Kathryn’s journey to the culinary arena was born more from necessity than from design.
Raising a family with three children with widely varying tastes challenged her to be imaginative and resourceful in her menu creations.
A job with the Hershey company brought her into the food business but left her looking for a way to utilize her new found passion for cooking. She joined Home Chef where as a cooking teacher she was able to share her passion and hone her skills at the same time.
Her 8 years at Home Chef led to her introduction to The G.S.C. and the world of Viking products. Here she was able to merge her passion for cooking with her desire to work with the best products in the marketplace.
Eight years with The GSC as the Culinary Director/Product Specialist has given her not only a wealth of knowledge about the Viking line, but allowed her to share her passion with dealers and customers alike.
Once every couple years I get the chance to travel back to Greenwood, Mississippi. Greenwood is a sleepy little southern town that sits on the Yazoo river and is considered the "Cotton Capital" of the South. It is also the place where, in the late 80's, Viking Range was born. Greenwood is where Viking founder Fred Carl, a native son, realized his dream of developing commercial style appliances and where today, most of the 15,000 SKUs of Viking appliances are manufactured.
The much beleagured downtown Greenwood of the 70's and early 80's has been transformed and historically rebuilt making Greenwood somewhat of a Phoenix. There are restaurants, bakeries, a spa, and a beautiful hotel that would rival anything found in New York or San Francisco. There is also book store called Turn Row that is a favorite of mine. It makes you forget about the big box stores or amazon.com for ...
It is June, so I actually feel compelled to write something about the grill now that we are finally having some decent California weather. It is amazing how a small climb in the mercury brings people outdoors to start grilling again. Events surrounding the month of grads and dads contributes to the alfresco kitchen experience; but I think the grads are done at this point, so this is really for the dads since Father's Day is this Sunday.
Sure, Dad likes burgers, dogs and ribs but have you ever thought of grilling pizza for Dad? Like the standard items placed on a grill, the fire imparts a light smoky flavor to the crust, which gives it a crispy, delicious texture. It is perfect for entertaining since most of the work can be done in advance. The pizza dough can actually be made in advance and frozen. All the toppings can be made the day before. Making ...
Happily, I get to work with a lot of people coming in the Viking Experience showroom where I can help guide them through the process of choosing kitchen equipment for a new home, a re-model, or just replacing an old model. It is my pleasure to show off the Viking Experience because we have so much to see and we do have a lot of equipment live so people can really see how a piece of equipment behaves.
The 36" and 48" rangetop and range models have options for either all burners or for a Griddle and/or Char Grill feature. My 48" Viking Custom Rangetop in the Demo Kitchen has 4 burners plus a Griddle and Char Grill, both of which have been well used. I do get a kick out of showing people my griddle because the reaction is so visceral. The dark brown color it has reached ...
I love this time of year when you start to see the lovely thin stalks of asparagus cropping up at farmer's markets and grocery stores alike. I use them in soups, risottos lasagnas, omlets, and salads. They are so versitile and easy to get along with that, I always buy an extra bunch just to have around. Also, they were for awhile the only vegetable my kids liked when they were little. Broccoli, green beans and brussel sprouts were a struggle (even i won't eat brussel sprouts, so I don't blame them!), but they always liked and even asked for seconds on the asparagus!
Really, the traditional steamed variety did not win over the likes of my kids (too vegetal, i think), but toss them in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and slap them on the Viking grill, and it is vegetable magic, my friends. Tom, my middle ...
So the antihesis to the "Healthy Tortellini Soup", is a decadent, artery clogging, but delicious White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce (I promised you something for Fat Tuesday!). Not only is this dessert requested at every family holiday, but now my daughter, Stina, makes it for her friends at college. I'm actually kind of tired of making it, but when the kitchen is smelling the glorious aroma of chocolate and baked custard, I am a very happy girl. I always think I'm going to have left overs on this, but that never seems to happen. The best part of this dessert, besides the taste, is that the bread pudding and sauce can be made in advance. In fact, the bread pudding is best when it is allowed to soak over night.
When you look at the ingredients and grab your heart, try to remember that this is not everyday faire, and you just ...
