Easy As…Tomato Pie!

  In the grand Southern tradition of using what is fresh from the garden and mixing it with some form of fat…I present to you:  Tomato Pie.  Okay, to be truly “southern” you’ll have to work on the pronunciation of “pie” (draw it waaaaaaaay out) but we won’t get hung up on that.   If you aren’t familiar with Southern cooking, tomato … Read More

Perfect Flaky Pastry

One of the most common frustrations I hear in regards to baking is how people can’t seem to make a nice flaky pie crust.  This is exactly what happened with Jason, a recent guest of mine earlier this spring.  He and his fiance had joined me earlier in the year and we had started trading emails about cooking questions.  When … Read More

Asian Slaw

I love cooking for a number of reasons.  First, you never know it all…there’s always something to learn (which I’m sure can be said of every field).  However with cooking it’s simple enough to learn from taking cues from the world around you.  Second, I love the fact that unlike architecture, rocket science, and any other number of technical fields, … Read More

Food Network: “Chefs vs. City” Mix it Up at 700 Kitchen Cooking School

Note:  This was originally posted on May 3, 2010.  Due to the website going down with technical issues the April/May posts were deleted from the database.  In the interest of maintaining the original content of the site I’m now re-posting.   Left to right:  Sean Rossi, Kate Blair, Jamie Deen, Bobby Deen, Jonathan Preston, Darin Sehnert, Aaron Sanchez, Chris Cosentino, Danette McGeeney … Read More

Easter Already?

A fresh, easy, and flavorful salad recipe perfect for potlucks and buffets: Citrus & Fennel Salad with Orange Blossom Vinaigrette

Blue Cheese & Walnut “Biscuits”

“Biscuit” is one of those words that has a variety of meanings depending on where and by whom it’s being used.  In England the term “Biscuit” is the same as what Americans would call a “cookie”.  My friend Gary is originally from Scotland and when he first visited me in Orlando he was quite perplexed (and perhaps even a bit … Read More

Easy Fruit Danish

These fruit Danish pastries are easy to make and will probably taste better than a lot of the packaged pastry goods you get in your local market.  These were originally done with Pilsbury refrigerated breadsticks and came from one of our entertaining classes at the Disney Institute.  In the past year or so, Pilsbury has come out with “Crescent Rounds” … Read More

Dessert Tricks up your Sleeve – Try Zabaglione!

A lot of people that enjoy cooking, don’t necessarily enjoy baking – chef’s included!  In restaurants there are desserts that are the province of bakers and pastry chefs, and then yet another that are often called “cook’s desserts”.  “Cook’s desserts” are those which aren’t terribly complicated, don’t need hours of preparation and can be done rather quickly…like crepes, bread pudding, … Read More

Holiday Food Traditions (or Ghosts of New Years Past)

Happy New Year!  Growing up it was always customary for my family to have Oyster stew on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.  I recall asking my mom once about why that was our tradition but unfortunately I don’t recall her answer.  Traditionally oysters are best eaten during the months that contain “R’s” (because they spawn during the summer and … Read More