Food and Drink

Dear Eric: Can you help me with roasting boneless sirloin pork roasts and pork loin rib roasts? Sometimes, mine turn out really tender, other times they are tough. I use my convection oven and put seasonings on the roast and some olive oil.

Back in January, I wrote a story on food trends and among the items I listed was hummus. I noted then, that it wasn’t long ago that the only place you could buy it was at a Middle Eastern or Mediterranean specialty food store.

Both my children are back at school — my son to middle school and my daughter to university. I have to be very creative for their lunch menus because both of them don’t want regular lunches to fill their appetites.

Dear Eric: I’m retired with a productive garden and I want to preserve all my produce. But I find the “rules” have changed somewhat.

My mother-in-law is visiting from Ontario and I like to spoil and cook for her when she’s here. She loves comfort foods and one of the dishes she’ll joyfully spoon up is borscht.

Tomato lovers wait for this all year — that moment when the plants in the garden are struggling under the weight of those gorgeous red (or yellow or orange or even green) orbs, and the tables at the farmers markets threaten to buckle under the load.

Let’s be honest: Without dressing, salad is little more than rabbit food. But a great salad dressing can elevate even the most humble ingredients, and there are no dressings easier to create and with more potential variations than vinaigrettes.

When it comes to school lunches, variety is important to keep kids from getting bored. A healthy mix also provides different nutrients.

With the start of school right around the corner, now is the time to brainstorm with your kids to line up some new recipes and fun ideas for lunches.

If you’re having a few friends over for a late summer lunch or dinner, why not have some tasty fun and serve what I call, not a Tex-Mex, but a West-Mex meal? In this fusion of Mexican and West Coast flavours, tacos are made with Mexican-style soft, w