With a name like Trinidad (Spanish for Trinity, as in Holy) and a capital called Port of Spain, you’d expect this Caribbean island to be the most pure-bloodedly Spanish place this side of Madrid. Yet history speaks loudly in Trinidad, filled with African slavery, south Asian immigration and pots that tend to melt. You can…
Tag: #cookingschool
Chocolate Crepes for Your Valentine
As a chef, and really as a person, winter is an interesting time, a time when the need for comfort magnifies. For me the winter is when I slow a bit, recharge, refocus and spend time cooped up in my warm home reacquainting with my family. As I have watched this process play out each…
Gingerbreading a Local Landmark
Working in the kitchen can be fun, entertaining, challenging, rewarding, and exciting. An adventure always waits in the kitchen and sometimes that adventure is even better when shared. At the cooking school I get to live a life of sharing every weekend. And though I reap the rewards of satisfaction and joy with each class,…
‘Tis the season….Holiday Scones
The holidays are upon us and, with them, the cold chill of winter’s breath. It is time for sweaters, wool socks, a fire in the fireplace and, of course, warm weekend breakfasts, the kind that fill the house with welcome aromas and warm comfort. Maybe it’s a sweet potato hash with candied bacon and caramelized…
Cajun Corn for The Holidays
The new settlers floundered initially, failing to recognize or locate enough of anything good to eat. Finally, as much out of desperation as brotherly love, they asked the native Americans who’d lived off this land a lot longer. And they, known as “Indians” since the geographically challenged Columbus called them such, pointed them to the…
THE GREAT SWORDFISH OF SICILY
It was the most memorable lunch on a cruise ship in my three decades of lecturing on cruise ships. It was especially so because quite a few passengers took one look at what was being grilled in the open air and ran not-quite-screaming to the familiar indoor lunch buffet. Somehow, while the ship had been…
Hungary’s Signature Beef Stew
By JOHN DeMERS If you stay in the beautiful capital on the Danube, Budapest, or wander from one remote corner of Hungary to the other, you won’t get a straight answer asking if goulash is really a soup or a stew. We’ve begun to suspect it is neither, or perhaps it is both. All we…
THREE CHEERS FOR CHALLAH
A reoccurring theme in all that I do is the importance of community – of recognizing the beauty in others and celebrating that beauty over the joy and comfort of a meal prepared as much for the soul as for the stomach. As a child and then a young man, I put little thought into…
IMPROMPTU HOLIDAY GUESTS
It’s that time of year when cooking, be it plain or fancy, is at its most meaningful thanks to those you know are coming for a visit. Unless, of course, you don’t know they are coming. With all our communication technology, it seems implausible that friends or family would turn up at your doorstep without…
BUILDING THE BEST BISCOTTI
Showing every sign of good sense and more than a little good taste, the world has finally embraced the ancient Italian confection known simply as Twice Cooked. You might be wishing for a more romanticized, less workaday sort of name. Still, ever since the Roman legions discovered that these cookies retained their quality for days…
A LATE SUMMER VEGAN FEAST
As a chef, I am asked to do many things related to food, and from time to time those things come with challenge and intrigue. This last month has been no different and, in fact, brought the particularly fun challenge of preparing a vegan feast for some guests we were entertaining here at the Culinary…
The (Bacon-Kissed) Taste of Summer
Today, sitting in my cabin office looking out onto the peach orchard, I was taken by the simple beauty of our Texas Hill Country oasis. I looked out at the fire pit just up from the rippling pond behind our store, canopied by the pines, and I began to imagine a beautiful picnic comprised completely…