Hot chili and chocolate make a surprisingly good combination. Sweet, smooth chocolate flavour melts on your tongue and satisfies your taste buds, then finishes with a kick of heat.

This Chocolate Ice Cream recipe has only 6 ingredients, requires no cooking, and with the right equipment is ready in 30 minutes.

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

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.

Asparagus is best when it’s served immediately. Remember to rinse the morels well because they can harbour sand. This recipe, created by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten of New York’s Jean Georges Restaurant, was taken from The New York Restaurant Cookbook by Florence Fabricant (Rizzoli International Publications, Inc).

The weather has been a little erratic this winter. But we’re still skiing up a storm — no pun intended. In this version of a traditional Mayan chocolate drink, you get a little spike of heat from the chili. If you need a bigger spike, throw a little Irish Cream into the mix.

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.

Here’s another version of the same tarte au sirop d’érable, this one from my friend Carol, and again from her mom. The big différence here is that the pie shell is pre-cooked. Take your pick.

This recipe is courtesy of La Fontaine de Bernn snail farm.

Here is the classic French leek and potato soup that is traditionally served cold.