Many of the farm markets Jackie shopped at offered baked goods from fruit pies to butter tarts but she noticed an obvious absence of anything savoury. To this Montreal city girl, it looked like a great opportunity to become an artist in her own kitchen.

Jackie founded Blossom Bakery (www.blossombakery.ca), a wholesale bakery and her flagship product are savoury, gourmet flatbread pizzas. Everything Jackie does is homemade featuring local produce and artisan cheeses. She has a knack for blending fruit from her farm into her savoury flatbreads. Most likely you’ve seen her flatbreads at O’Neils Gourmet Food Shop or The Fruit Shack in Niagara-on-the-Lake; at Whitty Farm Market and 13^th Street Winery in St Catharines or the Cheesy Guy who you’ll find at some of the farmers’ markets in Niagara.

It’s time now for Jackie to make her sexy asparagus flatbreads. She lays fresh spears in a zig-zagging pattern across the melted cheese. Jackie is often inspired by the seasons harvests and she picks the combination of flavours as much on looks as on taste.

Jackie’s just discovered Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese and designed a flatbread to showcase a cheese she just can’t resist. It’s caramelized onions with the semi-soft Gouda-style cheese, a roasted garlic base and drizzle of balsamic maple – yum!

Besides some of the food shops around town, you will find Jackie selling her flatbreads at the Grimsby Farmers’ Market every Thursday afternoon. She can’t wait for the first tomatoes to be harvested because here favourite flatbread is her Heirloom Tomato Rainbow Flatbread. It’s loaded with green, yellow, orange, pinky red, dark red and purple heirloom tomatoes floating in a base of asiago cheese. “It’s simple and so very special”, says Jackie.

Right now the most popular flatbread is her roasted red pepper, mushroom and goat cheese flatbread with balsamic drizzle.

Jackie has a secret to her popular flatbreads that she was willing to share. It’s what she calls her, “secret smear”. It’s a combination of fresh parsley, garlic and extra virgin olive oil pulsed into an ultra flavourful concoction that is smeared over every single flatbread.

Her favourite thing to do is to play in her kitchen, experimenting with the different flavours that come out of the garden, however not all of Jackie’s experiments work out well. “I tried a Three B’s flatbread”, Jackie explains. “Beets, blueberries and blue cheese. It looked great but I couldn’t get anyone to try it. It was an awesome failure.”

Jackie says here flatbreads are popular because “it was a way to put a savoury baked good in the markets that traditionally only offer sweet pies and tarts.”

The post Savoury Flatbreads from Blossom appeared first on The Ontario Table.

Today, Oxford County boasts the provinces only Cheese Trail. One of the stops is the Elm Hurst Inn and Country Spa. Peruse the menu and discover Executive Chef Michael Davies has an exuberant passion for cheese. You can start your journey along the Cheese Trail by sampling Michael’s all-local cheese platter or enjoy one of his cheesy features like his delicious cheddar soup. Then venture out to Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese for delicious Swiss-style cheeses that will quickly become a favourite; then over to the Bright Cheese House for some amazing cheddar. There are many more cheesy stops that make for a full and yummy weekend.

Each year Oxfordlicious hosts The Oxford Garden Party, this year the date is July 9^th and it’s held at the beautiful Elm Hurst Inn & Country Spa. Plan on attending for a spectacular dinner that reflects the farmers, their rich and diverse produce and a chefs prowess with local food.

When you’re driving along the Cheese Trail, drive slowly and cautiously because chances are you’ll come across a few small black covered wagons pulled by horses. Know you’re in Mennonite country and be prepared to explore at a different pace dictated by this laid-back culture. Mennonite farming is centered around cooperative farming, creating a strong farm and country ambience that visitors love. It’s a reminder of how pure and good fresh food from the farm can be.

