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Perfectly poached eggs topped with parsley aioli and salmon caviar along with smoked trout on a garlic crostini with grilled plantains and mushrooms and a small salad are a New Years Day brunch anyone would love. 

Don't start the love till after you have had your "good luck" bowl of black eyed peas and collard greens - it just wouldn't be proper. Two quick tips: 1) black eyed peas cook fast 2) collard greens are best when simmered for a good long while to soften up and mellow out.

Recipes. I am often asked about recipes and on that same note I am often told how I should write a cookbook. This whole cookbook idea is nothing new to me here on the blog as I have mentioned it often. As much as I want to write a cookbook I simply don't feel strongly enough that there is a market for one more cookbook. This year I will give it the most thought I have ever given it and we shall see.

Innovations. Innovative cooking is all the rage. The curious thing about the word innovative is how loosely it can be construed. If you have never poached an egg before then you are being innovative. I am going to make it my mission to try to bring innovation to each and every one of you and do it in a way that is functional and feasible. Anything can be innovative and teaching is also a way of learning.

Lets grow together in the coming year. I have written this blog for a very long time now, 10 years to be exact. I have had waves of readers from the many to the few to the very many down to the very few. I have learned a thing or two along the way and I want to pick up a few more things to round it out. I am looking forward to your feedback and your help in 2015.

Mini Bites Are A Total Delight

A one or two bite morsel can tickle and delight your senses more than a belly full of bacon. I often make tiny little nibbles since they both dazzle and impress while not taking up too much space. One such little bite I made recently was a no bake key lime pie. I made a custard, I colored it with parsley juice that I made from an extractor and I topped them with both Chantilly cream and a meringue that I used a caramelized sugar giving it a nice off golden color that toasted nicely with the torch.

No bake pie, sure thing. I made a lime curd that I added a bit of gellan and cornstarch as well as egg yolks on the double boiler - when it was nice and thick I put it in a piping bag to chill.

The crust is a simple butter, sugar, flour and a pinch of salt short bread dough that cut with a fluted mold and  I baked in a mini tin.

I piped the lime curd into the baked shells and served some with the cream and some with the meringue and they all got some zest and a little blackberry coulis to round it all out. The guests loved it, I loved it and this simple preparation I will most likely do again and again.