Welcome to High Liner Food Service

From the very mild and buttery to the most piquant and savoury, one of my favourite foods in the world is cheese!  Most people don’t know that we make an excellent Battered Cheese Bite here at High Liner! We take bite-size morsels of sharp cheddar cheese and dip it into our signature Battercrisp® batter. These cheese bites make a great snack, and are easy to prepare in both the fryer and oven! Serve them as an appetizer or pair with fries or a salad; they make a great ‘grab & go’ meal solution that’s also suitable for vegetarians!

I love how different pizza toppings make you feel as if you’ve travelled to a unique and exotic destination. Here are some seafood pizza creations inspired by places I hope to one day visit!

THAILAND
I have a fascination with Sweet Thai Chili sauce—not only is it a perfect pairing with our Tiki Island™ Wonton Shrimp but it’s also a great sauce for Pizza. My Thai Chili Shrimp starts with Sweet Chili sauce and Cold Water Shrimp, I then add broccoli, red onion, hot banana pepper, green pepper, mushrooms and mozzarella. It tastes like a slice of ‘pad thai’ and it can even be jazzed up with a sprinkling of crushed peanuts. 

My Thai Chili Shrimp Pizza

SPAIN & PORTUGAL
Chorizo pairs wonderfully with seafood, its widely used in Portuguese and Spanish cuisines. Here I’ve used traditional tomato sauce, Cold Water Shrimp, spicy Chorizo sausage, hot banana peppers and mozzarella.

Shrimp & Chorizo Pizza

BRAZIL
Although I’ve never been to Brazil, I recently learned that the Brazilians love Cod fish on their pizza. Here’s my cod fish inspired pizza—prepared using ingredients found in Baccalau—a traditional tomato and salt-cod stew.  Simply top pizza with hearty chunks of Atlantic Cod, tomato sauce, black olives, red onion and cheese.

Baccalau on a Pizza

ITALY
My all time favourite cuisine is Italian, here I’ve taken simple Italian ingredients—creamy Alfredo sauce, spinach, roasted red peppers, roasted garlic, Parmigiano cheese, along with our Canadian East Coast lobster meat for a truly decadent pizza.

Italian Lobster Pizza

Dip’t & Dusted Calamari Rings and Tentacles

Having lived in Southern Italy and traveled several times to Greece—I know a thing or two about authentic Calamari. In fact, I often ate freshly caught & cleaned calamari raw with just a squeeze of lemon as an appetizer when I lived in Bari, Italy. The tradition continues for our Dip’t & Dusted Calamari Rings and Tentacles. This calamari is by far our most ‘authentic’ light, back of the house and the squid itself is ‘melt in your mouth’ tender. I would opt to serve this in true Mediterranean fashion—flash fried and topped with some lemon wedges and fresh cut parsley.

One of my favourite ways to cook seafood is ‘En Papillotte’. This is a traditional French style of cooking fish in a parchment packet so that it steams in the natural moisture and flavour. Fish can sometimes become overcooked quite easily so I love to bake fish this way–I truly wish more restaurants would do more of this because its so easy for the ‘back of the house’ to execute, it also makes for a really special presentation!

Here’s an ‘En Papillotte’ recipe I developed for our Cooked White Clams. Its stunning and simple–build a parchment packet and nest with julienne of veggies, clams overtop, toss with a dressing, fold over paper and bake.
 Here’s what I used:
• 1 lb julienned fresh aromatic vegetables (such as carrot, leek, fennel & celery); as a ‘bed’ for the clams to steam on
• 4 lbs High Liner Foodservice Signature Cooked White Clams, rinsed in a strainer to remove any excess ice

Then make a dressing with:
• Juice and zest of 1 Meyer lemon
• 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped
• ½ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Lay out 4 sheets of parchment, cut into heart shapes. Divide veggies equally amongst the sheets. Top each sheet with 1 pound of clams, drizzle with Meyer lemon dressing. 
Fold over the parchment sheets, roll and pinch edges to seal packets. Place on a baking sheet; cook in 190°C (375°F) oven for 15 minutes.

Maple Bam Bam Shrimp

Bam Bam Maple Shrimp: In Celebration of Canadian Flavours!

