Salsa Brava Sweet Chile Jelly

Everyone Loves Great Mexican Food

But not everyone can make great mexican food.

John Conley of Salsa Brava in Flagstaff Arizona is one of those great mexican food making kind.
He has been turning out amazing food from his place for over 20 years.
It is also considered by many the best in Flagstaff.

His place and awesome mexican food gained the attention of producers of the Food Network show Diners, Drive Ins, & Dives with host Guy Fieri.

Salsa Brava also has a four-page spread in Guy Fieri’s cookbook, More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
In his introduction, Fieri writes, “You've got to love a road trip, and there’s nothing better than a Route 66 tour.
In Flagstaff, Arizona, you’ve got to stop at Salsa Brava"

The Salsa Brava DDD episode is just a click to the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t6JR9F62f0

Last year John popped up on my radar through some mutual friends who also have been featured on this great series.
He is a great person to have as a friend when you need advice on some authentic mexican recipes. 
I was lucky enough to get permission to share one of his recipes with everyone.
I was also lucky to stumble upon this gem when I was looking around for a great spicy jelly recipe. 

Check Out Salsa Brava.com  for more info

 Order a copy of Salsa Brava Cocina cookbook at the webstore too!

http://salsabravaflagstaff.com/

Thanks again John, and thank you for your continued support of America's Chefs.

Quest For Fire In Jelly Form

I have become very fond of this local Farmer Markets Hot Habanero Jelly and was getting tired of paying the high prices for such a small portion. I eat this stuff like jelly, not hot sauce. Well I drink hot sauce so that is the only difference. This recipe can be made hotter, but unless you are ready to hurt yourself with hot peppers I would suggest following the recipe with only half the pepper.

I have some special ways of enjoying this stuff besides out of the jar when I need a sweet spicy fix.
Somehow bent on destruction I have kept making this jelly but slowly up the habanero and remove other peppers slowly to enhance the heat and flavor of the little orange devil.  So far up to 3 peppers and still not giving me the kick I am looking for so next round I am gonna go crazy with 6.

I did not have gloves the last time I made this but I used the little bags for produce to protect my hands, it was a little clumsy but it did the job and I did not miss the burning of my face and everyplace else I may touch. Funny how our hands can handle a lot more than lets say our forehead.
Same with our mouth and stomach things that would burn a whole in steel are contained within our body.  I have some deep rooted connection to hot pepper, not sure why or how it started but I have grown close.  It reminds me of this little Laotian man telling me about this hot sauce they made for soup " It is so hot, it will make you see the stars during the day time."  This is the kind of hot that makes you sweat, makes your heart pulse,and even a strobe like flashing can occur in the eyes. Oh and it burns your mouth like a hot iron on your tounge.

Creative Twist

                                       Sweet Chile Jelly served on a Toasted  Buttered  Bagel

Slices of Avocado, Navel Orange, Meyer Lemon, Jalapeno, & Green Onions garnished with Cilantro and a few drops of hot sauce.

Closing down 2011

You Are What You Cook?

The smell of turkey and stuffing fill the air.

Family and friends have gathered around ready to feast Thanksgiving style.

Everyone expects the chef to be behind some extra ordinary meal, for me it is the opposite.
I sit back and watch everyone working at their favorite dish to bring to the table.
I am making the mashed potatoes this year after turning the idea for a Panko Crusted Yellow Fin Appetizer. Sometimes it is better just to leave it alone. Traditions are just that for a reason.

We will get back to Thanksgiving dinner in a little while, I decided to go back in time......

This is about who we are, and how our family has some of the biggest influence on what we cook.
Everyone I know has a recipe handed down from someone they love. From a Great Grandma or Grandpa, or from our Mothers and Fathers. Always from some old world country, where things are done the "right" way. When we make or eat these recipes it always seems to remind us of the good old times, somewhere that warms your heart and fills your stomach at the same time.

Not everyone can cook. Some people may be among this group among my readers. If you are one of these people, you still know what  I am talking about you as you have eaten this food, and look forward to enjoying it when those special times occur so you can relate to this also.

Many different styles of food and cooking backgrounds have come together in this country over the last few hundred years. People worked hard to get here and bring with them a little bit of what they had to leave behind. Things that they loved. Some carried olives others carried grapes and a few just brought information stored on pieces of paper or in their memory.

