Pasta is one of my comfort foods.  There is something so satisfying about a big bowl of pasta, the flavors of the sauce melting into the noodles, grated or shaved Reggiano Parmigiano cheese topping the dish and there, at the bottom of the bowl,…

Roast Chicken gone wrong. About a week ago, I had the Roast Chicken urge.  You know the one where you imagine a perfect roast chicken, brilliantly browned and crisp, with melt-in-your-mouth tender white and dark meat?  Well I duly went out and bought quite an…

I am always staggered to hear how many chicken wings are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday.  Last year it was 1.3 billion! I really do understand the allure.   In the pantheon of things we love to eat, the Chicken Wing is high on ourlist. …

Martha Stewart: Sheet Pan Expert For some time I’ve been intrigued by the concept of the Sheet Pan dinner. Basically all the ingredients—protein, vegetables, herbs and spices–are cooked on one large sheet pan.  Martha Stewart seems to be an expert in this regard.  She frequently…

         I confess to being a tomato junkie.  I adore the fruit, and yes, botanically it is a fruit.   Nothing made me happier than the arrival of great little tiny tomatoes variously called ‘cherry’, ‘grape’ and most recently, ‘heirloom mixtures’.   They arrived in this country…

Chef Keller in the Vegetable Garden For years I’ve relied on Julia Child’s “Screw Top Jar” method for making a basic vinaigrette which I’ve enhanced with Dijon mustard and a little Garlic.  It’s a good salad dressing and I like to keep it on hand…

Grace Parisi in her Brooklyn NY kitchen The word “Quick” is a dog whistle when you write a blog like this.  Knowing how time-pressured most people are, when I see it  attached to any recipe, at the very least it requires a look.  And when…

Rao’s Original, the toughest table in town. One of New York’s most iconic restaurants is almost impossible to get into.  Unless you are a bold-faced name or a local politician or, even better, a family with “connections” to a very specific group of Italian families,…

I love Indian food.  Its intriguing blend of exotic spices and flavors are so distinctive and so transforming that it really does represent a cuisine far from our own American classics.  Take this dish from Bon Appetit.  It transforms the simple and inexpensive Chicken leg…

         A braise may not strike you as a Spring preparation at all.  Aren’t braises hearty affairs that build flavor by the hours they spend in the oven?  Aren’t they winter warmers and not something you’d expect to see any time after May 1st?  Well…

I have expressed my affection for Jacques Pépin and his cookbook “Heart and Soul in the Kitchen” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2015). Click here and you can order your copy. https://amzn.to/3vSbP3N This book is filled with recipes that are more “at home ” than they are in…

The 60 Minute Gourmet If your holiday has been anything like ours, I am sure you have had enough marvelously rich food to tide you over till, say, March. Between the gratins and the roasts, the puddings and cookies and cakes, the holidays encourage eating…

  I like cooking Chinese food at home.  And I had an overwhelming desire to do so after my stay in Milano last month.  My Italian ‘sister’, Sofia has a real problem with gluten.  This, unfortunately, removes a great deal of Italian food from her…

I was tempted to call this “Kitchen Sink Soup”.  But that would do no justice to this amazing concoction which took the chill out of a very chilly weekend.  It also was so easy to make, I realized that it would entirely possible to make…