LCBO Food & Drink Holiday 2025

CHEESY THUMBPRINTS WITH TOMATO CHUTNEY

sauce. Simmer 30 seconds then remove from heat. Cool completely and stir in sambal or sriracha and fish sauce. Transfer to a glass jar. Cover and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. 2. For the shrimp rolls, place sesame seeds in small frying pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally at beginning and frequently when they start to brown, until golden brown, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. 3. Rinse shrimp and pat dry with paper towel. Place in a food processor with curry paste, cilantro and salt, if necessary—most shrimp are salty enough. Pulse just until it forms a chunky paste—you want some small pieces for texture. Transfer to a disposable piping bag. Twist end closed and secure with twist tie. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 4 hours. 4. Set a rack in upper third of oven, 6 inches (15 cm) from broiler. Preheat to 450°F (232°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment. 5. Trim crusts from bread to make 3 × 31/2-inch (8 × 9-cm) rectangles, saving trimmings to make bread crumbs or croutons. Cover bread with plastic wrap. 6. Working two at a time, place bread slices on work surface with longer sides facing you. Roll flat with a rolling pin. Brush a 1-inch (2.5‑cm) band of egg yolk at tops and brush rest of surface generously with oil. Cut hole in piping bag tip slightly bigger than 1/2 inch (1 cm). About 1/2 inch (1 cm) from bottom of bread, pipe a line of shrimp filling about 3/4 inch (2 cm) wide. Roll bread around shrimp away from you to seal into a neat cylinder. Place on prepared sheet, seam sides down, and repeat until bread and shrimp are used up. 7. Working four at a time, brush top of shrimp rolls with egg yolk and sprinkle with toasted ses ame seeds, turning rolls with hand to coat sides. Bake on upper third of oven until golden brown and shrimp is cooked through, about 10 min utes. Meanwhile, transfer sweet chili sauce to a small bowl. 8. When rolls are done, cool for a few minutes, cut in half (if desired) and transfer to a serving platter. Serve immediately, either drizzled with sauce and/or with sauce on side.

Classic thumbprint cookies adapt amazingly well to the savoury treatment. We dropped the sugar, added two cheeses and rosemary, then filled them with a sweet-and-sour tomato chut ney for a scrumptious hors d’oeuvre. The recipe makes way more chutney than you will need, but it keeps well in the fridge and is delicious on cheese sandwiches, turkey burgers or fried eggs. TOMATO CHUTNEY 3 slices fresh ginger 2 bay leaves 6 coriander seeds 6 black peppercorns 3 allspice berries 1/4 tsp (1 mL) dried chili flakes 1 tbsp (15 mL) canola oil 11/2 cups (375 mL) diced onion 1 can (796 mL) diced tomatoes, preferably Canadian such as Aylmer or Unico 1/2 cup (125 mL) packed light brown sugar 1/2 cup (125 mL) cider vinegar 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt 1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) freshly ground pepper THUMBPRINTS 2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour, sifted 1/2 cup (125 mL) finely grated Parmigiano‑Reggiano 1/2 cup (125 mL) finely grated Pecorino Romano 2 tsp (10 mL) finely chopped rosemary 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt 1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, softened 3 tbsp (45 mL) sugar 2 egg yolks 1. For the chutney, cut an 8-inch (20-cm) square of double-layer cheesecloth. Rinse, squeeze dry and lay out on work surface. Place ginger, bay leaves and spices in centre. Gather ends and tie tightly with kitchen string. Trim excess cheese cloth and string. Set aside. 2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Carefully add tomatoes and their juices, sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper and spice bag. Raise heat to high. When it comes to a simmer, reduce heat to maintain a gentle Tiny shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano to garnish (optional)

SHRIMP TOAST ROLLS WITH SWEET CHILI SAUCE Taking inspiration from Adrian Ghervan’s feta rolls (@adrian.ghervan), we’ve created a scrumptious hors d’oeuvre that’s the lovechild of shrimp toast and sausage rolls. The recipe makes more sauce than you’ll need. The left overs are excellent with just about anything breaded and fried. SWEET CHILI SAUCE 2 large fresh red finger chilies 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (125 + 15 mL) water, divided 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (60 mL + 30 mL) sugar 1/3 cup (80 mL) rice vinegar 11/2 tsp (7 mL) cornstarch 1 tbsp (15 mL) sambal oelek or sriracha sauce 2 tsp (10 mL) Asian fish sauce 10 oz (285 g) peeled and deveined shrimp 1 tbsp (15 mL) Thai Kitchen red curry paste 1/3 cup (80 mL) roughly chopped cilantro Salt to taste 14 slices squishy white sandwich bread, such as Wonder 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten Canola oil for brushing 1. For the sweet chili sauce, trim and discard chili stems then halve chilies lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and roughly chop seeds to separate. Place seeds in small saucepan. Finely chop chilies and add to pan along with garlic, 1/2 cup (125 mL) water, sugar and vinegar. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 3 minutes. Mix cornstarch with remaining 1 tbsp (15 mL) water and stir into SHRIMP ROLLS 1/4 cup (60 mL) sesame seeds

Makes large 14 large rolls or 28 hors d’oeuvre portions

156

———————— HOLIDAY 2025