Question of the Month (December)

“We would like to eat at 7pm… can you deliver (or can I pickup) for 5pm?”

This is not a good idea, for several reasons. First, most food should never sit hot for more than 45 minutes. Every minute after that sacrifices the integrity of the product, as it slowly dries up. Would you ever have a pizza delivered to your home for 5pm and leave it in the oven to eat until 7pm? Obviously we all know the right answer…sometimes food that is catered is thought of a little differently, but ensuring the freshness and quality is paramount to its enjoyment! So when you plan your next catering with Just Jeff’s, if we can, let us deliver it 15 minutes before you plan to consume it. We will be proud to serve it to you, and you will be proud to present it to your guests. It’s a win-win for all of us.

Keep cooking.

Boiling Plastic

Question of the Month:
“Is it safe to boil the plastic bags?”…
We occasionally get asked this question, and it’s a prudent one given concerns about all products on grocery shelves nowadays. What we can tell you, is that the plastic bags we use are Government approved and are considered safe for freezing and boiling. When water is boiled, it brings the temperature up to approximately 212F, which is hot to you and I, but not hot enough to break down the plastic. Another way to look at it - are boiled fresh vegetables, potatoes and chicken breast in red pepper sauce better for us then a cheese burger, fries and a large soda?... or pizza and wings? That depends on your belief. I do know that on average, the chicken, potatoes and fresh vegetables will cost you only about 2 bucks more then the latter. (not bad for a Toonie eh). One thing is for sure, if any new information becomes available to about boiling / freezing plastic, I will pass it along.

Keep on Cooking

Wine & Just Jeff's

Most of you know by now that Just Jeff's food is a tasty and convenient way to enjoy supper, without all the work involved in preparing a well balanced meal.

It got me to thinking about how to make your dinner more complete, by pairing Just Jeff's food with wine. After all, if you've been lucky enough to have an outstanding dinner that is perfectly paired with a nice bottle of wine, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

There are a lot of aspects to consider when deciding what wine to enjoy with your meal, from the wine's acidity, to matching the body, or heft of the wine with what you are eating. The old rules of only red wine with red meat, and white wine with seafood are a thing of the past, as many wines today are incredibly versatile and can be matched with what used to be considered unorthodox pairings. For instance, Creekside's Sauvignon Blanc is superbly matched with the Veal Scallopini Tomato Pesto - the acidity in the wine compliments the acidity in the tomato sauce, and the body of the veal integrates well with the body of the Sauvignon Blanc. Conversely, Jackson Triggs Delaine Vineyard Pinot Noir is nicely matched with the Shrimp and Scallop Fettucini - the Pinot's flavor doesn't overpower the seafood, and the slight sweetness of the blush sauce is a nice contrast to the soft tannins in this particular wine.

The most important aspect in all of this, is to drink and eat what you enjoy, and that you take the time to experiment - after all, it is your palate and your tastes that are paramount. Besides, think of all the investigative work you'll have to do to find what works best for your tastes!

I'd be interested to know if you have enjoyed a particular pairing with Just Jeff's food, or if you would like more suggested matches or any general questions you may have. In the interim, I'm going to do some more investigative wine journalism, and report back in the next couple of weeks. Yeah, I know it'll be tough, but somehow I'll get through it :)

Prost!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Watching Jason in Barrie experience his first holiday menu feature brings back memories… serving his guests a complete heat and serve menu so they can enjoy their company….this is very rewarding from our end, because we know you enjoyed your company and the food…very little shopping, no cooking, no prep work and best of all, very little cleanup… it’s hard to put a price on that… pop the food in the oven and actually sit and enjoy a glass of wine with mom, dad or grand mom….you will never, ever get that time back.

Just Jeff’s in Windsor (now open for 5 years) served over 500 pounds of turkey, over 140 pounds of ham, 100 pounds of stuffing, 200 pounds of potatoes and over 200 pounds of vegetables…..50 plus litres of gravy, not to mention all the additional bagged meals and catering orders that weekend…..sounds like a lot of consumer trust!..
We are very proud this holiday weekend almost doubled last year. We are even more proud of the fact that most of the names on the order list, were on the list last year, and the year before that. Your trust and happiness in us, is both our success!.. We will never forget that.

Thanks for a great holiday weekend… we hope to see you before the Christmas Holiday.

