No Grilled Onion

The ‘Chef’ – Beat the eggs.

The ‘Cook’ – How bad you want me to beat them? Black and Blue?

So, in our quest to cook Latino food, we had to start somewhere, but where? Cook and I have both made tacos before and if we were feeling really adventurous taco salad! As we started looking at recipes we realized we didn’t know the difference between Ancho chiles and Pequin chiles and no clue what to do with yuca or chayotes…. sometimes the hardest part about branching out into a new cuisine is the terminology.

So, Cook ventured out to the bookstore for an all-purpose cookbook that could help us decipher chilies and give us some good base recipes as our jumping off point! What he found was the perfect cookbook filled with geography, great recipes, and lots of pictures! The book is called “The Complete Mexican South American & Carribean Cookbook” and we highly recommend it!. Enjoy!

Chef: I wish Cook would never have seen the movie “Julie and Julia”… all I hear now when we cook together is Bon-appetit! in a very high pitched girly voice… geesh!

Danielle – ‘I like onions!’

Matt – ‘You do like onions!’

Danielle – ‘Onions are good!’

Matt -’Onions are great!’

Danielle -’Ewww….I hate onions!’

Danielle – ‘That’s not a pie, that’s a tart.’

Matt -’Well I call that a tart.’

Danielle – ‘That’s not a tart, that’s a turnover.’

Matt -’Well what the heck is a pie then?’

We Love Chocolate

One of the first dishes Danielle and I made together were brownies, warm delicious brownies. During our first experiment I learned that both of us shared a passion for chocolate. One of us knew it (her) the other was quickly learning it (me). We have since grown to love many different types and brands of chocolate – 70% dark, semi-sweets, bitters, bars, chips, powder, and more. But through it all we have found one chocolate that we love more than anything – Ghirardelli Chocolate. This has become a staple in our kitchen. As you can see in the photo, we stock tons of it. Chips, bars, powder, semi-sweet, 60%, 80%, and whatever else we can find. We have quickly learned that a good chocolate makes an amazing dish. We often sneak a few chips from the fridge as we go about the day, or cook in the kitchen. So grab yourself some chocolate today, and enjoy!

Danielle – “Matt should we put salt in the stock?”

Matt – “Sure!….Yes…maybe!?!?…I don’t know…why are you asking me?…by the way you’re looking at me…I’m guessing no!”

I’m originally from North Carolina so Southern food is in my blood. I learned a long time ago that good Southern food is made with many laughs, shared stories, and lots of sampling. The kitchen played big in my life. It was a place I learned and grew closer with my Mom. During the holidays my mother and her four sisters would bring laughter and joy into the kitchen. They prepared dishes and told stories from their youth. As a boy these were some of my favorite times. The kitchen was the heart of the family. Each dish was prepared with love. Each bite taken produced a smile. Being over 600 miles away, I have not gotten to enjoy in these moments of late. Continue Reading…