Category Mississauga

Olive’s Keep Calm & Carry On Christmas Survival Guide: Christmas in Paris – Easy Chic Brunch

Christmas in Paris

My friends and I have gathered together for Christmas brunch every single year since record albums were the coolest Christmas gifts.  This year, I decided to treat them to Christmas in Paris – one of my friends opened up her lovely Georgetown home and I threw together an easy, chic brunch with a French twist. I gathered ready-made gourmet treats from local artisans, made a couple of recipes ahead of time (inspired by a famous Parisian pastry chef and a French cookbook writer), and prepared two showstopper, easy-assemble salads. Throw on a scratchy recording of Edith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose et voilà, it’s Christmas in Paris through rose-coloured glasses.

Champage with Wild Hibiscus

Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Rose Syrup served in Champagne:

Wild Hibiscus in Rose Syrup When you combine Christmas and cherished friends at the same table, it’s time to pull out all the stops. I served some extra special treats to nibble and sip on as hors d’oeuvres. Rose syrup is the flavour du jour in Paris and this jar of Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Rose Syrup contains 15 handpicked wild hibiscus flowers packed in syrup made from the natural essence of two dozen Bulgarian roses. Place one flower in the bottom of a champagne flute, add some rose syrup, pour in the champagne and watch the bubbles unfurl the flower – it reminds me of the skirts flying at Le Moulin Rouge. Available as a limited edition production from Crafted Décor in Streetsville and Florence Meats in Oakville.

Pierre Hermé's Olive Sablés

Pierre Hermé’s Olive Sablés served with White Wine or Champagne:

These aren’t just any savoury cookie – they are an utterly surprising savoury French shortbread that will have your guests shocked by the initial sweetness (from the icing sugar), enamoured by the incredible tenderness (from the potato starch and grated egg yolk) and then, when the salty and fruity notes (from the oil-cured black olives and olive oil) hit the stage, you just may hear gasps followed by utterances of ooh la la…as if you were watching the latest Parisian haute couture creation walk down the runway in the city’s top fashion house. In fact, the recipe comes from famous French Pastry Chef Pierre Hermé, who is widely acclaimed as the “Couturier of Haute Pâtisserie”.

I made the dough well in advance and rolled it into logs, then froze them. When ready to bake, I took one log out at a time a few moments before baking, then sliced from frozen and baked. The recipe turned out beautifully – you simply must have it in your repertoire. How does a local gal comme moi get her hands on Pierre Hermé’s recipe? I found it in Dorie Greenspan’s charmingly chic cookbook, Around My French Table, which is available to borrow from the Mississauga Library or to buy from www.chapters.indigo.ca  It’s on my Christmas wish list – I hope my husband is reading my blog posts!

Spirit Tree Cidery's Pâté & Evelyn's Crackers

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery Pâté with Ice Cider & Shallots and Evelyn’s Currant in the Rye Crackers served with Sparkling Pear Cider:

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery Pâté with Ice Cider & Shallots is a superb pâté. Luxuriously smooth and creamy, it’s packed with the flavour of all natural ingredients: chicken livers, clarified butter, shallots, port, brandy, ice cider, Calvados, apple syrup, eggs, and spices. It’s frozen in adorable little 165g ceramic pots. I picked it up from Spirit Tree Estate Cidery a while back and stored it in my freezer, ready for Christmas entertaining. Just defrost overnight in your fridge.

Evelyn’s Currant in the Rye Crackers are the perfect match for this pâté: a hearty yet delicate cracker made with preservative-free, all natural ingredients including dried currants, fennel, anise, and caraway seeds and best of all, 100% heritage organic rye grown and milled by Ontario farmers. Evelyn’s Crackers are made by “cracker heroes” Dawn and Ed – find out what makes them heroes here: www.fiestafarms.ca/heroes.  Available at Whole Foods. For other locations throughout Ontario, click here: http://evelynscrackers.wordpress.com/wheretobuy/.

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery Sparkling Pear Cider Spirit Tree Estate Cidery Sparkling Pear Cider is a refreshing choice for those who are looking for something non-alcoholic: fresh pear, just a hint of sweetness, bubbly, and light.  It’s perfect for special celebrations.  Also available in Sparkling Sweet Apple Cider. Spirit Tree’s Mulled Apple Cider containing chopped fruit and spices would be another great choice and very festive. If you would like to learn a little bit more about Spirit Tree, read my full post here: Spirit Tree Estate Cidery: Savour the Quality.

For the main meal, I laid out an impressive line-up of store-bought gourmet goodies and two easily prepared dishes I made myself that just needed just some minor last minute preparations.

