Main Course Recipes

Every day now is getting a little bit warmer. In Muskoka, that’s both good and bad. The good, of course, is that summer is coming. The bad is that so are the black flies. Do you have black flies where you are? I hope not. I wouldn’t wish them on anyone. They make me crazy [...]

One of the downsides of living in Muskoka is that some great ingredients are just not available. But rather than do without, I’ve just learned to adapt. Every time I take a trip to Toronto, I make a couple stops on the way home. One is to Grande Cheese (web site currently under construction), where [...]

After spotting this recipe in the latest edition of Saveur, I just couldn’t wait to try it. And once I tried it, I had to make it again within the same week (yes, it was that good!). The only way I can describe this dish, is that it is like a crispy pizza on the [...]

If you’re looking for a special dish for St. Patrick’s Day that doesn’t involve corned beef, this is it! It’s easy to prepare (especially by using ready-made puff pastry) and full of wonderful flavours from the Guinness-braised beef in a rich gravy. Speaking of gravy, my stew didn’t really thicken as much in the oven [...]

I have been making this dish for several years. It started as a basic cider braised pork recipe from Gourmet magazine but with my own additions over the years, developed into a dish that just tastes like Fall and the holiday season. This isn’t one of those perfectly sliced pork/sauce drizzled over the top dishes. [...]

Martha and I go way back. Years and years, actually. And somewhere along the way, we had a bit of a falling out. As I recall, I had tried several Martha recipes that just didn’t work out. Not even that I didn’t care for them. They just didn’t work as written. We parted ways around [...]

There’s a reason these are called summer rolls! They are the perfect summer lunch or light supper. They are also great as an appetizer for summer entertaining. But you have to hurry. In case you hadn’t noticed, summer days are numbered :) I’ve only recently discovered the joys of making summer rolls at home, after [...]

For the past few summers, I haven’t let cherry season slip by without enjoying this lovely dish. And not only is it lovely, it’s one of those easy-enough-for-a-weeknight but fancy-enough-for-company dishes (don’t you love those!). If you’re entertaining, you can easily make the cherry chutney ahead of time too, and simply re-heat before serving. Even [...]

I love to make pasta and I love to eat pasta but I don’t think I’ve ever made a pasta dish with corn. I guess that’s why I was tempted by this recipe, spotted in the latest issue of Bon Apetit. And the idea of corn “pesto” was certainly intriguing! So, we made it tonight [...]

If you have an abundance of arugula to use up, this pasta dish is the answer! No fewer than 8 cups of arugula goes into the ravioli filling, where it’s wilted and combined with goat cheese and parmesan. It is then topped with a thick, tomato pancetta sauce. Though we both loved it, my husband [...]