2-1/2 cups walnuts
1-1/2 cups pitted dates, chopped
3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Process walnuts and dates in food processor in small batches until coarse and blended.
2. Press walnuts and dates into a 9 inch tart pan and refrigerate.
3. Place apples in a large skillet over medium heat and combine the remaining ingredients. Cook until just tender, stirring frequently.
4. Remove apples with a slotted spoon and place into a large, shallow dish to refrigerate.
5. Continue cooking residual liquid until it thickens to a syrup.
6. Once apples are cooled, spread them evenly over the crust and top with the syrup reduction.

Makes 8 servings

4 eight ounce sirloin steaks
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil

1/4 small onion, diced
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1. Combine onion, bourbon, Worcestershire sauce and dry mustard in a bowl.
2. Rub steaks with salt and press peppercorns and garlic slivers onto the flesh.
3. Place steaks in a dish with high sides and cover with the marinade. Refrigerate overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
5. Put the oil into a large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Remove the steaks from the marinade and sear all sides.
7. Put skillet into the oven to finish, about 10 minutes for medium rare. They should give slightly when poked with your finger.
8. Remove steaks from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

Makes 4 servings

4 large baking potatoes
2 cups cheddar, grated
1 cup small broccoli flowerets
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Prick one half of each potato with a fork and bake or microwave until soft.
3. Allow potatoes to cool slightly, then cut an opening in the top with a sharp knife.
4. Carefully spoon out the flesh and reserve in a bowl.
5. Add sour cream, butter and milk to the potatoes and mash or whip until fluffy.
6. Stir in broccoli, 3/4 cheddar and season with salt and pepper.
7. Spoon mixture back in to the potato skins and top with remaining cheddar.
8. Bake until cheese has melted and slightly crisped, about 10 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

2 pounds small button mushrooms
1/2 cup dry red wine
5 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, sliced
salt and pepper

1. Melt butter with garlic in a pan over medium heat.
2. Add the mushrooms and stir to coat with butter and garlic.
3. Add the wine, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover, cooking until mushrooms are tender.

Makes 4 servings

In case you didn't know, beef is the pride of Alberta. A visit here will more than likely expose you to countless I heart Alberta Beef bumper stickers. We love beef. Sure, there are other things we take pride in, like rocky mountains, whiskey and a whole lot of wheat, but there's certainly a fair amount of Albertans that just love steak.

Except me. We went through a few struggles during that whole vegetarian episode and never fully got re-acquainted during the low-carb one. Don't get me wrong, it's a delicious entr, but it often overshadows anything else that would accompany it because it's just so filling. For example, after finishing my steak, I could not even stuff a single bite of my Broccoli and Cheddar Stuffed Potato into my mouth. I barely managed to get down the Red Wine Sautéed Mushrooms before I felt the need to burp. The mushrooms, by the way, were fantastic. I imagine the potatoes were as well, as I've made similar recipes before with favorable results.

With that said, the Pan-Seared Bourbon Sirloin Steaks were good. The bourbon flavor was a little overpowering, but the meat was exceptionally tender. If I were to do this again, I would likely use similar ingredients with some tomato paste and molasses to make a thick barbecue sauce and throw them on the grill.

I prepared a recipe from The World’s Healthiest Foods website because I've been somewhat addicted to it lately. Obviously this hasn't been very reflective in the dinners of late, but I think it's a fantastic website and am always for new and healthy recipes.

The recipe I made was a dessert, a Healthy Apple Tart. Apples and cinnamon are great together, it doesn't matter what you do with them, but this tart just doesn't work for me. Maybe there are culinary secrets for the no sugar or fat added cooking methods that I'm unaware of, but the crust was impossible and quickly
crumbled apart and the apple part just isn't the same without a bit of butter. There are some substitutions that work wonderfully and I think nut crusts are great, but without something more than dates to hold it together this just didn't work out for me. I imagine my failure to actually layer the apples and just sort of plopping them into the dish didn't help that, either.