I grew plenty of basil this season, with the intention of making pesto. Somewhere I read that the flavour of basil is at its most intense when it starts going to seed. When I first see that happening, I cut it back and that extends… Read More
All posts tagged “The Comfort Food Diner”
The Jerky Experiment part 2
Last week I made a batch of jerky, mostly to prove to myself I could do it. I’m planning to make some to take on a canoe trip in August with East Texas Red. After I had devoured the first batch, E.T. Red commented that… Read More
How to make a frittata
My friend and Agency Podcast co-host Candy asked me to show her how to make a frittata. We did that this afternoon and Candy filmed it. Tomorrow we’ll be talking frittata on the next episode of The Agency Podcast during one of our regular Comfort… Read More
Dried tomato, hot chile, corn, sage & cheese muffins
Tuffy P asked me if I could make some kind of savoury muffins today. I thought about what ingredients I had on hand for a minute. I suppose the normal thing to do would be to look up recipes, but that’s not nearly as much… Read More
Braised eggs and pork belly
When I was in Hanoi, one of my fave breakfasts came from a lady at the corner of the alleyway just down the way from my hotel. She had a sign that read XOI, which is sticky rice, but when you asked for some she… Read More
Fish Sauce
I knew nothing about fish sauce before I began enjoying Vietnamese food. Back then if you suggested one day this salty, funky fermented liquid would be something I cooked with all the time, I wouldn’t have believed you. In Vietnam, fish sauce is used both… Read More
I don’t know beans
I don’t know beans. I like beans, and I like to cook, but outside of adding canned red kidney beans to make chile, I’ve never really tried to cook with them. However, there is a bag of dry navy beans in the pantry and last… Read More
Corn Bread
Mark Twain famously wrote, “The North thinks it knows how to make cornbread, but this is gross superstition”. Once can only imagine how dreadful Canadian cornbread is, eh? I will make some confessions up front. I add wheat flour to my cornbread. It’s true, I… Read More
Everything but the Kitchen Sink Veggie Soup
Tuffy P requested some soup for dinner tonight. I rummaged around through the chaos which is our fridge and found some leeks, kale, carrots, celery, a few mushrooms and some Napa cabbage. I dug out some commercial stock hiding in the back of the pantry… Read More
Spicy Squid
Today from the Department of Pandemic Comfort Food, spicy stir-fried squid and broccoli, served over steamed rice, with a liberal sprinkling of fried shallots on top.