Food and Drink

I sometimes wonder if the club sandwich was invented after Thanksgiving. When someone somewhere had leftover meat from a plump roast chicken or turkey sitting in their fridge and found a tasty way to use it up.

If you need a splendid dessert for Thanksgiving or other autumn occasion pumpkin cheesecake is crowd-pleasing option.

When I was growing up every once in while my father would enjoy a can of oxtail soup. As a kid it sounded exotic to me and later on in life, while attending chef school, I learned why busy guys like him choose this no-fuss version of it.

Although hearty and comforting, tuna casserole is not exactly “gourmet.” But it can get there that if you dress it up, Italian-style. I know, because that’s what I did when recently making a batch of it.

Sausages are a versatile ingredient that, for example, can be fried up and served as a side dish for breakfast, or be cooked, sliced and added to soups, pastas, pizza and myriad other dishes.

The pelting rain late last week got me in the mood to make a pot of hearty, comforting soup. I had B.C.-grown savoy cabbage and corn on hand and decided to build a soup around them, Asian in style.

Wild B.C. chanterelle mushrooms are in-season and, if you’ve not harvested them yourself from a nearby forest, you’ll find them available at farm markets and some grocery stores.

I’m a Blue Jays fan and when planning to watch one of their games the other day, I decided to make a TV-style dinner to enjoy while doing so.

Duck pairs well with fruit. French-style preparations that highlight that are duck à l’orange, and duck with cherry sauce. When recently harvesting pears from my backyard tree, I remembered that it’s another fruit that works well with it.

If you love cooking with fresh garlic, and you’ve not grown your own, now and well into fall is a great time to be buying it, locally grown. Farm stands, farm markets and smaller food stores specializing in local produce will all be selling it.