Chef Eats: Recipes and Techniques

There is something so satisfying about cooking from scratch, especially making staples like mustard, hot sauce, and smoked bacon elevated by the subtle sweetness of maple syrup. Or exploring unconventional ingredients, whether decadent wagyu striploin or yuzu lemonade spiced up with jalapeño peppers. Chef Eats is a compilation of these favourite recipes, among other comforting and innovative bites, created by Alison MacNeil and her husband Chef John Michael MacNeil, Calgary-based cooks, and restaurateurs.

Chef Eats also offers a peek inside the pro kitchen through Alison's eyes. Recipes are smartly organized in restaurant stations from garde manger to desserts, reflecting her early days perfecting everything from charcuterie to pastries. Sections on tools and techniques help home cooks take their skills to the next level.

The MacNeils' hands-on expertise, passion for seasonal ingredients, and culinary influences from their travels to Spain come together in this book that's an adventure into the best of home cooking.

Alison MacNeil has worked in professional kitchens since she was 14. She started at a pizza joint in her hometown, eventually collaborating as co-chef with her husband Chef John Michael MacNeil and opening Black Pig, a Spanish-influenced bistro in Calgary.

After cooking for 25 years, she returned to her culinary studies and completed her chef de cuisine certification. In 2015, she was invited to cook at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City, an event celebrating women in the industry and the cuisine of Alberta. MacNeil enjoys foraging for mushrooms, visiting farmers markets at home and abroad, and gardening. She lives in Calgary, Alberta, with her husband John and their two pugs, Parker and Doug.

Chef Eats is the first book in her upcoming series.