Christmas Dinner to Go!

For those of you who don't want to fuss or need a helping hand, Taste to Savour is pleased to offer Xmas dinner to go. All orders must be placed by Dec 18th at 6pm and will be ready for pick up either Dec 23 or 24th.

Turkeys stuffed and ready to cook

Choice of stuffing: traditional bread stuffing (with or without Italian sausage) or a corn bread, hazelnut and cranberry stuffing

Gravy

Cranberry orange sauce

5-7kg bird feeds 6-8 people $70.00

7-9 kg bird feeds 12-14 $95.00

Sides

Choice of 5 items

Mixed green salad with pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and chevre with a balsamic vinaigrette

Caesar salad

Blanched green beans with red peppers and almonds

Roasted brussel sprouts

Mashed potatoes with garlic

Potatoes and fennel gratin

Roasted winter root veggies in a maple chilli glaze

Feed 6-8 people $50.00

Feeds 12-14 people $80.00

Desserts

Pumpkin pie, chocolate pecan pie or mincemeat pies

Individual 4” $3.95 each

9” pie $19.95 each

All order need to be placed by Dec 18^th 6pm

Pick up on either Dec 23 between 10am – 6pm or Dec 24^th between 10an – 4pm

Chicken Soup with Chard and Lentils

Made a delicious soup last night. Anytime you roast a chicken make sure that you freeze the bones. I put the bones in the slow cooker the night before with some water, lemons and onion and slow cooked for about 18 hours. Beauty of the slow cooker is you do not loose any of the precious liquid. Then last night when I got home, I drained it. Quickly sauteed diced onion, celery, carrots and garlic for about 8 minutes and then added the luscious broth. Brought that to a boil and reduced to a simmer for about 15 minutes. Then I drained a can of french lentils, dumped them in and chopped up some swiss card, cooked another minutes and then added some shredded chicken and checked the seasoning. It was so yummy! The nice thing was because the stock had been simmered for so long the soup was really quick and full of flavour. Perfect stormy night dinner last night with the wind storm and rain.

Thank you to AM1410 Dave Brindle listeners

I just wanted to say thank you to all those who have read my blog because of listening to my segment with Dave Brindle on AM1410. It was a fantastic experience and I am confident that the segment will be back with another media so please keep reading. I will continue to post recipes and entertaining tips so please check often! I also have a face book page to that you can follow. Stay in touch and keep cooking.

Indian Tomato Chickpea Soup

This is a simple fall favourite and can be made in 30 minutes or less. It freezes well and is great served with a warm piece of naan and a dollop of plain yogurt on top. Cilantro is great too. The recipe is best with fire roasted tomatoes but if you can't find them substitute for regular stewed tomatoes.

Indian Chickpea and Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 14oz can chickpeas, drained
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp chopped ginger
2 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp cardamon, ground
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups veggie or chicken stock
1 28oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup plain yogurt (optional)
warm pita or naan (optional)
chopped cilantro (optional)

Heat a medium pot with olive oil. Add garlic and ginger, cook 2 minutes. Add onions, cook additional 5 minutes til soft. Add spices and seasoning, cook 2 minutes. Stir in stock, tomatoes and chickpeas. Cook 10-15 minutes. Remove 1/2 of soup from the pot and process in the blender (all if you prefer) and then add back to original pot. Cook additional 5 minutes and check seasonings. Serve with a dollop of yogurt on top and sprinkle of cilantro and warm pita on the side.

Caramelized Root Vegetable Goodness

This recipe is being pulled out of my head but no measuring required. Really it is just a mess of yummy root veg, tossed in a yummy sauce and then roasted till all the caramelized goodness does its work!

1 lb nugget potatoes, cut in 1" pieces
3 yam, peeled and diced in 1" pieces
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced in 1" pieces
10 peeled shallots, cut to same size as above
10-12 peeled garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup maple syrup (real)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup franks red hot sauce (adjust accordingly to your heat likeness)

Mix the oil, maple syrup and brown sugar then slowly incorporate hot sauce to your taste. heat will mellow a bit as sugars develop. Toss the recipes. Spread on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Roast at 425'F for 20 mins or so until veggies are tender and caramelized.

This is yummy one! Seriously make lots.

Pumpkin Pie

I will make this short as I have lots if cooking to do for the store today. But here is my favourite pumpkin pie recipe.

2 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp molasses
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
3 eggs
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup cream
1 9" deep dish pie crust

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 375'C for 45 mins or until pastry is baked and filling is set. Allow to cool before cutting. Serve with whipped cream scented with cinnamon.

