Customers have been raving about chef Mark's latest food shop entree for sale in the shop - his eggplant parmesan.

The eggplant is breaded in panko (coarse japenese breadcrumbs) and layered with marinara sauce and 3 cheeses (asiago, parmesan and mozzerella).

I love it - and I'm tempted to take it home every night! (all that cheese is a good source of calcium, right?) wink, wink.

moroccan chicken tagine

This recipe was one of our "regular" food shop entrees that we featured in the shop in 2004 and 2005.

It's healthy, gluten free and best of all, delicious. It features fresh tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant, all of which are currently in season.

ingredients:.

I like this salad so much, I've made it twice in the past 2 weeks. On both occasions, the salad received rave reviews - not only does it taste delicious, it looks gorgeous too.

Note: This recipe easily doubles to serve a crowd. I added about a cup of fresh, whole blueberries to the drizzle and tossed this mixture into the salad because I was serving this salad buffet-style to a large group and wanted everything combined in one large bowl.

ingredients:

• 3 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 1 1/2 lbs cooking onions, fine dice
  olive oil, as needed
• 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp anise
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 cup - 1 cup chicken stock
• 4 cups diced fresh tomatoes (or 2, 28 oz cans of tomatoes)
• 1 large eggplant, 1/2 inch dice
• 5 medium zucchini, 1/2 " dice
• 1 1/3 cups dried fruit (we used a mixture of dried currants, apricots, raisins and figs)

method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Dice eggplant into 1/2 " cubes. Toss with olive oil and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Place in oven and bake until lightly golden, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside
3. Meanwhile, poach chicken in simmering water until just cooked. Once cooked, cool and dice into 1 " chunks (note: you can also grill or bake the chicken breasts).
4. Add olive oil to large saute pan and saute onions over medium heat until softened. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the ginger and garlic - cook until fragrant - about 2 minutes. Add all of the dried spices.
5. Add tomatoes, chicken stock and zucchini and simmer 6-7 minutes. Add dried fruit and simmer for a few more minutes until the zucchini is tender.
6. Add chicken and eggplant
7. Serve over a bed of rice or with baked pita and enjoy!

We are participating in a fabulous event called "exercise and accessorize" this September.

Visit our booth at TechTown on Tuesday, September 23rd from 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. to sample our gourmet foods.

While there, try out the newest in fitness class, Zumba, at Columbia Lake Health Club. Sample nutrition products, browse great fitness wear and fall fashion, learn about living a healthy active lifestyle. All this and more is open to the public. Expect samples and fun galore.

TechTown is located on 340 Hagey Blvd. in Waterloo (just off of Columbia Street West).

when browning ground meat or sausage out of it's casings, use a potato masher instead of a wooden spoon or spatula - it's much quicker and certainly easier.

While I was away on maternity leave, I did plenty of recipe testing and found myself inspired to update our full service catering menu.

We've added some fabulous new hors d'oeuvres to our line-up, and now serve "mini entrees" which are appetizer sized portions of fork only meals (a perfect choice if you want to serve something more substantial than hors d'oeuvres but don't want to serve a traditional buffet or sit down dinner).

We also offer teeny, tiny desserts...small enough that you can try several, without the guilt!

Here is a sampling of our "soon to be signature" menu items:

hors d'oeuvres

• scallop PLTs (prosciutto, lettuce and tomato) - a seared scallop stuffed with pancetta, tomato, sprouts and chipotle pepper sauce
• baked goat cheese cakes with caramelized onions, fresh thyme and artisan honey (served on a puff pastry pillow)
• open-faced beef wellington tartlets (topped with mushroom duxelles)
• savoury "french toast" with baked brie (served with a dollop of sweet red pepper and jalapeno puree)
• miniature tuna burgers with ginger wasabi sauce and carrot-sesame slaw (served on a tiny bakery bun)
  

mini entrees

• asian beef noodle salad served in chinese take out boxes
• scallops wrapped in butternut squash "leather", served atop primavera risotto
• fresh pumpkin gnocchi served with walnut cream sauce and fresh grated parmesan
  

teeny, tiny desserts

• key lime cheesecake bites, enhanced with toasted coconut
• smores on a skewer (homemade marshmallow coated in belgian chocolate and crushed graham crackers)
• long-stemmed strawberries, served with tangy lemon curd in a miniature martini glass

If you'd like a copy of our new, full service catering menu e-mailed to you, please e-mail our catering co-ordinator, Daniela Schmidt, at:

catering@danashortt.ca

We now offer two new varieties of our best selling ready-to-bake scones:

asiago scallion (my favourite!) - our cheddar herb scones are so popular that I decided to offer a second variety of "savoury" scones - these are delicious with soup or chili or try serving them alongside an omelet or scrambled eggs...

bumbleberry - for this new scone, we combine dried blueberries, raspberries, cherries, currants and cranberries. Delicious with jam and double Devon cream.

Our scones are sold raw, in wheels of 8, ready for you to bake at home.

corn!

Instead of dressing your corn with plain butter, why not try making flavoured butter for something different? (and it's special enogh for company!).

It's easy - just soften one stick (which is equivalent to 1/2 cup) of unsalted butter and try adding in one of the following combinations:

1/2 cup sauteed shallots and 2 1/2 tablespoons of fresh thyme

or

1/3 cup fresh chopped scallions (green onions) and 1/2 tablespoon pureed chipotle

or

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro, juice of 1 lime and chili powder to taste

Grill or boil the corn as per your usual method, dress with flavoured butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Did you know that we sell home made, 9 " fruit pies?

Varieties depend on the season. Currently, we offer:

• blueberry
• classic apple
• peach

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.