Giveaway: Edmonton Cooks – Signature Recipes from the City’s Best Chefs

Edmonton’s food scene continues to rapidly grow and with it comes (finally!) a compilation to recognize the city’s best chefs, bakers, butchers, and food truckers. If I say “Chef Andrew Fung of XIX Nineteen”, you say “Ahi Tuna Twist.” If I say “Drift Food Truck”, you say “Pork Belly Sandwich.” If I say “Tzin”, you say “Bacon!” The list goes on and thankfully Edmonton Cooks features 75 recipes from 38 local restaurants to celebrate our vibrant culinary scene. Read on for a behind-the-scenes demonstration with one of my favourite chefs in the city and for a chance to win your own copy of Edmonton Cooks!

Edmonton Cooks

Edmonton Cooks now joins Figure 1 Publishing’s ranks of city-based cook books, including Toronto Cooks, Montreal Cooks, Ottawa Cooks, Winnipeg Cooks, and Calgary Cooks. They must be making their way to the west coast, a Vancouver Cooks notably missing! Authors Tina Faiz (local food writer), and Leanne Brown (author of Good and Cheap and past Edmontonian) released the collection of recipes in September, attemping to showcase Edmonton’s culinary landscape and diversity. I’m happy to see high-end spots like The Hardware Grill and Red Ox Inn, casual favourites like The Sugar Bowl and MEAT, and multicultural features like Langano Skies, Nongbu, and Remedy. Not only does Edmonton Cooks feature restaurants, but it also includes sweet-tooth favourites Duchess Bakery and Jacek Chocolate Couture, and meat-lover’s Acme Meat Market. They also didn’t forget those with wheels, Drift Mobile Eatery, Little Village, and Filistix representing our streets.

Edmonton Cooks – Photography by Dong Kim

Photographer Dong Kim did a beautiful job capturing Edmonton’s best in the industry. I find cookbooks without drool-worthy photographs of the food really sad. Half the fun in food and eating is in the visuals!

Edmonton Cooks – Restaurants

Edmonton Cooks – Recipes

 

Here’s a list of the featured Edmonton restaurants, bakeries, butchers, and food trucks:

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• Acme Meat Market
• Bar Bricco
• Bistro Praha
• The Bothy
• Cafe Bicyclette
• Canteen
• Cibo Bistro
• The Common
• Corso 32
• Culina
• Drift Mobile Eatery
• Duchess Bake Shop
• Filistix Mobile Kitchen

[/columns]

[columns size=”1/3″ last=”false”]

• The Hardware Grill
• Izakaya Tomo
• Jacek Chocolate Couture
• Langano Skies
• Little Brick
• Little Village
• MEAT
• XIX Nineteen
• Nongbu
• North 53
• Padmanadi
• Red Ox Inn
• Remedy

[/columns]

[columns size=”1/3″ last=”true”]

• Rostizado
• Sabor
• Shanghai 456
• Sofra
• Solstice Seasonal Cuisine
• The Sugarbowl
• Tres Carnales
• Tzin
• Under the High Wheel
• Uccellino
• Vivo Ristorante
• Zaika Indian Bistro

[/columns]

From Figure 1 Publishing:

“Edmonton Cooks is a celebration of this vibrant culinary scene, a dazzling collection of more than 75 recipes from the city’s finest chefs. It is a delicious compilation of classic and contemporary recipes that are a pleasure to make and a joy to eat. With mouth-watering photography and invaluable tips straight from the chefs, Edmonton Cooks let’s you feel like you’re cooking alongside the city’s best.”

I’ll feel like I’m cooking alongside the city’s best? We’ll see about that! So that’s exactly what I did.

Braised Bacon Crostini with Calvados Gastrique

Tzin Wine and Tapas is easily one of my favourite restaurants for food, wine, and hospitality. To be honest, I’m also emotionally attached to it because it was one of the first restaurants Joe ever took me to! When I heard that the recipe for their popular Braised Bacon Crostini with Calvados Gastrique was in Edmonton Cooks, I was ecstatic. Thanks to Figure 1 Publishing, I was able to get a behind-the-scenes demonstration with Chef Corey McGuire!

