The “dsg” team continues to grow! Please join me in welcoming 3 new staff members to dana shortt gourmet – Chef Kirstie Herbstreit, Chef Christine Flynn and Catering Coordinator Daniela Schmidt.

Christine Flynn has always loved food. During her undergraduate degree at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Chris turned her hobby into a career. While working as an assistant pastry chef at the Gingerbread Haus Bakery, Chris balanced books and baking. She went on to work at the Five Fishermen Restaurant and the Sconset Café on Nantucket Island.

Chris brings with her a strong appreciation for the importance of eating locally and sensibly and an innate knack for creating great food from the ingredients at hand.

Kirstie Herbstreit is a graduate of the University of Waterloo and received her formal culinary training at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. In Calgary, she trained at Catch Restaurant and at Janice Beaton Fine Cheese. Locally, she has worked at Vincenzo’s, Sole Restaurant & Wine Bar and at the wonderful Hannah’s Bella Bistro.

Daniela Schmidt is a graduate of the University of Waterloo and has extensive customer service, marketing and sales experience. As well as working for us, Daniela owns her own business selling the Optionelle clothing line. Our catering business continues to grow every month, and I’m thrilled that Daniela is in training to learn the consultation and event planning side of our business.

I will still be involved in overseeing the catering side of our business, but I am really looking forward to having more time to spend in the shop with our customers!

Many of you have commented that I haven’t been “around” as much in the past several months – although I am not always visible to you in the front of the shop, rest assured that I have been working hard behind the scenes, planning events, meeting clients for site inspections, attending events and of course trying to juggle all of the demands of owning and running a busy, growing business.

It has become more apparent than ever that I need assistance to help manage our growth – so please bear with me and know that I miss all of you too!

For those of you who have been in the store (and especially for those of you who have seen our tiny kitchen!) you may be wondering where we manage to fit everyone….good question! Space is definitely tight but we take comfort in knowing that our current situation is temporary. This spring, we’ll be expanding into one of the units in the plaza (exact location TBA and I hope to let you know in our next newsletter). The plan thus far is to have about 15 X the retail space that we have now – offering you a better selection and a more comfortable shopping environment. Stay tuned for further details!!

healthy, easy appetizer ideas

Last Monday, two of our chefs (Scott Yates and Kirstie Herbstreit) appeared on Rogers “daytime” to discuss and prepare healthy, easy appetizers for the holiday season.

Here are their recipes...

scott yates

festive cherry tomatoes stuffed with feta-pesto tapenade

ingredients

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1 bunch of fresh basil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 TBSP pine nuts (optional)
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup flavoured feta cheese

method

1. Place basil, garlic, nuts, parmesan cheese in food processor. Puree, then add oil slowly until it becomes a paste. Add feta and puree until smooth
2. Slice tops off tomatoes and scoop out insides
3. Place pesto in piping bag and fill tomatoes. Top with small amount of chopped basil and chill for 1 hour.

kirstie herbstreit

thai shrimp and lime "cups"

ingredients

• 10 large (or 20 small) shrimp, thawed, peeled, de-veined and tail off
• 1 head boston (butterleaf) lettuce
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1-2 tsp sambal oelik
  (asian chili garlic sauce)
• juice of 2 limes
• vegetable oil for sauteeing
• 10 sprigs cilantro
• 1 large carrot, julienne

method

1. In a large saute pan, heat oil with garlic
2. Add shallot and cook until translucent, then add sambal oelik and shrimp, tossing about 2 minutes until shrimp are just pink
3. splash in lime juice, cook a few seconds and immediately remove from heat
4. separate lettuce leaves and pick 10 nice medium 'cup' shape leaves, place them on serving platter and fill with cilantro and carrot. Place shrimp mixture on top, drizzle with the lime-shrimp juice and serve (right away or chilled, if desired).

unsalted butter

We always bake (and cook) with unsalted butter. Why? Salt is added to butter for flavor and as a preservative so it will have a longer shelf life. Salt, however, can sometimes overpower the sweet flavor of the butter. Also, the amount of salt added to salted butter varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, so it's hard to know how much extra salt you're adding to a recipe. Using unsalted butter allows the chef to control the amount of salt in a recipe.

Did you know that we sell frozen, ready-to-bake hors d’oeuvres by the dozen?

All of our hors d’oeuvres are made from scratch, using only the highest quality ingredients (as always, no fake flavours or artificial ingredients).

Visit our website to view our “pick up hors d’oeuvres” menu to peruse the available selections.

Gourmet made easy!