Chefs like Eric Boyar of Six Thirty Nine Restaurant can easily get caught up in the region’s agricultural offerings. He uses a base of local food inspired from the farms around him to form his menus. Make reservations to sit at the chef’s table, a beautiful wooden bar that overlooks all the action in the kitchen and offers a front row seat to the wafting aromas – yum! Study the kitchen well, chances are you’ll catch a glimpse of Eric’s bike. He rides to the market and returns with his bike laden with produce. When I dined there he had just returned from the market and everything was fresh, including the trout from nearby Goossens Trout Farm. It’s not unusual to find curious farmers dining here just to see what Eric is creating with their produce.

When planning a trip to Oxford, immerse yourself into the country life by staying at Bon Air Bed and Breakfast. A little known fact is that owners, Gerald and Danielle Kennedy have transformed the top of their silo into an amazing observatory; ask them for some sky-time and experience farm country hospitality with a ‘sky’s the limit’ promise.

For a little pampering along the Cheese Trail, stay at the Elm Hurst Inn and Country Spa. The grounds are spectacular, their story beguiling, the mansion captivating and the spa treatments spell binding.

I love driving through country roads filled with people making a living off the land. It’s not unusual to find yourself behind a wagon filled with hay, large trucks busy with farm work kicking up clouds of dust and animals wandering the meadows and hills. Make sure you bring a camera because you never know when farm and country life will inspire a few beautiful photos.

Oxford County has a local food web directory, agriculture and culinary map, farmers’ markets and lots of markets on farms that offer fresh food in season. It’s a delicious region to let your palate do the wandering.

For more information, just click

Pictorial Food Tour of Oxford County

Oxford County Cheese Trail

The Oxford Garden Party

Oxfordlicious

Buy Local Oxford

Oxford Fresh

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The original and famous Anchor Bar in Buffalo is the birthplace of the Buffalo (Chicken) Wing. The signature wings are extra meaty, super crispy and uber delicious (made that way with their secret sauce). There is simply no comparison!

They come in varying degrees of hotness that start with mild and go all the way to Suicide and Abandon Ship or as I like to call them; Death by Wing. The secret, explains restaurant manager Tal Adler is the freshness and plumpness of the wings. “We start with a great product. It all comes from the same supplier to the Buffalo location.”

There isn’t a chicken wing lover who isn’t part of the Anchor Bar cult. It all started in 1964 when, out of necessity, restaurant owner and cook, Theressa Bellissimo had to feed a group of hungry teenagers. It was late and there was very little left in the kitchen except the chicken wings that were destined for the soup pot. Theressa thought it was a shame to put such beautiful wings into a stock pot so she cooked them up and served them. What followed was not so much a movement of chicken wing lovers, but more a chicken wing religion with a growing and fiercely dedicated congregation.

When the Anchor Bar in Buffalo is full, people drive to Hamilton and vice versa. And if the Anchor Bar is the church of wings, then it should come as no surprise to find other chicken wing foods on the menu; Original Anchor Bar Spicy Chicken Wing Soup, Chicken Wing Lollipops (chicken wings flipped inside out and baked), Chicken Wing Crunch Melt (sandwich), Chicken Wing Pizza, Buffalo Chicken Wing Poutine, Frank’s Original Chicken Wing Salad, and Chicken Wing Ravioli. The only thing missing is a chicken wing cupcake (btw, I found them at Above + Beyond Cupcakes in Welland).

Beyond the worship of the Buffalo wing, you may notice the Canadianization of the Hamilton Anchor Bar. Adler says if Americans can eat it, they will fry it, but Canadians are a little more health conscious when it comes to food. So on the menu you’ll also find some unexpected dishes like Tabouli and Chick Pea Salad, Mediterranean Quinoa and Rack of Lamb. The other cultural difference Adler sees is that “Canadians can handle their heat”. Apparently we love hotter wings than our American counterpart. For more pictures click here.

The Anchor Bar, 2 King Street West, Jackson Square, Hamilton, Ontario

www.anchorbar.ca

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With a degree in French, Ris set off for Paris to perfect her language. She landed a job as a secretary at La Varenne in exchange for a degree in French cooking. She stayed in Paris for a few years. It was a great job that put her up front and centre with Paris’ top chefs and it was here she first met Julia Child.

