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Tuesday 6th July 2021.

July 6, 2021

Today is Feisty Foodie day, we link up with Sara in Canada and today she gives us a couple of Canadian recipe’s. “First we went to Grand Oak Culinary Market where we sampled (and bought) some beautiful cheeses (no butter tarts, but we did try Black cheese).  Next we went to a place called The Watering Can, which is a surprisingly large garden center with a big covered café.  We had a snack of Bruschetta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Ricotta. From there, we went onto The Upper Canada Cheese Company, which was a rather stinky and expensive store (and had no butter tarts).  After that, we went to The 13the Street Winery which also has an art gallery, sculpture garden, wood-fired pizza oven and is also known to have the best Butter Tarts in Ontario!  Well…they didn’t disappoint!  Unfortunately, I can’t get the recipe from them, but we are going to go over a very Classic Butter Tart recipe.  The question then becomes….with raisins or without!  Definitely 2 divided camps on that one!!  Which are you?  We also tried their Skor Butter Tart which was sublime (and very sweet).  For the final leg (with kids), we went to a new ice cream shop called Serendippity.  The owner had created a hybrid dessert called an Iceberg, which is a combination of layering slushy and vanilla soft serve.  It was surprisingly yummy!  Corey and I dropped the kids at home with a babysitter and then went to OddBird for fresh oysters!  My favourite!  All in all, a great foodie day!  I’m going to post the images from our foodie tour to my Feisty Foodie PTY Instagram page.

Bruschetta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Ricotta and Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

2 pints grape tomatoes

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup Ricotta

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ tsp garlic powder

Kosher salt and black pepper

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1 oz cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp pine nuts (can sub chopped walnuts)

1 clove garlic, minced

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Foccacia or baguette

1-2 garlic cloves

Olive oil for brushing

Kosher salt and black pepper

Instructions:

  1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Coat the tomatoes in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. On a parchment lined baking tray roast for 20 minutes to concentrate the flavor until bursting and lightly caramelized
  3. In a bowl, mix the ricotta mixture and set aside.
  4. Blend pesto ingredients in a small food processor and set aside.
  5. Cut large pieces of bread each 1-inch thick by slicing the bread lengthwise horizontally.
  6. When you remove the tomatoes from the oven, switch on broiler.
  7. Char bread on both sides for 1-2 minutes, then rub hot bread with cut garlic cloves.
  8. Assemble bruschetta:  Smear the ricotta mixture onto the bread, then spoon over the tomato mixture and drizzle with basil pesto.  Garnish with fresh basil leaves

Pro tip:  Top these delicious bruschetta off with pickled shallots.

  • 4 shallots skin peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2/3 cup red wine vinegar
  • 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 pinch Salt optional

Instructions:  In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring vinegar, sugar, and a healthy pinch of salt to simmer, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Stir in shallots.

Cover and cool completely, about 30 minutes. Store in brine in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Classic Canadian Butter Tarts

INGREDIENTS

For the Pastry:

1½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup cold butter, cubed

¼ cup cold lard, cubed (or substitute butter)

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Ice water

For the Filling:

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup corn syrup

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 large, room-temperature egg

2 tablespoons very soft butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Pinch of salt

⅓ cup currants, sultana raisins, chopped walnuts or pecan halves (optional)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Make the pastry: In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter and lard until the mixture is in very fine crumbs. In a 1-cup measuring cup, use a small whisk or fork to combine the egg yolk, lemon juice and enough ice water to come to ⅓ cup. Gradually drizzle over the flour mixture, stirring briskly with a fork until the pastry holds together. You may need to add a little more ice water to gather up the last of the dry bits. Press into a disc, and wrap and chill until firm. Let stand at room temperature to soften a little before rolling.

2: Make the filling: Preheat the oven to 450°. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar, syrups, egg, butter, vanilla, lemon juice and salt until smooth.

  1. On a floured surface, roll out pastry to a ⅛-inch thickness. Using a 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 12 circles, rerolling scraps if necessary. Fit into muffin cups and press sides to adhere. Refrigerate for 20 mins. If adding raisins, divide them among the pastry shells. Spoon the filling over the raisins until three-quarters full.
  2. Bake in the bottom third of the oven for about 12 minutes, or until filling is puffed and bubbly and pastry is golden. Let stand on a rack for a minute; immediately run a knife around edges to loosen and cool completely.
  3. You can freeze them for a month, or store in fridge for up to a week. Warm to serve (if desired).

Variations:
Chocolatey Butter Tarts: Top each tart with 2 tsp coarsely chopped dark chocolate just before baking.
Boozy Butter Tarts: Stir 1 tbsp whisky into filling just before pouring into pastry. Top each tart with 1 tsp chopped dried cranberries.
Pecan Butter Tarts: Top each tart with 1 tsp chopped pecans before baking.

 

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