Zosia's Reviews
15 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 15Sort by: Title 
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A Taste of Canada
By Rose Murray
Whitecap Books Ltd. - 2010
Apple Thyme Grilled Pork Chops : page 97
This recipe produced succulent pork chops with a sweet-tart glaze; the juicy apples with the smoky flavour were bonus.
The marinade of apple and lemon juices, cider vinegar and oil was very quick to put together. I had fresh thyme on hand so used that instead of dried. I had to adjust my cooking method as it was too cold and wet to grill outside; I used a grill pan to sear the chops and apple quarters, then finished them in the oven.
The glaze, made from the boiled marinade, had just enough honey added to counter the sharpness of the lemon. It went very well with the pork without overwhelming it.
Delicious and easy dish but special enough for company.
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Really delicious braised veal shanks slowly simmered with chunky potatoes and vegetables in a rich wild mushroom sauce flavoured with rosemary and thyme.
Though the veal was floured before browning and additional flour was added to the pot, the sauce was still a little thin when everything was cooked. I used Yukon gold potatoes so they’d maintain their shape during the long cooking time….perhaps a mealier potato would have helped to thicken the sauce. I reduced it a little before serving to solve the problem.
We love osso bucco so it was no surprise that the family loved this; I enjoyed the flavour but also liked the fact that it was a complete meal…..it just needed a salad.
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Broccoli Slaw : page 169
Excellent brightly coloured and flavoured salad that can be made hours ahead.
The tangy-sweet dressing is a very simple oil-white vinegar blend that’s seasoned with sugar and paprika, the latter of which I could have done without as it didn’t contribute any flavour to the salad, just a peculiar pink-orange hue! The toasted sunflower seeds added a nice crunch and nutty flavour.
The recipe says it serves 8 but I found it barely served 6. Family really liked this so I will definitely make it again.
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Butter Tarts in Phyllo : page 190
Oh my, these were good! Sweet, gooey filling in a crispy pastry shell.
The filling had the standard ingredients for butter tarts with pecans added, and came together quickly. It was less egg and butter-rich and a little sweeter than other recipes I’ve made but with the high proportion of pastry to filling, the finished tart wasn’t too sweet.
I loved the use of phyllo in this application; it not only reduced the time spent making them (it took ~30 minutes including baking time) but also elevated these tarts to a company-worthy dessert.
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Cheddar Apple Soup : page 31
The smell of this soup cooking was out of this world! Slowly simmering apples, leeks and curry made for a heady combination. Those ingredients, with the addition of stock and cider formed the basis of this soup.
I had a few types of apples to choose from in the fridge; I went with Honey Crisp as it’s my family’s current favourite and I thought it would go well with aged cheddar. The soup was thickened with flour and puréed before the cheddar and Parmesan cheeses were added.
The flavour was lovely…….the sweet-tart apple and cider balanced the sharp cheeses beautifully and the curry provided warm and mellow spicing. A delicious soup for fall.
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Creamy Potato-Parsnip Mash : page 141
I’ve never used an electric mixer to make mashed potatoes before…..if I’d known how fluffy and creamy they’d be, I would have been hauling out that appliance to do it long before now! Of course, the sour cream, cream cheese and butter in the mash may have contributed to this texture as well ;)
The potato-parsnip-garlic mash, though very flavourful, was also quite sweet; the tanginess of the sour cream and cream cheese helped to counter this. I imagine buttermilk would have the same effect. I might use that next time.
The mash had a beautiful creamy texture and a slightly sweet, nutty flavour though I do wish the garlic flavour were stronger. Overall, I thought this was an excellent end-use for parsnips.
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I think grilling has replaced roasting as my favourite method of cooking fruit for dessert….it creates that beautiful caramelized sugar surface, adds an intriguing smoky flavour and allows the fruit to retain its integrity.
In this recipe, halved, unpeeled pears (I used ripe but firm Bartlett) are marinated in a honey-butter-lemon juice mixture before grilling and are served warm with ginger-laced, sweetened mascarpone cream.
Simple and delicious.
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Maple Yogurt Mousse : page 187
Creamy, light and low fat……a wonderful sweet ending to a fall meal.
The mousse is a combination of maple syrup, low fat plain yogurt and milk, lightened with a little whipped cream and stabilized with gelatin. I used what I had on hand: medium grade maple syrup, non-fat Greek yogurt and 1% milk and stabilized it with agar agar.
This dessert was delicious…it tasted of maple syrup but the tangy yogurt prevented it from being too sweet. It didn’t have the airy texture of a mousse, not surprising since the only whipped ingredient was a very small amount of cream, but the texture was still very light. I served it with these chocolate pecan batons.
