CHEWING THE FAT

         A few weeks ago, I told you about Pollen Ranch Spices (https://www.pollenranch.com), a remarkable company in the picturesquely named town of Lemon Cove, California.   My initial introduction to the company was their Fennel Pollen, a key ingredient in a recipe for Porchetta that I…

Asparagus season is here and we can’t get enough of the stuff. I’ve already served it in last year’s spicy stir-fry with chiles. https://chewingthefat.us.com/2011/05/spicy-pork-with-asparagus-and-chile.htmld. And then as a dinner salad that makes a meatless meal  https://chewingthefat.us.com/2011/05/spicy-pork-with-asparagus-and-chile.htmland then of course, there’s roasted asparagus which can be…

Mark Bittman Flexitarian Mark Bittman is one of the most thoughtful of food writers.  He calls himself a Flexitarian, which he defines as a “moderate, conscious eater” whose goals are “a diet that is higher in plants and lower in both animal products and hyper…

This great rustic Italian recipe hails from Los Angeles If you’re looking for a great dinner party Chicken recipe, you can’t do much better than this.  The combination of lemon, garlic and rosemary gives the dish great depth of flavor.  The chicken is crispy on…

Armani Ristorante hasn’t exactly barged its way into the New York culinary scene.  Some wags have even suggested that Giorgio Armani opened the place solely to be able to enjoy pasta his way. He’d made no effort to conceal his displeasure with the heavily sauced…

Andrew and I watch a fair number of cooking shows on TV.  In the baking category, we’re tuned into “Cupcake Wars” and “Unique Sweets”.  For quite a while now, we’ve scoffed, more than saluted, the number of bakers who turn out Gluten-Free items. We simply…

         I’ve been wanting to make this classic Filipino chicken dish forever.  Especially after I went to Kalystyans (www.kalustyans.com, 123 Lexington Avenue NY NY 10016 Tel 212-685 3451) and spent an unspeakable amount of money for a jar of Adobo seasoning.  Once I got home, I…

         Earlier this spring, Andrew and I set off on one of our city adventures.  We headed to Red Hook, Brooklyn, known to be a hipster haven and now, sadly, likely better known for having been flooded out by Hurricane Sandy.  The place took a…

            Marcella Hazan just celebrated her 89th Birthday.  As a salute to this great lady, a Facebook friend of mine who has taken the time to answer many Italian food questions for me, I wanted to celebrate too. Fortunately, March 2013’s…

                    The Un-Official start of summer officially starts this Friday. Out our way, that generally means a lot of premature wearing of summer clothes because we’ll still have a couple of weeks before it gets warm. The cool nights won’t stop…

Ready to be folded, Mu Shu in a Moment!            Restaurant General Tso’s Chicken the good, the bad and the ugly. In our bid to eat healthy, Chinese food has taken quite a hit. We never order it for takeout.  And our visits to…

When I wrote about our culinary adventures in St. Barthelemy, FWI in March, one of our readers, “Mike”, got into a spirited discussion about how the scallops I’d waxed poetic over, were not local.  In fact, he was pretty irate about seafood in general and…

Balena 1633 N Halsted St  Chicago, IL 60614 (312) 867-3888 As Sam Sifton recalls, when the waitress at Chicago’s Balena restaurant approached the table with a steak knife, everyone’s eyebrows went up. No one had ordered steak.  The waitress explained the knife was for the mushrooms. …

If foraging for ramps, make sure you’re not mistaking day lilies for the real deal. Photo: Courtesy of Kerry Heffernan             Ramp season is upon us and we’re off.  Every other foodie in New York will race to their local greenmarket in search of…