Weston Produce

Frozen kosher foods

Blogging Team — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:08:24 +0000

Busy families of all faiths and religions often struggle to prepare meals that are both quick and meet their specific dietary needs. Catering to this need, Weston Produce is happy to supply a number of frozen kosher products to help you feed your family.

Of Tov kosher products are one of our store’s most popular brands. Offering a wide selection of chicken and turkey products, Of Tov brings food, fun and flavour together. Many products are available in fun shapes that will satisfy children’s desire to play at the table and parents won’t be disappointed with the taste.

Every Of Tov product we carry provides nutrients and protein with all white meat products.

Come in to the store to check out the following Of Tov products:

Chicken Breast Nuggets
Chicken Breast Cutlets
Chicklicous (Hearts, Stars and Moons)
Dinosaur Cutlets
Teddy Bites
Chicken Tenders
Sesame Tenders
Chicken Breast Rings
Chicken Meat Balls
Turkey Shwarma
Chicken Breast Fries
Grilled Chicken Tenders
Chicken Wings

And check back regularly because Of Tov is always coming out with new kosher products for your family to enjoy!

Mmmmm, mushrooms

Blogging Team — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:00:55 +0000

White button mushrooms are probably the most common type of mushrooms found in Ontario markets and likely the most used in your kitchen. The fact that they’re called “white button” mushrooms can be a bit deceiving, however, because they can actually range in colour from white to cream and even brown, and range in size from small buttons to jumbo buttons.

Yet as people’s pallets and cooking skills develop, they’ve demanded more sophisticated mushrooms. That’s why Weston Produce now carries a variety of mushrooms on a regular basis, including shiitake, oyster, portabella and crimini mushrooms.

If you’ve never ventured into the sophisticated world of mushrooms now available, we encourage you to give them a try.

Shiitake mushrooms are a large, densely textured mushroom that tends to be more cocoa-coloured with a unique cap shape that resembles an umbrella. Oyster mushrooms, however, feature large fluted caps with close-set gills. Their texture is unique in that it’s very fine with a colouring that is so pale it’s almost translucent.

Crimini mushrooms are most like button mushrooms, with colours that range from tan to dark brown. And portabella mushrooms might be the most popular of the more exotic mushroom varieties we carry. They are brown and flat-topped with exposed gills. Their large size makes portabella mushrooms perfect for grilling and their meaty texture is often enjoyed instead of actual meat.

All varieties of mushrooms are a great source of vitamin C, riboflavin, niacin folacin and fiber and 2/3 of a cup serving contains just 12 calories!

For a great, fresh selection of mushrooms available daily, please visit Weston Produce.

Marvelous melons

Blogging Team — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:32:39 +0000

Cantaloupes, honeydew melons and watermelons. They all belong to the same melon family, yet each has its own distinct flavour – and colour!

Grown right here in Ontario and imported from countries with warmer climates during the winter months, melons make a great snack or addition to a meal.

Melons are a healthy option too. One cup of cantaloupe contains just 56 calories but provides more than the recommended daily amount of Vitamin A. Cantaloupe is also an excellent source of vitamin C, potassium and dietary fiber. Honeydew melon, considered to be the sweetest of all melons, is low in sodium, saturated fat and cholesterol and is a great source of vitamin B6, potassium and vitamin C.

Watermelon is just as healthy, offers a great source of vitamin A, vitamin B6 and vitamin C, which can help boost the immune system’s defenses against infections and viruses.

Need more reasons to eat these fruits? Quite simply, they are delicious!

If you’re trying to work more cantaloupe into your diet, try wrapping slices in fresh prosciutto for a healthy and delicious appetizer. Add watermelon to your salad for some extra sweetness and zing, and try this honeydew soup on a hot day.

Honeydew melon soup

Ingredients:

1 ripe honeydew melon, skinned and cubed
1 cup fruity white wine
1 tbsp honey
Juice of 1 lime
Mint leaves for garnish
Heavy cream for garnish

Instructions:

Put the melon, wine, honey and lime juice in a blender. Puree until smooth. Pour the soup into bowls. Garnish with a swirl of heavy cream and mint leaves.

And stop by Weston Produce for fresh, vine-ripened cantaloupes, honeydew melons and watermelons selected by hand from the Food Terminal each day.

Frozen kosher foods

Blogging Team — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:00:26 +0000

Every Of Tov product we carry provides nutrients and protein with all white meat products.

Come in to the store to check out the following Of Tov products:

And check back regularly because Of Tov is always coming out with new kosher products for your family to enjoy!

Finish dinner on the fly with prepared side dishes

Blogging Team — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:00:07 +0000

If you’re struggling to throw dinner together this week, we completely understand. After school activities, homework, and this cold weather following the busy holiday season are getting the best of many of us. With no end in sight, try to take a load off your dinner preparation by stopping by Weston Produce.

We have everything you need to make dinner in a hurry, including a great selection of ready-made meals. If you have part of dinner covered – maybe a roast in the slow cooker – then all you’ll need is some prepared side dishes to complete the meal.