Enjoy

Available at the store for Thanksgiving

For those who would like a helping hand for Thanksgiving I am happy to offer the following items. Please call or email your orders by Thursday Oct 8th. Items will be ready for pick up Saturday between 11am - 7pm and Sunday 10am - 12pm.

Store number #604 264 0005
catering@tastetosavour.com

8265 Oak Street at 67th avenue. Parking lot on north side of the building.

Items Available

Garlic mashed potatoes $1.50/person
Maple chili roasted root veggies $2.00/person
Potato and fennel gratin $2.00/person
Individual stuffing, no meat $1.50/each
Individual stuffing, meat $2.00/each
Gravy 16oz $4.95/each
Gravy 32 oz $8.95/each
Cranberry sauce 16oz $6.95/each
Individual 4" pumpkin pies $3.95/each or 4/$12.95
Individual 4" choc/pecan pies $3.95/each or 4/$12.95

Thanksgiving Stuffing

It is almost time to stuff your birds. Creativity can be at is best here. What kind of bread to use? Should I add nuts, dried fruit or sausage meat. Growing up my mom always loaded the stuffing with Italian sausage meat. Personally I don't like turkey very much so for me it is all about the stuffing! Here is my basic recipe and measurements are approximate.

Classic Stuffing
1 loaf bread (white, whole wheat, french) diced
1 onion
3 celery stalks
2 cloves garlic
1/4 lb butter
1 cup chicken broth, warm
3 tbsp fresh chopped herbs: thyme, sage and Italian parsley


Place bread cubes in a large bowl and set aside. Saute onions, celery and garlic in butter. Sweat for 10 minutes till tender. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Add chicken stock and simmer 1 additional minute. Pour over bread and gently blend. Toss in fresh herbs. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add more chicken stock if too dry. Allow stuffing to completely cool before stuffing bird.

Add On's

Italian sausage meat
Nuts: hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts
Dried cranberries
Artichoke hearts
substitute corn bread for wheat bread

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are the ultimate comfort food. My favourite way to eat them is just directly out of the pot! Have fun with them and add some different flavours. I will add some of mine after the recipe. The two key things to perfect mashed potatoes is low starch potatoes, my fav being Yukon golds, and a ricer. A ricer is a kitchen tool that looks like a large garlic press. After boiling the potatoes, they are pressed through the ricer giving them a "rice like" appearance. This guarantees lump free potatoes and not over mixing. Over mixing with develop the starch and cause gluey potatoes.

Basic Mashed Potatoes
serve 4

2/3lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream

Boil potatoes until tender, drain and pass through ricer and place in a bowl. In the pot melt butter, milk and sour cream. Once boiling tun heat off add potatoes in 1/4's and mix well. Season well with sea salt and white pepper.

Additions
horseradish
wasabi
cheddar cheese
chives
roasted or raw garlic

Let your imagination go wild.

Lemon Thyme Roast Chicken

As fall is around the corner and back to school is in full swing I am craving the ultimate Sunday night supper. A roasted chicken with yummy squashes and a fantastic salad. The trick is to cook two chickens and then you have leftovers for lunches for the week and two carcasses to make chicken stock for soup as the weather chills down.

I love free range birds or organic when I can get them, but really a simple grocery store chicken will work. Feel free to add veggies to the onions around bird (carrots, celery, potatoes, yams or sweet potatoes). Also for a change replace the fresh thyme with rosemary.
u don't want to add your starches to the chicken in to peel and slice yams and potatoes, toss with crushed garlic, montreal steak spice, olive oil and lemon juice and roast for 30 mins until golden. Some green beans sauteed in sea salt and butter would be a yummy fit as well.

Lemon Thyme Roasted Chicken

2 roasting chickens
coarse sea salt & black pepper
2 heads of garlic, cut in half
3 lemons, sliced thickly
2 large yellow onions, skins removed and sliced
handful of fresh thyme
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup dry white wine

Preheat oven to 425'F.

Pat chickens dry and fill cavities with garlic, thryme and lemons. Spread onions out on the bottom of the roasting pan and place chickens on top. Liberally salt and pepper the birds and brush the skin with melted butter.

Roast for 1 1/2 hours until juices run clear, part way through roasting process add wine.

