Rhubarb and Cod

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Calabrese Aioli

June 9, 2025 No Comments

Patio season has finally arrived in Toronto, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s been a long, cold, and wet spring in this province, and we’ve been camped out in a rain cloud for much longer than usual. I was starting to have my doubts, but the switch has finally flipped, and summer has arrived. We never ease into summer; it just sort of shows up one day. Throughout those chilly spring months, I couldn’t stop fantasizing about summer cocktails and patio-friendly snacks like these Blistered Shishito Peppers with Calabrese Aioli. With its minimal prep, local produce, and bold flavours, this dish has everything I look for in a summer cookout starter. Unfussy but elegant in its way, just the aesthetic I’m going for this summer. So let’s make it!

Snacks, Starters, Vegetarian

Asparagus Tempura with Ginger Mayo and Matcha Salt

June 2, 2025 No Comments

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We’re in peak asparagus season here in Ontario, and I’m trying my best to get my fill. Unfortunately, I am a bottomless pit when it comes to this green, so it’s an inevitability – I will never have enough. But I’m still down to try, and today’s Asparagus Tempura with Ginger Mayo and Matcha Salt is vital to that effort. I know what you’re thinking: If you love a vegetable so much, why deep fry it? Well, there is a method to my madness, which I will get to. But I promise you won’t lose the asparagus in this recipe. Asparagus is such a short and special season; it would be a shame not to showcase its star in all its glory.

Fish & Seafood, Salads

Seared Tuna Salad with Spicy Cashew Dressing

May 26, 2025 No Comments

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Spring has been, um, lacklustre up to this point. Cold rain is the dominant theme and my least favorite form of precipitation. So, yeah, I’m far from impressed. But even this slow and painful spring can’t keep me from daydreaming about the summer fare that will soon be on the menu. The weather may scream soup, but my heart wants this Seared Tuna Salad with Spicy Cashew Dressing. I particularly love this dish because it features my current obsession: An ahi tuna saku block. Although when I refer to it as an “ahi tuna saku block”, I’m being redundant because saku means “block” in Japanese, and ahi means yellowfin and bigeye tuna in Hawaiian. So in reality, I just called this piece of fish a “tuna tuna block block”. Sometimes you just have to laugh.

Poultry, Pub Grub, Snacks, Starters

Salt and Vinegar Chicken Karaage with Umeboshi Mayo

May 12, 2025 No Comments

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Chip varieties constantly inspire me. Yes, I know how funny that sentence sounds. I guess chips have this pull on me because they are the flavours I most closely associate with my childhood. I particularly tie chips to summer vacation. We ate pretty healthy most of the time when I was growing up, but when we headed to the cottage, all bets were off: Potato chips, marshmallows, hot dogs, the whole nine yards. It’s hard not to have blissful nostalgia for that time. Childhood summer vacations were a cut above. No obligations, just endless acres of free time. It just doesn’t happen in adult life. So, for me, I associate flavours like sour cream and onion, and salt and vinegar with that very unique brand of freedom. And that’s the vibe of this Salt and Vinegar Chicken Karaage with Umeboshi Mayo.