On the Road to Las Vegas � What happens there definitely won�t stay there

I thought I would post a quick update for all of you waiting patiently for a new recipe clip. I�ve leaving Giants Spring training with a record of 2-1, and everything I�d heard about spring baseball in the desert turned out to be true; beautiful sunny weather, small ballparks where you�re right on top of the players, cold beer, hot dogs, and lots of well-oiled bare skin. Other than that it wasn�t that great. I don�t like to post without photos so...

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Cactus League Here I Come!

Chef John (as I write about myself in the third person) will be taking a small vacation to Arizona to take in some spring training baseball. So if you don't see any new posts for a few days, and/or I don't reply to your comments or emails, I apologize in advance. Every spring, for about 20 years, I�ve tried to figure out a way to get down to the San Francisco Giant�s Cactus league spring training. Until this year I was 0 for 20. The streak is over!...

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Chicken Marsala a la Ryan�s Cafe

Certain dishes have a special place in my heart and this is one of them. The first real restaurant job I had in San Francisco was at a small place called Ryan�s Caf�. It was run by a husband and wife team, Michael and Lenore Ryan. They were true �foodies� before that term had even been coined. This Chicken Marsala dish was the most popular dish on the menu and the first one that I was taught. I had cooked with wine a few times at culinary school,...

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Braised Lamb and Eggplant Cous Cous � Easy, exotic, and a great case for gender bias!

Today�s post is perfect for the person that�s afraid to try anything that seems exotic because they think it�s going to be hard to prepare. Cous Cous has to be one of the easiest things on the planet to make. Can you boil stock and pour it into a bowl of Cous Cous? Then this dish is for you. This was a hard demo to edit down to a reasonable length, so I did go pretty fast with some of the steps and I thought I better give some additional info to...

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Sage and Sherry Creamed Mushrooms on Griddled Blue Corn

1 pound wild mushrooms1 pound morrels4 cups heavy cream2 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage2 Tbsp. dry sherrySalt and pepper, to taste1 1/2 cups blue corn mealwaterCook the corn meal to a thick mush adding salt to taste.Oil a 9-by-2-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Pour the corn meal mush into the dish to cover the bottom evenly, about 1 inch thick. Cool completely in dish before cutting. It's best if chilled overnight.Put the mushrooms in a stainless steel pan...

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Chocolate Lava Cake � Is this the World�s most delicious mistake?

Legend has it that this dessert was the result of a major catering disaster. The dessert for this particular event was to be individual chocolate cakes, but someone took them out of the ovens to soon and the centers where not cooked enough and still liquefied. Well, there was no time to take them off the plates and cook them more, so the Chef simply had his wait staff introduce the dessert as Chocolate �Lava� Cake! Brilliant! Now, whether this is...

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Eggs Benedicts � The last 2 episodes to make this brunch classic!

Hopefully you watched the hollandaise demo we just posted, and you are ready to fearlessly finish this delicious egg dish! So, the sauce is done, now you need to poach the eggs and finish the plate. In this first clip, I show the basic restaurant technique for poaching eggs. Due to the high-volume of a brunch service, it is almost impossible to poach eggs �to order.� They are poached ahead of time and held in cold water until final plating, when...

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Hollandaise 101 � Can a sauce really sense fear?

Re-run alert! Yes, viewers to my old blog may have seen this clip before, but it�s such a key sauce to master, I wanted to have it on this new blog. This sauce can be used on many other things besides eggs; like grilled asparagus and poached salmon. But, since the most common use is on the famous Eggs Benedict, I will also demo how to poach eggs (secret restaurant method) and how to finish the final dish. Stay tuned for that. Now, let�s get our Hollandaise...

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Perfect Mashed Potatoes � Breaking the Cycle of Generational Potato Dysfunction

Well, I just posted a meatloaf clip so I thought I would re-post this mashed potato demo. Every day, all across the country, people sit down to plates of lumpy, watery, sticky, gluey, pasty mashed potatoes. This demo will hopefully show you the proper techniques to turn out perfect mashed potatoes every time; always light, fluffy and lump-free.It�s not hard, but it does require breaking some bad, old habits you may have. Making mashed potatoes is...

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Classic �All American� Meatloaf

This recipe is a version that Alton Brown did on Good Eats. I�ve added a few extra ingredients, like mushrooms, which I believe helps make a very moist meatloaf. Do I feel bad stealing Alton�s recipe? No, because he stole it from someone, who stole it from someone, and so on and so on. I've tried many recipes and this is my favorite for flavor, texture and it's just plain easy to make.I believe this is the first demo I make you dust off your food...

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�See-through� Herb and Potato Crisps � Worst Demo Ever?

Of all the things I�ve demonstrated on this site, without a doubt, this will be the one that the fewest viewers try. Why? Well, basically we�re going to spend 45 minutes, risk slicing off our finger tips, and when we�re finished we are going to have (if everything goes perfectly) about 10 translucent potato chips with leaves of herbs embedded inside. So why bother? I�m not sure. Just watch the demo and it may make sense. For the hardcore foodie,...

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