Brushetta
1/8C Basil chopped fine or rough
4C Ripe Tomatoes seeded and diced small
3 finely diced sun dried tomatoes
1/8C fine or rough chopped roasted red pepper
1/2C Mozzarella finely chopped or bocconcini
1/2C Feta crumbled
1/4C Reggiano Parmesean shredded thick
1/4C Cloves Finely Minced or Pressed Garlic fried on medium high heat in 2C Olive Oil until Crispy and Brown, Stir constantly and remove from pan immediately when done. Strain and reserve oil for recipe below.
4T Balsamic Vinegar
1/8C Olive Oil
2T Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Fruity Flavor 1st press)
Adjust flavors more EVO or Balsamic finish and Kosher Salt
Great in a salad, or on a pizza, great in a cream sauce over noodles. Have fun go a little wild with it!

Crostini
Slice any Bread evenly and lay out on sheet pan, Drizzle with Olive oil, season with Salt and bake in oven until desired texture. I like mine slightly crisp with a soft center, you don’t want it crumbling to pieces all over your guests. You can broil or bake, try different temperatures 325-425, just keep watch and pull when done, take off sheet pan immediately and store in covered container when cool. Best used within 3 days.

Garlic Oil
To reserved Olive Oil
Add:
1T rough chopped herbs, your choice
1T rough chopped onion, your choice
Kosher Salt to taste
Let sit for a few hours and then strain. It becomes infused with flavor.

Come and drink my ‘Fabu Tea’ enjoy my King Crab Shooters. Prosciutto wrapped Chicken with Lemon Gorgonzola and cranberries is awaiting you. Then savor some Peppermint Chocolate Cake and Buffalo Strawberry Shortcake. Tell me what to make and I will be inspired. Share with me your favorite dishes and traditions, it will instill a place in my mind. Bowls of hand made pasta and salads bursting with veggies. My grandmas chicken and noodles of golden mashed potatoes and don’t forget to request my cowboy boot biscuits.

I have learned so much from you this summer. Kindness has no limits. For the Texan’s I will make chicken fried steak. The Wisconsin’s inspired a walleye sauce to dream of. ‘Montana BBQ’ was created for wildlife activists and the ‘Yellowstone Dinner’ for the fisherman from Pennsylvania. I made homemade hot fudge sundaes for the kids from Los Angeles and a six course tasting menu for the ladies of Big Sky. South Carolinians shared their passion for fine food and a photo shoot crew shared their passion for eating.

The weddings…Smoked black cod, elk sausage stuffed mushrooms, raspberry hollandaise, carrot cake with caramel filling and cream cheese frosting. Beautiful brides, grooms, mothers, fathers and friends. Amazing people, breathtaking views and custom designed one of kind menus.

Thank you. It was truly a pleasure. Every moment, every person, every day.

We feasted on crab, salmon, halibut, shrimp, and cod. Then we had some more crab!

I used to walk the docks daily when I lived in Alaska. Boats coming and going. Deckhands painting and cleaning. Families and friends living and working.

I love the rain and the lush green grass. The hypnotic gray and smell… I miss Alaska already.

Pour 2 cups olive oil into large bowl. Add garlic, thyme, and peppercorns. Cut tomatoes in half and add to bowl. Toss lightly with hands. Divide tomatoes and lay out cut side up on two sheet pans spreading garlic, thyme and peppercorns on top. Drizzle olive oil from bowl over tomatoes. Bake 325 degrees uncovered 30-45 minutes until slightly crisping on edges. Peel skin, discard thyme, save garlic and store in 1qt containers. Store in the fridge. Great for a pasta or pizza, I love to put on salads with mozzarella and basil. Add to soups and sauces. Mix with some cream and chicken stock you’ve got tomato soup. Chop up and add to salsa or mix in cold pasta salad.

