The Ontario Table

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Richmond Station

cuisine, culinary tourism, farm fresh food, farmer, food, local food, lynn ogryzlo, restaurant, Restaurant Review, The Ontario TableLeave a comment

In the big city with an appetite for great food and don’t know where to go in the sea of restaurant advertising – ughhh. So here’s a great tip – Richmond Station.

On the corner of Young and Richmond, Richmond Station is everything you’d expect in a trendy Toronto eaterie. Enter from street level and the narrow restaurant is accentuated with a long communal table, natural elements of brick, wood and soft lightening. It opens up at the back into a split level room and more private dining up above. At the back of the room is the ‘chef’s table’ or shall I say the ‘chef’s bar’. The entire wall is opened up to the kitchen with a few bar chairs facing the window in full view of the culinary action. This is where I sat.

Behind me is a private room, seating about 16 and they have a charcuterie vault to remind them that this Executive Chef and co-owner Carl Heinrich is a nose-to-tail fanatic. He loves buying the entire animal from an artisan farmer, bringing the entire animal on site and coming up with new and delicious ways to use every inch of it.

Partner and co-owner Ryan Donavan is a butcher who feeds Carl’s obsession and in turn Carl feeds Ryans. The result is an amazing restaurant offering delicious, feel-good food for every mood.

Let me tempt you with their tasting menu. It starts with a few oysters, just enough to satisfy the palette, I recommend the cremant to go with it. Don’t know whose it was, but the flavour symphony in my mouth with the oysters was amazing! Light and simply arousing!

Next dish was a light lobster tempura with a bold sauce that contrasted the sweet lightness of the lobster beautifully. It was accompanied by a small charcuterie plate. sips of great wine – now this how to appreciate all the hard work gone into such amazing food!

The next dish was elegant Ontario smoked trout on a bed of luscious vegetables. A clean, feel-good dish if I ever had one.

Next came the full-bodied dish of mushroom pasta with a generous drizzle of truffle oil. This is decadence, warm and full for a cold winter’s night – perfectly pampering and perfectly divine!

After the mushroom pasta came a rich venison steak with sweet potato mash, roasted baby onions and crispy deep-fried – something, my guess is parsnips. This is a great mans dish, full and rich, elegant and heart-warming.

To end the perfect meal, they served an apple sticky toffee pudding with mocha ice cream. Nothing to say here except (with a mouthful) – yum! And imagine all of this pampering in a bustling, noisy atmosphere of people enjoying the big city life. I’m happy, excited and more than satisfied!

If you go to the Big City and don’t end up at Richmond Station then what can I say, the Big City just didn’t come through with one of the best culinary experience it has to offer. Richmond Station is one of those restaurants you wonder why they’re not written about in a book – ah, but wait – they are!

The Ontario Table is the best local food resource in the province and while it’s all about local food, farmers and artisan producers, there are a few restaurants that were worth mentioning and they are one of them. Here’s what is says…

Page 183, “There is a growing number of restaurants that buy and cook local food not because it’s in fashion, but because they’ve simply found it to be the best in flavour and quality. Marben on Wellington Avenue West is run by butcher, Ryan Donovan and chef, Carl Heinrich. They buy whole animals and deliciously use every piece of it.”

Of course they’re no longer at Marben, their new place is Richmond Station – check it out!

 

Christmas Gifting

Blog, cuisine, culinary tourism, farm fresh food, farmer, food, local crops, local food, lynn ogryzlo, The Ontario TableLeave a comment

Many families don’t exchange gifts among adults any longer, but dropping the traditional gift giving is sometimes difficult.

Our family is divided, some still buy (or make), others don’t and this creates a different kind of stress. But it’s not what you think. We’re a pretty creative family so the ones who give, give home-made gifts. They could be gifts of unique preserves, a sewn or quilted item, a wood crafted thing or what ever the passionate hobbiest is into at the time. It’s pretty nice.

A new tradition with holiday celebrating is for everyone to contribute at least something to the meal. It shares the work and everyone gets to feel a part of the festivities by contributing. This my family loves to do.

