Union Hill Kitchen’s phone is installed.
Not much cooking going on here today, but our new phone line at the restaurant is being installed.
Union Hill Kitchen building permit has been approved.
Since January 28th 2012, I have tried to get all the required permits approved from Dekalb county and the City of Chamblee. After many rejections and re-submittals, today I received the coveted “yellow construction paper”, aka building permit. I proudly placed it on the window and took a sigh. The path to this [...]
Mini Strawberry pies
Our kitchen garden has begun to have its first harvest of strawberries. I am making some mini strawberry pies to celebrate the arrival of our red friends. You can buy a store-bought graham cracker crust and follow my steps below. In this version I purchased the mini store-bought cracker crust. You can also purchase [...]
Chive flowers are easy to use in the kitchen
I have lots of chives at our farm and in our restaurant garden. When the chives bloom is spring, the petals can be used in many applications. One of them is making a crostini with goat cheese cream and I lay one or two chive blossoms on top. The purple blossom has an explosive flavor [...]
Pear Tree in Our Kitchen Garden Has Pears
I went out early this morning and saw that our pear tree has hundreds of pears. How lucky am I to have a tree like this to pick ripe fruit from to make wonderful things with in the kitchen.
Make ahead quick & easy bread pudding
I am having a couple of friends over dinner tonight. My friend Debbie, David and Berna are going to enjoy one of my typical Sunday night dinners at my house. It’s very casual and very easy. This recipe resulted from using excess sliced toasted french bread that I was using for dinner a week [...]
Quick easy Union Hill Kitchen pudding scented with anise
As the Executive chef of Union Hill Restaurant Group in Atlanta, I enjoy experimenting with classic recipes and adding a bit of what I have learned from home cooks or from my travels and of course from my kitchen journals, where I meticulously keep all my cooking notes. This is a do ahead recipe [...]
Views from the Great Wall!
One of the obligatory things one needs to do when traveling to Beijing, is to climb the Great Wall. It is truly an amazing piece of architecture and history to see with your own eyes. Some people in China say you are not a full man or a full woman unless you have climbed it [...]
Reservations at Iggy’s: the world’s 50 best restaurants
While I was in Singapore I was able to visit Iggy’s restaurant, One of the top 50 restaurants in the world. The restaurant is in the Hilton Hotel in Singapore. That night I was not able to take pictures with my regular camera because I forgot it in the hotel room. I was only [...]
Man Mo temple Hong Kong
I was only in Hong Kong for a couple of days and I wanted visit places of historical significance. I visited the Man Mo Temple. It is a temple built in 1847 during the British rule of the Hong Kong and is worth a visit. The God of Literature (Man) and the God of War [...]
Glaad Gala Atlanta
I will be cooking for the Glaad Gala in Atlanta on October 6th. It is an honor to be cooking for this event. The night promises to be a star-studded evening. Kettle One Vodka drinks will be featured that evening and the cast from the Vampire Diaries will be there as well as other celebrities. [...]
Hong Kong in 48 Hours
I am in Hong Kong today and it is an amazing city that left me with my mouth – wide open. Between 1950 – 1997 it was under British rule. The island began as a small fishing village, it later became an important strategic military outpost and has become one of the world top 10 [...]
Meeting friends in Singapore.
I have been in Singapore for the last 3 days and in those three days I have had lots of fun exploring this wonderful city and all it has to offer. One of the great things about traveling is that at times the universe throws something out at you and you are happy to [...]
Roasted tomatoes and blue cheese crostini
This is an easy crostini or Bruschetta, I’m using the terms loosely of course, this is a great dish for the summer if you have lots of cherry tomatoes in your garden. You can also buy a pint at the store to make this dish. What is great about this recipe is that you can [...]
What you can do with summer tomatoes?
Each spring I head out to my fields at my farm and I plant lots of things I enjoy growing like tomatoes. Heirloom varieties to hybrid tomatoes. The fact is that when it is winter, it’s pretty groovy to go into the pantry and pull out a tomato bisque or roasted tomatoes that I [...]
Kittens from our farm find a home
Last Thanksgiving I was at my farm and my sister, mom and dad came to spend the holiday with us. At the farm during the fall, shrew mice like to come into the house and create havoc. Being a chef, I am not happy when mice come into my house and decide to eat [...]
Figueira Rubaiyat in San Saulo Brazil
This past year I went to San Paulo and enjoyed a dinner at Figueria Rubaiyat. The restaurant loosely translated,”Fig Tree” has a 125-year-old tree growing in the center of the restaurant with limbs reaching throughout the restaurant and stretching up towards the glass ceiling. The one thing to remember is that you need to [...]
Easy tips to cook your salmon perfecly every time
Salmon is a difficult fish to cook if you don’t know a couple of tricks. I remember as a young cook reading recipes for salmon and the recipe never really came out the way it was intended. I want to offer you my tips that I have learned. When I get home from [...]
Easy moist pan seared salmon
I enjoy eating salmon so much that I prepare it when I am at home 3-4 times a week. This is an easy way to make salmon that will come out moist every time. You can add flavors of your favorite dried herbs like dill, basil, oregano etc. The picture on the left is inspiration [...]
Keeping up with the Hernandez’s
Everyone has a family, we fight, annoy each other, say things we don’t really mean but when it really counts, we all love each other. The past two months I have had my mom and dad staying with us for over two months. It was so much fun. I love having them [...]
