Leslie Bartosh, CEC, AAC, FMP

 Sometimes it is the simple dishes that are the most enjoyable.   This dish of gnocchi with a sauce of house-made pesto and cream is a great example. Simple, rich, delightful, and quite easy to prepare. Thank you Diversified Ceramic s for the great bowl to showcase this dish in.   As always, your questions or comments are welcome. Until next time, Bon Appetit Y'all! Chef Leslie Bartosh #Potato, #Gnocchi, #Potato_Gnocchi, #Pesto, #Diversified_Ceramics, Rusty Gilmore

 The most difficult thing about making this delightful chicken confit is resisting the urge to eat it as soon as it is cooked! The aroma is intoxicating! The confited chicken thighs are shown resting while the juices generated during the cooking process have a chance to settle. We separate the juices from the fat, the confit will be stored in, to prevent souring during extended storage. As always, your questions or comments are welcome. Until next time, Bon Appetit Y'all! Chef Leslie Bartosh #Confit , #Chicken_Thighs , #Confit_Chicken Thighs, #Back_To_Basics

 Growing up on the coastal bend of Texas meant that I ate lots of fried fish when I was young.   The only thing missing from this plate was French fried potatoes. Fried, cornmeal encrusted, Clear Springs Rainbow trout, coleslaw, Tartar sauce. A great Lenten luncheon plate. Thank you Riverence for the great fish to work with!  As always, your questions or comments are welcome. Until next time, Bon Appetit Y'all Chef Leslie Bartosh Rainbow_Trout, Riverence, Clear_Springs,

  Thinking of summer:   Fish Salad Hot cold salad: fish on a bed of greens with accompaniments. Riverence , wild caught, Ecuadorian, Mahi-Mahi, saut é ed and served on a bed of green leaf lettuce; boiled potato; kalamata olives; cucumber; cherry tomato; lemon and pepperoncini pepper; vinaigrette.   Mixed micro greens. Thank you Riverence for the great fish to work with! As always, your questions or comments are welcome. Until next time, Bon Appetit Y'all Chef Leslie Bartosh Mahi_Mahi, Wild_Caught, Riverence,

  Cheesecake with macerated strawberries. This is a no bake cheesecake.   I had never tried one.   It is different than regular cheesecake in terms of flavor and texture. This is not a bad thing!   It has nice tartness, a very smooth and creamy texture and seems “light” compared to regular cheesecake.   And it is very quick to make! Overall, it is quite delightful!   Will do this one again! #Cheesecake As always your questions or comments are welcome. Until next time, Bon Appetit Y'all! Chef Leslie Bartosh

  Back to Basics.   This photo may not be much to look at.   But it demonstrates a basic and very important concept in making sausages.   The bind of the meat.   The bind refers to how well the meat stays together.   We check it with the farce in a raw stage.   The bind affects the cooked texture.   If you have not built up a sufficient bind the cooked sausage will be crumbly. We create the bind by “working” the meat.   The action of working the meat is similar to kneading dough.   We are working a particular protein in the meat, myoglobin.   When we “knead” myoglobin it becomes sticky.   That stickiness is what binds the meat together.   The farce in the picture is from a coarse ground pork and beef sausage that was hot smoked.   I am demonstrating; checking the bind by holding a small amount of farce in the palm of my hand and turning my hand so my palm is facing the down.   The farce needs to stay on...