 These were the things that they loved to cook, and eat and when going to a new place this was very important to know if you were to continue enjoying it.  These are the pieces of the pie that makes America a complete Hybrid and true culinary forge. Of course we have some dishes that are known as American like Apple Pie but many types of food have been made in the USA and we consider it Chinese food or Mexican.   If you look at authentic food compared to it's American counterparts you can see the difference..     Some dishes we assume are Italian like Pizza or Pasta Primavera but they have origins from NYC.  Chow mein was even invented in the states. 

I know some forms of bread with toppings and even  noodles with things mixed in was most likely invented 5000 years ago in China.
Some can trace our food history back to the very origins or creation but most people have been exposed to the roots of food that bind us. We all gather during special times with food that stands for what we are, who we are, and where we come from. This is a part of tradition and family heritage.

Got Sauce?

Happy Halloween and Holiday Greetings to you Chef Intel. readers.
Fall is here now, and it is time for you to snuggle up next to the fire one more time as we close my BBQ-blog series and get to some other great things on Chef Intel.
Grab a cup of hot cocoa and get ready for the hay ride into the holidays.

Up until now we have been talking a lot about BBQ, and what it means to different people both here and around the globe. Just like the meat and styles, the sauce can be a whole can of worms to open. Let's just say I want to steer clear of a BBQ sauce informational lecture, and get down to telling you how to make some KICK ASS BBQ sauce at home!
 ( Parental Advisory - some language may be considered inappropriate for younger reader)

  I was going to start this off with a mystery type recipe that you don't know what you get until it's done, but did not want to confuse people or scare them off.  This also is just an example of one type of sauce and is open to creative twists and fine tuning for what you like in BBQ sauce. I also keep out the (HOT) items until the end as options to keep everyone in the pool until that time. Not everyone can eat spicy food and it isn't nice to leave people out of the fun.

I also think part of the fun of making this is to make it your very own each time and fine tune it as you go to make it just right. I have to say nothing I do here hasn't been done before and you probably aren't going to break any rules if you do it wrong even the bad batch of this is going to be killer. 

First off we have a bunch of things that are going in here but it is in small amounts for the most part.
I suggest checking the items in your pantry and work around going and buying all the things at one time because it is not going to be cheap.   Not everyone has the luxury of working in fully stocked kitchens so I am understanding if you leave some ingriedients out. 

Recipe links and photos are provided as examples for readers only

To create this sauce I started with a traditional North Carolina style sauce http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/eastern-north-carolina-bbq-sauce/detail.aspx  and found it to be very similar flavor profile to Vinegar. I did not add the red pepper flakes .

I then converted it to a Southern Carolina style

  http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/south_carolina_mustard_bbq_sauce/

 It tasted like Honey Mustard.

I used a Dijon mustard but I was not happy with this alone so I started adding to it a little at a time.
I always say add things in easy to remember amounts, so that you can do it again and blog about it later. I use  2 TBSP. portions a lot and don't forget you are in control of the final sauce you can add a little more or less if that is what works for you. 
I like a thick sauce but do not like to add any corn starch or modified starches to my sauce so this means you may have to spend awhile reducing it and constantly stirring it until it is the proper conistency for you. I love to cook and do not enjoy hurrying when I do it so if you want to go out now and buy some BBQ sauce and save time and money that is your choice.    If you still choose to spend some time and have people keep asking you "What are you making?" then keep reading. 

So I like a sweet sauce with a tangy bite at the front and a spicy lingering on the back of the tongue.
I like it without a lot of tomato base and tried to avoid it but it adds some additional backbone to the body of the sauce and holds it together a little tighter while bringing the color closer to what I am use to.  I used one small 6 oz. can of tomato paste and started with adding 2 TBSP at time until all of it ended up eventually going in and that is when I started doing that.  I also added some Ketchup for some additional body and red color.

I think  honey is great, but I also add corn syrup and molasses as well for a more complex sweetness.    Let's not forget a little brown sugar.
Vinegar is key here for tangy sauce.  I like Apple Cider vinegar, but I have used White Vinegar at times to sharpen it up. I also add some Balsamic and darken the color yet a little more while incorporating some additonal sweet flavors from the Balsamic.
A splash of worcestershire sauce adds more depth in flavor and adds to help darken the color.
Then it was juice time, I liked all the juices I tried they each added some charm but I seem to keep revisiting pineapple. I know we aren't making teriyaki here but this juice has both a sour tang and is very sweet and boasts a few enzymes that help break down your foods like a natural meat tenderizer.  I like to use it for my spray mop in long cooking processes as well but Apple juice finds it way there alot too.
 I think to start off  Orange, Apple, White Grape, and Pineapple juice all work very well and suggest trying all of them at some time.   This time we use Pineapple juice.  I have used a lot of other things to base my BBQ sauce including Apple sauce and Root beer as some of my favorites. Once you get an understanding of how the flavors work together you will want to experiment and make some of your own signature flavor creations.  

