Article by K.M. Wehrstein 

It’s been a food tradition for centuries: a dish is set aflame by the table to give diners an extra thrill or fire is used in the cooking process to produce distinctive effects. Perhaps you first tried it as a kid – every time you left a marshmallow over the campfire long enough to turn it into a torch, then ate the sticky, black-crusted result.

Of course, these methods carry a certain risk. You could end up with singed eyebrows, hairless forearms or your Muskoka paradise reduced to ashes. In these safety-conscious times, flambé has gone somewhat out of fashion in restaurants as a result. In respect of the necessary care needed with open flames, we will give the first word to fire prevention officer Kevin Plested of the Bracebridge Fire Department.

“You’re dealing with liquid on fire, which is dangerous in and of itself,” Plested warns. “The flame is basically on top of that liquid and motion causes bigger fire; if it spills, it’s all on fire.”

He therefore urges you to never carry a pan or dish aflame. In fact there are laws, he says, that prohibit restaurants from transporting burning dishes except in certain ways.

“Always keep a metal lid on hand in case the flambé gets out of hand,” Plested says. Clamping the lid down on the pan or dish starves the fire of oxygen, putting it out. “Don’t throw water on it, same as a grease fire; that’s also a flammable liquid.”

In fact, Plested would rather people didn’t attempt flambés indoors at all. “Never start a fire in your home,” he says. “You are playing with fire.”

You will notice the chefs quoted below performed their flambé feats either outside in a wide clear space or on a stove under an industrial-sized and professionally maintained range hood.

To begin our fiery journey with a main dish we go to Chef Dan Kozluk of Water’s Edge Restaurant at the Lake Joseph Club, near Port Sandfield.

“My mom always said, ‘Don’t play with your food’,” he says. “I still play with it. And get paid for it.” And sometimes that involves playing with fire, too.

Growing up in Caledonia East, Kozluk took a job at an Italian restaurant in Bolton at the age of 14. “I loved the high energy, fast-paced atmosphere,” he reminisces. “I love sports and the idea of working in a team drew me in, as well as the ability to be creative with food.”

As he worked his way through high school he also worked his way up the kitchen ranks. He then moved to the Caledon Woods Golf Club. For two years he attended Niagara College for culinary management, then returned to Caledon Woods for a season as a sous-chef. He then spent three years cooking at Toronto’s most famous swanky hotel, the Royal York.

Wanting to branch out again, Kozluk joined the staff of a whole animal butcher shop, Heather Lea Farm. He learned the ins and outs of cuts, sausages, smoking and curing, “a skill not every chef has,” he says. “It was experience you wouldn’t get in a restaurant.”

In 2019 he moved to Calgary and a job at the Sheraton Suites Eau Claire as a chef de partie but was then laid off due to COVID-19. His aunt came to his rescue, hiring him to make pub-style food such as pizza and wings at her nearby restaurant, also synchronistically called Water’s Edge.

At his next workplace, a new brewery in Calgary, Kozluk paired beer with dishes, designed menus and met his future wife, Serena, to whom he proposed by placing the ring in a glass of beer. Even though the beer was more cloudy than clear as he had planned for, she said yes, and they decided to move closer to home, including the family cottage in Kearney.

“I love Muskoka, love the outdoors, love being so close to Algonquin and Arrowhead,” Kozluk enthuses. “In winter there’s snowmobiling, snowboarding, outdoor hockey… there’s so much to do here.”

His recipe, Grilled Pork Chops with Maple Whiskey Hunter Sauce and Brussels Sprout Hash, was inspired by local nature and foods.

“I like to switch it up once in a while and I love using local and seasonal ingredients,” Kozluk explains. “Every mushroom is different, which is why I like a variety. It’s playful.”

The version of the dish he served up had three types of mushrooms: oyster, chestnut and honey.

“Mushrooms soak up the flavours,” says Kozluk. “I add the maple syrup and Dijon just to accent the flavours in the whiskey and it works beautifully with the pork.”

However: “If you don’t flambé it, you’re eating a shot of whiskey,” Kozluk warns. Burning off the alcohol, he says, brings out the liquor’s true flavour. Incidentally, according to him, any beverage that is over 30 per cent alcohol, even a strong white wine, can be used for flambéing.

“I think it’ll be a staple,” Kozluk says of adding the dish to the Water’s Edge menu.

Next, we pass the kitchen torch to Deerhurst Resort’s executive chef Gus Gulmar, originally of Hungary and a 21-year Deerhurst veteran. His Baked Alaska with Plantain Flambé will be on the menu of The Antler Steakhouse in fall, which, incidentally, has on its current menu an asparagus bisque whose presentation includes goat cheese torched tableside.

The plantain part of Gulmar’s dessert was inspired by a tried-and-true recipe: butter, brown sugar, rum and fruit, spiced up as you like. It’s the plantain part that’s different.

When shopping for plantains, note that despite their similar appearance, they are different from bananas, not only in taste and texture. A plantain that’s pure yellow, like a ripe banana, is too green and one with lots of dark brown on its skin, is ripe.

“I go to the store to buy plantains,” says Gulmar, “and people wonder why I’m shopping for rotten bananas.”

