Risotto is comfort food. Yes, you can make “healthy” versions of it as I did when I developed my Tuscan Kale Risotto earlier this summer. However, risotto is best prepared when it can just be, let its warm, sensuous, snuggling personality reach out, when it can comfort the soul and light a warm fire in…
Marinara Sauce … from harvest to scratch
There is making things from scratch … and then there is making them from harvest to jar or, in my case, from seed to jar. And as satisfying as all my preserves have been, there was nothing more satisfying than making my own marinara sauce with the tomatoes I grew myself. While the recipe that…
Sweet Ginger-Garlic Chicken Wings
Ah, the chicken wing. At one time a throw-away piece of chicken, now an exercise in Friday-night indulgence. While I in no way, shape or form claim professional training or knowledge as a cook, I did spend a few years early in my university life as a line-cook in a busy downtown Calgary restaurant: Ed’s…
Maple and Bacon-Smoked Turkey Breast
Here’s an antidote for the boring, bland and dry bird … also known as the turkey breast. When Anne and I decided to have her parents over for a Thanksgiving brunch last weekend, I hummed and hawed over whether to do a small turkey for 4 people in the early day or whether to opt…
Minestrone with Chard and Prosciutto
My CSA shares have given me three challenges related to the regularity and volume of certain bounties: zucchini, kale, and chard. The first of these veggies I’ve managed very well; the kale is getting used as well, but with less imagination; the chard, however, has been a harder test. Zucchini is ‘easy’ by comparison because…
Prosciutto e Melone (Prosciutto wrapped Melon)
Stuffed Spaghetti Squash with Black Bean Ragù
There is nothing complicated about this creation. It takes a bit of chopping and nothing more than a bit more time for cooking. Having said that, I did employ a couple of techniques that are a bit atypical of spaghetti squash which is usually baked, scooped with a fork to create the tell-tale sinews of…
Homemade Super Dog Food … aka Ben’s Breakfast
If I have a finger for every love in my life, one is given to food and another one, likely an opposable thumb, is given to Ben, my dog. Together, those two loves have produced this recipe for homemade dog food which I have been feeding to my super/wonder-dog for years. For those new to…
Insalata Caprese with Balsamic
Ahh… the flavours of the Mediterranean. There is an elemental purity to Mediterranean food which is hard to describe and which can really only be experienced. So elemental is it, that it is a challenge in my experience to fully participate outside of the region itself. You can taste the fire of the sun, the…
Pork Souvlaki
Souvlaki is one of the easiest meals in my arsenal. It is one of those ‘go-to’ meals I do when I need something quick. Therefore, when I walk through the meat section of a grocery store and I see per-seasoned and skewered souvlaki, I shake my head every time. I have no idea why anyone…