Recipe courtest of the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

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.

If you have trouble finding some of the ingredients for this dish, there are some easy substitutions you can make, and you will still end up with the same delicious results. For the tamarind, make a paste out of lemon juice and dried dates, or use 1/2 cup cider vinegar mixed with 1 Tbsp sugar. For the galangal, use fresh ginger. For the lemon grass, use the rind of 4 small lemons.

Some people prefer to blend all the ingredients together while others prefer the look of mixed and chopped ingredients. Experiment to find which method is your favourite.

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.

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

Mild sweet leeks are available year round but their peak season begins in the fall. Trim off the root end and green leaves, and use only the tender white part. Be sure to wash thoroughly as leeks can be gritty. Mushrooms, like leeks, are grown in dirt. Although some cooks prefer to gently wipe mushrooms, I always wash them in cold running water, patting them dry afterward with a paper towel.

Accompany this delicious chicken with buttered capellini pasta and a green salad with slivers of fresh fennel.