Chef Ed's Family Style Barbecue Sauce - Everyone loves it even babies!

Yields about 16 Fluid oz. of BBQ sauce or 2-  8 oz. bottles


The Spices :

2 TBSP of ground Cumin
2 TBSP of Paprika (Sweet)
2 TBSP of Garlic powder
1 tsp of Dry Mustard Powder
1 tsp of Dry Onion Powder



The Sauce:

1 cup of Apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP of Balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP of Distilled white vinegar
1 & 1/2 cups of Pineapple juice
1/2 cup of Honey
1/2 cup of prepared Mustard ( yellow or dijon )
6 oz. of Tomato paste
4 TBSP of Ketchup
6 TBSP of dark corn syrup
2 TBSP of light corn syrup
4 TBSP Molasses
2 TBSP of White granulated sugar
4 TBSP of Light Brown sugar
2 TBSP of Worcestershire sauce
2 TBSP of Natural Wood smoke flavoring  ( optional for smokier flavor )

The Method :

Combine spices in a small bowl, whisk together and set aside. 
Use a 6 - 8 qt. sauce pan to allow room for stirring and reduction of sauce to thicken.
Put your juice and vinegars in the pan together and stir to combine.
Remove a 1/2 cup of this to a large mixing bowl and add your tomato paste,ketchup,honey, and mustard and stir together until smooth and add to sauce pan.
Turn the heat on medium low until it starts getting a little heat showing.
Stir sauce a few times every three or four minutes to avoid burning or scalding.
Add corn syrup (light & dark), molasses,and sugar to the pan and stir.
Add Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke and stir again.
You can turn up the heat a little more and watch over the sauce while stirring the entire time or you can just cook it on medium and stir every few minutes but I suggest watching it and stirring the entire time to avoid burning if your uncertain.
When the sauce becomes a little thickened from reduction add in your spice combination and reduce heat while stirring. 
Allow sauce to simmer for a few minutes then remove from eat and enjoy.
I like to use a few servings while it's fresh on some chicken, ribs, pulled pork, etc.
Put the rest in bottles and refrigerate for later.  It makes about 2 good size bottles of BBQ sauce so you can share if you want too.

You can add chili powder, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, and black pepper as well but do it in small amounts and keep track of how much you use.
Add a little in stir and test it out. If it needs a little more keep doing the same thing until you get the heat your looking for. 
Do not go over board unless your just looking to make people's mouths catch on fire.

Reflection Of The Flame- Four BBQ Kings

Reflection Of The Flame

Touching a place in our heart, the enchanting flame calls us back to the kitchen and beyond.

Last time we talked about the World's BBQ Belt and some of its background history,

 and word usage in our language.

Just to remind you BBQ is our starting place in our culinary travels.

This is not just a BBQ blog so prepare for lots of other tasty things to come.

 I think it is best to start out simple and close to home before reaching to some of the more world's exteme BBQ cooking situations.

I also want to say that this is only a guideline to follow for your own cooking exploration.

 I will add a few options but always feel free to make changes and be creative.

First tip is to always document your recipes just in case you hit the "ONE" it is good to have it scribbled down on a napkin at least.

The origins of American barbecue date back to colonial times, with the first recorded mention in 1610, and George Washington mentions attending a "barbicue" in Alexandria, VA in 1769

"taken from wikipedia"

The Four BBQ Kings

Our country only has one president but when it comes to BBQ four places wear the crown of BBQ.

I am not saying you can't get great BBQ all over the U.S. but I am talking about the birthplace of our modern day choices.

 I do not  prefer one over the other or consider any variables to be right or wrong or better than the other in anyway. I love all the great choices and being able to test the flavors that other people love depending on where they live.

  Introducing the Four BBQ Kings....

The Carolinas, Texas, Kansas City and Memphis.

Now we can all agree if go to any of these places and get great BBQ.

What people consider BBQ in these places is a bit more complicated.

East of the Mississippi we are talking pork and then across the mighty river, mostly in texas we are talking about beef.

  Kansas City pit masters specialize in  pork ribs.

Texas is kicking out brisket and beef ribs.