So what I started doing is buying a really nice piece of dinnerware. Then I make the food in the new dish and then I leave the dish as a holiday gift. Last year, I brought a baked stew in oven-safe soup bowls. I’ve brought a baked vodka gnocchi dish in a casserole dish I bought at a local potter and a crustless chestnut cheesecake in a stunning glass cake plate. This year I found a stunning burnt red soufflé dish with a beautiful rooster on the lid. I think I’ll make some sort of gnocchi, pancetta and cheese casserole – they’ll love it.

It’s a gift that’s always enthusiastically received and others in my family are starting the trend, baking a dozen mini-quiche in antique muffin tins or a pair of art-deco salad tongs with the salad contribution. Obviously some of these gifts have been picked up throughout the year when the perfect culinary item calls out someone’s name. Others are purchased when they figure out what dish they’ll bring.

So I have another perfect gift for any women on your list. Let’s face it, I can’t change a tire and neither can most women I know. But I was recently stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire the other night – how vulnerable!

A good Samaritan stopped to help and Pokies pulled out an air pump. He plugged it into the cigarette lighter of the car and it automatically pumped up my tire. It was enough to get me home so I could get to the garage the next day (the same garage that just put my snow tires on that same day!!).

So while I can’t change a tire, I can quickly pump air in a tire so I won’t be stranded, vulnerable or frustrated. For women, it’s perfect.

So here we are and it’s Christmas and everyone is out scrambling to find the perfect gift. If there is a women on your gift list who travels a lot, this gift of safety may just be the life saving tool they will thank you for one day. The portable air pumps at Canadian Tire start at $9.95 and go up from there. Happy Holidays.

 

 

Chestnut Ricotta Cheesecake

 

2 pounds (1 Kg) fresh ricotta cheese

2/3 cup (160 mL) sugar

1/3 cup (80 mL) all-purpose flour

6 farm fresh eggs

a pinch of ground cinnamon

1 cup (250 mL) chestnuts, cooked and choopped

2 teaspoons (10 mL) pure vanilla extract

pinch of Ontario salt

 

Preheat oven to 300F (150C). Set rack in the middle of the oven. Butter and flour a 9 1/2 inch spring form pan, and tap out excess flour.

Place the ricotta in a large mixing bowl, and stir it as smooth as possible with a rubber spatula. Stir the sugar and flour together thoroughly into the ricotta. Stir in the eggs 1 at a time. Blend in the vanilla, cinnamon, chopped chestnuts, and salt. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, until a light golden color. Make sure the center is fairly firm, and the point of a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. It will sink as it cools. Cover, and chill till serving time.

To serve, remove from spring form pan and place on a gifted cake plate.

Turkey Tips

Blog, cuisine, culinary tourism, farm fresh food, farmer, food, local crops, local food, lynn ogryzlo, The Ontario Table, turkeyLeave a comment

There’s nothing more traditional than Christmas and the foods we serve. From cookies to turkey, if there’s one thing you can always count on, is your favourite foods on the Christmas table.

For most, it’s a large, beautiful turkey with plenty of mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce and root vegetables. So today, we’re talking turkey tips.

BUYING: Regardless of how many gather around your Christmas table, count on 1 ½ pounds of turkey per person. It may sound like an awful lot but remember there’s plenty of bones to be accounted for. If your bird is smaller, allow 2 pounds per person because you’ll have a smaller meat to bone ratio. I always buy a larger bird than necessary for those delicious leftovers in the days that follow.

THAWING: I like to buy a fresh turkey but it’s not always possible. If your bird is frozen, be patient when thawing it. It takes approximately 3 days for a 20 pound turkey to fully defrost in the refrigerator.

BRINING: Soaking your turkey overnight in a mixture of salt and water pretty much guarantees a perfectly moist bird on your Christmas table as well as juicy leftovers in the days that follow. You can add herbs and spices to add subtle character to the turkey but it’s not necessary. Try 7 quarts of water to 1 ½ cups (375 mL) of coarse salt. You can replace some of the water with a bottle of wine if you like that flavour. Remember the turkey should be completely covered with water so go ahead and add more water. Leave overnight, rinse in the morning and roast.

STUFFING: A turkey will cook more evenly if it is not densely stuffed. Instead of stuffing, you can add flavour by loosely filling the cavity with aromatic vegetables such as carrots, celery, onion or garlic. You can also make a paste of butter and fresh herbs and rub it underneath the breast skin. Alternately, you can cook the dressing in a casserole dish on the side. But if you’re like me and you’re a traditional turkey with stuffing in the oven, just remember not to pack it in. Loosely stuff the bird to make sure it cooks thoroughly.

