Derby delight fuses with   Cinco de Mayo

For years, I’ve helped dear friends pull together Kentucky Derby-inspired fare for a party celebrating the annual run for the roses.

Benedictine tea sandwiches, Henry Bain sauce, Burgoo burgers, and pimento cheese toasts are standard fare at any derby party, but this year’s race — …

En garde: Keep those asparagus tips down

I always serve asparagus with the tips pointed away from my guests.

Asparagus is an aggressive looking vegetable and I’d never want anyone to feel threatened or attacked by their meal.

Sure, people laugh at me when I express my opinion about proper asparagus placement, …

Spring brings on the ’cue; Be your own pitmaster!

FOOD DETECTIVE: Signs of springtime are at hand: birds chirp, flowers bloom, BBQs smoke.

Hard boiled eggs made easy

A tall white chef’s hat features exactly one hundred pleats to symbolize the one hundred ways a trained chef should know how to cook an egg. As a student, I cooked hundreds of eggs during my garde manager classes at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute …

Cooking with joy, like grandma used to do

FOOD DETECTIVE: Whatever the reason, grandmothers have been responsible for shaping the careers of many who’ve devoted their lives to food.