♥ I only shop once a week – buying only what looks great in vegetables and figuring out what to make with them day by day.

♥ When toasting nuts for a recipe, always toast extra to have them ready to use on salads or green beans for another dinner. They will keep fine in a sealed plastic container.

♥ I only use French Grey Salt which I grind first with a mortar and pestle – or you
can buy a salt grinder. (Zach dropped ours on the granite floor so that was the end
of that.) The kernel of salt is just too big to use it as is, so grind it.

♥ I do use coarse grind Sea Salt for salting pasta water and Kosher Salt for brining
or preserving lemons.

♥ I do use fine grind Sea Salt and Tex–Joy pepper for seasoning a chicken to roast.
It is easier and less messy.

♥ I only use Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I like the Athena brand), except for fancy
olive oils for finishing a dish or I use a better grade for salad dressings. I LOVE it when our friends from Tuscany bring some of theirs from the olives off of their trees in their front yard. It’s so green and absolutely spectacular!! Unlike any other found here in the States.

♥ I use as many local fruits and vegetables as I can as well as grass–fed, free range
organic meats.

♥ Remember, it is always about the ingredients. The quality of the ingredients you
use make the dish. You can make a very simple dish taste sublime with high quality
ingredients. Take any piece of super fresh fish, rub on a little fantastic extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle French grey salt and fresh ground tellicherry black pepper, oven roast at 425˚F at a rate of 10 minutes per one inch of thickness – or grill in the same manner – (the Canadian method) and you will have an amazing main dish!

My must–have pieces of equipment
Lettuce Spinner
Absolutely essential – use for lettuces, arugula, all fresh herbs,
any greens (dandelion greens, broccoli rabe, swiss chard,
mustard greens, you name it).

Hand Mandoline
So easy to use, and you don’t need to take out the big thing
and devote the space on the counter to using it.

Great Sharp Knives – I use Henkels

Quisinart

Mini Quisinart  – to grind spices and small amounts of mixtures.

Instant Read Digital Meat Thermometer

Hand–held Garlic Press

Digital Scale

Poultry Shears

Mortar and Pestle