Chef Bruce Wood's Recipes of the week
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My name is Bruce Wood and I have been a chef since 1984. I did my apprenticeship in Toronto at the Hazelton Café and attended George Brown college when it was still in Kensington market. This is when my love for all things local started to really take hold.

I would wander the market on my breaks looking for new and exciting foods to work with and meet many vendours and local food producers. I moved to Ottawa in 1992 and worked in several restaurants before winding up at Mariposa Farm. Working for the owners Ian & Suzanne was one of the most liberating culinary experiences any chef could ever experience. For 3 years I wrote the menus for Sunday lunch and all the functions using only products from the farm or other small local food producers and farmers.

We developed a series of successful cooking classes featuring these local products. In September of last year I left the farm to get married and am currently teaching at Algonquin College where I have taught part time for the past 4 years. I also do guest appearances on Rogers and the new RO and teach in many small venues around Ottawa. I am very excited to be involved with Bryson farms and look forward to finding new and wonderful ways to prepare the fruits of their labours.

I love beet greens and would use them anywhere you would spinach or swiss chard. Recently I ate them with a piece of BBQ elk with a simple piece of blue cheese on top - it was absolute heaven - the greens almost made their sauce and kept the elk moist.

Tops of two bunchess fresh Bryson Farms beets/mangels, washed and spun dry
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
Two cloves garlic, slivered
1 tsp. chopped fresh Bryson Farms thyme
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste
pinch freshly grated nutmeg

In a heavy bottomed pan or wok heat the olive oil and butter until the butter is almost brown, add the garlic and cook until lightly browned. Add the beet greens and cook until soft, stirring constantly. Add the remaining ingredients and serve hot.

This dish would be a perfect match with a nice Niagara sauvignon blanc. The beets are so sweet when roasted and the goat cheese pairs beautifully with the wine.

1 bunch Bryson Farms beets/mangels with greens
8 oz. soft goat cheese, such as Ferme Floralpe Micha
2 oz. walnuts, toasted
1 bunch green onions (the nice small local ones), cleaned and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
6 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Separate the beets and greens and wash the greens, set aside.
Drop the beets into boiling salted water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove to a bowl of ice water and cool. The skins should just slip off. When the beets are peeled toss them with 1 tbsp. of the olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Place the beets on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the beets from the oven and cut them into cubes. Toss the beets with 4 tbsp. of the olive oil, the red wine vinegar, garlic and green onions and set aside.

In a pot of salted water cook the beet greens and remove to a bowl of ice water. Remove the leaves from the ice water and drain on clean towels. Form the goat cheese into 4 pucks approx. 3” across. Lay a beet green down place a goat cheese puck on the greens. ( it may take a little creative jigsaw work with the leaves you may have to overlap a couple of leaves to get a nice piece) Wrap the beet greens around the chevre and repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of chevre. Chill for 30 minutes.
Toss the beets with the walnuts and divide between 4 plates.
In a pan heat the remaining olive oil and place the goat cheese parcels in the hot pan. Cook for one minute, turn over and cook for a further minute. Place a goat cheese parcel on each salad and enjoy.