Creamy Twice Baked Potatoes

These potatoes are so large and filling, they could be served as an entrée with a big green salad. An extra potato is added to the stuffing mixture, which makes them slightly overstuffed — a decadent treat when you're craving carbs. The best thing about this recipe is that it's wonderfully flexible. Any combination of topping ingredients will do. The amounts shown in this recipe are a guideline, but really it's up to your own imagination and taste. We like a creamy and fluffy potato stuffing, so we add cream and beat the potatoes with a hand masher, for a moist, luscious and delicious complement to perfectly grilled steak or tangy baby back ribs. 

Twice Baked Potatoes

Serves 8

6 large baking potatoes
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk or cream
6 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar, Gruyere or Roquefort cheese
8 green onions, sliced

2 tbsp chives, snipped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour. When potatoes are done allow them to cool for about 10 minutes, until they're cool enough to handle. Peel 2 potatoes completely, discarding the skin. Place the pulp in a large bowl. Slice the remaining potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the pulp into the bowl, saving the skins. To the potato pulp, add sour cream, milk or cream, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese, 1/2 the green onions and 1/2 the chives. Mix with a handheld masher until well blended and creamy. Spoon the potato mixture back into the potato skins, top with remaining cheese, green onions and chives, and bake for another 15 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Serve hot with grilled steak or spare ribs.

Salade Nicoise & Sainte-Maure de Touraine

Salade Niçoise, or Niçoise salad, originated in the town of Nice, and is made with boiled new potatoes, steamed haricots verts, boiled eggs, local niçoise olives, cured anchovies, and tomatoes, tossed in a Dijon mustard vinaigrette and topped with tuna. This delicious recipe that we made last weekend, features fresh seared tuna, mixed purple, red and white potatoes and a mixed herb vinaigrette for a new twist on the classic Niçoise. It's important that the tuna be removed from the grill immediately after searing to achieve a 'sashimi' middle, but if you prefer your tuna more well done, just leave it on the grill a little longer. 

Sainte-Maure de Touraine

We served the salad with a warm baguette and a ripe log of French Sainte-Maure de Touraine chevre, a delicious unpasteurized goat's cheese made in the form of a small log which is white and soft under a greyish mouldy ash rind. It's unique feature is the straw through its centre, used to keep the roll together. For cheese lovers — the mouldier and smellier, the better! And with the Niçoise, the partnership was a culinary match made in heaven.

Salade Niçoise

Serves 8

Vinaigrette:

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 tbsp minced fresh tarragon
1 tbsp minced fresh thyme

freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

1 head of curly green leaf or butter lettuce, washed and dried
1 pound small purple, red and white new potatoes, scrubbed and halved

4 large eggs

1/2 pound haricots verts, stems trimmed

2 pounds fresh sushi-quality tuna

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup nicoise olives

8 anchovy fillets

Make the vinaigrette: Combine all ingredients in a mason jar. Screw the cap on the jar and shake the vinaigrette vigorously to emulsify. Set the dressing aside while preparing the salad so the flavours have time to marry.

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan, add water to cover and a nice pinch of salt, bringing to a boil over medium heat. Simmer the potatoes for 12 minutes to give them a head start, and then add the eggs. Place a steamer basket or colander on top of the simmering water. Put the green beans in the steamer and cover with a lid. Steam the beans for 5 minutes until crisp-tender while continuing to cook the potatoes until fork tender. Drain out the water and put the potatoes, eggs, and green beans in a colander; rinse briefly under cold water. Peel the shells off the eggs and cut them in half lengthwise.

Rub the tuna on all sides with olive oil and a fair amount of salt. Lay the tuna on a hot grill and sear for approximately 2 minutes on each side. As the tuna cooks, the red meat will become whiter. Immediately transfer the tuna to a cutting board and slice it against the grain.

To assemble the salad, lay the lettuce on the bottom of a large platter. Arrange the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, olives, anchovies, eggs and sliced tuna in a decorative fashion, overtop of the lettuce. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, season with salt and pepper and serve. 

Milford Bay Trout Farm Gravlax

Milford Bay Trout Farm, currently owned by Ralph & Wendy Uhde, is famous for their fine smoked trout products, including fresh and smoked trout filets, an addictive smoky trout paté and of course, their outstanding gravlax. The smoked trout and gravlax recipes were created by Ralph Uhde's father Rolf, back in the early 80s, using an all natural hardwood dry smoking technique, making their delicate and delicious trout products, a true Muskoka experience. The adventurous can even fish from their well stocked spring fed trout pond, but I prefer to buy their trout filets and gravlax straight from their small farm on Hewlitt Road between Bracebridge and Port Carling off Highway 118. Of course, if you're hoping to go no further north than Bloor Street, Milford Bay products are also sold at Summerhill Market, Pusateri's and Brunos in Toronto. 

