Professional Recipes Blog

I’ve added a new section to the website all about different types of food and ingredients with more articles coming over the next few weeks. It’ll have information about where the ingredients come from, how they are used, recipes to prepare using those ingredients and other interesting information.

There will be a Food and Ingredients home page listing the food items alphabetically and as new articles are added, this page will be updated. Here is the link:

Food and Ingredients Home Page

At the moment, there are articles about the following:

• Garlic – a favorite of mine!
• Ginger – more common than you think!
• Kale – one of the healthiest foods around.

Have any suggestions for new articles? Leave a comment here and I’ll be sure to update the site. Cheers!

Recently for Easter dinner, I made a batch of Hollandaise sauce from scratch to go with the blanched asparagus that was one of the surprises I had planned for my friends and family. I haven’t made it at home or professionally in quite some time but the process came back to me easily and despite forgetting that I had no lemon juice in the house (horrors!), it came out pretty nicely after sending my daughter to the corner market!

Making Hollandaise Sauce with egg yolks and a whisk.

It does take a little work to make correctly and to be quite honest, the powdered/packaged variety is a good substitute for most home cooks, but nothing beats freshly made hollandaise.

Check out this article on making hollandaise from scratch: How to Make Hollandaise Sauce!

I’ll admit, I’ve never heard of this type of thing before; Coffee Cupping. It’s a lot like a wine tasting only with coffee as different aspects of coffee such as aroma, taste, body and such are judged and critiqued. Although the highly talented Barista would be very interested in a coffee cupping event, why not the average Joe who enjoys a good cup of gourmet coffee?

A lot of us enjoy a good latte every once in a while right? Why not host your own Coffee Cupping event? It’s easy, check out the article link below from our site for some ideas and tips on how to do such a thing and impress your friends. I’m thinking of hosting one myself – my family and friends are coffee connoisseurs!

Coffee Cupping Your Way to a More Discriminating Palate

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving is upon us once again and Americans will be stuffing themselves on turkey, stuffing and their favorite side dishes they’ve enjoyed for years (including stuffing!). So, to honor the holiday, I thought I’d throw out some recipes for those looking to try something new and hopefully create some new traditions.

To start, we have the classic Thanksgiving Roast Turkey for the main course. There are some who enjoy ham instead of turkey and some who do both or try something else entirely.

For something entirely different, check out the Cornish Game Hen with Garlic or Rosemary.

Or for the adventurous types, there is the increasingly popular Turducken, which is a chicken stuffed inside of a duck stuffed inside of a turkey. John Madden of NFL and Monday Night Football fame made this one popular. I have to admit, I’ve never attempted to make one, but if I do I’ll be sure to post the results here and the recipe as well.

For a different kind of stuffing, try this Cornbread Stuffing instead of your usual “classic” bread stuffing.

There are thousands of side dishes made in all sorts of ways. Often different family members are responsible for bringing this or that. If you’re one of those family members and you’re looking for something different or special to make, try some of these side dishes, sure to be a hit:

• Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
• Carrots Vichy
• Bacon Cheddar Whipped Potatoes
• Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
• Candied Yams

Here’s an interesting one I found, Mashed Potatoes with Lavender and Honey. Not sure how this one is, but if someone gives it a try, please comment here and let everyone know how it is.

For dessert, we’ve got a couple of suggestions here:

• Chocolate Mousse
• Cherries Jubilee with Cote Rote Wine
• Coconut Cake
• Poached Pears
• Classic Pecan Pie

Hopefully now you’ve got some different things to try for your Thanksgiving feast. If you decide to try one of our recipes, please post a comment and let us know how it came out. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

We’ve all seen those fancy little designs that some coffee brewers or barista’s make in their lattes right? Often you’ll see a heart, or some nice little leaves or other fancy designs in the milk? Well, wonder no more and check out this article on Latte Art Secrets for Beginners.

As with anything gourmet, attention to detail is important, but having the right tools and know-how is even more important.

Find more articles and how-to’s on Professional Recipes here: Gourmet Cooking Articles

With the advent of Starbucks® and the popularity of coffee shops that offer wi-fi, we sometimes take our coffee for granted. Walk into a coffee shop and order up a Mocha Latte and you’re out of there in a few minutes. Places like these can often make some really good drinks, from specialty coffees and all kinds of cappuccino drinks. Only a few make a really good espresso.

It’s a challenge to recreate many of those drinks for most of us. Some of us may have a decent espresso machine and can whip something up relatively quickly, no doubt, but nothing like what we can get from a decent coffee shop. Often we lack the knowledge of what flavors blend well with different kinds of coffee beans. What happens if you were hosting a cocktail party at your restaurant or a dinner party for clients and friends at your home? If one of your guests asks for an espresso during dessert, what would you serve?

Your food was a hit and your best friend devoured the hors d’oeuvres, but what now? Have no fear, you’ve studied the art of the Barista. What is a Barista you ask? A trained professional in making espresso and related drinks. They take their art very seriously as pairing the right flavors of a particular coffee bean (Columbian vs. Brazilian for example), is not an easy task with the complexity of flavors found in food.

The variety of coffee beans from around the globe produces an entire world of different flavors and textures that most of us don’t get to experience. Have you ever had coffee from Uganda or Ethiopia? They’re both coffee producing countries each with distinct qualities which vary from region to region. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is a bean sought after by the U.S. consumers that has a fruity aroma, light and elegant body, and an almost menthol taste.

It would seem that with all the different flavors of coffee, only one as skilled as a Barista could truly pair a coffee with the main course, much as a gourmet chef would pair a fine wine. Read more about the Art of the Barista here:

Art of the Barista: A Brief Guide for the Gourmet Chef

Enjoy!

Ever wonder how people to host a fine dinner party and really impress your guests? The art of hosting a fine dinner party is simpler than you think, but there are some interesting ideas and subtleties that you may not have thought of. There are certain do’s and don’ts that you should pay attention to to help the night go off without a hitch.

Check out our article to the Art of Hosting a Fine Dinner Party for great tips and ideas for your next swanky affair.

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Art of Hosting a Fine Dinner Party