Category Mississauga

Weekly news tidbits too tasty not to share.

Food Events:

The Toronto Garlic Festival is this Sunday, Sept 22, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto.  If you can’t make it, why not visit Carl Laidlaw Orchards to pick up some locally grown garlic or Healthy Choice Farm for organic garlic.

Restaurant News:

If you are passing by Goodfellas Wood Oven Pizza Streetsville and the door is open, pop your head in and say hello. If co-owner Rocco Giovannelli is there, he may invite you in to show you around. I did just that yesterday and was thoroughly impressed by the beautiful interior taking shape – it looks like it should be splashed across the pages of an interior design magazine. Mr. Giovannelli has lots of wonderful surprises in store for Streetsville and is hoping to open by mid October, possibly earlier.

Grocery Store Finds:

Looking for an easy and impressive finale for your dinner party that may just make you the talk of the neighborhood? Check out the large variety of exotic ice creams available at Highland Farms’ Mississauga location. Red Diamond’s Pistachio & Saffron ice cream sounds enticing. Avocado, watermelon, cantaloupe, ginger, green tea, red bean, and mango ice cream from various suppliers all sound delicious too!

Sweet Notes:

If you need a sweet idea for a birthday party but have food sensitivities or allergies to consider, check out the cupcake decorating parties at Bakersville, in Streetsville.

Move over beef tacos, there’s a new dish in town. My Shrimp Tacos are easy, healthy, and packed with refreshing flavour. Succulent pre-cooked shrimp are briefly marinated in cilantro, mint, lime, garlic, aji amarillo paste, sugar, and salt – a mouthwatering melody of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty. Served in a soft tortilla spread with avocado purée and a lick of lime juice, they are everything I want in a shrimp taco. My son named them his new favourite food. Olive to make my son happy!

Aji amarillo paste is a simple blend of orange-fleshed, medium-hot Peruvian chili peppers, which are prized for their unique fruitiness. Aji means chili pepper and amarillo means yellow. Although very common in Peruvian cooking, aji amarillo peppers can be hard to find here. I was thrilled to find aji amarillo paste (sold in jars)

and the much sought-after, frozen, whole aji amarillo peppers (imported from Peru) in Latin Super Chicken Rotisserie – a little Latin American grocery store that also sells Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, located at the corner of Queen and Britannia, in Streetsville. I confirmed by phone that the stores Rincon de Espana in Port Credit and El Tropical in Oakville also carry aji amarillo paste.

Olive’s Shrimp Tacos

Serves 3 to 4

If you can’t find aji amarillo paste, Tabasco sauce is an adequate substitute for this recipe.

Marinade Ingredients:

1 lime

1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh mint leaves

1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 large clove of garlic

1 teaspoon aji amarillo paste (Peruvian yellow hot pepper paste)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon white sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

Taco Ingredients:

454 g (1 lb.) frozen cooked, peeled shrimp 61/70

1 avocado

2 green onions, finely sliced

8 medium soft flour tortillas

1 lime, quartered

Optional garnish:

Extra coriander sprigs

Directions:

1. Defrost shrimp according to package directions; drain. Remove tail shells and discard. Place shrimp in a paper-towel-lined bowl, cover and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour to drain well.
2. Meanwhile, grate the lime zest into the bowl of a small food processor. Juice the lime and add to the zest; add remaining marinade ingredients and then process until well-blended.
3. Pour out 1 tablespoon of marinade and set aside in fridge for later use with the avocado. Pour remaining marinade in a large, re-sealable Ziploc bag and seal. Refrigerate until 1 hour before eating.
4. One hour before eating, place shrimp in marinade bag. Squeeze out the air and seal tightly. Massage the marinade into the shrimp until evenly coated. Place in the fridge and marinade for 1 hour.
5. Just before serving, warm tortillas in the oven as per package instructions.
6. Meanwhile, cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Scoop the flesh into a medium bowl. Using a fork, mash the avocado into a purée. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon reserved marinade and stir thoroughly. Spread ⅛^th of the avocado puree on one half of each tortilla.
7. Dump marinated shrimp into a colander set in the sink and drain briefly. Place about ⅛^th of the shrimp on top of the avocado puree. Sprinkle with green onions and fresh coriander sprig, if desired. Fold other half of tortilla over.
8. Serve with immediately with lime wedges.

