DELIGHTFUL DELIGHT
SAAG THAT DOESN’T SAG
LAST LEG BLUEBERRY PIE
CUSS THIS CUSTARD
Now, I promised myself not to write like an asshole, but the Delight chocolaterie is a true delight. I absolutely love everything about it, from the location to the products, to the staff—Jennifer Rashleigh and Jeff Brown got it right. Nestled in the Juntion (Dundas & High Park ave.), just out of reach of the hipsters’ usual stomping grounds, this unassuming organic chocolaterie and creamery serves up mouthfuls of orgasmic delight.
The shop is small, but they provide a seating area that can comfortably sit about two couples and a small family, or seven lonely chocolate munchers. The space is open allowing patrons to watch as the chocolate artisans beaver away on scrumptious morsels. And the staff is very approachable and, in my experience, knowledgeable, and will gladly answer your neophyte chocolate questions.
What I love about Delight is that they aren’t just a chocolate shop, but they operate under a few different guises. During the winter they’re a café serving up fair-traded locally roasted coffee (Alternative Grounds), but once summer hits they sport a new face: they are the ice cream kings of Dundas. Delight makes ice cream throughout the summer showcasing ripe Niagara region fruit. I should note that while their alternating fruit flavours are phenomenal, you shouldn’t over look their staple selection: chocolate (dairy full and dairy free), mint chocolate chip, and blue cheese.
I SCREAM 4 ICED CREAM
Their chocolate ice cream is so rich it should be taxed, and their dairy-free version could fool the most critical of vegans. My all time favourite is the mint chocolate chip. It tastes like no other—first of all, it’s not dyed some gaudy green; second, you can taste the real spearmint; and finally, the chocolate chips are small truffles that melt in your mouth! Now, I know that blue cheese ice cream sounds a little off putting, but as an accent to the fruit flavours it’s really quite sublime. It isn’t a harsh bleu cheese, but a mild one, made in Quebec, that offers a small kick to finish every lick.
So, back to the fruit ice creams— the season began with strawberries, transitioned into raspberries and blueberries, and is now reveling in apricot. I hear pear is still on the way. The pear should pair (haha) nicely with their blue flavour. So far my favourite has been strawberry. Perhaps that’s because it was made with fresh (and I believe organic?) field strawberries, or maybe it’s because once the strawberry season waned so did the ice cream. So, maybe it’s that everything tastes better from a nostalgic point of view, or maybe that was the best mother fucking strawberry ice cream of my life.
They are open Tuesday to Thursday 9-9, Friday 9-10, Saturday 10-10 pm, Sunday 11-6. Closed Monday. I would recommend it as a nice way to round off a Junction date. Grab some scoops in their homemade waffle cones (also amazing) and stroll on over to High Park for some evening canoodling. Maybe even catch this year’s production of Shakespeare in the park.
A quick and dirty meal that strays from the traditional saag, but doesn’t leave your taste buds wanting. This saag recipe can be made to suit the palate of meat eaters, or the chicken can easily be substituted with either paneer or Yves’ Veggie Tenders.
Ingredients
- Enough oil to coat the bottom of two pans (4 tbs approx)
- 1 large yellow onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 green chilies
- 1 tbs turmeric
- 4 tbs curry powder
- 10 cardamom pods
- 1 tsp cloves
- 2 tbs ground coriander
- 1 tbs red chilly powder
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- salt (to taste)
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 3 bunches of spinach (washed and chopped)
- 2 ½ pounds of chicken breast OR 2 packages of Yves’ Veggie Tenders
- 3 cups of plain yoghurt
Lezz git cookn’
1. Cut the chicken into bite sized strips. Fry the chicken, real or Yves’, in the oil until for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown and set aside.
2. In a deep pot heat enough oil to coat the bottom and add the ginger, garlic, onions, and chilies.
3. When onions are translucent add turmeric, curry powder, cardamom pods, cloves, and ground coriander. Fry for another minute—do not allow to burn. If necessary add a little extra oil.
4. Add spinach.
5. Add can of tomatoes & salt.
6. Let simmer for 30 minutes until spinach becomes soft enough to be broken easily by the back of the spoon.
7. Remove from stove and let cool.
8. Pick out the cardamom pods.
9. With a handheld blender blend the mixture; keep it a little chunky, you don’t want it too soupy!
10. Stir in 2 cups of yogurt.
11. Add chicken.
12. Stir and place back on stovetop on low heat. Let cook on low for 20 minutes.
13. Serve on top of basmati rice, or accompanied by naan, or roti, with a dollop of yoghurt on top and sprinkled with chilly powder. & remember to salt to taste!
