Wanderlust and Words

What will I discover in downtown Regina? Gourmet cabbage, raspberry porter, a vegetarian coffee shop, an English library, and a bento box – not to mention a fantastic light display.  Flip – Cabbage Goes Gourmet Most restaurants have a vegetarian option on their menu, but it is frequently tacked on as an afterthought – boring and predictable. On the other hand, a talented chef will take mundane vegetables and turn them into an outstanding gourmet feast. The Savoy Cabbage Ragout by Chef Dave Straub of Flip blew me away. It combined cabbage simmered in white wine, romano beans, lentils and leeks with roasted baby potatoes, grape tomatoes and a sprinkling of parmesan. The dish was a happy blend of textures and flavours. Who knew that cabbage and beans could taste so good! With a full wall of windows, Flip (1970 Hamilton Street, next to Atlantis Coffee) is full of light with an open bar and kitchen so you can watch the chefs prepare your meal. Service was friendly, and the d...

Foodie news and events in and around Saskatoon – women feed the world, cheese-making, granola bars, and philosophy - don't you wish you were here?  Women and Girls Feeding the World, March 11 Attend Women and Girls Feeding the World , a celebration of International Women’s Day, on Sunday, March 11, from 1:30 to 4:00 pm at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. There will be entertainment, education and refreshments as you share and learn about the importance of food and food security in the lives of women. (via @S_Beev - thank you!) Executive Chef Dinner, Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, March 15 Ryan Marquis, Executive Chef of the Delta Bessborough, will be cooking up a storm at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market's Executive Chef Dinner  on Thursday, March 15. Chef Ryan is a two-time winner of the Silver Medal at the Saskatchewan Gold Plates. His menu includes Caramelized Squash & Jalapeño Bisque, Roasted Beet Carpaccio, Rhubarb Wine Drunken Northern Pike with Lentil Sal...

Shopping at the mall or the supermarket is convenient: it’s one-stop shopping for a wide range of different products. And yet, there is a particular joy in purchasing and using a handcrafted item and in supporting your neighbour’s small business – if only you could find them. Marsha Lemon is a busy mother with four young children. She was looking for a baby blanket for her sister in law’s newborn, and she was sure that there were local knitters who made beautiful garments, but how was she to find them? “I didn’t know where to begin so I looked online, but I couldn’t find anything,” Marsha explains. “When I did a general search for ‘local Saskatchewan’ and ‘made in Saskatchewan,’ I came across lots of industry-specific sites, such as the Saskatchewan Craft Council or the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers’ Association , but with the exception of SaskMade Marketplace , which at that point was under different ownership and seemed more food-based, there was no one website where consumers c...

Foodie news and events in and around Saskatoon – Mexican chocolate, Ukrainian babas, Boreal Bistro, Seedy Saturday Seedy Saturday, March 10 Seedy Saturday, a family-friendly eco-fair promoting open pollinated and heirloom seed-saving, biodiversity and sustainable living, will be held on Saturday, March 10, from 11 am to 4 pm at E.D. Feehan High School. Organized by CHEP Good Food Inc., the activities will include 35 exhibitors, a demonstration area, the SaskTel Mendel Art Caravan for kids, and hourly workshops. Workshop topics include: Seed Saving , Wildflower Gardens , Home Composting , and Sustainable Agriculture in Cuba . Watch for updates at http://www.chep.org/ . The Boreal Bistro, Christopher Lake Executive Chef Kevin Tetz is busy preparing for the opening of his restaurant, The Boreal Bistro , in the Christopher Lake Hotel on April 2. We can expect some unique items based on foraged food from the boreal forest as well as traditional lakeland food. You can follow The Bor...