Roasted Peppers
15-30 peppers rinsed
2 Sheet Pans covered in parchment paper
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
Rub olive oil on peppers and lay out peppers on sheet pans and roast uncovered in 425 degree oven until crisp on the outside. 15-20 minutes. Once out of the oven cover sheet pans with another sheet pan inverted to sweat peppers, let cool. Peel outsides off and discard along with the seeds. Store in quart containers with all natural juices.

Roasted Garlic
10-12 Large Garlic Cloves
1/4 Olive Oil
Roasting Rack inside in pan
1 Cup Water

Toss garlic lightly in olive oil and lay out tops up on roasting rack. Pour water into to bottom of pan and cover pan with foil. Bake in oven 325 until soft. 45-60 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Slice the top off the garlic bulb with a sharp serrated knife. Squeeze the pulp out and discard the bulb. Continue with all the garlic bulbs. Put prepared pulp into food processor and add the following.
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 Tablespoon Heavy Cream
Kosher Salt
If puree it still too thick, add 1-2 Tablespoons of water to get desired consistency. Chill in covered container. Heat up in oven at 350-375 until warm. I love to serve as an appetizer with crostini, or add to mashed potatoes. Excellent mixed with butter, dolloped onto a sheet pan and chilled. Served as a maitre d butter on a perfectly grilled steak. Roast potatoes in the oven until crisp and toss with whole roasted garlic cloves, honey and a little butter. Amazing!

“I remember sitting on a chair and watching her cook,” Knecht said from her home in Livingston. “She was very involved with her church, so it wasn’t unusual for her to bake 100 cookies and cinnamon rolls and lasagna. She was always making dinner ahead of time. I just remember her being in the kitchen, planning.”

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It was the greatest adventure of my life. All day everyday over and over, it never got old to me. Sometimes we would fight over who had the job of sitting and steering the boat. I usually lost that argument, being the one with no experience on a fishing boat. At least I got to pick the music and where we went. Very slowly we would troll, so slow you could keep with our boat on foot. That was fine with me. Carving the coast, watching all the birds. They would dive down deep and come up like a rocket. Eagles swimming to shore with a salmon in their claws and Golden eyes fumbling around watching us, watch them. Every now and then we would take an afternoon off to sleep and dream of big waves rolling and crashing while we napped in a calm bay. Then the sun would shine, a raven would call and we were off to our next adventure!

I left that life unfinished and I will return someday to live the rest of it.

When I am cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for a family and their guests I love to get creative. Something about being in the kitchen 15+ hours a day gets me inspired and ready to take on the world. Most of my best recipes and dishes have come from being under the gun and cooking all day long. It is a fine line to walk between creative movements and careless ones. In my cooking classes I teach how learning your ingredients, cooking methods and flavors is as important as the flavors and cooking methods of the dish your making. I encourage you to do the same. Whether it be treats at your kids school or dinner for you in-laws. Take the time to love and understand your ingredients. Following a recipe isn’t just about following directions. If it was then everyone would be good at it, right? We are all good at following directions at work!?! MMmm. Then what are recipes if they’re not directions? I think recipes are ideas. New ways to create with our beloved ingredients. We never imagined sweet orange sections tossed with Thia curry paste would be amazing. Or that green beans could be so full of flavor if they were left a little al dente. Recipes are colors on our palette to paint our own recipes! Let recipes inspire you and let your mind wander to a place of long drawn out flavors. Let your mind burst with ideas, and don’t care how different they may seem. It is an exercise in creativity. Yes, you can be creative in the kitchen even if you haven’t a clue what your doing!href=”http://www.chefknecht.com/cksite/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/gg-002.jpg”>

