Buyers beware of non Italian San Marzano tomatoes!

[Editor's Note: San Marzano plum tomatoes come from a small town outside Naples, Italy, peel easily, have less seeds and have a more concentrated flavour. You can buy them canned here in Vancouver. The controversy is that, of course, the San Marzano seeds can be grown elsewhere. For example, California. Since the soil, climate, etc. are different, California San Marzanos will naturally taste different then Italian San Marzanos.

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Steamworks Coal Porter is divine!

I recently had the pleasure of trying the porter beer at Steamworks (375 Water Street, 604.689.2739) which they call "Coal Porter".

It is creamy, smooth, sweet and not heavy. Just right. Highly recommended if you like porter beers!

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Beef Tortellini

This weekend was one of those slow food kind of weekends. Among some of my slow food projects, I made beef tortellini. I developed the recipe from chef Andrea's cooking class in Tuscany.

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Mild Italian Sausage

4 lb. pork shoulder butt
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp. fennel seeds, slightly crushed
1/3 cup packed Italian (flat leaf) parsley, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup cold water
Medium sausage casings

Cut pork into cubes and grind with meat grinder with medium texture. Or grind pork in food processor in batches.
Add salt, pepper, fennel seeds, parsley, sugar and garlic. Mix well with your hands. Gradually add cold water.

Hot Italian Sausage

4 lb. pork shoulder butt
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp. fennel seeds, slightly crushed
1 Tbsp. pepper flakes
1 tsp. cayenne
2 tsp. sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup cold water
Medium sausage casings

Cut pork into cubes and grind with meat grinder with medium texture. Or grind pork in food processor in batches.
Combine salt, pepper, fennel seeds, pepper flakes, cayenne and sugar in a small bowl.
Add spice mixture and garlic to pork. Mix well with your hands. Gradually add cold water.

Basic Pasta Dough

3 cups all purpose flour
4 large eggs
1/4 cup cold water

Place flour in bowl of food processor.
Lightly beat together eggs and water in a small bowl. Add to flour.
Process until mixture is crumbly.
Pour mixture onto clean counter and gather and knead together to form a smooth dough.
Divide dough into 2 portions and wrap in plastic wrap.
Place dough in refrigerator and let rest at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours before rolling.
Using a pasta machine, roll out dough and cut or shape as desired.

Beef Tortellini

1/4 cup onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tsp. olive oil
1 lb. round steak, cubed
1 cup white wine
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup grated pecorino
1 egg
1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
Basic pasta dough

In a medium skillet, saute onion, carrot and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent.
Add cubed beef and brown on all sides. Add wine and bring to a boil.

What is Copia?

Copia (via Brent Sleeper's Web Journal: Food) is a fascinating US $50 million new food, wine and cultural museum located in Napa Valley.

It opened recently and people are still trying to figure out what Copia is.

Whatever it is, it is clear that it would fascinate any food lover.

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Boston Beach Jerk Chicken Recipe

This jerk chicken recipe that I learned about from The Adventures of AccordionGuy in the 21st Century looks great and easy to prepare. More on this later when I actually try it!

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Karen Barnaby's new website

Ted Fraser, who would appear to be Karen Barnaby's PR and/or webmaster, wrote in to tell us about Karen's new website, www.karenbarnaby.com. And he asked us for our opinion on the website.

Content wise, the website is fabulous! As befits her status as chef of the The Fish House and author of many fine cookbooks (such as The Girls Who Dish!

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Pages

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