____ Hot stuff !!!! _____
Quarantining has been hazardous to the health of some people but “quitchen quarantining” means more recipe testing… a lot more!
This section has a “kitchen sink” of food-related posts, from successful recipes to recipes on our plate for future testing. Explore and send us your feedback.
A bit of my kitchen background I’m an amateur cook, avid but really amateur. No formal training as my professional chef father repeatedly emphasized, “Cooks never really share in the festivities. They’re prisoners of the pots and pans!” So my dad discouraged my kitchen activities as he felt other professions had more rewards. He cooked before the era of the Food Channel, Iron Chefs, Gord Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Barefoot Contessa. But my love of kitchen work never got buried. I love the creativity, the passion, the artistry and of course the foods that come out of any kitchen. Best of all, you get to try it first.
I love cooking…thanks, dad! My father was a professional chef, before the glamorization by TV and the Food Channel making it profession it is today. My dad was a “down-home” self-taught cook as were all chefs of his time. He wouldn’t have known a ceviche from sous vide but because of his inherent talents and intelligence, he developed his culinary skills well. He became the executive chef for the Ontario Jockey Club after years of freelancing in hotels and restaurants. Among his outstanding guests, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Princess Margaret, Premiers Bill Davis, Leslie Frost and John Robarts.
My dad has the personality that was loved by his dining guests, jovial, outgoing and very personable. He even had a TV cooking show broadcasting his work in the kitchen a decade before Julia Child started hers. And my dad’s show must have been very entertaining as his accent would have coloured his dialogue tremendously. After all, he immigrated to Canada from Europe in 1948. My cooking is along his lines in the sense that I explore, I discover, I experiment, but I am a careless cook preferring to fly by the lids of my pots and pans rather than being tied down by a recipe. Recipes are great, you are almost always guaranteed success. More importantly, you can duplicate the dish. I have trouble doing that as I wing it almost all the time. My dishes are hard to replicate because each preparation is spiced with spontaneity and free-wheeling. I cannot duplicate many of my dishes easily, the more used ones, yes; the others, not likely.
If you’re a foodie, you’ll enjoy exploring this area of my website. The section is dedicated to everything food-related, recipes, information, food tips and ideas and more.
Additionally, we have a section where a professional nutritionist/dietitian, Lisa Ireland, writes recipes she has tested and developed for Loblaw’s in Pickering.
Now…I gotta go…dinner tonight is medallions of pork tenderloin with calvados sauced apples, creamy mashed potatoes, asparagus spears drizzled with virgin olive oil and topped with Parmigiano shavings, accompanied by a chilled sauvignon blanc….mmmmmm…off to the kitchen I go !!
We invite you to share your recipe bests: Share your own recipe successes with photos for us to post for others to enjoy.
