Blog
Nashville Randoms - Part 1 | November 29 2011
You know you are in Country music land when you see pics like this everywhere.
Food Network Magazine | November 22 2011
This is my very first appearance in Food Network Magazine and it hit the stands just today. Sunny Anderson and I are going head to head in a fan vote to make the best holiday drink. My recipe is an old family classic passed down from generations of grandparents, its like Egg Nog on crack. Enjoy.
• Vote for your favourite drink HERE
What Kind Of Food Do You Make? | November 20 2011
I get this question a lot so here are some pics of some of my tastiest creations from 2011. In no particular order:
- Beef Soup, Soy Eggs, Shaved Onion
- Crispy Oyster, Bourbon Slaw, Spiced Dust
- Poached Lobster, Chili Lime Beer Shot, Shaved Cucumber
- Jamaican Chicken Ballontine, Okra Salsa, Edo Frites, Grapefruit Allspice Sauce
- Chicken Lollies, Rice Crisps
- Surf and Turf of Seared Trout and Ribeye, Citrus Carmelized Fennel
- Tilapia Sashimi, Lok Lak Sauce, Avocado. Lime Passion Sauce
- Duck Soup, Pea Sprouts, Cherry Tomato, Sesame Oil
• Click HERE to ge some recipes
Many Faces | November 16 2011
Here is one for the dartboards of my haters. Hehehe.
Chef Series with Bob Blumer | November 16 2011
1. As a Canadian that now lives in L.A. what do you miss about the Canadian food scene? Poutine? What don't you miss about it?
In truth, I spend the same amount of time in Canada as I do in Los Angeles. But the things I miss most when I am away from my homeland for a while are Montreal bagels, Niagara peaches, and Canadian beers like Steam Whistle and Creemore. What I don't miss are stingy Canadian pours in bars...oh sorry, is scotch not a food group?
2. Roger doesn't seem to be the only who seeks out really spicy foods. On an episode of Glutton for Punishment you had to judge hundreds of hot sauces, do you think Roger would be up for that challenge? And who do you think can handle more heat, you or him?
When servers in fancy-schmancy restaurants greet me and ask if I have any allergies, I always respond "bland food". I *love* heat. In one episode of Glutton for Punishment, I entered a chili pepper-eating competition in hatch, New Mexico. After testing several strategies, I decided to eat a raw habanero chili just before the competition. It made the Hatch chilies taste like candy. Let Roger know I'll go head to head with him *any* time! And perhaps we should invite Bobby Flay as well and make it a true throwdown.
3. Your competitive personality probably allows you to confidently compete in many challenges, but is there one competition where you feel you wouldn't have a chance in competing?
I won't do anything that involves Roller coasters
4. I've read that you are an avid cyclist and if you weren't a chef you'd be a professional cyclist, what do you love about cycling?
That answer was probably "if I wasn't a chef and was 20 years younger"... But yes, I love cycling. When I am home, I do a 25km climb in the Hollywood hills five days a week. And once a year, I try to go on a bike trip to some far flung place like Thailand, Sicily or Tasmania. My cycling pals and I have a rule that we don't get out of bed unless we plan to chew off at least 100 km that day. The best thing about these trips is that you can eat and drink to your heart's content, and you still come back fitter than when you left.
5. You seem to travel the world on your show, what do say to people who have never left their country, or even their city?
The world is your oyster Rockefeller.
6. As a chef that is not classically trained, do you think culinary school is important? Or can your passion be enough to take you somewhere that a degree cannot?
There are plenty of ways to achieve one's goals in the food world. There's culinary school, on-the-job training, *stages *(working for free in kitchens in exchange for a window into it's world), and my approach: fake it 'till you make it. On some days, I wish I had had a modicum of formal training. And on others, I think coming at it blindly and naively has allowed me to break the rules that I never knew existed.
7. What is soul food to you?
The comfort food from my childhood is the food that soothes my soul. Real chicken soup, egg salad sandwiches, and chocolate cookies with blackened bottoms (the way my mom used to (inadvertently) make them.
Food Network Magazine | November 22 2011
• Vote for your favourite drink HERE
What Kind Of Food Do You Make? | November 20 2011
- Beef Soup, Soy Eggs, Shaved Onion
- Crispy Oyster, Bourbon Slaw, Spiced Dust
- Poached Lobster, Chili Lime Beer Shot, Shaved Cucumber
- Jamaican Chicken Ballontine, Okra Salsa, Edo Frites, Grapefruit Allspice Sauce
- Chicken Lollies, Rice Crisps
- Surf and Turf of Seared Trout and Ribeye, Citrus Carmelized Fennel
- Tilapia Sashimi, Lok Lak Sauce, Avocado. Lime Passion Sauce
- Duck Soup, Pea Sprouts, Cherry Tomato, Sesame Oil
• Click HERE to ge some recipes
Many Faces | November 16 2011
Chef Series with Bob Blumer | November 16 2011
In truth, I spend the same amount of time in Canada as I do in Los Angeles. But the things I miss most when I am away from my homeland for a while are Montreal bagels, Niagara peaches, and Canadian beers like Steam Whistle and Creemore. What I don't miss are stingy Canadian pours in bars...oh sorry, is scotch not a food group?
2. Roger doesn't seem to be the only who seeks out really spicy foods. On an episode of Glutton for Punishment you had to judge hundreds of hot sauces, do you think Roger would be up for that challenge? And who do you think can handle more heat, you or him?
When servers in fancy-schmancy restaurants greet me and ask if I have any allergies, I always respond "bland food". I *love* heat. In one episode of Glutton for Punishment, I entered a chili pepper-eating competition in hatch, New Mexico. After testing several strategies, I decided to eat a raw habanero chili just before the competition. It made the Hatch chilies taste like candy. Let Roger know I'll go head to head with him *any* time! And perhaps we should invite Bobby Flay as well and make it a true throwdown.
3. Your competitive personality probably allows you to confidently compete in many challenges, but is there one competition where you feel you wouldn't have a chance in competing?
I won't do anything that involves Roller coasters
4. I've read that you are an avid cyclist and if you weren't a chef you'd be a professional cyclist, what do you love about cycling?
That answer was probably "if I wasn't a chef and was 20 years younger"... But yes, I love cycling. When I am home, I do a 25km climb in the Hollywood hills five days a week. And once a year, I try to go on a bike trip to some far flung place like Thailand, Sicily or Tasmania. My cycling pals and I have a rule that we don't get out of bed unless we plan to chew off at least 100 km that day. The best thing about these trips is that you can eat and drink to your heart's content, and you still come back fitter than when you left.
5. You seem to travel the world on your show, what do say to people who have never left their country, or even their city?
The world is your oyster Rockefeller.
6. As a chef that is not classically trained, do you think culinary school is important? Or can your passion be enough to take you somewhere that a degree cannot?
There are plenty of ways to achieve one's goals in the food world. There's culinary school, on-the-job training, *stages *(working for free in kitchens in exchange for a window into it's world), and my approach: fake it 'till you make it. On some days, I wish I had had a modicum of formal training. And on others, I think coming at it blindly and naively has allowed me to break the rules that I never knew existed.
7. What is soul food to you?
The comfort food from my childhood is the food that soothes my soul. Real chicken soup, egg salad sandwiches, and chocolate cookies with blackened bottoms (the way my mom used to (inadvertently) make them.
