This white, meaty fish has great flavour whether its prepared simply or not. Rice and sautéed spinach make delicious accompaniments.

This takes forever to make, but man, is it good!

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.

This dish is sometimes called Involtini or Roulades, but my family has always referred to it as Braciole after the cut of beef used. This is my mother’s signature dish and it is my absolute favourite food in the whole wide world.

This is a family recipe that has been passed down through the ages. This is not one of those crisp-tender veggie dishes — you cook the cauliflower until it’s soft and well-steeped with wine. If purple cauliflower isn’t your thing, try it with dry white wine. My older brother Allen prefers this dish made with red-wine vinegar and sugar rather than with regular vino. Try it all three ways and see what you think.

My mother started making this dish when we were small. Imagine four little kids sitting around a dinner table with palates so refined that we scarfed up Chicken Marsala like other kids eat Kraft Dinner. Of course, we threw chicken at each other when our parents weren’t looking, so we weren’t totally refined. I use sweet Marsala Fine for a great tasting sauce.

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.

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.

Recipe adapted from Cosmic Cuisine - The Astrological Cookbook by Tom Jaine and Nicholas Campion.

There’s a difference of opinion on this one: some of my tasters preferred a sharp wedge of Gorgonzola with the salad, others favoured the milder Brie. You decide what’s best for you. To make this a dinner salad, add grilled chicken and a baguette.

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.

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.

This popular Italian rice dish has infinite variations. If you’re short on time, make this risotto a day or two ahead of when you need it. It can be reheated in the oven in just a few minutes.

This recipe is quick and tasty. It's a great way to use up all of those tomatoes that are so abundant in late summer.

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.

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.

Save time by preparing the béchamel sauce while the meat sauce simmers. The lasagna can be assembled up to one day ahead. Cover and chill, then when you're ready, bake it.

Yes, my invention from the early 1960s. Who knew Italian cooking would become so popular over the years?

Vancouver food guru Lesley Stowe, who devotes much of her life these days to manufacturing and distributing her beyond-delicious Raincoast Crisps (www.lesleystowe.com ) shares a favourite recipe: It’s an “easy mid-week dinner, or leisurely weekend lunch that’s healthy, sexy and spicy.” Everything you want, says Lesley, in a quick-and-easy pasta dish. This dish screams for a Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige. Say that ten times fast.

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

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.

You can buy frozen meatballs, but freshly made meatballs are so much better and so easy to make.

My BFFs are a wonderful group of women who meet regularly to eat, drink, talk and laugh together. One of the gang, Nancy B, is a vegetarian and an amazing cook. She makes cooking look effortless, especially when she whipped up a delicious frittata for us at our after-Christmas party. Nancy added sautéed zucchini and goat cheese to the frittata. This is my version — use whatever you have on hand to make your own!

This is one of those dishes that, at first glance, seems too complicated for anyone other than a chef. Actually, it couldn’t be easier. The sweet flavour of the meat compliments the dish’s melt-in-your mouth texture.

I serve this at room temperature on an antipasto tray. You can also serve it as Eggplant Parmesan by adding a bit of sauce and a slice of mozzarella to the top of each and baking until the cheese melts. I skip frying this in oil to save a few calories and because I’m too lazy to stand over a hot stove frying eggplant. This is a real family recipe. There are no exact measurements. It all depends on the size of the eggplant and the size of the crowd you’re feeding. Even eggplant-haters will like eggplant prepared this way.

This is a delicious treat adapted from The KitchenAid Cookbook. Easy to put together, it makes a wonderful anytime snack, or dare I say, breakfast.

Figs are the most underrated fruit of all time, and I will continue to be their greatest fan. They are a good source of potassium, calcium, iron and dietary fibre. Reputed to be Cleopatra’s favourite fruit, figs were also enjoyed daily by the petulant Persian king Xerxes who ate the fruit to remind himself he no longer controlled Greece, the land where figs grew abundantly. The ancient Romans revered the fig tree as sacred and offered the first fruits of the season to the god Bacchus who is often depicted as wearing a crown of fig leaves. Somewhere in time, we lost our connection to this noble fruit. Forget the Newtons and all the other ways in which you’ve grown to hate figs. Try them in a dish with gorgonzola cheese and walnuts. Then fall on your knees: you’ve been converted.

If dried peaches are hard to come by, substitute dried apricots instead.

If the basil sprigs in the grocery store are looking a little tired, pick up a package or two anyway, and whip up some fresh pesto.

Cook this recipe up even faster by picking up pre-washed and cut greens from the supermarket.

Recipe courtesy of John Besh’s My New Orleans – The Cookbook. Serve over any kind of bird, venison or pork.

A flavourful recipe adapted from the California Culinary Academy.

Carpaccio is paper-thin slices of beef dressed with olive oil, mustard, parmesan cheese and lime juice. It lends its fresh flavour to this smoked turkey salad.