It’s all in the details!
How do we make our meals exciting? Read on for ideas on the ingredients that make every meal a celebration!
- BITTER – Bitter ingredients are an amazing addition to your culinary repertoire. Items from this list can take your meal from excellent to sublime. Personally, I find that I have extra ‘bitter’ taste buds, so a little tastes like a lot. Learning to move past that road bump was a challenge, but well worth it. I have shared some of my current favorites to work with. I recently obtained a copy of Bitter A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, With Recipes by Jennifer McLagan. This book has some wonderful ideas!
- CHEF SECRETS – There are so many little tricks of my trade… Why do the dishes I serve you, at my restaurants, taste SOOOO amazing? I’m attempting to translate some of them here.
- COLOR – “First we taste with our eyes” Definitely NOT just fancy words! Which would you rather enjoy? A plate of foods that are all the same color? Or, does the plate that pops with color, snap it’s fingers at your taste-buds? Read on!
- GF OPTIONS – Wheat flour has been the ‘end all’ for so many decades. It’s cheap, it’s easy, it’s dependable and it’s in soooo many foods and now causes physical ailments for many. There are great new options hitting the markets every day. I would like to hear your experiences with both the ones I talk about and others that you have tried!
- SPICE– Aw spices… As a child, I fell in love with a story about a little girl that was allowed to visit a warehouse filled with exotic things shipped to America from around the globe. The colors, the amazing smells… every time I walk into a spice shop, I am immediately transported to that memory. Giving my dishes the flavors and scents of these wonderful places is the key to a true “Armchair Vacation”. Delve inside for some wonderful ideas…
- SWEET – How many different ingredients do you use to add sweetness to a dish? Which ones add additional flavors and textures? Which ones are best for our health? An intriguing page awaits you!
- TEXTURE – Is your food crunchy? crisp? delicate? firm? hard? soft? smooth? velvety? satiny? Mushy, huh? I bet we can fix that!