Category Mississauga

I love the beautiful food I’ve recently discovered at Port Credit’s Raw Aura restaurant. I’ve passed by Raw Aura many times, passing it off as a raw vegan restaurant catering to diets far more regulated than what pleases my palate.  After my trainer, Joanne Klingenberg, encouraged me to “step out of my comfort zone”, I agreed to give it a try – wow, I am so glad I did! It is easy to fall in love with Raw Aura, even if you are not vegan.

My interest was piqued as soon as I stepped inside the tiny restaurant. The place was buzzing with a cool vibe. Rough wooden beams span the interior, tabletops are sliced tree trunks. The decor echoes the food: raw and organic.

Raw Aura serves familiar food that is made with sustainably-harvested and organic (where possible), gluten-free, raw, vegan ingredients (no animal products). Because none of the ingredients are heated over 105°F, the digestive enzymes, vitamins, and minerals are retained. But what I love about Raw Aura are the pure and vivid flavours, the attention to every detail, and the passion that Chef Patrick Hartt serves up on every plate.

Raw Aura’s Red Beet Ravioli is a creamy cashew stuffing tucked between thin slices of red beets, topped with more spoonfuls of cashew stuffing, and drizzled with a luscious red pepper marinara sauce. The plate is crowned with the most delicious dehydrated kale chips; the kale is perfectly crisp and robust.  The entire dish is a symphony of flavour, colour, and texture – a first visit must try.

The Burstin’ Burrito is big and bursting with the fresh flavours of crisp lettuce, ripe tomato, sweet red onion, guacamole, and refried pumpkin seed beans, all wrapped in a sun-dried tomato and carrot tortilla, drizzled with cashew sour cream, and garnished with green onion and pico de gallo salsa.

The Chocolate Mint Ganache is a rich and satiating cashew cheesecake topped with a thick chocolate ganache laced with fresh mint – a decadent but feel good dessert.

Delicious and nutritious, it’s food that loves me back. And though I’m not vegan, I’ll be a regular at Raw Aura. Mmm…next time I’ll try one of Raw Aura’s fresh juices and the Yellow Coconut Curry Noodles.

Reservations are strongly recommended.

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It is mighty hard to leave a warm bed and face a cold, dark, winter’s morning; a little extra pampering is required. Here is how I got my motor running this morning: artisanal toast, but not at $4 a slice from a trendy San Francisco coffee shop. I’m talking about artisanal toast made at home by you, the artisan.

Artisanal Toast with Ricotta, Grilled Figs, & Honey

Special equipment: cast-iron grill pan

Ingredients:

Locally-baked, artisanal whole grain bread, thickly sliced
Olive oil
Fresh figs, sliced in half lengthwise
Ricotta cheese or cream cheese
Good quality honey
Shelled, unsalted, roasted pumpkin seeds
Ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Start with a seasoned, cast-iron grill pan; get it good and hot (but not smoking) over medium heat.
2. Brush olive oil on both sides of the best artisanally-crafted, nutrient-dense bread you can get your hands on (see suggestions below); lay them on your grill pan. After 1 or 2 minutes, check the underside of the bread – when it has nice grill marks on it, flip it over and grill for 1 or 2 minutes more until both sides have grill marks; remove to a serving plate.
3. Place fig halves in a bowl; add a healthy dose of olive oil; toss to coat evenly. Place the figs cut side down on the grill pan. Grill for 1 or 2 minutes, until cut side has nice grill marks; flip to other side and grill until softened about 1 more minute.
4. Meanwhile, smear the best ricotta or cream cheese you can find on one side of your toast. Top with fig halves, drizzle with your favourite honey, sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, dust with cinnamon. Feel a smile draw across your face like the sun rising on the dawn of a bright, new day. Make a vow to treat yourself this well every morning. And then thank your local artisanal baker.

Some suggested breads from local artisanal bakeries:

Rye Walnut Bread from La Villa Bakery & Café in Port Credit, ON: baked using recipes and techniques passed down through generations of the Bozzo family.

Pumpernickel from Monestary Bakery & Delicatessen in Oakville, ON: baked fresh daily.

Fig, Raisin, & Walnut Filone from Pane Fresco in Burlington, ON: handcrafted and baked in a European Deck oven. Preservative free.

Hearty Seed from The Glen Oven Café in Glen Williams, ON: A golden flax bread with sesame seeds and poppy seeds.

