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For beginning and intermediate cooks, here's a quick tip to help you become a better cook. The enjoyment of food involves five primary sensory aspects - taste, texture, aroma, temperature and visual appeal. The first four are fairly obvious and most cooks pay attention to them. However, the...

Assume you've got to live for a year in a remote area wherever, not necessarily a desert island, but somewhere that you need to bring everything you need to prepare your meals. Further assume that you can get all the meats, produce, etc., that you need locally and you have a stove and...

I'd planned to make a Bologese sauce tomorrow morning, which I usually simmer uncovered for 3+ hours, but am in the mood to cook tonight (it's almost 9pm), and was wondering if there's any reason why I can't make it tonight and cover and cook it all night at a low simmer. It seems to me that...

I'm visiting my father in Florida who celebrated his 84th birthday on April 1st, so I'm planning a dinner for him and my 2 brothers (who also recently had their birthdays) this Sunday. I have a gorgeous standing rib roast which I'll serve with sauteed mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes and...

After years of renting, we are finally buying our own house in Costa Rica. It's a well-maintained older home with lots of character and possibilities. The current owners aren't really into cooking and entertaining and the kitchen isn't really set up the way I need it, since I do a lot of both...

For those of you who may be interested in learning more about South American wines, here are a couple of good links: Richard Nally: Twenty Exceptional South American Wines - Forbes.com . I recommend this article for its excellent, up-to-date general background about winemaking of South...

I found this wine on sale in my local supermarket for $6 a bottle, with a tag noting that it had received an 89 rating from W&S. Well, I don't always agree with the reviews but you seldom find wines with this high a rating in this price range so I had to give it a try. This time I agree...

In response to another paella thread posted under seafood, I promised to post my paella recipe and technique. Here it is: Mixed Seafood Paella Step by Step This recipe was developed for a 15” (38cm) paella pan and serves six people. Traditionally, paella is prepared outdoors on a wood or...

We had a large early-morning gathering today and, as usual, I was asked to prepare the main dish for 40 people. I opted to do a variation of the highly-rated Amish Breakfast Casserole from Allrecipes.com. The original version serves 12 and can be found here: Amish Breakfast Casserole -...

Like most foodies, one of the things I like most about traveling to other countries is discovering new and interesting foods. Unfortunately, most foodies are a bit disappointed when they discover that most Costa Rican food, while good, is usually rather simple and boring. We have fabulous fresh...

Judging by the number of posts in other threads on this forum, it seems like a basic primer on rice cookery would be helpful to a lot of cooks. While I don't consider myself to be a rice expert, I'm a long time resident of Central America where rice is a basic staple in the diet. My family, and...

Hi, I'm a new member. To get off to a good start, I thought I'd share one of my "go-to" recipes. There was a thread a couple of months ago asking for a good scampi recipe. Here's mine! Rather than trying to revive an old thread, I was advised to start a new one. Scampi Sauce 2 Tbsp...

Hi, my name is Jim and I just joined the forum. Originally from Georgia, I spent most of my adult life in Florida before moving to Costa Rica in 2000. My wife is Costa Rican and I have 2 adult stepdaughters who still live at home with us. We live in the central valley region, near the capital of...