Why Are Spicy Foods Addictive?

At lunch today, a friend served a local restaurant hot sauce she thought we could add to our salads.  Instead we dabbed it on our vegetable lasagna. I took one bite and felt the heat and thought, “This isn’t for me,” or so I thought.   Read more>

I love this popular, refreshing Italian Aperitivo that’s spread it’s way to Southern Cali and the rest of the U.S. as a summer drink.   Read more>

A Great Home Product to Hit the Cooking Market

Being chefs, we are always creating and looking for new ways to prepare the amazing ingredients we have access to and recently there has been a resurgence of an old cooking technique called Sous Vide.  Read more>

Smoky-Sweet Bacon Burgers with Crisp Apple and Blue Cheese Slaw

Looking to up the ante this Memorial weekend barbeque? Look no further. This burger goes beyond your typical run of the mill burger with a flavor punch that screams “Well, hello summer!”   Read more>

Memorial weekend kicks off a summer of backyard parties. Here’s a few tips to make your place look great and guarantee a fun time for all. Don’t forget to create a playlist chock full of summer songs on your iPod to set the mood and enhance any theme you may have going. Prep everything you can ahead of time, so you’re not crazed day of.   Read more>

June brings that sweet childhood favorite, watermelon, to your local grocery store or farmers market… and aside from slicing and eating or the occasional salad, this juicy melon is often overlooked in another thirst-quenching way of enjoyment – a cocktail!   Read more>

Heirloom Tomatoes

The recents stars in the produce world, heirloom tomatoes are vibrant with flavors intense and juicy that gourmands all over have gone wild for. Unfortunately, available mostly organic or at farmers markets in the summer, they are pricey. But not if you grow your own.  Read more>

Tilapia is fast becoming popular in the U.S. because it’s a lean, white fish that’s very high in protein and not expensive. With a light flavor, it’s a fish where the sauce can become the star – and this citrus sauce perfectly complements the delicate flavor and is just the thing for spring.  Read more>

Sauce Maltaise

Asparagus with Hollandaise is classic, but you can burst that flavor to extravagant levels by turning your Hollandaise into a Maltaise with a simple syrup made from orange juice and Grand Marnier.   Read more>

Perfect for Brunch

Randy Clemens, chef and food writer for such magazines as Gourmet and Saveur, in his Sriracha Cookbook, came up with an elegant and Asian spin on our favorite brunch drink, the Bloody Mary.   Read more>

Croissant Bread Pudding

Not a big lover of bread pudding, my mom, who is, raved about this dish by The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. I made it for a baby shower, and men and women alike went wild over this dish.   Read more>

Courtesy of Jacques Pepin from his autobiography: The Apprentice, My Life in the Kitchen

Since seeing Chef Pepin make this years ago on his cooking show, I have wanted to make this dish. This is a recipe that his mother Jeannette created, herself a cook who owned restaurants in France where Pepin first got his start cooking, for the family when he was just a boy.   Read more>