My Chicken Meatballs
I came up with these chicken meatballs for shabbat dinner last Friday night and they turned out so well I had to share the recipe. I’m a good cook but Ben, having worked his early career as a chef, is on a whole other level. He cooks with an ease and confidence I admire and does not easily compliment others’ cooking. So, when he praises my cooking I take his compliments to heart. These meatballs are Ben approved and since not many things in life are Ben approved you can be sure these are tasty meatballs.
A Distinctly Jewish Moussaka
Moussaka is an eggplant based casserole that can be made with mushrooms or meat and is most commonly associated with its Greek origins however, there are popular versions of this dish that were developed in Egypt and other parts of the Levant as well.
The eggplant is layered with a meat or mushroom sauce, some versions include potatoes and it is topped with a decadent bechamel. The spices are often a warm blend that includes nutmeg or allspice, favourites of mine to add to meats.
renos: A Journey
Ben and I have worked most of our careers in trades so we know well the time, education and expertise it takes to become a skilled trades person. We also know many trades, specifically those traditionally considered “women's work,” are undervalued. This is why I never complain about bills for trade work, I know it's always worth the money.
That being said, when you're opening a brand new shop on a budget there will be things you absolutely have to pay for and other things you need to try and do yourself to save some money.
Product Sneak Peek
What is corned beef? A salt cured beef, most often brisket.
Why corned? About 300 years ago the word corn in English referred to large grains of spices and salt and so corn, used to refer to the large salt grains it was cured in, became its name.
French Onion Soup
The first tradition Ben and I created together was our NYE french onion soup. Our first New Year’s together Ben had bought himself “Matty Matheson A Cookbook” and our second foray into the book was testing out his french onion soup in hopes that it would cure whatever hangover we would incur the next day. It turned out incredibly, made us enough soup for the entire month of January and we’re so obsessed with it that we’ve made this french onion soup on New Year’s Eve every year since. We’ve changed some minor parts of the recipe mostly because of availability of certain ingredients but the one thing I’ve learned over the years is that the key to this soup is the beef broth. It must be beef broth and it must be impeccable. We destroyed a batch one year by using chicken broth made from bouillon cubes. The recipe we’ve perfected over the years is as follows and we at West End Butcher & Deli will always ensure our house made beef broth is perfect for this soup ;)
Our Story
Ben exchanged the beautiful beaches and sunny hot weather of Sydney, Australia for rainy days and grey skies of Vancouver, BC a little over a decade ago. Around the same time, in 2013, I, Jesse, had spent five years in Montreal, finished a BA and had been working in Communications in Calgary when I decided to pursue a life long dream of making a career out of my sewing hobby and I moved to Vancouver for a design program. I had no intention of staying in Vancouver past finishing my design program and I certainly didn’t intend on meeting a nice Jewish boy from Australia and building a life here with him but that’s exactly what happened one night, in a cozy BBQ joint, on Denman St.