About

My name is David Ellis, and I live in Washington, DC. Throughout my life there has been one true constant: food.  I love eating it, and I love cooking it. And I think I’m pretty good at both! 

All my culinary sensibilities begin with my father.  He was the original foodie for me.  He liked his food fresh and simply prepared – never contrived.  He had little need for processed foods or eating out. Not too long after he passed away in 2000, I became increasingly aware of the bonds between us; those few things which we held in common. Chief among these was undoubtedly food. This realization has sparked a need within me to learn as much as I can about food: where it comes from, how it gets to our tables,  how to select it and, most of all,  how best to prepare it.

In recent years I began stockpiling cookbooks, experimenting with recipes, taking cooking classes, and researching everything from kitchen gadgets to ingredients.  I cannot begin to count the hours I’ve spent watching cooking programs on television.  Through it all my culinary skills and knowledge have increased tenfold, and I have found my self moving further and further away from processed foods. Now I cook almost exclusively with whole fresh foods, mostly organic,  purchased locally whenever possible. I’ve also found myself less and less interested in eating out, unless it’s something special.

Eventually, it became evident that I needed to document all that I was discovering.  After all, what better way to master something, than to write about it? In that respect I am a lot like a journalist.  When I write about something, I like to immerse myself into the subject, separating fact from fancy. If I’m going to put it into words, I need to know it’s right.

I created this site to act as something of a knowledge-base for all that I’ve learned as well as a journal on my thoughts and ideas about food and cooking.   I know there are a lot of people blogging about food these days.  I hope to be more than just another foodie with a big appetite and an Internet connection, but I’ll leave that up to you to decide.  If you’re interested in cooking and learning new things about the foods we eat, and if you like to try some really good recipes or read about the tools of the trade, than I think this site might have something for you.

One last note: your feedback is invaluable to me.  Your comments, big or small, positive or negative, will make all the difference in what I am trying to accomplish here. If I could somehow tap into the culinary wisdom of all my readers, I would be one hell of a good cook.  So please, share. If you should try any of the recipes here, please let me know what you think. Fell free to use the comment features found with each post or email me at david@davidstable.com

So welcome to the table  – a chronicle of my quest to become a “master home chef”.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do putting it all together. 

About Ruth Zein

Ruth is the culinary equivalent of my shaman.  So much of what I’ve learned about cooking over the years has been from her.  I tend to approach cooking like an engineer – breaking it down into its components and analyzing each step, whereas Ruth approaches it like an artist.  Cooking is in her soul. She has exquisite taste and an innate sense of how ingredients work together. Inspired by her grandmother, a recipe is merely a suggestion to her, and she has rarely found one that couldn’t be reinvented.

I cook  like a musician who plays by ear but doesn’t know the notes.  Dave tries to teach me the basics – which implement to use, the proper way to chop something – and gives me cutting boards that I  use for the wrong foods. 

Ruth has agreed to provide a little yin to my yang by contributing articles from time to time.  Ruth lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland where she works as a business development consultant. She is currently working on a site of her own and developing a cookbook. You can email her at ruth@davidstable.com

Cookbook Reviews

From time to time I review cookbooks. If you are a cookbook author or publisher and would like me to review a book, please email me at david@davidstable.com, and I will provide you with a mailing address.  You need to know I am pretty methodical in my reviews.  I like to test a minimum of six recipes and ask for permission to print 1-3 of them along with the review.  I also believe strongly in that old adage our mothers taught us: If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.  So not all cookbooks reviews get published.

Kitchen Help Wanted

I am looking for cooks, both amateur and professional, who would be willing to test recipes for this site – some from cookbook reviews.  If you think you’d be interested, email me at david@davidstable.com and tell me about yourself.