Chef Tom – Baby, it’s Cold Outside

I think everyone is craving warmth right now, inside and out, some much more than others. I saw a drool-worthy pic of a bowl of Beef Barley soup and I hadda have me some. I doubled the time on the recipe because the beef needed more time in the pot to get meltingly tender. This is so worth the wait. I imagine you could switch out which cut, from already cut up stew meat to an indulgent rib-eye or NY (the tenderer cuts obviously don’t need the entire first 30-40 minute simmer). Chuck roast has good flavor and good connective tissue that turns into silk in your mouth.

A hearty red to go with, maybe a slice of toasted whole grain, and a simple salad makes this a most satisfying meal.

GARY PIG GOLD’s SENIOR 65 GREATEST HITS!

That cockamamie Covid, among many other things, certainly allowed us the time and quarantined spaces within which to reflect, rewind, and apply a 2020 rear-view as it were to things gone real by. And me being me, with a turntable or two never more than a tone-arm away, took said opportunity to listen then list straight through my particular Life in Music – in all its strictly “SEVEN” and TWELVE -inch varieties, that is.

So then, Here’s what I hear first when I look loud and clearly back upon… 

Bob Says “Fill My Treat Bag and VOTE!”

Still not able to write worth a fuck, so this is all I’ve got.

This brief column is for our dear, beloved American friends trapped behind enemy lines. The rest of the world is pulling for you (Except those who are playing Monkey See, Monkey Do and acting out because The Orange-16 virus appeals to their Inner Asshole).

Chef Tom says A-WA to Falastin’s Fine Cuisine

Put on some warm socks, sit your lounge-pants-t-shirt-covid-haircut down in front of your computer (like you ever left), grab a cup of tea, or coffee, or a cocktail (the boss ain’t here anymore), and give this a watch. Sami Tamimi is the business partner of my favorite chef Yotam Ottolenghi. He and Tara wrote a beautiful cookbook (which I now own) called Falastin (pronounced Palestine).

DOUG THOMPSON – JOHN LENNON CALLED HIM ‘SPEN’

Although his legal name was Spencer David Nelson Davies (he dropped the ‘e’ from his last name early on), those of us who were fortunate enough to be his friend knew him as Spence.

When my friend died on Monday (October 19), the news hit me like the grill of a Mack truck going 200 (miles or kilometres, you choose).  Spence was 81 but I always thought he’d live into his 90’s.  His mother did.  He came from strong Welsh stock and that’s one of the initial things we had in common.

NOTHING WAS EVER NORMAL by Jaimie Vernon

This week, in Ontario, the government decided to put the brakes on their re-integration plan to have us return to normal because the pandemic has decided to return for a victory lap. They shut down public spaces and gathering places like bars and restaurants because despite being told not to act like selfish jackasses scoring hookers and turning their livers in alcohol-filled swimming pools on the last night before their wedding day, idiots be idioting. Couple that with people marching in parades demanding that they have the right to be jackasses and endangering the health of everyone else and it seems our dear leaders had no choice.

Chef Tom – A Potato Chip Omelet, a Plum loco Chicken, and Musica desde la calle

This recipe, adapted from the cookbook “The Family Meal: Home Cooking With Ferran Adrià” (Phaidon, 2011), is a study in simplicity. The chef of El Bulli, the famous Spanish restaurant, Mr. Adrià created an omelet reminiscent of a Spanish tortilla that comes together in minutes using only eggs, salted potato chips and olive oil. As with any recipe calling for just a few ingredients, quality truly matters here, so opt for the best potato chips, the finest olive oil and the freshest eggs.

GARY PIG GOLD rides THE SMALL MACHINE THAT COULD

For all intents and purposes, Lindsey Adams Buckingham has lived a charmed life since first dropping 71 Octobers ago.

Chef Tom – Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

Sometimes simple is the most elegant solution to an evening meal. With a good roast chicken in your repertoire you can choose from a thousand different sides, depending on the season, and never go wrong.

One simple meal, from three incredible chefs. For technique, these go from easy to more advanced (although the most advanced is still pretty straightforward).

Choose your favorite, or practice all three.

MUSIC IS DYING 2 – LIFE’S WHAT YOU MAKE IT by Jaimie Vernon

The very first live gig I ever played was 40 years ago this month – September 19, 1980 – with a band called The Swindle (we’d switch drummers and become SWindleD a year later). We were a bunch of barely passable punk rockers from Scarborough who were too young to play clubs. What does one do when you’re underage and need to get your rock on?