Semiserious Chefs

Though taken from the name of a town in Spain, Marbella is actually an American made recipe based off of the flavors of that region. All the rage among the shoulder pad clad who’s-who of the 80’s, chicken marbella was the creative genus of Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, proprietors of the very trendy Silver […]

This sauce (pronounced greh-no-blue-os) originates comes from the French town of Grenoble. Very tangy by itself it pairs well with mild fish, and is perfectly rounded off with a topping of fresh parsley. Although most commonly cooked with fish or seafood it can, however, be served over a huge variety of dish choices, (see below) […]

Our little family really does not do hotdishes (or ‘casseroles’ as everyone else might call them). It probably has a direct tie to Andrew’s abundant visits to Minnesota as a young person. However, when it comes time to come up with something to bring to a larger family gathering, what we might find exciting (particularly […]

At the store recently I asked Nathan what kind of vegetable he would like to go with dinner and he picked out some nice looking zucchini. I know there are a lot of people who are not really fans of zucchini. In fact, I don’t often get it myself. I am simply not a ‘Spiralizor’ […]

  The first of many Tapas I plan to explore, chorizo al vino is a decidedly easy recipe. …. once you have the right kind of Chorizo!!!!!! Spanish chorizo is an aged pork sausage. It is usually cured in the traditional casing of intestines. It can be sliced and eaten raw, cooked, or added to […]

These tapas are beautiful and really quite easy to make. And they come out looking so fancy! If you don’t have the shells from your scallops, that is okay. You can always just bake them in a ramekin. You can also easily use any other large shells you may have around for decorative purposes, just […]

Htipiti, Kopanisti, Tirokafteri I know those words are each a mouthful. χτυπητή: htee-pee-tee or ktee-pee-tee (also written as ktipiti or ctipiti) Κοπανιστή: cop-en-es-tee τυροκαυτερή: teer-oh-kaaf-tehr-ee. Not so bad, eh? Each being Greek, the last of these translates as ‘Spicy Cheese’ from tiri for cheese and kafteri for spicy, while kopanisti is used to describe something […]

Anyone who has spend much time in ‘Tolkien-Land’ will most likely think of Gimli when asked about a dwarf. “Gimli, son of Gloin,” he can always be quoted. I always think of the 13 member dwarf company in the original book, “The Hobbit,” with all their clever, rhyme-y names: Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, […]

Bilbo. There is a possibility that you don’t know that name, but if you live in the US it’s quite unlikely. Either way, he was a most beloved hero in JR Tolkien’s book “The Hobbit.” He was the precursing character to Frodo in the “Lord of The Rings” trilogy. He was brave out of necessity, […]

I first came across this recipe when looking for Lord of The Ring’s related dishes. It was originally called Smaug’s Balls. I played around with it a little and renamed it a much more sophisticated Smaug’s Gems, but now that I’m sharing it with the entire world, I think maybe they need another new name… […]