Both hot and cold side dishes and salads can be picked up at our prepared food counter. Choose from pasta, marinated chickpea salad, carrot salad and pick up some tuna salad for the kids’ lunches tomorrow. Whatever you can do to save time and energy is much needed at this time of year, and we’re happy to help.

Don’t forget to grab some fresh bread on the side – which can also be used to make tomorrow’s lunches.

Good luck and see you here at Weston Produce this week.

Feta makes everything better

Blogging Team — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:00:27 +0000

Feta cheese is perfect on salads, but the semi-soft Greek cheese can also be enjoyed a number of other ways.

Greek feta is normally made from sheep or goat’s milk or a combination of the two and tends to have a salty flavour with a semi-hard texture. It is a little sour and its rich aroma can be very enticing when included in dishes.

Many of us limit our feta intake to a simple, but delicious, topping on salad, but if you love feta, we encourage you to try something new.

Spanakopita may or may not be new to you, but either way it’s a delicious Greek dish that can be served as an appetizer or as part of a main course in the form of a pie. Both versions include feta cheese, making it a great way to introduce the popular cheese to your family in a form other than on salad.

Spanakopita (spinach pie)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil
2 pounds spinach, washed and drained
1 bunch scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
1 to 2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 pound phyllo pastry sheets

Directions:

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a large pan. Add half of the spinach and sauté until spinach wilts, tossing with tongs, about two minutes. Remove spinach and squeeze out excess liquid, then chop roughly. Repeat with remaining spinach, using one more tablespoon of olive oil. Pour off any liquid from the pan, and add remaining olive oil. Add scallions and sauté until soft, about two to three minutes. Add the spinach to the scallions, along with the parsley, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for one to two minutes then remove from heat to cool. This can be done ahead and kept refrigerated.

Stir the feta and as much beaten egg to moisten the cooled spinach mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking pan, and spread six sheets of phyllo, brushing each with butter, on the bottom. Spoon the spinach filling over the phyllo, then cover with six more sheets of phyllo, buttering each sheet. Score the top 3 sheets with a sharp knife. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until top is golden, let stand 15 minutes, then cut into squares and serve warm.

For all of the ingredients you need to make this delicious dish, please visit Weston Produce.

Serve sausages in a unique way

Blogging Team — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:53:37 +0000

Fresh sausages from the butcher are a real treat that shouldn’t be passed up. Here at Weston Produce we make our assortment of traditional sausages fresh and they’re always ready for you to bring home and include in your favourite recipe.

Whether you like mild or hot sausages, we’ve got the sausage for you and encourage you to try them all whenever you have a chance. Then, let us know what type is your favourite.

Sausages can be cooked in many different ways: on the barbecue, in the oven, or fried in the pan. If you’re looking for a different way to enjoy our delicious sausages, why not try something French for a change?

Sausage and lentils is a traditional French dish that is très chic when served on crisp white dishes. The unique flavour of lentils adds a nutty texture to the dish that’s infused with fresh thyme for a combination that’s difficult not to love.

For this recipe, you can use any type of sausage you love. Honey garlic, plain, or hot sausage will change the flavour and create a different meal each time you serve this healthy meal.

Sausage and lentils

Ingredients:

1 pound lentils
6 cups chicken stock
½ onion, peeled
1 bunch thyme
4 – 6 fresh sausages
1 tbsp butter
2 shallots, minced
¼ cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place the lentils in a saucepan with the stock, onion and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer, uncovered, until the lentils are cooked el dente, approximately 25 to 35 minutes. If there is still a lot of liquid in the pan once the lentils are cooked, drain it off then discard the thyme and onion.

Bring another large pot of water to a boil to cook the sausages. Prick each sausage in several places with a fork to prevent the sausage from exploding in the water during cooking. Place the sausages in the boiling water and cook until done.

Melt the butter in a skillet and gently sauté the shallots until translucent and add the lentils to reheat. Drizzle the olive oil to moisten the mixture and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When the sausages are cooked, slice them and serve with the lentils.

For all of the ingredients needed for this recipe, visit Weston Produce and let us know what you think about this dish.

Fresh or frozen, fish is a healthy option

Blogging Team — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:23:58 +0000

Fried, grilled or broiled, fresh fish is delicious for both weeknight and more elegant weekend meals. It’s also a healthy option that provides between 50 and 60 per cent of an adult’s daily protein needs in one 150 gram serving. All seafood is, generally, low in fat, low in cholesterol and provides high levels of omega 3 oils, which can aid in heart, brain, joint and digestive health.

If you haven’t been drawn to fish in the past, then perhaps all of these great nutritional benefits have enticed you? If so, we recommend visiting Weston Produce for a wide selection of fresh and frozen fish and seafood available daily.

Our friendly, knowledgeable staff is always happy to provide helpful suggestions to prepare fish, and we recommend asking them because we have a few great cooks amongst us. But if you’re a little shy, then keep checking our blog for lots of great recipes that can be made entirely from items purchased at Weston Produce.

