CHEWING THE FAT

Brussels Sprouts in Winter on the North Fork of Long Island As a boy, I cannot think of a vegetable I detested quite as much at the Brussels Sprout.  These nasty little cabbages were about as appealing to me as damp pair of socks. I…

A few years ago, I witnessed the arrival of Bison or Buffalo in my local supermarket.  At the time, a Day-Glo printed sign heralded its arrival in the meat case.  Not only had it arrived but also it was billed as ‘the meat of the…

        Our god daughter, Olivia is very special to us.  We were there the night she was born and she’s been a wonderful part of our life ever since. She’s lovely to be with, so much fun and so full of personality. …

You might want to hide after what I turned up… read on… Here’s a food writer’s dilemma for you:  Say you discovered a great recipe so full of flavor and so easy to make, you literally jumped on your MacPro and started to extoll its…

         Confession time:  I made this dish just as Spring was arriving. But by the time I got around to writing up the post, Spring had sprung and with it temperatures that suggested getting out of the heat and out of the kitchen.   But now…

         Jane, Jason and John About a month ago, my friends, Jane Maguire and John Quigley of Long Island Mushroom Inc., invited me to attend a special event.  It was a dinner held at the EECO Farm in Easthampton.  It was hosted by a group…

Marcella and Victor Hazan, as loving and giving a couple as one could ever hope to know. If I’d never been introduced to Marcella Hazan, my cooking would have been so much poorer for it.  Marcella died last week at her home in Naples, Florida…

         I just came back from the Thousand Islands, a natural wonder that occurs where the Great Lakes pour into the St. Lawrence River.  These islands range in size from tiny outcroppings in the river to islands where there are farms and…

Lobster Ravioli with Creamy Tomato Sauce Cheese Ravioli with Black Truffles and Mushroom Sauce Eataly’s selection of fresh, stuffed pasta is hard to beat. One day I hope I’ll become wildly proficient in making my own Raviolis.  For the time being however, I keep thinking…

Every fall something primal comes over me and I feel the need to can or ‘put up’ produce for the coming winter.  This likely goes back to visions of my paternal grandmother, a country girl from Ontario, who despite having strayed a long way from…

          The 3 lb Gourmet Collection is irresistible to Mushroom Lovers All summer long, I’ve been working with Jane Maguire and John Quigley on their burgeoning Long Island Mushroom Inc. business.  The two have supplied restaurants that are at the very…

The genuine article as seen in Spain BRING THE TASTE OF SPAIN TO THE TABLE WITH THIS OVEN-ROASTED SHRIMP AND SAUSAGE PAELLA. Paella is, hands down, the dish most associated with Spain.  Prior to the emergence of tapas on tables everywhere and Ferran Adria’s molecular…

         I love a good meatball.  And that’s exactly what a boulette is in French.  So I cached away David Tanis’ recipe for a North African version that appeared in the NY Times almost a year ago.  You only have to look at the most…

         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…