They’re paths would cross again and again in Massachusets when Ris returned and again in Nantucket. When Ris moved to Washington, started the DC chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food (AIW&F). It was Julia’s organization and when Ris sat on the national board, she found herself working Julia again. So when it was Julia’s 80th birthday, Ris jumped at the chance to work with her. She prepared Julia’s birthday party on her 80^th birthday, 90^th birthday and 100^th birthday.

It was during her 90^th birthday party when Ris recorded a documentary called “Cooking for Julia”. Julia child died 2 years later (2004) but Ris went on to plan a huge 100^th birthday celebration. Julia’s family attended and it was at RIS Restorante. “I still have Julia on speed dial” says Ris who fears she may need to buy a new phone soon. “I would call Julia and ask her for her favourite foods and she would say veal, asparagus, oysters and chocolate almond cake. That is exactly what I would make”. Julia’s birthday is August 15 and now at RIS Restaurant August is the month to celebrate Julia Child with her favourite dishes. Last year they did a Battle of the Burgers – Julia’s Burger against Ris’ Burger. This year she’s not sure what she’ll do but for sure it will include some of Julia’s favourite foods.

Ris and I went to the Smithsonian Institute’s National History Museum where Julia’s kitchen is on display. Everything in that kitchen was exactly as it was the day Julia died. Ris remembers being in that kitchen in Massachusetts and she shares some of her more intimate stories. Ris is melancholy at this place she rarely visits.

Julia’s kitchen is at the entrance of the Food in America exhibit. We walk around and took a look at all of the food wisdom of the ages. As much as I loathe processed and fast food, the museum explains how many of the convenience, processed foods were invented to fill a need at the time. While those needs no longer exist today, the processed food industry is stronger today than ever before based on opportunity and greed.

Ris and I are kindred spirits. We both come from large families that loved us with food. We both shop at the farmers market, we insist on knowing the farmers we buy from and we both cook from scratch. We both lament that more people and chefs don’t do the same but then again, it is a real skill to pack all that delicious foraging into a busy day. But for us, it just makes the busy day worth while.

So what is her cooking like and what did I have? Ris has a super light touch and a healthy slant to her cuisine. I will always remember the Scallop Margarita with its light, bright flavours and the Miso Salmon Tartare with its crisp, warm elements on an uber light body. Food that makes you feel so much better for eating it. I would eat here every day if I lived in Washington and who wouldn’t want to eat the food from the amazing chef who cooked for Julia Child. Julia aside, Ris Lacoste is quickly becoming a culinary icon of her own.

Click here for more pictures of RIS.

Ris, 2275 L Street, NW, Washington, DC, www.risdc.com

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First we start off with a bit of must-know trivia about Washington, DC and I’m glad we did. Washington is an incredibly easy city to get around, like someone actually designed the perfect city with people in mind! The city is a simple grid with numbered streets running vertically and letters of the alphabet running horizontally. Diagonally are streets named after the states. To make sure all the streets have names, the city is divided into four quadrants (NW, NE, SW, + SR) with Capital Hill being the axis point. This means the same address exists in each of the four quadrants, so the quadrant suffix is really important. For example, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW is the address for the White House, but 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NE is the address for McDonald’s!

You really need to know which quadrant you’re in! What happens when they run out of letters of the alphabet? Well, this is really interesting too. They name streets with one syllable, like Brad. Then further out, they name streets with two syllables, like Adam. Further out are the three syllable names like Broderick. So when someone gives you their address, you know how far away from the downtown core they live, by syllables! It’s brilliant!

Chris tells stories of the Capital Hill neighbourhood complete with bits of juicy scandal. In between restaurants we walk the neighbourhood and he talks of houses, people and history. In between, we eat. We walk past the army barracks and the band is practicing outside – fantastic!

In between the captivating stories, we eat. Here is the run down of restaurants.

Zest is an American Bistro and our first stop. We sit down to a dish of Seared Duck Breast with Edamame Cous Cous and Cherry Compote. It’s cherry blossom season and cherry dishes appear on restaurant menus all over the city.

