YaDa Chef Private and Personal Chefs

Rachel Matthews Do you cry when California Avocado season is over because you wish you could have delicious California Avocados year round? Of course you do! I’m here to make your day, because this post is all about freezing avocados so that you can enjoy delicious California Avocado guacamole, avocado toast, avocado hummus and more all year round! Freezing avocados is really easy to do, and I’m going to show you two different ways to freeze avocados today so that you can enjoy your favorite Avocado recipes all year round! The first method for freezing avocados involves freezing the avocado halves. HOW TO FREEZE AVOCADO HALVES Slice the avocado in half, peel and seed. Brush the avocado halves with a bit of lemon juice and wrap them tightly in a clingy plastic wrap**. Don’t leave any room for air – this means the plastic wrap should cling into the curve where the seed was. Place the plastic wrapped avocado halves into a large freezer safe zip tight bag. Once you have

Lindsay D. Mattison It's time to say goodbye to waste! Extend the life of your fruits and vegetables (and save some money) with these crisper drawer tips and tricks. What the drawer’s really for Do you actually know how to use the crisper drawer in the refrigerator, or do you find yourself cramming produce in there in a mad dash to unload the groceries? The crisper drawer may have remained a mystery for many years, we now know it’s a fruit and vegetable lifesaver. Getting the most out of your refrigerator’s crisper drawer can significantly extend the life of your fruits and vegetables. That not only saves you money on groceries, but it also makes sure that your food tastes super fresh, too. It’s time to stop storing your food wrong and learn the right way to use those crisper drawers. Learn more about  how you’ve been organizing your fridge all wrong . It’s all about airflow The crisper drawer extends the life of your fruits and vegetables by controlling the

An old classic, serve this duchess potatoes recipe at your next dinner party Preparation Notes: 30min, plus cooling and chilling Cooking Notes: about 50min Ingredients 800 g  Desiree potatoes, peeled and cut into even 4cm (1 1/2in) chunks 25 g  (1oz) unsalted butter 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg 1/8 tsp ground white pepper 50 ml  (2 fl oz) double cream 2 tbsp.  milk 1  large egg yolk Directions In a large pan, cover potatoes with cold, salted water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 30min until completely tender and a knife can be inserted with no resistance. Drain (reserving pan) into a colander and set aside to steam dry. Press potatoes through a ricer into the reserved pan or mash until smooth. With a handheld electric whisk, beat in the butter, nutmeg, pepper, cream, milk, yolk and plenty of salt until smooth. Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment. Spoon potato mixture into a piping bag

Adapted from a  Paula Deen recipe 1 loaf French bread 6 large eggs 2 cups half-and-half 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg Dash salt Topping: 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter 1 cup packed light brown sugar 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1 cup chopped pecans (optional) First, make the topping: Melt the butter in a pan and add the brown sugar and spices. Use a whisk to combine. (If you’re having a hard time with it, let it sit for a few moments. Once it cools, it’ll be easier to mix.) Then add pecans, if you’re adding those. Pour the sauce into a medium-size rectangular casserole dish, making sure it spreads to all four corners. Then cut the bread up in 1/2-inch size slices (about 20 or so), and spread them out over the casserole. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the cream and the spices. Then pour over the bread, again making sure to cover completely and reach every corner. Cover with foil and refrigerate over

Here's why the U.S. has a major cheese surplus—again BRITTANY SHOOT  January 10, 2019 There are many crises plaguing the American public right now. And while a cheese surplus may sound like a delicious problem to have, the record-level excess is nevertheless no match for American appetites. Roughly 1.4 billion pounds of American, cheddar, and Swiss cheese currently sits in cold storage, according to a report from  WBUR . While Americans have never been hungrier for cheese—eating 37 pounds per capita in 2017 alone—that’s still not enough to make up for the rate at which dairy farmers and cheese producers are churning out their goods to sell to the U.S. public or send abroad. In fact, the international market is one culprit in the cheese crisis. In September, Marketwatch  reported  that so much cheese had piled up due in part to U.S. cheese exports down 63% to China and 10% to Mexico. Another reason for the cheese surplus? Simply put, consumer tastes have c

Marsala is a fortified wine. It is produced in Sicily in the region surrounding the city of Marsala. Everyone has had this dish and usually not done very well. This is  barely dusted with flour and NOT over cooked. The secret is the fresh rosemary. 4 chicken breast cut the long way and thinly pounded) 1 ¼ teaspoons/6ml sea salt 1 teaspoon/5ml freshly ground black pepper ¼ cup/34g flour for dusting (optional) 4 tablespoon/60ml non-hydrogenated spread 2 tablespoon/30ml olive oil 1 large shallot, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced (I used 3 since they were small) 8 ounces/225g baby bella mushrooms (use a variety if you want) ½ cup/125ml sweet Marsala wine 1 sprig of fresh rosemary ¾ cup/180ml chicken broth In a large plate combine flour with ¾ teaspoon/4ml of salt and ¾ teaspoon/4ml pepper. Coat chicken with seasoned flour shaking off the excess.  You will need to do this in 2 batches.  In a large heavy skillet melt 1 tablespoon/15ml spread and 1 tablespoon/15ml of the

Ya Da Chef celebratory foods; as we enter a new year, it seems that the world shares the belief that certain foods bring good luck and prosperity. Each culture has a unique spin on these good-luck foods. The wonderful thing is that the availability of ethnic ingredients m akes it possible for us to cook traditional dishes here, no matter our country of origin. Coming from a family with one side of Italian heritage and the other side of Polish heritage, traditions were occasionally celebrated side by side. The pig in many countries signifies good luck because hogs cannot look or see behind them without completely turning around, and therefore only look forward. In Italy, lentils are eaten as a symbol of good luck and prosperity because they resemble tiny coins. Tuscans eat lentils with "Cotechino", a large pork sausage. People in Bologna and Modena eat lentils with "Zampone", the sausage mixture stuffed into the skin of a pig's foot. In the Piedmont, littl

Implementation of the new nationwide system will begin in 2020. MIKE POMRANZ   December 21, 2018 No matter which side of  the GMO debate  you stand on, the USDA has finally spoken. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has finalized the new National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard which requires mandatory labeling nationwide on foods that “are or may be bioengineered,” according to a USDA announcement. The standard — which has an initial implantation date of January 1, 2020, and a mandatory compliance date of January 1, 2022 — “ defines bioengineered foods  as those that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through lab techniques and cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature,” the announcement explains. To avoid any ambiguity, the USDA has also created  a master list of bioengineered foods  to track what products will need to have disclosures. That list currently includes 13 groups: alfalfa, canola, corn, cotton,