Ordinary beer lovers actually believe that their opinions matter, and they’re pretty much right. Professional brewers show up at home brew competitions to learn new ideas and techniques, and they read Internet reviews to learn what people are saying about their latest release. (I assure you the good folks at Château Latour do not care what some guy in Kansas thinks about the 2010 vintage.) The collaborative spirit runs in both directions, as professionals are expected to share their recipes with the public.

But not everything beer-related is appropriate for amateurs. Take chainsaw-assisted opening:

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HT: Daily Dish

I used two recipes from Summer Grilling (shameless plug: on newsstands now!) and one that’s coming up in the summer issue of Cottage Life. For the ribs, I rubbed in Caribbean Spice Paste (p. 48), a mellow version of jerk seasoning. In the cookbook, it’s in the chicken section, but there’s no reason not too use it on ribs. That was one of the goals in choosing recipes for Summer Grilling—I wanted lots of mix-and-match rubs, marinades, and sauces.

For fun, I grilled the romaine. Yes, it’s trendy (and easy—brush with oil, sear over high heat) but I’m also a long-time fan of cooked lettuce. My great-aunt used to braise it, something I’ve never been able to do well. Lettuce cooked with peas is a classic French dish, as is cream of lettuce soup. A little slivered lettuce is terrific on top of chicken soup.

I topped the romaine with Mango Salsa (p. 105). Yum.

And next to all that, Coconut Rice and Beans. But for that recipe, you’ll have to wait for our summer issue. Won’t be long.

Troy

My rhubarb search–for fresh or frozen–was prompted by an idea for a food experiment. Almost anything makes a good risotto–the creamy rice is a perfect background to other vegetables, seafood, even fruit. I especially like the tart, bright flavour of a lemon risotto as a side dish with seafood and rich, fatty meats. Could I make a risotto with a different source of sour? How about rhubarb?

The answer is yes. Rhubarb dissolves beautifully into the rice, is a little less acidic than lemon and has a slight astringent bite. If the rhubarb stems have a lot of red, the risotto picks up a subtle pink colour. I garnished mine with finely chopped raw rhubarb. Whenever an unusual ingredient disappears into a dish, I like to signal its presence with the garnish; the visual cue helps people pick up on the flavour. And since we rarely use rhubarb as a vegetable, without sweetening it, here the garnish is a conversation starter. (I’m also eager to try Rhubarb Khoresh, a savoury rhubarb-beef stew by Lucy Waverman.)

Rhubarb Risotto

Risottos aren’t difficult, but they do need frequent—although not constant—stirring. Adding liquid about every two minutes makes it difficult to get too far from the stove, but you can be doing other things in the kitchen. For instance, I chop the rhubarb and grate the cheese after I’ve started adding stock. The trick with a risotto is knowing when it’s done—the rice grains should still be distinct, with a little bite, like al dente pasta, and the sauce should be quite loose. Timing can be tricky, because a risotto is a little unpredictable and, like pasta, it doesn’t hold very well. When it’s ready, it’s ready, so serve a risotto with something else that will hold. Leftover risotto is fantastic formed into croquettes, breaded and fried.

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter (45 ml)
2 shallots, finely chopped
6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock (1.5 L)
2 cups arborio rice (500 ml)
1/4 cup white wine (60 ml)
2 cups rhubarb, cut in 1/2″ (1 cm) lengths (500 ml)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (125 ml)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium to medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until transparent (about 2 minutes). Meanwhile, in another saucepan, bring stock to simmering.
2. Add rice to shallots, and stir for about 2 minutes, until rice is coated in butter and glossy. Add white wine, stir until wine is absorbed. Ladle in about 1/2 cup hot stock and stir frequently until the stock is almost absorbed. Continue adding the stock, a ladle at a time, and stirring frequently until each addition is almost absorbed. After the second or third ladle, add the rhubarb.
3. When almost all the stock is used, taste the rice–it should be tender, but with a little bite. At this point (even if you haven’t used all the stock), add the grated cheese. The cheese will thicken the mixture slightly; if it’s too thick, thin with a little extra stock or water. Adjust seasoning. Garnish with some finely chopped raw rhubarb.

Serves 4.

It’s a natural evolution from our annual grill guides, which started appearing in our June issue in 2006. Of course, being cottagers, we’ve always had a lot of grilling recipes but, around 2005, we saw a need to do something different. We looked at what other magazines were doing—including Chatelaine, Canadian Living, Gourmet, Bon Appetit. Many had special grilling sections in summer issues, usually collections of recipes. Good recipes, mind you, but we knew from talking to readers that they wanted more in-depth info—the basic principles that would help improve barbecuing techniques for steak, or chicken, or whatever. Readers wanted to feel confident at the barbecue, even if they weren’t using our recipe, or any recipe.