A great side dish if yo

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

My dear friend Moira, author of the Good Egg blog makes a fantastic zucchini loaf and I asked her to share her recipe. I decided to do my own spin on it as I was hoping to get my daughter to eat it, the answer..... chocolate. For the original recipe, omit the cocoa powder and substitute raisins for the chocolate chips. This recipe can me made as a loaf or a muffin.

A tip on muffins. Most recipes yield 12 plus muffins which is more than most families can eat in a day or two while fresh. Here is the tip. Scoop the muffin batter into the paper muffin molds and freeze in the the tin. Once frozen you can take them out and store in a Ziploc bag. Now you can bake from frozen anytime you crave a fresh muffin. Just add about 15-20 minutes to the baking time.

Zucchini Loaves

3 eggs

1 cup canola oil

2 cup brown sugar

3 cup shredded zucchini

3 cup whole wheat or white flour

½ cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chips, dark

1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Grease two loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Beat eggs. Add sugar and beat until thick. Beat in oil.

3. Mix flour with other dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips and nuts.

4. Stir into egg mixture just until well blended. Pour into the prepared pans. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans. Muffins will bake in abouot 30 minutes.

Credo Bags are in the store

We are pleased to announce that we are supporting Canadian business and are caring Credo bags in our retail store. These produce bags are made from 100% organic cotton and are machine washable. The come in two sizes and are $5.95/$6.95 each. Pop by and take a look.

Personally I love these bags as I am constantly trying to find a way to live more green and sustainable. They are light and easy to carry in your purse and less plastic waste in out landfills. Great stocking stuffer for your environmentally friendly friends.

The solution for the giant zucchini!

So anyone who has ever taken a stab at vegetable gardening has grown a giant zucchini. I absolutely love beautiful gardens and fresh homegrown produce, but truth be told I am a horrible gardener. I just don't have the patience for it, love to plant hate to weed! I spend more time in my yard then anyone else I know, but really my garden needs some work! This year I grew tomatoes, carrots and beets and didn't grow the giant zucchini of years pass. But I do have two great recipes to share. The other to follow soon!

These we have been selling in the store the past two weeks and they have been well received.

Zucchini Fritters with Goat's Cheese and Fresh Mint

1 large garden varitey zucchini, grated
1/2 cup all pupose flour
1/2 cup crumbled goats cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

Grate the zucchini and place in a colander, salt and allow to sit for 20 mins. Squeeze out all moisture and toss with flour. Mix in egg and then gently incorporate goats cheese and fresh mint.

Bring a pan with 1" of oil to a moderate temperature. Scoop out fritters in either appy size or entree and size and pan fry until golden on both sides. Bite size will be ready to serve but the larger size may need to be packed until cooked through.

Serve with plain yogurt.

Bastilla, Moroccan Chicken Pie

I have been wanting to try out this recipe for awhile as I love Moroccan flavours. The sassy mix of sweet and hot. The mix of cinnamon, curry spices and chili flakes is fantastic. Traditionally it calls for prunes and green olives but I had dates handy and was thrilled with the outcome. They are available for sale at the store and for those of you who want to be adventurous here is the recipe.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN PIE
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp chili flakes, to taste
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp good quality Madras Curry powder
1 tsp fresh chopped ginger
1 tsp grated lemon zest
10 cooked chicken thighs, shredded
½ cup pitted dates, chopped
1/4 cup spicy green olives, diced
1/2 cup chicken stock
juice of ½ lemon
Coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp whole toasted almonds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup melted butter
8 sheets phyllo
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (30 ml)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush a 10-inch pie dish with some melted butter.
In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium high heat. Sauté the onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chili, cinnamon stick, curry powder, ginger, lemon zest and chicken and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in the dates, olives, stock, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, without stirring, for 10 minutes. Remove lid and simmer for a further 5 minutes, or until liquid has evaporated. Let cool completely.

Meanwhile, pulse icing sugar, cinnamon and almonds in food processor until coarsely chopped.

Keep remaining phyllo under damp tea towel. One sheet at a time brush phyllo with butter. Lay in the middle of pie dish allowing excess phyllo to hang over edge. Repeat with 4 more sheets of phyllo, changing the angle slightly each time.

Stir beaten egg and coriander into chicken mixture. Spoon chicken mixture into prepared pie dish. Fold the phyllo pieces that are hanging over the edge of the pie dish, one at a time into middle of pie, sprinkling some of the almond mixture between each layer.
Butter 1 piece of phyllo and sprinkle with some of the almond mixture. Place over filling and tuck in any overhang. Repeat with remaining phyllo and almond mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes until top is browned and crisp. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into wedges.