Mexican pork ribs. Chili. Tomato. Spice. Creamy cheese grits. It comes together beautifully on the plate. A deeply flavoured, mildly spicy sauce blends with the creaminess of the grits. Meltingly tender pork ribs add a touch of richness. This dish takes Mexican cooking into fine dining territory.
steak with thyme white wine reduction and truffled mashed
Steak with thyme white wine reduction. A nice pan-fried steak perched on a smear of truffled mashed potatoes with a drizzle of thyme infused sauce all around. A dish fit for virtually any occasion. Fine dining at home.
chicken diavolo
Chicken diavolo is about the most flavour you can load into a dish. Big, bold Italian flavours. It’s so good. And its easy enough for a weeknight dinner.
steak salad with cilantro lime vinaigrette
Sometimes you need a steak but you can’t get to your grill. It might be raining. It might be covered with a foot of snow like mine is. Pan frying steak is a great way to get your fix no matter what’s going on outside. Steak salad with cilantro lime vinaigrette is a little taste of summer any time you want it.
sausage with peppers
Sausage with peppers. A classic American-Italian dish. Fry some sausage. Add peppers and onions. A bit of garlic. Some dried oregano and basil. Pile it on a hoagie. Melt some cheese. That’s downtown.
Roast sausage for colour. Sweat peppers and onion slowly until melting. Add white wine. Reduce. Now the tomato. Simmer. Add the browned sausage. Simmer a bit more to bring the flavours together. Serve on polenta enriched with butter, cream and fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano. Simple, clean tastes. That’s uptown.
loaded carnitas tacos with avocado tomatillo salsa
I live in Canada. I have a taco addiction. That’s a bit of a problem. There are no taco trucks here. No mom and pop taquerias. There are a couple of places doing great tacos in town but there are lineups. For tacos. That’s why I make my own. Loaded carnitas tacos are how I get my taco fix at home. And you can too.
Carnitas are the star of this particular taco. Lousy carnitas – lousy tacos. Well, that’s not the only place to fall down with tacos. Lousy tortillas – lousy tacos. But let’s not get distracted. I make carnitas a couple different ways. Sous-vide carnitas are really good. Make them ahead of time and just fry them up to order. Or you can go old-school and make more traditional pork carnitas. They are really, really good too.
crispy pork carnitas
Crispy pork carnitas make some of the best tacos around. Little bits of pork wrapped in a soft corn tortilla. That is just good living.
yucatan pickled onions
Yucatan pickled onions are one of those great condiments. They can be used all over the place. Tacos – obviously. In sandwiches. On burgers. With grilled meats, poultry or fish. Pretty much anything that isn’t dessert.