A blueberry cheese crumble
As summer rolls to a close, it becomes very hard to say no to behemoth boxes of blueberries. Maybe it’s that old hibernation drive that makes moderation become such a foreign concept, but they’re so very economical and so very delicious! Who could say no? Now, I can manage to inhale my fair share of the blue delectables, but eventually the box gets pushed to the back of the fridge. A few days later, when my interest is re-piqued, the berries, thanks to the heat, have become a minefield of rotten berries mixed with still perfectly firm and succulent sister berries. Most people see the mould and immediately go for the garbage, but while these berries might no longer be picture perfect, I promise you they’ll still make a killer pie.
You will need… for the dough
- 1 cup of butter
- 2 cups white all purpose flour
- ½ cup of sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- Rind of one lemon
- 1/8 cup cool water (if needed)
You will need… for the crumble
¾ cup flour
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 1 egg yoke (whisked)
- 1/3rd of the end dough
You will need…. for the filling
- 4 cups blueberries (roughly)
- ½ cup pressed cottage cheese
o I use Harmony Organic . Great product & great people.
- 2 tbs corn starch
- 1 tbs flour
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
You will need… from your kitchen
- 10 inch pie plate, 2 inches deep
- Tin foil
- A handful of rice
- Mixing bowls & implements
- Cling wrap
- Rolling pin
Let’s begin with the crust, since that will need to chill for a while after preparation.
THE DOUGH
1. Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar) into a homogenous white mass.
2. Add lemon rind to dry mixture. Mix well!
3. Cut butter up into about twelve small cubes and add to dry mix. Get your hands right in there and combine the butter with the dry mix until it manifests into dough. If you find the mixture is a bit too desiccate, i.e. you can’t get one the dough to combine together into a single mass, add a bit of water.
4. Separate the mass of dough into two balls. One ball of dough should be roughly 3/4 of the dough, the other 1/4. Roll both masses of dough into two seamless balls and place in cling wrap. Reserve in fridge for later. They should remain in the fridge at least 15 minutes.
THE FILLING
1. Go through the berries and pick-out all the moldy soldiers. Wash and repeat.
2. In a mixing bowl combine berries, cottage cheese, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, & flour. Gently mix with hands insuring everything is evenly distributed.
THE BOTTOM CRUST
1. Spread the cling wrap on the counter to cover an area equivalent to approximately one metre by a half metre. Sprinkle with flour.
2. Get out your chilled ball of dough (the larger one, the smaller can remain in the fridge) and place it in the centre of the cling wrap.
3. Roll out the dough into a circle with a diameter of approximately 13 inches.
4. Place the dough in the pie plate—the cling wrap should ease the transfer.
5. Fold the dough so that it is anchored over the lip of the pie plate.
6. Perforate the pie bottom with a fork.
7. Cover the pie with tin foil and weight down the fin foil with the rice. This is to reduce the likelihood of air bubbles.
8. Bake crust for 15 minutes at 357 F.
THE TOP CRUMBLE
1. In a mixing bowl combine the rolled oats, the remaining dough, and flour.
2. Crumble the dough into small pieces. Gently mix the ingredients into a mealy texture.
THE GREAT COMBINE
1. Place filling in pie crust
2. Cover the top of the pie with the crumble. Pat down LIGHTLY.
3. Paint the top with the egg for a future golden hue.
4. Place in oven at 375 F for 40 minutes. As always, every oven is a little different so use your judgment before digging in. When the blue berries are bubbling and oozing a dark purple jelly—that’s a good sign.
5. Let cool.
6. DIG ON IN.
yves had a box of fresh ontario peaches that were slowly giving up the ghost at the back of his fridge. so, tascha came over to help create a dying fruit pie. this was also the baking adventure that produced the ‘last leg blueberry pie’. i don’t think i’ll publish the recipe, since i think it still needs to be refined. i will, however, say three things.
1. if you want to peel peaches easily– submerge them in boiling water for about 3 minutes. remove the peaches and place them in an ice water bath. as quickly as your little bourgeoisie fingers will allow– peel off that peach pelt and revel with the glory of those naked beauties.
2. this is possibly the worst custard recipe ever. the result was more similar to a pudding than any custard i have ever encountered. funnily enough, when the pie was finished, it both looked and tasted like a pumpkin pie due to colouring and spicing.
3. trying to bake pastry in this humidity is an incredibly daunting task. the air was so oppressive yesterday that i developed a southern accent. it was too laborious to enunciate every consonant, and the vowels, like the butter, melted too quickly and became unwieldy.
