Beloved in most societies and communities, chocolate has been enjoyed since the time of Mesoamerica in 1900 BC. Its preparation has changed over the years, but the feeling it brings to us is the same and chocolate products continue to have a huge following around the world, including here in Oakville and Burlington.

Casteleyn Belgian Chocolatiers launched their company in Burlington in 1990, as the only shop to make traditional Belgian chocolates, with a chocolatier who was born and trained in Belgium. The Casteleyn team utilizes exclusively milk, white and dark chocolate that has all been imported from Belgium. The creation of their products is quite a process that involves tempering, molding, and filling the chocolates with multiple cooling steps in between. They also make the fillings for their chocolates from scratch using butter, cream, liqueurs, coffee, chocolate, fruits and nuts. When we asked Casteleyn about their signature item, they stated “As for signature item… we strive to make every chocolate someone’s favourite.” 

The Christy’s Gourmet Gifts family, Christy and Bernhard Mueller, started small with their business in 2002 – doing craft shows. Since that time, they have slowly grown their business, focusing on creating high quality and unique gift items and expanding to a small retail outlet in Burlington, shipping their products worldwide. Using only high-quality Belgian and French chocolate (plus a few exotic chocolates from around the world), their products are made in small artisanal batches with attention to detail and high-quality ingredients like pure butter. Their signature item is definitely their Chocolate Buttercrunch. The recipe is from Christy’s grandmother, Ethel, who happens to be turning 102 this year. The Chocolate Buttercrunch (available in milk, dark, white cranberry and seasonal flavours like peppermint) is the product that started the company, and fans still rave about it today.

The owner’s of A Chocolate Lab – Handmade Chocolates, Nicky Lawson and Helena Thompson, originally met many years ago while fostering labrador puppies and fundraising for the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide. Their paths continued to cross in the dog community, a friendship was fostered, and they decided to become business partners in a chocolate business. A Chocolate Lab was born in August 2016, running out of rental kitchens on a daily basis and moving to their own production kitchen in April 2017. All of the products Nicky and Helena create are   made by hand, with their Sticky Paws (raw almonds covered in a rich caramel, chilled, dipped in a hot chocolate, cooled and lightly dusted with Mediterranean sea salt) product becoming a customer favourite. Their passion lies in custom orders, as it gives them a chance to use a bit of their creative flair to meet customers’ needs. 

Schilling’s Patisserie aux Chocolat is run by German-trained pastry chef and chocolatier, Susie Schilling. Her chocolate knowledge goes right back to the European source, as she trained in the chocolatier program in Switzerland for many years. The company started out in August 2017, opening slowly and in segments. They opened with ice cream and slowly launched into baked goods, chocolate, and are now a full-fledged café. Susie has a love for the old craft, making everything in-house in small batches. She believes in enjoying the traditional stuff – making classic recipes like her famous Stollen, and Pralines – out of high end chocolate from Belgium, or original beans.   

Walker’s Chocolates has a long history. Co-owner Dave Walker’s parents opened the chocolate shop in Burlington in 1983. Today they also operate a factory with an outlet on Harvester Road, and four additional stores across Hamilton, Burlington and Oakville. Dave has worked in the business for 10 years, his older sister for 15. In the making of their chocolate, they use a combination of two different chocolates and blend them together for a unique flavour. Using the finest ingredients they can source, they create over 50 chocolates and a huge range of moulded shapes. Though they have expanded to now have two enrobing lines and a candy kitchen in the factory, all of their chocolate centres are made the old-fashioned way: in small batches, hand-stirred in copper kettles. Their signature item: Mint Meltaways.

by Heather Peter

Local Links

Casteleyn Belgian Chocolatiers
368 Brant St, Burlington
casteleyn.ca

Christy’s Gourmet Gifts
3530 Mainway, Burlington
christysgourmetgifts.com

A Chocolate Lab
511 Pinegrove Rd., Oakville
achocolatelab.com

Schilling’s Patisserie aux Chocolat
109 Thomas St, Oakville
Facebook: schillingsexclusive

 Walker’s Chocolates
Burlington: 3350 Fairview Street
Oakville: 1011 Upper Middle Road
walkerschocolates.ca

The weather is changing, and with that, comes the cooler months full of Holiday entertaining and parties. Though everyone loves a good get-together with family and friends, the Holiday season can also be a time of worry about the effort required to prepare tasty and festive meals and snacks.

