Chef Biography
Kathleen Daelemans was born and raised in West Bloomfield, Michigan to food loving parents of Belgian-Neapolitan descent, who would take her every Saturday to a different ethnic market or bakery, then bring the ingredients home to cook. When she was 14, she got a job as a counter girl at the old Henry Yee’s Chinese carryout. She hated it, but every chance she got, she would sneak into the kitchen to help the cooks clean chickens and make egg rolls. She became so good, she was making 600 egg rolls a night.
After graduating from North Farmington High School in 1981, she moved to San Luis Obispo to study small business administration at Cuesta Community College, while working at a restaurant at night. Two years later, in 1983, she was running the restaurant. When the opportunity arose to apprentice at the 4-star Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, who sponsored “Chefs Holiday” with Great Chef Larry Forgione, she jumped at the chance. After three more years apprenticing there, she had already been accepted at the Culinary Institute, but she read about an article on Judy Rodgers and her Zuni Café, and decided that was the kind of restaurant she wanted to work in. She set up an interview and received a job offer, and that is where she stayed for three more years.
In 1992, she received an offer to work at a new hotel under construction in Maui, Hawaii where she opened Café Kula in the Grand Wailea Hotel. In 1994 Great Chefs taped her at the Grand Wailea for their Discovery Channel television series, Great Chefs of Hawaii.
She has since left Hawaii and is an author of several books, and appears on television food shows.
Recipes
Guiltless! Bittersweet Chocolate Pie
Serving: 6 Print Guiltless! Bittersweet Chocolate Pie By Great Chefs September 23, 2015 Guiltless, silky smooth, and rich tasting — this may be the perfect chocolate pie. This basic recipe can be garnished with different kinds of fruit and different colors of chocolate. Silken tofu is available in the Asian foods section of grocery stores; […]
Banana Split
Serving: 2 Print Banana Split By Great Chefs September 22, 2015 This healthful banana split is a riot of fruit. Any pleasing combination of fruits can be used. The chef suggests using up leftover fruit by cutting out any bruised or spots and freezing the fruit until enough is accumulated to make the sorbet. At […]
Guiltless Chocolate Cake
Serving: 12 Print Guiltless Chocolate Cake By Great Chefs September 21, 2015 When Kathleen Daelemans was responsible for the spa menu at the Grand Wailea Resort, she came up with many creative ways to add nutrition and go light on calories. A rich prune taste comes through in this dense chocolate cake, made with only […]
Kathleen’s Low-Fat Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich with Kathleen’s Virtually No-Fat Chocolate Ice Cream
Serving: 4 Print Kathleen’s Low-Fat Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich with Kathleen’s Virtually No-Fat Chocolate Ice Cream By Great Chefs September 21, 2015 Hard to believe, but each of these cookies has only 2 grams of fat. Sucanot, which is evaporated cane juice, gives a distinctive molasses-like taste to the cookies. The ice cream is […]