Well now I’ve stepped in it. I’ve decided to tackle the topic of how to simmer food. This is one of those topics that illicits great debate on exactly what the proper way to simmer is, what temperature to use, and how best to deliver heat to the simmering liquid. Before we get into the…
In a episode of Dinner: Impossible, Chef Robert Irvine was tasked with preparing a cocktail party for a fashion designer in New York. During this challenge, he put together an amazing spread of finger foods including some awesome looking chorizo taquitos (he also did a salmon mousse which inspired the one I blogged on earlier.) A…
This is another recipe I created in my quest for chicken for the next issue of BIAO Magazine. I really liked how it turned out with several different flavors going on at once: the citrus tang of orange with the spiciness of ginger and a little soy and garlic to bring it all home. 4 boneless,…
Hi everyone, I have added an “Editorial Calendar” to the site which shows what you can expect each day from the site. If there is anything that you do not see or if you have any feedback, please email me. I am also announcing Theme Weeks. Every other week, I will be presenting four different recipes…
I was inspired to write this post while standing at the cheese counter trying to find a good soft goat cheese and wearing a facial expression nestled comfortably between bewildered and desperation. I was trying to find cheese for one of my wife’s favorite dishes, queso al horno (whose recipe you can find on Bay…
Over the weekend, I picked up a copy of Robert Irvine’s Mission Cook, a biography/recipe book from the hard nosed, no-nonsense, skilled beyond measure chef from Dinner: Impossible. If you have not seen this show, it is amazing. Supposedly, Robert is given no foreknowledge of his task for the show, things like catering a governor’s inaugral…
In a recent article for BIAO Magazine, I was asked to put together a healthy cocktail party spread. I decided to make the centerpiece of the spread a chicken dish that would focus on that elusive combination of light and tasty. I tried several different recipes before finding the one that worked best with party concept. You…
Use of salt is one of the major paradoxes in cooking. On one hand, any doctor worth their salt will tell you to limit your salt intake or all sorts of medical badness will surely arise: heart disease, high blood pressure, and waking up in the morning with a really dry mouth. On the other…
No don’t run away. Please! This post was inspired by my friend Brian who, with the air of a man heading to the executioner, told me that he was going to his parent’s to eat meatloaf. There is perhaps no other main dish so maligned in all of culinary history as the meatloaf (fruitcake takes the…
I read a post on Sue’s blog the other day as she was making pithy observations about Ingrid Hoffman, a new Food Network show host. At one point, she makes an entertaining and educational (yes…edutaining) digression into the use of salted vs. unsalted butter. Her feeling is that one should never use salted butter except when buttering toast as unsalted butter…