Foodland Ontario Calendar - September (Grilled Trout with Tomato Salsa)

So for the second month in a row I am posting my Foodland Ontario recipe at the end of the month. Bad, bad, I know...

Ugh...I had such grand plans for this recipe... My hope originally was to go to a Trout Farm, blog about it, and then use that fish in the dish. Well,...we went to a Trout Farm in Komoka earlier this month and when we arrived we were told that in order to fish you have to bring your own gear. I was so disappointed! My daughter was disappointed as well; she really wanted to go fishing for the first time. At the same time I was a little relieved because neither my husband or I have ever cleaned a fish from start to finish so that bit had been causing me a little anxiety.

My second option was to head out to Port Stanley and get some fish there. Unfortunately, I was so busy that I wasn't able to find the time to get out there.

My third option? I got my husband to visit the Covent Garden Market this morning where he bought some trout from Fairhaven Mission Farms (from Arkona). What would I do without him?

Now, let me tell you something else -- I don't really like fish. Ever notice that there aren't any fish recipes on this blog? Yeah...I'm not a huge fan. I'm one of those people that just eats fish that doesn't taste 'fishy'. I have had lobster and can tolerate shrimp, but I hate salmon. I do like chowders and creamy fish soups, probably because you can't taste the fish. I'm also fine if it's breaded and fried - now that's yummy! I guess I just don't like eating fish if it's on its own.

Anyways, my husband loved the recipe, and suprisingly, so did my daughter. She had my leftovers (minus the salsa, of course...she's one of those kids that likes each of the items in a dish but won't eat them if they're mixed together).

Grilled Trout with Tomato Salsa

• 2 Ontario tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup diced Ontario cucumber
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Ontario basil
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar or lime juice
• 2 cloves Ontario garlic, minced
• 1 lb fresh Ontario trout fillets
• canola oil
• salt and pepper

In a large bowl, gently combine tomatoes, cucumber, basil, vinegar and garlic; set aside.

Brush trout lightly with oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place trout skin-side down on greased grill over high heat. Reduce heat to medium; close lid and grill, about 5 to 10 minutes or until fish is opaque and flakes easily. Remove fish and serve with tomato salsa spooned over top.

Next months' recipe - Pumpkin Ravioli. I'm actually hoping to do this one on Sunday. It sounds like it'll be really good; let's hope that my skills are up to par for this one!

For an electronic version of Foodland Ontario's 2011 calendar see: http://www.foodland.gov.on.ca/english/calendar/2011/index.html

To view the previous Foodland Ontario Calendar recipes I've made this year click on the 'foodland ontario' label on the left side-bar.

January - veggie chips
February - parsnip, apple and brie soup
March - breakfast ham 'n' cheese egg wrap
April - potato toppers
May - grilled proscuitto and asparagus bundles
June - strawberry cheesecake shake
July - spicy garlic bok choy stir-fry
August - grilled chicken salad

Savour Stratford 2011 - Day 2

Today was Day 2 of the Savour Stratford Festival. Like yesterday, we had a great time. Our day was a little less eventful this time around but it made for a nice relaxing day. Who wouldn't have a relaxing day in Stratford? It's the cutest, quaintest, simplest town that I know. I love their shops and the little town feel of everything. More than anybody else, I think they really know how to live simply and know how to appreciate the little things.

Our first stop of the day was at the Slow Food Perth display in Market Square. My daughter and I had agreed to help them out so we spent a couple of hours at their sensory display. In the booth they were showing how food affects all five of our senses; taste, smell, touch, sight, and sound. For taste they were offering samples of 3 types of apples and 3 types of honey (dark, amber, light) to show how the same food may have different flavours. So many people said that it was the first time they had sampled raw honey from the comb and that they were amazed with the flavour.

Look! The booth next to the one we were in had steamed corn on the cob with hand-churned homemade butter. How cool is that? And only for $2.00!

After helping out at the sensory booth we headed out to see Connie Desousa's presentation. Connie was one of the finalists on Top Chef Canada on the Food Network. She was my favorite contestant on the show so I was excited to watch her cook live. On stage, she put together a fried artichoke and toasted hazelnut salad with homemade goat cheese curds; and yes, she made the cheese right there on stage. It was so simple. I'll have to give it a try.

