If Spring has a food, I can think of two things that fit the season perfectly. The first is lamb, so associated with Easter in both liturgy and on the Easter Table.  The second is Asparagus, which is never better than when it is…

Melissa Clark I love Melissa Clark and not only because she has the 5th most popular post on Chewing the Fat…see            https://chewingthefat.us.com/2011/05/melissa-clarks-mothers-recipe-for-thyme.html).  She consistently creates truly accessible recipes for readers of her  New York Times weekly column “In the Kitchen with…

Last summer, our great friend Michael came over to our house with a cookbook given to him by one of his favorite customers at the Bridgehampton Florist, which he co-owns with his husband, Jim. (Yes, that Bridgehampton Florist…viewers of the Barefoot Contessa take note).  “Plenty”(Ebury…

You can serve the steak atop the salad… Or make the salad all by itself…either way, these dishes are terrific!          If there is a first for everything, today’s Chewing the Fat qualifies.  The first in this case was my discovery that one of my…

         My cousin Bubbles and I have a running dialog about what we’re making for dinner.  The other day she mentioned meatballs and then told me that she seldom makes them anymore because she has a friend who, while claiming not to be a cook,…

It’s easy to see why it is called Rainbow Chard I have significant lapses in my culinary adventures.  Before I made this perfect weeknight dinner with its amazing range of delicious tastes and textures, I had never cooked Chard.  I will not go so far…

         Usually, I soft-pedal the whole issue of heat in the recipes I share with you.  That’s because I think a lot of people are uneasy about any food that’s described as spicy.  I do get it.  What’s the pleasure in having your mouth feel…

           The Food Network magazine came on the scene in 2008 and created quite a splash.  Its initial goal was to sell 300,000 copies.  In short order, it had over 1,000,000 readers a month.  Its celebrity chefs grace each cover like rock stars. …

Food and Wine’s Grace Parisi          We love a good curry at our house.  It’s warming and satisfying on all levels.  This particular recipe is the product of that master chef at Food and Wine magazine, Grace Parisi.  What Grace has achieved here is a…

         This dish really ought to come with a passport.  It has undercurrents of India with its cumin and coriander.  But the Haloumi cheese is pure Greek. The chickpeas could be Indian or Italian or German. And if we called them “Garbanzos”,…

         Few things are more of a convenience in the kitchen than keeping a bag of Costco shrimp in the Freezer. Cleaned, with their tails intact, they are very economical and they come in several sizes of shrimp—from very large to small and somewhere in between.  Whatever…

At the Mercado Central in Santiago, you can dine on all the fresh seafood from the market… even if you’re not entirely sure what it is.          I’ve had the good fortune to travel to South America several times.  But I have only touched down…

Who can resist tomatoes that look like this? After I made these golden-seared chicken breasts with their moist center of plump ripe tomatoes, melted cheese and pungent garlic sauce, I wondered if I could call this an original recipe.  But when, exactly, is a recipe…

  A Basketful of Tomatillos          Summer cooking should be as easy as this every day of the week.  These tacos are great fun to make.   Sitting around the table with a stack of corn tortillas, filling as many as you like with a delicious…