Milford Bay Smoked Trout Ricotta 'Cheesecake'

Serves 12

Recipe courtesy of Executive Chef Rory Golden, Deerhurst Resort

This recipe by Rory Golden, Executive Chef at Deerhurst Resort, uses Milford Bay smoked trout to make a very unique style of savoury cheesecake. Made by mistake, it has become a top seller and one of the resort's most popular appetizers.

2 pkgs (8oz) Cream cheese, softened

8 oz Ricotta cheese

3 large eggs

3⁄4 cup all purpose flour
8 oz Milford Bay Smoked Trouts, diced

1⁄4 cup diced white onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp Canola oil

1⁄2 tsp salt

1⁄4 tsp fresh ground white pepper

1 8” round pie crust dough (can use a store bought pie dough crust and form to fit in the bottom of the spring form pan).

Preheat oven to 325°F. In a small pot place oil, onions, garlic and cook over medium heat until transparent. Let cool. Line the bottom and sides of an 8” spring form pan with parchment paper. Roll and cut pie crust to fit bottom of pan. In a large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese and ricotta on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time beating after each addition. Mix in flour. Using a rubber spatula, fold in smoked trout, onions, garlic, salt and white pepper. Pour batter over crust. Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until the top is light brown and the centre has a slight jiggle to it. Let cool for a minimum of two hours. Cut into required portions using a hot knife to avoid crumbling, similar to a dessert cheesecake.

www.milfordbaytroutfarm.com

Tomato, Basil and Asiago Salad

There's nothing like farm fresh Ontario heirloom tomatoes still warm from the vine. Garnished with some good quality olive oil, some lovely chopped basil, a healthy shaving of tangy Asiago cheese and a dash of Maldon sea salt, you have all the makings for my favourite summer lunch. After visiting the Gravenhurst Farmer's Market over the long weekend, we came home with all the ingredients for this delicious salad — the tomatoes and fresh basil came direct from VanHart Greenhouses in the Holland Marsh, and the fabulous Asiago cheese from Cosmo's. Of course, you don't have to drive all the way to Muskoka to take advantage of some of the freshest produce Ontario has to offer — it can be as close as your local farmer's market. 


Tomato, Basil and Asiago Salad
Serves 2

1 large heirloom tomato
chopped fresh basil
2 oz shaved Asiago
olive oil
Maldon Sea salt and black pepper

Cut the tomatoes into generous slices and lay decoratively on a small platter. Pour a good glug of olive oil overtop, then garnish with some shaved Asiago cheese and top with chopped fresh basil. Finish with a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt and some fresh cracked black pepper.

Zucchini & Sun-Dried Tomato Scones

This recipe for Zucchini and Sun-Dried Tomato Scones comes from 'An Elephant in the Kitchen - Recipes from the Wilderness', a Botswanian cookbook by Craig Higgins, that friends picked up on a recent trip to Africa. These scones were served each evening with cocktails while they were on safari. Their jeep would pull over while they were in the bush, and martinis would be served as the sun started to set over the rich wilderness of Mambo on the Okavango Delta. Craig Higgins is the executive chef at Wilderness Safaris' premier Mombo Camp in Botswana, and his cookbook features many outstanding African-inspired recipes, with influences from around the globe. While preparing dishes for guests each day in the camp's kitchen, elephants would frequently visit and monkeys and hyenas would often raid the supplies! Despite such distractions, the recipes in the cookbook reflects Higgins' love of African cuisine and the great splendour of the Okavango Delta - the wildlife jewel of Botswana.

Zucchini & Sun-Dried Tomato Scones
Makes about 10-12 scones

125 g white bread flour
125g cake flour
1g salt
2g bicarbonate of soda
2g cream of tartar
200g grated zucchini (1 zucchini)
50g chopped sun-dried tomatoes
7g butter
112ml buttermilk
1 beaten egg

Sieve the flours with the bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar, then rub in the butter with cold hands. Add the grated zucchini, choppped sun-dried tomatoes and buttermilk, and knead to a soft dough, using your hands. Divide the mixture into small balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Brush the tops with the beaten egg, then bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Serve with a knob of fresh butter, some soft cheese or homemade preserves.

