CHEWING THE FAT

Garlic Scapes make their appearance once a year. There are cooks who wait all year to work with Garlic Scapes, the flower bud of the garlic plant.  The bud is removed about this time every year to encourage the underground bulb to thicken up.  They…

      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…

What You Need to Know About Austrian Wiener Schnitzel For starters, it is never, ever served with noodles 5 July 11, 2015 | 06:57 PM  By Monte Mathews, Special Contributor    Photo Modified: Flickr / paulk / CC BY 4.0 You can bring some Austria into your home! If travel…

Spiced Lamb Burger Platter with Tzatziki and Sliced Tomatoes Bon Appetit’s Grilled Spiced Lamb Burger          Last summer, Bon Appetit’s Summer Grilling issue included a picture of a dish I found irresistible.  Granted it took me a year to get to it but I was…

Andrew is not the only baker in his family.  His sister Lauren is also a great baker.  So when her birthday rolled around, he sent her a great luxury: a case of Almond Paste.  Or so he thought.  The other day he got a frantic…

HOME/TRAVEL/GLOBAL CUISINE The Definitive Guide to Hungarian Paprika Impress the locals with your knowledge of paprika, and add one of these exquisite varieties to dishes back home 4.9   10 ratings June 26, 2015 | 12:00 AM  By Monte Mathews, Special Contributor          Shutterstock…

         Last week I went to see my friends Jane and John at The East End Mushroom Company.  Since the last time I saw them, they have been growing by leaps and bounds.  They now sell 13 varieties of mushrooms at their state-of-the-art facility…

  Today, we pair two recipes. One is from that doyenne of desserts, Martha Stewart in her “Martha Stewart Pies and Tarts” (Clarkson Potter 2011) and the other is from David Lebovitz in his “The Perfect Scoop” (10 Speed Press 2007).  The Paris-based Lebovitz knows his way…

                 I have been a fan of Tyler Florence for years.  There are no fewer than 11 of his recipes on Chewing the Fat.  His cookbook, “Tyler’s Ultimate” (Clarkson-Potter 2006) is among the most dog-eared in our collection.  When Chef Florence…

Above: Viking River Cruises Longship Tor docked in Passau Germany I admit it.  I cannot say enough good things about my recent “Romantic Danube” cruise aboard Viking River Cruises’ Longship “Tor”. I consider myself to be well-travelled. I’ve had the good fortune to visit 6 continents, many…

It may look Medieval but 90{4e4771bbe073b579fdd8e596ee487f65145483febbc8ba0a80525f62b26cad86} of Nuremberg was bombed out of existence in World War II.This copy was built to replace it.           As much as you know this day is coming, there’s a certain melancholy that sets in when you realize this wonderful…

Wiltenburg Monastery. My “Tor” Friend David Jackson got this shot in a most unusal way:It’s a postcard that he took a picture of! Way to go David and thanks!          As if the town of Regensburg itself wasn’t enough, the afternoon schedule for “Tor” Passengers…

Bronze Bas Relief of Regensburg showing the Medieval Wallssurrounding the City, as the Danube flows outside them          As I got deeper into the writing of this piece, it became all too apparent, that this particular day in Viking River’s Romantic Danube itinerary needed to…

Viking River Longship “Tor” and the Bishop’s Lair overlooking Passau, Bavaria  When I was looking at the itinerary for Viking River’s “Romantic Danube”,  I am now ashamed to admit, I knew something about every place on the list except for Passau.  I read of its…