Boston Mills Multigrain from Spirit Tree Estate Cidery in Caledon, ON: Handcrafted with cracked grains, seeds, and a touch of honey. Baked daily in a wood-fired oven. No artificial preservatives.

Chia Fruit Loaf from Cobs Bakery (click link for locations): Made with whole grain flour, cinnamon, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, dates, and raisins. Made without preservatives or added sugar. Cholesterol free.

Walnut, Fig, & Raisin Loaf from The Hot Oven Bakery at Cloverdale Mall: During the month of February all bread on the bread wall will be only $2.00 each.

Please check my Grocery/Gourmet Store Directory (Bakeries) for details on local artisanal bakeries.

“Should I broadcast our secret to everyone?” I asked my husband, fearing that an increase in popularity would change our favourite little pasta place. But after bumping into a man in Montreal who raved about his recent visit to Andiamo Pasta Plus, it’s obvious the secret is already out: Andiamo Pasta Plus serves generous portions of well-priced, freshly prepared food that is downright delicious.

Located in a small commercial strip just north of the old Streetsville post office, the building’s non-descript exterior obscures the pleasures that await inside. The interior is snug and casual yet the service is polished and attentive. While chef/owner Jim Sangarapillai is busy in the kitchen, his wife and co-owner Kathy is often overseeing the front-end, ensuring that each visit is enjoyable.

Andiamo’s menu is extensive. Antipasti options include shrimp, mussels, squid, grilled vegetables with goat cheese, sautéed rapini, and bruschetta.

Andiamo’s Bruschetta is loaded with chopped fresh tomatoes.

There are a variety of soups and salads. Our favourite is Andiamo’s version of Greek salad (fresh mixed greens with ripe tomatoes, cucumber, onion, colourful peppers, olives, and crumbled feta).

Andiamo’s version of Greek salad is full of fresh vegetables.

With thirty-three pasta dishes on the menu, there is something for everyone. I’ve enjoyed everything I have tried. My favourite so far is the Fusilli alla Curry (plenty of fresh vegetables and grilled chicken in a fragrant, creamy curry sauce). My husband and my son like the Spaghetti with Meat Balls; it is so good that I am often torn over whether to order it or try something new. Whole wheat, gluten-free rice pasta, or spelt pasta are also available upon request, for a small charge.

Spaghetti with Meat Balls in Tomato Sauce

My son’s favourite entrée, the Piccata di Pollo (chicken breast with garlic and parsley in a lemon white wine sauce), never fails to render him into silent bliss. My girlfriends gushed over the Involtini di Pollo (supreme chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese, spinach, and sundried tomato in a white wine mushroom sauce). There are six chicken dishes to choose from.

The veal offerings are as abundant. I may have just lost my husband to the Osso Buco alla Milanese – he has fallen in love with the meltingly tender veal shank braised in a rich, flavourful sauce and served with saffron rice.

Osso Buco Alla Milanese

Chef Sangarapillai prepares a tender Veal Parmigiana, smothered with melted cheese, and blanketed with a well-balanced, garlicky tomato sauce; I order it frequently. Veal or chicken entrées are served with nicely seasoned roasted potatoes and a delightful medley of grilled vegetables or pasta. Daily fish and meat specials are also offered.

Veal Parmigiana

Reservations are welcome and recommended because Streetsville’s once little-known gem is quickly gaining popularity, but chances are they can still fit you in even if you haven’t called ahead. Take-out and catering are available. LLBO licensed.

www.andiamopastaplus.com

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It’s hard to go cold turkey (pardon the pun) after a season of festive overindulging. I know I’ll still need a treat once in a while, and when I do I’ll indulge in chocolate; not mass-produced, sugar-ridden candy bars but really good, finely crafted dark chocolate that ranks high on the pleasure scale and is relatively healthy.

Of course, gourmet chocolate is expensive but it is meant to be savoured one square at a time. One little square of the very best dark chocolate popped in my mouth – crunched once or twice just to break open the flavour, then melted very slowly to bring out the character and lengthen the pleasure while I swoon over the creamy luxury – is a tiny, worthwhile indulgence that will satisfy me far more than a flavourless candy bar.

To find the best dark chocolate I can get my hands on in my area, I head to my gourmet gurus, John and Loretta Viola, owners of The Shop For All Reasons in Streetsville.

