If it's hot outside, cool pasta salad mixes up with most anything to hand Soup is well known as an ingredient catch-all most of the year but in the hottest summer months, save for a nod to great gazpacho, I say cold pasta salad can fill the same role just as well. Boil any pasta you have around then run it under cold water immediately after to stop the … Read More →
For Edesia's sake, DON’T call it Carbonara! I’m told that geniune Italian handbags are pricey affairs with counterfeits galore at every turn. The same applies to various “authentic” dishes from around the globe, Italy included. And you know Italy, I get it. I totally understand why you’d want to protect a national culinary treasure like Pasta Carbonara. I’d be just as picky … Read More →
Perfect When There's A Chill In The Air Take a classic like leek & potato soup and boost it with corn, cheddar, chicken, and delightfully crunchy homemade croutons and what do you get? This one-pot wonder chowder made in a hurry to satisfy any fans of the original. Any time of year when a chill wind wanders past… like now on the Spring … Read More →
Flexible Finish - Fried, Baked or Sauced Every culture has a favourite dumpling and Italy is no exception. Across the whole of the country gnocchi in its many forms is their answer. While potato-based versions abound, cheese is also used as a base with plenty of regional arguement over naming conventions. Some profess only potato can be called gnocchi with cheese being … Read More →
A Little Extra Cheese Never Hurts You should all know my obsession with beans by now so I’ll not to bore you yet again. Soak from dry, five times cheaper, etc. etc. Here’s how I make a batch of particularly creamy pinto beans suitable for parking next to Mexican red rice. If you’ve ever been to a family-style Mexican restaurant, you’ll … Read More →
Now With More Cheese Than Necessary Here’s another update to a post from Christmas Past that I finally got around to translating into video. My original recipe here gets a boost from rosemary and far more cheese than you should eat in one bun but it’s Christmas and indulgence is encouraged. You can of course exercise some restraint and make a … Read More →
Time Well Spent So it’s Thanksgiving today in Canada. Virus woes have put a crimp in dinner gathering plans the world over so for the first time in decades, I’m not cooking the usual fare today. I’m sure I’ll correct that omission when the American version of the holiday rolls around in a few weeks. In the meantime, … Read More →
You don't have to raise them to make great cheese By request here’s some live-action cheese making using the method from my original “Discount Goat” post. Still just as good as before. I mention in the video my favourite use for chèvre is to stuff radicchio leaves and pan fry them in the vein of old Italian farmers. You can find that recipe below, simple … Read More →
Can You Spot the Parmesan Waldo As I sit here in the middle of a blizzard warning yet to make landfall with full force, I’m reminded of one of my favourite tricks in soup making. If you’re not making soup and still buying the rubbish in a tin you’ve really missed the kitchen boat. Culinary neophytes can make soup on the … Read More →
Game Day Cheese & Spice Overload There are very few topics that interest me less than politics or sports. After suffering last year’s political pundits ad nauseam, it’s time this weekend to try my best to avoid the hype over that big football game they have down in the States. My grocery yesterday was awash in all sorts of ‘game day’ … Read More →
Less Orange, More Flavour I didn’t realize that making Tex-Mex queso dip was a hurdle for some people. It’s a junk food indulgence I’ve been making since I was a kid but when I saw a scrum forming by a stack of the stuff on sale in the market yesterday I realized people are mystified by those orange jars. … Read More →
Fresh & Tart, No Cow Needed My neighbourhood Megamarket tries hard to appeal to fringe food types like myself. They have a ‘natural foods’ section despite the skeptical local attitudes towards quinoa and nutritional yeast. But this lack of local enthusiasm means their well-meaning dairy and fresh section often goes unsold. Their policy is to slap ‘50% off’ stickers on everything … Read More →
Downmarket Carbonara I’m a fan of food classics which means you’re just as likely to get traditional Italian Carbonara as you are family-style baked mac & cheese on my table. They’re not better or worse than one another but obviously each has their own connotations of venue. Try to get away with a southern American casserole in … Read More →
Quick. Delicious. No Cardboard. For those of you that don’t know, I’m addicted to pizza. Thick, thin, pan, deep dish, Italian, American, Naples, New York, Chicago, Naples again, Ancient Roman, wood oven, kamado, tandoor, vegetarian, Japanese squid and egg, Mongolian yak cheese… you name it, I’ll try it on a flat crust. I absolutely can’t get enough of the … Read More →
