Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet. ~Vietnamese Proverb
I had planned on writing about my brother this week and to add his Rosemary Flan recipe long before “Mommy’s little baaaaby” whined to Ma’am that I hadn’t put anything up about him on the site even though he is a professional chef.
I will add his bio to the About Us page once we stop playing phone tag and I can verify a few things with him. Between the time differences and his work and my life with a toddler we keep missing each other. But here is the big sister abbreviated version – Michael began cooking at a young age for pretty much the same reason I did – we were hungry and our parents were working hard and late! He used to come home from school, prepare some Hamburger Helper, ride his bike 3-4 miles to swim practice then come home and eat a full dinner with the family. Skipping ahead about a decade, he moved to New Orleans and worked as a bartender for awhile (Hurricanes anyone?) then moved on to cooking. He worked in restaurants ranging from fried chicken joints to cajun to ”white tablecloth” french bistros, including owning his own place in the Central Business District. Courtesy of ”Uncle Sam”, he ended up being airlifted to Raleigh, NC after spending the week post-Katrina just a few blocks from the Lower 9th Ward. Luckily, his lady-love, the lovely and patient Melanie, was from the area so they have settled there along with my 200 or so feline nieces and nephews (maybe it isn’t quite that many!). One day he walked into the French restaurant where he worked to find that it had been sold and it was going to be a Spanish restaurant starting that night – here are the recipes get started. And that is where he is today.
I have already posted some of his sauces in a previous blog. And Ma’am told me to make sure to mention the pork loin recipes that are to die for: Roast Pork with an Asian flair, a spicy fruity version and an orange ginger version. I think she was hinting that she wants him to come to Tucson for a visit and make some for her.
This past Thanksgiving he called from Raleigh to say hello to those of us at the family dinner in Hayward, CA. He told everyone about this great Rosemary Flan that he had made. Well it took me a few months to get the recipe out of him, but I did. I still need to get some ramekins so I can make it. Then I need to find someone to help me eat it, because my husband is not particularly fond of flan and feeding anything new to a toddler is a hit or miss proposition. Any volunteers?
For those who did not detect the heavy use of sarcasm in the loving description of my brother I leave you with this thought:
The mildest, drowsiest sister has been known to turn tiger if her sibling is in trouble. ~Clara Ortega
(MEV, I hope you know I love you and am very proud of you)
~Audrey
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