An Amazing Supper in the Orchard

On Saturday evening Christopher and I drove about 20 minutes out of town to Over the Hill Orchards. 

This amazing place is an organic orchard and winery, and the friendly family who own and run it are growing fruits that we had no idea could be grown in Saskatchewan, including peaches, pears, cherries, and grapes among numerous other fruits and veggies. 

Throughout the summer Over the Hill Orchards does Supper in the Orchard, partnering with the Canadian Culinary Federation (CCFCC) to bring in different local chefs to create multi-course meals, using mostly ingredients from local farms and the orchard.  I received a gift card a couple of months ago to try Supper in the Orchard, and once we saw that Chris Torjuson was the guest chef on Saturday, we made reservations for that night.  He has been the chef at many of our favourite restaurants in town over the years (currently at Malt City), and we were excited to see what he would prepare.

 

The majority of proceeds from these evenings go back to the Canadian Culinary Federation (CCFCC), which helps send junior members for training across North America.  The suppers seat up to 32 people, so they are intimate, and the chef comes out to talk to the diners about what they will be eating.

When you arrive at the orchard, there is a beautiful patio to sit on and admire the scenery, and enjoy a beverage.  The many wine selections are all made at the orchard, as is the non-alcoholic beverage option.

At 6:30 the guests move indoors into the dining space, which is very lovely.

There was a nice floral touch to our water, and the service was excellent.

The multi-course meal is $65 dollars per person, with an optional wine pairing for an additional $25 each.  Beverages may also be purchased by the glass, and we opted for that route instead of the wine pairing.

The first course was grilled baby cabbage with balsamic Brussels, zucchini, mixed greens, Italian vin, house-made ricotta, and soppressata (an Italian dried salami that was also made and fermented by the chef).

This salad was so good, and a delightful start to the meal.

Next up was dijon gnocchi with pepperonata, and sweet corn puree.

The sweet corn puree was so flavourful, and was our favourite part of this tasty dish.  All of the food at the Orchard is gluten-free and nut-free, so this is a perfect night of dining for those who have nut and gluten dietary restrictions. 

Making gluten-free gnocchi is no easy feat, but chef Chris pulled it off flawlessly; the little dumplings were soft and fluffy.

Before the third course Dean, who owns the orchard with this wife Sylvia, gave us a small tour of the fruit and veggie growing operation they've got going on out there, and we were completely blown away by it - so, so impressive!  Dean was also quite funny, and extremely informative, which made the tour so interesting.  We only looked around for about 15 minutes before we went back to try the third course.  As we were heading back inside, the view of the sun going down over the valley was spectacular. 

Next up was sous vide grilled pork tenderloin, with duck fat veggies, pickled shaved carrot, pancetta, and red wine pork sauce.

All of the elements in this dish paired so well together, and the pork was extremely tender and juicy.  The sauce was superb.

The final course was apricot wine zabiaone with grilled peach, apricot gel, and dark chocolate milk crumb.

Now I am not usually a dessert person, but I ate every single bite of this, and could have gone for more.  It wasn't overly sweet, and the chocolate crumb was such a nice texture contrast to the creamy zabiaone (which I am totally going to learn how to make).

In fact, I ate every bite of every dish, which usually isn't the case when we go out for dinner.  Everything tasted so fresh, healthy, and masterfully created.  I think we were both expecting this dining experience to be good, but we had no idea it was going to be as wonderful as it was.  We're already talking about going back ... sooner rather than later.

The sun was almost completely set as we were leaving to head home.

And on the way home we couldn't stop talking about the supper and the orchard, and all the people we know who would love it.

If you're local, there is still time to book your Supper in the Orchard before the season is over.  Click here to see which nights have openings, and which chef will be cooking on those evenings.

You can find Over the Hill Orchards on Facebook, Twitter, on Instagram @overthehillorchards or on their website. 

I hope you make it out there to try this unique and memorable dining experience; I think you'll be as pleasantly surprised as we were.

Have you been to Over the Hill Orchards?  If you're not from around here, do you have something like this where you live?  Do you try to support local farms and other local businesses?

Crunchies - Freeze Dried Snacks

I am a firm believer that the healthiest foods are whole foods - one-ingredient, found in nature, unadulterated foods.  When the people from Crunchies offered to send me some of their freeze-dried snacks I was excited to try them, as they contain absolutely nothing other than freeze dried fruit/ veggies.

Nature's candy!  It's obvious by the taste that the fruits and veggies were picked and dried when perfectly ripe. 

Crunchies are not like dry-heated dehydrated fruits and vegetables; they are freeze-dried, which allows them to retain most of their nutritional value, and increases their shelf life.  They are super crunchy, hence the name, and have a wonderful texture that would be a great addition to yogurt parfaits, cereal, ice-cream, oatmeal, etc., or straight-up as a complete snack.

Crunchies' product line includes freeze-dried mango, beets, strawberries, grapes, raspberries, mixed fruit, strawberry/banana mixture, pineapple, blueberries, and cinnamon apple.  They give you the satisfying crunch of junk food, without the added sugar, fat, artificial flavours, or colours.  These snacks are non-GMO, kosher and halal certified, as well as obviously gluten free, and vegan.  They are available in single-serve bags, or larger resealable pouches.

At only 40 calories per serving, they make a nice, light snack, packed full of nutrients.  They would be perfect for hungry little ones, or to throw in a picnic basket, or back-to-school lunch (although we're not ready to think of that quite yet).

My very hungry, almost-one-year-old niece, would love to get her little paws on these!

This morning I used some of the banana Crunchies to make banana French toast.  I put them in a zipped baggy, and then used a rolling pin to roll them into a powder.

After dipping the French bread in an egg/vanilla/cinnamon mixture, I gave the bread a sprinkle of the crushed banana Crunchies on both sides, and then fried them up on medium heat.

Topped with fresh slices of banana, and with bacon on the side, breakfast was complete.

Now that it's mid-day, the sun is really shining, and it is rippin' hot outside, so I whipped up some strawberry lemonade using the strawberry Crunchies.

I rolled 1/4 cup of the freeze-dried strawberries with a rolling pin, until I had a fine powder.

I then mixed in the juice of two lemons, 1/2 cup of ice, 3/4 cup of water, and 1 tsp of lemon honey that was made locally by a friend of mine (you could also use regular honey, stevia, agave, sugar etc.).

So refreshing and tart!


The powder of the Crunchies blended well into the drink as I sipped it, and it did not have a powdery taste at all.

I'm excited to come up with other ideas for using these delicious Crunchies, and am really looking forward to trying them in a yogurt parfait, which is a perfect summer breakfast.

Until then, I'll be sipping this ...

Have you ever had Crunchies?  What flavour would you reach for?  What are you sippin' on during these hot summer days?

American readers, if these sound like something you'd like, keep an eye out for Crunchies in your local grocery stores, or buy them online here.

* Crunchies were provided to me free of charge.  All opinions are my own.