I think anyone who has had a great fish taco, and the decadent Baja fish taco in particular, has fallen in love with the complex interchange of simple flavours, crunchy textures, the dialogue of sweet and tangy, and the pure comfort of food that pleases the soul. Recreating it home without pulling out the deep-fryer, though, is a…
Poutine with Maple-Cranberry Sauce * Fillet Mignon * St-Albert Cheese Curds
Poutine: greasy truck-stop food ending in heartburn or a gastronomic adventure that ends in foodgasm? Ever since I scarfed back the most amazing plate of poutine 13 months ago, I’ve been committed to recreating that dish prepared by the servers of Le St-Estèphe. There seemed no better time than now, especially with the advent of…
Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Banana-Date Glaze
Winter is certainly a time to dig into our dried fruits, especially with our dwindling produce this time of year. It’s a time to celebrate stronger flavours and sweetness. It’s a time for concentrated tastes that warm the body, inside out…. … but it is not a time to give up the barbecue. Yes, I’m…
Farfalloni with Grilled Chicken and Swiss Chard
My quest to find great ways to use chard that keeps showing up in my CSA shares has continued all summer. It’s produced a few excellent side dishes (see recipes: Chard with Bacon and Cranberries and Chard with Meyer Lemon) and an awesome minestrone soup with prosciutto. However, I wanted to see how far I…
Grilled Ratatouille
Ratatouille…. I’ll wager it is one of those dishes that leaves very few on the fence. I’d also wager the distribution of fence dwellers isn’t even. What better challenge, then, than to make a classic dish whose heyday may be past but whose opportunity for a triumphant return remains. I previously remarked that if you…
Grilled Prawns with Lime and Peaches
Some relationships are meant to be … some will be deep and lasting, intrinsic in their ties. Others will be friendships, casual acquaintances, passerbys even. Tomatoes and basil; peanut butter and chocolate; lobster and butter. These are intrinsic pairings. When the bok choy arrived in my CSA bin, I thought I had in my head…
Barbecued Ribs with Root Beer Sauce and Baked Apples
There are certain things I’ll almost never order in a restaurant: steak, pasta, chicken … and pork ribs. It’s not that I don’t like or even, in the case of ribs, love these foods … it is because I’m appalled at what restauranteurs will charge for fare that I can, in almost all cases, make…