The Carolina's are turning out pork shoulder "pulled pork"

Last but not least Memphis with fork tender  pork shoulder and "dry rubbed" ribs.

To confuse matters worse chicken is also available now on the menu due to our change in diet around the nation.  

The Carolina's

In the Carolina's BBQ means pork or to be more specific pork shoulder a.k.a. boston butt - sometimes rubbed and then smoke cooked over oak or hickory wood for six to eight hours, or until tender enough to pull apart with your fingers. This is what people call "pulled pork". In this part of the country it is rarely served sliced. Some cooks use vinegar based mop sauces to keep the meat moist during the long cooking process and others just let time and wood smoke do the job on it's own. At times they have been known to go hog wild and smoke entire pigs in this fashion in a process called pig pickling. One point that also stands out for Carolina BBQ is the sauces they use. The three main styles are very different than the red BBQ sauce most people are used to seeing,the first from northeastern North Carolina is a thin, clear sauce made of distilled white or cider vinegar with salt, red pepper flakes and a little sugar. In the western part of the state you have the addition of ketchup or tomato sauce to this mixture. The result is a peppery, tart red sauce unlike anything else in the country. In southern North Carolina and South Carolina they choose a yellow sauce made with mustard, sweetners (sugar, honey, & molasses), & vinegar. This is the sweetest you will find in the style but it is not overly sweet. To eat Carolina style barbeque in the traditional way put the pulled pork on a bun with coleslaw and vinegar sauce.

                                                                         Memphis

Memphis has a deep understanding of BBQ and it hosts one of the world's largest barbecue cooking contests with teams from all over the country and half a dozen other countries to compete for big prize money. Two cuts are king in Memphis, pork shoulder and ribs. The pork shoulder is slowly smoked until fork tender and then sliced thin and served with barbecue sauce. The ribs are really what sets Memphis apart from the rest of the BBQ kings. Memphis is the home to the "dry rib", a rack of baby back or spare ribs thickly crusted with a dry rub, then smoked and sprinkled with more rub just before serving. The rub backs up the flavor and texture of the ribs without overpowering it the way barbecue sauce sometimes does.

Kansas City

 KC Masterpiece Barbecue sauce is named after this BBQ king setting us right in one of the epicenters of barbecue. Kansas city, it was a huge meat packing center up until the 60's and those stockyards supplied bbq buffs with the cuts needed to perfect their skills in being true pit masters. Some using complex dry rubs before cooking they don't often use mop sauces. The defining note of KC BBQ is the attention paid to the sauce. In Kansas City the barbecue sauce is thick and sweet. A complex blend of ketchup or tomato sauce, brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, vinegar, onion, garlic, liquid smoke, hot red pepper flakes, and don't forget a little apple juice. The most typical of these and the best selling is the above mentioned KC masterpiece. It was created by a child pyschiatrist turned BBQ mogul Rich Davis. Another popular sauce is Arthur Bryant's a sharp chaulky sauce that is not at all sweet made with a blend of vinegar and paprika.

One other gem this BBQ king has to offer is the meaty delicacy they call burnt edges. They are made from the crisp charred ends of briskets. Arthur Bryant claims to have the world's best burnt edges.

Texas

 In Texas beef is king. The cut of choice is brisket. The traditional method of cooking is a patient one, using oak wood, time, and smoke. The effects of this lengthy smoking process creates a ring visable to the eye called a "smoke ring". The brisket is not bothered with rubs or mop sauces and is served sliced most of the time. You find it served with cheap soft white bread instead of a bun and this classic is served with a texas style sauce. A thin tart and vinegary sauce based with tomatoes and chile powder it is not a sweet or sugary style sauce.
There is no end to the places in texas to get amazing BBQ as it hosts thousands and thousands across the great state to choose from. Texas barbecue beef brisket is said to be as smokey as a fireplace, savory as a stew and tender enough to pull apart with your fingers.

As we looked closer at just the four BBQ kings in our country, I realize again how vast just one fragment of a flavor and cooking method like BBQ can become when trying to share it with others.  I will just try and hover over as much area as possible and point out the interesting details as we go. Kind of like a helicopter tour instead of the walking tour ?

  I think this way also I can help you gather information about what is out there, and if you want to search further into things that draw your interest from my suggestions here I have done my job. 

  I thought about a month of BBQ related posts would get me through the summer and I realized it is a lot harder to sit down and create content then I thought it would be.

One good post a month seems to be about where I am at now and that means I only have one more left after this one before summer is over. 

