Relish Recipes — Appetizers

This is an easy appetizer I've made for years. Creamy ricotta cheese provides the background for sweet roasted red peppers. Add some peppery arugula for a different flavour and a salute to the Italian flag - highlighting red, white and green. The toppings work beautifully with traditional crostini or with pan-fried polenta for gluten-intolerant friends and family - Emily Richards (from Per La Famiglia - Memories and Recipes of Southern Italian Home Cooking)

This recipe comes from our May Book Club read called Delancey by Molly Wizenberg.These dates are a great back pocket trick to make because they are quick, elegant and endlessly adaptable. Serve as an appetizer with warm olive oil and a good amount of crunchy Maldon salt to offset the sweetness or as a delicious dessert after a meal. Try adding them to a salad involving with orange segments, pistachios, some good French cheese and soft buttery lettuce. For a final option, they are delicious at breakfast in a puddle of cold, plain yogurt.

Donna-Marie couldn’t tell you the difference between a first down and a touchdown (Maria’s a far better football fan) but she earns her keep at the party for the game day food she brings along.  

These bacon-wrapped chicken wings first made their appearance at a grilling class with our favourite firefighter chef, Patrick Mathieu and are featured in his cookbook “Firehouse Chef – Favourite Recipes From Canada’s Firefighters”. He left the wings whole and wrapped the bacon around the wingette/drumette portion, leaving the wing tip sticking out. This allows for a little “handle” to hold onto the wings. However, if you want them to go further, we like to split them, and just wrap ½ a slice of bacon around each wing half. The homemade sauce uses pantry staples (yes, even bourbon seems to be a pantry staple in our kitchen) and the wings are simply tossed in the sauce after baking. Be sure to save a little extra for dipping too.

Tourtière is a French-Canadian pork pie and is a traditional part of the Christmas Eve celebration. We love to make this dish every holiday season and our friend Rose Murray developed this festive appetizer version that’s perfect as a cocktail bite. Rose authored many bestselling cookbooks including “Rose Murray’s Canadian Christmas Cooking: The Classic Guide To Holiday Feasts” but it’s “A Taste Of Canada: A Culinary Journey” from which today’s recipe comes. These turnovers are best served hot with a our Mrs Bridges Cranberry Sauce with Port or Stonewall Kitchen Country Ketchup to temper the richness of the pastry.

It's been 20 years since I published my first cookbook, Canada/America's Best Slow Cooker Recipes and I still continue to be a fan of this indispensable cooking appliance. But when the opportunity arose to write a new cookbook on a brand new appliance, I decided to take a leap into the world of Vortex Air Fryer cooking.