I served my community by judging the pie contest at the Slow Food Miami picnic on Saturday.  The picnic took place at The Barnacle in Coconut Grove.  Please visit this lovely place if you’ve never been.  It’s a gem of a spot for a picnic. It’s just a dollar to visit, and on Sundays there [...] » Read more..

This past weekend, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden announced the winners of the “Green Cuisine” competition.  A few weeks ago, I helped judge this contest, which was part of the Fairchild Challenge, an environmentally-based series of creative projects and contests for middle and high school students.  The winners of  “Green Cuisine” were Miami Central High [...] » Read more..

I celebrated “Spring Thanksgiving” this past Saturday.  It’s a regular tradition of a certain friend to gather together her girl friends and celebrate the renewal (and as she says, the “recycling”) of the season.  It was my first time attending, and I enjoyed meeting some fellow food lovers, as well as a bunch of smart, [...] » Read more..

In this Video Bite, Ayesha D’Mello, of Ayesha’s Kitchen, quickly prepares winter squash (in this case, butternut) with coconut sauce.  You can prepare this recipe with any kind of winter squash, including the kabocha and calabaza types, which believe it or not, are in season here this time of year.  Special thanks to Brad Bryan [...] » Read more..

For this Video Bite, Michelle Bernstein gracefully carved out time in between three weeks in Spain and a book tour. This is one busy lady. Bernstein won the James Beard Award for best chef in the South this year. She hosts the PBS show, Check, Please! In addition to Michy’s, Bernstein is chef-owner of Michelle’s [...] » Read more..

I was the joyful recipient of a brand new ice cream maker for my birthday. So, for the Farm to Table dessert, I crafted a longan sorbet, a jackfruit sorbet, and a passionfruit ice cream. Longan Sorbet Longans are similar in taste and texture to lychees, although they are milder, and almost floral in flavor. The [...] » Read more..

Chef Howland’s Guava Glazed Snapper Guava Glazed Snapper In this Video Bite, Chef Graham Howland demonstrates how to select and prepare fresh, local fish with a sweet guava glaze. In the video, he uses yellowtail snapper. At my dinner, I served lane snapper. His specialty is seafood. Chef Howland is now retired, but his experiences as [...] » Read more..

Pabellon is a traditional Venezuelan dish composed of stewed shredded beef, black beans, and plantains served separately on a plate. For the Farm to Table Dinner, my cousin Mercedes helped me make the fillings for the empanadas and taught me how to form the dough. I won’t kid you; this is old school, all-day cooking.  [...] » Read more..

For an appetizer, John DiRocco prepared a homemade brick-oven flatbread with Venezuelan queso de mano, homegrown basil, and tomato. In this Video Bite, John demonstrates how he makes flatbread or pizza crust at home. The queso de mano was my idea. I wanted to find some kind of local cheese, and the most local version I [...] » Read more..

An amuse-bouche is a light precursor to the appetizer; it is meant to stimulate the palette. I started the Farm to Table menu with a chilled avocado soup, which I made from this recipe at epicurious.com. I substituted a whole Florida avocado from Bee Heaven farms, which was heavy and buttery on the tongue. I [...] » Read more..