After the presentation we were starving so we head out in search of food. Prior to eating, however, we stopped to see the "Fire Guy" (again). My daughter loved watching him and I think over the course of the weekend we saw his act 4 times. Ugh...I knew his whole act by heart by the end of the day. He is a very talented man though, I do have to say..

For lunch, we ordered sandwiches from the York Street Kitchen. I had the Thai Chicken Salad Sandwich with peanut sauce, shredded carrots, and green onions. My daughter chose the peanut butter and jam sandwich. Both sandwiches were great! I'd order mine again. Don't you just love the little take-out window outside?

Check out these guys! We saw the tall skinny chef a few times yesterday but the tall fat chef was new today. Can you imagine how hard it must be have been for her to spend the day walking around in that suit?

By the time we got down to see the vendors down on Veteran's Drive it was already getting toward the end of the day so there was a bit less to see than yesterday. I did manage to find the homemade ice cream sandwich booth again so I tried their strawberry and peppercorn ice cream sandwich. It was yummy! My daugther's treat for the day was a cookie from Kandy Cakes. She really wanted the one with the bacon and eggs picture on it. I'm kinda disappointed that I didn't end up having an apple fritter or a buttertart this weekend but I'll survive! There's always next year!

Hmmm...I wonder what next's years event will bring? I'm excited about it already!

Savour Stratford 2011 - Day 1

It's Savour Stratford this weekend. I was there today and all I've got to say is that last year was great, but this year it was fantastic!! We arrived around 10am and our first stop was to see Lynn Ogryzlo's presentation about her book "The Ontario Table" with Elizabeth Baird. Together they made a cauliflower and leek soup with roasted garlic spreaded on a baguette. It was delicious! 

Since releasing her book a few months ago, she has been visiting different locations within Ontario to share her story, her $10 challenge, and  to collect signatures on her 'Ontario' tablecloth, which is just about 100ft long and may just be the longest tablecloth in Ontario thus far.

After viewing the presentation we made our way out to the Kids' Tent for make-your-own smoothies. My daughter had a chance to make herself a strawberry smoothie made with strawberries, frozen vanilla yogurt, and honey.

While we were there she was also able to make herself a salad by clipping her own lettuce and topping them with red pepper, yellow pepper, and zucchini pieces. Personally, I think that this was a brilliant idea. Although my daughter does love her veggies she hates salad. She says that she doesn't like the texture of the lettuce. Anyways...even she was excited to have the opportunity to make herself a salad for lunch.

Since her lunch was taken care of now it was my turn to find myself something to eat. After a lot of looking around and being unable to make a decision, I finally settled on the grilled goat cheese and apple sandwich with a side of homemade ketchup.

Once we finished our lunch we did a bit of walking around, listened to some music, visited some vendors and then made our way back to the Kids' Tent. Every hour on the hour Montforte Dairy was making ice cream with the kids and we had to try it out. After filling a small ziploc bag with cream, sugar, and vanilla we added that bag to a larger bag with ice and salt and shook, and shook, and shook the bags until we had ice cream.

While eating her ice cream, we managed to visit a few more vendors and to see a few other shows. We came across this 'chef' on stilts entertaining the kids. He was showing them how to balance and spin a ball on their finger. Coincidentally, my daughter has been trying to do this for the last few days at home so she was happy to give it a try and was beaming when it actually worked.

I probably could have skipped having lunch today because we had so many samples that I could have made it through the day on that alone. We had popcorn, fudge, carrot juice ($1.00), melon, etc.. Shakespeare Pies was even giving out small pieces of pie as samples. Wow!

And then we ended up at the Kids' Tent again...strange how we kept making our way back there; must have been all the cool stuff going on there. On this particular visit Joelle had a chance to try her hand at making pizza dough with Chef Gilad from Pazzo Ristorante and Pizzeria. Here's the recipe:

1 cup flour
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp yeast

They weren't actually making the pizza on site, but we did get sent home with the dough we made, some tomato sauce from the restaurant and some shredded cheese. Guess what we had for dinner tonight? It made for an easy dinner - I rolled out the dough, put it onto a pre-heated pizza stone, and baked the sauce and cheese pizza (topped with garlic herbs) at 450F for 12 minutes. Perfect! And what did it cost me? Absolutely nothing! Actually, all of the events going on in the Kids' Tent were absolutely free of charge. Amazing, eh?