We walk by Ted’s Bulletin, a small eaterie and bakery where the front window is a display kitchen where they make their iconic pop-tarts! The first time we walk by, they are rolling out the pop-tart dough. The second time we walk by, they have spread out some kind of red fruit filling and the third time we walk by, they have spread out the chocolate filling and are starting to fold them over for the oven. They are tempting, but we are already eating so much!

Las Placitas is our second stop. This Salvadoran restaurant puts out platters of delicious ethnic dishes and we feast. To wash it down they serve up Cherry Margaritas in celebration of the Cherry Blossom Festival. It’s all fantastic fare.

Another walk through a different part of the neighbourhood and we finish off at Lavagna Ristorante, an Italian farm to table eaterie. Here we’re served up a fantastic dish of pesto rigatoni with in-house made fennel sausages. They finish us off with a dessert of Mascarpone Cream and Sweet Washington Cherries.

People who take this tour are foodies who want to experience something deliciously new. We all commune around the same table, break bread, make new friends and learn interesting facts that make us richer. It’s a great experience and one to do again and again.

Click here for more pictures of the Capital Hill food tour.

www.FoodTourCorp.com

The post Washington DC Food Tour appeared first on The Ontario Table.

Marcel’s is one of Washington’s high-end restaurants that focuses on finding the best food from farmers around them. Inside the décor is stunning, it was a French farmhouse movie set when it was purchased and turned into a restaurant. Diners relax in a soft, romantic ambience with arched ceilings reminiscent of a European cathedral.

Service is classically traditional. When you get up from your seat, someone immediately runs over, folds your napkin and strategically repositions it. This hasn’t happened to Jon and I since we dined at Maze, Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant in London, England. The dining experience starts with a glass of French champagne – how royal are we feeling now?

Head Captain is Jonathan Crayne. Jonathan is the quintessential, European-style waiter with class. He’s what everyone who’s ever worked in a restaurant should aspire to be like. Jonathan opened Windows on the World and watched it close on 9/11. After 6 months of making sense of it all, Jonathan set his sights on Marcel’s in Washington, DC and has been here ever since. So what is a classical waitor? Jonathan can make tableside steak tartare, Caesar salads and flambéed cherries jubilee. He has an equal talent at making diners feel special, and pampered; like they are the most important person in the world.

The menu at Marcel’s is long with dozens of dishes. The concept here is that you pick 4 courses, 5, 6 or even 7 courses. The dishes are listed in order of light, fresh flavours and as you go down the list the flavours gradually get richer and more robust. Jonathan explains the dishes are small, tasting portions but this is really code for non-American portions. Our dishes come and they’re the perfect size. This is classic French Belgium cuisine by chef and owner Robert Wiedmaier.

With our champagne, we’re served the chefs amuse bouche, a lobster flan with truffled cream, fresh Scandanivian shrimp and caviar. It’s super rich, uber light and is a beautiful match to the champagne.

At the table across from us is Jayson Pahlmeyer of Pahlmeyer Winery of Napa, California. Jonathan gives us a sip of the 1991 wine, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petite Verdot. It still has big, strong bones and a blockbuster body – wow!

Marcel’s is the kind of restaurant where people come to celebrate special occasions and significant life milestones. People splurge for the privilege to savour the over the top dishes that Wiedmaier is famous for. Others come for the privilege of being seen and some come for the discretion of not being seen.

The cuisine is unlike any I’ve ever tasted. The accompaniments on the plate are equally if not more exciting than the main attraction on the plate. The first course was the Salmon Tartare with Yuzu and Wasabi Crème Fraiche with Smoked Bacon Crumble, Quail Egg and Sesame Tuile and the Pan Seared Diver Scallop with Bamboo Rice, Coconut Cream and Pineapple Chips.

Second course was the Chesakpak Rockfish with Pineapple Pico de Gallo, Pork Belly and Coconut Cream and the La Belle Farm Duck Breast with Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Roasted Baby New Potatoes and Duck Jus.

For dessert was a celebration of Washington’s Cherry Blossom Festival. It was a double chocolate fudge soufflé with rich cherry ice cream, burgundy crème anglese and candied cherry blossoms – oh yum!

