Star Crab Cakes

              Back in 1984 I was asked by some celebrities that I was cooking for if I ever have eaten at Stars Restaurant in San Francisco. My reply was not yet, but after hearing about the chef in charge and his new style fusion food menu I knew it would not be long before I would be there in the flesh. Stars were noted as being the birthplace of New American Cuisine. The restaurant was an instant sensation and quickly became the top-grossing restaurant for years. Chef Jeremiah Tower and his posse of celebrity chefs like Wolfgang Puck...

Expresso Bourbon Chocolate Cake:

Expresso Bourbon Chocolate Cake; Apprenticing to become a cook/chef takes years of theory and practice. Baking is one area that I only studied when time allowed back in college. I was tutored by Conestoga’s Peter Basin an Olympic medal winning pastry chef. He taught me on how to prepare all the required items that being a resort/hotel chef would need to know. I soon learned it was very demanding and tedious work to pipe fillings into thousands of bite size sweets for a buffet or decoration extraordinaire show pieces. Making layered cakes, flavoured mousses,...

Creole Surf and Turf Gumbo w/ Hush Puppi...

  Creole Surf and Turf Gumbo w/ Hush Puppies; I have wowed a lot of people with these abilities to create some great Cajun recipes. I would fry up big batches of fresh caught seafood for shore lunches and back yard parties. Gathering the fresh ingredients for a good Seafood Gumbo is using what fits your personal tastes. I like using all kinds of available seafood and adding in some good artisan smoked sausages. I use a Wok or a steamer Pot to get all the flavours to be added and times for the proper cooking. Once the Gumbo is on it’s time to make the star of...

Slow Roasted Kahlua BBQ Beef Short Ribs

Slow Roast Kahlua BBQ Beef Short Ribs. At one time these small joints of beef bones were cheap and used mostly for making stock or roasted brown sauce. Now they have are extremely expensive and have become a prime short rib menu item. Braised or slow crock pot done they are hard to make a bad meal with. Most restaurants just chop up season and deep fry them like chicken wings or pork rib bites. thekitchenman likes to brine the small portions in bourbon, scotch or rum to break down the tissue and the sugars when BBQed low and slow for several hours. The choice is yours to...

thekitchenman Cabbage Rolls.

thekitchenman Cabbage Rolls. There are so many versions of this item that almost every country has a tried to stuff a cabbage leaf all of which use the same assembly method! Some Polish and German recipes contain mostly seasoned ground pork and beef using a little amount of rice or bread crumbs as the filler. They have very little sauce and are usually served in its own juices. The Ukrainian version is pork belly bacon and rice and shredded cabbage and is baked with stewed tomatoes. Here is a recipe to try the next time you are ready to roll up some cabbage leaves. I like...

Spud Nut’s

This little demon is called a Spud Nut. My Aunt Marie made these at the cottage the night before. Don’t drink any of this buttermilk in the fridge she would say. That meant pancakes or donuts were going to had next morning. Soon as the dishes were all done and the men playing cards, my aunt would be planning breakfast and doing the prep. When there are 10 mouths to feed at the cottage, it’s great that the simple ingredients like flour and sugar, a few spices, butter and eggs were the foundations to so many home comfort recipes. Don’t even look at these...