Okay...so after we were done with our dough-making class we headed out to the Culinary Stage for 3 o'clock to see Chuck Hughes - my highlight of the festival. I am a huge fan of the Food Network so I was excited to say the least. I wasn't disappointed; Chuck put on a great show. He was hilarious and made some great food. The best part of seeing him cook in person is that normally you can't smell the food through your television but I was able to experience that today.

On our way back to the car from the show we saw a sign for some homemade ice cream sandwiches. We couldn't resist - we had to try them! Yes, yes,...it was almost time for dinner, but come on! Had to have one! We each had the Honey Lavender ice cream between two sugar cookies. DELICIOUS! I think I'm going to try the Strawberry and Cracked Black Peppercorns tomorrow!

Yes, tomorrow....I am going back again tomorrow!! There's just so much to see and do that this festival deserves another visit tomorrow. I'll be at the Slow Food Perth Sunday Market in Market Square, hopefully listening to The Upside of Maybe (great band), and going to see Connie DeSousa's presentation. I'll leave you for now, but expect another post tomorrow for the experiences that we shall have on Day 2 of Savour Stratford.

Iced Maple-Cinnamon Pumpkin Muffins

My favorite season is definitely Fall; more specifically the months of September and October. Everything seems to be in season right now and with the cooler weather it really makes me want to spend more time in the kitchen. This past week, for instance, I made an apple crisp, made my first slow-cooker stew of the season, and made some iced maple pumpkin muffins.

Fall foods are so comforting to me. Pumpkin, squash, root vegetables, pears and apples are all so versatile. They work well in savoury dishes and in sweet desserts. The comfort factor, however, is the smell in the house whenever I'm cooking with them.

These pumpkin muffins were perfect for breakfast on cool Sunday September morning!

Iced Maple-Cinnamon Pumpkin Muffins

In a mixing bowl combine the following dry ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

In another bowl, combine the following wet ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the wet and dry ingredients together and fill 12 muffin cups with the batter. Bake at 400 F for 25 minutes. Let them cool completely on a wire rack. If you're feeling a little indulgent drizzle a maple-cinnamon glaze on top - 1 1/4 cup icing sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 3 tsp maple syrup and 2 tbsp milk. Whisk together and drizzle on the muffins. The last step is a must - lick the spoon!

Field Trip: Appleland Station

Would you believe that until yesterday I had never been to Appleland? I had been to many other apple orchards, like Birtch Farms and Chudleigh's, but yet,...I never made it out to Appleland. Anyways, on Saturday I wanted to get some apples but didn't feel like driving out too far. As a result, we ended up just outside of London (between London and Woodstock) at Appleland Station.

I don't know what took me so long but I finally made it. Strangely enough, my daughter had already been; she went with her Junior Kindergarten class a couple of years ago.

Over the last few years I had heard a lot about Appleland and about their big sandpiles. Nothing could have prepared me for this though. They don't just have ordinary sand piles; they have HUGE sandpiles...with tunnels going through them and everything! Obviously this is the highlight of every child's visit.

Check out the view from the top of one of the hills.

Once I pried my daughter away from the sand (with a promise of going back before leaving) we made our way out to pick some apples. To get there we got to ride the train, led by Ernie, Appleland's famous conductor (and first-generation owner of the orchard).

On this day, four varieties were being picked - Mac's, Courtland's, and hmmm....can't remember what the other two were...they may have been Empire and...I don't know...I have a terrible memory!

On the train, Ernie talked about how the crop was doing this year. Apparently it has been a great year for apples. They're being harvested a little later than usual this year because of the cool, wet spring and then hot, dry July but that we won't be disappointed. The trees are FULL of apples. In fact, they were so full that a few weeks back they had people come in to remove apple blossoms from the trees because there were going to be too many apples. Just take a look at the next picture - these are apples on the ground...it was like this under every tree. As we picked apples more and more just kept falling to the ground. There won't be a shortage this year, that's foresure!

After picking 40lbs of apples we made our way out to the store and had a slice of pie in their lovely cafe. We enjoyed a slice of apple pie with a drizzle of caramel. I would have liked to buy a whole pie but since the husband is travelling again and it's just Joelle and I at home I figured a whole pie would be a bit much right now. A fancy slice of one was just a little bit more special anyways.

So what did I do with 40lbs of apples? Well, I canned 15 jars of applesauce (raspberry applesauce, strawberry applesauce, concord grape applesauce, cinnamon applesauce), made a batch of apple butter, and dried some of the apple peels that I had left from the apples in the applesauce. I can imagine that the scent coming out of my kitchen last night probably had a few neighbors craving apple pie! That's not it though, today I made myself an apple and cheddar panini sandwich for lunch and made an apple crisp for dessert after dinner.