Prep for Braised Bacon Crostini by Tzin

Irvings Farm Fresh Whole Slab Bacon

Making Simple Syrup for Gastrique

Whisking in Vinegar & Calvados to Simple Syrup

Chef McGuire walked through the steps with me, an easy feat when you read through the recipe. Sourcing the ingredients is the biggest “secret” — you’ll need a good dry cured side bacon slab (hickory smoked) from Irvings Farm Fresh and apple juice from Steve and Dan’s Fresh B.C Fruit. For the mayonnaise, Chef McGuire uses eggs from Serben’s Organic Farm and apple cider vinegar from McKernan Food Works whenever he can. The secret to the compote? Maple Balsamic Vinegar from Evoolution across the street from Tzin. He also suggests using Boulard Grand Solage to make the calvados gastrique. I don’t know about you but I want my dish at home to taste as close as possible to Chef McGuire’s!

Searing Bacon Slices

Almost Done!

Baguette Slices Join the Bacon Party

The compote, mayonnaise, and gastrique can be made a day before and assembled the day of when you’re ready to serve! The recipe is actually quite hands off until the best part: browning the bacon! And no wonder these tasty bites are so delicious… even the baguette slices are cooked in the bacon fat.

Plating Braised Bacon Crostini

Dollop of Compote

Drizzle More Calvados Gastrique

Plating Braised Bacon Crostini

Plating Braised Bacon Crostini

Plating Braised Bacon Crostini

Plating is half the fun for me, I love it when everything comes together. Chef McGuire recommends drizzling some of that gorgeous gastrique first on the plate before setting down the crostini. A healthy smear of mayonnaise will hold the piece of bacon nicely. Finish with another drizzle of gastrique and a dollop of compote and they are ready to go to your table! Oh wait, maybe a little bit more gastrique!

Finished Braised Bacon Crostini with Calvados Gastrique by Tzin

You’ll have to purchase the book to get the full recipe but watching Chef McGuire make the dish provided comfort that I could replicate it at home. My list of recipes to try is constantly growing and all 75 recipes from Edmonton Cooks are on my to-cook list! I’ve already decided that 2017 will be dedicated to cooking these recipes (I need to stop reading other cookbooks!) and hopefully the completed dishes will be presentable enough for you to see in the future!

You can purchase a copy of Edmonton Cooks at all featured Edmonton restaurants to support the local businesses, Audreys Books, Chapters/Indigo, Amazon, and word has it, even at your local Costco. Alternatively, try your luck and enter the giveaway below! Thank you to Figure 1 Publishing for providing me a copy of Edmonton Cooks, giving me an opportunity to share it with you all, and for arranging the behind-the-scenes demonstration!

The Giveaway

Enter for your chance to win One (1) Copy of Edmonton Cooks – Signature Recipes from the City’s Best Chefs using the widget below. Contest runs from Wednesday, December 14, 2016 until end of day, midnight (MST) Wednesday, December 21, 2016. Entrants must have a valid email address (for contact) and be able to provide a Canadian mailing address to Figure 1 Publishing for shipment. Winner will be randomly selected on Thursday, December 22, 2016. Winner will have until Friday, December 23, 2016, midnight (MST) to respond or another entrant will be randomly selected. Giveaway is provided by Figure 1 Publishing.

How to Enter

Using the widget below, you can do each and receive one entry.

• Follow @Figure1Pub on Twitter.
• Follow me (@cindurh) on Twitter.
• Share this giveaway on Twitter (limit one entry per day). (Bonus, +2 entries!) “I want to win a copy of @Figure1Pub Edmonton Cooks via @cindurh! #EdmontonCooks yegfood #yeg http://www.letsomnom.com/2016/12/14/giveaway-edmonton-cooks/”
• Visit LET’S OM NOM on Facebook and share the Edmonton Cooks Giveaway post. (Bonus, +2 entries!)
• Leave a comment below with the your answer to the following question: Which featured restaurant from Edmonton Cooks is your favourite and which dish do you love?

** If the widget does not load, please click here to be redirected to the giveaway link! **