CHEWING THE FAT

Number one Oreo Fan Stephanie and Mason          We couldn’t let this momentous occasion pass without throwing a party.  This week, the Oreo cookie, invented in New York’s Chelsea, is having its 100th birthday.  With over 491 billion Oreos having been consumed…

         We were having a group to dinner over the President’s Day weekend.  I saw it as a great opportunity to cook something substantial.  I hit upon making a paella for a couple of reasons. I’d read an article in Saveur written by David Rosengarten. …

Can you guess which machine made this soup? The weather this winter has yet to cooperate. It has been so consistently mild that the warming pleasures of a bowl of homemade soup have almost seemed out of place.  Not that I don’t appreciate not having…

Melissa Clark I love Melissa Clark and not only because she has the 5th most popular post on Chewing the Fat…see            https://chewingthefat.us.com/2011/05/melissa-clarks-mothers-recipe-for-thyme.html).  She consistently creates truly accessible recipes for readers of her  New York Times weekly column “In the Kitchen with…

         I love a good Osso Buco.  It’s a wonderful weeknight dinner party dish because you can make it one night and serve it the next and it will only improve with its overnight rest.  But I had never heard of a lamb version of…

  New Zealand where there are 9.2 sheep for every human          I’d be hard pressed to remember the last I cooked something this impressive and yet so easy.  I must admit to having approached preparing rack of lamb with a degree of trepidation.  This…

Last summer, our great friend Michael came over to our house with a cookbook given to him by one of his favorite customers at the Bridgehampton Florist, which he co-owns with his husband, Jim. (Yes, that Bridgehampton Florist…viewers of the Barefoot Contessa take note).  “Plenty”(Ebury…

         Since Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, here’s a perfect Valentine to give your amour.  It’s chocolate, of course, because chocolate is said to have aphrodisiac properties.  Going back to the Aztecs, there’s been a link drawn between the cocoa bean and desire. But even if you’re…

Center this dish on your dining table and stand back.         Chinese New Year is upon us.  This Sunday, February 10th is the start of the Year of the Snake. Despite all the negative connotations of snakes and snake-like behavior,  according to…

You can serve the steak atop the salad… Or make the salad all by itself…either way, these dishes are terrific!          If there is a first for everything, today’s Chewing the Fat qualifies.  The first in this case was my discovery that one of my…

           If ever a cookbook cover said it all, it’s this: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Anytime.  That’s what Tyler Florence’s “Tyler’s Ultimate” (Clarkson Potter 2006) says and it couldn’t be more true.  Take for instance this deliciously satisfying dinner salad.  It would be…

Chinese Symbol for the Year of the Dragon          January 23rd is the start of Year of the Dragon, which, according to the Chinese Zodiac, is an extremely auspicious sign. Coming along once every twelve years, it is the ultimate symbol signifying success and happiness. …

   The American Hotel. A must stop in Sag Harbor whether for Bay Scallops or not          I can’t tell you how proud I am of this recipe.  It is really one time when I can genuinely claim the authorship of a dish. I’d tried…

         My cousin Bubbles and I have a running dialog about what we’re making for dinner.  The other day she mentioned meatballs and then told me that she seldom makes them anymore because she has a friend who, while claiming not to be a cook,…