Keep Cooking on High!

How to get your kids to eat good things they don't like.

We all know it’s a mind game…an ongoing battle trying to get your kids to eat foods other than chicken nuggets or mac ‘n’ cheese. I have 2 young wonderful kids too…I feel your pain… I’m a chef and it’s a struggle for me everyday.

That is, until I decided to grind up their food! One day, I made a simple tomato sauce then dropped in some cooked chicken breast, broccoli and mushrooms. Once this mixture came to a boil I then grabbed my hand blender (that is my secret weapon) and pureed the sauce. Topped cooked pasta with the sauce and then topped it with a little cheese. The kids just ate it up! They had no idea they were eating broccoli, chicken and mushrooms….it was Dad’s special pasta I told them! Try it with any foods…even fish… Drop the items into the simmering sauce so when they cook, all the nutrients remain in the sauce. Once cooked, puree away. You can do this with your favourite canned pasta sauce…. Tomato base, cream base, it doesn’t really matter, once you find a sauce they like, run with it, or should I say puree it!

Keep Cooking on High!

So far so good!

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since we've been open, and so far so good! It's nice to have some guests come back 3 times already, and to have other's come in to say they've heard great things, even though we just opened up!

It says a lot about Jeff and his recipes, and the desire for people to have fresh well-balanced meals, as an excellent alternative to the fast food choices out there now.

With regard to the opening, it was a fair amount of work, that couldn't have been done without Jeff's assistance. Quite a few long days and late nights, but in the end, I know that we have replicated Just Jeff's Windsor location in terms of food quality, guest service and consistency. A huge thanks to Jeff for all of his help...it was nice to have someone to call when you have a question, makes me appreciate how difficult it must have been for him when he just opened up. I also appreciated his hard work during the opening, although I think he stayed late to help because I was supplying the beer - but I'm not totally sure on that ;)

Anyhow, we appreciate all the well wishes we've received, and we'll be updating on our progress as the business evolves.

Jason

First Franchise Open

The Barrie Store is finally open!...WOW… I can’t begin to describe how cool it is to see my idea/concept/product in another city…looking and tasting exactly as it does in my store, as if it were all cooked by me. Jason Post is the owner of the Barrie Franchise. He believes in the concept, grabbed it by the horns and ran with it. After already experiencing a new business opening, I know what he went through (it was a very stressful, and at times a helpless process) he made it out with his head high ready to replicate quality and consistency. If you are from that area, be sure to stop in and say hello.

Congrats to you Jason
Talk to you soon,

Jeff

What's Just Jeff's and who is Jeff?

I'm Cooking and Cleaning so you don't have to!

Just Jeff's Gourmet Express...Fabulous Fresh Food Fast!....Dinner On Your Table In 8 Minutes!

No Preservatives added...Made Fresh Daily...Sold Fresh Daily...Just Heat & Serve.

Meal Solutions For Time-Starved Families, Professionals, Seniors, Campers, Boaters and Every One Else.... I can't think of who wouldn't benefit from our service.

Who is Jeff?....check out the "Company Media" section"About Jeff" from our home page.

Talk to you soon.

Jeff’s Neapolitan Blog.

Neapolitan Blog?...What the heck is that? It’s my creative 3 flavours in one message. Just like your favorite brand of Neapolitan Ice Cream, 3 completely different flavours in one…or in this case, 3 food related topics….
Sorry for the food analogy…it’s the chef in me…..anyway:

Flavour 1:
Company growth…soooooo scaaaaaarrrryyyyyy! Not so much how it happens, but why would I want it to happen? Is it greed? If you knew me…you would know that is not the right answer. I’m a simple guy who would be more than happy with watching my kids grow while I keep things moving at the business with the occasional time to go fishing and playing 18 holes of golf. When approached about franchising, I can’t deny it wasn’t part of the original vision or dream…however I never really thought it would ever come true. Selling multiple units in an X-amount period of time sets me back…not because I’m in uncharted waters, but because I’m concerned Just Jeff’s wouldn’t be the same from one place to the next. Holy standardization!...recipes, procedures, manuals and most importantly…the right person to see it through….manuals and procedures, no matter how detailed, they are only as good as the paper you print them on! Ensuring product consistency, standards and procedures…. You have no idea how much I appreciate franchise chains now!
So why grow? It’s the entrepreneur in me I guess, perhaps I’m getting a little bored with day-to-day operations. Let’s face it I’ve been cooking for 20 plus years, if given the chance we would all like to expand a little in our profession, like watching your family mature and grow. So stand by, I’ll keep you posted on any new growth.

