http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog You Have To Eat, So Learn To Cook & Eat Well Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:25:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A Zest for Conquest Hernando de Soto (ca. 1500- 1542) was a Spanish conquistador.  In other words, he was an invader and a pillager.  History and modern culture tend to lionize the early European conquerors, but let’s face it, their goal was to seize other people’s territory, plunder the natural resources, ... http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog/seafood-recipes/tomato-orange-salsa/ It’s official. I’m now a fan of  Lidia Bastianich and her incredible knowledge of Italian cuisine along with her unique cooking techniques. For Christmas I received my first Lidia cookbook, Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy and I was blown away by her depth of culinary knowledge and ability ... http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog/seafood-recipes/tuna-genova-style-recipe/ Every once in a while I get an email from some young person who thinks I’m a professional chef and wants to interview me for a school project. I let them know I’m a home cook who enjoys food, cooking and writing about it and encourage them to contact another ... http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog/culinary-school/pastry-chef-interview/ Meat & Heat - Cooking with Hot Pepper One of my favorite combinations is meat and hot peppers.  There is something about meat, particularly red meat, and hot peppers that I find irresistibly enticing.  Like most “chile heads” I think a wide variety of foods are amenable to heat augmentation, but ... http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog/meat-recipes/spicy-meatballs-recipe/ All About White Peppercorns In some culinary circles, there is hot debate over which sort of pepper to use, white or black.  Some chefs use white pepper strictly for aesthetic reasons:  they use white pepper in white or light-colored dishes and sauces so there won’t be any black flecks.  Other chefs ... http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog/ingredients/white-pepper/