The Get It Together BBQ Grilled Cheese Sandwich

You never know you'll find at your local public library until you look. I was pleasantly surprised to find "Beastie Boys Book" waiting for me at the pick-up shelf, I had reserved it so long ago I had forgotten I wanted to check it out. It was through my best friends in elementary school back in the 80s that I discovered the groundbreaking white rappers; it was around the same time I got into their future touring partners in RUN-DMC. The beat from the streets of New York made quite the impression to three kids in Ottawa's suburbs. "Brass Monkey", "Paul Revere", and the classic anthem "Fight For Your Right (To Party)" were my favourite songs from Ad-Rock, Mike D, and the late MCA, but I drifted away from the Beasties by the time "Paul's Boutique" came out. Other than "Hey Ladies", I didn't care for the sample-heavy future masterpiece that it was (all I wanted was another "Licensed to Ill"), but I have liked at least one single from every album they've put out since "Check Your Head". Though mostly written by the surviving members, the memoir includes entries by some of their famous fans turned friends, such as celebrity chef Roy Choi. As the Mac My Cheese Fest is happening this week, I thought I'd pay tribute to one of the recipes Choi contributed to this absolute must-have for any serious Beastie Boys fan; grill these up the next time you're listening to "Sabotage", or if you're still hungry after you check out the festival.

Ingredients:

250 g shredded cheddar cheese
230 g dry macaroni
225 g butter
250 mL of your favourite BBQ sauce
125 mL milk
60 mL olive oil
1 loaf of sourdough or white bread
1 pineapple, peeled and cored

1. Cook the macaroni in boiling water according to the directions on the package. In another saucepan, melt the cheese over low heat with the milk. Mix the drained macaroni and the cheese sauce together and set aside.
2. Drizzle the pineapple with the olive oil, and sprinkle with a bit of sugar and salt. Roast at 177 °C until brown and soft, for about half an hour. Take it out, chop it up,, and puree it in a blender with a splash of water. Add the pineapple mixture to the BBQ sauce and combine.
3. Spread the butter on the outside of the bread slices, then layer the macaroni mixture inside. Drizzle the BBQ all over the macaroni, then close the sandwich. Cook the sandwich on a griddle on low heat until each slice is crispy.

Human Library - Chef

Happy 2014 everybody. Hope that the last twenty-four days of the new year have been good to you...

Have you ever wanted to pick the brain of a chef, but don't know one personally? If so, you will want to head to the Ottawa Public Library this Saturday between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to take part in the Human Library event. The Human Library allows you to have a 20-minute conversation with a person to learn about them and their experiences, essentially turning them into a human book. One of people appearing at the Main Branch is Luke Campbell, an Algonquin College trained chef who has cooked for diplomats, senators, and prime ministers, and is credited with bringing Jamaican cuisine to the nation's capital with his legendary Jamaican patties from his old restaurant Spicy Luke's. He probably won't share with people his recipes for this sorely missed treat, so this recipe from jamaicatravelandculture.com/ will have to do.

Ingredients - pastry

 1 lb flour
 1/2 cup ice cold water
 1/2 cup melted butter
 1/2 cup shortening
 1 tsp salt
 1 Teaspoon of baking powder
 1 Teaspoon of curry powder medium hot
 1 Teaspoon on turmeric or 1 drop of annotto

Ingredients - filling
 1 lb ground beef
 1 medium onion
 4 scallion (or 1 more medium onion)
 2 stalks fresh thyme or 2 tsps ground thyme
 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
 1 scotch bonnet pepper (or 1 tbsp curry powder / chilli sauce)
 2 cloves garlic
 1 cup water
 1 tsp salt
 1 tsp pepper
 1 tsp paprika
 1/2 tsp sugar
 1 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Pour the flour into a mixing bowl and stir in baking powder, curry powder, salt and turmeric.
2. Work the butter and shortening in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly drizzle in the water until the mixture has a dough-like consistency (it should only be slightly sticky).
3. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for 1 hour.
4. Cut the onion and scallions into fine pieces. Gently fry so they do not quite get time to brown.
5. Add the ground beef, thyme, garlic, peppers (finely chopped), salt, pepper, paprika, sugar and nutmeg. Fry until mixture is fairly dry, drain off excess fat if necessary.
6. Add water and breadcrumbs, and cook until the mixture has a thick, saucy texture. Set aside.
7. Roll the dough on a floured board until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut as many circles (about the size of a saucer) out of the dough as you can.
8. Place 1 tablespoon of the meat filling on one side of each pastry circle. Moisten the edges of each patty with water and fold the pastry over to make a crescent shape. Seal the edge of each patty by crimping with a fork
9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place the patties on aluminium foil, and cook for 35 minutes (or until golden brown) Serve the patties hot or cold.