Nic Steenhout, aka, The Wheeling Gourmet
I’ve recently discovered a new website that was created by a great chef and a cool guy, my friend, Nicolas Steenhout. The site, The Wheeling Gourmet, is, of course, a cooking site. Since I love to cook, I find perusing cooking sites a fun pastime. Some of the sites I stumble upon are okay and some, not so much. But, this site is different, somehow. Every time I visit Nic’s site, I get this feeling that there is something more, a true passion for cooking and sharing, and I absolutely love that!
Honestly, I do not know a lot about Nic. I know he is a Canadian living in New Zealand by way of Chicago and Savannah. I know he was once a professional chef and he co-authored a cookbook on wild meat and game. I know he is an advocate for people with disabilities. His other site, Accessibility NZ, deals with web accessibility issues. I know he plays wheelchair rugby.
The first recipe I made was the Chicken Chorizo Clay Pot. Oh, I didn’t have a clay pot, so I used a Dutch oven. I didn’t have mirin sauce (mirin is a sweet Japanese wine) so I used sherry. I didn’t even have any chorizo (Spanish sausage) and had to use kielbasa. (If I lived even remotely close to a decent grocery store, I would have made a quick trip to purchase those ingredients. Using the right ingredients is important!) But, even with all those changes, I loved this recipe! The flavors were incredible. I have made this again, since that first time, with the correct ingredients (well, except for the clay pot) with fantastic results.
The second recipe I tried was the Pork Medallions with Orange and Ginger Reduction. Oh, I fudged this one up, too! I thought I had defrosted a small pork tenderloin to use, but instead had a small package of ribs. Sheesh! The orange and ginger reduction and balsamic vinegar reduction were fabulous, though, and it still turned out to be a great dinner!
Several other recipes that are high on my list to try soon are the Braised Beef Shin with Orange and Black Olive – Osso Bucco Style, the Mousse au Chocolat, Chicken Brochettes Marinated in Olive Oil and Lemon Juice, and Spaghetti Carbonara. Nic provides U.S. Standard measurements alongside the metric equivalents to make it easy for us Americans, too! And, he always remembers to list the U.S. term for ingredients like red capcium (red pepper) and kumara (a Maori word for sweet potato).
Setting up for a food photograph.
What else is cool about Nic is that he has a passion for photography and takes all of his own food photos! Typically food photographers add a lot of crap that make dishes inedible just to make a picture look appealing, but Nic cooks his food, plates it up, snaps his photos and then he eats it! Nic’s food photos are fantastic! Both photos in this article (yes, even the self photo above) were taken by Nic.
The site, The Wheeling Gourmet, is a work in progress. So, please visit it often! And, don’t be afraid to ask Nic questions, he loves to answer! And, if you are inclined to take a photo of your cooking masterpiece, he would like to see it!
Oh, and a clay pot, like the one featured on his site, is now on my wish list, in case you were wondering!
Happy eating!
This is so interesting! I am amazed that you have time to try all the recipes! Actually, I guess if I actually LIKED cooking, I might do things like try recipes. It is great to get to know you on twitter. Thanks for supporting MY blog. molly
Hey Aunt Pam, just bring them to PA this summer. Then we can exchange e-mails and address then! Can’t wait to see you all! I’ve been talking with Shannon and Kelly via Facebook and they are so funny! And I sometimes talk to Lori but I can’t find any of my other cousins on the Facebook. Hope they join soon!
Will do girl. Gary’s mom might be able to offer a few more. See you in PA.
Carrie, you lucky dog! Getting to see Bobby Deen in person! When we visited Savannah a couple of years ago, I was thrilled just to go inside The Lady and Sons! ….And I loved your quaint little city!
And Cindy, that nameless sister WON”T, not can’t!
I am constantly printing receipes off the internet. I go to lots of web sites but mostly Food.TV. I especially like Paula Deen and Rachel Ray. My thought was to make my own cookbook with all the copies I’ve printed. I have hundreds of receipes but have not got them into binders as yet. I even made a few of dishes – which turned out well! I think I just like to print them!
Loved The Wheeling Gourmet’s web site!
I like epicurious.com. And allrecipies.com. Oh, I love watching Iron Chef! Can’t say I feel the same about Paula Dean, but I did see Bobby Dean at the Suntrust Bank downtown one day!
Linda, greatest commenter of all times! Thanks for checking out Nic’s website. I think it is very cool, too! Mwah!
Hey Cindy, I also went to Nic’s website and asked him where I could find his wild game cookbook. He responded the next day and told me that he had some copies in Canada but that when he checked on them they were in French or out. He mentioned getting me a PFD (something like that but I’m not sure what that means. He also wants to write another one with wild game and fish. I told him I’d be interested.
Please ask him for a recipe for us girls. Also we could substitute margarine for Bonnie if we need to use butter. You know make her a separate dish. Depending on what the butter recipe would be I like margarine better
I’m crazy for cookbooks! I have oodles of them. I just recently bought The Joy of Polish Cooking. I haven’t made one dish.
However I always refer back to my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.
Polish foods are always awesome!
Hey Carrie, I have some hungarian recipes from Gary’s grandmother that you would like. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll e-mail them to you.
My goolash is horrible so I would love those Hungarian recipies! Please send them my way!
Carrie I can e-mail them to you but I don’t know what it is, or
mail them to you.
I’m looking forward to seeing you soon. I could bring the recipes to Penna. when we’re there. Anyway, let me know.
So cool! I’m not as crazy about cooking as you but I love new recipes. The wild game cookbook sounds interesting. I might have to go to his website and check it out. You know if times get really tough we all may need to know how to cook wild game.
Hey girl, looking forward to seeing you soon. Maybe we can try out one of his recipes when we’re all together along with the old movie you were having trouble finding. It’s cool that someone came up with it. Love ya sis.
Let’s ask Nic to suggest a recipe! Hey, Nic! My sisters get together once a year to be sisters! We need a meal that is not tooo hard, but will feed the four of us and that we can have fun making together! Any suggestions? Oh, btw, one sister, who remains nameless cannot eat butter!
Hey! Sorry for the long delay in answering, I completely forgot to come back and check on messages!!!
When is the get together? What kind of food do y’all like? I’ll do something for “youze gurls”, put it on my site 🙂
Hey Nic! My sisters and I are getting together for a few days at the end of May for the wedding of Linda’s daughter, my neice! As far as the dish for the sister’s meal, I’d like to keep things simple, if possible, we will have so much going on and this visit is going to be such a short one. It is also Spring here, so something not too heavy. Any chicken, beef, pork or pasta dish would probably be agreeable to everyone. You give us a recipe, we’ll make it, take some photos and send them on to you!
BTW, Last night I made the pork medallions with the orange, ginger reduction for dinner. That one is so good!