About mid-July, we start thinking about Christmas – and in addition to menu development and planning events with our clients, we start our recipe testing (one of the best parts of being involved in the food business!)

This year, we will be offering many types of shorttbread:

• glazed orange macadamia nut
  shorttbread
• classic butter shorttbread
• chocolate chunk shorttbread
• luscious lemon-glazed shorttbread
• vanilla-glazed shorttbread
• herbal tea shorttbread (various)
• lime ginger shorttbread
• double-chocolate shorttbread

In addition to the shorttbread, we will be selling gingerbread men, biscotti, sweet loaves (lemon blueberry, raspberry orange, pumpkin and cornbread loaves), Christmas cake, cheese straws, and various handmade crackerbreads.

Holiday baking will be available as of next Wed., November 21st.

On December 24th and December 31st, we will be offering a wide selection of pick up platters and ready-to-bake hors d’oeuvres for you to choose from – selections include:

Beef tenderloin platters, marinated chicken platters, smoked salmon platters, citrus and garlic roasted shrimp platters, dips, crackers and crudités platters, gourmet cheese platters, 2lb wheel of brie in phyllo platters, “chocoholic” desserts platters and festive shorttbread platters.

We will offer a wide selection of ready-to-bake hors d’oeuvres (meat, seafood and vegetarian varieties available). As always, our fridges, freezers and shelves will be stocked with nibbles and nosh like cheese tortes, citrus marinated olives, dips, crackers and flatbread, root chips, quesadilla’s, holiday baking and many more…

We also plan to offer special entrees for your new years eve dinner (in the past, we've offered 5 course pick up dinners. Our clients have told us that although they enjoyed the meals, they found a 5 course menu too heavy after eating their way through the holidays...so we've decided to offer items "a la carte").

Lynda and I are currently recipe testing, and it looks like we'll be offering "shortt rib wellingtons" and "seafood au gratin". We'll also feature our platters, appetizers, and specialty desserts.

For complete menus and prices, please visit our website under pick up catering and click on the “holiday platters and hors d’oeuvres” link. Or, if you prefer, you can also visit the store to pick up a hard copy of the menu.

My husband, David, and I have tried many of the Indian restaurants in town (all delicious) but our favourite is the Maharaja Palace at 103 King Street North in Uptown Waterloo (across from “Ethel’s Lounge”). We prefer to take-out and have tried many of the dishes, and our favourites include:

• butter chicken tikka (medium spice) - tandoori chicken marinated in yogurt, ginger and spices, cooked in a rich sauce
• lamb tikka (medium spice) – stir fried lamb with onions, tomatoes and spices
• nauratan vegetable mix - nine kinds of vegetables cooked with yogurt and cashew nut paste
• mixed vegetable masala - vegetables cooked with onions, garlic, ginger and spices
• naan – leavened bread of fine flour (great for dipping into the sauces!)

It may not seem like a lot, but this is a lot of food – I find Indian food very rich – you don’t need a lot to be satisfied. The above is our standard order, which leaves us with plenty of leftovers. If you prefer stronger flavours and bold curries, I would suggest trying “Classic Indian” on Whissler Road in Waterloo (my brother Adam’s favourite!)

Looking for unique and delicious corporate or personal holiday gift ideas?

consider the following:

• One of our signature gourmet gift boxes, filled with the "best of dana shortt gourmet" - these artfully designed boxes include a sampling of our best selling treats, all ready to open, eat and satisfy! We offer 3 different sizes ($29.95, $49.95, $89.95) all of which include a selection of sweet and savoury items.
• One of our frozen meal packages – available in various sizes and prices – a bundle of our frozen meals or baking packages make a great gift for new parents, busy families, elderly parents or that hard-to-buy-for person on your list.
• A gift certificate - Gift certificates are available for any of our products and/or services.

One of our regular shop clients recently told me a wonderful new use for the new “slow roasted garlic and cream cheese torte” that we sell.

Not only is it delicious spread on crackers or flatbread, but try adding it to jazz up mashed potatoes! If you love garlic roasted mashed potatoes, add a knob of the cheese torte for easier garlic mashed.

Thanks for the idea, Leslie!

Do you have an unique idea on how we can use one of our products? Let us know!

clementines!

I love clementines! We’ve already eaten our way through 2 or 3 crates at my house - they’re a super sweet, healthy and easy snack or dessert.

For something different, try tossing clementine segments (use about 8 clementines) with a tablespoon of best-quality balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar. Top with freshly cracked black pepper.

One last thing – we’re hoping that all of you receiving this newsletter want to be on our distribution list.

If you would like to be removed from this list, please let me know and we will fulfill your request asap.