We are very please to say that following the great success last year there is a second Ottawa Locavore Artisan Food Fair to be held this year. Once again we will be joining 24 other local artisan food vendors, all with something to tickle your taste buds.

This years event will be taking place on Saturday December 10th from 10 am to 4 pm at the new Crichton Cultural Community Centre located at 39 Dufferin Road in New Edinburgh. Why not come out and meet us and all of the vendors who have a “shop and buy local” philosophy. Admission to the event is free and this year there will be a silent auction for products donated by the vendors.

You can find out more information about the Ottawa Locavore Artisan Food Fair here.

The purpose of aging beef is to concentrate flavour and tenderize the meat. There are two methods generally in use to age beef: dry and wet aging.

Dry aging vs Wet aging: What’s the difference?

Dry aging is the traditional process by which meat is hung in large pieces for many days.
Beef flavour is concentrated due to a reduction in the moisture content in the meat.
Enzymes act to make the meat more tender. Even tougher cuts are made more tender by dry aging.

The wet aging process is one where the beef is sealed in a plastic bag right after being cut up at the processing facility. The meat is then shipped from the processing facility in the bag. There is no moisture loss in the wet aging process and therefore the meat does not acquire the “brown-roasted beefy” flavour typical of dry aged beef. Wet aged beef is available everywhere (except here) and generally starts with beef that has been fed routine antibiotics and injected with hormones (i.e. from industrial feedlots).

Good beef on the table comes from good beef on the farm!
Properly aged, well raised beef, makes the best beef!

At Manotick Village Butcher we provide only
- dry aged local beef from ethically and sustainably raised animals
- chemical free meats – no antibiotics, hormones, colouring or flavouring
- well fed animals: grasses, grains and hay
- well trimmed meats

Quality vs Quantity
Hung beef or beef in a bag – What’s on your BBQ?

Do I get what I paid for?

If your meat shrinks by half because of water loss during cooking, that meat cost you twice as much per kg as you paid. If you start by removing waste (fat, silverskin, cartilage) you further increase the price you paid. Well trimmed dry aged beef gives you greater value for money.

It’s Honest to Goodness Fresh!

Oddbits is about the cuts of meat that many Canadians have never learned to work
with – heart, shank, chuck, even liver. I’ll admit that liver isn’t my favorite,
but, prepared properly it really isn’t as bad as its reputation. I’m actually quite
fond of a good steak and kidney pie, so I’m looking forward to Jennifer’s guidance
in making one. And I’m hoping she can help me with brawn (also known as headcheese,
but I like the British name better), I’ve tried it but I haven’t mastered it yet.
You can find out more about Jennifer and her books at:

http://www.jennifermclagan.com/book.htm

We hope you’ll join us to celebrate our first year with samples from a variety of
our suppliers including samples from recipes from Jennifer’s book. She’ll signing
all of her books at the event.

Storing your turkey
You want to store your bird in the fridge until the night before you want to cook it, allow a few hours out of the fridge so it is at room temperature when it comes time to put it in the oven.

It is best to check your cooking time well in advance, the larger the bird the longer the cooking time needed and if you miscalculate and try to cook it quicker on a higher temperature you could find yourself with a bird that is dry and tough rather than succulent and moist.

Preparing your turkey

There are so many opinions on how to roast a turkey, some people like to cover with tin foil or even better bacon. Some cook it breast-side down. Others rub it with olive oil. We prefer to stick with the tried and true butter rub, which can be as simple as rubbing plain butter all over the top and sides of your bird, season with salt and pepper, and it is ready for the oven.

Claudia likes to use a compound butter – “I mix butter, shallots, thyme, garlic and blend it all really well in a food processor. I then rub the compound butter alllllll over the outside of my turkey and maybe a bit on the inside. This helps the skin get nice and crispy and golden.”

Stuffing is another topic with widely varying opinions, some people prefer to cook it separately, some only stuff the neck, some only the main cavity. If you are stuffing your bird, it is important not to pack it too tightly so it can all cook through properly.