Foodie news and events in and around Saskatoon – buy a share in a market garden, take a cooking class or attend the Saskatoon Heritage Society Dinner Buy a Share in Wally’s Urban Market Garden Gail and Wally, Wally’s Urban Market Garden, are offering 10-20 people the opportunity to support their market garden through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) scheme. $500 will purchase a half share that will be worth $600 credit for whatever produce is available at their market stand all year round. $1000 will purchase a full share and $1200 stand credit. Wally and Gail have a wide variety of produce, for example: shallots, pea greens, salad mixes, heirloom tomatoes, squash, beans, potatoes, beets, spinach, chard and fresh herbs. This is a limited offer. Talk to Wally or Gail as soon as possible if you are interested. They are at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, or email them at gail@marketgardening.com . Hudsons Sa...

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and I am in love with chocolate. Here are some interesting, perhaps unexpected options. Give them to a friend – give them to yourself. Enjoy! Go Green Go Local A number of stores sell organic chocolate (Dad’s Organic Market, Herbs ‘n’ Health Foodport). An excellent Canadian choice is Denman Island Chocolate from Steep Hill Co-operative. It’s difficult to find a truly local chocolate bar as we can’t grow cocoa beans in Canada. Denman Island Chocolate is, however, manufactured in Canada. Daniel and Ruth Terry moved to the Gulf Islands, British Columbia, in 1998. They turned to chocolate, “a shared love that dated back to their search for the perfect fuel while bicycle touring in northern France.” The company practises environmentally sustainable practises – from using recycled wrapping paper to wrapping the chocolate melter in a cocoa cozy. They donate 1% of their gross income to local environmental conservation groups. You have lots of fla...

Foodie news and events in and around Saskatoon – fine dining opportunities, Taste Legend, Farmers’ Market membership, and pioneer family life Valentine’s Day Candlelight Buffet, Wanuskewin Wanuskewin Heritage Park is holding a Gourmet Candlelight Buffet at 6:30 pm on February 14 . The menu, prepared by Executive Chef Kevin Merasty, includes Northern Saskatchewan Wild Rice Salad with Sun-Dried Cranberries and Almonds, Peppercorn Bison Wellington, Seven Grain Cherokee Rice Pilaf, Flambéed Shrimp in Chili Lime Butter, and Chocolate Fondue. There will be a First Nations dance performance following the dinner. Executive Chef Dinner, February 16 The next Saskatoon Farmers’ Market Executive Chef Dinner is on Thursday, February 16 and will be prepared by Chef Brent Lloyd . The menu includes Goat Cheese Crostini with Honey Caviar, Roasted Apple and Parsnip Soup finished with Apple Cider Foam, Wild Boar Pot Stickers, Lingonberry Braised Beef Short Ribs on Truffled Polenta, and War...

Do you only visit the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market in the summer when the Market Square is overflowing with fresh vegetables? Maybe you think there isn’t much worth buying in the winter, but you’d be wrong. Saskatoon’s chefs know better – they shop at the Market all year round. Chef Anthony McCarthy I was one of the lucky guests at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market’s first Executive Chef Dinner in January. Chef Anthony McCarthy, winner of the 2011 Saskatchewan Gold Medal Plates, prepared a delicious five-course meal with products he had purchased at the Market. It was such a delight to see the variety of local products he used in his recipes and to realize that I could employ many of the same products and techniques at home. Local Vegetables This is the first year of operations for Floating Gardens’ year-round greenhouse, and it’s been such a treat to be able to buy fresh greens (sorrel, spinach, basil, Chinese chrysanthemum), tomatoes and other fresh produce even in the winter. C...

Travel in Europe and you are immediately struck by the number and variety of local cheeses, but then you come home to Saskatchewan and there are next to no local artisan cheeses, but that situation is about to change. ( Salayview Farm south of Regina has just started making an excellent fresh goat cheese.) The Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre Inc. (Food Centre) held a two-day cheese-making workshop this past week, and it was filled to capacity with people who were eager to start making cheese as a hobby or to sell commercially. The course was led by Margaret Morris of Glengarry Cheesemaking and Erin Hiebert, the Food Centre’s Manager of Skills Development and Food Safety Programs, while Brev Chesky, the Centre’s Processing Director, assisted with the hands-on portion of the workshop. I was fortunate to join the class at the end of the workshop and to get a first-hand glimpse at the cheese-making process as well as to meet some of the participants. The Course Margar...