Recipes, tips and reviews
These recipes are developed, tested and re-tested until perfect. Try one at home tonight.
I used the Japanese Kuri squash which is a fiery red colour. It roasts well. You can use any drier variety of squash for this curry.
The best Scottish shortbread handed down through my family. Crumbly, sweet and buttery.
This dish has a salty, savoury sauce with a little bit of a kick. If you don't want the spice of the jalapenos, leave it out, and finely diced onion can be used instead of the shallots.
This is the one hors d’oeuvre that I keep being asked for time and time again. It’s crunchy, creamy, spicy and hits all the high spots.
Mushrooms and squash have a real affinity and this soup proves it. I like to use oyster mushrooms, but chanterelles, which I found at the supermarket this week, provide the best flavour.
The fifth taste, umami, has much to do with glutamate, an amino acid found in such foods as prosciutto, soy sauce and a number of cheeses. Umami can show up in your glass, too (fermentation is glutamate’s old friend).
When this recipe originally ran in The Globe and Mail, I received a lovely note from reader Barbara Zuchowicz. This dish reminded her of a wonderful meal she had in Italy: "It brought back joyful memories of a trip to Italy my late husband, an exceptional cook, and I took a number of years ago.
Hostaria Romana is an old-fashioned Roman trattoria. The waiters are old pros doling out lavish bowls of antipasti with irreverence and wit. The pastas are served in the bowl that they are mixed in (called originale) and if two of you order the same pasta, they give the woman the bowl and the man a soup plate, which goes to show that Italians really do love women.
Hotel Gelato's Chef Dan Hoffman makes spicy sandwiches have layers of flavour and are also good cold.
Read MoreSriracha is a Thai hot sauce that includes sugar, chilies, garlic and vinegar for a balanced heat. It is the ketchup of Thailand. Pickerel is a sensational fish on the grill. You can either grill whole fillets or cut them into two or three pieces.
Read MoreVenison is slightly gamey; ground beef or pork make good substitutes, if preferred. You can omit the dried kidney beans and stir in 1 drained 398 ml can about 20 minutes before finishing cooking.
Read MoreAndy Ricker’s dish is a traditional take on steamed fish, an important part of Chinese New Year. You will need a large bamboo steamer basket. I used striped bass as I could not get fresh black bass.
Read MoreThis recipe is inspired by a dinner I enjoyed at Charlie Palmer’s restaurant, Burritt Room + Tavern, in San Francisco. Based on the old style of meat-and-drink-heavy establishments that dotted San Fran in another era, it serves impressive cocktails and fun, trendy food.
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Use ancho chili powder if possible (it has a hint of chocolate in it), but any chili will bring out the chocolate flavor in these truffles. These also freeze well and can be eaten directly out of the freezer whenever you have a chocolate moment.
Makes 18 to 20 small truffles
Bring cream to a boil in a small pot over low heat. Immediately pour cream over chocolate and butter and stir until smooth. Stir in honey and chili powder. Cool and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.
Make truffles 1 to 2 inches in diameter by scooping out balls of chocolate mixture with a melon baller or small ice cream scoop. Place balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If mixture is a little soft, use your hands to roll balls.
Place shaved chocolate on one plate and cocoa on another. Roll half the balls in chocolate and half in cocoa and refrigerate.
For a panini, bread is layered with ingredients and then grilled in a panini pan. The panini pan is a grill with a heavy top that flattens the sandwich down, but you don't need to buy one, just press a heavy pot on top of the sandwich to compress it when you are frying it. Instead of making the Tomato-Chili Jam, you could buy a salsa that you like.
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© 2018, Lucy Waverman.
