Beautiful and Delicious Sightings in Alaska

Stormy weather can't keep a chef out of the galley for long. Not even 10 foot seas and gale force winds. Apple crumble seemed the only way to keep everyone smiling. Sweet and cinnamony with crumbly oats and butter holding it all in. Just days before we were happy with sun shining faces and bright blue ice eyes. The glacier was the star of the show, but none the less were the spouting whales and a grizzly bear and her four cubs. I need a bigger camera! Missing you all, but loving cooking for guests on the beautiful MV Jamal as we breathtakingly cruise this still unknown frontier in Southeast Alaska.

 A whale says goodbye until next time

It's unusual that we would only have 2 guests on board. It's unusual that after only 2 days we would be making our way up Tracy Arm to the glacier. 49 degrees outside and 325 degrees inside our oven filled with rows of Snickerdoodle Cookies as we travel to see the shaves of calving blue ice. Spent an uneventful night at NoName, a small cove just outside the arm. Then waiting until the tides allow a vessel that draws 10 feet to embark on a such a treacherous journey, we pull up the 70 feet of anchor chain. Before we make our way up the 2½ hour run we eat breakfast, check the engines, charge our camera batteries and grab our warmest sweaters. About an hour into our foray we come upon the waterfall. Our journey is never complete without hearing its roar and feeling and breathing the gentle mist from its raging force. Our faces and spirits feel ageless and refreshed from natures spa.

The closer we get to the glacier the more testiments of it's magnitude float by. Clear, blue and dirty bergs in all colors, shapes and sizes. Pieces of a grand puzzle never to be designed together again. We can only imagine. Intensly you are sure you are but a mere speck floating among them. You see yourself proportionately.

Up Up and Away!

Ahhhhhhhh the cool summer ... in Alaska. Best of all worlds. Florida in the Winter and Alaska in the Summer. Cooking for 2-8 in 360 degrees of visual excitement and calmness. Smiling at the world through the a glass enclosed salon aboard the MV Jamal. My island of the galley suspended in a world like Alice in Wonderland, Lenore in Alaska is a place both emotionally, spiritually and physically that grounds me on the sea of life. The way I think it should be. 

and of course there is always the food, of that I will always share my best of dishes with love and more of the same all summer long ...............

French Mousseline Salmon

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Time Flies and so do I!!

The last day of January and I am still reeling, I guess I have not stopped, from the holiday season. Now that is a GOOD thing, no its a GREAT thing! Newly remodeled cooking school is about to be revealed and then you must all join me in one of the premier, I say without hesitation, cooking schools in South Florida! Until then, here is a little recipe to tantalize the taste buds ... see, you thought I'd forgotten, no, I still love you with as much spice as this dish has to offer! 

CHICKEN FRA DIAVLO

1 lb. Rigatoni pasta, cooked al dente and tossed with olive oil

Sauce:

3 T. olive oli

½ c. chopped yellow onion

½ c. shredded carrots

1 28 oz. can tomatoes

2 T. tomato paste

2 T. dry garlic chips

1 T. dried crushed chilis (or more to taste)

Saute the onions and carrots in the olive oil for 2 minutes until soft. Add in the garlic , chilis and tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the tomatoes. Cook until vegetables are soft and flavors are married. Taste and adjust heat. Set aside. Taste for sweetness and heat. Adjust with balsamic vinegar, sugar, chilis.

Meat:

2 T. olive oil

1/12 lbs. ground chicken or turkey

2 chopped shallots

Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

1 c. red wine

2 T. each chopped fresh oregano and basil

Saute the chopped shallots in the olive oil for 1 minute. Add in the ground chicken and continue cooking until browned. Add in the red wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up the bits in the bottom. Continue cooking until wine is reduced by half. Add in the tomato sauce. Mix together until warmed. Add in the warm pasta and toss together. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with dollop of topping on each plate.

Cream Topping

¾ c. ricotta cheese

2 T. heavy cream

¼ c. shredded parmesan

2 T. chopped basil

Mix together Enjoy!