Touchstone on Lake Muskoka & Chef Guy Bedard

Undoubtedly, one of the most picturesque destinations to dine in Muskoka, is Touchstone on Lake Muskoka. Perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the deep blue waters of Lake Muskoka, Touchstone is a handsome resort-style community of villa inspired condominiums. Touchstone features fabulous spa facilities, but mch more important - one of the best kitchens in the area, Taste Dining, under the creative leadership of Executive Chef Guy Bedard. This casually elegant restaurant, set amid the rustic beauty of magical Muskoka, Chef Bedard has created an inspired menu that embraces the regional flavours of Muskoka's contemporary culinary scene, taking full advantage of the freshest local ingredients to create dishes that are both delicious and inspired.

Executive Chef Guy Bedard - Touchstone on Lake Muskoka

The luncheon menu features dishes such as Touchstone Salad with fresh local greens, Roma tomatoes, english cucumber and pea shoots with a Bala cranberry and maple dessert wine vinaigrette; Muskoka Cottage Brewery Battered Pickerel with fresh locally caught pickerel, caper and gherkin remoulade; and a flavourful Grilled Chicken Cubhouse served on a multigrain kaiser with fresh local greens and tomato, with peameal bacon, havarti cheese and finished with a delicious roasted red pepper aioli. Dinner selections include Milford Bay Smoked Trout with Brookland farms Arugula, caramelized red onions, caper cream cheese, scallion potato crostini with a lemon chive vinaigrette; Grilled Ontario Rack of Lamb with Brooklands Farm seasonal vegetables ad fresh mint balsamic drizzle; and Rainbow Trout Tower featuring Milford Bay trout with creamy sun-dred tomato polenta topped with crisp prosciutto and sweet oats with Brooklands Farms seasonal greens and wildflower honey drizzle.

If you're in search of the quintessential Muskoka weekend, visit Katcha and Ken at Brooklands Farm for their fresh organic seasonal vegetables, farm fresh eggs and maple syrup tapped from their own maple grove; explore the Milford Bay Trout Farm for their smokey salmon trout filets, gravlax and mousse; and for the final coup de grace, finish with a memorable lunch or dinner at Touchstone. In the Autumn, there's also the Muskoka Studio Arts Tour that features the heart of Muskoka's thriving art scene. Only 2 hours from Toronto, you'll end up coming up to cottage country, time and time again. Savour Muskoka and discover a magical corner of Ontario that is a world apart from the ordinary.



Harvest Salad with Warm Apples
Serves 4
Recipe courtesy of Chef Guy Bedard - Touchstone/Lake Muskoka

4 cups baby lettuces, washed
2 medium sized carrots, sliced thinly
½ cup pecan pieces
½ cup smoked Cheddar, grated
1 medium beet, cooked, peeled, sliced thinly
1 Royal Gala apple, cut into wedges

Cider Vinaigrette:
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¾ cup canola oil
2 tbsp honey
Salt and pepper

In a food processor, add cider vinegar, honey and salt and pepper. Slowly add the canola oil while the processor is on for about one minute. Heat apple wedges in a frying pan with a ¼ cup of the cider vinaigrette until a little soft. Arrange lettuce in bowls. Place 4 slices of carrots and beets each on the lettuce. Pour apple slices and vinaigrette on top and garnish with the smoked cheddar and pecans.

Classic Potato Salad

Everyone has their own special recipe for Potato Salad, and those that are old family favourites from childhood are hard to beat. But this recipe that my friends Richard and Cory prepared, is a sure fire winner. Inspired by a recipe from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, this Classic Potato Salad calls for a lovely combination of white, red and purple potatoes, with a full flavoured creamy and crunchy dressing made with good quality mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, fresh dill, celery and red onion. Easy and delicious, this recipe is sure to become a new family favourite.


Classic Potato Salad
Serves 6-8

3 lbs small red, white and purple potatoes
1 cup good quality mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp whole-grain mustard
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup medium diced celery
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt

Place the potatoes and 2 tbsp salt in a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are barely tender when pierced with a knife. Drain the potatoes in a colander then place the colander with the potatoes over the empty pot off the heat, and cover with a dry clean dish towel. Leave the potatoes to steam for 15-20 minutes, until tender but firm. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Dijon and whole-grain mustards, dill, 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper, then set aside. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them into quarters or halves, depending on the size. Place the cut potatoes into a large bowl and pour enough dressing over them to moisten. As the salad sits, you'll need to pour more dressing. Add the celery and red onion, 2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of fresh ground pepper. Toss well, cover and chill for a few hours to allow the fllavours to meld.