Celebrate Canada Day the Canadian way Summer is almost underway and Canada Day is fast approaching. If you’re looking for Patriotic menu inspiration, look no further. Nothing screams Canada more than maple. Now combine the deliciously sweet flavour of maple syrup with the rich and creamy texture of 100% Canadian Cream Cheese, and you have yourself the perfect Canada Day treat. These delectable Maple and Cream Cheese Squares will have your taste buds singing “O Canada” in no time. As for Canuck-approved wine pairings, I can recommend a variety of different local varieties from Canada’s finest wineries in Niagara, Ontario. […]
Dessert & Wine
The Great Canadian Wine Match: Red, White and True North Food
In The Great Candian Wine Match, an annual battle of the bottles, you can vote for your favourite Canadian wines to pair with Canadian cheese, chicken, beef, seafood, pizza and dessert. As the people’s choice awards for Canadian wines, the competition takes a grassroots, “bottoms up” approach to get us rallying behind our favourite bottles from coast to coast. How do I nominate a wine? Go to the nomination wall for one of the six Canadian food categories: chicken, beef, pizza, cheese, seafood or dessert. Simply enter the name or product code of the wine. You can find product codes […]
Pairing Wine and Cookies Video Tips
Pairing wine and cookies? Oooh yes! In this video chat, Laura Englander and Leah Kuo, the founders of Cookies n Corks, talk about how you can match cookies and wine. They discuss the types of cookies that work best with white wine, red wine and sparkling wine — and they have great ideas on how to host a fun tasting party with friends. How did you came up with this idea? What were the challenges in starting this business? Don’t cookies make dry wine taste bitter? How did you adjust the recipes for the cookies to go well […]
Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe Paired with Grant Burge 10 Year Old Tawny
This holiday classic is the perfect finale to Christmas dinner. A fantastic pairing with this dessert is Grant Burge 10 Year Old Tawny, a port-style blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre. Makes 10 servings For the Puddings: 1 ¾ cups packed pitted dates, chopped 2 cups water 1 ½ tsp baking soda 2 cups flour ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp ginger ½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp salt 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 cup sugar 3 large eggs For the Toffee Sauce: ¾ cup unsalted butter 1 ½ cup brown sugar 1 cup 35% cream ½ tsp vanilla […]
Food & Wine 19
It wasn’t long ago that I decided to set out to learn more about wine. As I immersed myself in the subject, I begrudgingly discovered there was more to learn than I ever wanted. The simple fact is, I, like most people, wanted a few simple, easy-to-follow rules to pair wine with my food. Much to my surprise, I learned that a lifetime of eating experiences gives us all the basic tools we can use to understand food flavor combinations and wine compatibility. Instinctively we know that corn-on-the cob tastes best with butter. Or a splash of lemon on seafood […]
Terrific Turkey Wines that will Make Your Holiday Meal More Festive – The Province
When hosting a holiday meal, the wines you serve are just as important as the food when it comes to making a sparkling impression with guests. From beginning to end, pairing the best wines with appetizers, the main course and dessert will not only show your guests you care enough to make the effort but will also give them an unforgettable experience this holiday season. Start the night off with a toast of bubbly to celebrate the occasion and the New Year to come. “Champagne is a very festive wine,” says Jennifer McLagan, an Australian-trained chef and author of Fat: […]
Food & Wine
Dinner with wine used to be simple. The rule was white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat. But most of us don’t just eat meat and potatoes or drink claret and chablis these days. With modern fusion cuisine and wines from new regions around the world, the choices – and confusion – are great. One new school of thought is that any wine goes with any dish. However, most of us don’t put ketchup on our ice cream for the same reason as we don’t drink a delicate white wine with a hearty meat dish or […]
Food & Wine 2
Natalie MacLean didn’t start out with a love of wine. Meals with her husband, who enjoyed having a bottle of wine with dinner, are where MacLean first discovered wine. “I always say that I didn’t start drinking until I met my husband,” said MacLean. “And now that I am writing about wine for a living, I don’t have a reason to stop.” Editor of a free wine newsletter at www.nataliemaclean.com, MacLean took her love of wine and turned it into a career. Starting off by writing about wine on the Internet, she was picked up by a local food magazine […]
Food & Wine 4
Why did the chicken flee screaming across the road? It might’ve been escaping the dinner-party host trying to fry him and serve him with, yawn, a bottle of chardonnay. Matching vino and vittles for your next bash doesn’t have to be a “Wine for Dummies” affair relying on tried-and-tired combos (steak with Merlot, fish and Pinot Grigio). But combining tidbits that are supposedly wine-averse — Indian take-out, chips, breakfast — might mean you’ll uncork some interesting bottles. “In Europe, wine culture is quite developed, so it’s common and easy to simply pair white with fish or things like that,” says […]
A Valentine’s Day cheese platter is a great opportunity to treat your loved one
A great way to let your valentine know you care is with small, unique gestures. So why not go beyond the traditional flowers and chocolates and surprise your special someone with a romantic cheese platter? Your partner will think the world of you and it only takes minutes to prepare. This platter maximizes pleasure and simplicity, and everything on it can be eaten with a fork. Start off with a Saint-Paulin, a creamy and buttery cheese, and couple it with a salty and savoury Parmesan. Cut both cheeses into cubes and place them on the simplest, most elegant plate you […]
