CHEWING THE FAT

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…

The joy of great Barbecued Chicken without a Grill or Barbecue—just an ordinary oven. Let’s face it: Not everyone can enjoy cooking in the great outdoors over Labor Day weekend. Apartment dwellers for instance.  To be perfectly honest, there are even people who could grill…

If you love Coleslaw, this version from our local supermarket is well-worth making. What is summer without coleslaw? Who can imagine Fried Chicken without it?  As Colonel Sanders himself said, “It’s always a tough decision between that, the Mac and Cheese, and the mashed potatoes,…

Because you can never serve too many tomatoes this time of year. I realize this recipe comes right on the heels of our wildly popular Heirloom Tomato Tart recipe, but we just cannot get enough of this year’s stellar crop of tomatoes. This tart first…

I don’t remember a single recipe on Chewing The Fat that’s faster to make than this: 10 minutes. That’s all it takes to enjoy two of the greatest gifts of summer. Sweet corn, peaking now and Cherry Tomatoes overwhelming our garden right now.  We wait…

John Barricelli, owner, baker, and chef of Connecticut’s SoNo Baking Company & Cafe, is no stranger on Chewing The Fat.   We love his recipes.  The Connecticut baker has two locations there. In Norwalk, it’s at 101 Water Street. And in Darien, it’s at 49…

This meal is a sum of its parts: A sublime Fried Chicken, my take on Sicily’s Caponata and great Pesto topping a crispy toasted Baguette. When I was looking around for something special to serve as a supper for guests, I came across this extraordinary…

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 Tomato that looks flawed creates a Tart that is pure perfection. The heirloom tomato has arrived. Heirlooms, or “Heritage Tomatoes” if you’re British, are not always the most beautiful on the outside.  But the first slice brings a flood of great tomato flavor. They’re…

Although they may look like Spitzbuben to you… Despite all indications to the contrary, Dorie Greenspan’s cookie recipes are not all that Andrew bakes. But as we recently pointed out, as you’re going through “Dorie’s Cookies”(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016) and you’ve only gotten to page…

Three Quick Kimchi Vegetables and a Classic Wedge Salad transformed by one of them.

Cooking for One Yields Some Great New Discoveries for Two. Or More. I don’t know about you, but in our house, there are some forbidden ingredients. Olives of any kind. Cabbage when used outside of Cole Slaw. Pickles. Blue Cheese. Cauliflower. And most especially Kimchi,…

Four Fantastic Ways to Celebrate this American Treasure Andrew went back to work this week in Manhattan. No one was gladder to do so.  While I tap away on my keyboard blissfully year in and year out, he was less than enchanted with our endless…