Pear and Goat Cheese Pizza with Lavender Rose Wine Jelly

This recipe was my attempt to re-create the amazing Pear and Goat Cheese Pizza With Lavender Rosé-Gamay Glaze I had at the Wineries of Niagara on the Lake's Wine and Herb Festival. This is my second attempt, and I have to say, it turned out perfectly. It was much more successful than my previous attempt -- that time, I spread the the lavender-rosé jelly on top of the toppings before cooking, and the sugary jelly turned part of the crust into a burnt mess. Yuck.


I don't know how useful this is for those who didn't attend the wine and herb festival or who don't have access to lavender jelly, but I thought I'd post it anyway for any attendees who may stumble upon it via a Google search, or for others to drool over. If you do happen to find some lavender jelly in your travels, give this a shot. It would also be good with plain old rosé wine jelly, which should be a little easier to find.




So, here's the recipe. I sort of cheated by using a pre-made pizza crust. I do normally make my own crust, but I had one to use up from the weekend. And it did make the recipe come together in about 20 minutes.

Pear and Goat Cheese Pizza with Lavender Gamay-Rosé Wine Jelly
Serves 4
1 pre-made pizza crust, or your favourite pizza dough recipe, rolled out to make one pizza
1 Bosc pear, thinly sliced (I used a mandoline)
About 3/4 cup of goat cheese (or to taste)
1/2 cup lavender rosé jelly, or just rosé jelly, microwaved for about 15 seconds in order to slightly melt it, with 2 tbsp reserved

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, or according to the directions given for your pizza dough recipe. Brush a pre-rolled or pre-bought pizza dough with all but the 2 reserved tbsp. of jelly. Arrange pear slices on top. Crumble goat cheese on top, about 3/4 of a cup, or to taste. I happen to like a lot of goat cheese.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or according to your pizza dough recipe's instructions. Both the goat cheese and the crust should be slightly browned. Serve immediately.

A look inside Olson Foods + Bakery, Port Dalhousie, Ontario

During the Wineries of Niagara on the Lake's Wine and Herb Festival, my family and I managed to sneak over to Anna and Michael Olson's Olson Foods + Bakery, located in a beautiful little waterfront town, Port Dalhousie. Anna Olson hosts two cooking shows, Sugar and Fresh, on Food Network Canada.

Given Anna's mouthwatering dessert recipes, I was more than a little excited to check out her shop.

Although the store is quite small (it's currently undergoing an expansion, thankfully), it still boasts a wide selection of cheeses, many of which I'd never heard of before. If I lived in the area (and thus wasn't afraid of spoilage), or if I hadn't already filled up on wine and food pairings, I could've gorged myself on all of the wonderful cheeses the shop stocks.















On the other hand, surprisingly, the baked goods selection seemed rather small. But what the bakery lacked in selection it made up for in quality. I bought a Chocolate Crinkle cookie (similar to Martha's, but fudgier), which was probably the best cookie I've ever tasted in my life -- really. My mom bought a lemon cookie that was very cakey with the most delicious icing on top (cream cheese icing?), as well as a maple nut scone. Still, considering how delicious everything was, I wish there had been more to buy. Hopefully the shop's expansion will make room for more baked goods.

In addition to its selection of cheeses and baked goods, the shop also stocks select produce and meat, as well as a small cafe menu with various coffee drinks, panini and more. In between the cafe and bakery portions of the shop was a focused selection of gourmet pantry items, which you can also buy online. They were on the pricy side, but that's kind of a given when it comes to products like fleur de sel and Barefoot Contessa sauces.

If you're in the area, Olson Foods + Bakery is worth a visit -- for the chocolate crinkle cookies alone. Who knows? Maybe you'll even get to meet Anna Olson.

You can check out the rest of the photos, including shots of the chocolate crinkle cookie and the gourmet foodstuff, after the jump.

Thinking of Canada Day; thirsting for maple syrup

When I moved to the GTA for my internship, I knew my boyfriend would be getting "custody" of our maple syrup bottle. Since then I haven't bought any to replace it, with the knowledge that a gallon of maple syrup costs about $35 at St. Jacob's Market fresh in my mind from last summer. How can I pay $10 for 2 cups of maple syrup when, with a little trip to the market, I can pay less than $40 for 16 cups? That's like getting 8 cups free. Never mind the fact that I probably haven't consumed 16 cups of maple syrup in my life so far. And never mind the fact that the market is 140km away from my house. I want the best deal. The problem is, I've been craving maple syrup like mad lately.

So I knew I was in trouble last week when I wanted to make Maple-Flax Banana Bread -- and had to do so without any maple syrup. As I found out, melted pineapple jelly is not a great substitute for maple syrup--it certainly didn't quash my craving.


