Roast Leg of Lamb Christmas Downton Abbe...

Roast Leg of Lamb Christmas Downton Abbey Style I loved watching the TV series and especially liked head house cook Mrs. Patmore slaving away at a dish in that antiquated kitchen. My favourite passion about cooking today is recreating some of those relic recipes that were once served to aristocratic patrons at fine Inns or estate homes. While touring the Delaware River a few years back. I loved to find these historic Inns and this one was built in 1857 and still is home to the longest continuously operating restaurant/hotel along the Delaware Canal. The tavern and former...

Salisbury Steak Meatball Crown

Roast Garlic Mashed Potato w/ Salisbury Steak Meatballs Crown. Every time that I would make this recipe at Turtle Jacks it would be an item that would sell out when it was seen being eaten by the restaurant other guests. Salisbury steak is made from a blend of ground beef chuck. Hamburg steak is a similar product but differs in ingredients. In a bowl add the beef, breadcrumbs, a beaten egg, good Tbs. of mustard, ketchup and worcestershire sauce chopped parsley and green onion. Roll into 1½ inch meatballs. Heat oil medium high in a large skillet. Do not over crowd the...

Ginger Turmeric Chicken Mushroom Egg Sou...

Stick with me on this ramble. I find when ever I am feeling blasé, a good hot bowl of soup seams to do the trick. I was taught by a famous chef Kingsley Chung that Congee soup made with different ingredients has been the Chinese way of self regulating good digestion and health for ions. I just add ingredients from my pantry or fridge. Look over the list at the bottom and just combine the ingredients to make a personal elixir that tastes yummy and heals what’s ailing you. Congee is simple and easy to make. A small amount of grains with 5-6 times more water and a...

Otto’s Russian-Style Hearty Cabbag...

                Russian-Style Hearty Cabbage Soup When I was living in Invermere BC I did lots of sightseeing into the mountainous back country adjacent the Purcell, Selkirk and the Rockies mountain ranges. I remember being shown the many off the beat and track valley rivers and trails that were once transportation routes for the many mines that were situated all through this area. Some of the mines had natural hot springs and gardens that flourished to bath and feed the hungry miners. This one particular backwoods mine still had a...

Coal Fired Shovel Breakfasts

Coal Fired Shovel Breakfasts My chef dad Con was only five foot three inches but he was solid built like a bull dog. He boxed as a teenager but later realized that all his yelling and acting real angry got the message across better and without battle scars. My dad was incapable of driving and thing on wheels. If you were the person who stopped to help my dad who was always carrying grocery items, he would promise them some of his prepared food at the end of the day which also meant he would bag a ride to the station or better yet home. I remember there were a lot of...

Movie Catering Trailer Kitchen

This is what the inside of one of my 45 foot mobile kitchen’s looked like. This one had a huge fridge, several ovens and held a thousand  gallons of water made with its own water purification plant, solar panels and butane cooking fuel. This work horse of a unit could be be set up in an isolated area running fully operational for 60 hours before needing off site fuel services or satellite refueling. This is what my boss expected my three kitchen’s to look like every day at start up because you never knew who would drop in to ask for some grub! FYI, if you...