You can find aji amarillo paste at:

Welcome to my newsletter that I will publish on Mondays, whenever I have enough news tidbits to share with you.

Headline News:

Unfortunately, I am starting off my first newsletter with very sad news. The main building at St. Jacob Farmers’ Market was destroyed by fire early this morning. Read the story here: www.cbc.ca.

Food Events:

There’s one day left to head over to Spencer Smith Park in Burlington, Ontario for the 18^th annual Canada’s Largest Ribfest, organized by the Rotary Club of Burlington Lakeshore. This year’s Ribfest will include a kids’ zone, live bands, crafters’ artisan fair and of course, 18 ribber teams from across North America competing for your vote for the best finger-lickin’-good ribs. August 30^th to September 2^nd, 2013  11 am to 11 pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 8 pm Monday. All the info you need to know is here: www.canadaslargestribfest.com

Restaurant News:

Cagney’s Restaurant & Wine Bar in Streetsville (home of the legendary Cagney’s caesar salad) is temporarily closed for renovations and is planning on reopening – with a fresh new look – around the last week of September/first week of October and will also be open on Sundays for brunch and dinner. Wonderful!

Tandoori Flame Grand Indian Buffet & Thekka ‘d Indian Bar plans to open this fall in the former location of Mother Tucker’s Market Place at Britannia Rd. and Mavis Rd. in Heartland Centre. Can’t wait to try it because olive Indian!

Grocery Store Finds:

Looking for Latin American grocery stores? Check out my post publishing this Thursday – Latin Love Affair: Olive’s Shrimp Tacos.

Sweet Notes:

End the summer holidays on a sweet note with Kawartha Dairy ice cream.

Pictured below: Raspberry Lemon-Lime Sherbet, Mint Chip, Blue Bubblegum, Creamy Orange, Chocolate and my favourites: Moose Tracks (vanilla ice cream with chocolate peanut butter cups swirled with Moose Tracks® fudge) and Crème Brulée (caramelized brown sugar sauce and Crème Brulée crunchy candy swirled in rich custard ice cream).

Click here to find Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream in your neighborhood. I counted 18 flavours at the Apple Factory.

Photo contributed by Charlotte Brehl.

I shared a spot of tea with my friend Christine recently, whose amiable British charm instantly wins over everyone. With the birth of several royal babies in my extended family (and oh yes, in the Royal Family too), we had a lot to talk about. Like a couple of birds, we perched ourselves in her enchanting backyard garden cottage.

Her garden cottage is so pretty and so tiny, it’s the perfect spot for a cup of tea or a midsummer night’s dream.

Her cottage is as dreamy as her delightful shop, Three Wishes, which Christine fills to the brim with the prettiest one-of-a-kind finds for home and garden.

I love Christine’s collection of shabby chic and antique furniture and accessories, all white and whimsical.

Look at this door that Christine turned into a chalkboard. The petticoat chandelier on the left would be darling in a little girl’s room.

In celebration of the royal babies, Christine and I enjoyed Ginger Tea Punch. My best friend’s mom, Mary, first served it to me at the baby shower she and her daughter hosted to celebrate the birth of my son. Olive it so much, it is now the only punch recipe I keep in my recipe files. It is light and refreshing and not too sweet, unlike most punches. Mary and her daughter are both talented cooks and lifelong friends. Mary and my mom shared a room in the hospital where Mary’s daughter and I were born, three days apart. We’ve been best friends ever since.

Mary’s Ginger Tea Punch

Makes about 12 cups

A light and refreshing punch. This recipe makes enough for a party. You can easily cut the recipe in half  but I am unable to find 1L ginger ale bottles. Be sure to make the lemonade ice cubes or ice ring (if you are serving it in a punch bowl). When the ice melts, it adds to the flavour of the punch.  The ice ring will stay frozen longer than the cubes.

