Recipe: M&D’s Dijon Vinaigrette

by Leave a Comment

Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

Have you ever joined us for dinner at McKinney & Doyle? All of our entrees are served with what we call our Wonderful House Salad. We call it that because, well, it’s pretty wonderful. Mixed greens, diced pears, Stilton blue cheese, spicy pecans and our house made dijon vinaigrette. While I recommend stopping by and letting us prepare a meal for you, salad included, I AM going to share the dressing recipe with you here today. Continue Reading

Five Kitchen Hacks You’ve GOTTA Know

by Leave a Comment

Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

Professional chef or not, I guarantee you that anybody who spends any time in the kitchen has a few tasks they wish they never had to deal with. For me, it’s anything related to dishes. I don’t want to clear them, wash them or dry them. I don’t want to load or empty the dishwasher. I don’t want to set the table or organize the silverware. I can’t explain why, but I’d rather do anything other than deal with dishes. Unfortunately for me, there’s no such thing as a self-loading/self-emptying dishwasher so for the time being, I’m stuck (unless I let them sit there long enough for hubby to step in … but no, I hate looking at them piled up too – what a life!).Continue Reading

The Five “Mother” Sauces and How to Transition Them

by Leave a Comment

Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

You may or may not know that there are 5 “Mother Sauces” of the food world. These are just the five most basic sauces in the industry and they’re important for any chef – professional or not – to know. But today I want to get into how you can transition them into something a little different.Continue Reading

In a Pickle

by Leave a Comment

Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

This post comes from the M&D Newsletter archives. It’s short, sweet, simple and delicious.  Pickles are one of my favorite foods. I’ve been known to eat an entire jar in one sitting. The only thing better than gorging on a jar of store bought pickles, is goring on a jar of pickles you made yourself.

 

Pickling can be time consuming, involving fermentation in controlled and mandated temperatures. But it can also be simple and still give you tasty results. And the best part is that you can pickle just about anything! Cucumbers (obviously), carrots, onions, peppers, corn, ginger – to name a few.

Continue Reading