You have probably seen corned beef brisket at the grocery store hanging out with the hams in the meat cooler.  You probably also walked right on by the brisket too, unaware of how delicious it taste and how easy it is to make.  So easy to make that Jay Eatz almost guarantees you can't screw this one up. 

     Paisley?  Where is Paisley?  Well Paisley is a village in Ontario.  It is kind of near Walkerton and Owen Sound or near the Bruce nuclear plant.  It is also on the Saugeen River and is a canoer's paradise.  Maybe you are just passing through or maybe you are checking out a cultural event like Paisley Beef Fest like Jay Eatz.  If it happens to be between May and October you need to make a stop at Gibby's Grub.

     Gibby's Grub is located on Bruce Rd 3 just as you enter the village of Paisley.

     You may have heard about chicken wings or pork back ribs but what about chicken back ribs?  Maple Lodge Farms has created this amazing chicken wing alternative.  They have called them "Seasoned, Skinless Chicken Back & Ribs" but Jay Eatz is going to shorten it to chicken ribs.  I have tried these a few times and would put them right on par with chicken wings.  I like the white meat and the flavour that the rib bones infuse into the meat. One thing chicken ribs have over chicken wings is the price, I paid $2.09/lb (compare wings at $4.99/lb).  They are also very BBQ friendly and easy to make.
     I preheated the BBQ to medium.  Then placed the chicken ribs rib side down on the grill.

     One of the great takeaway's from my days at the banquet hall is making roast potatoes quickly for 400 people.  Thank you Chef Marylyn for teaching me the ins and outs of the potato.  I came up with my own take on what Chef Marylyn taught me, I am calling these:
Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients:

• Potatoes (The mini potatoes are the easiest to use but large ones will work fine, you want approximately one large potato per person.  If you are using the mini potatoes I would guess approximately 4 to 5 potatoes per person.)
• Oil (I used Wicked Gourmet's Roasted Garlic Oil, if using olive oil use virgin and not extra virgin to avoid reaching the olive oils smoking point)
  
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper
• Rosemary

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.  Wash potatoes.  Cut mini potatoes in half (if using large potatoes, cut potatoes approximately into 1 inch cubes.  Place cut potatoes in a container that has a lid.

     During my last BBQ Spices and Rubs cooking class one of my students asked about doing baked potatoes on the BBQ.  We talked about twice baked mascarpone cheese baked potatoes which are amazing but not something you would throw on the grill every night.  What about something way easier and less expensive?  My easy BBQ baked potatoes elevate a simple baked potato to another level with few ingredients and even fewer minutes of prep time.
Ingredients:

• 1 Potato per person (I used red potatoes)
• 1 Onion
• 1/2 Clove of garlic per potato
• Stick of butter 
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Rinse and wash the potatoes and cut off any sprouts or bad spots.  Using a pairing knife, cut into the potato on a slight angle about half way through starting close to one end of the potato.  Now make another slice adjacent to the previous slice creating a small wedge in the potato being careful not to slice all the way through the potato.

     Back at the end of April I was off to the grocery store to make Michelle Kay's "Easy Bacon Egg Cups".  http://domesticexecutiveonline.com/2014/09/15-fantastic-recipes-that-make-breakfast-for-dinner-a-winner/I had the idea of turning these cups into a variation of eggs Benedict.  Salmon steaks were on sale and I got side tracked and made Hollandaise Salmon Steaks instead.  Many months have since passed, but finally I got around to making my variation of this dish.  I should have got on this one sooner but late is better than never.

     Hello students of casserole cooking class, spring 2016 edition. First of all thanks for being an awesome bunch of participants in this class. It is great to have a bunch of people excited about cooking and I love the group interaction each week. I thought I would provide links to each weeks classes all in one post to make it easier for future reference, just click on the photo for that week and a new window will open with that weeks recipes. In addition this post will include the recipe for the Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice casserole we added into this session.
Week 1:
Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie, Ham Casserole and Cheesy Beef Noodle Bake 

     During a recent visit to my local Farm Boy https://www.farmboy.ca/ grocery store I happened to stumble across an amazing special on boneless chicken breast.  With the chicken breast in hand I continued to wonder the aisles with two thoughts in mind, one the feeling of hunger requiring the need to be satisfied by something delicious and two the slight feeling of laziness combined with the desire not spend the entire evening in the kitchen making dinner.  I rounded the corner and found myself in the deli and cheese section.  A chunk of pork resembling prosciutto caught my eye.  The nice lady behind the counter asked me if I would like to try a piece and I obliged.  This meat was called Prager Ham.  It has the same texture and consistency as prosciutto but a robust smokey flavour and a delicious salt profile.  This was the perfect meat to stuff my chicken breast with.  A few further steps down the aisle and I found myself in the vast land of cheese Farm Boy carries.  The taste of the Prager Ham that was still lingering in my mouth told me blue cheese was the perfect match to be stuffed in this chicken.  The Blue Benedictine cheese had the creaminess this dish was calling for and was not smoked like some of the other varieties available which would have been too much competition for the Prager Ham.
     With my purchases in hand I headed home to begin creating something that would fulfill both the hunger component and the ease of preparation component I had in mind while wondering the aisles at Farm Boy.

