Playing With My Food ~
A journal about food, thought, travel, and life; by Chef & Raconteur Chaz French.

Easy Weeknight Dinner

Okay this is dinner in under an hour BUT most of that time is passive. Roasted Butternut Squash & Panko Crusted Pork Chops. Ingredients: 1 package pre-peeled and cubed butternut squash 1 package thin cut boneless pork chops (under a lb total weight) Panko breadcrumbs 2 eggs cup of milk 1/2 cup seasoned flour (flour […]

Passion Fruit Frozen Custard

I first tasted passion fruit ice cream 3 years ago in Paris and just fell in love with it. A couple months after returning I got a craving for it and decided to track down a recipe, I found just the right one in Ultimate Ice Cream . Really great flavor, consistency, just like the […]

Inspiration…

So, I’ve been talking with friends lately and trying to find inspiration for things to make and things to try with food while I have this unplanned downtime. As I mentioned in the Focaccia post I’ve been looking through my favorite cookbooks and choosing some of those things to make. I bought the book below […]

Focaccia with Caramelized Onions

As evidenced by yesterday’s fictional post, I’ve got some time on my hands and what better way to spend that extra time than with some of my favorite cookbooks. The recipe I used comes from The Mixer Bible and is one of my favorite breads to make. And if you don’t like onions, there are […]

Soup’s On…

This morning I was catching up on reading other blogs and came across a recipe for Kale & Roasted Vegetable Soup. I thought it was interesting but have family members who don’t like kale, and it was also a vegan recipe, and I think we all know how I feel about Vegans, (they should be […]

Food, glorious, delicious, tasty, spicy, FOOD!

I can’t go somewhere and not end up writing about the food, and the trip to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo is no exception. I had some really great food on this trip. I didn’t take a lot of pictures of food this time, I know, bad me, bad *spank* but I’ve got some. My favorite place of all […]

Fast Spinach Curry

Really easy curry, but with a note… I never use broth or coconut milk fast enough so I freeze them into ice cubes. I’m estimating approximately 1oz per cube* and converting back to ounces. 8 ounces (8 frozen cubes) of Vegetable Broth 4 ounces (4 frozen cubes) of coconut milk 1 Tablespoon red curry paste […]

Four Bean Salad

Needs to be made day ahead. Ingredients: 2 ounces of shallots (2 small) peeled and quartered 2 cloves of garlic peeled 2 teaspoons herbs de Provence 1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano Dash of red pepper flakes (couple of shakes) 1/8 cup red wine vinegar 1/8 cup […]

Montien Thai Cuisine

I first ate at MTC the late fall of 1984, back when it was on Broadway about a block and a half north of the now defunct 4 storey Tower records. It was my first exposure to the chili pepper, cilantro, and many other ingredients. MTC is where I discovered Thai cuisine and mouth searing […]

The Rude Waiter

So while at the Feast of San Gennaro we decided to stop off and have some Sangria and share an appetizer at a restaurant. The temporary dining space on the street was packed, inside the restaurant was a little better, but there was also a back patio. I requested the patio so we could enjoy […]