My foodie find for this week is a pack of fine brews from Ontario. The Ontario Craft Brewers have cleverly packaged a selection of beers together so beer lovers can try a variety of locally made beers and discover which ones they like. This is the second time the OCB has released a mixed pack, and this one contains a whole new line up.

The six brands featured in this new pack include: Robert Simpson Confederation Ale, Mill Street Tankhouse Ale, Trafalgar Elora Irish Ale, Black Oak Nut Brown Ale, Cameron’s Auburn Ale, and Nickel Brook Apple Pilsner.

We tried them out in the test kitchen and we especially liked the Black Oak Nut Brown, Tankhouse and our ever favourite Cameron’s Auburn Ale. The Apple Pilsner is also interesting, I had tried it at the event OCB held at harthouse in the summer and liked it as a summer drink.

I love these mixed beer packs that get released around the holidays, as they’re a great way to try different beers you wouldn’t ordinarily buy. Plus, it’s a great way to have different styles of beer on hand for everyone.

The discovery packs are available at LCBO stores. Does anyone know if other microbreweries across Canada offer mixed packs?

Last Thursday we had David Mair, the The Balvenie’s global brand embassador, come to the test kitchen to lead us in a tutorial about whisky. Single malt whisky must be a good draw, as a number of the editorial staff attended!

At the tasting, we had the pleasure of sampling some of the best whisky Speyside has to offer. (more…)

This weeks Canadian foodie-find is from Ontario, where three new pear varietals are being celebrated. We received the pears in the test kitchen this week and have been munching all week long at various states of ripeness to determine our favourites.

The three varieties to look for in your local shopping markets are (more…)

This week’s Foodie-find is brought to you by our bleary eyed web editor Collen Tully who brought back this artisan moonshine (yes I said artisan and moonshine) from the lovely idyllic PEI (now that’s shattering the Anne of Green Gables’ image I’d say)!

Paul Berrow of The Myriad View is creating this heady distillation in Rollo Bay. He told Colleen that he started making hooch as a joke 4 years ago and it really took off. Paul and his wife, who run every aspect of their business, are making the real thing from a 200-year-old recipe. The old timers attest to it when they come by and tell him “This smells like shine!”

We test drove it in the test kitchen as an accompaniment to the cloth bound cheddar tasting. It is actually really quite smooth and has a very fruity taste, a bit like rum but not as spicy - we liked it! Paul suggests using it in a cocktail with lime and cointreau to make a “Shinerita.”

Paul is also making gin, we didn’t get to try it, Colleen kept it for herself!

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While touring through New Brunswick, I stopped in to visit Supreme Sturgeon and Caviar. They are one of the very few short nosed sturgeon farmers in the world. This species is indigenous to the Atlantic seaboard as far south as Florida and inhabits three river, the Connecticut River, the Santee River, and the Saint John River in New Brunswick. In the United States, the fish is considered an endangered species, and here in Canada it has become vulnerable. There isn’t a lot of research on sturgeon farming, as it is a relatively young industry. But it could be a growing one for Canada. The caviar industry used to be heavily regulated with strict fishing quotas, but since the fall of the Soviet Union, black market caviar has flooded the market and Caspian Sea sturgeon have been almost completely wiped out by pirate fishermen.

In the 1820s caviar was so abundant in North America that bars would give it away as a free snack. However, it was quickly over fished and what was once equivalent to bar peanuts can now go for up to $10,000/kilo for beluga caviar. Farmed North American caviar is much more reasonable at about $2,000/kilo and has been getting very good reviews from restaurants and aficionados.

I found Don Breau at an unmarked warehouse on a country road just past St. George. He showed me the sturgeon in the huge tanks where they grow. I wasn’t able to sample any caviar because they are only producing a limited amount and restaurants already speak for most. Supreme Caviar started in 1998, and sturgeon faring is a long-term commitment for them since it takes eight years for the eggs to mature. Except for the smoked sturgeon meat they produce, they have only recently been able to market their product. They are a growing operation and are in the process of moving the fish to a larger facility so they’ll have more room to produce. And with an international demand for a depleting product they may have their payoff very soon.

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Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar from Prince Edward Island is made of raw milk from P.E.I. Holsteins, wrapped in muslin rubbed with lard, and aged for 12 months.

The resulting cheese is a deep, yellow colour with a crumbly texture and creamy tasting interior. (more…)

This past weekend,  Toronto hosted the fifth annual drink show at the Exhibition Place. There was a lot of promo going on in the city so Canadian Living took advantage and had Plymouth Gin give us a private seminar in the test kitchen. Plymouth is the oldest working distillery in England, in operation since 1793, and in that time they have only ever had 4 head distillers. We were lucky enough (more…)

Here is a picture of the Canadian Living’s beautiful kitchen stage designed by our decor editor Karen Kirk. I just wanted to say a thank you to everyone who came to the Canadian Living stage at the Good Food Festival to see my how to ice a Chocolate Layer Cake and Kids Oatmeal Cookie demonstrations on the weekend – it was fun to meet viewers face to face and get feed back about the things that you all find interesting. I especially liked seeing how engaged the kids in the audience were and the great questions they had for me afterward. There were a number of exhibitors that were focused on healthy eating for children – I thought the Gimme 5 stage was excellent and really engaged their young audience. The kids went away with remembering the 5 colours of the healthy fruits and vegetables as well as a healthy lasagna they made with their own hands.

Keep posting those comments – I still have more aprons to give away!

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I will be at the Good Food Festival this weekend with the whole Canadian Living Test Kitchen team where we will be demonstrating our “Tested Till Perfect” recipes and techniques on stage and interacting with our readers. Saturday afternoon I’ll be at the Canadian Living Stage making good use of my years of pastry training by showing the audience how to mask a cake and use a pastry bag. I will be giving away prizes but you need to come to the show to find out how to win! (more…)

Listen for me on Niagara’s area CKTB’s Taste of Niagara on 610 am where I will be talking with Stephanie Sabourin about winter weather fare. She’s cooking up Brown Butter Linguine and Scallops from the February issue of Canadian Living magazine. I can’t wait to compare notes! (more…)