If you’re looking for a tasty and different way to prepare a larger fish meal, you may be interested in this anise-flavoured fish stew. A traditional French dish, it combines the rich flavours of seafood with fresh herbs and produce in a hearty meal that fish lovers will enjoy.

Seafood stew

Ingredients:

2 pounds monkfish, bass or halibut
2 pounds haddock, flounder, red mullet, snapper or white ruffie
2 pounds fish heads and bones, rinsed (roughly 1 large fish carcass)
4 quarts water
½ cup olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 large leeks, trimmed, cleaned and sliced
1 fennel bulb, peeled, trimmed and chopped with green fronds reserved
6 tomatoes, seeded, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bouquet of your choice of herbs tied together or in a small sachet
1 ½ tsp fennel seeds
2 large slices orange peel, pith removed, preferably dried
½ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
salt and pepper to season
A splash of white wine

Directions:

Chop the fish into large, bite-sized pieces and refrigerate, keeping the two types separate from each other. Put the rinsed fish heads and bones in a large soup pot, pour the water over, bring to a boil, and simmer for twenty minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid.

Heat the oil in the same pot and fry the onions, leeks, and fennel until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, garlic, bouquet of herbs, fennel seed, orange peel, and saffron and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the fish stock, and simmer for half an hour. Remove the bouquet of herbs and the orange peel.

Bring the liquid to a rolling boil. Add the monkfish, bass or halibut and cook five minutes. Add the haddock, flounder, red mullet, snapper or white ruffie and the splash of wine and continue cooking until all the fish is tender, five minutes longer.

Ladle into warm soup plates and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.

Enjoy!

Perfect roast beef

Blogging Team — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

A roast beef is the perfect meal to serve to family, guests and at any larger function for which you’re responsible for supplying the main portion of the meal. Available in a variety of cuts, roast beef doesn’t have to be a lot of work. A little seasoning on the outside of the roast can go a long way towards a great meal.

But cooking the roast beef properly is just as important as getting the seasonings right. Roast beefs are great because when they’re cooked everyone can get the type of meat they like out of them. From medium rare in the middle of the roast to well done on the ends, the entire roast beef is likely to be gobbled up quickly.

If you’re unsure how to cook a roast beef then we suggest using the low and slow method. Described by the experts at the Beef Information Centre to be the perfect way to cook any cut of roast beef, we love this tried and true method and agree that all roasts turn out perfectly when cooked this way.

Start by seasoning your beef. Salt, pepper and garlic is a great place to start, but you can use any seasoning you like. Montreal steak spice is a popular option, as something simpler such as cracked peppercorn.

Once seasoned, place your roast on a rack in a shallow roasting pan and insert an oven-safe meat thermometer into the centre of the roast. Cook the roast, uncovered, in a pre-heated 450°F (230°C) oven for 10 minutes. Then, reduce the heat to 275°F (140°C) and roast until your meat thermometer reads 135°F (57°C) for medium-rare beef in the centre of the roast or to 150°F (66°C) for medium. This should take between 23 and 30 minutes per pound.

Once the roast has reached the internal temperature you desire, cover the roast loosely with foil and let it stand for 15 to 30 minutes before carving. This will allow the juices in the roast to distribute evenly so they won’t come out when you begin carving, resulting in a roast that will be moist, not dry.

To make gravy, simply add beef stock to the drippings in the pan. Use corn starch and water to thicken as desired.

The result? A perfect roast every time!

For your fresh roast beef, please visit the butchers at Weston Produce. We’ll help you find the perfect roast for your table and always do it with a smile.

Ground beef is the perfect base for many recipes

Blogging Team — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:00:27 +0000

Ground beef is, perhaps, one of the most versatile ingredients that should always be kept on-hand at home. Used to make meatballs, meat loaf, in chili and pasta sauce and for casseroles and tacos, many meals can be made and different flavours enjoyed with ground beef.

But with so many ground beef varieties to choose from, how do you know which one to pick for your family’s favourite recipes and for their health?

According to the Canadian Beef Information Centre, ground beef labeled as extra lean has a maximum fat content of 10 per cent, making it perfect for use in cabbage rolls, meat loaf, stuffed peppers and casseroles. Plus, its low fat content means it doesn’t have to be drained after cooking.

If lean ground beef is what you normally buy then you’re using beef that has a maximum fat content of 17 per cent. Lean ground beef is great for an assortment of all-purpose uses, such as for burgers and meatballs, as well as chili.

Medium ground beef has a slightly higher fat content than lean ground beef, with 23 per cent being the maximum fat and is best used in burgers and meatballs. Meanwhile, regular ground beef can have up to 30 per cent fat content so it’s best to brown and drain it for use in pasta sauce, casseroles and tacos.

At Weston Produce we carry all grades of ground beef and our butchers can even grind special orders and wrap ground beef specifically for your needs. Please visit our fresh meat counter to enquire and check our online flyer for sales on this family favourite.