     I was recently selected to take the "Can You Make The Cut?" challenge.  My mission: execute a challenging recipe featured in the Roundup App, a one of a kind app with a focus on what cut to buy and how to cook it.  This post is sponsored by Canadian Beef and I am being compensated monetarily and with groceries (don't tell the Canadian Beef people but I would have done it for the free beef). 
     Buying beef can be intimidating with all the choices available.  What if you are a late night shopper and the butcher has gone home for the day?  What if you shop at a budget grocery store that brings in pre-packaged meats and there is no butcher at all?

     I had the pleasure of feasting on Beef Carpaccio multiple times while in Mexico as the Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador.  I have to admit that I have become somewhat of an addict and have been jonesing a fix of the good stuff ever since.

     The best way to have the #CDNbeefexperience in Mexico is to hop on a plane and stay at the El Dorado Royale by Karisma Hotels during the second week of every month and attend the Canadian Beef Culinary Series.  The second best way to have a #CDNbeefexperience is to hear about it from the Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador Jay Eatz.  I had the opportunity to attend December's offering of the Canadian Beef Culinary Series.  The promise of this event: a weeklong celebration of great food and wine.  This promise was not broken.
     The El Dorado Royale is the perfect setting for such an event.  The grounds and facilities are amazing.  The staff are friendly, attentive and go out of their way to make sure you are having the best time.  All of the dining options available are a la carte (even at the breakfast buffet there is a menu option).  Karisma Hotels pride themselves on being a gourmet inclusive resort.  The Canadian Beef Culinary Series is truly the icing on the cake when it comes to the culinary experience at Karisma.

     Each Canadian Beef Culinary Series follows the same schedule pictured below: 

     On October 13th, 2015 I was checking my emails and lo and behold a newsletter from Food Bloggers of Canada (FBC) brought to us by Canada Beef.  "Canada Beef is looking for their Blogger Ambassador to head south to Mexico!"  I must admit these words intrigued me, so I opened the newsletter to find out more.  "Canada Beef wants to kick off your holiday season by sending you on a warm getaway adventure to Karisma Resorts in Mexico!"  "Entering is easy: just create a 2 minute video telling us why you want to be the next Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador and why you love Canadian Beef."
     I clicked on the link to the contest page to find out the rest of the details.  "Are you a Canadian blogger with an active blog for the past three months?"  YES.  "Do you love Canadian Beef?"  YES, as much as life itself.  "Do you have great recipes that use Canadian Beef?"  YES.  "Do you want to represent Canadian beef in Mexico?"  YES!  
     Now it was time to put together my 2 minute video to submit for the contest.  The deadline was October 18th so it was crunch time.  I figured it would also be a good idea to read the contest rules and create my video to encompass the criteria that the final product would be judged by.  35% of the judging was based on creativity, 35% was based on delivery and finally 30% was based on passion for beef.  I took all these factors into consideration, production began and after a lot of editing my submission was complete.  Click the following link to check out my submission as well as those from my fellow competitors.  
http://platform.votigo.com/fbcontests/viewallentries/The-Canadian-Beef-Blogger-Ambassador-Contest
     I can't stress enough how important it was to follow the criteria the contest was expecting from the entrants.  There were close to a dozen entries at the beginning of the contest and some of them went well over the 2 minute mark set out by the contest rules.  I can't imagine putting all that effort into producing a video for the contest and being disqualified due to length.  After a few days of the contest start date there were 9 entries qualified for the voting stage.  It is hard to put into words the excitement one gets when they know they have a 1 in 9 chance of winning such a prestigious title and a $6200 trip to Mexico.  I also couldn't believe out of FBC 2000 plus members more of my fellow Canadian food bloggers didn't try out for this opportunity (maybe there are a lot of vegan bloggers in Canada?? lol).
     The second stage of the contest was the voting period.  The top 5 videos with the most votes received between October 19th and October 26th would go on to the judging stage.  Now was the time to head to social media to promote my video submission.  I am sure some of my friends and family were overwhelmed with my twitter and facebook feeds as I campaigned for the position of Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador.  My submission started out of the gate slightly slow but the momentum really started to snowball.  I had friends telling me people as far as Japan had been sharing my campaign posts.  Some of my fellow competitors had far more social media followers than I did but I did not let this discourage me.  The final day of the voting period I was behind the first place video.  I had 416 votes and my competitor was a few votes shy of 500.  Thanks to an amazing group of friends and followers my video had one heck of a rally the last day of voting.  At 7:45 p.m. I had 425 votes and the leader had 499.  By 8:59 p.m. I had 481 votes and the leader had 508.  At 10:02 p.m. I had managed to take the lead with 541 votes to 535.  There was some back and forth up until the 2 a.m Est. deadline for voting.  It was almost like watching fourth quarter basketball, I can't believe the amount of messages people sent me updating me on the number of votes my video had. I can honestly say on October 26th everyone I know was totally engaged with Canadian Beef.  I ended up coming in first during the voting period with a total of 588 votes just barely nudging past the runner up who had received a total of 575 votes.
     If I had trouble putting the feeling of having a 1 in 9 chance of winning the Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador contest into words I am not even going to attempt to describe the feeling of having the odds reduced to a 1 in 5 chance.  It was in the judge's hands now, cross my fingers and toes and play the waiting game.  The judging was potentially scheduled to be complete by October 31st but qualified entries had 5 days to accept their entry to go on to the final stage.  This lead to judging being delayed slightly, one thing this contest has helped me with is the virtue of patience. 
     On November 2nd the waiting was over, and the winner was.....  ME!!!!  That was one of the best phone calls I have ever received in my life.  Such a great honor to be bestowed on me and such a great reward to go along with the title of being the Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador.  The Canadian Beef people scheduled a conference call to outline the expectations for my time in Mexico.  It was amazing to hear them speak about how excited they were that a FBC member was the winner.  I proudly display the FBC badge on the sidebar of my blog and it's great to know what kind of impact it carries.  
     As for the #CDNbeefExperience at El Dorado Spa and Resorts by Karisma Hotels?  An amazing culinary experience that everyone should try.  In fact I will be highlighting the entire experience in an upcoming blog post and look forward to sharing it with everyone.  I will share some highlights that my fellow FBC members might find particularly interesting now.  From the moment the plane landed in Mexico until take off I felt like a celebrity.  This was my ride to the resort from the airport in Cancun.  

