Recipes

I don’t have a pastry chef on staff at my house so I’m always on the lookout for an easy-to-make dessert like panna cotta. This Italian treat is smooth and light and can be flavoured with any herb, spice or liqueur. It’s so simple to make that it will quickly become part of your repertoire.

This is the pasta sauce I crave more than any other. It’s easy to make and perfect when there’s a finicky eater at the table because the bacon is irresistible. You can combine the simple flavours of a great tomato sauce with crowd-pleasing bacon, and you’re guaranteed a winner.

You don’t need a fire blazing in the backyard or a fancy barbecue to cook a great steak. Pan-roasting works well too, especially if you start with a great steak, use lots of butter and finish with browned onions.

I’ve been making this dish for a long time. It’s a bit involved but it remains one of the most impressive potato dishes I know. This special occasion treat features the classic trio of potatoes, bacon and cheddar. It will take you a while to make, but the results are more than worth it. It’s the sort of thing that looks complicated until you try it and quickly realize how simple it is to master.

Sharp peppery arugula meets rich buttery eggplant and vibrant roast tomatoes in this wonderful salad.

I’m addicted to chocolate and always look for a way to work it into a treat, especially with coffee. Together they make mocha. This coffee flavoured chocolate cake batter baked in coffee cups looks like a cup of coffee - until you cut into it!

Braising is the ultimate comfort food. This method takes a cheap, tough cut of pork and turns it into a magical stew. You wont believe how simple the spätzle noodles are to make, they’re the perfect way to soak up the juices from the pork.

Every fall when locally grown squash and apples appear in the farmers market I make this dish. It shows how well ingredients that grow together go together. That’s why it tastes so good!

Many of the bright flavours of the southwest are found in this distinctively thick soup. Many cooks in that region toss toasted corn tortillas into a simmering broth where they break down and thicken the liquid. I realized I could simply jump-start the process by using cornmeal, the flour the tortillas are made from.

A bowl full of freshly made corn polenta is one of the world’s great grain dishes. Polenta is a traditional Italian pudding thickened with cornmeal. Freshly made, it has a soft, creamy, addictively delicious texture. It can also be served by cooling and hardening it, then slicing it and grilling or pan-searing it until it forms a beautiful crispy crust with a creamy interior.

Every kitchen needs a gold standard recipe for chocolate chip cookies. This one has earned its stripes under fire, over many seasons, through countless licked spoons, spilled vanilla and extra chips in the batter. Its quick baking time is the key to addictively chewy cookies that friends and family won’t be able to resist.

There are as many ways to flavour mashed potatoes as there are cooks. These are my gold standard. They’re simple, with a twist: brown butter. You won’t believe how much flavour is locked into a stick of butter, but you will believe these are the best mashed spuds you’ve ever had.