Duck Breast Wrapped With Bacon

This inspiration for this dish was to take duck, an ingredient found in traditional french cuisine, and to find a way to prepare and interpret it using other common Canadian ingredients, in a manner that is simpler, less time consuming and just as flavourful. After layering the duck with apples, shallots and spices, it is wrapped in bacon, in some way similar to how a filet mignon. In the attached picture, it is served with marinated, roasted potatoes and asparagus. A simple accompaniment, so that the intensity of dish can be enjoyed.

Jo's Spicy Perogie Pizza

Over the Christmas holidays I was lying in bed fretting over what to serve my vegetarian son Matt and his girlfriend Arlie. My passion is cooking and my family luckily loves to eat, but it seems I always spend more time on the carnivores as they are more numerous in our family! I always felt a bit guilty and wanted to really wow them with something they would love! They both enjoy spicy foods and pizza is a favorite. I had some boiled baby potatoes in the fridge...(I thought) what if I tossed them in some olive oil, sambol oelek (a Southeast Asian chili sauce), garlic, paprika, etc. and gave them a quick bake to flavor them? My pizza base would be my tasty homemade sour dough that I keep on hand frozen in the the freezer, topped with a lovely bechamel sauce with shallots, decorated with the now wonderfully flavoured potatoes and then topped with some tasty cheeses..mozzarella, cheddar. Hmmm that could be tasty, I thought! Sour cream and chopped green onions served with the slices would be a wonderful balance to the heat of the spicy potatoes! With this in mind, I rushed with enthusiasm to my kitchen and began creating. This recipe has now become not only a family favorite, but one of which all of my friends enjoy too. This recipe will make 2 large pizzas. For ease of preparation I will use commercial dough for this recipe.

Detailed preparation time: 40 min. the day before making pizzas to boil off the potatoes, and make bechamel sauce if desired; 1 hour to make (the pizza) on the day of; or 2 hours if doing everything the same day.

Vietnamese Vermicelli with Grilled Beef

Rice vermicelli is easy to find among the Asian noodles in an increasing number of grocery stores. You can substitute 2 cups (500 mL) rinsed drained cooked vermicelli pasta.

Our Favourite Thai Noodle Salad

Steakhouse Rib Eye with Béarnaise Sauce

In The Test Kitchen, we cook rib eyes to medium-rare—just enough to render some of the fat but not enough to toughen the meat. This béarnaise recipe yields a full cup; leftovers don't keep well in the fridge, so if you're serving a smaller crowd that won't need all of the sauce, consider substituting with our Shallotand-Herb Compound Butter (see below).

Hanoi-Style Vermicelli Noodles with Fish

Cheezy Mushroom Potatoes

I get bored with always cooking boiled or mashed potatoes and my son really isn't all that crazy about potatoes either. He is; however, crazy about mushrooms and cheese, so I decided to combine them for this great potato dish. Everyone loved it and it was so good that I would not hesitate to serve it to company.

Warm Lentil Salad with Beets & Feta

Grilled Vegetable Gazpacho with Strawberries

Two-Tone Root Vegetable Soup

At your next feast, start with gorgeous, personalized two-tone autumn soup. Pour our ruby red beet soup and zingy ginger-carrot soup into the same bowl. Then add a custom message with yogurt lettering.