Recipes from a big, fat delicious foodie friendly wedding

I was in Vancouver recently to celebrate the wedding of friends Nathan Fong and Michel Chicoine. Nathan is one of Vancouver’s top food personalities and he is well-known for the fundraising work he does for the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation. The event was a f

NUT AND SEED CRUSTED CHICKEN

The afternoon wedding reception featured “a taste around.” One of my favourite dishes was from Sobo in Tofino — fried chicken crusted with nuts and seeds. This is adapted from the Taste Canada award-winning cookbook The Sobo Cookbook by Lisa Ahier and Andrew Morrison (Appetite by Random House).

marinade: 1/3 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 tbsp puréed canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

coating: 1/2 cup almonds 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds 1/2 cup sunflower seeds 1/4 cup hemp seeds 2 tbsp sesame seeds 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or gluten free flour 1 tbsp kosher salt 3 eggs 1/2 cup unflavoured vegetable oil

Combine sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce and garlic in a large bowl or sealable plastic bag. Cut chicken into approximately 11/2-inch strips and add to marinade. Refrigerate one hour or up to 24 hours.

Pulse almonds in a food processor until roughly chopped. Add pumpkin seeds and pulse twice. Add sunflower seeds and pulse once more or until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in sesame seeds and salt. Transfer to a baking dish. Place flour in another dish, and beat eggs together in another dish. To bread chicken, remove from marinade and pat dry. Dip each piece into flour shaking off excess, then into egg allowing excess to drain off and then pat firmly into nut mixture. Place chicken on a rack set over a baking sheet and repeat until all chicken is coated. If not cooking right away refrigerate in a single layer on rack.

When ready to cook preheat oven to 400F. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken pieces to the pan but do not overcrowd. Brown pieces about 2 minutes per side and then transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. As each batch of chicken is browned add to the baking sheet. Bake chicken 15 to 20 minutes just until cooked through but still juicy.

makes 4 to 5 servings CRABMEAT ON TOAST The masters of ceremony at the wedding dinner were Barbara-Jo McIntosh, cookbook author and owner of

the popular Books to Cook in Vancouver and Don Genova, food and travel journalist and cookbook author from Vancouver Island. This recipe is from Barbara-Jo’s Tin Fish Gourmet (Arsenal Pulp Press) where she proves there is life after tuna casserole. 1 4 oz (113g) tin crabmeat 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1/2 tsp lemon juice 1/2 celery stalk, chopped 1 tbsp chopped green onions

1 tomato, sliced very thinly into 8

2 slices sourdough bread, toasted

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. In a bowl mix together crabmeat, mayonnaise, lemon juice, celery and green onion.

2. Arrange four slices of tomato on each piece of toast. Top with crabmeat mixture and pepper to taste.

3. Broil 2 to 3 minutes until bubbly and warmed through.

makes 2 servings

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCRUNCH

Cake expert Rose Levy Beranbaum came from New York to make the stunning chocolate raspberry wedding cake. She decorated it with birch bark meringue “branches” painted with

white and dark chocolate. Rose’s irresistible recipe for toffee crunch comes from Rose’s Christmas Cookies (Harper-Collins).

11/2 cups chopped toasted almonds 11/4 cups brown sugar 1/2 cup butter 2 tbsp water 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1/2 tsp Maldon salt, optional 1/4 tsp baking soda 4 oz chopped dark chocolate (or milk chocolate)

1. Spread half chopped almonds over a 7x10-inch area of a buttered baking sheet. Assemble remaining ingredients.

2. Place sugar, butter and water in a large, heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, 5 to 7 minutes to the soft crack stage about 285F or until syrup dropped in ice water forms threads that are hard but not brittle. Remove from heat and quickly stir in vanilla, salt and soda. Pour hot caramel over the almonds on the baking sheet.

3. Sprinkle the caramel with chocolate and allow to rest 5 minutes. Spread chocolate all over the caramel. Sprinkle with remaining nuts. Cool until set.

4. Remove from baking sheet. Break into irregular pieces.

makes about 24 pieces