Canada Day Party menus: The best of Canadian cuisine

This is a follow-up to my story about Canada Day Bash profile but this time I discuss my menu options.

One way to build your Canada Day menu starts by planning your meal around one particular region in Canada.

It does not have to be the region where you live. Your party will stand out from your neighbors and people will praise your originality. Make your décor and play music from artists that we identified with that region.

The editorial team of Food TV Canada Web site created their regional menus: the Canadian East Coast menu, the Canadian West Coast menu and the Quebec menu.

Reading them all inspired me to create my own Canada Day menus. All the recipes I proposed in this story are published on the Web site of Food TV Canada.

A fancy Canada Day Dinner Menu

You can invite your guests for the middle of the afternoon. Serve them some cocktail snacks during the afternoon. Then you follow with a sit down dinner under the stars or a gazebo tent with a chandelier.

The starter dish would be the Award-Winning Blueberry Drizzle Salad by Julie Zwillich. Blueberries are my favorite fruits so I am partial to them.

I went with style and the trend factor for the main course. Shown here in the top photo, the Tea Smoked Salmon with Sweet Potato Pancake by Mark McEwan intrigued me. You have to admit that it looks amazing. Cooking with tea is a hot trend right now.

Just last month, I received a recipe book called Du thé plein la toque filled with tea based recipes. A wonderful book, but sadly for my readers the book is only available in French. If the book is ever translated, you will be the first to know.

The Phyllo Pastry with Blueberry Filling dessert by Corbin Tomaszeski will wrap up the meal in style. There is maple syrup for more Canadian flavor. This dessert is quick and easy to make.

Serve your dessert with one or two  fine blooming teas to continue to impress your guests. In Montreal, I suggest you go to My Cup of Tea. I used this brand all the time. I am satisfied with the taste and the blooming effect of their teas. Just ignore the astrological aspect of MCOT’s packaging when you make your selection.

A family-style Canada Day Outdoor Menu

I started with a recipe from Michael Smith. I selected My Favourite Clam Chowder because it is simple to make and it tastes so good. Better yet, you can make this soup a day or two in advance.

For the side dishes, the first recipe is my own creation. I broil on the oven trim asparagus spears for a total of 8 minutes. Nicely align the asparagus side by side on a middle of a cookie pan and add a few drizzles of good olive oil and a pinch of Hibiscus-flavored sea salt. At half time (after 4 minutes), turn over the asparagus. I lay down a handful of pine nuts on the side and put it back on the oven for the remaining 4 minutes.

I use FLOR DE SAL DE’S TRENC Hibiscus, a flavored sea salt made by Gusto Mundial. This salt comes from Spain. Check out your local fine food stores to buy flavored sea salts.

The second vegetable dish is boiled carrots cooked with orange quarters and butter. This is a recipe published in Jamie’s Dinner book – I know he is not Canadian. Both recipes are sublime; they are my signature vegetable side dishes right now.

But the BBQd Stuffed Lake Trout by Rob Rainford is definitely a Canadian Summer recipe. Do not forget the topping, like you see on the photo, because it adds a festive vibe to your dish.

The dessert will be Apple Crisp Ice Cream with Warm Apple Fritters by Anna Olsen. Nothing says family more than apple and ice cream. I like the way this dessert is served. It shows you that simple plating techniques can look fabulous.

I hope you like my menu suggestions. For more menu ideas for a Canada Day event, have a look at the regional menus from the editorial team of Foodtv.ca.

Sourcing:
Recipe: Award-Winning Blueberry Drizzle Salad by Julie Zwillich
Recipe: Tea Smoked Salmon with Sweet Potato Pancake by Mark McEwan
Recipe: Phyllo Pastry with Blueberry Filling by Corbin Tomaszeski
Recipe: My Favourite Clam Chowder by Michael Smith
Recipe: BBQd Stuffed Lake Trout by Rob Rainford
Recipe: Apple Crisp Ice Cream with Warm Apple Fritters by Anna Olsen
More menu ideas: Canada Day regional menus from the editorial team of Foodtv.ca – check out the related links on the right
Flavored Sea Salts: Web site for FLOR DE SAL DE’S TRENC by Gusto Mundial
Blooming teas: Web site of My Cup of Tea
Photos credits: The shots were taken from foodtv.ca