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Halloween and all its spookiness was just lingering around me this past weekend. On Halloween Day, all five of my watches DIED. They all seemed to work perfectly the day before. Then my agent in Toronto got me a VIP pass for the Jay Z & Drake's (aka Jimmy Brooks from Degrassi) private party, which I didn't end up going to - take ONE GUESS WHY - yup, you guessed it, because my time was all messed up!

Enlarge Photo

Salad Nicoise (shown here) is similar to the Laval Conch salad.

So really, what was soooo good about this Halloween? Hmm let's see, the restaurant was fairly busy. The good weather and the need for everyone to have their candy fix had a part to play in the slower downtown traffic, however we still had customers so I guess I can't complain too much. Hmm what else, a couple of my "fans" decided to dress up like "DJ Nasty Naz" for Halloween with the tee shirt and clothing, the posters, and EVEN the beats. This one dude, crazy French Guy from Ontario, who is the top kicker/punter for the Laval Rouge et Or, actually made a chain like mine! Ha, diehard fan, no doubt! I wonder if I can talk the CFL into giving "Cam" a championship ring, just for pulling off a "championship costume"?

Maybe not I guess, because I tried calling the CFL and they won't take my calls, so instead, I will do something half as cool, and less "blingy"! I'll do up a dish, with a French Flare to it, seeing as he plays for Laval and all.

This Laval conch salad is like Salad Niçoise (pronounced nee-suaz), which is essentially a French composed salad with raw veggies and Tuna. However, we are substituting the Tuna with Conch, which is a large saltwater snail.

Ingredients for the Vinaigrette

-6 Garlic Cloves

- ¼ cup chicken broth

- ½ cup of basil and the same of Oregano

- 8 tblsp of lemon juice (this is gonna "cook" the conch.

- 2 tblspn Dijon Mustard

- 2 tblsp of Evoo (aka Extra Virgin Olive Oil, come on we gotta be cool while we are cooking too)

For the Salad

- 3lbs of Conch meat

- 3 eggs

- 7-10 small red or purple potatoes

- ¼ lbs green beans

- 3-5 cups mixed greens

- 3 cups romaine lettuce

- ¼ cup grated carrots and the same of sliced yellow bell peppers & halved cherry tomatoes.

- ½ Niçoise Olives

- 2 tblspn capers

Directions

Okay lets "kickoff" this thing. The vinaigrette is pretty simple to make, just take everything and run it through your blender or food processor, and in 3.5 seconds just like a "snap" the ball is now officially in play. Sorry, I meant the salad is now ready to get going.

To prepare the salad, take the conch and marinate it using about 4 tablespoons of vinaigrette, and about 5 more tablespoons of lime juice. Shake and leave in a plastic bag for about 20 mins. That's our First Down.

Boil your potatoes, your eggs and your green beans (for about 7-10 mins or so), then cut into nice thick slices. This is our Second Down.

Okay hold tight, we are almost to the "end zone"! No room for "fumbles" here! Combine all the ingredients, your greens, tomatoes, peppers, olives, potatoes, beans, in a nice big bowl with the remaining vinaigrette and start adding your fantastically marinated conch meat.

Okay, now let's start dishing up this great yummy conch salad for my "frenchie crew." We gonna go straight for the "touch down" here on this one; after plating up your salad, in some nice big bowls, you can now place a couple of slices of your hard boiled eggs on top the salad.

I think we can get an "extra point" here, we are gonna sail between the uprights and above the crossbar of the goalpost on this one, just add some chunks of pineapple (to take us back to the islands), some capers and some fresh cracked pepper, and for some added heat, some crushed chilies.

DJ Nasty Naz's professional career in the music industry as a tour chef, tour hype man and a tour DJ has allowed him to work with artists like the Black Eyed Peas, The Game, Akon, Wyclef, Danny Fernandes and Sean Paul, to name a few. This attitude of continuously being on the grind has pitched this Trinidadian-born entrepreneur into a class of his own, with not only being a top DJ in the East Coast, but to having an award winning restaurant in Fredericton "Caribbean Flavas".

His skills in the kitchen have allowed him to cater for a number of groups, including Akon, Sean Kingston, Girlicious, Hedley, The Trews, and even rock and roll legend, Leonard Cohen. DJ Nasty Naz Flava of the Week is a weekly column where Naz takes readers inside his world of cooking, performing and rubbing elbows with the stars. For more information on DJ Nasty Naz, visit www.djnastynaz.com, Join the "fan page" www.facebook.com/djnastynaz; Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/djnastynaz. Or, to taste d'island life, visit Caribbean Flavas on 123 York St, Fredericton.