 I wanted to move on as fall moves in so maybe I can just return to the Quest for Fire series as my blog moves forward.  I will conclude this series with some recipes I promise.

Quest For Fire - Around the World of BBQ

Since the very birth of cooking over an open flame the BBQ tradition has been kindled and embraced almost becoming a religion of sorts to some people.
In some places worshiping the delicious efforts with massive followings and competitions like Ribfest  and others held around the country.

Although having obscure origins in both activity and the origin of the word itself etymologists believe that barbecue is ultimately derived from the word barabicu found in the languages of both the Timucua of Florida and Taíno people of the Caribbean, which entered in European languages in the form barbacoa.
                                         The word translates as "sacred fire pit."

                                  The Six Zones of the BBQ Belt

The recipes and methods may be different in all six regions of the worlds BBQ belt they all usually have two things in common, Meat and Fire.
In some places it is just something you do outdoors when you don't have access to a proper kitchen.
In other places grilling and BBQ lie at the core of the cultures culinary identity.



The first zone comprises the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Standing alone as the second is South America.

Crossing the Atlantic zone number three stretches from the Mediterranean Basin to the Middle East.

Number four consists of Arab North Africa to South Africa via the continent's western coast.

 The largest connecting barbeque zone number five starts in Turkey running east through the Caucasus Mountains, Central Asia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Given the Help of the Mongols in the 13 century led by Genghis Khan the love of grilled meats grew to as far west as Turkey.

The sixth and last great barbeque zone follows the eastern rim of the Pacific, stretching from Australia and Indonesia to Korea.
Along that route interesting grilling can be found in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Macao and Japan.

So as you might expect most of the worlds grilling takes place in the tropics.
 But a great deal of remarkable live fire cooking likes outside the tropics like Japan, Argentina and in the U.S.


What is almost as interesting as where people who do live fire cooking is where they don't. 
Grilling has never played a big role in two of the worlds culinary superpowers: Northern Europe and China.
One more thing although grilling is found in Central Africa the charcoals are more often used to heat stews and frying pans and not to cook the meat directly.

Closer To Home

In many places the word has different meanings for instance in Britain, barbecuing refers to a fast cooking process directly over high heat, while grilling refers to cooking under a source of direct, high heat known in the U.S. and Canada as broiling.

In US English usage, however, grilling refers to a fast process over high heat, while barbecuing
refers to a slow process using indirect heat and/or hot smoke and similar to some forms of roasting.
Confusing maybe a little but we all know how great the smell of meat cooking on an open flame can be no matter what words or language we use, the bonds of food allow us to crisscross through all cultures and borders.

To a majority of U.S. backyard grillers, a barbecue is an event that involves a gas or charcoal grill, some burgers, hot dogs, maybe some sausage, and some cold drinks. To the purists barbecue is not an event or just a type of cuisine; it’s part of a cultural heritage.

The vast regional differences that exist from the coast to the gulf inspires such debate, fierce competition, coveting of hidden recipes, and long standing rivalries over which state has the best, most original, and truly authentic barbecue. 

RIBFEST 2011

 In July of this year I had the unique opportunity to go behind the scenes at one of the largest BBQ festivals in the country serving around 300 thousand people in a period of 4 days called Ribfest in Naperville Illinois.
Rib vendors from all around the country came to compete for a title of Best Ribs and Best Sauce.
  Two America's Chefs - http://www.americaschefs.org/ were selected as judges for this event.

The Rib Master himself Gorilla Rich Bacchi from Gorilla BBQ in Pacifica, Ca. http://www.gorillabbq.com/
&
The Amazing Culinary Visionary  STRETCH of Grinders in Kansas City, MO. http://www.grinderspizza.com/

  I also had the pleasure of tasting some of this amazing competition BBQ over that time some of the best was cooked for us by Chef  Craig Carter of  http://www.ultimatetailgateinc.com/
 * thanks again for everything Craig !

 In the end only one "Ribber" came away with both titles


                                                    Mr. Dan Johnson of Johnson's BBQ!!!

                                                  http://www.johnsons-bbq.com/index.php

 I had the pleasure to sit down with Dan and discuss his winning methods and what BBQ meant to him.  He told me that the judges are a lot harder to please now because they are more experienced and their palates have matured to the flavor profiles.
 He explained that it is becoming a lot harder to win with wood smoke and over smoking the meats in the past have affected how the judges respond to a heavier wood smoked flavor.

