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The Chef's Table-Rocklin, California   There are hidden jewels, there are lost treasures, and there are riches right in front of you that you fail to explore. I’m talking about that little neighborhood eatery you’ve eschewed for the big, shiny, corporate clones....

    I’ve never been a fan of traditional Chili Relleno’s for a couple of reasons, mainly because frying egg batter in oil tastes like overcooked eggs. If you follow my writing at all, you might have gathered that I hate overcooked eggs. “Never” is the answer...

We discovered this years ago at a street fair somewhere, possibly Street Vibrations, the annual bike festival in Reno Nevada of all places. We immediately came home at set out to recreate it from memory. What we discovered is, there are countless variations that work...

Let's say you find yourself stuck indoors on a rainy day, and you've been wondering what to do with that five-pound tub of ricotta cheese in the ice box. And maybe you’ve got some beautiful Pink            Himalayan or Red Hawaiian Salt in the pantry, and a jar of...

There are lots of recipes out there for spinach pasta that seem really cool because you wind up with green noodles. Yeah, that's great, but if I'm going through the time and effort to add something to my pasta, I want it to have flavor. Spinach pasta really...

I had a lot of expectations as I prepared for my trip to Memphis; spending a week in the city that epitomises the idiom “Blues, Brews and Barbeque,” is a weighty responsibility for a fella to look forward to. Graceland, Sun Studio, Staxx Records, the Lorraine Hotel...

  I'm sure someone has done this before, but since I've never seen it, I'm claiming this as intellectual property. Making waffles out of leftover stuffing is....well, more genius than I imagined. The people at Eggo are missing the gravy boat. Imagine never having...

It's a cold, rainy Sunday morning. The fireplace is sending waves of comfort throughout the house, and the prognosticators are forecasting the day's NFL outcomes on the big screen. It's a perfect day for Mom's Chicken and Dumplings. I made a few tweeks to Mom's...

Chef Aaron Arko of the Marriott City Center in Downtown Portland shares his Achiote Braised Short Rib Recipe The City of Portland is both a time capsule for and a mirror image of, the City of Berkeley California. The "Saturday Market" at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park...

Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza The Barrio Cafe, Phoenix Arizona  I’ve made the Scottsdale/Phoenix area one of my regular mini-vacation spots in the past few years. Spring Training baseball for my beloved Giants and A’s. An off the hook Bike Week in the eclectic town of...

SHRIMP STUFFED DEEP FRIED AVOCADO! This is one of my crazy ideas that should have fallen into the category of "WTH?"But after tasting it, Holy Mother of All Things Fried, it's screaming good! Stuffing an avocado with shrimp has been a middle of the night fascination...

Hunting the Elusive Morel What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions food from the Pacific Northwest? Salmon, or at least seafood of some sort? Trendy Seattle restaurants? White dudes in dreadlocks serving coffee smoked duck? Fishmongers tossing...

  A little seasoning, ground meat, patience, and some funky science and the results are crazy good. Spicy, mind blowing sticks of an omlette's best friend. Eggs? Why stop there, try some Spanish Chorizo and black beans and you'll never go back to that digusting...

I hadn't had a family outing with my two sons in quite some time, so I thought to myself "Where could I take these two for a wholesome Father/Son vacation?" I wanted there to be fishing, which is something we like to do together. And good food, since like their...

  What's been done to death more than pulled pork? Seems that every restaurant has their version of this BBQ classic. I avoid them like babies on an airplane. Throwing a few chunks of pork loin into a crock pot with some liquid smoke and a fountain of BBQ...

Rice balls with Sausage 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 shallot, finely chopped 1 cup uncooked Arborio rice (risotto style) 1/2 cup dry white wine 2 1/2 cups boiling chicken stock salt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese 1 egg, beaten 1 egg 1 tablespoon...

Patatine al Formaggio Polenta con Bolognese I like to play with my food. Tweaking recipes and ingredients, substituting spices and techniques to represent the same dish in different cultures. Lately I’ve been craving chili cheese fries. But not the type you get any...

Porchetta (por-ketta) is an Italian style, slow-roasted, stuffed pork roast. In Italy, porchetta is made by slow roasting and stuffing parts of the whole pig. Here in America, the shoulder (butt) is the typical cut for creating porchetta. Traditionally made using...

              Yes, it’s a Shramp’douille. Shrimp and pork forced into a sausage casing with seasonings and smoked until fully cooked and delicious. “Why in the hell?” might be an  appropriate question. Glad you asked. It all started a few...

The Jerusalem Artichoke evokes a mental picture of a hybrid delicacy, an edible flower maybe, from a distant land. Boy does that miss the mark. It’s ugly and looks like a cross between a small bumpy potato and a piece of ginger. The “Sunchoke” as it is also known, is...

Recipe: 2 ripe pears, peeled, quartered and cored 1 tbls olive oil 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch chunks 1 medium shallot finely minced 1/2 teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper, to taste 4 cups vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken...

After writing this recipe and posting it here, my eyes caught what for some people will be a huge red flag in the ingredients; 1 cup duck fat. Three words and a number that will cause panic amongst my health conscience friends, especially just after New Years when all...

    Cioppino:  a stew of fish and shellfish cooked usually with tomatoes, wine, spices, and herbs Origin of CIOPPINO modification of Italian dialect (Liguria) ciuppin First Known Use: 1917 And this from Wikipedia; “Cioppino is traditionally made from the...

Mention Brussel Sprouts in a crowd and you get almost the same response as you would if you had said Duck. "I love them," "I hate them", or "My best friend's mother/father/uncle makes the best ever." We'll tackle duck in another post,  but this is all about the funky...

    This is a recipe I first had in a steak house in Washington DC last year. Their hash was so good I couldn’t get enough and wound up only eating half of my $45 steak. Usually bringing home leftovers is a bonus, but when “Home” is a hotel room, and there...

I first had a Ricotta Cheesecake in a Gastropub in downtown Seattle. Vanilla with a lemon curd topping, wow! I knew I had to make it at home. I found a recipe for the Vanilla Ricotta Cheesecake, and the lemon curd online, but I knew I was going to be making 50...

  Hawaii seems to have a love affair with beef short ribs. I found short ribs of one form or another on all of the Islands I traveled to. When cooked properly they are truly amazing, done wrong they are rubbery, greasy, gristle on a bone. I have made enough of the...

You can only eat so much Spam, even in Paradise.   Ok, I'll be honest here at the risk of never being invited to another Island Theme Party. I've never eaten Spam in Hawaii. We had it at home as kids, but that's to be expected growing up in the 60's &...

  I have to thank Nico’s Pier 38 in Oahu for this incredible recipe. Ahi Furikake is their most popular dish and one of my favorites, so much so that I set off on a quest to find the elusive seasoning I thought was called Furiyake. Oahu has a large market in the...