had picked one up, but it was not to be found in my fridge. I looked EVERYWHERE! 

So I decided since I couldn't find the darn onion, I would use a white one. 

( a few days later I found it in the door of my fridge... my husband had put it there by accident) 

Now I really think the colours of the red onion and the Radicchio would of made for a beautiful salad, but it turned out great regardless. Good tasting food doesn't always have to be pretty, right? :) 

I sliced up my well rested steak and tossed my salad with the dressing. 

Let me tell you, this salad is like a meal! So quick and filling, I just loved it and so did my family.

This is a perfect summer salad, the grilled steak and the freshness of the salad go perfect together.

And did I mention that Chef Michael sure knows his dressing. This dressing was the perfect companion to the this salad, creamy and packed with flavour! 

As always my compliments to the Chef and cheer to you my friends! 

Recipe 34- Backyard Burgers With The Works

Recipe 34- Backyard Burgers With The Works 

Hello Everyone! 

I hope everyone is having an excellent and fun filled summer. My family has been very busy since the beginning of June. My husband and I made a weekend trip up to Timmins Ontario, where I got to hand deliver the Michael Smith Cookbook to my blog follower and blog contest winner, Lucie! 

We had an excellent visit filled with yummy food, drinks and a special delivery from Lucie, CUPCAKES! 

Seems we had something in common, our love of food and making beautiful cakes. 

We stayed the weekend with our long time friends, Emilie and Doug and they showed us around Timmins. My mom being a huge Shania Twain fan, we made a roadside stop to snap a picture! 

We had an excellent fun filled weekend, and it was great to meet Lucie.

The kids wrapped up school and I have been trying to make their summer memorable by planning fun filled days and weekends. Hence the radio silence on the blog, I haven't had a ton of time to sit and blog with peace and quiet. 

Today is a very rainy and stormy day here, so the kids are busy building tents in the basement and our little Emilie is happily napping. 

One small outing we made this past weekend was to St. Jacobs Ont. 

When I was young, I spent many, many happy days in St.Jacobs with my Grandma Rose. When I was flipping through the Michael Smith book and picking my recipes, I knew I wanted to incorporate 2 of my favourite childhood shops into the recipes. 

When I was young, my grandma would send me up town to the bakery and the meat shop.

The bakery was always for a $2.00 pie shell & top, and then of course a special treat.  

My sister Amanda and I always went for the "long john" donut. 

The next stop was usually the "Meat& Cheese". Here my grandma would send a hand written letter of what she needed, but never any money. They meat shop had "the book" where local residents would have a tab for their purchases. I actually asked about "the book" this past weekend, hoping for a picture for my own sake, but that was a no go... it no longer exists. 

Anyways, I picked up some fresh Kaiser rolls, as specified in the recipe. I also picked up some fresh ground beef and some cheese. The "Colby" cheese was always on grandmas list and I haven't had it many years. It was exactly the way I remembered it :) 

So to start off with this recipe, I honestly had to read it over about 4 times, it seemed WAY too simple for burgers. In the past I have made homemade burgers many times, I usually incorporate different seasonings, onions and herbs into the meat. This recipes calls for.... JUST THE BEEF! 

Literally, just the beef and some salt and pepper. 

Yes, its a simple recipes.. but I learned some really cool things making this one.

First I sliced my lettuce, red onion, tomato and cheese. 

Then I brought out the beef, sectioned it into 4 equal pieces, shaped my patties and sprinkled both sides with salt and pepper. 

One key tip for this recipe, that will FOREVER be with me... (Thank you Chef Michael)

is to indent your patties. This will help the burger shrink evenly. 

THIS TOTALLY WORKS. 

I can't tell you how many times my homemade burgers come out like wonky looking hockey pucks! 

Next, I headed out to my BBQ with a drink in hand and ready to grill. 

I also brought along my sliced and buttered kaiser rolls & cheese slices. The rolls will be toasted just before the burgers are done cooking. I made sure to use my favourite butter, "Cows Creamery" oh my, that stuff is just the BEST! 

After a few minutes on the grill, they were ready to flip. My husband was looking on as I bbq'd and said " wow those have hardly shrunk at all" Guess he noticed the "wonky hockey puck burgers" before too LOL 

After the 'flip' I gave them another few minutes of cooking and they draped them with some cheese. At this point on went the buttered kaiser rolls. Watch yourself if your doing this, the butter does drip a little and can cause a flame on the grill. No one likes burnt buns ;) 

I pulled the buns off when they had a nice golden brown and were a little crispy. 

At this point the burgers were nicely cooked and ready to be served. 

We served up the burgers just as Chef Michael suggested, lettuce, onion, tomato, dill pickle slices ketchup and mustard. He also said "relish" but I had none on hand. 

IS this not a beautiful burger!? 

I have to say hand down this is the BEST burger I have EVER eaten. EVER.

It was the perfect amount of juiciness, tender, tons of flavour and NO greasiness. 

PERFECTION! 

The taste of the beef along with the other toppings is what a burger should be about, and the addition of the buttered kaiser rolls... heaven! 

We enjoyed these all so much that we are planning them as another meal this week. 

You will not be disappointed with this simple, but delicious recipe. 

I have decided to never buy another store frozen burger patty. For the price of a pound and a half of ground beef, you can have the most delicious burger of all time. 

P.S my husband suggested Bacon as an added topping, I don't think you could go wrong with that either! 

Thank you once again for your continuing support of the blog, keep your eyes peeled for the Recipe 35- Steakhouse Salad with BBQ Blue Cheese Dressing! 

As always, my compliments to the Chef and cheers to you my friends!