About ten years ago, I attended training to become a personal chef.  The training detailed just about every aspect of being a personal chef, especially food safety.  Since a personal chef usually cooks one or two weeks’ worth of food for clients, knowing how to cool, package and store food properly is extremely important.  When clients pay for the luxury of having someone else do the cooking, they need to trust the way their food was handled and that it won’t make them sick.  When we entertain or host guests, it is important to extend the same kind of care.  The Fourth of July presents some challenges when it comes to food safety, since so many of us c...

Tags: food safety, food tent, Fourth of July, grilling, meat thermometer

Here in Minnesota we seem to have skipped spring and headed straight into summer. Temps were in the 90s yesterday and weather forecasters are predicting more of the same today. I officially kicked off the season with an impromptu al fresco dinner with my friend Lisa. She suggested we  grill so I rolled my charcoal grill out of the garage, dusted it off and rummaged around my recipe collection until I found one in which I had all the ingredients on hand (not a simple task, mind you). Lisa volunteered to do the grilling which was fine by me. She rounded up the charcoal while I got the chicken ready. The recipe was quite simple; just a rub made of garlic, dried herbs, boui...

Tags: chicken breast recipe, grilling, summer

When I get together with my neighbors for dinner, I’m usually asked to bring a salad. It’s not that the salad I make is unusual in any way—it’s just your basic lettuce tossed with some tomato, bell pepper and green onions—but I always serve it with Julie's Dressing and it seems to be a hit. AC and Luke turned me on to this lettuce, which is grown locally. It’s alive when you buy it; still attached to the roots and everything. It’s cheaper than bagged lettuce and I swear it tastes much fresher. Plus, it lets me use my ...

Tags: Julie's dressing, Farmers' Markets, salad, grilling

Last Saturday Luke and AC came over and, after a quick trip to the grocery store, we made dinner together (they are still without a working kitchen). The menu included grilled chicken, green beans and garlic bread. We didn’t use a single recipe (I probably shouldn’t encourage that since my job depends on people needing recipes.)Luke seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic before throwing it on the grill. AC sautéed some red onions in oil until they were almost caramelized and then tossed the green beans, along with a splash of Julie’s D...

Tags: garlic bread, grilled chicken, green beans, grilling

Lots of grilling took place this weekend. Luckily for all involved, none of which was done by me. My sister invited me over to have dinner with her family on Wednesday night. They were making pizza on the grill. She used store-bought naan for the crust. And set out...

Tags: grilling, pizza