I love to eat salads and with fall rapidly approaching, pears are at their finest. It is great fun to take my family to the local apple and pear orchards and pick them from the trees ourselves. This week’s recipe showcases a classic combination of blue cheese, pears and candied nuts. The sweetness of the [...]
While I lived in San Francisco, I had the great fortune to have learned a lot of different styles of cuisine from some great chefs. This is a variation of a recipe I learned from Chef Robert Lau at the Pan Pacific Hotel, that combines all the traditional Asian flavors of soy, sesame, ginger, garlic, [...]
The soft shell crab is a blue crab that has recently molted its old exoskeleton and is still soft. It is entirely edible but must be properly cleaned first. Every year soft shell crabs are available fresh for just a few months, usually May through mid September. They can be bought frozen year round, but [...]
Soups are a wonderful start to a meal or can be eaten as a main course. This week I made a great soup for a private party, corn chowder. Corn is one of my favorite vegetables that is sweet and inexpensive during the summer. You can make this vegetarian/vegan as well. Corn Chowder Serves 6 [...]
There are a million different recipes and ways to make pasta. This is a simple one I like to make at home.It is definitely a labor of love but once you taste it you will realize it is well worth the time and effort. Basic Pasta Recipe Yields 16 oz fresh pasta Ingredients 1 cup [...]
One of my favorite herbs is basil, and right now it is vibrant and bursting out all over my garden. I thought I would write about how to make a simple sauce called pesto. Buy basil now in bulk, while its cheap and make big batches of pesto to freeze for the winter. It is [...]
In the peak of the summer, I like to take advantage of using the grill and all of the great local produce. Here is a simple recipe for creating an Eggplant Tower using eggplant, tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and portobello mushrooms, where all the flavors combine to make magic. It’s perfect as an appetizer or as [...]
Chef Michael Thompson