A HEARTY HARVE ST
Celebrate the harvest with plentiful platters heaped with the flavours of the season—accompanied by our expert’s picks of Ontario wines that may have been flying below your radar.
THERE’S A CONVIVIAL TRADITION in many wineries all around the world that when the grape harvest is finally finished, the hard-working pickers sit down with the winemakers for a feast. Lucy Waverman has followed the theme with this hearty fall spread that can be served either family style or as a buffet, whether or not you and your guests have been labouring for weeks in the vineyard. “The recipes had to be simple, involve big-batch cooking and be able to be made ahead of time,” Lucy explains. “I imagined them using local ingredients—maybe crops from a neighbouring farm— and I wanted grapes in something to honour the harvest. And then rich, luscious desserts to finish. When you’ve been working that hard, you deserve it!”
Looking for wines to serve with this al fresco celebration, we turned to wineries that may be less familiar than some, choosing a red and a white that are generous, a ordable, easy-drinking and will work with everything on the table, as well as a unique iced apple wine to pair with dessert. We hope you’ll use them to raise a glass to the new vintage and the people who gathered it in.
The ideal musical accompaniment to a picker’s feast? Picker’s music, of course. Visit lcbo.com/heartyharvest for a playlist flavoured with masterful, rootsy fingerpicking (on guitars, banjos, dobros, fiddles) curated by music columnist Ann Lough.
Cabbage comes in more varieties than you might imagine, each with its own unique flavour profile, used to best advantage in these enticing dishes.
CABBAGE IS LIKE a great hairstyle; there’s a look and cut to suit every taste. Healthy, inexpensive and a chameleon in the kitchen, this local vegetable is available all year round but is at its best right now. There are more than 400 types of cabbage, but the three most popular are the green, red and Savoy varieties. Here, we present those and others via some fresh takes on classic cabbage recipes. Each one—Savoy-wrapped salmon, homemade purple sauerkraut, tempura-fried Brussels sprouts and more — is so good that we think you’ll be inspired to pick up a head or two on your next grocery run.
Cabbage is one of the most economical vegetables out there; you get a lot for not a lot. So here are some storing tips: wrapped tightly in plastic, a head of cabbage will keep for up to two weeks in the crisper. To keep cabbage fresh, don’t cut it until just before using it, and once cut, use cabbage within two to three days. Freeze fresh or cooked cabbage in airtight containers or freezer bags for 10 to 12 months. Now there’s no excuse. See you in the cabbage patch!