Duck Duck!

Duck Duck!

Duck Duck! Cooking duck takes several rehearsals to make it perfect. Once you become involved in the ways to both sauté and and bake confit style, your final duck dinner will be perfecto. The breast portion is the one that I flavour with a good cherry brandy and with simple salt and pepper scored skin pan sauté to medium rare with crispy skin in duck fat. The leg portion was baked in it’s own fats. Made a fava bean and mashed potato smear, with some wilted spinach and butter fried wild mushroom. A duck confit that’s sure to please even the pickiest eaters!...
Smoked Salmon and Prawn Party Shooters.

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...
Red Hot & Blue Vegetarian Boogie

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...
Gazpacho Elixir

Gazpacho Elixir

Gazpacho Elixir Working as an Executive Chef means that you must possess decorum, accountability and the ability to speak in front of a group of people besides being a humble cook. Over the years I have had to lecture on the proper methods and procedures of cooking too many teams of staff. I also had to converse to guests and diners about my style of cuisine. I gave many presentations at dinner parties and seminars as well as a lot of cooking demonstrations. One of these venues I liked to do was the International Ploughing Match because of my connection to farmers and...
Christmas Prime Rib of Beef

Christmas Prime Rib of Beef

Christmas Prime Rib of Beef Here is the prime rib and Yorkshire pudding recipe that has been requested. Makes me hungry for a good feed. For the beef to qualify it has to be free of bruises, evenly marbled steer meat, dry aged for at least 29 days and a one inch thick fat cap is also required. Start by rubbing a spice mixture which contains equal amounts of kosher salt, garlic powder, beef base, ground black pepper, keens mustard powder and mild paprika. The spice rub is most important to making a tender roast. Massage this mixture all over the room temperature beef until...
Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner .

Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner .

                                                                            Turkey Dinner With the holiday season fast approaching, it is a good thing to start looking for your free range turkey and putting in your order. I like to make a trip to the usual last area farm markets and pick up all my pantry items from the farm vendors. One of the first meals I ever cooked for guests was a roast turkey dinner. Some chefs stuff the bird with a bread stuffing and cook covered at low temperature for several hours to keep the meat from becoming too dry. Other chefs roast breast...