Tag: pork meatballs

Recap: Drift’s Swine & Dine at the Shamrock Curling Club 2019

Posted on by Sharman

 

Last week, Drift Food Truck’s Kara and Nevin Fenske held their second (what we hope becomes annual) Swine and Dine at the Shamrock Curling Club. A lucky 33 guests secured seats overlooking the Shamrock’s eight sheets of ice, just in time to watch the Thursday night ladies curling league. Tickets were just $45 for four courses and guests also walked away with a special Alberta Pork recipe book.

Now into their third winter season at the Shamrock, it is no longer a secret that Drift Food Truck fans can get their sandwich fix indoors at one of the longest serving and busier curling clubs in Western Canada. Thanks to the combo of great Drift food and great prices at the bar upstairs, the Shamrock is a great place to catch a game or practice your dart and shuffleboard skills.

While Alberta Pork is available on Nevin & Kara’s menu all year long, we are especially grateful that this busy dynamic duo made time for another Swine and Dine dinner. The Swine and Dine challenge – to incorporate Alberta pork from appetizer to dessert – is an opportunity Nevin is eager to take on. Here is what he served:

1st course: RICOTTA RAVIOLI
Squash puree, pork meatballs

Inspired by pasta-making sessions with his daughter over the past few weeks, Nevin kicked things off with house made ricotta ravioli served alongside squash puree and pork meatballs.

2nd course: BARLEY RISOTTO
mushroom & lemon, pork belly, choke cherry syrup

Next up, Nevin topped the earthly flavours of his barley mushroom risotto with pork belly topped with choke cherry syrup.

3rd course: ROLLED PORK SHOULDER
herb pesto & pears, mashed yellow potato & pork jus
BEET SALAD
goat cheese, arugula, & mustard dressing

While the first two dishes were plated, Nevin and Kara served up family-style platters made up of thick-cut rolled pork shoulder and mounds of mashed yellow potatoes topped with pork jus and sautéed pears. Our hearty portion of meat and potatoes were served alongside a beet, goat cheese and arugula salad.

4th course: APPLE CRISP
prosciutto, aged cheddar & balsamic

Inspired by the Shamrock’s old-school curling club vibe, Nevin shared an apple crisp accented by prosciutto, aged cheddar and balsamic for dessert. As someone who enjoys cheese for dessert, it was a satisfying bite to finish the comfort-classic fueled meal.

A huge thanks to the entire Drift crew and the Shamrock for hosting a tasty and entertaining night. Your passion for pork warms both our hearts and our bellies.

Sad you missed another Drift Swine and Dine at the Shamrock? Stay tuned to their social media accounts for hours at the club, updates on special events, and special features (that often include Alberta Pork) at the Drift Concession at the Shamrock.

Drift Food Truck & Eatery at the SHAMROCK CURLING CLUB
9330 – 80 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T6C 0T9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe: Vietnamese Pork Meatballs

Posted on by Cassandra Anderton

The history of the meatball can be traced back to Ancient Rome, the Chinese Qin Dinasty (221 BC) and can be seen in many ancient Arabic cookbooks. Almost every culture has a version with unique ingredients, various meats and spices and often no actual meat at all. One of our favourite meatball variations relies on Vietnam for it’s origin, where you’ll find them often served with rice noodles and vegetables and with a dipping sauce based on fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic and chili. There’s also variations cooked in tomato sauce, served in baguette, but we’ll perhaps create that another time. For now it’s Vietnamese Pork Meatballs!

Vietnamese Meatball

This version includes eggs and panko for binding, garlic, onion, fish sauce, green onion and lemongrass for flavour. It you wanted to make it gluten-free leave out the panko or use a gluten-free breadcrumb. You can serve these atop rice, quinoa or on their own with a side of the dipping sauce as an appetizer, but we like to throw them into a salad with rice noodles and season then with Nuoc Mam (Fish Sauce Vinaigrette).

Vietnamese Pork Meatball Recipe

1 pound lean ground pork
1/2 cup panko
1 egg
2 tablespoons finely minced lemongrass
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

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Preheat the oven to 375°F. Gently mix together all of the ingredients and shape into 1 inch meatballs, about 2 tablespoons each.

Space out on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the heat up to broil and broil for 5 minutes for a bit of color, tossing midway through.

Nuoc-Cham_220x375

Fish Sauce Vinaigrette or use Blue Dragon Dipping Sauce or other brand if not available

1 clove garlic
1 small Thai chili, if desired (seeds removed)
3 tablespoons sugar
juice of 1 lime
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons fish sauce

Crush the garlic, chili and sugar together with a mortar and pestle. Add the sugar, garlic and chili to the water and mix well. Add the lime juice, mix and then stir in the fish sauce and refrigerate.

Vermicelli Noodles – Prepared from package instructions.

Salad – Shred carrots, red pepper, cabbage, lettuce, sprouts, add steamed broccoli, cauliflower, beans, snow peas. Use up odds and ends from the fridge to make a tossed veggie salad. Add handfuls of fresh mint and cilantro.

Vietnames Pork Meatballs

Serve up meatballs, noodles, salad, family style on a dish with salad splashed with fish sauce vinaigrette and more on the side.

Top Chef Canada’s Infamous ‘Beaver Balls’

Posted on by Dan Clapson

Home version of Nicole Gomes 'Beaver Balls' from Top Chef CanadaWondering what ‘beaver balls’ are? Great question! A few weeks ago on Top Chef Canada, the remaining cheftestants were challenged to create ‘Canada’s new dish’. While the majority of the pack went with some sort of variation on a slider, Calgary-based competitor Nicole Gomes opted to meld humour with deliciousness and and her ‘Beaver Balls’ were born.

Basically, these tasty little critters are a Asian-inspired pork meatball, rolled in rice, then steamed or baked and served with a maple-soy dipping sauce. Sounds pretty good, right? Well, I can verify that they are indeed delicious, as I made a batch at home just a few weeks ago.

Beaver Balls T-Shirt

This unique take on a pork meatball has gotten a lot of attention from Food Network Canada viewers and even spawned a humorous t-shirt (shown above, photo credit: Avenue Magazine) designed by Canadian food-centric clothing company, Food On Your Shirt. Do you like beaver balls? Well, now you can wear them too!

Looking for a Nicole-approved ‘Beaver Balls’ recipe to try in your own home? Then head over to FoodNetwork.ca and try this one out this week. Guaranteed to be a hit with the family!