Mothersaucer – what is a mother sauce, and what isn’t?

Gordon Ramsay is wrong. No, not about that “head chef” myth Fox and he are spreading despite the fact that not one winner in six seasons was made head chef (and, seeing the quality of cooks, I can’t say I am surprised). And, no, not about calling amateur cooks “Master Chef” after six weeks of [...]

Name Sake

My name isn’t exactly common. In most cases I am able to get jluster as my username. There’s one other Jonas Luster in the world, and he’s 87 and in Sweden. Yet, gmail, oh faithful mail delivery and reading tool of mine, regularly reminds me that there are some others out there who share that [...]

Texas Shoot ‘em

I love Texas. Everyone seems so concerned about telling Facebook or Twitter they’re going on vacation. Not me. “Yo, Dave, I’m outta town for a few weeks. You see anyone on my land, shoot ‘em” “Ayupp” Don’t I love it when things are uncomplicated.

Papa Chef

Misha watches me at home and in the restaurant cooking. In his play area he has a few pots and pans and plastic tools. Yesterday I caught him playing “daddy”, stirring a pot vigorously while cursing at some invisible dude next to him, shaking his fist and all. I am so extremely proud of my [...]

Jay Rayner is wrong!

RickMoonen.png

Turns out, Jay Rayner (whom, until that day, I held in good esteem for NOT being one of those guys) scored Rick Moonen as badly as he did for one reason, and one reason only – he didn’t agree with Rick’s choice of venison for the final challenge in Top Chef Masters, claiming that Rick [...]

There was a time, when “Master” meant something

mb1

There was a time, when “Master” meant something. In kitchen terms it meant you’d spent three years as an apprentice under an old Master, five years as a Journeyman working your way through kitchens, starting from the bottom every time, advancing not in status but – if you were lucky – in your kitchen’s status. [...]

Line Items 6/8/2010

20100321-2010-03-21 16.33.24

Figured this is JUST the picture to post this week. Chuckwagon recipes and the menu for our Steampunk Supper coming up as soon as I recover from the past five days of work.

Cool Summer Cabbage

20100602-20100602-IMG_0526

The needle is hitting the hundreds in Dallas, TX, this week, time to make some seasonal cool salads to go with our staple diet of steaks or half hogs on coals.

Primal Cut Tattoos

skrt-3

About two years in the making, looking for authentic vintage 18th century cut diagrams, finding a tattoo place I felt comfortable with (Pain and Pleasure in Duncanville, TX – warning MySpace page), finding the right time when I didn’t have to have my arms up some critter’s entrails at work for a few days, and [...]

A thank you

A “thank you”. CBS5 local blogs blogger Brittney Gilbert is moving on. She was the blogger behind one of the few local Bay Area weblogs that truly brought out the good of the Bay Area food blogosphere in a sea of mediocrity. I can’t imagine what it must have taken to sift through all that, [...]