One Very Sexy Salad

                Over the years working as a chef for high profile socialites you get a lot of requests to be inventive and perform outside the box when it comes to pleasing clients who have tried it all. Back in 1984 I was working for a hospitality agency that found small projects for maverick chefs that were between jobs. A lot of projects that I was involved in were being designed and built to specs and would fall behind schedule for whatever reason. This gave me lots of slack time to take on other short term cooking positions. I...

Double Delicious Shrimp Frittata

Double Delicious Shrimp Frittata I was at the top of my game and Restaurant Mogul K Chung hired me on to head his new restaurant called “Charade”! This was one of the most stunning contemporary dining rooms during the day and at night turn social bar. The table tops were all marble and the bar was made from mahogany, marble, jade and gold leaf. The flatware was custom embroidered and sided with fine porcelain bone china. A thousand gallon marine aquarium was surrounded by lush tropical landscape. Craftsmen came from all over to paint murals, lay decorative tile work,...

India Inspired Six Pack!

          India Inspired Six Pack! My love for Indian Foods has giving me a much broader respect for the word curry. Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, African, Thai and other Southeast Asian cuisines. The major spices found in most South Asian curry powders contain turmeric, coriander, and cumin; but a wide range of additional spices may be additions depending on the geographic regional location and the food items being included; meats,...

Pineapple and Mango Salsa

Pineapple and Mango Salsa I love to cook using lots of spices and herbs that bring out the best of flavours in my personal recipes. I found that once you roast and blend some chosen spices like cardamom, anise, fennel, cumin, coriander and turmeric you have a good flavourful lite spice mixture that has no burning heat until you add some spicy hot peppers like cayenne or red/green chilies. Making a tasty salsa to dip corn chips or grilled pita breads in is simple to prepare and with little effort. Just use some different spices that add a little character to your own...

Knotty Pine Scones

Buttermilk Scones. This old fashioned British Isle styled bakery made the scones topped with some fresh strawberry preserves and sided with a good cup of English tea they made a great morning nosh. One of the most requested items at the old Knotty Pine Kofe Bar where I worked were the buttermilk scones that were made fresh each day by the hundreds. These flaky light biscuits were topped with tuna salad, minced ham or used for an eggs benny. The cheddar cheese were by far the number one seller but the raisin, apricot, date and the cheddar bacon were sold out each and...

Pho on the Go

One of my favourite lunch meals is a bowl of good flavourful bowl of PHO. The Vietnamese street cart staple which was first introduced in 1920 at a place where one could sit to eat, instead of standing or squatting. Many new PHO restaurants are springing up everywhere here in BC. I took on a cooking position working alongside a Vietnamese Chef at the Green Papaya  who made a great tasting lemon grass broth using several different techniques that I watched and studied. Roasting some veal bones sided with an array of herbs and spices made the broth take on a more the...