When I was a child my Mom used to make a dish in the Italian Peasant style that we called Escarole and Beans and she would always refer to it as ‘Scadol and beans”, effecting a slight and endearing Italian accent that always made me think of her grandmother. Her version had a clear broth.…
Those of you who regularly read this blog or spend any time watching the videos at the Chef Hacker Kitchen Youtube channel probably enjoy the process of cooking. The tactile sensation you get when slicing through vegetables or meats. The sizzling sound when adding food to a hot pan. The aromas that fill your kitchen…
My culinary adventures have had me working in high end restaurants, factory cafeterias and local pubs. I’ve been a carny food booth cook, a tavern owner and a church hall pasta dinner worker. I’ve attended chef school, done menu consulting and advised more than one budding restaurateur. On the consumption side I’ve enjoyed wonderful dinners…
Mac and Cheese, once the staple of many a latch-key child, has gotten hip in the last 10 or so years. This uber-carb entree most associated with low cost and the blue and white box has even become the featured item on many a restaurant’s menu. There is even a pub not far from Chef…
It’s a funny name for a soup. Don’t you think? Let me tell you about it. I worked in a restaurant in central New Jersey called “The McAteers”. Most of the kitchen maintenance staff – the dish and pot washers and porters, as well as the dinning room bus staff were from China. These men…
It seems like it was not that long ago that Kale was used mainly as a garnish. Something that your young child might glimpse on the edge of a plate, just under a spiced apple ring, the first time they ate at a restaurant that did not have a drive through and ask you, “Do…
We love salmon fillets that are cooked outdoors and that is typically how we prepare them. And although I have been know to shovel a path through knee-deep snow to my old Ducane grill even before I shovel out my driveway, there are times when I just do not feel like standing shivering on my…
On occasion, my wife and I would find ourselves near Livingston New Jersey. When those occasions occurred near lunch time we would sometimes visit a cool strip mall restaurant called Irving’s Delicatessen. What a wonderful place! Sort of a cross between a classic NY style Jewish deli and a NJ sub shop with iconic hot…
Here is a straight up simple recipe that you may enjoy making with your children. If the adult handles the cutting and the oven work the youngsters can have some fun with the seasoning and mixing and in the end they will have a somewhat healthy bowl of croutons that they can put on a…
Who doesn’t love an ice cold glass of chocolate milk? (I know, probably lots of folks, but it’s a much loved expression so I’m going with it!) I found out about this hacked version of chocolate milk from one of my great-nephews. I was describing the principals behind Chef Hacker Kitchen and he got it…
