On Food

I love to cook. I don’t know exactly where it came from. Maybe it was the cooking shows I watched in the evening while my wife was at work. They taught me, not so much a bunch of recipes, but some basic flavour principles and to not fear the ingredients themselves—to experiment with flavour combinations. Many potters are great cooks. There are even cookbooks of recipes by potters. Who knew?! Here are a few of my own humble contributions. Enjoy.

Georgian Bay Sunset

I wanted a "special drink" for my grandchildren that they could have during happy hour at the cottage. This is what I came up with. It has a mix of citrus flavours with those from the Ontario woods. The rosemary hints at the resinous aroma of pine. 1/4 cup orange...

Herbed Orange Tequilla Syrup

I recently hosted a dinner—a fundraiser, actually, where I auctioned off a "gourmet" dinner for four. Even though the high bidders were friends who would have probably been happy with hot dogs, I still wanted it to be a special meal. I served grilled chicken with an...

Ice Wine Glazed Chicken

Offering number two in the Great Ice Wine Recipe Resolution Too simple to even call a recipe. 1 tsp garlic infused olive oil (or oil plus 1 clove of minced garlic) 2 Chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes 1/2 tsp fresh thyme 1 stalk celery, cut on a angle 1/3 cup ice wine...

Ice wine infused cranberry appetizer

Here is my first offering in the great ice wine recipe resolution! It is adapted from Inniskillin Winery's Ice Wine Infused Cranberry Boats. I didn't have all of the ingredients the recipe called for and decided to do some "customization". How surprising! Also, our...

A New Year’s Resolution

I''m not one for resolutions. But around the Christmas season, we took stock of our wine "collection" and made an interesting discovery. We have an extraordinary number of bottles of ice wine. Ice wine is nice—in its place, but I personally find it cloyingly sweet as...

Seared scallops with Ice wine reduction

I've always loved scallops. They are sweet and succulent! This recipe is simple, but oh so delicious. I always use a cast iron skillet to cook them. You can't get a non-stick pan hot enough and I haven't been happy with the results in stainless steel. 8 large...

Black Olive Tapenade

I really enjoy entertaining. There's a great feeling that comes with opening the door and welcoming people in to enjoy a relaxed and friendly conversation over food and something to drink. But I'm not a big fan of pot luck when I'm hosting. I feel like a terrible host...

Jon’s Rhubarb Sauce

in early June, I picked the first of the rhubarb from our garden. There must be something to do with it besides pie or stewed for dessert. My son Jon, who also likes to cook, had a few ideas. it wasn't long before the conversation resulted in the Great Rhubarb...

Chicken Geneva

This recipe is based on a recipe shared by my Suisse friend, Terry. In it, she used whipping cream (whole cream) instead of stock. As she prepared it - on fetuccine - I referred to it as Chicken Lully, the village where she lives. I've adapted it to a gluten-free,...