Inspired by recipes of Chef Alain Ducasse (of Restaurants Paris, and Le Louis XV - à l'Hôtel de Paris in Monaco, fame) I decided to make Gnocchi with a Mushroom Ragu. Served with a French Country Salad and simple french vinaigrette.
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A Spanish dinner party is never completed without an all out tapas platter. Bites to savor while drinking and talking with friends.
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Guest Chef, Rob learned to make Paella from his father who in his army days was stationed for a time in Morocco. It was great hearing stories about food, travel, and family tradition. Rob now uses the Paella Mixta recipe from Saveur as a base recipe, as it is the closest he has found to his father's take on Paella.
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For this meal we went simple summertime with some grilled chicken kebabs, chopped veg salad, and dolmas with grape leaves from my Mom's garden.
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As soon as I opened the fresh bag of Sichuan peppercorns I knew we needed to create a cocktail to put them in. They were tart, spicy, floral, and something completely unknown.
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Hope you enjoyed the race as much as we did. It was made even better with the meal of authentic Chinese dishes from All Under Heaven, a fantastic tome of traditional Chinese cooking.
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All Under Heaven is a beautiful tome. As it covers 35 regional cuisines of China it is indeed extensive. Chinese cooking is new and unfamiliar to me, but it is exciting to learn from a beautifully written book like this one.
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Inspired by the mix of cultures and cuisines popular in Bahrain, I plan to make a Mezze Platter style meal. Starting with hummus and homemade pita, I'm also thinking falafel, eggplant dip, and fresh feta and herbs.
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Tart, punchy, just enough sweet and a great complement to an F1 Grand Prix.
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For the Australian Grand Prix I pulled a few recipes from a 1990's-era nouveau cuisine cookbook: A Taste of Australia. We made Chilli Salt Squid Salad and a Tandoori Marinated fish. Cooking with squid is relatively new to me, and this was only my second time making calamari. It turns out to be super easy (given that the squid is cleaned ahead of time for you)! The spice blend on the calamari and the kick of chili in the dressing for the salad were surprising flavors and really quite good. With my penchant for vegetable and simpler meals, I think the salad would have been a good meal in itself.
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These biscuits or cookies, whatever you want to call them, are super quick to make and a perfect finish to an Aussie themed meal.
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It's here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2018 Formula 1 Championship begins in Australia this Sunday March 25th!
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"This ritual of tomar un vermut—literally, “taking a vermouth”—is to Spain what grabbing an espresso is to Italy. It’s a social activity undertaken pretty much whenever over the course of daylight hours, preferably with a friend or three.
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These dishes would warm anyone's bones. Both of Catalonian origin, the rice dish is emblematic of a common Catalonian cooking style where they freely mix meat and seafood, apparently this even has a name: mar y montaña (sea and mountain). And the greens were a perfect complement, though an "everyday first course" they added a special element to the meal. Followed up by a Vermouth Cocktail, this was a great foil to any poor weather.
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Tapas are well loved in Spain. And really, why not? Late afternoon or late evening with a glass of wine or sherry, these make the perfect accompaniment to good friends, a good drink, and a good time.
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