Prairie Food Bytes
Saskatchewan's Only Electronic Food & Wine News Source

Editor: CJ Katz

Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Issue 16

Freehouse Summer Menu Features Yellow Roma Tomatoes
REGINA - This week the Cathedral Village Freehouse jumps into summer with new menu items made with an unusual ingredient... yellow Roma tomatoes. "These tomatoes are a brand new product to the Canadian market and we've had them brought in exclusively for the Cathedral Freehouse and the Spadina Freehouse in Saskatoon," says Matt Johnstone, chef at the Freehouse. "To my knowledge, we are the only restaurant in Western Canada to offer this type of ingredient on a large scale and we are extremely excited about it."

According to Johnstone, these tomatoes have the same shape as traditional Roma tomatoes only they are a bit sweeter. Next time you're at the Freehouse, make sure you try the Golden Tomato Penne - tube pasta smothered in a golden tomato sauce garnish with garden radish and fresh pea shoots. Johnstone also recommends this dish as a compliment to the Fire Roasted Wild Atlantic Salmon. Another item that uses these new tomatoes is the Stuffed Chicken Supreme - a chicken breast stuffed with spiced apple, apricot, ginger, smoked bacon, toasted pecans and served with roast pepper mashed potatoes, pecan honey beans and a yellow tomato vinaigrette. If pizza is your thing, venture out and try the Monterey Grill Pizza - pizza crust topped with yellow tomato sauce, grilled peppers, zucchini, Spanish onion, spice grilled chicken and Monterey Jack cheese.

Scouting Out the Best California has to Offer
REGINA - Speaking of new vegetables, Leo Pantel, Executive Chef at the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts was chosen among eight chefs in Western Canada to fly to California next week to check out the produce fields and new processing standards through Sysco International and the California Produce Growers Association. Pantel will be touring strawberry and melon operations and baby/field mixed lettuces as well as some other vegetable and fruit programs. Prairie Food Bytes will be watching to see if he plans on introducing Saskatchewan to some of the new fruit and vegetable products he'll be sampling.

Sommelier Program
REGINA - Complete information packages and registration forms are available on the upcoming sommelier program that starts this fall. Don't miss out on taking part in this exciting program, which will graduate 20 sommeliers for the first time in Saskatchewan next April. For information, contact cjkatz@sasktel.net or 761-2032.

Wine List Serves up 15 Wines by the Glass
REGINA - The Hotel Saskatchewan is catering to the baby-boom generation as more and more of them abandon spirits in favour of more sophisticated wines. This month, the hotel unveiled a new and extensive wine list featuring a selection of 15 wines by the glass and the 1/2 litre. All come from well-known wine houses including Mission Hill, Ernest and Julia Gallo (Turning Leaf), Wolf Blass, Ecco Domani, Santa Rita, Lindeman's and Rosemount. For between $4.50-$8.50 a glass, or $15-$28 for a 1/2 litre, you can enjoy Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Sauvignon Blanc, White Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Merlot.

And in the kitchen, Executive Chef David Flegel never seems to tire of coming up with new and exciting menu items to tempt Regina's palate. Until mid-August try his Smoked duck breast appetizer served with summer lentils and bell peppers drizzled with an oolong tea vinaigrette, or the Pan-fried Cornish hen breast on grilled stone fruit, red onion and pepper salad with Balsamic-maple dressing. And bucking the usual mixed-grill trend of steak and shrimp, Flegel has made an about face and created a summer grill of farm-raised chicken, spicy Italian sausage, beef tenderloin and salmon. Sounds awesome.

And in case you didn't know it, the Hotel has traded in their dessert cart for sporty large dinner plates featuring mouthwatering decadent desserts. Each month, Pastry Chef Gilles Gobin will be creating three featured desserts to cap off your evening. "All the desserts that we feature now are fresh, well-plated and beautifully presented," says Gobin. This month try his Vanilla Panacotta with Summer Berry Compote, Chocolate Ice Cream Vacherin and a Lemon-Ginger Torte.

Don't Miss "Live in the District" Entertainment Festival
REGINA - "The second year of this festival promises to be bigger and better than the first," says Grant Frew, Promotions Manager for Bushwakkers. Held on Saturday, July 26th, eight venues within Regina's Old Warehouse District will be showcasing live entertainment particular to their style of restaurant or club. A huge tent will be set up directly west of Manhattan's where people can enjoy a free preview of the eight venue's evening entertainment. Various musical styles will be presented including jazz, Celtic, rock, hip- hop dj's, rock-a-billy and blues. The first show starts at 3:00 pm and the last show will finish at 9:00 pm.

The headlining group will be The Watchmen from Winnipeg. Pick up your free passport at the tent and visit at least three of the eight venues that evening. Collect your stamps at each venue and enter your passport in any venue's draw drum to win a fabulous "Live in the District Grand Prize Package". Check out the insert in the current Prairie Dog for more information.

Bites and Bytes


To have food or wine information published or to subscribe to this free service,
e-mail me at
cjkatz@sasktel.net.

DEADLINE IS 4 PM EVERY TUESDAY