asian slaw

Namprik Dressing: Blend with the hand blender: 1 TBS jalapeno peppers 1 TBS fresh garlic cloves 1 TBS brown sugar 1 cup fresh limejuice (can use the zest as well) .25 cup fish sauce 1 cup canola oil Slaw: Toss equal parts: sui choy cabbage (stems removed, cut in 1/2, then slice as thin as [...]

how to learn to cook

The reason I am strident about sharing recipes is I learned to cook AFTER I bought a restaurant. Flashback to to April 2nd 1999 in the Tree House Cafe kitchen.  It was my first day as owner and the previous owner, Justine Bryant, was showing me how to make veggie chilli.   I pondered the recipe for a second [...]

no secrets

I like to share recipes and I don’t worry about sharing Rock Salt Restaurant recipes. This is because I believe skilled cooks making dishes from scratch with quality ingredients is the secret to a great restaurant not the recipes. I enjoy knowing what dishes inspire people to cook and so our servers are instructed to tell [...]

my first blog

This is my first blog ever so here we go! Having grown up in the fast paced environment of the east coast of the United States, one would figure that I would be technologically savvy.  However I am not and the past 11 years of island life has made me more relaxed then ever.  Some [...]

the comfort of food

Most of the people checking out this blog will know me from the Masthead Restaurant in Cowichan Bay.  With four great years behind me, meeting lots of great guests, farmers, forgers and fisherman, its time to move on to something new. I’ve accepted a new job in a local pub.  My goal is to turn [...]

the red mixer

I don’t bake.  I hate baking.  It’s too precise for me and involves too much measuring.  Once I decided to bake my daughter a banana birthday cake.  Her name is Hana and I call her banana so I thought it was apt.  Despite my best effort the cake tasted like a banana tennis ball.  Hana [...]