INGREDIENTS   You can use any vegetables you like in this recipe.  I shoot for either a nice color combination or, in order to clean out the fridge, I’ll use just what I have on hand. I have written “more or less” on some of the ingredients.  This is to allow for personal preferences with […]

After a week of undertaking exhaustive research of the poultry industry of Thailand, I have arrived at two conclusions.  First, there are a lot of chickens and eggs in Thailand.  Second, I would rather cook and eat chicken and eggs than read about them.   I had already surmised my first conclusion more than twenty […]

  The automobile has always been a symbol of progress, status and prosperity.  That is usually the way it is with anything that is rare and expensive.  It’s difficult to believe, however, that chickens were once held in a similar lofty esteem—at least as a food source.  Equally astounding is that both cars and chickens […]

As a child, I hated spinach.  My mother tried every tactic of persuasion to get me to eat it—to no avail.  Yes, I knew it was good for me—just like every food that seemed disgusting was “good” for me.  No, I didn’t want to be like Popeye—who would want to be a one-eyed, muttering and […]

Not everyone has a supply of any kind of fresh broth or stock hanging around in his or her refrigerator—not even professional chefs.  I simplify many of my recipes for the home chef by recommending either prepared broths or stocks or, preferably, using concentrated flavor bases.  What they lack in flavor and authenticity they make […]

Meat is muscle tissue.  This muscle tissue is divided into “groups”.  On a cow, each group of muscle tissue yields a particular section or “cut” of meat.  A steak is a cut from these sections; either on its own or as the end product of being cut from a section of muscle such as a […]

I have a few rules of thumb with regard to steaks that I cook on the grill.  If you’re an experienced griller, you probably follow most of them already.  If you’re not, listen up and maybe you’ll learn something to improve your burgeoning skills.   Tip #1: Use only USDA Choice or USDA Prime cuts […]

I was a Cub Scout for a brief period in my childhood.  I was a complete failure at it.  My lack of success in this noble organization stemmed from both an early burgeoning of rebelliousness and a sense that I had been gypped.   I felt gypped because I thought I was going to learn how […]

The only drawbacks of this sauce are that you have to peel a lot of garlic and its aroma while cooking is very strong.  Make sure you have plenty of ventilation in your kitchen.  We’re talking exhaust fans and/or opened windows.  A little of this sauce goes a long way and it should yield over […]

I use a lot of garlic in my recipes.  I mean, a lot of garlic.  Having owned a restaurant for 12 years and, prior to that, working as a cook for almost 28 years, I don’t think that I peeled a single clove of garlic, at least not that I remember or care to remember.  […]