Home-made Vegetable Stock
This home-made stock recipe is seriously amazing…. you wouldn’t believe the extra flavor it can add to foods compared to the cans and cartons you get from the store. I have never made a home-made stock before or even thought it was worth all the time, but trust me, after you make this you will be spending Sundays sitting beside a simmering pot basking in the success of your amazing broth!
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Ken’s Seared Yellowfin Tuna
A few times a year, I am lucky enough to receive some of the most unbelievable Yellowfin tuna you could possibly imagine. Ken, who works in my office, goes deep sea fishing with some of his buddies about 200 miles south of Freeport and brings the tuna they catch in FRESH on Mondays for us. Actually, this was the first tuna I ever tasted and now I am seriously spoiled…. it doesn’t get fresher than a day off the boat… my mouth is watering just writing about it 
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My week at Le Calabash Cooking School
This post has taken me a while to write because it is very hard for me to find the right words to express how unbelievable my week was at Le Calabash, it feels very bittersweet. To be able to go to France and spend an entire week at cooking school has been a dream of mine for a very long time and I could not have found a better school than this one. I was very nervous to go there alone, not knowing a single other person signed up for the week or what they would be like, but I made a promise to myself to stop passing up opportunities, because life is just too short… and I have never made a better decision! Alison and Sidney Bond, who run the school, are the kindest, most hospitable people I have ever met, and not to mention EXTREMELY talented. They are both award winning chefs who have cooked for some very big names including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William, Mick Jager, Madonna, Cher, Sylvester Stallone, U2, Elizabeth Taylor, and many more.
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Cooking Live with Chef Ming Tsai, Matt Damon & Friends For a Good Cause
I don’t know if you are familiar with Family Reach Foundation, but they are an amazing charity created to provide financial relief and support to families fighting cancer. The majority of their funds go to help out families with children or young adults that are battling cancer. It is an amazing charity – unlike any other I have ever heard of.
I had the honor of attending this incredible fundraising event in NYC, Cooking live with Chef Ming Tsai and Friends, which went to raise over half a million dollars for this heart wrenching cause. In attendance were Chef Ming Tsai, Chef Mario Batali, Chef Floyd Cardoz, Chef James Dangler, Chef Marc Forgione, Chef Mashaharu Morimoto, Chef Laurent Richard, and “sous chef” Matt Damon.
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Houston Metro Cooking & Enertaining Show!
The Houston Metro Cooking & Entertaining Show was definitely NOT lacking in entertainment! With general admission tickets starting at $24.50 a piece, this affordable event is perfect for any food lover. It was jam packed with vendors (offering GREAT discounts), ranging from chocolates and pralines, to Cajun spices and BBQ rubs, to women’s handbags and home improvement. I personally enjoyed the cooking demonstrations, including Martie Duncan (finalist from Next Food Network Star – LOVE HER) and Jamie Zelco (from Zelco Bistro here in Houston) – they were fun and had great tips.
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Food Finds: Classe Ouvrière Honey and White Seashore Honey
Thanks to my friends over at Solex Fine Foods in New York, I was able to come across a few jars of each of these honeys. The moment I opened the first jar to try one, I knew I stumbled upon something really special. Trust me when I tell you, you will never taste honey like this, EVER.
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Fresh Hatch Pepper and Garlic Sausage Pizza
I have been trying to come up with some creative uses for my favorite summer obsession right now – the hatch pepper – so I thought why not pizza! I took a few shortcuts here – You can easily buy pre-made pizza dough, I chose Whole Foods Market because you can buy the dough freshly made at the pizza counter. As long as the dough is fresh, you really cannot screw up this pizza, but I stress, buy FRESH pizza dough. This is an amazing pizza recipe; you will thank me after you devour it
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Perfectly Roasted Hatch Chiles
For all you pepper lovers out there ITS FINALLY HATCH PEPPER SEASON!! These peppers are so sweet and have such a wonderful flavor. Once you get them home you will need to roast and skin them. This is really simple but can be intimidating if you haven’t done it before, so I’ll show you how! Is it weird that I am so excited it’s Hatch Pepper season? Probably so… oh well – this is how you perfectly roast your hatch peppers, AND for those of you who do not know anything about the Hatch Chili Pepper, allow me to sum it up:
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Shrimp, Mushroom, and Parmesan Risotto
I came up with this recipe while I was at work wondering what to make for dinner. I knew I wanted risotto with some white wine, mushrooms, and shrimp so I played around with a few things and I think I have come up with the PERFECT risotto!! I made this tonight and I tell you what…. I wish you had smell-o-vision for this one – it smelled and tasted as amazing as it looks – you must try it!!
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Best Cooking Classes in Houston *Foodie Find*
When I take cooking classes I want an experienced cook teaching me, not just a store clerk who googled recipes and then teaches me how to make them. I have found that at quite a few places I have gone this has been the case. I really love Central Market classes but I have to say that this place even beats them. Well Done Cooking School is the best I have found in Houston, and I have tried a number of places. The classes are taught by Celeste and Katherine… and these are chefs who actually have life experience in restaurants all over the world and really know what they are doing. I suggest, if you do not want to pay for a culinary school education, that you go here. They have so many helpful tips and knowledge they share…. and the classes are all completely hands on and very fun! Just try this place – you won’t regret it!
Here is their link: http://www.welldonecc.com/index.aspx
Enjoy!
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About Me
I channel Julia Child above all else. “You'll never know everything about anything, especially something you love.” - SO TRUE Sites I Love