Flavour 2:
Here are some of my tricks and tips with recipes.
Always remember when following a recipe…it’s a guideline not a bible! (unless you’re baking!)… if you do not like rosemary don’t put it in…or substitute it with what you like…perhaps thyme or sage. Write down your changes so you can remember what the heck you did….there is nothing worse then making the perfect dish and not being able to reproduce it. This is how chef’s stay up with the times…they see an idea or recipe in a book or magazine….they test it as printed…then they add their own personal touches and voila… they just made it their own…but if they didn’t document it…they could never reproduce it!

Cooking for guests?
When thinking about the entire meal and or side dishes to go with the main protein you plan to serve, I always think of colour. Imagine the following menu:
Pan-seared chicken marsala, roasted baby potatoes and fire grilled corn…..sounds pretty good eh….but now think of the colour in that dish. You have brown chicken, with darker brown gravy served with brown potatoes and yellow corn with brown grill marks….not overly appealing to the eye (tasty I’m sure). Now take that same chicken marsala and serve it with smashed Yukon gold potatoes infused with corn and garnished with grilled asparagus and red bell peppers….I’m sure you get my point now.

Cooking on occasion or for an occasion can be fun… make the best of it… cooking because you have to every day or for large groups is long hard work, and that is why I’m here.

Flavour 3:
Take this recipe as an example….make it once as printed, then give it you’re your personal evaluation…now add or delete things to make it your own with your own eyes (and tongue)…
Tender (fall-off-the-bone-ribs)
2-5 lbs of any rib you like….baby back, side ribs, button ribs, short ribs, beef ribs…who cares…..you pick.
Favourite BBQ Sauce….2 cups….any sauce you like…add a lot or a little.
Seasoning Salt
Water

The real secret isn’t the sauce…that is argumentative… it’s how you cook them…it’s all in the BRAISING….don’t boil them (unless you like to leave all the meat flavour in the water that you dump down the drain)…don’t marinate for days (waste of time with very little effect). Just peel the skin off the back side then season both sides (probably a little heavier seasoning then you think might be enough). Place seasoned ribs on a tray (fanned out evenly) and ½ cup water then cover with parchment paper then foil. Make sure the foil covering is tight, this will minimize the amount of steam lost during the braising process.
Place the pan into a pre-heated 375 degree oven and bake for 1.5 hours. Now remove from the oven and pull back a corner of the foil to allow the steam to escape (be careful the steam comes out fast and is very hot). Let rest for 15 minutes.
The above steps can be done the day before serving.
Now you are ready to eat, sauce up the cold ribs then warm them on the BBQ (low-medium low heat)….remember the ribs are fully cooked, they just need to be warmed and perhaps a little charring. 10-15 minutes tops depending on the size of the ribs you cooked… enjoy tender fall-off-the-bone ribs.

Talk to you soon,

Who wants my money?

One of the interesting things I've experienced so far in opening this outlet, is how many businesses just aren't interested in taking my money. It doesn't seem to be so much poor guest service - we encounter that all the time, just the same as you occasionally encounter outstanding guest service. No, it appears to me that some companies are simply too busy to take on the extra "headache" of another customer.

I've had companies want to charge an outrageous amount to perform a service - simply because they already had too much on their plate...and others, who just never returned phone calls or answered repeated e-mails, even though it could have resulted in thousands of dollars in revenues for their time. Is it a matter of not taking the time to hire additional help, a labor shortage in their field, or is it that the additional business will interfere with their home and leisure time? More than likely, it's a combination of the above. It's not an approach I understand on any level...each one of the above "reasons" can be fixed one way or another..it's simply a matter of doing the work!

The good news is, that I've been able to work with some outstanding individuals who really do care - and have offered information to help save money, or things to look out for when pricing out a job. I suppose it's like most places you work at - you get to work with some people who really care and go out of their way to help, while at the same time you have to work with individuals who seem to be more of a hindrance than anything else.

For the record (and I know I speak for Jeff as well), we will do whatever we can to get and keep your business. It's too important to what we do and who we are, to have any other response.

