CHEWING THE FAT

Sara Jenkins as photographed by New York Magazine          There’s almost no end to what people are putting on pasta these days. The most recent issue of Bon Appetit has 7 entirely new takes on pasta sauces and a couple of pastas that are new…

Chef Michael Ponzio of Chicago’s Rosebud on Rush          When I saw a special for Veal Short Ribs at 4.99 a lb, it was like discovering a new protein!  I’d never even heard of the cut and never seen it on a restaurant menu.  I…

          We should all eat more fish.  Further down the page you’ll find a list of eight reasons why. But there seem to be an equal number of reasons people do not.  I was talking to my friend Barbara, an Ohio native,…

Confession Time:  Those vegetables that look like potatoes? They are potatoes served alongside the dish the night before. Since I didn’t get a photograph then, this picture was taken the next day with the leftovers potatoes added to the stew.          When we entertain, I…

Julia Child with her “Coq”          Cold winter nights are made for eating Coq au Vin.  And on a cold winter afternoon, the aroma of this great French classic cooking fills the kitchen with comfort.   A “Coq” is French for rooster and there lies the…

         A few months ago, my friend Peter told me about Optical 88, an optical shop in the heart of Chinatown, at 116 Mott Street (Tel: 212-343-1947).  I am all for money saving and he raved about the service and the prices.  I looked on…

         There are few dishes that are better to have on hand than lasagna. Over the years, we’ve all suffered through terrible versions of lasagna–people making the stuff with cottage cheese or ricotta, throwing in chunks of sausage instead of a proper meat sauce, jarred…

The Tastee Inn in Sioux City, Iowa where you can get a Sloppy Joe or Loose Meat Sandwich for $2.00 The Sloppy Joe is hardly anyone’s idea of gourmet food. This may lie in the fact that making one requires virtually no culinary skills of…

The book “Throwdown” has over 100 recipes– but only 33 of them are Bobby’s  Bobby Flay’s “Throwdown” has been around for 9 seasons on Food Network TV.  In case you missed any of the over 100 episodes, they’re rerun on the Cooking Channel often enough…

                    Meatloaf is an intensely personal experience.  Every family has a meatloaf recipe that is so dearly loved, it achieves iconic status.  This family recipe should not be abridged or changed in any way or else…

David Tanis           I wasn’t familiar with David Tanis at all until he started writing the City Kitchen column in Wednesday’s Dining Section in the Times. Clearly, I’d been missing a lot.  While David’s recipes have often peaked my interest, this is the first one…

         Of this year’s cookbooks, “Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking” by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubert (Gibbs Smith 2012) is at the top of every list of the year’s best.  I’ve already shared the story of my sideways connection to Ms. Dupree in an…

         Last October, when I was out in California visiting my son Alex’s family, I picked up a freebie publication called California Home Design.  In it was an article about a wine making family in Healdsburg who, with the help of local chef, put together…

There’s something rewarding about having the time to make a really exceptional breakfast. Hopefully, the rush of the last few days before Christmas will yield way to a day off, a time to admire your gifts and sit back and enjoy life. And to enjoy…