Baked Alaska is perhaps cuisine’s greatest study in contrasts. According to one origin story, the name “Baked Alaska” was coined in 1876 by a New York City restaurant, Delmonico’s, in honour of the United States’ acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867. Another origin story, however, says the recipe was originally called “Alaska Florida” as an allegory on the extremes of cold and heat.

“When I was an apprentice, we made it on baking trays for weddings,” Gulmar recalls. “It was popular in Hungary. Instead of torching, though, it was put in the oven.”

Enjoy your flaming delicacies – safely!

Grilled Pork Chops

with Maple Whiskey Hunter Sauce

and Brussels Sprout Hash

– Dan Kozluk

 

Ingredients

4 bone-in pork rib chops

 

For the sauce:

2 Tbsp canola oil

2 cups mushrooms (of any type or several combined, sliced)

4 cloves garlic (minced)

½ cup shallots (sliced)

8 ounces whiskey

½ cup maple syrup

¼ cup Dijon mustard

1 cup heavy cream (35%)

½ cup beef stock

1 Tbsp thyme (chopped)

1 Tbsp rosemary (chopped)

 For the hash:

4 Tbsp canola oil

2 lbs Brussels sprouts (halved)

2 lbs mini red potatoes

2 cups onions (sliced)

2 chorizo sausages (cooked and sliced)

¼ cup parsley (chopped)

Lemon zest and juice of one lemon

2 Tbsp butter

Method

• Day before prep: Season your pork chops the night before with salt or your favourite dry rub, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight.
• Boil your potatoes in salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Strain and set aside to cool.
• In a large cast iron pan, heat up two Tbsp of canola oil and add the onions. Season with salt. Stir every couple of minutes on low heat until caramelized (translucent). Once caramelized, remove from pan and set aside.
• Meanwhile grill the chorizo sausage until fully cooked, about three to four minutes per side. Cool down sausages and set aside for the hash.
• Grilled chops: Take the pork chops out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking. Grill on high heat for four minutes on each side then move to a cooler part of the grill to slowly finish cooking.
• Brussels sprout hash: In a cast iron pan add two Tbsp of canola oil. Lightly crush potatoes by hand (keeping them whole, just softened) and add to pan. Add in halved Brussels sprouts and cook on a medium high heat until golden brown on both sides. Add cooked chorizo, caramelized onions, chopped parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice and butter. Stir until combined and turn off heat. Season with salt and cracked black pepper.
• Hunter sauce: In a medium sized sauté pan heat up two Tbsp of canola oil, add in the sliced mushrooms and sauté at high heat until lightly browned. Add in shallots and garlic. Sauté for an additional minute. Deglaze and flambé with your favourite whiskey. Cook until the flame dies down and then add in remaining sauce ingredients. Simmer sauce for five minutes or until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Garnish artistically with microgreens (optional).

 

Chefs Tips

• How not to overcook pork chops: use a meat thermometer. 145F is serving temperature; take chops off the heat at 140F, let them rest and then return them to the grill for a bit before serving.
• Why canola oil? “Olive oil has a lower smoking temperature.” (We’re looking for fire, not smoke.)

Baked Alaska

with Plantain Flambé

– Gus Gulmar

Plantain Flambé

Ingredients  

1 ripe plantain, peeled, halved, cut into quarter-inch thick slices

2 oz unsalted butter (cold, in cubes)

2 oz brown sugar (or to taste)

Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste (a pinch)

Seeds of half a fresh vanilla bean (cut the bean in half lengthwise and remove seeds)

2 ounces rum

 

Method

• Warm up pan on medium heat, add butter, melt. Quickly add plantains, flip after about a minute (takes longer when greener).
• Add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.
• Let everything emulsify together – another minute. Crank heat up and prepare rum (put in smaller container). Pour rum over plantain and it will catch fire. (If you’re using an electric stove you might have to use a barbecue lighter. You can do this on the barbecue; use a cast iron pan.)
• Keep on stove until alcohol burns off (the fire goes out) and serve.

Serves two; double the ingredients for four.

Baked Alaska

Ingredients

Nanaimo Coconut Crust:

50 g chocolate cookie crumbs

5 g cocoa powder

20 g coconut, shredded

10 g sugar

6 g butter

10 g melted dark chocolate

Pinch of salt 

Method

• Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Shape into four circular patties one quarter-inch thick, or if making single dessert rather than portions, spread on a baking sheet to quarter-inch thickness.

Ice cream and meringue:

• Lay vanilla ice cream on crust, two inches thick and shape into a rectangle for one dessert or domes for four servings.
• Mix together 4 egg whites and 2 Tbsp fine white sugar, beat until it forms stiff peaks (or if you turn the bowl over it doesn’t fall out).
• Spread over the ice cream and crust, decorating as you wish with spatula, spoon or piping.
• Place in freezer to harden up.
• You can torch the surface for brownness, using a kitchen torch or household torch set low – as with a marshmallow over a campfire.
• To flambé: Warm up 1 ounce of rum in a small pan until it’s simmering. Ignite with a barbecue lighter. As soon as the flame is on, pour it over dessert.

 Chef's Tips

• You can substitute the vanilla seeds with 1 tsp of vanilla extract.
• For Baked Alaska done as a standalone, any flavour of ice cream can be used.
• When pouring rum on a dish to flambé it, do not do it from the bottle, for very good reason. “If you do it from the bottle, it’ll be a Molotov cocktail.”