Almost all cuisines start with a few basics. And the basics seem to come in threes. Each cuisine has its own “trinity” of vegetables that is used as a basis for most recipes. These vegetables become the base for sauces and get cooked into dishes to give them a distinct regional flavor. You can’t cook
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For people that are not normally home cooks that want to start cooking with the basics, there are a few essential spices you should stock your pantry with. Black Peppercorns – Almost every recipe you make will have a note “salt and pepper to taste.” You shouldn’t use your table pepper shaker for this. Buy
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I call this my number 2 chili because you use 2 of almost everything.

I learned this recipe from a chef in Paris. This is the basic chicken dish used everywhere. I usually serve it with rice but it goes great with mashed potatoes as well.

A great romantic dinner for two and fairly easy to make. The secret to scallops is to get a nice sear on the outside without making the inside rubbery. Butternut squash puree makes a nice bed for the scallops and a great presentation. A few notes on the recipe: your local grocery or produce store
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