 He also let me have a bottle of his winning BBQ sauce to try so I will be sure to tell you how it is.  
He was like ObiWan Kenobi of BBQ but I also met another BBQ personality that would be considered the Yoda of BBQ if  it was Star Wars.
  Dave Raymond !!!
The name does not ring a bell ? 
Well his nickname "Sweet Baby Ray"  from his basketball days was given to him and his brothers famous BBQ sauce of the same name.
                                                              http://www.sweetbabyrays.com/    

 He was very cool and invited me to come back to Chicago and talk with him about BBQ sometime

                                                Of course I will have to take him up on that offer when I can.

        He let me take his picture I don't take many photos of people but this was Sweet Baby Ray!

One thing I have noticed is that very few methods of cooking are taken so seriously by so many and have the unique abilty to draw people together.  We all love to gather around the sacred fire pit and share our conversations and memories with our loved ones while our favorite foods cook over the open flames.
 So yes the world does have a BBQ belt but I consider this country the buckle of that belt.  We have a unique culinary place in the world of barbecue by having such a rich and diverse nation of people who from all around the world to share with us in the american dream.

Sharing recipes and techinques from this  broad spectrum of people have provided us with an infusion of some of the best the rest of the world has to offer with our tradition of gathering and family we will continue fueling a world cooking connection with others.

This was your introduction to some of the players and a background/history lesson into our love of cooking over open flames.
The Quest for Fire.

In my next blog I will break down a few real tips and tricks around the grill and smoker and provide some easy BBQ recipes to try out for yourself.

IMPORTANT
Remember like anything to do with fire safety is very important so I suggest
checking out these great cooking with live fire safety tips by clicking the link below.

Thanks for your all of your support and Happy Grilling/ BBQ !

                                                                                            Chef Ed

 
Fire Safety Link
http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/home_fire_prev/cooking.shtm

"Stone Soup" Ancient Recipe Revealed !!!

I imagine for now that this blog is a village and I come carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot.
Upon my arrival the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food (comments and feedback) with this hungry traveler.
   I fill my large empty pot (this blog) with water (creative content) and drop a large stone in it (this story), and place it over a fire in the village square. 
 One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what I am doing.
  I answer that I am making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish (comments + feedback) to improve the flavor, which I am missing.
The villager does not mind parting with just a little bit of carrot (comments) to help me out, so it gets added to the soup (Chef Intel.).
 Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and I again mention my wonderful, stone soup (Chef Intel.) which has not reached its full potential yet.
 The villager hands me a little bit of seasoning (feedback and suggestions) to help me out.
 More and more villagers stop by, each adding another ingredient (Interaction).
Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup (Chef Intel.) is enjoyed by all.

More Info :
Stone Soup is an old folk story in which hungry strangers persuade local people in a town to give them food.  It is usually told as a lesson in cooperation, especially amid scarcity. In varying traditions, the stone has been replaced with other common inedible objects, and therefore the fable  is also known as button soup, wood soup,nail soup, and axe soup.
Some Excerpts Above Taken From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I had a lot of ideas about where this blog was all going to start off and played with quite a few of these ideas before choosing stone soup as my opening move.  I hope it has held your attention long enough for me to continue to explain my evil plan.

                                                 The Blueprint

I plan on using this blog platform to accomplish several goals. 

1.  I seem to be spending (wasting)  a lot of time on social networks like Facebook typing out enough original content on my friends comments for at least  a blog or two and it seems to be wasting my potential as a fierce blogger.  

     2.  Learning  new software and design elements that are needed for professional online publishing . This has been a bit of a challenge and I can see plenty of room for growth.

     3. I can create additional content to be included in my upcoming cookbook dedicated to my daughter Karmadi , a collection of creative new spins on classic childhood favorites.

    4. I can become a better writer and publisher and by practicing these skills advance my communication skills in general .

    5.  I can create more public awareness about my own personal brand and the organization I currently work with. 

    6. Oh and I almost forgot to mention the parts that benefit you the reader , an upfront and honest but sometimes candid and others times very serious look into the crazy world of culinary arts as seen through my eyes.   This includes but is not limited to Awesome Recipes, Cooking Tips and Tricks, Food Related Reviews , and lots of other things you will be interested in .

Like stone soup is a familiar story to many,  I  hope this blog also becomes a familiar and welcome place online for those wanting to grow with me in the kitchen. You helped me water this seed (idea) and now it has sprouted into a baby tree (blog) producing fruit (intelligence)
for all to share . 

  

Chef Ed Welcomes you all to Chef Intel.