Review: Paradiso, Oakville, Ontario

The weekend after Meredith's birthday, we were in Oakville and were taken out for dinner. I looked the place up on Urban Spoon before we left and wasn't sure about it when I saw a dish marketed as "Moroccan chicken supreme," that included "balsamic paint." It seemed like a bit much, so I was apprehensive.

But the reality is that Paradiso is a Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Oakville that looks like it's the place to be. The wait staff are great and when we got there we were given a detailed explanation of the menu - the specials, what was popular, etc. It was a little dark inside, so the photos I took don't do the dishes justice.

When our drink orders were taken, we were served some freshly-baked bread with olive oil. It was moist and flavourful.

Meredith started with the sesame cornmeal crusted calamari served with horseradish cocktail sauce, toasted seed and cucumber aioli and grilled lemon. I wasn't sure what the grilled lemon was about, however, it did look good.

I started with the honey roasted beet and goat cheese salad. It was very tasty - the beets were sweet and the cheese really complimented the sweetness.

For my main, I had the twelve-hour braised wild boar gnocci. The gnocci was hand-rolled and very soft, not dry at all,  and served with the shredded boar meat, in a cream sauce with a "truffle scented pecorino crust." The crust wasn't anything to write home about - is was a little salty, however, it didn't take away from the pork and gnocci - it was excellent.

Meredith's main was a crab ravioli in a dill and cilantro cream sauce. It was very tasty. The ravioli was so good that Meredith finished eating before I did, even with a great deal of dinner conversation.

Meredith was also given a chocolate torte for a birthday dessert. It was very, very, rich. Solid chocolate, crusted with nuts  and topped with cream. It was a serious dessert. Not for kids.

Overall, I'd go back. The food was great and so was the atmosphere. I just won't order the Moroccan chicken.



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Mulligatawny Soup

Soup season is definitely here. There's no doubt about it, and here's another restaurant soup from my past.

Years ago, I attended a franchise presentation for a small chain of Indian fast-food restaurants. It was a very interesting concept, as all of the food was prepared off-site and managed in a manner that made it easy to prepare and serve quickly.

Anyway, their website had a recipe for Mulligatawny, a soup that was made famous in North America by TV's Seinfeld. I made it at the time and it was quite tasty. When I decided to make it again, I was surprised to find that the website no longer existed. Fortunately, the Internet Archive had a copy of the page and I was able work from there.

The recipe on the website had a few errors in it, and I never bothered to write the authors for a correction, so I winged it in a few places. Fortunately, that's the nature of the soup - most of the ingredients vary wherever you go. Some variations use meat, some don't. Some use coconut milk, others use milk and cream.

Another tasty looking variation can be found at Foodland Ontario. Unlike their Moroccan Chicken recipe, I'd probably attempt the Foodland Ontario soup by following their directions.

Mulligatawny Soup

Phase 1

2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 crushed garlic clove
1/4 cup red pepper, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
4 cups water
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
2 tsp sugar

1. In a pot, heat oil on medium and sauté onions and cumin seeds until onions are translucent.
2. Add garlic, red peppers, and tomato sauce stirring continuously.
3. Add water, basil, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, curry powder, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce to medium and cook, covered for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
5. Transfer mixture to a blender.
6. Add milk and puree the mixture.
7. Return soup to the pot and stir in cream and sugar.

Phase 2

2 tbsp canola oil

1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1 bay leaf
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup eggplant, peeled and diced
1/4 cup green peas
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a deep pan over medium heat.
2. Let vegetables simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until cooked.
3. Pour mixture into pot from phase 1 and let simmer for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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Apple Pie

In September, our friend Penny, of Sweet Sadie's Baking, entered a pie baking contest at Chudleigh's apple farm. Meredith assisted preparing the crust and we all pitched in to peel and core the apples.

A Ginger Gold apple at Chudleigh's.

Penny prepared for a long night of pie baking.

Meredith's pie wasn't as refined (we bought a prepared crust), however, she based her filling on Penny's method.

Apple Pie

2 prepared pie crusts
Apple Filling
4 medium Ginger Gold apples
4 medium Macintosh apples
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
2 tbsp butter
1 egg white, beaten lightly
1-2 tbsp sugar, for topping

1. Combine 3/4 cup sugar, salt, allspice, cloves and cinnamon in small bowl.
2. Peel, core, and cut apples into 1/2-to-3/4-inch slices and toss with lemon juice, then add sugar mixture and toss again. Let mixture sit for 30 minutes. Drain and boil juices with 2 tbsp butter for 5 minutes to reduce. Pour 1/3 cup of these juices back over apples.
3. Remove dough from refrigerator. If it is still stiff and very cold, let it stand until the dough is cool but malleable.
4. The pie is baked on the oven floor. If you have a pizza stone available, place it on the oven floor and cover it with foil before preheating the oven.
5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
6. Gently press dough into sides of 9-inch pie pan (glass, foil, or tin) leaving some crust hanging over the lip of the pie plate.
7. Empty the fruit mixture, including juices, into the chilled pie shell and mound slightly in centre of the pie.
8. Place the second dough round over the filling. Trim the top and bottom edges to one half-inch beyond the pan lip and tuck the rim of dough underneath itself so the folded edge is flush with the pan lip. Flute edging or press with fork tines to seal.
9. Make a 1-inch hole in the top crust in the centre of the pie. Cut four slits at right angles on the top around the centre hole. Brush egg white onto the top of the crust and sprinkle evenly with remaining tablespoon of sugar.
10. Reduce oven temperature to 425-degrees. Place pie on the floor of oven or the pizza stone and bake for approximately 25 minutes, until the top crust is golden.
11. Reduce oven temperature to 375-degrees and continue baking for an additional 30-35 minutes, until the juices bubble and the crust is deep golden-brown.
12. Transfer pie to wire rack; cool to almost room temperature, at least 4 hours.

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