What is the easiest way to take some of that worry away? Serve up some simple to prepare, delicious canapes and appetizers that every guest is sure to love. While guests are enjoying your pre-prepared hors d’oeuvres, you will have some extra time to mingle and still be confident that your hard work guarantees you serve up one of the best parties of the season! 

Joanna Tomal (owner of the popular Piazza Bistro in Oakville) likes to serve up a recipe that makes for a sophisticated party appetizer, a baked brie! Joanna suggests serving up a whole wheel of baked brie, complete with fresh herbs, a dollop of homemade cranberry sauce and a sprinkling of brown sugar and roasted pecans. For the extra touch, Tomal serves her baked brie on their Italian family heirloom platter with homemade rosemary olive oil and sea salt crostini. This is a surprisingly easy appetizer to prepare and your guests will love the rich and decadent flavours.

Ida Pusateri, of Pusateri’s Fine Foods in Oakville and Toronto, is an expert host. She had a couple of suggestions for canapé and appetizer recipes that will take the stress out of hosting, and your guests will think you made some magic in the kitchen. 

Her first suggestion was a recipe for Fruitcake Crostini with Olive Tapenade, Golden Sultanas & Balsamic Drizzle. Festive fruitcake gets a holiday makeover in this recipe. Not a fruitcake fan? A baguette or your favourite fancy crackers will do the trick if you prefer.

Fruitcake Crostini with Olive Tapenade,
Golden Sultanas & Balsamic Drizzle

Ingredients:
Fruitcake Crostini
• 1 loaf Toque et Tablier Gâteaux aux fruits, frozen
• Olive oil, Kosher salt, Fresh ground black pepper as needed
Olive & Sultana Tapenade
• 1 Cup Golden sultanas
• ½ Cup Kalamata olives, pitted & drained
• ½ Cup Fresh parsley, chopped
• 3 Tbsp Fresh squeezed orange juice
• 2 Tbsp Orange zest
• 1 Tbsp Grapefruit zest
• 2 Tbsp Capers, rinsed
• 1 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
•  Fresh basil, sliced into ribbons, as needed

Cooking Instruction:
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Fruit Cake Crostini: Remove fruitcake from the freezer and slice thinly. Brush lightly with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and bake until crispy, 8-10 minutes.
• Olive & Sultana Tapenade: Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until coarsely chopped.
• To Assemble: Place the crostini on a tray, spread with the tapenade and top with a small pinch of basil ribbons.

Ida’s second suggestion for a perfect Holiday appetizer: Bacon Wrapped Spiced Dates with Goat’s Cheese. Crisp and salty bacon, creamy and tangy goat cheese, and sweet spiced dates form a perfect partnership in this irresistible canapé.

Bacon Wrapped Spiced Dates with Goat’s Cheese

Ingredients:
• ½ Cup Red wine vinegar
• ½  Cup Orange juice
• 1  Tbsp Sugar
• ¼  tsp Allspice, ground
• ¼  tsp Cloves, ground
• ¼  tsp Black peppercorns, whole
• ¼  tsp Ginger, ground
• 24 Dates, pitted
• 12  slices Thinly sliced bacon, cut in half crosswise
• 120-150 g Goat’s cheese, cut into rounds, at room temperature

Cooking Instruction:
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Bring vinegar, orange juice, sugar and spices to a boil in a small pot. Add dates and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until soft but not mushy.
• While dates are simmering, roll goat’s cheese rounds into ovals slightly smaller than the dates. Pop them in the freezer to harden.
• Cool the dates at room temperature. Slice each date down the side and gently pry open, inserting a chilled oval of goat cheese into each.
• Wrap each date with half a piece of bacon, and secure with a toothpick.
• Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet until crispy and golden, 15-20 minutes, turning halfway so bacon cooks evenly.
• Transfer to a serving tray, pierce each with a toothpick and serve warm or at room temperature.