Do you feel like an agent sent to decipher some secret code in recipes? How do know where to start and what is ’saute’ or ‘julienne’? You may end up writing a recipe for disaster instead of Cordon Blue. Next time you find a recipe and decide to give it a go, take a moment and ask yourself “Do I know what this is supposed to taste like when it is finished?” If the answer is “no” then try a recipe you have failed before, because at least you know what that recipe is not supposed to taste like. You need to create and triumph in the kitchen, so set yourself up for success. Begin with the ingredients. Do you know all these ingredients personally? If not then get acquainted first. If that means not making the recipe and simply having an ingredient to eat, then do so. An eggplant for example, complex flavor. Can be bitter and tough or soggy and greasy if not prepared correctly. So the recipe says your suppose to peel and slice 1/2in thick. Then brush with olive oil and season with salt on both sides. Next egg wash then bread crumbs/cheese, pan fry, cover with mozzarella, marinara etc….Equals Eggplant Parmesan. Wow, so you like Eggplant Parmesan and want to make it at home, just like when you had it at a restaurant. Just start with grilling a piece of eggplant and eating it, simply with a little olive oil brushed on and kosher salt to season. Grill on each side for 3 minutes then eat and truly embark on a journey of the complex flavor eggplant. The texture, the juiciness, the aftertaste. Think of nothing that is not eggplant! Now that you have had it simply when you follow the recipe you’ll be less likely to totally screw it up! Seriously, would you attempt to run a 100 miles before running 1?

All the recipes you’ve done wrong can be undone. Your eyes or taste buds where attracted to those recipes for a reason. Just because they didn’t turn out, doesn’t mean they are broken and can never be fixed. They just need to be fixed by you! What is it about the recipe you like? The photo? The ingredients? The name? The cooking method? The Chef? Start with that information and acknowledge your desire. Create from that. Don’t over analyze your flaws on the first go around, instead start slow and make adjustments. If you’re good at grilling but suck at sauteing then adjust the recipe to work for the grill. If you love to grill but always end up burning everything, then start it on the grill and finish it in the oven at 350. So what if that is not what the recipe says! If you can’t bake but love dessert, spend a whole day baking the same cake and perfect cooking it. If you’re great at baking but can’t frost a cake to save your life then crumble up cookies, peanut brittle, candy canes; whatever and put it around and on top.

Your awesome, a superstar. You can do it.
Just get in the kitchen and have fun.
Practice makes perfect.

We had 3 shelves; one for dry goods, one for pots/plates/silverware/spices/whisks etc… and one for boat maintenance. We put all of our clothes in a sea bag and our toiletries in a back pack. We each had a pair of extra tuf boots and a pair of tennis shoes. That was it! I had my watercolor supplies and my husband had his books. No boxes in storage, we defined living light.

Birthday’s, holidays, family and friends over for dinner or breakfast. I made cooking in that small space work. I would stack all my bowls inside my big pot/strainer and put my wooden spoon, whisk, spatula and tongs inside the bowls. Then I used Cornelle dishes; they don’t break and they stack up well. I had lots of small bowls for prep and medium plates for serving. Check out some of the camping gear for storage. I used the Coleman egg container and the Swiss made camping silverware. It took me 5 minutes to set up, and get ready for cooking. So I understand small world, big dreams!

First reorganize your space. Start by emptying every shelf and look at all your tools and ingredients. Get rid of everything you haven’t used in the last year. Seriously, stop the little conversations with yourself! “Oh I love that rice cooker, It was such a good deal. I will use it!” “This Swedish grill is so neat, and it was a gift. I will use it!” Give up on the funky, fun gizmos. You just don’t have the space. You don’t need a dozen pots and pans either. I had one 10″ cast iron pan and a 4Qt pot. I made everything from crepes to risotto in them. Now onto your glassware/flatware/plates. How many guests have you had over for a meal in the last month? That is how many settings you need. Wrap the rest in plastic wrap, put them in a tote or box and tuck them away (outside of your kitchen) for your special occasions. Go through your dry goods and get rid everything (that is open) that you haven’t bought in the last 6 months. Seriously, stop the conversations with yourself! “Oh, I remember this sesame oil, it still smells the same. It is still good.” “I love coconut, I just forgot I had it. It is still good.”