Here's the recipe that I used for the apple butter (courtesy of The Seasonal Family)

• 10-12 medium apples
• 6 cups of apple cider or apple juice, reduced to 3 cups
• 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• fresh ground nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves

Before chopping the apples, pour the apple cider/juice in a large saucepan with arrowroot powder and whisk to combine. On medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Continue to boil until the apple cider has reduced to half. While the cider/juice is boiling, chop the apples and core them, leaving the skins on. Put the apples into the slow cooker and mix the spices in and then the cider/juice. Cover, and put the heat on low for 12 hours or overnight.

Once complete, puree the apple butter. If it is still a bit runny, keep it at a low temperature and cover again, leaving the lid slightly ajar. Or, you could also reduce the liquid by bringing the apple butter to a slight boil in a pot.  

I ended up with two 500ml jars of delicious apple butter. I think there's a lot of tasty toast in our future! Or, there's also the Apple Butter Spice Cake that I made last year.

Anybody planning to do some apple-picking this year? Where do you like to go? What do you make with your apples?

Honey Harvest Dinner - Garlic's Restaurant

Aaahhhh...I had a great dinner out with a friend tonight. It's not too often that I get out for dinner and even more rare for me to get out with a friend for dinner. Tonight my friend Jen and I headed out to Garlic's for their Honey Harvest Dinner. I had heard about the event a while back and could not wait to experience it.

All I can say is 'wow'! While we were having dinner Chris Hiemstra from Clovermead Apiaries in Aylmer was busy harvesting honey from Garlic's own rooftop hives right there on the dining room floor. He began by scraping down the frames and then extracted the honey by spinning the honey from the frames the old-fashioned way. The honey simpled dripped out into the bowl beneath it. The bees were very generous; turns out the hives were FULL of honey. They filled bowl after bowl after bowl with honey. The best part was being able to sample some of it - delicious!! Can't get any fresher than that!

The dinner itself was great too - we started with a honey martini and some honey-wheat bread with roasted garlic butter.

Our starter was a roasted butternut squash bisque which was made up of honey-maple roasted squash, roasted garlic, and herbed creme fraiche. Following the soup we were given a local pear and peppercorn sorbet topped with a piece of Clovermead honeycomb. It was mine (and Jen's) first experience eating from the comb. The honey inside was good but it felt strange to chew the honeycomb itself because it was like chewing a piece of rubber. We learned afterwards that some people eat the comb and others don't; in fact, some just like chewing on it like a piece of gum.

For our main we had a choice of the Ontario peach and corn risotto with blue cheese crumble, toasted pine nutes and truffle or roasted honey glazed chicken breast with potato puree and sweet peppers. We both chose the risotto. What a strange combination of ingredients, but they actually worked very well together and tasted fabulous.

The dessert was to die for - a honey cinnamon pound cake with bee pollen ice cream. Yum!!! And look, a ground cherry too!

We had a great night. We had a chance to sit and talk (without being interrupted by the children), we learned a few things about how honey is harvested, we tasted honeycomb for the first time, and had a wonderful dinner. I'll definitely come back here again.

Some facts about honey that I learned about:

• Eating local honey can fend off allergies
• Bees are the only insect that produce food eaten by man
• Bees must consume about 17-20 pounds of honey to be able to product each pound of beeswax
• It takes about 556 workers to gather 1 pound of honey
• Honey is 80% sugar and 20% water
• A bee can fly for up to six miles, as as fast as 15 miles per hour, so it would have to fly around 90,000 miles (three times around the globe) to make one pound of honey
• The average bee only makes one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey it its lifetime

Note: I appologize for the cruddy picture-taking. My camera doesn't take decent pictures in a dark room so I ended up using my ipod touch. I think I need to invest in a professionsl camera that takes decent pictures (hint, hint to my family..my birthday and Christmas 'are' coming up soon).

Stratford Garlic Festival in Pictures

We went to the Stratford Garlic Festival today. We had gone last year as well and we were excited to make it out to the fairgrounds again. Luckily the weather cooperated this time; it was a beautiful sunny day and a perfect day to tour around Stratford.

I'm not going to say too much though- I'll let the pictures do the talking!

There was soooo much garlic. Mmmmmm....garlic!!!

