HIP HIP HOORAY! HUZZAH! CHEERS! OLE'!: LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN!

Hi folks, Chef G. here for a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very special edition of my wonderful cooking blog.  As the title suggests, today's post is a major milestone for the Chef G. Cooking Channel.  Incredibly, I've reached episode #40 and the network hasn't even suggested cancelling my program yet.

As usual I'm ready to once again fulfill all of your reading and cooking dreams, but I'll be doing it a little differently this time.

That's because I sent out surveys to my many, MANY followers from all over the world.  I asked them to vote for which one of the following recipes they most wanted to see for this auspicious occasion:

1)  Honey and soy glazed salmon

2)  Stir fried broccoli

3)  Corned beef & hash

4)  Hearty beef & barley soup

5)  Louisiana Gumbo

All nine of my rabid fans exclaimed, "ALL OF THEM!!!"

I aim to please, but I don't have enough time in my busy schedule to write up FIVE detailed recipes in one day.  Plus, I'm a little lazy.  Therefore, I'm going to be using the art of photography instead of the arts of chefery and bloggery and recipe-ery.  And I gotta tell ya, you are in store for some pretty amazing food photography.  GET READY!

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Honey& Soy Glazed Salmon fresh out of the oven.  DELICIOUS

Served with Minnesota wild rice, it's even DELICIOUSER.

Stir Fried Broccoli.  I was going to add it to another dish, but I couldn't wait.  So I ate it all by itself.

I planned to cook a corned beef brisket for Mrs. Chef G. and me on St. Patrick's Day, but we got a last minute invitation from our next door neighbors to join them for--you guessed it--an Irish corned beef and cabbage dinner.  We ate our own corned beef brisket a couple weeks later.  The next day, I made corned beef hash from the leftovers.  DELICIOUS!

The best corned beef hash ever made by anyone!

'Twas even better with a dollop of perfectly cooked scrambled eggs and a slice of cheese.

One day I made a beef pot roast.  It was delicious, of course.  The next day, I put the fat, the juices, the bone, and some onions, garlic, carrots & celery in a soup pot with water and boiled it.  Four hours later, I strained all the solids out of the beautiful broth.  The day after that, I sauted some fresh carrots, celery & onions in butter, then added the beautiful broth and shredded leftover beef.  After that simmered for an hour, I added barley and let it simmer another hour.  With five minutes left to go, I added frozen peas.

DELICIOUS beyond belief.

Somewhere along the line I discovered my new favorite cheese.  When I bought it, I thought the label said "Le Gregyere" which would have been appropriately cheesy.

Cajun food is one of my favorite ethnic styles.  I featured a jambalaya back in the early days of the Chef G. Cooking Channel, but I've never ventured into the world of Gumbo.  I'm glad I tried it out on this particular day.

Ladle it onto some perfectly cooked rice, and you would not believe the DELICIOUSNESS.

BONUS COVERAGE: 

Once in a while, it's nice to go to a restaurant--even when your own cooking is so much better.  I just thought I'd share a couple memorable restaurant experiences to help celebrate my 40th episode.

Every five or ten years, some old college buddies and I get together for lunch at The Monte Carlo--a retro cool restaurant in Minneapolis.  Look how much more hair those other guys have on their heads than Chef G. has on his head.

Every once in a while, Mrs. Chef G. and I go out for a restaurant meal.  Recently, we tried a new Thai place in town.  She really liked whatever this was called.

  

I liked my Mussels Karapoa better.  I MUST bribe the restaurant owners for their recipe.

Thank you, everyone, for your incredible support through 40 wonderful episodes.  That's what keeps me publishing this stuff.