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Quick Seafood Stew : page 67
Quite impressive for a 30-minute meal.
The base starts with some very basic pantry items (canned tomatoes, clam juice, bay leaves, thyme, garlic), but there are some little twists in this recipe that have a big impact on the final flavour: sweet onions and red pepper that balance the acidity of the tomatoes, saffron which adds an earthiness, and a little wine.
Once this simmers for a bit and the flavours meld, it becomes a fantastic vehicle for any combination of fish and seafood that looks fresh (though I think good quality frozen would work as well). I used shrimp, cod and mussels.
Quick and easy but also company worthy.
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Raspberry Nanaimo Bars : page 236
This sweet treat from Nanaimo, BC gets transformed (and liquored up!) with the addition of raspberry liqueur and jam.
Traditionally, this is a no-bake bar cookie that consists of a chewy chocolate base, a creamy vanilla centre and an intense chocolate ganache topping. The components are quick to make and assemble, though there is the toasting and chopping of walnuts for the base which also gets baked in this recipe, but chilling is required before slicing. This is a sweet cookie so I made sure to use a tart raspberry jam between the base and creamy layers, and bittersweet chocolate in the ganache.
The raspberry flavour was a very nice addition to these bars; they’re quite rich so I cut 36 instead of 16 bars from the 8” square. I’ve included a link to the official recipe from the city of Nanaimo.
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Sesame Wheat Biscuits : page 58
Made with whole wheat flour and sesame seeds, these biscuits had wonderful flavour. The dough was easy to put together and work with but despite how much they rose in the oven, they weren’t particularly light and flaky…I think the whole wheat flour may have weighed them down.
I served them with cheddar apple soup and used them in ham sandwiches…delicious but best eaten warm.
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Tourtière Turnovers : page 16
These are miniature versions of the savoury meat pie from Quebec, made with ground pork filling seasoned with savoury, cinnamon and cloves and baked in flaky puff pastry.
For this version, the minced meat is slowly simmered with aromatics, herbs and spices before being combined with mashed potatoes. The meat was very moist and flavourful as a result and the filling easy to work with after it had been briefly chilled.
This recipe makes 48 cocktail portions but I found that the pastry to filling ratio is too high when I made them that size – I think phyllo might be a better choice when they’re that small. This time, I made 16 turnovers, more of a snack or light lunch size, and the ratio was much better. Great served hot or cold.
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Wild Mushroom and Back Bacon Risotto : page 19
Delicious creamy risotto with the earthy flavours of wild mushrooms and sage, and sweet ‘n’ salty back bacon.
Only dried mushrooms are used but they have huge flavour; they’re first reconstituted in the stock that’s used to cook the rice, infusing it with their flavour, then added to the sautéed onions, garlic and julienned back bacon. A handful of green peas added at the end prevent this dish from being 50 shades of beige but don’t add much otherwise. The finishing touch is grated Asiago cheese.
Very rich and satisifying. The recipe appears in the appetizer section of the book but it served 3 as a main course.
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A delicious variation of a latke with the “rice” adding a chewy texture and nutty flavour to a traditional crispy potato pancake.
The pancake mix contains equal volumes of cooked wild rice and grated potato with a little egg and flour as binders. The author provides instructions and helpful tips for preparing the rice - which isn’t rice at all, but a type of grass - great to know if you’ve never worked with it.
The recipe appears in the appetizer section of the book and I have served them with the suggested sour cream and caviar at a party and they were fantastic, but they’re also wonderful as a side with a dollop of Greek yogurt.
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Zesty Three-Cheese Macaroni : page 130
Macaroni baked with chopped tomatoes, Asiago, provolone and Canadian sharp cheddar……..this version was a big but welcome departure from the usual creamy mac ‘n’ cheese.
The dish was very easy to put together as the only pre-cooked component was the pasta. It was tossed with canned chopped tomatoes, grated/cubed cheese and seasonings. I omitted the Worcestershire sauce so vegetarian daughter could eat it and increased the hot sauce.
The last step before baking is to pour a milk/egg mixture over the pasta/cheese. I had concerns that this would curdle during baking….well founded concerns as it turns out because that’s exactly what happened! Next time, instead of trying to thicken the mixture with this “custard”, I’ll use drained chopped tomatoes so the mixture is not quite as liquidy.
Apart from the little cooked egg bits – not very pretty – this dish was fantastic. It was zesty, just as the name implies, and despite all of the cheese, tasted much lighter than the creamy version. Flavour deserves 5 stars but I can’t overlook the curdled custard.
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