The competition is fierce in Abbey's Kitchen Stadium! *giveaway*

I have two tickets for this weekend's much-anticipated Abbey's Kitchen Stadium (AKS) event that I can't use, so I'm giving them away!

The Event:
Abbey's Kitchen Stadium: Battle Three (19+ event)
Sunday, September 29, 2013 from 1-4pm
722 College Street

AKS celebrates Toronto's vibrant food culture and brings together some of city’s hottest restaurant, food truck and pop-up vendor chefs to raise money for a local food initiative, My Food My Way. AKS has been modeled after the popularity of reality Food Network competition programs such as Chopped, Iron Chef, and Top Chef.

A secret ingredient will be revealed at the event and four of Toronto's culinary superstars will each prepare two dishes that showcase the chosen ingredient. Each chef will then be invited to present their dish to the celebrity judges on the stadium stage. Attendees will have the chance to purchase the dishes for $5 each.

Battle Three Chefs: 
Carl Heinrich (Richmond Station, Food Network's Top Chef Winner!)
Dave Sidhu (Playa Cabana)
Thomas Davis (The Stockyards)
Dustin Gallagher (Acadia, Food Network's Top Chef Competitor)

Battle Three Judges: 
Vikram Vij (Celebrity Restauranteur)
Alex Lifeson (Rush Guitarist & Rock Hall of Famer) 
Liem Vu (Host for Global TV's The Morning Show) 
Dee Brun (Cocktail Deeva, Stephen and Chris Show) 
Susan Merry (Owner, All the Best Fine Foods)

How to Enter (you can do one or the other, or both!):

1. Leave a comment on this blog post, answering the following question: "If you could pick the Secret Ingredient for AKS: Battle 3, what would you pick?" Don't forget to include an email address so that I can contact you if you win! (3 entries)
2. Follow @kitchenfrolic on Twitter and tweet the following: "Hey @kitchenfrolic! I want to win a pair of tickets to #AKS3 http://bit.ly/16LJQuV!" (You can do this as often as you like - 1 entry per tweet)

Notes:

• Contest runs Thursday, September 26 to Saturday, September 28 at noon. 
• The lucky winner will be chosen randomly through random.org and the winner will be announced (and contacted) shortly after the end of contest.

*** UPDATE ***

Thanks to everyone that entered! The winner was Jeffrey Ngo. Congratulations and enjoy the event!

maison le grand sauces & a *giveaway*!

I was recently approached by Maison Le Grand, a Canadian company, to try out their new line of Rosée Sauces and I can't wait to get my hands on them.

Paul and I rarely purchase pasta sauces - we always make our tomato sauce own from scratch. However, from time to time, we like to try out pre-made sauces, especially pestos and rosées, so I was excited to have the opportunity to check out Maison Le Grand.

There are three products available in the new line of rosée sauces from Maison Le Grand:

• Classic Rosée Sauce
• Rustic Rosée Sauce
• Spicy Rosée Sauce

I'll soon start sharing our recipes created with Maison Le Grand sauces, but in the meantime, how about a giveaway?

Maison Le Grand is generously offering my readers the chance to win the whole selection of their pesto and rosée sauces so that you can always give them a try. All you have to do is visit their website at maisonlegrand.com and check out their lineup, then come back here and leave a comment letting me know which sauce you'd like to try first!

Please note, this contest is open to Ontario and Quebec residents only. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was provided with the giveaway prize by Maison Le Grand.

mmm...steak...plus, a *giveaway* (mmm...steak knives)!

I love steak. Paul loves steak too, so it's always easy for one of us to convince the other that we should have steak for dinner. There's something so beautiful about a thick, juicy, perfectly marbled slab of meat sitting on our grill. We almost never dress it up with anything more than a coat of freshly ground salt and pepper.

Now, as you can probably tell, our favourite type of steak is a Grilling one, but did you know that steaks fall into three categories? Before becoming a Canadian Beef Brand Ambassador, I could never keep this straight! Basically, they're grouped according to how they should be prepared:

• GRILLING - can be grilled without any extra prep or effort 
• MARINATING - needs to be marinated before you cook it (no matter how you cook it)
• SIMMERING - needs a slow simmer in a nice liquid to ensure tenderness (like a steak version of a pot roast!)

Since I'm not that familiar with the other steak groups besides Grilling, I wanted to learn more about how to cook them properly. Curious? Check out this very useful page that give you tips, cooking notes and timing on cooking all three types of steaks.

I definitely want to start cooking with Marinating and Simmering steaks more often - there's a whole bunch of recipes I've already bookmarked on the Canadian Beef site that I want to try. (Hmmm...how long do you think it would take me to try out every steak recipe here?)

Want to join me and other steak lovers in a fun Twitter chat all about STEAK? Canadian Beef and ShesConnected are having a #LoveCDNBeef Twitter Party on Thursday, September 13 at 8:30 pm EST. Follow @CanadianBeef and @shesconnected, and use the #LoveCDNBeef hashtag.

