Top Chefs at the Market

I love to shop at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market, but it's way more fun to eat there. Take the new Executive Chef Series at the market, which kicked off Thursday evening with a lovely, fresh, local and oh-so-yummy meal prepared by Chef Anthony McCarthy.

Dinner began with carrot ginger soup topped with fresh-picked sorrel. On a cold winter's night, a little bit of fresh green tastes so amazing. The salad was so simple and so delicious: one perfect cocktail tomato with dash of basil purée, a circle of balsamic reduction and a sprinkle of powdered - yes, powdered - cold pressed canola oil.

Next, smoked whitefish with lemon pepper and horseradish cream, nestled onto a "sheaf" of fresh cut pea shoots all dolled up with hemp oil dressing and nutty hemp seeds. (During the course of the evening's conversation I learned how to grow pea shoots at home, so here's to a little winter gardening...)

The entrée featured a shaving a waygu beef rolled around a filling of wild boar, next to a gooey cheesy lentil risotto and silky roast vegetables. A light dessert was in order: sea buckthorn gelato (my favourite!) with a compote of berries and chocolate paté.   

The next event in the Executive Chef Series is Thursday, February 16, with Chef Brent Lloyd. Check it out on the farmers' market website.