Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup. Back when I returned to Vancouver I took on a chef position cooking for the nightly performance of  the Tony N Tina Wedding in it’s new location at 1066 Hastings street. The menu was fashioned after a typical Italian Wedding Party fare which started out with the soup. Why is it Called Italian Wedding Soup?  Ever wonder how it gets its name? I always thought maybe it was a traditional meal served at Italian weddings, but in actuality, it has nothing to do with a real wedding.  The name actually comes from the way the flavors combine, like a...

Smoked Salmon and Prawn Party Shooters.

Here is a tasty appetizer Smoked Salmon or Spot Prawn Shooters. In a stainless or glass bowl make a salsa. 1/2 cup each of diced 1/4”cubes of nectarine or peach, avocado mango and papaya. ½ a cup of fine chopped cilantro.   ½ cup chopped green onion 1 tbs. of chopped garlic, ginger and shallot. 1/4 cup of fine chopped pistachios or cashews.   Add one deseeded and fine chopped red jalapeno pepper. Use a red sweet bell pepper in place of if required. Add 2oz. of some Vodka.   Add fresh squeezed juice with pulp from 1 orange, 1 lemon and 1 lime. Add 1 tbs. of extra virgin...

Sweeties Spaghetti Sauce

From the recipes my Sweetie Once Cooked. Some 30 plus years ago I was a chef always on the go and being part of a steady relationship had its share of difficulties. When I met my sweetie before I would ask her to share my closet, I had to first find out if she would be comfortable around family and friends. Starting with a road trip to Florida showed me she is an excellent driver and a navigator. We went to some eateries with unusual menu items and soon found that she was also a great dinning companion. A trip to Barbados cemented the relationship. We moved into new digs...

Red Hot & Blue Vegetarian Boogie

Red Hot & Blue Vegetarian Boogie!     Red Hot & Blue was the first restaurant as an executive chef that I got to be part of the design team during the inception both in front and back of the house. I created the initial theme menus along with the kitchen design and conception. This flag ship restaurant was a tribute to musicians and their music. The owners with strong roots in the music industry built the restaurant in a Toronto Yonge Street office tower which was home to twenty five hundred workers. The restaurant sat 350 people and had an express pasta...

Bubba Rumba Salsa.

Bubba  Rumba  Salsa.  I do a lot of research travelling from farms to markets to find the right produce. Tomatoes are one of the most used items for my recipes. The quest to find the best tasting tomatoes takes a lot of trial and error circumstances. They all look so good sitting there on the grocers produce island. Looks can be deceiving! Picked green and held in controlled atmosphere till they are shipped to the retail stores takes out a big bite of flavour. You also notice that tomatoes cost big money at certain times of the year. I find that the mesh bag of tender...