Proscuitto Wrapped Cheese Stuffed Warm Fig Salad with Arugula

Prosciutto Wrapped Fresh Figs Stuffed with Cheese on Arugula

Serves 6

This showstopper, palate-pleasing salad is a cinch to assemble à la minute. The sweetness of the figs and vinegar plays against the salty prosciutto, creamy tang of the blue cheese, and peppery punch of the arugula. If you don’t like blue cheese, feel free to use brie or chèvre instead. I used a beautiful combination of Date Crème Vinegar and Hazelnut Oil that I picked up at Crescendo World of Oils Vinegars and Spices in Toronto’s Distillery district – but extra virgin olive oil and balsamic glaze are also terrific.

Ingredients:

6 fresh figs, sliced in half from stem end to blossom end, keeping stem halves intact
1/3 cup your favourite creamy mild blue such as St. Agur or Devil’s Rock (or chèvre)
6 slices prosciutto, cut in half lengthwise
6 handfuls of baby arugula (or your favourite greens)
Hazelnut oil or extra virgin olive oil
Date Crème Vinegar or balsamic glaze
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Smear cheese on cut side of each fig half. Wrap each half with prosciutto. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator up to 4 hours before serving or bake immediately, according to the following instructions.
  2. Arrange cheese side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in 425°F oven until prosciutto is crisp and cheese has melted, about 5 minutes.
  3. In a large bowl, toss the greens with some salt, pepper, and oil; spread greens out on a pretty platter; place figs on top and drizzle figs and salad with vinegar. Serve warm.

Quiche Lorraine (with potato, gruyère, and bacon) from Spirit Tree Estate Cidery, butter croissants from Patisserie d'Or, Vodka Infused Smoked Salmon from Cousins Gourmet Market.

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery Quiche:

Make sure you search out the very best handcrafted quiche you can find. Spirit Tree Estate Cidery makes delicious quiche. The Quiche Lorraine is full of hearty flavour from bacon, potato, thyme, and swiss cheese. The Tomato & Spinach quiche has intensely flavoured wood-oven-dried tomatoes, sautéed spinach, thyme, and clumps of soft chèvre, all suspended in a lovely egg custard. I purchased both quiches frozen, stored them in my freezer, and baked them from frozen on the day of the brunch. I haven’t tried their Mushroom & Potato or Cauliflower quiche yet but they sound tempting.

If you can’t make it out to Spirit Tree, good quality quiche can also be found at The Hot Oven in Etobicoke, Cousin’s Gourmet Market in Port Credit, Black Forest Pastry Shop in Oakville, and Kate’s Town Talk Bakery in Streetsville (Kate also sells a really tasty Spinach & Cheese pie – another one of my favourites). Wherever you choose to purchase your quiche, be sure to call ahead to place an order in advance.

Vodka Infused Smoked Salmon:

Drape some luxurious smoked salmon on a pretty platter and garnish with lemon wedges and perhaps, capers, sliced onion, and a drizzle of olive oil. My absolute favourite is a locally produced Vodka Infused Smoked Salmon that I buy from Cousin’s Gourmet Market in Port Credit and have also found it at Domenic’s in the St. Lawrence Market. It is so tender, that it almost melts in your mouth.

Artisanal Croissants:

What would Christmas in Paris be like without really good croissants? I picked up frozen chocolate and butter croissants handcrafted at Patisserie D’Or in Oakville, stashed them in my freezer, took them out to rise overnight, then baked fresh the morning of the brunch –you can’t get easier or more delicious than that. Boy did my kitchen smell heavenly! These croissants have a buttery flavour and a nice mouthfeel.

And now for the grande finale…

Macarons from Whole Foods

French Macarons:

Buy a colourful assortment of the very best French macarons you can find. I picked up these little beauties from Whole Foods, made by La Fournette Bakery: mango, passion fruit, vanilla, raspberry, pumpkin, chocolate, pistachio, and my favourite – hazelnut.

Ispahan Parfait

Ispahan Parfait

Serves 6

This showstopper fruit salad was inspired by the beautiful flavour combination of raspberries, lychee and rose, created by famous French Pastry Chef, Pierre Hermé, as a macaron flavour, and now all the rage in Paris. You won’t really notice the rose syrup in this gorgeous and healthy parfait – just a hint of je ne sais quois. Make both the rose syrup and the pistachio dust in advance (you can even freeze them if you need to). Combine the raspberries and lychees with the syrup at the last minute, or earlier on the day of serving, if necessary. Spoon into pretty glasses and top with yogurt, almonds, and pistachio dust just before serving. Feminine, festive, and fusion-French, it’s perfect for my girlfriends’ Christmas brunch.

If you don’t want to make your own rose syrup, you can order an exquisite Wild Rose Petal Syrup from Forbes Wild Foods, a Canadian company that supplies sustainably-harvested wild foods from the Canadian wilderness to restaurants, hotels, stores, and on-line customers. To order on-line click here:  http://store.wildfoods.ca/syrups/.