Behind these doors lies an impressive collection of gourmet chocolate and other gourmet specialty pantry products that the Violas have knowledgeably selected from some of the best local and international artisans, including what Food & Wine magazine called “the world’s best chocolate”.

Here is a line-up of the dark chocolate bar collection at The Shop For All Reasons, including some facts I learned from the Violas:

There are three types of cacao beans used to make chocolate: 1) Criollo is the best bean but is rare and susceptible to disease. 2) Forestaro gives higher yields but lacks flavour. Up to 90% of chocolate is made from this bean. 3) Trinitario is a mix of Criollo and Forestaro. It has more flavour than Forestaro and is more robust than Criollo.

What does “bean-to-bar” mean? Unlike big companies who mass-produce chocolate, artisanal “bean-to-bar” chocolate entrepreneurs import the dried beans themselves – usually directly from the farmers, working closely with the farmers, paying them fair prices, and often investing in them, to produce the best beans possible – and then craft the beans into bars. Bean-to-bar chocolate entrepreneurs sometimes prefer to redirect the money they would have paid for Fair Trade certification and invest it in the farming process.

Please click here to sign up for The Shop For All Reasons newsletter, to be informed of upcoming chocolate tasting and other tasting events. It’s a great way to learn about what you are buying and find your favourite before investing your money.

Amedei (Tuscany, Italy):

• Single origin, bean-to-bar chocolate.
• Travels to plantations and works closely with farmers, reviving and caring for their plantations, to produce great cacao.
• Wins awards every year.
• Porcelana: made from very rare Criollo Porcelana beans imported from Venezuela. Voted #1 of world’s top 10 chocolate bars by www.foxnews.com.
• Chuao: made from Criollo cacao beans imported from Chuao, Venezuela (considered to be the best beans). Food & Wine magazine named it “the world’s best chocolate”.

Tcho (San Francisco, CA):

• Single origin, bean-to-bar chocolate.
• Travels to plantations and works directly with farmers, providing innovation and technology, to produce great cacao. Provides flavour labs to farmers so they can make chocolate from their own beans and taste the result of their growing efforts (many cacao farmers have never tasted chocolate made from their own beans).
• PureNotes dark chocolate focuses on 4 flavour tones inherent in different cacao beans: 1) Fruity (Peru), 2) Bright (Madagascar), 3) Chocolatey (Ghana), and 4) Nutty (Ecuador).

Askinosie (Springfield, MO):

• Single origin, bean-to-bar chocolate.
• Travels to plantations in Ecuador, Honduras, Philippines, and Tanzania, working closely with farmers to produce great cacao. Pays higher than Fair Trade prices to farmers and shares 10% of net profit of chocolate made from beans grown on their farms.
• Two types: 1) Origin: single origin dark chocolate 2) CollaBARation: combines single origin Trinitario dark chocolate with flavours such as malted milk, licorice, and coffee.

Olivia (Cantley, Quebec):

• Single origin (Caribbean Islands), certified organic, milk-free, bean-to-bar chocolate – roasted or raw.
• Raw chocolate is made from non-roasted Criollo/Trinitario beans. Because the beans are not roasted, this chocolate is smoother and less bitter, allowing 10% more beans without the need for more sugar.
• HempMilk Chocolate is raw, bean-to-bar, soy-free, nut-free, vegan, and dairy-free; uses only hemp milk not cow’s milk.

Wild Ophelia (Chicago, IL):

• All-natural, preservative-free, often organic ingredients from “esteemed farms and artisans throughout the USA”.
• High-quality chocolate combined with wildly creative flavours such as: Smokehouse BBQ Potato Chips (dark), New Orleans Chili (dark), Southern Hibiscus Peach (milk), Peanut Butter & Banana (milk), and Sweet Cherry Pecan (milk).
• Created by “chocolate revolutionary” Katrina Markoff, founder of Vosges Haut-Chocolat.

Address and contact information for The Shop For All Reasons can be found on my Grocery Store Directory.

Some information obtained from product website.

‘Tis the morning after Christmas and all through the house,
Not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse.
The wrappings were strewn all about with great flair,
Now Dad snores loudly in his favourite chair.

The dog is nestled all snug in his bed,
While visions of squirrels dance in his head.
And my son in his PJs, cuddled in my lap,
Has just settled his brain for a long winter’s nap.

When in my mind, there arises such a clatter,
I spring from the couch to try to fix the matter…
After turkey and tinsel, we are all tuckered out,
But now there’s New Year’s dinner to fret about!

