This is the on-line repository of my favorite recipes - my own creations, and from others. Disclaimer: as these are some of my favorite recipes, there is no guarantee that you will like them. And of course, there just might be a secret ingredient (or two, ha ha). I could disclose them for a nominal fee, or some other commensurate incentive...... Anyway, enjoy the cooking or baking and let me know how it came out!
Myself with the Thanksgiving turkey, in our kitchen in Sammamish/WA 1997
QUOTES
Some of my favorite quotes about food and cooking:
"I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food!"
W.C. Dukenfield (a.k.a. W.C. Fields; 1880 - 1946) - more great quotes from Mr Fields - on all sorts of topics - are here.
"Bakers are trustworthy men, as is demonstrated every day when they open their shops at four in the morning, in order that we may have fresh, tasty bread for our tables. Cooks, on the other hand, are little more than scoundrels, and even if they succeed in putting foods on our tables, we never know what terrible things are hidden beneath their dark and smelling sauces."
Diphilus of Siphnos (4th century B.C. Greek playwright)
"When I read about the evils of drinking, I immediately gave up reading!"
Henny Youngman (1906-1998)
"To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living." ... "The way you make an omelet reveals your character." .... "Bad food is made without pride, by cooks who have no pride, and no love. Bad food is made by chefs who are indifferent, or who are trying to be everything to everybody, who are trying to please everyone... Bad food is fake food... food that shows fear and lack of confidence in people's ability to discern or to make decisions about their lives." ... “I travel around the world, eat a lot of s—t, and basically do whatever the f—k I want."
Anthony Bourdain (1956-2018) - celebrity chef, author, explorer of world-wide culture, cuisine, and the human condition, gentle rebel. My kind of humor!
"Food is life, life is food. If you don't like my approach, you are welcome to go down to MacDonald's!"
Keith Floyd (1943-2009) - known for cooking with a glass of wine in one hand, his unique chaotic style, and taking TV cooking programs out of the studio to unusual locations.
"There is more philosophy in a bottle of wine, than in all books combined!"
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895 - after whom a food sterilization process was named "pasteurization")
"Drink to me, drink to my health. You know I can't drink anymore!"
Pablo Picasso on the eve of his death (1881-1973); inspired 1973 song by Paul McCartney & Wings "Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)"
"Do you know whow many duck ears they have to clean out, to get enough of that yellow grease they put on the foie gras?!"
Frank Dörenberg (ca. 2000)
"I'm not arrogant enough to become a famous French chef."
Frank Dörenberg (February 2017)
"I hate cucumbers. Their only good use is vaginal."
Frank Dörenberg (March 2017)
My tip of the decade (2010), possibly of the century. I'm sure you know that one of the better tricks to avoid crying when cutting onions (besides using a very sharp knife and chilling the onions), is to keep a decent swig of water in your mouth and slowly swizzle it around. Guess what: after extensive experimentation, I have concluded that this works just as well with wine! However, I do remember that I had to swallow and replenish the swig of wine quite a number of times...
Never leave the blade of your food processor in the sink or in the drip rack: wash it, dry it off, put it away! Believe me - I had a "sink" encounter with a new blade, the blade won, and now my thumb has a 2-3 cm (1 inch) scar on it!
WEIGHTS, VOLUMES, TEMPERATURES
Some parts of the world have not adopted the European decimal system. Instead, they (still) use old British "imperial" measurements and derivatives (i.e., US). Most of the recipes on this website are not given in both. Below are some conversions between standard weights, volumes, and temperatures. US recipes typically use volume measurements where Europeans would use both weights and volumes. This is usually only an issue for some special pastry recipes, where, e.g., eggs whites must be absolutely be weighed to the gram. Note: on this website, non-European weights and volumes are given in US units, not "British Imperial" - the difference is about 10%! Also: volume measures such as "teaspoon" and "tablespoon" are well-defined, and not spoons you have in your kitchen drawer. Use measuring spoons - and always "flat". Decent recipes do not call for a "heaping spoon" or "rounded spoon" or similar bogus measures.
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