Just got my first good cast iron frying pan. I have always cooked my steaks on the BBQ but tried them in the frying pan for the first time. I was amazed at how good they were. Maybe even better than on the BBQ. How many of you cook steaks this way? Any special tips or seasoning tips?

Those of you who know who I am know I often cook with duck fat. Anybody else out there cook with duck fat. My favourite: Duck fat fries, and wings fried up in duck fat. Also really good for stir fried veggies.

Ok all you SE'ers here is my challenge. This is a food site. So let's share some of our best recipes...even those with a few secret ingredients. I am going to start it off by sharing my Perch Roll Recipe. This is a local recipe that made a small waterfront restaurant on the St. Lawrence River famous in the 50's and 60's. There was even a short video made awhile back called "In Search of the Legendary Lancaster Perch Roll." Well here is the recipe handed down to me by Shirley Lefebvre. Shirley was like a second mother to me when I was growing up. This recipe should really only be used for perch. If you can get it try real St.Lawrence River Perch. Other perch will do. You can find a video of me making the sauce on You Tube. Just do a search for perch roll sauce. Now it's your turn. Are you up for the challenge?

Gave my spaghetti recipe to a friend today. First thing he said was "That's not spaghetti sauce."
"Excuse me", I said. "It certainly is." And then the debate began. I don't like cooking "rules". This is my spaghetti sauce. "The Arrogant Chef's Spaghetti Sauce.

I always get upset when people say you can't put that in chili or that's not a lobster roll or you don't put wine in French onion soup. You put Sherry. Well folks here is my spaghetti recipe. I would have included the link to the recipe on my blog but didn't want anybody's blood pressure to go up.

Just a thought. I love My Pie Monday. Great ideas for making pies. Why not start a My Burger Tuesday? I think it could be a hit.

Is it possible to search by who has posted. There are a few people who post quite often and it would be great to be able to search by their posting name.

I know this question is going to come up sooner or later so here goes...Cornwall is a small community on the beautiful St. Lawrence River in Eastern Ontario. The best place for high end dining would be Eight Zero Zero. Beautiful presentation and wonderful food for a reasonable price for this type of dining. You can't visit this area without trying some St. Lawrence River Perch Rolls. They are available at a number of local restaurants but beware of restaurants advertising perch. Not all restaurants have actual St. Lawrence River Perch. For pizza the style is mostly Greek pizza fairly thick crust loaded with toppings and quite greasy. I would recommend Roma's pizza. For super greasy go with Louis Pizza. For fries and poutine Grampa Bill's can't be beat. Best burgers are at Truffle's re-opening soon. There you have it. And be sure to try out some of the restaurants along the waterfront. Nothing like an ice cold beer on the patio along the water.

I have noticed some people complaining about posts that people post about where they should find places to eat in various locations....? Well here is one for you. Where to eat in Nanuvet. You can check out his link http://www.nunavuttourism.com/

On Mother's Day do you cook or eat out. I always prepare my wife something special for dinner. How about you?

When I first joined SE a long time back there were topics that had 60, 70 responses. My own topic about my father's secret pie crust recipe had over a 100 responses. Now it seems there is very little interest. A good topic gets 20-30 responses at most. Most of the time 10-15 responses at most. Time they are a changin'.

Even something as simple as a grilled cheese sandwhich can be taken to the next level. Tuppercooks recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich is truly gourmet. Do you have a recipe that takes a simple everyday meal to another level? Post it! Thanks TC just finished enjoying a great sandwich with fries.

Made homemade fries last night in rendered duck fat. First try at this and they were outstanding. Anyone else out there making fries in duck fat? Also I hear it is great for making vegetable stir fries. Has anyone tried that? Next step is to make poutine this way. I just won't tell my doctor about that one!

Super Bowl time=Wing time. Post your best wing recipe

Someone gives you a bottle of wine as a gift. They say, "This is a wine we really enjoyed. Hope you enjoy it too. Let us know what you think." You try it and think it is not good at all. What do you say? "Yes that was really good! Loved it." Or are you honest and tell them that it was not really to your taste. (Aside: I lied and now I get this terrible wine as a gift on many occasions. They even told other friends of mine that it is one of my favourites so the lie lives on.) Your thoughts please.

So the Christmas cooking has begun. I made meat pies (tortiere) this weekend and will be making some next weekend. This recipe is from Antigonish Nova Scotia where my father was born. It isn't traditional but is is damn good. The crust is wonderful. Now for you regulars you may remember my post about whether I should make this secret crust recipe public. Well I am going to post it on Christmas day as my gift to all of you SE'rs. I am even going to include a video to show you exactly how it is made. For now though here is the meat filling recipe.

OK let's see how many Canadian SE'ers there are out there. What do you have cooking for the Grey Cup. (That is the Canadian Football Championship). I am making perch rolls. Of course only perch caught on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence river. I might even cook up some of my famous wings as an appetizer earlier in the day. Of course all will be served with Canadian beer. Real beer.

I have been a member of SE for sometime now and I find it very interesting to see how the site is evolving. I posted frequently in "Talk" but many of the regulars who posted seem to have disappeared. Many just don't post as regularly. And well many of the topics just don't seem to have....actually not quite sure what has changed. I still check talk every morning to see what is going on and always check photograzing looking for new interesting recipes. All I know is I am posting much less frequently. Not sure why. Anyone else feel this way?

Ok SE'ers weigh in on this one. I am having an argument about cooking wings. Being "thearrogantchef" I say the only way to go is deep fried. I don't want broiled, baked, BBQ'd or OMG slow cooked. Some say that deep fried is not healthy. Wings were never meant to be healthy!!! I have never seen wings in the health food section of any store. My doctor has never told me to go ahead and eat wings as long as I make them the "healthy way". Wings are meant to be dredged in a mixture of flour, paprika, and cayenne pepper and then deep fried until they are golden brown. They are little nuggets of heaven. Just add your favourite sauce (and I have a pretty darn good recipe for that too) and wash down with a couple of ice cold Canadian beers! Now that's a wing!!!

I just got some fresh lobster from New Brunswick. I am going to be making lobster rolls. There seems to be 100+ different ideas on what constitutes an authentic lobster roll. Are the buns toasted? Do you include celery? Do you line the bun with lettuce? Are there any special other ingredients that some of you use? I even have a recipe that includes chopped fresh fennel. What are your thoughts?

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