Ok, so how to sum up Marcel’s? In the movie, The Big Night, after the fantastic meal, one of the diners stood up and screamed, “This was so good, I think I have to kill myself”. So Marcel’s comes with a warning. The dinner experience is so freakin’ fabulous, the rest of life will simply seem so dull – but don’t kill yourself, just plan on coming back time and time again

Click here for more pictures of Marcel’s.

Marcel’s, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC. www.marcelsdc.com

The post Marcel’s, an experience to die for appeared first on The Ontario Table.

Jon and I waked into this beautiful restaurant and came face to face with a sea of black suits. Apparently Newt Gingrich has an office right upstairs along with many powerful lobbyists so you never know who you’re going to see here.

Owner, Chef Jeff Tunks is from Louisiana and brings his Louisiana-style cuisine to DC with some fantastic Gulf coast ingredients. We had his Fluke Bouillabaisse. It’s a deconstructed bouillabaisse with crispy mussels, saffron butter, large shrimp with what can only be described as Louisiana spices on them.

Chef de Cuisine Matt Kuhn is from South Carolina and brings his style of cuisine with dishes like the “Pork Dip” Po’ Boy. It was an amazingly sloppy sandwich with flavour dripping everywhere. It has braised pork, Benton’s Country Ham (yes, they buy from trusted sources and promote their choices) with house pickled banana peppers for a smooth heat and sweet potato aioli for dipping – delic!

DC Coast has a great menu with incredibly reasonable prices. No one lingers casually over food here, they’re serious, efficient – in and out yet incredibly demanding. The house made bread is hot, warm and yeasty tasting. The texture is moist and chewy – gotta love a restaurant with great bread!

Dessert was a delicious Pistachio Creme Brûlée.

The restaurant has a dining balcony. Giant mirrors are angled on the walls downstairs so the balcony diners can catch the action in the main dining room. When you go, ask to dine on the main level, although having a view to the action below isn’t as bad either. If all restaurants are like this in DC, I’d love to live here. Click here for more pics!

DC Coast, 1401 K Street NW, Washington, DC. www.dccoast.com

The post DC Coast Delicious appeared first on The Ontario Table.

Chili con Carne sounds authentically Spanish. But it could hardly be, for the Spaniards had never seen a chili before they reached America. Often referred to as just ‘chili’, it is in fact, authentically Texan!

The official dish of the state of Texas (declared in 1977) it is found on menus throughout the state, especially in the city of Terlingua, the Chili capital of the world. In an average year the state hosts some 15 chili competitions per month; this means there’s a cook-off somewhere in the state every other day, year-round!

Traditional Texas chili is a meat stew in a fiery sauce of chilies, onions, and various Tex-Mex spices. Beef is the customary meat in chili, but it can be made out of anything. Like religion and politics, no one can agree on the one true chili.

There are plenty of recipes for chili, and each is a truly personal creation. Almost everyone’s first thought after a taste of somebody else’s version is no matter how much it pleasures the throat – they could make it better.

Chili’s restless, ornery, masculine nature is the reason men have made a special effort to proudly claim it as their dish. The word itself calls to mind army camps and cowboy’s and Western chili towns. On a trip to Texas a few years ago I was told, “Real Men don’t eat chili made with fur or rice” (don’t ask!…I have no idea!).

I interviewed a dozen chefs on their chili philosophies and found 12 different styles. Some argued for chunks of beef, while others insisted the beef must be ground. Some said beans, especially red kidney beans are perfectly appropriate; others insisted that beans are nothing more than cheap filler. Some said chili must be made of pure Texan beef, while others were committed to the presence of lamb, mutton, chicken, duck, or anything else imaginable.

The great thing about chili is that everyone can make it. It’s a dish that requires very little culinary skill. This is probably an upsetting concept to those who labor long and hard coming up with complex recipes for the many chili cook-offs that go on in this great country of ours.

Chili making, may not be the culinary art that, say, a good barbecue is. But no one learns anything about making chili unless his or her recipe has been challenged. First, the challenge is to improve on your recipe, and then with other chili-makers, until they get their own true bowl of red perfected.

