Twenty-three year old Amanda Garbutt is serious about her love of food. As a child, Amanda was a notoriously picky eater. It was a fateful day when, at age 10, Amanda’s mum handed her an oyster adorned with Tabasco and lemon and it was love at first bite. From there Amanda created one kitchen nightmare after another. Together with the help of her mum, Amanda learned the methodology to a recipe and the romance behind food. At McGill University, Amanda found refuge in her tiny student kitchen. With hungry students always stopping by there was no lack of taste testers and encouragement when April asked her to step behind the camera.

Three years, two business awards and over twenty-five episodes later Amanda is now pursuing her passion to inspire culinary confidence full time. When she is not working on The Hot Plate, Amanda is in the kitchen developing recipes, food styling and photographing for Tier 1 brands like Kraft Canada and Barilla Whole Grain Pasta. There are only three things that can coax Amanda out of the kitchen and they are: a full bodied glass of wine, ping pong or an adrenaline pumping offshore sailing adventure. What do these things all have in common? They all help work up an appetite!

1. Where did you learn how to cook?

At first cooking wasn’t something that came naturally to me. Not because I didn’t love flavour and food, but because a key trait of being a “Garbutt” is blatant disregard for directions. As you can imagine, as a 10-year-old kid in the kitchen with no direction I made a few kitchen nightmares of my own. Luckily, I had my mum, probably one of the most methodical cooks I know. She taught me how to follow the flow of a recipe and prep ingredients before starting to cook to make sure I’m set up for success. So the long, and short is my mum - our relationship (especially during the grouchy teen years) was a great way to develop our relationship, and my passion for cooking!

2. When developing recipes, do you stick with the latest trends or do you find inspiration from foods you’ve tried?

It is definitely a combination of latest trends and previous experience. I think that trends help guide my creativity. When it comes to food I’ve already tried, I would say that it is more about the experience and less about the actual food. The smells, the company, the energy around you are all key players in how I interpret them into recipes.

3. What is the biggest challenge when it comes to creating a new recipe?

Without a doubt the biggest challenge is reigning in my “enthusiasm.” When I cook for my friends and family it is all about that moment and using ingredients I have on hand. However, when I create a recipe it is all about helping home cooks and creating a recipe for that their friends and family will love. The goal is to set the framework for a great experience and help cooks build confidence in the kitchen. So creating a recipe for others is all about precision. Funny, it’s more like a science experiment because for a recipe to be “good” it has to be able to be recreated again and again by other cooks.

4. What do you enjoy the most about creating recipes?

Creating recipes has been a passion of mine since I was fourteen-years-old. I love being able to share my recipes and hear about my friends and fellow Food Lovers making them at home. Creating recipes and cooking videos is the reason I started The Hot Plate (www.thehotplate.com) back in 2009! I love inspiring culinary confidence and launching an online Community where Food Lovers can learn and share new recipes. The reward of hearing someone making one of your recipes is worth the hours, days, and sometimes weeks it takes to develop a single recipe.

5. What are some of the best chicken recipes you ever have created?

My top three are:

My signature Goat’s cheese stuffed chicken breasts, which I think is the best starter recipe for new cooks looking to develop confidence in the kitchen.

Fried chicken with my signature rosemary wildflower honey (I don’t think that recipe needs much explanation since well, its fried chicken!)

An Ultra simple roast chicken with little lemon and a little butter is a dish that every cook should know how to make. It is a great Sunday meal and leaves you with delicious leftovers for sandwiches during the week!

6. Which do you prefer, white meat or dark meat and why?

Contrary to many cooks I’m a white meat lady. I love the flavors and richness of dark meat, but when I’m carving a bird it is always white meat. Now, I’m not taking about tough dry chicken breasts. A perfectly cooked chicken breast should be juicy, plump and ultra tender. If you aren’t comfortable cooking by touch then go out and buy a meat thermometer. A thermometer takes the guesswork out of cooking meat and means you don’t have to cut into it to check for doneness.