Coal Fired Shovel Breakfasts

Coal Fired Shovel Breakfasts My chef dad Con was only five foot three inches but he was solid built like a bull dog. He boxed as a teenager but later realized that all his yelling and acting real angry got the message across better and without battle scars. My dad was incapable of driving and thing on wheels. If you were the person who stopped to help my dad who was always carrying grocery items, he would promise them some of his prepared food at the end of the day which also meant he would bag a ride to the station or better yet home. I remember there were a lot of...

Baked Brown Sugar Custard

Baked Brown Sugar Custards.           The hotel bakers were the first to arrive before my dad. Toni was the one who I would spend most of the morning with and she unknowingly taught me how to bake. She would turn on the ovens and get the big stainless steel urns of coffee on the go and start baking  the fresh proofed bread, scones, parker house rolls and sweet buns first thing. She was a very meticulous pastry chef and made every step count. I think about her now and when I was around five, she must have been in her late fifties. She would always...

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! That’s why shopping at the source gets the best results. Picked green and held in controlled atmosphere till they are shipped to the retail stores takes out a big bite of flavour. But...

Sauce’s and Butters

                            Sauce’s and Butters When thekitchenman needs to add some sizzle to the steak he uses a range of different sauces and flavoured butters to get that optimum level of good taste. These next recipes are the ones that I use and once you add these to your cooking repertoire your next meal at home will be taken to another level. Onion Sauce This is a béchamel sauce flavored with sweet onion. It is a lovely silky sauce for delicate-flavored foods and perfect for baked-in-cream...

Creole Hush Puppies

    Mighty Fine Creole Hush Puppies; One of the best kitchenman back yard nibbles are my Creole Hush Puppies. I have wowed a lot of people with these. I would fry up big batches for shore lunches and back yard parties. They go so well with any seafood dish or bbq smoked meats. There simple to make and can be made and refrigerated ahead time and will keep for up to a day. The pork belly lard is important and you will recall the tastes it brings out is similar to old school creole flavourings. They used the fat from the cooked chicken skins and from ducks too....