As a result, I'm left to consider buying maple syrup from St. Jacob's country online ($50 for 1 gallon), making the trek to St. Jacob's on Canada Day (July 1), or sucking it up and paying grocery store prices. Either way, it seems slightly unpatriotic to not have any maple syrup in my pantry -- especially this close to Canada Day.

While I mull over my options, why don't you take a look at these maple-infused recipes?

• Canadian Living's Maple-Glazed Salmon
• Michael Smith's Sherry-Maple Vinaigrette (you can use apple cider vinegar if you don't have sherry vinegar)
• Christine Cushing's Light Swirl Coffee Cake with Maple Syrup Glaze
• And if you're looking for a challenge, there's always maple fudge
  

While we're on the topic: What foods have you been craving lately?

Restaurant review: Aspetta Caffe, Kensington Market, Toronto

Aspetta Caffe
207 Augusta Ave.
Toronto, ON














Toronto's Kensington Market community is home to some of the best niche food markets and vintage clothing shops in the city. It also boasts a handful of cozy coffee shops and restaurants that, when the sun's out and the weather's nice, are the perfect places to sit outside and people watch over a good meal.

Aspetta Caffe is one of the Market's tastiest people watching havens.

Although Aspetta is pretty new to the Market (it opened in April), it seems to have hit its stride early. For the most part, it's got an irresistible price point ($6 for its daily pasta specials and about the same for its assortment of panini) and a wide selection of cafe-style desserts (cannoli, cookies, biscotti galore, just to name a few) at about $5 or less. The odd man out on an otherwise low-priced menu is Aspetta's imported Italian beer, Peroni, which, at $6 a bottle, was the same price as an entree. Not outrageously expensive, of course, but it was a bit painful when the cost of our meal doubled in just two beers.






Frugality aside, what about the food? My boyfriend's prosciutto and fontina panini had a great rich flavour that seemed to defy its simplicity; besides Aspetta, I can't recall the last time I thought that bread, cheese, and meat -- no fancy extras -- complemented eachother so well.

My order -- Quattro Formaggi pasta, one of the daily specials -- was yummy too, although less creamy than I was expecting. Quattro Formaggi pasta is one of my favourites, but it usually isn't tomato-based. This isn't a complaint, per se -- as I said, my order was delicious -- but more of a warning for my fellow white sauce lovers to double-check before ordering.

In the photo below, you can see my pasta, a bowl of popcorn and also a glimpse of the delicious chocolate/nutella cookies that we ordered. The popcorn was a nice touch; a free happy hour promotion for anyone that ordered alcohol.

The service was perfect. After we placed our orders at the counter we took our seats on the sunny patio and didn't wait long before our beers and the free popcorn were placed in front of us. A few minutes later, our pleasant-but-not-saccharine waitress brought out our entrees and took a picture of us at our request to mark the occasion (ah, tourists!).

The football on the widescreen TV inside the cafe (combined with the obligatory cheering/cursing fans) added to the European ambiance. I was half expecting to hear a stream of Italian expletives, but no such luck. The best part was, every time a goal was scored or a bad play was made, the cheers and jeers from within Aspetta were echoed by the rowdy sports fans at the bar across the street, like surround sound. Like I said: great people watching.

The Final Verdict
Aspetta is definitely worth sampling if you're in Toronto. If you're on a budget you may want to forgo the pricy beer in favour of the less expensive Italian sodas (<$2), but with meals at about $6 and desserts for even less, you really can't lose.

A look inside the Steam Whistle Brewing company

Saturday afternoon, we went for a tour of the Steam Whistle Brewing factory, located on the Toronto harbour front. It was blisteringly hot outside, so we appreciated the chance to escape the heat by enjoying some free cold beer and learning a bit about how it's made.

It didn't hurt that we had picked up some free tour passes at this year's London Food and Wine Show, either!

So, after being greeted by the antique/industrial aesthetic of the historic John St. Roundhouse--decades before it was Steam Whistle's home, steam engine trains used to be repaired and sent back on their merry way there--not to mention a jovial doorman who gave us each two free drink tickets, we made our way into the factory.



First, a little background: Steam Whistle's one and only beer is a Pilsner that's "golden and refreshing with a distinctive hop aroma and a clean, crisp finish." So say the folks at Steam Whistle, anyway. I'm no expert when it comes to beer tasting, but I can tell you what I like and what I don't, and I happen to like Steam Whistle for its very light and smooth flavour. Take a peek:

The tour was enlightening, overall. I learned a lot of great trivia about Steam Whistle, like how the company started and how it's managed to hold onto its roots. Here's how the (true) legend goes: three guys who were fired by Upper Canada Brewing Company wanted to start their own brewery and name it, creatively enough, "Three Fired Guys." They changed their mind about the name, but not the sentiment: at the bottom of every bottle of Steam Whistle, "3FG" is engraved.