Pusateri’s final tip for hosting a great Holiday party? Use simple, delicious ingredients and prepare as much as possible in advance. Great advice, if you ask us!

by Heather Peter

Local Links

Piazza Bistro, Oakville
piazzabistro.ca

Pusateri’s, Oakville
pusateris.com

Hosting a large family meal or dinner party can be a daunting task. No one wants to serve up roast poultry, and have it coming out looking like something out of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. With the cooler weather and shorter evenings upon us, most of us start to think about roasting a meal indoors rather than grilling on the BBQ.  We’re here to make sure you prepare a meal that family and guests will be raving about for months to come – until the next one, of course!

Whether you’re looking for a more traditional take on a Sunday roast, or something more modern, the first step to the perfect meal is always the source. Find a butcher that you know and trust, either at your favourite grocery store or at one of the many local butchers in town. Your butcher can help with meal suggestions you may not have thought of, will have great tips on how to cook or prepare your meat, and can assist you with creating the exact meal you had in mind.

The first thing Rick Suitor, owner of Ernie’s Meat Market in Burlington, suggests when creating a perfect Sunday meal is to make sure
you always use a meat thermometer, to ensure you’re getting that perfect result on anything you choose. For a more traditional dinner, Suitor suggests something like a boneless prime rib roast. At Ernie’s Meat Market, they use Triple AAA, Alberta Beef, so rest assured you’ll get some great flavour out of the meat no matter how it’s cooked. A boneless prime rib roast is less work when cooking (since there’s no weight or extra size from the bone) and it tends to be a safer bet. His cooking tip: always be sure to let the roast sit afterwards, and don’t cover beef or pork.

A more modern option that Suitor has seen selling at the Market recently has been their Stuffed Chicken. Though roast chicken is a classic, the stuffed chickens can have a wide range of flavours and options, such as their Cordon Bleu; stuffed with Havarti Cheese and Black Forest Ham, then breaded. Suitor sees the stuffed chicken as more of a plated option, and it’s all about the presentation. He suggests slicing the stuffed chicken and serving it in a pinwheel fashion, for the ultimate eye-catching impression on guests.

When serving up a more traditional meal, Damian Goriup, Owner and Head Butcher at Florence Meats in Oakville, would also advise a cut like prime rib. Prime rib boasts tender, flavourful meat with good marbling, it’s fairly simple to prepare, and can serve a large crowd. Goriup advises you season your roast the night before with coarse salt and pepper, and allow it to reach room temperature prior to cooking.

For a more modern option, Goriup suggests a Beef Tenderloin Roast, because this cut is simple to prepare, does not take as long to cook as a prime rib, and it always comes out tender.  One of the most important considerations to ensure you end up with a flavourful roast, according to Goriup, is to buy local Ontario dry aged beef. Season simply with coarse sea salt and ground pepper, allowing the true flavours of the beef to shine.

So now you’re ready to host your own Sunday dinner, and impress your family and guests with some cooking finesse and meat-knowledge. Don’t be afraid to try something new, but always remember to ask your butcher for their tips and tricks with specific cuts. It could make a big difference!