We sampled pickled garlic scapes,..

We had garlic lobster wraps and roasted garlic soup for lunch from Simple Fish and Chips...(delicious!!)

Didn't get any, but the roasted garlic shortbread and the roasted garlic buttermilk biscuits from Lindsay's Bakery looked really yummy...

We sampled garlic ice cream...

Garlic honey...

I had a chocolate covered maple pickled garlic from Big Ass Garlic (try and say that 5 times!)...strange treat with a weird texture but very tasty.

Rosemary and Garlic jelly from McCully's Hill Farm...bought some of this one!

The highlight, I think were the garlic shooters. Before leaving I had to try one; so many people were talking about them and I was intrigued. The shooters (non-alcoholic) consisted of garlic, lemon juice and soda. I liked it, my husband didn't. Let's just say that my immune system is probably working at high capacity right now. I can still taste the garlic actually..

And of course, there was a lot of garlic to buy...

and more garlic... There was garlic everywhere...

The Garlic Festival was a success again this year I'm sure. Lots of people were there and I even saw a few U.S. plates in the parking lot. Festivals such as this one are a great way to promote Ontario foods. They let growers and producers come together and showcase their product and they increase the likelihood that people will search out local foods, such as garlic, once they realize it's out there and available to them.

After we left the festival we headed into town and picked up a drink at Revel Caffe, checked out the Local Market Coop, and then rented a paddle-boat and rode it down the Avon River. It was such a relaxing day and just what I needed to recharge after a tiring week.

This won't be my last trip to Stratford this month though - I'll be going back again for their famous Savour Stratford Festival on the 24th and 25th. If it's anything like last year's event then I'm going to have a blast. Did you know that Chuck Hughes from the Food Network will be there? And Connie Desousa from Top Chef Canada? Yeah,...it'll be a great event!

Field Trip - The Cider Keg (Norfolk County)

Last weekend we had the opportunity to visit The Cider Keg for a little tour. The Cider Keg is located in Vittoria, near Delhi and Simcoe. Up to this point, I hadn't really had the chance to venture out to Norfolk County but it was always in the back of my mind. There is so much out there; there's Kernal Peanuts, Y U Ranch, Jensen Cheese, Kent Kreek Berries, the Ontario Popping Corn Co., etc.. Actually, I have plans to visit Kernal Peanuts for a tour later this month so stay tuned!

When we arrived, we were taken out to the orchard and were given a tutorial about where the apples comes from; from the blossoms to why they are shaped and coloured as they are. It was quite informative. Did you know that they're a family-run business? Yup, they're on the 5th generation now.

What's pretty cool too is that their cider is pressed from their own apples that they've harvested. Currently, they make their own cider under the name "The Cider Keg" and also produce cider for Longo's in the GTA and the 'Our Compliments' brand for Sobeys. Thumbs up to Sobeys for using local products!!

After our walk through the orchard we went into the shop and were treated to some samples. We sampled several different flavours of apple cider, elderberry pie in a jar, apple butter, a sparkling apple and rhubarb jelly, hot pepper jelly and their spiced apple red pepper jelly; all of which were sampled with Barrie Bros. Stone Wheat Crackers from Cambridge. Everything was delicious. We left with quite a few jars and also our favorite cider, their limited edition apple cider with saskatoon berries. Yum!

The Cider Keg isn't just about apples, however. They have pumpkins, squash, and strawberries. Actually, they grow everbearing strawberries, which will be available all through the Fall season up until the frost hits. Up until this year, they were also growing acres and acres of cucumbers. Unfortunately, this was the last year because the Bicks plant in Dunnville will be closing. As a result, they will begin growing a different crop; they're not sure what yet, but it's something they've been thinking about and working on. Hearing about these stories makes me sad. Because the plant is closing, so many farmers will have to send their cucumbers elsewhere or start again with a different crop. It's the downside of farming I suppose...

Here are some more facts about The Cider Keg and their cider that I found on their website (http://www.ciderkeg.com/)

• Only Norfolk County hand-picked apples are used in their products
• 100% Canadian product content, packaging and processing
• No sugar or water is added to the cider; just juices pressed from fresh apples
• All of their ciders are non-alcoholic

Last but not least, the cider just tastes good. My daughter loves them because she gets to pretend that she's drinking wine. As a treat tonight we had some cider in wine glasses. Doesn't she look excited? She's a future wine-drinker foresure!