One of the first little bits of wisdom I learned when I decided to get serious about cooking, was how to make garlic paste in 30 seconds. It was a revelation and I thought, "Wow! These are all the shortcuts that pros know!" So then I began to work in professional kitchens and was peeved to see…
Welcome to the final installment of my three part dinner series...After a full day of hunting on the ranch, and a full day of cooking by Paul, we finally got to eat the fruits of our labor. The ranch has a very beautiful interior, with lovely wood paneling and a cozy lodge atmosphere. The fireplace was…
Welcome to part two of my three part dinner series...After we brought the hogs back to the ranch, Tim put them in a walk-in cooler. After debating, we decided to have the tenderloins for dinner rather than wait to let them age. So we brought them into the kitchen and got them ready for a…
I can't really tell you where they came from. All I'll say is that I may or may not have smuggled them from Provence. I may or may not have loved them so much in the restaurant garden that I worked in, that I may or may not have dried the seeds on the windowsil of…
I want to share with you the strange things that are coming out of my garden.This carrot for example, which looks like a chicken:Or this scale-tipping carrot...a 1.125 pounder.There was a 1.5 pounder even, but I ate it. I turned it into carrot soup.I never think of carrot soup except in the moment that I'm eating…
Do you like my pumpkin? It was designed by a talented artist named T. Kristian Russell. In fact, it looks a lot like one of his recent works, don't you think?Or this one...It's the first pumpkin I've seen with a legitimate nose. I think it looks like Picasso... a very snazzy pumpkin.Once I pulled out…
These are some very fine treats. The kind of thing that leaves a lasting impression. The kind of thing that becomes seared into your mind the moment your teeth chomp down on that first bite and the sweet, salt, and tang begin to crawl along your taste buds. That is why they are called Devils…
In preparation for my book... I've been testing out quite a lot of recipes. These I like to call "Bananas Foster Cupcakes," because they celebrate cream and rum and cake in three lavish bites. (There's cream inside!)I've discovered that to get a truly unbiased opinion on a recipe, it is best to set it in the…
Loretta has been through a thing or two. Even though she doesn't live with the other chickens, she has stories to tell. After she was beaten up a few times by Buster, she had to start living closer to people, so that we could keep an eye on her and so the Rhode Island reds…