Video

Happy Thanksgiving: How to Carve Poultry

November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends! Since I can’t join you in person and help out with dinner, I thought I’d share a video that could make your holiday meal run a bit more smoothly — or at least save your good table cloth from some unnecessary grease spots. While the turkey roasts, take 3 [...]

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Orange and Carrot Salad

March 10, 2011

Winter has returned with a vengeance, Dumping great soggy clumps of slush on our heads. In the face of this penetrating cold, I don’t want hot soup. I don’t want great steaming mounds of comfort food. I want warm temperatures and sunshine. And I want it now. So I’m pretending they dishwater gray sky is [...]

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Thanksgiving Survival Guide

November 19, 2010

I’m a big advocate of knowing your limits. While I’m very good at producing stellar individual dishes (Cranberry & Apple Cake aside), I’m not as gifted when it comes to co-ordinating large, multi-course meals. Want chicken curry on rice with a veggie? No problem. Drop by anytime for a soup, salad and savory scone. And [...]

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My CTV Appearance

October 6, 2010

Normally, after I’ve been on TV, there’s a lag between my appearance and me posting the clip. It’s a rather complex procedure that requires six technical steps, a good two hours of uninterrupted time and a generous glass of merlot. I swear, I can cook the dish in question faster than I can get the [...]

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Unrestrained

September 23, 2010

Where’ve I been? At the computer having my ego reduced to the size of a shriveled raisin. I decided to tackle video technology. People talk, you slap a few clips together and voila, video! How hard can it be? Very. Oh, sure, video might look like a single benign entity, but it’s really a hostile [...]

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Peach and Arugula Salad

August 20, 2010

Here, in all her glory, is Green Leaf Platter in what turned out to be her final performance. Less than 24 hours before her untimely demise, GLP was working the salad like nobody’s business. A true artist to the end, she presented like no one was watching. As promised, here is the recipe for the [...]

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How to Temper Steak

July 1, 2010

I knew I was missing a step. Despite learning how to heat a pan to perfection and fire up the grill without burning off my eyebrows, I struggle with producing a medium-rare steak. Oh, technically, I know how to use the palm method to determine doneness, but my results are hit and miss. Turns out [...]

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Boiling and Simmering Vegetables to Perfection (not death)

April 7, 2010

I feel a bit like Blanche DuBois from Street Car Named Desire. Of late I’ve been relying on the kindness of strangers (and friends, and family). From the shop that opened a half hour early so we could buy water when our supply was cut off to the stranger in seat 7c who shared his [...]

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How to Cook Dried Beans

March 11, 2010

Last month, I looked at how to debone a chicken as a faster-than-you’d-think way to save money and reduce salt in your diet. This month, the money-saving, salt-smashing culinary technique deals with dried beans and legumes. And no, the kitchen reno hasn’t made me lose all sense of proportion. The biggest objection I hear about [...]

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How to Butcher or Debone a Chicken

February 11, 2010

See those pretty crystals? They’re salt. Yes, we need this essential element to live, but the average Canadian consumes three times the daily recommended dose. Spend a few minutes Googling “high-sodium diet” and you’ll likely consider tossing your fleur de sel out the window. Fortunately, this isn’t necessary. A while ago, I was talking with [...]

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CTV and My Brush with Fame

February 8, 2010

So, I’m sitting in the green room of CTV studios in Kitchener waiting to go on. The person ushering me in tells me to take a seat and before leaving points to another guest and says, “And of course you know Alan.” I nod knowingly and look at Alan, who is chatting to another CTV [...]

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