I was recently at one of Toronto’s hot spots, The Drake Hotel, and got a sampling of Chef Anthony Rose’s Maple Firecracker Shrimp. Although chef batters up his own shrimp from scratch—I’ve used a variation of his recipe for our very own Bam Bam Evercrisp Shrimp.

Make a sauce by combining: ¼ cup maple syrup, ¼ cup honey, 1tbsp or more of hot sauce and 2 tbsp of mayo.

Make a fresh salsa garnish by combining: ¼ cup chopped cilantro, ½ chopped jalapeno, 2 tbsp chopped red onion

Fry 6 oz Bam Bam shrimp for 2 minutes until done, toss in the sauce and then sprinkle with the salsa garnish.

I love the way lobster is being showcased in really simple ‘back to basics’ applications these days. Lobster mashed potatoes and Lobster ‘mac & cheese’ are quickly becoming beloved staples on menus across Canada—so when I saw this dish on a menu recently, I knew it would deliver those rich, comforting flavours with a twist—Lobster & Brie Grilled Cheese. Now here’s a dish that supports the argument, “Yes, fish & cheese do go together!” This decadent sandwich made with Canadian East Coast Lobster meat mixed very lightly with some mayonnaise, smothered with Brie and Cheddar simply presented in between two, buttery grilled slices of white bread made me feel both nostalgic and adventurous!

Another comfort food classic made better is Lobster Mac & Cheese. Take some cooked pasta, hearty chunks of lobster meat and pour in some béchamel or reduced cream:

Some serious lobster chunks, this is made using our 1 lb Vacpack Claw, Knuckle and Leg Lobster Meat

Now for the cheese, I like to use 3 kinds—something smoked, something aged and a fresh cheese. Smoked Gouda, Aged Cheddar and Mozzarella di Bufala would be fabulous. Sprinkle with some grated Parmigiano and breadcrumbs, bake until bubbly and serve. To really jazz this up, I like to serve this in an individual ramekin garnished with a lobster claw!

With the Canadian East Coast Lobster season in full swing, I challenge you to bring scrumptious lobster creations to your menu. For some customized suggestions, send me a line at marsha.ditri@highlinerfoods.com

While traveling with my family to Montreal recently, I spotted a kiosk named ‘Shrimp to Go’ in the Carrefour Laval food court—as far as I’m concerned, this is a fast food revolution! They only serve shrimp! What’s not to love here?! Shrimp Soups, Shrimp Salads, Shrimp Pasta, Shrimp Pad Thai, Shrimp Skewers…you get the idea here, there is enough Shrimp on this menu to make Bubba Gump proud! I would love to see more places like this across Canada—it’s a delicious, low-fat protein that has great appeal!

We’ve got endless ideas for serving shrimp on your restaurant’s menu! Feel free to contact me at: marsha.ditri@highlinerfoodservice.com

I am really excited to be sinking my teeth into my new role as Culinary Advisor here at High Liner Foodservice. Being a working mom with 2 children is certainly busy and I sometimes don’t always have time to make lunch. I’ve had the chance to grab a quick bite at some really cool places these days. I’m really impressed with the caliber of fast food geared to adults—this is not the fast food I grew up on!

Lately, I’ve been impressed by Freshii, a quick serve restaurant that offers meal-sized salads, wraps and soups…I had a Wild Pacific Salmon Salad loaded with Pacific salmon, spinach, cucumber, mushrooms, roasted red peppers and cucumber dill dressing. At $9.50, the flavour and food quality rivaled anything you would get in a full service restaurant.

So if salads don’t make your mouth water, I assure you that visiting a gourmet burger joint will. There are countless fast food burger gourmets cropping up coast to coast…Gourmet Burger Co., South Street Burger and the Pink Bicycle (BC) are a few examples. One that really impressed me, was the Yellow Griffin in Toronto which boasts over 35 burgers—5 of them are ‘Moby Dick’ size salmon burgers! I’m a fan of the ‘Greek To Me’ burger which is topped with Feta, green onions, black olives, coriander and tomato…mmm…

I’m so excited to see restaurants like this growing and setting the pace in the QSR segment. If you want some customized approaches for your own restaurant, feel free to contact me at: marsha.ditri@highlinerfoodservice.com