December 2009
16 posts
Happy New Year
Tonight is all about food, drinks, family, friends and of course, desserts. I am all excited to play host tonight and create a feast that I hope everyone will enjoy. Here is a sneak peek of a dessert that I have been tinkering with most of the week, and I think I finally have it. Milk chocolate Amaretto ice cream, banana tuile, dark chocolate sauce and some butter roasted cashews and coconut to...
Twas the night before Christmas
…and all is well in the kitchen. Today was so perfect. All of my holiday shopping was complete so I had the day to spend in the kitchen, baking and enjoying. I made a few things, and hope you enjoy, and hope my family does tomorrow. I posted them on Flickr,so you wouldn’t be bombarded by a ton of photos. The first are chocolate chips, posted below. I made these in hopes Santa...
Brinner
Breakfast for dinner. What a beautiful thing. Today I received a nice cookbook from a good friend of mine that is all about custards and crème brûlée. Thank you for the book and for the inspiration! I so appreciate you thinking about me when you see a book that has lemongrass and ginger crème brûlée! As I was sitting in class today, I took a peek and well, brinner was inspired. Enter custard...
Playtime.
I was cleaning out the icebox and realized I had too much in there, if that really is possible, so I decided to play a little. Why not? Snow on the ground, coffee pot brewing and music in the background…everything was in place. I had some ice cream, little cakes, chocolate, a variety of nuts, and well, it is never too early or to cold for ice cream. I haven’t played with sugar in a while, so I...
I win.
Do you really think after the mess last weekend I could sit there and let fudge win? No way. More holiday fudge for all to enjoy. Garnished with spun sugar, chocolate sauce and a dash of salt. What a way to start the morning and the weekend.
Baby you can drive my car...
I was asked to do a cooking demonstration for the Chef’s Academy and well, it is finally here. For those of you that know me, you know I love to talk (…and talk and talk) and I love food, so shooting a video where I talk about food should be simple right? Well, it was pretty simple to do all thanks to an amazing producer and video editing guru who assured me all would be well (..thanks a...
Can someone please explain science to me?
So this weekend I was making the obligatory holiday candy for Christmas Parties. Fudge seemed like a simple, easy idea. Well, I started off doubling the recipe. Scaled all of my ingredients, checked them twice and made them in the same way I have made fudge before. What a mess. It turned out more like a grainy chocolate caramel. Just nasty and mostly frustrating. So I thought maybe doubling...
'Tis the Season
Old man winter really beat on our door today making it the perfect day for one of my favorite meals, Guinness Stew. I really look forward to the day that I can spend inside knowing it is absolutely freezing outside, filling the house with that beautiful smell of stew. Guinness Stew for me is a little different. I don’t add the entire garden to the mix, only meat, carrots, sage and of course,...
Patience my young grasshopper.
Last week I spent the morning with my good friend Chef Amanda. She runs, controls, and influences the young culinary minds of tomorrow at Walker Career Center. She asked me if I would help her students in a culinary competition they have early next year, with of course, their desserts. I was so excited she asked and was even more excited to help. Here is the kicker with the competition. They...