I am a sucker for “What to Cook This Week” from the New York Times. Here’s one reason why. Very often this email from the NYTimes is the work of Sam Sifton. Sifton is billed as the founding editor of NYT Cooking. And Sam is…

“Dinner in French”, Melissa Clark’s latest Cookbook is filled with great, easy recipes. Confession time. For some reason, I associate French food with cooler temperatures. Give me Oxtail Bourguignon in October, my first bowl of Onion Soup at first frost.  But I’ve been raring to…

Ina Garten is one of those Food Mavens who can do no wrong. The Barefoot Contessa has by far the most popular posts on Chewing The Fat. Three of her recipes are in the Top Ten.  And they’re never the same three—varying by the season. …

A comforting bowl of soup you can get on the table in under 30 minutes Isn’t it time for you to take a break?  If you’re like millions of us, you never cooked so many meals in your life.  And it’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner.…

A Vegetarian Pasta kicks off Asparagus Season with a twist. The first asparagus of the season is something we can’t wait for.  Asparagus has become a virtually year-round staple, imported off-season from South America. But nothing compares to the home-grown variety. We love asparagus so…

A transformative dish that takes me to a much happier place. I think it will do the same for you. These days dinner means more than mere sustenance. While we all ‘shelter in place’, it’s a mighty punctuation point to our day. Dinner is a…

 All that pasta you just bought put to very good use indeed. In New York City where I live, the supermarkets have been stripped bare of many items. But I have to say the complete absence of pasta is quite stunning.  That may well be…

Beloved Italy is beset with a healthcare crisis like no other. You would have to be living in outer space not to be following the story of the Covid-19 Virus. And if you have an affinity for Italy, I am sure your heart, like mine,…

How much dry pasta makes a great bowl of pasta and sauce? We love a great bowl of pasta. It’s one of our most favorite comfort foods, especially on a cold winter night. I am particularly fond of Orecchiette, the little “ears” — the exact…

One of New York’s great Celebrity Chefs cuts cooking time on an Italian Classic Chef Bobby Flay has been one of my favorite New York chefs ever since I worked above his store. That is to say when my office was above Mesa Grill, his…

Bring a dish of Summer Sunshine to your Winter table in under 30 minutes flat. I nominate this dish for being a great big bowl of happy colors, great flavors, and almost instant gratification.  It comes together in under 30 minutes. That alone qualifies it…

A new take on Baked Ziti, an Italian Classic from Recipe Developer Extraordinaire Alison Roman If you’ve ever cooked a recipe from Alison Roman, you’ll be mightily impressed by the spin she puts on Classics.  And this dish is a classic.  Ziti al forno, which…

As some of our readers know, we recently moved out of the apartment we’d lived in for 23 years and moved down one floor to an apartment where we plan to live the next 23 years.  But all the Marie Kondo-ing in the world hasn’t…

When you live in a food town like New York, you discover places all over the city that are worth a detour anytime you’re close to them.  A recent doctor’s visit put me within two long blocks of the Sullivan Street Bakery.  I am so…