The thrill of being invited to participate in a three-day adventure at the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley, California branch is about as good as it gets. Especially if you’re a self-taught home cook.  And the experience exceeded every imaginable expectation I had. How…

After I published this post, I shared it on Jonell Galloway’s Facebook page “Culinary Travel by Jonell Galloway, The Rambling Epicure”.  One of  Jonell’s readers got involved when I mentioned the multiple spellings of “biryani” and Jonell asked whether it was the English spelling of…

Salad lovers are in sheer heaven now and will be through the rest of the summer.  The ingredients for perfect salads are everywhere. And the earliest part of the season yields the tenderest of greens. Arugula has its bite but it’s far from bitter which…

I have several partners in crime on Chewing The Fat.  The most obvious one is Andrew. He contributes regularly and is basically responsible for everything baked on the blog.  Behind the scenes, his sister, Lauren is a big supporter.  She uses a lot of the…

Last Saturday, we went downtown to Ilili which has the distinction of being the top Lebanese restaurant in New York.  That being said, Lebanese restaurants aren’t exactly a dime a dozen here.  In fact, in all of New York there are only 10 places serving…

My Inspiration. It was a night I wanted to cook something special just for the two of us.  I opened the pages of the book and there in front of me was an utterly attainable plate with a single crispy-skinned chicken breast, some very green…

      The Comfort Family Farm Stand on Lumber Lane, Bridgehampton NY As much as I love sweet corn and as much as I’ll eat of it between now and the first frost, I am no fan of corn on the cob. I find…

         We have had a lot of Thanksgivings that weren’t at home. I’ve always volunteered to cook and love doing it. The first-ever Thanksgiving with my son Alex and his family was one I will never forget.  It was my first West Coast Thanksgiving. I…

         I’ll let you in on a little secret.  Of all Ina Garten’s cookbooks, “Barefoot in Paris” (Clarkson Potter 2004) was the least successful in terms of sales.  That came as a complete surprise to me because I find it one of the best “French”…

Victor and Marcella Hazan There is a sad anniversary this week.  It’s been a year since the world lost Marcella Hazan, that wonderfully giving Italian food prophet with whom I struck up a friendship over the internet.  Fortunately, when you are as good as Marcella,…

         I’ve always gotten a kick out of stories of massive Zucchini crops suddenly emerging in August and causing their growers to wonder what on earth to do with all of them.  When I was in Elementary School, I distinctly remember a classmate whose mother’s…

        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…

         My friend Edward told me he’d recently had dinner in Manhattan and was served an unforgettable heirloom tomato salad.  Atop a stack of perfectly ripe tomatoes, a corn and cream dressing made the tomatoes even more irresistible.  Since both corn and tomatoes are still…

Our Farmers’ Markets are brimming with more and more produce every week.  The carrots and beans, tomatoes and radishes are in and the Red Bliss potatoes are still baby-sized and beautiful.  So you can imagine my delight at opening Joanne Chang’s latest cookbook, “flour,too” (Chronicle…