My name is Rick Bradley and here I intend to share some of the recipes that have worked for me, resources I've found, sites that have inspired or interested me, and other food related 'stuff' as I come across it.

A brief resume can be found here.

I currently have the privilege of supplying the board and various committees of our local United Way with sustenance and enjoy taking my turn instructing the "What's for Dinner" classes at the Chatham and Sarnia RCSS Cooking School

"Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry gets the best of the argument."
Richard Whately (1787-1863)

The winter Insider's Report had the usual parade of boxed and packaged goodies to tempt the time deprived shopper over the holiday season. Tucked away on the second last page was the gem that made perusing the flyer worth the effort. BACON MARMALADE.
I'd heard about the product from Skillet Street Food in Seattle and tried a recipe by Not Quite Nigella which was good but just needed a little something extra so I was quite pleased to see that the President had taken up the gauntlet.
I found the jar last week, resplendent in its black label, trumpeting 'MADE WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR OF MODENA' over a montage of foodstuffs. I hurried home with my treasure, abandoned the box of groceries at the door, and rushed into the kitchen to find a roll or a cracker.
I spread a generous dollop on a bit of bread and prepared to savour the treat.
I was flabbergasted. All I could taste was ORANGE!!! It wasn't bacon marmalade. It was orange marmalade with a bit of bacon, damn little at that as it's seventh on the ingredient list.
It boggles the mind how the President can give us such fine products as Memories of Lyons (and many other Memories sauces) and 4 Peppercorn Steak Spice then turn around and try to palm this off as Bacon Marmalade. Shabby!

Second Opinion:
It seems that my disappointment in this product may not be as common as I would have expected. I shared the product with the participants in this weeks 'What's for Dinner' and several of them found it to be satisfactory (though I did not see anyone accept the proffered bottle).

Update:
I made a batch of jam this week and am quite pleased with the result. It has a distinct taste of onion as the carmalized onions provide most of the sweetness. The recipe is posted here.

If you're a follower of the Food Network (Canada) or have shopped in any Loblaws outlet in the last 2 months then you'll be at least peripherally aware of the contest that the title refers to (http://www.recipestoriches.ca). I had the opportunity to taste most of the products and my brief comments follow.
The winning products which made it into the store were:

• Sweet Puddings and Pies - Luscious Lemon Pudding ~ Way too sweet for me but then I like my lemon concoctions to be TART.
• Cakes - Multi-Layered Peach Cake ~ I was pleasantly surprised by this one as it was not cloyingly sweet. I actually bought one of these.
• Appetizers - Grilled Chicken Skewers ~ I like hot food but this was just hot with not much flavour.
• Savoury Pies - Bannock Hazelnut Pie ~ I've a nut allergy so I passed on this one.
• Sweet and Savoury Snacks - Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ Bleh. This was so bland. I can't imagine how it won.
• Frozen Treats - Kulfi Karma ~ Now this one was interesting. Ice cream with Indian flavours, noteably cardamom, which made for a very refreshing taste.
• Entrees - Pulled Pork ~ Another product that was way too sweet. I suppose it could be corrected but if you're going to start that then just make your own.

In honor of Thanksgiving, we're kicking off the first annual Communal Table on Food Network, an event that we opened up to the entire food community. The response was outstanding — it blew us away. Experts from the industry were excited to “pull up a chair” to our table and offer readers their favorite recipes for appetizers, sides, salads, breads, mains, desserts and cocktails.

The typical fast-food burger is made with slaughterhouse trimmings, fatty cuts of beef typically reserved for pet food and cooking oil. What's more, these burgers contain pieces of hundreds, potentially even thousands, of different cows. This creates an environment where bacteria thrive, so to clean the meat, the USDA allows a company called Beef Products to pipe the raw beef through pipes and expose it to ammonia gas. Never mind that ammonia is a poison or that evidence suggests the process may not be fully effective. The USDA deems it safe enough, and it allows the meat to be sold without any indication that it received the gas treatment.
From Men's Health - 20 Scariest Food Facts

Corn in the US (and we follow right along behind them) has an amazingly high glycemic index. Our sweet corn hybrids score a 60 on the Glycemic Index. Compare that to Italian Ice cream; the really good stuff, vanilla flavored. That ice cream only scores a 57. Our sweet corn is sweeter than some ice creams.
Do another comparison. Sweet corn from New Zealand only scores a 37. Their corn 37. Our corn 60. Like I said, they don’t call it sweet corn for nothing.
One hint for eating sweet corn. Drench it in butter. When you have a food that has a high glycemic uptake and you balance that off it won't hit your system so harshly. So the butter will make the corn easier on your system. Never thought someone would tell you the butter is the good thing for you, did you? Excerpt from http://www.arcamax.com/recipes/zola/s-936690
For more (a LOT more) information on the GI Revised International Table of Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL) Values—2008

