Shepherd’s  Pie or Cottage Pie…which one is it? Probably no food takes me back to my childhood faster than what we called Shepherd’s Pie. That saucy, flavorful filling of meat and veggies, those creamy mashed potatoes topping it, and its golden cheese crust are some…

The lure of cooking shrimp is both the time it takes and the taste you can achieve I would be hard-pressed to find a protein that’s quicker to cook. If anything, you have to hover over it for the best results.  But with just a…

Quite a few years ago, I concocted a recipe for Ham that became the very first Food Writing I ever did. It was published in Saveur Magazine in 1995 in a story I wrote titled: “The Ham Gambit:  How Carlotta fed 30 people for $6.99”.  …

This glorious cranberry tart topped with candied cranberries and whipped cream put cranberries on our Thanksgiving Table in a dramatic new way. I marvel at Andrew’s passion for baking. And it’s at its zenith at holiday time.  It doesn’t necessarily mean Thanksgiving or Easter or…

Swordfish, the steak of seafood, spiced with Curry Powder and Paprika stars in this dish. We love a great piece of swordfish. And we’re very fortunate because Swordfish in our part of the world is very often a supermarket special.  Ours came from Whole Foods…

These are easily the best Fish Tacos and Salsa I’ve ever made This month’s Bon Appetit was a treasure trove of great recipes. And the one that really caught my eye was this incredible combination: what Bon Appetit called ‘a mash-up between fish tacos and…

There’s quite a bit of dish about this famous Chicken Salad. As Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 70th year on the throne, one salute we can all enjoy is her “Coronation Chicken”. This classic recipe has undergone multiple changes since its invention. However, all of them…

Spain’s Gift to Gastronomy, Paella, is an amazingly adaptable dish that belongs on your summer table. Yes, there is an official version of this beautiful dish.  But we discovered you can pretty much make paella from whatever you want. The key is the round-grained rice…

Add a rich new element to your Summer Grilling Last weekend in honor of 30 years of friendship, a group of us got together for our first Grill of the season.  And like way back then, we all cooked something bringing it with us to…

This incredibly easy salad is the perfect hot weather kick-off. As the temperature rises, and we look for ways to make both cooking and eating a breeze, Crab Louis (or Louie) is high on our list. The most seasonal of vegetables and sweet crab meat…

This One Pan wonder checks all the boxes… This is really a spectacular pairing.  It’s a classic combination of lemon and garlic which the shrimp marinate in very briefly along with diced shallots and plenty of chives.  Fresh local asparagus shares the plate with cherry…

Summer and Salad Days are on the way…but in the meantime. Confession time:  We’d been looking at a lot of very beige posts on Chewing The Fat. So when this glorious-looking salad appeared in Food and Wine, we had to make it. It’s from a…

Loco Moco and Holoholo make a Trip to Hawai’i even more appealing… I don’t need to go into the reasons why. I am sure you too would love to bury your feet in the sand—if not your whole head. So today, we’ll dream of the…

BENGALS OR RAMS, NEXT SUNDAY’S WINNER IS THE CHICKEN WING! Of all food facts, the one that never ceases to amaze is this: On Super Bowl Sunday, 1.42 billion chicken wings will be consumed. That’s the National Chicken Council’s prediction and they ought to know.…