In the North of Vietnam I found a lot of dishes which were fragrant with the reedy scent of lemongrass. When we were in Halong Bay every meal was 6-7 courses of seafood, and every second course seemed to have lemongrass in it. I knew that on my return to Vancouver lemongrass would need to be a more regular staple in my pantry, here is the first – a grilled lemongrass steak recipe.

The marinade for this grilled flank steak is very much inspired by Bun Thit Noung, or Vietnamese grilled pork. However, usually with this recipe you use a strong and very sweet dark soy sauce to create a thick caramelization on the meat which I decided might over power the flavour of the steak.

This combination of the charred beef and the grilled soft eggplant has wonderful contrasting textures and flavours when wrapped into pita bread. Not a fan of pita? Try serving some of those amazing Greek potatoes alongside instead. You can prepare most of this ahead of time and just leave the meat grilling until you are ready to eat. Perfect for a party, or trying to time your dinner between periods of hockey.

The key ingredients here are the anise, ginger, cloves and cardamom. Don’t skip the step of charring the onion and ginger as they become nice and mellow that way. If you can’t find beef shank then any beef stew cut will do, I like the shank because of the marrow and gelatin you get from the bones. If you don’t serve the shank on the bone, scoop out the marrow and spread it on a bit of bread, it’s delicious. Just trust me on this one.

Tostadas are like little Mexican pizzas, messy, fun to eat, and endlessly adaptable. This beef tostada recipe is all about the marinade on the flank steak. To celebrate the season of citrus, mix together this spicy orange and chipotle sauce — would be great on chicken too.

If you actually look at the calorie count of this recipe you will be pleasantly surprised, compared to pizza this is actually quite healthy — especially if you avoid frying the tortillas. Plus, if you have leftovers you can make a killer taco salad.

My weakness for all things sweet and spicy is a subject of some mockery around my house. Admittedly, it can be extreme. Such cravings are why you can find me raiding my fridge and creating strange combinations like spoonfuls of chocolate gelato dipped into leftover Thai green curry. Don’t laugh it really happens.

This recipe is one part sweet and spicy love, one part leftover steak, and a dash of impulsively bought pineapple from costco. All together the result is an easy chipotle beef enchilada recipe with pineapple and spinach. A quick dinner recipe for a regular old weeknight.

Quick! Make that steak a little more interesting! You know how the perfect lipstick can make a beautiful woman feel amazing? Well, this quick blue cheese compound butter will make your everyday steak and potatoes dinner feel special. No roses or diamond studs needed. Though flowers are always appreciated, just saying.

The beauty of a compound butter is that they can usually be whipped up in a matter of minutes and they freeze beautifully. Try forming the butter into a log and wrapping it in saran wrap. You can freeze it and just slice off a little when needed. Throw it on the steak as it rests so that it can melt just slightly. Also excellent on warm bread and asparagus!

Do you spend too much money on take out? You certainly aren’t alone, some nights it is only too easy to call a delivery service to bring takeout right to my maw. Unfortunately, it is generally deep fried and full of MSG. The deep fried is one thing, but in our house MSG frequently means sleepless nights and grumpy people. A perfect reason to make my own healthier take out, in this case a ginger beef recipe.

This ginger beef recipe is all about timing and speed. Prep takes about 15 minutes, including making the marinade and then cooking is really fast. So fast, that if you aren’t careful you can have tough and overcooked beef. The marinating process should help avoid this, but it is also up to you to not cook your meat for too long.

The combination of oil, egg whites, soy or salt and seasonings is a marinade base frequently used for proteins in asian cuisines. It is a process called “velveting” or “silkening” which produces a distinct texture on the tongue which is, well, velvety or silky and smooth. The longer you marinate the more pronounced the affects.

I’m obsessed but I think you get the idea. It is time to pass on this obsession with both fresh and dried mushrooms.

Dried mushrooms offer us home cooks lots of possibilities when the mushroom season is far away. They are cheaper than fresh and they produce a vegetarian broth which can be used to flavour soups and stews or hearty meat dishes like these braised short ribs. If you have never used dried mushrooms before, read this tutorial on how to use dried mushrooms.

This beef short rib recipe results in tender, melt in your mouth meat with an earthy pungency produced by cooking the ribs in the mushroom liquid. If it is mushroom season where you are, use less dried mushrooms and more fresh and simply saute the fresh mushrooms and stir them in at the end.

To complement yesterday’s tips about making great stews here is a stew recipe where I applied all of the tips to good results. A simple beef stew is a beautiful thing, browning the meat and onions well, building the beautiful caramelization on the bottom of the pan right into the sauce gives a deep meaty richness.

Stew is even better the next day and freezes beautifully. The next time I make this, I will certainly be doubling it. Don’t forget to check out my tips on making great stew.

Although everything tastes better when someone else makes it, I think the key to this recipe is the lack of ingredients, and the attention to detail. Do get some fresh juicy garlic and mince it well so it can permeate the simple tomato sauce. Don’t skimp on the oil when you fry the meatballs. You can pour off some of it later but it is key to the browning process — and the butter does add an extra richness to the meatballs.

You may want to double the recipe, any leftovers are sensational between two halves of French bread with some mozzarella cheese. I hope our future kids enjoy this recipe, and you do too.