In anticipation of all the steak I'm going to be eating, CUTCO (in partnership with Canadian Beef) was kind enough to send me a set of their new steak knives. Although we already own several sets of steak knives, these ones are pretty darn nice. They have a thick, full tang, which Paul and I noticed right away, and both of us also loved how great the knives feel in our hands - they have an ergonomic design and a really good weight to them.

• Exclusive Double-D® edge provides a clean, smooth cut every time and stays sharp longer than straight-edge knives. Can be factory sharpened. 
• Ergonomic handle is a universal fit for large or small, left or right hands. Thumb and forefinger lock into place for safety and control. Fatigue-resistant design. 
• With CUTCO's Forever Guarantee, we will sharpen, hone, buff, repair and if necessary replace your CUTCO knives and accessories for FREE. No receipt is required. 
• Like all CUTCO products, the Steak Knife is guaranteed forever.

Are you envious of my new steak knives? Well, you don't have to be! The generous team at CUTCO is also giving a set of these steak knives to one lucky kitchen frolic reader! 

To enter:

• Leave a comment, telling me how you like your steak (2 entries)

If you want extra entries (1 entre for each action):

• Leave a comment, telling me what CUTCO product you'd like to try out most.
• Follow me on Twitter (leave a comment letting me know you're following me)
• Follow CUTCO on Twitter (leave a comment letting me know you're following them)
• Tweet about this giveaway (please include my Twitter handle, @kitchenfrolic so I can see the tweet!)

Don't forget to leave an email so I can contact you if you win! Contest is open to residents of Canada and the USA. Contest ends Friday, September 28, 2012.

(If you had already entered using the Rafflecopter form I had up earlier, don't worry, I have those entries saved. I was having problems with their form, so I had to take it down, but don't worry - you're entered!)

Oh, and if you're wondering - I prefer my steaks Medium-Rare, and will sit sullenly glaring at you if I have to chew on anything more done than Medium.

Disclosure: I am a Canadian Beef Ambassador and have been compensated for this post. However, all opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced in any way by my association with the program.

let's all go to the Ex!

Congratulations to the winners of my CNE Admission Pass giveaway! From all your comments and tweets, it looks like there's lots of interest in Bacon Nation and the other new offerings, but tradition seems to still hold sway (that, and tiny donuts).

Here are the winners and what they're looking forward to eating at the Ex this year (plus my own comments in italics):

Henry - "Would like to give Bacon Nation a try."  ~ Yes, I'm looking forward to Bacon Nation a lot too, Henry!

Tim - "It is a tradition to hit the food building first, and get a jumbo hot dog and a 99 cent spaghetti. I know that doesn't sound adventurous, but it is tradition. There are so many awesome things to check out, and I am really looking forward to the Food Truck Frenzy." ~ Ah, I've been having the annual 99 cent spaghetti at the CNE since I was a kid. With each year that passes the 99 cent price seems more and more of a deal

Ian - "Once I hit the Food Building at this year's Ex I will, as I always am, be overwhelmed with all the great gastronomic temptations! But I have a strong feeling that one of the first stops will just have to be the Tiny Tom mini donuts. Love 'em. Then it will be onto the next treat . . . I've gotta get me a great Montreal smoked meat sandwich (they have great ones there, by-the-way)."

Ann Marie - "Tiny Tims - the only time that I would pay big money for little donuts." ~ Ann Marie's comment made me laugh out loud because it's so true!

Bev - "I gotta say, when I first heard about Pull'd, I was sold!"

Thanks to everyone for entering my giveaway! It was the first time I've done anything like this on my blog so the response was really encouraging and I'll be sure to start thinking up my next contest!

See you at the Ex!

want to go to the CNE for free? i'm giving away passes! *giveaway*

I’m giving away passes to the 2012 CNE in Toronto! What does this has to do with food, you ask? How about the awesome FOOD building?! Plus, this year, there's going to be a Food Truck Frenzy inside the Princes' Gates!!

Each of the following actions will get you ONE entry into the giveaway:

• Follow this blog (leave a comment on this post telling me you're a follower). Don't forget to leave an email where I can reach you!
• Follow me on Twitter @kitchenfrolic (leave a comment on this post with your Twitter handle)
• Tweet about this giveaway. You must mention @kitchenfrolic (so I can see the tweet) and you must link to this post
• Leave a comment on this post and tell me where or what you want to eat first at this year's CNE. Don't forget to leave an email where I can reach you!

Each winner will receive two Grounds Admission Passes to the 2012 CNE (Each pass admits one person to the 2012 CNE one time only and does not include rides, food or anything else). Winners will be chosen with RandomPicker.com and will be announced on Tuesday, July 31 at 10pm EST. 

The 2012 CNE is open August 17 to September 3, 2012.