Why "Steam Whistle?" The founders wanted to capture a retro vibe, and figured the Steam Whistle that used to signal the end of the workday in the '50s was a perfect symbol. That vintage feel is captured by the beer's green bottle:
















We were also invited to taste the barley and hops that go into every batch of Steam Whistle. The barley was delicious, but the rather, um, piquant smell of the hops (they're part of the cannabis family, if it helps you imagine the odour) led us to look, not touch (or taste). The hops are the pellet-shaped bits on the right.


























Although our brewery tour was free, I would still recommend buying a pass if you're in Toronto in the future. The cheapest tour pass is $8 (including a bottle opener, drinking glass and a Steamwhistle comic book), but a $14 tour will get you a 6-pack of Steamwhistle, which is just $1.25 more than the price of a Steamwhistle 6-pack at the Beer Store.

You'll get that $1.25 back in your two massive samples alone. Plus, they let everyone sound off a real Steam Whistle.

James Beard Award Winners Announced

If you haven't heard, the winners of this year's James Beard Award were announced yesterday.

Canadian Trish Magwood, owner of Toronto cafe, cooking school and catering company, Dish Cooking Studio, and host of Party Dish, won for the Entertaining Category with her seriously-inspiring cookbook, Dish Entertains. This book has some of the most delicious recipes and gorgeous photographs I've seen in a Canadian cookbook, or, for that matter, any cookbook. Her roasted chicken recipe is the only one I use now.



I love this cookbook, although, to be honest I don't own it yet--despite frequent check-outs from my local library--and it's a huge deal that she won.

It's always great when Canadian chefs receive international recognition.

Culinary adventures in Toronto

One of the good things about moving to the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) is its proximity to (you guessed it) Toronto. I've always loved, loved, loved the city, but living anywhere from 2-5 hours away from it always meant I needed a special occasion to visit. Downtown hotel rooms in a metropolis don't come for free, after all.

So, to take advantage of my good fortune, the boyfriend is coming for a visit this weekend, and we're going into the city via subway. I'm really excited but ready to burst because I just can't seem to figure out where I'd like to go.

Actually, let me rephrase: I can't figure out how many places I can go before my boyfriend dumps me out of frustration. There, that sounds better.

In a city so big, I could spend the whole day visiting different culinary attractions and still have a million other places on my to-do list. Kensington Market, St. Lawrence Market, the million amazing bakeries that seem to populate the city... I'm salivating (but exhausted) just thinking about it. And the boyfriend? Well, he's so afraid that I'm going to go overboard this Saturday that he's actually decided to turn down Future Bakery cheesecake, on me. Free cheesecake!

For now, here is my list of where we are definitely going this weekend:

• Steamwhistle Brewery Tour - We scored free tour passes at the London Food and Wine Festival this year.
• Whole Foods Market - You're probably confused, but until this week I didn't know that Whole Foods had expanded into Canada, and I've always wanted to shop at one.
• Williams-Sonoma - Because nothing makes me feel better than being scoffed at by sales clerks who can't believe I think $30 for a muddler is too much.
  
• Spring Rolls - Well, maybe, depending on when we get hungry. If our hunger flares up around the Eaton Centre, Thai food it is.
• BMV - Used (and some new) books, movies, music. I'm all about the cookbooks at this place.
  
• Smokeless Joe's - The last time we went to this amazing specialty beer shop, we fell in love with the mussels.
  

And where I'd like to go in the future:

• Dish Cooking Studio (Trish Magwood of Party Dish's shop)
  
• Future Bakery (best cheesecake you'll find in Toronto, in my opinion)
• Johny Banana
• Kensington Market food shops
• St. Lawrence Market

So, that's it, so far. Of course, one of the best things about such a big city is that you never know where you'll end up.

Have you been to any of these businesses before, or would you like to recommend other great places to shop and eat in Toronto? Let me know in the comments!

Photo credit: Canada25Toronto

Perfect Pairings

What do you get when you match wines from 18 different wineries with 18 herb-infused culinary pairings? I set out to find the answer last weekend when my family and I took part in the Wineries of Niagara on the Lake's Wine and Herb Festival.

While I do enjoy a nice glass of wine, I have to admit that before I visited the wineries (we visited 17 out of the total 18 in a two-day period), I mostly bought my wine for cooking. Sure, I bought the odd rosé and last year I even bought a bottle of some tawny Port after sampling some at my wino brother's house. But before last weekend, I just wasn't able to taste much of a difference between wines. Not so, now.