Keep calm and carry on, Olive has got you covered:

Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Drizzle and Thyme Roasted Potatoes

I served this menu one year for my cherished bro and his dear family when we gathered around his cottage dinner table a couple of days before Christmas. The meal was easy, flavourful, and festive. My son thrilled to be surrounded by his cousins; my brother cracking all of us up with his incredible sense of humour; me, happy to be at his side…the evening forever sings in my heart. Consider splurging a little and serving this festive feast to your loved ones to celebrate the New Year. Wishing you a healthy and happy 2014.

A festively-coloured trio of vegetables made this menu extra special. Laura Calder’s Thyme Cream Tomatoes (from her Buckwheat Crêpes with Thyme Cream Tomatoes recipe) are simple yet sublime. I learned from Ricardo how to sauté frozen peas (straight from the freezer) in a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil, and then season with salt (sorry, can’t find his recipe anywhere on his site but that’s all there is to it). And of course, I served my brother’s favourite Sweet-Sour Purple Cabbage with Apples (which I made ahead and froze).

We started out with a recipe for the beef tenderloin but felt it needed tweaking, so Jane winged it from there; it turned out beautifully but of course, we didn’t write it down. Since then, I’ve tested a few recipes, selected what I liked from them, and combined them into this recipe.

Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Drizzle and Thyme Roasted Potatoes

Serves 4 to 6

This meltingly tender yet flavourful beef tenderloin drizzled with a red wine and beef stock reduction is wonderful served with some crumbled blue cheese on the side and Thyme Roasted Mini Potatoes.

Get the potatoes in the oven first and then prepare the beef; remove the potatoes from the oven when done and let them rest at room temperature. When the beef has finished cooking, return the potatoes to a 250°F oven to warm up while the beef has a good long rest.

Thyme Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 lbs. mini Yukon Gold potatoes
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon coarse salt, divided
3 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, divided

Directions:

1. Place both oven racks in middle of oven, leaving enough room between to fit a tray of potatoes. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Cut potatoes in half; divide evenly between two parchment-lined, rimmed baking trays.  Divide oil, salt, and thyme evenly between both trays; toss on potatoes, turning with your hands to coat evenly. Arrange potatoes cut side down and evenly spaced out on trays.
3. Place one tray on each oven rack; bake until tender and cut side is golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes, rotating trays between both racks after 15 minutes.

Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Drizzle

Butcher Bob at Burton Meats (Dundas St. location) sold me a superb beef tenderloin. He recommended that I sear the tenderloin first, and then cook it at a lower temperature of 375°F (contrary to many recipes that instruct the beef to be cooked at 450°F). He was right; it was so tender that I actually could cut it with a fork. Be sure to buy the No Salt Added beef broth (even low sodium will be too salty).

Ingredients:

1 whole beef tenderloin 3-lbs
Coarse salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

Rub:
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons butter, softened

Drizzle:
1 ⅓ cup good red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
⅔ cup Campbell’s No Salt Added Beef Stock or homemade beef stock
1 tablespoon butter

Accompaniment:
Crumbled mild, creamy blue cheese and/or horseradish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Season beef lightly with coarse salt and generously with freshly ground black pepper.
2. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat; when oil is hot, sear beef on all sides until evenly browned, about 1½ minutes to 2 minutes per side. Place meat on a rack in a roasting pan that can also be used on stove top.
3. In a small bowl, combine Rub ingredients; spread evenly over meat. Insert an oven-proof thermometer in middle of tenderloin; roast until thermometer reads 130°F, about 25 minutes (it will continue to cook as it rests) – the end result will be medium-rare, slightly on the rare side.
4. When beef is cooked as desired, carefully remove roasting rack and beef to a rimmed baking sheet while protecting your hands and any surfaces that come in contact with the hot rack (you want the meat to rest on the rack and not a flat surface); tent loosely with foil to keep warm; let rest for at least 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, drain fat and any clumps from roasting pan. Place roasting pan on stove over medium heat. Add wine to pan; deglaze pan with wine, scraping any brown bits on bottom of pan with a wooden spoon to incorporate into sauce. Simmer rapidly over medium heat, stirring constantly so garlic doesn’t burn until reduced, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste to pan; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add beef stock; simmer rapidly, stirring frequently until reduced by half and thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat; whisk in butter, stirring until fully incorporated.
6. Slice beef thickly and serve immediately with sauce and accompaniments.