My Son, the Chef

Finding out that your adult child has a hidden talent comes as a huge surprise, especially when it is something I never suspected.  I knew he had talent for creating pottery because my house has many of his beautiful pots. But, cooking is a talent I never saw coming!  Being a gregarious fellow, I knew he liked to entertain and I thought his specialty was grilling hot dogs and hamburgers.

On my birthday, he told me he was preparing a dinner for me and said, "I know you like chicken and I think you will like this dish."  Imagine my surprise when he served a colorful, delicious stuffed chicken breast on a bed of rice.  "How did you do this?" I asked. "This is the best chicken I have ever tasted!"

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Butterfly the chicken breast,(slice it lengthwise and open it up so it looks like a butterfly), place Prosciutto ham and fresh mozzarella cheese on bottom half and bring the top half to cover the filling. Grill the stuffed breast and when chicken is almost done, place garlic goat cheese and sun-dried tomatos on top of the stuffed breast.  Giill it until the cheese begins to melt and serve over rice.

I found out that the Prosciutto ham is an Italian tupe of dry-cured ham sliced thin and the Mozzarella cheese is an Italian specialty cheese.

Drunken Chicken

He told me about his Drunken Chicken recipe that is easy to prepare.  A whole chicken is dry rubbed with cayenne pepper, paprika, salt and fresh ground pepper.  He lifts the skin and pats areas with butter.  Emptying a half a can of beer (or as he puts it, drink half a can of beer) and place the cavity of the chicken on the beer can and place the standing chicken on the grill.  He said that the beer steams into the chicken giving it a delicious flavor.  This was a way of cooking chicken that was foreign to me!

Prime Rib

Roll prime rib in course salt, fresh ground pepper, and Rosemary.  In a cast iron skillet, brown the seasoned meat in olive oil. After browning, place the prime rib in an oven set at about 300 degrees. Before he had a meat thermomater, he would allow about 45 minutes per bone after deciding if the meat was to be rare, medium or well done. He told me that timing is very important when doing a prime rib. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes.

I found out he watches cooking shows on television and he mentioned that he gets ideas from the chefs.  He tries to invent his own dishes but, "Sometimes," he said, "I get a flop."

When I had company visiting me and at the last minute I decided to fix dinner, I panicked.  I did not now what to serve.  I checked the pantry and found I had spaghetti fixings.  My son said, "I will doctor up that jar of sauce. I need green pepper, onion and garlic."  He sauteed the ingredients and added it to the jar of sauce and simmered the sauce until the spaghetti was ready.  I prepared a salad and garlic bread and we had a nice dinner with delicious "homemade sauce."

What I notice when my son is in the kitchen chopping, mixing, or fixing something for guests, he enjoys it.  He loves to prepare different dishes and when he eats out and likes something, he tries to imitate it.  I suppose that is what makes a good chef...loving to prepare a dish that looks good, tastes good, and having people enjoy it.