I jumped on another box the other day, so I've officially come full circle. Back when the pandemic started in Canada in spring, I wrote a little something about how I was doing as a writer in quarantine for "Chronicling the Days," an initiative of the Quebec Writers' … [Read more...] about Second-Wave Box-Jumping and What Montreal Chefs are Doing to Get Through the Second Wave of the Pandemic
Turmeric-Sage Rice with Pickled Kale Stems
"Yellow is my favourite rice!" said my brother as I lifted the cover of the rice cooker to reveal a turmeric-tinged batch of Basmati. "It's seriously just turmeric and rice," I said, but it did look good. Sometimes it takes a brother to point out how delicious a colour can … [Read more...] about Turmeric-Sage Rice with Pickled Kale Stems
Spicy Sichuan Boiled Fish from Bon Appetit and How to Simultaneously Burn and Numb Your Mouth
Sometimes you just want your whole mouth to burn. For that, there's Sichuan boiled fish. The bright red liquid the fish is served in is more a cooking oil than a sauce, and the whole dried Sichuan chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns that occupy it are for simultaneously … [Read more...] about Spicy Sichuan Boiled Fish from Bon Appetit and How to Simultaneously Burn and Numb Your Mouth
Whole Roasted Cauliflower
You should always be skeptical of recipes claiming to be amazingly delicious with only five ingredients, I feel. (You should also be skeptical of all sentences that include hyperbolic adverbs such as "amazingly.") And yet, here I am telling you that this five-ingredient … [Read more...] about Whole Roasted Cauliflower
Roasted Squash and Carrot Soup with Red-Veined Sorrel
Montreal’s Biggest Wine and Spirits Tasting Event, La Grande Dégustation, Goes Online, Oct. 26-31, 2020
For a lot of years, I, and thousands of others, traipsed through the basement of Place Bonaventure with a SAQ tasting glass in one hand and a map and index of the hundreds of wines and spirits available to be tasted in the other. In more recent years that map was replaced by a … [Read more...] about Montreal’s Biggest Wine and Spirits Tasting Event, La Grande Dégustation, Goes Online, Oct. 26-31, 2020
A Long Lost Email, Memories of Southeast Asia and A Recipe for Malaysian Sambol
The last thing I expected while hunting through my gmail for the spicy sambol recipe from a cooking class I took in Penang, Malaysia five or so years ago was a chain of messages sent to a good climbing friend who'd travelled a similar path through Southeast Asia a few years … [Read more...] about A Long Lost Email, Memories of Southeast Asia and A Recipe for Malaysian Sambol
“I Went Through Quarantine and All I Got Was This Homemade Miso” (plus a recipe for my version sweet miso eggplant)
I realized, looking back through my food photos from the past six months, that the only recipes I took pictures of during Covid quarantine are ones I developed for ALIVE magazine and DELICIOUS LIVING. That's a good 20 or 25 recipes, but still, that's it – except for a lone bowl … [Read more...] about “I Went Through Quarantine and All I Got Was This Homemade Miso” (plus a recipe for my version sweet miso eggplant)
Thanksgiving a Little Differently
This year I'm going to chuck a chicken in the slow cooker with potatoes, parsnips and carrots and be done with it. Sacrilege! you say. What is Thanksgiving if not an indulgent, roasted feast of turkey stuffed with fatty, herby, soft bread that leaves you comatose? Turns … [Read more...] about Thanksgiving a Little Differently
New Petition from Montreal Restaurants Calls for a Freeze on Provincial Sales Tax Payments
A press release issued October 3 is calling for the provincial government to forgive and reimburse all provincial sales tax payments due since April 1, when restaurants first closed for lockdown. Toby Lyle, owner of the Burgundy Lion Group, argues in the release that the … [Read more...] about New Petition from Montreal Restaurants Calls for a Freeze on Provincial Sales Tax Payments