Spicy Chocolate Chip Chili

This is a ultra-long list of ingredients, but it’s worth it. This is the best chili I’ve ever tasted!

4 slices double smoked bacon, diced

2 links Italian sausage, sliced

leftover strip loin steak, diced (about ½ lb)

1 lb ground beef + pork, mixed

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 yellow pepper, seeded and diced

1 green pepper, seeded and diced

1 red hot pepper, seeded and diced

1 onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 tablespoon smoked chili powder

1 teaspoon coriander, dried

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon crushed chilies

1 teaspoon oregano, dried

1 28 ounce cans tomatoes, diced

1 14 oz can tomatoes crushed

1/2 can smoked Chipotle peppers

1 28 oz can red kidney beans

1 28 oz black beans

2 tablespoons molasses

¼ teaspoon soya sauce

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

½ cup dark chocolate chips

½ cup beef stock

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large stock pot over medium high heat, add bacon, sausage and steak and cook for 5 minutes or until almost cooked through. Add the ground beef and pork and cook, stirring for 8 to 10 minutes until the meats are thoroughly cooked and beginning to brown on the bottom of the pot. Add garlic, vegetables and all the spices and cook for 10 minutes until the juices from the vegetables evaporate and brown bits on the bottom of the pot release onto the meat. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 2 hours. Season to taste and serve hot. Makes enough to serve a party of 6 to 8.

The post Perfecting Chili appeared first on The Ontario Table.

It was a private affair, 4 wine writers, Suzanne Janke, Director of Hospitality for Stratus and Retail and JL Groux, Stratus Winemaker.

Many of you know Stratus as the best in assemblage wines. JL Groux is a master at blending, but today was different. Today was a tasting of some very rare, limited edition and untraditional varietals. Some are available, some will be available soon, but for today, they were the bright, warm sunshine that everyone was looking for.

Here’s the line-up with my tasting notes and release dates so you too can get a taste of these exquisite wines. (All releases at the winery unless otherwise noted.)

2010 Stratus Gamay, $29

Release date: March 21, 2013

The best value in a wine so far this year! How can I say that at $29 a bottle? Well, just taste it and you’ll see for yourself that this Gamay is freakin, big, bold and utterly sexy!! Throw away your old image of weak, winey Gamays, this takes Gamay to incredible heights. The concentrated jammy, raiseny nose doesn’t disappoint. In fact, you don’t even notice the 14.9% alcohol under the wack of macerated smoky Italian plums that slide silkily across the palate. On its path it brings complex flavours of dried sausages, warm Chi spices, toasted rye and smoked game. It’s a giant of a wine that finishes long and fruity. A definite OMGotta have it wine!

2010 Stratus Syrah, $48

Release date: February 2013

Low yields in the vineyards and pruning the cluster ears means only the best goes into this super big Syrah. The colour is a thick sexy deep black cherry with youthful clear edges. Real personality sings through on the game, foie gras and leather notes accented by stewed cherry aromas. Add smoke and black peppercorns to the complex blend. Medium to full bodied with massively refine tannins. Long, clean and delicious finish. A complete package of complexity and personality.

2010 Stratus Merlot, $32

Release date: May 2013

Like a fine lady with dark plum, mint and milk chocolate flavours that swirl through the bacon and leather notes. A harmonious extraordinary supple frame on this medium body wine with silky tannins. It’s incredibly pleasing from start to finish. Great wine!

2010 Stratus Malbec, $48

Release date: June 2013

The second surprise of the tasting. JL Groux has whipped this lesser known variety into a seductively, delicious wine. An inky red wine, full-bodied and ripe but clean and silky, with the muscle structure of an athlete giving shape and contour to each aroma from blackberry to spice, game, smoke, mocha, green tobacco and some grilled meat along the way. In short – a complex genius with the ability to seduce!

2010 Stratus Petit Verdot, $38

Release date: August 2013

Traditionally a blending wine, JL has once again worked his magic in the vineyard with this most food friendly wine of the tasting. Bright acidity tames the front of this wine but lets the flavours burst out at mid-palate. A bit of licorice, bitter sweet chocolate and boysenberry over muscular yet graceful tannins.

