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.
When you’re cooking with skewers it’s important to remember that steel versions conduct heat better, and therefore cook meat faster (depending on the dish). If, like me, you prefer using rosemary branches, lemongrass or wooden sticks for skewering, be sure to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes. Otherwise, they’ll flame up and burn on the grill.
Read MoreThe perfect bread to go with ribs or grilled chicken. Serve alone or butter lavishly for homemade garlic bread.
Read MoreThis fresh salsa has a little bite to it. It is sensational with Dinosaur Bones but also with raw vegetables or vegetable chips and as a summery sauce for fish or chicken.
Read MoreA flaky tender shortcake that is quick to make. You could add dried fruit, especially dried cherries or blueberries, into the mix.
Read MoreA classic French dish updated for simplicity that's packed with fresh flavours. Serve with roasted red potatoes and green beans.
Read MoreA summery, soft green soup garnished with chives and chive flowers (if available). Serve hot or cold
Read MoreCombined with colourful Romano beans, fennel, and a mustard-balsamic dressing, store-bought roast turkey becomes a chunky home-style Italian salad.
Read MoreI am learning not to overdo marinades. Always make sure there is oil and nothing sugar-based. This is also excellent oven-baked at 425 F for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Make sure the butcher takes off the backbone and the breast bone, too. Place some plastic wrap over the chicken and give it a big whack to flatten it. This will ensure it cooks more evenly.
Read MoreThis is the perfect salad to serve with chicken. It’s crisp, soft, rich and cool.
Read MoreRed quinoa has more texture than white and has a nuttier flavour.
Read MoreBison is a rich, lean, grass-fed organic meat that delivers great taste and has fewer calories than beef. Often confused with buffalo (which are from Asia and Africa and not found in North America), bison have a distinctive look, with their huge heads, woolly fur coats and shoulder humps. It is not always easy to find bison meat in the butcher shop, although the situation is improving.
Read MoreI have childhood memories of rhubarb just picked from the garden and Mum making this rhubarb sponge. Rich and caramel-like with a moist sponge on top, it beats all the rhubarb desserts I know. For my best childhood memories I would serve it with custard, but as an adult I serve it with salted caramel gelato and everyone begs for more.
Read MoreA sweet tangle of onions and shrimps with spicy overtones make this an exceptional dish. Use large shrimp (15 to 20 to a pound or 450 grams) to protect against overcooking. The heat in this dish is personal preference.I don’t like it too hot, as I want the delicate lemongrass taste to come through. Serve with rice or rice noodles.
From Glasgow restaurant Stravaigin, a notable dish of traditional potato scones with a new look. A superb first course.
Read MoreThe seasonally available blood oranges provide a delicious contrast to the rich filling. Serve with lightly whipped cream if desired. Although the tart serves more than six, it keeps for up to a week of decadent eating.
Some brands of frozen puff pastry are pre-rolled, some are not. Depending on what you have, roll out into a 10-inch square, approximately 1/8 of an inch thick. Refrigerate until needed.
Read MoreMushrooms 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.
Read MoreUse a medium curry paste, as it best balances the sweetness of the hoisin sauce.
Read MoreWhen I dined at the French critical favourite Le Chateaubriand in Paris, one of Restaurant magazine’s 50 best restaurants in the world, I had a phenomenal dessert that looked like a fried egg but was, in fact, a caramelized egg yolk sitting on a bed of crushed-nut meringue.
Read MoreSue Devor – Gail’s honorary aunt – is an extraordinary baker. During Gail’s childhood, Sue would make her favourite decadent chocolate meringue cookies every Passover. Today, no Passover is complete in Gail’s home without them. These addictive cookies are a little crispy on the outside with a gooey, chewy chocolate centre.
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© 2018, Lucy Waverman.