Cilantro is the darling of the SouthWestern set, integral to SouthEast Asian, Mexican, Portuguese and many other cuisines and the bane of our existence to an astounding number of people (estimates range from 12% to 47%, neither of which I'd believe) including the renowned Julia Child. Put in the very simplest of terms, the inclusion of cilantro ruins any dish!
The problem it seems lies in the nose. Those of us who dislike (or hate) the Fetid Barb of Green have certain receptors enabled or overactive while others are disabled or at least of diminished capacity. The culprits in this little drama are unsaturated aldehydes which are present in cilantro and are also byproducts of soap making (see NYTimes article). It seems that those of us who dislike the weed smell these aldehydes to the exclusion of the other smells which lovers of the herb find so attractive. Of course there is a substantial middle ground of those who can tolerate it in small amounts or in certain dishes.
Bottom line? You won't find cilantro in many recipes here.

BERKELEY — In a new study suggesting pesticides may be associated with the health and development of children, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health have found that prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides – widely used on food crops – is related to lower intelligence scores at age 7. (read article)

Drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, are present in meat and poultry from U.S. grocery stores at unexpectedly high rates, according to a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).
Nearly half of the meat and poultry samples -- 47 percent -- were contaminated with S. aureus, and more than half of those bacteria -- 52 percent -- were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, according to the study published April 15 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. (read the article)

A veritable powerhouse of nutritional goodness, the sweet potato is only distantly related to the potato. And don’t call it a yam — it’s not even the same species! The sweet potato is a flowering perennial vine in the same family as morning glories, with delicious, starchy, tuberous roots. Read the whole article at Eating Well

Garlic is delicious, but its dragon-breath after effects can last days. New research suggests certain foods may offer a remedy. Studies show that parsley, apples, spinach, basil and other phenolic-rich foods help kick garlic breath. The polyphenols (compounds that act like antioxidants) break down the smelly sulfur compounds in garlic.
http://www.arcamax.com/healthyrecipes/s-792563-166840

The never ending battle to eat better and safer is being actively thwarted by some manufacturers. When you're reading the next label you come across remember that Aspartame is now called AminoSweet and High Fructose Corn Syrup is now called Corn Sugar.

Growing vegetables shouldn't seem exotic. It's straightforward stuff.
As a horticulturist and life-long gardener, Steve Biggs shares practical experience about simple ways to garden. And as a writer and journalist, he gives frank opinions about what you need...and what you don’t. You'll find advice served up with a simple, no-nonsense approach.
http://www.the-locavores-garden.com/index.html

Richmond-based Nature's Path Organics is the first company in Canada to obtain a new GMO avoidance certification, declaring its products to be as free as possible from foods derived from genetic engineering. Read the entire Vancouver Sun article

Knives are one of, if not the most important tool in the chef's kit. A sharp knife is a thing of beauty while a dull one is a threat to all who use it. I've looked at some of the many resources online and assembled some of the ones that make the most sense to me and put them here

Salt tossed on a grease fire on the stove or in the oven will smother flames. Never use water; it will only spatter the burning grease.
Courtesy of FoodReference.com.

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.
http://www.freshthemovie.com/

According to studies by the USDA, The amount of alcohol remaining in a cooked dish is:

• Boil liquid, remove from heat - 85%
• Flamed: 75%
• Baked or simmered for 15 minutes - 40%
• Baked or simmered for 30 minutes - 35%
• Baked or simmered for 1 hour - 25%
• Baked or simmered for 1.5 hour - 20%
• Baked or simmered for 2 hours - 10%
• Baked or simmered for 2.5 hours - 5%

We are a seasonal business using organic principals to grown beef, pork, chicken, turkey, duck and honey. Unlike large scale conventional farming where animals are grown in gigantic barns, where product can be grown consistently through out the year, pasture based farming relies on the spring, summer and fall growing season to provide fresh green grass. http://www.dragonflyfarmstore.ca/
While it's great to see this kind of operation I really wish it was here in Chatham-Kent

Luxiare Edible Crayons are a mash up of processed nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and even a tad of melted marshmallow to moisten it all together. http://luxirare.com/crayon/

<soapbox>Our governments really need to get their shit together if we hope to be able to continue to feed ourselves.
Between the feds letting in tons of American meat without so much as a quick peek to see if it's rotten and the province trying to drive local producers out of business report 1 report 2 we'll be lucky to be able to find a local tomato much less afford one.</soapbox>

By Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun May 26, 2010
ROBERTS CREEK — Chris Hergesheimer is reviving an ancient business model that is as far from industrial-scale agriculture and multinational grocery chains as it could possibly be. http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Flour+Peddler+revives+ancient+business/3075341/story.html

<soapbox>Let's start a petition to change the food network to the histrionics network. If they get any more 'drama' in the kitchen some of those chefs are going to have to join ACTRA.</soapbox>

I just got my latest Locovore News and found Sustain Ontario, The Alliance For Healthy Food & Farming a quick look at the members map shows a huge void twixt Windsor and London