As you can see, this is one gorgeous dessert.  And it gave Andrew an opportunity to use a 13 ¼ inch rectangular tart pan.  But don’t put off it you lack one of this size and dimension.  John Barricelli’s original recipe gives the green light…

         My dear friend, Cate, who bears more than a passing resemblance to the other Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, came to lunch over the weekend.  Cate, of course, asked that I not go to any trouble.  So I really didn’t. Still I wanted to give her…

           Truth be told, it’s National Blueberry Month in Canada! My homeland loves to differentiate itself from its neighbor to the south.  In the US, National Blueberry Month is held in July.  Well, it’s colder up north and perhaps their crop doesn’t come into…

Since we live in one of the great ocean fishing areas of the country, the temptation to eat the freshest seafood imaginable is an almost daily event.   The fishing boats go out early from Montauk and their catch is in our fish markets later that morning.   The…

Aerial View of Shelter Island Shelter Island, for those of you who don’t know, is a 5 minute ferryboat-only ride away from The Hamptons, or more properly Sag Harbor, or more specifically North Haven. On the other end of the island, there’s an 8 minute…

David Santos and Melissa Clark   While I’ve been familiar with heirloom tomatoes for several years now, this year was my introduction to heirloom carrots in, of all places, Trader Joe’s.  It was there that I first saw a 2 lb. bag labeled Rainbow Carrots.  …

I know Andrew is good, I mean really good. But his baking skills really hit an all-time personal best with the making of this sinfully rich, fudgy, bittersweet cake.  As Melissa Clark, who co-wrote “The Perfect Finish” (W.W. Norton and Co. (2010) the cookbook it…

  I’ve wanted to cook in a tagine for ages and I mentioned this to my friends Bill and Peter.  Now they are both the soul of generosity and recently when we were at their house for dinner, Bill presented me with 3 Tagines that…

Bon Appetit’s Photo of its “Best Ever Ribs Recipe”. Would that the recipe was as good as their photo.          One of my very favorite things to eat are ribs. Pork ribs and to get even more specific, St. Louis cut Pork Ribs which I…

         The Cocktail Party is a perennial fixture of summer in the Hamptons. Let’s face it, it’s a great way to get all your social commitments covered in one big bash.  It generally lasts a finite number of hours, usually three at…

        The lovely and extremely talented Elizabeth Karmel The 4th of July is upon us and there’s never a better time to fire up the grill and celebrate the joy of being an American.  And there’s almost nothing more American than beef.  And…

Eric Rippert Recently, Andrew and I went to hear Eric Rippert, Fish Chef Extraordinaire  and proprietor of the perennially four-starred Le Bernardin restaurant in New York.  Chef Rippert appeared at a food forum at the YMHA hosted by Adam Gopnick of The New Yorker magazine.  …

 There’s a twitter feed called “Drunk Ina Garten” written by someone as a parody.  And every time I post an Ina Garten piece, the guy who tweets it picks up on it in about five minutes flat, re-tweets it and I get tons of hits…

Paola’s Restaurant  1295 Madison Avenue at 92nd St. NYC Tel: (212) 794-1890 Reservations and Information: www.paolasrestaurant.com Paola’s Pici con Asparagi          Not too long ago, I was early for a lecture in Carnegie Hill, a family-friendly East Side Manhattan neighborhood known to tourists by…