OWN THE FIRE® · The Professional Archive
Twenty years behind the line, written down.Anyone can post a recipe. These had to work on a Saturday night.
Executive Chef Mike Riddle spent two decades in professional New York kitchens. What is in here is not a collection of things that photograph well. It is the standard he cooks to, written down exactly as he uses it: the temperatures, the doneness cues, the mistakes to avoid, and the reason behind every step. Every recipe is a print-first sheet built to sit on a counter and get dirty, not to be read off a phone with one hand. One payment. Everything inside, permanently.
100+ recipes · Print-first · Wine pairings throughout
Open The NotebookInstant access · Every technique backed by 20 years behind the line
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If a recipe was not worth making again, it never made it into the notebook.
Most recipe collections give you instructions. The Chef's Notebook gives you the same systems used in professional kitchens, adapted for your stove, your grill, your fire. If a technique did not survive 20 years of real service, it is not in here.
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No recurring charges.
Yours permanently.
Instant access after purchase · Yours permanently
Every item below is included with your one-time $39 purchase.
An opener does two jobs. It sets the temperature of the meal, and it buys you time while the mains come up. Everything here is built to do both, and most of it stages ahead so you are not stuck in the kitchen when people arrive.
New Orleans Charbroiled Oysters · Competition Smoked Wings · Grilled Octopus · Italian Fire Grilled Calamari · Iberico Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Soup exposes technique. There is no char to hide behind and no sauce to cover a thin stock or a broken emulsion. Whatever you built shows up on the spoon, which is exactly why it is worth learning properly.
Lobster Bisque · Duck Confit & White Bean · Smoked Tomato Bisque · Roasted Corn Chowder · Grilled 5 Onion
The main is the one thing on the table you cannot fix at the pass. A sauce gets adjusted. A side gets remade in ten minutes. Overcook a leg of lamb and the meal is what it is. Every sheet in this section carries a wine pairing and the reason behind it.
Santa Maria Leg of Lamb · Whole Roasted Duck · Coffee-Rubbed Tri-Tip · Grilled Lobster Tail · Brisket Lasagna Stuffed Potatoes
The fire is already lit and the grate goes empty the moment the main comes off to rest. That window is what this section is for. A side is not a second trip to the kitchen. It is what you do with heat you already paid for.
Competition Smoked Mac & Cheese · Fire-Roasted Brussels Sprouts · Cast Iron Pit Cornbread · Smokehouse Collard Greens · Pit Potatoes
Two jobs in one section. Bases you build from, like the seafood base that carries a pasta and the lamb stock that becomes a shepherd's pie. And finishes that cut, because everything off a live fire is rich and smoky and needs something sharp working against it.
Signature Seafood Base · Fire Kiss Chimichurri · Red Pepper Aioli · Sherry Vinegar Gastrique · Tomato Jam with Cowboy Jalapeños
Nothing in here is dinner. It is what has to exist before dinner starts. Dry rubs, brines, marinades, a mop for long cooks, a finishing oil, compound butters, and a garlic confit that ends up on everything. Make them once and most of them keep for months.
The Foundation Rub · Hogwild Dust · Jamaican Jerk · Live Fire Brine System · Smoked Garlic Confit
Everything else in the Notebook fails by tasting bad. This section fails differently, so it is written differently. Curing salt gets weighed on a scale, never spooned, and every sheet carries a safety block. That is the part to read first, not last.
Beef Rib Pastrami · Duck Pastrami · Pancetta · Salami · Smoked Bacon · Salmon Pastrami
Cold smoke at one end. A fire hot enough to burn the top of a cheesecake on purpose at the other. Settled coals in the middle where most of the fruit gets done. Knowing which one a dish wants is the whole skill, and this section teaches it.
Fire-Roasted Banana Foster · Burnt Basque Cheesecake · Cold-Smoked Vanilla Bean Ice Cream · Smoked Chocolate Pecan Pie · Grilled Peach Cobbler
I've tried several of his recipes, and they've all turned out incredible. The instructions are clear, the flavors are spot on, and they've helped me become a better cook. No matter how busy he is, he's willing to answer questions, offer advice, and help people troubleshoot their cooks. He shares his knowledge because he genuinely wants others to succeed.
Mike is an excellent teacher when it comes to learning the techniques and tricks of cooking. There's lots of information out there, this is the next level.
This has changed my entire approach to cooking. I'm confident now, willing to take risks, trust my instincts. I'm ready to cook for anyone.
This Is For You
This Is Not For You
Straight answers to what every serious cook asks before they buy.
A free recipe gives you a sequence. The Chef's Notebook gives you the reasoning. Every sheet carries the temperature, the doneness cue, the mistake to avoid, and why the step exists, because that is what you need when your fire runs hotter than the one it was written on or your cut comes in a pound heavier. Nothing in here was written for clicks. It was written because it had to work under real service, on repeat, with no room to be wrong.
One-time payment of $39. No subscription. No recurring charges. No expiration. You get every recipe in The Chef's Notebook plus every update and correction made to it, permanently. If you are tired of cooking content gated behind monthly fees, this is the opposite of that.
No. The Chef's Notebook covers both live fire and indoor techniques. Most recipes can be executed on a standard grill, smoker, or conventional oven. Where specific equipment improves the result, it is noted on the sheet. The techniques are the priority, not the gear.
Serious home cooks who want real technique. Every sheet gives you the reasoning behind each step, not just the sequence, so you understand why a thing works and can adjust when your fire or your cut is different. This is not a collection of 15-minute shortcuts. These are the techniques used in professional kitchens, written for people who intend to get it right.
Yes, and they are built for it. Every recipe is a print-first sheet laid out on white with no photography eating the page, and the type is sized to read at arm's length on a counter with your hands full. Print what you need for the cook, get it dirty, throw it out, print it again. That is the point.
One cook that runs across a week. You light the fire once, cook something large, and the Notebook walks you through what every piece becomes over the following days: the meal itself, then the stock, the sauce, the second dinner, and the last plate that uses what is left. It is how a professional kitchen thinks about a whole cut, written for a home fire.
Instant digital access after purchase. You will receive a confirmation email with your access details. The Chef's Notebook is organized into eight categories: appetizers and small plates, soups, main dishes and proteins, sides and accompaniments, condiments and sauces, fire foundations, cured and smoked, and desserts. Every recipe is available to view, download, and print as often as you want.
OWN THE FIRE® · The Chef's Notebook
Twenty years behind the line. One payment. Everything inside permanently.
The Notebook does not drip content and it does not expire. Everything in it is yours the moment you buy, on a sheet you can print tonight and cook from tomorrow.
100+ recipes · Print-first · Wine pairings throughout
Open The Notebook NowInstant access · Yours permanently
Want to look before you buy? Browse the free recipes first →