We have always stuffed both the neck and cavity with a simple stuffing – mix together stale bread cut into cubes, chopped onion, sage and butter. A tip from my mother (from her mother) – “if you only have fresh bread you can add a teaspoon of baking soda to the chopped cubes and it will overcome the freshness”.

Cooking your turkey

Approximate Timetable for Roasting a Turkey at 325°F (160°C)

Cooking times may vary depending on: the temperature of the bird going into the oven, the accuracy of the oven’s thermostat, how many times the oven door is opened during roasting, the size of the turkey in relation to the size of the oven.

To ensure it is properly cooked a whole turkey should be cooked to an internal temperature of 170°F (77°C) in the breast and 180°F (82°C) in the thigh. Any stuffing placed in the cavity of the bird should reach an internal temperature of at least 165°F (74°C). While we recommend a meat thermometer, if you aren’t using one, then if the juices are running clear and the thighs and legs move easily in the joints, the turkey is cooked.

A turkey, like any meat is also subject to carry over cooking, meaning that once its removed from the oven it’s internal temperature will still rise for a period of time. A 12lb bird can still increase 20 degrees in temperature if covered in foil and not exposed to cold air, and can rest for up to an hour after being removed from the oven.

January 4 we will return to our normal Winter hours.

Monday – closed
Tuesday to Saturday – 10am till 6pm
Sunday – Noon till 5pm

Bimini Beachwear and Bronzing * Macs * The Beer Store * Robinson’s Independent Grocer * Mansfield’s Shoes * Posh Paws * Rexall Pharmacy * My Toy Shop * Giant Tiger * The Gingerbread Man * Just Imagine Home and Garden Décor * Just New Releases * Kit and Kaboodles * Lasting Impressions * Lilou Organics * Lindsay and McCaffrey * Manotick Florist * Home Hardware * Simple Pleasures * Choice Vintners and Custom Cellars * LCBO * NIN Collection * Pumpkin and Petunias * And of course all the restaurants.

This is a Manotick BIA initiative.

Our turkeys come from Lyons Family Turkey Farm who raise “All Natural Vegetable Grain-Fed” turkeys in free-run barns. Their feeding program does not contain animal bi-products, antibiotics or hormones. They believe in the basics – good healthy food for the animals equals good healthy food for us all.

Mincemeat was originally made with a mixture of meat, dried fruits, and spices, with more meat than fruit, and was developed as a way of preserving meat without salting or smoking. As fruit and spices became more readily available this balance changed gradually into the meatless mincemeat that is familiar today.

But being a butcher’s shop we are keen to return mincemeat pies to their true glory, and are selling traditional mincemeat pies made with our finest ground beef.

Of course on this side of the pond fragrant, savoury tourtière is a holiday staple, rich in tradition. The name tourtière is thought to come from the cooking utensil that was used to make it, and by 1611 was generally used to describe a meat pie as it does today.

As to the filling of the pie, there are many traditions, with many regional varieties and even more family recipes and secret ingredients.

According the to TheWorldWideGourmet.com ….

On the Île d’Orléans they use ground pork, beef and veal, adding a little pork fat, a clove of garlic and some spices. The texture should be less grainy and is bound together with an egg.

In Charlevoix they take the recipe from the Île d’Orléans but replace the pork with hare, and all the meat and potatoes are cut into cubes, except for the chopped pork fat.

In Val-Jalbert they take the recipe from the Île d’Orléans, but replace the veal with a chicken breast and the water with chicken stock.

In the Outaouais region tourtière is made solely from duck, cut into cubes and simmered in chicken stock.

In Rigaud they use pork and beef to which potatoes and a pinch of dry mustard are added.

Our first batch of tourtière this year contained pork, beef, grated carrots, grated potato, bay leaves, nutmeg, cloves, onion, salt & pepper and turkey stock. But we want to try out as many variations as we can in the hopes of finding the perfect recipe.

What do you think should be in a tourtière? Will you share your recipe with us or let us in on your secret ingredient?