Local Links

Florence Meats
2136 Speers Road, Oakville
florencemeats.com

J & G Quality Meats
175 Plains Road East, Aldershot

Ernie’s Meat Market
1450 Headon Road, Burlington
erniesmeatmarket.ca

Aslan Market Butcher Shop
5237 Upper Middle Road # 1, Burlington

Cumbraes of Dundas
26 King Street West, Dundas
cumbraes.com

Dietrichs Meat Warehouse
1260 Speers Road, Oakville
dietrichs.ca

Just an Olde Fashioned Butchery
165 Lakeshore Road East, Oakville

By Heather Peter

Just the sheer number of cideries cropping up each year should inicate that if you haven’t tried Ontario cider recently (or since there was only one option on the menu), it’s time. Local cider houses are branching out and experimenting with new ingredients. They can be sweet, dry, tart and bubbly – complex drinks that offer refreshment and a range of flavours. You can experience tastings at an independent cider house, at home, or in restaurants that serve Ontario craft cider.

Nearly a decade ago there was one sole cidery in Ontario. Now, according to the Ontario Craft Cider Association (OCCA), there are 27 and the number is growing each year. Despite its long history throughout the world, it’s making a comeback again in North America. “This allows a lot of room for experimentation and the development of new styles, as well as refining traditional methods to evolve the industry in North America,” says Matt Speight, owner of 26 Acre Cider Co., in Pelham.    

Embracing techniques from the wine-making industry, Chris Haworth, owner operator of West Avenue Cider in Freelton, experiments with aging some of his ciders in bourbon and tequila barrels. At Revel Cider in Guelph, they use Chardonnay barrels and spent gin botanicals from Dillon’s Distillery to give some of their ciders an infusion of spice, citrus and vanilla. “There’s a lot of experimentation now with herbs and spices and different foods,” says Haworth. “Basically anything you can get your hands on.” 

The key to a good cider is the foundation, regardless of whether it’s infused with lavender, maple syrup or delicious Ontario peaches. “You have to start with a good base. You can make cider out of any type of apple, but if it eats well out of your hand it doesn’t make good cider,” explains Haworth. “The bitter, tart apples add different components and complexities. Golden russet is a great Ontario apple, as is northern spy. Once you’ve got that great base cider, you can adjust it with different (ingredients).”   

Cider isn’t just for summer – not when other seasonal produce can be added to a recipe. “The industry itself continues to grow as consumers are consistently looking to try something new,” says Speight. Watch for West Avenue Cider’s fall “Smash me up Butternut”, made with heritage apples and co-fermented with roasted butternut squash; and “Scrumpkin”, fermented with wild yeast and pumpkin. Speight plans to release a small batch of ice cider, as well as using a few locally grown fruits to give their ciders deeper, richer and more complex flavours this winter. “Aside from that, we believe all ciders are a wonderful choice for a winter warmer.”

While the kids are looking forward to Halloween candy, we’ll be thinking of sipping our ciders on the patio or by the fire. We’ll also be giving thanks to the local farmers, growers and makers who are making the most of Ontario’s apples.

Sips &Tips  |  Cider Food Pairing

Perry
Made from pears, and is light, fruity, crisp and medium sweet. People mention notes of lychee, grape, almond and of course pears. Pairs well with: chicken, fish, olive oil-based pasta dishes, pulled pork or soft cheese such as Camembert or Brie.

Sparkling Cider
Can be varied in flavour, often features sweetness (caramel, orange) and spicy notes (cinnamon, nutmeg). Flavour also depends on time of pressing, fermentation methods and age. Pairs well with: cheddar cheese, pork chops, butternut squash, roasted vegetables, poultry (crisp, skin on). OCCA says if you’re pairing with cheese and the alcohol content is less than 5%, choose mild cheeses. Higher alcohol content ciders are best with strong, more pronounced flavoured cheeses.

Iced Cider
Not to be outshone by icewine, iced cider is made using naturally frozen apples in winter. This gives them a higher brix (sugar) concentration. The concentrated juice is fermented, yielding a very sweet, rich beverage. Pairs well with: foie gras, bacon, strong cheeses, blue cheese or cheesecake.

by Becky Dumais

Local Links

West Avenue Cider, Freelton
westavenue.ca

26 Acre Cider Co., Pelham
@26acrecider

Revel Cider, Guelph
revelcider.ca

Ontario Craft Cider Association
ontariocraftcider.com