2010 Stratus Chardonnay, $55

Release date: July 2013

I could smell this wine all day long – huge nose of luscious, ripe and generous tropical fruit layered with toasted notes of just baked bread. On the palate the wine expands with mineral and spice flavours wrapped around stewed apricot, nectarine and ripe pear flavours. Finishes with a nice lively dance of citrus and melon. This chardonnay has intensity and flair without the heavy weight of other chardonnays.

2010 Stratus Sauvignon Blanc, $29

Release date: June 2013

Starts with an unassuming straw colour and builds into big honeysuckle, apple and straw aromas. Rich and distinctive, a juicy wine with intense herb-scented gooseberry and stone fruit that keep pumping through to the lingering finish. Beautifully feminine and powerfully flavourful.

2010 Stratus Semillon, $32

Release date: May 2013

Wet stone nose with spicy pears and figs lead to a palate pleasing vanilla, honey, yeast, dough and butter flavours that turn sexy on a rich finish. Did I detect a bit of pie crust character going on here? I’ll have to taste again to make sure!

Lunch Tasting

Chef + Sommelier Ryan Crawford presented a stunning lunch that showcased the wines brilliantly.

First Course

BISQUE. Sweet potato and sustainable prawn bisque with crème fraîche

Paired with…

2011 Stratus Gewurztraminer, $29.95

Release date: March 2013 (Vintages)

Beautiful expression of the varietal. Elegant, rich and opulence, boasting litchi, grapefruit and apricot notes married to a sumptuous framework that also provides great structure. A lingering aftertaste of hazelnuts and honey.

Second Course

HAM: smoked ham hock ragu, peasse porridge ravioli, baby cabbage, sage purée and fried dough

Paired with…

2009 Stratus Cabernet Franc, $38

Release date: June 2013

Serves up lots of appealing currant, spice, cedar and mocha flavours on the nicely structured body. Finishing with complexity.

Sweet Course

PEAR: caramel poached pear, white chocolate “snow”, dulce de leche, thirty second brioche

Paired with…

2010 Stratus Mosiac, $25/375 mL

Release date: April 2013

Not too sweet, more elegant, rich and refreshing with ripe apricot, nectarine, honeycomb ad anise flavours that are focused and lively.

The post Stratus Vineyard Tasting appeared first on The Ontario Table.

Read all about it here Press Release 2013 (2) (2). There are eight culinary schools from across the province who are quackers enough to participate. The days starts at the crack of dawn on King Cole duck farm in Cedar Valley. Students will start by collecting duck egg – or picking duck eggs – which is the correct way to say it?

Then a few duck lessons before they plan the dish they will make. Then it’s off to St Lawrence Market for ingredients and the final stop is George Brown College to cook their brains out before a team of judges! All students will get a copy of The Ontario Table to help bring home the local food message. Last year students from the Canadian Culinary Institute at Niagara College won! This Amazing Duck Race is more like a cross between the Amazing Race and Iron Chef. Here’s the schedule GREAT AMAZING DUCK RACE

Good luck to you all! And for everyone else, this is a great way to celebrate Ontario duck!

Duck Poutine

2 King Cole duck legs

1 tablespoon (15 mL) canola oil

8 large potatoes

¼ cup (60 mL) canola oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup (125 mL) home made beef gravy

1 cup (250 mL) fresh cheese curds

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450F (220C). Lay duck breasts in a large sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap up tightly and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until meat is cooked through.

Warm the oil in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes; don’t let the garlic brown. Slice the potatoes into French fry sticks and toss in the garlic oil. Season well. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, warm the home-made gravy in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Set aside. When duck is cooked through, let cool, then shred. Set aside.

To assemble, season the baked potato sticks well and divide among 4 dishes. Spoon gravy all over, top with white cheese curds and finally with shredded duck. Place dishes in a warm oven for 10 minutes to soften the cheese. Serve warm. Serves 4.

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