The second season of Farmers Market Kitchen kicked off last Sunday at the Kitsilano Farmers Market with Chef Trevor Bird giving us an informative demo on cooking with wild BC salmon. Trevor Bird is chef and owner of Fable Kitchen and also runner up of Top Chef Canada Season 2.

It is Trevor Bird's mission to make cooking as simple as possible. He said that he wanted to demo something that we could make for dinner the same day. He decided to show us a simple way to cook wild BC salmon so that it is never overcooked, accompanied by radishes and mixed greens.

Fresh Sockeye salmon donated by Blue Comet Seafoods. "You might think it is ewww for the fish to sit out like this but it is important to temper your fish. Fish cooks at really low temperatures"

Yummy raspberries were put into the salad dressing. They were so delicious, Trevor Bird couldn't stop eating them. "Maybe there will be no raspberries in the dressing"

Foolproof way to cook salmon (or any fish) without overcooking it: poach in oil at around 47 degrees (like the temperature of a hot tub, you should be able to stick your finger in and hold it for about 5 sec and not get burned). Apparently fish should never be hot. If you get a hot piece of fish on your plate, chances are that it is overcooked. Heat the oil to 47 degrees then you just put the fish in a pan with oil and let it sit until it is cooked, which you can tell when there are little bubbles that appear on it.
 
Poaching in oil at a low temperature will ensure the fish doesn't overcook and retains its moisture. That's because like attracts like. If you poach in water, the water in the fish will exit into the surrounding water. With water doesn't like to mix with oil, so the water in the fish will stay inside to avoid the oil. 

Low tempurature - that's key. High temperatures denature proteins a lot quicker and makes meats tough and also dries it out. "Science, man. Crazy!" It was almost like a science lesson!

An alternative to oil poaching is a 200 degree oven. Again, low temperature!

Little bubbles on the fish indicate it is done. And because the oil is at a low temp, you can leave the fish in there for a long time and it will never overcook! Slow cooking at low temps!

Trevor Bird's BBQ tip: Keep one side of BBQ on high, one side off. Sear the meat on high then move to the other side and close lid. Slow cooking the meat. You'll never overcook meat on the BBQ again! The worst it can be is medium. 

Next, Trevor Bird prepared some radishes. He first added some butter in a pot. Cook in foaming butter. Cooking in butter also keeps moisture in. It makes the radishes have an interesting texture - a kind of pop! Add a little salt in there. "Make it rain" =) He likes to use kosher salt or sea salt. "Table salt is the devil!" That's because when you compare a pinch of table salt vs a pinch of kosher salt, it's amazing in the difference in the amount. With table salt you can end up putting in crazy amounts.  

You know when the radishes are done when they become slightly translucent.

For the salad, Trevor Bird made a raspberry vinaigrette. 3 parts of oil to 1 part of vinegar! He told us that he loves sugar so he also put in equal parts of sugar or honey to vinegar. Usually he doesn't use all white vinegar. He likes to mix it up with another kind like grape seed oil just so it's not so harsh.


After the audience were treated to samples of the fish, radish and salad.


 Trevor Bird was right. The salmon was so moist and tender. Delicious!

 Trevor Bird and the Market Kitchen team.


There was a great turnout and I learned a lot from the demo!

After the demo, I walked around the market searching for things to purchase. Lots of people at this market. It was really sunny and hot!

Mmm so many yummy vegetables and fruits in season!

The first thing that caught my eye was the heirloom tomatoes! I think this was the first I've seen them this year.





Radishes, the featured ingredient of Trevor Bird's demo. I never thought of eating radishes before. Didn't think they could be that tasty!





 The raspberries were looking very delicious.

I also found some gooseberries!

 And currants!

All sorts of kale still found at the market.



Mmm sea asparagus. These are delicious and go well with any seafoods.

The Kitsilano Farmers Market is held every Sunday, until October 20, 2013 from 10am - 2pm each week 2690 Larch Street at 10th Avenue, in the parking lot of the Kitsilano Community Centre. There's parking on the other side of the market if you are driving there.


The next Farmers Market Kitchen is on July 28 with Chef Chris Whittaker of Forage! I'm looking forward to that. Hope he does something with mushrooms. =D The recipes will be posted on the Farmers Market website.