ROASTING: Let the turkey sit at room temperature for approximately 2 hours before roasting. Set the oven rack on the lowest level in the oven and preheat to 450F (220C). Stuff your bird loosely, just before it goes into the oven and don’t forget to stuff the neck cavity. Tie the legs with kitchen string and coat the outside of the live sex came turkey with vegetable oil or butter, season with salt and pepper. When your bird goes in the oven, reduce the temperature to 350F (180C).

BASTING: The more times you open the oven door, the higher the likelihood of a dry bird. So try soaking cheesecloth with melted butter and icewine and lay it over the breast and part of the legs. Then baste the cheesecloth less often than you normally would. The cheesecloth will keep the flavourful basting juices on the bird. Remove the cheesecloth just before the last hour of cooking to brown the breast and legs of the turkey.

CARVING: Once the turkey is removed form the oven, tent it with foil and let it rest for at least 15 minutes to as long as an hour before carving. This is the time to make your gravy. Anything longer than an hour and you’re going to loose the heat in the turkey. Remember to carve your turkey with a very sharp or electric knife.

Your grandmother made one and so did your mother. Turkey is the quintessential, must-have dish to adorn our Christmas table. May you have a deliciously, moist turkey this year. Joyeux Noël.

Sage & Sausage Cornbread Stuffed Turkey

Recipe courtesy of The Ontario Table cookbook, by Lynn Ogryzlo ($29.95, Epulum Books)

 

1 10 lb Ontario turkey

1 tablespoon (15 mL) Ontario canola oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound (.45 kg) mushrooms, quartered

1/2 pound (.25 kg) loose sausage meat

1/4 cup (50 mL) country fresh butter

3 stalks celery, chopped

10 cups (2.5 L) day old cornbread, cubed

2 tablespoons (25 mL) dried sage

1 teaspoon (5 mL) dried thyme

1 cup (250 mL) chicken stock

Ontario salt

Preheat the oven to 450F (225C). In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat, sauté the onions, garlic, mushrooms and sausage, stirring occasionally, until sausage is fully cooked, about 10 minutes. Drain if necessary. Add butter and celery and season well. Cook until celery is soft, about 5 minutes.

In large bowl, toss together cornbread cubes, sage and thyme. Add sausage mixture and toss well. Add stock; toss to combine. Stuff the turkey cavity loosely. Place stuffed turkey breast side up in a roasting pan. Place in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350F (180C). Cook 25 minutes per pound for turkey under 6 pounds and 20 minutes per pound for turkey over 6 pounds.

Bake remaining stuffing in a baking dish, covered with foil for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden and crisp, about 10 minutes.

 

The Ontario Table Holiday Challenge

Blog, cuisine, culinary tourism, farm fresh food, farmer, food, local crops, local food, lynn ogryzlo, The Ontario TableLeave a comment

The average Ontario shopper intends to spend almost $700 on holiday gifting this year. If just $70 or 10% of this was spent on edible gifts crafted from Ontario artisan producers, the economic impact would equate to $500 million extra dollars in our Ontario food system, supporting up to 10,000 food sector jobs.

 

 

We all want to buy well during the holidays. It’s the season for giving, sharing, and emphasizing our values, traditions, and priorities. It’s the time of year we volunteer to help those less fortunate, to give generously to charity, and to help our neighbours. The season brings out the best in us, and we relish in the little acts that show we care.

One little act to show you care is to buy local. Make this season a time to show your family and friends you are a conscious consumer by feasting on local foods and by giving gifts that are made in Ontario. Not only are you supporting your own community, but the gifts you give can influence those around you in a positive way.

Make this holiday season a Made in Ontario holiday! You can buy a Made in Ontario gift basket from a shop that carries local food items (see our listing of local food shops in the November issue), create a gift basket yourself with local ingredients found in the new Ontario Pantry ebook, or buy a gift certificate from a farm that can be used in the summer.

Don’t get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Instead, take control and take a stand. Buy local! Let’s make this a Made in Ontario holiday!

 

NOW LET’S GO ONE STEP FURTHER!

 

Buy, Eat, Drink, and Think Local This Holiday Season

LOCAL FOOD

Buy local wherever you can.

If you can’t buy local, buy organic.

If you can’t buy organic, buy fair trade.

LOCAL PRODUCTS

Buy Ontario products whenever you can.

If you can’t buy Ontario products, buy from a local retailer.

If you can’t buy from a local retailer, buy Canadian.

 

Buying, eating, drinking, and thinking local is about keeping our money circulating in our community where we all prosper. This holiday season, give back to yourself and your community by becoming a conscious consumer. It’s a great gift!

Take the $10 Challenge year round and the Made in Ontario Challenge every holiday!

SHOUT IT OUT! If you want The Shop Local, Ontario Table Holiday Challenge icon for your website and you don’t know how to take it from this blog, email me at ogryzlo@sympatico.ca and I’ll send it to you. Let me know if you want a jpeg or pdf.

 

Rural Perth

$10 challenge, agriculture, bakery, blueberries, cuisine, farm, farm fresh food, farmer, food, food obsessions, food tour, Lanark County, local crops, local food, lynn ogryzlo, Maple Syrup, travel7 Comments

I’m never clear why more people don’t venture into rural Ontario for a day of delicious adventure but I find it exciting and always so much fun, I can’t wait to go somewhere new. Ontario is a huge province and it provides a lifetime of adventure. I’ve been at it for the past 4 years and have rarely visited the same place twice.

This time I was leaving Perth and heading home to Niagara. My husband Jon and I left our great hotel, Code’s Mill Inn & Spa. If you’ve ever romanticized about having your own quaint but beautiful, little hotel, this is the one for you. What a great stay.

We drove out on Wilson Street and ran right into one of the greatest local food grocers in Ontario. Foodsmith is a healthy grocery store that is a fantastic example of just how much local food one grocer can support. We met store manager Molly who showed us around talking about family food businesses not food, she talked about people and their expertise in creating great food not food, recipes and how to cook the food. Hanging from the ceilings were posters of families and the food they grow or make. We willed our bags with local food and headed home.

Instead of heading home, we drove north to the town of Balderson. Balderson is a quaint little village with a few shops and the famous Balderson Cheese store. The amazing success of Balderson’s delicious cheeses means the cheese making has moved to larger facilities but the retail store remains and there is enough cheese here to make any dairy lover dizzy.

In this small village with limited resources multi purposing is important. For example Ema Lee Ladies Fashions also sells local garlic – the sign says so on the door – you gotta love it!

Driving west along highway 7, it’s beautiful country. Towards Addington County small wild blueberry stands pop up out of nowhere. Walk up to the stand and the tiny little purple berries can be purchased in many sizes, preserved in canning jars and made into pies. I looked at the large 750-mL size canning jars filled with preserved blueberries and to me it meant I could have a fresh wild blueberry pie in the middle of a dull dreary winter, or perhaps for a new Christmas treat!

The smallest container of wild blueberries are sold in oriental take-out containers. Just the suggestion of walking away with wild blueberries to eat in the car is too much to pass up. Wild blueberries are tiny and so we popped about 5 in my mouth. I bit down and the intensity of the flavour exploded in my mouth and the blueberry flavours shot off the reciter scale – it was pure blueberry porn. We squealed, laughed and savoured every mouthful as we moaned under the greatness of flavour. All blueberries should taste this good!

At the junction of highway 7 and County Road 41 there is the small Ontario town of Kaladar, which like many small Ontario towns throughout Ontario, it’s more of a busy intersection than a town. On one corner is a large building screaming visit me! The building itself is condemned and Jerry Sammut has parked his Spud Box adjacent to the front of it while he uses the large building behind as a billboard.

There was a few people lined up in front of The Spud Box Chip Truck and the look screams ‘food adventure’. We stopped in and ordered fish & chips to test it out. Jerry’s wife is friendly and helpful but Jerry himself is a bit of a stand-offish sort. I have to say the best part of The Spud Box Chip is the outside look and the vibe created by the people lined up. Good food inspires and while the food was far from bad, it didn’t inspire.

If Jerry was the sort of a guy that looked like he’d entertain a conversation about his food, I’d have told him about the amazing fresh fries in Sarnia. The chip wagons under the bridge in the downtown area are so delicious, they’re exciting and yes, I’d drive to Sarnia to satisfy a craving for really good fresh fries. You can tell they’re made with fresh potatoes and not ones stored. Fresh potatoes have a sweet flavour that makes the fries almost taste like they’re sugared. The older the potatoes are, the sugar converts to starch and you loose the brightness, the purity of flavour, the terroir –  and the inspiration. This is another example why seasonal food is worth getting so excited about.

Down County Road 41, through Addington County is a beautiful stretch of Ontario. Waterways, marshes and almost every inch of water surface is covered with water lilies with their beautiful white flowers. County road 41 weaves it’s way through the best of it with little towns or ‘corners’ along the way.

Eventually you reach Hwy 401, the most impersonal highway ever travelled. For anyone wanting to explore Ontario, take the back roads, the roads less travelled and get a true flavour and experience the real beauty that is Ontario. We are so lucky to live here.

Check out some of the beautiful pictures.

24 Canning Tips

agriculture, Blog, canning, farm, farm fresh food, farmer, local crops, local food, lynn ogryzlo, Ontario local food, The Ontario Table6 Comments

In the summer I have eyes bigger than my stomach. In season, I always buy much more fruit and vegetables than I believe I can eat and then it sits on the counter. When my grandmother canned fruit, she would buy bushels of peaches and pears, perhaps 3 of each. The neighbours would come over and spend the entire day canning fruit for the winter. While it was great fun, canning no longer needs to be an entire day event.

Farmers Feed Cities www.farmersfeedcities.com wants everyone to know that canning is easier than you think. It’s the modern day woman who knows that the leftover fruit on the counter that turns riper than the family can eat it, can easily be preserved. Simply wash 2 or 3 jars in the dishwasher. While that is happening, boil some simple syrup (1 cup sugar to 2 cups of water). In another pot of boiling water, drop as many canning lids as you need and allow the rubber rings to soften. Meanwhile, peel the fruit and fill the jars. Now wrap each jar in a clean kitchen towel and place carefully in a large pot of boiling water to process. After processing, remove jars to the kitchen counter and let cool.

Here are a few more tips…

  1. Pick the freshest fruits and vegetables in season. U-pick farms ensure the freshest and best quality fruit
  2. Soft over ripe fruit is best for jam and jellies but not preserves
  3. Fruit and vegetables need to be at their peak of freshness for the best preserved flavour. You may want to allow fruit to sit on a counter for a day or two if your fruit is not fully ripe.
  4. Jams and jellies made without pectin must be cooked longer.
  5. Acidity provides flavour, texture and helps prevent bacterial growth. Acidity is important for the fermentation process in pickle making. General acidity rule is lemon for fruit, vinegar for vegetables
  6. Easy sterilizing of canning jars can be done in a hot dishwasher.
  7. When canning, fill when jars are hot.
  8. You can reuse jars and rings but lids must be replaced.
  9. Keep your jars in good condition, a chip on the rim could compromise a seal.
  10. Soak the lids in hot water to soften the rubber seal
  11. Small jars take less time to process. Large jars take longer.
  12. Run a knife around the insides of a jar after they have been filled to release any air bubbles.
  13. Wipe the rims of jars clean with a paper towel to remove any food residue that may prevent a good seal.
  14. Screw the rings on firmly but not tightly, retighten the jars after processing when the jars have cooled.
  15. Boil your jars of preserves in a hot water bath, covering the jars with at least 1-inch of water.
  16. Once the water comes to a full boil, boil for an additional 10 minutes.
  17. Remove hot jars with special canning tongs to avoid burns.
  18. Place jars on a counter covered with a kitchen towel to absorb any excess water.
  19. When cooling, you may hear a little “pop” as the jars seal themselves.
  20. If you can press down on the centre of the lid and make it move, the jar is not properly sealed.
  21. When completely cooled, label and store jars in cool, dry, dark place.
  22. If preserves are not properly sealed, refrigerate and consume with 2 weeks.
  23. Store your jars away from sunlight, in a cool, dry place.
  24. Preserves should be consumed within a year.

Here are almost 400 different uses for those canning jars once you’ve eaten the delicious summer contents.

 

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