Instructional - The Pasadena Chef

Demi-Glacé: The Workhorse of the French Kitchen.

August 8, 2026August 12, 2026Leave a comment

I learned how to make demi-glacé from the legend Anthony Bourdain. I followed his wonderfully written step-by-step instructions in his Les Halles Cookbook, and the results were excellent.

Demi-glace is one of the foundations of classic French cooking. Made by slowly reducing rich brown stock until its flavors become deeply concentrated, it adds remarkable depth, richness, and body to sauces, stews, braises, and even soups. Just a spoonful can transform an ordinary pan sauce into something that tastes like it came from a fine restaurant.

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Three Foundation Sauces That Make Chinese Cooking Easier at Home

August 2, 2026August 2, 2026Leave a comment

After years of making Chinese recipes at home, I found myself measuring the same ingredients over and over. Eventually I started mixing a jar of sauce ahead of time. It isn’t meant to replace the unique seasonings that make each recipe different, but it gets me halfway there on a busy weeknight.

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The Secrets of Premium Italian Pasta: What Makes It Different?

June 21, 2018July 22, 2026Leave a comment

I have probably had this conversation with more people than just about any other subject in Italian cooking. The usual comment is, “Isn’t all dried pasta basically the same”? “Are the imported pastas really worth the extra money”?

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Best Way to Freeze Tomatoes for Cooking

August 25, 2015August 3, 2026Leave a comment

Now that autumn is just around the corner, I wanted to share a great tip about storing tomatoes. One year I planted 3 San Marzano tomato plants and I had so many tomatoes, it was impossible to cook them all. I was still getting baskets of tomatoes in late September, so I had to find a solution.

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Essential Guide to Storing Cooking Oils Correctly

June 17, 2014August 14, 2026Leave a comment

I have this question all of the time. Why do you put your vegetable oil in the refrigerator? When people see that I have my cooking oils in the refrigerator they wonder why. Well, I’m going to tell you my theory.

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How to Stop Bananas from Overripening Quickly

November 6, 2013August 3, 20261 Comment

I don’t know about all of you, but over the years I have thrown away a lot of bananas that have gone overripe and it’s always bothered me. Such a waste of food, and you can only freeze so many. I mean how much banana bread can one person eat? So, what to do?

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Mirepoix, Trinity, and Battuto: The Three Flavor Foundations

December 18, 2010August 6, 2026Leave a comment

One of the most important concepts in cooking is the mirepoix, the Cajun version, “the Trinity”. Or as the Italians refer to it, the battuto which eventually becomes a soffritto once it is cooked. This combination of basic ingredients is the base for almost all French, Italian, Spanish and Creole and Cajun dishes. Below is the mirepoix. and the battuto, which after cooking transforms it into a soffrittto.

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Ultimate Seafood Stock for Southeast Asian Dishes

December 17, 2010August 13, 2026Leave a comment

This is a wonderful seafood stock for any sort of Southeast Asian cuisine and certainly any Asian seafood dish. I’ve never been impressed with store bought seafood stock, or most store bought stocks in general. I feel they always have far too much salt and the spice can clash with what you’re cooking. Making your own stock is always better if you have the time.

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Essential Kitchen Tools for Home Chefs

December 17, 2010July 22, 2026Leave a comment

When I was starting out, a good friend who was a chef, took me to a store in Boston called Silo and made my buy a set of pots and sauce pans. At the time, they seemed very expensive to this starting student, but he was 100% right. I’m literally still am using some of those pans and that was 40 years ago!

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Top Quality Ingredients for Cooking Success

December 17, 2010July 22, 2026Leave a comment

When I first started cooking more than thirty years ago, I had no formal training. I learned by reading, traveling, asking questions, watching professional chefs and making plenty of mistakes.

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