It's a Boy!

Jeff, Melanie and Matthew Dick would like to welcome Jeremy Cameron Henry Dick to the family. 
Jeremy came into the world in a hurry, delivered just 90 mins after mom and dad left the house for the hospital! 
Jeremy was born January 27, 2012 at 3:01am, measuring 8lbs 9oz and 22" tall. 
Both mommy and baby are doing great, and Matthew is very excited to meet his new little brother. 
Daddy is looking forward to some time at home with his newly expanded family, and as such will be out of the office until February 6, 2012. 

Saturday Night Dinner - Recipe Review: Roast Pork Loin with Maple and Mustard Glaze

Roast Pork Loin with Maple and Mustard Glaze

Ingredients

• 4 pound boneless pork loin roast
• 1 cup real maple syrup (not the fake stuff)
• 4 tablespoons prepared Dijon mustard
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons red pepper sauce (Frank's or similar)
• Salt to taste (1/4 tsp)
• Ground black pepper to taste (1/2 tsp)

Veggies

• 6 Carrots - peeled and cut to 2"-3" chunks
• 20 small Pearl Onions - peeled and trimmed
• 1 lb Baby potatoes 

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Stir together the maple syrup, mustard, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and pepper in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, and let simmer for 10-15 mins until reduced somewhat (this helped it stick to the roast a bit better).
• Use a shallow roasting pan - I used a 12" cast iron skillet.
• Lightly toss the veggies in about 1/4 cup of the glaze, then dump veg into skillet. Place the roast on top of the veggies, fat side up. Spread glaze evenly over pork roast and reserve the remaining glaze. 
• **Tip for preparing the pearl onions: Put them whole into a medium to large sized tupperware container and shake the ever living heck out of them.  This will break up the skins and effectively "peel" them for you.  Also works for peeling whole cloves of garlic.
• Roast pork in the preheated oven uncovered, until internal temperature measured with a meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), about 2.5 hours.  If able, baste once at the 90 min mark with glaze.  Remove from oven, and let rest about 10 minutes.
• While resting, remove veggies and place them on serving platter. Pour pan drippings back into original glaze sauce pan, and bring back to a boil, and simmer 5 mins.
• Once roast has rested, slice into 1/4" slices and place on serving platter.  Drizzle with remaining glaze from sauce pan and serve!
• Serves 6-8.

Rating: 5 out of 5.  Came out fabulous, and because dinner was essentially made with 2 dishes, not a lot of clean up afterwards.  Served with an Argentinian Malbec and steamed green beans to add some colour.  Highly recommended, and shout out to punchfork and allrecipes for the base recipe.


Happy cooking!

Restaurant Review: Zenbu Japanese and Korean in Airdrie AB

Went to Zenbu this evening with wife and 2 yr old son, all left very happy.  Started with a fabulous amuse-bouche of fried tofu, pickled radishes and carrots and fresh bean sprouts tossed in a soy vinaigrette.  From there moved on to Miso soup and  tempura - both of which were a huge hit.

For our mains, we began had Shake (atlantic salmon) sashimi and sushi, very cold and obviously cut right from the main.  Very good, but was better after it sat for a few moments to finish coming to temperature. (The squeeze bottle soy sauce was also good for a giggle out of the little one.)

From there, we also enjoyed a dynamite roll w/ spicy sauce, avocado roll and mango paradise roll, the latter being a true delight.  Fresh mango, Avocado, Crab, Pineapple and Capelin roe topped with a sweet mango sauce. No need for dessert after that one!

Service was always attentive, although our bill could have come a little bit quicker at the end.  Atmosphere was fabulous, with a very diverse crowd of Airdrie residents spanning all ages.

We will absolutely visit again, and hope this local gem is here for years to come!