It’s summer again, and we all have to keep hydrated! We all should be drinking an abundance of fluids, and on a hot summer day, who doesn’t like a refreshing cold drink. If you’re like me, you also do not love that the ice cubes dilute your tasty beverage! I’m sure you’ve noticed how your […]
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Caribbean Duck Breasts
Over the many years I spent in the Caribbean and cooking aboard various yachts, I’ve of course made lots of recipes that are island themed. It’s interesting that this is a “Caribbean” duck breast recipe because duck wasn’t always easy to find in the earlier years, but has become a lot easier to find with […]
Ziti with Portabella Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, and Goat Cheese
Ziti with Portabella Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, and Goat Cheese About 14 years ago, I worked on a yacht that was owned by a prominent businessman who resided in Puerto Rico. He didn’t normally like us to have the boat in San Juan, except when we were bunkering fuel from a barge in the harbor. One […]
Smart Batter Whisking
When making your cake batter, try separating your eggs and put the egg whites aside. Mix your egg yolks in with the batter. Then using a wire whisk or your stand o mixer, or even your hand mixer, whisk the egg white separately. After you’ve combined all your other batter ingredients together, gently fold in […]
Dividing Cake Batter Evenly
Nothing can ruin the look of a layer cake more than uneven layers … the layers look lopsided, and they don’t bake evenly. It can be frustrating getting a cake batter evenly divided between your 2 pans, so here’s a fabulous quick tip! Try mixing your cake batter and then divide the batter as evenly […]
Snow Topped Strawberries
Chocolate dipped strawberries are wonderful and gorgeous and perfect for Valentine’s Day! Try using your microplane to grate some white chocolate over the chocolate coating while it’s still wet to create a snow effect as nice change to the expected drizzling of the white chocolate. If you don’t own a microplane, a cheese grater will […]
Easy Bake Biscotti
Making biscotti normally involves baking your biscotti 3 times; baking as a loaf to start; slicing into the oblong cookies and baking the slices for a shorter period of time on one side; and then flipping them over and baking again on the other side. My method is a lot easier and cuts the baking […]
Freezing Cookie Dough Balls
preNow that the Holiday Season is upon us, we are starting to do whatever advance preparations we can! I do an annual Christmas cookie baking day with one of my dearest friends, Chef Debbey. We spend the whole day making up cookies and cookie dough while we laugh, catch up with each other’s lives, and, […]
Overnight Breakfast Casserole
I love to have company, especially during the holidays, and when I do, I want to spend as much time with them as humanly possible. With that in mind, I would rather not spend my morning as a short order cook, so I tend to serve breakfast casseroles to all of my overnight guests. I […]
Magnificent Mashed Potatoes
Thanksgiving is a time to share with family and friends, and I really want to share with you and to Give Thanks for being such great supporters of my cookbook and my website. I really hope you are enjoying the diverse recipes and stories in The Portside Cuisine Cookbook, and are recommending my cookbook and blog to […]
Keeping Your Hollandaise Sauce Warm
Timing is everything, especially when you’re making breakfast or dinner… Everything usually comes together at the same time. Your sauce usually gets made first and usually cools off and starts to thicken. You then have to reheat it and it usually breaks, and who wants a lukewarm and broken sauce … Or for that matter, […]
Easy-Peasy Polenta
Polenta cooking tip for less mess… Cooking polenta can be messy and if you’re not careful, clumpy. I cook polenta in a double boiler over medium heat. I use a ratio of 1 cup polenta (or grits) to 3 cups of cold water or broth. You only have to stir occasionally. You won’t need a […]