I can think of no other cooking technique that can produce deep intense flavors and fork tender texture with minimal work than the technique of braising. Braising is a combination cooking technique that utilizes both dry heat (browning) and moist heat (simmering) to produce a luxurious melt in the mouth feel and deep flavor out of otherwise tough lack-luster cuts … Read More
Citrus Season
Oranges and orange juice, what would breakfast be without them? Browse the produce section of any grocery store today and you’ll certainly find oranges as a staple item available year-round. As a child it was traditional for mom to include an orange as part of our stocking loot at Christmas time. I once asked “why an orange?” It seemed like … Read More
Sun in My Belly Neighborhood Cafe
Just after the beginning of the year I took advantage of an extended weekend to visit friends in Atlanta. As is usually the case when I’m traveling and visiting other areas, I always like to seek out unique food vendors, kitchen and cooking retailers, as well as restaurants. I was first introduced to Sun in My Belly Neighborhood Café on … Read More
Spiced Dried Fruit Compote
This spiced compote makes good use of dried fruits available year-round but is best (in my opinion) served during the winter and fall when spicier, deeper flavors are usually more prominent. Besides, having dried fruit on hand in the pantry means you can put the compote together without much forethought. I have been using it the past few years in … Read More
Saffron- Buyer Beware
Saffron has long been considered to be the world’s most costly spice. Mentioned as far back as Biblical times, it has been grown from India through the mideast and all over Europe. Saffron is the stigma of a purple fall-flowering crocus. Each flower only has 3 stigmas and the flowers as well as the stigmas have to be hand plucked … Read More
Georgia State Farmers Market
Each time I travel to or from Atlanta there’s a sign on the east side of Interstate 75 that always catches my eye, not because it’s fancy, flashy, or particularly unique, but because of what it says: “State Farmers Market”. Unfortunately I usually seem to be passing through the area on some sort of timeframe…either trying to get a good … Read More
New Years Food Traditions
Happy New Year! I suspect I’m not the only one making the annual comment “wow, where did the last year go?!” Now here we are on the start of a new decade as well! Hard to imagine that it’s been a decade since the Y2K concern and now people are looking toward 2012 to see if the Mayans really did … Read More
Hands-on Cooking Classes in Savannah
My thanks to writer Augusta Statz for her great article featuring my classes in this week’s issue of Connect Savannah! Be Your Own Favorite Chef – by Augusta Statz, from Connect Savannah – December 28, 2010 Let’s face it – holidays are known for being fun and festive, but they can easily become overwhelming. For this reason, Chef Darin Sehnert’s … Read More
Savory Seafood Cheesecake
“What do you cook at home?” is one of the most frequent questions I get from guests in my classes. My usual answer to this is “it depends”, which it does….on many things: seasonality, what I’ve been reading or thinking about, what I’ve been eating, what I’ve got on hand, whether I really feel like cooking or if I just want … Read More
Danish Puff Pastry
Mom had a cupboard full of cookbooks and those that were regularly used were always up front and stuffed full of little slips of paper. To me those shelves of cookbooks were full of wonder…reading all kinds of recipes and just imagining what each item might look and taste like was like living in a fantasy world of food. I … Read More