Alan Alda’s Chili Garlic Pasta

                  I was just finishing up feeding the cast and crew of the movies Cocktail and Three Men and a Baby that had been shooting in several locations. Doing both shoots a once was totally exhausting. All that was left to do was throw the wrap party and then it was time for a break. I was looking forward to the down time after being on call 24/7 for the last several months. My crew was also run down and greatly needed some time for R&R. I was living in Preston at that time and could not wait to loaf about and visit...

One Very Sexy Salad

                Over the years working as a chef for high profile socialites you get a lot of requests to be inventive and perform outside the box when it comes to pleasing clients who have tried it all. Back in 1984 I was working for a hospitality agency that found small projects for maverick chefs that were between jobs. A lot of projects that I was involved in were being designed and built to specs and would fall behind schedule for whatever reason. This gave me lots of slack time to take on other short term cooking positions. I...

Korean Style Marinated KFC

Korean Marinated KFC. It’s a little bit of prep work, but well worth the effort. This style of doing chicken alfresco on a char grill first requires a 24 hour soak in a favourable lemongrass fivespice, cilantro and coconut milk brine. Just add the ingredients, stir together and add some chili’s if you like it piquant! Some prefer using butter milk and kiwi fruit, some like yogurt and  mango. I like the tasty finish that fresh coconut milk and lemongrass bring to the flavour table! After the chicken parts marinate over night, remove as much of the marinade as...

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...