     These were the 5 culinary events scheduled for the week for the Canadian Beef Culinary Experience.

     The time has finally come and the wait is over.  Jay Eatz is off to the El Dorado Royale, a Spa Resort by Karisma (http://www.eldoradosparesorts.com/), to represent our fine country as the Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador.  To view my winning video submission please click the following link: http://platform.votigo.com/fbcontests/showentry/The-Canadian-Beef-Blogger-Ambassador-Contest/826592/826592 
     I am looking forward to the amazing dishes Chef Eric Pateman will be creating for us as he takes us on a #CDNbeefExperience.  Beef + wine = a winning combination, another anticipated highlight will be sampling some amazing wines from Jackson Family Wines.  I will be attending five events from the Karisma Hotels Canadian Beef Culinary Series as follows:

• Kick off Beach BBQ
• Beef Sampling and Wine Pairing
• Cooking Demo
• Burgers and Wine
• Cena Gala

     Follow me on twitter @jay_eatz as I will be posting live updates as I take this amazing culinary adventure.  Thursday December 17th at 8:00 p.m. (EST) I will be a guest on the #CDNbeefExperience twitter party live from Karisma.  I look forward to interacting with my fellow foodies and Canadian Beef lovers live on twitter.
     Here are some of my favourite recipes made with Canadian Beef I have featured on my blog:

• http://www.jayeatz.com/blog/so-i-used-culantro-instead-of-cilantro-in-my-chimichurri-marinade-acceptable-error
• http://www.jayeatz.com/blog/impress-your-friends-and-family-this-summer-with-new-tips-and-techniques-to-cook-and-grill-on-your-bbq
• http://www.jayeatz.com/blog/so-i-made-homemade-burgers-secret-ingredient-cheese-nips
• http://www.jayeatz.com/blog/so-i-decided-to-bbq-something-that-usually-goes-in-the-oven-carib-lager-bbq-braised-beef-shank
• http://www.jayeatz.com/blog/so-its-fn-cold-out-and-jay-eatz-is-bbqin-steak
• http://www.jayeatz.com/blog/so-i-put-a-roast-in-the-crock-pot-before-work-and-came-home-to-the-best-smelling-house-in-the-world
• http://www.jayeatz.com/blog/so-i-had-a-few-weeks-off-from-the-blog-but-i-made-meat-loaf
• http://www.jayeatz.com/blog/so-there-is-a-pound-of-ground-beef-in-the-back-of-your-freezer

​     Remember to check out http://www.jayeatz.com/ in the upcoming weeks as I recap my experiences at the Canadian Beef Culinary Series.  Can't wait to share my #CanadianbeefExperience with you all, adiós for now.
     

     I love mussels and I love Carib Lager, so why not put the two together?  The results, some of the best mussels I have ever had.  They were also quick and easy to make.  Here is how you too can make this harmonious meeting of ingredients happen.

     Welcome to Jazz your veggies class.  I hope everyone finds the recipe summary from last weeks class as the website has changed.  As mentioned last Thursday, www.jayeatz.com is the new site going forward.  All previous class summaries will still be available and if you visit the old site it will redirect you to the new one as well.  I hope everyone enjoyed last weeks class, here are the dishes we covered.

Glazed Carrots: