Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner

For Canadian Thanksgiving this year, I traveled to London, Ontario to spend time with my sister and her husband's family. My sister's mother-in-law, Shelley Bulckaert, is a very talented cook, having lived in France for 4 years and learning techniques from her French friends there. She made us an amazing multi-course dinner, and I just had to share some of my favorite dishes with you all!

Fig and Walnut Salad with Gorgonzola Cheese

London Free Press, July 2003

Makes 4 servings

I loved this salad! This was my first delicious taste of fresh figs, and I adored them! I suggest quartering the figs, as halves are a bit too big to include other bits in a biteful. Also, Shelley doesn't care for gorgonzola (nor do I), so she substituted a delicious creamy French cheese. I don't know what kind it was, but any hard cheese with a bite will blend well with these flavors.

1 ¾ c walnuts (or pecans)

1 lb arugula or mesclun mix

6 Mission figs, halved lengthwise (or quartered)

½ lb gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (or other

cheese)

1 cup port wine

1 T sugar

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread walnuts out on baking pan and roast until lightly browned, about eight minutes. Coarsely chop and transfer to small bowl. Set aside.

Remove and discard stems from arugula; rinse, drain and spin dry. Divide arugula among four salad plates. Arrange three fig halves on each plate; sprinkle with gorgonzola and walnuts. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce port wine by half. Add sugar and stir to dissolve; remove from heat. Add balsamic vinegar. Slowly whisk in olive oil, until emulsified. While warm, drizzle over each salad. If desired, lightly season with pepper.

Butternut Squash-Tangerine Soup with Pistachio Gremolata

Cuisine at Home, December 2008

Makes 7 Servings (7 cups)

Soup:

1 lb peeled, cubed butternut squash (4 cups)

2 T chopped fresh ginger

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

2 garlic cloves

Pinch of saffron threads, optional

2 T unsalted butter

5 cups water

1 ½ cups fresh tangerine juice or orange juice

¼ cup dried apricots

2 T honey

Gremolata:

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

2 T chopped pistachios

1 T minced tangerine or orange zest

¼ cup plain yogurt

Saute squash, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, and saffron for the soup in butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook until squash browns, about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add water, tangerine juice, apricots, and honey. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered until squash is tender, about 40 minutes. Let soup stand off heat for 10 minutes, then puree in a blender in batches until smooth. Return soup to pot and heat until warmed through.

Toss parsley, pistachios, and zest for gremolata together in a bowl. Spoon yogurt on each serving of soup, then garnish with parsley mixture.

Cranberry Port Sauce

Makes 2 cups

From Shelley Bulckaert

3 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup Port

½ cup orange juice

1 T grated orange peel

Combine cranberries with brown sugar, Port, orange juice and grated peel in a large saucepan.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 to 10 minutes until cranberries pop and sauce thickens a little. Cool.

Pour sauce into a bowl and chill. Serve cold.

Honey Green Beans with Pecans and Cranberries

“Vegetables and Side Dishes” – from Shelley Bulckaert

2 lb green beans, trimmed and halved on diagonal

2 T honey or maple syrup

2 T butter

1 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted

½ cup dried cranberries

1 tsp grated orange zest

salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook beans in a large pot of boiling, salted water until tender. Drain. Melt honey and butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add beans, pecans, cranberries and orange zest, tossing to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sesame-Sauteed Purple Carrots

Serves 4 - 6

Food & Drink, Autumn 2009

“Yellow, white, red and purple carrots were common up to the 17^th century. Since then those colors have given way to the standard orange that we are most familiar with. Now considered exotic, these heirloom varieties thankfully survived in some parts of the world and are making a comeback here in Ontario along with some new hybrid purple varieties. Purple carrots have just a thin layer of purple pigment on the outside with a conventional orange or a yellow interior (and sometimes orange AND yellow), so don’t peel them! The flavor is surprisingly like orange carrots but with more depth and true carrot flavor. Some varieties do lost their purple color when cooked so a light sauté is a good way to get the most of their unusual look.” – F&D

1 lb purple carrots (about 5 medium or 10 small)

2 tsp canola oil

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 T sesame seeds

1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp honey

salt and freshly ground pepper

Trim off ends of carrots. Gently scrub under running water to remove any sand and grit. Cut crosswise on a diagonal into 1/8 in slices.

In a large skillet or wok, heat canola and sesame oil over high heat. Add carrots and sesame seeds and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until just starting to wilt. Transfer to a warmed serving dish and sprinkle with lemon juice and honey; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Brown Sugar Cheesecake with Caramel Apples

Makes 1 cheese cake: 12 – 16 servings.

Canadian Living, October 2009

Crust:

1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs

½ cup finely chopped walnuts

1/3 cup salted butter, melted

Cheesecake:

¾ cup packed brown sugar

3 pkg (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp cinnamon

1 cup sour cream

Topping:

6 apples

3 T lemon juice

2 T unsalted butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

¼ tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 T amber rum

1 tsp cornstarch

Grease and line side of 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Place pan on center of large square of foil. Bring foil up and press to side of pan.

Crust: In bowl, stir together crumbs, walnuts and butter until moistened; press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake in 350 F oven until firm, about 10 minutes. Let cool on rack.

Cheesecake: Into small bowl, sift sugar to remove any lumps. In stand mixer with paddle or in bowl with hand mixer, beat cream cheese with sugar at high speed for 5 minutes, scraping down bowl. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time; beat in vanilla and cinnamon. Beat in sour cream. Pour over crust.

Set springform pan in larger pan; pour in enough hot water to come 1 inch up side of pan. Bake in 325 F oven until set but center still jiggles slightly, about 1 ¼ hours.

Transfer springform pan to rack and remove foil; let cool. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours, or up to 24 hours.

Topping: Peel, core and thinly slice apples; toss with lemon juice. Set aside.

In large skillet, melt butter over medium heat; stir in sugar and cook until melted and golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add apples, cinnamon and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk rum with cornstarch; stir into apples and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. (If making ahead, store in an air-tight container up to 24 hours, then rewarm before serving). Serve with cheesecake.

Wine Tasting!

Also on this trip, I went wine tasting for the first time. I loved it! It was in my favorite Canadian city, Niagra-on-the-Lake. I'm definitely taking the culinary approach to wine.. what flavors are in this? What dishes would this go well with? It's so fun! =) I'm still very new to the depths of flavors, but I feel I've begun a life-long journey of wine appreciation. Right now, though, I still love the sweet white wines - yum!

Check out some of the beautiful wineries we went to:

Peller Estates Winery

Jackson-Triggs Winery

Inniskillin Niagra

And read all about the Icewines that are original to the Niagra region! Only a few places in the world make Icewine. They are so sweet and almost syrup-y. So good but you can only drink a wee bit! And the bottles (around 12 ounces) are at least $50 each! It was definitely a treat to taste and experience.