Food

Recipes

Peppermint Snowcaps

These gluten-free cookies are also delicious made with Mexican spices. Just omit the peppermint extract and add 1 tsp ancho chili powder and 1⁄2 tsp cinnamon to the dry mix.

Recipes

Raspberry Thumbprints

For thumbprints, you want a stiffer jam made with pectin so it won’t bleed into the cookie. These are also delicious filled with lemon curd or chocolate ganache.

Recipes

Golden Pecan Balls

These snowy orbs are rich, buttery and crunchy with nuts. Golden syrup gives them a unique, toffee-like flavour.

Recipes

Chocolate Compost Cookies

Momofuku Milk Bar pastry chef and co-owner Christina Tosi took New York by storm with her salty-sweet Compost Cookies. I’ve applied her genius concept to my dark chocolate cookie recipe.

Recipes

Polenta Shortbread

I learned the secret to perfect shortbread when I wrote a story about Lesia Kohut, the owner of LPK’s Culinary Groove, a patisserie in Toronto. Bread flour keeps the texture from getting too sandy.

Recipes

Nutella Sandwich Cookies

Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your Mouth Cookies, these dark chocolate wafers are delicious on their own and even better with a gooey filling of Nutella.

Recipes

Gingersnap Snowflakes

When I was growing up, Christmas wasn’t complete without my grandmother’s piparkoogid, the Estonian spin on gingersnaps. After a few humorous lost-in-translation moments, I managed to wrestle the recipe from her and carry on the tradition.

Recipes

Christmas Biscotti

I’ve been making variations of these biscotti for more than two decades. The recipe comes from my aunt Sue Devor, a retired pastry chef.

Recipes

Spring Lamb Chops With Fresh Mint Sauce

With the fresh mint sauce taking just 2 minutes to prepare, and the grilled lamb chops around 6 minutes, this could easily become a favorite workday main.

Recipes

Chicken Yakitori

Yakitori are traditional Japanese kebabs often served by street vendors.

Recipes

Quinoa-Stuffed Mushroom Caps

Don’t use red quinoa for this recipe as it won’t absorb the flavors as well.

Recipes

Winter Caprese Bites

Oven-drying tomatoes slowly removes the water and intensifies the fruit’s natural umami. The tomatoes can be made up to 3 days in advance.

Recipes

Arctic Char Gravlax With Horseradish Cream

This recipe can also be made with the equivalent weight of salmon cut from the tail end. If using center-cut salmon, it will need to cure for 36 to 48 hours.

Recipes

Crunchy Chili Chicken Wings

These wings are inspired by those served at Hawker Bar in Toronto. They can be fried ahead and reheated before saucing.

Recipes

Shrimp Ceviche Tostadas

The ceviche and avocado can be prepared in advance, but wait to assemble them just before serving.