This dish comes together so quickly it will amaze you and your family. You can try it with Thai green or yellow curry as well. To save time, purchase peeled uncooked shrimp.

Adapted from The Fondue Cookbook by Gina Steer (Whitecap Books).

Flank steak is a tougher cut of beef. It will be even juicier if you let it sit overnight in a marinade containing the juices of 1 lemon, 1 orange and 1 lime.

This sauce is incredibly versatile. It's used in a whole array of dishes from every day macaroni and cheese to special occasion lasagne. You can even easily increase or decrease the amount according to your needs.

For an easy afternoon snack, whip up this delicious soy smoothie, using Tetra Pak packaged soy beverage. Use your favourite local berries for a treat the whole family will love.

This dish comes together in minutes, but be sure to turn on the fan because the cooking process creates some smoke. Serve French fries and a cooling side of coleslaw with the catfish.

Soy beverages in Tetra Pak cartons are a great alternative to buttermilk and it is full of vitamins and minerals.

Executive Chef Jason Lloyd of the revitalized Terminal City Club in Vancouver served this dish at a recent winemakers’ dinner. It was delicious. Caramelized onions, with fresh thyme, butter and a touch of Noble Sour — a sippable vinegar of very low acidity — were layered on a puff-pastry shell with grilled pear slices. This was served with a small salad of baby greens tossed in a wild-mushroom vinaigrette, garnished with a quenelle of Devon cream and a drizzle of fresh chive oil, and paired well with Crowsnest Vineyard’s Chardonnay Stahltank 2004 Family Reserve.

There's nothing like homemade stock. Yes, it takes hours to simmer, but the resulting flavour is unequalled. Here's my take on a classic. Feel free to add your own variations to it.

I had this lovely autumn dish at a restaurant and experimented with it at home. A light sprinkling of cayenne pepper adds just enough bite to balance the sweet sauce. This is delicious with mashed red potatoes and steamed broccoli, which is exactly how the restaurant served it to me.

Pick up cooked chicken fillets, bagged salad, cheese, mango and ciabatta bread at the supermarket on your way home from work and assemble this salad in minutes. The hearty vinaigrette pairs well with leftover turkey too.

Although this recipe calls for liqueur, whisky, rum or any other spirit would work as well.

This recipe is adapted from Tom Jaine's and Nicholas Campion's book, Cosmic Cuisine - The Astrological Cookbook (Windward).

Spread this delicious curd on toast and croissants, use it to fill pastry shells, or pour into a pretty jar and give it away.

After a month or so, citrus-based vinegars lend their bittersweet flavour and fragrance to the vinegar. You can even slice up the fruit and use it (peel and all) in salads and roasts.

Somewhere in the back of your cupboard you have a can of crabmeat. Tonight’s the night. Lemon wedges and hot pepper sauce are the ideal condiments, with steamed green beans and potato salad to round out the meal. Or whatever you have. 

A decidedly different cranberry sauce. Serve warm or cold.

Dried cranberries sometimes contain a trace amount of oil on the surface. Take a moment and use paper towels to blot off any oily film floating on the strained liqueur.

Not a rub at all, but a creamy dressing that takes advantage of the herbs in your cupboard. Change it up based on what herbs you have on hand.

Most of the components of this dish can be prepared ahead, allowing you lots of time to enjoy your guests. Recipe adapted from Gina Steer’s The Fondue Cookbook (Whitecap Books).

Skip takeout and start making easy-breezy sandwiches at home. This steak wrap couldn’t be simpler and comes with way less attitude than the teenager rolling up your sub sandwich at the strip mall.

Take advantage of fall’s bounty with these vegetarian stacks topped off with bubbly cheese. It may seem time-consuming to create “Napoleons” but they stack up in a snap. Try to find an eggplant and tomatoes of approximately the same circumference.

There's nothing like homemade stock. Yes, it takes hours to simmer, but the resulting flavour is unequalled. Here's my take on a classic. Feel free to add your own variations to it.

The 3 - 2 - 1 ratio of flour, buter and water is the secret to making the ultimate flakey pie crust.

Adapted from a recipe by Oster.

Recipe adapted from the Canadian Beef Information Centre. Steak Burgers are packed with more flavour than just what’s on top! With fresh ground Round, Chuck or Sirloin from your local grocer, it’s easy to make these signature burgers at home.

My friend John Ash, a great writer who founded his own restaurant twenty-four years ago in California’s Sonoma County, says that one of the simplest and best ways to cook asparagus is to give it a light coating of olive oil and grill it. Grilling, says John, brings out the sweetness and more of the “vegetal” notes. It may also diminish that other unmentionable asparagus attribute! Add some good olives, thinly sliced prosciutto and maybe a sprinkling of fried capers for a delicious antipasti course. Wine? I’m sure that John would suggest a Russian River Sauvignon Blanc.

Feel free to prepare corn up to 1 day ahead. Instead of tying the corn husk in place, seal each ear with its husk in foil. The corn can then cook over direct or indirect heat.

Go back to the future with a retro White Castle sensibility — petite hamburgers for the chi-chi crowd, designed to down in a bite or two, pinkies raised. These little wonders can be embellished with blue cheese, roasted tomato, grilled onions, minced and sautéed Portobello mushrooms, hot peppers and the fantabulous “Secret Sauce.” Vary this recipe according to your taste with ground veal, pork or sausage and your own mix of spices and seasonings.

It’s very important to get tomatoes that are in season because they are what make the dish.

This is a quick and delicious appetizer courtesy of McCormick Canada. The shrimp can be replaced with large scallops. Serve with lemon or lime wedges. These are also delicious cold. Remember, if you're using wooden skewers to soak them in water 2 hours to prevent burning.

With the addition of olive oil to the herbs, this classifies as a ‘wet rub.’ For a more colourful mix, try purple and yellow potatoes, too. I sometimes add about one-quarter cup of grated Pecorino cheese to the oil for an extra kick. Cut back on the salt if adding the cheese.

Tired of bacon that's too salty or watery? Try making it yourself at home. It may take a while, but the effort is certainly worth it. This is a really basic recipe for a rubbed dry cure bacon.

This has been a mainstay at any number of restaurants for years, a dive-in dip that can be made ahead of time and heated for the appetizer moment. Invite one of your guests to pour the Champagne, while you uncork a big red for later. (And remember, the trick with Champagne: after you’re unwired the cork, covered it with a napkin and pointed the bottle in an innocent direction, hold the cork and twist the bottle.)

Recipe adapted from the Canadian Beef Information Centre. These lean Canadian beef burgers really sizzle: spiked with smoky bacon, chunks of Canadian Swiss and punchy horseradish. Try them either on the grill or cooked in the oven. Other cheese options to try: Canadian Mozzarella, medium Cheddar, Provolone or Gouda.

Spring lamb is very tender and flavourful. The vegetables and herbs in this dish mellow the gamey taste that lamb sometimes has.

You can substitute any kind of meat in this recipe. Make the patties large enough to fit a hamburger bun, small enough to be bite-sized hors d'ouvres or shape them around a skewer as perfect picnic fare.

Read Kitchen Essentials -- Meringue for tips and tricks on how to prepare this simple, gourmet dessert.

The website of the Ontario maple syrup people, ontariomaplesyrup.com, is loaded with enticing recipes. From the beginning of the meal to the sweetest endings, there’s a fascinating variety of maple tastes. I picked this one and the next from the long list.