Oh to be in Pierre Hermé Paris at Christmas time.

Ingredients:

1 can (560mL) whole lychees in light syrup
1 package (6 oz/170g) fresh raspberries
¼ cup reserved lychee syrup from above can
5 teaspoons Rose Syrup (see recipe below)
½ cup vanilla yogurt – such as Sheldon Creek Dairy’s Greek-style Yogurt (see note below)
6 teaspoons raw slivered almonds
3 tablespoons Pistachio Dust (see recipe below)

Directions:

  1. Drain lychees into strainer set over a medium bowl to reserve lychees and lychee syrup; slice lychees in half. Place lychees in a second medium size bowl. Add raspberries to lychee fruit.
  2. In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup lychee syrup and 5 teaspoons rose syrup; add to lychees and raspberries and toss gently. Divide fruit evenly amongst 6 small pretty cups; spoon in a little syrup.
  3. Place 1 spoonful of yogurt on top of each cup. Top each with 1 teaspoon of slivered almonds and then 1/2 tablespoon pistachio dust. Serve immediately.

Rose Syrup:

Makes just over 1/3 cup.

You’ll need rosewater, which you can find in Middle Eastern grocery stores such as Adonis. Store your rosewater and rose syrup in the fridge.

Ingredients:

1 cup water
½ cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon rosewater

Directions:

  1. Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally, until mixture has reduced and become syrupy, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice and rosewater. Let cool completely.
  2. Store in a covered container in refrigerator for a few days or freeze in an airtight container for longer storage. Defrost in fridge before using.

Pistachio Dust:

So pretty sprinkled on fruit salad, especially on raspberries or strawberries at Christmas time.

Ingredients:

1 cup shelled raw pistachios

Directions:

  1. Using a mini processor, grind pistachios into a fine dust. Store in an airtight container in freezer until ready to use.

Sheldon Creek Dairy Fresh Milk & Greek Style Yogurt A little decadence is called for here, so look for the richest yogurt you can find. Spirit Tree Estate Cidery sells a luxuriously creamy Greek Style Vanilla Yogurt from Sheldon Creek Dairy, made with pasteurized whole milk, light brown cane sugar, vanilla extract, and bacterial culture – and nothing else! Sheldon Creek Dairy’s pasteurized Cream Top Whole Non-Homogenized Milk is nutrient-rich, all natural, and has cream that rises to the top of the bottle and separates (how milk was made before we homogenized it): shake it in the bottle for creamier milk or spoon out to add to your coffee.  Sheldon Creek Dairy is owned and operated by the den Haan family whose herd of cows graze the pastures of the Sheldon Valley, in Loretto, Ontario. Click here for other retail locations: http://sheldoncreekdairy.ca/about.php.

For further details and locations of suppliers featured in this post, check my Grocery Store Directory or Farmers’ Market Directory.

To further enhance the mood, you may wish to play the following music suggestions:

White Christmas Michael Buble & Shy’m https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/white-christmas-duet-shym/id472520445

Noel Blanc Coeur de Pirate https://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/c-ur-de-pirate/id290621195

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Hot Off The Olive Press Special Edition: Cagneys Mississauga is Open

Baby, it’s cold outside…but so warm and inviting inside the newly renovated modern lux interior of Cagneys Mississauga. This well-loved Streetsville restaurant reopened at 5:00 p.m. last night, after extensive renovations. It looks – and tastes – fabulous.

Cagneys Mississauga Dining Room

There are two fireplaces, glamorous chandeliers, gorgeous tufted seating, and a sleek and sexy wine bar. They are easing into their reopening so until 2014, Cagneys will only be open for dinner, will not have their full menu up yet, and will not take reservations. In 2014, they will serve from their full menu, take reservations, be open for lunch, and possibly brunch.

I don’t know what the full menu will look like but the menu we dined from last night offered a good variety of new and tempting gourmet choices (with prices to match), including a beet salad that sounded amazing, rack of lamb, and mussels.  I just couldn’t pass up my old favourite: Cagneys’ famous Caesar Salad with the original dressing that tastes every bite as delicious as it has since Cagneys first opened 40 years ago but is now served with an added modern touch – crisp prosciutto chips…olive it! My entrée was the Three Mustard Chicken which was unbelievably tender and juicy, coated in a creamy and flavourful mustard sauce, and served with mini potatoes and a medley of tasty vegetables, including rainbow carrots. My son (the steak lover) devoured his New York Strip Steak with Demi-glace Sauce and truffled hand-cut fries (wow!) and my husband (the health-minded) loved his Bison Burger. Sorry, we dove right in before remembering to take photos of our dinners.