Now that you have cleaned all your cabinets out; look at your counter space. What is there? A toaster, mixer, coffee maker, knives, cutting board? Whatever you don’t use daily, store away. If you don’t bake often, you don’t need a mixer. Get rid of it and buy a hand mixer. You need more storage, put your baking pans in your oven and your tupperware in your dishwasher. Or buy some wall mounted racks, they truly are awesome space savers. Remember your kitchen is for cooking everyday, you need to use every inch of space for that purpose. If you’re not, then your getting frustrated for no reason. Use your easy access spaces for everything you need and store the rest in your hard to get to spots. Research and buy the best products for your space. Take measurements and use every bit of space.

When you decide to bake, BAKE. Make a cake and banana bread, throw a baguette in the oven too. Get out your gallon zip-locks and measure out the dry ingredients for your favorite muffins, pancakes, scone, cookies and cakes. Label/date them and store in an easy access space. Go to thrift/antique stores and search for the perfect size containers for your space. Use a container for extra flour/sugar and store them with your spices and oils. I bought small glass containers for all my spices, so I could buy smaller amounts. I use small glass bottles for oil/vinegar then store the extra away in my hard to get to space. It is better to have a little of what you need at your fingertips than a bunch of everything to search through. Really, how much flour do you need at once, especially if you have your zip-lock starters ready to go? Your kitchen is a workspace and when you respect it as one you will define your role with purpose and knowledge.

If you love to cook, then love your fridge and your easy access/hard to get to spaces. Know you know what’s in there. If you kinda like to cook, then don’t waste your time with all these fancy ingredients on spur of the moment shopping. Wait and get your menu planned then only buy what you need. Cook up your meal and give away your extra ingredients you know you won’t use, instead of storing them away, next to that last group of ingredients you stored. It is just like writing a recipe, every time you use your kitchen you are making it better. Reorganizing and improving your movements. When you know your kitchen and your not searching for ingredients you are more likely to make something amazing! Instead of searching for the capers in your fridge, while your sauce is burning on the stove-top. Plus when you’re cool as a cucumber you can chat and enjoy cooking with friends and family. Before you know it you’ll be making more complicated recipes and adding more exotic ingredients into your easy access space. It takes time to find what works for you and your cooking style. So be patient and have fun in the process, knowing you can make the best with the space you have. I made everything with that Bristol oven and those cooking experiences have taught me how to manage my time and space in the huge kitchens I cook in. Cooking is about being comfortable and ready. So go and get ready!

GOOD
Olive Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Water
Broccoli
Wild Salmon,sardines, herring, and black cod
Blueberries, All berries!
Spinach
Antioxidants
Tomatoes, Grapes, Spinach, Carrots, Cloves, Cinnamon and Cocoa
Fish oil supplements
Flax seed
Nuts
Soy beans
Green Tea
Whole Grains
Tofu
Soy
Cabbage
Garlic
Ginger root
Collards/Greens
Sweet Potatoes
Citrus-Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit, Orange etc…
Red Wine
Coffee
Friends
Laughter
Love
Family
Nature
Least contaminated non organics
asparagus
avocados
bananas
broccoli
cauliflower
sweet corn
kiwis
mangoes
onions
papayas
pineapples
peas
BAD
Vegetable shortening
margarine=Trans Fatty Acids-Unbalance the hormonal systems the regulate healing, encourages the development of cancer.
Butter=Saturated fats-atherosclerosis and arterial disease.
Partially Hydrogenate Oils
Artificial sweeteners containing saccharin or aspartame
Artificial Color(FD&C red #3)
Buy small amounts and use quickly. Exposure to air, fats oxidize.(oxidized fats can damage DNA)
Polyunsaturated fats
Cottonseed oil-high in saturated fat and high levels of pesticides
Chlorinated water-chemical contamination, chlorine-resistant viruses

UGLY
Twinkies
Fast Food
Soda Pop
Microwave Popcorn
Farm raised fish
Stress
Hate
Anger
Most Contaminated non-organics
Peaches
strawberries
apples
nectarine
pears
cherries
imported grapes
spinach
celery
white potatoes
sweet bell peppers
wheat-flour, crackers, cookies etc…
soybeans-tofu, mock meats etc…
mushrooms