Ingredients:

4 cups water

6 tablespoons white granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

8 tea bags

1 2L bottle ginger ale, well-chilled

Lemonade to make lemonade ice cubes or ice ring

Directions:

1. The day before serving, pour lemonade into desired shaped mold (ice cube tray or Bundt pan) and freeze overnight, until ready to serve punch.
2. Several hours before serving, bring the water, sugar, and ground ginger to a rolling boil. Stir with a whisk. Add the teabags (do not stir), remove from heat, and steep for eight minutes. Gently remove teabags (without squeezing them) and refrigerate brewed tea until well chilled.
3. Just before serving, place brewed tea and ginger ale in a large container such as a punch bowl. Stir. Add lemonade ice. Serve immediately.

Here are my three wishes for you:

1) A few free moments to yourself to enjoy these beautiful, fleeting summer days.

2) A dreamy, enchanted space to steal away to (drop by Christine’s shop for some inspiration and a lovely chat).

3) Good friends, old and new, to treasure for a lifetime.

‘The best of British to you’ (good luck)!

Love,

Olive

Three Wishes

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Hot off the Olive Press! Paramount Fine Foods restaurant is opening up a second Mississauga location at Erin Mills Town Centre (Erin Mills Parkway and Eglinton Avenue), hopefully sometime in the fall of 2013. Paramount Fine Foods serves Middle Eastern cuisine.

Our first experience with Paramount Fine Foods was at their 1290 Crestlawn Drive, Mississauga location. My husband had just returned from a family visit to Montreal, which always includes fabulous Middle Eastern food. He wanted to find out if Paramount’s food could compete with Montreal standards. We weren’t disappointed.

Compared to the surrounding industrial neighborhood, the elegant interior decor of the Paramount Crestlawn Drive location is a pleasant surprise. The parameter of the room boasts a charcoal grill and bakery counters. Warm woodwork and beautiful chandeliers create an inviting ambiance in the seating area.

Even more pleasant than the decor is the service. Though you order at the cash, the food is delivered to the table quickly and our waitress was friendly and knowledgeable about the restaurant.

The first thing that strutted to our table, warm and puffed up like proud roosters, was a basket of freshly baked pita bread straight from the wood burning oven. Promise me that at least once in your life you will treat yourself to freshly baked Middle Eastern pita, which is thinner and tastier than other pitas.

I had to treat myself to a fresh mango juice because olive mangoes! The fattoush salad is fresh and crisp with romaine lettuce, parsley, red and yellow pepper, tomato slices, and deep fried pita bits in an authentically acidic dressing. We also ordered a bowl of tahina sauce to drizzle on our rice and meat. Olive tahina sauce (try my Grilled Trout with Tahina Sauce and Grilled Lemons).

I ordered the BBQ Beef: two skewers of charcoal grilled striploin beef. My husband ordered the Mixed Grill: skewers of shish taouk (marinated chicken breast), kofta (spiced ground beef), and bbq beef. All of the meat is so tender and flavourful that it is mouthwatering just to recollect. Paramount serves charcoal barbequed, sodium-nitrate-free, grass-fed, Ontario Halal meats prepared in the Paramount Butcher Shop.

Our plates included a small container of hummus or garlic mayonnaise, picked turnip, and picked celery. The fries are good but the rice is even better – nicely seasoned and fluffy.

The Arabic pastries are handmade and baked fresh daily in Paramount’s full bakery. They display them on huge, impressive trays behind the counter.  You can enjoy them in the restaurant or take them home.

My husband was in heaven. He selected a sampling of a few different kinds to share. Delicate layers of crisp pastry, sticky sweet with crunchy nuts.

These little babies, filled with beautiful pistachios nuts, have always been my favourite and they are exquisite.  Don’t they look like hungry baby birds?

The menu is extensive: appetizers, salads, sandwiches, grilled meats and chicken, shawarmas, falafels, Arabic style pizzas made to order and baked in a wood burning oven, fresh fruit juices, and fine pastries. We both agreed that Paramount Fine Foods restaurant is among the best Middle Eastern food we have tasted outside of Montreal. Reasonable prices, pleasant atmosphere, friendly efficient service, and good food. Olive Paramount Fine Foods!

Paramount Fine Foods plans to open in the fall of 2013 at Eglinton Avenue West and Erin Mills Parkway, in Mississauga.

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Check out their website for photos, videos, and other Paramount locations and hours in Mississauga, Hamilton, Toronto, Thornhill, and London: www.paramountfinefoods.com