Check out Cagneys on their facebook page, follow them on twitter, or watch for their updated website: www.cagneys.ca

Cagneys Mississauga
128 Queen Street South
Mississauga, ON L5M 1J5
 
Telephone: 1 905-826-2311
 


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Olive’s Keep Calm & Carry On Christmas Survival Guide: Gift Giving – Gourmet Drinking Chocolate

Some simple moments in life call for extra-special celebration, like waking up to a fresh, white blanket of snow on a chilly morning: a new canvas to make footprints across, a harbinger of the season to come. How about building a snow fort with your kids, romping through a snow-covered field with your dog then gasping at the beautiful silence of a snow-covered forest, or the rush of that one thrilling ride down the toboggan hill that YOU took just to remember what it felt like? Winter is upon us. I prefer to embrace it like a true Canadian. Tilt your head back (Charlie Brown-style) and marvel at the beauty of nature as snowflakes dance down from the dark night sky all around you.

An extra special cup of hot chocolate is a wonderful way to celebrate moments like this. But instead of tasteless, overly-processed, overly-sweetened mixes, treat yourself to something very special (and healthier), at least this once:

Amedei_Hot_Chocolate

Amedei Cioccolata in Tazza (Hot Chocolate) has just enough sweetness to balance the deep, rich chocolate flavour. Containing a minimum of 63% cocoa, this gourmet drinking chocolate is made by Amedei, a Tuscan chocolatier that produces what Food & Wine magazine called “the world’s best chocolate”. Just heat a cup of milk until hot and steamy, and then slowly whisk in the small grains of cocoa, stirring until completely dissolved.

I think it’s worth every penny as a thank you for someone special or to send a university student back to school with, just to remind them how much they are loved back home. Available at The Shop For All Reasons in Streetsville, Ontario. Check my Grocery Store Directory for details.

I love to drink mine in my favourite cup, given to me by a special friend as a thank you for picking him up from school every day. He wrote a little message on the cup to thank me. It warms my heart every time I drink from it.

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Hot Off The Olive Press: November 22, 2013

Streetsville is North Pole Central This Weekend:

Streetsville Tree Lighting Ceremony:
Friday November 22, 2013 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Main Street Square (Main & Queen Street), Streetsville, ON

Meet your friends for dinner in one of Streetsville’s many wonderful restaurants and then meet Santa at Main Street Square. Enjoy hot chocolate, hot apple cider, treats, Christmas carolers, and horse-drawn wagon rides. www.villageofstreetsville.com

Mississauga Santa Claus Parade:
Sunday November 24th at 1:00 p.m. Queen Street, downtown Streetsville.
 

Stumped for Christmas Gift Ideas for the Foodie Who Has Everything?

Check out this neat idea. KE-RF is a Canadian company that creates one-of-a-kind, custom tattooed cheese and charcuterie boards using salvaged wood. Olive it!

KE_RF

Photo courtesy of KE-RF

Check out their website www.ke-rf.ca or follow them on twitter @KE_RF. Visit their booth at the Canadian Artisan Tasting Fair Sunday December 1st, 2013 from 11:00 am. to 4:00 p.m. at Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street, Toronto.

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Hot Off The Olive Press: November 14, 2013

Restaurant Openings:

Paramount Fine Foods will open a second Mississauga restaurant, at Erin Mills Town Centre, this Friday November 15, 2013 at 8:00 a.m. Gourmet halal meat sourced from Paramount Butcher Shop and grilled over charcoal, pita baked in a wood burning oven, fine baklava pastries crafted on site, and an extensive Middle Eastern menu will be sure to please Middle Eastern food lovers (like me!).

Read about my visit to Paramount’s Crestlawn Drive location here:  www.olivetoeat.com. For a better understanding on halal meat, please read this article by Jennifer Bain of The Toronto Star: www.thestar.com.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas:

Lowe’s Brampton Christmas Market:

This 2nd annual European-style outdoor Christmas market (similar to the one held in Toronto’s Distillery District) will run from Thursday November 14th to Sunday November 17th, 2013.

Hours:
Thursday and Friday from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Located in Garden Square, in front of the Rose Theatre, in downtown Brampton, at:
1 Theatre Lane, Brampton, ON L6V 0A3

www.brampton.ca

Oakville Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony:

A beautifully designed tree, music, and treats will be waiting for you in downtown Oakville this Friday November 15th, 2013, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

www.oakvilledowntown.com

Classic Country Winter Festival at the Apple Factory:

The Apple Factory Country Grocer will be holding a Classic Country Winter Festival from Friday November 15th to Sunday November 17th, 2013. Enjoy free hot drinks, free samples from the Apple Factory’s favourite vendors, and visits from two of Santa’s reindeer. Be sure to check the website for important details and events schedule.

www.applefactory.com

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