Penny and I decided the way to do this was to narrow the focus. Instead of giving an across-the-board selection of recipes, we’d concentrate on one food at a time. We also decided to combine two barbecue experts, Jane Rodmell and Dave Zimmer. Jane, we knew, would give us fantastic recipes; Dave could explain expert techniques more clearly than anyone else, and he’d make it fun to read.

That first year we covered steak in all its glory—how to buy it, what cuts to use, how to cook it, and how to know when it’s done. Along with the recipes, this became the model for the next five annual grill guide topics: burgers, chicken, ribs, kebabs, and fish. The concept has done well for us: The chicken grill guide in 2008 won a Gold National Magazine Award, and 2011′s grill guide to fish and seafood is nominated as well (we’ll find out if we won on June 7). More important, we’ve had terrific reader feedback. I remember a letter that arrived after the first guide—a reader told us her steaks were suddenly and consistently much, much better, just by following Dave’s and Jane’s tips and techniques. That is exactly what we hoped for.

We used the model of the grill guides to organize Summer Grilling; we cover steak, chicken, kebabs, and other stalwarts of the summer barbecue, plus a chapter of grilling know-how. It was exciting for us to go back through older issues of the magazine and look for the recipe gems that new readers wouldn’t have seen, and that even our long-time readers may have forgotten. It’s a curated package of the best of all our grilling content.

We think Summer Grilling will make a great Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift. Or if you’re a cottage guest this summer, pick one up for your hosts. It’s available for $11.95 on newsstands where Cottage Life is sold, online, and even in some places where you don’t usually see the magazine.

Let me know what you think of Summer Grilling. I hope you like it.

Cottagers appreciate ingenuity, especially if it’s easy to replicate at the lake. That’s why I loved the way my milkshake was served at The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro, a new restaurant on The Danforth in Toronto. It’s part of an Ottawa-based chain with locations throughout Ontario. Each outpost has a unique menu riffing on local neighbourhoods and celebrities.

On Thursday, May 2 3, 2012, to mark the grand opening on The Danforth (888 Danforth Avenue, 647 748 4455), The Works is serving up complimentary food with a “donate-what-you-want” policy, with  proceeds going to the nearby Pape Food Bank. Check the company’s Facebook page for details.

So for a Toronto-themed lunch, I had to choose between A Walk in High Park (grilled wild mushrooms and gouda cheese), Let’s Go To the Ex! (brie, jack, swiss, and cheddar), and the Leaside (mushrooms, smoky BBQ, cheddar, and double-smoked bacon). Ben Mulroney was represented with his Benny Piggenbeef (caramelized onions, bold BBQ sauce, jack cheese, and crisp bacon). The Sexy Sarah Polley Burger has a sweet and spicy sauce, pineapple, cream cheese, and hot peppers.

The menu got me thinking: If I had to invent my own Rideau-inspired cottage burger, it would be the Forfar Mellow Melt, with cheddar and jack cheese, from Forfar Dairy, and smoky bacon. I’d grill it with a splash of beer.

I finished my lunch with a vanilla milkshake. (Vanilla by default; there were so many flavour choices, I couldn’t decide.) And what was so fun about how the shake was served? It came in a classic Anchor Hocking Fire-King measuring cup. I love casual, low-fuss ideas like that, and I’m always using cooking implements for things they’re not intended for. I drink wine from a tumbler and often use my kitchen scissors instead of a knife.

The only problem with using a measuring cup? I was aware of every calorie-laden millilitre I drank. Oh well.

Oh, there are some fine perks to this job. I was invited to join a tour on Tuesday that took in Spirit Tree Estate Cidery in Caledon and Michael Stadtlander’s Haisai Bakery and Restaurant in Singhampton, finishing up at Mad Maple Country Inn in Creemore. The tour was a kind of wrap-up for Terroir Symposium, a TEDtalk-like event for chefs and others in the hospitality industry. As we media types sampled cider in the morning and Stadtlander’s pizza for lunch, the chefs were supposed to go foraging in the woods with expert Tama Matsuoka Wong. But the snow that fell through Monday night and Tuesday morning kept the foraging to the area immediately around the inn. In the afternoon, a dozen or so top-rank chefs from across Canada, plus a few Americans and an Australian, took over the kitchen at the inn and prepared a fantastic dinner using, for the most part, local produce.

The kitchen was crowded and slightly chaotic, as in any party. It reminded me of the group cooking that often happens at the cottage. There was a lot of improvising—with the heavy snow, Tama found only daylily shoots and ground ivy, which Melbourne chef Ben Shewry used in an egg dish. Despite what you see on TV, the chefs didn’t yell at anyone, and no one fussed overly about presentation. And when there’s a crowd over for a casual meal, even top chefs serve buffet style, out of the pan the food was cooked in.

What’s going on? Is this just a Toronto problem? Did last year’s harvest fail? Or is all the harvest gone now, since this year’s will soon start?

Next time you’re shopping, have a look and report back.

Photo by whitneyinchicago

Leftover Turkey Crostini with Pancetta, Oka, and Cranberries

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