We began our journey at Jackson-Triggs, who paired a sage-infused savoury cheesecake with their 2005 Proprietors' Reserve Meritage. Since it was my first pairing, I didn't form much of an opinion, although I did learn the ritual: sniff, swirl, sip, bite, sip.

The magic really started a few tastings in. The first "wow" moment I had was at Peller Estates, who paired their Ice Cuvée with gazpacho with chervil. Once I sipped the Cuvée with the taste of the gazpacho in my mouth, I was sold on the experience: a perfect pairing can, apparently, make all the difference.

Peller Estates

The best pairing of the festival, in my opinion, was offered by Reif Estate winery. It was a savoury-sweet pizza made by The Pie Plate bakery in Virgil, a nearby small-town. Pear and goat cheese pizza glazed with a lavender-Rosé Gamay jelly, paired with -- you guessed it -- Rosé Gamay. It was so fantastic that almost everyone in my family picked up the wine, the jelly, or both. I was in the latter category. I can't wait to try to recreate it! I'm hoping my clone will be perfect.

Pear and Goat Cheese Pizza with Lavender-Rosé Glaze

I also appreciated wineries that made pairings with warm food. It was cold, windy, and rainy outside, and although the wine was definitely speeding up the warm-up process, some nice warm food helped, too. Lailey Vineyard -- who ushered us into the dark wine cellar filled with enormous casks -- made warm rosemary sausage with some sort of red wine sauce; Inniskillin made dill Coq au Vin; Coyote's Run cooked made-to-order lemon basil shrimp skewers. Yummy.

Threatening Weather

I also paid $2 for an enormous sample of Cattail Creek's Barrel Fermented Vidal Icewine (whose goat cheese, honey, truffle oil and savoury crostini was amazing!), and I'm on the brink of salivating just thinking about it. It's definitely the best ice wine I've ever tasted -- but since that doesn't mean much coming from a wine novice -- my family, who go on these tours once or twice every year, loved it too. It was amazing -- creamy, almost, thick like honey. As far as samples go, it was priced incredibly well, too. A bottle cost $50, so my sample was probably worth closer to $7 or $8.

Often, though, I was just impressed by how gorgeous the wineries were, not to mention the little towns in the Niagara Region. Some of the estates were massive and they all had their own charm, big or small. Take these two, for example:

Hillebrand's Gorgeous Estate

Reif Estate Winery

Overall, it was a packed schedule with a stellar line-up. I can't wait to go again next year... and next time, I'm giving myself a big enough budget to buy that $50 icewine.

While in the Niagara Region we also visited Anna Olson's bakery, so stay tuned for that!

(For more information about the Wineries of Niagara Wine and Herb Festival, or for a full listing of the wine and herb pairings, please click here.)

Strawberry Season

It's late June, which means strawberry crops are at their peak. Canning has recently become a hobby of mine, so this year I decided to take advantage of the local berry farms and pick my own strawberries.

The last time I picked strawberries, I was 11 years old and it wasn't for my own enjoyment--it was for money. The problem was, that summer was a terrible season for berries; the yield was low and what berries were there were half-green. I ended up being very slow at the task because of this, and only spent one afternoon as a berry picker.

Thankfully, it was a much more fun job this time around. The plants were full of berries, and the fruit was so red and juicy--a deeper colour than I've seen in any grocery store. In half an hour, we picked enough to make an 8-jar batch of strawberry jam and fill a giant freezer bag (frozen margaritas, anyone?).

Since this was only my second attempt at canning, I chose to make a basic strawberry jam, courtesy of Bernardin. They're the canning experts, right? Seemed pretty foolproof.

And it was; the jam turned out perfectly--although it claimed to yield 7 jars, it actually gave me enough for 8. Even better! So now I have extra jars to share with my family.

Bernardin Strawberry Jam
3 3/4 cups crushed strawberries, crushed one layer at a time with a potato masher
1/4 c bottled lemon juice
7 cups granulated sugar
1 pouch liquid Bernardin pectin

1. Sterilize cans and lids.
2. Bring strawberries, sugar and lemon juice to a full, rolling boil (one that can't be stirred down). Once this boil is reached, stir constantly for one minute, then remove from heat.
3. Stir in pectin.
4. Immediately ladle into sterilized jars, cover with SNAP lids, and close with rings until fingertip tight.
5. Process jars (boil in hot-water canner) for 10 minutes, depending on altitude.
6. After processing, remove jars from canner and let rest, undisturbed, for 24 hours. Sealed jars have lids which curve downwards; lids that move when you touch them did not process properly--you can keep these in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.