The Big Leap

Probably 4-5 times in our life, we come to a crossroad. It can be a myriad of things - going to university across the country, deciding which career we want to pursue, getting married, having children. Much of who we are, and what we accomplish are defined and shaped by these life changing events. For me, the decision to own my own business a little later in life, is one of those watershed moments.

Your chosen career - where you work and what you do - often becomes routine - and with that routine comes a safety net to guide you along. That safety net literally holds in you place - both a comfort for grounding, as well as a limitation of what you can do. The routine that never changes for years and years works exceptionally well for some - perhaps based on one's genetic makeup, or decisions that were made at a previous crossroad. Other's revel in the chaos of the moment, unsure of what is going to happen next living in the unstable thrill of moving from one career to another. I think that most of us fall in the middle. You continually try to improve what you do and how you do it in measured and calculated steps.

In one of my calculated steps about 8-9 years ago, I took the position of Director, Food & Beverage at the Windsor Hilton, and got to hire Jeff White as the Executive Chef from Casino Windsor. We worked together for almost two years before we went our seperate ways - but we still kept in touch. He was getting tired of the grind of the hospitality industry, and told me about his crazy idea to put cooked food in a bag and sell it to people. I nodded my head and said (as good friends do) "hey that's really interesting!". But all the credit in the world to Jeff as he stuck with it and developed his concept (pardon the pun), literally starting from scratch. Now he's been in business for almost 5 years with month over month and year over year success in the difficult economic environment of Windsor...selling a concept that appeals to virtually everyone. Of course, you can't sell a concept without the product to stand behind it, and that's the beauty of Just Jeff's Gourmet Express.

Most of my entire working life, I've spent in the hospitality business (over 20 now), lots of long hours, weekends, and holidays. I've been married for almost 10 years with two children - I was getting tired of missing everything they did, and forcing my wife to be a virtual single mom for most of the time. So over the last year or so, I began talking a lot more with Jeff about his crazy idea, and how we could work together to build a great business. Coming to the decision to open the 2nd franchise of Just Jeff's wasn't easy - I was leaving a good job as Director of Food & Beverage at Taboo Resort, but with my wife's support, we realized that this was our crossroad to do something different in this stage of our life.

So finally, in the middle of April, I left my job at Taboo and have been working earnestly towards a second "Just Jeff's" in Barrie. It was time to make the big leap to see what we can really do with Jeff's crazy idea!

How Just Jeff's was born.

In 1996 I came up with this crazy idea. I was the Executive Chef at Hilton Windsor and was tired of having to purchase prepared products to save on labour costs. Most of these products were delivered raw and vacuum sealed….I thought, why not take it to the next level?... Cooked and complete….no I’m not a genius…green giant has boil in a bag cream corn and sous vide cooking was well on it’s way….. I just thought, what a great way to have a restaurant quality meal in your own home, without all the hassle? After two years of testing (thanks to my wife and her co-workers) the menu was created. They were all guinea pigs to my concept. They gave me both positive and negative points to what I have done….after further research and drive, I credit my wife to pushing me over the cliff with this concept. In 2002 Just Jeff’s was born. It was a hard sell early on, who would spend 7 to 12 bucks on food in a bag?....but once they tried it, they were hooked. Once they realized and appreciated the quality of the food and the lack of work and time on their part…. they saw the convenience, and how it could help them get more time to spend with their families, and doing whatever they wanted to do. If you were to prepare your own meal in comparison, factor in the following:

All the prep work (cutting/cleaning/spicing all the raw food), cooking time, cleaning and not to mention if you bought the ingredients…how much would you throw out at the end of the week?....imagine all that extra time with your family, or doing the things you want to do day to day. Sure you could save a few bucks buying burgers and fries….but for only a few more bucks you could have salmon, rice pilaf and fresh vegetables…and it’s all fresh…no preservatives.

In closing…I’m a dad with a beautiful wife and two young children….as a working chef in a hotel, I was putting in 60 plus hours a week leaving little time for my family (as I’m sure you can all appreciate)….I came up with a concept that would free up my time and better yet, your time…..it’s a win win for everyone. It’s time now to stop feeling guilty about feeding your family fast food.

Just Jeff’s - Fabulous Fresh Food Fast!

New Location in Barrie

We are excited to announce that our newest location, in Barrie Ontario, will be opening this summer!