Vanilla Bourbon Pork Chops

Vanilla Bourbon Pork Chops with Creme Fraiche Mash and Braised Red Cabbage with Dried Cherries
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Welcome to Easter Dinner: small household edition. It doesn’t look bad, does it? I mean, this plate might lack the dramatic effect of a glistening ham dripping with pineapple rings or the majesty of a rosemary-trimmed leg of lamb with a side of golden fat roasted potatoes. But this meal boasts glossy Vanilla Bourbon Pork Chops paired with braised red cabbage accented with dried sour cherries and a small mountain of crème fraîche watercress mash. So yeah, this isn’t some impressive roast/centerpiece you can present with a flourish but I promise you this meal tastes every inch as good as one. So let’s make it! 

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Warm Barley Salad with Kielbasa

Warm Barley Salad with Kielbasa
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Salads can be a tough sell in the winter.  The weather is depressing so cozy comfort food is all we really want. And “cozy” doesn’t generally apply to a salad. And the ingredients required for a salad? Well, let’s just say there’s a reason winter produce isn’t particularly celebrated. But if your definition of the word “salad” is lenient, and it really should be because “salad” is a surprisingly broad term, you can in fact make a cozy salad. And today’s Warm Barley Salad happens to be a prime example of that fact.

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Char Sui Back Ribs with Crushed Peanuts

Char Sui Back Ribs with Crushed Peanuts
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It’s happened. I saw my first back-to-school ad this week and it immediately inspired dread. While I haven’t attended school in, erm, quite some time, I still feel joy at the end of June and sadness when September hits. That’s some solid childhood programming right there. And every year I feel indignant when people lament the end of summer when the season is barely over a month old. We wait for summer all year here in Canada, let’s not hasten it out the door, shall we? So in an effort to keep the good times rolling, I give you the most summer-friendly food I can think of – pork back ribs, Char Sui Back Ribs to be exact.

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Prosciutto and Brie Panzanella with Cornichons

Prosciutto and Brie Panzanella with Cornichon
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Spring has finally arrived in earnest. And in true Ontarian fashion, we’ve skipped spring and have gone straight to summer. Well, not quite. I’m sure we’ll take a quick dip back into depressing temperatures before summer truly arrives. But for the time being, my fellow Torontonians and I are enjoying plus 20°C weather as only sun-starved Canadians can. Pouring ourselves onto packed patios in deeply seasonally-confused outfits. As for me, this surprisingly hospitable weather has inspired some intense salad cravings. I know, not what you’ve come to expect from me. To be fair, I’m craving salads like today’s Prosciutto and Brie Panzanella, so I’m not completely off-brand here.

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