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YEG Fire Station #2 Honey Mustard Ham Sauce Recipe

On Saturday afternoon I was chilling with Alan Irving at his Irving Farms booth at the City Market Downtown when a group of firemen came up to grab some bacon. I’ve heard that meals cooked at the fire stations can be legendary, and I have been itchin to get myself invited to get some pork recipes from some of Edmonton’s finest.

As Alan was making sure they had some premium Berkshire bacon for breakfast, I was introducing myself and my dinner aspirations at a fire hall to Fire Staion # 2 Pump Captain Gary Wiebe. He told me that there are some red seal chefs –turned firemen in the city that he could connect me with and top pop by Station #2 on my way home from the market.

It was slightly intimidating to walk into the hall but everyone was so kind and made me feel welcome instantly. At first they tried to make some calls to other fire halls, but after I heard about a killer honey mustard sauce for ham it wasn’t long before I was invited (or I had invited myself) to dinner on Monday. A number of my friends with massive firemen crushes were shocked and dripping with envy to hear I had secured a dinner invite to a fire hall; writing for Alberta Pork certainly has its perks.

When I arrived on Monday night the guys were out on a call so Ladder Captain Jim Hudson had me sign a waiver to join the next call that evening. After Scott (a whopping 6 foot 6 without his heals on) set me up with a jacket, visitor vest, and a helmet I parked myself in the kitchen.

While an enormous ham was roasting in the oven, Pat Zazelenchuk was whipping up a dill sauce for the potatoes and a honey mustard sauce for the ham.

Clearly a good Ukrainian boy, he had designed a meat and potato menu for the evening. Pat told me that all of his sauce recipes come from his wife and that I must credit her with her full-flavour combinations that are a hit with the guys at the station.

Downtown Edmonton Fire Station #2 – Honey Mustard Ham Sauce
(recipe courtesy of Mrs. Zazelenchuk)

1 cup mayonnaise (the real stuff)
½ cup mustard (Pat used French’s)
½ cup honey
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Add all ingredients and season with additional smoked paprika/salt/pepper to taste

The ham was cooked beautifully and I was very impressed with their skill and use of a meat thermometer. The honey mustard sauce lived up to the legend; it was so good that I used it as salad dressing (which paired beautifully with the bacon bits on my salad).

There was supposed to be a dill-sauce taste-off, but there was either a miscommunication on ingredients or someone was too scared to participate. Since Pat was the only one willing share his dill sauce, he was the hands down winner. I think it would be the best dill sauce anyone at the hall could make.

My first dinner at a fire station was definitely entertaining, particularly watching The Rookie on their shift clean up, wash dishes, and race to answer the phone or door before anyone else could.

I also learned that leaving my notebook out on the counter as I joined the pump truck on a call meant it was an open invitation for doodles, drawings, and peanut gallery comments.(thank you to the artist who decorated the recipe page in my notebook).

After heading out on three calls (two with the pump and one with the ladder), and sharing some dining tips on some of my favourite restaurants in the city I was happy to see the guys dive into a Saskatoon crumble with lemon whipped cream that I had brought.

A special thanks to dark-hair Dave for calling me out on not bringing enough whipped cream, next time I invite myself to dinner I will be sure to bring a more appropriate sized dessert.

Thank you to Captain Wiebe and Captain Hudson for allowing me to come have dinner with the Station #2 crew on Monday night. It was a pleasure and I am happy to hear you all have a passion for pork! Remember, I’m happy to swap dessert for more pork dinner/recipes any time swine is on the menu at Fire Station #2.